Things I LOVE: Saving Money

This is my favorite financial advise!!
**No matter where you are, START NOW!!!
Even though budgeting seems restrictive, just like tithing or other gospel principles, obedience brings blessings. We know that the Lord doesn’t need our money, he wants our obedience.
We all need to spend money; we just need to be careful with it. Like water, money is a necessary resource, but must be contained. Consider a Dam which holds back the water and supplies the needed water to those downstream. When the water is contained, it is a blessing. However, if the dam breaks, this same valuable resource becomes disastrous. The same can be said with the money in our lives. In order to bless us, it must be contained!
Credit cards can be one of those uncontained money spenders.
Number One reason for dropping out of college is Credit Card debt!!! We need to teach our children!
Understanding Credit and Debt
• The average family has an $8,000 balance on their credit cards.
• Any time you use credit-no matter what type-you are tying up future income.
• The information contained in your Credit Report can have a severe impact on you. It can keep you from getting a job, obtaining insurance, or buying or renting a home. It can even keep you from getting into Graduate School or qualifying for your dream job.
• It’s your responsibility to yourself and your family to keep debt to a minimum!
So what can we do? Begin tracking our expenses! Our money can sometimes be like a leaky faucet or gas tank, but we are not sure where the leak is. If our gas tank had a hole in it, we would surely fix it. Tracking expenses is like finding the leaks in our finances. We can find the leaks and then re-direct that money toward things that are important to us.
First, make a guess of how much you spend in a week. Then track and see where you actually spend.
How do you think tracking will change your spending habits?
**Remember, budgeting and tracking is not ever about guilt or control of our spouse. It is about taking control of our financial resources so we can direct our hard earned money towards things that really matter!
Think about all the time you spend earning money – maybe 40 hours a week? Then think about the time you put into directing that hard earned money. Probably not even one hour a week. Since you are working so hard for your money, work hard to put it to good use!
Creating a budget, or a spending plan, is a great way you can manage your money. A budget can help you identify and spend on things that you really need. If an item is not specifically in your budget, you simply do not spend on it. Thus, a budget eliminates unnecessary purchases. Any money that doesn’t get spent can go to a savings budget, which you can later on decide to spend on something you want. This is essential for families and individuals and can be the fastest way to save money. You will instantly see your incomings and outgoings once you create your budget. You will not be able to save money unless you know how much money you have coming in, and how much money you have going out. Once you have prepared a budget of incoming money and outgoing money, you WILL be able to identify areas where you can save. It is MUCH more difficult to save money over a long period of time (the rest of your life?) without a budget.
To Spend or Not to Spend—that is the Question
• Identify alternative and consequences before making decisions.
• Opportunity Cost: “If I choose this, I’m giving up that.”
• The value of having a spending plan is this: it will keep you focused on using your money for things that matter to you. A spending plan allows for chose and flexibility. It put you in control of your money.
• Identify what you want your money to do.
The Three Principles of a Spending Plan
1. Pay yourself first. You need six months living expenses in an emergency fund and put 10% into savings or retirement account.
2. Pay something to others. 10% tithing and fast offerings.
3. Live on what’s left over.
Create a Spending Plan
Step 1: What you want your money to do.
Step 2: Identify total money income.
Step 3: Identify the amount you currently spend.
Step 4: Determine your current cash flow. Cash Flow = what goes in and what goes out.
Step 5: Evaluate the past--create the future.
Step 6: Determine the cash flow of your spending plan.
Step 7: Implement your plan.
Once you know how much you have and what you want to spend it on, here are some ideas on how to organize it all:
* Each paycheck, I figure out how much I'll need for tithing, F.O., food, gas, savings, etc. and I get the cash for it out and put in envelopes. I find I am much more careful with my spending on a cash basis.
* We use an "envelope" system. Every time we get paid, we take out cash for specific things like groceries, clothing and entertainment, and put them in envelopes. Once the cash is spent, that's it until the next payday when we take out the budgeted amount and do it again. It really helps to stay on track with our spending. It's easy to blow your budget by running to the store for this or that and use your debit card, then lose track of how much you are actually spending.
* I think the most important thing is to be educated on what you are spending. So many of my friends have no idea, their husbands handle all of the bills so they don't know what is coming and going in their house. It helps me so much to see how much it costs us just to live each month for things like groceries, cell phone bills, utility bill, gas bill, house payment and insurance. I think women tend to think it's not their place to get involved in the finances but for me knowing what we have to spend helps me have self control when I want to buy something we don't need.
* I use Quicken Software to keep track of our finances and bills and to help put money aside when we can. It’s user-friendly and easy to understand. This way we can see where we spend most of our money and then decide on what we can cut back on.
