November 11th, 2009 · 5 Comments
Any family that cooks at home knows that one of the hardest things to deal with can be leftovers. Even the best meals can elicit groans from your family after they make a second or third appearance at the dinner table. You don’t, however, want to waste food. That’s like throwing money away. So, how do you deal with leftovers in your house?
We use a few different tricks to make sure that we use up the leftovers in our house. None of these tricks are fool-proof, but together they seem to keep the mound of leftovers at bay.
Date your leftovers. We always write the day’s date on a piece of tape and stick it to the container holding each night’s leftovers. This information allows us to keep track of each leftover’s age and ensure that we eat the container’s contents before they become inedible.
Transform leftovers into something new. No one can complain about eating last night’s leftovers if they don’t realize that they are. Look for recipes that allow you to utilize your leftovers. Grilled chicken breasts from yesterday’s cookout, for instance, can become tasty ingredients in a dish of enchiladas or a warm topping for a lunch salad.
Pack leftovers in lunches. Chances are that you’re always looking for tasty lunch ideas, anyway. Why not pack small portions of last night’s dinner dishes into your or your spouse’s lunch? A helping of warm meatloaf or tasty pasta is much better than another humdrum sandwich or a drive-thru burger.
Have a “Leftover Night.” When all else fails, an easy way to get rid of a random batch of leftovers is to host a leftover night. Allow each member of the family to fill his plate with his choice of leftovers. One family member might select one dish for his meal. Another might select tiny portions of several dishes to create a buffet-style meal. You can create excitement about “Leftover Night” by hyping it up. Ask the kids throughout the day what dish they are looking forward to having on the big night. Before long your family will love “Leftover Night.”
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Tags: Cooking At Home · General Finance · Saving Money
November 10th, 2009 · 5 Comments
I know I’ve said it before, but my kids grow like crazy. It seems like they grow into another clothing size almost as fast as I get them outfitted in their current size. Yikes! Keeping our clothing budget low has almost turned into a full-time job for me.
Okay, I really don’t spend that much time finding inexpensive ways to clothe the kids. I just hate to spend a lot of money on things that the kids will only use for a short time. You may worry that finding affordable kids clothing isn’t easy, but the truth is that it really doesn’t take any more time than shopping in a department store.
Hand-me-downs are a mom’s best friend. Don’t be bashful about accepting hand-me-down clothing from friends who have kids who are slightly older than your kids. After all, their kids probably didn’t wear those clothes out; you can get a lot of mileage out of slightly-used clothing. Just don’t forget to return the favor and pass your kids clothing down to someone else when they outgrow them.
Check out consignment stores. If you can’t find the clothing your children need through hand-me-downs, consignment stores are always a great option. Again, these are gently-used clothes that are ready for a happy new home. Most consignment stores are really picky about what they will accept so you can rest assured that they have inspected the clothes really closely before selling them. Be sure to find out if you can bring your used things in for credit in the store.
Shop carefully for new items. There are some things that I do splurge and buy new. That doesn’t mean that I don’t pay attention to the price, though. For instance, if I am buying a new swimsuit for one of the kids, I wait until they are on sale. If I’m really thinking ahead, I purchase one at the end of the summer for next year and really save.
Buy basics and embellish. Have you seen how expensive those cute baby jeans with embroidery on them are? I can’t stomach paying a ton of money for pants that fit a toddler, so I buy basic ones with almost nothing on them. Then, I can add embroidery, ribbon scraps, or even iron-ons to my heart’s content.
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Tags: Saving Money
November 9th, 2009 · 5 Comments
The following article is a guest post by David of Your Finances 101. David has been a frequent commenter here on Not Made of Money and has just published his first book Don’t Be A Mule: A Common-sense Guide to Saving More, Spending Less, and Generating Extra Income in Your Everyday Life which is available at Amazon.
My wife and I had planned an outing for our family over the weekend to visit a festival that was being held in one of our state parks. It was your garden variety festival, one where all types of different vendors set up their tents to sell their food or their arts and crafts. The home-made fudge and the hand woven figurines, so on and so forth.
Of course, whenever we decide to go to these types of things, we at the very least pack a good deal of snacks, if not a complete lunch. We do this for two reasons. First, because the prices for food at these festivals is ridiculous and second, most of the time they don’t have food that were interested in (we usually try to eat only healthy foods).
