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Creative Saving

July 11th, 2011

Creative Saving

We know the ‘go without your morning coffee’ money saving technique but if you’re going to get serious about saving – whether it’s for a new car, camera or the bigger ticket items like apartments and houses – you need to think outside the box.

One approach is to think about the environment. Put pennies in the bank and do your bit for sustainable living. It’s about being more creative about the way we live and save. Here are some ‘outside the box’ ideas:

  • Buy in bulk: Don’t only buy in bulk, start a bulk buying group. This way you reap the full advantage of wholesale prices, avoid paying for packaging and steer away from impulse buys.
  • Work with the weather: It might sound obvious but switching that air conditioning off in the summer and heating off in the winter will go a long way in cutting the ever-increasing energy bills. It can be as easy as keeping the curtains closed in summer and putting on a few extra layers in winter.
  • Flick the switch: Turning the lights off is another seemingly clear but often overlooked step. It can be tempting to leave a lamp on for ‘later’ but for those hours you’re gone electricity – and the money you pay – is going down the drain.

Saving doesn’t begin and end with these points. Not only are there many more environmentally orientated techniques, there are also those that are usually right in front of your eyes:

  • Avoiding unnecessary charges: Late fees. No one wants to read this in an email or letter. Anything from a credit card late fee to library fines makes our skin crawl. Get yourself organized.
  • Limit ‘takeout’: Another seemingly obvious step to take (but one we can often slack on) is hiding or limiting access to those takeout menus. It’s very tempting – come a rainy Monday night after a long day when all you want to do it curl up on the couch with your favourite Thai takeaway – to not think about cooking. If you do make a concerted effort to cook for yourself more often you will end up saving a lot.
  • Walk, bike, train or bus: If you can leave your car at home you can dodge potentially expensive tolls and the money you spend on petrol (not to mention the good it does for the environment). If you can walk to the local shops, walk. If you can ride, ride. The exercise is a bonus too!
  • Credit quota: Avoid spending money you don’t have. Think carefully to yourself when you next flash plastic at a register. Is this something I can afford? Is it really something I need? Will I end up paying more for this with interest? Use cash when you can.

No matter what you’re saving for – while these suggestions are by no means the be all and end all – they should get you started. When most people start to save seriously it’s for the bigger ticket items. Perhaps it’s a home, or apartment. The cash you saved thinking twice about the credit card and flicking the switch will go directly to that deposit. If you’re one of many first home buyers you’ll have the first home owners grant to boost the fund pool too. But whether you’re buying a new car, home or camera you want to make sure you shop around. Just as you would visit a few dealerships to consider the perfect vehicle or compare cameras across outlets you would weigh up the options for home loans. With determination and discipline you could be walking away with, driving off in or letting yourself into your new camera, car and home within no time.

Thanks for the guest post Gemma!

Cheers,

MR

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Yakezie Carnival 7/10/2011 – Birthday Edition, Part 1

July 10th, 2011

No it’s not the Birthday of the Yakezie formation (I didn’t mean to mislead you, if I did)!

Today, we’re celebrating my son’s 11th Birthday!

It seems like just yesterday I was teaching him how to ride a bike!  My how the time has flown by…

So the question is…

As a financial blogger, am I happy with his current financial awareness?

And the answer is a resounding  Yes!

I think the greatest thing he has learned is to keep a running balance of how much money he has and how much he allows himself to spend.  The coolest part of this is that he did this on his own (it wasn’t my idea, especially when he started at age 9).

He’s learning the value of money and has started to do extra chores for money around the house.  Yep, I’m a proud dad and very happy with his progress.

As he ages, I’m going to have my son read some of the Yakezie member articles, perhaps we’ll even read some together and talk about the topics that the Yakezie members write about.

The Yakezie Carnival is back into full swing with a very long list of entries this week.  In fact we have so many entries, that I decided to split them up into two separate posts.  The entries are listed in chronological order (as would be expected with a birthday edition!).

I hope you enjoy this Part 1 of the Yakezie Carnival – Birthday Edition!

