budget

Is Pinterest Just One Big Temptation To Spend Money?

August 16, 2012 By Anna Platz Leave a Comment

Pinterest, the wildly popular visual bookmarking site and latest social media craze, can be a lot of fun, and even somewhat addictive, but does it offer too much temptation to spend money? Browse through the images, or pins, on the site and you’ll see beautiful homes, stunning locals in far off lands, the latest fashions, delicious cupcakes, and creative table settings. And much much more.

The site can be a great tool and source of ideas and inspiration for anything from planning a wedding, to decorating a child’s bedroom, to coming up with a menu for a dinner party. But, the number of options can be overwhelming…and expensive.

Thinking of a carnival theme for your child’s next birthday? A quick search on Pinterest.com will return a seemingly endless scrolling page of gorgeous photos and super creative ideas. But do you need custom printed invitations, a big top style tent in the backyard, an overflowing dessert table, and color coordinating everything?

Wondering what to wear to an event this weekend? Check out a few fashion boards and you might feel you need to run out and get stacks of brightly colored bracelets, a new purse, and the latest nail polish color.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Budgeting, Featured, Shopping Tagged With: budget, child's birthday party, home improvement, savings, shopping

Money Saving Tips For Summer Fun

June 27, 2012 By Anna Platz 1 Comment

Ahhh, summer! The days are longer, the air is warmer, and the pace of life tends to slow down a bit. It’s also all too easy to let spending get out of control with family vacations, frequent visitors and entertaining, kids out of school, and lots of fun things to do.

Here are some ideas for sticking to a budget while enjoy a summer to remember -

Take a low cost vacation.
Don’t pass up those hard earned days off or miss out on the chance to create some awesome memories. There’s no need for a trip needs to cost a fortune. Try camping – even the hottest vacation destinations often have campgrounds where you can stay for a fraction of the price of a hotel. It’s fun for groups of friends, couples, and families with kids. Other low cost options include visiting family or friends, or working out a home swap, where you stay in a friend’s home and visit another city while they take a vacation to your hometown and stay in your house.
Get a season pass.
It might not seem budget friendly to purchase a season pass to a local attraction, but often the cost isn’t much more than buying tickets for just one day. If you have a favorite zoo, aquarium, theme park, water park, or museum nearby consider a season pass and you’ll have a special place to visit over and over all summer long. If the attraction is a non-profit the cost of your membership may even be tax deductible (check with the organization and a tax advisor to be sure.)
Seek out free events and activities.
Most communities have all sorts of free things to do during the summer months. Check area calendars for outdoor concerts, festivals, fireworks, and more. Bring snacks and drinks along to avoid high priced and unhealthy concession stand offerings.
Be on the lookout for budget busters.
Extra costs can sneak up on you when you’re not looking this summer. I LOVE farmer’s markets – food is often fresher & tastier, and buying local is a wonderful thing to do for so many reasons. Still, the produce, baked goods, and bunch of flowers you pick up while strolling through on a weekend morning will likely cost more at the farmer’s market than at the grocery store. There’s no need to cross this fun and worthwhile activity off your summer to-do list, just know you’re splurging and cut back in another area.Another budget buster can be pot-luck summer cookouts. It’s all too easy to dash into the store and spend big bucks on a pre-made item to take to a party. Come up with a few easy dishes you can whip up at home making use of seasonal ingredients such as a peach crisp or tabouli.

What are your favorite summer-time money saving strategies?

Happy summer!

Filed Under: Featured, Household Savings Tagged With: budget, family friendly, save money, summer

Study Says Shopping at Wholesale Clubs Can Save You 30 Percent

April 25, 2012 By Anna Platz 1 Comment

Grocery carts As I drove to work this morning I was able to catch a few minutes of the Marketplace Morning Report on my local public radio station (after I had dropped off my daughter and was able to switch off The Lorax soundtrack she’s insisted on having on repeat the past few weeks,) and heard David Lazarus interviewed about whether shopping at wholesale clubs (ex: Costco, Sam’s Club, BJ’s) really saves you money.

