Decorate this Christmas with a Budget
I’m not sure if you are like my husband and I at all but we love the Christmas season. We start listening to Christmas music before it’s necessary to wear a sweater and we get our shopping done before Thanksgiving even rolls around. For me, the shopping is done so early because I’m so excited about buying gifts for everyone. It’s something that I enjoy and look forward to every year. I also look forward to buying some new Christmas decorations each year, much to my husbands dismay. Not that he’s a Grinch in any way, he just thinks we have enough. But, there never seems to be enough for me. This year I am going to try to limit myself to two new Christmas decorations because he is probably right; there isn’t that much square footage to decorate in a one bedroom apartment.
So how do I go about buying decorations each year without breaking our strict budget? It’s really two-fold. I earn extra money on my own that I can spend how I chose and is not accounted for in our budget. Normally that entails babysitting for a few weekends around the holiday season. I already have some money that is allotted to buying a few extra things for the season that we didn’t originally budget for. Start planning right now, financially, for the holiday season. It’s a big time of big spending and the sooner you start saving the better. Most banks will even offer a Christmas account where you can allot a certain amount of money from each pay check to go directly to that account and you can’t get to it until a certain date. I think it’s a great idea to look into a system like that especially if you struggle with not touching money that you have “sitting around”.
The other way I save is by shopping at “cheap” stores first before going to fancy Christmas stores and spending extra money. A Christmas store just went in near our house and I have already visited it to check out the prices. I was very proud of myself that I could walk out of there empty handed. It was loaded with anything you could ever dream of having and lots of things you probably never knew existed yet. So why did I even bother going there in the first place? One, to check out the selection. I wanted to see what new things were out for the season to get ideas. The second reason is so I could check out their prices. I was surprised to find out that they did have some pretty good deals. BUT, I am still going to stick to my original plan and see if I can find the same exact item for cheaper. One store that I regularly check out around this time of year is the Dollar Store or Dollar General. I’m always surprised at the selection they have. It’s amazing what you can find and only have to pay a dollar for.
Last year Aaron and I celebrated Christmas for the first time as a married couple. This meant we were in dire need of finding absolutely everything; from the tree to the stockings to the outdoor decorations. We could have spent a ton of money but we gave ourselves a budget and did everything we could to stick to it. This is where the Dollar Store came in hand. We went there and picked out cute door decorations for our front and back doors; both only costing a dollar. Then I also got a wreath ($1) and a Christmas tree ornaments (12 pack for $1). I didn’t even have to compromise with what I wanted. I love gold and silver decorations for Christmas, especially on the tree, and I was able to get exactly what I wanted. All it took was some looking around and not being embarrassed about where we shopped. I could honestly care less about where I get my decorations as long as they look good. When it came to putting up decorations outside, we opted out of lights. Not that we didn’t want them, because I love lots of white lights, but rather because we had to. There wasn’t a good place for us to plug in the lights. This decision worked out well for us because it was a lot less money we were spending on the electric bill each month.
Another place that I went to was A.C. Moore. I wasn’t sure what I would find there but I ended up getting a tall standing snowman to sit out on the porch. It was really cheap because it wasn’t finished. I didn’t care because I already had paint at home and it only took about 20 minutes for me to paint it up the way I wanted it. It was a great, cheap alternative to buying a pre-made snowman that would have cost me significantly more.
If you don’t really need anything new for this season but you just want to buy something new, try waiting until after Christmas. There are always amazing deals after the season if you can wait. I may try this tactic this year since I really don’t need anything, I really just like buying something new each year for the Holiday’s.
7 Ways to Simplify Your Finances
One thing we have not told you about yet is that back in January of this year, while I was unemployed, we were offered a lump sum of money (for free) to use towards opening a coffee kiosk in a local office building. To make a long story short it never happened, but not until we had done all of the pre-opening work. That is really irrelevant to this article, what I want to tell you about is how we went about doing things to get that up and running. And yes, this does apply to finances.
