So... just got back from dropping off the monthly ROTH contribution and the house payment at the post office. With the stock market reminding everyone, this past week, that “yes Virginia” there are risks to investing I found quiet, consistent, comfort in my mortgage and ROTH check writing.
Again this month we sent a good size check to the ROTH account. The plan is to have it maxed with the check next month. It feels nice to be so close to fully funding the ROTH this early in the year. After we have funded this year’s ROTH we are planning on continuing to set money aside in order to have a good start on fully funding next year’s ROTH, you never know when your budget will change and ROTH dollars become harder to come by.
Again this month the mortgage check was bigger than it had to be. We were able to send extra enough that the principal reduction should be a little bit bigger than the interest accrued. Focused banging until it is knocked down, is what keeps clanging around my head. Not sure if we can, but if we keep up this level of payment then the house will be OURS in about thirteen more years. (that sounds so far away)
If you are sending extra on the house or working to fund your IRA then I would love to hear about your successes and challenges.
That’s it for today. Here’s to working the plan and to keeping an eye on your EveryDay Money.
Showing posts with label budgeting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label budgeting. Show all posts
Friday, March 02, 2007
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Eating lunch out would kill my budget
$12.14 was the grand total and I was taken aback. My wife and I were at an all day seminar yesterday (Saturday) and we stopped in at Arby’s for lunch. Perhaps it was because we just don’t eat out often for lunch that the dollar amount got my full attention. We had a couple of sandwich deals that included sodas and those tasty curly fries. This was a treat, normally during the work week we both take our lunch to work. By the time we were in the middle of lunch the place was full.
The question: If that was a “normal” lunch cost for eating out ($6 a piece) how are people affording to eat lunch out everyday or even 3 times a week? Maybe I should stopping being such a cheap skate and allocate more of our budget to us eating out?
My lunch: I usually take a cold cut sandwich on white bread, some fruit (apples, oranges, grapes), chips, and some cookies that we bake at home. (Ok… my wife bakes at home every few days from store bought dough.) It is pretty much a variation of that everyday. A normal week with no coupons the week’s total cost less than $10.
The Math: If eating out is an average of $6 a day times five work days that equals out to $30 a week. Taking my lunch averages out to less than $10. That is a hypothetical savings of $20 a week. $20 a week amounts to $80 a month or about $1,000 a year in savings.
The point: If you are trying to stack money for an emergency fund or find additional dollars to put toward the credit cards or you are short on fully funding your ROTH then cutting back on eating out maybe a place to start. Take a look at how many of YOUR dollars are being spent on lunches during your week.
How much of your monthly budget do you allocate for eating out?
That’s it for today. Here’s a tip of the hat to all those “brown baggers” out there. Remember to keep an eye on your EveryDay Money.
The question: If that was a “normal” lunch cost for eating out ($6 a piece) how are people affording to eat lunch out everyday or even 3 times a week? Maybe I should stopping being such a cheap skate and allocate more of our budget to us eating out?
My lunch: I usually take a cold cut sandwich on white bread, some fruit (apples, oranges, grapes), chips, and some cookies that we bake at home. (Ok… my wife bakes at home every few days from store bought dough.) It is pretty much a variation of that everyday. A normal week with no coupons the week’s total cost less than $10.
The Math: If eating out is an average of $6 a day times five work days that equals out to $30 a week. Taking my lunch averages out to less than $10. That is a hypothetical savings of $20 a week. $20 a week amounts to $80 a month or about $1,000 a year in savings.
The point: If you are trying to stack money for an emergency fund or find additional dollars to put toward the credit cards or you are short on fully funding your ROTH then cutting back on eating out maybe a place to start. Take a look at how many of YOUR dollars are being spent on lunches during your week.
How much of your monthly budget do you allocate for eating out?
That’s it for today. Here’s a tip of the hat to all those “brown baggers” out there. Remember to keep an eye on your EveryDay Money.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
A little extra Part 3
Ok, I’ll admit I couldn’t do it. I know I said, back in Part 2, I was ready to strictly focus on fully funding the ROTHs this year before anything else… but. Today when I was writing out the bills I just “had” to send some extra to the mortgage. Last year I got into the habit and it just is hard to stop…inertia. Now don’t get me wrong I cut a nice size (at least for me) check to the ROTH. So all is not lost.
There are some legitimate reasons (at least I think of them as legitimate) behind my sticking with the extra payments. Let’s see, the last ten years of a thirty year mortgage the payments are mostly made up of principal. Since the payment is mostly principal then there will be less interest to deduct on the taxes. As the “experts” have said the tax deduction is a major reason that a mortgage is “good” debt. With so much less interest the last 10 years I guess it makes the last ten “less good” debt? Another reason I keep telling myself is that my wife and I already put about 15% or so of our pay away for retirement. If somewhere down the road we couldn’t put that percentage away then I would have to rethink the house extra. (No, really I would.) Also, if we didn’t have to pay a mortgage then we would need a fair amount less in income every month to maintain our lifestyle. Needing less income would give us both options in regards to job type and hours at work. With a baby coming in March those options might be worth lots down the road. In short I still equate a paid off house with freedom. Well maybe not freedom but at least choices.