So anyways, we packed our picnic basket and off we went. Well, if you know anything about Atlanta, you know that a traffic jam can pop up at any time, and sure enough, we found ourselves stuck right in the middle of a doozy. It was a Saturday afternoon but from the looks of this thing it was a Friday at 5:00 o’clock. We didn’t move for about 15 minutes.
It soon became apparent that we would miss the entire festival if we decided to wait out the traffic (we got a little bit of a late start).
So, we had to go to Plan B. And Plan B was visiting our favorite downtown shopping district. With this new plan, obviously there really wouldn’t be a place to set up our picnic food and sit down and enjoy it. Well, I ‘m sure we probably could have but it would have looked quite strange.
All of a sudden I felt this stress building inside of me. Normally, when we visit this spot, we almost always make sure to eat first so were not tempted to buy food at this place either. The restaurants are good but fairly upscale so once again, the food is a little pricey (of course, we have visited their restaurants, but only when we have a coupon). My stress came from realizing that we would have to get something to eat, and from the looks of it, we would be paying full price for wherever we went.
Well, not soon after, I “mentally” stopped and took stock of the situation. If I let this building “stress” of mine get to me, the whole outing would be ruined. Then, as I thought more about the situation, I thought, you know what—who cares?
I have jumped in head first to the whole rebate/coupon/shopping for good deals game, and I have saved myself and my family an immeasurable amount of money over the past several months. So now I am presented a situation where I know I’ll have to pay full price. Once again, I soon said to myself—who cares?
Now that I am firmly on track financially and usually don’t miss a deal with anything that I buy, it is easy to let this mindset take over your life. Really, it is. One can easily stay up till the wee hours of the morning looking for every last deal on every last thing that you buy. Well, if you let it get to this point, I think it takes away from the quality of the life that you are living.
I try to save as much money as I can so I can get closer to living the life that I want to, but I also understand that sometimes you just need to forget about it. Of course, I don’t mean abandon the mindsets and attitudes that got me to this point; I just mean that I refuse to let it overtake my life.
For all the money that I have saved over the past several months—ONE trip to ONE restaurant paying full price is not going to kill me.
I managed to wash these thoughts away from my mind; we all strolled into one of these upscale restaurants, sat down and had a wonderful meal. Wonderfully overpriced, but a wonderful meal.
So when formulating your list of saving money ideas, life your life first, then save your money.
About The Author:
David Bakke is the creator and author of the personal finance blog Your Finances 101. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of South Florida. After many years in corporate restaurant management, David currently serves as a department manager in the retail industry. David resides with his wife and son outside Atlanta, GA. His book Don’t Be A Mule: A Common-sense Guide to Saving More, Spending Less, and Generating Extra Income in Your Everyday Life is available at Amazon.
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Tags: Personal Finance
November 8th, 2009 · 5 Comments
Many people agonize over their budget decisions. They really ponder over every penny in their budgets. “Do I really need to buy this?” they wonder. “Can I get by without it?
Unfortunately, after they’ve made the decision to make a purchase, some people stop worrying over the details of the purchase. They’ve made up their minds that they need the item and rush right out and purchase it. It’s too bad that they don’t spend as much effort in getting the best deal for their product as they spent in deciding if they needed the product.
Making price comparisons is crucial, especially when you are buying big ticket items. Price comparisons not only help you get the best price available, but also force you to do research about your purchase to make sure you are buying the right product. Following these few easy steps will guarantee that you are happy after your purchase is complete.
Shop a lot. You should visit a lot of stores and take notes. Sometimes, I even take a picture of the price sign in the store with my camera phone so I can look at the details later. My husband and I make the joke that we need to “visit” our purchases a few times before we know that it is the one for us. We know it’s a little odd, but we just want to be sure that we know what we’re buying.
Learn what the average price for your product is. Maybe you have your eye on a new washing machine that costs around $1,000. Sears may offer that machine for $1,049. Lowe’s may have it for $999. Knowing how much it usually costs will help you recognize a good deal when you see it.
Use coupons or discounts at the place that has the best price. Let’s say that you find that same washing machine we discussed before on sale at Home Depot for $900. By all means, snatch that washing machine up while it’s on sale. Don’t forget to keep looking for discounts, though. When you get to the checkout counter, as the cashier if Home Depot will honor that Lowe’s coupon you have in your purse. You could end up getting another 10% off your purchase price.
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Tags: Saving Money
Everyone tells you that you must have homeowners insurance or renters insurance to protect your assets. After all, the property coverage in these insurance policies will replace any lost or damaged items in the event of a catastrophic loss. What everyone doesn’t talk about, however, are the steps that you need to follow to ensure that your can document your loss.
