Free Money Finance

Four Home Upgrades Worth the Tax Break

MSN Money lists four home upgrades worth the tax break as follows:

• Adding insulation - Insulation is the cheapest home improvement that qualifies for the tax credits, says Karen Schneider, a spokeswoman for Energy Star. And by installing it you could save up to 20% on your energy bills.

• Replacing windows and doors - Before, tax credits for windows and doors were capped at $200. Now you can get up to $1,500. But that's only if those doors and windows meet certain criteria.

• Installing air conditioners - Energy Star estimates the retail price and installation of a 5-ton central air conditioner at more than $1,700. That's hardly cheap, but these systems need to be replaced only once every 10 to 12 years, Schneider says.

• Putting on a new roof - Assuming your roof is around 15 years old, replacing it with a metal or asphalt roof that meets Energy Star requirements will help keep your home cool by reflecting the sun's heat, especially if you live in a warm location, Schneider says.

We could actually be in the market for three out of four of these. The details:

1. We need a bit of insulation added to our attic. It's been on my to-do list for years, maybe this is the incentive I need to get it done.

2. We have several windows that need to be replaced. Thought about doing it last year -- glad now that we waited.

3. Both our AC and heater are on their last legs, so we'll probably be doing this one for sure.

4. Doh! We put a new roof on two or three years ago. Dang!

How about you? Any of these look worthwhile?

And for those of you interested, here are some more ideas for saving while also going green.

Time Banking: The Next Generation of Bartering

The following is a guest post from Philip from Weakonomics, a personal finance blog focused on the intersection of Main Street and Wall Street.  According to him, he's usually sitting at the corner throwing rocks at traffic behind the fence of anonymity.

I'm looking staring at my grandfather's guitar.  He gave it to me because the arthritis in his hands keeps him from enjoying it anymore.  I know a chord or two, but in order to really pick up on it I need regular, structured, lessons.  There's a problem though, I don't want to pay for them.  I'm cheap and don't have that kind of discretionary income right now.  

Perhaps I could find a guitar instructor willing to barter.  What can I offer this person?  Dog sitting, financial planning, running buddy, (basic) cooking lessons, computer help?  That's about all I've got.  So even if I find a willing barterer, I have to be able to meet their needs as well.  My odds of finding such a symbiotic relationship aren't good, and the time I would spend finding one wouldn't justify the monetary benefit.  

But if we were both members of a time bank, this wouldn't be a problem at all.  I don't need to help the guitar instructor, I just need some time dollars to cash in.  

What is a time bank?

A time bank is a centralized reciprocal service community where everyone is of equal value.  You volunteer your time to assist with any listed need and you receive time dollars as payment.  It doesn't matter if you're a lawyer or a bus driver, you are paid the same.  Here's how I might be able to get some time dollars and get my guitar lessons.

I can search my local time bank listings for any needs I might be able to fill.  Perhaps someone is new to town and wants someone to run with and show them to good jogging spots, or maybe someone is going on vacation and needs a dog sitter, or perhaps someone wants to start a blog and needs help getting everything up and running.  These are all services that I can offer.  For the example, let's say I apply for the job to help set up a blog and the person accepts.  That weekend I go over to their house and we register a domain, sign up for hosting, and I introduce them to WordPress, themes, and plugins.  The whole process takes us three hours.  

These three hours are now my currency and kept at the time bank.  I can use them to get services I may need like moving help, drafting a will, or guitar lessons.  We all know I'm after those guitar lessons, if there is someone registered with the time bank offering guitar lessons we've got a match!  Let's say over the next few weeks I have three 1-hour lessons.  That guitar instructor would now have three time dollars and perhaps more if he/she works with other time bank members.

How do you keep track?

While earning your time dollars usually requires you to be out in the real world, the banking can be all electronic.  Some larger time banks employ administrators full-time to keep things running smoothly, in other instances a volunteer could do it, perhaps earning time dollars for the work.  

Any catches?

If one service were to be seen as more valuable than another, the risk for a monetary value being assessed arises.  Doing so sets the time bank up for a situation where services rendered must be taxed.  Nothing is perfect.  However every problem has a solution.  For time banks to work you have to assume everyone's contributions are of equal value.  One hour of work equals one time dollar.

Time banks also must have a certain scale in order to maintain some kind of sustainability.  If you only have the same 10 people involved it's possible many of them either won't have something to contribute or something to gain.  I would estimate you need at least 50 enthusiasts for the time bank to last.  But with 50 people you're going to need a tracking system, which will likely cost money.  The economics of administration may outweigh the benefits.  

How to Find A Time Bank

So where do we find time banks or learn more about starting one?  The best resource out there is timebanks.org.  There are books, articles and websites all listed here.  They also have a directory of TimeBank USA member banks and non-member time banks with contact information.  Sadly there isn't one around me, but I'm not opposed to starting one.  I really want guitar lessons.

Bad Economy Impacts Weddings -- Average Cost Now "Only" $20,400

Here's an interesting piece on weddings from Smart Money. It starts with the following facts on wedding costs:

This year couples are expected to spend an average of $20,400 on their weddings, down 6.5% from 2008, and a 29% drop from 2007's average of $28,700, according to The Wedding Report, a market research firm.

Wow. I guess the poor economy is hitting people a lot harder than I thought. How can a couple possibly have a decent wedding for only $20k? ;-)

The piece is actually about how people can save a ton of money by buying items like invitations, flowers, a wedding cake, wedding rings, and favors at stores like Costco, Walmart, and Sam's Club. In other words, instead of buying your invitations at Mark's House of Invitations where they charge an arm and a leg for pricey printing, why not get the same exact thing at Walmart for 85% less? Sounds like a good idea to me.

Here's the summary from my POV: just like shopping at warehouse clubs and other discounters can save you money on "regular" purchases like groceries, they can also save you money on "special" purchase (like a wedding or a funeral.) Pretty simple.

For some more tips for saving on weddings, check out these posts:

• Saving on Wedding Tips from a Wedding Consultant, Part 1

• Saving on Wedding Tips from a Wedding Consultant, Part 2

• Saving Money by Having a Last Minute Wedding

• True-Life Stories of Saving on a Wedding

• More Ideas for Saving on a Wedding

Inside Scoop on 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget

A couple days ago I talked about the new Wise Bread book 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget. Today I have even more information on it from a quick email interview I did with one of the authors, Linsey Knerl.

Here goes:

Can you tell me a bit about 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget? What’s the book about?

There are so many finance books on the market right now, and I think that the trend is a positive one. Our book is a friendly approach to frugal living.  It takes the best tips that have actually been used by real people (not just supposed guesses at what might work) and it places them in a context that everyone can understand.  More importantly, however, 10,001 Ways gets real with advice that will keep you within budget -- without looking like a cheapo.  You can enjoy a fun and fabulous life with a limited amount of funds, and we strive to provide very detailed ways to do so.

Who is this book written for? 

10,001 Ways is a handbook for those who are wanting to find more freedom with the money that they have, even if it's a small amount. The tips apply to all ages, social groups, and philosophies.  Basically, if you've ever wanted to get more life for your money -- this is the book for you!

If someone applies the tips in the book, how much can they expect to save? 

What I love about this book, is that the sky is the limit on how much extra money you can pocket.  Since you can ultimately save more money by being creative, we've made it easy to save anywhere from a buck to $1,000 just by doing some of the brainstorming for you.  If you wanted to knock $10 off your monthly budget right now, there's more than a few ways to do it painlessly.  If you're looking for a more substantial return, our financial experts walk you step-by-step through long-term goal planning, as well.  In any case, you'll no doubt get the cost of the book back with little effort.

What are your favorite tips from the book? 

My favorite tips are surprisingly not even my own.  They include Julie's 50 Ways to "Get More Health Care for your Dollar" (especially the tips for saving on medications) and Paul's "20 Signs that a Pink Slip is Coming" (which many of us can identify with.)  I can also really get into the fabulous decorating tips that Myscha lays out (living in small spaces, pimping your garage, and storing all those bulk-buys.)  And no one can argue that the "10 Ways to Eat for Free in College" are good tips for anyone -- even those who aren't dorm-ridden.

Is there anything else you want Free Money Finance readers to know about the book? 

This book represents years of frugal living from the most diverse group of writers on the internet.  We represent rural living, city dwellers, parents, singles, freelancers, employees, investors, creators, low-income, upper crust, and everything in-between.  I'm always impressed at how well we've come together over the years to keep community at the core of what we do.  I honestly think that this book proves that frugality is a common tie that can bind almost anyone -- in a positive, responsible, and very exciting way.

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Anyone want a FREE copy of this book? I'll be giving away one in June as part of my giveaway newsletter. Sign up now for your chance to win.

14 Ways to Save Money

Today we have an excerpt from Trent Hamm's free ebook Everything You Ever Really Needed to Know About Personal Finance On Just One Page (summary here). In the book he lists 100 ways to reduce your spending and save more money. I've selected 14 of those tips and listed them below, along with my comments for each. Enjoy.

3. Turn a critical eye to your “collections.” Most people collect something - what do you collect? Is it something that consistently brings you joy? Or is it something that you just do out of habit at this point? Does the collection itself have value? Could you perhaps “trim the fat” from this collection by getting rid of duplicates or getting rid of the items you no longer use? Also, could you perhaps cut down on your spending on that hobby? Focus on trimming the things you don't feel strongly about - if you dig into things that bother you, you're going to eventually relapse.

Collections can either be money makers (coins or stamps) or money drains, but most likely they are the latter. I had several collections when I was younger and they all cost me in both time and energy. But they were fun and I never got carried away with them. That said, I've seen people get totally obsessed and spend a fortune on various collections that would never have much value and that they'd tire of soon.

5. Make your own gifts instead of buying stuff from the store. You can make food mixes, candles, bread, cookies, soap, and all kinds of other things at home quite easily and inexpensively. These make spectacular gifts for others because they involve your homemade touch, plus quite often they're consumable, meaning they don't wind up filling someone's closet with junk. Even better - include a personal handwritten note with the gift. This will make it even more special than anything you could possibly buy down at the mall, plus it saves you money.

We do this a lot with cards. The kids make birthday and special occasion cards that we send to family members, and we include a letter from us as well. With cards at $4 a pop or so, this can save a ton of money throughout a year.

12. Clean out your closet. Go through your closets and try to get rid of some of the stuff in there. You can have a yard sale with it, take it to a consignment shop, or even donate it for the tax deduction - all of which turn old stuff you don't want to use any more into money in your pocket. Not only that, it's often a psychological load off your mind to clean out your closets.

We do this in the spring and fall, taking out the stuff we didn't wear during the last season. Then we make a donation to the Salvation Army as much of our stuff is still in good shape. That said, we are giving away less and less as the years wear on since we're getting better at not buying new stuff and simply wearing the older items until they wear out.

13. Buy games that have a lot of replay value - and don't acquire new ones until you've mastered what you have. My video game buying habits have changed quite a bit since my “game of the week” days. Now, I focus on games that can be played over and over and over again, and I focus on mastering the games that I buy. Good targets include puzzle games and long, involved quest games - they maximize the value of your gaming dollar.

We have about 15 video games in our collection. We play one of them (FIFA09) about 80% of the time. Funny, it was one we got for free from a friend. Too bad we didn't find it sooner. ;-)

36. Give a gift of a service instead of an item. For new parents, give an evening of babysitting as a gift. If you know pet owners, offer to take care of their pets when they travel. Offer up some lawn care as a gift to a new homeowner. These are always spectacular gifts for anyone - I know that, as a parent of a toddler and an infant, I love receiving a babysitting gift, probably more than any “stuff” I might receive.

Great, great idea! We've traded babysitting nights with others (informally), but never given a night as a gift.

39. Reevaluate the stuff in the rooms in your house. Go into a room and go through every single item in it. Do you really need that item? Are you happy that it's there, or would you be just fine if it were not? If you can find stuff to get rid of, get rid of it - it just creates clutter and it might have some value to others. You also improve the perceived value of your house - and you're likely to get a lot of cleaning done in the process. It's a frugal win-win-win.

Similar to tip #12, but this time with general items. We don't have much extra stuff, but I'm sure even we could find some things that need to go.

43. Go for reliability and fuel efficiency when buying a car. A reliable and fuel efficient car will save you thousands over the long haul. Let's say you drive a vehicle for 80,000 miles. If you choose a 25 miles per gallon car over a 15 miles per gallon car, you save 2,133 gallons of gas. At $3 a gallon, that's $6,400 in savings right there. Reliability can pay the same dividends. Do the research - it will pay off for you.

I go for reliability (thank you, Consumer Reports, you've never let me down) as well as function. In my car, we wanted four-wheel drive for those rough Michigan winters. So we got a small SUV that was very reliable. For my wife's car, she wanted something smaller, so we got a very reliable car with great fuel efficiency. Oh, and we tend to keep our cars for several years -- well past 80k miles.

54. Learn how to dress minimally. Buy clothes that mix and match well and you'll not need nearly as many clothes. If you have five pants, seven shirts, and seven ties that all go together, you have almost an endless wardrobe right there just by mixing and matching. This is exactly what I do in
order to minimize clothes buying and still look professional - I just mix and remix what I wear by using utilitarian clothes options to
begin with.

Ha! I'm the king of this! ;-)

59. Look for a cheaper place to live. The cost of living in Iowa is surprisingly low, enough so that I'm quite happy to give up the cultural opportunities of other places to enjoy Iowa all year around. When I want to enjoy the cultural opportunities of another place, I'll travel there - after all, I can afford it. Take a serious look about moving to a less expensive area - if you can find work there, then a move can definitely put you in better financial shape.

Oh no, now he's treading on thin ice...

70. Pack food before you go on a road trip. Have everyone pack a sack lunch for the trip. That way, instead of stopping in the middle of the trip, driving around looking for a place to eat, spending a bunch of time there, and then paying a hefty bill, you can just eat on the road or, better yet, stop at a nice park and stretch for a bit. Plus, you'll save a lot of money and a fair amount of time this way.

My wife does this when we take long car trips and we save a fortune on snacks. We still stop for meals along the way (for fun, it is a vacation after all), but at least we don't need to stop for both food AND snacks.

74. Hit the library - hard. Don't look at a library as just a place to get old books. Look at it as a free place to do all sorts of things. I've used it to learn a foreign language, meet people, use the Internet anonymously, check out movies and CDs, grab local free newspapers, and keep up on community events. Best of all, it doesn't cost a dime.

We get books, DVDs, magazines, videos, etc. from the library. It's not really free since we do pay taxes for it, but I get what he's saying (and agree with it 100%). Why spend hundreds on books and so on when you can get them all at the library? And with today's technology, I can order from any library in our system and have a book sent to my library. Very cool and very useful.

83. Drive a different route to work. This is an especially powerful tip if you find yourself “automatically” stopping for something on the way into work or the way home. Get rid of that constant drain by selecting a different route that doesn't go by the temptation, even if the new route is a bit longer. You'll still be time ahead (because you're not stopping) and you'll definitely be money ahead.

I don't stop for extras on my way to work, but I like this tip simply because it's a cheap way to add some spice to life. Recently, an intersection I use to go to work has been undergoing some construction, and I've been forced to take a different route. It takes me about two minutes longer than my regular way, but it's been "fun" to "explore" a bit when driving to work. (I know, it doesn't take much to please me. Just give me a box and some rocks for Christmas and I'll be fine.) ;-)

85. Don't overspend on hygiene products. For most people, inexpensive hygiene products do the trick - for example, I just buy whichever toothpaste is the cheapest, and the same goes with deodorant and the like. The key is to use this stuff regularly and consistently - bathe daily, keep yourself clean, and you'll be just fine. No need to buy a $40 facial scrub if you actually scrub your face properly.

