52 Week Savings Challenge – Week 3

52 Week Savings Challenge Week 3, Welcome back! If you are just joining us, visit 52 Week Savings Challenge Week 1 to catch up with us and get started.

52 week savings challenge

I don’t know about you but I’m still excited about the savings challenge. Though feel that it’s slow going and would like to pick things up. However, be patient. Good things comes to those who wait and persevere.

If you haven’t already, go ahead and deposit $3.00 into your savings fund this week!

What can you give up for $3.00 in order to do this? Here are my 5 tips of finding a $3.00 to spare.

Rent a book or borrow a magazine instead of buying one.
Say no to one $3.00 item that you would have purchased.
Avoid taking money out from the ATM.
Make a meal from leftovers.
Bring your lunch to work this week.

Plus – Earn your money back!! Heading to the store? Grab some printable coupons and take them with you and the easiest way to save on things you were already going to buy.

Another easy week! We’ve got $6.00 in our savings…. 49 more weeks to go!

Comment below and tell me if you participated in this weeks 52 Week Savings Challenge? Are you putting more into your account or just sticking with the plan?

Next week we’ll be adding $4.00 toward our savings fund.

Want to see what’s ahead? Go here to get the 52 Week Savings Challenge Printable Form.

Did you miss week 2? Check it out: Week 2 – 52 Week Savings Challenge

3 Budgeting Tips: Simple and Effective

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Three budgeting tips you’ll definitely want to remember. Especially if you are finding that you have no money after your paycheck?

These budgeting tips are really simple. It’ll help you get control of your money fast! Simply by asking yourself the following question.. Are you thinking about the things you are buying?

Let’s look back the past week. How many drinks did you buy last week? How many times did you eat out? Did you pick up a few outfits that you really didn’t need?

It’s all those little things that we don’t really account for that can add up and believe me they add up quickly and can be disastrous to your budget.

If you feel like this is happening to you, follow these simple steps:

Start thinking about your purchase before you buy them.
Control your spending is by tracking everything that you purchase.
Find where your weakness is and cut back on it. Don’t be alarmed if it’s a huge shocker! You may find out that your Starbucks daily coffee is costing you $240.00 a month! Been there, done that!

You may want to take the next step and get organized by using this Simplified Home Budget Book. Knowing where your money goes is key to budgeting.

How do you keep control of your spending? Do you track daily? Do you practice these budgeting tips?

Want more budgeting tips? Check out my post 5 Ways you can take control of your money.

Manage Your Money by Setting Your Personal Money Goals

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Manage Your Money… those are scary words, just like dieting. But just like our health we need to take charge.

It’s easy to blame the outside forces for our money problems. Some common excuses are:

My job doesn’t pay enough
My taxes are too high
My spouse spends to much

All of which are lies we tell ourselves. Now granted, these situations are very real and can have a huge impact. But, What if?

What if we could wave a magic wand to change all of those scenarios, Would this solve our money problems? Probably not. If you don’t know how to manage your money, you’ll like create the same impact.

Today, I want you to create a list of personal money goals. This will help you later when you start working on your personal budget.

When thinking about your personal money goals – ask yourself:

Where do you want to go?
Where are you now?
What is in your way?
What’s your plan on how to get there?

Money worries can lead to a number of health problems such as high blood pressure, depression, insomnia, headaches, digestive disorders, aches and pains, ulcers, excessive smoking and drinking and gaining or losing weight.

It’s worth the time and effort to manage your money and ditch the money worries to get this aspect of your life under control.

Need ways to start saving money with your current income? Check out our Saving Money page.

52 Week Savings Challenge – Week 2

Welcome back to week 2 of our 52 Week Savings Challenge. If you are just joining us, visit 52 Week Savings Challenge Week 1 to catch up with us and get started.

52 week savings challenge

Last week was so simple and this week will be too! It may seem easy now, because the amount is so low, but remember the purpose of the 52 Week Savings Challenge is to discipline yourself and learn how to save!

Today you need to deposit a $2.00 into your savings fund!

What can you give up for $2.00 in order to do this? Here are my 5 tips of finding a $2.00 to spare.

Drink Water if you eat out this week.
Look at your grocery cart and find one $2.00 item and put it back!
Save whatever change you get back from your cash.
Skip Coffee for a day.
Skip the Candy/Snack Food purchases.

Plus – Earn your money back!! Take this coupon to the store with you the next time you go or check through our printable coupon database.

