My goal for this week is to keep spending to a minimum. Payday occurs on Wednesday, but I know that the days between the next pay period will seem long. I don't have a specific goal, but anything less than $100 will be a success. Zero would be ideal. :)
I bought groceries today which should cover us through Saturday. I spent $59.24. I also got a car wash for $5. It was nice to get the salt from the last two weeks or more off the van. I know that I have to pay $20 for a flute lesson, but that money has already been accounted for when I withdrew the cash earlier this month.
I intend to focus on exercise, sewing projects and cleaning to keep me out of the stores. It really doesn't seem like we NEED anything at all, but it always seems something comes up each week. Last week, I had to buy a new pad lock for my daughter, hers was cut off the locker over the holiday break. That was less than $4 out of pocket, but it seems like a lot of those little things do add up!
I should have enough fuel to make the trips to school and the gym. I will pay any regular bills that are due. My main goal is to just keep the extra spending as low as I can go.
Are you up for a low spend week? Do you ever plan for a low spend week or more? Any bets on how much you think I might spend before next Monday?
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Today's Frugal Happenings
By definition, frugal is the characterized by or reflecting economy in the use of resources. Another source, indicated that frugal is being careful about spending money or using things when you do not need to. The second definition is true for us. We probably don't need to be frugal, since we do have money available to save. And the truth is we aren't frugal in everything we do. But I personally find it fun!
Here is a little sampling of the frugal things I did today:
What frugal things did you do today? Is there something frugal you can start doing that you weren't before?
Here is a little sampling of the frugal things I did today:
- finished leftover bean dip and chips for lunch
- returned an unopened item for a refund
- used samples of shampoo and conditioner received in the mail
- used half a dryer sheet in the dryer
- paid bills online, rather than mailing a check
- opened a tube of hair product to get the last amount out
- turned off lights after I was in a room
- used a tea bag twice
- used the back side of printed paper for my errand list
- checked out two books at the library
- washed reusable sandwich bags for tomorrows lunch
- snapped the zipper pull tab back on a piece of clothing (at first I thought the zipper had been rendered useless, but after inspecting the pieces I realized they could be snapped back together)
- our thermostat is set to drop to 62 degrees at night in the winter
What frugal things did you do today? Is there something frugal you can start doing that you weren't before?
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Review Expenses
Ah, a new year! A clean slate. Time to start making goals for the new year. Save more. Pay down debt. Common goals, right? And very good ones, too! I feel that making progress towards any goal is to review where you are currently. If your finances are in such a place that you can't save the amount to get to your goal you are setting yourself up for failure. It's simply a wish that can't come true. And that is sad.
To make that wish a goal requires a little work, one of which is reviewing your expenses. Ugh. I know. It seems boring. But it can pay off. The easiest expenses to look at are those that are fixed. The ones that are due every month, usually at the same time, for the same amount. Like rent, or your mortgage payment. Sometimes the amount isn't fixed, but you know that it is due each month. Examples are your cell phone bill, electric or gas. I think a simple list is good place to start.
Mortgage. We could consider refinancing to lower the principal and interest portion of our payment. We could shop around for less expensive homeowner's insurance, increase our insurance deductible which should lower our insurance, appeal property taxes, take on a renter, or move less expensive housing.
Cell Phone. We could consider changing plans to fewer minutes, a no contract plan, a prepaid plan or eliminate one or more phones entirely. I don't think we would eliminate cell phones at this point, but it really is an option!
Life Insurance. We could shop around for lower premiums, lower the insurance amount, or eliminate insurance entirely.
Electricity, Water, and Gas. These all really involve using less of the particular utility. Setting the heat lower while away. Lowering the water temperature of the water heater. Taking shorter showers and running fewer loads of laundry. Turning off lights, unplugging items that are not in use. Investigate other ways to save on utility costs.
Water Softener Rental. In our case we pay by the month, but we could look into purchasing our own rather than renting. We could eliminate the water softener, which we also save us on salt, but would cause us to use more soap (and likely lotion for our dry skin).