Lego Birthday Cake

Lego Birthday Cake

Sweating The Big Stuff: A Drop of Honey Makes You Money in Negotiations – An epic battle between Daniel from Sweating the Big Stuff and Kevin from Thousandaire.  Read this article and Daniels (at the link in the article) and cast your vote!

The Ultimate Juggle: Hola ‘Winans Columbus’ – In the efforts to make more money, my husband and I have invested in and are assisting in the operations of a new, local chocolate and coffee shop.  Another great and exciting entrepreneurial object to juggle, wish me luck!

Money Reasons:  Benefits of a High Credit Score – If you have a high or excellent credit score, make sure you are using it as a financial tool!  Check out the benefits that you can use your high credit score for!

One Cent At A Time: Tips To Stay Away From Impulse Buying – The most common reason of over spent is impulse buying, we buy expensive cars when we see the guy next door driving one. This post talks about various tricks and tips to control emotional or impulse buying. How to exercise control to stop from buying things on sudden urge.

Sustainable Personal Finance: What is Dividend Investing? – A primer on dividend investing for new and seasoned investors alike.

Sustainable Life Blog: Importance of Insurance – Are you properly insured for life’s curveballs and think you have your bases covered? Check out this story of an event organizer who thought the same thing, until 1 man threatened to make him pay for it.

Compounding Returns: 4 Ways to Monitor and Protect Your Credit Rating – How to protect your credit rating.

The College Investor: The Best Ways To Maximize Your IRA Potential – A few key points to take into consideration that can really boost your IRA returns!

My Multiple Incomes: Why California’s Affiliate Tax Law Is Bad – A look at why California’s Affiliate Tax law is bad for everyone, including the government.

Money Cone: Thrill Money Investing – Although I invest for the long term, I’ll admit, from time to time, I speculate on market movements for short term gains. I call this Thrill Money Investing. I only allocate a very small portion of my investing funds, funds that I can afford to lose without losing sleep, towards TMI. Any gains are plowed back into boring, conservative stocks or ETFs. This is essentially profiting on current events, mob psychology and market trends rather than on company fundamentals. Of course there are many methods, these are some of the techniques I’ve used personally with good success.

Krantcents: My Journey to Success target=”_blank” – My journey to success from employee to financial freedom. Details of how I achieved financial freedom.

Little House in the Valley: Can I Save Money by Eating Out – As a couple, our eating out seems to be reflecting a similar or less expensive option for satiating our hunger. Can I really save money by eating out for two? Find out.

Free From Broke: Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card | Review – If you fly with Southwest Airlines then having their credit card is an easy way to maximize your spending to get free flights and more. See if this credit card is good for you.

Len Penzo dot Com: 100 Words On: Why Not All Debt Is a Four-Letter Word – Great reasons why some debt it good!

My Personal Finance Journey: 15 Ways to Save on Car Costs – When it comes to saving money on your car, a little bit of knowledge can go a long ways. Here are 15 tips to help you spend less for your transportation.

The Penny Hoarder: Make Money Test Driving Cars – If you love cars you will love this money making idea. Did you know you can get paid to test drive new cars at automobile dealerships?

Money In The 20s: Tips for Creating a Budget Quickly – I think a budget is a great way to see where your money is going and to make sure that your spending is in line with your priorities. There are many ways to budget, so here are a few tips for creating a budget quickly.

Saving Money Today: What You Should Do To Lower Your Car Insurance Cost – Learn some simple tips for lowering your car insurance.

Family Money Values: Grandma’s Money Camp 2011 Teaching My Grandchildren About Money – As a grandparent, especially if you don’t want heirs to destroy the inheritance you intend to leave, you want your grandchildren to learn basic money management as well as more advanced investing concepts and practices. Establishing the tradition of running a money camp each year for your grandchildren can benefit you, your children and your grandchildren by enabling the learning and practice of personal finance skills.

