finance friday - swagbucks

Tip #5:
Use Swagbucks to earn free items.

Swagbucks is an online search engine that rewards users with swagbucks for searching.  Swagbucks are awarded periodically when users search in surprise amounts.  These swagbucks can be used to purchase a variety of items, including gift cards.  Personally I don't think the searches are as good as Google, so I generally only search through this toolbar for specific sites (i.e. Target, etc.).  If I am looking for something very specific or odd, I still search in Google.

I have been using swagbucks for around a year and have earned over 3,000 swagbucks.  I am planning to use the swagbucks to purchase several gift cards - likely Amazon to purchase music downloads.  A $5 Amazon gift card is 450 swagbucks.  My husband using swagbucks to earn enough points to purchase the $5 Amazon gift card, so he can download some music.

Click here to sign up for Swagbucks to start earning gift cards.  I would also recommend downloading the search bar to make searching easy.  It can be found under Toolbars after signing up.

Here's to earning some free items.

finance friday - online coupon codes

Tip #4:

Search for coupon codes.

The thought of coupons overwhelms most people.  I am a proud couponer and save our family lots of money on essentials.  However, I understand that for many it takes too much time, so today's post is about coupon codes.  This is one of the easiest ways to save money when you are shopping online.  I rarely order anything online at full price.  It takes a few moments to find these coupons and seconds to apply them to your shopping cart.  Here's the rundown.

Add your selection(s) to your online shopping bag.  Then, open a new internet browser and Google the retailer plus coupon code.  So for Gap, you would Google "Gap promotional code".  Some of the more popular databases will pull up, I will generally look through retailmenot.com to find a code that work.  I just continue trying the codes until one works.  At time, I have been able to save 30% off an item and it only takes a few minutes.

To gain additional money back, link to the retailer through Upromise or your credit card reward system.

Continuing to cut your budget.

finance friday - brown bag it

Tip #3:
Bring your brown bag.

One great way to save money everyday is bringing your own lunch.  It doesn't need to be anything fancy.  My husband and I bring our lunch everyday with leftovers from the prior night.  This allows us to eat healthier, save money, and waste less food.  Generally, we pack the leftovers from the prior night, a yogurt, fruit, veggie, and a snack.

Enjoy cutting your budget by packing a brown bag.

finance friday - line dry

Tip #2:
Hang dry laundry.

In Minnesota, it is the middle of winter, but at my house, I have clothes hang drying to save electricity costs and clothing expenses.  My kids are growing so quickly that I don't want to risk shrinking clothing by putting them in the dryer.  I have built-in hanging bars to dry my clothing in my tiny laundry room, but if you don't have room for drying bars built-in a simple folding drying rack works perfect.  When the weather is nice, enjoy hanging your clothing outside on your folding drying rack to enjoy the added benefit of having fresh smelling clothing.

Enjoy cutting your budget by hang drying.

finance friday - use cloth

Happy New Year (almost)!

With a new year comes new resolutions.  For some, it is working out.  Which my husband will start reminding me tomorrow as the gym will be full of people and he will have to wait for the equipment he uses, but I always remind him that by mid-January, it will be back to normal.  What's your resolution?

My resolution this year is to provide 52 tips for saving money in my Finance Friday post.  My hope is that this will allow you to implement the change, if you desire.  I think a large part of why individuals do not do more about saving money is because they believe it takes time.  I have been in this situation and know that more time isn't easy to find in a busy life.  However, these tips will be quick ideas to save money over and over.

Tip #1:
Use cloth napkins everyday.



This may seem fancy.  If your dinner table is anything like mine, there is usually food all over, so you may think that cloth napkins won't work for your family.  However, think about how many napkins you use every night.  Let's say you have four people in your family and you use four disposal napkins per meal.  Depending on what napkins you buy, you could be going through a package of cheap napkins in just a few weeks.  So you are having to buy napkins every few weeks at around $3 a package that can add up fast.  About a year ago, I bought eight cloth napkins for everyday.  I believe each set of four was around $8.  So for around $16, I purchased napkins for years.  I bought white so I could throw them in with a white load because we never have a completely full white load, so I am not wasting more water and energy washing these.  I don't bleach them because I don't care if the napkins have stains.  However, if you don't want your napkins to have spaghetti stains, I would suggest buying darker colored napkins.  As an added benefit to saving money, you would be reducing garbage going to the landfill.

Enjoy cutting the crust off your budget. 

If you implement this change, comment and let me know how it is going.

finance friday - bills on a budget

Our heating system is electric as opposed to gas.  Electricity is generally higher in cost than gas, so our bills in the winter tend to be pretty high.  Some of this is due to heat loss because of the large windows throughout our home (read next week to find out what we are doing to stop this heat loss).  However, to avoid the unexpectedly high bills in the winter, we are on a budget plan with Xcel Energy.  Every month, our bill is the same, even if our electric usage fluctuates.  I believe gas companies offer the same plan, but we don't have a budget plan for our gas usage because the bill is so small.  Call your electric and gas company to see if they offer a similar plan.  It makes budgeting and planning much easy when you know exactly what your bills will be each month.  Oh and be sure to confirm that there are no additional fees for this plan.

home repairs

Home repairs can be expensive and eat away at the budget, but after some ups and downs in the last month, I am determined to save some money in the home repair category.

Our fireplace has been broke since last March, so about two weeks ago, I was determined to figure it out. It stopped working when we replaced the batteries in the remote. Both my husband and I had each looked at the fireplace several times to no avail. However, I decided that if I couldn't figure it out, I was calling someone to fix it. After looking through the owner's manual and figuring out that the remote control figure was not the standard for this model, I was able to re-program the remote and get the fireplace up and running. So exciting, we were able to save some money and enjoy the fireplace again.

However, last week our dryer stopped working. Imagine having no dryer with laundry for two kids.  We have been surrounded by clothes drying throughout the house.  The drum wouldn't turn, so we could easily narrow it down to the motor or the belt. After speaking with several repair companies, we were looking at around $230, assuming that it was the belt. One of the repair companies had me look through a few things and determined that it was likely the belt. So I went looking online to see what I could find. After searching, I really wanted to figure this out on our own. Last Saturday, my husband and I took apart the dryer and determined that it was the belt. I was hoping the belt just came off the drum, but unfortunately, it was broke. Then, I called the manufacturer and order the belt for $45. I wouldn't recommend doing this all of the time, but we thought we would at least give it a shot and it worked out.

Here's to saving some serious money on home repairs.

scrapbooking frustration

Scrapbooking has been exhausting.  I finally broke down last week and decided that I was going to get rid of all of the photos that I had printed at one point or another.  So, now I can focus on getting pages done digitally.  I started designing pages with a software that I purchased, but that took way too much time.  Then, I decided that I could breakdown and do the pages through Shutterfly for over $6 a page.  Can you tell I am frustrated?  I was willing to pay $6 A PAGE to finish my scrapbook.

But now, I am focused.  I am working with a software called Smilebox.  Right now, I am on the 14 day trial, but so far I really like it.  I have been using the templates and inserting pictures, then saving the layouts as jpeg document.  Once I have 2010 done, I am going to upload these jpeg files to Costco.  For $2.99 a page, I can have all of my scrapbooking done within a few weeks.  Today, I was able to get 15 pages done.  After three weeks of trying to figure out how I can get this done, I am no longer frustrated but focused on the end goal.

Cutting the frustration out of scrapbooking.

finance friday - student loans

I am starting a new weekly post titled Finance Friday.  My hope is that every Friday I will write about some finance topic that we practice or hope to practice in the future.

Today's post is about student loans.  If you hold a four-year degree or higher, chances are that you and/or your spouse have some student loan debt.  For my household, we have prioritized on paying student loans for the last four years and have reduced that debt by half.  How did we do this?

Set up a payback schedule
We use a spreadsheet with all of the loan detail, so we can adjust the numbers and see how the payoff time frame and interest amount changes.  This allowed us to layout the total amount we owed, how much interest we would pay, and how long we would be paying.