We hardly ever buy personal hygiene products at a grocery store. We buy at Walmart, Costco, or one of the drugstores on the major deals they offer, and on many items we buy the generic brand. Doing this saves a TON of money.

97. Connect your entertainment center and/or computer setup to a true smart power strip. A device like the SmartStrip LCG4 basically cuts power to all devices on the strip depending on the status of the first item on the strip. So, if you have your workstation hooked up to this, every time you power down your workstation, your monitor powers down, your printer powers down, your scanner powers down, and so on. You can do the same thing with your entertainment console - when you turn off the television, the cable/satellite box also goes off, as does the video game console, the VCR, the DVD player, and so on. This can save you a lot of electricity and significantly trim your power bill.

Need to do this. Good tip IMO.

Well, that's it for my coverage of this free ebook. If you want a copy for yourself, download it here.

16 Great Money Saving Tips

If you're interested in saving money, you'll love the new book 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget. It's from the writer's at Wise Bread, one of the members of the Money Tips Network. I didn't write any of the book, but Free Money Finance is listed as a reference in the back with the following recommendation:

[Free Money Finance] has one of the best background stories ever: "Through the years, I've done the things I've talked about here at Free Money Finance -- spent less than I've earned, paid off all my debt, managed my career, invested regularly and the like. During that time my net worth has grown and grown, allowing my family to be in the upper percentages of wealth in the U.S. I'm not writing about topics I've read about one time and regurgitated with opinions based on nothing -- I have lived these topics, applied these principles, and know what works and what doesn't." Can you resist following this blog after reading that description?

With that recommendation, can I resist recommending this book? ;-)

I asked the authors to provide some money saving tips to give my readers a feel for what they'll find in the book, and they sent me these 16 great money saving tips (along with the pages in the book each tip comes from). Enjoy!

BTW, I will be giving away a free copy of this book (in addition to my box of books and a few other items) in my June giveaway newsletter. Sign up now if you want a chance to win.

Cell phone discounts with work/school email (p. 153)

Cell phone companies are pretty good at sharing things like “rollover minutes” and “family plans,” but there is one secret savings opportunity that they won’t tell you about upfront.  It involves using a work or school email address, so if you attend a college or work for a large company, you may be eligible!

Cell providers are always making deals with large companies.  In fact, they might have a corporate contract with your company already (or your brother’s company, or your kid’s company.)  As long as you have a work-related email address, you could possibly save up to 25% on the cost of their traditional plans as a “member” of the discounted group.  Sound good?  It also works for colleges.

Many college email addresses are easy to identify (they usually end in “.edu” and contain the college’s name.)  If your college has a deal worked out with a cell phone provider, you would automatically qualify by using the school address.  It’s important that you ask upfront for any special deals, and many cellular websites will let you get a price quote instantly, based on the email address you provide.  Remember, these deals are usually unadvertised, so you may have to do a little digging to see what you qualify for!

Hiding money in a tampon box (p. 220)

“Stashing cash” is a common theme in today’s economic climate, and as people pull their funds from the stock market and into their sock drawer, the issue of security will eventually come up.  And while the simple method of storing cold, hard cash under a mattress has its appeal, there is obviously a better way to do it.  Before you get tempted to spring for that high-tech, Fort Knox-inspired safe, consider using everyday household items to camouflage your investment.  These cheap tricks have worked for countless others, and they could just as easily work for you!  (I’ll never tell you which I might be using to hide my money!)

Squirrel away your money in a tampon box, and you’re guaranteed that few people will hassle with it.  Recently mentioned on the Walletpop website as a tip for ages, it instantly left me curious.  The secret to its success is to leave a little of the “product” inside the box to keep things looking authentic.  You’ll be all set to secure your cash to the inside of the packaging, where pesky thieves are sure to never look.  (Women can breathe easy that their man won’t be nosing around anytime soon, either.)

Mystery shopping (p. 317)

Earning cash is always a subject of high interest, and what better way to make some money than mystery shopping! Jobs range from a few dollars to hundreds, and usually require very little education and no background in retail. Before you get started (or start to think that mystery shopping is “easy cash”), there are a few basic truths that need to be learned.

A reputable mystery shopping company will have already aligned with the MSPA (Mystery Shopping Providers Association) and won’t ask you to pay any money to look at job listings.  Once you’ve accepted your first assignment, however, it is your responsibility to cough up the cash to buy whatever product or service you’ll need to evaluate the shopping experience.  Reimbursement of your purchase can take months, and is dependent on your eye to detail and promptness in turning out reports.  Mystery shopping takes cash to make it, so be sure you can fit it into your budget!

Don’t expect to get rich off of your new part-time job.  After the expenses of driving to your assignment and paying for any incidentals, a beginning shopper may find themselves making a little more than $7-15 dollars an hour for your time.  Years of consistently exceeding the expectations of the mystery shopping companies can yield some unique opportunities, however. Hotels, fine dining, and even international travel trips all use mystery shoppers to keep their level of service high!

How to sound more confident in one simple step (p. 183)

Most of us don’t need years of personal coaching to get the confidence we need to engage an audience.  In fact, many of us were given the gift of assurance at birth!  Believe it or not, your name is the key to commanding respect and earning loyalty, but how you present it makes all the difference.

Your formal introduction to others doesn’t have to flashy or gimmicky.  Instead of using that 5-minute elevator pitch, just introduce yourself by name.  By using the right voice inflection and an appropriate tone, you can sound confident with no extra skills required.  (Try practicing it a few times before using it out in the world.  The key is to “own” your name, saying it as a statement, and not a question.)  Try just saying, “Hi, my name is ….,” without any additional explanation. Easy, huh?

The payout from this rather easily-acquired talent is endless:  better jobs, more friends, and a free pass to new opportunities. Believing in yourself is an investment you can literally take to the bank!

Secrets of sweepstakes winners (p. 319)

Sweepstakes enthusiasts (or sweepers) are a motivated bunch who like to enter every online, walk-in, and telephone contest promotion in hopes of winning big!  My personal winnings include trips, electronics, and gift cards, but prizes can vary from cheap trinkets to new houses! Things have really changed since the days of mail-in only entry, but that just means that anyone with an internet connection can get in on the fun!

The best way to level the playing field and increase your chances of winning will be to find a comprehensive website that both lists and tracks your entries.  www.Online-sweepstakes.com and www.Sweepsadvantage.com are two favorites of mine, and with blogs taking over the world-wide-web, you’ll also find giveaway directories dedicated just to these opportunities.  Another vital tool to getting your entries done quickly is to download a free form filler (Roboform works best), and use the program to “auto-fill” all your contact information.

Once you’ve decided that sweeping is your thing, you’ll need to be consistent and persistent to see the fruits of your labor.  It can take from 6 months to a year before you see any winning notifications from the giveaways you enter, and the more you enter, the better your chances of winning!

Corner pantry (p. 128)

A great way to create space in small quarters.  You can build one cheaply by stretching a rod or tension cable across a corner in any room, and hanging a long curtain to create the division.   Stop by Good Will to pick up an old shelf or build one yourself with a couple of planks.  Place the shelf behind the curtain and you’ve just created instant storage space out of a usually ignored space.  The curtain setup allows you to get things in and out quickly without bothering with a cabinet door.

This is especially great for apartment dwellers who can easily uninstall the “pantry” when they move.  For a whimsical touch, go for plastic curtains with rubber duckies and amuse your guests.

Get excited about percentage rate savings (p. 134)

If you could save $200 on your next purchase of window coverings would you --  especially if those same window coverings normally cost $1200 or more?  Scoffing at savings this significant just wouldn’t make sense, and yet many of us continue to do so with our day-to-day, incidental purchases.

Saving that same 10% on a razor or a box of cereal may not seem like much savings at all, but it still translates into the same percentage off as our first example of the window coverings.  You wouldn’t turn down a 10% return on a savings account, so why disregard it as insignificant for your groceries?

When you add up all of your small purchases, it really does count for something.  When you start paying attention to what you buy and remember that it’s the same percentage rate savings as your larger purchases (or sometimes better), you can really get behind those small actions that help get you there.  A penny saved really is a penny earned!

Willing workers on organic farms (p. 56)

Looking to see the world but can barely swing the cost of your passport?  There may be a perfect opportunity to travel as a farmer!  Even if you don’t have any horticulture experience, Willing Workers on Organic Farms (www.wwoofinternational.org) may have an open position for you.

As a volunteer for an organic farm in a foreign country, you can experience fresh air, organic food, and giving back to a local community abroad.  What better way to see how food is grown, harvested, and prepared than by doing it yourself?  Getting to and from the farm will be your responsibility (including cost for travel and supplies), but once you get there, room and board is provided in exchange for your sweat equity.

A small annual membership does apply to anyone who wants access to the program and its list of participating organic farms.  If you love gardening, adore sustainable living, and are destined for adventure, I see some agriculture in your future!  (And can you imagine how fit you’ll be when it’s all over with?)

Relax your jaw (p. 95)

Looking for a free way to feel like a million bucks?  It may help to keep things loose, especially when it involves your facial muscles!  Your jaw muscles are similar to your hamstrings, meaning that they are connected to many other things in your body.  Tense them too often or too long, and you’ll have a whole world of hurt ahead of you.

Learning to relax your jaw, on the other hand, can keep everything else in line (especially our neck and shoulders.)  To see how well you relax, try letting your jaw go slack (not gaping open) with your tongue resting naturally on the bottom of your mouth.  This advice works so well, doctors are encouraging Moms-to-be to use the tip during labor to help them relax, too!

The next time you start to feel a little uptight and achy in your upper extremities, give the jaw-relaxing technique a try.  It’s free and effective (our two favorite kinds of self-care), and with only a few minutes invested from you a day, there’s no reason you can’t do it regularly.
 
Sex up the travel mug (p. 67)

Many people buy coffee because they don't want to look cheap at Starbucks.  With a fancy travel mug, you can tell people that you're such a coffee connoisseur that you'll only drink gourmet coffee you make from home.  What’s the trick to pulling off this expensive “look?” 

Steel-brushed travel mugs are always in style, giving your coffee a fashionable home, and giving you a much-needed excuse to ditch the Styrofoam and cardboard in lieu of something more sustainable.  Not only are you reducing your carbon footprint, but you’re motivating yourself to abandon the overpriced latte and get your goods at home.  (Invest in some mid-range gourmet ingredients: syrups, sprinkles, and creams.  They are available most anywhere fresh ground coffee is served, and the extra touch will up the oomph in your already envy-inducing beverage presentation.) With the right mug, a few easy-to-find ingredients, and an attitude of confidence, you can bring most any brew out on the town, and look good doing it!  (Your coffee will also stay hotter for much longer, giving you more time to sip your swill in style.)

Save money by taking a vacation (p. 59)

Most frugalists would swear by the thinking that taking a vacation costs money.  (In fact, anyone with a budget usually adds to their expenses in anticipation of the occasion.)   What if you could take a vacation that not only gave you a much-needed break, but also paid you to stay home.  That’s right… you can save money by skipping work.  Here’s how:

Assuming that you have paid vacation time, you can stay home from your 9-5 and still collect your regular paycheck.  In addition to the money you’d be making anyway, you’ll also be saving some considerable expenses, including commute costs, dry-cleaning, lunches with co-workers, parking fees, and tolls.  If you even incur $60 in these miscellaneous charges during the course of a regular work week, you’ve saved it by taking the time off.

If that weren’t motivation enough to use up that forgotten vacation time, you can also use it to earn more money on top of your salary, if you’re so inclined.  Odd jobs, moonlighting, or starting that small business are all great uses for that 1- 2 week escape from the ordinary.  Just 10 additional freelance hours could net you enough money to store up a very small emergency savings plan.

Even if you decide to use your time away to do absolutely nothing, there is a value that goes beyond anything that would be printed on your paycheck.  Taking time to relax, reevaluate, and refresh are priceless.  What are you waiting for?

Reinforce hems (p. 67)

Just because you didn’t spend all that much on an article of clothing, doesn’t mean that you can’t treat it like a million bucks.  In addition to helping your clothes last longer, you’ll feel good knowing that you won’t be sucking it up while you try on clothes in a badly lit dressing room anytime soon.  What’s one of the best ways to keep clothes around for a long time?  Reinforce the hem.  Clueless about sewing?  We’ve got you covered:

Most normal sewing machines (even the cheapo ones) have a simple stitch setting that lets you go in a straight line.  Simply trace the existing stitch on the hem of your skirts, pants, and even underwear to keep them staying fray-free for many years. You give your older garb a new lease on life by snipping off any ragged shirt sleeves or pant bottoms and sewing a new hem.  It’s usually safe to remove a half-inch without causing any fashion faux-pas. (and the cost to repair instead of replace?  Zero dollars.)  Practice makes perfect, and even if you’ve never touched a needle or a thread, you’ll be up to the challenge of reinforcing and repairing in no time. 

Save money on college degrees by going off season (p. 181)

Remember the good ol’ days, when you could sleep in until noon and still make it to college classes on time?  Well, that may be great for your social life, but there’s another way to do college that’s way more wallet-friendly.  You could actually save up to 50% on the cost of tuition by being more flexible with your schedule. 

Many colleges (especially community, other non-traditional or accelerated learning environments) will give huge discounts to students who enroll in “off peak” classes.  These are usually class times with an early start, very late evening meetings, or that take place during the holidays.  (Colleges still have to pay to keep the lights on, and they’re willing to reward you for your eagerness to accommodate.)

Ask your admissions office if they offer any “reduced” fees on these less-popular time slots, and be prepared to put together a hodge-podge schedule to get the cheapest education possible.  Once you have confirmation that these classes will be discounted, enroll early to ensure your spot.  (Now all you need is to get 50% off those textbooks!)

Decanters (p. 144)

Being frugal can be a curse (especially if a look-see around your apartment shows a lack of style or effort).  Fortunately, there are some very affordable ways to live lavishly (or at least look like it).  Enter the decanter… a fabulous container with a dime store price.

Friends and family don’t have to know what you didn’t pay for that bottle of wine, and with many $2 house wines tasting as good as the high-end varieties, why bother?  The decanter can help bridge the gap between keeping your cheapskate tendencies under wraps and building a welcoming table setting for your choosey guests.  Get a cut glass or fine crystal decanter and let the games begin:  just pour your budget booze right in.  No questions asked!  (Tip: Many decanters can be sold as part of a glass set at thrift stores and glassware outlets.  Opt for a mismatched set, and claim it’s part of your “eclectic” decorating style.)  Be sure to place your decanters near other beautiful pieces, like candles, fancy table runners, or a well-placed bowl of fruit.

Unclaimed property (p. 315)

Did you know that you could have anywhere from a few dollars to thousands in assets just waiting for you to claim it?  The items can vary (ranging from cash, to land, to an old certificate of deposit).  While loud TV commercial and flashy online banner ads will all offer to find this magical unclaimed property for you (and for a small fee), the truth is, you can do it yourself.  For free!

Most state treasurer’s offices have their own website, with a searchable directory of all persons owning unclaimed property.  This is a rather time-consuming method of finding property, however, especially if you’ve lived in various states.  Websites such as Missingmoney.com and Unclaimed.org (both maintained by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA), can save a little time by giving you a one-stop shop for all the state departments and a combination search tool for many states at once.

