Category Archives for Saving Money & Frugal Living
5 Ways to Earn Extra Money Fast for the Holidays
The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Chonce. You can read more articles by Chonce over at her personal blog, My Debt Epiphany. Enjoy!
The holiday season is winding down. While the holiday time is an exciting time to relax and spend time with family, it can also be quite stressful on your finances due to all the costs associated with the holidays.
Many people spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on purchasing holiday gifts, decorations, hosting and attending parties and events, and so on.
Nothing stings more than getting into debt this time of year. One thing you can do to avoid spending more than you earn over the next few weeks is to find ways to earn more money to cover the increased expenses over the past few months.
Here are 5 ways to earn extra money fast to either prepare for or recover from the holiday season.
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Get a Seasonal Job
Earning extra money through a seasonal job is a good idea if you are worried about stretching your budget for the holidays.
Seasonal jobs tend to provide a consistent income (even though it’s temporary) because business usually picks up during the fall and holiday seasons.
Many businesses like Amazon.com will be looking for online customer service reps this holiday season to assist shoppers and answer questions about purchases, shipping inquiries, and more.
This positions with Amazon range from $12 – $15 per hour on average and can last up to 6 months or longer if you leave a lasting impression and they need to take on a regular employee.
You can also try working as a seasonal associate at busy stores like Target, Walmart, K-Mart etc. Or, try getting holiday-themed gigs like doing photography at the mall or decorating store fronts.
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Test Websites
If you’re looking to earn some extra money from home, you can test out websites during your spare time and offer your honest feedback.
UserTesting is a popular website that pays people to review other websites and blogs.
Testers get paid $10 for each 20-minute review and they just answer simple questions and record their first impressions and experience navigating through the website.
It’s not a ton of money, but it will add up once all those unexpected holiday expenses start trickling in.
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Sell Items Online
If you’re buying new gifts for people in your family, it’s the perfect time to clean out your home by selling items you no longer use.
You can sell items online via Amazon, Ebay, or Craigslist, or you can sell them directly to buy-back consignment shops.
If you have old clothes, movies, furniture, children’s toys etc. there are many small stores that may buy them back from you if they are in good condition. Plato’s Closet, Once Upon a Child, Clothes Mentor, and Disc Replay are all national chains and there are plenty other options depending on where you live.
If you don’t have many consignment shops in your area, stick to selling your items online for better results.
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Become an Uber or Lyft Driver
My husband recently started driving for Uber and he loves it. His car is older (a 2006 I believe) and we live in the suburbs but he still gets a decent amount of trips and his side income is currently helping him be able to afford holiday expenses this year.
Uber also pays drivers every week, so if you get started now, you can get paid a few times before Christmas.
One of my friends recently quit a job he didn’t like to drive for Uber and Lyft. Lyft drivers also get paid weekly and Lyft allows drivers to receive tips. According to Lyft, around 60% of passengers tip.
No matter which rideshare option you choose, you can enjoy flexible work and drive to earn money whenever it’s convenient for you.
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Babysit
If you have friends, family, and neighbors who may be busier over these next few weeks, consider offering to babysit for them. Couples love date nights and since daycares aren’t open in the evening, you can market your services better around that time.
Making a profile on Care.com or Sittercity.com will also help you land clients.
If you can’t or don’t want to watch kids, consider babysitting pets by walking dogs or keeping an eye on them when their owners are out of town.
You can advertise your services in your neighborhood and I always recommend Rover.com which is a site that connects pet sitters and dog walkers with owners who are in need of the service.
If you need extra money to recover from the holidays, you can earn money quickly by trying any of these ideas.
The key is to get started so you know how much you need to earn.
How about you all? How are you earning extra money to recover from the holidays?
Share your experiences by commenting below!
***Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/76657755@N04/7027602839/in/
Things I Learned While Traveling to Hawaii
The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Marie. You can read more of Marie’s articles over at her own blog, Family Money Values. Enjoy!
My spouse, one adult son and I recently returned from a trip to Hawaii from the mainland. Here are a few things I learned while traveling.
Start looking for your airfare early and grab it when it seems like a deal.
I did start looking early – in June for an October flight. I had read that prices typically go down when you get closer to the travel date. So when, I saw a great flight (i.e. one that left after dawn and arrived in the early afternoon with just two stops) at a price of around $950 a person, I didn’t snap it up.
As time went by, the flights kept getting worse and the prices higher. I finally snared three tickets at around $1090 each, but the flight there from the mainland had 2 stops instead of one and it arrived in Honolulu 4 hours later than that great flight I found first.
Don’t count on actually getting the flight you booked.
Unfortunately, this flight went through Dallas and the day we left home, Dallas had weather. We got on the plane, sat there waiting to take off and the pilot announced that we were delayed due to weather in Dallas and we would get an update on the hour (it was quarter after the hour – so not even an update for 45 minutes). When the update finally came through, it wasn’t good. We were allowed off the plane. Thank heavens my son got right in line to try to re-route. It took at least half and hour for him to get to the head of the line and we were the last folks to get helped. We ended up leaving at 12:30 pm instead of 8 am, going to Chicago, then San Francisco then Maui and finally into Honolulu – actually arriving at around midnight their time – which meant that we had been en route for 24 hours. However, if we hadn’t re-routed, we would have spent the night in the Dallas airport instead!
Book your seats when you book your flight.
I did manage to do this right. I had 2 tall men with me so I booked them into aisle seats and took the middle seat. We did get these seats, except the on the re-routed flight.