Ooma Phone. This is a voice over internet phone line that we pay just $3.72 a month for local and long distance. This is actually something new at our home. We cancelled our land line which was costing us about $30 a month. By switching to an internet phone we have save over $26 a month. We could eliminate this new service if we wanted to lower our bills even further.
Internet. It seems almost wrong to say it, but we could eliminate our home internet service. Or since we have pretty high speed service, we could probably downgrade our service and pay less per month. We could also shop for other providers who could service our area at a lower cost.
We do have other expenses than this list. Clearly we eat, and drive cars. Those expenses can and should be reviewed later. I hope that in reviewing some of our regular expenses you can see how looking at each expense is a good exercise in really looking at what you are spending and what your options are for those expenses. Eliminating an expense really is an option. Remember, you have a goal! A goal to eliminate a debt that is dragging you down, or a savings goal that you want to reach as fast as possible. Reducing your expenses can be just as good as getting a job. The less money you spend, the more you have to make your goal more than just as wish.
After writing this post,I've decided to talk with my husband about increasing our homeowner's deductible to reduce our premium, as well as look into downgrading our high speed internet. The cell phone bill has been on our list of things to do for awhile. I'm actually concerned that we may end up with a larger bill!
Do you review all of your expenses regularly? Are you overdue for taking a look at your expenses? Is your goal to reduce debt or save this year?
To make that wish a goal requires a little work, one of which is reviewing your expenses. Ugh. I know. It seems boring. But it can pay off. The easiest expenses to look at are those that are fixed. The ones that are due every month, usually at the same time, for the same amount. Like rent, or your mortgage payment. Sometimes the amount isn't fixed, but you know that it is due each month. Examples are your cell phone bill, electric or gas. I think a simple list is good place to start.
Mortgage. We could consider refinancing to lower the principal and interest portion of our payment. We could shop around for less expensive homeowner's insurance, increase our insurance deductible which should lower our insurance, appeal property taxes, take on a renter, or move less expensive housing.
Cell Phone. We could consider changing plans to fewer minutes, a no contract plan, a prepaid plan or eliminate one or more phones entirely. I don't think we would eliminate cell phones at this point, but it really is an option!
Life Insurance. We could shop around for lower premiums, lower the insurance amount, or eliminate insurance entirely.
Electricity, Water, and Gas. These all really involve using less of the particular utility. Setting the heat lower while away. Lowering the water temperature of the water heater. Taking shorter showers and running fewer loads of laundry. Turning off lights, unplugging items that are not in use. Investigate other ways to save on utility costs.
Water Softener Rental. In our case we pay by the month, but we could look into purchasing our own rather than renting. We could eliminate the water softener, which we also save us on salt, but would cause us to use more soap (and likely lotion for our dry skin).
Ooma Phone. This is a voice over internet phone line that we pay just $3.72 a month for local and long distance. This is actually something new at our home. We cancelled our land line which was costing us about $30 a month. By switching to an internet phone we have save over $26 a month. We could eliminate this new service if we wanted to lower our bills even further.
Internet. It seems almost wrong to say it, but we could eliminate our home internet service. Or since we have pretty high speed service, we could probably downgrade our service and pay less per month. We could also shop for other providers who could service our area at a lower cost.
We do have other expenses than this list. Clearly we eat, and drive cars. Those expenses can and should be reviewed later. I hope that in reviewing some of our regular expenses you can see how looking at each expense is a good exercise in really looking at what you are spending and what your options are for those expenses. Eliminating an expense really is an option. Remember, you have a goal! A goal to eliminate a debt that is dragging you down, or a savings goal that you want to reach as fast as possible. Reducing your expenses can be just as good as getting a job. The less money you spend, the more you have to make your goal more than just as wish.
After writing this post,I've decided to talk with my husband about increasing our homeowner's deductible to reduce our premium, as well as look into downgrading our high speed internet. The cell phone bill has been on our list of things to do for awhile. I'm actually concerned that we may end up with a larger bill!