When you’ve found your treasure, it’s usually easy to claim.  A simple form and some identification is all that most states need to send your property to you.  (Note:  Be sure that you are always dealing directly with the state treasurer or an assigned party on their behalf.  You should never be asked to pay money to get what’s rightfully yours.)

If you don’t find that you have any unclaimed property, you can still benefit!  Many state treasury departments sell the goods that have sat unclaimed for too long (putting aside the proceeds in case of a later claim), and you might get a great buy for these treasures on Ebay.

Brown bag theater (p. 14)

If your shrinking grocery budget has left no room for eating out at restaurants with co-workers, don’t despair!  Chances are, you are just one of many facing similar concerns.  This new twist on the classic “brown bag” lunch can take your break room experience to a whole new level!

Arrange your tables and chairs around the TV in the break room – if yours doesn’t have one, work it out to where you can place a small portable television temporarily during the lunch hour.  Pick a common “lunch hour” that is convenient for most of the employees, and pick a show to watch together while you dine!  You can take turns picking your show, and if live TV options are limited (due to bad reception or unworthy programming), go ahead and watch a single episode from a DVD of your favorite TV season.  (TVs with DVD players in the unit are only slightly more expensive than the TV alone, or agree to bring in a stand-alone DVD player for your special event.)

Your cinematic feature can change every so often, giving everyone a chance to view something funny, touching, or exciting on their lunch break.  Who knows?  Maybe brown-bagging it will become the next best “thing” at your office!

Maybe the Latte Factor is Now Less of a Factor?

Personal finance author David Bach made the "latte factor" an almost ubiquitous term in the money management community. His idea was that if you cut out lattes (or other small amounts of spending) on a daily basis that you could save a boatload of money, invest it, and grow rich (or at least better off.) But that was back when lattes were $5 a pop and people were drinking two or three a day. Now many people have cut down to one a day (or even brewing their own). In addition, the major makers of specialty coffees are cutting prices. The details:

[McDonald's] ads portray the drinks as the antidote to a miserable day and aim to get consumers to see the beverages as affordable, quality alternatives to lattes at more gourmet chains like Starbucks Corp.

Just two days earlier, Starbucks ran — on a full page in the Sunday New York Times — the first ad of its new campaign, which positions its drinks as higher in quality than the competition and less pricey than consumers might expect. The company has been trying to appeal more to value-conscious consumers to bring sales back up and announced Tuesday it will sell grande iced coffees for $1.95 — 25 cents to 45 cents less than usual. Most of the chain’s prices vary by location, but all company-owned stores will sell grande iced coffees for $1.95 through June 29.

Dunkin’ Donuts said Monday its New York, New Jersey and Connecticut locations are rolling back latte prices about 15 percent. Flavors like vanilla or hazelnut can be added at no extra charge, the company said.

Ok, so when coffees were $5 and a person bought three a day, cutting them out saved $15 a day or $5,475 a year (not that any of my readers ever spent that much.) That's a HUGE amount of money! Imagine what $5k per year over 30 years could do for someone's net worth!

But now that there are lower priced alternatives and people aren't buying as many, I'm thinking that the "latte factor" is no longer the powerhouse money saving tip it used to be. Anyone agree or disagree?

BTW, I do agree that small spending can be a source of great savings, adding up to quite a bit of money if you reign it in. Then again, you don't have to save every penny you make. Enjoy life a bit! Just make sure you're keeping good control over your money and doing the basics, and you'll build a great net worth over time.

How to Ask Your Doctor, Hospital, or Dentist for a Discount

The following is a guest post from HealthHarbor, a site dedicated to helping people become smarter consumers of healthcare, with content, tools, and an online community.

The savvy consumer knows that everything is negotiable.  Well, perhaps not taxes, but everything else.  Medical bills are no exception, whether they are from a doctor’s office, hospital, clinic, dentist, or other provider.  Medical providers run their business in a way that assumes discounting and negotiation will be commonplace, although the discounts are typically given to insurers instead of patients.  They often receive a fraction of the total charges – anywhere from 50% to 80% is common – from the large insurers, and much less from the government payers.  As with any other negotiation, if you seek a win-win in good faith, there is a high likelihood that you will be able to find a discount on your healthcare bill.  Here are a few things to keep in mind as you do.

• Be Proactive:  As with anything else, your leverage is highest when a provider knows that you may go elsewhere for a service if the price isn’t right.  Negotiating up-front, even before you schedule an appointment, will allow you to lock in a better price on a service and avoid the sticker shock later on.  Two caveats, though:  First, they may ask for payment up front in return for the discount they give you.  Second, they will likely want a clause saying that if there are complications outside of their control, they can revisit the pricing.  Both requests are pretty fair.

• Do Some Research:  Providers’ margins are obviously driven by a combination of the volume of patients they see, and the level of reimbursement they negotiate.  If you know that volumes have dried up and your provider is looking to fill his schedule, you are in a strong position.  Likewise, if you know that a typical provider discount to the insurer is, say, 30% (which can easily be found on an Explanation of Benefits or EOB form), you have a good starting point.  In general, you should be able to score a discount of 10 – 30%, but potentially more based on your market.

• Know Which Services Are More Likely to be Discounted:  Services that are commoditized – those which are essentially the same wherever you go, are more likely to be ripe for discounts.  A dental cleaning, routine eye exam, or MRI are all pretty much the same wherever you go.  These services offer a great opportunity to price shop.  On the other hand, having a year-long relationship with an internist to lower your blood pressure, or being treated for a more serious illness are likely to be difficulty to price easily and less likely to offer good discounts.

In short, add medical services to the list of things you can haggle on.  Don’t forget about quality – find a provider you trust and who has a good track record – but know that asking for discounts with them is never off-limits.

Entertainment Book Savings Update

As of my last update, my Entertainment Book had saved me $52.61. Here are the savings I've racked up since then using it:

• Free Wendy's Frosty - saved $0.99
• Buy one get one free dinner (nice date night with my wife) - saved $11.99
• Two free carousel rides at our local museum - saved $2
• Grocery savings at our local store - saved $5

That brings my total savings to $72.59 after two months of use. Not bad at all.

Three of the offers above were "no brainer" offers (I detailed these in How to Save Money Using an Entertainment Book). The Frosty was totally free, the carousel rides were free (and we were at the museum anyway -- we're members), and the $5 off on groceries was easy free money (all we had to do was buy $50 worth of groceries and we're usually well over that.) The other coupon allowed me and my wife to go to a favorite restaurant that we hadn't been to for a year or so -- and to do so quite cheaply!!!

I'll keep you posted now and then on how the savings keep going. But for now, I'm well ahead of what I would have paid for the book (if they hadn't sent me a free one, that is.) :-)

How to Afford Retirement: Move to a Foreign Country

In addition to moving from one American city to another (either now or at retirement) to save money, I've also suggested that some people may want to consider moving to a foreign country in order to be able to afford retirement. For some background on what I've said, see these posts:

• Can't Afford Retirement? Move to Mexico

• The Best Foreign Country for Retirees

• Best Financial Tips from FMF Readers, Part 7: Retire Overseas

• Comments: Best Financial Tips from FMF Readers, Part 7: Retire Overseas

• Comments: Best Financial Tips from FMF Readers, Part 7: Retire Overseas, Part 2

• Save Money: Retire in Panama

• Retire in Style South of the Border

• The World’s Best-Kept Retirement and Investment Secret

Admittedly, there are challenges in moving to a foreign land. However, US News brings up the idea (again) of retiring in a foreign land saying:

• “In Nicaragua or Ecuador, you can live on somewhere between $18,000 and $25,000 a year.”

• “If you’re going to go to Costa Rica or Panama, you’re not going to be happy with much less than $30,000 a year.”

No matter which of these you choose, you're going to spend a LOT less than retiring here in America.

They then list eight tips for making the move to a foreign land:

• Take a test drive. Before making any major purchases, rent and spend a few months in the country.

• Practice your foreign accent. It's no surprise that some retirees gravitate to foreign countries with large English-speaking communities. “I recommend that anyone who wants to go to a foreign county makes sure they go to place where there's a big English-speaking enclave, so [there is] a support group.”

• Streamline your standard of living. Some Americans will find that they can afford luxuries in other countries that they couldn't in the United States. But if your objective is to make your nest egg last longer, don’t go overboard with luxuries.

• Embrace the relaxed pace. It's relatively easy to open a bank account or call a plumber in the United States. But that's not always so in many parts of the world. “A main misconception is that life is going to go as smoothly as it does in the U.S.,” says Golson. “Often, life in these countries is more like a Department of Motor Vehicles [experience] with lines and inefficiencies.” Adjusting to a more relaxed pace may take some adapting.

• Get health coverage. Generally, Medicare doesn't cover health services outside the United States (although the hospital insurance part of Medicare is available to most Americans who return to the States.) So you'll need to hunt for an insurance policy. Luckily, quality health care is typically much more affordable outside the United States.

• Consider taxes. Some foreign governments offer tax perks to retirees.

• Maintain several bank accounts. Banking abroad presents a unique set of challenges when your Social Security payments, pension, and investment income are in U.S. dollars. “It’s wise to keep your money in dollars,” says Golson. But you don't want to get hit with currency exchange fees and ATM withdrawal charges every time you need some cash. It’s also a good idea to set up a local account for everyday expenses.

• Keep in touch on the cheap. A common drawback of moving abroad is watching your grandchildren grow up through photographs. Fortunately, E-mail and Internet phone services make it easier and more affordable than ever to keep in touch with friends and relatives still in the United States.

Here's my take on these issues:

• By all means, don't pack up everything and move to a new place sight unseen -- or even with a week (or two) on a vacation as a guide. Move down for a decent amount of time (call it an extended vacation if you like) to see if you really like it. If you don't, you could try another location in the same country or a different country altogether.

• Unless I knew the language VERY well, I'd move to a place where almost everyone (if not everyone) spoke English.

• Another option, if you want a higher-standard-of-living retirement, move to a foreign country. You can spend what you would have spent here and instead of "getting by" you'll be "living it up!"

• Going at a sloooooow pace would probably be the hardest part for me. Throw "service" and "speed" out the window.

• Fortunately, if you move to a foreign country you may be in the best spot for healthcare from both a cost and quality standpoint as more and more people are traveling overseas for medical procedures.

• Not sure about the tax implications of here versus there. I'd need to do a bit more research in that area to see the real trade-offs.

• Good idea on the bank account suggestion. Besides, it may offer another level of safety for your finances.

• One word: Skype. Besides, just because you're living in a foreign country doesn't mean you're farther away from family. If you live in New York and your family is in Arizona, a move to Mexico will put you CLOSER to them.

Of course moving to a foreign land is fraught with many issues and trade-offs that many Americans might not be willing to make. But with the market where it is and people's retirement accounts taking a hit, many people will need all the creative retirement funding ideas they can muster. This is simply one to consider.

Another Example of How a Knowledgeable and Fair Sales Person Can Save You Money

We take our cars to a local Goodyear shop for oil changes. They are cheap, accept competitor's coupons (which I get from my Entertainment Book), and since almost anyone can change oil without messing it up, it's a good arrangement for us. They also sell tires (of course) and do other "repair work", whatever that may be.

Almost every time we go there, they find something on my car that "needs work." It's usually in the $75 to $120 price range, but it's a regular occurrence. I think it's part of their company strategy -- to do the basic work and then find more work that may or may not be needed so they can earn some extra money. As a result, I take everything they say with a HUGE grain of salt and don't ever simply go with their recommendation. Besides, would I really want any car work done by a tire shop?

The last time we took my car in, they called me to say my car was ready, but that the power steering fluid was "dirty" and needed to be changed. It would be $90 for them to do it. Would I like them to proceed? I said "no", and I went to get the car. When I picked it up, they said I really needed to get that fluid changed, and I told them I'd take care of it.

Around the same time, I started getting a rattling under my hood. I knew what it was immediately -- the heat shield (to what, I don't know) was loose and needed to be secured. I had this happen one time ago (about 40k miles ago), so I called my dealership and set an appointment to come in. While there getting my heat shield fixed, I asked the head mechanic to check the power steering fluid because I had been told it was "dirty." He gave me a strange look when I mentioned it, but said he'd check it.

When he came back to tell me that the heat shield was fixed, he said the power steering fluid was fine. He said that some dirt is normal and that he had 40,000 more miles on his car (same make and model as mine) and his was ok. He didn't think I'd ever have a problem with it.

So here's another example of how a knowledgeable and fair sales person can save you money. He could have easily said I needed it changed (and he would have probably charged me more than $90.) But he was honest and told me the truth. As such, whenever I need anything done to my car in the future, I'll give my dealership a call. They don't have the best prices (they're among the most expensive options), but they have an area where I can get other things done (I wrote and posted my Earth Day post from there), they send me coupons (which I keep) to help on the price, and, above all, they're honest. I can trust them to tell me when something isn't wrong as well when it is. And that's a quality worth paying for and rewarding in my book.

Besides, the way I look at it, I already kinda owe them $90. ;-)

Can You Save Money on Food by Gardening?

The Wall Street Journal asks how much can a garden save you? Or at least that’s the question they start with. But after they start considering the potential costs associated with a garden -- not just the food savings -- the question became, "can you save money on food by gardening?" Here's their answer:

Can you still save money with a garden? Absolutely.

The trick is keeping your capital costs down. Lori Bushway of Cornell University's Department of Horticulture says a garden can be as simple as digging up a few square feet of your lawn and sprinkling lettuce seeds in the dirt.

"You can easily triple your investment," she says. That's better than any of my mutual funds have done lately.

Ha! That's better than my mutual funds have done the past 20 years at this point! ;-)

So what sort of costs can "break the bank" in this equation? Some I can think of:

• Power equipment like a rotor-tiller

• Irrigation systems

• Raised beds or other "support" structures

• Tools, wheel barrows, etc.

• Specialized soil/soil amendments

• Fertilizers and pesticides

We don't have a vegetable garden, though we've thought of planting one for a few years. We do have a rose garden that's a hobby (no costs savings), and the good thing about it is that the annual cost is low since the main expense, the bushes, come back year after year (even after the rough winters we have -- I've learned how to bed them down properly for the cold season.)

Best option of all, we have a good friend that has a garden, he ALWAYS has more than enough vegetables left over, and he shares. ;-)

Yes, Warehouse Clubs Really Can Save You Money

There's been a lot of talk lately about warehouse clubs and their ability to save you money. I thought I'd profile a few of the pieces written on the issue and offer my opinion as well.

We'll start with a piece I did titled How to Save Money on Grocery Purchases. It was from some research done by Consumer Reports that ranked four types of food shoppers. The second best shopper (lowest cost) was warehouse clubs with "store-brand shopper" coming in first. As I suggested, "store-brand shopper in a warehouse club" would probably have done even better. ;-)

On the other hand, Sound Mind Investing wasn't so sure that warehouse clubs really saved people money. Why? Because clubs make people buy in larger quantities than what they might buy in normally, spending money on an extra box of this, and extra piece of that, and so on that they really don't need or want. So they actually went to Sam's Club as well as two grocery stores (Kroger and Mejier) and compared the costs on 175 items. In the end, they found that shopping at club stores was cheaper. The summary:

After crunching the numbers, I found that a great majority of the items were indeed cheaper at Sam's. On average, the savings amounted to 31%, more than enough to easily offset the $35-45 annual membership fee.