Travel light – using duffel bags.
The airline we traveled on (indeed most airlines today) charge at least $25 to check one bag and more as the number you check increases. We already had decided to travel light, just using a carry on and a personal bag. The airline we traveled on had requirements posted for carry on bags that were smaller than my roll on bag, so I borrowed duffel bags from my other son to take.
I also used a soft side laptop bag instead of a purse – and outfitted my spouse the same way.
It was lucky that we used duffel bags instead of a wheeled carrier as there were multiple legs where folks with wheeled carriers had to be checked prior to boarding.
Update: On some airlines, you now can only carry on a bag that fits under the seat – you have to pay extra to use the overhead bins!
Wear your heaviest clothes, but stay comfortable.
Since we would be in hot weather most of the time, but were going to see the stars at the Mauna Kea visitor center where the temperature can be below freezing, we needed multiple kinds of clothes. I wore my heaviest shoes, carried my jacket and wore layers of clothes. The jacket came in handy as a pillow on the plane.
Be sure to check to make sure your clothes don’t have metal on them though. One of my shirts had a metal zipper so I got patted down three times at security check points! Quite embarrassing.
If your flight is delayed, make sure you can still get your rental car.
Knowing we would be late arriving in Honolulu, I checked the operating hours for the rental car agency and saw that it would be close. I also saw that they wanted to know if you would be late and would hold (maybe) your reservation if you called.
I did call while waiting for a flight in a very noisy airport. The number I called was supposed to be the local rental agency but wasn’t. The lady on the phone had to put me on hold and get hold of them to see if they would stay to get my car to me. Luckily they agreed to have someone there at midnight when we arrived!
Take good ear phones.
I did take ear phones, but they weren’t very good ones. I had rented a movie on my Kindle to watch in flight, but couldn’t hear it with my cheap ear phones!
Take a blind fold.
Mine came in handy on the two over night flights we ended up having.
Take snacks.
Even 5 hour flights don’t serve much food anymore.
Volunteer to check bags.
Although we wanted our bags with us on the way out, on the way home we eagerly volunteered to check our bags at the gate – complimentary instead of a $25 fee.
On almost each leg, the airline offered to check carry on for free at the gate, saying that the flight was crowded and there wouldn’t be enough room to handle all the carry on bags.
We figured, coming home, it wouldn’t matter if we had to wait to retrieve bags and it wouldn’t be tragic even if they were lost or delayed. Of course, we kept the laptop bag with our valuables in it with us.
Don’t book advance paid reservations for the first day there.
We wanted to see Pearl Harbor and I figured, with Honolulu time being 5 hours behind ours we would be up early the day after arrival. I had purchased what is called a Passport ticket – to reserve a time slot to go to the USS Arizona Memorial and to tour the USS Missouri, the USS Bowfin and see the Pacific Aviation museum. I paid in full in advance for all of us.
Since we needed sleep after our 24 hour travel time, we didn’t want to get up at 7 am to face Honolulu rush hour traffic (which is bad) to get to Pearl an hour prior to our 9 am reserved USS Arizona time slot. It took multiple phone calls to the reservation center to figure out that we could go see the rest of the stuff later in the day. Luckily, I had already booked a time slot for the second day to go back to the USS Arizona Memorial in case we wanted to – so we just went the next day to see it.
How about you all? What travel tips do you have to share?
***Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/aigle_dore/8274728646/in/
How My Mom Went From Dirt Poor Single Mom to Comfortably Retired
The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Laurie Blank. Laurie is a wife, mother to 4 and homesteader who blogs about personal finance, self-sufficiency and life in general over at The Frugal Farmer. Part witty, part introspective and part silly, her goal in blogging is to help others find their way to financial freedom and to a simpler, more peaceful life.
When I was a kid we were always struggling for money. I remember my parents having “discussions” about money and how to work things out so the bills got paid. When I was 11, my parents divorced and what was “financially struggling” turned into “dirt poor” as my dad’s income now was shared between two families.
Dad faithfully paid his child support obligations, which covered the $250 house payment and gave us an extra $50 to live on. To say that things were tight was an understatement. There were many times when we had bare cupboards and threats from the power company to turn the heat off in the dead of winter if the bill wasn’t paid. I remember my mom calling and begging my grandma to borrow her the money to pay the heat bill. I remember not being able to afford new clothes. We shopped at thrift stores and only bought what we absolutely needed. I remember wearing $2 canvas tennis shoes while all the other kids were wearing Nikes and Converse.
Today my mom is retired and financially comfortable. Not rich, but comfortable. How did she turn things around for herself and her family? Here are five things she did to get free from being dirt poor and to create some financial stability for herself.
She Taught Herself Valuable Skills
When my parents divorced, mom didn’t have her driver’s license and had no valuable skills for obtaining a job. When she went down to the welfare office to apply for financial support, she saw that they had opportunities for job training and took full advantage of them. She went to classes on how to interview. She bought an old used typewriter at a neighborhood garage sale and brushed up on the skills she’d learned in typing class in tenth grade, even though she hadn’t touched a typewriter in over fifteen years. She did what she needed to do to make herself marketable to the workplace.
She Learned to Live Within Her Means
When mom first was managing our home and family on her own, we were always short at the end of the month. There were a few months when there wasn’t any food until the welfare check came in a day or two later, and credit cards weren’t an option for a single woman in the 1970’s. Free breakfast and lunch at school fed us kids, but mom would just go without.
Our financial situation changed when someone gave my mom a common sense piece of advice: Pay the bills first and learn to budget the rest and live within your means.
