One thing that I have learned as the years pass is that you never truly stop learning! I am always researching how to do something better, or how to save more money on something, etc. I truly believe that it keeps your mind sharp! Plus I really enjoy the process!
As you all know, I have not been doing much shopping the past three months. It certainly feels so strange to me. However, I have had time to really thing about what I have learned during this time.
The most valuable lesson is that there is ALWAYS another deal! This especially applies to grocery shopping. I find that sales on food items are repeated about every 12 weeks. So if I miss the deal on chicken, in 12 weeks or so it will be on sale again. Or if one store has a great sale today, the other grocery store will have a great deal next week! At the very least, if that chicken doesn't go on sale when you expect it to, you can buy what is on sale instead. Buy a week's worth of beef and wait to see if the chicken is on sale the next week. If not buy the pork on sale! You can arrange your menu around what is only on sale that week. I will be taking full advantage of this kind of shopping while we are living in the apartment. I will not really start stockpiling until we move into our new home. Besides, Atlas bringing us all of our things from storage to the house, we will also have to hire movers to move our stuff from the apartment to the the house. So I do not want to accumulate any more stuff than necessary. I will be making our menus based on the sales that week.
Fortunately, I was not overstocked here in this house. We have been using most everything up since we decided to buy our new home. We have just a few packages of meat and vegetables in the freezer, a very limited amount of food stuffs in the refrigerator and a few things left on the shelves in the pantry. We will continue to eat from those places and will give our neighbor whatever is left over. They will also be the recipients of HBA products and cleaning products. I will be leaving the buyer some cleaning products, sponges, dish and dishwasher soap, TP, liquid handsoap,shampoo, paper towels, garbage bags, and laundry detergent. These are all things that when I move, I wish I didn't have to run out and buy the first day of a move and will make their life easier. The house will be immaculately clean when we leave but I know, even when I move into a clean brand new home, I clean. I am anal about cleanliness. So the buyer will probably want to clean also and this will help them out.
I have also been watching all of the retail deals and wishing I could buy them especially when I see something I know someone in my family would like for Christmas. I have imposed on my son and DIL to accept a couple of deliveries but I will do most of the Christmas shopping, at the last minute, after we move. Hopefully, by then, the prices will be marked down even further. This time of year, I actually buy for next year also when I see a remarkable deal. But instead, I will be watching the sales in January for great deals. Plus I know that there will be terrific deals all year long for me to stockpile. So if I miss some deals now, it is not a real problem!
So, I have learned that I don't have to run right out and get that sale. They will be there again and again and again!
Please feel free to leave a comment and let us know what you have learned about shopping!
DH and I love frugal entertainment. Whether it is watching our favorite TV program or going to the movies with free movie passes, we always have fun spending time together. We are lucky because we seem to enjoy the same TV programs. So most evenings, we watch at least one together.
These are some of the other things we do to keep entertainment costs low:
1. We go to the movies once in a great while if there is something we really want to see and if we have free movie passes. We accumulate those through rebates and as gifts.
2. We make a list of movies that we want to see on DVD. We very rarely buy one unless it is so cheap that we can't pass up the deal. I earn free DVD rentals by doing E-rewards. We also use DVD rental coupons from the Entertainment Book.
3. We have an entire chest of board games in our great room, most of which were given to us as gifts. We, also,love card games.
4. It is not unusual for us to work on a huge jigsaw puzzle set up on our game table.
5. We love swimming and have had pools in all of our homes. This new one will be the first one without one. We have decided that we don't want to take the time to take care of one anymore. So we will probably join the Y.
6. Once in a while we will go to Dunkin Donuts for coffee and a donut.
7. We eat out at restaurants once every month or every other month. We set our money aside until we can afford a really nice meal.
8. We do lunch a couple of times a year using coupons from the Entertainment Book or that are printed in our local newspaper.
9. We love museums and try to go on B1G1F coupons.
10. We love to sightsee and will do lots of free places.
11. We both love to just sit outside and read.
12. DH loves crossword puzzles and I love logic puzzles.
13. We enjoy going to major and minor league sports games a couple of times a year. The major league ones aren't cheap but once or twice a year is affordable. The minor league or farm team games are cheap.
14. We have done lake boatrides, zoos, aquariums, etc. but usually with a B1G1F coupon.
15. We have friends who have a home on a lake. We love to visit them and water ski or ride on their jet skis.
16. I think our very favorite form of entertainment is cooking a nice meal and inviting family to share it with us.
There are so many ways to have a great time without putting out a lot of cash. Sure there are those times when you just have to splurge. But by being frugal most of the time, you can afford those really expensive occasions when they arise.
Please feel free to leave a comment and share with us how you have fun frugally.