Another easy week! We’ve got $3.00 in our savings…. 50 more weeks to go!

Next week we’ll be adding $3.00 toward our savings fund.

Want to see what’s ahead? Go here to get the 52 Week Savings Challenge Printable Form.

Check out my other post You don’t need coupons to save money!

How many people are doing the challenge with you? Comment below and tell me if you participated in this weeks 52 Week Savings Challenge?

Family Finances – Make it a Family Affair

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Family Finances

Finances are one of the biggest chores we have to maintain. Various due dates and the stress that comes along with ensuring everything gets paid can be a lot for one person to bear.

So my question for you is do you make your family finances a family affair?

My husband and I didn’t grow up with solid financial teachings. Our parents “hid” their finances from their children. It was disrespectful to talk about family finances. Neither one of use grew up with the knowledge of how to live within our means.

Debt is what gets us into trouble when we live in a world of want.. and want.. and want some more. We need to live in a world where we discipline ourselves to say no. I wish I would have learned that at an early age. Therefore, I want to ensure that my kids grow up knowing that debt is not the way of life.

Here are some tips to get started with making this a family finances a family affair:

1. Allowances are a great way to start. Assign a Payday, and let your kids deduct things from their paycheck. Have them Give, Save then Live.

2. Plan for a “Family Finances” Night — Set a date and time and plan out your budget for the week(s).

3. Assign a task to each person of what bill and payment they would be responsible for. Ask questions such as: How can we reduce this, What happens if we pay this late, Is this payment a need or a want?

4. Play Games – such as Monopoly and explain as you play how real people go bankrupt because of not putting savings as a priority. This game is perfect for that, because every time we land on a property — we want to buy it, we want it, even though we may not need it and if we don’t plan well.. we’re bankrupt.

5. Get your family started early with savings. Open up an online savings account that have no fees or minimums, such as ING Direct . Online savings accounts are great, because you aren’t tempted to withdrawal the money.

Getting everyone involved in family finances, can change your family tree. It’s a great way to hold each other accountable, set financial goals and good spending habits.

Do you make your finances a family affair? If you don’t, is this something you anticipate doing in the future? I’d love to hear your tips on how you keep your finances in order.

Need ideas for your child allowance? Check out my Commission Chore Chart Post

Family Finances

Eliminating Debt – Pay off High Interest or Low Balance

Eliminating debt is hard. You have to be disciplined and strategic in order to pay down your debt and deciding which method to use is even harder. Should you pay off the higher interest rate first or should you pay off the lowest balance first.

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Many financial gurus such as Suze Orman recommend paying off the highest interest rate first, is the best when eliminating debt then moving to the next highest interest rate and so on.

Other financial gurus such as Dave Ramsey recommend paying off the lowest balance first when eliminating debt, then moving up to the next lowest balance and so on until you’ve paid off all of your debt. Yes you are paying more in interest but you are seeing your debts eliminating faster… helping you keep your motivation.

What’s your preferred method?

As for me, I personally like Dave Ramsey’s method. It’s like dieting… If I’m on a diet, I want to make sure it’s working and seeing my debt eliminating is like that little bit of weight dropping off.

The key with any “diet” is to ensure you continue at it! Losing weight isn’t easy neither is eliminating debt. But with proper planning and discipline it can be done!

Is eliminating debt on your goals this year? What steps are you taking in eliminating your debt?

Love this post? Check out my other post: I could have saved 50% while eating out!

52 Week Savings Challenge – Week 1

I’m so excited to start our 52 Week Savings Challenge.

52 week savings challenge

The first few weeks will be simple and throughout the year the challenge will get harder. The purpose of the 52 Week Savings Challenge is to discipline yourself into learning how to save and be committed to saving the amount listed for the appropriate week.

Many people are concerned about the amounts toward the end of the year. It get’s harder to save when we are spending so much during the holiday season. If you are concerned about that too, I have the perfect solution for you. Do this method in reverse! That way you are putting less in the savings towards the end of the year. It’s kind of like you are rewarding yourself by paying less, not to mention this would work great as a Christmas fund!

Today you need to deposit a $1.00 into your savings fund!

What can you give up for $1.00 in order to do this? Here are my 5 tips of finding a $1.00 to spare.

