The Quintessential Cheapskate is back! After a rather lengthy hiatus to deal with other projects and "real life", the Quintessential Cheapskate is back on, with more practical tips on saving money in your everyday life. The blog even has a new tag line: "Because being frugal is cool!"
Check back often for new postings, including ideas on watering house plants, using a wood stove or fireplace, and even help figuring taxes. We'll also be discussing Christmas spending and the January hangover.
Now that we're back on, it's time to shake up personal finance once again! Check back soon!
Showing posts with label saving money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label saving money. Show all posts
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Telling Children No
Telling a child she can't have something can be difficult, especially when the reason has to do with money. Certain times, it has to be done. The key in telling children no is to offer a thorough explanaition along with the no. Small children can be especially difficult to explain to things about money and reasons we can and cannot spend money. Talk with your children about money often. Let them see you paying bills and writing checks. Explain checks, cash, and debit and credit cards. Gently explaining that money is too tight for the new toy, without becoming hostile or raising your voice, will speak volumes to children later on. Money is a subject everyone should know about, as we all use money in our everyday lives, whether we like it or not. Talk about value with children. Everything and everyone has a certain amount of value, whether monetary or not. Talking about value and money with children gives them a definite leg up when they begin earning and spending their own money. Telling a child no can be easy when you follow with a gentle explanation of money and affordability.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Using Coupons
Using coupons, in and of itself, is not rocket science. In order to maximize savings, there are a few things to know.
-Know if and when your grocery store doubles coupons. Strive to go on that day, if it makes sense.
-Match sales and coupons in order to get the most savings. Check your math carefully, this may not be the best deal.
-Be sure you make a list every single time you go shopping and stick to the list.
-Don't limit your coupons to Sunday papers. Coupons are everywhere, from magazines to the internet. If you can't find a specific coupon, write the company and ask for one.
-Use coupons for everything (again, as long as you're sure you're getting the best price). Think outside the grocery store. Use coupons for haircuts, oil changes, shoes, dining out, even (especially) while traveling!
-Know if and when your grocery store doubles coupons. Strive to go on that day, if it makes sense.
-Match sales and coupons in order to get the most savings. Check your math carefully, this may not be the best deal.
-Be sure you make a list every single time you go shopping and stick to the list.
-Don't limit your coupons to Sunday papers. Coupons are everywhere, from magazines to the internet. If you can't find a specific coupon, write the company and ask for one.
-Use coupons for everything (again, as long as you're sure you're getting the best price). Think outside the grocery store. Use coupons for haircuts, oil changes, shoes, dining out, even (especially) while traveling!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Making a Grocery List
Making a grocery list is an essential part of saving money on groceries. The process of making a grocery list seems simple and straight-forward at first glance, but it can get quite complicated. The easiest way to make the most concise grocery list is outlined below.
Look in your cupboards. If you tend to be forgetful or if you have a lot of different things in your cupboards, refrigerator, and freezer, it would be best to make a list of what you already have available. If you already have a routine set as to what you have and what you usually get, you can get by without making an actual list. I would recommend making the whole big list every now and again in order to force yourself to stay current with what ingredients you have so nothing spoils and goes to waste.
Write up a meal plan. This can be done weekly or monthly. I prefer to make my meal plan weekly in order to best utilize left-overs. I can't commit to a specific dinner a month in advance, anyway, but to each their own. Be sure to include ingredients you have on hand in your meal plan. If you don't plan to use something, what is the point of having bought it?
Look at your grocery store ads. By this point in the process you should have a pretty good idea of what you need to get from the grocery store. Looking at the sales helps because you can buy one thing over another to save money. For example, let's say you have celery and carrots in your fridge. You've decided to use them to make soup. You can use pretty much any meat to make a soup, so when the ad says chicken is on sale, your choice is pretty simple. Obviously you are not bound to buy only what is on sale and use it only this week. Using sales is a great way to stock up on items you use regularly.
Match up sales and coupons. The secret's out: this is how I get a lot of free groceries. It's quite simple, really, it just takes time. I get a lot of pasta this way, along with other various items: frozen snacks, cereal bars, oatmeal, and so on. As far as stocking up, yes, I definitely buy pasta in quantity when I can get it for free! Of coarse I won't use all the pasta all at once, but it stores well.
