My Multiple Egg Baskets blog is starting to attract more attention with some lululemon wearing women at work. I don't know...I find it hard to listen to someone that promotes the lululemon brand when it's time to wear some casual sweats. Mabye I'm just a simple guy. However, my conversations with these women had led me to write this blog about 5 Tips for an Easier Financial Life for Women from their perspective.
No matter what we do, taxes and financial tribulations will never go away.
Unfortunately this can be a nightmare for some, especially since they not only take out large amounts of money but they also ruin lives. It is essential for any woman to know tips on how to avoid financial problems. Millions of women do not handle their own taxes; therefore they are left vulnerable and open to many troubles that may arise.
It is important to note that women need a larger amount of retirement money. This goes hand in hand with the notion that women generally live longer than men. If this is indeed the case, women will need to be more financially stable. Here are fundamental tips when deciding how to handle your financial situations:
1. Taxes
It is important to know all you can about your taxes. While it is great to have someone help you, it is also necessary for you to know what is going on. For instance, if something was to happen and you didn’t handle them, you may never know until it was too late. Many women face crimes and never realize it until they get summoned to go to court. This is due to not filing for taxes or other criminal related acts.
2. Retirement Planning
Always think of retirement! Although younger adults rarely have this on the mind, it is beneficial for you to always plan for it. If your company does not have a pension plan, it is smart to set up your own special fund. By putting in a certain amount of money each month, it will quickly add up over time. This will allow you to have a stable fund for when you do retire.
3. Know all Benefit Programs of Your Employer
If you do have a company with great benefits, it is important to know everything you can about them. Many do not know how to fully take advantage of all of their resources. Therefore, using these benefits as much as you can will help you in the long run.
4. Pay off your loans!
Being in debt will only harm you in the long run. You need to either create a plan on your own to reduce spending, or see a financial expert. Although many are ashamed and hesitant to do this, it will actually help you get out of debt faster. These professionals can come up with a wonderful plan and will break it down by month. This way you can start paying your way out of debt, but without having to live on the street. This will also give you a better outlook, rather than feeling depressed about the current situation.
5. Make a Budget
Developing a budget can help anyone, no matter how well they are doing. By giving yourself a budget, it will allow you to save for other important things. For instance, if you need to start a college plan for your child, you can put the additional shopping money in a fund. Other examples include saving money for rent, or using extra money for a much needed vacation.
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Showing posts with label Saving Strategies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saving Strategies. Show all posts
9.27.2011
How to Reduce your Electricity Bills?
The power of electricity can be best realized when you utilize it effectively. With the demand of the electricity skyrocketing and the supply drooping, saving a single unit of power becomes very significant. Here are a 15 effective tips to save electricity and thus save the money.
1. Switch off the lights, TV, computer, etc., when not in use.
2. Use fluorescent lamps instead of incandescent lamps. Fluorescent lamps not only help to save the electricity, but they also provide a better lighting and are cost effective too.
3. Use dimmer controls in your incandescent lamps so that you can adjust the intensity of the light.
4. Minimize the use of air coolers and air conditioners. Instead, use the fans, whenever possible.
5. Electric iron is a real power hog. If you use it carefully, you can save a considerable amount of energy. Instead of doing daily ironing, do it on a weekly basis.
6. Operate the air conditioner in the minimum temperature range possible in order to save power. Keep it under medium or low operation condition and set the temperature a little higher. Take the help of nature to save the electricity. Try to utilize the warmth of the sun whenever available in the winter, and the coolness of the garden in the summer instead of crouching near the air conditioners always.
7. The ideal temperature to operate a refrigerator is between 36 to 42o F. If the temperature is kept lower than this, it would be simply a wastage of power.
8. While operating your heaters in the winter, reduce the temperature level to a couple of degrees lower than that in the normal conditions.
9. If you are using laser printers in your office or home, keep a watch on it. It can draw your electricity bills up by hundreds of watts! Try to save maximum power by using it minimum, and keep the power switch off while not in use.
10. Use of smaller gadgets will help reducing the power to great extent. A microwave oven can be preferred to a regular electric oven, and so is an electric kettle to a stovetop one.
11. Minimize the use of hair dryer.
12. Control the use of smaller gadgets such as electric clocks, telephone answering machines, DVD players, cable TV converters, etc. Though they seem insignificant, the compounded effect of these instruments in multiplying your electricity bill cannot be ignored.
13. Keep a watch on the electricity meter. Have a regular estimation of the meter reading yourself to detect any unexpected power leakage from the circuit.