Do you review all of your expenses regularly? Are you overdue for taking a look at your expenses? Is your goal to reduce debt or save this year?
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Save Automatically
I just set up my 52 Week Savings Challenge to fund automatically. The original challenge has changing deposit amounts every week, $12 for week 12 for example. That doesn't lend itself to be set up automatically, unless your bank would let you set up multiple transfers. I suppose that is worth checking. Since my modified 52 Week Savings Challenge is the same amount twice per month on payday, it is perfect for an automatic transfer.
I am saving these funds in my Capital One 360 Savings account. Capital One 360 has a place to input goals, so you can track your progress. I put this new savings goal in there. Since I have $67 of the $1378 I expect to save, the tool shows I have saved 4% of my goal. And there is a nifty little chart to see the progress too! Such fun for a money geek like me.
After I set up the goal, it asked me about setting up an automatic transfer to help meet my goal. Why, yes, yes, I would like to do that! My transfer will be $57 on the 1st & 15th of the month beginning in January. When payday comes around, I will simply record the transfer in primary checking account. That is it, everything else is automatic.
We have been saving automatically for retirement and college for many, many years. We have never stopped our retirement savings, and one time, for less than a year, we stopped the college funding. When the funds come out automatically, you don't need to stop to evaluate if that is how you want to allocate your money. It just happens, and you record it. And the even bigger beauty of automatic savings is that you always meet the goal you set out to accomplish. It feels good to meet your savings goal, so why not set yourself up for success. At least that is how I look at it.
I also plan to set up an extra principal payment to our mortgage on an automatic basis. Our housing allowance is increasing by $102 per month. Since one of our biggest goals is to reduce our mortgage balance, I have the $102 applied to the principal balance automatically each month. If I set this up when the increase is effective, we won't get used to that extra money. That means in the next year, I know for sure we will pay an additional $1224 in principal. Love that!!
Do you save for anything automatically? What other benefits do you think automatic savings provide?
The above link to Capital One 360 is my referral link. You are eligible to earn up to $75 in bonus cash if you open a new account. I receive $20 for referring you, and do not receive any information about you or the type of account you have opened.
I am saving these funds in my Capital One 360 Savings account. Capital One 360 has a place to input goals, so you can track your progress. I put this new savings goal in there. Since I have $67 of the $1378 I expect to save, the tool shows I have saved 4% of my goal. And there is a nifty little chart to see the progress too! Such fun for a money geek like me.
After I set up the goal, it asked me about setting up an automatic transfer to help meet my goal. Why, yes, yes, I would like to do that! My transfer will be $57 on the 1st & 15th of the month beginning in January. When payday comes around, I will simply record the transfer in primary checking account. That is it, everything else is automatic.
We have been saving automatically for retirement and college for many, many years. We have never stopped our retirement savings, and one time, for less than a year, we stopped the college funding. When the funds come out automatically, you don't need to stop to evaluate if that is how you want to allocate your money. It just happens, and you record it. And the even bigger beauty of automatic savings is that you always meet the goal you set out to accomplish. It feels good to meet your savings goal, so why not set yourself up for success. At least that is how I look at it.
I also plan to set up an extra principal payment to our mortgage on an automatic basis. Our housing allowance is increasing by $102 per month. Since one of our biggest goals is to reduce our mortgage balance, I have the $102 applied to the principal balance automatically each month. If I set this up when the increase is effective, we won't get used to that extra money. That means in the next year, I know for sure we will pay an additional $1224 in principal. Love that!!
Do you save for anything automatically? What other benefits do you think automatic savings provide?
The above link to Capital One 360 is my referral link. You are eligible to earn up to $75 in bonus cash if you open a new account. I receive $20 for referring you, and do not receive any information about you or the type of account you have opened.
Friday, December 20, 2013
52 Weeks Of Saving
If you are a saver, like me, you may have heard about the 52 Week Savings Challenge that has been making the rounds of the internet in the last year. I did not participate last year. But this year I am!!