Write your list. Now you can write your list, including sale prices and making notes of coupons. I like to write out the sale price and the price minus coupon so I know how much money I will be spending at the grocery store. I usually spend about $17 per week on groceries on average for my family of four.
Look in your cupboards. If you tend to be forgetful or if you have a lot of different things in your cupboards, refrigerator, and freezer, it would be best to make a list of what you already have available. If you already have a routine set as to what you have and what you usually get, you can get by without making an actual list. I would recommend making the whole big list every now and again in order to force yourself to stay current with what ingredients you have so nothing spoils and goes to waste.
Write up a meal plan. This can be done weekly or monthly. I prefer to make my meal plan weekly in order to best utilize left-overs. I can't commit to a specific dinner a month in advance, anyway, but to each their own. Be sure to include ingredients you have on hand in your meal plan. If you don't plan to use something, what is the point of having bought it?
Look at your grocery store ads. By this point in the process you should have a pretty good idea of what you need to get from the grocery store. Looking at the sales helps because you can buy one thing over another to save money. For example, let's say you have celery and carrots in your fridge. You've decided to use them to make soup. You can use pretty much any meat to make a soup, so when the ad says chicken is on sale, your choice is pretty simple. Obviously you are not bound to buy only what is on sale and use it only this week. Using sales is a great way to stock up on items you use regularly.
Match up sales and coupons. The secret's out: this is how I get a lot of free groceries. It's quite simple, really, it just takes time. I get a lot of pasta this way, along with other various items: frozen snacks, cereal bars, oatmeal, and so on. As far as stocking up, yes, I definitely buy pasta in quantity when I can get it for free! Of coarse I won't use all the pasta all at once, but it stores well.
Write your list. Now you can write your list, including sale prices and making notes of coupons. I like to write out the sale price and the price minus coupon so I know how much money I will be spending at the grocery store. I usually spend about $17 per week on groceries on average for my family of four.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Savings
What percentage of your take-home pay are you saving? How does that translate into real dollars? Do you have an emergency fund, no matter how meagre? Sure, the point of an emergency fund is to have living expenses for 3-6 months (I recently read that in this market you should have enough for 8 months!), but for every dollar you put in, you feel that much better about your entire financial picture. I'll be the first to admit, I don't have much of an emergency fund. But I have one. And month by month it's growing.
I do realize most people don't just wake up one morning to find money falling from the sky. I realize saving money is hard when you don't have any to start with. If your expenses are greater than your income, then yeah, you don't have the money to start an emergency fund. If you've pared down as much as you can and you still are barely staying afloat, then you don't have the money.
On the other hand, if your expenses include daily (even weekly) lattes, expensive haircuts, frequent dinners out, etc, then you do have room for an emergency fund. I recently read that an alarming trend is for people who have decent salaries to piss all their money away without saving any of it. A lot of those people are just now starting to save, after we're two years into a recession. If you are among this group, I want you to think long and hard about every single money decision you make. Oh, sure, it's just a five-dollar latte, but wouldn't that five bucks look a lot better a few months from now when you've lost your job and you need to pay the mortgage? If you eschew 20 lattes, you'd have a hundred bucks in your pocket.
Plan Ahead. That's what saving is all about. If you want to take a trip, plan and save for it. Don't put it on your credit card. And don't plan on using your credit card or your HELOC as an emergency fund. Banks are rescinding HELOCs left and right, and now is about the worst time to depend on a credit card. (More on credit cards later.) How much would you need to live for 3 months without your income? Plan for that first. An emergency fund should be your first priority. Can you make improvements to your house to increase equity? Do you need to make certain improvements? A new roof, for example, may be something you will need in the near future. How will you pay for it? Start saving now. What about your childrens' college funds? If you have money in a 529, I bet it took a real beating. But your kids are still going to want to go to college. Notice I didn't mention your 401(k) because I think we talked enough about that already. You need to save. Make voluntary cuts in your spending now so later you won't be forced to.