14. Use the modern gadgets that apply the energy-saving technology.
15. Do not open the door of the electric oven or the refrigerator unnecessarily.
1. Switch off the lights, TV, computer, etc., when not in use.
2. Use fluorescent lamps instead of incandescent lamps. Fluorescent lamps not only help to save the electricity, but they also provide a better lighting and are cost effective too.
3. Use dimmer controls in your incandescent lamps so that you can adjust the intensity of the light.
4. Minimize the use of air coolers and air conditioners. Instead, use the fans, whenever possible.
5. Electric iron is a real power hog. If you use it carefully, you can save a considerable amount of energy. Instead of doing daily ironing, do it on a weekly basis.
6. Operate the air conditioner in the minimum temperature range possible in order to save power. Keep it under medium or low operation condition and set the temperature a little higher. Take the help of nature to save the electricity. Try to utilize the warmth of the sun whenever available in the winter, and the coolness of the garden in the summer instead of crouching near the air conditioners always.
7. The ideal temperature to operate a refrigerator is between 36 to 42o F. If the temperature is kept lower than this, it would be simply a wastage of power.
8. While operating your heaters in the winter, reduce the temperature level to a couple of degrees lower than that in the normal conditions.
9. If you are using laser printers in your office or home, keep a watch on it. It can draw your electricity bills up by hundreds of watts! Try to save maximum power by using it minimum, and keep the power switch off while not in use.
10. Use of smaller gadgets will help reducing the power to great extent. A microwave oven can be preferred to a regular electric oven, and so is an electric kettle to a stovetop one.
11. Minimize the use of hair dryer.
12. Control the use of smaller gadgets such as electric clocks, telephone answering machines, DVD players, cable TV converters, etc. Though they seem insignificant, the compounded effect of these instruments in multiplying your electricity bill cannot be ignored.
13. Keep a watch on the electricity meter. Have a regular estimation of the meter reading yourself to detect any unexpected power leakage from the circuit.
14. Use the modern gadgets that apply the energy-saving technology.
15. Do not open the door of the electric oven or the refrigerator unnecessarily.
8.12.2010
Canada Learning Bond.
Canada Learning Bond. If your child was born after December 31, 2003, and you receive the National Child Benefit Supplement (available to families whose net income is less than $37,178 in 2007), you may be eligible for a Canada Learning Bond (CLB). If eligible, an initial $500 is deposited into your child’s RESP; plus you can get an extra $100 per year for up to
15 years, as long as you continue to receive the National Child Benefit Supplement.
15 years, as long as you continue to receive the National Child Benefit Supplement.
8.06.2010
My Own Advisor: Dividend horsepower from the Big Compounding Engine (BCE)
My Own Advisor: Dividend horsepower from the Big Compounding Engine (BCE)
Here's an interesting post about reinvesting the earned dividends from a top canadian stock. The stock choice is interesting and the the concept of DRIPS and reinvesting earned dividends is worthy of a post.
What do you feel is another top Canadian DRIP to monitor?
Here's an interesting post about reinvesting the earned dividends from a top canadian stock. The stock choice is interesting and the the concept of DRIPS and reinvesting earned dividends is worthy of a post.
What do you feel is another top Canadian DRIP to monitor?
7.23.2010
Money saving travel ideas
When you hit the road for your summer vacation this year then keep a few items in mind:
Reward points credit cards - perhaps now is the time to redeem for free groceries, free gas or even free airline tickets
Banking overdraft - don't forget about timezones and your scheduled payments. Banking overdraft can keep you from paying penalty fees
Cruise control - save on gas mileage
What tips do you have?
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.
Reward points credit cards - perhaps now is the time to redeem for free groceries, free gas or even free airline tickets
Banking overdraft - don't forget about timezones and your scheduled payments. Banking overdraft can keep you from paying penalty fees
Cruise control - save on gas mileage
What tips do you have?
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.
7.09.2010
ATM fees
Fees are paid for using ATM services. These are collected by two sectors: the owner of the ATM and the network provider of the financial institution. Those fees collected by the owners of the ATMs are usually termed surcharge fees that can go as high as $3.00 per transaction.
In addition, some other banks impose more charges known as transaction fee. This is often interpreted as a penalty paid by the clients who have not used the ATM services.
As one continues to use the ATM, the minimal fees one pay accumulates into substantial amount, but there are ways to reduce such expense.