K.I.S.S.
Not the band, sorry. This is an acronym that everyone should apply to every area of their life. K.I.S.S. stands for Keep It Simple Stupid. The “stupid” is in there for a very good reason; we are! We have a tendency to muddy the water and always make a simple problem a big problem, or a simple solution an impossible solution. While we were thinking of what coffee to serve, which breakfast items to have available, what color scheme to go with for the kiosk and aprons, all the way to our dealings with the separate State agencies for zoning, licensing, and everything else, we had to keep in mind this simple acronym. If we would not have done this, we would have sunk and never gotten as far as we did. In every area, we just tried our best to keep it simple. Grow from there, but in the meantime, keep it simple!
Your Finances
Keep them simple, stupid. And I say that to myself as well, this is a reminder we all need to have. Only you will know how to do this to your personal finances but I have listed some of my personal strategies below.
Cut down on bills – One of the easiest ways to get a better hold of your finances is to simply cut back on the amount of bills you pay. You can do this two different ways: 1) cut the chord. Get rid of products/services that you may not really need and that are more of a luxury. 2) combine items onto one bill if possible. Say you have Internet, cable, and phone through two different companies. Combine all of these to one (Comcast or Verizon, for example) and pay them all at once! This may also give you a discount.
Pay bills using one method – Pay all of your bills via check, OR debit card, OR bill pay, OR auto pay, or whatever. Don’t mix and match them on different bills. I pay all of our bills via snail mail and check. This is old school but it is simple knowing that all of my bills are paid my check and are therefore in my check register. Mixing and matching is recipe for disaster, unless you have a solid system in place to hold you accountable.
Cash – Cash is so much easier to keep track of than the debit card. I personally cannot stand relying on the debit card. We are a cash family and will be as long as they are printing the stuff. It is easier to keep track of it and it is harder to spend it (you actually see it leaving you, never to return!).
Cash folder – This is a method that has been used for a very long time, but one that works, thus the longevity it has. You use cash right? Where do you keep that cash? Your wallet? Bad idea, for the most part. With a cash folder you are able to separate the cash for groceries, gas, toiletries, entertainment, or any other category that you use cash for. This method keeps everything in order, within budget, and is easy to keep track of.
Open communication (with spouse) – If you are married, or thinking about getting married at some point in your life, learn this and learn it now. The three most important things to remember when you are married are: 1) communicate, 2) communicate, and 3) communicate. One person trying to manage their finances is a nightmare. Add another person who is not of the same mindset (i.e. sex) and you have for yourself a recipe for disaster, if you do not communicate. The both of you MUST be open about every aspect of your finances with each other. Do not get in the habit of doing things without telling the other when it comes to your money. MONEY is the #1 cause of divorce in our nation, let that speak for itself. Do not think you are immune from that statistic, you must communicate. And it will be difficult at first, but once you open up that channel of communication, trust is right behind it and will push it for a very long time! (This also applies to roommates!)
Spreadsheets (not Quickbooks) – Keep track of your finances with something that is *Free* and *simple*. You do not want to have to spend too much of your time learning how to manage your money with a computer program, and you definitely do not want to spend money to manage your money. If you have to do that you will eventually mess up some where down the road and that will not only frustrate you because you screwed up, but you may have put yourself in the negatives all because you used something that a business would use. Take a look at the spreadsheets we use and have available for you, or make your own. Excel is not a difficult program to learn if you are just trying to manage your budget. Do a Google search for Excel tutorials and go from there…leave Quickbooks to the small business of the world.
Live within your means – This is the most simplest one of all. If you just live within your means, your finances will be SO EASY!! You want to make it hard on yourself, try spending more than you earn. Yeah, not going to work. Do yourself a favor and spend LESS than you earn. This way you are able to live off of what you earn and no more, you also avoid debt, and have the opportunity to save money each month.
There you have it folks. A simple list for simple finances. Apply one or all of these and I personally guarantee you will notice a difference in your personal finances.