The link above explains the challenge in detail, but by the end of the year if you follow the plan you will have saved $1378. I know we could be saving more, thus the reason I am participating and adding this as another way to save during the year. I will still be on the lookout for small (or large) amounts of money that don't come from income, which I call snowflakes, and be saving those to help pay down our mortgage.
I have already started. Some of you may not start until January. I have $67 saved so far. That does seems like quite a bit for the beginning doesn't it? Well, I'm tweaking the challenge to work with how we get paid, which is twice monthly. I made an initial $10 deposit, since I had that much cash in my wallet earlier this month. That left me with $1,368 to save. Twice per month paydays, means 24 pay periods. Thus I will save $57 per pay period 24 times in the coming year to save that $1,368. One has already been completed, so really 23 left to go, and $1,311 left to save.
Interested in participating in the challenge? Click on that link above for a way to track your savings challenge for the year, or tweak it to make it work for you. Sometimes having a goal for savings and a way to track it is very first step in making it happen.
The link above explains the challenge in detail, but by the end of the year if you follow the plan you will have saved $1378. I know we could be saving more, thus the reason I am participating and adding this as another way to save during the year. I will still be on the lookout for small (or large) amounts of money that don't come from income, which I call snowflakes, and be saving those to help pay down our mortgage.
I have already started. Some of you may not start until January. I have $67 saved so far. That does seems like quite a bit for the beginning doesn't it? Well, I'm tweaking the challenge to work with how we get paid, which is twice monthly. I made an initial $10 deposit, since I had that much cash in my wallet earlier this month. That left me with $1,368 to save. Twice per month paydays, means 24 pay periods. Thus I will save $57 per pay period 24 times in the coming year to save that $1,368. One has already been completed, so really 23 left to go, and $1,311 left to save.
Interested in participating in the challenge? Click on that link above for a way to track your savings challenge for the year, or tweak it to make it work for you. Sometimes having a goal for savings and a way to track it is very first step in making it happen.
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Opportunity for You to Earn $50
Earlier this month, I opened a Capital One 360 checking and savings
account for some bonus money. $176 to be exact. They are still offering a
bonus for opening accounts. Right now the 360 Checking is $50 cash
(taxable) for making 3 debit transactions within 45 days. No minimum
deposit and no fees.
If you want to sign up for some free cash to pay down debt or save for a goal, I'd be honored if you use my referral link. I do get $20 if you open the account. And if you read my blog often enough you know that I will put that money to good use!!
The link will take you to a page like this, which shows they are offering various bonuses for different accounts.
I think a separate bank account is key if you are looking to save money and not dip into it. I recently mentioned this to a friend and she seemed intrigued at the idea that this would be helpful. Do you have savings or checking accounts at more than one bank? Why or why not? What do you do with your second (and third) accounts?
If you want to sign up for some free cash to pay down debt or save for a goal, I'd be honored if you use my referral link. I do get $20 if you open the account. And if you read my blog often enough you know that I will put that money to good use!!
The link will take you to a page like this, which shows they are offering various bonuses for different accounts.
I think a separate bank account is key if you are looking to save money and not dip into it. I recently mentioned this to a friend and she seemed intrigued at the idea that this would be helpful. Do you have savings or checking accounts at more than one bank? Why or why not? What do you do with your second (and third) accounts?
Friday, July 5, 2013
An Update and Explanation
I have two blogs. This one is newer. The other blog is over at SavingAdvice.com. I'm a regular over there. I'm not sure why I haven't kept this one going as well. I think it's because you, the reader, aren't commenting here!! Of course, you aren't commenting, because I'm not writing anything. It's a circular problem!!
We are currently saving over 15% of our gross income for retirement. Two thirds goes to max out our Roth IRA accounts. The remaining is automatically saved in my husband's TSP account. We are saving $334 per month towards our girls college educations. We have our mortgage which was taken out a year ago this July. It is at 2.75% interest, so you won't see us refinancing anytime soon.