* I have recently opened a second checking account just for bills. We've calculated the amount per month we spend on bills, plus the per-month cost of yearly bills like car insurance and high cost items like hair-coloring and a new computer, and have 1/2 that amount direct deposited into our billpay checking from our check every two weeks. The rest of the paycheck goes into our regular checking for things like gas, groceries, etc. Then we have all the bills direct-debit from our billpay checking. We are never late on our bills and we never accidentally spend money. One thing I love about this is that instead of coming up with $50 for my haircut every other month, which can be hard, I just put away $6.25 every week, which is easy. Especially since it comes out even before I see the total in my main checking. And it would've been so easy to spend that $6 on something dumb that I don't really need. But now it means something important to me.
* A huge reason we were able to buy a house is because my in-laws put away $20 a paycheck for their kids' college funds for years and years and years, and then my husband stayed local and got scholarships, so in addition to not having any student loans (like I have), they gave him the $20,000 from his college account for a down payment! Boy am I grateful for their years of dedicated savings!
The Big One--Curb Your Buying Impulse
Seven out of 10 people end up buying something they like on impulse or at first glance. A simulated sociological study found that people who bring cash or credit cards with them while they are window shopping are more likely to end up buying things on impulse than if they had little cash or didn’t bring their cards with them.
You can save money by exerting a conscious effort not to give in to your buying impulse. If you see something you really like, save for it instead of buying it the first time you see it. When you’re shopping, shop for things that are necessary or that you need immediately. If something isn’t crucial or immediately needed, don’t buy it right away. Wait a while and see if you still want it the next time you see it.
www.daveramsey.com, www.elearn.byu.edu (has great free online classes)

100 Ways to Reduce Expenses
Fix it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. — Author unknown.
Here’s a list of ideas for reducing expenses. Notice the word reduce. It doesn't say eliminate, although if you have unnecessary expenses, you certainly could eliminate them. Keep in mind that any expense you can reduce will free up money for other things. Think of opportunity cost as you consider these ideas.
1. Make it automatic. Before I see my paycheck, a good portion of it is diverted to my 401(k) and savings. Pay tithing first and save a little. Five to ten percent of what you make each month can add up quick.
2. Use less. This money saving tip is a lesson we all need to learn. We live in a consumer society where waste is a huge problem. If we could all use and consume less there would be less waste, less power consumption, and the benefits for you are SAVING MONEY. Consider using less shampoo when you wash your hair, this may not mean washing your hair less effectively it means not flushing the excess shampoo and your money down the drain. What about saving on heating? Turn the thermostat down or put on extra clothes when you are cold. Turn off lights, the TV and the computer when they are not in use. Each little saving you make will build up and enable you to save money.
3. Simplify, Simplify, Simplify. Think about if something is a want or a need. "Wants" can wait. "Needs" are the priority. It's O.K. to do without. You don't have to "keep up with the Jones." If the T.V., cell phone, computer, or whatever still works, you don't HAVE to upgrade right now.
4. Spend Less. This is not over simplifying the best way to save money! It is essential if you are serious about being a long term money saver and being able to save money every day. Review what you spend and look at ways you can save money. Consider making telephone calls for instance only at off-peak times. Do you really need to have newspapers and magazines delivered? What about using the public lending library instead of buying books or music CDs? Once you start looking for little ways to save money and spend less you will quickly become an expert and really save money.
5. Go through your cell phone bill, look for services you don’t use, and ditch them. Sit down and go through each item on your bill and see if there’s anything there that you don’t use, like a surfeit of text messages or web access or something to that effect. Then call your cell phone company and ask to have those services eliminated. Boom, you’re saving money.
6. Get organized and avoid missed payments. I’ve missed a payment or two because the bill got buried beneath a stack of papers. Get organized and avoid those late payment penalties. If you do miss a payment, call your creditor and ask to have the penalty removed. They’ll usually accommodate the request, at least the first time.
7. Avoid debt. Pay as you go.
8. Create a visual reminder of your debt. Basically, just make a giant progress bar that starts with the amount of debt you have and ends with zero. Each time you pay down a little bit, fill in a little more of that progress bar. Keep this reminder in a place where you’ll see it often, and keep filling it in regularly. It keeps your eyes on the prize and leads you straight to debt freedom.
9. Design your “debt snowball.” Everyone needs a plan to help them get out of debt, so sit down and plot out what debts you’re going to pay off and in what order. Simply having a plan goes a long way towards bringing that plan into action, and paying off debts early is one of the surest ways to put money in your pocket over the long run.