To see if there were patterns to where the savings would be found, I broke down the data into categories: baby, can goods, cereal/bread, cooking/baking, dairy, frozen, health/hygiene, household (cleansers, paper and plastic products, etc.), snacks, soup/sauce, and other (peanut butter, stuffing, salad dressing, etc.). The big winners: cereal/bread, cooking/baking, snacks, and other averaged nearly 40% savings. Still not impressed? Buy some raisins, syrup, bottled water, and sandwich bags and you can save an average of 66%.

Finally, The Simple Dollar offered some thoughts on how to tell whether or not a warehouse club is worth its cost to you. Trent concludes with these thoughts:

The real trick with warehouse clubs is to know how to focus on the stuff you’ll actually use in good time and avoid the stuff you don’t actually use in large quantity. When we shop there, we basically only buy things we know we will consume in their entirety in the near future (i.e., a bottle of wine) or we use so consistently that we’ll get through it pretty quickly (i.e., dishwashing detergent).

If you don’t stick to a similar policy, you’ll end up with a cupboard full of unusable stuff - and that’s a huge waste of money. Focus on the staples, though, and warehouse clubs can likely save you quite a few dollars.

I agree 100%. Just like any other place you shop, you need to buy only what you want/need/will use, otherwise a warehouse club will be a waste of money for you. Overall, the best option for saving is to shop at a few different stores, taking advantages of sales, coupons, store discounts, rebates (ugh!), quantity discounts, store brands, and any other savings you can to pay the least amount you can. Of course, even this method this has a limit -- you can probably save the most money by shopping at 10 different stores, but who has the time to do that? If you simply pick a handful of places to shop and you buy there according to what's on deal at each, you'll get 80% of the cost savings for only a fraction of the work.

We shop at one grocery store primarily (Meijer) and supplement what we buy there with purchases from two local grocery stores, Costco, and Walmart (not a supercenter). Bring in the occasional purchase from Walgreen's, Target, and the like that we can hit conveniently while we're already out, and we have a pretty good balance between time and savings.

For some details on great deals I've found at warehouse clubs, check out these posts:

• Money Saving Tip: Excellent Presents from Costco

• Smoothie Product Face-Off: Dunkin' Donuts versus Costco

• Health and Beauty Aids: Walmart versus Costco, Kirkland Brand versus Equate Brand -- Which is the Best Deal?

• How I Bought New Tires for My SUV

• At Walmart, "W" is for "Wait", At Costco, "C" is for "Come on Through"

• Can You Pay for a Costco Membership by Eating Free Samples?

• Extreme Saving Tips for Sample Eating at Costco

• Can You Pay for a Costco Membership by Saving on Gas Alone?

More Ideas for Saving on a Wedding

In my post titled True-Life Stories of Saving on a Wedding, several commenters left their suggestions on how to save on a wedding. I want to share a couple of them with you today -- here's the first one:

One way I saved on flowers is when after the florist showed me the bouquets of I don't know how many flowers literally shoved into the bouquets, I asked her what it would look like if she used LESS flowers (mine were roses). I thought it looked better since you could actually see them as opposed to have tons of them squished together (which apparently is standard in Australia where I got married). And it was HALF the cost because she used half the flowers.

I also had a cocktail style reception with heavy hors d’oeuvre rotating on trays with waiters. The same with the cake once it was cut. It not only cut down on the cost of food, but nobody had to sit next to someone they didn't or wait in line for food.

Yep, sometimes less is more, as this reader found out with the roses.

Here's comment #2:

I had my wedding in 2001 for $2,000. I tribute most of the savings to asking advice from my pastor. He does 4-5 weddings per summer, so he knows who is the best and who is the least expensive.

1. I found someone to make and decorate the cake who does it out of her house.

2. I made my own veil (it's a family tradition and really easy).

3. I got a HUGE discount on my wedding dress, which was brand-new.

4. I went to a country club for the reception, which was served family-style. It was half the price of doing the food ourselves.

5. I went to the best florist in town, but did daisies as my theme flower. Daisies are really inexpensive.

6. I had a cousin do the wedding pictures because usually I've noticed that wedding pictures don't turn out when they're done by a professional. The pictures were perfect.

7. I had a DJ, but nowadays I would have just compiled an MP3 player to last for a few hours.

8. Candles were my centerpieces.

9. Went to Claire’s for my jewelry.

10. This is the honeymoon, but we went to Canada instead of a pricey resort. It was summer, and we figured we'd rather be comfy than in sweltering heat. We rented a cabin for peanuts.

My wife and I went to the mountains for our honeymoon as well. It was a GREAT time (and pretty inexpensive.)

Any other stories out there of how you saved on your wedding?

Save Money by Finding a Knowledgeable and Fair Sales Person

It all started when we needed computer paper. My wife and I scoured all the ads and saw that Office Max had the best deal that weekend. In addition, they offered a $30 rebate in OfficePerks dollars (or whatever they call them -- basically a $30 gift card) when we bought a case of paper. So we drove down, got our paper, signed up for the program, and headed home.

So then I have a $30 gift card that I need to spend, so we go to Office Max a couple times over the next few weeks. We need several things they carry (wireless mouse, router, phone), so we not only check out their price and selection, but we ask opinions of their sales staff to gather knowledge about our upcoming purchases.

While there, I meet Bill. He's the assistant manager and is very knowledgeable about a wide range of products. By his answers to my questions, I can tell that he both uses the technology and has the same you-don't-need-the-latest-gizmo-at-the-highest-price-to-get-the-job-done attitude that I have. We hit it off and talk each of the few times I'm in the store.

The last time I was there, I decide to buy my router from Bill. They have a variety of options and are competitively priced (I checked other stores as well as online) and they're a no-brainer purchase with my gift card. So I ask Bill a few more questions about routers and we start discussing two that are on sale (one is $20 off and the other is $30 off.) He asks me a few questions about my set-up, what I want to accomplish, etc. then says: "You can buy either of these two routers if you like, and they'll do the job for you. But if you want to save some money, here's one for $20 cheaper than the other two and it will do the job you want done as well as the others would. I have a similar set-up in my home and this router works fine for me."

Sold. I bought the router he recommended for $59 versus the model for $79 (on sale) that would have given me similar performance (according to him -- they were both rated the same "letter"). I took it home, installed it, and it works like a dream -- just like he said it would.

As you might imagine, I love Bill. He's a great guy -- knowledgeable, fair, and willing to help save me some money. I'll be back to buy from him over and over again. I may pay more on occasion, but I'll likely save a good deal here and there as well, and he'll also reduce my shopping/return time by recommending things that actually do what I want them to do. I wish I had a Bill where I shop for clothes, at the bike shop, at the hardware store, etc. It sure would make my shopping much, much easier. ;-)

So here's my money saving tip for today: find a knowledgeable and fair sales person and develop a relationship with him/her. Doing so will save you both time and money and help make your shopping trips much more productive and enjoyable.

5 Key Sacrifices to Make if You Really Want to Save Money

The following is a guest post by Kathryn Vercillo from Money Saving Blog, which gives away free discount codes and voucher codes. She writes about personal finance, living frugally and saving money. I have added a few of my thoughts after the post.

Most people say that they want to save more money but many are unwilling to actually make any big sacrifices in their lives to create real savings. If you want to simply reduce your spending and save a little bit here and there then the small-steps approach is fine. However, if you want to truly save a lot of money then you need to make some big sacrifices in order to reduce spending. The good news is that these sacrifices can be made in a way that actually adds to your life instead of taking away from it.

1. Your Home. The thing that we spend the most money on is usually our homes. A good chunk of our monthly income goes to our rent or mortgage, utilities and the upkeep of the house. Most people don’t want to give anything up in this area because of the feeling that your home is your castle (or at least your safe haven from the world). However, big savings can be obtained if you sacrifice in this area. Sacrifice could mean moving to a smaller place or a cheaper geographical area, renting out an unused room or even giving up your home all together in exchange for long-term house-sitting gigs and other home-owning opportunities. Focus on the positive things that this adds to your life – sharing your life with new people, reducing the house chores and saving money at the same time.

2. Your Car. Cars cost a lot of money. There are monthly payments until it’s paid off, repair costs, insurance fees, gas prices … and you can save a lot of money if you make the lifestyle switch and give up your car. Walking, riding a bike and using public transportation aren’t as bad as they seem when you first start doing them. In fact, these methods of transportation allow you to exercise more, meet new people and slow down a bit in your life. It’s not an easy sacrifice to make but you gain a lot from doing so.

3. Your Vices. Our individual vices tend to be a big area of waste. For some people, this is a serious problem in terms of gambling or throwing money at strippers. For most of us it’s the soda pop or the cigarettes that we know are probably bad for us but we buy them anyway. It’s not easy to give up our vices but doing so improves our quality of life and it also almost always saves us money.

4. Your Luxuries. This is the one area that most people do already sacrifice a bit in. We’ve stopped traveling so much. We don’t buy designer brands. But there are probably some smaller luxuries in your life that you’re still enjoying – the fancy cheese at the grocery store or dining out instead of eating at home, the theatre tickets we get every year … by listing all of the things that are truly luxuries in our lives instead of necessities and giving up all but our most favorite we can save a lot of money and really give some meaning to those luxuries we opt to keep.

5. Your Time. Of everything that we must sacrifice to save money, time is the one most of us are absolutely stubborn about not wanting to give up. We value our free time and our time with family and we already resent the many hours of time we give up to do jobs that pay our bills. However, we can sacrifice time in a more positive way and save money in the meantime. One example is through using a barter system to trade our own services for the services and products that we need. By bartering our time doing things that we enjoy, we spend our time wisely and create a community around us while we save money.

None of these sacrifices are easy to make. All of them require will power, lifestyle changes and some serious thought as to whether the sacrifice is truly worth the savings that you will gain. If you approach each of these sacrifices creatively then you can easily use them to add not only money to your life but also to give a new level of richness to your life.

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My thoughts:

1. Yes, certainly a home is a big expense. However, the way home prices are today, buying a home seems to offer a great opportunity -- a once in a lifetime chance -- to get a great deal on what could eventually be a quickly rising asset. That's why it's the #1 thing to buy before the economy improves.

2. Ha! A car is #2 on the list of things to buy before the economy improves. That said, I wouldn't go out and get one unless you're thinking of buying one anyway in the next year or two. We will most likely get a new car for me next year anyway, and even so we're still not 100% sold on buying now.

3. If you're wondering what vices cost you, check out Money Saving Tip: Cut Out Those Vices.

4. I've softened a bit on this point lately and have noted that we don't need to save every last penny. In fact, you may want to splurge a bit on yourself.

5. Another idea is to sacrifice our time to make some extra money.

This said, if you HAVE to save money, these are certainly some places to look, primarily because they are such a large part of the average person's spending. In addition, I'd also suggest you consider these money saving tips.

My Cost-Saving Plan for Earth Day

Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past month, you know that today is Earth Day, the day all of the world pauses a bit to reflect on what's happening to the earth and commit to take actions to make it better. We're doing this in our home and I thought I'd share it with you since what we're committing to will also help us save money.

Here's what we're doing:

We're starting to compost (food leftovers, grass, sticks, paper, etc.)

The background:

• We have a rose garden that regularly needs nourishment. I'd prefer to use more natural amendments rather than Miracle Gro (which works well), so we thought about composting. In addition, we may want to start a small garden.

• As such, we started collecting food scraps, leaves, etc. in a garbage pail last fall. While it wasn't a great start (hard to turn the compost), the bin does have holes to let a bit of air in, so it's not terrible.

• That said, we live in Michigan, so as you can imagine, not much composting has happened between then and now (too cold.)

• Upon inspection this spring, we found that the container is not going to work. It's making it impossible to turn the compost, so we needed a better solution.

• We thought about putting it in the yard in a bin on the ground, but there were several reasons why that wouldn't work (neighborhood animal attraction/problems, the look wouldn't be the greatest for a neighborhood setting, etc.).

• As such, we decided to buy a composter from Costco. It looks like it's just what we need (watch the demo on the site if you like -- very cool): it was on sale (save $50), shipping is included, and they're going to deliver it right to our home. We should have it any day now.

So sometime in the next couple months, I should have some good, rich compost to use in my garden, spread around my trees, and offer to friends who have gardens (maybe they'll give me some veggies as a thank you). Even better, we'll be reducing the garbage we send to the landfill and we'll be cutting down on chemicals being put into the earth (and saving by not buying them as well.) Pretty cool, huh?

How about you? What are your Earth Day plans to make the world a bit better?

FMF Reader Saves Over 25% on Rent Simply by Asking for a Discount

Here's an email I recently received from a reader:

I would like to share something I have done today.

Me and my wife live in a small town in Midwest. The total population of this place is less than 8,000. Yes, you read it right it is 8,000 not 80,000. Due to poor economy, our company told everyone to take one week unpaid time off for next few months. This made us to think creatively how to reduce our bills. Living in a small town, our fixed bills are already low, especially our rent. We pay $425 for a 2 bed room apartment. Our rent owner takes care of laundry, electricity bill. So our rent is already low. But I thought why can't I try negotiate my rent. Let's try. What worse can happen. My owner might say "No".

I have explained to my owner what's going on in our company. I have requested him politely if he can reduce our rent. Hurray..immediately he said, "You can pay me 25% less rent from this month and I can understand". So our rent from April will be $318 instead of $425. Stretch the dollar as far as possible :)
 
I remember reading one of your articles about negotiations. Of course do not remember when it was published. :)

Good for him! (And good for the landlord too -- helping someone out in a time of reduced income.)

For those of you interested, here's a post on six times it's easy to ask for a discount. The post includes several links to other "asking for a discount" posts as well.

How to Save Money on Grocery Purchases

In its May issue, Consumer Reports shopped for 30 random grocery items (sorry, I couldn't find a link to it online) -- they highlight the details on 10 of them (mustard, disinfectant wipes, vegetable oil, cereal, premium pasta sauce, multivitamins, laundry detergent, disposable diapers, cream cheese, and bagged coffee) in the magazine -- under four different shopping scenarios:

• Impulsive shopper -- Bought only what was available with no coupons and without comparing costs.
• Savvy shopper -- Used coupons, reviewed sale flyers, etc., but still bought national brands.
• Warehouse-club shopper -- Bought the same name brand items at a Costco (price here measured in per unit terms since many of the items were larger).
• Store-brand shopper -- Bought the store-brand versions of each product.

Here are the total costs for each scenario:

• Impulsive shopper: $288.26
• Savvy shopper: $166.22
• Warehouse-club shopper: $156.16
• Store-brand shopper: $154.62

A few thoughts on these results from me:

• Buy simply putting in a bit of effort, you could save over 40% (the difference between the impulsive and savvy shoppers). This could add up BIG TIME over the course of a year -- accounting for a savings of a couple thousand dollars annually.

• There's not a whole lot of difference between the last three options. Sure, it's $11 or so from highest to lowest, but that's not a HUGE amount.

• It's likely that you could save even more by buying the store brand at a warehouse club -- at least that's what my research has shown. The Kirkland brand at Costco is excellent and we buy it quite often. Then again, Costco doesn't have a store brand option in every category.

• You could probably get even better savings by combining all three of the last strategies -- getting some at a grocery store on deal and with a coupon, getting some store brands, and buying some at Costco (either regular or store brands.) But be sure to add in the cost of your time, gas and other travel costs, etc. into the equation.

Personally, we do it the way described in the last bullet point above. Most of our shopping is done at the local grocery store, using coupons, deals, and store brands. Then we supplement this by making purchases at Costco when we're already near one of their warehouses for another reason (there isn't one close to us while the grocery store is only a couple miles away.)

