Part of making money is saving money, right? Everyone knows that a penny saved is a penny earned, and I don't know anyone who blatantly wants to overpay for things. However, looking for good deals can be confusing. How do you know you are getting a good deal? How do you know when is a good time to buy? Where do you go to find amazing deals? Well, lets try to demystify some of this...
I am a firm believer in the principle of "never pay full price" (aka NPFP). I think it comes from my crafty side. If you are crafty, you probably know that you never go to Joann's or Michael's without a 40% off coupon AT LEAST. 30% off is maybe acceptable if you have to have it right away, but if you can wait, there will be a 50% off coupon or sale coming up at some point. So hold out and look for the deals. Why do I know this? Well, I shop there frequently, and I am familiar with how their ads work and I know the inventory they sell intimately. I also know there are other shops around and if I can't get it one place I can get it another. I also know when an unbelievable deal comes around, and I buy what I need then. I shop a lot, so I know what a good or a great deal looks like.
If you aren't shopping craft stores, these principles still hold true. If you buy groceries a lot, you may notice that milk coupons come out about every two weeks, and when one store has one, usually they all do. If you are like my family, you can't go 2 weeks without buying milk, so I hit up more than one store to use my milk coupons or I go to somewhere like Walmart that takes competitors coupons, and I stock up ahead of time. Milk expires, but not THAT fast, and I know we will use it. I also know that once in a while my local store has amazing deals on canned goods. I buy as many as they will let me (or usually a case if they have no limit) because I know I will go through them, and they have a long shelf life. If you wont drink that much milk or use that many canned tomatoes before they go bad, don't fall into the trap of buying up on it only to throw it out. Know your household needs, and buy the things that work best for you.
So how do you find out what a good or a GREAT deal looks like? The answer - do your research. For things like groceries, you need to do it a lot. For larger items, you need to do some shopping around. Get yourself comfortable with pricing and asking questions. Ask sales people if there are any promotions coming up, and also ask about ones that just ended that they can still sneak you in on (sometimes it is easier to get them to cut you a deal if they know they will get a sale on the spot). Talk to others about it and see what they are seeing and spending. Look online for sales. Even if they are not in your area, you may be able to get an idea for what a good sale price looks like and then wait until one comes up by you.
Next, how do you know when to buy? Well, first of all, don't be in a hurry. If you wait to purchase something until you need it right away, you don't have time to wait for the good deals. Plan large purchases as much in advance as you can. For many those large items you only buy once in a great while, like appliances, cars, or electronics, there are certain times of the year that are better than others for buying. Most consumables and durable goods have a cycle, meaning they come out with a new model around the same time. There are tons of guides out there from consumer organizations and budget or shopping bloggers that can help you figure out when items are going to be clearanced out to make way for incoming stock or to clear space as the seasons change. As long as you don't mind having last year's model of washer and dryer or waiting until summer is over to get that larger grill you have had your eye on, this is a great way to save. Save even more by buying floor models. A few dings and dents can save you a bundle! This also applies for smaller things like clothes and food, but you may be less likely to wait when the payoff isn't as big, and I don't blame you! Decide what your needs are and wait only when it makes sense to you.
Over time, I found myself wishing I had a coupon for 40% off for everything. I went to the grocery store, and I wished I could pay less for the meat or flour I was buying. I went to get a new computer after mine died, and I swear I felt physical pain paying sticker for it. Buying Christmas presents, I wished everything went on sale as much as I wanted, and even if it was on sale, I wanted a better deal. Our last question was, where do you find amazing deals? You can go to flea markets, garage sales, outlet stores, and more, but this is kind of a trick question. The answer is, don't find them, make them. When you go to the store to buy a new fridge, knowing that you are buying at the time when the new models are coming out and you have your eye on the floor model, let the sales person know that you saw a similar fridge at a competitor's store for less and ask if they will match the price, or ask if you can get a % off discount because there is a large scratch on the door, or ask if they can apply the promotion they are using to clearance their stock on the floor models, too... Don't be afraid to ask for a good deal. There are about a million ways to talk a price down, and generally, you will be successful. Be creative, and most importantly, don't be shy. Bartering is a skill that many cultures nurture from birth, but us Americans seem to have missed the boat. Haggling over price makes us so uncomfortable, we would rather pay way more than necessary to avoid doing it. Its a bummer that it makes us so uncomfortable, but that has some bonuses, too. People you are buying from are also so unused to people asking for a deal, they rarely say no. Use the social awkwardness to your advantage and make yourself a GREAT deal! You should still attempt to find those great shops that always have a good deal or hit up craigslist and local garage sales for things, but never miss the opportunity to haggle, even in a retail store.
Do your research, shop around, look for the right time, ask for a deal, and buy up when you find a GREAT deal. You could be pleasantly surprised, and your wallet might be, too!
A note on haggling: This can be a slippery moral slope. Many people view haggling as dishonest or rude because you are "cheating" someone. That is simply not true. Garage sales and craft fairs are a few examples of when people expect to haggle, but even your local chain store has a large markup they can come down on. I take the opinion that it is the seller's responsibility to stay firm on a price. The seller always retains the right to decline a sale. That said, I may argue my case, but I will never manipulate someone into doing something they clearly are not comfortable with. Bottom line: if it feels slimy and wrong, don't do it.
Showing posts with label budgeting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label budgeting. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Change: A How-to Guide of sorts
The past several years have been ones of great change for my husband and me. We moved in together and had to combine our personal finances. We got married. We had a child. We started looking at the future: things like life insurance, 401ks, and college savings plans became very important to us, but the more we looked at things the more alien they seemed. We learned to budget. We learned to stick to our budget (and no, those are NOT the same thing). We learned how to save. We learned how to cut out the extras and figure out what is really important. I started an online business, and my husband took on a part time teaching job. We got involved in our church and took on responsibilities there. And somewhere in there I made a New Year's resolution to read more nonfiction.