10. Save all the change (coin) in a jar and count it up once a year. Make a donation to your favorite charity with it!!
11. Don’t pay banking fees! I use my bank for free bill pay, automatic deposits, free checks, and free reimbursements for all ATM fees. I won’t pay for any of those services. Consider moving to a credit union. Greater Nevada Credit Union has the best interest rate on their checking accounts…we’ve simplified everything and have put everything in there.
12. Utilize online bill pay with your bank. This serves two purposes. First, it keeps you in much closer contact with your money, as you can keep a very close eye on your balance and be in much less danger of over drafting. Second, it saves you money on stamps and paper checks by allowing you to just fill in an online form, click submit, and have your bill paid. Try it out – and take advantage of it if you’re not already. My bank is a credit union - I just go to their website - log in to my account, go to Bill Pay and tell them to send you a check - that is how I do EVERYTHING! I even have it set up to send the piano teacher her monthly check and I don't even have to think about it!
13. Always ask for fees to be waived. Any time you sign up for a service of any kind and there are sign-up fees, ask for them to be waived. Sometimes (but not always), they will be – and you save money just by being forthright about not wanting to pay excessive fees. I did this with my last cell phone sign-up and got part of my fees waived, cutting down significantly on the bill.
14. Hide your credit cards. Take your credit cards and put them in a safe place in your home, not in your wallet where it’s easy to spend them. If you argue that you need it for “emergencies,” just be sure to keep a small amount of cash hidden in your wallet for these emergencies. Don’t keep plastic on you until you have the willpower to not use it even when you’re sorely tempted.
15. Don’t pay interest on credit cards…and consider giving them up all together. This is obvious, but I soon as you fail to pay off the credit card in full, the high interest payments start to eat away at your monthly budget. If the temptation to spend more than you can pay on a credit card is to great, get rid of the credit card!
16. Have insurance. Health insurance, home owner’s insurance, auto insurance, and other types of insurance are designed to save you money! Sure, you may end up paying premiums for years and never file a claim, but in the event you need to file a claim, your premium will likely be small compared to what you would have had to pay. You’ll be very happy if you ever need it!
17. Switch to term life insurance. Repeat after me: insurance is not an investment. Switch to term insurance instead and use that difference in cost to get yourself out of debt and start building some wealth. Universal and whole policies are much more expensive and offer a sub par investment opportunity – you’re much better off getting yourself free of a debt burden than spending extra on such things.
18. Buy energy efficient appliances. Look for the Energy Star on appliances and consider the annual energy cost before buying. More efficient appliances cost more, but you make up the extra cost and then some over the life of the product.
19. Connect your entertainment center and/or computer setup to a true smart power strip. A device like the SmartStrip LCG4 basically cuts power to all devices on the strip depending on the status of the first item on the strip. So, if you have your workstation hooked up to this, every time you power down your workstation, your monitor powers down, your printer powers down, your scanner powers down, and so on. You can do the same thing with your entertainment console – when you turn off the television, the cable/satellite box also goes off, as does the video game console, the VCR, the DVD player, and so on. This can save you a lot of electricity and significantly trim your power bill.
20. Air seal your home. Most homes have some air leaks that make the job of keeping it cool in summer and warm in winter that much harder – and that much more costly for you.
21. Make sure all your electrical devices are on a surge protector. This is especially true of your entertainment center and your computer equipment. A power surge can damage these electronics very easily, so spend the money for a basic surge protector and keep your equipment plugged into such a device.
22. Turn off the television. One big way to save money is to watch less television. There are a lot of financial benefits to this: less exposure to guilt-inducing ads, more time to focus on other things in life, less electrical use, and so on. It’s great to unwind in the evening, but seek another hobby to do that.
23. Cancel the cable or satellite channels you don’t watch. Many people with cable services often are paying for a premium package but rarely watch those extra channels.
24. Reduce your long distance telephone bill. Use e-mail or write letters.
25. Be diligent about turning off lights before you leave. If you spend one minute turning off lights before a two hour trip, that’s the equivalent of earning $50 an hour. That’s some impressive savings, particularly if you do it before longer trips. The key is to use less energy, particularly when you’re not using the device.
26. Use a programmable thermostat. Programmable thermostats save you an estimated 10-20% on your heating and cooling bills
27. Use ceiling fans, floor fans, and space heaters.
28. Install CFLs to save energy. Compact fluorescent lights use about a quarter of the electricity of normal incandescent bulbs. They also need replaced much less often.
29. Do a “maintenance run” on your appliances. Check them to make sure there isn’t any dust clogging them and that they’re fairly clean. Look behind the appliances, and use your vacuum to gently clear away dust. Check all of the vents, especially on refrigerators, dryers, and heating and cooling units. The less dust you have blocking the mechanics of these devices, the more efficiently they’ll run (saving you on your energy bill) and the longer they’ll last (saving you on replacement costs).
