1.4.12
Budgeting, Paying Off Debt & Saving in 2012!
First, let me start off by saying that I am NOT a professional financial planner! I am just a chick with a budget, a whole lotta coupons and the desire to have a debt free life and the security of a large savings account! The following is just my practical opinion…
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More and more American families have absolutely no idea how much money they spend every month or even every day.
.
Whether you are new to frugal living or have been doing it for a while, using a spending journal is always a good idea. A spending journal allows you to see exactly what you are spending your money on. A good spending journal keeps track of your purchases, with detailed information, such as when, what and why you spent money on something. This will totally help you when you are trying to budget.
.
New to frugal living? A spending journal is a great way to start, because all of the information is in front of you. When you have the information in front of you in balck and white, it is a lot easier to see where you can cut expenses. If it is the end of the month and you cannot afford groceries, but you look back two weeks ago and see that you spent $50 on video games, well, obviously you need to re-prioritze!
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For the more experienced, a spending journal can get you out of a rut and can jump start or inspire you to SAVE MORE.
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It is amazing how quickly little things add up, from a cup of coffee or pack of gum to a video game purchase. Look at expenses, such as gas, if you want to cut back find a way to combine your errands into just one or two trips or carpool.
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Your spending journal doesn’t have to be anything fancy! Just get some paper or small notebook or you can do it on the computer, in a spreadsheet, whatever works for you. Just pick something that is convenient and that you will stick to.
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I personally like a small notebook, because it is convenient to carry around all day. No one wants to whip out a laptop after buying a pack of gum, right? Well, I know I don’t want to.
The nice thing about using a computer, though, is that it is easy to organize your data. You can sort it all day long if you wish, allowing you to see spending patterns more clearly.
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Recording purchases, it is easiest for me to list everything by date. Take one week at a time. For each day, I record all of the purchases made that day, and I try to include short explanations. It is okay to write down “well, I just wanted it” or “it was a good deal” if that is the real reason for the purchase. Then I record a week at a time on the computer to get a better look combining mine as well as my husbands. The most important thing is to be honest. No one else has to see your journal.
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If your budget includes “PAY OFF DEBT”! You are like hundreds of thousands of people.
.
It’s time to get serious and pay the debt off and live a more enjoyable, stress free life! This year resolve to pay it off and stick to it! You will be happy you did!
.
Do you want to know how long it will take you to pay off debt? CNN Money has a FREE debt calculator HERE. It’s super easy to use. You just enter in your debt, interest rates and minimum payments and it will calculate how long it will take to pay off your debt with minimum payments or as fixed payments. You can also put in a date that you would like to be debt free and it will tell you how much you would need to pay to meet that goal. The scariest part, it will tell you how much money you are wasting in interest charges. When you see how much money you are wasting on interest you will be shocked!
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When you are out coupon shopping and the receipt says “YOU SAVED $44.39?, do you actually save that money or do you spend it on something else?
..
Things you need to think about if you truly want to save and make progress.
For example: Let’s say you spend $1.89 – 3 times a day for coffee and you decide to give up just one of those coffees! You already have $100 in a saving account and each month you add to that account just $56.70 a month (equivalent to 1 coffee a day), do you know that with a super conservative interest rate of .5% compounded monthly that in 30 years you would have $22, 137.56. Just for cutting out 1 coffee a day and saving that money! Maybe it’s not coffee, but it is $20 a week that you have been able to save from coupon shopping…The possibilities are endless. To find out how much you could save over time, use the savings calculator that can be found HERE.
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Let 2012 be the year, the year of saving and propserity for your family! Plan for your future, take the financial stress out of your life, enjoy the simple things!
11.8.11
Getting Ready for Christmas without Breaking the Bank!!
HOLY HOLIDAYS, BATMAN…ONLY 47 days until the CHRISTMAS!!
With the holidays right around the corner, I want to give you a few HEADS UP IDEAS to get you going and staying within budget!!