Money Is The Root: Forget About The Low Hanging Fruit – I urge you to forget about the low hanging fruit like daily lattes etc., and focus on the higher monthly costs that really affect your budget.

The Amateur Financier: Determining Your Risk Tolerance – There’s much discussion about risk tolerance in the financial media, but what does it mean, exactly? How do you determine your own risk tolerance? And of course, once you know it, what do you do with that information? Find out in this article from The Amateur Financier!

Prairie Eco Thrifter: How I Lost Nearly 30 Pounds – I had to start prioritizing my “loves” to lose weight. If a single brownie is going to cost me 6 points but an entire 2-3 cup strawberry smoothie with Splenda only costs me 4 points, I have to decide on what to eat based on quantity, quality, and mood. Since I love to budget anyway, budgeting food points seemed to come naturally to me. Within 2 weeks, the pounds were just disappearing!

Live Real Now: Family Bed: How to Make It Stop – When the girls got old enough to reason with, we had a choice: We either had to find a way to convince them they wanted to sleep in their own room, or we had to have a fourth brat for them to attempt to crush at night. We went with bribery. Outright, blatant bribery.

Last week the Yakezie Carnival was run by Eric at Narrow Bridge Finance, he did a spectacular job that really captured the mood of the Fourth of July!  Check out his Yakezie Carnival: Independence Day Edition

This concludes Part 1 of the Yakezie Carnival, the 2nd part will follow in a few days!

Thanks for stopping by!

MR

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Relaxing But Fun Things To Do On Hilton Head Island

July 9th, 2011

I decided to review some of my favorite relaxing activities about Hilton Head Island that I’ve enjoyed from my past few vacation.

Hilton Head Island

Hilton Head Island looks like a shoe!

Fun Things To Do On Hilton Head Island

  • Biking – Hilton Head Island is perfect for renting a bike and going biking since its an Island and therefore very flat!  The Island is literally filled with biking paths everywhere!  You can ride for miles and it seems that you never run out of energy.  Even the heat doesn’t both you while you are riding because of the low intensity workout.
  • Family Beaches - Not near as touristy as Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head’s beaches are basically family beaches.  This is a great place to take young kids to explore the beach without the craziness of college age kids running amok.
  • Golfing – This Island is a golfer’s paradise!  Some of the smaller, less know courses are very reasonably priced to boot!  Bring bottle of water while on the course!
  • Quaintness of the Shops and Businesses – I notice that many of the store and restaurants are operated by people who live on the Island.  This makes sense, but it seems more real and since many of the residents are from northern states that have moved down there, it feels like people are there because they want to be there.  I have a favorite cafe/ice cream shop where it has the feeling of a beach bum type of place.  It was cool to see the local residents interact with each other there.
  • Seafood Meal – I know this is going to sound odd, but I enjoy seafood more when I visit Hilton Head Island.  The food taste a little fresher and just seems more authentic overall.
  • Tours of the Area – We’ve taken a few tours and have found that they are entertaining and the guides witty and very funny.  It was cool hearing about the history and the famous or rich folks that live on the Island.  It’s a nice way to relax and learn a few things.
  • Kayaking Trips – This requires more effort than biking, but seeing the dolphins swim up along us during our kayaking route was exciting and just overall cool.
  • Staying at a Larger House – We stayed at a house that had 6 or 7 rooms last time, and to me the house was huge.  I started reading a book, played games with my family, lounged in the pool, walked the nearby beach, and did whatever I wanted.  Activities by the house were totally spur of the moment and unstructured!
  • Free Things Too – Just being there is a great fun time in itself as there are plenty of great free things to do at Hilton Head Island!  Last year while getting ice cream, we saw a performer do make and tricks with animals.  At another location there was a small, free concert going on.

My list of Fun things to do in Hilton Head Island is a relaxing one, but there are many other more water activities you can do too.  Fishing and crabbing is always fun.  Wave runners and the like are an adventure too, we’ve never rented these but you’ll see them out in the ocean often times.

We usually walk around Coligny Plaza and make a trip to Harbour Town, these are touristy locations but still interesting and fun.