30. Do some basic home and auto maintenance on a regular schedule. Instead of just waiting until something breaks to deal with it, develop a monthly maintenance schedule where you go around your home (and your car) and perform a bit of maintenance where it’s needed. This little activity, taking you just an hour or two a month, will keep things from breaking down and help you see problems before they become disasters.
31. Air up your tires. For every two PSI that all of your tires are below the recommended level, you lose 1% on your gas mileage. Most car tires are five to ten PSI below the normal level, so that means by just airing up your tires; you can improve your gas mileage by up to 5%. It’s easy, too. Just read your car’s manual to see what the recommended tire pressure is, then head to the gas station. Ask the attendant inside if they have a tire air gauge you can borrow (most of them do, both in urban and rural settings), then stop over by the air pump. Check your tires, and then use the pump to fill them up to where they should be. It’s basically free gas!
32. Clean your car’s air filter. A clean air filter can improve your gas mileage by up to 7%, saving you more than $100 for every 10,000 miles you drive in an average vehicle. Plus, cleaning your air filter is easy to do in just a few minutes – just follow the instructions in your automobile’s manual and you’re good to go.
33. Can you get by with one car? Sell one car and use public transportation or car pool. Is there anyone that lives near you who works at the same place (or near the same place) that you do? Why not ride together, alternating drivers each day? You can halve the wear and tear and gas costs for your car – and for your acquaintance as well.
34. Drive smoothly. Gas prices are going back up! Accelerate smoothly and at a reasonable rate, and use cruise control on the highway. My car is rated to get 26 mpg .around town and I regularly get 29. That’s not quite hypermiling, but it’s not bad.
35. Plan your errands so you can make one trip to that part of town and not waste gas.
36. Plan ahead. Go back-to-school shopping between January and March. Get those great Jeans after Christmas for 60% off, and save them for school next fall. Plan meals around what's in season and/or on sale that week.
37. Actively search out deals and shop smart. Shop at the discount stores like Ross, Wal-Mart, or even thrift stores first. Why pay 2-3 times as much at the Mall when you can get something just as good for less? It never hurts to try and find a better deal, or request a better deal from your service providers. www.slickdeals.net is a great website to find bargains.
38. When shopping for standard items (clothes, sports equipment, older games, etc.), start by shopping used. Quite often, you can find the exact item you want with a bit of clever shopping at used equipment stores, used game stores, consignment shops, and so on. Just make these shops a part of your normal routine – go there first when looking for potential items and you will save money. There are huge money savings to be made in buying used. Typically cars lose one-third of their value in the first 24 months from new. Why not buy a car 24 months old? Other items such as clothes can be worth even less just the day after new. Look for ways to buy "as good as new" items and save money. Typical products you might consider buying used to save money include: cars, clothes, electrical goods, garden items... tools and sheds, household items... pots and pans, the list of used goods where you can save money is endless.
39. Plan and research major purchases and compare prices. Whether you’re buying clothes, food, gas or any other commodity, it’s a good idea to compare prices. Thanks to the Internet, you can compare prices of various goods and services online without having to drive around or spend too much time doing it. You’ll be able to find the best deals and save money by doing price comparisons before shelling out any money. Make sure a sale is a sale. By this I mean do your price research before you commit to making an expensive purchase in a retailers money-off sale. You have to be sure the sale really is a sale and not a creative marketing strategy of the store to encourage you to spend your money without thinking. Once you have researched the true price of a product (any product) you are in a good position to take advantage of a sale, special offer or discount and really save money. "Buy one get one free", "50% off", and "Huge Discount" will only help you save money if the actual price you pay is lower than you would pay somewhere else for exactly the same product.
40. Buy quality products. Quality items may cost more up front, but they last longer and generally provide better results than cheaper, inferior products. Examples of items you should buy higher quality – furniture, clothes and shoes, vehicles, and other items that will see a lot of use.
41. Turn a critical eye to your “collections.” Most people collect something – what do you collect? Is it something that consistently brings you joy? Or is it something that you just do out of habit at this point? Does the collection itself have value? Could you perhaps “trim the fat” from this collection by getting rid of duplicates or getting rid of the items you no longer use? Also, could you perhaps cut down on your spending on that hobby? Focus on trimming the things you don’t feel strongly about – if you dig into things that bother you, you’re going to eventually relapse.
42. Make your own gifts instead of buying stuff from the store. You can make food mixes, candles, bread, cookies, soap, and all kinds of other things at home quite easily and inexpensively. These make spectacular gifts for others because they involve your homemade touch, plus quite often they’re consumable, meaning they don’t wind up filling someone’s closet with junk. Even better – include a personal handwritten note with the gift. This will make it even more special than anything you could possibly buy down at the mall, plus it saves you money.
