Stockpiling is storing items you will need in the future. There are many types of stockpiling but I am referring to food and HBA items right now.
Why stockpile?
Buying common items you and your family use when they are on severe sales, discounts or clearances can and will save you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a year. Using coupons and learning how to use them correctly is highly advised. I will get to that later.
Since I am a self proclaimed Diva, I love to shop. Before working towards frugality, I spent tons of money on clothes, shoes, and accessories. As the economy got worse, that had to end. I had to find a way to fulfill my shopping addiction but in a way that actually is useful. One day, while on the Internet, I read about a lady that fed her family on very little money. She told about her "stash" of diaper and how she paid $3-$4 a package. I was in awe. She had me from hello. I needed to learn and became obsessed with learning more. It is funny, but she has since disappeared and I wanted to thank her for what she did for my family. The only way I know how is to teach other people and share the knowledge. Now, on with the show...
Where do I start?
Make a list of the food items you use everyday. What you are looking for is listing items that don't expire fast like cereal, meats, condiments, and other pantry type items. Next make a list of the HBA items that you use daily, weekly and monthly. If you are brand specific, list that brand.
Next you must determine how much of each item you need. Before doing that you should also know the shelf life of the item.
Here is common food terminology we see on packaging -
“Sell by” or “Pull date” — This date tells
the store how long to display the food for
sale. Foods eaten after this date are usually
safe to eat as long as they are stored
for no longer than recommended time, and
handled and prepared safely.
“Best if used by (before) date” — This
date means that the food will be of its highest
quality or flavor if consumed before the
date on the package. Foods may be safely
consumed after the date indicated on the
package, if they are stored for no longer than
recommended, are handled and prepared
properly and show no signs of spoilage.
“Expiration date” — This is the last day
the food should be eaten. Except for eggs,
discard foods not consumed by this date.
EGGS: The expiration date is the last date
a store can sell the eggs and still refer to
them as “fresh.” Buy eggs before the expiration
date and use them within 30 days.
After 30 days, discard the eggs. Do not buy
eggs if the expiration date on the package
has passed.
“Pack date” — This is the date the food
was packaged or processed. Consumers may
be able to determine the age of the product
by looking at this date.
Keep in mind if you stock 10 of a particular item and 5 expire you are not saving money! There are plenty of web sites that give you a guideline as to how long you can store items. Here is few of them;
Whats cooking America - food storage chart - Link
Recipe Tips dot com - another food storage chart - Link
There is literally tons of different charts and you can do a simple web search with the key words "food storage life" and find plenty.
When you are looking at stocking up on your HBA items, you need to think about how many you will use in a given time before they expire and what would be a reasonable amount to store. Yes, those are 2 different questions.
My family could use a roll of toilet tissue a day and since I have space, I could store 10 cases. Depending on the sale, it would be reasonable to store 10 cases if they were on a great discount. Now, my family also uses about a tube of toothpaste per month. I usually keep 15 in my home because it is not reasonable to store more. Why? They expire and toothpaste is a item I can usually find on sale if not free with using a coupon.
Hair care products have a general life of 3 years until opened. After they are opened come in contact with bacteria and lose 1/2 their life. 18 months is rule of thumb for opened hair care products unless the product states otherwise.
Toothpastes - read the package before buying. You never know how long it has sat and depending on the ingredients, each one may vary. You need to check each tube before you purchase them since you may buy 10 with all different dates. Even sizes can change the expiration date. I got this from the Colgate web site;
Colgate Total has a two-year expiration date, the same shelf-life as other Colgate toothpastes. The .75 oz sample tubes of Colgate Total have a shelf life of 18 months.
There are certain items that my family uses that others may not. We use paper plates (like dixie or chinet) and justify it. I run my dishwasher 2 times a day. If we did not use paper plates it would be ridiculous. I seek deals to make them cheap and not burden my budget. Most of the time, I buy them with Register Rewards from deals that I have done at Walgreens. I will get into Walgreens at a later date. It is one of my favorite stores to deal shop.
It does take time to build your stockpile. If you are patient and wait out the sales, you will be amazed on how far you can come in just a few months. When my kids were in diapers, I never paid more than $4 for Huggies. The same packages that other paid $9 for. Toilet paper, heck, I have at least 40 packages that I bought for .25 a package when they were on sale and used coupons. Over time your spending will narrow and you will notice you have more money to pay off your debt!
Once you get going you will need to devise a plan for organization and storage. I have a unfinished basement that stays the same temperature year round. I bought Heavy duty plastic shelving from Menards. I have watched the sales and it goes on sale about every 3 months. The regular price is almost $80 per set and on sale they will go as low as $39.99.
Since I have a unfinished basement the smartest plan was to line the walls with shelving to save the middle area for other things. The shelving that I have is 5 shelves tall, 48 inches wide and 36 inches deep. Each self can hold 150 pounds. This pops together and takes maybe 5 minutes without tools to assemble. I have 15 sets that take up 2 of my walls. Since they are flush to the wall, they take up very little space.
