Aug
14
2008
I know what you’re thinking over there. What in the world is this woman talking about. Well that is simple. How much does it cost to run your central air every day? It probably cost a lot of cash, and if you have window air conditioners, the price is out of this world. Of course you can turn them off and sweat it out, but who wants to do that. I know that I don’t. So why not everyone try something for me. Let’s give one day, to where you don’t have the air on for almost the entire day. Of course you will have to turn it on later when your home and trying to sleep. If you have animals, then these might not work for you. If you have animals, you can keep the air on, but maybe one day a week, you can turn the air onto a just comfortable temperature. It shouldn’t be cool, but it should be livable. Animals get hot just like us, so keep that in mind. Okay, with that said, if you don’t have animals, leave your home in the afternoon when you would normally get ready to turn the air on. Then leave. If you can walk, then walk. If you can bike then you should ride your bike. If you have to drive, then it might not be worth it. Here are some places you can go hang out for a few hours. (Free of course)
Library
The library is always cold in my opinion. You will defiantly stay cool here. If you work at home, or do work on your computer, you can take your laptop with you, or you can use their computers there. Use their air, and their electricity. Maybe you like to read. So go there and start reading a book. Don’t check the book out, but write down where you leave off so you can pick it back up the next time. You can end up spending hours at the library, doing a lot of things you would normally do at home. Best part, it’s free and very frugal.
Beach/lake
Pack a small cooler with sandwiches and water. Head to the beach for the day. You can take a book with you, or some paper work you may need to get done while there. When you get hot, go jump in the water. You will instantly be cooled off. If you like to play sports and swim, then this is the perfect way to combine being frugal and exercise. There are lots of things you can do while staying cool at the lake.
These were just a few ideas to get your brains moving. I am sure you will be able to come up with some more on your own. So start thinking, and pick a day to be completely frugal.
Aug
08
2008
If you’re out there in the dating world, you know how expensive that can become. Maybe you have a spouse and you both like to go on dates so you can spend time with one another. You can still be frugal while dating, don’t think that you can’t. You can be frugal while doing anything in this world with a little planning. Here are just a few simple ideas to help you get creative.
Dinner and a Movie is the typical date out there. Going out to dinner for around 70 bucks and then a movie for another 50 bucks can become pretty pricey. Especially if this is something that you do often. So why not create your own dinner and a movie. For dinner you can have a picnic in the park somewhere. Pack a romantic basket filled with finger foods. Bring silverware and don’t forget the blanket. Most of your cite parks have free movie night in the park. Call your local activity center and ask about outside movies. You can have your picnic while watching the movie. If you would prefer to be indoors, then why not rent a movie together and go back to your place and watch the movie. If you plan on going back to your place. Have some pop corn and other movie items waiting on the table when you get there.
Do you and your date like the outdoors and love being in the water? How about packing a light basket, with some fruits and waters, and rent a rowboat or borrow one from someone you may know. Row out to a less populated area and enjoy your afternoon snack while you sit back and watch the scenery. Row boats can be very romantic. This is a very frugal but well planned date.
Being frugal doesn’t mean that you have to become some cheap tight wad, that no one wants to be around. Its just means getting a little more creative and planning ahead. Once you get creative and plan ahead, you will be amazed at how much money you can save while dating.
Aug
03
2008
In this busy world that we live in today, most of us don’t seem to take the time to read the fine print on many things. I don’t know why we don’t seem to take that time, because if we did, it really could end up saving us a ton of cash in the long run. So lesson of the day? Read that fine print. Here are some examples of ways you could be losing a lot of your cash.
Cell phone Insurance. Now this one can be both ways. So this is something that you really need to pay attention to. Make sure you read every last detail and ask as many questions as you can. You may get lucky and find one worth the money, but chances are you wont. Most companies have their insurance set up to where they will replace your phone if lost or it breaks and cant be fixed. What they don’t tell you is it stats in the contract it only says that the phone they replace it with only has to be comparable. Do you know what that means? That just means that they don’t have to send you the same one that you currently have. Along with that, more likely than not, you will lose a lot of features as well. So if you have a phone that has a camera on it or something like that, then you probably wont get that back in return. Along with that, you will probably have to pay a deductible. So is it really worth it? Probably not.
I just cringe at the thought of someone walking into them rent to own places. Sure, it seems like it’s a great deal when your broke and you want something new. But lets really think about it? Why in the world would a store rent you something like a wide screen 50inch TV? Because they are making a lot of cash on that purchase. You end up paying more then triple the purchase cost of for that TV when all is said and done. Their intrest rate is typically set up to 145%. I don’t know about you, but that’s a lot of money wasted. Something that cost around $1500 retail , you end up paying around $5500. What’s the Lesson here? Rent to own places are bad with a capital B.