You see, my husband is not much of a reader. I have loved to read ever since I was 4. My grandmother taught me to read early, and I loved the escape a story could offer me. My husband was taught to read without phonics, and so he struggled. He was not very fast at it, and he did not do it for pleasure. However, he is a smart man, and he likes learning about things. So once in a while, if a book is given to him or recommended to him, he will read one. Because I read for fun, I read popular fiction. Because he reads to learn, he reads nonfiction. He always has interesting things to say about the books he chooses to read, and because they are few and far between, he gets a lot out of them. I forget half the last story before I am through the next book.
All of this change forced us to take stock of our lives and learn some things. I used to live 2 hours away from my husband. I hated my job, and after we were engaged we started talking about me moving to the same city. However, after a diligent search, I was having trouble finding a job. My lease was ending, and we had to determine whether or not we could make ends meet on a single income if I moved. So we made a budget. Only the essentials. The outlook didn't look good, but it was do-able. We cut out things like cable, eating out, and having any fun whatsoever. My husband took a second job. I scrimped and pinched pennies while trying my hand at craft fairs and Etsy.
We got the opportunity to take a class called "Financial Peace University" at our church. I know a lot of things have been said about Dave Ramsey and his ideas and his empire, but all that judging aside, it really helped us on our journey. We were already doing most of what he recommended, but had we taken his class a few years earlier it could have saved us a lot of headache.
Sometime after that, I decided to do what my husband does and read some things that would teach me something instead of entertain me. I made a resolution to read one book every 2 months, and while I fell short of that goal, I think I came close - to 4 or 5. Plus a few articles here and there that caught my eye. All of which is way more than I had ever done before, so I consider it a positive change! And slowly but surely, some of the things I read started to soak in to my thick skull. I realized that many smart, successful, happy, well adjusted, effective people had a lot of the same things to say. Things like how to manage change, or how to be reliable. Things like being bold in your choices rather than always playing it safe and within your comfort zone. Things like how to plan for the future and be financially secure. Really important life skills, basically. The things that you don't learn in school, even though they often determine your effectiveness in life (note that I didn't say success which changes based on what you value, but your effectiveness: how well you do what you value). And I found myself stressing these points to friends and family. Even my parents and older relatives that should have it more "figured out" than I do. And most of them kind of ignored me. A few seemed to get it, but my passion seemed to fall on deaf ears for the most part. But I still think it is really important to share what I learned.
So after that exceedingly long introduction, this post is to let you know that I will be starting a series of posts, probably interspersed with more normal posts for me, all about things that I have learned in the last few years. I will try to keep it personal but applicable to all. I think telling my story might give it some more impact, but try to keep an open mind when applying it to your own situation. Not everything will map properly, but think about it and you will find something of use for you in your situation.
Just as a sneak peak, here are some topics I will be covering:
Be bold.
Do what you say you will.
Practice deliberately.
Invest in yourself.
Learn to budget (time and money).
I look forward to exploring these topics and many more with you. I know this will probably not change the world, but you can't blame a girl for trying.
You see, my husband is not much of a reader. I have loved to read ever since I was 4. My grandmother taught me to read early, and I loved the escape a story could offer me. My husband was taught to read without phonics, and so he struggled. He was not very fast at it, and he did not do it for pleasure. However, he is a smart man, and he likes learning about things. So once in a while, if a book is given to him or recommended to him, he will read one. Because I read for fun, I read popular fiction. Because he reads to learn, he reads nonfiction. He always has interesting things to say about the books he chooses to read, and because they are few and far between, he gets a lot out of them. I forget half the last story before I am through the next book.
All of this change forced us to take stock of our lives and learn some things. I used to live 2 hours away from my husband. I hated my job, and after we were engaged we started talking about me moving to the same city. However, after a diligent search, I was having trouble finding a job. My lease was ending, and we had to determine whether or not we could make ends meet on a single income if I moved. So we made a budget. Only the essentials. The outlook didn't look good, but it was do-able. We cut out things like cable, eating out, and having any fun whatsoever. My husband took a second job. I scrimped and pinched pennies while trying my hand at craft fairs and Etsy.
We got the opportunity to take a class called "Financial Peace University" at our church. I know a lot of things have been said about Dave Ramsey and his ideas and his empire, but all that judging aside, it really helped us on our journey. We were already doing most of what he recommended, but had we taken his class a few years earlier it could have saved us a lot of headache.
Sometime after that, I decided to do what my husband does and read some things that would teach me something instead of entertain me. I made a resolution to read one book every 2 months, and while I fell short of that goal, I think I came close - to 4 or 5. Plus a few articles here and there that caught my eye. All of which is way more than I had ever done before, so I consider it a positive change! And slowly but surely, some of the things I read started to soak in to my thick skull. I realized that many smart, successful, happy, well adjusted, effective people had a lot of the same things to say. Things like how to manage change, or how to be reliable. Things like being bold in your choices rather than always playing it safe and within your comfort zone. Things like how to plan for the future and be financially secure. Really important life skills, basically. The things that you don't learn in school, even though they often determine your effectiveness in life (note that I didn't say success which changes based on what you value, but your effectiveness: how well you do what you value). And I found myself stressing these points to friends and family. Even my parents and older relatives that should have it more "figured out" than I do. And most of them kind of ignored me. A few seemed to get it, but my passion seemed to fall on deaf ears for the most part. But I still think it is really important to share what I learned.
So after that exceedingly long introduction, this post is to let you know that I will be starting a series of posts, probably interspersed with more normal posts for me, all about things that I have learned in the last few years. I will try to keep it personal but applicable to all. I think telling my story might give it some more impact, but try to keep an open mind when applying it to your own situation. Not everything will map properly, but think about it and you will find something of use for you in your situation.