How to Save on Digital Services

After many of us railed on the guy who spent $170 a month on phone, TV, and internet services, I saw this piece from the NY Times suggesting some ideas on how to save on digital services. They start with the (obvious when pointed out, but not so obvious to many) suggestion to cancel or pare back services you never or seldom use. Then they suggest the following as addition savings tips:

• Faced with increased competition, [cable, satellite and telephone companies] will gladly tell you about better package prices if you ask, but they won’t be calling you up to tell you how you can save money. Pull out your bills and then call all your providers. Tell them you’re paying too much and you want to lower your bill. They can only say no.

• If they say no, threaten to switch. Your digital providers seem to care about you only when you’re about to break up. If you’re thinking about switching to another satellite, cable or phone provider, call your current one and let it know. And remember this: The regular customer service representative won’t be as empowered as someone in the cancellation department to cut you a better deal.

• Bundle your services. With traditional landline ownership dwindling as more customers use only cellphones, the major phone and cable companies are chockablock with packages intended to keep you from straying.

• Reconsider third-party carriers. Once, third-party long-distance companies offered cheaper long-distance calling than you could get from your local provider, but that might no longer be the case.

• Ask for corporate discounts. Many corporations have discounts with the major wireless phone carriers. Bring your corporate business card to a wireless carrier’s store or check your company’s intranet site for particulars.

• Monitor websites for deals. Several Web site discussion boards trade secrets on the latest deals and how to get them.

• If all else fails, downgrade. Do you really need hundreds of TV channels? Send faxes from your computer. Cancel your landline and use only your cellphone.

Here's my take on these:

• Over and over again I've had people comment here that they called up their cable/phone/internet provider, asked for a discount, and got one. And if it didn't work for some reason...

• ...they threatened to cancel/switch, and this usually got them a discount. "Suddenly" a "new" discount was available. :-)

• We saved about $10 a month by bundling our phone and internet (we don't have cable -- more on that later) -- and we got more services to boot (unlimited long-distance calling, caller ID, etc.). Not bad.

• I think third-party services are hit and miss in both cost and service. That said, it NEVER hurts to shop around.

• If I worked for a corporation, maybe this would work. Anyone done this (used a work connection to save on digital -- or any -- services)?

• Keeping your eyes open works too. We reviewed mail, websites, magazines, TV ads, etc. (we were on the look out for these) for a couple months before we made our recent digital move.

• We didn't downgrade (we didn't have much to begin with), but we have decided not to expand to cable TV. We don't watch that much TV as it is, and we certainly don't want to watch any more (which getting cable would "force" us to do.) We prefer to spend lots of non-TV time as a family, so why get MORE TV than we already have? I realize that others may enjoy cable, and that's certainly their choice and I have no problem with it, but for us cable TV isn't really needed or wanted.

Two Real-Life Examples of How Asking for a Discount Can Pay Off

Here's a GREAT comment left on my post titled Is This Really that Great of a Savings?:

After examining all reasonable daycare centers in the area, I visited the cheapest one and asked if they had a [student] discount. She initially said no but 10 min later she said she liked the idea and gave us 10% off. One question and 10 minutes later I'm saving ~$2k/year!

Less interesting but more topical, when I signed up for Comcast I simply asked "can you give me the DVR for free?" The CSR then offered me a promotion. I didn't have a reason to think that such a promotion existed and I wasn't offered it until I asked if any promotions exist. When the promotional period expires, I plan on calling them up and asking if they'll let me keep it for free and I think they'll actually give it to me! It will be interesting to see how long I can get away with this.

The lesson to learn here is that while I'd never walk up to a stranger and ask them for money, you can ask businesses for money, even if you have no rational reason for expecting it, and they'll often just give it to you. Not clear that it's bad for the businesses either because then they only have to compete on price for customers who are concerned about price.

As they say, what's the worst that could happen if you ask for a discount? They could say "no." Big deal (especially in these six cases when you should EXPECT a discount.)

And if you want to know how to ask, use the 7-word weapon that's been so effective for others.

Save Money by Paying Attention

I've already talked about saving money by paying attention to scanners. In this post, I'd like to detail how simply paying attention in general can save you some money. It did for us -- here's the story:

A couple weeks ago my wife and I were in Office Max looking for a wireless mouse for her computer. We had $30 in "Office Max dollars" to spend from a cheap printer purchase we'd made a few months ago, but we still wanted to get a good deal. We had done a bit of shopping around and knew what we wanted to pay, so when we saw a display of wireless mice on an endcap, we walked over to check them out.

What we saw were several colors of Microsoft wireless mice. All were priced $29.99 except for the blue ones. They were $19.99. Obviously, we assumed there must be some difference -- shorter battery life, not as many features, etc. -- between the blue ones and the others. Why else would there be a $10 difference?

We compared the blue ones to the others and there was absolutely no difference. We looked some more, studying the fine print found on almost all tech products. Still, we found no difference. Then it dawned on me -- there wasn't a difference, they had simply mis-priced the blues ones. I told my wife this and whispered for her NOT to call the salesman over (he was lurking in the background) as he'd probably notice the difference, change it, and we'd be out a potential bargain. Instead, we compared a bit more and became convinced that there was no difference in the blue ones. They had simply mis-priced them.

So we took one, walked over to the register, and handed it to the cashier. The mouse rang up at $29.99, but he noticed the priced that was marked and then credited us to get it to $19.99. He immediately called one of the floor staff and asked them to check the display and make sure there were no other mice marked at $19.99. We could have told him that there were two more. :-)

In the end, we saved $10 by simply paying attention. Our only mistake -- we didn't buy the other ones at $19.99 too!

You Don't Have to Save Every Penny

In a recent article, MSN Money made the following statement:

Smart money management isn't about saving every dollar possible and deferring all gratification, even in a recession. It's about striking a balance between today and tomorrow.

Every once in awhile I'll get a comment along the lines of "people should be allowed to enjoy their money" or "are you such a penny-pincher that you don't spend anything on items you enjoy?" These usually are on posts about the cost of pets, on how you should move to save money or any of my other most hated money saving tips.

Let me just state for the record that my money saving ideas are simply that: ideas. I put them out there for you all to consider. Some may work for you, others may not. It's up to you to decide.

It's also up to you to decide how you handle your money and what you want to spend it on. If you want to take an expensive vacation, that's great -- that's enjoying the fruit of your labor. Now hopefully you're not putting it all on a credit card and paying it off over time, but even if you want to do that, it's up to you. You're responsible for how your money is handled, and for better or worse, you'll be the one that reaps the benefits (or problems) of the financial decisions you make.

I'm just here to make suggestions. You decide whether to follow them or not.

And no, you don't need to save every last penny. If you do nothing but work and save, life would get real boring real fast. And here's a news flash for you: I don't save every last penny. Sure, we tend to enjoy "the simple things in life" and spend well below our means, but we certainly spend a lot of money on non-necessities in order to enjoy life. Feel free to do the same. ;-)

In fact, you may even want to go out and splurge a bit. ;-)

True-Life Stories of Saving on a Wedding

With the average wedding costing $30,000 and the median wedding cost at $15,000, I thought many people would be interested in this Wall Street Journal article of ways people had saved on weddings. Some of the suggestions I thought were notable and my thoughts on them:

One reader said he and his wife recouped expenses by returning duplicate or marginally useful gifts for refunds. "By the time we finished, we had amassed refunds totaling $1,500, enough to purchase a top-quality sleeper sofa," he wrote. "This was significantly more than the cost of our reception."

Hmmmm, kind of like re-gifting but doing it back to the store. Not a bad idea IMO, but I'm sure some people will think this is tacky.

Here's another example:

"My wife Cathy and I were married on an oak-tree hilltop near Stanford University in June 1975," a reader emailed me. "We played our own music, made a Maypole for fun, hung banners from the oak trees, and Cathy's uncle, a Lutheran minister, performed the ceremony. The reception was held at the home of a Stanford faculty member. We all had a blast, and the total cost was less than $500."

Ok, so that was in 1975. But if inflation was 4% since then, that's only $2,000 today -- still a great deal. If inflation was twice that at 8%, we'd still be at a somewhat reasonable $7,400, but I'm guaranteeing that I could have a wedding on a hilltop and reception at a home for waaaaay less than $7,400.

And finally, here's a comment from the "I made the money and I can spend it however I want" crowd:

Another reader said he and his wife paid for the entire $47,903 cost of their 1999 wedding out of their savings. He sent an itemized list of all the expenses, which ranged from $12,608 for caterers to $493 for tuxedo rentals.

"While not a financially wise decision to spend so much money," he wrote, "it was money we had earned and could spend without borrowing, stopping our substantial charitable giving, or otherwise impacting our otherwise fairly modest lifestyle."

Good for them. If you can pay $48,000 out of your savings, you must be doing something right.

Sure good for them. That's what earning/saving/having money is for -- to spend on things you like. Me? I'd rather have a fortune and be rich when I'm young.

Three Simple Ways to Make Your Healthcare Dollar Go Farther

The following is a guest post from Health Harbor.

The average American spends about 6% of their monthly household budget on healthcare, when you include premiums, deductibles, medications, and other related purchases.  For some, the figure can approach or exceed 10%.  While it can be easy to assume that you have little control over healthcare expenses  – your premiums are dictated by your employer, for example, and when you are sick, you’re sick and need care – most people have an ability to make their healthcare dollar go farther than they realize.

While there are dozens of things you can do to get better healthcare value for your money, here are three simple steps that most people could take immediately to pull a few healthcare dollars back in to their monthly budget.

• Go with generic prescriptions when you can.  We have all sat in our doctor’s office, been handed a prescription, and with no questions asked gotten it filled.  Be assertive, though, and make sure you ask about generic alternatives.  A good doctor or pharmacist will work with you to find cheaper options, as well as explain to you if there is a valid medical reason why you need a brand name drug.  The average generic is $40 less expensive than its brand name cousin, and for a few common prescriptions that difference can be over $100.

• Understand the different level-of-care options.  There is a time and a place to go to an ER, for example, but there are many more instances when you really need a walk-in clinic staffed with a Physician Assistant or, at most, an urgent care.  A recent trend, the emergence of “retail clinics” in big box stores and drug chains, can be your budget’s friend, especially for routine care.  Going to the ER is almost always going to be the most expensive way that you can seek care, with the next most expensive being an urgent care, followed by a scheduled doctor’s appointment, followed by a retail clinic.  For common ailments – sore throats, ear infections – the retail clinic will probably suffice and will cost a fraction of the other alternatives.  If you need to see a doctor, scheduling an appointment (if it can wait) will likely cost half of what an ER visit would.

• Use your Flexible Spending Account (FSA).  If you are employed and your employer offers an FSA where you can save pre-tax dollars for healthcare, use it.  There is no other way to get an automatic 25 – 40% discount on your health expenditures.  Your FSA can be used for premiums as well as out-of-pocket expenses, and your Human Resources department should have more information on how to sign up for it.  At a minimum, it usually makes sense for most people to pay for their premiums and save the equivalent of their insurance deductible in an FSA.  Don’t overshoot, though – unlike the Health Savings Account (HSA) which is an entirely different animal, the FSA has a use-it-or-lose-it provision each year.

Travel + Medical Procedures = Saving Money

It's been awhile since I've talked about medical tourism -- and how many people in the US are going abroad for medical care to save money for comparable (or even better) care to what they can get here in the US. But this piece from the NY Times brought up the issue again and I just had to mention it.

In the Times' piece, they tell the story of a guy who traveled to Costa Rica for a double hernia surgery. The cost was $3,900 versus $14,000 he would have paid stateside. Of course he had to pay to travel as well, but as you can imagine, the savings were still great. And not just for this procedure: many different health procedures can be purchased for a fraction of their cost in the US.

The Times also gives some advice on when medical tourism is a good idea and when it isn't. It's certainly not for everyone and is not for every sort of illness/surgery. In addition, not everyone is a great candidate for medical travel. That said, medical tourism is a very good option for certain procedures/patients. There are a lot of considerations, of course, but if you can save several thousand dollars, they are probably worth looking into for many people (certainly many more than are taking advantage of it now).

Medical tourism is becoming more and more mainstream as new insurance companies and businesses offer plans allowing medical travel. And with the state of the economy and healthcare in this country, my prediction is that the trend towards traveling for medical work is going to get way bigger in the years to come.

Anyone out there considered medical tourism (or even traveled to a foreign country for it)?

Is This Really that Great of a Savings?

US News tells the story of a guy who saved $30 a month on his cable bill. I thought this would be an interesting and useful piece, so I clicked through to it when I saw it on my feedreader. Then I saw the details as follows:

• He was paying over $200 a month for digital cable, high-speed internet, and Comcast digital voice.

• He told Comcast that he never used the digital voice service and wanted to cancel it.

• Comcast called him and reduced his bill to $170.69 with a rate that's good for a year.

The piece touts how he's saving a bundle just for sending them one simple email. But here's my take on the situation:

• Yes, kudos to him for lowering his bill. $170 a month is better than $200 a month.

• $170 a month????!!!! Is he crazy? He pays over $2k a year for phone, internet, and cable? Ouch! Of course, it's his money to spend, but this seems like an excessively high amount. Does he really get $170 a month of value out of these services?

We pay less than $60 a month for unlimited phone and high-speed DSL. The web speed is half of what cable is, so there is some difference there. Plus we don't have cable, though we could get a good number of channels for $40 a month and still be way below what he spends.

Just seems like he's over-paying to me. Maybe he should instead focus on what he really wants and see if he can get it for less -- or even compromise a bit (do you really need 500 channels) and save a huge amount of money that way.

Anyone else have this feeling? 

Big-Ticket Items to Buy at Warehouse Clubs

I've tackled several issues regarding warehouse clubs including:

• The Best and Worst Buys at Warehouse Club Stores

• Warehouse Clubs Are Worth the Annual Fee

• Can You Pay for a Costco Membership by Saving on Gas Alone?

• Can You Pay for a Costco Membership by Eating Free Samples?

• Extreme Saving Tips for Sample Eating at Costco

So when I saw this piece on the big-ticket items to buy at warehouse clubs, I knew I had to comment on it. Here are the five big-ticket items that Smart Money says you should buy at warehouse clubs to save a bundle and my take on each of them:

1) Cars. The one catch: Because there’s a commission for the club, decent negotiators may be able to get a better deal hitting the dealership on their own.

I'll go it alone, thanks. My method of buying a car has proven to work and get me well below what others normally pay (based on Edmunds) and, I suspect, what a warehouse club can negotiate for me.

2) Engagement rings. The only real difference between diamond engagement rings at the warehouse club and the offerings at your local jeweler’s is the fifth C -- cost, says Martin Fuller, a master gemologist appraiser with the American Society of Appraisers.

Too late for me (already married), but not a bad idea. Anyone bought a wedding ring at a warehouse club? Maybe that's the advice we should have given this guy.

3) Major appliances. You’ll find the latest models from your favorite brands, for roughly 10% off other stores' prices.

Two issues: They don't carry Kenmore (exclusive to Sears -- I know, I hate Sears too, but Kenmores regularly do well in Consumer Reports ratings) and you have to get it home yourself. What's the "hassle factor" worth?

4) Electronics. Customers may be drawn to the great electronics deals offered at warehouse clubs, but the real eye-catcher may just be the generous warranty and return policies.

