Leftovers

How much do you spend eating out?

Here is a confession that is mind boggling to me... the first year we were married we spent at the very minimum $6000.00 in one year dining out. We ate at a nice restaurant 5 days a week at $25 a pop. We both worked and the last thing I was going to do was cook. That was also the same time in our lives that we both drove two spankin' brand new cars and lived in a house that we could not afford. Sigh.

Oh how things have changed. Our budget for dining today is $40/monthly. That means that Bryan takes his lunch to work everyday. After every dinner I pack up the left overs and freeze them so all he has to do on the way out the door is grab a container.

Which Spouse?

Have finacial stress in your marriage?

Maybe this will help.

Been there done that. It was not a pretty site. I have watched first hand a friends marriage go from it is over to we can do this when the right spouse started paying bills.

When I married my wonderful husband he paid the bills and was in control of everything dealing with finances. I had no clue to where to money was going. We both spent what we wanted and when we wanted. Resulting in ALOT OF DEBT.

But one day I thought to myself if anything ever happened to my husband I would have no clue to who we owed or even when the utilities were due. So I headed to the office and figured it out. Sounds easy but it took time. Turned out that I was one that needed to pay bills. My husband did a great job using Quiken and paying bills on time...but he is the spender and I am the saver.

Are you married? Is the right spouse paying bills.

Now we are a team, we make decisions together, never spend money without the other knowing and because we are on the same page and the right spouse pays the bills we are DEBT FREE.

Day 364

Easy way to save money on hand soap. If you use a foam hand dispenser and fill half with soap and half with water.

Soap at 50% off.

Day 356

Did anyone beside Heather...notice I transposed numbers and today is really Day 356 and not 365??? Darn...I hate when my human side kicks in.

So how do you stay out of debt???

Here of some things we do to ensure we NEVER GO BACK INTO DEBT:

1. Put a name to every penny of every paycheck by using a written budget

2. Save for upcoming expenses

3. I go down once a week to enter transactions into Quicken

4. Use the envelope system

5. Never use a credit card...do not even have 1 to my name

6. Big purchases must be paid for in cash.

Alright...back on track more tips and deals to come :)

Day 333

Easy Coupon Tip:

Does your store double coupons?

If so here is how to tell if the coupon will double in value...

If the first number is 5 the coupon will double

If the first number is 9 it won't

Day 330

I was reading my latest All You Magazine and wanted to share all the cool ways to save money with your cell phone. Of course you know that I am to frugal to pay for a fancy cell phone...all mine does is ring and call out :)

but for those of you who can add apps to your phone be sure to check out the following right here.

Track down coupons

Compare prices

Keep tabs on your grocery bill

Budget on the go

Manage your bank account

Consolidate reward cars.

Very cool!

Day 324

Last year was the first year realized how much money we were throwing away by not doing our taxes ourselves. The last year we had help with our taxes we paid $400!!! What a waste of money.

Last year a friend recommended we use TaxACT and paid a total of $17.95.

A huge savings! We will use TaxACT again this year....thanks Tina

••Finish your state return in minutes
•Free phone, e-mail and audit support
•Certified values for non-cash donations
•Powerful tax calculators & reports

Day 320

I'm not going all green on you but I thought if I can recycle and be rewarded for it I would give it a try. It is super simple. All your recyclable material goes in one cantainer and it is that easy.

I signed up for RecycleBank in October. Two of my friends signed up early 2009 and found that it pays for itself in rewards. So I jumped on board. I received the 1st 3 months free.

Click here it see your city participates.

and a Money Saving Tip

Share Trash Service with a neighbor.

Day 319

Money Saving Tip:

How long can eat out of your pantry before you have to go the store?

I am currently being creative with meals. I have not been shopping for a week and still have a few meals I can come up with. That means that this weeks grocery money can go straight to savings!

Day 317

To save money I have decided that if I can prep produce in 5 minutes or less I will stop buying produce that has been washed and chopped.

Cooking is not on my list of things I enjoy. I usually spend the extra $$ and buy the produce already washed.

NO MORE...IT COSTS TWICE AS MUCH!

Day 316

Preschool, Football, Baseball, Dance, Swim Lessons, Basketball

those are the activities that my kiddos are involved in throughout the year that add up to be $100's a year.

Soooo....what do I do to offset the cost???

I work once a week for 3 hours at a gym where parents drop off their children while they work-out.