Forgo the fast food restaurant dollar menu
Bypass the vending machine at work
Check the cushions of your couch
Look down at the ground while walking and pick up loose change
Skip Redbox for the week

Plus – I can help you earn your dollar back!! Check out Grocery Coupon Network and print coupons to take with you the next time you go grocery shopping!

What an easy week! 51 more to go!

Check out my other post 5 ways you can take control of your money.

Next week we’ll be adding $2.00 to our savings fund.

Want to see what’s ahead? Go here to get the 52 Week Savings Challenge Printable Form.

I also want to know if you put more into your savings or did you just stick to the $1.00? Did you have to find the money? If so, what did you do to find the money? Comment below and tell me if you participated in this weeks 52 Week Savings Challenge?

Get Started: 52 Week Savings Challenge – Weekly and Reverse Order Breakdown

It’s a New Year and if one of your New Years resolutions is to save some money why not join us on our 52 Week Savings Challenge.

The 52 Week Savings challenge is a pretty simple challenge. It just requires a lot of discipline. Starting with week one, you’ll deposit $1.00 that week, then week 2 you’ll deposit $2.00 and so on. By the end of the year you’ll have $1378.00! Just pick a week you want to get started use the 52 Week Savings Challenge Printable Form.

Most people start the new year off with this challenge. If you are planning on doing that and want to stick to specific dates be sure to print the 52 Week Savings Challenge 2014 Form

The first few weeks will be simple and throughout the year the challenge will get harder. Just remember the purpose of the 52 Week Savings Challenge is to discipline yourself into learning how to save and be committed to saving the amount listed above.

If you feel the challenge too simple to start off, why not try the challenge in reverse. Start week 1 with a deposit of 52.00. This would be perfect for Christmas. Get the 52 Week Savings Challenge Reverse Order Form

Whichever method you choose, at the end of the year you’ll have a nice savings to do whatever you wish!

Whose up for the 52 Week Savings Challenge?

Need some ideas on how to save? Check out my post 7 ways to increase income at work without asking for a raise.

See posts related to the 52 Week Savings Challenge

Ways To Save At Disneyland

Have you avoided Disneyland because you think it’s too expensive? Let me share you with some ways to save at Disneyland.

First of all when choosing your tickets, avoid the park hopper ticket. Unless you trying to hit certain events, spend one day at one park. This will save you a few dollars per ticket.

If you need hotel accommodations travel during off season and you’ll be able to find better rates on area hotels. Look directly on their website, most of the time the website offers the lowest price. Then call and see if there is a cheaper price by phone.

When searching for a hotel, look for a hotel that offers a full morning breakfast. The hotel we stayed at had a wonderful morning breakfast. We made sure we ate a hearty breakfast and our bellies were full before we left.

For lunch at the park we brought things that we could snack on throughout the entire time. We brought in fruit, granola and energy bars and fruit snacks. As for drink we brought in bottled water and just refilled them at the water fountain.

For Dinner – we weighed our options with the kids, we decided that we were going to enjoy the park until closing (which was 8pm) and then have dinner off site. Had the park closed later we would have decided to eat in the park.

Eating out can be very expensive especially with our family of 6. Consider splitting meals. Most restaurant portions are 2-3 servings, so find one everyone likes and split it. Not only will you save on cost, but calories too! Read my post on 4 Tips to Save while eating out.

As for drinks… try avoiding ordering drinks. Order water! Water is free and can save you $2-3 a person. If you really have to have a soda or whatever, get it afterwards at the corner store afterwards.

Now as for ways to save at Disneyland while you are at the park.

Set a budget for each of the kids for a souvenir. Let them walked through the shops but don’t purchase anything, really make them think about what they really want. Then at the end of the day let them choose.

Remember, your kids are going to remember all of the rides and events, what they aren’t going to remember are how much you paid for everything. So many people buy things so many unnecessary things. Yes those things are beautiful and nice for the moment but wasteful. So consider whether or not your purchase will be useful.

Family Vacations are important, it’s a way for the family to rejuvenate and create memories. However useless spending that goes along with family vacations is one of my biggest pet peeves.

What are the ways you save at Disneyland?

Create a budget and find extra money for the holidays

I made this quick video on how to create a budget. By starting now, you will be able to find extra money to use for the holidays.

I used my iphone to make the video – not the prettiest video, but not too bad for it being on the fly.

Create a Budget

What do you feel is the easiest way to create a budget? Comment below! I’d love to hear your tips and suggestions.

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Family Finances

Family Finances

Create a Budget

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