Yes, I did invest in my shelving but organization is really important when stockpiling. If you can't find something, it can expire before you find it. Only 5 of my shelves are for my personal use stockpile. 5 other shelves are stockpile that I sell for profit. The remaining 5 shelves are things that I just need to store like photo albums, winter clothes, important records and so on.
Plastic containers are your best friend. I buy the clear ones to be able to view what is in them easily. I also store the stockpile I sell in these so they are all organized, grouped by price and ready to move. The best way to buy plastic containers is to wait until they are on clearance. I find great deals on these at Target. Since it is December now, I am sure the red or green ones will be next to hit the deep discounts.
If you don't have tons of space in your home, get creative. Use closets, under the bed bins and other areas that are unoccupied. I have a friend that stores her stockpile in a dresser. She has a small studio apartment and only needs a small stockpile for herself. If there is a will, there is a way.
It does take money to get this all going but once you get started, you will notice it pays off very fast. In my house I noticed the payoff in about 3 months. I was spending the same amount during that time but acquiring a stock and storage system. When you are spending less on everyday items you will have the dollars to get started.
Once you have a nice stock in place you will notice 2 things. The first is that you are now saving a ton of money. The 2nd one is that you have what you need and no longer need to rush out of the house to buy common items. Life is now cheaper and easier than before. I actually am a bit obsessed with my stockpile and tend to feel a tear in my eye when I look at it. "She" has a name also...."My Preeeeeecious.
Monday, December 28, 2009
What to sell?...
Before you buy things to sell, clean out your house! This can be hard but very satisfying in the end. Look around and assess the situation. If you are done having kids, sell your baby items. I know it is hard to part with that cute (insert item here), but you can take a photo and keep it forever digitally without taking up room in your house.
*Baby items that are modern sell well if you price them reasonably.
It is not only about baby items but all those things you have laying around. Are your hall closets full? Why? Are you using those things? I have sold items that I never thought would sell. If you are just really not sure of the item, look it up online and see what people are selling it at on craigslist, amazon and ebay.
Think outside the box with your listings. I sold a circular baby gate (super yard) to a single lady with no children. Why did she buy it? Because I wrote "great for a baby of any kind" - she just bought a new puppy and he was her baby. I bought it for $90 back 6 1/2 years ago and would have sold it for $5 if I didn't know from research that this item is still in high demand. I sold it to her for $30 and she thanked me over and over.
Little by little you will earn dollars that you had just laying around your house. Your house will be decluttered and you are on the road to interjecting more income to your budget and organizing your home.
After you have tackled clearing out your house now it is time to come up with a strategy to keep the ball rolling. Lots of people buy items to re-sell. Stalking hot clearance items, coupon shopping and just general deal hunting is a great way to get your stock to sell.
Keep your receipts and watch your profit margin. It does not make sense to sell things under the 30% profit margin. You will interject too much time and effort and possibly gas money if you do so. The only way I would suggest selling under a 30% profit margin is if you are selling in mass quantities.
There are many ways to sell other than craigslist and ebay. If you have a local flea market that draws a good sized crowd, it may be worth your time to check into it. Last year, I sold HBA items at the local flea market. I bought the items using coupons and paying pennies on the dollar for them. Each time I rented a space at the local flea market I made between $800 - $1,200 for that day. Now you have to imagine, I had a massive amount of stock and put in lots of time to acquire it so it will not be the same for everyone but it can be profitable.
Yard Sales can also provide a nice amount of money if you advertise it well. Make simple, yet clear signs. It really annoys me when I see signs that I can not read. Fancy writing is not effective at all on a 3 x 3 sign. Write a simple catchy phrase and your address and post the signs up where they are easily seen while driving. I strongly suggest listing your sale on craigslist with photos as well. Take photos of your hottest item. Give a few prices to lure them in. If you are selling stockpile, list out some examples with prices. One thing for sure, kids items and furniture sell fast if priced reasonably.
Here in our city we have a new chain of stores that don't exactly have a title. The concept it brilliant. They rent out floor space and sell the items in the rented spaces for the vendors. This is a booming business since people can't quit their jobs to venture into selling to earn extra income. It is much like a Goodwill or Salvation Army inside since you will see the most random assortment of items. The sellers (vendors) price their items as the wish and pay rent whether it sells or not. The brilliant part of this is that the vendors who move quantity can make some serious cash and the store owners make money off the rent of the spaces plus a small commission. I did this for 3 months selling furniture I bought off craigslist. I would search daily for a deal, buy it and deliver it to the re-sale store. I did quite well and made just over $2,700 a month moving quanitity. I had to pull back on this type of work since we have harsh winters here in Michigan and I just don't have the help to keep going. I do plan to get back into it when the weather breaks.
*Baby items that are modern sell well if you price them reasonably.
