These days it seems that no one saves money like they used to; Money is spent nearly as fast as it’s earned. I know that in my house, there’s is usually very little, if any, left to put into savings. I realized a few months ago that I needed to make some changes and figure out some inventive ways to start saving. Here are some of the tricks that I’ve found work surprisingly well without putting any additional pinch on your pocketbook (well, some of ‘em might pinch a little).

1. Round Up! When I deduct bills, gas, groceries, etc. from my checking account, I always round up. For instance if I spend $127.57 on groceries, I enter into my checking account as $128. This helps with balancing the books, but it will also help you develop a little “padding” in that account. Do this for a month and you’ll be amazed at what you end up with. If you’re really on top of things, take that padding and move it into your savings account to earn interest at the end of each month.
2. Get an online savings account. If you shop around, there are some great deals on savings account which will earn you much higher interest than your local bank will offer. Many of them have incentives as well. How about $50 or more just for opening an account? Be sure to do your homework though, some accounts have fees and others are totally free. Here’s a site that I used to help me choose the right online savings account for me.
3. Use a piggy bank. I know it sounds like we’re back in elementary school (ahhh, the days when $9 could make you feel like the richest person on Earth!), but think about how much change you have floating around your house, in your car, and even in your laundry machine! Start putting that rogue change and lonely dollar bills into a jar and then forget that it exists. Eventually it will add up to more than you would expect. I knew a guy who finally went to cash in his change and ended up with $400 he used for a skydiving vacation.
4. Pack your lunch! This is good for you and your pocketbook. It may take a little extra time each morning to get it ready, but it saves you money on food, on gas to get to the restaurant and back, and chances are you’ll be saving yourself some calories as well.
5. Pay attention to your home habits. I never think to bring this up because I am so conscious of things like the lights in my house, and my AC. I noticed the other day when I had someone staying with me that not everyone may think about these things. Always make sure that your lights are off in the rooms you’re not in, especially if you’re leaving for work or to go out for a few hours! What’s the point of leaving your lights on when you’re gone? For added savings buy the new “green” light bulbs; they last longer and save you money on your electric bill. Another example is heating and air conditioning. My neighbors have their AC running all summer long. It literally NEVER stops running. Why cool your house down when you’re at work? Why does your house have to be so cold? I try never to run it at all, but on the rare occasion I do, I make sure it’s not left on while I’m gone and I always set it at a temperature that I know I will be comfortable and yet at the same time won’t have to run non-stop to achieve. Heat is the same way. So is water. Think about your habits at home and I’ll bet there’s at least one place you could save some dough.
6. Avoid convenience. ATM’s are everywhere, but chances are if you belong to a bank then there is at least one ATM you can use without being charged a fee. If you take the time to plan ahead, you’ll save yourself at least a couple bucks. Same with convenience stores. Sure, it’s great that you can run in and grab milk or a case of soda while you’re getting gas, but that convenience costs you a LOT! Think about that next time you reach for a $12 pack of batteries at the gas station. For example, if you spend an extra $2 each day by taking advantage of these types of conveniences that’s $60 in one month’s time that you could have saved just by taking the time to go where it’s cheaper.
7. Buy your clothes out of season. We all want to go out and buy new winter stuff as soon as fall hits. We’re inundated with ads of great stuff that we “just have to have”! But, this time of year is the most expensive time to be buying winter clothes. If you buy your summer stuff in the fall and your winter stuff in the spring, you’ll end up getting everything for a fraction of what you might have paid just a few months earlier. Yeah, it’s hard to put the perfect little tank top away for 8 months, but it’ll make you grin from ear to ear when you finally get to pull it out and see the price tag.
8. Consider your cable. Do any of us really need 120 channels? How many of those channels do you watch? I figure I watch probably 20 channels, but I gotta pay for the whole enchilada just to get those 20. Ughh. If you are a TV “hobbiest” than this might not be an acceptable place to cut back, but consider whether what you get out of your cable plan is worth what you’re paying.
9. Have ONE phone. How many people do you know have a cell phone AND a land line (and I’m being gracious here… some families have 4 or 5)? Why? I don’t get this. You only need one phone number people! Just one! I assure you that back in the “old” days people got by just fine with only one. Decide how available you need to be and choose one or the other!
10. What’s your vice? For me it’s coffee… $4 soy lattes to be precise. How did I overcome this problem? Well I haven’t completely, but I have limited myself to how often I buy high-priced caffeine, and I invested in an espresso maker for my house so that I can make one each morning and avoid the coffee shop completely. Do you really like to eat out? Cut back on the number of nights you go out and stay in instead. Are you a movie buff? Find your local discount cinema. Have a thing for cosmetics? Set an allowance for how much you can spend each month (A realistic one) and then stick to it!

Now, all of these things will work, IF you take that money you’ve just saved and actually put it into that high interest saving account we spoke about. Saving yourself money in a bunch of different places is great, but it’ll get you nowhere if you go and blow it on a night out on the town, or a great little dress that you just had to have. Make your money work for you, and take charge of it. If you don’t, know one else will… in fact they’ll try to convince you that you shouldn’t.