Just as a sneak peak, here are some topics I will be covering:
Be bold.
Do what you say you will.
Practice deliberately.
Invest in yourself.
Learn to budget (time and money).
I look forward to exploring these topics and many more with you. I know this will probably not change the world, but you can't blame a girl for trying.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Bigger box is not always better
Also, you have this cool membership card that allows you access to all these great deals on bulk items! Who doesn't like being part of an exclusive club that saves money?!
What a great package!
Almost.
I love Costco and its other big box companions up to a point. Don't get me wrong, I shop there from time to time for things like rice, flour, sugar, and canned goods (I go through an ungodly amount of these cooking from scratch all the time), but I always have to do some serious math while shopping because not everything is a good deal. I am a huge bargain shopper, and I can tell you off the top of my head how much general canned goods, dairy of various types, and meats should cost, on sale, at least for my part of the country. That serves me well, because I can calculate how much the items at Costco are costing me per unit and compare to my grocery store deals. And guess what. Costco is often NOT cheaper. Not by a long shot.
Here's the rub. Costco carries name brand products. Buying in bulk means they don't carry a wide selection of items. Sometimes they also have their Kirkland store brand, which is often times cheaper, but if not, you are stuck paying name brand prices. Grocery stores carry name brand, store brand, and off-brand products. Especially with store brand stuff, they can deeply discount and still make a huge profit margin because they don't have distributors to pay or minimum prices to meet as set by the company. Therefore, you, the consumer, can pick them up for cheap on sale. Costco stuff doesn't go on sale. Costco prices are lower than regular grocery store prices on brand name items. But don't go blindly assuming that you can do better at Costco than at your local grocery store.
When you add in the cost of the membership, unless you are buying big ticket items like electronics, are doing a lot of catering via their deli, or buy a LOT of things in bulk, its hard to justify doing much shopping at Costco. You have to save more than $50 per year to just break even. I also think people go bulk happy and get overly excited about buying 6 tons of canned beets, so maybe some of the purchases are a little unnecessary. Its hard to ignore all the cool stuff, especially when you are "saving so much!"
However, Costco has its place. It does offer cool stuff like organics and uncommon items like quinoa, bulgur, etc. It does offer a break on things that seldom go on sale, like flour, sugar, some produce items, etc, and buying those in large quantities really does beat the grocery store prices, if you use it all up in time. The Kirkland brand stuff is good quality and you can save a bundle over the national brands. If you already buy a lot of brand names and packaged foods, you can save some money. For things I don't like to sacrifice quality on, such as toilet paper and paper towels, I like the Kirkland brand because it is still reasonably priced.
Some tips for getting out with your wallet in tact?
1) STICK TO A LIST! Costco is very alluring, but unlike the grocery store where an impulse buy may cost you $5, Costco can easily hit you at $20 or more.
2) Know your prices. If you know how much a sale price for cheese or meat is before you shop, you can make the best selections and skip the not so great deals. Keep a calculator handy if you need to!
3) Shop with friends and family. I piggyback off of my in-laws' membership so I'm not out the annual fee, otherwise I don't think the savings would amount to much. We also split large boxes of some stuff so we can cut the cost in half and are less likely to waste items that have gone stale or spoiled.
4) Only go periodically and buy products you know. I wait till I am out of several items before I make a Costco run. I come home with less unnecessary items if I go less frequently, plus my grocery budget has a chance to build up before I drop $150 on one grocery trip. Also, I try to avoid lots of new items so I am not stuck with a huge case of something I don't like.
Well, there you have it! Big box stores can be a great way to save for your family, but be careful and compare prices. These tips also apply to dollar stores, so know your prices, stick to a list, and you will be okay! Happy shopping!
Friday, November 16, 2012
Budget Friendly Living: Use less
Lately I have been a little fed up with the excess we are so used to (and EXPECT) in this country. But really that is not what this post is about. I am just taking a second to say that I will be hand making almost all my gifts this year, with a few exceptions that I got second hand over the summer. I urge you to read my post about charitable gift giving if you haven't. I know I posted it WAY earlier than people wanted to think about Christmas, but it corresponded with my birthday, so yeah. :-)
ANYWAY on to the meat of this post. My husband told me an interesting anecdote a while ago. The Tabasco makers were trying to figure out a way to increase revenue by 30%, and all the corporate execs were totally stumped. No amount of cutbacks, outsourcing, and the like would make that kind of difference. They had no way to squeeze blood out of this turnip. So they opened it up to all employees. And lo and behold, a factory line worker came up with the surprisingly simple solution: make the hole in the bottle 30% larger. WOW.
Aside from being a cute story (which may or may not be true), it exemplifies my point - businesses are in the business of selling their product. So when it says "lather, rinse, repeat" it may be less for the health of your hair than the health of their bottom line.
What?
Put simply, the manufacturers of soap, detergent, shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, Tabasco, or any consumable good want you to go through their product faster so that you have to buy more. Often the recommended amounts they give are way more than you actually need. For example, your laundry detergent says "washes 100 loads" on the bottle. But when you read the back label, it says that for normal loads you only need to fill the cup 1/3 full. How many of us don't read it and just assume that 1 cup= 1 load? Most of us. Break that down further into what is ACTUALLY needed to get your clothes clean (and not have a ton of soap left in them after the wash cycle to boot) may be even less than the 1/3 cup recommended. My advice to you today: Experiment. Try using a little less of everyday things. I am not saying skimp and spread germs or don't get things clean, but do you have to have the water on full blast to rinse your hands? Or even worse, when you are lathering up? Do you need a full pump of soap to get all happy and sudsy? I know I only use about a half pump of liquid soap and it is still plenty, plus I use less water rinsing off all the excess. I know not everyone can get on board here, but I don't flush the toilet overnight. It started when I was pregnant and I got up at least 3 times a night to pee and it would wake up my husband when I flushed, so I just washed my hands quietly and snuck back into bed. And it kind of stuck cuz then it would wake the baby. And now we save water that way. I wash the toilets every week so it doesn't seem to make any difference in the cleanliness of the bowl, but hey, I understand if you're not on board. Everyone has their limits.