I ran the numbers as best I could on a 30 year mortgage. If the amount that goes to principal is equal to the amount of interest each month then you can kill off a mortgage in about 15 years. So today I went back to my old, evil, money mismanagement ways and sent a check that matched principal reduction to interest accrued and took another full step closer to having more choices.
Are you sending extra to your mortgage even though you know investing that money “may” make better sense? Or do you still think that I have it wrong? Post a comment or drop me an e-mail. All feedback is appreciated.
That’s it for today. Here’s to finding a path that makes sense to you. And to keeping an eye on your EveryDay Money.
part 1
part 2
There are some legitimate reasons (at least I think of them as legitimate) behind my sticking with the extra payments. Let’s see, the last ten years of a thirty year mortgage the payments are mostly made up of principal. Since the payment is mostly principal then there will be less interest to deduct on the taxes. As the “experts” have said the tax deduction is a major reason that a mortgage is “good” debt. With so much less interest the last 10 years I guess it makes the last ten “less good” debt? Another reason I keep telling myself is that my wife and I already put about 15% or so of our pay away for retirement. If somewhere down the road we couldn’t put that percentage away then I would have to rethink the house extra. (No, really I would.) Also, if we didn’t have to pay a mortgage then we would need a fair amount less in income every month to maintain our lifestyle. Needing less income would give us both options in regards to job type and hours at work. With a baby coming in March those options might be worth lots down the road. In short I still equate a paid off house with freedom. Well maybe not freedom but at least choices.
I ran the numbers as best I could on a 30 year mortgage. If the amount that goes to principal is equal to the amount of interest each month then you can kill off a mortgage in about 15 years. So today I went back to my old, evil, money mismanagement ways and sent a check that matched principal reduction to interest accrued and took another full step closer to having more choices.
Are you sending extra to your mortgage even though you know investing that money “may” make better sense? Or do you still think that I have it wrong? Post a comment or drop me an e-mail. All feedback is appreciated.
That’s it for today. Here’s to finding a path that makes sense to you. And to keeping an eye on your EveryDay Money.
part 1
part 2
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
An Emergency Fund is like the Ark
When did Noah build the Ark? Before the rain, before the rain. That was where I was starting from when I sat down with a friend and his wife recently to talk about money. As I laid out the idea of having 3-6 months of living expenses set aside they both stared back at me and for a moment I felt my age. Their look said it all, “Hang on old man, we are young, have good jobs, and are both healthy. Three months seems a bit much.” My mind flashed back to when I was their age and remembered at that time in my life what I considered an emergency was missing Happy Hour. Funny how age changes your perceptions. They had asked my opinion on where they should start with their money and a good rainy day fund is usually tops on my list.
Before the rain, before the rain. I gave them the Noah analogy and some more “what ifs”. After some thought they settled on trying to establish a two month emergency fund. I encouraged them to pile up some dough as quickly as possible, push it into an online savings account and let the current 5% interest rate help them along. Then they could add a little every month to keep it growing towards the six months of expenses target. They agreed. If you are going to go then go full speed.
Noah didn’t just start the Ark he actually got it FINSHED before the rain. Their plan of attack is simple in its approach. Cut the cable movie channels, cut back on eating out, and start taking lunch to work more. They are also putting some shopping on hold (new houses need new things, but not all at the same time.) and he is picking up extra duties at work. (I think picking up extra hours or duties at work is a great idea. If that is not possible a second job for a few months is another possibility to help build quicker. A good garage sale, in warm weather, can pull in some cash also. ) The whole point I tried to make to them was get some cash on hand before something happens and you have to reach for the plastic.
If you stand outside in the country you can actually smell the rain coming. Now some of you may be thinking the same thing as my friends started out thinking, “I have plenty of room on my credit cards for almost any emergency.” “You don’t understand the bank has already set us up with a home equity line of credit in case something happens.” My response was and is this. Let’s say an emergency comes up so you throw it on the credit card and move on. You now have a NEW payment next month. Doubtful you can pay it in full next month because there’s not enough slack in the budget. If there were you would have used that slack instead of the credit cards. Now you are paying interest on an emergency. (The phrase kick him while he’s down ring any bells?) In a couple of months something else happens, car tires, refrigerator goes out, deductible for x-rays from rolling an ankle during a pickup game of basketball (no wait that last one was me). The point is now you have ANOTHER NEW PAYMENT. As you can imagine it doesn’t take but a few small emergencies before the budget is worthless and you are waist deep in water. Nervous1 summed it best on a thread over on the MSN Money boards, “Your $0 dollar emergency fund will be more than sufficient to cover any $0 dollar emergency you have.” Putting emergencies on credit (cards or home loan) would be like Noah building and someone coming right behind him pulling out every other nail. Get the rainy day fund finished and the emergencies will be more like rough seas then someone trying to drown you. Good luck with your building.