It is not only about baby items but all those things you have laying around. Are your hall closets full? Why? Are you using those things? I have sold items that I never thought would sell. If you are just really not sure of the item, look it up online and see what people are selling it at on craigslist, amazon and ebay.
Think outside the box with your listings. I sold a circular baby gate (super yard) to a single lady with no children. Why did she buy it? Because I wrote "great for a baby of any kind" - she just bought a new puppy and he was her baby. I bought it for $90 back 6 1/2 years ago and would have sold it for $5 if I didn't know from research that this item is still in high demand. I sold it to her for $30 and she thanked me over and over.
Little by little you will earn dollars that you had just laying around your house. Your house will be decluttered and you are on the road to interjecting more income to your budget and organizing your home.
After you have tackled clearing out your house now it is time to come up with a strategy to keep the ball rolling. Lots of people buy items to re-sell. Stalking hot clearance items, coupon shopping and just general deal hunting is a great way to get your stock to sell.
Keep your receipts and watch your profit margin. It does not make sense to sell things under the 30% profit margin. You will interject too much time and effort and possibly gas money if you do so. The only way I would suggest selling under a 30% profit margin is if you are selling in mass quantities.
There are many ways to sell other than craigslist and ebay. If you have a local flea market that draws a good sized crowd, it may be worth your time to check into it. Last year, I sold HBA items at the local flea market. I bought the items using coupons and paying pennies on the dollar for them. Each time I rented a space at the local flea market I made between $800 - $1,200 for that day. Now you have to imagine, I had a massive amount of stock and put in lots of time to acquire it so it will not be the same for everyone but it can be profitable.
Yard Sales can also provide a nice amount of money if you advertise it well. Make simple, yet clear signs. It really annoys me when I see signs that I can not read. Fancy writing is not effective at all on a 3 x 3 sign. Write a simple catchy phrase and your address and post the signs up where they are easily seen while driving. I strongly suggest listing your sale on craigslist with photos as well. Take photos of your hottest item. Give a few prices to lure them in. If you are selling stockpile, list out some examples with prices. One thing for sure, kids items and furniture sell fast if priced reasonably.
Here in our city we have a new chain of stores that don't exactly have a title. The concept it brilliant. They rent out floor space and sell the items in the rented spaces for the vendors. This is a booming business since people can't quit their jobs to venture into selling to earn extra income. It is much like a Goodwill or Salvation Army inside since you will see the most random assortment of items. The sellers (vendors) price their items as the wish and pay rent whether it sells or not. The brilliant part of this is that the vendors who move quantity can make some serious cash and the store owners make money off the rent of the spaces plus a small commission. I did this for 3 months selling furniture I bought off craigslist. I would search daily for a deal, buy it and deliver it to the re-sale store. I did quite well and made just over $2,700 a month moving quanitity. I had to pull back on this type of work since we have harsh winters here in Michigan and I just don't have the help to keep going. I do plan to get back into it when the weather breaks.
Craigslist and Ebay...
Craigslist for your city is a great way to sell items that you no longer use. It is free and quite effective. I use this option for large or heavy items that people would not want to pay shipping for or items that would sell locally without the need to reach a larger group of buyers. I actually started selling off of craigslist this past summer and was really impressed in how much response I got off of things just laying around the house. I knew right away that there is a certain amount of danger in selling in person and meeting strangers. I never scheduled to meet at my home and always planned a location that was a public place, had lots of people nearby and in pure daylight. In each listing I made it clear that my price was firm and the only payment I accept is cash. I also bought a bill verifying pen at the local office supply store to make sure I was not receiving counterfeit bills.
Ebay - there are fees and I usually reserve this for hard to sell items. When you sell on ebay you are reaching out to a world of buyers but there a things that you must do before getting started.
Know how you plan to ship a item. I really like shipping priority mail since you can order the shipping supplies for free off of a ebay link. This saves you time and money in looking for or buying boxes and packaging. I do not offer another shipping method and my buyers have always been happy to pay a bit more to get their packages fast. I also include a "shipping & handling" fee that is appropriate to the amount of the item. I do this due to gas prices being so high that it would not be cost effective for me to run to the post office to ship a $3 item. I, personally stay away from international shipping since it is just problematic to me and not as safe. There is too much fraud in other countries and I don't want to hassle with trying to determine if I will get paid or not. I set my listings to require immediate payment and most of the time I sell as "buy it now" to get the job done at the price I want.
Research what you have and what it is worth both locally (craigslist) and nationally (ebay), then determine what you will charge for your item. Pricing items beyond their common selling point will lead to no bidders and a waste of your time and effort.