43. Attend the free Home Depot and Lowes workshops and start making Christmas gifts for family and friends ahead of time.
44. Master the thirty day rule. Whenever you’re considering making an unnecessary purchase, wait thirty days and then ask yourself if you still want that item. Quite often, you’ll find that the urge to buy has passed and you’ll have saved yourself some money by simply waiting. If you want, you can even keep a “thirty day list” where you write down the item and the day you’ll reconsider it, but I prefer just to keep this one in my head – that way, I often just forget about the unimportant things.
45. Agree to limit gift giving. At Christmas our extended family goes overboard when it comes to gift giving. Agree in advance to limit the gifts and save everybody some money.
46. Invite friends over instead of going out. Almost every activity at home is less expensive than going out. Invite some friends over and have a cookout or a potluck meal, then have a game or movie night. Everyone will have fun, the cost will be low, and the others will likely reciprocate not long afterwards.
47. Instead of throwing out some damaged clothing, repair it instead. Don’t toss out a shirt because of a broken button – sew a new one on with some closely-matched thread. Don’t toss out pants because of a hole in them – put in a patch of some sort and save them for times when you’re working around the house. Simple sewing can be done by anyone – it just takes a few minutes and it saves a lot of money by keeping you from buying new clothes when you don’t really need to.
48. Clean out your closet. Go through your closets and try to get rid of some of the stuff in there. You can have a yard sale with it, take it to a consignment shop, or even donate it for the tax deduction – all of which turn old stuff you don’t want to use any more into money in your pocket. Not only that, it’s often a psychological load off your mind to clean out your closets.
49. Don't buy anything at full price. Wait until it goes on sale, or until you have a coupon.
50. Challenge yourself to try making your own things. Before I tried it myself, I thought homemade bread making was complicated and a waste of time and money. I came to find out that it was pretty easy and it was actually much cheaper, healthier, and tastier than buying from the store. Make what you can at home.
51. Every so often have a "Go Without" week. This excludes groceries. It's a week where you stay away from the stores and malls, fast food, movies, or recreation. Make it a game. When you've got to where you can "go without" for a week, try for two weeks. See if you can work up to "going without" for a month.
52. Don’t spend money just to de-stress. Instead of spending to de-stress, try some basic meditation techniques, stretching, or yoga and see how you feel.
53. If you go shopping with friends, and feel the impulse to buy something because of the "thrill of buying something", think about if you'd still want to buy it if you were alone.
54. Talk to your loved ones about what your dreams are. This seems like an odd way to save money, but think about it. If you spend time with the people you love the most and come to some consensus about your dreams, it becomes easy for you all to plan for it. If you’re all planning and working together towards this dream, it becomes easier to stay focused on it and reach it. Set a big, audacious goal together and encourage each other to be financially fit – soon, you’ll find you’re doing it naturally and your dreams are coming closer than ever.
55. Cancel subscriptions. As far as newspapers and magazines go, almost everything you want can be found on-line for free.
56. Cancel unused club memberships. Are you paying dues at a club that you never use? Like, for instance, a gym membership or a country club membership? Cancel these club memberships, even if you think you might use them again someday – you can always renew the membership at a later date if it turns out that you actually do miss it.
57. Get healthy. Your health will directly impact the cost of life insurance and, in some cases, can reduce the cost of your health insurance…you’ll feel better and be happier.
58. Exercise more. Go for a walk or a jog each evening, and practice stretching and some light muscle exercise at home. These exercises can be done at home for very little, meaning you’ve got an activity without a lot of cost, and the health benefits are enormous. Just set aside some time each day to get some exercise, and your body and wallet will thank you.
59. Eat breakfast. Eating a healthy breakfast fills you up with energy for the day and also decreases your desire to eat a big lunch in the middle of the day. Not only that, breakfast can be very healthy, quick, and inexpensive.
60. Drink more water. Not only does drinking plenty of water have great health benefits, water drinking has financial benefits, too. Drink a big glass of water before each meal, and not only will you digest it better, you won’t eat as much, saving on the ol’ food bill. You’ll also find yourself feeling a bit better as you begin to get adequately hydrated (most Americans are perpetually somewhat dehydrated).
61. Cut back on the convenience foods – fast foods, microwave meals, and so on. Instead of eating fast food or just nuking some prepackaged food when you get home, try making some simple and healthy replacements that you can take with you. An hour’s worth of preparation one weekend can give you a ton of cheap and handy meals that will end up saving you a lot of cash and not eat into your time when you’re busy.