I see my friend all the time so I know how they are doing, drop me an
e-mail or post a comment and let me know how YOUR rainy day fund is coming along.
That’s it for today. Here’s to being prepared and to keeping an eye on your EveryDay Money.
Before the rain, before the rain. I gave them the Noah analogy and some more “what ifs”. After some thought they settled on trying to establish a two month emergency fund. I encouraged them to pile up some dough as quickly as possible, push it into an online savings account and let the current 5% interest rate help them along. Then they could add a little every month to keep it growing towards the six months of expenses target. They agreed. If you are going to go then go full speed.
Noah didn’t just start the Ark he actually got it FINSHED before the rain. Their plan of attack is simple in its approach. Cut the cable movie channels, cut back on eating out, and start taking lunch to work more. They are also putting some shopping on hold (new houses need new things, but not all at the same time.) and he is picking up extra duties at work. (I think picking up extra hours or duties at work is a great idea. If that is not possible a second job for a few months is another possibility to help build quicker. A good garage sale, in warm weather, can pull in some cash also. ) The whole point I tried to make to them was get some cash on hand before something happens and you have to reach for the plastic.
If you stand outside in the country you can actually smell the rain coming. Now some of you may be thinking the same thing as my friends started out thinking, “I have plenty of room on my credit cards for almost any emergency.” “You don’t understand the bank has already set us up with a home equity line of credit in case something happens.” My response was and is this. Let’s say an emergency comes up so you throw it on the credit card and move on. You now have a NEW payment next month. Doubtful you can pay it in full next month because there’s not enough slack in the budget. If there were you would have used that slack instead of the credit cards. Now you are paying interest on an emergency. (The phrase kick him while he’s down ring any bells?) In a couple of months something else happens, car tires, refrigerator goes out, deductible for x-rays from rolling an ankle during a pickup game of basketball (no wait that last one was me). The point is now you have ANOTHER NEW PAYMENT. As you can imagine it doesn’t take but a few small emergencies before the budget is worthless and you are waist deep in water. Nervous1 summed it best on a thread over on the MSN Money boards, “Your $0 dollar emergency fund will be more than sufficient to cover any $0 dollar emergency you have.” Putting emergencies on credit (cards or home loan) would be like Noah building and someone coming right behind him pulling out every other nail. Get the rainy day fund finished and the emergencies will be more like rough seas then someone trying to drown you. Good luck with your building.
I see my friend all the time so I know how they are doing, drop me an
e-mail or post a comment and let me know how YOUR rainy day fund is coming along.
That’s it for today. Here’s to being prepared and to keeping an eye on your EveryDay Money.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Is your car costing you a future?
Rolling your way into the car of your dreams:
The idea is simple in its premise if not a little challenging in its implementation. You save a few thousand dollars and pay cash for a car that simply gets you from here to there. Now this car may not turn the head of anyone in your neighborhood but does reliably get you from point A to point B. At the same time you start setting aside what would have been a car payment of $250 (or there abouts) each month in a online line savings account which earns you around 5% interest. At the end of three years you will have almost ten thousand dollars in that account. Take the ten grand and the car you’re driving roll them together. With the $10,000 and the trade in you should be able to trade up for “a little nicer” car. (Caution: Don’t let your ego overreach and roll the $10,000 + the trade in + a LOAN for this “little nicer” car.) Repeat the $250 a month set aside process. In another 3 years roll the new 10 grand with the “little nicer” car and upgrade again if you must. In short if you can save $250 a month then six years and two rolls later you can be driving a paid for automobile that turns the neighbor’s heads. OR
Roll your future not the car:
After you have rolled into a “little nicer” car then perhaps you realize that this type of ride isn’t so bad after all. The next three years you continue to save as planned but at the end you don’t roll into a different car. You decide, “screw the neighbors I’m going to be cash rich not car poor.” The $10,000 gets left in the online savings account earning interest and waiting until you NEED a different car. The $250 a month now gets pushed into a less than fully funded ROTH or a less than maxed out 401(k) or a nice dividend reinvestment program.
A look at what could be:
$250 a month invested that returns 9% gets you about $10,700 in three years. For five years of focus it grows to around $19,500. For those that are disciplined, in ten years you have just shy of $50,000. For those of you starting young, twenty years rolls to just under $170,000.
Bottom-line:
As I said the idea is simple: drive a paid for car and invest what would have been a car payment. It is the implementation of that idea that is the challenge. But, for the ones who rise to that challenge, master their car emotions there is indeed a rich reward for the disciplined and focused.