For one, you might want to join a bank that does not charge fees when you use ATMs of other banks. This will certainly cut the fees by at least fifty percent. I personally, use President's Choice and CIBC to increase my opportunity to avoid ATM fees. They allow you to use both services interchangeably and I've avoided numerous ATM fees that way.
Second, you might want to look for a bank that reimburses surcharge fees paid. This occurs when clients utilize the services of the ATMs found in distant places often in isolated places.
Third, why don't you start using credit cards that is accepted by most establishments today as payment? With credit cards, one does not need to carry cash to pay for the purchase one makes. If you don't use cash, you don't have to carry cash that often. Once again, I use my CIBC Aerogold Visa for all of my purchases in order to collect and redeem Aeroplan points. It's worked well for me...the only stickler could be the annual fee in relation to the cost of Air Canada flights. I still think that I'm ahead.
Reduce the use of cash by using more of the credit card services. However, make sure you have adequate funds to pay off the purchases. Otherwise, you'll end up broke.
Finally, you should estimate your cash needs within a window of time so that you can lower the number of times you withdraw and reducing the transaction fees. Therefore, it is very important to consider the sum of cash you need for the time and how much you can afford to withdraw more so that you will not keep going back to the ATM.
In addition, some other banks impose more charges known as transaction fee. This is often interpreted as a penalty paid by the clients who have not used the ATM services.
As one continues to use the ATM, the minimal fees one pay accumulates into substantial amount, but there are ways to reduce such expense.
For one, you might want to join a bank that does not charge fees when you use ATMs of other banks. This will certainly cut the fees by at least fifty percent. I personally, use President's Choice and CIBC to increase my opportunity to avoid ATM fees. They allow you to use both services interchangeably and I've avoided numerous ATM fees that way.
Second, you might want to look for a bank that reimburses surcharge fees paid. This occurs when clients utilize the services of the ATMs found in distant places often in isolated places.
Third, why don't you start using credit cards that is accepted by most establishments today as payment? With credit cards, one does not need to carry cash to pay for the purchase one makes. If you don't use cash, you don't have to carry cash that often. Once again, I use my CIBC Aerogold Visa for all of my purchases in order to collect and redeem Aeroplan points. It's worked well for me...the only stickler could be the annual fee in relation to the cost of Air Canada flights. I still think that I'm ahead.
Reduce the use of cash by using more of the credit card services. However, make sure you have adequate funds to pay off the purchases. Otherwise, you'll end up broke.
Finally, you should estimate your cash needs within a window of time so that you can lower the number of times you withdraw and reducing the transaction fees. Therefore, it is very important to consider the sum of cash you need for the time and how much you can afford to withdraw more so that you will not keep going back to the ATM.
7.08.2010
Mr. Gold member buys Gold bullions
Why do people buy gold coins anyway? These gold coins are not used in circulations. So why bother? There must be some good reasons why these people bother investing substantial amounts of cash into these coins.
When asked why they purchase these coins. Some said that if you take a good look on the value of gold through the years, the value has remained stable unlike any other metal commodity. Gold prices even appreciated even faster than inflation providing safety to the investment to depreciation effects of inflation. This meant that the value of the investment is sure to grow in the future.
Others said that they were purchasing a collector's item that may be sold more than its gold value in public auctions all of over the world. I personlly used to love collecting coins as a hobby. I had a consistent series of the McPuffin dollars and I had some coins from Newfoundland dating back pre-Confederation days.
Once one is decided in buying, one is advised to be prudent on where one buys gold coins to avoid purchasing counterfeit gold coins from unscrupulous individuals selling fake coins.
This is why it is important to approach accredited individuals and/or institutions dealing with gold coins. They may come from the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation or the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS).
Once one has identified and selected a dealer, the next question would be how much gold one can afford to buy. This is a very important question because unlike other investments, selling gold coins take some time to sell, even more so when auctioned. Thus, it is important to know how much to buy before one goes to the dealing table.
Certainly, there is also the risk of paying more than what the gold is worth today. This is the reason why choosing the right dealer is important. Good dealers will only add minimal mark up to the true market value of the commodity so that they can easily sell the commodity immediately and maintain a good long term relationship with the buyer or seller.
These dealers make a living out of the transactions. This is the reason why they have to maintain a reasonable mark up and relationship with the client.
It always pays to do some work on the research side of the dealers.
When asked why they purchase these coins. Some said that if you take a good look on the value of gold through the years, the value has remained stable unlike any other metal commodity. Gold prices even appreciated even faster than inflation providing safety to the investment to depreciation effects of inflation. This meant that the value of the investment is sure to grow in the future.