I've had two friends buy TVs from Costco lately and gotten really good deals. I'd certainly go there if I was in the market for a new TV (which I may be if I can convince my wife.) ;-)

5) Caskets. Buy a casket at a funeral home and pay a markup of up to 350%. Warehouse clubs sell the same models as funeral homes and casket retailers, but price them just above wholesale. Prices also include overnight delivery. The funeral home isn't allowed to charge you extra for bringing in your own casket, either. At Costco, an “In God’s Care” casket from Universal Casket costs $925, including shipping and handling. CasketXPress.com charges $1,680 for the same model. You’ll save 45%.

Good idea! But how many people, upon hearing that old Aunt Sally just passed away, say, "Hey, let's run down to Costco to pick out a casket?" I'm surprised they sell any of these at all. Still, it's another great way to save on a funeral and keep costs as low as possible.

Consumers Start to See the Light on Store Brands

Here are two pieces dealing with store brands and how consumers are finally starting to check them out seriously due to the bad economy (after all, saving money appears to be "in" these days.)

The first is from Yahoo and has these interesting comments:

Some 64 percent of shoppers in 2008 said they often or always buy a store brand rather than a national one, according to the Food Marketing Institute, an industry trade group. That's up from 59 percent the prior year.

Kroger Co., owner of Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Food 4 Less and other chains in 31 states, saw sales of its in-house brands hit a record 27 percent of total sales in the most recent quarter.

These numbers seem really, really high to me. Do 64% of shoppers really often or always buy a store brand rather than a national one? Seems like the numbers should be more like 30% to 40% at best. But the Kroger numbers must be good -- and 27% is a HUGE number.

The second article talks about how Walmart is doing all it can to encourage people to buy its store brand. The highlights:

Wal-Mart is stepping up the competition to draw cost-conscious shoppers, promising that store-brand products from cereal to cookies will be tastier, smell better and look more attractive.

The world's largest retailer outlined plans Monday to reformulate hundreds of items in the Great Value store brand that it says is the country's biggest food brand by both sales and volume.

Wal-Mart, responding to the increasing popularity of store-brand products among cash-strapped consumers, is also introducing nearly 100 new products like fat-free caramel swirl ice cream and thin-crust pizza as it tries to better compete with national brands.

The popularity of store brands has soared recently as the economy tanked, with shoppers looking to stretch their dollars, especially as food prices have soared.

The Private Label Manufacturers Association said a basket of 40 average store-brand products runs about 30 percent to 35 percent less than a basket of comparable national brands.

Yep. Why pay 30% to 35% more when a store brand is just as tasty? And since almost all of them offer a like-it-or-bring-it-back guarantee, why not try some of the store brands if you haven't already? If you spend $5,000 on food and shop mostly national brands, switching to store brands could save you $750 a year (assuming half of your purchases are where there are store brand alternatives and you save 30% on that amount.)

I've talked about using store brand before (we probably buy more store brand items than national brands -- and have been doing so for years), so if you want some additional thoughts on this issue, check out these posts:

• Generic and Store Brand Products -- Much Cheaper and Just as Good (Or Even the Same Thing!) as National Brands

• Save Big Money by Using Generic/Store Brands -- Even I Didn't Know the Savings Were This Big!!!

• Health and Beauty Aids: Walmart versus Costco, Kirkland Brand versus Equate Brand -- Which is the Best Deal? 

Negotiation Made Simple: A 7-Word Weapon of Your Own

I receive the You Need a Budget newsletter and in a recent edition, Jesse had a good suggestion I wanted to share with you all. I emailed him and he said it was fine, so here goes. (BTW, YNAB has started a new savings area you all might want to check out.)

Oh, I wish I could take credit for this, but it was actually based on an interview of Richard Paul Evans that I heard on the Glenn Beck show while I was driving around the other day.  Glenn Beck described it as:

"Seven words that will change your course, seven words that will change not only I believe your financial future but also the course of your life."

Those 7 magical words?  Is that the best you can do?

Period.

Embrace any silence that may follow.

Use this all over the place.  Use it at restaurants, retail outlets, hotels, airports -- everywhere.  Evans says it's a rule for every one of his staff members to use that line whenever they're purchasing anything.  They're seven harmless (but powerful) words!  They'll cause no embarrassment, you'll feel no pain, and you'll likely end up saving a bundle.

What you'll find happens nine times out of ten is that the person will come back (after having spoken with a manager or whatever) and offer you some percentage off, and then apologize for not being able to offer a steeper discount.

Do this in places where negotiating just never happens.  Walmart.  Gap.  Target.  You will be amazed at what happens!  And at the mom and pop shops you'll find an even easier time being able to talk to the person that can actually call a few shots. 

Is that the best you can do?

If you're looking for a full-on thesis regarding negotiation, this little email won't be for you.  However, the excellent book Gettingto Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In will certainly suffice.  It is a great source if you find yourself wanting to improve your negotiation skills.  I highly recommend it.

I think I have a new favorite seven-word phrase. ;-)

Anyone out there use this now? What are your results?

How to Save 25% on Your Food Bill

Yahoo says that roughly 25% of the food Americans buy goes to waste. So, if you can stop the waste, you can, in theory, save 25% on your food bill. Here are five tips from them on how to do this:

• Shop for groceries no more than once every two weeks. Time and again, studies confirm the obvious: Q.) How to keep yourself from buying too much stuff? A.) Shop less frequently.

• Use up fresh fruits and vegetables first, and then supplement them with just-as-healthy frozen as you get into the second week.

• Think layovers, NOT leftovers.

• How to handle restaurants. Order only from the appetizer menu or split a single ginormous entrée. And remember, doggy bags and leftovers.

• Social therapy. Volunteer one day out of the year at a local food kitchen for the needy, and then see how much food you throw away.

Here's my take on each of these:

1. Yikes! We have a store a few blocks from home that makes two or three trips a week very easy. Plus, I don't think my wife has it in her to plan meals out that far (though I've tried supplying a list of meal options she can simply rotate.)

2. We eat very little frozen food as a major part of any meal. Do they really have healthy alternatives (that don't cost a fortune)?

3. Certain foods are made for leftovers: pizza, Italian dishes, steak, stew, turkey. Others are not: chicken breasts (ok if repurposed into sandwiches), salmon, meatloaf (unless you have a ton of ketchup.) The key is to make extra of only the items that go well as leftovers. ;-)

4. Good tips on restaurants. My wife almost always brings home a doggie bag. Another suggestion for saving at restaurants: get many meals as a buy one get one free with an Entertainment Book.

5. Unfortunately, this is so, so true. There are many hurting people out there and almost any interaction with them will cause you to be very thankful for what you have.

Not Really Another Post about How You Should Move to Save Money

I know many of you hate my on-going posts about how cost-of-living in one area versus another makes a huge impact on your finances (in fact, it's my most-hated piece of money-saving advice.) Well, this is NOT another post about that subject. At least exactly. It's kind of related -- but this time, it only deals with me.

In my last post on the dreaded subject noted above, one commenter made this pitch:

FMF - Wow, I never realized you lived in such a populated area. You should really consider moving to a more rural area. It'll probably mean taking the $70K job instead of the $100K city job, but someone making $70K with a family doesn't hardly owe taxes, so in the end is much better off than the $100K job in your area, especially when factoring in the price of housing.

Sure you have all those minor league ball teams, botanical gardens, local/regional museums, traveling shows, but how often do you really use those things? Here what we do have in rural america: nice affordable roomy 50 acre lots with solid built, beautifully designed unique huge 100 year old victorian homes for under $100K. Sure living in a county with under 40K people isn't everyones cup of tea, but it beats living like a goat caged in on 2 acres. And trust me, with your $70K salary you are one of the richest people in the county.

Its your money and if you want to live in a built up area, thats a good enough reason, but as someone who says they are trying to live a financially fit life, consider what that overly populated place is costing you. Sure I guess some people like the coziness of being able to see their neighbors from their yard, but you'll always be fighting against the grain when it comes to accumulating wealth. And remember, just because rural life is different, it doesn't mean it isn't better.

Sorry for the preaching ;)

Very nice, indeed. ;-)

I responded that he (she?) was right and that I was immediately looking for a place in Wyoming. I'm sure it's very cheap to live there!

Then I ran into this piece from Lifehacker that lists the 10 most and least affordable cities in the US. The 10 least affordable are no surprise if you've been reading FMF for any time now, but for the record they are:

1. New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ
2. San Francisco-San mateo-Redwood City, CA
3. Nassau-Suffolk, NY
4. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA
5. Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL
6. Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA
7. El Paso, TX
8. Newark-Union, NJ-PA
9. Honolulu, HI
10. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA

And the most affordable:

1. Indianapolis-Carmel, IN
2. Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI
3. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA
4. Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, MI
5. Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI
6. Syracuse, NY
7. Dayton, OH
8. Akron, OH
9. Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH
10. Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, PA

Look at that! My city is #5 on the most affordable list. How did that happen? And how did Detroit get above it (BTW, "Detroit" is at both #2 and #4)? Oh yeah, they're selling homes for $1 there. Very affordable indeed!

Notice what else it says next to Grand Rapids? Wyoming! I knew it was cheap there!!!!! ;-) (For those of you who don't know, Wyoming is a major suburb of GR. We go there frequently since many of our friends live in the area and our church is there as well.)

Also interesting on the list is #1 -- Indy! I lived there once. Nice town. Go Colts! (FYI, we also lived in Pittsburgh once, so this year it was "Go Steelers!")

Anyway, I'm not so sure that Wyoming (the state, not the GR suburb) still isn't cheaper. If I can get a 50-acre lost with a home for under $100k, maybe I should consider moving. That said, it's good to know that my present location is among the best deals in the country. ;-)

Bartering Makes a Comeback

Here's a piece from the Baltimore Sun that says bartering is making a comeback. The highlights:

Bartering -- the trading of goods or services without using cash -- is making a comeback in a troubled economy. It can be as simple as trading baby-sitting with another family, or as complex as an exchange with strangers facilitated by one of the several Web sites that have sprung up to connect barterers.

Bartering ads on Craigslist have increased about 100 percent since last year, said Susan MacTavish Best, a spokeswoman for the online classified advertising service. Traffic is also up at local organizations like the Midwest Barter Exchange, a Kalamazoo, Mich.-based outfit that acts as a go-between for about 1,000 business clients.

We've always done the "trade baby-sitting nights" thing with others, so that's not new to us. I'm totally open to other options of bartering, but in many cases the time it would cost me to do my end of the barter simply isn't worth it -- it's just a better deal for me to pay for the service outright.

How about you? Anyone out there bartering for goods or services? What are some of the things you've traded and how did you go about setting up the exchange?

How to Get $100 Worth of Groceries for 25 Cents

Since How to Feed Your Family for $1,500 a Year wasn't enough of an over-the-top headline, we now have how to get $100 worth of groceries for 25 cents from MSNBC. Then again, their subline to the piece is "top five tips to cut your grocery bill in half." Last I checked, 25 cents wasn't half of $100. Anyway, let's move on. Since when does fact stand in the way of a great headline? ;-)

The article says that the key to cutting your grocery bill in half is knowing how to use coupons and store promotions along with sale prices on your favorite items. They claim that doing this a family of four can save $100 per week or as much as $5,000 per year. I'm certain my family can't save $5,000 per year because that's about the entire amount we spend on food in a year. Hey wait, maybe "eliminate all food costs" would be a better headline. Heh, I kill myself....

Anyway, here are there top tips to saving on grocery costs:

1. Plan your shopping trip before you leave home

2. Let other people do the hard work for you

3. Maximize your coupon savings easily with the ‘no clip’ system

4. Time it right — wait until the item goes on sale to use the coupon

5. Know how your store’s promotion and coupon policies work

It's not rocket science -- my wife was doing these things in third grade. And she didn't need a website subscription to do it. Sheesh, talk about a letdown. And here I was all pumped up to get $100 of groceries for 25 cents! ;-)

Seriously, since when do people need instructions on how to save money using coupons? Isn't it fairly simple "saving money 101"? Or maybe it's just the sputtering economy that's bringing out all the "how to save" sorts of pieces. Sheesh.

The Economy: What's In and What's Out

Got a chuckle from the list halfway down this article -- a list of what's "in" and what's "out" given the bad economy. What's funny about it to me is that I was doing most of the things that are now "in" (like brown bagging, looking for hot deals, and using the library) when they were "out." ;-)

Another thing that warmed my heart -- Macy's is now "out." Ha!

Entertainment Book Savings Update

Last month I told you how I had already saved $29 using an Entertainment Book for one month. Since then, I have used the book a few more times and wanted to give you an update on my progress.

Here's what I saved:

• Buy one chicken tender get one free - saved $4.39
• Buy one sundae get one free - saved $4.23
• Buy one lunch get one free - saved $5.99
• Buy one lunch get one free - saved $9.00

Updated total savings so far: $52.61

Now before I get a bunch of "yeah, but you spent a fortune eating out" comments, let me give you a few details:

1. The chicken tenders were for the kids when we went out for my wife's birthday. We then got sundaes (the second savings) -- one for me and one for her (one of these for free). The kids got free ice cream because we had other coupons for them to use, so we all got dessert for $4.23.

2. One lunch was with a friend I hadn't seen in three months. Certainly worth the price of a meal to get re-connected.

3. The second lunch was when my son and I went out to see an English football (soccer) game on a big-screen TV at a local sports place. We were going to eat anyway (the least we could do for them letting us watch their TV), so why not save half using the Entertainment Book.

I'm still using the book and looking forward to tons of savings this summer (I have a few no-brainer coupons to use then). I'll keep you updated on my progress.

Six Ways to Trim Life Insurance Costs

Bankrate lists six ways to trim life insurance costs as follows:

1. Shop around.

2. Get the right size.

3. Find the right kind of coverage.

4. Verify the company is sound.

5. Get some professional help.

6. Ask for a payment plan.

My thoughts on these:

1. Shopping around for anything is always a good idea and shopping around for something you'll have for 10 to 20 years is almost mandatory.

2. I would cut a lot of other expenses before I cut down on life insurance. That said, make sure you get only what you need. Your family isn't supposed to jump up three economic classes when you die -- they're supposed to maintain their current standard of living and be able to achieve planned for financial goals.

3. Personally, I like term as well, and even my agent has said that cash value probably isn't the right fit for me.

4. If you get a fantastic rate from a company that goes bankrupt in two years, you're not saving any money. Even worse, you may find yourself unable to insure yourself (for whatever reason) if a company goes down.

5. I got a great price online for my insurance and then told an agent I knew that I'd go with him if he could do the same or better. He called the company and was able to match the price, so I got the price I wanted along with the support/advice of an agent (who's also a good friend.)

6. My insurance company charges more if we pay in installments, so we pay in one annual amount. Your mileage may vary.

Extreme Frugality: Shoes Edition

So my wife and I are walking through church the other day and she says, "Slow down. I can't walk too fast in these shoes." I looked at her feet and saw they were "reasonable shoes", so I asked why she couldn't walk very fast in them.

She replied, "Because one of them is half a size larger than the other one and it keeps slipping off."

Hmmmm. "That's strange", I thought.

"So why is one half a size larger?", I asked.

"Because they were only $5 -- on the misfits rack. I thought that with my bunion I'd need a half-size bigger for this foot anyway."

I then joked that she got some shoes for $5 but will probably spend $500 in medical bills trying to realign her back once it gets thrown out from walking like a one-legged pirate. I also told her I was going to blog about it. :-)

Anyway, I thought I'd leave the final verdict to all of you. Was this a good deal or a case of frugality gone over the edge? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Extreme Frugality: Car Edition

A co-worker of mine is in the market for a new/used car. She's looking at a few options and starting to narrow the choices. A couple weeks ago, she showed up to work with a new ride and I thought she'd made her decision. Nope, not yet. Turns out the dealership allowed her to keep the car overnight to try it out. I didn't know that dealerships did this. But I guess with the economy and the state of the car industry what they are, they're willing to do about anything to make a sale.