62. Keep your hands clean. This one’s simple – just wash your hands thoroughly each time you use the bathroom or handle raw foods. You’ll keep yourself from acquiring all kinds of viruses and bacteria, saving you on medical bills and medicine costs and lost productivity. That’s not to say you shouldn’t explore the world and get your hands dirty sometimes – that’s good for you, too – but basic sanitation does help keep the medical bills away.
63. Give a gift of a service instead of an item. For new parents, give an evening of babysitting as a gift. If you know pet owners, offer to take care of their pets when they travel. Offer up some lawn care as a gift to a new homeowner. These are always spectacular gifts for anyone – I know that, as a parent of a toddler and an infant, I love receiving a babysitting gift, probably more than any “stuff” I might receive.
64. Do holiday shopping right after the holidays. Most people use this technique for Christmas, but it works for every holiday. Wait until about two days after a holiday, then go out shopping for items you need that are themed for that day. Get a Mother’s Day card for next year the day after Mother’s Day. Get Easter egg decorating kits the day after Easter. Get wrapping paper and cards and such the day after Christmas. The discounts are tremendous, and you can just put this stuff in the closet until next year, saving you a bundle.
65. Keep your receipts for Target and Kohl's. They will scan your receipts and see if any items have gone on sale since you made the purchase, and give you either a credit or cash back.
66. Join up with a volunteer program. It’s a great way to meet new people, get some exercise, and involve yourself in a positive project that can lift your spirit. It also comes without a cost to you and can provide a lot of entertainment and a fulfilling day when you’re in the right mindset.
67. Reevaluate the stuff in the rooms in your house. Go into a room and go through every single item in it. Do you really need that item? Are you happy that it’s there, or would you be just fine if it were not? If you can find stuff to get rid of, get rid of it – it just creates clutter and it might have some value to others. You also improve the perceived value of your house – and you’re likely to get a lot of cleaning done in the process. It’s a frugal win-win-win.
68. Don’t go to stores or shopping centers for entertainment. Doing so is just an encouragement to spend money you don’t really have on stuff you don’t really need. Instead, find other places to entertain yourself – the park, the basketball court, a museum, a friend’s house, or even in your own home. Don’t substitute shopping for entertainment and you’ll be way better off.
69. Master the ten second rule. Whenever you pick up an item in order to add it to your cart or to take it to the checkout, stop for ten seconds and ask yourself why you’re buying it and whether you actually need it or not. If you can’t find a good answer, put the item back. This keeps me from making impulse buys on a regular basis.
70. Go through your clothes – all of them. If you have a regular urge to buy clothes, go through everything that you have and see what you might find. Take the clothes at the back of the closet and bring them to the front and suddenly your wardrobe will feel completely different. Take the clothes buried in your dresser and pull them to the top. You’ll feel like a brand new person who doesn’t need to spend money on clothes right now.
71. Learn how to dress minimally. Buy clothes that mix and match well and you’ll not need nearly as many clothes.
72. Stick to the classics, avoid the trends. Classic styles of clothes, hair, and home decor won't go out of style so quickly and you won't feel the need to replace them as often.
73. If something’s broken, give a fair shot at repairing it yourself before replacing it or calling a repairman. Get a handyman’s book or advice from the internet and give it a shot yourself. I’ve fixed clocks, air conditioners, and VCRs by doing this before, saving significant cash by saving on a replacement or on a repair person.
74. Invest in a deep freezer. A deep freezer, after the initial investment, is a great bargain. You can use it to store all sorts of bulk foods, which enables you to pay less per pound of it at the market. Even better, you can store lots of meals prepared in advance, enabling you to just go home and pop something homemade (and cheap) in the oven.
75. Start a garden. Gardening is an inexpensive hobby if you have a yard. Just rent a tiller, till up a patch, plant some plants, keep it weeded, and you’ll have a very inexpensive hobby that produces a huge amount of vegetables for you to eat at the end of the season. I like planting a bunch of tomato plants, keeping them cared for, then enjoying a huge flood of tomatoes at the end of the summer. We like to eat them fresh, can them, and make tomato juice, sauce, paste, ketchup, pasta sauce, and pizza sauce. Delicious (and very inexpensive)!
76. Buy generic where applicable. Yes, earlier I wrote “buy quality,” but you can save a lot of money on generic items for which the brand name product is essentially the same as the store brand. Food and medicines come to mind as items where generic products are good deals.
77. Plan your meals around your grocery store’s flyer. Instead of just planning your meals based on a cookbook or whatever you can dream up, plan all your meals around what’s on sale in your grocery store’s flyer. Look at the biggest sales, then plan meals based on those ingredients and what you have on hand, and you’ll find yourself with a much smaller food bill than you’re used to.