Benefits

#1 It pays for my children's extra activities

#2 I can bring my children with me

#3 Free membership

Day 314

Proverbs 27:17 says it well: “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another”
We need one another to be sharp. If you have not read about my accountability partner you can here. Tina was my saving grace when we hit rock bottom. She was able to set me straight! My world changed when she said looks like you have enough money for everything but two things, gas and food. I got mad....that was ridiculous. We made too much money not to be able to pay cash for food and gas.

It is a New Year...a New Decade.

If one of your New Years Resolutions is to become debt free, change your family tree, set yourself free, take control of your finances I believe it is a great idea to have someone to hold you accountable. Maybe it is your spouse, maybe a friend. Find someone in your life who has always been responsible with their finaces. Here is a hint... it is probably not the people who are driving brand new cars and always have the latest and greatest. I bet it is the person in your life who drives a lovely great used car :)

Make this your life changing year and then pay it forward!

Day 310

Happy New Year!

What are your finacial goals this year?

Ours are to save, save, save.

Goal #1....our 6 months savings is 75% funded. Goal: Fund last part of 6 months savings. Our goal is to have a full 6 months of expenses saved.

Goal #2....We are currently saving 5% for retirement...once our 6 months savings is in place our goal is to save 15% of our income for retirement.

Are your finances a train wreck?

If so make it a goal to sit down and figure out where you stand to the penny.

How much debt do you have?

Who do you owe and how much?

Make your monthly budget?

How many months would it take to become debt free?

Start to free your self from the chain from debt in 2010!

Day 295

Where is your Thermostat Set?

We keep ours at 69 degrees in the Winter.

My goal is to decrease it to 68 degress.

Bet my family does not even notice ;)

1. When you’ll be out for an evening, turn down the thermostats. If you’ll be away for a weekend or more, lower the thermostats to 55 F. You’ll save on heating without risking a freeze-up of your water pipes.

2. Whenever you can lower your thermostat dramatically for a few days or more, you’ll save a little on the operation of the refrigerator and freezer, which won’t need to work so hard to maintain their cool.

3. How low can your thermostats be set? At our house, we’ve gotten accustomed to 68 F as a comfortable norm. Reduce the heat just 1 degree at a time and try it for a week. Each 1-degree drop for an eight-hour period reduces your fuel bill percent. Gradually, you might be able to down 3 or even 4 degrees comfortably and save a chunk of money.

4. Try turning down the thermostat 5 to 10 degrees at night, and then turn it up again in the morning when the coffee is brewing. If you can get used to that, you’ll save 5 to 10 percent of your heating bill.

Once common myth is that when you reduce the thermostat for only a few hours it will take more heat to bring your home back up to the desired temperature. This is not so. You will save money and fuel because your heating system will not have to keep your home so warm. You will use less energy overall even when you warm up your house from a cooler temperature.

5. For greater ease and comfort, install a programmable set-back thermostat. They are available for most gas- and oil-fueled central heating systems. In this way, you can have the heat turned up before you get up in the morning and lowered just as you get into bed. You may not even notice that you are setting back your thermostat. Most of these thermostats come with two setbacks. Therefore, you can also set back the thermostat for the hours when people are in school or at work.

6. Some setback thermostats have different setbacks for weekends. If you frequently forget to setback your thermostat, the programmable setback thermostats will be a great investment. Even if you are already pretty good at remembering, these devices can frequently enable you to set back the thermostat a few extra degrees, providing you with additional savings.

7. If you heat with electricity, you can take advantage of the individual room thermostats that make it possible to shut off unused rooms and to have cool settings in some rooms and warmer settings in others. Using this feature of electric heat will definitely reduce your fuel bills. If you have a thermostat that controls a relatively large area, you should still consider a setback thermostat. You will need an electrician for this installation.

8. Do you need to talk yourself into a lower thermostat setting? Here’s an argument. Your plants are healthier in the cooler air. The health of your plants isn’t in the same league with your personal comfort? All right, you’ll be healthier in the cooler air. Your body will burn a few more calories keeping you warm, thereby helping you to lose weight and improve your general health. Besides, if you’ve already insulated and tightened your home, you will probably be just as comfortable at lower temperatures.

9. When it’s time to open the windows for a little fresh air in the spring, remember to turn down the thermostats. Those cool breezes that feel so good will send your furnace on a fuel-burning rampage unless the thermostats are reset.