So many people who visit my blog are savers and very frugal! But I am sure that there are some who have debt. I believe the worst debt that you can have is credit card debt. The second worst debt is mortgage debt with an ARM because of the the interest rate resetting at a certain date. In my mind, the third worst debt is a car loan because cars depreciate the minute you drive them off the lot and rapidly depreciate during the term of the loan.
I realize that it is difficult for many people, especially, those who are young and newly married to start out without some kind of debt. But your goal should be to get rid of that debt as soon as possible. It will strangle you if you don't. It takes your freedom away because you are always living under that cloud of owing your future paychecks to someone else. If those future paychecks disappear because of a job loss, then you are in deep "doodoo".
Wouldn't you rather keep those future paychecks than give them to someone else? Can you just imagine how much money you could accumulate if you weren't paying this debt every month? Wouldn't it be nice to have the freedom to purchase what you need with cash and not have to go into debt for it?
Will it take you a while to get out of debt? Of course, it will because I am sure it took you a while to accumulate that debt. But without a plan, you will never be out of debt and it will continue to suffocate you. I know that it is not a subject that you want to think about with Christmas approaching! But there is not a better time to think about this than now, before you pull out that charge card for those gifts that you can't afford. Think about what it would be like not to add any additional debt this Christmas and to make a plan for the New Year to pay off the debt that you have already accumulated. We are very creative people and we can give gifts from our heart that don't involve a lot of money. We all have accumulated lots of free or cheap stuff from CVS and elsewhere to make gift baskets. Ask yourself if you really should to be giving gifts to friends if you are carrying debt? If you want to give them a gift, just bake a few Christmas cookies, put them on a Dollar Store plate and wrap them in colored saran wrap with a bow. When I worked, my boss did this every year for all of us and it was one of my very favorite Christmas presents!
I know so many people who have owed $40,000 - $ 80,000.+ in credit card debt at one time or another. I also know many people who have held mortgages on their homes for 30-40 years because they keep using their homes like piggybanks pulling more and more money out of them,sometimes to pay off those credit card bills. They pay the credit card bills off, owe more money on their mortgage and then charge their credit card bills right back up. Now they are farther behind and they own less and less! They get to retirement and they have nothing and have to worry about where the next dollar is coming from to pay those bills and their everyday necessities. Do you want to be these people? Or do you want to be free of debt, have savings in the bank and live with no stress in retirement? I know which one I opted for!
With the economy in the toilet, paying off your debt is the best thing that you can do for yourself and your families. I know, I know they are trying to tell you that the economy is recovering. Being an accountant and having taken many economics courses, I can tell you this economy is NOT recovering. The numbers are being manipulated the way they want by the Feds and Bernanke not raising the interest rates . It is not sustainable. Think about the economy for just a brief minute. How many of you have found jobs since the billions were spent on the Stimulus Package? I would bet very few of you. Remember how we were promised that tons of jobs would be created by repaving our highways and fixing our bridges; how many of you have seen that construction or been able to get a job doing it? I would bet none. Think for a minute how much your debt has affected you and then think about how the government is doing the same thing. They are spending our money with no way to pay it back but borrow from China, who is getting fed up with our borrowing and could say no at any time, or by printing money. What do you think printing money does to our dollar? It devalues it. In the past 6 months alone, our dollar alone has been devalued by 26%. If the Feds keep printing money, it will quickly be worthless. Just take a look at how worthless our dollar is right now against so many world currencies. One that easily comes to mind is the Canadian dollar. It is worth so much more than our dollar right now that Canadians come across the border in droves to shop here. The snowbird population has increased substantially these past two years here in Arizona due to so many more Canadians wintering here.
All of what I have told you in the last paragraph is not meant to be a political rant against any particular party. God knows the Republicans did their share to create this mess. It is to open your eyes up to the fact that we as a country cannot sustain all of this debt. Our government needs to stop borrowing and make a plan to balance the budget, just as Americans need to make a plan to pay off their debt.
We are in scary times right now. If I had any debt, I would be paying it off as quickly as I could. I would be making a plan that I could stick to, to do it. I personally will be stockpiling food and non- food items as quickly as possible after I move because when the Feds decide to raise that interest rate(which I believe is coming sooner rather than later), we are going to have inflation like we have never seen in this country. The 16% interest rates of the early 1970's are going to look small compared to what we are in for. I also will be planting a garden in the spring to become more self sufficient. I will be stockpiling winter clothing which we are in desperate need of. And I will be stockpiling anything else that I deem a necessity ( not a want)! I truly do believe that we are on the edge of a depression that is going to be as bad if not worse than the depression of the early 1900's.
It is time to start living like your grandparents did! They lived with cash and not debt. If they wanted something they saved for it. They bought few luxuries and spent their money on necessities. So make a plan today to pay off that debt and protect yourselves from the massive inflation that is going to grip this country. I know it is hard for younger people to believe that this could happen because they have always had it good. But it can and it will!