That’s it for today. Here’s to paid off cars, fully funded ROTHs, and to keeping an eye on your EveryDay Money.
The idea is simple in its premise if not a little challenging in its implementation. You save a few thousand dollars and pay cash for a car that simply gets you from here to there. Now this car may not turn the head of anyone in your neighborhood but does reliably get you from point A to point B. At the same time you start setting aside what would have been a car payment of $250 (or there abouts) each month in a online line savings account which earns you around 5% interest. At the end of three years you will have almost ten thousand dollars in that account. Take the ten grand and the car you’re driving roll them together. With the $10,000 and the trade in you should be able to trade up for “a little nicer” car. (Caution: Don’t let your ego overreach and roll the $10,000 + the trade in + a LOAN for this “little nicer” car.) Repeat the $250 a month set aside process. In another 3 years roll the new 10 grand with the “little nicer” car and upgrade again if you must. In short if you can save $250 a month then six years and two rolls later you can be driving a paid for automobile that turns the neighbor’s heads. OR
Roll your future not the car:
After you have rolled into a “little nicer” car then perhaps you realize that this type of ride isn’t so bad after all. The next three years you continue to save as planned but at the end you don’t roll into a different car. You decide, “screw the neighbors I’m going to be cash rich not car poor.” The $10,000 gets left in the online savings account earning interest and waiting until you NEED a different car. The $250 a month now gets pushed into a less than fully funded ROTH or a less than maxed out 401(k) or a nice dividend reinvestment program.
A look at what could be:
$250 a month invested that returns 9% gets you about $10,700 in three years. For five years of focus it grows to around $19,500. For those that are disciplined, in ten years you have just shy of $50,000. For those of you starting young, twenty years rolls to just under $170,000.
Bottom-line:
As I said the idea is simple: drive a paid for car and invest what would have been a car payment. It is the implementation of that idea that is the challenge. But, for the ones who rise to that challenge, master their car emotions there is indeed a rich reward for the disciplined and focused.
That’s it for today. Here’s to paid off cars, fully funded ROTHs, and to keeping an eye on your EveryDay Money.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Online savings accounts, welcome to being old(er)
Perhaps it is a sign of fleeting youth once you start reflecting on how much things have changed during your life. I remember needles skipping on albums, eight tracks not fast-forwarding right, and cassette tapes getting chewed up and stuck in car radios. Now I can download dozens of songs to my MP3 player and never ever really touch the music.
I remember a very nice blonde lady behind the counter that always had a root beer sucker for me when I went inside the bank with my Mom. I remember there being lines to use the new ATMs. (Some of you will remember those really long lines in the bank on pay day.) Now with online banking, debit cards, and payroll direct deposits the number of trips to the bank become less and less.
All these changes got me thinking when we started building our rainy day fund. (Everyone should have an emergency fund. The “pros” suggest 3-6 months of livings expenses.) What I didn’t want was our hard earned money being mothballed in some savings account grinding out 1% a year. Now it can be debated on where is the proper place for an emergency fund to be sitting and that is for each to decide. For me I want that money guaranteed safe and near at hand. So as our rainy dollars started to pile up I went in search for something better than the near zero percent offered by my local brick and mortar bank.
An online savings account was just what I was looking for. The ones listed below are all FDIC insured and pay north of 4%. There are others, but personally I would start researching these first. (Interest rates current as of 1-07-07)
Emigrant Direct (5.05%) HSBC Direct (5.05%) Citi Bank Direct (5.00%) ING Direct (4.50%)
I will admit I was worried about it not working or more to the point me not working it correctly. When I first started using our online savings account I felt much like I did when ATMs were just getting started. If I screwed it up then there isn’t anyone near by to fix it. (Oh how I miss the nice blonde behind the counter.) Well it has been over a year since we first opened ours and I am happy to report my fears were misplaced. The transfers into and out of the account have gone smoothly and the interest rate continues to be about five times as much as a “normal” savings account.
If you haven’t embraced MP3 players and online savings accounts then this may be a good year to start. The only question I have is, “where’s my damn root beer sucker?”
That’s it for today. Enjoy the benefits of getting old(er) and keep an eye on your EveryDay Money.
technorati tags
savings online banking
I remember a very nice blonde lady behind the counter that always had a root beer sucker for me when I went inside the bank with my Mom. I remember there being lines to use the new ATMs. (Some of you will remember those really long lines in the bank on pay day.) Now with online banking, debit cards, and payroll direct deposits the number of trips to the bank become less and less.
All these changes got me thinking when we started building our rainy day fund. (Everyone should have an emergency fund. The “pros” suggest 3-6 months of livings expenses.) What I didn’t want was our hard earned money being mothballed in some savings account grinding out 1% a year. Now it can be debated on where is the proper place for an emergency fund to be sitting and that is for each to decide. For me I want that money guaranteed safe and near at hand. So as our rainy dollars started to pile up I went in search for something better than the near zero percent offered by my local brick and mortar bank.