The turning point for us was a variable interest rate on one of our loans.  At one point, it had reached over 7%.  This is low compared to credit cards, but was 4% higher than some of our other student loans.

Here's how we set up our spreadsheet:

• Each of our loans has a separate tab.
• The columns are: Payment Date, Payment Amount, Monthly Interest, Principal Payment, Remaining Balance, and Interest Rate (if you have a changing interest rate).
• We set up formulas to calculate the total amount paid, interest paid, and principal paid.

This first step was the key to understanding our debt.  Prior to this, we made payments and knew that eventually we would get a letter stating that the loans had a zero balance.  Now, we make payments, know how much interest we paid, and know the exact date that our debt will be paid off.

Prioritize loans
Before we started looking at our student loans, we paid off our other higher interest debt.  This allowed us to focus on student loans with any additional money we had left over every month.  If you have other debt, prioritize these loans first, using the methods in a similar way.  When you realize how much money you are spending on interest (especially interest that isn't tax deductible - did someone say credit card debt), it is easy to make the loans more of a priority.

Even after we paid off the variable rate loans, we prioritized loans based on the amount of principal remaining.  This allows us to have a short-term goal, which is attainable.  So for 2011, our goal is to pay off one more student loan and only have one remaining.  If we paid these loans equally, it would take a couple of years before either of the loans were paid off, but by having a short-term goal, it keeps us focused on eliminating the debt.

Paying more than the minimum
This may seem obvious, but it really works.  Has anyone noticed the new breakdowns on credit card statements?  It is amazing how paying a little extra than the minimum can save time and interest.  If you aren't able to afford more than the minimum, start by trying to round to the nearest dollar, adjust your spreadsheet to see how much of a difference that makes - it might not be much, but every little bit helps.  Since we have been paying more than the minimum for some time, our statements currently show that we owe $0, but because we have our spreadsheet, we are able to see that if we paid nothing, we would add about $30/month in interest to our principal payment.

Another factor into paying more than the minimum, if you are deferring your student loans for whatever reason, try to make some payment.  Depending on the loan and deferment type, the loan may or may not accumulate interest.  If interest accumulates, try to make payments that at least match the interest amount to not add to the principal amount.  If interest is also deferred and you are able to make some small payments, these payments will help reduce your debt quicker, since your payments are going directly to the principal amount.


Hope this helps you cut the crust off your debt...

Decluttering

Since I am now off work for the next couple of months, I finally have some time to do all of the projects that I haven't had time to complete.  Here's my to-do list:

1. Clean closet
2. Finish kids' room
3. Scrapbooking (this has piled up over the past three years)
4. Start and finish re-decorating master bedroom
5. I am sure I will think of more things over the next couple of weeks.

So here's to checking off item #1 on my list.  This week, I cleaned out my closet.  These garbage bags are all of the extra clothes that we will be donating.

I don't have before and after pictures, but here is an after picture, so you will have to imagine adding four garbage bags full of clothes, plus two bins of maternity clothes.

Last month, I read two blogs that talked about O Magazine's article by Martha Beck's called "The Joy Dividend".  In the article, she broke down shopping and money into four categories:

1. I need it and I love it
2. I don't need it, but I love it
3. I need it, but I don't love it
4. I don't need it and I don't love it

This week, I went through my closet with these four categories in mind.  I decided that everything in my closet should fit into the top three categories because I will wear it if I love it or if I need it.  For example, I don't really love socks, but I clearly need them (especially in Minnesota).  However, when buying any new clothes, everything needs to fit into category one or three.

With these categories in mind, I tried on a lot of the items in my closet.  I was true to myself in the fact that I asked myself - do I love this?  If not, it went to the donation pile.

This project felt so good.  This is one of the many projects that was weighing me down.  Now, on to finishing the kids' room.

Jumping in head first

Some of our family and friends say that we are students for life, but in reality what they mean is that we are crazy for taking on too much at one time. To give you a little insight into our life – in the last four years, we have had our first child, both worked full time during this time, planned a wedding, completed a law degree, completed a masters degree, sat and passed the bar exam, between the two of us have switched positions or jobs six times, moved two times, and are now pregnant with our second child.