Others said that they were purchasing a collector's item that may be sold more than its gold value in public auctions all of over the world. I personlly used to love collecting coins as a hobby. I had a consistent series of the McPuffin dollars and I had some coins from Newfoundland dating back pre-Confederation days.
Once one is decided in buying, one is advised to be prudent on where one buys gold coins to avoid purchasing counterfeit gold coins from unscrupulous individuals selling fake coins.
This is why it is important to approach accredited individuals and/or institutions dealing with gold coins. They may come from the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation or the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS).
Once one has identified and selected a dealer, the next question would be how much gold one can afford to buy. This is a very important question because unlike other investments, selling gold coins take some time to sell, even more so when auctioned. Thus, it is important to know how much to buy before one goes to the dealing table.
Certainly, there is also the risk of paying more than what the gold is worth today. This is the reason why choosing the right dealer is important. Good dealers will only add minimal mark up to the true market value of the commodity so that they can easily sell the commodity immediately and maintain a good long term relationship with the buyer or seller.
These dealers make a living out of the transactions. This is the reason why they have to maintain a reasonable mark up and relationship with the client.
It always pays to do some work on the research side of the dealers.
7.07.2010
Solar heating article
I tracked down a posting from Daniel D. Chiras that promoted their success with going green. I like to think that I could live 'off the grid' however I don't in my daily life. The province of Ontario has some good rebates on energy savings and during times of a heat wave you tend to think more of your environmental impact -- at least I do.
Here is a snippet of the article.
"We are lucky enough to own an earth-sheltered home with good winter passive solar heat gain.
We actually have heating and cooling we don’t have to buy from a public utility.
It’s actually free!
Free is good.
Our house was built in 1976. The long side of our house faces southwest and one short end faces southeast. One corner between the 2 sides points about magnetic due south.
The 2 northern sides, both northeast and northwest are sheltered some by earth in the form of a ground floor daylight basement and also by a windbreak of trees and bushes planted on a hill that rises higher than our house in the back yard.
Most of our trees are hardwoods. In the fall the leaves fall and we get lots of sun during the winter. We only have to heat the house a little on cloudy or snowy days.
But in summer the leaves come back and shade us from the summer sun and keep us cool without air conditioning.
We never pay to cool our house in summer. Free is GOOD! The only electricity we buy runs our appliances. We unplug anything with a built in timer at night.
Any house can be constructed like ours is. And more earth sheltering would keep you cool even in hot climates.
All of the characteristics our house has are easy to build in to any home and would not cost any more than any other house to build.
But it can get better, too.
Better insulation and systems are often part of building codes that did not exist when our house was built.
And keeping heat and cold out is part of what can make any house more energy efficient. Keeping the heat inside in winter and outside in summer means your house will always be cheaper to run over the lifetime of your house.
Windows also play a part in warming and cooling a home. We have double pane Andersen windows that are really good even though they are pretty old. We also have metal blinds that we use to help control both summer heat gain and winter heat loss.
Our garage is also a daylight basement space. In 14 cold winters with lows sometimes below zero we have never had a bottle of water or anything else freeze in either our garage or our house. The garage is unheated but never gets below freezing with the insulated steel door closed.
So earth sheltering and passive solar and passive cooling are saving us big money and keeping us comfortable, too."
Here is a snippet of the article.
"We are lucky enough to own an earth-sheltered home with good winter passive solar heat gain.
We actually have heating and cooling we don’t have to buy from a public utility.
It’s actually free!
Free is good.
Our house was built in 1976. The long side of our house faces southwest and one short end faces southeast. One corner between the 2 sides points about magnetic due south.
The 2 northern sides, both northeast and northwest are sheltered some by earth in the form of a ground floor daylight basement and also by a windbreak of trees and bushes planted on a hill that rises higher than our house in the back yard.
Most of our trees are hardwoods. In the fall the leaves fall and we get lots of sun during the winter. We only have to heat the house a little on cloudy or snowy days.
But in summer the leaves come back and shade us from the summer sun and keep us cool without air conditioning.
We never pay to cool our house in summer. Free is GOOD! The only electricity we buy runs our appliances. We unplug anything with a built in timer at night.
Any house can be constructed like ours is. And more earth sheltering would keep you cool even in hot climates.
All of the characteristics our house has are easy to build in to any home and would not cost any more than any other house to build.
But it can get better, too.
Better insulation and systems are often part of building codes that did not exist when our house was built.
And keeping heat and cold out is part of what can make any house more energy efficient. Keeping the heat inside in winter and outside in summer means your house will always be cheaper to run over the lifetime of your house.