Research your resources. Does your city have something that others want? Do you have a factory or plant that manufactures goods that are in demand to others? If so, see if you can access it and find out what the items go for. Two years ago, I sold a ton on ebay. I did not make a income to support my family, but I did make enough to pay off a larger credit card that I had. You would never guess the niche that I found! People love "Silver" brand jeans! I would go to Goodwill and buy them for $3.99 and sell them at $12.99. One of the first things you must learn about selling clothes is to find the most common size that people wear. In this case it was women's jeans. I found that sizes 7,9, & 11 sold fast and smaller sizes took forever to sell. I also found out what days / dates Goodwill had sales to decrease my spending on the jeans and increase my profit margin. I made just over $3,200.00 selling jeans that I bought a Goodwill!
*Tip; if you buy jeans always make sure they are boot cut or flare. The other styles are much harder to sell.
One of the biggest mistakes that people make while selling on craigslist or ebay is how they advertising their items. I, personally don't even look at the ads without photos. We are in the technology age and a cheap digital camera can be a incredible investment for selling both on craigslist and ebay. Clean and neat photos are attractive to the buyer. Try to get only the item you are selling in the photo without your dirty clothes pile in the background!
Create a need and spell out how the item you have can be used. I worked in sales for years and know that there are certain tactics that work for selling a product. Never ask yes or no questions and tell the prospective buyer that they need the product. Tell them how it will benefit their life and create a illusion of need. Watch commercials and notice how they spell out for you what you can use the product for. They don't just say, "Buy xyz." They tell you that you need xyz to be happy and make your life easier. They give you ideas of how you will use xyz. They tell you that xyz is cheap in comparison to (whatever it pertains) and that you should buy it now.
Now that you know what you will write you need to make it look good as well. I always pay a few cents extra for the pretty templates that surround my listings. I always choose the simple and classy ones to add appeal. I also suggest adding as much information about the item as you can. Sometimes I create a story. I know it sounds weird but it works. With the jeans that I sold from Goodwill it certainly worked! Here is how my story went;
Teen Diva's wardrobe for sale. (in bold on top, centered)
My loss is your hot look. (centered)
I am the mother of 2 teen fashionistas who refuse to wear anything more than a few times. Update your closet without paying retail prices. If you know fashion, you realize the deal I am offering in this listing. Picture these jeans with a cute pair of boots or sandals and you are ready for any occasion. (ramble on but be careful to not use trigger words like "sexy.")(Aligned left)
Buy it now! (centered)
Ebay - there are fees and I usually reserve this for hard to sell items. When you sell on ebay you are reaching out to a world of buyers but there a things that you must do before getting started.
Know how you plan to ship a item. I really like shipping priority mail since you can order the shipping supplies for free off of a ebay link. This saves you time and money in looking for or buying boxes and packaging. I do not offer another shipping method and my buyers have always been happy to pay a bit more to get their packages fast. I also include a "shipping & handling" fee that is appropriate to the amount of the item. I do this due to gas prices being so high that it would not be cost effective for me to run to the post office to ship a $3 item. I, personally stay away from international shipping since it is just problematic to me and not as safe. There is too much fraud in other countries and I don't want to hassle with trying to determine if I will get paid or not. I set my listings to require immediate payment and most of the time I sell as "buy it now" to get the job done at the price I want.
Research what you have and what it is worth both locally (craigslist) and nationally (ebay), then determine what you will charge for your item. Pricing items beyond their common selling point will lead to no bidders and a waste of your time and effort.
Research your resources. Does your city have something that others want? Do you have a factory or plant that manufactures goods that are in demand to others? If so, see if you can access it and find out what the items go for. Two years ago, I sold a ton on ebay. I did not make a income to support my family, but I did make enough to pay off a larger credit card that I had. You would never guess the niche that I found! People love "Silver" brand jeans! I would go to Goodwill and buy them for $3.99 and sell them at $12.99. One of the first things you must learn about selling clothes is to find the most common size that people wear. In this case it was women's jeans. I found that sizes 7,9, & 11 sold fast and smaller sizes took forever to sell. I also found out what days / dates Goodwill had sales to decrease my spending on the jeans and increase my profit margin. I made just over $3,200.00 selling jeans that I bought a Goodwill!
*Tip; if you buy jeans always make sure they are boot cut or flare. The other styles are much harder to sell.
One of the biggest mistakes that people make while selling on craigslist or ebay is how they advertising their items. I, personally don't even look at the ads without photos. We are in the technology age and a cheap digital camera can be a incredible investment for selling both on craigslist and ebay. Clean and neat photos are attractive to the buyer. Try to get only the item you are selling in the photo without your dirty clothes pile in the background!
Create a need and spell out how the item you have can be used. I worked in sales for years and know that there are certain tactics that work for selling a product. Never ask yes or no questions and tell the prospective buyer that they need the product. Tell them how it will benefit their life and create a illusion of need. Watch commercials and notice how they spell out for you what you can use the product for. They don't just say, "Buy xyz." They tell you that you need xyz to be happy and make your life easier. They give you ideas of how you will use xyz. They tell you that xyz is cheap in comparison to (whatever it pertains) and that you should buy it now.
Now that you know what you will write you need to make it look good as well. I always pay a few cents extra for the pretty templates that surround my listings. I always choose the simple and classy ones to add appeal. I also suggest adding as much information about the item as you can. Sometimes I create a story. I know it sounds weird but it works. With the jeans that I sold from Goodwill it certainly worked! Here is how my story went;
Teen Diva's wardrobe for sale. (in bold on top, centered)
My loss is your hot look. (centered)
I am the mother of 2 teen fashionistas who refuse to wear anything more than a few times. Update your closet without paying retail prices. If you know fashion, you realize the deal I am offering in this listing. Picture these jeans with a cute pair of boots or sandals and you are ready for any occasion. (ramble on but be careful to not use trigger words like "sexy.")(Aligned left)
Buy it now! (centered)
Sunday, December 27, 2009
4 yr / 12 issue Entrepreneur Magazine Subscription for $15.96
Entrepreneur Magazine Subscription
Ok, if it helps me make money it makes sense. This is one of those things that I will add to my "splurge" pile and enjoy each month for 4 years at .33 cents a issue!
(up to 4 years) using coupon code 018c (you can order as little as 1 yr, but I opted to get 4)
Link to Tanga
*SD gives this a massive thumbs up. I have never ordered from this company but with a SD 99 thumbs up from others that have it seems safe to trust.
This is a great magazine to read and learn from for anyone who wants to be self employed. I paid newsstand prices many times for it and if I remember correct it was over $5 each issue.
My breakdown below is based on 12 issues per year, for 4 years!
Price Breakdown
4 x Entrepreneur Magazine Subscription $79.96
Coupon Discount - $64.00
Subtotal $15.96
Shipping $0.00
Total $15.96
Change your attitude...
I am a born entrepreneur. In no way can I compare myself with Bill Gates, but I can find a way to make a few bucks here and there. In this economy we have to think outside the box. Staying still too long builds laziness and excuses. I am a people watcher. I observe everything around me and draw it all in. One of the biggest things that I have noticed is that successful people do not have excuses. They are go-getter's. All of the people that I know that are "down on their luck" are also full of reasons why.
Change your attitude! Find solutions instead of dwelling on why the problem exists and surrounding yourself in a pity party. It is a waste of time and quite exhausting to focus on the negative things. We all have problems in our lives. If your problems seem greater than everyone around you, it may be your attitude. No excuses.
*Each day is a fresh start. If you were not productive yesterday, today is a great place to begin.
Change your attitude! Find solutions instead of dwelling on why the problem exists and surrounding yourself in a pity party. It is a waste of time and quite exhausting to focus on the negative things. We all have problems in our lives. If your problems seem greater than everyone around you, it may be your attitude. No excuses.
*Each day is a fresh start. If you were not productive yesterday, today is a great place to begin.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Frugal, fun and fashionable...
Living frugal might seem like a scary challenge at first but it can be far more fun than you ever imagined. Something clicks in a person when they finally realize that they have been over-paying for all the items they have purchased. That there was a better way to save their hard earned cash. It is a overwhelming feeling of stupidity. Don't feel bad, I have credit cards and loans based on my previous lack of deal shopping knowledge. It happens to the best of us.
Once you learn that everything is cheaper somewhere. It becomes a new goal to find out where and how to obtain what you need, want and desire at the best possible selling price. It takes time and possibly years to fully let go of impulse buying but hey mass retail stores like Walmart were built on this type of human instinct shopping.
Baby step it and don't try to redecorate your budget in one day. First find a sale at the store you shop, then apply other aspects of saving. Little by little you will notice something amazing...you are living for less money than before!
The internet is your friend. Embrace it. Do web searches and you will find a wealth of information that is so valuable you get addicted to reading it. May I suggest a few of my own favorites?
slickdeals dot net - love that site! Just seek and ye shall find it there.
Fatwallet dot com - a softer version of the site above.
Frugalvillage dot com - all things frugal. Just a great site to read and learn from.
Hillbillyhousewife dot com - lots of recipes and ideas, well worth the reading.
ok, for the Divas - My beauty Recipes dot com - how to make your own natural beauty treatments! Yes, you can do it.
Here is one for the Diva wives and mothers out there - Pioneer Woman - a great read with lots of class, advice and whimsical knowledge.
Now that you are on your way to learning, there is a common word that people in the deal shopping secret societies use. It is called a coupon. Ok, you have heard of a coupon but do you use them religously? Why not? Why give away your hard earned cash? When is the last time that someone just gave you money for no reason? Ok, point earned!
Coupons are not just your mothers cut and clip version, although those are wonderfully effective and can save you hundreds of dollars a month and thousands of dollars a year. There are also internet coupon codes that can save you a ton of things that you were going to buy anyways. Before I teach you about these, you must read Rule #1
Rule #1 - Don't buy it just because it is a deal. It is only a deal if you need it or can profit from it.