That evening my wife and I were shopping for beds (among the worst things to shop for IMO) and had decided on a place to get a twin set for our daughter. Delivery was $40, which was an additional 15% on the purchase price, so we decided we'd just pick it up ourselves. Problem was that my Forester was too small to get the set inside -- even with the back seats down. I could have strapped the set on the top, but 1) I wasn't sure I could get it to stay on and 2) it seemed like a TON of hassle and potentially disastrous (ever seen someone lose something off the top of a car?). So, we were left wondering what we should do.

While driving to Costco to pick up a bed frame, we drove by a car dealership. They had a particular vehicle that I've been thinking could be our next car in a year or so, maybe sooner since the government is willing to save me sales tax if I buy soon. I thought about stopping in and checking out the car for fun, but we were in a hurry, so we kept going. Then it hit me...

Car dealers are allowing people to take home vehicles overnight. We needed a bigger vehicle just for a short trip (a few miles) to haul the bed home. Why couldn't we stop by a dealership, take a bigger SUV home for the evening, drive it by the bed shop, pick up the bed, and take it home? It would save us $40 and no one would be the wiser, right?

My wife, who is way more frugal than I am (I know, it's hard to believe, but trust me), put the kibosh on the idea immediately (probably because she thought I'd end up buying the SUV) which surprised me.

I'm not sure I would have gone through with it anyway, but it was an interesting concept. Anyone ever done this? Is this even ethical? Or maybe it is ethical but would be classified as "bad form". What's your take on the idea?

BTW, we ended up paying the $40. We got a bed for my son too and since the charge didn't go up for delivery, we had them both delivered for $40.

How to Barely Make It on $400k Per Year

Steps up on soapbox...

I found this piece to be very fascinating. It's about a couple in New York City that make $400k per year combined and yet are barely making it financially. Ok, so it's a bit better than "barely making it", but they are not living high on the hog by any means. Their mortgage is $100k a year for a small, one-bedroom apartment (though at an upscale address in NYC) and they're not sure they will both have jobs for long. Thus they are cutting back, trying to increase their savings in case one of them gets laid off.

The piece has an accompanying video where the husband talks about their situation. He mentions that they "don't have the money" for this or that a few times. The video also shows several rooms in the apartment. It's very, very small and cramped. Is this what $400k earners live like in New York? Yikes!

WARNING -- You know where I'm going with this, don't you???? Stop reading now if you're one of the people (mostly living in NY, SF, LA, etc.) that HATES this idea...(which, btw, is my most hated money saving tip ever.)

The example above is one reason I suggest moving to a lower cost-of-living city. After all, smaller cities are better at growing net worth. Why? Because despite the fact that you'll earn less in them, the cost-of-living is way, way lower, resulting in a net gain in disposable income (and thus net worth -- you have more to save, invest, etc.) Of course you don't get the "culture" you can get in larger cities, then again, if you can't afford the culture on $400k, then what's the point if you're living in New York or New Nowhere.

As many of you know, I live in a "dinky" city (200k city population, 540k urban population, and 1.3 million metro population.) We don't have a lot of things -- no professional sports teams, no world-famous museums, no Broadway-level productions. But we're about three hours from all of this (in Chicago). And we have our alternatives -- minor league baseball, botanical gardens, local/regional museums (ours has an actual piece of the Berlin Wall, BTW), traveling shows, etc. Besides, how many times do most people really take advantage of these things? It might be "nice" to have them available, but again, if you don't go to them (or can't afford them), what's the difference?

But here's what we do have: affordable, nice, roomy housing. Great schools. Nice, family environment. I know, not everyone's cup of tea for sure. And really, I can think of other places I've lived that I like better, but I'm trying to make the case that you don't fall off the end of the earth when you move to a city that has less than 5 million people in it (which seems to be the feeling of some people.)

Now let's talk financially. The couple above could move to my city and take a 50% cut in pay (down to $200k) and be RICH compared to the general living standard. In fact, they could be rich at $100k here. They can buy a 2,500 square foot house that has a bedroom for each child for $200,000. If they want some land, they can move to one of the "pricier" neighborhoods and get the same house on 10 acres for $350,000. Again, not everyone's cup of tea. But to me it beats living like a hamster cramped in a cage (which is the impression I get of their place looking at the video.)

I understand that many people prefer the "hustle and bustle" of a bigger city. I understand that many people have families that they want to live near that are in big cities. There are tons of solid reasons people want to live in big cities. Gee, even "it's my money and I want to live here and that's it" is a good enough reason.

But I'm just opening up the thought of the financial impact of living in a big city for those that have a choice -- that could move if they wanted. All I'm asking is that you think about what living in a big city is costing you. Furthermore, I want you to understand that while the lifestyle in a smaller city is different, that doesn't mean it isn't better. So if you get the chance to consider that $150k job in LA versus that $100k job in Cincinnati, maybe the $100k job is worth more than a passing consideration.

Ok, off my soapbox now...

How to Save a Ton of Money Using Coupons

US News interviews Ashley Nuzzo, creator of Frugal Coupon Mom. Ashley says she saves around $1,500 a month by using coupons (FYI, she doesn't use all the food she buys -- she donates much of it to charity.) In the piece, she gives her thoughts on how to save the most money using coupons:

What a lot of people don’t know is that you can combine store and MFR coupons. The big savings occurs when you combine the two (especially if they are combined with a sale). If your store takes competitors’ coupons (store coupons from another location, i.e. Home Depot and Publix), you can save even more. I save an average of 70 percent. Last month I saved $1,071.15 and spent $321.27 – a savings of 77 percent for the month. This included my family’s groceries, beauty supplies, cleaning, entertainment, going out to eat, etc. December looked a little different – we spent $711.06, and saved 1,499.07 – a savings of 68% for the month.

My wife does this all the time. The best times are when she gets an item on sale, uses a store coupon, uses a manufacturer's coupon and has a rebate for the item. In these cases, we end up MAKING money on the item. Do that enough times, and you can see how someone saves 70% on their grocery shopping.

Later in the article, Ashley talks about how to use coupons to help charities. A summary:

As you can see in the month of December (where I spent $711 and saved $1,500), I ended up with over $2,200 in products. Can you imagine brining into your home $2,200 worth of groceries each month? My husband and I would not longer FIT in our home due to the abundance of items I bring home. I have no other choice/desire than to donate. I personally donate to our church’s pantry closet. The church meets the needs of less fortunate members of our community and all over the city/county. One example of why I have a need to donate – I estimate in the past six months I have purchased (received for free) 30 regular size tubes of toothpaste. No family needs this many tubes of toothpaste – so we give them away.

Another example is that in recent months, I was able to obtain about 10 free diabetes monitors (each a $60 value) free. Since neither my husband nor I have diabetes, we gave them to others. Some friends of mine use the extra money they save to buy McDonald’s gift cards for the homeless. Another friend uses her “extra” groceries to make care bags, also for the homeless. When they run into an individual they feel could use this gift, they are able to give back.

What a great idea. If you're already taking the time and effort to save money for your own shopping, the incremental time to save on other items is probably very, very small. As a result, it has to be pretty easy to save a TON of money on things you can then give away.

At the very end of the piece, Ashley gives some more general tips on saving money with coupons:

• You can decide how much or how little you would like to invest (time-wise) in your savings. I go to the store and look at shampoo and toothpaste (two things I no longer pay for since I get them free couponing) and I think about how much money I wasted over the course of my life time paying for these. No one should be paying full price for anything.

• Another rule of thumb is you cannot be loyal to a brand. If you are brand loyal you will miss out on many deals.

• You will also not find yourself buying store brand items anymore. With couponing you are able to get the expensive Proctor and Gamble, Kellogg’s, etc. items. All the big money brands you find yourself getting cheaper than the store brand items. Don’t get me wrong, when I am in need of cooking spray and I cannot wait until the next sale, I do go ahead and get the store brand cooking spray.

• The most important thing I want you to take away is to shop the sales and if you can, shop the sales with a manufacturer coupon combined with a store coupon. This way you get items cheap, free, or even make money!

My wife is an avid coupon shopper, though she doesn't take it to an extreme. She takes about an hour or so every weekend to go through the coupons in the Sunday paper, look at the sales flyers from the stores, and plan her weekly shopping. She organizes her coupons in a small file she keeps in her purse and them notes the couponed items on her list. She probably misses out on a lot of deals (we're saving maybe 25% per trip, not 70%), but then again she's not spending 10 hours a week doing this (and we're not buying more than we need which helps Ashley drive up her savings percent.) We spend about $400 a month for a family of four on food using this method, so that's not bad at all.

How about you? Are there any avid coupon users out there? What tricks of the trade do you have for the rest of us?

How to Feed Your Family for $1,500 a Year (Kind Of)

Time and again when I offer money saving ideas I get responses like, "There's no way I can save any extra money" and "How can you expect to do (fill in the blank) for (fill in the amount) per year? It can't be done!"

I usually reply that the people just aren't motivated enough to make the savings -- that if they REALLY wanted to save a bundle, they could. This story illustrates my point. It's about a family of four in New Hampshire that is trying to spend just $1,500 for their groceries, household items and personal care expenses for an entire year. So far this year their average grocery bill is only $125 a month, so they're on target.

Now they aren't doing all this on only $1,500 a year -- they're really doing it on $2,700 a year ($1,500 plus what they call their "stockpile" -- an amount of food, etc. that they started with that's valued at $1,200.) That's still a decent amount of savings -- $225 per month for a family of four -- though it's not nearly as impressive as $1,500 would be.

So what are they doing to save money on these items? The keys to their success are that they are getting creative, making tough decisions, having discipline, and are flexible in what they're willing to eat. A few specifics on what they're doing to keep costs down:

• They shop like mad -- using coupons, store deals, free offers, and the like to reduce costs.

• They use rewards programs to lower costs even more.

• They've stopped eating out.

• They use a maximum price list.

• They buy creatively (I know this is related to clothing, but it serves as an example of their creativity in saving.)

• They strive for five $0 days a month.

Ok, so I'll admit that they're a bit overboard, but when people comment here that they are "desperate" but there's no way they can save money, I think of people like the ones above. For most people, if you get creative and really want/need to save money badly, you can.

And if you still think you can't save (or make) any more money, check out my post with over 1,000 ideas on how to make and save more money.

Saving Money by Having a Last Minute Wedding

Here's a piece from Bankrate about weddings that I found to be interesting for a couple reasons. The first is that it fleshes out those figures that imply most people are spending $30,000 on their weddings:

According to Alan Fields, co-author of "Bridal Bargains: Secrets to Throwing a Fantastic Wedding on a Realistic Budget," the average American wedding costs between $25,000 and $35,000, depending on whether jewelry is included. However, Fields believes averages can be misleading. "A few weddings over $100,000 throw off that figure dramatically," he says. "The true median is closer to $15,000." That means half of all weddings cost less than $15,000 and half cost more.

Ok, so I feel a bit better about $15,000 as the cost of a wedding that I do about $30,000, but $15k still seems like a high number. Anyway, more on that later. For now, let's get on to point #2 -- that you can save a ton of money on a wedding if you can have a bit of flexibility (and be ready on short notice). The piece calls this having a "last minute" wedding and says you can save in the following ways by having one:

Some wedding vendors, such as reception sites, caterers and disc jockeys, offer discounts for bookings made with little advance notice (one to 10 weeks usually) because they'd rather fill gaps in their schedules than let the slot go fallow. Discounts can range from 15 percent to 30 percent off advertised rates.

Shorter notice typically means fewer guests attend, and the more time families ponder guest lists, the longer the lists get.

Less time results in simpler weddings. All those personalized extras cost time and money. When you don't have time, you're less likely to fall into the bridal vortex that convinces you oodles of add-ons are necessary. Guests don't notice if the candy is monogrammed. They really don't.

More stores offer inexpensive wedding dresses in many sizes right off the rack or for delivery in two to three weeks. No rush shipping. No drawn-out alterations.

But let's face it, who's really going to leave their "big day" unplanned until a couple of weeks before it happens? Not many people, for sure. Thankfully, there is a better option suggested:

Melissa Bauer, spokeswoman for TheKnot.com, a popular online wedding site, doesn't recommend fast planning as a money-saving strategy. Instead, she suggests that all brides comparison shop to find good deals.

Hmmmm. Shopping around you say? Sounds like an interesting tip. ;-)

In addition, once you shop around and find the going rates on a variety of services, you can start the negotiating process to see who will lower their prices to get your business. The piece lists the wedding vendors that are the most likely to negotiate as follows: reception site managers and caterers, bakers, gown shop proprietors, florists, DJs and bands, photographers and videographers.

Why does anyone need a $15k wedding anyway? If you spend less than that, you can take the difference, invest it, and end up waaaaay ahead financially (here's a similar opinion). That said, some people may want to spend more for an "experience" that will last them a lifetime. My contention is that "high cost" doesn't equal "great, memorable wedding." You can have a wonderful, very memorable wedding for much less than $15,000.

So how can you save on wedding costs? Check out a few of my suggestions here:

• Save on Your Wedding

• Saving on Wedding Tips from a Wedding Consultant, Part 1

• Saving on Wedding Tips from a Wedding Consultant, Part 2

• More Great Ways to Save on Wedding Costs

• Save Money on Wedding Expenses by NOT Telling Suppliers that Your Purchase is for a Wedding

• Two More Ways to Cut Wedding Costs

• How to Pay for a Wedding You Can't Afford

Five Ways to Downsize Your Lifestyle

Crosswalk offers five ways to downsize your life as follows:

• Move to a less expensive home.
• Give up an extra vehicle.
• Eat out less.
• Take a “staycation.”
• Eliminate extras.

Here's our personal reaction to each of these:

1. We're actually looking for a BIGGER house. Ok, we're actually fine with the size of our current house, we just want it in a different location and with some land. Result: the new place will be more costly than the current one.

2. I guess we could get by with one car, but it would make things a much bigger hassle and my wife would be tied to the house. Besides, both cars are paid for. It's going to have to get a lot worse before we do this. In fact, we're thinking of BUYING a new car since the current deals are so good!

3. We're already eating out less -- and when we do eat out, our Entertainment Book saves us a good amount.

4. We generally take most of our vacations in and around home anyway, so this one isn't a big change for us. We'll drive a bit to see family and take a trip to Chicago this year (a three-hour drive from our house), but nothing big.

5. We're not really the manicure, fancy coffee, high tech gadget sort of people, so again there's no savings here for us.

We have been more careful about our spending though -- watching it a bit closer than usual. We're trying to sock away as much as we can into investments as well as into savings for our new home.

15 Things We Over-Pay For

Just got this via email from BillShrink and have their permission to reprint it. It's a simple listing of what they call 15 things we over-pay for.

1. Pseudo Health Products – Like the “protein bars” that are presented as “low fat” or “all natural” even though can end up just as unhealthy as candy bars (the sugar!), while costing up to five times as much.

2. Brand New Technology - It is well documented that technology prices come down considerably once new products have been on the market for several months to a year. Additionally, waiting allows time for other companies to release competitive technology, presumably leading to better overall products becoming available in the marketplace.

