1)  Commit to eating all of your meals at home for the next two weeks.  No more last minute eating out; no more trips through the drive-thru.

2)  Plan your meals for the week.  Look through the sales flyers, look in your pantry and freezer.  Plan your meals according to what is on sale and what you already have.

3)  Take a snack and a drink with you.  Whenever we leave the house, we usually take a container of ice water and a snack.  Many times we are out of the house longer than anticipated.  It’s good to be prepared in order to avoid pulling over at the drive-thru or gas station.

4)  Make your own coffee.  Coffee is one of my weaknesses.  The problem is my favorite coffee drink costs over $4.  I have learned to make my own at home.

5)  Look for inexpensive entertainment.  Forget going to the movies and other expensive outings.  Have a family game night or rent a movie from redbox.  Check out your local city’s website for free and low cost activities.

What ways can you cut your expenses?

image sxc.hu

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Step 1)  Forget your ego.  I know this one is hard.  Americans tend to identify themselves with their cell phones, cars, and gadgets.  It is sometimes hard to settle for a 2000 Chevy Venture when your friend is driving a new Chrysler Town & Country.  I know.  I’m there.  BUT, I look at their car and know that my mini-van didn’t cost nearly as much as theirs and that they are taking a major depreciation to have that new vehicle.

Step 2)  Save $3,000-$4,000 and buy a safe, affordable car.  Get focused on saving that money.  Do whatever it takes.  Cut out going out to eat, buying new clothes, a vacation, work overtime, etc. 

Step 3)  Now, start making monthly car payments to yourself.  Now that you have a “new” car in the driveway, start making car payments to yourself.  Put that money away that you would be spending on the car you so desperately wanted to buy.  The hard part is not cheating.  It’s easy to say, ‘Well, I really want a new tv or new cell phone this month.  I’ll just keep the money that I was going to use for the car payment.’  Wrong!  You were going to have to make the car payment anyway.  In a few years, you’ll have saved about $9,000.  It’s enough to get a nicer car that you can pay cash for or you can keep saving for a new one (although I wouldn’t recommend it because of the depreciation).

Step 4)  Repeat the process.  Just keep doing this until you’re driving the car you’ve been wanting.

For more information, read Steve’s complete article. 

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Each month millions of Americans get their Social Security payment sent to their homes.  Criminals know when these benefit checks arrive in the mail and they can target them for theft and forgery.  Last year about 65,000 U.S. Treasury-issued checks were forged, with an estimated value of $60 million.

You can protect yourself by signing up to have your check direct deposited into your checking or savings account.  It’s easier, safer, and more convenient because your check goes straight to your account on payment day.  You also don’t have to worry about driving to the bank to deposit your check.

Source:  State Employees Credit Union, Picture from wmsecurities.com

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Recently, The Sun Herald ran an article about young and thrifty 20- and 30- somethings that are delaying gratification to save money and max out their 401(k)s.

Here’s a little something from the article:

Shawn Herman, Minneapolis, 35

Not like his friends: So many of my friends get a nice position at a corporation or do well for themselves and go out and buy the 4,000-square-foot house, or buy a boat or cabin… . Next thing you know they find themselves living paycheck to paycheck and making six figures a year. That’s ludicrous.

Hates debt: I avoid debt like the plague. I don’t like to owe people money. I own a house and make a point of prepaying my mortgage.

Jessica Hackman, Shakopee, Minn., 29

Saves more than friends: (My husband and I) each participate in the 401(k) plan offered at our jobs. Gotta love that free-match money. Since the wedding, we have combined our Roth IRA contribution into one large account in order to max that one out.

LIVING AT HOME PAID OFF: In the six years in between college and getting married I lived at home with my parents. Now, at first it felt pretty lame, but after a while I came to realize what an amazing opportunity it was… . Because of the generosity of my parents, I was able to pay off not only my car but my student loans… and to be able to pay cash (for our portion of) our wedding.

Sounds good to me!

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Do you think to yourself “I shouldn’t be spending this money,” but you do so anyway?

Do you owe so much money to various people that you can’t conceive of how to begin paying it off?