I do realize most people don't just wake up one morning to find money falling from the sky. I realize saving money is hard when you don't have any to start with. If your expenses are greater than your income, then yeah, you don't have the money to start an emergency fund. If you've pared down as much as you can and you still are barely staying afloat, then you don't have the money.
On the other hand, if your expenses include daily (even weekly) lattes, expensive haircuts, frequent dinners out, etc, then you do have room for an emergency fund. I recently read that an alarming trend is for people who have decent salaries to piss all their money away without saving any of it. A lot of those people are just now starting to save, after we're two years into a recession. If you are among this group, I want you to think long and hard about every single money decision you make. Oh, sure, it's just a five-dollar latte, but wouldn't that five bucks look a lot better a few months from now when you've lost your job and you need to pay the mortgage? If you eschew 20 lattes, you'd have a hundred bucks in your pocket.
Plan Ahead. That's what saving is all about. If you want to take a trip, plan and save for it. Don't put it on your credit card. And don't plan on using your credit card or your HELOC as an emergency fund. Banks are rescinding HELOCs left and right, and now is about the worst time to depend on a credit card. (More on credit cards later.) How much would you need to live for 3 months without your income? Plan for that first. An emergency fund should be your first priority. Can you make improvements to your house to increase equity? Do you need to make certain improvements? A new roof, for example, may be something you will need in the near future. How will you pay for it? Start saving now. What about your childrens' college funds? If you have money in a 529, I bet it took a real beating. But your kids are still going to want to go to college. Notice I didn't mention your 401(k) because I think we talked enough about that already. You need to save. Make voluntary cuts in your spending now so later you won't be forced to.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Recessionista!
What is a recessionista? A recessionista is a person who will not only fair well during the current recession, but will come out on top. My husband and I take pride in the fact that we are recessionistas. Of coarse, nothing is guarnateed, but right now we're in a good spot to benefit from the recession.
How? Well, we've always followed a few basic principles, outlined below. I borrowed these from my other blog, "Write Now with Mommie Rose" (http://mommierose.blogspot.com/).
1) Live below your means. This is prudent advice in any economic climate, but especially important during an economic downturn. In case you lose your job, you should have an emergency fund set aside, ideally for 3-6 months' worth of bare-bones expenses. Although popularly toted advice, I have to admit, I don't know anyone who has nearly 3 months' worth of expenses set aside. Another good reason to live below your means is if you have to take a pay cut. Making some small sacrifices now will result in not having to make major cut-backs later. A good goal to work toward is to save 10% if your gross income, not including your 401(k).
2) Keep a budget. I cannot stress this enough. You cannot control your money without a budget. Know where every dollar is going before you have it. Setting up a budget is not enough- you need to keep a budget. You deserve to be the master of your own money. You worked hard for this- don't throw it away.
3) Look for opportunity. I don't mean you should be overly optomistic. Be realistic about the current financial situation. No doubt you just lost a lot of money in your 401(k). You may not even know right now if your job is stable. What I mean is, look for opportunities to impart new ways of gaining the things you need or, less importantly, the things you want. Learn to barter. Perhaps you have something lying around the house you don't use, or you have a certain skill you're really good at. If you need a service done or if you need an object you cannot afford, consider bartering. You may be able to acquire what you need through barter.
Look for opportunities to save money wherever and whenever you can. Look to make money by capitalizing on skills you have. If you have the time, consider making a hobby into a part-time job.
Learn new skills. If you want to make improvements to your house in order to increase equity, consider a simple do-it-yourself project. Borrow a book from the library or research your project online. Whatever skill you wish to acquire, be sure you absolutely know what you are doing first. Take a free class at your community center or library. You may even consider, if you have the money and time, enrolling in college to learn a new trade altogether. It's also prudent to learn as much as you can about your current job and profession so that you are more valuable to your employer. Even if you are laid off, if you have more knowledge than the other applicants, you will be more likely to land a new job quicker.
Obviously these are not the only keys to success in a recession. This is just a start, some concepts to think about.
How? Well, we've always followed a few basic principles, outlined below. I borrowed these from my other blog, "Write Now with Mommie Rose" (http://mommierose.blogspot.com/).