I (and my little elves) will be super busy posting all sorts of deals and many will go quickly! So make sure you subscribe to email delivery HERE, “LIKE” me on Facebook by going HERE or follow me on Twitter HERE or you may want to check the site more often than ususal so you don’t miss anything!
In a normal day, I may post 15 to 20 deals, but with the holidays, I’m going to be typing like a crazy lady around here!! To visualize think of a hamster running full speed on a wheel!! Yeah…that will be me!! My postings may almost double to 25 – 40! The whole hamster thing making sense now???
I have already talked to the hubs about bringing in an IV Drip of Starbucks to keep me rollin’! 
If you have been earning your Swagbucks all year…It is time to start cashing them in!!!
Swagbucks limits you to cashing in 2 gift cards per day, and ONLY 5 of the SAME Gift Cards per month. So basically if you are holding out on $5 Amazon Cards, I would start cashing them in RIGHT NOW, since Amazon Cards are posted after the 15th and 30th of each month. Other Gift Cards post faster, but you don’t want to miss the chance of using your gift cards to pay for the holidays!!! Most Gift Cards come in an Ecard format so you can use them for online shopping, however, if you are cashing in for Starbucks Gfit Cards, those come in the mail and take about 4 weeks to arrive, so I just want to make sure everyone is aware and starts cashing out!!
TIPS FOR STAYING ON BUDGET DURING THE HOLIDAYS
PUT YOUR HOLIDAY BUDGET IN WRITING:
It is so easy to overspend during the holiday season. The best way to keep yourself on track is to write out your budget and separate it into categories such as decorating, gifts, baking, entertaining, events, etc. so that you can see exactly where you plan to spend your money.
Go through all of your holiday expenses NOW and make your budget as COMPLETE as possible. One thing that I do is use separate envelopes for each category and on the front of the envelope I have my list of what I plan on spending and on who or what. For instance, I have one envelope for baking (not holiday dinner, but just baking items). On the front of the envelope, I list the items I plan on baking and I have a list of ingredients I will need on a paper in the envelope. I have given myself a total budget of $20.00 for baking ($10 for Thanksgiving and $10 for Christmas) so I am currently keeping an eye out for coupons and sales that meet my baking needs and putting them along with $20 cash into that envelope. I will do the same for gifts and all other categories. You might notice that I stated I put “cash” into the envelope! DO YOUR BEST TO BE ON A CASH SYSTEM so you don’t keep swiping your debit or credit card and then realize after the fact…you spent too much! Have an envelope labeled for unexpected expenses and put 5% of your total budget into that envelope so you have a little wiggle room! Also, make an envelope for day after Christmas. You know there are going to be a ton of sales and that is the best time to buy gift wrap and so many other things at deep discount prices, so make sure you budget for those items as well.
SET LIMITS:
Remember that spending more money does NOT make your Christmas any merrier. Set limits on your budget and the number of gifts you give. Being frugal means you will need to think outside of the box and get creative. The amount of money I spend on someone DOES NOT mean that I love them any more or any less. Creative gifts can be the most special gifts, because you have to put time and effort into them.
One thing I do each year is what I call a “Spa Gift Basket”! The baskets will include items that I was either able to get FREE or bought throughout the year on sale and used coupons, and the contents will cost me very little, but it makes for a nice gift. This is one of the reasons I love all those Bath & Body Works Coupons for FREE Travel size items!
MAKE YOUR GIFT LISTS NOW:
Just like having a written budget, having a gift list written down and full of ideas helps you stay on track to buy what you need for everyone on your list without having to make a last-minute run to the mall or place a last-minute online order with express shipping. Jot down multiple ideas for each person and know how much you want to spend on each person and include that much cash in their envelope.
START SHOPPING NOW:
The sooner you start shopping, the better off you will be and this will also lessen the stress of the season. TRUST ME ON THIS ONE!!!
I truly hope that this will be your merriest and most budget friendly Christmas ever!!!
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4.29.11
LearnVest Daily: FREE Cut Your Costs and Get Out Of Debt Bootcamps
So I signed up for LearnVest Daily about a week and a half ago and I gotta tell you I am really enjoying it! The LearnVest Daily provides you with money-saving tips (5 days a week), a personalized financial budget tool and action plan!