Have some other ideas? Have a great success story? I would love to hear them!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

The American Financial Trap- I have nothing good to say about it. We are programmed to buy. We buy things just to buy them! The buying puts us in debt, which works out great for them; now we’re not just buying crap we don’t need, we’re paying interest on it too! Pretty soon, all your income goes to paying for stuff you bought 6 months ago and the stuff you’re buying now you will pay interest on for the next 6 months (or longer). I sound like a whiner, but I’m pissed! Mostly at myself for falling for it all, but I’m pissed at the system too. You know that if we were all to pay off our debt tomorrow we would completely trash our financial system in this country? “They” need us to be in debt; they depend on it. Do you think that this country is working for us, or are we working for it? For them? It’s the scam of the century! And we buy into one Starbuck’s Soy Mocha at a time.

Here I am (not unlike many American’s) up to my eyeballs in debt because when I was younger I bought into the “more more more” scam and so did my husband at the time. Everything from school loans to mortgages and car payments only exacerbate my situation… well, that and divorce. I take full responsibility for buying into the whole scheme, and I am where I am today as a result of the choices I made. This isn’t about “Poor me”. What gets under my skin is the fact that once you’ve fallen into the trap, it’s designed to keep you there. I have a good job, make decent money and yet it all goes to pay my bills. I am running to stand still, literally. It’s like trying to climb out of a pit with walls made of dirt and every time you start climbing out, the walls cave in just a little bit more. It’s not as if I go on a shopping spree every month (or any month for that matter), and I’m a responsible bill payer. I pay everything on time, but if anything happens in a month’s time… say car trouble or an emergency trip to the dentist, the credit card comes out and I put whatever I just paid off right back on my card. I have my very own perpetual motion machine… Sweeeeeet.

Let’s not forget that if you are to come to your senses- if only for a moment- you are quickly bombarded with ads and media and mail to convince you that you’ll be fine if you just buy more! More is better. More will solve your problems. More will make you feel better about your life. I’ve already won that battle and I know now that more is certainly not better! More is pointless to my end-goal in life, and if anything it’s detrimental to it.

Our financial “set up” here is all about the system winning and the people losing. They want you to spend, they want you to be in debt, and they don’t want you to figure it out! They… Them. I’m being awfully vague, but I don’t know who specifically to nail for it all! It’s a conglomerate, really. Comprised of government, media, financial institutions, and manufacturers who are all winning as long as we buy into the plan.

I may sound horribly negative, but in my heart it is really motivation and passion to get out. I want out and I want out for good. I’m gonna lay brick along the walls… good and sturdy. I’m gonna climb out and then I’m gonna fill that $*%# hole up with concrete so that neither I nor anyone else can fall in it again.

In my previous post about being your own financial adviser there are some handy links for blogs and websites that detail how to successfully dig out of debt if you find yourself to be in this situation. Keep on diggin’…

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

If you’re single, then chances are you’re well aware of your own finances. If you’re married or in a long-term relationship though, do you feel comfortably aware of where you are financially? Women in relationships often allow the financial aspects of their lives to be taken over by their significant others. This can seem like a sweet deal, really. He pays the bills, takes care of the mortgage and our investments and you go shopping! In the short term, maybe it is a good deal, but long term you could be setting yourself up for a nasty wake-up call.

I love my Mother to death- wouldn’t trade her for the world- but I also wouldn’t want to be in her shoes. My Mom has the setup described above, and for the most part she loves it. The thing is, if something happened with her marriage or even with her husband’s health, what would happen to her? Chances are she would be fine, but the real problem lies in the fact that she has NO IDEA if she would be or not. She has no idea what he does with the money, if the house is paid off, or even where their investments are! That to me is a scary situation. Maybe I’m a control freak, but there’s no way I’m going to work hard to earn a living and then let someone else determine my livelihood. Running through the McDonald’s drive-thru might be far easier than cooking a healthy meal, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Letting someone else handle your finances without being involved is no different.

Sometimes, regaining control of your finances can be tricky if you’ve already handed the reins over. If this is the case, try something diplomatic; suggest you go together to see a financial adviser someone recommended to you. Just going there together will allow you to get “current” on your financial affairs. Additionally, you can explain that someone you know was talking about their investments and you realized you didn’t know enough about your own to have a conversation. Explain you just want to learn about the things that are going on financially in the marriage or union. No harm, no foul. Soon, the more you know the more you’ll care about keeping your fingers in the cookie jar and he’ll just have to get used to it.

Another important thing to do is to get your own account. Your own credit card. Sometimes women don’t just allow all the finances to be taken care of, but they also give up their ability to have a credit history. If you don’t have things in your own name, don’t expect to have lenders offering up loans and services to you should you ever need them. Keep your credit current by opening up a couple accounts separate from your married ones.

There are also plenty of financially-related groups out there now specific to women. Some are online, but there are plenty of local ones as well. Do some searching and find a group of women that are taking charge of their finances to lend support and also teach you.

Good places to start:

• Blueprint for Financial Prosperity is loaded with articles on everything from saving money to investing it.
• Want to get some good advice about getting out of debt? No Credit Needed can get you started on the right track.
• Smartmoney has information on stocks, retirement, debt management and more.
• Here’s a great girl blog on how to be Frugal for Life.
• Follow Mapgirl’s quest for financial prosperity on her Fiscal Challenge blog.
• The Motley Fool is a great educational resource; it has lots of calculators and tips on how to make some life changing decisions about your finances.

Happy Friday… and happy financial independence to us all!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites