Sharing insights since 2007 on carefully saving money, investing, frugal living, coupons, promo codes because the little things matter in achieving financial freedom!
When you live on the other side of the country from your extended family, it’s a special treat when they come to spend a few weeks with you for the first time. Not only do you get to spend quality time together, but you get to show them your neck of the woods and play the role of tour guide for a change. Hosting and introducing the family to your state or region may be fun, but it can also be really expensive — especially if you’re used to living frugally.
If you have out-of-town family visiting this summer, here are some practical ways to address the financial strain it might create without letting it stress you out or take away from enjoying the time you have with your guests. [ continue reading… ]
Encouraged by my dear husband’s post on How to Save Money on Weddings last week, I’m going to dive deeper into wedding invitations and in particular, whether you should buy or create your own. For many of us budget folks, this is one of the easiest ways to save some money but obviously, we need to decide whether we have the time and skill to create a wedding invitation. In addition, ask yourself these questions:
Are you or your fiancée a creative person?
Do you (and your fiancée) usually enjoy hand crafting?
Could your siblings or close friends help?
Do you have a good sense of design, especially creating something from scratch?
Do you have a tight budget on wedding invitations?
If most of your answers to the questions listed above are “yes”, you are a good candidate to create your own wedding invitations, and in the process save about 30% to 40% than ordering from stores. [ continue reading… ]
You’ve always purchased whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted. It’s part of your mentality: you “deserve” to have the things you want because you work so hard.
Adding another $100 to your credit card bill thinking you’ll “pay it off” with your next check is perfectly normal. Um, what about the other $10,987 you said that about?
Nothing’s changed, and you’re feeling increasingly worse the deeper you fall into debt. The problem is, the worse you feel, the more you want to spend to make it better.
Trust me. It never works that way.
Instead of making yourself feel better, you’ve bought more guilt, and that’s always expensive.
$12,764 later, you don’t know what else to do with yourself, and it hurts. You can’t stop spending.
Here’s the thing, though. You can, starting the second you change your mind.
You’ve heard the saying, “Change your mind, change your results.” It’s true. When you truly believe you’re above your spending habits, you can control them. They no longer dictate when your money leaves your wallet, since that’s left to your common sense.
Meditation can help you change your mind and facilitate better decisions. [ continue reading… ]
Unless you’re a morning person who gets enough rest, it isn’t natural to jump out of bed firing on all cylinders. Yet research shows that, in the morning hours, our minds are most primed for productivity — whether at home, at the office, or at the home office.
With my schedule changing soon, I find the need to be more productive in the morning. And, as the summer days lengthen, there’s more incentive to maximize the morning so I can enjoy the gorgeous evenings without thinking about work. If, like me, you need some fast and easy tips for better mornings, then start with these.
It’s not enough to teach your children the basics of personal finance. Nobody will deny that it’s crucial that young people be taught how to manage their money and resources, however it’s also important to nurture their creativity and emotional intelligence to help them grow up to be creative, resilient adults who can weather any storm.
Exposure to the fine and performing arts is important for all children, not just those who show signs of being artistically gifted. All of these experiences will add to your child’s bank of inner resources and help them grow emotionally and intellectually.
The good news is that even parents on a tight budget can provide a childhood full of the arts with a bit of planning. Here are a ten suggestions: [ continue reading… ]
Some of my best memories as a child are family road trips, as we regularly took trips to Michigan, Chicago and New York. As a constantly busy family we had to find the right time of year to make trips. We also rarely had enough money to take extravagant trips to exotic locations.
Looking back now I am glad we didn’t, because we would have missed out on a lot of time together in the friendly confines of a minivan had we flown to warm places for our family vacations.
My friends recently drove over to catch a few of my games after they finished their finals at school. Like any college age kids, they wanted to enjoy themselves on a dime. Four 20-somethings packed into a compact car and took the five hour trip to the town where I play.
They saved money by finding savings on meals and by staying at the cheapest hotel in town. Four guys in a $50 a night room. This was right for them, but the same itinerary might not be right for you (unless you are of the same demographic).
So, how can you enjoy your road trip, while saving on unnecessary costs?
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