And don't just do it in your home, either. Think about how much soap and water and paper towel and toilet paper you use in public bathrooms (though I highly recommend flushing...). I saw a "bumper sticker" on a paper towel dispenser in a bar in San Francisco once that changed me. "Paper towels come from trees." That was it. And it totally blew my mind. I think about it literally every time I see a paper towel.
So now my challenge to you. I use less toothpaste, less soap, less shampoo, less water pressure, less laundry detergent, and less dishwasher detergent. What can YOU think of to use less of? I am totally up for new ideas to save both money and the environment. It's SUPER Green (and yes, that was an obscure nerd reference. Bonus points to those who caught it.)
ANYWAY on to the meat of this post. My husband told me an interesting anecdote a while ago. The Tabasco makers were trying to figure out a way to increase revenue by 30%, and all the corporate execs were totally stumped. No amount of cutbacks, outsourcing, and the like would make that kind of difference. They had no way to squeeze blood out of this turnip. So they opened it up to all employees. And lo and behold, a factory line worker came up with the surprisingly simple solution: make the hole in the bottle 30% larger. WOW.
Aside from being a cute story (which may or may not be true), it exemplifies my point - businesses are in the business of selling their product. So when it says "lather, rinse, repeat" it may be less for the health of your hair than the health of their bottom line.
What?
Put simply, the manufacturers of soap, detergent, shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, Tabasco, or any consumable good want you to go through their product faster so that you have to buy more. Often the recommended amounts they give are way more than you actually need. For example, your laundry detergent says "washes 100 loads" on the bottle. But when you read the back label, it says that for normal loads you only need to fill the cup 1/3 full. How many of us don't read it and just assume that 1 cup= 1 load? Most of us. Break that down further into what is ACTUALLY needed to get your clothes clean (and not have a ton of soap left in them after the wash cycle to boot) may be even less than the 1/3 cup recommended. My advice to you today: Experiment. Try using a little less of everyday things. I am not saying skimp and spread germs or don't get things clean, but do you have to have the water on full blast to rinse your hands? Or even worse, when you are lathering up? Do you need a full pump of soap to get all happy and sudsy? I know I only use about a half pump of liquid soap and it is still plenty, plus I use less water rinsing off all the excess. I know not everyone can get on board here, but I don't flush the toilet overnight. It started when I was pregnant and I got up at least 3 times a night to pee and it would wake up my husband when I flushed, so I just washed my hands quietly and snuck back into bed. And it kind of stuck cuz then it would wake the baby. And now we save water that way. I wash the toilets every week so it doesn't seem to make any difference in the cleanliness of the bowl, but hey, I understand if you're not on board. Everyone has their limits.
And don't just do it in your home, either. Think about how much soap and water and paper towel and toilet paper you use in public bathrooms (though I highly recommend flushing...). I saw a "bumper sticker" on a paper towel dispenser in a bar in San Francisco once that changed me. "Paper towels come from trees." That was it. And it totally blew my mind. I think about it literally every time I see a paper towel.
So now my challenge to you. I use less toothpaste, less soap, less shampoo, less water pressure, less laundry detergent, and less dishwasher detergent. What can YOU think of to use less of? I am totally up for new ideas to save both money and the environment. It's SUPER Green (and yes, that was an obscure nerd reference. Bonus points to those who caught it.)
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Budget Friendly Living: Designer WTF?
Okay, just bear with me today. I had to rant. I am SO sick of shows, magazines, websites, etc claiming to save me hundreds while revamping my home, closet, etc. Why, you ask? It seems so great! A cheaper alternative when redecorating, getting a new wardrobe, and so on. Why WOULDN'T I want to save big money?
Well, then we read the fine print. And we realize that we will be buying something from DSW instead of BCBG or from BCBG instead of Gucci. I may be in the minority here, but I still can't afford $80 shoes, and the $300 or $3,000 options never even ENTERED my mind. I have couture taste, don't get me wrong, but I often consider PAYLESS to be too expensive. Sigh. I guess there just is no helping me. And I guess that is why I have this blog. Because when I figure out how to make Jimmy Choos myself, I will want to share it. :-P
I don't quite know how it happened, but it seems like from birth I have been a sale hound. I like resale stores, I like clearance racks, and I LOVE garage sales. I often complain about paying full price for anything, with the exception of food, perhaps. I complain that resale stores are too expensive for my baby clothes. Garage sales are awesome, because I love to haggle. I always challenge the seller to make me a deal, and I have no problem asking for a discount, especially when I buy more than one item. I figure, its up to them to say no. But I am not a miser (I can give things away like nothing). I just like to spend my money judiciously. I refuse to go crafting without a coupon, and my mantra is NPFP - never pay full price.
It never occurred to me that this was abnormal until I was shopping at JC Penney with an equally budget conscious friend a few weeks ago, and I balked at buying 2 dresses off the regular racks, and went straight to clearance. Her response was "I don't have the patience for the clearance rack." Blew. My. Mind. She is so careful with her money, saving on groceries and has a crazy detailed budget like me. She is a stay at home mommy of 2, so that single income is stretched thin! And here she was, thinking nothing of buying off the regular rack! Ha ha. I had an epiphany right then and there. Maybe it was okay to spend a little money here and there! I always thought my husband was spoiling me, offering to buy me both when I couldn't decide between 2 $5 items. I AGONIZE over purchases, making sure I am getting the most bang for my buck, that I will not regret my purchase, and that the item is both incredibly useful and essential. And I do mean agonize. I lost sleep and cried over purchases when planning my wedding. It was hard for dollars to leave my hands. So, now the revelation: maybe I'm a little too eccentric. I have lived on a shoestring for ages, but perhaps relaxing a little is okay here and there. Its a great thing to watch your spending, but you can be irresponsibly thrifty, too. My lesson of the day: it causes stress to not watch your money, but its just as stressful to be too tight.