78. Use a brutally effective coupon strategy. Here’s the trick: wait a month before using the coupons. Save your coupon flyer out of your Sunday paper for a month, then bust it out and start cutting anything that might be of interest. For a bonus kicker, use the coupons in comparison with your grocery store flyer that week to find out ways you can use a coupon to reduce the cost of an item already on sale – you can wind up paying pennies for some things and, on occasion, actually get food for free.
79. Make a quadruple batch of a casserole. Casseroles are nice, easy dishes to prepare, but on busy nights, it’s often still easier to just order some take-out or eat out or just plop a prepackaged meal in the oven. Instead, the next time you make a casserole, make four batches of it and put the other three in the freezer. Then, the next time you need a quick meal for the family, grab one of those batches and just heat it up – easy as can be. Even better, doing this allows you to buy the ingredients in bulk, making each casserole cheaper than it would be ordinarily – and far, far cheaper than eating out or trying a prepackaged meal.
80. When cooking a meal, add a little more ingredients (rice, noodles, potatoes, veggies, whatever) to double the size so you can freeze one for later.
81. Get a crock pot. A crock pot is perhaps the best deal on earth for reducing cooking costs in a busy family. You can just dump in your ingredients before work, put it on simmer, and dinner is done when you get home. There are countless recipes out there for all variety of foods, and every time you cook this way, you’re saving money as compared to eating out.
82. Cook at home and plan for leftovers and brown bag your lunch. Instead of going out to eat at work, take your own lunch. You can save money by preparing your meals ahead of time and bringing them with you to work or wherever you go. You won’t find yourself going through the drive-thru or sitting in a restaurant and spending more money on food you could have prepared yourself. You can make a big batch of food at the beginning of the week, put them in small containers and freeze them. Take one with you when you go to work and simply microwave them when you’re ready to eat. I estimate I save a minimum of $30 a week by sending lunch to work and packing it for the kids. It is also healthier.
83. Bulk is good. Buy staple items you use a lot of in bulk, particularly items that don’t perish – trash bags, laundry detergent, diapers, and so on are purchased in the largest amounts possible. This cuts down on their cost per usage by quite a bit and, over the long haul, begins to add up to some serious money. Even better, we don’t have to shop for these items very often, saving time and a fraction of the cost of a trip to the grocery store. Preparing food in bulk and in advance also gives you the opportunity to plan ahead and be more accurate in your budget. One thing to be aware of when buying in bulk is to be sure that any product you buy will get used before it goes bad - you won't save money if you have to throw stuff away. Buying in bulk is not only a good way to save money it is also a good strategy for coping with and surviving emergencies.
84. Party at home. Almost everyone loves to go to dinner. Decide the maximum amount you'll spend and then pick a restaurant accordingly. You can have just as much fun with family and friends over a bowl of pasta as you can over a steak and baked potato. If you eat out often, then it might be fun to have a dinner party at your home. Pick a theme and have everyone bring something to go with the theme, or make food assignments. Get out the board games after dinner or watch a movie classic.
85. Hit the library – hard. Don’t look at a library as just a place to get old books. Look at it as a free place to do all sorts of things. You can learn a foreign language, meet people, use the Internet anonymously, check out movies and CDs, grab local free newspapers, and keep up on community events. Best of all, it doesn’t cost a dime. Simply put, it’s hard to beat free. Also, get DVDs from the library. Many libraries now have movies on DVD that can be checked out.
86. Wait for movies to show up at the dollar theater, rent them from the video store, or get them for free at the library: a great way to cut expenses in the entertainment category. Red Box is also an inexpensive way to get new releases.
87. Check out what your town’s parks and recreation board has to offer. Our town has several wonderful parks, free basketball and tennis courts, free disc golf, trails, and lots of other stuff just there waiting to be used. You can go have fun for hours out in the wonderful outdoors, playing sports, hiking on trails, or trying other activities – and it’s all there for free. All you have to do is discover it.
88. Dig into your community calendar. There are often tons of free events going on in your town that you don’t even know about. You can often get free meals, free entertainment, and free stuff just by paying attention – even better, you’ll get in touch with what’s going on around you.
89. Encourage your friends to do less expensive activities. This is often a tricky thing to do, but there are a number of techniques you can try. My favorite one is to be the first one to suggest something – that often gives you the power to steer the group towards things that are cheaper.
90. Take care of things and make them last. Take good care of your possessions so they don't break, get lost, or wear out as quickly. This applies to everything from furniture to clothing, to technology, to automobiles.
91. Do it yourself. Why pay someone to work for you if you can do it yourself? Learn how to do your own cleaning, yard work, cooking, hair cutting, photography, piano and swim lessons, home improvement, and even simple auto repair.
92. Find out about all of the benefits of your job. Most people aren’t even aware of all of the benefits available to them. Spend some time with an HR person finding out about all the benefits of your job – you might be surprised at what you might find. This not only can cut down on your own spending on things like sporting and community events and educational classes, but can also improve your retirement plan.