3. Bottled Water - This is probably the most overpriced of all regularly consumed products. Over 2/3 of the world is covered in water, and filters to covert ‘tap water’ into filtered water are readily available for under twenty dollars. However, millions of people choose to $1-2 on this convenience item each day.

4. Individual Coffee Cups - Individual cups of coffee purchased anywhere, whether from restaurants, gas stations, or coffee shops, are invariably priced high. Especially when compared to what one could buy and prepare coffee for in bulk at home.

5. Prepackaged Food - Buying prepackaged food items such as sandwiches, sliced apples, or desert cups is one way of overspending on products that are relatively easy to make, and less expensive then when you buy the ingredients which can also give you more servings.

6. Apple Brand Accessories -Apple has built a cult-following over the past decade, and they are able to demand premium prices for many of their aftermarket accessories. There are, however, a number of manufacturers that make products that are compatible with their mp3 players and other products, available for a fraction of the cost.

7. Sending a Fax from a Business Center - There are a number of free web-based fax services, for which you only need an email address and a scanner. Sending faxes from places such as Kinkos can cost $1 per page for local, and $2 per page for long-distance faxes.

8. Car Maintenance from the Dealership - Unless a car is under warranty, going to a dealership for a repair is one sure way to overspend. Car dealerships often promise that certain work can only be done by authorized dealerships, and are less-inclined to negotiate prices, something that should be done with any type of auto maintenance.

9. Music -  There is no longer the need to purchase an entire album, now music fans can compartmentalize music purchases to the individual song level with sites like iTunes or  Pandora.com.

10. Additional Warrantees on Electronics - The typical lifespan of electronics products are 3-5 years.  So if you think you will upgrade the item within 5 years, or before you will repair it, is the cost (can be up to 50% of the purchase price) worth it?

11. Late Fees/Overdraft Fees - Paying late fees on credit cards and bills, and overdraft fees on bank accounts can be a disheartening use of one’s hard-earned money. Especially when a minimum payment on a credit card of $15 is missed, resulting in a late fee that can be as high as $39 (and perhaps result in an APR% increase). Overdraft fees add up, especially when they are made in quick succession, resulting in fees for each transaction made while an account is overdrawn.

12. Non Bank ATM Fees - ATM Fees can add up. They can also be slightly misleading; it’s not unusual for ATM convenience fees to cost $2.00, and for the card-issuing bank to charge up to an additional $2.50 as a non-bank ATM Fee. As a result, it may cost up $4.50 to withdraw $20.00.

13. Subscriptions to Print Publications - Most print publications’ online counterparts offer the same articles and features, and it’s usually entirely free – often with archives too.

14. DVDs – Now there are many alternatives for individuals to watch movies without having to purchase them – Netflix offers unlimited monthly rentals, and websites such as Hulu.com, enable users to watch thousands of its titles for free.

15. Flowers from a Florist - Flowers are often overpriced, especially at florists, and always around the holidays, so your best bet is go to your grocery store, they are often a fraction of the price.

How to Save Money Using an Entertainment Book

Be sure to read all the way to the end of this post as I announce a giveaway I think you'll like.

I've written about the Entertainment Book a couple times in the past -- asking if it really saves money as well as how I could get one. Well, about a month ago, I was contacted by one of their representatives and asked if I would like to receive one for FREE! Since "free" is my first name, I said "sure!" ;-)

Since then, I have studied the book a bit, developed a method I think will help me maximize its savings potential, and used the book several times already (saving a good bit of money -- more on that later.) Here are the tips that I think will help me save over $200 this year with an Entertainment Book:

1. Look through the entire book. The first thing you should do when you get an Entertainment Book is look through the entire book to see what coupons you might want to use. I have had coupon books like this one in the past, and I have set them aside figuring I'd call upon them when I made a purchase. I never did. They were out of sight, out of mind -- especially since I'd never spent any time with the book. So right away, familiarize yourself with the book. In it you'll find TONS of ways to save money that are so compelling, you won't be able to forget to use it.

2. Record the offers you like. As you look through the book, write down the offers you like on a separate sheet of paper. Record the offers (what for and where), their value, their page number, and any valid dates (some coupons expire at the end of the year while others may only be good for a certain month). Once you have these recorded, attach the paper to the front of the Entertainment Book. This gives you a nice, visible reminder of the deals you're most likely to use and that will save you the most money. In addition, the list of "savings" will help to make sure you actually follow through and use the book. To help you out, here's a list of offers you should be looking for as you review the book:

• Free or very low offers. These are offers where the item is free or costs a nominal amount. Examples: A free Frosty at Wendy's or free carousel rides at the local museum. These represent FREE MONEY -- how could you turn them down?

• No-brainer offers. These are offers you KNOW you will take advantage of for doing absolutely nothing different than what you normally do. For instance, there are a few $5 coupons off $50 in groceries at our local grocery store. Since we spend $70 or so a pop there, using these $5 coupons is a no-brainer for us.

• Offers to places you frequent often. This includes restaurants you go to, services you buy, stores you shop in, etc. -- if you go there regularly and there's a coupon for that place, it's very likely you'll get "free money" by using the coupons.

• Price-matching offers. These are for places that have a similar product to what you buy elsewhere -- but your normal place has a price-matching promise. For example, the shop where we get our oil changed matches competitor's coupons. They don't have coupons in the Entertainment Book, but we can use the other oil change coupons in the book to get savings at our place.

• Places you may want to try out. If you've wanted to try out a new restaurant, why not do it with a buy-one-get-one-free offer?

3. Take extra steps to really maximize the use of the Entertainment Book. In addition to the offers you've identified above, also use the following tips to really super-charge your savings:

• Plan around the book. I have several lunches during the course of each month. I usually pay for these and I also generally get to select the restaurant. I look through the book and pick a place I like and that I have a coupon for. For discretion, when I pay the bill, I put my credit card along with the coupon into the credit card "folder" the waiter provides. When the bill comes, the coupon is deducted and I pay as normal.

• Look through the book before any trip/purchase. Before you buy ANYTHING, look through the book. I always thought these books simply had restaurant and travel deals in them. But they contain offers for retail stores, auto services, grocery stores and many other businesses you might not expect to be included.

• Take the book with you when you're out. If the family is going out shopping on a Saturday (which we do frequently), throw the book in your glove compartment. Then, if you decide to stop for lunch, you may be able to use a coupon and save some money.

I'm sure I'll discover some additional tips for using the book to save money, and I'll post them as they happen.

As I said, I've only had the book for a month, but so far I've saved a good amount including the following:

• $5 off at a local restaurant -- saved $5
• Buy one get one free lunch -- saved $10
• Buy one get one free breakfast -- saved $6
• Oil change price match -- saved $3
• Buy one get one free pizza -- save $5

Total saved so far: $29

So in only a month, the Entertainment Book has saved us almost $30. Not bad for a $25 investment (my cost if I'd bought it at full price.) I think we'll end up saving $200 or so this year based on the coupons I have on my list. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

One more note: if you're not sure you'd use an Entertainment Book, you can visit their website, put in your zip code, and see all the offers for your area. Then you can make your potential savings list BEFORE you actually buy a book. How cool is that?

If you're still not willing to buy one, then you're in luck -- I have several to give away. I'll be giving away one Entertainment Book every week for the month of March. Stay tuned, put your name in the hat, and you may get an Entertainment Book for your area absolutely FREE!!!!

Finally, maybe there are some pros out there who could teach me a thing or two. Anyone have any extra tips on saving with a coupon book?

For more ways to save money (as well as make some extra too), check out my list of how to make money and save money.

Paying Off a Mortgage by Brown Bagging Your Lunch

I've written about how we paid off our mortgage as well as how we all can save money by taking our lunches to work, but this piece by Crown Ministries (pdf -- page 14) tells the story of a guy who combined the two ideas. He started brown bagging his lunch to work and put the money he was saving against paying off his mortgage. The details:

The daily savings of brown-bagging my lunch was about $5 per day. That’s $5 times 21 working days per month, or about $105 savings per month, which is good in and of itself. But if I had not been intentional about it, the $105 that I saved would have gotten lost in the shuffle and spent in some other way. That’s when I developed the Index Card System.

The Index Card System ensures that the money we intentionally save by means of brown-bagging our lunch, or any method of cost saving, gets redirected purposefully. Here’s how it worked for me. I took ordinary index cards and wrote “$105” and the months “January” thru “December” on them and put them in with the rest of my bills. Each month that my mortgage was due, I treated the index card as a bill and used it to pay an additional principle payment on my mortgage. I simply wrote “Principle payment only” in the memo, and the bank applied that money against my mortgage balance. None of that money went toward interest. The full amount went directly to reduce my mortgage balance. As a result of sticking to the Index Card System, I knocked seven years off the life of my mortgage and saved almost $14,000 in interest.

Think about that. By simply applying the money saved from brown-bagging a lunch, it is possible to knock many years off the life of your mortgage and save potentially tens of thousands of dollars in interest. Anybody have a taste for peanut butter and jelly?

What a great example of the fact that if you can keep small spending under control, you can have a MAJOR impact on your net worth. With one simple change over a long period of time (he doesn't say how long, but paying off his mortgage didn't happen overnight), this man dramatically improved his finances. Many of us can do the same -- if we simply make a small change here and there and have the discipline to see it through.

One other note: I'm sure it just wasn't the savings that helped him pay off his house early. He probably bought a house the "right" way.

Stop Buying Expensive Pet Food (And Wet Food Too)

Here's a VERY interesting piece from Consumer Reports on pet food. There were two money-saving ideas packed into this evaluation of pet foods and I wanted to highlight them both. Let's start with this one:

"There's no scientific evidence that any food is better than the next," says Joseph Wakshlag, D.V.M., Ph.D., an assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Pets can thrive on inexpensive food or become ill from pricey food. If your animal is active and healthy, the food is doing its job. A higher price could mean better ingredients and better quality control during and after manufacturing. But you might also be paying for pretty packaging, marketing, or a fancy name.

So you can stop buying that high-priced food for your pet because it's "better" for him. Turns out it isn't (unless your pet has a special need -- they cover this later in the piece.)

I also found this one to be interesting:

Do wet and dry [food] differ nutritionally? No, but there's a cost difference: Wet foods contain about 75 percent water, so you need more to get the same calories. The experts we spoke to said that the decision usually comes down to price, convenience, the pet's preference, and any health issues. Cats with kidney or urinary problems might benefit from the moisture in wet food, for example, and animals with dental issues might benefit from dry food.

In the absence of any pet health issues, looks like dry food is the way to go. It's the same nutritionally and a better value.

Now go out and buy Fido a nice doggie sweater with the money you just saved on these two tips. :-)

Do Energy Monitors Really Work?

In the discussion about whether or not a home energy monitoring device works or not, some readers mentioned that they had bought and used the Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor as a way to check energy usage (and then adjust habits accordingly to save money.) So when I ran into Consumer Reports' review of both the P3 International P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor and the Watts Up AC Power Meter, I was quite interested to see what they said. Here's their bottom line:

P3 International P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor and Watts Up AC Power Meter were accurate, and both can teach you how much an appliance contributes to utility costs. If that makes you use the appliance less or at lower-cost times of day (ask your utility when those are), you could save money. The devices can also help you compare energy costs of an appliance you own now with projected costs listed on any new one you might buy.

I haven't used either of these items (or anything like them), but I'm thinking it's probably a good investment. Those of you who have used these, what do you say?

Anyone Play the Grocery Game?

Does anyone here play the grocery game?

For those of you who don't know what I mean, I'm talking about The Grocery Game website that is built around saving as much money as possible on groceries. Here's how they describe their service (you can watch their video here if you like) :

When you play, you'll get a weekly list (called Teri's List) of the lowest-priced products at your supermarket matched with manufacturers' coupons and weekly specials -- advertised and unadvertised. The Grocery Game does all the hard work and research, and presents it to you in a straightforward format.

Of course this information isn't free. But in true "you have to spend money to save money" fashion, if the cost of the service is less than what you save, you're better off in the long run. And since it's not that expensive to join, it seems like a no-brainer idea that can save lots of people both time and money.

Their trial period is 4 weeks and costs only $1. After that, the cost for a 1 store membership is $10 every 8 weeks. A 2 store membership is $15 every 8 weeks, a 3 store membership is $20 every 8 weeks and so on. You can cancel any time, with no fees. They say that their members report savings of up to $100 a week -- so it does appear to be a no-brainer. But is it really?

I searched around the web and the findings are mixed. Here's a quick run-down on a variety of opinions:

• How To Play the Grocery Game & Is It Worth It? - "I think the Grocery Game makes shopping the sales a lot easier and can very much be worth the money. I did notice some glitches, but they aren't there for everyone. Join for the trial membership and see how it works for you. It is super easy to cancel at any time and even if you do cancel, you will still learn a lot about how the grocery sales work and ideas on getting the best deals. These things alone are worth the $1 trial membership fee."

• Incomplete Projects- The Grocery Game & Sewing Classes - "My area had a limited amount of grocery stores listed and, honestly, they only offered one store near me that I was interested in really shopping at for the membership. I found that I shopped more often and was spending more money than I typically would on my grocery budget. While I was able to score some great deals, I felt pressured to shop more than my typical bi-weekly or monthly shopping schedule. I did not see a big savings compared to my regular Aldi shopping and typical stockpiling of discounted items at stores. This is not to say that the savings weren't there, but for someone who does make almost everything we eat and rarely buys convenience foods, the deals weren't as great for what I needed and rarely beat the great prices at Aldi."

• Tightwad Tuesday: Playing the Grocery Game - "The Grocery Game isn’t for everyone. If you eat a completely natural and organic diet, it probably won’t be a good deal for you. Before you sign up for the trial, I suggest you collect 4 weeks worth of coupon inserts, or you’ll be disappointed that you don’t have the right coupons for the deals. After the trial, membership is $10 for 8 weeks, which is completely worth it for me.  I save more than that each week, even when the price of the Sunday newspaper is taken into consideration."

• The Grocery Game: It Works, but Not for Everyone -  "If you really want to save money on groceries with The Grocery Game, you have to be willing to follow a few unwritten rules. The Grocery Game works if: 1. You have coupons or are willing to get them. 2. You're willing to organize and use your coupons. 3. You have room to stockpile the products you buy. 4. You're willing to spend time getting ready to shop each week. 5. You don't know the rock bottom price for products or you don't want to or have the time to keep track of them. 6. You know rock bottom prices, but you don't have time to pore through the store sales flyers to identify the best deals of the week. 7. You can control yourself when a good sale is in your line of vision. If you think you can follow these unwritten rules, then I encourage you to sign up for the trial month. But if you know you can't follow the unwritten rules, be honest with yourself. The Grocery Game just might not be the best game for you."

• The Grocery Game - Many comments about people using the service and saving a ton of money.

One of the ladies in our office recently joined The Grocery Game as a trial member. She printed off a list for the week and I took it home all excited that we were about to save a ton of money. My wife poured over the list, then concluded that she had already identified the items we would want off it using her own method (a combination of coupon clipping and reading the weekly ads.) I noted that this could save her some time, but she has her "system" and doesn't want to change it. And since she's doing a pretty good job (I've had comments here that our food bill is very low), why mess with a good thing?

In addition, she also shops multiple stores (Meijer, Family Fare, Costco, Walgreen's, Rite Aid, Walmart, Aldi, etc.) so we'd have to buy multiple stores to take full advantage of The Grocery Game. In the end, we might be able to save a little but going through all the lists might take up a ton more time. So for now, we're going to pass.

How about you? Anyone out there using or has used The Grocery Game? What are your thoughts on it?