I am a big fan of Costco and buying in bulk, but I have never really found that I save a lot of money by shopping there. There are certain items I know I can get much cheaper when compared to the prices at the regular grocery stores near me. A few of our favorite items we know we save big on are boxes of chicken stock, flat bread, hummus, artisan bread, bagels, and sparkling water. With other items the difference isn’t so big – I find that beef, chicken, and seafood isn’t generally that much cheaper, and is often more expensive than those items on special at the grocery store.

I was surprised to hear in the story that a recent study found the grocery savings are pretty big on average, “it’s about 30 percent less than your typical big supermarket.” Wow! I tried to find the details of the study but couldn’t put my fingers on it. I have to imagine that they calculated the savings based on buying the same brands available at the warehouse. For example if the warehouse store carries a certain name brand of paper towels the savings might be 30% over that same brand at the grocery store, but when shopping at the grocery store you could also choose to buy the generic paper towels which might be the same or even less than the warehouse price.

How To Turn “I Want To Save Money” Into “I AM Saving Money.”

March 11, 2012 By Anna Platz 3 Comments

This post is part of Women’s Money Week 2012. For more posts about Goals / Taking Action see Goals and Taking Action Roundup.

“I want to lose weight.” “I want to eat better.” “I want to save money.”

Without a goal and a plan these statements are unlikely to be anything more than wishes or sources of disappointment. Here are a few tips for making your money saving wishes a reality:

Make your goals specific. Resolve to save $100 a month or limit discretionary spending to $150 a month rather than “save more money” or “stop eating out so much.”
Commit to a certain period of time. Say you’ll stick to the goal for 3 months and then reevaluate. A shorter commitment is more manageable and you want to set yourself up for success. Each win will inspire you to keep going.
Check in often. Keep track of your successes and shortcomings when it comes to meeting the goal on an weekly or monthly basis.
Give yourself reminders. Put a note reminding you of your goal on your bathroom mirror, on your alarm clock, the dashboard of your car, or in your wallet so you will be reminded of it at least once a day. Change the wording, location, or the color of the paper periodically so you don’t become blind to it.

Filed Under: Budgeting, Featured Tagged With: budget, goals, save money

How to Avoid Increasing Your Budget When Your Income Grows

March 8, 2012 By Anna Platz 2 Comments

This post is part of Women’s Money Week 2012. For more posts about Budgeting see the Budgeting Roundup.

A raise, bonus, monetary gift, or other increase in income is certainly cause for celebration. But before you pull out all the stops at the nicest restaurant in town and pop the cork on the champagne think about how you can use the additional income to better your net worth rather than your lifestyle.

It is all to easy to justify eating out a few more times a week, spending a little more freely on clothes and items for the home, and booking a trip somewhere fun once you’re making a little more. But, and I know this will come as no surprise, it just leads to the same stress about money that may have existed before you received the additional money.

To avoid the “more money, more problems” scenario (this applies even if you’re not a rapper stocking your fridge with Cristal!) commit to not increasing your budget when your income grows. This might not be possible if you were really struggling to make ends meet before the increase, but assuming you were living comfortably before, here are a few ways to keep that budget in check:

Set up an automatic transfer to savings for the extra amount.
Send it to short term savings or a Roth or Traditional IRA to save for retirement depending on when you think you might need access to the funds, but keep it out of your every day spending accounts. With it out of sight it should be out of mind and go towards building wealth rather than filling your closet!
Apply the extra amount towards debt payments.
Tackle the highest interest rate debt first and work towards paying them off one by one. Paying debt off quickly can net you significant savings over years of making the minimum payments. Use this extra payment mortgage calculator to run the numbers and see how much you could save.
Take a careful look at your budget.
Maybe there are some areas of your budget that will need to change somewhat. If you started a new job that is a little further from home you might need to up the amount you allocate to gas or transportation each month. Look for somewhere else you can save to make up for that increase. Could you start bringing your lunch a few more times a week, or cut back in some other area?

Filed Under: Budgeting Tagged With: budget, save money, women's money week

Healthy Cooking on a Budget?