With interest rates at an all time low, I have recently begun opening credit cards to take advantage of the bonus offers and rewards. I realize that this may seem odd based on my blog name of Creditcardfree. That name was established five years ago when we had eliminated credit card debt from our lives, including all credit cards. It was the right thing to do at that time in our lives. We lived on $40K per year, and didn't save much of anything for retirement. We now live on just under $100K per year and save significantly more money. We have more disposable income as well. The goal in opening the credit cards is to increase income in a way that just can't be done with low interest rates.
Opening credit cards is serious business and is only for those of us responsible to pay them off in full each month. I definitely don't look at the credit as extra money waiting to be spent. That is a dangerous line of thinking. We will activate the cards, spend the minimum, pay off the balance in full, redeem the reward and close the account. And repeat until there are no cards to open or bonuses to obtain. I currently have three cards open in my name. Those cards will provide $250 in cash and $250 in gift cards. We will then open three or four cards in my husband's name and repeat the process. He likely will get an additional card offering $100, that I wasn't able open. Thus between the two of us, we will 'earn' $600 in cash and $500 in gift cards, simply by spending money on things we already do everyday. That is way more than we would earn in a year on our money market savings account.
We have cash from the sale of our home last year equal to over $24,000. We have paid down $4315.30 on the principal since our first payment on September 2012. The loan is a VA loan with zero down. We were eligible, rates were and are still low, and we wanted to get into the house as soon as possible and were not sure if we would have the cash from the sale of the original house at the time of closing on the current house. We would have had it, but again we didn't know then. For now we are holding the cash. We may decide different later.
So it right now we are just looking at increasing cash and paying down the mortgage even if only in small amounts. I made my first EXTRA principal mortgage payment at the beginning of this month in the amount of $56. It's not little, but not a big amount either. It all adds up.
Do you pay extra on your mortgage? Do you have a set amount? How do you determine how much to send in to your mortgage? Are you taking advantage of credit card bonuses?
We are currently saving over 15% of our gross income for retirement. Two thirds goes to max out our Roth IRA accounts. The remaining is automatically saved in my husband's TSP account. We are saving $334 per month towards our girls college educations. We have our mortgage which was taken out a year ago this July. It is at 2.75% interest, so you won't see us refinancing anytime soon.
With interest rates at an all time low, I have recently begun opening credit cards to take advantage of the bonus offers and rewards. I realize that this may seem odd based on my blog name of Creditcardfree. That name was established five years ago when we had eliminated credit card debt from our lives, including all credit cards. It was the right thing to do at that time in our lives. We lived on $40K per year, and didn't save much of anything for retirement. We now live on just under $100K per year and save significantly more money. We have more disposable income as well. The goal in opening the credit cards is to increase income in a way that just can't be done with low interest rates.
Opening credit cards is serious business and is only for those of us responsible to pay them off in full each month. I definitely don't look at the credit as extra money waiting to be spent. That is a dangerous line of thinking. We will activate the cards, spend the minimum, pay off the balance in full, redeem the reward and close the account. And repeat until there are no cards to open or bonuses to obtain. I currently have three cards open in my name. Those cards will provide $250 in cash and $250 in gift cards. We will then open three or four cards in my husband's name and repeat the process. He likely will get an additional card offering $100, that I wasn't able open. Thus between the two of us, we will 'earn' $600 in cash and $500 in gift cards, simply by spending money on things we already do everyday. That is way more than we would earn in a year on our money market savings account.
We have cash from the sale of our home last year equal to over $24,000. We have paid down $4315.30 on the principal since our first payment on September 2012. The loan is a VA loan with zero down. We were eligible, rates were and are still low, and we wanted to get into the house as soon as possible and were not sure if we would have the cash from the sale of the original house at the time of closing on the current house. We would have had it, but again we didn't know then. For now we are holding the cash. We may decide different later.
So it right now we are just looking at increasing cash and paying down the mortgage even if only in small amounts. I made my first EXTRA principal mortgage payment at the beginning of this month in the amount of $56. It's not little, but not a big amount either. It all adds up.
Do you pay extra on your mortgage? Do you have a set amount? How do you determine how much to send in to your mortgage? Are you taking advantage of credit card bonuses?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)