Plus they have a couple of FREE Bootcamp programs as well as Personal Finance Basics!
Get Out of Debt Bootcamp
This 15-day Bootcamp will give you the tools, support, and know-how to tackle it once and for all
Cut Your Costs Bootcamp - (this is the one I have been following)
A 15-day Bootcamp that will cut your expenses one room at a time
I am learning about how much energy we use, how to power our home for less, eating smarter, making our clothes last longer and more (I’m on day 12 of this 15 day boot camp)
You’ll also get tips like:
Discover the best places to travel on a dime Learn tips to help you build your wealth Plan the perfect dinner party for under $10 per person Understand and manage debt Get beauty tricks for any budget
Sign up HERE to start getting your daily money saving tips!!
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1.16.11
Couponing: Myths vs Reality
As an avid coupon user, I find it amazing that there are so many myths out there about coupons! I know I am probably preaching to the choir here, but there are a few things I have heard recently, that boggle my mind and I just have to address these “coupon myths”!
Myth - ”Only “poor” people use coupons”
Reality - This myth actually cracks me up!! According to statistics, did you know that people with an income less than $25,000 per year are LESS likely to use coupons? These statistics show that middle class, middle aged, college educated people are MOST likely to use coupons.
Myth – “There are never coupons for things I actually buy!”
Reality -There are always coupons for razors, deodorant, toothpaste, soap and household cleaning products! If you don’t actually buy these items, then you have me stumped!
Myth – “Coupons are only for unhealthful processed junk foods”
Reality -Sure there are a lot of coupons for processed junk foods, but there are plenty of coupons for healthy foods as well. There are often coupons for yogurt, bagged salads, frozen veggies as well as organic foods! Just because there are coupons for junk food, you don’t have to buy them, you still decide what you will feed your family and you just need to be on the lookout for the healthy food coupons! They are out there! I was sooo happy to see the $1 coupon in the (1/16 SS) for the Half Gallon of Silk Almond Milk! Since I have been trying to live my healthier life, I have been drinking the Unsweetened Almond Milk in the morning with my Protein Shake Mix and that stuff is expensive, but now I have a few coupons for it and that will save me a few bucks for the next few weeks (til the coupon expires)!
Myth – “People who use coupons spend more than people who don’t use coupons”
Reality -If you are using your coupons correctly by combining the coupon with a store sale or promotion, you can get items at the lowest prices and stock up, thereby never having to pay retail for these items! If the item is not on sale or is something you are just buying because you have a coupon for it, then yes you could be spending more money! The key is to use the coupons along with a sale to get the best price!
Myth – “Generic products are always cheaper than name brand products”
Reality - In general generic products are a little cheaper than name brand products, but when you combine a sale of a name brand product with a coupon, more often than not, you can get name brand items cheaper! It’s all about comparing the price of the generic versus a name brand after sale and coupon.
Myth – “My store doesn’t double coupons, so it’s not worth it”
Reality -My favorite store, Walgreens, doesn’t double coupons and I save the most money there! If you shop Walgreens, CVS or Rite Aid you will find that between the weekly sales, additional coupons and/or rewards or rebates they offer, you can save a whole lot of money at these stores and none of them double coupons!
Myth – “Clipping and organizing coupons is too time consuming and not worth it”
Reality - It is true that there is some time involved with clipping and organizing your coupons and prepping for your shopping trip, I spend maybe one to two hours per week on these tasks, but the time spent is well worth the savings, especially when you can save 50% – 70% or more each week! If you spend two hours each week and save $100 off your total that week, well to me that’s a $50 an hour paycheck! I don’t know of many jobs I could get, that would pay me $50 to do my work in front of the TV! As a blogger, I try and make it easier for you to save money, by taking a lot of the extra work out of the equation. You can simply print your lists and prep your coupons and you are ready to roll!
If you are an avid coupon user…what are your thoughts?? Please share in the comment section!
1.6.11
FREE Budgeting Assistance with Mint.com
I am really big on tracking spending and budgeting, it just helps our family stay on track!