Windows also play a part in warming and cooling a home. We have double pane Andersen windows that are really good even though they are pretty old. We also have metal blinds that we use to help control both summer heat gain and winter heat loss.
Our garage is also a daylight basement space. In 14 cold winters with lows sometimes below zero we have never had a bottle of water or anything else freeze in either our garage or our house. The garage is unheated but never gets below freezing with the insulated steel door closed.
So earth sheltering and passive solar and passive cooling are saving us big money and keeping us comfortable, too."
How to Raise a Family of Six with One Income
I was at CostCo the other day and was talking about Multiple Egg Baskets blog and how I was trying to blog about personal finance items that mattered to Canadians and I was offered a few tips from the women at the frozen food aisle. I hope that you enjoy:
Today it is very hard to raise a family off of two incomes, much less one. This is intended for those people who need a little help in ways to make ends meet. Below is a list of things you can do to help you make the most of your situation, whether you are a single parent, a two parent family with one staying home with the children, or you are in a situation where one of the parents just got laid off. This list will make an incredible difference in the amount of money you spend and the amount of money you get to keep for your family. Let’s begin.
1. The first thing you need to do is to not put yourself any further in debt than you already are. Debt can be a wonderful thing if you are in need of a house for your family, but if you already have a house then don’t borrow anything else. Not even for a new car. New cars are not necessary. They depreciate in value as soon as you drive them off the lot. A good used car will fit your family’s needs just as well. Take all your credit cards and cut them into shreds. Lots of credit cards today carry an interest rate of 21% or more, depending on whether you have made any late payments or not. Start paying all your credit card debt down and never pick up another one again. It’s very easy to sign your name to a debt and it takes a lifetime to erase it from that same debt.
2. When you go to the doctor and need a prescription filled then always ask if they have a generic for the prescription. Generic drugs can cost half the price of name brands. This will save your family big time.
3. When you go grocery shopping, always by the store brand products instead of the name brands. Lots of store brands are made by the name brand makers and just have a store label on them. This will allow you to buy your family more of the foods they love.
4. Never go grocery shopping if you or any of your family members are hungry. This will cause you to buy more groceries than normal.
5. Always make a grocery list before leaving for the store. Never buy anything that isn’t on your list. Calculate what your groceries are going to cost you before you go and buy them. If your cost runs over the amount you can afford, then delete some of the unnecessary items on your list.
6. When it comes to your children’s clothing, hand-me-downs are a good thing. This will save you hundreds of dollars in the long run. If one of your children grows out of something and your smaller child will be able to wear it in the future, then put it in a plastic trash bag and label it with your smaller child’s name and the date. Place it in your building, storage facility, or closet. Later you can go back and see if those same clothes fit your child.
7. Go to yard sales. You can find slightly used and sometimes new clothing at yard sales. Lots of times they only cost a dollar or two. This can save you all kinds of money.
8. If your children need health or dental insurance, it is provided by the state if your income doesn’t exceed the income limit. Your local social service department provides the forms available to apply for this insurance. It pays all doctor and dental bills for your children. This can be very helpful, especially if you have a very sickly child in your family.
9. Your local health department will give your children all their vaccinations for free. All you have to do is make an appointment and take their immunization records along. The health department also has a department that helps you provide formula, baby cereal, and juice to your baby or milk, cereal, grits, eggs, cheese, juice, dry beans, and peanut butter to your other children.
10. If you are pregnant, you may qualify for free health insurance for you and your baby also at your local social service department. All you have to do is take a paper to prove your pregnant with the due date of your child wrote on it from your doctor to the social service department. There they will go over your total income to see if you and your child qualify. If you don’t have a doctor yet, you can get a pregnancy test done at the health department for around ten or fifteen dollars. There they will determine your due date and give you the proof slips you need to apply.
11. Cooking big meals in a big crock pot will also help in making sure there is plenty of good hot food to eat and will save you time and money on your power bill.
12. Limit your luxuries. Cable vision and satellite TV are not necessary to run a household. They usually are showing the same movies over and over again anyway. You can go out and rent new and old movies from your local library for free or you can go to your local video store and rent only the movies you want to watch. This is better than paying for movies you don’t want to see or have seen already.
13. If you have addictions like smoking, drinking, or doing drugs then kick that habit to the curb. You could give your family a whole lot more and be around longer for them if you were not spending so much on trying to kill yourself slowly. Love them enough to love yourself, quit!