This sounds so simple but it was new information to the woman who had always let her husband manage the money. She began meticulously budgeting and made sure we always had enough to eat and live on. It wasn’t fancy, but all of our needs were provided for. Mom budgets meticulously to this day.
She Made Saving a Habit
Even though my mom’s income was always smaller (her max pay before retirement was $17 an hour) she always, always saved something each month. She contributed to the 401(k) plans where she worked and put a little bit in savings each month. At the time, the small amount she was putting away each month didn’t seem like much, but it grew over the thirty years between her divorce and retirement and she’s still living on it today.
She Learned to Persevere
Mom went through LOTS of tough times in her life after the divorce. She suffered for years from clinical depression. It takes her awhile to learn new skills, so there were many jobs that fired her due to her lack of ability. But no matter what obstacles came her way, mom got up, brushed herself off and moved on. She did her best not to allow failure or discouragement keep her from achieving.
She Redefined “Comfortable”
My mom’s life now is not comfortable by many people’s standards, but she has her priorities in order so that her minimal income (about $750 a month via social security and a smaller sized investment fund) is managed in a way that makes sure the bills are paid but allows for some fun too. Mom’s “fun” these days includes her weekly bowling session with her husband, her brother and sister-in-law. They take advantage of the senior bowling rates and then her and her husband (they have totally separate finances and split all of the bills) split a meal at a local restaurant. She gives herself sixty dollars a week to cover gasoline and other incidentals, entertainment and clothing costs, and gift purchases for birthdays and Christmas. She rarely spends all sixty each week, putting the leftovers in an envelope so that when more expensive weeks come she has the cash to cover them. She doesn’t take vacations or live in a fancy house. She has the same bedroom set and coffee tables she’s had for thirty years.
Comfortable to my mom means she’s able to stay retired and spend her free time with family and friends. She doesn’t at all feel like she’s missing out because of her tight budget. Instead, she’s grateful for all that she has and is happy to have a warm home and loved ones to share her time with.
Mom isn’t wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but she has all that she needs and a little bit more, and that is perfectly enough for her. She’s learned to look at the positive in life and be grateful for all that she has, and that kind of attitude makes life a whole lot more comfortable, regardless of one’s money situation.
How about you all? Have you ever struggled financially? What did you do to overcome?
Share your experiences by commenting below!
***Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/ktoine/7976828799/in/
Smart Money Moves for the New Year
The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Melissa Batai. Melissa is a freelance writer who covers topics ranging from personal finance to business to organics to food. She blogs at Mom’s Plans where she shares her family’s journey to healthier living and paying down debt.
The new year is often a time for renewal; people frequently vow to get healthier and be more responsible with money. However, there’s no need to wait until the calendar turns to January 1st. There is plenty you can do now to help your finances as you head into the new year.
Reduce the Interest You Pay
If you owe money, there are many ways you can cut the amount of interest that you’re paying so you can get out of debt more quickly.
Transfer credit card balances to a 0% APR card. If you have a credit card balance and are paying high interest, take the time to stop that now. If you have good credit, there are many 0% APR offers available. Just do a simple Google search. You’ll likely have to pay a transfer fee of 2 to 3% of the balance you’re transferring. Crunch the numbers to make sure that the transfer fee is lower than the interest you would pay on the card you’re currently using. Also, try to get an offer for 0% rate that lasts 15 to 18 months, giving you time to pay off the card.
Negotiate your interest rates. If you don’t want to transfer your credit card balance, another option is to call your credit card company and ask them for a lower interest rate. Really, it’s that easy. This strategy works about 50% of the time, so it’s worth the time. If the person you speak with tells you the company can’t change your interest rate, ask to speak to the supervisor who may be more likely to negotiate with you.
I did this about a year ago, and I was originally refused. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and I was again refused. I called back a few days later and again worked my way up to a supervisor. This time, the supervisor not only reduced my rate by 3%, but he also gave me enough rewards points to cover the cost of my annual fee and additional to give me $50 cashback. Persistence is key with this strategy.
If you try to call several times and don’t make any progress, tell them that you plan to move your balance to another card. This is a last resort option and may provide the incentive the company needs to reduce your interest rate.
Be Mindful of Your Money
Money has a way of leaking out if we’re not careful. There are several steps you can take to stop the leaks and keep more of your hard-earned dollars in your pocket!
Set up a budget. If you have not done so already, take the time to set up a budget. For years I did our budget with paper and pencil, but as our finances grew more complex as our family grew, I found this method increasingly frustrating. A few months ago, I switched over to You Need a Budget! (YNAB), and I love it. It’s made budgeting so much easier!
There are other budgeting tools available, too, like PearBudget, EveryDollar, Mint, CalendarBudget, Mvelopes, and many others. Just find the tool that works best for you.
Delete ghost accounts. Most of us have accounts that we’re still paying for regularly, but we no longer use. Are you paying for a magazine subscription for a magazine you no longer read? Do you still pay $40 to the gym, but you quit going months ago? Take an afternoon to go through your checking and credit card accounts to see if you have any ghost accounts—things you’re paying for that you no longer use, need, or want. You may be surprised to see that you have several!
Set up auto pay. If you have trouble remembering to pay your bills on time or you don’t want to set reminders for yourself, consider setting up auto pay. By utilizing auto pay, you can reduce the chance of having a late payment and suffering the accompanying late fee.