An online savings account was just what I was looking for. The ones listed below are all FDIC insured and pay north of 4%. There are others, but personally I would start researching these first. (Interest rates current as of 1-07-07)
Emigrant Direct (5.05%) HSBC Direct (5.05%) Citi Bank Direct (5.00%) ING Direct (4.50%)
I will admit I was worried about it not working or more to the point me not working it correctly. When I first started using our online savings account I felt much like I did when ATMs were just getting started. If I screwed it up then there isn’t anyone near by to fix it. (Oh how I miss the nice blonde behind the counter.) Well it has been over a year since we first opened ours and I am happy to report my fears were misplaced. The transfers into and out of the account have gone smoothly and the interest rate continues to be about five times as much as a “normal” savings account.
If you haven’t embraced MP3 players and online savings accounts then this may be a good year to start. The only question I have is, “where’s my damn root beer sucker?”
That’s it for today. Enjoy the benefits of getting old(er) and keep an eye on your EveryDay Money.
technorati tags
savings online banking
Thursday, December 28, 2006
A little extra pt. 2 (budgeting)
So here we are at the end of another month and the New Year rising fast to meet us. End of the month brings with it the ongoing cycle of bills. As I wrote in (part 1), several of my extra nickels and dimes get thrown as extra on my mortgage. It just rubs me to be in debt. Don’t get me wrong, I really like my house I just wish that ALL of it was my house. One day.
There was an interesting comment left on part 1. In short it wondered if I would not be better off to invest instead of paying extra on the house. Well I was pretty sure I knew the answer but after spending a morning with the calculator I found was wrong. It is far better, for me, to max out my ROTH than use that money as extra on the mortgage. The greatness comes in the tax free compounding. If I was putting that money somewhere that I had to pay taxes every year out of it then the benefits narrows.
It doesn’t really matter because I didn’t max out my ROTH this year. So here’s the bottom line starting in January I am shifting my primary focus to maxing my ROTH before sending extra to the house. (Mentally I am just going to have to adjust to seeing the mortgage drop slowly. I still hold out faith that I can get some extra on the house during the year. We’ll see.) I would like to take a minute and thank the person that left that comment. Your comment made me take a fresh look at the numbers; I appreciate your time in leaving the comment.
Do you max out your tax advantage accounts every year?
That’s it for today. Here’s to leaving interesting comments and to keeping an eye on your EveryDay Money.
part 1
part 3
There was an interesting comment left on part 1. In short it wondered if I would not be better off to invest instead of paying extra on the house. Well I was pretty sure I knew the answer but after spending a morning with the calculator I found was wrong. It is far better, for me, to max out my ROTH than use that money as extra on the mortgage. The greatness comes in the tax free compounding. If I was putting that money somewhere that I had to pay taxes every year out of it then the benefits narrows.
It doesn’t really matter because I didn’t max out my ROTH this year. So here’s the bottom line starting in January I am shifting my primary focus to maxing my ROTH before sending extra to the house. (Mentally I am just going to have to adjust to seeing the mortgage drop slowly. I still hold out faith that I can get some extra on the house during the year. We’ll see.) I would like to take a minute and thank the person that left that comment. Your comment made me take a fresh look at the numbers; I appreciate your time in leaving the comment.
Do you max out your tax advantage accounts every year?
That’s it for today. Here’s to leaving interesting comments and to keeping an eye on your EveryDay Money.
part 1
part 3
Friday, December 22, 2006
Car insurance (budgeting)
Received my auto insurance bill yesterday. Like clock work it shows every six months rain or shine. Thought maybe it would get held up in the snow at Denver’s airport. Nope. So I will fork over my money and hope that I get nothing in return for it. Over the years of driving I have gotten a small return on my money; three stolen radios and a crash that I walked away from. All of them covered. “Here take my money and I don’t want to talk to you for another six months.” We can only hope. That and watch for those freaking deer that always seem to want to play tag.
Anyway, the one thing that my company does that I like is it gives a discount for paying in full as opposed to making payments. I called them today and asked if there was a set percent that people saved by paying in full? After the customer service guy spoke with someone else I was told that the saving percent ranged form 8-13% depending on “factors”. I am happy to report that my “factors” put me on the 13% end. Of course that is not the only reason I went with this company, they also offered the best rates for us. Out of curiosity and because I was writing this today, I called a few other insurance companies this morning. Not one that I called offered a discount for paying in full. What they did have was a fee if you chose to make payments. The bottom line, for those of you following along at home is there is money to be saved if you pay the bill in full. So stick it on a line in your budget, stack it up over 6 months and save a little.
Doing the research this morning I also found out there are discounts that can lower the cost of auto insurance that I hadn’t thought of before. Edmunds has some information about how you might lower your insurance. Check (here) for the article. I also found the government no less has compiled 9 steps you can take to get better rates. At the end of the 9 steps they also provide a cool check list to have out when you are getting a quote. Government’s article (here).
