Save On Home Phone Service with Ooma

With cell phones it seems people are calling home phones less. It is no different at our house. I was determined to find a less expensive way to have a home phone line since we were spending nearly $40 a month to have that home phone service with the local telephone company. 

We found Ooma! It is a device that allows you to send and receive calls over your home internet line. All long distance and local calls are free. Each month we pay about $3.75 in Federal taxes. We are able to call 911 because we pay those fees, so no complaints on that. 

It is very user friendly to set up. You can generally keep your home phone number (for a fee), or chose a new number for free. We went with a new number since our phone company would not allow the transfer. The nice thing about that is we have very few, if any calls from telemarketing companies. Bonus!!

The Ooma telo system retails for $149 most of the time. Right now, through April 28, you can buy a new Ooma system for $99 shipped. To get the $50 discount on the Ooma system, click here to use my referral link. I will receive $20 for referring you, which ends up lowering our phone costs. As a Ooma user, you will eventually (maybe 3 months after sign up) get the opportunity to tell your friends about your Ooma phone and be eligible to earn up to $100 in referral credits per promotion. This ends up making the Ooma telo system free. 

And don't forget the savings you will see each month by not having to pay your local telephone company! Do you still have a land line? How much are you paying? 

Lose Weight Spend Less

My husband and I have both been watching our food intake (calories) for over a month now. We are clearly spending less money. I have in the past bought three bags of chips for our family to consume in one week. Now we are not even going through one a week. Chips really were never my thing, but they sure are for my husband. Of course, when we watch our food intake he realizes that there isn't much satisfaction in only eating 8 highly caloric chips. 

The food is lasting longer. I might buy a package of cheese, but it takes longer to consume, since we aren't putting it on as many things. I know we are using less butter, in fact, I think only one of my daughters is actually consuming it every day. We are buying more fruits and vegetables, but those are a big portion of our diet now. We consume them up pretty quickly, but we aren't eating them in excess, just appropriate portions. I also try to find the fruits and veggies that are in season and generally less expensive. 

The interesting thing about counting calories is that it is a similar habit to watching your dollars when you are trying to save. They both require attention to the details and regular effort. I think if you can lose weight you likely have the skills to manage your money wisely if you choose. I think the opposite is true. If you know how to manage and save your money, you can lose weight and get healthy. They both take work and at times we falter, but the payoffs are highly satisfying. 

Do you think you spend less when you are watching your calories? Or do you think you spend more because you are buying healthier food?

Preparing the Kids Financially

A discussion came up two days ago with our kids about how they feel they aren't prepared to handle things financially and are afraid they will make mistakes. They are 17 and 13. The thirteen year old seemed the most concerned. The first thing I said was "You are lucky you have me for a mom because I am glad to help you along the way." I think they knew that already. :)

Here is what my girls know already:

• You have to work for money.
• How to make change for transactions.
• How to use a debit card for payment at a store and online.They each have their own.
• How to write a check, although they do not have a checking account.
• It is good to save your money.
• It is okay to spend some of your money.
• They know credit cards charge interest if you don't pay it off right away
• They know you can borrow money for a house or a car, which they have seen us do.
• They know we can compare different options at a store to find the best price.
• They know coupons can lower the amount you pay out of pocket for an item.
• You can sell your used items to get cash.
• They know you need to set money aside for retirement.
• They have heard of insurance; health, auto and home.
• The oldest daughter knows how to track her money in a check register.
• That income it taxed and those tax dollars go to the government to decide how to use.

What the likely don't know yet:

• How to open a bank account.
• File income taxes.
• How to determine withholding for taxes.
• Where to save their money for retirement.
• Different investment vehicles, such as CDs and mutual funds.
• How to pay loans off quickly.
• How to complete a budget (actually they have had a little experience with this in school).
• How to chose insurance and what a premium and deductible are.
• How credit scores affect interest rates on loans.

These lists are by no means comprehensive, but writing them out helps me realize they do know quite a bit, but clearly there are things they will need to learn. I sure don't think my 13 year old needs to know how to buy insurance just yet! I do plan to help them along the way. I also will try to bring up more topics at dinner to explain financial terms like 'deductible' and 'premium'. It sure won't hurt them one bit to have more information. 

Do you systematically teach your kids or grand kids about finances? Are they aware of quite a few things or nearly clueless when it comes to money and personal finance? Any good financial advice you learned when you were young that really stuck with you into adulthood?

Still Saving...Really!

I know you aren't reading much on this blog lately. It seems I have been hit with the fitness bug and I'm spending more of my free time contemplating better health than I am finances. This sure isn't a bad thing. I look at staying healthy an investment in my future health. I fell off the wagon in the last year, so it was time to get started tracking calories, and getting exercise in.

The good news is that our finances are on auto pilot in so many areas that I don't have to spend much time working on finances. Part of me is sad about that, but the other part is happy with the freedom that comes with it. Our Roth contributions and college investments are all automatically withdrawn from our checking account. Several of our utilities are auto withdrawn as well. I'm even saving for that 52 Week Saving Challenge automatically, which I now have $409 saved there!

