Ways to Save at the Grocery Store

In these tough economic times everyone is looking to cut costs at every corner. A trip to the grocery store can run you a quick 200 bucks if you don't watch. There are some simple tips that can help you save on your grocery budget.

1. Make a list. The list is to help you remember what you need. if you stick to only the items on your list you will save money. Stores know that if they set up displays of items on sale people will buy them whether they need the item or not. Some people cannot pass up a sale.

2. Avoid impulse buys. If you see something you want don't buy it on this shopping trip. Go home and think about it for a few days. if you still think you have to have the item then go back and get it. Impulse purchase can set you back hundreds of dollars.

3. Don't go shopping hungry. If your stomach is growling while you are trying to shop you will spend more buying items you didn't need. Everything will look tempting to you when you are hungry. Eat before you visit the grocery store.

4. Plan your meals by what's on sale. Look through the sales ads and see what is on sale that you can make meals out of. Check your coupons to see if you cans ave even more money on the sale items.

5. Coupons, coupons, coupons. Keep your coupons organized into easy to find categories. Plan your coupons with the weekly sales and items on your shopping list. Check for stores that offer double coupons.

By following these simple tips you will save money on your grocery store visit.

Photo created by sanja gjenero

Save Money on Your Energy Bills this Winter

As someone who lives in a house warmed with gas heat I can personally vouch for the fact that your energy bills can be absolutely ridiculous in the winter. It seems like every winter I end up spending more to heat my house than I do for all of my other utilities combined! That's why, before we're up to our necks in snow, I wanted to offer up these quick tips to keep your energy bills something slightly less than astronomical:

1) Insulate your attic and basement. It's a hassle, and the initial investment can be a killer, but in the long term these parts of your house aren't doing anything but sucking heat. Insulating them will go a long way toward helping you save money on energy bills.

2) How well insulated are your windows? As I'm sitting here in my little cubby between two windows I'm feeling a slight draft roll over my already cold fingers. Needless to say, that's probably not helping my energy bills any!

3) Buy some sweaters. It sounds harsh, but it's true. Trying to keep your house at a balmy 80 degrees Farenheit when it's below zero outside is going to be murder on your energy bills. Drop the thermostat and pick up some sweats. Your checkbook will thank you.

Save Money on Going Out-Invest in Netflix

I don't often jump up and down advertising a service here, because...well, because I really, really hate it when bloggers are sitting there advertising to me! In this case, however, I'm forced to make an exception. Why? Because I love Netflix. I firmly believe that Netflix may very well be the best $20 I spend in a month. And because I love Netflix I want to quite firmly advocate the potential entertainment and savings options Netflix offers.

For those of you who haven't already discovered the wonder of Netflix, it's an online video rental service that quite literally delivers new movies to your door. You pay a set fee each month to be able to rent (X) number of movies at a time. You keep them as long as you want, and when you're done with them you just stick them in their little pre-paid envelope and drop them back in your mailbox. They travel via overnight mail to the nearest Netflix office location, and within two or three days of returning your last set of movies you have new ones sitting there waiting for you. No late fees, you don't pay for movies lost in the mail, and while you may occasionally get stuck on a waiting list for a new release you usually have almost instant access to today's hottest hits.

Of course, that's not why I love Netflix.

My favorite part of Netflix is their new "Watch Now" feature. They have hundreds of movies that you can stream directly from their website to your computer without having to pay rental fees the way you do with Amazon's Video on Demand. Just click "Watch Now" and you're in business. It's awesome! And since you get a free trial you can take all of their services fora test drive before handing over your credit card info, and you can cancel any time directly from the website.

Thanks to Netflix I almost never buy movies and very rarely pay to rent them, and the amount of time I spend in a movie theatre is whittled to almost nothing because I can get on the list to receive a copy of the DVD months before it's released. I save money, and I'm entertained. There is no down side.

How much should you give up to save a buck?

It's impossible to over-emphasize the importance of tracking your spending to keep your fiscal affairs in line, but today I'm going to walk away from the usual lecture on saving your money and eliminating any unnecessary purchases (you've already heard it all anyway) and pose another question to you: How much should you actually give up in the interest of saving money? How many of those "unnecessary expenditures" can you reasonably be expected to live without? And how far is too far?

What do you think?

Owed to a Nightengale

They just get cleverer and cleverer! See, even our forefathers weren't exempt from robbing Peter to pay Paul. Have a great weekend, everybody!


Owed To A Nightingale




If we take a look back at the poets,
And the reasons they wrote all that verse
It's 'cos life sometimes gets so low it's
Got to get better not worse.

Keats as a bard was no rookie,
Yet was consumed by anguish and guilt
He owed lots of cash to a bookie
Was in it right up to the hilt.

So borrowed some cash from a friend
A young lady who happened his way.
Who said the money she would lend
But compound interest he'd have to repay

This young lady called Nightingale
I don't seem to recall her first name.
(And no relation to the one whom for Crimea set sail),
And went on to notice and fame.

But for now the money was lent,
And Keats soon paid from his purse.
Then for some time after he spent
Penning some appropriate verse.