I used to feel like we would never get out debt.  It seemed no matter what we did, we could never get ahead.  And when there was a little extra money, it seemed as though the car would break down or something major would happen and we would need the money for that particular problem.

We are still not completely out of debt, but we are getting there.  It has been a hard road and we have learned from many stupid mistakes.

Debt can weigh you down, leaving you feel hopeless and depressed.  I truly believe that if you owe money then you are a slave to your lendor. 

If you feel like any of this applies to you, then please check out Trent’s posting on Money and Depression.  He has some encouraging ways to help you get started toward finding your way out of the mess.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Credit Card Management
Keep this in mind next time you’re tempted to “put the pizza on plastic”.The following information is based on an interest rate of 16.99% to 18.99%:

If your balance is $1000.00 and your minimum required payment is $20.00, then $15.00 of the payment goes to interest and only a small portion pays down the principal. If during the next month you charge $15.00 or $20.00 on that card the same thing happens again.Here’s a common scenario for many credit card users…

With a $1000.00 balance on your card and a $20.00 minimum payment due ($15.00 will be for interest. Only $5.00 will be for the principal to actually pay down the balance. Your new balance is $995.00.Yep! You paid $20.00, but it was only worth $5.00

By only paying the minimum due, you’ll not be able to get off this merry-go-round for years!! You must work hard to get the balance down and here are just a few ideas:

Double the payment. This way your $40 will count for $25 on the principal rather than only $10 if done separately.

Avoid using the credit cards and thereby raising the balance.

Use cash for those little expenses that REALLY will multiply when charged to your credit card.

Pay the bill on time! One of my credit cards charges a $29.00 late fee. Yikes!

Watch that credit limit. Some cards charge a fee if you go over you credit limit–mine charges $29.00 for that privilege!

Learn to be more frugal!  Wait a little longer to buy new items, another week on the next haircut, bring your lunch from home, and so on.

Some reasons to avoid credit card debt:

It robs you of your time and money because of the effort needed to get it paid back.

It robs you of your peace of mind because it’s nagging at you each month

Sadly, it’s much more fun charging it up than paying down the balance.

Copyright 2000 by Leslie Sausage

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

So when I started seeing the commercials for Netflix, I was interested.  My sister loves it and my friend at rookiemoms enjoys the service too.  Must be something about the selection combined with the price.  I would love it if for nothing else than NO LATE FEES!  And there is nothing more frugal than getting a movie without ever having to leave your house and no late fees.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Our generation is in some serious trouble if we keep spending the way we do. We somehow obtained the mentality that we need the best car, the nicest cell phone, the biggest and best house in the nicest neighborhood, the expensive clothes, and I could go on. Where do we get the mentality that we “deserve” these things? We don’t deserve them, unless we have worked hard to get them and can pay for them (without being crazy in debt). Even still, we should be saving more. This spending mentality is even worse among the youth of today. I get to see it all the time with the youth at church. If they get $20 from their parents they will go blow it on junk, such $20 worth of candy or $20 in quarters to get a $3 stuffed animal out of the claw machine. If their parents give them $200 for school clothes then they will go to Hollister or Abercrombie & Fitch and spend $60 on a shirt and $75+ on a pair of pants (not to mention that it’s a shirt that shows their boobs!!!). I could never imagine paying that much for an item of clothing. My mom raised me to shop the clearance rack at Belk – 75% off and an additional red dot of 30% off. I still shop that way. In fact, the other day I came home with 3 pairs of pants and a couple of nice shirts for less than $60. I know I don’t always spend the way I should, so I’m not trying to sound so perfect, but we really need to change our mentality that we are somehow entitled to stuff. It’s JUST STUFF!!!

I don’t know how many of you have heard of Clark Howard, but when I used to live in Trinity I would listen to him on the radio. He’s a great financial advisor and I get his newsletters via email. He usually has pretty good advice about spending, saving, and investing. He also lets you know which companies will do you wrong and things to avoid. Anyway, this excerpt is from his latest newsletter. You can check it out at www.clarkhoward.com. I just wanted to remind you all that we all need to change our ways.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy