December 29, 2016

6/29/2015

If you go to using cash for the majority of your purchases you will most likely have lots of coins for change. Have a change jar and put all your coins in it. They will add up. It is amazing how quickly it adds up. you can keep adding to it and use the money in it for a vacation or splurge fund. 

I also put at least half of the one dollar bills I get back as change. They do add up.

One person I have heard of did the change jar but she also saved every 5 dollar bill she gets. That would really add up fast. 

December 29, 2016

6/23/2015

What to do with your Income Tax Refund. 

First of all, change your withholding so the government doesn't take as much out of each paycheck. A tax refund is just the government borrowing money from you interest free. They will use your money, interest free, until it is time to repay you, interest free. 

Be disciplined and save the "extra money" you have in your paychecks after you change your withholding. That way when the taxes are done and you owe you have it. 

If you can't be disciplined, though it is probably best to keep the withholding the same. Better to lend to Uncle Sam than for him to come and get it, one way or the other, from you if you don't have it. 

When you get the refund, if any, I recommend you plunk it into a savings account. I think, depending on how much you get back you should splurge a LITTLE. Then use the rest to pay down debt or put it into a less liquid savings to go towards a large purchase like a house or a car. 

December 28, 2016

Easy Savings

Savings sometimes isn't easy. It is a good idea to build up an emergency fund so you won't have surprise expenses that put a pinch on things. 

I put $40.00 into a sink fund every payday, two weeks apart. I also put $10 onto a re-loadable gift card at the grocery store every time I do my weekly shopping trips.
I have had to use my sink fund many times but I try to not get down on myself and I just breathe and get it going again. I think they negative thoughts about myself are one sure way to not get a sink fund going again.

December 28, 2016

6/19/2015

Menu planning 

One great way to save on groceries is to have a menu planned out for the period you grocery shop for. You can make it as complex or simple as you like. You could do for all three daily meals or only the main meal of your day.

I personally do only dinners. We have odd schedules so breakfast hardly happens at my house. I eat lunch at work. So dinners are all I plan. 

I make an inventory of our freezers and pantry and use up frozen leftovers for dinners on my work days. On my weekends, I try to cook. 

I like to do a bunch of cooking on the weekend to freeze for the week. I usually eat leftovers from the night before for my work lunches. 

I like to have a meal plan so I won't come home from work and not want to cook and keep from spending money on take out. 

December 28, 2016

More thoughts on grocery savings. If you can, find a store that sells spices in bulk. If you have a new recipe and don't know if you will use all the spices after you make the new one get just the amount of bulk spices to make the dish. It is cheaper than getting the whole bottle and wasting it. 

Cash Only Spending

December 28, 2016

6/16/2015

Using cash only helps to spend less. It seems harder to give over the cash than the credit or debit card. With cash you have to give it up and you don't get it back like you do your cared.

Have a budget where you have a set amount for non-bills: groceries, non food (cleaners, toiletries, pet supplies, etc...), entertainment and other purchases. Divide it into categories and when the money in that category is gone you stop spending for that category. 

When I get change back I put all the coins and one dollar bills into a change cup. It adds up. After the cup is full I take it to the credit union and the change machine counts it and I deposit that into my vacation fund. 

I haven't been able to deposit any this year because I have used the money in the cup to give ot a friend is having a hard time making ends meet one month. 

I used a plastic wallet-size coupon holder for dividing up my cash. but you can get as elaborate or simple as you want. 

11/28/2016

6/1/2015

Frugal Meals

I like to cook extra and freeze half for another meal. It is pretty easy for me because there is only 2 of us. If I can tell him to only eat one serving I can freeze the extra for another meal. I like to have extra meals in the freezer for days I don't want to cook and it keeps me from wimping out and getting take out which isn't good for our bodies or our wallets.

6/2/2015

Frugal Meals, pt. 2

Pasta is always frugal. Whip up a tomato sauce or there are some good prepared canned pasta sauces for under a dollar. Add some ground beef or some steamed veggies. 

Rice is inexpensive. Scramble and egg with some green onions, add cooked rice. Add some soy sauce, meet, veggies, tofu. You have fried rice. 

Quesadillas- tortillas with cheese cooked on a griddle or fry pan until the cheese melts. Serve with salsa, sour cream and guacamole. You can put some refried beans or shredded chicken inside with the cheese, too. 

Simple food is usually the most frugal food. 

11/15/2016

10/12/16

Letter to Donald Trump.

Mr. Trump, 

I really am trying so very hard to feel sorry for you! Sorry because someone who is so angry, hateful lying and closed minded can't really have had a good life. 

I feel bad because your parents probably only had you because that was what people do. You married and had kids whether you wanted to or not. Plus the fact I bet they wanted to keep the money in the family so you were born. Not out of want but out of need. 

I bet your parents didn't actually raise you, either. I am sure you were more of an inconvenience to them. So nannies were hired. I am guessing your probably had more than one because you were probably a huge brat as a kid. Most kids who get no parental love or attention usually are. If they can't get good attention they are brats and get bad attention. 

That can breed a huge amount of anger and self-loathing. I see many sociopathic tendencies with you. Lying, grandiose actions, abusing others and telling them it is their own fault. Yet you, a man in his 70s are still working really hard to get love and attention. This presidential campaign is really making you feel good but it just doesn't satisfy, does it? These supporters just like you because you are making it "okay" for their hatreds. When they find out what a fraud you really are they will get mad and slink back into the sewers you dredged them up from. 

Your wives probably loved you for a short time but as soon as they discovered the real, ugly mentally  ill you they couldn't anymore.

I feel sorry for them, too. you can be charming and overbearing and some women can fall for the charming and overlook the overbearing until it is too late and all they are left with is overbearing. How many of them did you rape? Was it only Ivana or the others, too. 

Your bragging about sexual assault also tells me you are desperately seeking love. You equate love with sex but then your overbearing self loathing side takes over and makes it assault. 

You were probably given everything you wanted while you were growing up and still expect that. This is why you see nothing wrong with sexual assault, manipulating and lying to get what you think you want now. 

I don't think you really want to be president. I think your ego thought it might be fun to try and when your hateful minions started really supporting you you just let it go on and on. Your ego was feeling so full!! You thought that those people "loved' you. they DON'T they love the anger and hatred you are making them feel finally that it is okay now. 

It isn't and when ever a woman is assaulted, a Muslim is assaulted, a Mexican is assaulted a black person is assaulted I will hold you personally accountable. 

There is help for your kind of mental illness. It will take hard work. you will really have to look deep into your soul to find what you need and ask people for help. 

I didn't get to finish this and Donald Trump won the election so this madness is even scarier now. 

11/14/2016

Earn From Home

5/15/15

I would love to have a job where I earn from home. No more traffic and Commuting. 

I need to practice my typing and get better and faster. then I could do transcription work form home.

there are also survey and points sites. They are much slower and one won't make a fortune doing that but it is a bit of extra money. 

I am trying to get enough points and do enough surveys to earn at least $ 25.00 a month. It isn't huge but it helps and what ever I get goes to my vacation fund. 

I really need to focus more energy on doing that though surveys can be very tedious and I don't qualify for them all. I really think it is a good way to get a small bit of extra money. 

I have a separate email account for all my survey and point sites, too. 

6/7/2017

Think Possible

I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in September of 1997. When I first got the diagnosis I was really scared. The only person I knew who had it also was a friend of my mom's, when I was a kid. He really progressed fast into total wheelchair-bound disability. I had a husband and 2 small children to take care of. I was an at home mom, making sure the family was living and being efficient. 

Once the doctors got me into remission with steroids I decided that MS was NOT me and I was NOT MS. I take care of myself and follow the doctor's instruction but I totally feel that it has been may attitude that has kept me healthy and mostly symptom free. I do have a few symptoms but I don't let them get in my way of living a full and healthy and loving life. I deal with them and get on with life.
Then in 2003 I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. It was so scary! But I just said, "what do we do now? Let's get this taken care of." I had a mastectomy and did 6 rounds of chemo. It wasn't pleasant but it was needed to be done. I am now cancer free and as of this date it was 14 years ago. 

5/12/15

-Creating a cash buffer_

Everyone needs a cash buffer, also known as an emergency fund. But it can be difficult to have one when you are living paycheck to paycheck. Start small. Put $10 or $20 into a savings account that you don't touch. If your paychecks are direct deposited you can, usually, specify what accounts it goes into. If you can, put it so $10-$20, whatever you can afford, to go directly to the savings and you won't even see it. If you don't know it is there it is harder to get tempted to spend it on none emergency things It will build up slowly, but it will.
Emergencies can include car repairs, medical bills, veterinarian bills. Emergencies do NOT include wanting a new outfit for a party. Or wanting to get away. Be honest with yourself and save the money. How about you set a goal? Say have at least $1000 in the account and when you get above that, spend what is over that $1000? Just don't make a habit of it. Saving $1000 is a great thing but saving more can't hurt and it might be better.
Another way I have a buffer is that I have a gift card from my grocery store that is reloadable. I put $10 on it every grocery trip. I put money on the gift card every time I  can, for when I need food and have no money I can use the card. I have a better paying job now than when I started doing this so I usually let it get up to $50 and then donate the card to someone who needs it more than me. I have a few friends who are having tough times.
One way to "find" the money for it is to not grocery shop except for the bare essentials, every week and use that money for your cash buffer. I know that I have way too much food at my house. I could probably not grocery shop for a month. I don't want to try to go without grocery shopping for a month but I am working really hard now to use up all my food before I go shopping for dinners, our main meal, again. I went yesterday and got produce and non food stuff we needed and saved a bunch of money.
Going hand in hand is a sink fund. You sink money into a fund for the bills that are just a few times a year, like car insurance and car registration and the like. Take the total of those bills for a year, divide by 12 and you put that much into an account. Then when it comes due, you have it and you don't have to scramble for it.
It isn't always easy to do this but it is better than being without the payment. One could use a tax return to put into savings for this purpose. Not as fun as blowing it but much smarter. Better yet, redo your deductions and not get a refund next year. Re doing your deductions means you get more money in your paycheck but you need to be disciplined and save it each paycheck so you won't have to owe it to Uncle Sam.