Well, then we read the fine print. And we realize that we will be buying something from DSW instead of BCBG or from BCBG instead of Gucci. I may be in the minority here, but I still can't afford $80 shoes, and the $300 or $3,000 options never even ENTERED my mind. I have couture taste, don't get me wrong, but I often consider PAYLESS to be too expensive. Sigh. I guess there just is no helping me. And I guess that is why I have this blog. Because when I figure out how to make Jimmy Choos myself, I will want to share it. :-P
I don't quite know how it happened, but it seems like from birth I have been a sale hound. I like resale stores, I like clearance racks, and I LOVE garage sales. I often complain about paying full price for anything, with the exception of food, perhaps. I complain that resale stores are too expensive for my baby clothes. Garage sales are awesome, because I love to haggle. I always challenge the seller to make me a deal, and I have no problem asking for a discount, especially when I buy more than one item. I figure, its up to them to say no. But I am not a miser (I can give things away like nothing). I just like to spend my money judiciously. I refuse to go crafting without a coupon, and my mantra is NPFP - never pay full price.
It never occurred to me that this was abnormal until I was shopping at JC Penney with an equally budget conscious friend a few weeks ago, and I balked at buying 2 dresses off the regular racks, and went straight to clearance. Her response was "I don't have the patience for the clearance rack." Blew. My. Mind. She is so careful with her money, saving on groceries and has a crazy detailed budget like me. She is a stay at home mommy of 2, so that single income is stretched thin! And here she was, thinking nothing of buying off the regular rack! Ha ha. I had an epiphany right then and there. Maybe it was okay to spend a little money here and there! I always thought my husband was spoiling me, offering to buy me both when I couldn't decide between 2 $5 items. I AGONIZE over purchases, making sure I am getting the most bang for my buck, that I will not regret my purchase, and that the item is both incredibly useful and essential. And I do mean agonize. I lost sleep and cried over purchases when planning my wedding. It was hard for dollars to leave my hands. So, now the revelation: maybe I'm a little too eccentric. I have lived on a shoestring for ages, but perhaps relaxing a little is okay here and there. Its a great thing to watch your spending, but you can be irresponsibly thrifty, too. My lesson of the day: it causes stress to not watch your money, but its just as stressful to be too tight.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Budget Friendly Living: Simplify
Recently I did a post about planning and how it can help you with your budget. I was looking around at what else we do that really makes an impact and I got to thinking about the way we approach our lives. I almost think that is more important than any other "tips" I could give. When I think about my life, I try to make it as uncluttered and uncomplicated as possible. We are busy and do a lot of things, but the more complicated life gets, it seems the more expensive it gets. Here are just a few examples:
We like the simple things in life. Hubby and I often take a walk together to spend some time chatting about how our day or week has been going. Its nice to reconnect, get in some exercise, and be outdoors a little (even in the heat wave we are having). However, its also much cheaper than going to a movie, watching cable TV, or going out to dinner. We do go out, don't get me wrong, but sometimes, the simpler activities make it easier to reconnect than shouting over restaurant chatter or whispering between scenes in a movie.
We also don't have phones with data plans. I find technology has really stressed me out over the years. I never had a cell phone as a teen because I didn't want to be that accessible to people. I didn't like Facebook (although I admittedly got a profile a few months ago...) because it was too impersonal and I didn't want people I don't like/from the past to find me and bug me. I like my privacy. A data plan, especially for Hubby because of work email, means that one more layer of my privacy and my "alone time" is being stripped away. I am constantly accessible to people. We have cable internet at home, and we have some mobile devices that can connect to wireless, but we don't have it on the go, which means we can "unplug" sometimes. And frankly, we have the cheapest cell phone plan of anyone I know.
We don't have a lot of stuff. I am not trying to live like a nun, but we don't OWN a lot of things. We have Netflix (streaming only) and Redbox instead of owning a lot of DVDs, and we have and use a library card (this is new for me and I am still SUPER excited about it). We only keep the things we use, and we buy high quality stuff for the things we use a lot (for me its kitchen gear - shocker, right?) so we don't wear them out and have to replace them all the time. We save up for the expensive items slowly over time, and then we have it pretty much forever. This reduces spending AND waste. Yay for the environment! Some of this stems from my hatred of clutter after leaving my parents' houses (they collect EVERYTHING and it makes me crazy!!), but a lot of it is because we don't attach our self worth to what we own, and we don't shop as a hobby or to make ourselves happy. We probably have a smaller TV than most people, but we also have no debt except our home.
And conservation. We try to conserve everything here; water, power, gas, waste, time, stuff... And I think the savings really add up.The really easy ones are water and electricity. We save in lots of ways. For example, we don't run our dishwasher very often to save on both. It makes life a lot simpler to just do dishes as they come. And yes, I do a LOT of dishes, but that is part of life. We also plug everything into a surge protector. Last winter we had a bad ice storm that took out our power and ruined everyone's TV except ours because we had a serge protector. And at the end of the day, we turn everything off at the switch so it doesn't passively draw power, but we don't have to constantly plug and unplug it. Simple, right?
The options are endless and these are just the things I was thinking of today... and I am ALWAYS open to suggestions. :-)
We like the simple things in life. Hubby and I often take a walk together to spend some time chatting about how our day or week has been going. Its nice to reconnect, get in some exercise, and be outdoors a little (even in the heat wave we are having). However, its also much cheaper than going to a movie, watching cable TV, or going out to dinner. We do go out, don't get me wrong, but sometimes, the simpler activities make it easier to reconnect than shouting over restaurant chatter or whispering between scenes in a movie.