Redefine The American Dream pt. 6 – College pt. 1
Read Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 to get the whole story!
College. The way to make it in life. The way to get that good paying job with three weeks of vacation every year, good benefits, and point matching on your 401(k) contributions. You want to have all of this and be paid upwards of $50,000? Then go to college, because otherwise, you just won’t have a good shot.
But you will have a shot. It may not be a “good” shot, but you still have one.
I will be honest with you, I attended one semester of college after high school and knew that it was not for me. I probably would’ve felt the same even if I had taken online college classes. I am a hands on type, and need to be doing something better with my time than sitting in class all day. So since I have left college and have been working full time, where do I stand? How am I doing? Do I know what I want to do with my life? Am I screwed? Do I not have a chance at achieving the American dream? Are my friends who are still in college all better than me? We will get to these in a minute, but first…
College is not the only way to get to the American dream. It is also not the only option after high school, which is not stated at all when seniors are thinking about the next steps after graduation. It is assumed that kids who graduate from high school know what they want to do with their life, which is most certainly not the norm, and have the cash or means to the cash, to go to college right out of high school. This is simply a messed up and backwards way of doing things.
Now, I’m not at all saying that the way I am doing things is the best way, nor am I saying it is the worst way. It is a way, and an option for life after high school, because let’s be honest, is it fair to expect our high school seniors to know what they want to do with the rest of their life?
As I mentioned above, after high school I went to one semester of college and decided that it was not for me. So, instead of wasting thousands of more dollars on something I did not really want to do I quit, yes, QUIT. From there I started taking flying lessons, which is something I had wanted to do since I was a kid. I loved it! Loved every minute of it, up until my instructor and I started to butt heads. Then cash flow became a problem. So I stopped. Mark another QUIT on the score board.
During flying lessons I was working at a small business in the area that was an eBay consignment shop. I had started working there my senior year in high school and my boss always told me I would have a job there. So I took him up on that offer and worked for him full time. Eventually, the work became very repetitive and mundane because I had done it for so long. It was about one year after I had started working for him and I began to think it was time to move on. So I started interviewing at other companies, and eventually landed a job at one. My last day at the eBay store was June 10<span class=”misspell”>th</span>, 2006 and I started at Purpose 1, Inc. on June 12<span class=”misspell”>th</span>, 2006.
So I quit college, quit flying, and have quit one job. Things must not be going well for me since I left high school. That depends on how you look at it. At Purpose 1, I was the Logistics Coordinator and Warehouse Manager. I had a ton of responsibilities and had one company employee at my disposal. Eventually, though, as time wore on, I became restless in my job there and started to ask the owner of the company for more responsibilities. Actually, I asked him for a complete refocus of what I did there. Long story short, he did not see any value in what I presented to him so he said no. I said I’m bored. He said, sorry but finish what you started.
I did not want to, so I left that job too. Score board: QUIT 4.
It is not over yet. From there I worked with my dad. He has his own residential painting business and had the work for me. He was great to work with and paid me very fairly. But I eventually got bored with that too. So what did I do. Yes, I quit.
QUIT 5. Where am I going with this? Well, for your sake I am going to get there next week. Until then, what are your thoughts on high school seniors going to college right out of high school? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
Bloggers Unite – Refugees United
As a part of the Bloggers Unite community, we are taking strides one blog post at a time in helping the rest of the world become a better place. For me, this means doing what I can from my own home, and in my life, to help others who have not been as fortunate as myself.
Refugees are not something I think about every morning as I roll out of bed, and to be honest with you, I had not given refugees a minute of my time before I was notified about this topic from Bloggers United. After doing some reading, watching a few videos, and donating a few of my own dollars to this cause, I truly believe that this is a problem that can only be solved if we all unite together and work as one body. One country is not going to fix this, one organization is not going to fix this, and one celebrity (Angelina Jolie) is not going to fix this; we all need to pitch in and do what we can to help. That is all that is asked, to simply do what you can.