With a little effort you may be able to save some real money. We did, when we switched companies and asked about every discount that we could think of. Don’t forget the money you save can go directly to paying down debt, fully funding a ROTH, or even the occasional dinner out with the wife. (Oh, that last one is just a little reminder to myself... sorry.)
What discounts does your insurance company give you?
That’s it for today. Always ask about the discounts and always keep an eye on your EveryDay Money.
Anyway, the one thing that my company does that I like is it gives a discount for paying in full as opposed to making payments. I called them today and asked if there was a set percent that people saved by paying in full? After the customer service guy spoke with someone else I was told that the saving percent ranged form 8-13% depending on “factors”. I am happy to report that my “factors” put me on the 13% end. Of course that is not the only reason I went with this company, they also offered the best rates for us. Out of curiosity and because I was writing this today, I called a few other insurance companies this morning. Not one that I called offered a discount for paying in full. What they did have was a fee if you chose to make payments. The bottom line, for those of you following along at home is there is money to be saved if you pay the bill in full. So stick it on a line in your budget, stack it up over 6 months and save a little.
Doing the research this morning I also found out there are discounts that can lower the cost of auto insurance that I hadn’t thought of before. Edmunds has some information about how you might lower your insurance. Check (here) for the article. I also found the government no less has compiled 9 steps you can take to get better rates. At the end of the 9 steps they also provide a cool check list to have out when you are getting a quote. Government’s article (here).
With a little effort you may be able to save some real money. We did, when we switched companies and asked about every discount that we could think of. Don’t forget the money you save can go directly to paying down debt, fully funding a ROTH, or even the occasional dinner out with the wife. (Oh, that last one is just a little reminder to myself... sorry.)
What discounts does your insurance company give you?
That’s it for today. Always ask about the discounts and always keep an eye on your EveryDay Money.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Coupon time (budgeting)
76%. That is the percent of the population that are using coupons according to Promotion Marketing Association (PMA). PMA has a great coupon info site (here). Sad to say I was not one of those 76% till I got married. Talk about wasting money… the coupons not the marriage. Now we use coupons as much as we can, mostly on food. Again PMA has a stat for the food coupons. They report that on average people save 11.5% on their grocery bill. We are close to that, we save about 8-10% each week on food. That 8-10% turns into real money by the end of the month.
To do even better my wife trades coupons with another lady at work. Trading this way we get extra coupons that we actually want without having to buy an extra Sunday paper.
What I really want to know is where do these people shop? I rarely see people with coupons at the checkout. I do see signs of them, an extra coupon left behind on a shelf for someone else to claim. The first time I saw my wife leave a coupon I was lost. We didn’t need it and it was close to expiration was the reason she gave me. At the time I thought it odd. Now I pay more attention to the shelves and every so often I see an extra coupon just sitting there on the shelf. No doubt left by one of those 76% people. If you aren’t doing coupons you should. There is money to be saved. So grab a Sunday paper, clip a couple and join the majority.
Do you leave extra coupons you don’t need on shelves?
That’s it for today. Whoever left that yogurt coupon last week, Thanks. Keep an eye on your EveryDay Money.
To do even better my wife trades coupons with another lady at work. Trading this way we get extra coupons that we actually want without having to buy an extra Sunday paper.
What I really want to know is where do these people shop? I rarely see people with coupons at the checkout. I do see signs of them, an extra coupon left behind on a shelf for someone else to claim. The first time I saw my wife leave a coupon I was lost. We didn’t need it and it was close to expiration was the reason she gave me. At the time I thought it odd. Now I pay more attention to the shelves and every so often I see an extra coupon just sitting there on the shelf. No doubt left by one of those 76% people. If you aren’t doing coupons you should. There is money to be saved. So grab a Sunday paper, clip a couple and join the majority.
Do you leave extra coupons you don’t need on shelves?
That’s it for today. Whoever left that yogurt coupon last week, Thanks. Keep an eye on your EveryDay Money.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Freebies (budgeting)
There’s money to be made, well gift cards anyway, for merely managing your money well. I have always tried to pay my credit cards off every month. My Mom told me when I first got one, at 18, it would keep me from getting “out of control”. Over the years I have had to carry a balance a few times, but for the most part I do as my Mom told me. Until about two years ago that money management didn’t get me anything.
A little over two years ago I took another hard look at rewards programs from the credit card companies. I had looked at them before and knew that lots of them had some kind of yearly fee. I had crunched the numbers and figured it wouldn’t be worth it if they had a fee. Times change. This time around after some hunting and research I found one that didn’t have a yearly fee. (There are several programs now that don’t charge a fee, if you just look.) The program is simple; I charge stuff to the card and collect points. The points accumulate till I have enough to exchange for a gift card. I can get a gift card to a variety of stores. In order for this to work and get me more than some lousy $10 gift card every year I have to charge everything. The “pros” tell you that this “charge everything mentality” is a sure fire way to lose control of your money and your mind. Charging McDonald’s… naughty naughty. I paid them no mind and set about charging groceries to auto insurance in an attempt to rake up points. And it has worked.