It’s been a whirlwind over the last four years, but we’ve enjoyed every minute. Our life would be very different without all of these pieces, so we are thankful for each opportunity to build strength in our relationship. Plus, it is a lot easier looking back on it. There were definitely trying times – for instance, trying to figure out what to wear to work when there has been no time to wash laundry let alone iron anything. But, we couldn’t have done it without our families. They were there to help us catch up on laundry, do some ironing, or simply watch our son while we studied, took a break, or just slept.

When we finished our advanced degrees, we talked about taking at least six months off to enjoy life. At that point, we would decide whether more education would be a good option.

It’s been eight months since either of us have been students. During this time, my husband and I have been able to focus on our family and friends, which has been so exciting because previously we had little to no time for sleep… let along social time. It has been fun to catch up with friends and family, enjoy the outdoors, relax in the evening, and play with our son.

This may be a surprise or shock, as we haven’t announced it to anyone, but then again, if you truly know us, it does not surprise you at all – my husband’s headed back for more school.

For the last couple of months, we have been discussing the idea of having my husband go back to school. For those that are unaware of how public school teachers are paid in MN, here’s a quick synopsis. There are different lane changes and subsequently pay scales changes depending on your education and years in position. For most districts, it is something like this BA, BA+15, BA+30, BA+45, BA+60, MA, MA+15, MA+30, MA+45, MA+60, and PhD. With each lane change, your salary increases and with each additional year of service, your salary increases generally (there are some flat levels, but generally include some yearly increase due to changes in contract amounts from year to year).

About two months ago, my husband learned of a distance learning program, where he could obtain additional credits, but these would not count toward a degree. We talked about it for hours on end – would it be better to spend the money to get a PhD, should we hold off for another year, etc. However, just this week, we decided that this program offered the best of both world – distance learning at a reasonable price with classes that he enjoyed taking, so it would be less time consuming than a traditional program and he could always go back for a PhD.

Because of the way that teacher’s pay scales work, we were able to determine that the total cost of the program would be paid off within six months after he completed the program due to the incremental increases he would receive during the program. It’s really a small investment up front to help us cut the crust off in our budget to save a little more each month in the future.

As of today, he submitted the enrollment and will soon be receiving his books. We are now back in the student world – at least for a year. The most exciting part is that my husband is really excited about the class offerings because he isn’t worried about getting certain credits for a degree, so he can take the classes that are most relevant to his classroom setting and interests.

Now the only outstanding question is will this be the last adventure for us as students… my guess is that it’s not.

Stratus to Jetta

Monday was a sad day for me. Back in high school when I started driving, I envisioned having a new car that I could drive around in and enjoy. My parents helped me achieve that vision. The deal was that I had a loan through my parents with 5% interest. I made car payments of $325 a month to my parents for the vehicle while competing in two-three activities. I had to work hard to pay for the vehicle and never missed a payment. I was proud to own the vehicle and officially take title from my parents. There are a lot of really good memories with that car, but here is one that I will never forget.

After I had the car two months, my parents were on their way to Hong Kong, but before they left, the one thing my mom said was to only drive the vehicle if I absolutely needed to. Of course, that lasted two minutes. Before they had left the Minneapolis airport (so literally they were gone less than 3 hours), I was on my way to the golf course only one mile from my parent’s house. And of course, what happened – I was hit by someone. That’s right, I didn’t hit anyone, I was hit in my rear passenger door from a person coming out of a private drive. My poor, beautiful car would never be the same. At first, I was sad and then I realized that I would have to call my parents. I would have to explain why I had to drive that one mile, which obviously was not a necessity – I could have easily walked. I had to call my parents and tell them that I not only didn’t listen to the one thing they said, but now I had a huge dent in my car that would need to be fixed.

Today, we traded in that car. That’s right my one and only car that I have had since beginning to drive. Although, we needed to get a new one because it didn’t have the latch system and wouldn’t work with two car seats, I am a little sad to see the car leave our home.

Although, it’s hard to say goodbye, it’s time. What’s really important is that the kids are safely secured in their car seats… the crust here is just saying goodbye… it’s hard.