What is the problem? Well, I will pass the floor over to the USCRI (U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants). Below is more information on what is called Refugee Warehousing and what you can do to help relocate these refugees to America so that they can have the same opportunities you and I have had our entire life:
Can you imagine spending your childhood in a refugee camp? With no parents, no school to go to, how would you cope? It is the story of thousands of children from Eritrea who grow up in the Shimelba refugee camp. The camp is home to 14,000 refugees who have fled persecution in Eritrea. It is situated near the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia-an area that has witnessed extensive fighting over the years. A startling 70 percent of the refugees here are children, with 500 new refugees flooding the camp every month.
Take a moment to see how they live. Justin Shilad visited the camp in Ethiopia as part of a team to document the life of a refugee family. The following presentation has been adapted from his trip report.
What to know more, visit the USCRI website which is full of information on refugee warehousing. You can also download and read this PDF which is a very good read on the subject.
Want to donate? AWESOME!! Click here to donate to the USCRI. This is the most important part and even the smallest amount of money can help to make a change. Do not feel obligated to give or to give more than you can afford. Keep it within your means so that you and the refugee you help support can both benefit from your donation.
On Tap For This Week
Every Sunday, we will give you the posts that we have scheduled for each day of the coming week. Be sure to grab our RSS feed and sign up to receive posts in your e-mail inbox!
In the meantime, check out the FREE TOOLS we have made available to you or drop us a line just to say “hi” or to tell us what you would appreciate reading here.
Aaron & Lindsay
Where You Are Now writers
Weekend Review – Newsy Edition
A few changes are going to be coming our way here for the future. Lindsay is going to be stepping away from the website (just a little) so that she is able to devote more time to her courses at school. She will still appear here once a week or so with an article focused on living an organized life, which most times has a direct effect on your finances. So that is the plan for now.
I am also toying around with new material that will appear here on a weekly or bi-weekly schedule. Also, if you would like to share your financial story with our readers shoot me an email of what you have in mind and we’ll set a date for you to have your story published here. It doesn’t have to be long and filled with fancy words, just write about where your finances were, where they are now, and where you hope to take them in the future. Email it to me and I’ll be in touch.
On to this week, hope you enjoy!
Who says you have to go out to have fun? I’ve been to little Fall gatherings before and loved them. It’s great being with friends and it doesn’t have to cost much at all. Have people bring their favorite Fall treat like apple pie, pumpkin pie, apple fritters, apple cider, caramel apples, etc. If each person brought an item there would be more than enough food for everyone.
Redefine The American Dream pt. 5 – Homes
…we know that getting into home ownership is not something to take lightly. The basic principal that a lot of people forget about is what can you afford? The home of the person who is living the American Dream is not a large mansion, it is a home that they can afford. With out that in place there is no American Dream. Whether that home is 1,000 square feet, 5,000 square feet, or not a home but an apartment where they pay rent, THEN THAT IS WHAT IT IS!!
Paperless Grocery Lists – Online Resources That Help
Once I started this article I was overwhelmed with how many different tools are out there to do just that. I subscribe to a number of RSS Feeds and in many of them, there were people raving about a certain product or tool that they have been using. What I decided to do was look into all of them and pass along the information. Some will be more helpful than others depending on what you are organizing and how big the project is. Just pick and choose what is the most useful for you. So without further ado, here are some organizing tools!
Do Not Go To The Movie Theater
If you are thinking about going to see a movie this weekend, don’t do it. Just scratch that plan all together. Stay in, or go to a friends house, and rent a movie instead. Or get one from Netflix. Either way, I don’t care what you do, just don’t waste your money at the movie theater.
If you’ve been coming to our website for any length of time I’m sure you have noticed the big orange “button” on your right. You have probably also noticed that at the beginning of each article we invite you to subscribe to our RSS feed and/or subscribe to receive our updates in your email inbox. What does all of this mean? I’m here to explain this to you!
