Friday, January 9, 2009
21 ways to create an emergency fund
I found a really neat website today with lots of money savers. There is a great article on there on 21 ways to create an emergency fund. I'm going to add the link to this blog too. www.simply-saving.com
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Hickory Farms Sale
Hickory Farms is having a huge sale on all their stuff. www.hickoryfarms.com If you like their sausage and cheeses, now is the time to get it.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Sabotage already!
Well here I am ready to start on my new spending plan, and I only worked one day last week. Not a good start for the year. I'm not going to let it stop me though. I'm going to continue working hard on the spending plan and rebuilding my emergency fund. I'm also still looking for a new job. Hopefully something really wonderful is around the corner. It's funny, but when you are so ready for a change you feel so impatient to get there. I just have to keep reminding myself that you are always where God wants you to be. I do that a lot. Every time I miss an exit on the freeway, late going somewhere, etc. Reminder: You are always where God wants you to be. Isn't that nice?
So here are the components of the spending plan as recommended by Crown. The Tithe is of course 10% of your income, then you deduct taxes. The spending plan is the net that is left over.
Housing 36%
Food 12%
Automobile 12%
Insurance 5%
Debts 5%
Entertainment 6%
Clothing 5%
Savings 5%
medical 4%
misc. 5%
school/childcare 6% (If this category is used other categories must be reduced)
Investments 5% (if debt free)
You can get more details of the money map and spending plan on www.crownmoneymap.org and on destination one they have a detailed explanation of the spending plan and what goes into each category. You should keep a 30 day diary of what you spend before you start the spending plan to get an idea of what you are spending. Crown also has money map coaches that you may call for advice and they don't charge money for it.
I'm procrastinating on making a new one. It's time consuming, I have no idea how to estimate gas for the car right now, and I invariably get into a fight with my husband every time we do it. (He thinks there is too much money in my gift fund and I think he spends too much on gas and fast food.) At any rate, I will have it completed by the end of the week. Lets hope it's uneventful. I seriously am looking forward to a new plan this year. I am already seeing the benefits of just the effort I started putting in 6 months ago, so if I'm doing as well as I am right now, I can't wait to see what the end of the year looks like!
So here are the components of the spending plan as recommended by Crown. The Tithe is of course 10% of your income, then you deduct taxes. The spending plan is the net that is left over.
Housing 36%
Food 12%
Automobile 12%
Insurance 5%
Debts 5%
Entertainment 6%
Clothing 5%
Savings 5%
medical 4%
misc. 5%
school/childcare 6% (If this category is used other categories must be reduced)
Investments 5% (if debt free)
You can get more details of the money map and spending plan on www.crownmoneymap.org and on destination one they have a detailed explanation of the spending plan and what goes into each category. You should keep a 30 day diary of what you spend before you start the spending plan to get an idea of what you are spending. Crown also has money map coaches that you may call for advice and they don't charge money for it.
I'm procrastinating on making a new one. It's time consuming, I have no idea how to estimate gas for the car right now, and I invariably get into a fight with my husband every time we do it. (He thinks there is too much money in my gift fund and I think he spends too much on gas and fast food.) At any rate, I will have it completed by the end of the week. Lets hope it's uneventful. I seriously am looking forward to a new plan this year. I am already seeing the benefits of just the effort I started putting in 6 months ago, so if I'm doing as well as I am right now, I can't wait to see what the end of the year looks like!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Kmart double coupons
Today is the beginning of the Kmart double coupon week. It's better to go early as Kmart does not restock weekly so when it's gone, it's gone. I saved 40% off my bill today. Not bad. Kmart is hard because their prices are high so it you aren't saving at least 50% off the item I wouldn't buy it unless you need it. My best deals were Loreal kid shampoo .50 cents, Suave deodorant .16 cents, Juicy Juice .50 cents, sour cream .39 cents, (too bad you can't freeze it) They also have all their christmas stuff 50% off.
There were over $200 worth of coupons in the sunday paper today. All in all a great day to save!
There were over $200 worth of coupons in the sunday paper today. All in all a great day to save!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
12 New Year Money Savers
1. Don't cut out the internet if you are looking at ways to cut back. The internet is one of the most powerful money saving tools you have. You can save tons of money paying bills online rather than writing checks. I have never had my info stolen, nor have I ever missed a payment by it getting lost.