Jul
31
2008
Your probably over there thinking, okay she has lost her mind. The Internet is expensive, so how in the world can this help me on my budget. Well There are many ways it can help you. As long as you already have the Internet. I don’t suggest adding another bill if you don’t need to. But for most people, they have the Internet, so lets use it to our advantage.How much are you all paying for gas lately? I know it takes an awful lot of cash to fill up my tank. Its a good thing I am frugal, or we would be walking everywhere we go. With the amount of gas, it really does not pay to drive around and look for a better deal anymore. Before, it wasn’t such a big deal, now it is. If your looking for something, and you would have normally drove around town, trying to see who has the best price, get online and look. Most stores have online websites where you can see what they have in stock, whats on sale and if your lucky, you may even find a coupon you can print for it online. So before you drive around, try surfing the net and comparing prices. Once you have found what your looking for, head over to your favorite search place, and look for a coupon. You might be surprised how many sites have coupons.
Entertainment can also be found online. If you like to watch movies and its something that you do often, you have two choices here. You can either find places online to stream them for free or download them for free. If you want to get real handy, buy some cheap blank DVDs and burn them. A lot cheaper then buying DVDs or renting movies all the time. Another option for this is places like netflix. You can pick all the movies you want online, and they will mail them to your home. You pay one flat fee for the entire month, and they mail them right to your home. The envelope they come in , turns into your postage paid return envelope. So you save your money on paying for each movie, gas money for picking them up and returning them , along with any late fees you may get. With these mail in ones, you never pay a late fee. They also have Game sites, just like this. So if you have a gamer in your life, you might want to check that out as well.
Watch tomorrow for Part 2 in this series!
Jul
30
2008
So you have started your budget as I suggest, but now your a little bit confused. So what do you do next? Well its a good thing you came here, because I am going to tell you what to do next! Now each month, you must go over your budget and check it. But what does this mean? This means that you need to make sure you haven’t gained any bills, any of your payments have not went up or down. If you have had something change, then that needs to be figured out in your budget now.Lets talk some about your debt. If you have a lot of credit card debt, then your minimum due on them credit cards is probably eating you alive. And by paying just the minimum due, your probably not seeing your total amount owed, going down very much. So should you be putting your extra money into your savings account, or should you be trying to get rid of that debt? Well I am a firm believer of both. Since interest rates are so high, you should always pay off your credit cards as soon as you can. But you should also be putting money into a savings account for that rainy day. If you plan on charging your credit card up again then there really is no point. How about lets cut them credit cards up! Keep just one. This way in an emergency, you will have it. But the one you keep, put it up somewhere. This way you will be less tempted to use it for that new pair of shoes you just have to have, that’s now collecting dust over there in the corner. Yup, I know, you just looked at them shoes right now, didn’t you?
Now that you have done that, Lets start paying off that debt. Pick on credit card at a time and start working on it. Make your minimum on the rest. At the end of the month if you have $100.00 left over. Take $50 and put it into your savings, and take the other $50 and place it on that credit card. This will get your total amount owed down a lot faster. Lets say the minimum payment on that card was $40, so that means when its paid off, you will now have $140 left at the end of the month. So with the next credit card, you can start putting $70 in the bank and $70 into your savings. You will get out of debt a lot faster, and still have some cash put up for the rainy day.
Jul
29
2008
The first thing you should do when starting to become frugal is make a budget. Now in order for a budget to work, you have to have the willpower to actually stick to it. Oh stop moaning, Its not pretty.Grab a note book and start writing down all your expenses. This means bills, grocery’s, gas for your gas guzzler and anything else that you know you will use each month. Next you want to write down how much money comes into the house. Make sure you count everything that gets brought in the house. If you don’t put it in your budget, chances are you are not going to spend it the frugal way. Now subtract your expenses from your total income. Whats left? Hopefully something. If not, go back through your budget until you have something left.
Now look through your budget and think “What can I get rid off, or what can I substitute, so I can make my left over cash more? ” I’m sure you don’t need all them subscriptions to magazines. Find things like that, so you can make your cash pile bigger. That’s the key here. Don’t forget though, you have to have some fun. I mean, what’s the point if you have no fun at all. But having fun, doesn’t always need to cost a ton of money. Change things up a bit. Make that budget work for you.
All your left over money should be put into a savings account. You can look into different options, but with today’s market, you know its going to be safe in a savings account at the bank. I wouldn’t buy any stock or anything of that nature, not just yet anyway.
Every other month, go through your budget. Make adjustments if you need to. Compromise some things, so you can do other things. You like going out to eat with your friends at work during lunch time. Okay, but instead of doing that five days, try is as a reward. If you follow your budget all week long, then Friday’s you can go out with the girls for lunch. Don’t forget to add them Friday Lunches into your budget as well.
Jul
29
2008
Welcome everyone! My name is Brandi! I am just starting off this new great blog, but I am not new to writing!
With the way the world is today and so many people losing their homes, jobs and pretty much everything else, I knew this was the way to go.
Being frugal is something that I love to do. I am truly passionate about it. Some may call me cheap, but that’s okay! I try and teach as many people about being frugal as I possibly can. The best thing about being frugal, is there is always something new you can learn. There is always a new topic and a new discovery just waiting around the corner for you. I hope you enjoy this blog as much as I enjoy writing it!