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Well, I signed up back in May with Mint.com, which is a FREE service that helps you create a budget, track your spending, save money, and make your bank account much easier to manage. It has lightened my load a bit, but I can’t seem to get away from my spreadsheet habit when it comes to managing our money! I have to be honest, I have not had the time available to use it to the fullest! I am resolving this year to go for it full force to make my life a little easier and less cluttered!
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Over 1 Million people already use Mint.com (that’s me … I am 1 in a million) and it’s been featured on nearly every morning show, in newspapers, and magazines. They download and categorize your balances and transactions automatically, making it so stinkin’ easy to see graphs of your income, spending, balances and so forth.
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Check it out for yourself HERE! If you are a regular Mint.com user, let us know what you think of it,…leave us a comment!
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1.5.11
Preparing NOW for Christmas 2011
I know it’s only the beginning of January, and there are still 11+ months to go until Christmas, but this is really the best time to start planning and preparing!
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How can you prepare for Christmas 2011?
Here are a few tips and tricks!
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Make sure you are signed up with reward programs!
I am a huge fan of Swagbucks and MyPoints. I can earn all year long and receive Gift Cards that I can use to buy Christmas gifts, meaning a little bit of my time now can be traded for Gift Cards that I can use for Christmas shopping later! Both of these rewards programs are great because they offer Gift Cards for stores that I use such as Target, Amazon and more.
WHAT ARE SWAGBUCKS?
Swagbucks are digital dollars that you earn by doing online searches of the web. The results are from Google and Ask.com so you are still able to find what you are looking for, just like when you do a google search! As you search you randomly win Swagbucks. It’s FREE, easy, and fun, and the PRIZES are amazing! You can earn gift cards and other prizes. There is NO obligation or credit cards are required!
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WHAT CAN I GET FOR USING SWAGBUCKS?
There are all kinds of prizes you can get with your Swagbucks! I turn in my Swagbucks for Gift Cards! This saves me money down the road, because I don’t have to pull money out of my pocket to buy something and the Gift Cards were FREE…they just cost me a few minutes of my time searching the web, which I am always doing anyway! There are a lot of different Gift Cards, but my faves are:
1300 Swagbucks = $10 Starbucks Gift Card
450 Swagbukcs = $5 Amazon Gift Cards
+ There are planty more rewards to choose from
or turn your Swagbucks in for Cash!! 700 Swagbucks = $5 Cash into you PayPal Account
WHAT IS MYPOINTS??
MyPoints is another easy way to earn FREE Gift Cards online. I have been signed up with MyPoints for well over a year!
Here’s how it works:
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Set up a Christmas Account!
If you have an account set up soley for Christmas and you deposit just a small amount of money each month into that account, it will grow all year and make Christmas a little less stressful! Here’s what I do…I have a separate account for Christmas! When I send away for Rebates, such as the $20 Olay Rebate that just ended, when the rebate check comes in, I deposit them directly into the Christmas account. By the time you receive rebate checks, half the time you already forgot about them, so it’s like found money, put it to good use! It all adds up through the year!
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Saving up those $5 Target Gift Cards?
I love the Target Gift Card Promotions! Throughout the year, Target offers FREE Target Gift Cards with certain purchases. You can use coupons for these purchases and spend less money out of your pocket! Many times I will use the $5 Target Gift Card to purchase other items at Target, but sometimes, I willl hold a few back and save them for Christmas! The Target Gift Cards that you get with these promotions are just that, Gift Cards and they do not expire!
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Shop Clearance Now!
Just because it is January, that doesn’t mean that you can’t do any Christmas shopping! When you see an item that you know someone would really enjoy and it is on clearance, pick it up now and save it away for Christmas! I keep separate totes for Christmas items I pick up through the year
Just a few ideas to get you thinking about your next holiday season!! Do you have some tips and trick that help you save all year for the holidays?? Please share in the comments section!