I still have several things I need to go online manually to pay or check on, but I have found that once a week is plenty to check on any credit card transactions and due dates, or any upcoming bills that need to be paid. I usually do this on a Friday or Monday depending on the time I have available. I do hope to keep coming back here to cheer you on and give you new ideas, so keep checking in!

Are you able to keep your finances on autopilot? Are you on a fitness or diet regimen since the new year?

Dental Insurance

Just returned from our six month dental check ups. All is good. No cavities. They are still watching the wisdom teeth for my oldest daughter. They are sure acting like they need to be done, and since she is my daughter and I had to have mine removed, they are probably right. So we need to start planning on WHEN would be a good time to have that done.

The bad news from the dentist is they are no longer accepting our insurance as full payment. They have attempted to negotiate better payment without success. As a result, we will now have to pay out of our pocket for the difference between what our insurance pays and the dentists charge. For all I know this is $20 each. I didn't take the time today to find out since they are still accepting full payment from the insurer for this visit since this decision was just made and our appointment was already schedule. They will also provide 10% off the difference if we stay with them. I think they are being reasonable. I know our last dentist in our old town made this same decision about this company two years ago when the military switched insurance carriers. They are getting sufficient coverage for their costs. How can they be expected to do business that way? I may look for another dentist, but so far I do like them, so I don't feel like changing, especially since we may be moving in another year or so. To be clear, the insurance company will still provide some compensation, but the dentist no longer agrees that the compensation is fair or justified and we will be charged more above that amount. 

Have you had a dental provider reject your insurance company? Would you be looking for a new dentist if you were in my situation? Did you have your wisdom teeth removed? Do you remember anything about that experience?

Pay Day Thoughts

I paid and recorded our bills for payday. Some bills are automatic, so I only need to record them. Other bills I just need to go online and authorize a payment. All credit card bills are current. Yea!

At the beginning of the month I save $50 for Christmas, $114 towards auto insurance and registrations, and $57 for the 52 Week Savings Challenge. The mortgage which includes an extra $103 towards principal, water bill, cellular bill, gas bill, and electric bill are all paid. I also give a small allowance to our girls. I pay the Target Red card and any balances on any other credit cards. I set aside cash for the upcoming pay period. And if there is cash left, I save it!!

This payday I was able to save $510. I like that! February was definitely a low spend month for us. With the cold weather it was just easier to stay in and out of the stores. I think that using up things last week also stretched our grocery bill a little, too. I still have my eye on a few things in the cupboard that need to go soon.

I'm fully aware that we will owe money for taxes in the next 6 weeks. Our daughter has a birthday in March. It is also spring break from school and we are taking a mini road trip to visit a college. Family is  near there, so only gas and food, no hotel costs at least. I will pay our auto insurance, but this is already saved for, as I mentioned above. And if it gets the least bit warmer it will be time to buy some new spring clothes. We don't buy a lot, but several of us will at least need new capris and shorts. We are probably pretty good on short sleeve tops. I also know one daughter will need a jacket. So although I saved that $510, I do see increased expenses in the future. Which means at least some of that money will be spent.

Yep, it was a good pay day! I'm very grateful for the blessings bestowed upon us.

Frugal Eating

Our family isn't exactly frugal with our eating. This can be seen by our grocery bill and unfortunately some of our waistlines. Ugh! I really would like to think that we are more frugal than some people. While I don't want to blame my husband entirely, he has some expensive tastes and goes through chips and snacks fast. As a mom, I also easily give in to my children's wants. I have noticed my older daughter has pretty good portion control, so no complaints there!! My younger daughter is picky, which is another way of saying she doesn't eat a large variety of foods. All of that to say, we don't have this eating thing down perfect.

What we do well over many of our peers, is that we watch for sales on foods we normally buy and use coupons when we can. Although, I've noticed there are not many coupons for fruit and veggies, but they do go on sale and are less expensive in season.

We make a list when we go grocery shopping. This means we make fewer trips to the store, which saves time and money, but also keeps us  from buying too many extras. Yes, extras do pop into the cart at times. Darn extras!

The one thing that helps the extra spending on food is that I make a point to make sure we eat what we purchased with as little waste as possible. This involves looking in the cupboards and fridge before we go shopping and while we are making our meal plan. For example this week, I chose to make tacos since I noticed we had a full container of sour cream. We need to use that up. We also had tomatoes, shredded cheese and refried beans already on hand. I plan to eat a salmon filet that has been in the freezer awhile. I will probably eat it for lunch since there is only one. I might make a salad to use up carrots and lettuce we will have leftover from tacos.

I have my eye on some applesauce, margarine, and ripe bananas that need to be used up this week. We'll see what I can come up with. Banana bread is a strong possibility!

Do you make a conscious effort to eat things up in your fridge and cupboards as a way of being frugal with the things you have already purchased? Do you have anything you can make an effort to use up this week before it expires or use instead of buying more at the store?