Check your tax withholding. If you routinely get a tax refund, check your tax withholding. You may want to claim more dependents so that you don’t get a big refund each tax season. It’s far better if you put that money to work for you throughout the year rather than getting back a large lump sum in the spring. Your accountant can help you determine the appropriate tax withholding.
Increase Your Savings & Retirement Contributions
Once you’ve lowered your interest rates and set up a budget, it’s time to look at your savings and retirement contributions.
Set aside money for Christmas. Do you routinely put all of your Christmas shopping on credit card and then find yourself unable to pay it off quickly? If so, you’re paying even more for the presents than you realize.
“You can figure out just how much your Christmas debt is costing you to carry by using calculators on the internet. Plug in $1,000 at 17 percent (the prevailing credit card rate) in the calculator at www.bankrate.com, and you’ll find that your interest totals $94 over one year and $187 over two” (ABC News).
Rather than paying interest, take steps now so you’re prepared for next year. If you spend $600 on presents, set aside either $11.50 a week or $50 a month. When the 2017 shopping begins, you’ll have the cash to pay for your gifts.
Set up automatic savings withdrawal from your paycheck. Most of us have trouble saving money. One easy way to save more is to set up an automatic withdrawal from your paycheck to your savings account. When I worked full-time, I did this. At first, I missed the money from my paycheck. But after a few paychecks, I forgot all about the money that was being deducted, and I learned to live on the paycheck I was getting instead of counting on the money that was being funneled into savings.
I truly forgot about this, so I was always in for a pleasant surprise when I checked my savings account balance. It was growing steadily, with no help from me.
Simply go to the payroll department and fill out the form to have whatever amount of money you would like transferred to your savings account every paycheck. You can likely also do this online. A perfect time to make this adjustment is when you receive a raise. You won’t yet be depending on the additional income, so you won’t miss it when it goes to savings.
Put money in your retirement savings. If your employer offers a retirement savings match, make sure to allocate money for a retirement contribution, at least to the point that your employer matches.
If you’re in a better financial situation, consider adding to your Roth IRA or your regular IRA. Remember that you have the first several months in 2017 to add to your account for 2016, which can help lessen your tax burden when you file your taxes.
Financial changes don’t happen overnight. However, as we head into the new year, you can slowly make these changes so that you’re in a much better financial position in 2017.
How about you all? What financial changes do you plan to make for the new year? What strategies would you recommend others implement?
Share your experiences by commenting below!
***Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/scruch/2304897733/in/
5 Monthly Cost Reductions That Can Keep Your Budget on Track
The following is a guest post. Enjoy!
Creating a monthly budget is one of the significant steps forward you can take in your personal finances. Not just a way to limit unnecessary spending, budgets also allow you to plan for future goals. They let you chart your progress towards those milestones. However, it’s always a challenge to stick to your budget. That’s especially so if you’ve just made one for the first time.
While I previously wrote about bad habits that can harm your budget, there are other steps you can take as well. Many people don’t realize just how much they could rescue their monthly expenses. Take a closer look at some ways you can cut back on your spending.
1. Lower consumption to reduce utility bills
One of the big slices of your budget pie-chart likely goes to utilities. Do you feel like your bill each month is too high? You can make an effort to lower it. Changing your consumption of electricity and water can have a big effect on your budget. Best of all, there are many ways to save money on your utility bill. That includes everything from shorter showers to using energy efficient appliances. As your bill goes down, budgetary wiggle room increases.
2. Spend more time cooking meals at home
Do you love to go out to eat? Many of us do, and it’s often a social occasion as well. However, all those meals add up quickly. It doesn’t take long before your food budget goes strictly to restaurants. To gain more control over your finances, cook your food at home. In more cases than not, it works out to be cheaper than eating out. It’s also frequently more enjoyable. Playing a bigger role in making your own food can only be a good thing. Try to plan your meals in advance. Pay close attention to local grocery sales. Taking advantage of these can enable you to stock up on delicious ingredients at budget-friendly prices.
3. Cut out daily luxury purchases
Coffee, cigarettes, smartphone application purchases — we all have our daily vices. We’re all probably aware of how much it costs us, too. Rarely does that stop us from grabbing a coffee on the way to work, though. Don’t carry on with these kinds of purchases. I wrote about how “small” purchases can stack up fast. So can these expenses, which we often know we don’t need in the first place. Try to wean yourself from them. If you find it difficult, try only getting your coffee every other day. Eventually, you can cut it out altogether.
4. Look for a better car insurance rate
Like utilities, a car insurance payment can be a substantial chunk of your monthly budget. Could you be paying less than you are now, though? It might be time to look into finding a better rate. That could come from speaking to your current insurer. You could also consider changing providers. No matter where you are, from Maine to California, it’s easy to get a quote for auto insurance from many companies. Frequently you can even request a quote online or over the phone. It’s worth taking some time to investigate a lower rate, because you may find you could save a few hundred bucks.
5. Use public transportation more often
Do you live in a place where driving everywhere is a necessity? You may frequently spend more than you’ve budgeted for fuel each month. This extra expense can be a very frustrating problem to encounter consistently. What’s the solution? Make an effort to commute without your car. If you can use public transportation, a carpooling service, or even a bicycle, you can save money. Gas prices are volatile by nature; you never know when the cost may skyrocket. In other words, it’s smart to try and cut your fuel consumption regardless. Plus, the less you drive your car, the easier it is on the environment!
These are just a few of the ways you can knock your monthly expenses down to size. When you gain control of these costs, you gain control of your budget. That empowers you to work harder and faster towards meeting your goals. Take the time today to sit down and think about how you could reduce these and other expenses each month.