In Other News:
Our service review on Rudder.com appeared at the Money Hacks 37th Carnival hosted at Living Almost Large! “Thanks for hosting!”
Personal Notes:
Yesterday we started house sitting for some friends while they are out of town, so we are on a mini vacation from our own home as well, which is always a nice break. Also, I mentioned last week that I am participating in NaNoWriMo this year. Check out my progress!
That’s it folks! Hope you have a fantastic weekend!
RSS, Email, Subscriptions?
If you’ve been coming to our website for any length of time I’m sure you have noticed the big orange “button” on your right. You have probably also noticed that at the beginning of each article we invite you to subscribe to our RSS feed and/or subscribe to receive our updates in your email inbox. What does all of this mean? I’m here to explain this to you!
RSS
This one makes me laugh. I never knew exactly what “RSS” stood for until a few months ago. I always figured it would be a tricky web expert term but I was way off base! RSS stands for “Real Simple Syndication”. Yes, no joke! That is what RSS means. What it does is even cooler!
I’m sure we are not the only site that you come out to the internet for. You have other news, gossip, movie, music, or clothing websites that you visit on a regular basis. So you read all of these websites on a regular basis but get a little tired of having to check each on individually for updates, or maybe you just want to know of a better way to browse content on the web? Let me introduce to you Google Reader. Google is an amazing company that has amazing products and services. They built Reader just for you, the individual trying to read lots of web content but by visiting each site individually. Google Reader brings that content into one place (assuming that each website has an RSS Feed). To “subscribe” to our RSS feed in Google Reader, all you need to do is click on the big orange button at the top right of our website, choose “Google Reader” from the list of subscription options, create a Google Reader account (if you don’t have one already) and enjoy! Now you no longer need to come to our site to get our latest content.
A simple search in Google for RSS and/or Google Reader (yes, click those for the actual searches) will explain this to you in more detail.
Email Subscription
This one is a little easier than RSS. Email subscription is just that. You give us your email address we send our latest content directly to your email inbox. NO SPAM, and we don’t give your email address away to ANYONE! All you do is click here, enter your email address, and get back to whatever you were doing before you came here! That easy!
This article just scratches the surface of the power of RSS and email subscription. If you want more information on either one, I’m sure a simple search in Google will reveal more information than you’ll no what to do with. At any rate, I do invite you to subscribe to our RSS feed and/or subscribe to have our updates sent to your email inbox!! (You can do this by clicking on the links just provided or by clicking on the BIG orange button at the rop right of our website).
Don't Go To The Movie Theater
First, I want to say that I am not at all against the business that Hollywood has. I am an avid movie fan and absolutely love to watch movies and may sometimes borderline become obsessive with them. With that out of the way, let’s get on with it.
About a month or so ago, Lindsay and I decided that we wanted to get out. Go grab some pizza and see a movie. It had probably been six months or so since we had stepped foot in a theater so we were almost craving it. We checked what movies were out and decided on one that had good show times.
We came out of the theater irritated. Not at Hollywood for producing such a stupid film, but for actually GOING TO THE MOVIES!!
Here’s the breakdown: it was $18.00 for two adults.
That is 18 movies at Redbox if you want them. That is 3 at a time from Netflix for a month. That is $18.00. If you are thinking about going to see a movie this weekend, don’t do it. Just scratch that plan all together. Stay in, or go to a friends house, and rent a movie instead. Or get one from Netflix. Either way, I don’t care what you do, just don’t waste your money at the movie theater.
Not only do they rake you over the coals just to sit in the theater seats, if you want a drink and popcorn, you know, AN AMERICAN TRADITION, you have to shell out another $10 or so.
In all seriousness though, going to the movie theater is a huge waste of money. Wait for the movie you want to see to be available at Blockbuster, Redbox, or Netflix. It is worth the wait, I promise.