10. Planning a party? Turn the thermostats down. Each guest is the equivalent of a 175-watt heater, and a large group will warm up the place without the furnace or the heating units in operation.

Day 292

I sat with a friend and her box of bills for the most of the day yesterday.

It took hours to go through. Bills were late, her phone was turned off. Her water is scheduled to be turned off. She has been flying by the seat of her pants for years. She has no clue where her money is going and why she has nothing.

Finally we figured out who she owed and how much and then we took out the bank statements to mill over.

Problem solved. She has everything automatically drafted from her account and had signed up for the automatic overdraft protection.

Well when you have a tight budget, living paycheck to paycheck and do not have a cushion in your account....just the smallest mistake can cause you to overdraft. The huge $30 convince fee to cover everytime you overdraft can add up to $100's of dollars.

Lesson learned for her the hard way. Remember that lovely convinence fee? It ate up her whole pay check. Not so convient!

Tip: If your budget is very tight...it is best that you pay your bills when you are ready and not use automatic withdrawl. It would of been better for her to pay the late fee with the individual companies, chose to pay the utilities and mortgage and wait to pay credit cards. Because now she is in the situation that utilities are being shut off.

Lesson Learned the Hard Way

Day 290

In this house my kids know we like to save money and not spend it. My 3 year old walks around with coupons in her purse. My 5 year old has a hard time when his Auntie takes him to the store and tells him to pick out anything for his birthday...because everything is too much money. My 9 year old cries at school when he breaks his glasses because he does not want me to have to spend the money to replace them.

I explain to them over and over that we have thousands of dollars in the bank... and we chose to save our money and that they never need to worry because their every need...not want will be met.

This happens around town all the time....I run into a friend or an acquaintance and they pull out their coupons to show me or promise they are paying in cash.

I am officially the Money Police!

Because we are debt free and still very focused to meet our next saving goal, once in a while we treat ourselves!

Last night we went to dinner and took our kids to the movies and spent a pretty penny. And it was okay. We are debt free, have 6 months savings, and saving for retirement.

But let me be clear during the 18 months it took us to pay off $48,000 we were INTENSE and did not treat ourselves ;) And it was all worth it!

Day 288

Another use for vinegar:

Use instead of expensive Dishwasher Rinse Aid

I tryed it and it really works. No water spots!

Another money saving tip.

Day 267

It is Not IF it is WHEN....

When it rains it pours.

This past Sunday I sat down with a friend to look at her budget. November is the month that everything caught up with her because she has not been living within her means for years.

Her house payment is late, her car insurance is late, a plumbing bill of $2000, a vet bill of $700 and not a penny to her name. And then her NOT IF WHEN momemt hit her hard on Monday morning. She was in a car accident it was not her fault but the other car did not have insurance and remember her car insurance was late. This means now she has no car still no money and still late on everything.

How many of us have or are living paycheck to paycheck drowning in debt?????

Today is the day to start a new way of living. Sit down and make a budget. Start paying off debt so you can fund your emergency fund. Your If Not When moments are NOT as painful with an Emergency Fund

REMEMBER IT IS NOT IF IT IS WHEN.

It scares me to think of what our life would be like today if we were not prepared finacially when my husband was laid off last Feburary. Because life happens to everyone.

Day 221

The month of October marks 3 years of living without credit cards. We have not used a credit card one time in three years or even had a credit card active or in our wallets in 3 years. We will NEVER use a credit card again!

Click here and here to read some articles on credit card/debit card spending verses cash. Do the math and research for yourself. You will spend 12-18% more when you swipe your plastic.

This past week I traded in the remaining 18,000 American Express points for a $100 cordless phone system.

So for every $18,000 I spent the very generous American Express allowed me to pick out a $100 item.

If we would of used cash we would spent $3240 less and could of bought 32 of those lovely cordless phone systems.

Lesson Learned!

Seriously what were we thinking!!!??? What a JOKE!

Cash is King!

Day 220

The Love Drawer

Click here to see what we would like to accomplish this weekend.

The Love Drawer is a series of forms that in an event of a tragedy or accident would help your loved ones take care of business or any issues. Where to find your will, financial accounts, funeral instructions, insurance policies, legacy letters, safes, budget, tax returns, password log.

Do you have a will, sufficent life insurance?

We have both in place and it gives us both great peace knowing that our children will be taken care of.

and my Love Drawer will give me more peace!