We also don't have phones with data plans. I find technology has really stressed me out over the years. I never had a cell phone as a teen because I didn't want to be that accessible to people. I didn't like Facebook (although I admittedly got a profile a few months ago...) because it was too impersonal and I didn't want people I don't like/from the past to find me and bug me. I like my privacy. A data plan, especially for Hubby because of work email, means that one more layer of my privacy and my "alone time" is being stripped away. I am constantly accessible to people. We have cable internet at home, and we have some mobile devices that can connect to wireless, but we don't have it on the go, which means we can "unplug" sometimes. And frankly, we have the cheapest cell phone plan of anyone I know.
We don't have a lot of stuff. I am not trying to live like a nun, but we don't OWN a lot of things. We have Netflix (streaming only) and Redbox instead of owning a lot of DVDs, and we have and use a library card (this is new for me and I am still SUPER excited about it). We only keep the things we use, and we buy high quality stuff for the things we use a lot (for me its kitchen gear - shocker, right?) so we don't wear them out and have to replace them all the time. We save up for the expensive items slowly over time, and then we have it pretty much forever. This reduces spending AND waste. Yay for the environment! Some of this stems from my hatred of clutter after leaving my parents' houses (they collect EVERYTHING and it makes me crazy!!), but a lot of it is because we don't attach our self worth to what we own, and we don't shop as a hobby or to make ourselves happy. We probably have a smaller TV than most people, but we also have no debt except our home.
And conservation. We try to conserve everything here; water, power, gas, waste, time, stuff... And I think the savings really add up.The really easy ones are water and electricity. We save in lots of ways. For example, we don't run our dishwasher very often to save on both. It makes life a lot simpler to just do dishes as they come. And yes, I do a LOT of dishes, but that is part of life. We also plug everything into a surge protector. Last winter we had a bad ice storm that took out our power and ruined everyone's TV except ours because we had a serge protector. And at the end of the day, we turn everything off at the switch so it doesn't passively draw power, but we don't have to constantly plug and unplug it. Simple, right?
The options are endless and these are just the things I was thinking of today... and I am ALWAYS open to suggestions. :-)
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Budget friendly living: Plan
Hubby and I do pretty well on a single income. Granted he works in the tech field so he makes more than some, but we still have to budget like crazy to keep things running smoothly. Because hubby is such a wonderful nerd, we operate our household on a fiscal year, from Aug to July, rather than a calendar year. As EOF approaches (end of fiscal) and we set about making our yearly budget, I am reflecting on the ways we save money. I thought maybe I would start sharing some of the strategies we have used over the years that have worked the best. I'll try not to list the commonly cited ones, for example adjusting your thermostat (although we do that too), so you aren't reading the same old tips again.
I started making a list of everything we do and realized that it was WAY too much to handle at once. So I think maybe I will share them here and there when I am scrambling to get out a new post in a timely manner... Hey, I am being honest here!
So for my FIRST tip:
Before everything, Plan.
Hubby and I are planners by nature and we admittedly take this mantra to the extreme, but having a plan is super important. For everything. Funny, but most of this one ended up about food... Sorry about that :-)
Plan your menu a week or two ahead and make things that use common ingredients. I am notorious for buying a whole quart of buttermilk or opening a carton of chicken stock or a bottle of wine for about 1/2 cup, and then trying desperately not to waste it the day before it is sure to go bad and cooking 1,000 random items just so it doesn't go to waste. Throwing away food is like throwing away money, so waste as little as possible.
Plan grocery trips for once a week and STICK TO THE LIST to avoid impulse buys. Hubby and I have been slipping on this lately and it shows in our overbudget grocery bill. If you have a REAL list made out from your menu plan, you can really cut down on the time spent in the grocery store, and if you only make one trip a week, you will only be tempted to go off list (and have to resist) once.
Plan your errands and outings so you can do them all at once and in the same area. This saves on time and gas. Just be sure you don't eat out during your string of shopping trips.
Plan on eating your leftovers in your weekly menu, or better yet take them as lunches so you don't have to buy groceries for another meal. Freeze leftovers to avoid waste if you know you wont eat them in time.
Plan your budget well in advance. Hubby and I do it yearly, which is pretty weird, but we have been doing it a while and know our spending habits enough to do it that far in advance. Some people say do it weekly, but I think monthly is the very shortest increment I would advise. That way you aren't tempted to build in splurges, you can plan better for monthly bills like rent/mortgages, and you can start thinking long term about spending and saving. How do you build a budget? Start off by tracking your spending for a few weeks or months, categorize it, and then figure out how much you need for different things. This will also show you where you can cut back. Don't go cold turkey on spending, but adjust it every time you make a new budget until you meet your goals.
Plan for the future. If you save up a down payment for a house, save up to buy a car in cash, and plan for other large purchases like furniture and appliances, you will save a ton of money in interest. Don't wait until your dryer dies and then scramble to pay for it. Keep a budget for replacing large items. Car paid off? Keep paying yourself the car payment, and then you will have enough in a few years to buy one in cash. This is a common recommendation, but it is SO important, and most people still don't do it...
Plan for the unexpected. If you have an emergency, you have to cover it somehow. Having an emergency category to your budget is critical to saving money, because you will not have to dip in to savings or even worse, borrow. Get insurance for your car, your property (home owners or renters), your body (health insurance and life insurance), and anything else valuable. Don't skimp on insurance unless you are starving. It will come back to bite you! When budgeting for vehicles, make sure to build in maintenance costs so your car doesn't break down. Take care of your investments so they last longer, and it will cost less in the long run.