5 Things I Do Every Month to Save Money on Groceries
The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Chonce. You can read more articles by Chonce over at her personal blog, My Debt Epiphany. Enjoy!
According to a Gallup poll, the average American spends $151 per week on groceries and 1 in 10 Americans admitted to spending $300 or more per week.
That sounds like a ton of money to spend on food alone, but if you have a standard family size of 3-4 people, you might find lowering your grocery spending to be quite the challenge.
Next year everyone will be setting New Year’s resolutions and one of your goals may be to lower some of your expenses.
My family of 3 have been eating well by only spending $300 per month on groceries and I know that anyone can meet their goal of lowering their grocery spending by doing using some of the strategies I implement every month.
Use Coupon and Discount Apps
One of the best things you can do before a shopping trip is scope out the deals and see if you can use any valid coupons to lower the cost of your final bills. It sounds great and all, but who has time to do that?
If you’re getting off work on a Friday afternoon and you just want to get your shopping over and done with, you probably aren’t going to want to go through the effort of hunting down your newspaper circular and making things off and clipping coupons.
To simplify this rigorous process, I use mobile apps to do all the hard work for me so I can still reap the benefits. Favado is an app that compares prices across local stores in order to find the best sale/discount for you. Flipp is another app that collects circulars from local stores so you can compare sales and it allows you to clip coupons digitally as well.
Limit Your Trips to the Store
Another way I save money at the grocery store is simply by shopping less. We shop once every two weeks and I love the fact that I don’t have to be in the grocery store every weekend.
I never go shopping without a detailed list, so I know exactly what we need and how many meals we need to prepare in order to avoid going to the store every week.
The less you shop, the less likely you’ll see things you want to purchase so this helps my family and I eliminate temptations to make impulse buys.
Price Matching
If you haven’t tried price matching, you could be missing out on a ton of savings. Shop at stores that have price matching policies where they promise to provide you with the best deal in town.
At stores that offer price matching, you can bring in an ad from a competitor that is offering a discount on a specific item and that store will need to match their price which can save you money on the spot.
My friend price matches all the time for groceries and loves it. When she moved 25 minutes away from her hometown for college, she started bringing ads from her favorite grocery store that offered a 10-cent produce sale every month to the Walmart in her new town and they honored the prices on the flyer.
With price matching, it’s important to check the store’s policy and see what they accept. For example, some stores will only price match ads from competitors with a 30-mile radius so you can’t compare a local deal in California if you live in Colorado.
However, if you keep your eyes out for ads with savings and become familiar with your favorite store’s price matching policy, you should be able to price match some of your food items and save a decent amount of money as a result.
Utilize Your Crock Pot to Cook Meals in Bulk
Purchasing a crock pot/ slow cooker was one of the best decisions I could have made to lower my grocery spending. Grocery shopping can be stressful and hectic especially if you are trying to eat a large majority of your meals at home.
To stretch our low grocery budget, I prepare filling and affordable meals in our slow cooker all the time. I make a lot of stews, soups, pasta dishes and more. Our favorite slow cooker meals right now include beef stew, chicken tortilla soup, and rice and beans.
The ingredients for each of these meals cost less than $10 and makes enough for us to eat for 2-3 nights so it averages out to around $3-5 per family meal. You can’t get that deal at a restaurant!
With your homemade meals, try to focus on the price per portion if you’re trying to spend less on groceries and consider using a slow cooker to help keep costs low.
Buy In-Season Fresh Produce
I’m all about eating healthy, but I’m not interested in buying a $7 bag of grapes or cherries during the offseason. This is why we stick to seasonable fresh produce in order to save money.
You might notice that berries go on sale in the summer then get expensive in the fall and winter. Plus they taste pretty bad during the offseason too.
I always shop for fresh in-season produce because it’s always on sale so I can get more bang for my buck.
Also, shopping fresh is usually cheaper too seeing as how processed foods can get pretty costly. Even buying fruits and veggies that are pre-cut can add an extra few dollars to the total price.
How about you all? Do you do any of these things to lower your grocery budget every month?
Share your experiences by commenting below!
***Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrefariagomes/4088061570/in/
How I Afforded Christmas as a Single Mom
The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Chonce. You can read more articles by Chonce over at her personal blog, My Debt Epiphany. Enjoy!
Single moms have a lot on their plate especially since they usually act as the single source of financial support for their family.
I was a single mom for about 6 years and I recently got married. Before I met my husband and back when I was still working on establishing my career, I remember that tense feeling I would get whenever the holidays came up.
I know that the holiday season is not just about money and gifts, but I still wanted my son to have a nice Christmas and have all his needs met. Luckily, I was able to meet all my holiday expenses and more while being a single mom and here are a few things I did to make it more affordable.
I Started Saving Up Ahead of Time
I’d recommend that everyone start saving up for the holiday season early especially if you are a parent. I never really spent a ton of money throughout the year so holiday gifts were always a mix of things we wanted and needed.
I kept holiday expenses in the back of my mind as early as July of each year and started to sock away a little cash every month. Sometimes it was small amounts like $20 each pay period, then I gradually increased the amount to $50 and son on. By the end of the year, I had quite a bit of money saved up.
I Picked Up Extra Work
I worked a part-time job with very limiting hours when I was a single mom and this was partly because I was juggling college at the time. During the holiday season, hours at my job picked up a bit and I always volunteered to work extra hours for Black Friday and on special weekends when there was in–store promotions.