93. Make your own items instead of buying them. I like to make my own laundry detergent. Hunt around for recipes – it’s amazing how many things you can make at home in just a few minutes that saves a ton of money compared to the commercial versions.
94. Buy a smaller house. You don’t need a giant place to live. Instead, buy something more modest and you’ll find yourself with plenty of room – and still plenty of cash in your pocket.
95. Cut down on your vacation spending. Instead of going on a big, extravagant trip, pack up the car and see some of America for vacation.
96. Pack food before you go on a road trip. Have everyone pack a sack lunch for the trip. That way, instead of stopping in the middle of the trip, driving around looking for a place to eat, spending a bunch of time there, and then paying a hefty bill, you can just eat on the road or, better yet, stop at a nice park and stretch for a bit. Plus, you’ll save a lot of money and a fair amount of time this way.
97. Stay married. Yes, I know that some marriages end because of abuse and other extreme circumstances. “Isn’t marriage about love”, you ask. Sometimes. “You don’t know my situation”, you say. True. But I lived through the emotional and financial pain of two divorces as a child, and I’ve been married to the same woman for more than 19 years, so I know plenty. Am I telling you not to get a divorce? Of course not. I am telling you that divorce will wreck your finances and your spouse’s finances.
98. Don’t beat yourself up when you make a mistake. Even if you make ten good choices, it’s easy to beat yourself up and feel like a failure over one bad choice. If you make a big mistake and realize it, think about why you realized it now instead of then, and try to apply that later on. The memory of that mistake can end up being very valuable, indeed.
99. Always keep looking ahead. Don’t let the mistakes of your past drag you down into more mistakes. Look ahead to the future. The choices you make now won’t affect the past – but they definitely will affect the future. Think back, and remember how the bad choices you made earlier are costing you now, and constantly remember to not make those mistakes now so that they don’t cost your future self.
100. Never give up. Whenever the struggle against debt feels like it’s too much, go read a personal finance blog and remember that there are a lot of people out there fighting the same fight. Read around through the archives and learn some new things – and perhaps get inspired to keep going, no matter what.

Homemade Cleaning Products that I LOVE!!

Liquid Laundry Detergent

Here’s what you need:
- 1 bar of soap (I use Fels-Naptha because I feel like it cleans the best.)
- 1 box of washing soda (look for it in the laundry detergent - it comes in an Arm & Hammer box and will contain enough for six batches of this stuff)
- 1 box of Borax (contains enough for lots of batches)
- A five gallon bucket with a lid (or a bucket that will hold more than 15 liters - ask around - these aren’t too tough to acquire)
- Three gallons of tap water
- A big spoon to stir the mixture with
- A measuring cup
- A knife

Step One: Put about four cups of water into a pan on your stove and turn the heat up on high until it’s almost boiling. While you’re waiting, whip out a knife and start shaving strips off of the bar of soap into the water, whittling it down. Keep the heat below a boil and keep shaving the soap. Eventually, you’ll shave up the whole bar, then stir the hot water until the soap is dissolved and you have some highly soapy water.

Step Two: Put three gallons of hot water (11 liters or so) into the five gallon bucket - the easiest way is to fill up three gallon milk jugs worth of it. Then mix in the hot soapy water from step one, stir it for a while, then add a cup of the washing soda. Keep stirring it for another minute or two, then add a half cup of borax if you are using borax. Stir for another couple of minutes, then let the stuff sit overnight to cool.

And you’re done. When you wake up in the morning, you’ll have a bucket of gelatinous slime that’s a paler shade of the soap that you used (in our case, it’s a very pale greenish blue). One measuring cup full of this slime will be roughly what you need to do a load of laundry - and the ingredients are basically the same as laundry detergent. Thus, out of three gallons, you’ll get about 48 loads of laundry. If you do this six times, you’ll have used six bars of soap ($0.99 each), one box of washing soda ($2.49 at our store), and about half a box of borax ($2.49 at our store, so $1.25) and make 288 loads of laundry. This comes up to a cost of right around three cents a gallon, or a savings of $70.
Plus, you can make slime in the kitchen - and have a legitimate reason for doing so!

Fabric Softener

3 C vinegar
2 C hair conditioner (any kind)
6 C water

Step 1
In a sealable container (if you have a couple old liquid fabric softener containers, those work well), combine 2 cups hair conditioner (I use a regular sized bottle- a little less than 2 cups), 3 cups vinegar, and 6 cups water.
Step 2
Mix all ingredients together.
Step 3
Store in air tight container.
Step 4
Use same amount you would use with regular liquid fabric softener.