March 2, 2012 By Anna Platz 7 Comments

On this topic I seem to have more questions than answers. I want to feed my family food that is as healthy as possible. I try to make healthy choices as much as I can (though I totally fell off the wagon yesterday and brought home take out burgers!), cook at home, and use ingredients that are natural, organic when it’s available, and free of chemicals, pesticides, and other junk. I’m working on cutting way back on sugar, meat, and gluten, and incorporating a lot more fresh produce into my cooking.

I have been inspired lately by a couple of great healthy eating blogs – Elena’s Pantry and My New Roots. They are both filled with delicious recipes, great information, and gorgeous photos that will make even the most devoted junk food fan crave quinoa and veggies.

My big dilemma is this – the healthy ingredients can be so expensive! We are really lucky to be able to find so many options in the grocery stores these days, from cashew and almond butters to flaxseed and coconut oils to almond and rice flour – but you will pay more for these products than the old standbys. I am thinking that cutting back on meat which is also pricey will make room in the grocery budget for some of these alternative ingredients, and that cooking more from scratch rather than buying prepared foods (where exactly do I think I’ll be finding time for this??) will offset the cost as well.

I have always believed that a healthy lifestyle is a smart economic choice as you’re likely to save big on medical costs over the long haul. Instilling healthy eating habits in my daughter at a young age is also something I see as a wonderful investment in her future.

I’d love to know if you have any ideas for eating healthy on a budget? Are there some foods that are worth the extra costs to you?

Filed Under: Featured, Household Savings, Shopping Tagged With: budget, cooking, family friendly, food savings, grocery savings, grocery shopping, healthy, healthy eating

Penny Pinching Party Planning

February 16, 2012 By Anna Platz 1 Comment

Huge thanks to Marnie Pacino, author of “Cool Party, Mom!” and low cost party planner extraordinaire, for this great guest post and the awesome kids’ party ideas. I for one am taking notes for my daughter’s next birthday!

Birthday parties just aren’t what they used to be. When I was young, being invited to a friend’s birthday party was the most exciting thing I could imagine…colorful crepe paper streamers, homemade chocolate cake and vanilla (if you were very lucky, Neapolitan) ice cream served from a giant, plastic gallon-sized tub. We’d spend an entire afternoon playing simple games like Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Duck Duck Goose, and Musical chairs. At most, the entire fun-filled day set the birthday parents back a whole twenty dollars.

Things are much different today. Most parents feel some level of pressure to keep up with (or out-do) “The Jones” … “Bobby Stinkypants had his birthday at Insane Kid World! What are we doing for mine?” Fear not. With a little thrifty imagination, you can still plan The-Best-Princess-Party-Ever-For-All-Eternity without losing your mind and without breaking the bank. Here’s how:

MAKE A PLAN
Birthdays don’t just appear out of the blue, and waiting until the last minute to figure everything out will cost you money. A few months before the big day, start making a list. Use headings like, INVITATIONS, PAPER PRODUCTS, FAVORS, MENU and ACTIVITIES.

Keep the list in your purse while you’re out and about. Does your 12-yr old daughter want a luau birthday party in December? You’ll find all sorts of deeply-discounted beach themed items in August. If you wait until December, not only will you have a hard time finding things, you’ll pay a fortune for the same stuff that was gathering dust on the clearance rack just a few months before! So, use your list and plan ahead.

Now, let’s take a closer look at some of those other things on your list…

3 Strategies For Avoiding Impulse Buys

February 14, 2012 By Anna Platz 6 Comments

Impulse buys…those dreaded few extra items that make their way into your shopping cart. Even the best list makers and most disciplined spenders out there will cave to an impulse buy every now of then. A pack of gum at the checkout counter every now and then probably won’t impact your budget too severely, but if you find you’re grabbing a magazine once a week, new items for the house you don’t really need, unnecessary clothes and accessories, and little toys or treats for the kids who already have more than they could ever want…it’s time to get the impulse buy habit in check. Here are a few strategies for controlling the urge for necessary purchases:

Think about who you shop with.
Leave the people who lead you to buy things you don’t need at home. Maybe it’s your friend who sweetly insists everything looks great on you and that you deserve something new – she’s got great intentions but is not helping your budget! Have her over for coffee instead.Children are common culprits, your guard is down as you’re trying to find everything on your list and keep track of the little ones, and it’s easy to give in to that box of cookies or small toy to keep everyone moving along. Try to find a time when you can shop without them – my mother did the grocery shopping at 10:00 pm for years when my brother and I were young.If you’re most likely to splurge when shopping alone bring along a voice of reason who will gently remind you that you didn’t want to buy any extras. Just their presence might keep you from wandering into the sunglasses aisle when you’re at the store for light bulbs. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Budgeting, Featured, Shopping Tagged With: budget, clothes, save money, shopping, simple budget

The Coffee Budget

January 23, 2012 By Anna Platz 2 Comments

Coffee. Yummmm. One of my huge weaknesses, and expensive coffee house drinks are often pointed to by personal finance experts as something that can easily be cut out to result in big savings. (David Bach even symbolizes coffee in his latte factor theory.) Ok – so we all know that spending $6.50 on a grande mocha skinny latte no whip (my husband thinks it’s hilarious how detailed coffee orders are, but there are so many options!) every morning is not living a frugal lifestyle…but is there room in a conscientious budget for some java?

Here’s my take: I look at the occasional fancy flavored latte as a treat, just like splurging on a milkshake or a cupcake every now and then. I remember that it’s a financial and caloric splurge (depending on the drink a coffee can be about as fattening as a hamburger!) and enjoy it (thoroughly) once in a while.

The rest of the time I make coffee at home, but make sure it’s a really good even when I make it myself. I do buy more expensive ground coffee, adding about $6 to my monthly grocery budget. To me that’s worth it, because I am less likely to be unenthused about a cup from home and make an impromptu stop at the coffee house.

Are you a coffee drinker? What is your weakness that results in the occasional splurge?

Filed Under: Featured, Household Savings Tagged With: budget, coffee, saving, splurges

3 Ways To Manage Your Grocery List

January 20, 2012 By Anna Platz 4 Comments

When I head to the store armed with a grocery list I tend to buy less junk and end up with things that can turn into actual healthy meals for my family. This means there are fewer quick trips to the store for “just a few things for dinner” and I find a spend less overall. A final bonus, if I have a plan for dinner and everything I need to make it at home I am much less likely to grab takeout.

So – how to tackle making the grocery list? Here are a few methods ranging – whether you prefer super simple or a little more high tech hopefully one of these will work for you.

Keep a running list in the kitchen.
About as simple as it gets – whenever you use the last of something (or next to the last) add it to the list. This works well if you tend to use the same ingredients consistently. Grab the list once a week (or however you go shopping) and you’ll know just what to stock up on.

Make a meal plan.
Once a week sit down and come up with a plan for meals for the week. Make use of frozen and canned items such as meat, seafood, fruits, veggies, and breads and you could even plan just once a month. (Or do a combination – go on a big grocery shopping trip once a month for non-perishable items and then make a smaller run for produce, bread, and other fresh items once a week.) Browse through new recipes with a stack of cookbooks, the latest cooking magazines, or online, or stick with your old favorites and decide on what to make each night of the week. Factor in a night or two for leftovers if you think you’ll have them, then make a list of the ingredients you’ll need for each recipe. Check the fridge, freezer, and pantry for items you already have. Try to plan your meals to make good use of the foods you’ll be buying. If one recipe calls for 1/2 a can of tomatoes try to find another that will use the rest. Check out this post for ideas.

Track the list on your smartphone.
Add items from anywhere – in the kitchen when you realize you’re out of flour, at work when a collegue recommends a great new product, or in the waiting room at the dentist when you come across a yummy looking recipe in a magazine (include the source so you can look it up later.) Take it a step further by using one of the Grocery List Apps such as Out of Milk or Our Groceries. Each is a little different from the others (and there are countless additional choices out there) but the idea is that you can share and sync the list between multiple family members so whoever makes the grocery run knows exactly what everyone needs.

Have any other grocery list tips? Please share them in the comments!

Filed Under: Budgeting, Featured, Shopping Tagged With: budget, grocery savings, grocery shopping, planning, save money