Why buy online verses in store. Plenty of times, I can find a better deal online than in store. I never buy from unreputable places. I always do my homework first before ordering from any company that I have not heard of. I search for coupon codes online and sometimes this take time but is well worth it to save $$. There are several sites that have coupon codes retailme not dot com and some even sell coupon services like coupon junkie dot com and ebay.
*As it is illegal to sell or buy coupons, it is not illegal to sell or buy the time and effort in providing them.
Why purchase a coupon? I only purchase a coupon when I can not get it free anywhere else and it will save me money. Here is a example of a instance a few months ago;
There was a big sale at Childrens Place dot com. There was tons of summer clothing $1.99 - $3.99 and at that price the savings were good. Their shipping is $5 flat rate. I found a free 15% off code and was spending $150.00
The math: 15% of $150 is $22.50.
$150 - $22.50 = $127.50 plus $5 shipping = $132.50
I found a 20% off code for sale for $3.99 online and it would be delivered to my email instantly. The code included a free shipping code.
The math: 20% of $150 is $30. $150 - $30 = $120 plus the $3.99 cost of the coupon brings my total to $123.99 and a savings of $8.51 for 2 minutes of work.
Once you learn that everything is cheaper somewhere. It becomes a new goal to find out where and how to obtain what you need, want and desire at the best possible selling price. It takes time and possibly years to fully let go of impulse buying but hey mass retail stores like Walmart were built on this type of human instinct shopping.
Baby step it and don't try to redecorate your budget in one day. First find a sale at the store you shop, then apply other aspects of saving. Little by little you will notice something amazing...you are living for less money than before!
The internet is your friend. Embrace it. Do web searches and you will find a wealth of information that is so valuable you get addicted to reading it. May I suggest a few of my own favorites?
slickdeals dot net - love that site! Just seek and ye shall find it there.
Fatwallet dot com - a softer version of the site above.
Frugalvillage dot com - all things frugal. Just a great site to read and learn from.
Hillbillyhousewife dot com - lots of recipes and ideas, well worth the reading.
ok, for the Divas - My beauty Recipes dot com - how to make your own natural beauty treatments! Yes, you can do it.
Here is one for the Diva wives and mothers out there - Pioneer Woman - a great read with lots of class, advice and whimsical knowledge.
Now that you are on your way to learning, there is a common word that people in the deal shopping secret societies use. It is called a coupon. Ok, you have heard of a coupon but do you use them religously? Why not? Why give away your hard earned cash? When is the last time that someone just gave you money for no reason? Ok, point earned!
Coupons are not just your mothers cut and clip version, although those are wonderfully effective and can save you hundreds of dollars a month and thousands of dollars a year. There are also internet coupon codes that can save you a ton of things that you were going to buy anyways. Before I teach you about these, you must read Rule #1
Rule #1 - Don't buy it just because it is a deal. It is only a deal if you need it or can profit from it.
Why buy online verses in store. Plenty of times, I can find a better deal online than in store. I never buy from unreputable places. I always do my homework first before ordering from any company that I have not heard of. I search for coupon codes online and sometimes this take time but is well worth it to save $$. There are several sites that have coupon codes retailme not dot com and some even sell coupon services like coupon junkie dot com and ebay.
*As it is illegal to sell or buy coupons, it is not illegal to sell or buy the time and effort in providing them.
Why purchase a coupon? I only purchase a coupon when I can not get it free anywhere else and it will save me money. Here is a example of a instance a few months ago;
There was a big sale at Childrens Place dot com. There was tons of summer clothing $1.99 - $3.99 and at that price the savings were good. Their shipping is $5 flat rate. I found a free 15% off code and was spending $150.00
The math: 15% of $150 is $22.50.
$150 - $22.50 = $127.50 plus $5 shipping = $132.50
I found a 20% off code for sale for $3.99 online and it would be delivered to my email instantly. The code included a free shipping code.
The math: 20% of $150 is $30. $150 - $30 = $120 plus the $3.99 cost of the coupon brings my total to $123.99 and a savings of $8.51 for 2 minutes of work.
Your net who? Net worth!...
Knowing your net worth gives you a idea of where you are at in life. If you don't know where you currently stand, it is hard to navigate to a different location. Wealth is usually not stumbled upon but statically planned. Preparing now can save you tears and sorrow later. We never know where we will end up but we can prepare the road for the journey.
Net Worth is a simple concept. It is your assets, minus your liabilities. The amount by which your assets exceed the liabilities is positive net worth.
You will need to make a spreadsheet with 2 categories. What you have and what you owe. Here is a link to a sample spreadsheet (Link)
Where do you begin? Well with a cup of coffee and a quiet space to work. Picture you are having a estate sale and you are selling everything you own. You must list the FMV (fair market value) and not what it is worth to your heart. No one cares that grandma gave you the kitchen table. You have to write down the amount it would sell for to a stranger. To make the task easier, list only items that have a $500 or more value. Start with the most valuable items like your home and cars and work downward. Include savings in the bank and CD's, stock and IRA's. Add these items up and this is the value of your "assets."