This lady had lent him the money
Which helped him out of a fix.
So he wrote some verse which was funny,
Owed to a Nightingale - twelve pounds seven and six.




Copyright; Tom Gaunt
Email: tpgaunt@hotmail.com

Save Money with Bob Vila and Do-It-Yourself Concrete!

Earlier this week I talked about the importance of regular maintenance on your house and property for keeping home repair costs down. Sometimes, however, there are things that are going to need repair (or replacing altogether) and you're going to have to choose between calling ina professional and doing it yourself? Why not do a little bit of both by calling in the expert guidance of Bob Vila!

Maintenance Can Save You a Fortune in Home Repair

While talking to a colleague the other day I heard those words that make contractors shudder in their boots: "I don't bother with home maintenance, I just pay for repairs when things break." The thought of the amount of money you can spend on home repairs when you get right down to the nitty gritty is enough to leave you shuddering in your seat. Why, then, would you ignore the maintenance that could help prevent it?

Yes, maintenance on a house costs money. Yes, that's going to be hundreds of dollars out of your budget each and every month. But can that really compare to the thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars you're going to have to pay to repair the damages that rain, wind, over-anxious toddlers and simple neglect can wreak on your house? Not to mention the inconvenience of having to live for months in the middle of a construction zone.

Is this type of short term gain, long term loss worth it? Absolutely not, especially not in today's budget conscious economy. Trust me on this one-when it comes to your house, an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure.

How to Save Money? I Don't Think So...

I saw this and it absolutely cracked me up the other day! This was a poem created by fellow blogger Gregory K. at GottaBook all about saving money (in the eyes of our children). Beware! Chuckles ahead!

HOW I SAVE MONEY

ByGregory K.

My parents always tell me “Saving money is the key!”

So I’ve figured out a lot of ways that saving works for me.

Today, in fact, I saved a dollar eight from being sad --

I used it for some candy, and I know that made it glad.

Last week, I saw some quarters in a fountain at the mall…

So I saved them all from drowning (then they bought a basketball).

My allowance funds get lonely, but I save them if I spend ‘em,

And I get them into registers where lots of bills befriend ‘em.

And just the other day I bought … well… I don’t know what you call it,

But I saved two twenty dollar bills from rotting in dad’s wallet.

I know a lot of other tricks, but I don’t want to bore you…

Instead just send me all your cash. I’ll gladly save it for you!

What "America's Cheapest Family" Had to Say About Saving Money

It being Tuesday my brain's still lagging a bit (Labor Day weekend can be a killer!) so while I woke up this morning bound and determined to find some deep and meaningful information to share with you, people of America, the bottom line is I sat down at my keyboard and had absolutely nothing! As I so often do when inspiration refuses to strike I went out browsing on the web, gave in to my need to start surfing through YouTube (there's a reason I have to work so hard to keep myself on track!) and stumbled across this! Featured by Fox news network, here's a sneak peek at a YouTube video featuring the family the press has dubbed "America's Cheapest" and how they're saving money on everything from Christmas to school lunches.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKJTxuzvkXw

(The embed code wasn't working as well as I wish it would when I posted this, but dear readers, feel free to pass it on!)

Can You REALLY Use Kool-Aid and Cola as Cleaning Supplies?

Like all good bloggers, I like to dedicate at least part of my week to scoping out what other money saving professionals out there have to say. You'd be amazed at the fun tips I learn scouting out blogs like SaveMoney.com and SaveMoneyBlog.net! For example, did you know that you could put Kool Aid brand lemonade in the dishwasher for a quick sparkle that can save you hundreds on fancy cleaning supplies? Or that you can clean rust off of metal by letting it soak in a puddle of Coca Cola?

I may never drink a can of Coke again.

Do either of these actually work? I've actually used the Coke thing in my bathroom and can vouch for the fact that it works great. (Ketchup too, although not quite as quickly.) You'll have to give it a try and let me know what you think!

Hey, those little comment boxes are there for a reason you know…J

How to Pay Off Your Debts

Do you know what the worst part of being in debt is? The feeling of overwhelming hopelessness that comes along with making payments month after month and watching while those totals don't seem to get any smaller!

I was very surprised when I was reading through a book on debt management one day and found out that paying as much as I could on each account each month was actually the most inefficient way to pay off my debts I could possibly have chosen. Instead of that, the book suggested making minimum payments on every account but one each month and funneling all of my extra money into that account. Once that debt was paid I'd take the amount I was paying on that, add it to the minimum payment I was making on the next one, pay that off and move all that money to the next…and the next…and the next.

That way I paid off my debts one at a time, but I got them out of the way a LOT faster.

To give you an example, let's say I was paying on two credit cards and a student loan, all of which had minimum payments of $10 a month but balances of $1,000 apiece. I had $150 to spend on those payments each month. Instead of paying $50 per account I paid $10 a month on my student loan and $10 a month on one credit card and $130 a month on the other card. At the end of 8 months (give or take) I had that card paid off and started paying $140 a month on the other card and $10 a month on the loan. When that was paid off I started paying $150 a month on my loan.

Voila! No more debt.

What are your best debt busting tips?