My wife and I have decided to use the gift cards on things that will last for awhile (no dinners out). The first year it was a digital camera and rechargeable batteries she wanted. I had to throw in $12 and the rest was gift cards. She was happy. There’s a great return on my twelve dollars. We are now saving points for a camcorder.
None of my friends are doing this. Many are still trying to get their money to what they want it to do (for some of them it is like herding cats). About the time I am feeling that we are the only ones doing this crazy gift card chase I hit upon an article the other day. Come to find out there are lots of people with this idea, so many in fact that it got a write up on MSN Money. (here’s the link) The lady that put her remodeling on her credit card takes the cake. I am thinking she has complete control of her money. Pulling this to a close I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the benefits don’t work out very well if you are carrying a balance and paying interest. If you are not, look around, there are rewards for good money management just waiting for you.
Do you participate in a credit card rewards program? How is it working for you?
That’s it for today. Here’s to free money. Keep watch over your charge slips and an eye on your EveryDay Money.
A little over two years ago I took another hard look at rewards programs from the credit card companies. I had looked at them before and knew that lots of them had some kind of yearly fee. I had crunched the numbers and figured it wouldn’t be worth it if they had a fee. Times change. This time around after some hunting and research I found one that didn’t have a yearly fee. (There are several programs now that don’t charge a fee, if you just look.) The program is simple; I charge stuff to the card and collect points. The points accumulate till I have enough to exchange for a gift card. I can get a gift card to a variety of stores. In order for this to work and get me more than some lousy $10 gift card every year I have to charge everything. The “pros” tell you that this “charge everything mentality” is a sure fire way to lose control of your money and your mind. Charging McDonald’s… naughty naughty. I paid them no mind and set about charging groceries to auto insurance in an attempt to rake up points. And it has worked.
My wife and I have decided to use the gift cards on things that will last for awhile (no dinners out). The first year it was a digital camera and rechargeable batteries she wanted. I had to throw in $12 and the rest was gift cards. She was happy. There’s a great return on my twelve dollars. We are now saving points for a camcorder.
None of my friends are doing this. Many are still trying to get their money to what they want it to do (for some of them it is like herding cats). About the time I am feeling that we are the only ones doing this crazy gift card chase I hit upon an article the other day. Come to find out there are lots of people with this idea, so many in fact that it got a write up on MSN Money. (here’s the link) The lady that put her remodeling on her credit card takes the cake. I am thinking she has complete control of her money. Pulling this to a close I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the benefits don’t work out very well if you are carrying a balance and paying interest. If you are not, look around, there are rewards for good money management just waiting for you.
Do you participate in a credit card rewards program? How is it working for you?
That’s it for today. Here’s to free money. Keep watch over your charge slips and an eye on your EveryDay Money.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
A little extra (budgeting)
I blinked and November left me. It is the dawning of a new month and a new set of bills. The mortgage is still one that I write out by hand, no online banking for the house. Again this month we decided to send in a few extra nickels and dimes. Every little bit extra sent in goes straight to principal and pays the loan off earlier than designed.
Depending on your interest rate, I have read just one extra payment a year (13 instead of 12) gets your loan finished about 7 years early. That early finish saves you thousands of dollars in interest. Send in more and it goes away even faster. A side note. I have had friends ask me my feeling toward the bi-monthly payment programs that basically works out to an extra payment a year it is just someone else managing the effort. As Nancy Reagan once said, “Just say no.” Most of these programs charge some kind of fee. If you just send in extra every month on your own you accomplish the exact same thing only there is NO fee. (Check with you loan provider to see if you have to specify that the extra is to be applied on the principal or not.)
Sending in a little extra gives me a little feeling every month of goodness, of controlling my money and future. That’s why I still put it on a check. I like to see the extra in writing on paper. I joke with my wife that one day we are going to wake-up and there won’t be a house payment. I create grand ideas of what we will spend all that money on when we don’t have a house payment down the road. Those little visions keep me motivated every month. So again this month licking the envelope I thought the same thing as months past, here’s a little extra and one more step toward freedom.
Click comments and let me know if you do or don’t send in any extra and why?
That’s it for today. Remember; happen to things instead of always letting things happen to you. And as always keep your eye on your EveryDay Money.
part 2
part 3
Depending on your interest rate, I have read just one extra payment a year (13 instead of 12) gets your loan finished about 7 years early. That early finish saves you thousands of dollars in interest. Send in more and it goes away even faster. A side note. I have had friends ask me my feeling toward the bi-monthly payment programs that basically works out to an extra payment a year it is just someone else managing the effort. As Nancy Reagan once said, “Just say no.” Most of these programs charge some kind of fee. If you just send in extra every month on your own you accomplish the exact same thing only there is NO fee. (Check with you loan provider to see if you have to specify that the extra is to be applied on the principal or not.)