Another thing I did was pick up extra shifts doing in-store demonstrations to promote certain products. Being a brand ambassador was a great side hustle for me because the pay was always more than minimum wage and the shifts were short and flexible.
Some days, I’d host alcohol tastings in popular stores for $20/hour. After a 4-5 hour shift, I had made quite a bit of extra money to put toward holiday expenses.
I Joined Holiday Sponsor Programs
The holiday season is all about giving. When you don’t have a lot, it’s okay to be open to receiving help as well. When I had a low income and was a single mom, I would sign up for holiday gift programs where sponsors help provide Christmas gifts for kids in the community.
There were quite a few groups and organizations that provided kids with gifts like local churches and the Salvation Army. Some programs had income limits for families to meet since they wanted to make sure they were serving families in need but for a lot of programs, household income didn’t even need to be disclosed.
At my college, there was a program called Christmas for Kids and it allowed kids to create holiday wish lists that would be matched up with a sponsor so they could receive Christmas gifts. The gifts were given at an annual event that included dinner so kids could meet with their actual sponsors and take pictures with them.
These events and programs were super helpful when I was a single mom because they helped provide my son with gifts that I might not have had the means to buy.
Now that I am in a better place financially, my family actually gives back by sponsoring a child for Christmas each year through our church.
I Participated in Gift Exchanges and Gave in Other Ways
Buying gifts for my child was one thing, but exchanging gifts with other people like family and friends also weighed heavy on my wallet. When I couldn’t afford to gift everyone, I decided to form a holiday gift exchange as well similar to a Secret Santa where each person was assigned someone to get a gift for instead of buying something for everyone in the group.
I usually didn’t stress about giving a bunch a gifts when I couldn’t afford to do so and focused on showing my appreciation for people and giving in other ways like baking special treats, doing a favor for someone, sending a holiday greeting card, etc.
I Accepted Gently Used Things
To stretch my budget even more so I could make ends meet and have a pleasant holiday season, I accepted some hand-me-down items especially holiday decor. Decor can be expensive so when my mom offered to give me her old tree and all her ornaments and decorations for it, I couldn’t pass up the offer.
Decorating our home for the holidays and putting up our tree is an important tradition we have that it a lot of fun. I’ve replaced the tree my mom gave me after a few years but we still use the decorations year after year which saves me a lot of money.
I also wasn’t (and I’m still not) opposed to picking up used toys and clothes depending on what they were. I’ve already shared my strategy for saving money on clothing, and I realized that young kids will play with just about any toy thanks to their imagination.
I’ve found some really nice thrift store finds for my son including toys he absolutely loves so mixing in something used with new items is just another way I liked to keep holiday expenses affordable.
The Holidays Don’t Have to Be Super Expensive
Christmas in my house has always been bright and special no matter what my financial situation was. It’s so fun to see how excited my son is each year and be able to create some special memories with him.
As you can see, the holidays don’t have to be so costly as long as you know your budget, can utilize local resources, and start saving up ahead of time. Worst case scenario, there are plenty of ways to earn extra money so your finances aren’t super tight around this costly time of year.
The tips and strategies I used can be used by anyone to make Christmas more affordable.
***Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/3132286400/in/
4 Ways to Minimize Your Tax Burden Before Year-End
The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Laurie Blank. Laurie is a wife, mother to 4 and homesteader who blogs about personal finance, self-sufficiency and life in general over at The Frugal Farmer. Part witty, part introspective and part silly, her goal in blogging is to help others find their way to financial freedom and to a simpler, more peaceful life.
We’re into the last quarter of the year, which means that personal finance buffs like you and me are getting our year-end money ducks in a row, figuring out how we can end the year on a high note from a personal finance point-of-view.
With that in mind, I thought I’d share some year-end money moves for helping minimize your tax burden. It’s a smart money move to keep as much of your own money as possible in your pocket so that you can increase your ability to care for yourself and your family, and so that you’ve got extra money to give away where you see a need that tugs at your heart. Making smart year-end tax moves helps ensure you put yourself in a better position to care for yourself and those around you.
Here are some ideas for making your own financial situation more secure and helping increase the money you have to give to causes you’re passionate about.
Contribute to an IRA
Go Banking Rates reports that nearly a third of Americans have nothing saved for retirement. When you get to retirement age you’ll not only need cash for basic necessities, but potentially for rising medical costs as well. One way to save more cash for expenses during the retirement years is to sock some cash away in an IRA.
Those under age fifty can put as much as $5,500 per year in either a Traditional IRA, a Roth IRA or a combination of the two. If you’re over age fifty, you can put away up to $6,500 per year into one or more IRA accounts.
Putting additional monies into a Traditional IRA when possible will help reduce your taxable income and help you save more money for your retirement years at the same time. It’s important to note too that you can make a current-year IRA contribution as late as April 15th of the following year.
Max Out HSA Contributions
If you know you’ll have some upcoming medical expenses before the end of the year – or even for next year – now’s the time to start contributing more to an HSA account. For us it’s kids’ braces. Although our dental insurance plan pays up to $2,000 for each kid’s braces that still leaves nearly $3,000 that we need to pay out of our own pocket. As such, we’ll be ramping up HSA contributions in order to deduct as much money as possible before the end of the year for HSA contributions.
Current annual HSA contribution limits are $3,350 per individual and $6,750 per family. Those age fifty-five and older can make an additional catch-up contribution of up to $1,000. Since HSA monies don’t expire, you can even save them to use toward medical expenses during retirement, and the distributions are tax-free as long as they’re used for qualified medical expenses.