Paperless Grocery Lists – Online Resources That Help
I strongly believe that when you are trying to get your finances in order it is helpful to organize the rest of your life as well. It’s hard to keep your bills and bank statements in order when you can’t find anything in your house. Because of this I will be writing several articles on organizing other aspects of your life while still saving money. I will also be adding in some “green” options where I feel like it can save you some extra money.
There are so many wonderful resources online to get yourself organized. Once I started this article I was overwhelmed with how many different tools are out there to do just that. I subscribe to a number of RSS Feeds and in many of them, there were people raving about a certain product or tool that they have been using. What I decided to do was look into all of them and pass along the information. Some will be more helpful than others depending on what you are organizing and how big the project is. Just pick and choose what is the most useful for you. So without further ado, here are some organizing tools!
The first one is a very basic way to make lists online. The service is called TaDaList. When I say basic, I do mean basic. There are no bells and whistles when it comes to this service. If you are someone who spends are good amount of time on the computer this could be a good option for you. I always have at least one to-do list going at a time. It’s hard for me to keep track of the list when they are written down on random pieces of paper. This will solve that problem. It takes literally 10 seconds to start up and it’s very easy to do. I don’t spend enough time on the computer to utilize this myself but I use a similar service on my Blackberry. This leads me into the next one.
MaraTick is just like TaDaList, except I use this on my phone. You create an account, which again is simple, then start creating your lists. This comes in handy for me when I need to make a grocery list and I’m not in a place to grab a pen and paper, and also to create a packing list for vacation. With Maratick it actually shows you your progress so you can see just how much further you need to go to complete your list. Both of these options are also green solutions. How? No more wasted paper. You’re not needlessly using paper and then losing track of it, just for it to be thrown out because you already created another list. Now everything is concise, in one place, and easy to use and get to.
The next service to mention is FlyLady. I have to say that this one is much more involv then the two previous ones. If you are focusing on getting your home in order this is the site to go to. There are numerous resources to use and they also have forums, newsletters, are on blogtalkradio, the list goes on. One feature in particle this is good, especially if you are trying to declutter your home, is called flyzone. Each week they focus on one part of your home and tips on how to get yourself more organize. There are five different zones and at the end of the month they start over. I think this is a great feature because getting your house in order can be an overwhelming task. This is one way to simplify the task at hand. I will say that the site is a little “loud” for my taste but if you can get past that there are good resources at your disposal.
There are so many great resources out there on the world wide web. If you’re in the need of some order in your life, go online and see if you can find any services to make your life a little easier. If you find something you think really works, tell me about it in the comments below.
Redefine The American Dream pt. 5 – Homes
Read Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 to get the whole story!
One of the biggest ways that Americans today try and achieve the American Dream is by the size of their home. The bigger, the better, and every one assumes that the owner has it set. They have finally made it, they are there and they are not moving, they have achieved the American Dream.
This is pretty much the same concept as we discussed last week with the status symbol of a car. A house shows people around you that you are either wealthy or not. You either have a high paying job or a low paying job. It speaks to others, and is one of the main reasons that we have seen so many people, of recent history, have to foreclose on their homes. They were trying to impress family, friends, neighbors, and themselves, so they got into a mortgage that they simply could not afford to get a house that gave people the impression that they could.
We do not own a home, but we know that getting into home ownership is not something to take lightly. The basic principal that a lot of people forget about is what can you afford? The home of the person who is living the American Dream is not a large mansion, it is a home that they can afford. With out that in place there is no American Dream. Whether that home is 1,000 square feet, 5,000 square feet, or not a home but an apartment where they pay rent, THEN THAT IS WHAT IT IS!!
The big issue with this, and the American Dream over all, is that folks are too concerned with what others think of them. This thought alone impacts decisions made when buying a car, spending/saving money, home ownership, clothing, college, etc, etc…
You want to achieve the American Dream? One of the ways you can do it is to make sure you live in a home that you can afford and can, sooner rather than later, own free and clear.