Well, that is all I have on my mind today. I guess this ended up being a lot of silly stuff after all (and I feel ridiculous now that it is all typed out) but I am posting it anyway. Sigh... :-)
I started making a list of everything we do and realized that it was WAY too much to handle at once. So I think maybe I will share them here and there when I am scrambling to get out a new post in a timely manner... Hey, I am being honest here!
So for my FIRST tip:
Before everything, Plan.
Hubby and I are planners by nature and we admittedly take this mantra to the extreme, but having a plan is super important. For everything. Funny, but most of this one ended up about food... Sorry about that :-)
Plan your menu a week or two ahead and make things that use common ingredients. I am notorious for buying a whole quart of buttermilk or opening a carton of chicken stock or a bottle of wine for about 1/2 cup, and then trying desperately not to waste it the day before it is sure to go bad and cooking 1,000 random items just so it doesn't go to waste. Throwing away food is like throwing away money, so waste as little as possible.
Plan grocery trips for once a week and STICK TO THE LIST to avoid impulse buys. Hubby and I have been slipping on this lately and it shows in our overbudget grocery bill. If you have a REAL list made out from your menu plan, you can really cut down on the time spent in the grocery store, and if you only make one trip a week, you will only be tempted to go off list (and have to resist) once.
Plan your errands and outings so you can do them all at once and in the same area. This saves on time and gas. Just be sure you don't eat out during your string of shopping trips.
Plan on eating your leftovers in your weekly menu, or better yet take them as lunches so you don't have to buy groceries for another meal. Freeze leftovers to avoid waste if you know you wont eat them in time.
Plan your budget well in advance. Hubby and I do it yearly, which is pretty weird, but we have been doing it a while and know our spending habits enough to do it that far in advance. Some people say do it weekly, but I think monthly is the very shortest increment I would advise. That way you aren't tempted to build in splurges, you can plan better for monthly bills like rent/mortgages, and you can start thinking long term about spending and saving. How do you build a budget? Start off by tracking your spending for a few weeks or months, categorize it, and then figure out how much you need for different things. This will also show you where you can cut back. Don't go cold turkey on spending, but adjust it every time you make a new budget until you meet your goals.
Plan for the future. If you save up a down payment for a house, save up to buy a car in cash, and plan for other large purchases like furniture and appliances, you will save a ton of money in interest. Don't wait until your dryer dies and then scramble to pay for it. Keep a budget for replacing large items. Car paid off? Keep paying yourself the car payment, and then you will have enough in a few years to buy one in cash. This is a common recommendation, but it is SO important, and most people still don't do it...
Plan for the unexpected. If you have an emergency, you have to cover it somehow. Having an emergency category to your budget is critical to saving money, because you will not have to dip in to savings or even worse, borrow. Get insurance for your car, your property (home owners or renters), your body (health insurance and life insurance), and anything else valuable. Don't skimp on insurance unless you are starving. It will come back to bite you! When budgeting for vehicles, make sure to build in maintenance costs so your car doesn't break down. Take care of your investments so they last longer, and it will cost less in the long run.
Well, that is all I have on my mind today. I guess this ended up being a lot of silly stuff after all (and I feel ridiculous now that it is all typed out) but I am posting it anyway. Sigh... :-)
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Running a household on a budget
Hubby and I just finished taking the Financial Peace University class by Dave Ramsey. I also just discovered the living on $28,000 series from the peaceful mom blog. Needless to say, I've been thinking a lot about money lately.
Now, I'm going to sound arrogant, but bear with me for just a sec. After going through both the class and the blog series, I was a little bitter because I didn't really learn anything new for my day to day budget. I did learn a lot from Ramsey about insurance and investing, but for my household budget it was all stuff I already did. But I didn't always do that, and I figure what if i knew then what I know now? Maybe we wouldn't have spent the last several years unburying ourselves from a mountain of debt. And I do mean a mountain. I guess I'm just the wrong audience for this stuff because I learned the hard way. I did really enjoy both, don't get me wrong. I just get disappointed when I think I will find some new exciting ways to save, and I come up empty.
So of course, I thought, well maybe I should give my own advice! I love to save money and Hubby and I have made it a kind of hobby to uberbudget and see how much ahead of our schedule we can get. I am a stay at home mom, so we are on one income, but thankfully its not too much of a hardship. Hubby just happens to love a lucrative field, so we are not exactly living on ramen and pork and beans. But as Dave Ramsey says, there is a difference between being broke and poor, and with all the credit card payments and student loan debt, we were pretty broke. I don't want to give you the impression we are swimming in money now, because we are still on a very tight budget, but we do have a comfortable income for being a single income household. That being said, I am still incredibly frugal. :-)
I don't exactly know where to start in sharing my experiences, so I figure I will just add posts as I go that share some of our money saving tips. But for the first post, I think I will share HOW we started budgeting.
I hated my job when I lived apart from my now husband, then fiance. When my lease for my apartment came up for renewal, I didn't think I could realistically stay there another year. Yes, I hated it that much. I was so depressed and so hopeless, it was all I could do to get out of bed each day. Needless to say, it killed my husband to see me so upset. So, we decided to look into moving in together. Two people can live more cheaply together, and we were saving for a wedding so it seemed prudent. I always intended to work, but the job market was just so bad, I went on interview after interview and came up with zip, despite always being in the top few candidates. Now we really had to look at our money. We had fallen in love with the idea of living together, but with only one income, how could we? So we started tracking our spending very carefully, took a look at my husband's income, and categorized all of our spending. We have many categories, such as mortgage, groceries, bad debt (credit cards), student loans, gifts, church (charity, really), and a category of "fun money" for each of us that we use to buy each other gifts, to buy things we want, and generally relieve that pressure from living on a budget. It also includes a slush fund which we nicknamed the "ice cream cone" fund where extra, unbudgeted money goes (such as tax returns, bonuses, interest on savings accounts, gifts, etc) until we decide what to do with it, like pay off debt, donate something to charity, go out to dinner, take a trip, etc. We often leave it there for a while until it accumulates enough to do what we want to. Its also an additional buffer for emergencies or if a budgetary item goes off track because we didn't plan quite right.