14. Don’t eat out every night of the week. It costs less to cook meals at home than it does to eat out and you know you are getting good wholesome food that is prepared safely if you do it yourself.
15. Use florescent light bulbs. They use less power and have to be replaced less often than regular ones.
16. If you have lamps then use them instead of your regular lighting. Some ceiling fans have four bulbs and that uses more power which makes your power bill go up.
17. On days when it is cool outside raise all your windows instead of running your air conditioner. You can even put a fan in the window to circulate the air if you want to, this will still use less power than running that air conditioner.
18. If your children are young, you can save money on your water bill by giving them all a bath in the same water. Older children seem to object to this because they feel it is nasty to wash after each other.
19. You can visit dollar stores and purchase items that you normally use a whole lot cheaper than other stores.
20. Watching TV together not only promotes family time but also saves power.
21. You can have your own yard sale to make a little extra money and get rid of the items around the house you never use anyway.
22. Buy things that are on sale if you use them regularly, if you don’t then don’t buy them just because they are on sale unless they cost the same as a similar item you normally buy.
23. When shopping for your meats buy family packs of meat then separate them into meals when you get home and put them into the freezer. This will save you money because family packs are cheaper.
24. Drink more tea and less soda. Tea is cheaper to make, lasts longer, and is better for you than sugary sodas.
25. Limit your family’s snacks to one or two a week. This is better for their health and their teeth, not to mention it will save on your grocery bill.
26. Grow your own vegetables. If your family likes vegetables you can grow them yourself and freeze or can them for later.
27. Let your children ride the bus to school. This will save you time and money. Gas isn’t getting any cheaper these days.
28. Always turn off all lights and electrical appliances when you leave a room. Teach your children to do the same.
29. If you must have Internet service, subscribe to dial-up. It’s a lot cheaper. If you don’t want to for fear of your phone line being busy, then PeoplePC offers an Internet Call Waiting service for free for 30 days then after that it will cost you $6.95 a month if you chose to keep it. With this service you can answer your phone while on the Internet by just the click of a button so you’ll never miss a call again. If you don’t choose to keep it they give you Caller Id. on your computer for free. So, the next time someone calls you and you are on the Internet you will know that they have called and you can call them right back after you get off.
30. If you have to go into town then do everything you need to do for that week in one trip. It saves time and gas.
31. If you must have a cell phone then get a pay as you go phone. This will eliminate that monthly bill and you only pay for the minutes you use.
32. If you can do something yourself, don’t pay someone else to do it for you. Example: If your husband knows how to work on your car, don’t pay the local garage to do it instead. It saves money when you do things yourself.
33. After each meal, always wrap up the leftovers and put them in the refrigerator. Wasting food is wasting money. You would dare throw your money in the trash.
34. Do not ever pay a babysitter to keep your children if you or your partner is at home, or you have a relative who is willing to watch them for you. In most family situations the grandparents are very eager to keep their grandchildren.
35. While at the grocery store, always use any coupons you have on hand for the merchandise you are purchasing. But, never buy an item just because you have a coupon for it. Only buy it if you regularly use that item. You can find lots of coupons in your local Sunday newspaper.
36. You can save hundreds of dollars by hanging your wet laundry out on a clothesline.
37. You can make a little extra money by keeping other parents’ children while they work, especially if you or your partner stays home with your own children.
38. You or your children can offer to cut the neighbors’ yards for some extra money.
39. Wash all your dirty laundry in cold water.
40. Carpool to work or church if you are able to do so.
41. If you have pets, then give them their vaccines yourself. You can order them through the mail and do it yourself a lot cheaper than you can go to the vet and pay them to do it for you.
42. Some phone companies have an extended calling plan, where you can call anyone within an extended area for one flat rate. This is usually cheaper than paying for all your long distance calls. Call your local phone company and ask them about theirs.
43. Always turn your heat down before you leave your home. There’s no use to keep it warm and cozy if you’re not there to enjoy it.
44. If your local waste facility is close to your house, then take your trash off yourself. It is cheaper than paying someone to come out and empty your cans for you.
45. Never try to keep up with the neighbors. So what if they cut their grass after every rain. You are saving money by cutting it when it needs to be cut.
46. Pay all your bills on time to avoid any late fees or interest. They can really add up in no time at all.
47. Always wear out the clothes you have before going out and buying new ones. Your old clothes will just sit in your closet taking up space if you have new ones to wear instead. Everyone would rather wear new clothes.
48. When you have a dinner with other family members, ask everyone to bring a dish with them. This will save you money and put lots of variety on the table.