Please feel free to leave a comment.
I hope that every one of you has a wonderful turkey day! This is a time to be thankful for family and all of the blessings that have come your way this year.
Even though DH and I are alone this holiday, we are thankful that this is the last holiday that we will not have family around us. We are truly blessed for all that we have. For us it is a time to think about how we can make another family's Christmas Holiday a little better this year. Each year around Thanksgiving, we decide on how we can help another family who is temporarily having a hard time and has not been as blessed as we have. DH and I took some time this week to go out to a nice dinner. We discussed who we are going to bless this year and have decided how. So for those of you who can give a little to someone less fortunate, think about it. You will be blessed many times over for your generosity.
Since DH and I cooked our turkey dinner a month or so ago, we will be not be roasting a turkey with all the trimmings. However we did decide that it would not be Thanksgiving in our household without turkey. So we are having a Jennie-O So Easy Turkey Roast with gravy, instant mashed potatoes, Stove Top stuffing and green beans. We also enjoy a really nice breakfast on holidays! So I cooked my last ham slice that I got free from Target, a while ago. We also had cheese omelets, English muffins with jam, OJ, and coffee! YUM! Between these meals and lots of football, DH and I will have wonderful time!
So to you and yours: ENJOY!
I realize that everyone is busy with Thanksgiving and Christmas plans but right now is the best time to plan your goals for 2010. It is the best gift that you can give your family for the future. So take a few minutes to set those plans!
Do you want to pay off a certain amount of debt next year? Or do you have an amount that you want to increase your savings and investments by? Are you planning on purchasing a home, car or other large ticket item? Is it important to you to be able to help your child with college expenses? Do your retirement savings look meager and need a boost in the right direction? These are just some of the questions you should ask yourself before you decide how much money you will need to allocate toward your goal.
Our goal for 2009 was to set aside about $20,000. earmarked for a family vacation for our children, grandaughter and ourselves. Well, as you all know, our goals changed. The vacation goal got set aside and the money we were saving quickly became earmarked for our move and to build our brand new home. We ramped up the savings so that we could afford our dream of moving cross country and being with our family, all year round, not just on a short vacation. We set aside every penny that we could justify without feeling deprived. I found new ways every day to save on costs and eek out just a little bit more. The money saving challenge was born to help with this goal! Just when I thought that there was no other way to "find more money", I would stumble upon another idea to get us to our goal. We ended up setting aside a lot more money than the original $20,000. and we are realizing our dream! If we had not been so driven, we would not have been able to realize that dream! That would have just crushed DH and I, so we made a plan that we knew we could accomplish. There was no such word as "failure" in our vocabulary! We knew that we could do anything that we put our mind to!
Now that we are realizing that dream, it is time to set our goal for 2010! That goal is to replenish our savings and investments that we are using to pay for our new home and still be able to decorate and furnish our home the way we want to. So we have decided how much money we want to set aside in 2010 toward that goal. On January 1, 2010, we will become as driven towards that goal as we were toward our moving plan. We know exactly how much money we need to put in savings every month to get there by December 31, 2010! I WILL be continuing the money saving challenge to help us get to this goal! I find it really motivates me!
So I hope that all of you take some time to set your money plan for 2010 also. Did you set one for 2009? Did you reach your goal? Or did your goals get sabbotaged because you made a plan that was unreachable? If so, don't beat yourself up! A new year is starting shortly and it is time for a NEW BEGINNING! Decide with your family what that goal will be and make a plan that you know you can stick with! Then review that plan every month and make sure that you are on track! So many people never set goals and they wonder why 5, 10, or even 20 years have passed and they seem to be standing still and getting nowhere! I don't want that to be you!!! So take the time to do it now before January is here! Remember, I am rooting for all of you and I will be posting the money saving challenge again in the New Year to give you some more ideas!
Please feel free to leave a comment and share with us your dream for 2010!
I just wanted to quickly let you know that I saw the cardiologist this morning for a follow-up on my stress test. He says I have no blockages and I have great blood flow to my heart. So I guess I will be around for another 60 years to aggravate my kids! :-)
In honor of the clean bill of health that I received today and because I am too busy to write a post right now on holiday shopping, I am linking the post that I did for last Christmas. Enjoy!
http://frugalmakescents.blogspot.com/search/label/gift%20giving
I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday. If you are traveling, drive safely!
This morning we had a momentary electrical outage. Both of our computers were on at the moment. My PC came back with no problem. But DH's would not. We thought his computer was TOAST! Both of us had the very same first thought. OH NO, we just lost over 2 years worth of our grandaughter's pictures. That is all we were concerned and upset about. DH contacted our son who told him to try something and the computer came back up and appears to be fine.
The moral of this story: If you have something on your PC that you would just be absolutely lost without, back it up and do it often. It has been a while since DH did. But you can easily guess what he is doing now!