Hubby is a whiz with spreadsheets and we use Google docs so we can collaborate on it. Each of the pages on the bottom link to our itemized spending for that month, which deducts from this first page automatically. There are also "plan" spreadsheets for each month so we can account for things like insurance that are not paid monthly, and it also spells out how each paycheck is allocated. For the most part it is the same each month, but for some things it changes, like around Christmas for the gifts budget we save a little extra. The first column is the amount in the "bucket", the second is the "plan" amount, or how much we should have there at that point in time to stay on track to pay those irregular bills, especially key since bills are once a month and we are paid twice a month, and the third is the difference between the two - this tells us whether we are on track or not. Green means we are ahead, light green means we are a little ahead, white is perfectly on track, yellow is a little behind schedule, and red is critically behind. This first sheet is the snapshot of how we are doing at that exact moment. It ROCKS. We can see if we have money to spend on going out, if we have enough to pay our insurance, etc.
We also have spreadsheets further tracking our spending for certain categories, like groceries, baby, and crafts. These are mostly for tracking purposes, not planning, so we can see where we need to cut back or where we are doing well. A lot of our money goes into these categories, and it is easier to control our spending if we know what is going on. I used our baby budget to plan what I would buy for the baby, going from most to least important so we didn't end up with a jogging stroller but no car seat. So far, we have come in way under on most of our items, but it was indispensable during my pregnancy so I could see what we needed and what was a convenience (we still don't have a jogging stroller by the way haha).
So, I am sure this is about as clear as mud, but its our way of making things work, and I LOVE it. Every dime we spend is accounted for, and we plan by the year so we can plan for long term expenses and goals more easily. We even have a plan for buying a new house, although it is a few years off. But we will be able to do it because we can see our progress and we remember that it is there, needing some income allocated to it. Without a plan, it is so easy to forget to save for things, and thus, they never happen. Someday we will add vacations to the list when we can afford it, but for now, this is it!
Now, I'm going to sound arrogant, but bear with me for just a sec. After going through both the class and the blog series, I was a little bitter because I didn't really learn anything new for my day to day budget. I did learn a lot from Ramsey about insurance and investing, but for my household budget it was all stuff I already did. But I didn't always do that, and I figure what if i knew then what I know now? Maybe we wouldn't have spent the last several years unburying ourselves from a mountain of debt. And I do mean a mountain. I guess I'm just the wrong audience for this stuff because I learned the hard way. I did really enjoy both, don't get me wrong. I just get disappointed when I think I will find some new exciting ways to save, and I come up empty.
So of course, I thought, well maybe I should give my own advice! I love to save money and Hubby and I have made it a kind of hobby to uberbudget and see how much ahead of our schedule we can get. I am a stay at home mom, so we are on one income, but thankfully its not too much of a hardship. Hubby just happens to love a lucrative field, so we are not exactly living on ramen and pork and beans. But as Dave Ramsey says, there is a difference between being broke and poor, and with all the credit card payments and student loan debt, we were pretty broke. I don't want to give you the impression we are swimming in money now, because we are still on a very tight budget, but we do have a comfortable income for being a single income household. That being said, I am still incredibly frugal. :-)
I don't exactly know where to start in sharing my experiences, so I figure I will just add posts as I go that share some of our money saving tips. But for the first post, I think I will share HOW we started budgeting.
I hated my job when I lived apart from my now husband, then fiance. When my lease for my apartment came up for renewal, I didn't think I could realistically stay there another year. Yes, I hated it that much. I was so depressed and so hopeless, it was all I could do to get out of bed each day. Needless to say, it killed my husband to see me so upset. So, we decided to look into moving in together. Two people can live more cheaply together, and we were saving for a wedding so it seemed prudent. I always intended to work, but the job market was just so bad, I went on interview after interview and came up with zip, despite always being in the top few candidates. Now we really had to look at our money. We had fallen in love with the idea of living together, but with only one income, how could we? So we started tracking our spending very carefully, took a look at my husband's income, and categorized all of our spending. We have many categories, such as mortgage, groceries, bad debt (credit cards), student loans, gifts, church (charity, really), and a category of "fun money" for each of us that we use to buy each other gifts, to buy things we want, and generally relieve that pressure from living on a budget. It also includes a slush fund which we nicknamed the "ice cream cone" fund where extra, unbudgeted money goes (such as tax returns, bonuses, interest on savings accounts, gifts, etc) until we decide what to do with it, like pay off debt, donate something to charity, go out to dinner, take a trip, etc. We often leave it there for a while until it accumulates enough to do what we want to. Its also an additional buffer for emergencies or if a budgetary item goes off track because we didn't plan quite right.
 |
| Our real budget, minus the numbers |
We also have spreadsheets further tracking our spending for certain categories, like groceries, baby, and crafts. These are mostly for tracking purposes, not planning, so we can see where we need to cut back or where we are doing well. A lot of our money goes into these categories, and it is easier to control our spending if we know what is going on. I used our baby budget to plan what I would buy for the baby, going from most to least important so we didn't end up with a jogging stroller but no car seat. So far, we have come in way under on most of our items, but it was indispensable during my pregnancy so I could see what we needed and what was a convenience (we still don't have a jogging stroller by the way haha).
So, I am sure this is about as clear as mud, but its our way of making things work, and I LOVE it. Every dime we spend is accounted for, and we plan by the year so we can plan for long term expenses and goals more easily. We even have a plan for buying a new house, although it is a few years off. But we will be able to do it because we can see our progress and we remember that it is there, needing some income allocated to it. Without a plan, it is so easy to forget to save for things, and thus, they never happen. Someday we will add vacations to the list when we can afford it, but for now, this is it!
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