Give to Your Favorite Charity
Qualifying charitable contributions can consist of up to fifty percent of your income in some cases. If you’re looking to reduce your tax burden and do some good in the world, consider making a cash donation to your favorite qualifying charitable organization.
You can also gain a deductible contribution by clearing out the clutter in your house (up to $500 worth without a receipt) and donating it to a qualified thrift store or clothing/household item operation that has 501(c)(3) status.
Contribute to a 529
If you’ve got kids, grandkids or even nieces and nephews, consider opening up a 529 account with them as beneficiaries in order to ease your tax burden and help your family members save for college at the same time. Here is the general rule on 529 contribution limits for 2016, according to the IRS.
Are there contribution limits?
Yes. Contributions cannot exceed the amount necessary to provide for the qualified education expenses of the beneficiary. If you contribute to a 529 plan, however, be aware that there may be gift tax consequences if your contributions, plus any other gifts, to a particular beneficiary exceed $14,000 during the year. For information on a special rule that applies to contributions to 529 plans, see the instructions for Form 709, United States Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return.
If you’re looking to reduce your taxable income and do good by helping a family member save for college, 529s are a great contribution option.
How about you all? What steps are you taking to help ease your tax burden before the year is out?
Share your experiences by commenting below!
Buying a Car 101: What You Need to Know
The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Melissa Batai. Melissa is a freelance writer who covers topics ranging from personal finance to business to organics to food. She blogs at Mom’s Plans where she shares her family’s journey to healthier living and paying down debt.
I hate the whole car buying process. From haggling to sitting in a dealership for hours, I just hate it. That’s probably why my husband and I have not bought a car since we bought our current car 12 years ago. However, the time had finally come when sharing one car was no longer working for us, so we set out on a search for a second vehicle.
Although our search lasted only two weeks, the entire process was annoying and stressful. We did learn a lot, though. If you plan on buying a car anytime soon, let me share with you what we learned.
Cash Is Not Always King
The old rumor used to be that you’ll pay less for a car if you pay cash. While it is true that you’ll pay less for the car because you won’t be paying the interest over the life of the loan should you finance a car, paying cash won’t give you a lower price at the dealership. When I asked one salesman about this, he said that dealers now prefer that you get a loan through them.
Why? When you get a loan through the dealership, “an auto dealer actually acts as a middleman for car lenders. To make money off the loan, some dealers will then offer you an interest rate higher than what they are paying the actual lender—or the financial institution that is backing your loan. This rate increase is typically called the ‘dealer markup’ and can be an additional 3% in interest—significantly increasing the cost of your car. This is perfectly legal most of the time, with only a few states limiting how much a dealership can markup rates” (Fox Business).
Know Your Credit Score
Before you even set foot in a dealership, make sure you know your credit score. The higher your score, the more power you have to get very low interest rates.
Get Pre-Approval First
An easy way to learn your credit score is to go to your bank and seek pre-approval for a car loan before you begin your car search. The bank will run your credit report and tell you how much you’re approved for. This will give you a baseline number when dealing with the dealership. It will also help you determine how much your monthly loan payments will be at different price ranges.
For instance, my husband and I were approved for by our credit union for a loan at 4.5% interest, which was more than we needed to pay. Dealerships we visited offered us 3 to 3.5% interest rates, which we knew were a better deal than we could get at the credit union.
Know What Monthly Payments You Can Afford
I was surprised that our credit union pre-approved us for a loan amount with monthly payments higher than we felt we could comfortably afford. Instead, we choose a car that was $6,000 less than our pre-approved amount—at that price, we could comfortably afford the monthly payments.
Just because you’re pre-approved for a certain amount doesn’t mean you need to use the full amount.
Don’t Negotiate Based on Monthly Payments
Every time we stepped on a car lot, we were always asked, “What is the monthly payment you’re looking for.” Not, “How much do you want to spend for this car?” Most Americans already have debt, so they’re comfortable evaluating the price of the vehicle based on a monthly payment amount, and the sales people use that to their advantage.
If you negotiate based on the monthly payment, not the overall price, you’re giving the salesman a tremendous amount of leverage. “A dealership can easily meet your maximum monthly payment by stretching financing out over an additional year instead of actually reducing the price” (Money).
You may be surprised, as I was, to find that now banks and credit unions are willing to offer up to 72 month loans for used cars! Am I the only one who thinks that’s crazy?!
Check the Blue Book Value
Once you have a car in mind, make sure to check the Kelly Blue Book value, either at home before you ever step foot on the lot or on your smartphone while walking around the lot. My husband and I always searched the Internet for cars we wanted to look at in the dealership before we went on the lot. At home, I checked the Kelly Blue Book value of the car we were interested in. This let me know if the car was priced fairly or not. It also helped me consider how much room I had to negotiate the price.
Be Aware Online Prices Are Not Always As They Seem
This was probably the biggest lesson I learned from our car search. Internet prices are subjective. We drove two hours to a dealership because we were very interested in a car that was in our price range and had fairly low mileage. We took a test drive and were ready to buy the car. When we sat down to negotiate, imagine our surprise when the dealer tacked on an additional $2,700 in “dealer extras” that were not listed as part of the Internet price. That’s not even including the additional cost for plates, title, etc.
What were the dealer extras? Applying a special exterior coating to keep the paint from fading or peeling and a special coating inside on the upholstery and flooring to repel stains. We called foul and left the dealership. That was a whole day wasted from what I called false advertising.