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12.30.10
REPOST: Budgeting, Paying Off Debt & Saving
First, let me start off by saying that I am NOT a professional financial planner! I am just a chick with a budget, a whole lotta coupons and the desire to have a debt free life and the security of a large savings account! The following is just my practical opinion…
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More and more American families have absolutely no idea how much money they spend every month or even every day.
.
Whether you are new to frugal living or have been doing it for a while, using a spending journal is always a good idea. A spending journal allows you to see exactly what you are spending your money on. A good spending journal keeps track of your purchases, with detailed information, such as when, what and why you spent money on something. This will totally help you when you are trying to budget.
.
New to frugal living?A spending journal is a great way to start, because all of the information is in front of you. When you have the information in front of you in balck and white, it is a lot easier to see where you can cut expenses. If it is the end of the month and you cannot afford groceries, but you look back two weeks ago and see that you spent $50 on video games, well, obviously you need to re-prioritze!
.
For the more experienced, a spending journal can get you out of a rut and can jump start or inspire you to SAVE MORE.
.
It is amazing how quickly little things add up, from a cup of coffee or pack of gum to a video game purchase. Look at expenses, such as gas, if you want to cut back find a way to combine your errands into just one or two trips or carpool.
.
Your spending journal doesn’t have to be anything fancy! Just get some paper or small notebook or you can do it on the computer, in a spreadsheet, whatever works for you. Just pick something that is convenient and that you will stick to.
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I personally like a small notebook, because it is convenient to carry around all day. No one wants to whip out a laptop after buying a pack of gum, right? Well, I know I don’t want to.
.The nice thing about using a computer, though, is that it is easy to organize your data. You can sort it all day long if you wish, allowing you to see spending patterns more clearly.
.
Recording purchases, it is easiest for me to list everything by date. Take one week at a time. For each day, I record all of the purchases made that day, and I try to include short explanations. It is okay to write down “well, I just wanted it” or “it was a good deal” if that is the real reason for the purchase. Then I record a week at a time on the computer to get a better look combining mine as well as my husbands. The most important thing is to be honest. No one else has to see your journal.
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If your budget includes “PAY OFF DEBT”! You are like hundreds of thousands of people.
.
It’s time to get serious and pay the debt off and live a more enjoyable, stress free life! This year resolve to pay it off and stick to it! You will be happy you did!
.
Do you want to know how long it will take you to pay off debt? CNN Money has a FREE debt calculator HERE. It’s super easy to use. You just enter in your debt, interest rates and minimum payments and it will calculate how long it will take to pay off your debt with minimum payments or as fixed payments. You can also put in a date that you would like to be debt free and it will tell you how much you would need to pay to meet that goal. The scariest part, it will tell you how much money you are wasting in interest charges. When you see how much money you are wasting on interest you will be shocked!
.
When you are out coupon shopping and the receipt says “YOU SAVED $44.39″, do you actually save that money or do you spend it on something else?
..
Things you need to think about if you truly want to save and make progress.
For example: Let’s say you spend $1.89 – 3 times a day for coffee and you decide to give up just one of those coffees! You already have $100 in a saving account and each month you add to that account just $56.70 a month (equivalent to 1 coffee a day), do you know that with a super conservative interest rate of 1.5% compounded monthly that in 30 years you would have $25,915.44. Just for cutting out 1 coffee a day and saving that money! Maybe it’s not coffee, but it is $20 a week that you have been able to save from coupon shopping…The possibilities are endless. To find out how much you could save over time, use the savings calculator that can be found HERE.
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Let 2011be the year, the year of saving and propserity for your family! Plan for your future, take the financial stress out of your life, enjoy the simple things!
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8.25.10
DO YOU FOLLOW A BUDGET?
My question for you today…
DO YOU HAVE A BUDGET? DO YOU FOLLOW YOUR BUDGET?
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We had worked out our budget, then re worked it, then re worked it again over the past two years…seems to need fine tuning every now and again, plus additional expenses always seem to arise. We had been inundated with medical bills, which set us back quite a bit, so the budget had to be reconfigured for that kind of thing!