49. If you take your family on a picnic, make your own food to take with you instead of buying it on the way. A cooler of drinks goes further than a single drink in ice for everyone.
50. Limit your family outings to once or twice a month, but make them count.
I hope you find these pointers to be very helpful in helping you and your family meet all your needs. They have been very helpful to me and my family. Lots of people ask us how we do it. Here are the answers.
Rebecca Anne
Today it is very hard to raise a family off of two incomes, much less one. This is intended for those people who need a little help in ways to make ends meet. Below is a list of things you can do to help you make the most of your situation, whether you are a single parent, a two parent family with one staying home with the children, or you are in a situation where one of the parents just got laid off. This list will make an incredible difference in the amount of money you spend and the amount of money you get to keep for your family. Let’s begin.
1. The first thing you need to do is to not put yourself any further in debt than you already are. Debt can be a wonderful thing if you are in need of a house for your family, but if you already have a house then don’t borrow anything else. Not even for a new car. New cars are not necessary. They depreciate in value as soon as you drive them off the lot. A good used car will fit your family’s needs just as well. Take all your credit cards and cut them into shreds. Lots of credit cards today carry an interest rate of 21% or more, depending on whether you have made any late payments or not. Start paying all your credit card debt down and never pick up another one again. It’s very easy to sign your name to a debt and it takes a lifetime to erase it from that same debt.
2. When you go to the doctor and need a prescription filled then always ask if they have a generic for the prescription. Generic drugs can cost half the price of name brands. This will save your family big time.
3. When you go grocery shopping, always by the store brand products instead of the name brands. Lots of store brands are made by the name brand makers and just have a store label on them. This will allow you to buy your family more of the foods they love.
4. Never go grocery shopping if you or any of your family members are hungry. This will cause you to buy more groceries than normal.
5. Always make a grocery list before leaving for the store. Never buy anything that isn’t on your list. Calculate what your groceries are going to cost you before you go and buy them. If your cost runs over the amount you can afford, then delete some of the unnecessary items on your list.
6. When it comes to your children’s clothing, hand-me-downs are a good thing. This will save you hundreds of dollars in the long run. If one of your children grows out of something and your smaller child will be able to wear it in the future, then put it in a plastic trash bag and label it with your smaller child’s name and the date. Place it in your building, storage facility, or closet. Later you can go back and see if those same clothes fit your child.
7. Go to yard sales. You can find slightly used and sometimes new clothing at yard sales. Lots of times they only cost a dollar or two. This can save you all kinds of money.
8. If your children need health or dental insurance, it is provided by the state if your income doesn’t exceed the income limit. Your local social service department provides the forms available to apply for this insurance. It pays all doctor and dental bills for your children. This can be very helpful, especially if you have a very sickly child in your family.
9. Your local health department will give your children all their vaccinations for free. All you have to do is make an appointment and take their immunization records along. The health department also has a department that helps you provide formula, baby cereal, and juice to your baby or milk, cereal, grits, eggs, cheese, juice, dry beans, and peanut butter to your other children.
10. If you are pregnant, you may qualify for free health insurance for you and your baby also at your local social service department. All you have to do is take a paper to prove your pregnant with the due date of your child wrote on it from your doctor to the social service department. There they will go over your total income to see if you and your child qualify. If you don’t have a doctor yet, you can get a pregnancy test done at the health department for around ten or fifteen dollars. There they will determine your due date and give you the proof slips you need to apply.
11. Cooking big meals in a big crock pot will also help in making sure there is plenty of good hot food to eat and will save you time and money on your power bill.
12. Limit your luxuries. Cable vision and satellite TV are not necessary to run a household. They usually are showing the same movies over and over again anyway. You can go out and rent new and old movies from your local library for free or you can go to your local video store and rent only the movies you want to watch. This is better than paying for movies you don’t want to see or have seen already.
13. If you have addictions like smoking, drinking, or doing drugs then kick that habit to the curb. You could give your family a whole lot more and be around longer for them if you were not spending so much on trying to kill yourself slowly. Love them enough to love yourself, quit!
14. Don’t eat out every night of the week. It costs less to cook meals at home than it does to eat out and you know you are getting good wholesome food that is prepared safely if you do it yourself.
15. Use florescent light bulbs. They use less power and have to be replaced less often than regular ones.
16. If you have lamps then use them instead of your regular lighting. Some ceiling fans have four bulbs and that uses more power which makes your power bill go up.