2. Compare bank rates at www.bankrate.com. Consider moving your savings to an online savings bank instead. Check your credit report for free. www.annualcreditreport.com Keep track of your spending. I use www.mvelopes.com for a fee through crown but I just found a free one at www.mint.com. Pay bills on time so you avoid late fees. If you use credit cards pay them off if you can or switch them to a lower interest rate. www.cardratings.com. Earn rewards for college at www.upromise.com.
3. Save on kids meals when eating out by using www.kidsmealdeals.com. It will tell you local kids eat free deals. Use www.restaurant.com to get great discounts on local restaurants. They periodically do 80% off sales where you can get $25 gift certificates for $2. Get the local entertainment book. There is tons of coupons for Buy 1 Get 1 Free. Stop going to restaurants. Try making your own instead. Have a Macaroni Grill night at home. It's really fun. You can get the recipes for free or very cheap at www.topsecretrecipes.com.
4. Stop using 411 on your cell phone. Try 1-800-373-3411 instead. You have to listen to a quick commercial but it beats $1.25 per info call. Use the internet at home for other numbers, or pick up a phone book at Save Mart. Consider changing your existing home phone to a internet phone or eliminating it altogether if you have a cell phone. You can try Vonage, Skype, or magicjack.com I use Skype for international calls always. It is way cheaper than anything else out there or even free if the other person has it. Cut your cell bill by having it analyzed at www.billshrink.com, and sell your old cell phones at www.cellforcash.com
5. Don't buy computers new, get the refurbished for much less. It comes with the same warrantee. Check out Dell, HP, or Apple. Don't buy Microsoft office, you can get all that stuff for free at www.openoffice.org. Download free antivirus stuff from avg.com, Free spyware from, lavasoft.com (Ad-aware) or safer-networking.org (spybot-search & destroy) and a free firewall from zonealarm.com.
6. Find the best price on cars at www.cars.com or cartango.com. Find the cheapest gas at www.gasbuddy.com, cut your insurance costs by comparing rates at www.insurance.com. Find the middle meeting place for friends who live far away at www.happymedian.com
7. Fly cheaply by buying your ticket online. Look for the lowest prices at www.bookingbuddy.com. Sign up for airfare alerts at www.airfarewatchdog.com, and get advice on when to buy your tickets at www.farecast.com.
8. Find hotel specials at www.hotels.com or name your price at priceline.com. If you want to go to Disney try www.mousesavers.com Also for homeschoolers. There is often discounts everywhere for amusement parks. Legoland and Marineland give the best deals I've ever seen. Check them out!
9. Use coupons for groceries. Subscribe to the newspaper if you don't get it already for the Sunday paper which is where most coupons are. You can also get coupons online at www.coupons.com but make sure your grocery store takes them as not all of them will. Winco for example does not accept them. You can get a discount on the subscription at www.discountednewspapers.com. Walmart carries a magazine called All you magazine that has lots of coupons and money saving tips. Do not be brand loyal. Believe me when I tell you that your clothes wash the same, your teeth clean the same, your dishes wash the same, etc. with different brands. I'm not brand loyal to anything except mayonaise. Consider subscribing to a service like refundcents.com which is where I get a lot of my money saving tips. Do meal planning, and shop with a list, and stick to the list. Check what you have on hand when you plan your meals so you can use up fruits and vegetables before they go bad. Do the rebates. Lots of them are in the sunday paper or even online. I got a $25 movie card recently for a rebate which became a christmast present. Awesome!
10. Buy your magazines at www.bestdealmagazines.com. I can't believe the discounts and they change all the time. Never again pay full price.
11. Start looking for grants and scholarships. There is tons of free money out there for everything imaginable. College scholarships, programs for summer camp kid programs, etc. There are grants for your home, you name it, it's out there if you look for it and take the time and effort to write it. We have gotten several grants for summer camp. We just got an awesome grant for our home and it cost us nothing but a little time to write it and gather the information requested.
12. Use the library. I spent half my life at the library as a kid. If I hadn't become a nurse, I defintely would have been a librarian. They have books, magazines, and movies for nothing. No you may not get the latest and greatest, but they hit the library eventually and the cost is nothing. Not to mention they have wonderful kid programs every summer at no cost as well.