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Budgeting, basically in a nutshell, HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: How much income is coming into the house and what you are spending money on every month before you sit down and figure out a budget! It can be very helpful to use a journal and write down everything you spent money on in the past few weeks or month. This includes items that maybe got charged to a credit card. Knowing WHAT you spend your money on will really help you figure out ways to cut back and decide if something is a NEED or a WANT!!
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What are your fixed expenses (bills) are each month
(Can you find excess in your bills that can be trimmed back?)
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How much are you currently spending on life?
Groceries, Gas, Dining Out, Entertainment, Clothing, Gifts, Misc. (This is where journaling can save you tons of money!!)
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Do you consider savings a bill?
What I mean by that is, are you putting a certain amount of money away, either in savings or retirement, every single month without fail as if you were paying a bill every month?
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We are used to budgeting at my house!
Bills get paid, Savings get deposited every month, then lastly, there is life!
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As far as life expenses go, we use a jar system at our house.
What this means is that we have six jars and each jar is marked with a different category.
BASED ON ONE WEEK:
Groceries/Personal Care/Cleaning Items $60
Clothing & Gifts $25
Dining Out/Entertainment $50 (includes my starbucks habit)
Gas/Transportation $40
Miscellaneous $25
Left Over $0
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Each week, cash is put into the jars and that is all we have to spend for the week! Now sometimes we have to juggle jar to jar, like if I spend more on Groceries then the jar allows, then I sometimes will take money from the Dining Out/Entertainment jar. So that we only spend the alloted amount of money each week! The Left Over Jar is for at the end of the week, any money left in any of the jars, goes into the Left Over Jar and we save the LEFT OVER money up to use on other stuff, like a new storm door or mailbox. We DO NOT touch the money in our savings for items like this.
Obviously, families have different needs and situations so your numbers would look totally different from mine, but the important thing is that in order to put money away in savings or if you have credit card debt and you want to become debt free, you need to create a budget and stick to it to reach your goals!!
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This way of budgeting works for our family, but it is not for everyone…I am just curious…
DO YOU FOLLOW A BUDGET?
If so, what kind of system do you use?
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Let us know in the comments section, maybe you can help another reader find a way that will work for them!!!
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Don’t miss a deal! Subscribe to email delivery HERE
Post may contain affiliate links, for more info please see Disclosure
7.14.10
FREE BUDGETING ASSISTANCE WITH MINT.COM
I am really big on tracking spending and budgeting, it just helps our family stay on track!
.
Well, I signed up back in May with Mint.com, which is a FREE service that helps people create a budget, track their spending, save money, and make their bank account much easier to manage. It has lightened my load when it comes to managing our money and working our budget, but I have to be honest, I have not had the time available to use it to the fullest! I am getting there slowly…I’m a busy girl, what can I say!
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Over 1,000,000 people already use Mint.com (I always knew I was 1 in a million…LOL ) and it’s been featured on nearly every morning show, in newspapers, and magazines. They download and categorize your balances and transactions automatically, making it so stinkin’ easy to see graphs of your income, spending, balances and so forth.
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Check it out for yourself HERE! If you are a Mint.com user, let us know what you think,…leave a comment!
Don’t miss a deal! Subscribe to email delivery HERE
Post may contain affiliate links, for more info please see Disclosure
5.12.10
MINT.COM: HELPS YOU BUDGET AND TRACK YOUR SPENDING
I am really big on tracking spending and budgeting, it just helps our family stay on track!
.
Well, I just signed up with Mint.com, which is a FREE service that helps people create a budget, track their spending, save money, and make their bank account much easier to manage. I am excited to see if it will lighten my load when it comes to managing our money and working our budget!
.
Over 1,000,000 people already use Mint.com (where have I been???) and it’s been featured on nearly every morning show, in newspapers, and magazines. They download and categorize your balances and transactions automatically, making it so stinkin’ easy to see graphs of your income, spending, balances and so forth.
.
Check it out for yourself HERE
Don’t miss a deal! Subscribe to email delivery HERE
.
Post may contain affiliate links, for more info please see Disclosure
ONLINE COUPONS SWAP