Next you need to list all your debt. Yes, you listed the FMV (fair market value) of your house but now you have to fill in the big picture as to what you owe on it as well. Start with the largest debts and work downward. If you started at the bottom of my blog, this should be easy since you already listed your debt out in a budget. Add these numbers together and this is your total "liability."
Subtract the liabilities list from the asset list and hopefully you have a positive number! This number can be big, small or negative. What you are hoping, wishing and praying for is that your assets are worth more than your debts. This would mean you have a "net worth." If you owe more money than your assets, then it is time to get down to some serious business of budgeting.
Net Worth is a simple concept. It is your assets, minus your liabilities. The amount by which your assets exceed the liabilities is positive net worth.
You will need to make a spreadsheet with 2 categories. What you have and what you owe. Here is a link to a sample spreadsheet (Link)
Where do you begin? Well with a cup of coffee and a quiet space to work. Picture you are having a estate sale and you are selling everything you own. You must list the FMV (fair market value) and not what it is worth to your heart. No one cares that grandma gave you the kitchen table. You have to write down the amount it would sell for to a stranger. To make the task easier, list only items that have a $500 or more value. Start with the most valuable items like your home and cars and work downward. Include savings in the bank and CD's, stock and IRA's. Add these items up and this is the value of your "assets."
Next you need to list all your debt. Yes, you listed the FMV (fair market value) of your house but now you have to fill in the big picture as to what you owe on it as well. Start with the largest debts and work downward. If you started at the bottom of my blog, this should be easy since you already listed your debt out in a budget. Add these numbers together and this is your total "liability."
Subtract the liabilities list from the asset list and hopefully you have a positive number! This number can be big, small or negative. What you are hoping, wishing and praying for is that your assets are worth more than your debts. This would mean you have a "net worth." If you owe more money than your assets, then it is time to get down to some serious business of budgeting.
Creating a Budget...
Creating a budget you can live with may sound painful but once you learn how to live a bit more frugal and bargain shop for what you need and want, you can still be a Diva and no one will know your bills are paid!
Creating a budget takes some planning and patience. I would highly suggest doing it on a computer to make changes easy. Budgets can stay the same or change weekly. Some reason for changes could be more income, a debt being paid off or a change in the bills.
A budget should include the following;
1. Income - from all sources, every piece of money you get and even the money you don't tell your husband about. Don't include income that "you think" will come like bonuses, refunds and income tax refunds. Only count the dollars you are sure to have on hand.
2. Monthly expenses - break these down into two groups "Fixed" and "variable."
Fixed expenses are the same amount each month - think rent, mortgage, car payment, cable, Internet and so on. The goal affiliated with fixed expenses is to learn how to eliminate them one at time within reason. We will all have some sort of fixed expense but credit cards are not necessity.
Variable expenses change - think utility bills, groceries, gas, dining out, buying clothing, entertainment, splurges, those hot new jeans and purse and so on. Variables will be where most of your budgeting comes into play. This will be where get down to business and crunch numbers to learn how to lower your overall living expenses.
3. Total your income and expense categories and hopefully there is more income than expense. If not, cuts must be made and more income must be created. Easier said than done but not impossible. This will be a major focus of my blog.
*The end result should be all your income is accounted for and there is a category for it. Don't forget to make a category for Bank savings and emergency funds. Even if you can only afford $5 a week, it all adds up.
You need to set 2 major goals. Paying off bills and saving for retirement. As a fixed expense gets paid off, you will need to allocate the funds for that expense to a new category. Never let funds be left unaccounted for.
Creating a budget takes some planning and patience. I would highly suggest doing it on a computer to make changes easy. Budgets can stay the same or change weekly. Some reason for changes could be more income, a debt being paid off or a change in the bills.
A budget should include the following;
1. Income - from all sources, every piece of money you get and even the money you don't tell your husband about. Don't include income that "you think" will come like bonuses, refunds and income tax refunds. Only count the dollars you are sure to have on hand.
2. Monthly expenses - break these down into two groups "Fixed" and "variable."
Fixed expenses are the same amount each month - think rent, mortgage, car payment, cable, Internet and so on. The goal affiliated with fixed expenses is to learn how to eliminate them one at time within reason. We will all have some sort of fixed expense but credit cards are not necessity.
Variable expenses change - think utility bills, groceries, gas, dining out, buying clothing, entertainment, splurges, those hot new jeans and purse and so on. Variables will be where most of your budgeting comes into play. This will be where get down to business and crunch numbers to learn how to lower your overall living expenses.
3. Total your income and expense categories and hopefully there is more income than expense. If not, cuts must be made and more income must be created. Easier said than done but not impossible. This will be a major focus of my blog.
*The end result should be all your income is accounted for and there is a category for it. Don't forget to make a category for Bank savings and emergency funds. Even if you can only afford $5 a week, it all adds up.