1) Live below your means. This is prudent advice in any economic climate, but especially important during an economic downturn. In case you lose your job, you should have an emergency fund set aside, ideally for 3-6 months' worth of bare-bones expenses. Although popularly toted advice, I have to admit, I don't know anyone who has nearly 3 months' worth of expenses set aside. Another good reason to live below your means is if you have to take a pay cut. Making some small sacrifices now will result in not having to make major cut-backs later. A good goal to work toward is to save 10% if your gross income, not including your 401(k).
2) Keep a budget. I cannot stress this enough. You cannot control your money without a budget. Know where every dollar is going before you have it. Setting up a budget is not enough- you need to keep a budget. You deserve to be the master of your own money. You worked hard for this- don't throw it away.
3) Look for opportunity. I don't mean you should be overly optomistic. Be realistic about the current financial situation. No doubt you just lost a lot of money in your 401(k). You may not even know right now if your job is stable. What I mean is, look for opportunities to impart new ways of gaining the things you need or, less importantly, the things you want. Learn to barter. Perhaps you have something lying around the house you don't use, or you have a certain skill you're really good at. If you need a service done or if you need an object you cannot afford, consider bartering. You may be able to acquire what you need through barter.
Look for opportunities to save money wherever and whenever you can. Look to make money by capitalizing on skills you have. If you have the time, consider making a hobby into a part-time job.
Learn new skills. If you want to make improvements to your house in order to increase equity, consider a simple do-it-yourself project. Borrow a book from the library or research your project online. Whatever skill you wish to acquire, be sure you absolutely know what you are doing first. Take a free class at your community center or library. You may even consider, if you have the money and time, enrolling in college to learn a new trade altogether. It's also prudent to learn as much as you can about your current job and profession so that you are more valuable to your employer. Even if you are laid off, if you have more knowledge than the other applicants, you will be more likely to land a new job quicker.
Obviously these are not the only keys to success in a recession. This is just a start, some concepts to think about.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The Quintessential Cheapskate
This blog will focus mostly on smart money management, frugality, and money-saving tips. Every now and again I may sprinkle in a rant or two about stupid money moves, like paycheck-advance stores or using a credit card for a night on the town. I know how to get free groceries, household products, or meals out. I get paid to shop. I'm the kind of lady who gets a fifty bucks worth of groceries for $10.
One of the most important things you should know about me is I'm not some guru. I don't write books or give lectures. I don't have gimmicks or corporate sponsors. I'm just a regular person. I'm so regular, if you saw me on the street, you probably wouldn't even remember me afterwards...unless my kids were making a scene (ha, ha...). The point is, I could be your neighbor, or the person behind you at the grocery store.
So why make a whole blog about it and tell the world how everybody can save as much money as I do? The honest truth is, I try to tell this kind of stuff to my friends and family, and nobody listens to me! They can all agree I have some good ideas, but they're all too lazy to implement them! So, if you've read this far, I'm assuming you are at least motivated enough to save some money.
If you're ready to read some great money-saving tips, check back every day. Also, you must know, saving money takes work on your part. Reading something you read online and thinking, "Hey, that's a great idea!" is not going to save you any money. You must work toward goals, implement plans, and have the motivation to spend a little time working toward your goals. If you can dedicate five or ten minutes a day toward saving money, you can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars per year. I'm living proof!
One of the most important things you should know about me is I'm not some guru. I don't write books or give lectures. I don't have gimmicks or corporate sponsors. I'm just a regular person. I'm so regular, if you saw me on the street, you probably wouldn't even remember me afterwards...unless my kids were making a scene (ha, ha...). The point is, I could be your neighbor, or the person behind you at the grocery store.
So why make a whole blog about it and tell the world how everybody can save as much money as I do? The honest truth is, I try to tell this kind of stuff to my friends and family, and nobody listens to me! They can all agree I have some good ideas, but they're all too lazy to implement them! So, if you've read this far, I'm assuming you are at least motivated enough to save some money.
If you're ready to read some great money-saving tips, check back every day. Also, you must know, saving money takes work on your part. Reading something you read online and thinking, "Hey, that's a great idea!" is not going to save you any money. You must work toward goals, implement plans, and have the motivation to spend a little time working toward your goals. If you can dedicate five or ten minutes a day toward saving money, you can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars per year. I'm living proof!
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