2. Compare bank rates at www.bankrate.com. Consider moving your savings to an online savings bank instead. Check your credit report for free. www.annualcreditreport.com Keep track of your spending. I use www.mvelopes.com for a fee through crown but I just found a free one at www.mint.com. Pay bills on time so you avoid late fees. If you use credit cards pay them off if you can or switch them to a lower interest rate. www.cardratings.com. Earn rewards for college at www.upromise.com.
3. Save on kids meals when eating out by using www.kidsmealdeals.com. It will tell you local kids eat free deals. Use www.restaurant.com to get great discounts on local restaurants. They periodically do 80% off sales where you can get $25 gift certificates for $2. Get the local entertainment book. There is tons of coupons for Buy 1 Get 1 Free. Stop going to restaurants. Try making your own instead. Have a Macaroni Grill night at home. It's really fun. You can get the recipes for free or very cheap at www.topsecretrecipes.com.
4. Stop using 411 on your cell phone. Try 1-800-373-3411 instead. You have to listen to a quick commercial but it beats $1.25 per info call. Use the internet at home for other numbers, or pick up a phone book at Save Mart. Consider changing your existing home phone to a internet phone or eliminating it altogether if you have a cell phone. You can try Vonage, Skype, or magicjack.com I use Skype for international calls always. It is way cheaper than anything else out there or even free if the other person has it. Cut your cell bill by having it analyzed at www.billshrink.com, and sell your old cell phones at www.cellforcash.com
5. Don't buy computers new, get the refurbished for much less. It comes with the same warrantee. Check out Dell, HP, or Apple. Don't buy Microsoft office, you can get all that stuff for free at www.openoffice.org. Download free antivirus stuff from avg.com, Free spyware from, lavasoft.com (Ad-aware) or safer-networking.org (spybot-search & destroy) and a free firewall from zonealarm.com.
6. Find the best price on cars at www.cars.com or cartango.com. Find the cheapest gas at www.gasbuddy.com, cut your insurance costs by comparing rates at www.insurance.com. Find the middle meeting place for friends who live far away at www.happymedian.com
7. Fly cheaply by buying your ticket online. Look for the lowest prices at www.bookingbuddy.com. Sign up for airfare alerts at www.airfarewatchdog.com, and get advice on when to buy your tickets at www.farecast.com.
8. Find hotel specials at www.hotels.com or name your price at priceline.com. If you want to go to Disney try www.mousesavers.com Also for homeschoolers. There is often discounts everywhere for amusement parks. Legoland and Marineland give the best deals I've ever seen. Check them out!
9. Use coupons for groceries. Subscribe to the newspaper if you don't get it already for the Sunday paper which is where most coupons are. You can also get coupons online at www.coupons.com but make sure your grocery store takes them as not all of them will. Winco for example does not accept them. You can get a discount on the subscription at www.discountednewspapers.com. Walmart carries a magazine called All you magazine that has lots of coupons and money saving tips. Do not be brand loyal. Believe me when I tell you that your clothes wash the same, your teeth clean the same, your dishes wash the same, etc. with different brands. I'm not brand loyal to anything except mayonaise. Consider subscribing to a service like refundcents.com which is where I get a lot of my money saving tips. Do meal planning, and shop with a list, and stick to the list. Check what you have on hand when you plan your meals so you can use up fruits and vegetables before they go bad. Do the rebates. Lots of them are in the sunday paper or even online. I got a $25 movie card recently for a rebate which became a christmast present. Awesome!
10. Buy your magazines at www.bestdealmagazines.com. I can't believe the discounts and they change all the time. Never again pay full price.
11. Start looking for grants and scholarships. There is tons of free money out there for everything imaginable. College scholarships, programs for summer camp kid programs, etc. There are grants for your home, you name it, it's out there if you look for it and take the time and effort to write it. We have gotten several grants for summer camp. We just got an awesome grant for our home and it cost us nothing but a little time to write it and gather the information requested.
12. Use the library. I spent half my life at the library as a kid. If I hadn't become a nurse, I defintely would have been a librarian. They have books, magazines, and movies for nothing. No you may not get the latest and greatest, but they hit the library eventually and the cost is nothing. Not to mention they have wonderful kid programs every summer at no cost as well.