Sending in a little extra gives me a little feeling every month of goodness, of controlling my money and future. That’s why I still put it on a check. I like to see the extra in writing on paper. I joke with my wife that one day we are going to wake-up and there won’t be a house payment. I create grand ideas of what we will spend all that money on when we don’t have a house payment down the road. Those little visions keep me motivated every month. So again this month licking the envelope I thought the same thing as months past, here’s a little extra and one more step toward freedom.
Click comments and let me know if you do or don’t send in any extra and why?
That’s it for today. Remember; happen to things instead of always letting things happen to you. And as always keep your eye on your EveryDay Money.
part 2
part 3
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Baby Gear (budgeting)
So with a baby due in March I thought back in September we should get started buying baby stuff in order to be able to space out the outflow of money. So with the stride of a new Daddy to be I strolled into Babies “R” Us hand in hand with her. I couldn’t believe all the cool stuff they had and I couldn’t believe how much stuff matched. You can get a high chair, stroller, diaper bag, car seat, and Pack-N-Play all the same color pattern. WOW! As we walked around looking at all the miniature stuff (clothing, toys, beds) something else struck me, harder than the color scheme, and that was the prices. WOW!
We talked about all the stuff we needed to get by March and decided that there had to be a better more cost efficient way, at least for us. Garage Sales were the ticket. Let me tell you upfront it takes loads of time and lots of visits and drive bys of worthless sales to find those unbelievable bargains. The kind of deal that when you get in the car and look at each other and you bust out laughing because you got such a great deal. Besides the hours we spent driving around and talking about our future and the baby’s future, well I’m not sure how to put a dollar figure on the time.
But find great deals we did. A Graco stroller (little scuffed but not bad) $7. An almost new Graco Pack-N-Play for $20. Nice 6 speed Graco swing for $20. Two exersaucers, one for $6 and the other for $1, both usable. There’s more but you get the picture. I figured everything we found at garage sales compared to retail saved us about $700 or more.
Here’s my thinking about our baby not having new and matching stuff. If I invest $700 and get a 10% return then in 18 years that’s $3,891.94. In twenty-two years it is $5,698.19. In 30 years the $700 becomes $12,214.58. I told my wife we could give her $3,900 for graduation or $5,700 for college graduation or $12,200 when she turns 30 for a house down payment. With that in mind hopefully she will forgive the scuffs on the stroller. Drop me a comment if you have ever found a great deal on something at a garage sale.
That’s it for today. Focus on what’s truly important and keep your eye on your EveryDay Money
We talked about all the stuff we needed to get by March and decided that there had to be a better more cost efficient way, at least for us. Garage Sales were the ticket. Let me tell you upfront it takes loads of time and lots of visits and drive bys of worthless sales to find those unbelievable bargains. The kind of deal that when you get in the car and look at each other and you bust out laughing because you got such a great deal. Besides the hours we spent driving around and talking about our future and the baby’s future, well I’m not sure how to put a dollar figure on the time.
But find great deals we did. A Graco stroller (little scuffed but not bad) $7. An almost new Graco Pack-N-Play for $20. Nice 6 speed Graco swing for $20. Two exersaucers, one for $6 and the other for $1, both usable. There’s more but you get the picture. I figured everything we found at garage sales compared to retail saved us about $700 or more.
Here’s my thinking about our baby not having new and matching stuff. If I invest $700 and get a 10% return then in 18 years that’s $3,891.94. In twenty-two years it is $5,698.19. In 30 years the $700 becomes $12,214.58. I told my wife we could give her $3,900 for graduation or $5,700 for college graduation or $12,200 when she turns 30 for a house down payment. With that in mind hopefully she will forgive the scuffs on the stroller. Drop me a comment if you have ever found a great deal on something at a garage sale.
That’s it for today. Focus on what’s truly important and keep your eye on your EveryDay Money
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Are we all doomed??
Read another retirement nightmare article this morning. If you are between 35-44 there is a 50% chance you don't even have 25 grand set aside for retirement. Sad. Have no idea what this really means down the road but it can't be good. What do you think is going to happen to all these people if they really don't have money down the road? I for one am trying to save now and hope to be off the treadmill at around 55. That would be grand. Do what I want, when I want and damn the Man. For all you out there that have your big butt parked in front of that BIG screen TV that isn't paid for yet, I say this; "Get off you butt and save some money. Don't expect your kids or your government to keep you afloat in your golden years."
That is it for today. Keep your eye on your everyday money
That is it for today. Keep your eye on your everyday money
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