For the most part, insurance companies will give you some leeway when it comes to replacing generic items like clothing or kitchen goods. The problem comes when you own something special. Perhaps you have a state of the art Kitchen Aid mixer, rather than a standard hand mixer. Maybe you have a massive collection of CD’s that make your local radio station’s archives pale in comparison. Anytime you own something that is out of the norm, you really take the steps to document that asset.
Begin by taking pictures. Do you own a special piece of jewelry? Maybe you have an assortment of antique furniture that your grandmother gave you. Taking pictures of these items will prove that you truly possessed them and display their condition. While your camera is out, you should also take pictures of the various rooms in your house. These will help you when you have to list the more commonplace items for your insurance claim, too.
List your rare or expensive assets. Some insurance policies actually require that you name particularly expensive assets in the insurance policy. Even if you aren’t required to take that extra step, though, you should probably start your own list of assets. Write down the name of the asset, any details you can name about it (manufacturer, age, and special features), and attach the receipt if it’s available.
Store your records in a safe place. If you have a safety deposit box, you should place your asset listing and your pictures (or a CD with the picture files) in your safety deposit box. You can keep your records in your home, however, if you take the time to protect them. Place them in a fire safe to preserve them from any catastrophes they might need to endure.
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Tags: Personal Finance
November 5th, 2009 · 3 Comments
Traveling by air is expensive anytime. Traveling by air with the whole family over the holidays, however, can be ridiculously expensive. In fact, the high price of airfare can be so steep that it forces some families to stay home.
Before you cancel your family’s holiday travel plans, bear in mind that there are some things you can do to mitigate the cost of flying. None of these things will make flying cheap, but some of them will make it more reasonable.
Buy tickets early. The earlier you purchase your airline tickets, the less expensive they will be. As soon as you finalize your travel plans, start shopping for tickets. You may be able to snap us some inexpensive promotional prices that are normally sold out in a hurry.
Shop around. Be sure to check multiple sources before you purchase your airline tickets. I like to look at Travelocity or Expedia to get an idea how much my airfare should cost. Then, I visit the airline’s websites directly to see if there are any specials. Don’t forget to check out Southwest Airlines’ website (if they are flying where you need to go). Southwest usually has cheap tickets, but they don’t sell tickets through online brokers like Expedia.
Fly early. Most people fly to their destinations a day or two before the holiday. If you can leave three or four days before the holiday, you may be able to avoid some of the high prices of holiday travel. You can use the same strategy when you schedule your return trip, too.
Consolidate baggage. Now that most airlines are charging their passengers for every bag they check, you should do everything you can afford to cut your baggage down. If you carry everything on, do. If you must check a bag or two, though, try to keep it down to as few bags as possible. At $15 – $25 each, those baggage fees can add up quickly.
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Tags: Saving Money
November 4th, 2009 · 2 Comments
Yeah the holidays are almost here! Many people are excited at the prospect of enjoying another holiday season. Other folks, though, are panic-stricken. If you haven’t been saving some extra cash to pay for your holiday celebrations, the holiday season may be terrifying for you. How will you get through the season without spending more money than you have? Can you avoid using your dreaded credit cards?
The good news is that you CAN avoid using your credit cards. You don’t need to panic yet. You just need to start laying aside some extra cash now in preparation for the holidays. Don’t worry if you don’t have a clue about how to get your hands on some holiday cash. I’ve got a few ideas that may help you.
Get a job. I know that you probably already have a job, but I’m talking about a part-time gig that will only last for a few months. Many retailers need extra help during the holiday season. You can help them and yourself at the same time by spending ten or fifteen hours each week moonlighting. Act quickly, though; retailers have already started hiring their seasonal helpers.
Sell something (or lots of things). Gather up all of the things in your house that you don’t need or want anymore. Last year’s must-have toy, the winter coat that no longer fits your child, and a few of those rarely-used kitchen gadgets are great examples of things you may be able to sell. Spend a little time taking pictures of the items and writing descriptions and list the items on Craig’s List or eBay. In less than a week you can have cleared your home of clutter and earned some cold hard cash.
Start a small business. Many people are too busy during the holidays to tend to many of the mundane tasks that are a part of everyone’s lives. You can capitalize on their busyness by taking on some of those tasks. You could clean houses, rake yards, or even baby-sit. Post flyers and list your services on neighborhood bulletin boards to get the word out about your new business.
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Tags: Personal Finance