Another Blue light special
KMart will double from 1/4 - 1/10, Up to $1 face value, limit 25 coupons per person per day. No internet coupons. There will be 5 inserts in this Sundays paper of coupons. Shop early because the shelves emptied out quickly at Kmart during the last double coupon event.
Also at Walgreens there is a $2 coupon for Garnier Fructis Shampoo in their easy saver catalog. Some of the Walgreens have it on clearance for $2.19 but not all of them do. You will have to shop around or wait till this Sunday since there will be a $1 coupon in the paper making it free anyway.
Also at Walgreens you can get Revlon Matte collection lipstick, Matte collection eyeliner or blush, and Matte collection eye shadow free after rebate.
If you haven't had enought chocolate yet you can get the Russell Stover boxed chocolate for $2.99 a box rather than 10.99. You need the $1 coupon from the easy saver catalog and the $1 coupon from the sunday paper. Very nice deal!
Also at Walgreens there is a $2 coupon for Garnier Fructis Shampoo in their easy saver catalog. Some of the Walgreens have it on clearance for $2.19 but not all of them do. You will have to shop around or wait till this Sunday since there will be a $1 coupon in the paper making it free anyway.
Also at Walgreens you can get Revlon Matte collection lipstick, Matte collection eyeliner or blush, and Matte collection eye shadow free after rebate.
If you haven't had enought chocolate yet you can get the Russell Stover boxed chocolate for $2.99 a box rather than 10.99. You need the $1 coupon from the easy saver catalog and the $1 coupon from the sunday paper. Very nice deal!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
The great depression
There is a big article today in the paper on the great depression. For lots of people I think it's sometimes a fantasy. Something that happened centuries ago or something like that. In truth it really wasn't that long ago and you would think after how devastating it was that lesson would have lasted far longer than it did. I talk to people about downsizing, but it seems to be something that is impossible for most. I know there have been many times I've thought I'm not going to go back to living like that. Lot's of people have said that it can't last, but I think the fact that they dropped the prime rate to almost nothing is an indication that not only can it last, but it will for far longer than we want to imagine. I mentioned the other day to a friend of mine that it's time to get rid of luxuries and start living a simpler lifestyle. She said there isn't that many to get rid of, but I think there are. I started paying more attention to my mom lately and her stories. Stories of eating conrmeal mush, and watered down potato soup. I remember my grandmother talking about buying bologna and grinding it up and adding mayo and pimento to stretch it out farther. Can you imagine? I never had cable until about 10 years ago. We just watched the regular channels. There are many things we take for granted as normal when in reality they are luxuries.
Now I'm not saying to get rid of everything. That way of living always leads to binge spending. But I do think we all need to look at what we can truly do without or do ourselves rather than paying someone else to do it, because I do think it's going to get worse, a lot worse than it is already. My goal for starting this blog was to truly work on the crown principals to financial freedom. So far I have never made it past step one. I'm determined to do better next year. It's not a resolution, just a determination to change the way I am living and start moving in the direction I want to be, which is financially free. I will be posting starting next month on my progress on my money map. You can find more details on the money map at www.crown.org
It changed a lot of the way we were doing things but we still have a lot to work on. My friend Maureen once said that people do not want to change until the pain of not changing is greater. I think that's true. The debt causes me great pain, and I want to be free of it. For my friends that are reading this, I hope you will encourage me next year as I struggle and pray for my success.
Now I'm not saying to get rid of everything. That way of living always leads to binge spending. But I do think we all need to look at what we can truly do without or do ourselves rather than paying someone else to do it, because I do think it's going to get worse, a lot worse than it is already. My goal for starting this blog was to truly work on the crown principals to financial freedom. So far I have never made it past step one. I'm determined to do better next year. It's not a resolution, just a determination to change the way I am living and start moving in the direction I want to be, which is financially free. I will be posting starting next month on my progress on my money map. You can find more details on the money map at www.crown.org
It changed a lot of the way we were doing things but we still have a lot to work on. My friend Maureen once said that people do not want to change until the pain of not changing is greater. I think that's true. The debt causes me great pain, and I want to be free of it. For my friends that are reading this, I hope you will encourage me next year as I struggle and pray for my success.
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