17. On days when it is cool outside raise all your windows instead of running your air conditioner. You can even put a fan in the window to circulate the air if you want to, this will still use less power than running that air conditioner.
18. If your children are young, you can save money on your water bill by giving them all a bath in the same water. Older children seem to object to this because they feel it is nasty to wash after each other.
19. You can visit dollar stores and purchase items that you normally use a whole lot cheaper than other stores.
20. Watching TV together not only promotes family time but also saves power.
21. You can have your own yard sale to make a little extra money and get rid of the items around the house you never use anyway.
22. Buy things that are on sale if you use them regularly, if you don’t then don’t buy them just because they are on sale unless they cost the same as a similar item you normally buy.
23. When shopping for your meats buy family packs of meat then separate them into meals when you get home and put them into the freezer. This will save you money because family packs are cheaper.
24. Drink more tea and less soda. Tea is cheaper to make, lasts longer, and is better for you than sugary sodas.
25. Limit your family’s snacks to one or two a week. This is better for their health and their teeth, not to mention it will save on your grocery bill.
26. Grow your own vegetables. If your family likes vegetables you can grow them yourself and freeze or can them for later.
27. Let your children ride the bus to school. This will save you time and money. Gas isn’t getting any cheaper these days.
28. Always turn off all lights and electrical appliances when you leave a room. Teach your children to do the same.
29. If you must have Internet service, subscribe to dial-up. It’s a lot cheaper. If you don’t want to for fear of your phone line being busy, then PeoplePC offers an Internet Call Waiting service for free for 30 days then after that it will cost you $6.95 a month if you chose to keep it. With this service you can answer your phone while on the Internet by just the click of a button so you’ll never miss a call again. If you don’t choose to keep it they give you Caller Id. on your computer for free. So, the next time someone calls you and you are on the Internet you will know that they have called and you can call them right back after you get off.
30. If you have to go into town then do everything you need to do for that week in one trip. It saves time and gas.
31. If you must have a cell phone then get a pay as you go phone. This will eliminate that monthly bill and you only pay for the minutes you use.
32. If you can do something yourself, don’t pay someone else to do it for you. Example: If your husband knows how to work on your car, don’t pay the local garage to do it instead. It saves money when you do things yourself.
33. After each meal, always wrap up the leftovers and put them in the refrigerator. Wasting food is wasting money. You would dare throw your money in the trash.
34. Do not ever pay a babysitter to keep your children if you or your partner is at home, or you have a relative who is willing to watch them for you. In most family situations the grandparents are very eager to keep their grandchildren.
35. While at the grocery store, always use any coupons you have on hand for the merchandise you are purchasing. But, never buy an item just because you have a coupon for it. Only buy it if you regularly use that item. You can find lots of coupons in your local Sunday newspaper.
36. You can save hundreds of dollars by hanging your wet laundry out on a clothesline.
37. You can make a little extra money by keeping other parents’ children while they work, especially if you or your partner stays home with your own children.
38. You or your children can offer to cut the neighbors’ yards for some extra money.
39. Wash all your dirty laundry in cold water.
40. Carpool to work or church if you are able to do so.
41. If you have pets, then give them their vaccines yourself. You can order them through the mail and do it yourself a lot cheaper than you can go to the vet and pay them to do it for you.
42. Some phone companies have an extended calling plan, where you can call anyone within an extended area for one flat rate. This is usually cheaper than paying for all your long distance calls. Call your local phone company and ask them about theirs.
43. Always turn your heat down before you leave your home. There’s no use to keep it warm and cozy if you’re not there to enjoy it.
44. If your local waste facility is close to your house, then take your trash off yourself. It is cheaper than paying someone to come out and empty your cans for you.
45. Never try to keep up with the neighbors. So what if they cut their grass after every rain. You are saving money by cutting it when it needs to be cut.
46. Pay all your bills on time to avoid any late fees or interest. They can really add up in no time at all.
47. Always wear out the clothes you have before going out and buying new ones. Your old clothes will just sit in your closet taking up space if you have new ones to wear instead. Everyone would rather wear new clothes.
48. When you have a dinner with other family members, ask everyone to bring a dish with them. This will save you money and put lots of variety on the table.
49. If you take your family on a picnic, make your own food to take with you instead of buying it on the way. A cooler of drinks goes further than a single drink in ice for everyone.
50. Limit your family outings to once or twice a month, but make them count.
I hope you find these pointers to be very helpful in helping you and your family meet all your needs. They have been very helpful to me and my family. Lots of people ask us how we do it. Here are the answers.
Rebecca Anne
6.22.2010
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