You need to set 2 major goals. Paying off bills and saving for retirement. As a fixed expense gets paid off, you will need to allocate the funds for that expense to a new category. Never let funds be left unaccounted for.
The game plan...
I have never read or watched Dave Ramsey but I have heard bits and pieces of his pilosophy from other people. I honestly believe in paying off the smallest debts first to get them out of the way (most of the time). This is coming from someone who has 2 sets of bills each month. I refer to mine as the beginning and end of the month bills. We own a small business and I pay out over 60 bills per month. Keeping up with them can be a challenging while having 1,001 other things to do in a day.
I, personally like to write out each check. I know it is far more time consuming but I like being able to look at the bill, verify everything is correct, then issue the payment. I have been a victim of identity theft in the past and you can never been to watchful of your accounts. This is why I chose to not do direct pay at this point.
The game plan is simple -
I used a spread sheet on excel (in the templates) to display all my debt. It is set up something like this.....
Name (of company owed) - Total Amount Owed - Monthly Payment Amount
(I also set up my spreadsheet to do a percentages to see who gets most of my money)
I have 2 sets of graphs in this spread sheet. Both are labeled as above but the 1st one is for loans, credit cards and bills that are the same amount each month. The 2nd graph if for my variable expenses. If you use Excel there is a template that is great to start off with as a foundation. I just tweaked mine due to the amount of bills I have and the types of debt.
Now I have a full picture of where I am at and don't want to be. I then can assess which bills to pay off first. I look at 2 parts of the debt before making a decision.
The amount of the debt and the interest rate.
For example; I have a SUV that has 0% interest. I chose to not make any additional payments and not put it as a priority since it would not benefit me as much as the credit card that has a $1,000 balance and 39% interest. The minimum payment on the credit card is $50 a month.
It would take me 33 months to pay off that card if I made a minimum payment. This would = $650 in interest paid. If I paid the SUV off, I would have 1 less debt but if I paid the credit card off, I would save $650.00!
Link to credit card calculator @ Bank rate web site (free)
I, personally like to write out each check. I know it is far more time consuming but I like being able to look at the bill, verify everything is correct, then issue the payment. I have been a victim of identity theft in the past and you can never been to watchful of your accounts. This is why I chose to not do direct pay at this point.
The game plan is simple -
I used a spread sheet on excel (in the templates) to display all my debt. It is set up something like this.....
Name (of company owed) - Total Amount Owed - Monthly Payment Amount
(I also set up my spreadsheet to do a percentages to see who gets most of my money)
I have 2 sets of graphs in this spread sheet. Both are labeled as above but the 1st one is for loans, credit cards and bills that are the same amount each month. The 2nd graph if for my variable expenses. If you use Excel there is a template that is great to start off with as a foundation. I just tweaked mine due to the amount of bills I have and the types of debt.
Now I have a full picture of where I am at and don't want to be. I then can assess which bills to pay off first. I look at 2 parts of the debt before making a decision.
The amount of the debt and the interest rate.
For example; I have a SUV that has 0% interest. I chose to not make any additional payments and not put it as a priority since it would not benefit me as much as the credit card that has a $1,000 balance and 39% interest. The minimum payment on the credit card is $50 a month.
It would take me 33 months to pay off that card if I made a minimum payment. This would = $650 in interest paid. If I paid the SUV off, I would have 1 less debt but if I paid the credit card off, I would save $650.00!
Link to credit card calculator @ Bank rate web site (free)
Debt reduction calculator...
DEBT REDUCTION PLANNER
About this calculator:
• Find out how long it will take to become debt free and how much you'll pay in interest by making the minimum monthly payments.
• You can also crunch the numbers using any fixed payment of your choice.
• If you tell us when you'd like to pay off the plastic, we'll tell you what payments you'll have to make to achieve that goal. You might be surprised.
Link - free from CNN Money
About this calculator:
• Find out how long it will take to become debt free and how much you'll pay in interest by making the minimum monthly payments.
• You can also crunch the numbers using any fixed payment of your choice.
• If you tell us when you'd like to pay off the plastic, we'll tell you what payments you'll have to make to achieve that goal. You might be surprised.
Link - free from CNN Money
Learning to act your wage...
Growing up in poverty made me yearn to have "things."
I loved fashion and that is where it began. I started with my first clothing store credit card, then evolved to general credit cards like Visa and MasterCard. They gave me unrestricted shopping access with spending limits that felt like "free money."
I got to the point where I had the clothes and wanted the fun to go with them.
That is where the vacations came into play. When I didn't have money for what I wanted, I would pull a loan and get it. It was fun and then reality set in......
I owe a ton! I owe loans, credit cards, vehicles and a mortgage to name a few of my personal debts. Now, I am older and wiser and on a mission to become debt free while providing for my family, having fun, and still have a few pair of stilettos in my closet.
Now in the economy that I live in (Michigan) it is time to grow up and Act My Wage!
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