Test Driving

Since finding out that #2 is on the way, we knew that eventually we would need to get a new vehicle.  Our second vehicle does not have the latch system at the base, so with two car seats, it would be difficult to keep the kids safe.  We decided in March that July would be a great time to look at vehicles because last year’s model would still be new, but the next year’s models would be released and perhaps available.  We decided that we were really interested in some type of hybrid car because of the gas mileage, so we are thinking that a newer vehicle is the way to go for us.  Although the Toyota Prius has great gas mileage, we ruled that one out because of the safety issues with Toyota in the last year.

On Wednesday, we went to test drive three vehicles – Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, Nissan Altima Hybrid, and VW Jetta TDI.  Our qualifications for the vehicles we chose to test drive ranked in the following order: Safety, Available Space, Gas Mileage, Price, Overall Maintenance Cost, Features.  The Sonata and Altima were recently featured in Consumer Reports for best family sedans and we saw a TDI advertisement for 43 mpg, so we thought we would at least test drive it.  At this time, the Sonata Hybrid has not been released, but we thought if we decided on the Sonata, we would wait until this fall when the hybrid version is released.

We brought the infant car seat, toddler car seat, and BOB jogging stroller.

We wanted to be sure that we could fit our regular items with some room to spare (especially in the front seat for our knees).  The available space has the highest ranking on our list (of course, after safety) because if we are not able to comfortably drive the vehicle with our two kids in the back seat, it’s not the right vehicle for our life.

Here is what we determined:

Sonata - all around a great car for the price.  We were able to test drive a 2011 Sonata, not a hybrid, but the dealership indicated that these would likely arrive in Minnesota some time this winter.  We really liked the available features and it had lots of space in the trunk and back seat.  However, one of the cons was that the hybrid would have a smaller trunk, so that probably wouldn't work, but the Sonata has great gas mileage without the hybrid technology, so we really liked this vehicle.  In fact, my husband wanted to get it right away, but being the planner I am, I convinced him that we needed to test drive some more vehicles.

Altima - it has great features, but the regular Altima gas mileage doesn't cut it for our requirements, so we immediately had to look at 2009 used hybrids.  The first one had a funky smell, which I couldn't get over.  I will blame that on the pregnancy.  The second one was really nice, but then we looked in the trunk.  We could barely get our jogging stroller in and there would be no room for anything else, so that ruled out the Altima.

Jetta TDI - great vehicle, but you have to be willing to find diesel.  The Jetta TDI runs on diesel, so it has unbelievable gas mileage.  The advertised mileage is 31 city/40 highway, but the Jetta SportWagen TDI holds the world record at 58.8 mpg, which also has advertised mileage of 31/40.  Once we found out more about the new diesel regulations in the US, we examined the vehicle.  From the outside it is surprising compact, but in the interior, it has lots of space and a huge trunk.  The TDI version also has a lot of upgrades in the interior.
Our top ranked choice is the Jetta TDI. Here are the main reasons we decided on the Jetta TDI - the overall space, unbelievable gas mileage, solid construction, and amazing power.  There are a few small items that we had to give on – price is on our high end and the middle console is really small with the digital radio/navigation system.  However, we still have a few vehicles to test drive to be sure that we have made the right decision.

If you are in the market for a new vehicle, check out Insurance Institute for Highway Safety for the safety ratings for your potential vehicles.  You will need to look at past models, but it should give you a good indication of the manufacturer's quality of design.

Stayed tuned for our final decision.

Skuut

Over the last couple of weeks, we have been looking at our budget and planning for baby #2. It's been a bit overwhelming. We need to get a few new things that can handle two kids and our first major purchase was going to be a double stroller. The stroller we wanted came with a price tag of $500, which was a steal. However, last night we ran into neighbors with a toddler that had a Skuut Bike.

After reading reviews, we decided that our toddler could handle going for long walks with the Skuut bike while our soon-to-be born infant could ride comfortably in the stroller.

We learned to cut the crust off and get to the middle of our goal in buying a new stroller - being able to go for long walks with two kids. The Skuut bike solves our problem and saves us around $400.