When we called the next dealership, we were on to this game. I asked if the Internet price had any additional fees added on. It didn’t. That dealership was upfront with their Internet pricing, and we ended up buying from them.
Negotiate Up from the Dealer’s Cost, Not the Sticker Price
When you begin negotiating, you have a powerful tool if you don’t start your negotiations based on the sticker price. Money states, “Consider starting around the invoice price, or the price a dealer pays the manufacturer for the car. Edmunds.com notes that a popular strategy is to ask to see the dealer’s invoice and offer an amount, say $500 over that. Invoice forms can be difficult to read, so spend a little time looking over one before testing this strategy out.
“While getting a price at or below invoice is ideal, be prepared to spend an amount somewhere between the sticker and invoice price. Ideally, you’ll at least pay no more than the average sales price you were supposed to look up on sites like Edmunds and Kelly Blue Book.”
Don’t Be Afraid To Walk Away
People always say, “Don’t be afraid to walk away,” and I found that to be true. I couldn’t believe how many sales people would call us at home and continue to negotiate. I wish that they wouldn’t say, “final offer” when it’s not really their final offer, but keep in mind if you walk away, you likely still have room to negotiate. The sales person will likely be calling you to further negotiate.
Car buying is not fun for me, but I wish it had been easier. With these tips, you can hopefully have a smoother, less eventful car buying experience than we did.
How about you all? What other tips would you add to help make the car buying experience smoother?
Share your experiences by commenting below!
****Photo courtesy https://www.flickr.com/photos/rubelroy/9096822638/
Low-Effort Ways to Lower Your Spending
The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Chonce. You can read more articles by Chonce over at her personal blog, My Debt Epiphany. Enjoy!
Many times in the past, I used to tell myself I needed to earn more money in order to improve my financial situation and make all my money problems go away. Once I started earning more, I found that this thought process was wrong as my money problems didn’t subside at all.
This leads me to ask you: Do you have an income problem or a spending problem? Maybe you have both, but you can’t expect to fix your income problem and improve your situation without fixing your spending problem first.
Overspending can look very different depending on the person. You may be an emotional spender and make impulse purchases at your favorite store each week. You may buy one too many lattes. You may not take the extra effort to lower your expenses so you spend less on utility bills each month.
Whatever you spending habit is, there are so easy and low-effort ways to lower your spending so you can have more money to put toward your financial goals whether they are paying off debt, saving, or investing.
Leave Credit Cards at Home
If you tend to overspend when you’re out and about, research shows that we spend more with a credit card than we do with cash. I know that personally, having a credit card in my hand makes me feel like I have more flexibility. If I go over my budget with a purchase, it’s not as big of a deal since my account won’t go negative and I can always pay the expenses off in 30 days.
The only problem, however, is that sometimes you don’t pay your credit card balance off in full which can lead to debt. It may be better to take your credit cards out of your wallet, or even switch to a cash budget and utilize the envelope system when you go out so you can avoid spending extra money.
Invite Friends Over Instead of Going Out
Going out when friends is super fun I’m not going to lie, but it adds up over time. A great way to lower your spending on dining out and having fun with friends is to invite them over to your place instead.
My husband and I like to go out, but we also tend to stay in quite a bit and watch movies or play games together to save money. We like hanging out with each other, but when we invite our friends over too, it’s also super fun because we get to laugh and talk all together as a group.
You can host potlucks at your house or even prepare cheap meals and snacks like nacho dip, cookies, popcorn, etc. and have a fun night in with your favorite people. You’ll save a ton of money if you do it regularly or even let other friends host you as well.
Unplug Electronic Devices You Aren’t Using
This is a super easy way to save money on electricity. Besides clocks and your refrigerator, you should take the extra minute or two it requires to unplug items in your home you aren’t using.
Electronic devices that are plugged in 24/7 take up a small amount of electricity each day, but it adds up. I personally can’t stand when my son leaves the television on when he’s done watching it or playing a game. And I’m sure his Xbox eats up quite a bit of energy as well.
Plus, it’s not good to leave things like chargers plugged into the wall because it can drain their battery.
Read Through the Circulars Before You Go Grocery Shopping
If your grocery spending is out of control, you’ll need to take advantage of more sales and deals. The good news is that grocery store savings are all around you. You should receive weekly sales and promotions at local stores in the mail.
Most promotions are time sensitive so make sure you check the expiration dates for the deals. Before I go grocery shopping and as I’m making my list, I always check out the circulars to see what sales are being promoted.
If you don’t like looking at sales papers, you can download an app that will gather all this information for you and provide you with coupons that you can clip digitally. Free apps like Grocery Pal and Checkout 51 are great for this.
Stop By a Consignment Shop First When Buying Clothes
Clothes can be pretty expensive but if you need to buy something, you have no choice but the spend the money right? Wrong. If you’re heading out to pick up some clothing items anyway, stop by a local consignment shop first to see if you can score any deals on gently used apparel first.
Stores like Goodwill have monthly discount sales where nice clothing is dirt cheap, and other stores like Plato’s Closet offers trendy clothing for both men and women. If you have kids, I’d recommend stopping by Once Upon a Child for some good deals. I purchased half of my son’s school clothes from there and saved a ton by doing so.
If you don’t have any of these stores near you, you can try online consignment shops like ThredUp.
How about you all? What techniques do you use to lower your spending? What do you do with the extra money?
Share your experiences by commenting below!
***Photo courtesy https://www.flickr.com/photos/alan-light/10891438675/