I guess the stimulus for this article was that fact that I was Hilton Head Daydreaming again!

Hope you enjoy your vacations!

MR

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Protecting Your Home: A Guide For The Over 50s

July 8th, 2011

Although it’s important for everyone to protect their home and belongings, it can seem even more vital to safeguard your homestead in later years once you have built up a collection of memories and possessions around you.

With this in mind, it’s imperative that you match your home insurance to your own personal situation in order to make sure your house and its contents are adequately protected, and of course, that you are getting the best deal for you. Many insurers recognise that the over 50s are a lower insurance risk and thus pride in your home is rewarded at this time with access to lower level rates for home insurance. Accidents do happen, but without the pitter-patter of tiny feet around the house, or even the somewhat louder footsteps of teenagers, they do have a tendency to happen less frequently.

By seeking insurance from specialists such as Castle Cover, you can find policies which take account of the time and effort you have put into getting your home and garden just the way you want it. Access to higher level contents insurance also acknowledges the hard work over the years, which has helped you buy the items that are part of your everyday life, as well as your more expensive treasured valuables.

If you have amassed a collection of special goods such as antiques or heirlooms – don’t forget to check these are sufficiently covered by your home insurance too. You may find such items need to be named specifically on your policy, or that your insurer requires them to be valued as part of your agreement – so make sure you talk through what cover can be provided by any potential insurers.

Castle Covers building and contents insurance shouldn’t just be about protecting your home either; consider incorporating cover for your garden or outbuildings too. Often these are the areas where people can spend their valuable relaxation time, or store costly equipment which they need for leisure activities or hobbies, so they should be a priority for safeguarding just as much as your home.

Finally, don’t be bamboozled by jargon. All insurance policies have their exclusions so it’s vital to ascertain just what you are covered for. Although you can receive significant discounts for buying your policy online this should not prevent you from speaking to an adviser first to clear up any questions. The knowledge that your home is protected to the standard you require, should after all, be paramount.

Today’s guest article was provided by Emir who represents Castle Cover, Thanks Emir!

Cheers,

MR

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Am I Really As Frugal As I Think I Am?

July 7th, 2011

 

Over the past few days, I’ve come to realize that I’m not as frugal as I use to be before I became mortgage free in 2010.

Now you might think that my post about buying my son an iPod touch is an excellent example of the ways that I’m losing my frugal ways, but actually I believe that was money well spent!  It was a wise move because the benefits outweighed the costs.

No, what set off the alarms in my head was that we have been going out to eat almost 5 days in a row now, and at $50 to $80 a crack.

Back in the mortgage paying days, I would feel sick to my stomach when the bill would arrive.  Unfortunately, that physical alert no longer works for me.  With no such barriers to prevent lifestyle creep from happening, if I don’t quickly put some other mechanism in place, I’m in danger of spending too much.  This lack of having a barrier effectively zapping my asset gathering process, slowing my journey towards financial independence.

Luckily I’m awake and alert again, so what am I going to do?

Well, since I’m not a fan of budgeting, I never even consider that as an option.  Instead I’ll run my life at a slightly elevated stress level by constantly asking myself and family “Do we really need to do this?”.  As long as I stick to that question, I can analyze if a cost is really a need instead of a want or luxury.

Like a pendulum that was swung to far to the left, I’ll swing back to the right until I’ll take the frugality phase too far.  Hopefully less than in the past, but I’ll definitely swing to the far right, eventually.

As a first step, I think I will start packing my lunch more often, that act alone should save a lot of money.

Next, I’ll bring up my concern with my wife, she’s still more frugal than I am, and likely to jump back into the frugality pool that she enjoys so much.

Finally, I’m going to create a morning mantra and write it down and tape it to a door.  Then I will read that saying whenever I get up in the morning.  I’m also thinking about creating a wallet sized card with the saving on it that I can take out and read aloud (but not too loud) during my lunch break.

Hopefully, this will get me back on track!

MR

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Posted in Frugality

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