Simply Junior

I would like to share with you my thoughts on how to get out of debt and start saving money. I hope you enjoy it.

Whatever your income, whatever your priorities for your money, there are millions of people living happily on less than you earn. This logically means that not only is it possible to enjoy a great lifestyle on your income, but it is also practical.

Lots of people spend around 102% or thereabouts of their income, that is they are not saving anything and in fact they are slowly going backwards.

Have you ever received a pay increase only to find that your lifestyle does not noticeably change but the additional funds just disappear? Like you have holes in your pockets! I know the feeling, it has happened to me, and quite a few friends.

A different friend of mine went to a mortgage broker and consolidated all of his loans to one large flexible loan with all the features of his other loans rolled into one. He used to have a home loan, personal loan, car loan and several credit cards and now all accounts are linked to a central account that is at home loan interest rates and has his home as security . This arrangement can work very well resulting in the saving of hundreds of dollars a month in interest as it did in his case. But he was no better off either!

Yet another friend had his wife return to the workforce after their kids were all at school. Their household income in this case increased over 80% overnight. But. guess what, after a couple of months they too found that they were no better off.

Why is it so? It seems that without some discipline and a plan our spending habits just seem to automatically adjust to use all the money, and a bit more! If you have easily accessible cash or credit you are more likely to spend it. Most of us like spending money or at least are tempted. ‘Hide’ it and you are less likely to be tempted.

Remember before Credit Cards most of us had to save up to buy that special something. Idea : Pretend that you did not get the raise or pretend your wife did not go back to work. Then put the proceeds into a separate bank account (or get your employer to do it) and carry on as you did before. You will not miss the money!

This simple idea can be the start of an effective budget With some prioritizing and fine tuning as outlined below the results can be staggering.

Most people do not have a budget. Every successful business has a money plan. This is what a budget is, a plan for your money, you telling it what to do instead of it telling you what to do. With a budget you can set and achieve your financial goals. You will also get a better view of what your money can do for you now and in the future.

Usually people just pool all their funds and simply take it and spend it without regard to its priorities or limits. At any one time they do not really know if they can afford to or should buy something. For example a night out with friends could jeopardise the next weeks rent or mortgage payment , but they may go out and be blissfully unaware or unconcerned about their bank balance. They could well get a nasty surprise later.

What is the science behind hydrogen fuel cell cars? With the current high gasoline prices, many car owners around the world are searching for ways to reduce their vehicle fuel consumption. At the current rate gas prices are increasing, it won’t be too long before people have no choice but to abandon their cars for public transportation. One feasible solution to this problem is to adopt hydrogen fuel cell for cars. This article will provide some information on the idea.

The concept of hydrogen fuel cell for vehicle is basically using hydrogen gas (H2) as supplementary fuel source for cars. Presently, running a car on purely H2 is not practical yet. That is the reason why it has to be mixed with conventional gasoline to be burnt in the engine. Hydrogen gas for vehicle can be generated from water with electrolysis process. From high school science, we know that water is made of 2 parts hydrogen and one part oxygen hence its chemical name H2O. By channeling electricity current through water in an electrolysis device, H2 can be generated and stored.

The next phase is to release the hydrogen gas into the engine air filtration system. From there, it will be diverted into the combustion chambers and combined with gasoline. H2 is highly flammable and can burn at a very fast rate. The enriched gas mixture will produce a smoother and stronger power from the engine. In theory, if a car is using the same amount of fuel but achieving a high engine yield, the vehicle will travel further thus increasing its mileage and saving cost.

To convert a car to run on hydrogen fuel cell is not difficult. Anyone with some basic car maintenance skill can do the modification. You will need to invest about $150 to purchase the parts needed. The good news it, most of the components for the conversion process is available from a hardware store. With the current high gasoline prices, hydrogen fuel cell technology for cars seems like a practical solution to reduce gasoline cost.

Experts say it takes at least 90 days to break a habit, whether it’s a drinking habit, smoking habit, or spending habit. If you are living from paycheck to paycheck, not able to make ends meet, or just frustrated with how consistently small your savings account is, here are some tips to help you decrease your spending and increase your savings.

Our family of 5 will soon be a family of 6 in just a few more weeks so we have finances on our minds. During this down economy with the price of food, gas and just about everything else on the rise, how does a growing, single income family budget and continue to build up the money in the savings account. Here are some tips that we have been using and have worked to help us successfully save money.
Start by changing your spending habits – Re-evaluate where you shop for food. If you shop for all your groceries at one store, you are not getting the best deal on many items. We shop at six different stores for our groceries and buy items that are on sale from each store while avoiding the high priced items. Don’t eat out – Many people live busy lives, but if you really want to start stuffing away large amounts of cash, you will need to re-prioritize your schedule. Cancel your weekend sporting events, and start cooking up meals in bulk. You can freeze dozens of meals from each bulk cooking session which will provide you with a couple of weeks worth of meals. The more time you spend making large quantities of meals each weekend, the less you will have to eat out. Most folks spend easily over $7,000 a year on eating out. Imagine having an extra $7,000 sitting in your savings account – that should be a big incentive for you to start making your own meals. Take a drive out to the farm - Drive outside the city to visit the local farms. You will find many of them offer farmers markets that are much less expensive than the farmers markets in town. We find deals that can’t be beat – 50lbs of corn on the cob for $12, 50lbs of cabbage (about 10 heads) for $8, etc. We then spend the rest of the weekend shucking corn, chopping cabbage, and freezing everything to last us through winter. Processing your food – Learn what to do with all the food you will be buying for less. Herbs can be frozen or dried, cabbage, carrots, corn, potatoes, and more can be frozen, meats can be prepared then made into freezer meals, etc. We invested in a 25 cubic foot freezer and it has helped us to save an incredible amount of money on our grocery bill. You may not need such a large freezer, but will definitely make use of extra freezer space no matter what size you buy. Document your spending habits – Challenge yourself personally, and then challenge each family member to try to change their spending habits by increasing the consecutive number of days you do not spend any money at all to replace all those days where you were dropping cash left and right. If your documentation shows you have only two consecutive days of no spending per week, challenge yourself to double that to 4 consecutive days of no spending the following week. Eventually, you can make it to 7 days in a row of no spending for each family member, and be sure to give yourself a big star for each day on your calendar. Create a budget - On designated spending days, write down every item you need to purchase in advance such as fuel for the cars, groceries, pet food, and other items. Start managing your household items, topping off the gas on spending days so you don’t run out of it on a no spending day, etc. Come up with a tight budget for each category – monthly groceries $500; Gas and oil $150; Medical $100, etc., then try to stay within or close to that amount. Get creative – look for new ways to save money – eat out of your garden, take the kids fishing, turn old towels into rags instead of buying rags or paper towels, shop at second hand stores, shop at farmers markets outside of town directly from the farmers themselves, buy in bulk when on sale, look for free items on Craigslist, have garage sales to sell unwanted items, turn off lights in the house, use a clothes line, etc. Explore free entertainment - Make a list of all the free activities to do with the kids that are available in your town. Visit all your neighborhood parks, lakes, city gardens, free outdoor music events, open to the public events, etc. Venture out into the surrounding cities in your neighborhood too and take advantage of all their free activities and events too. Have fun and stay focused – Fill your No Spending Days with free fun activities with your kids and fill your designated Spending Days with focus and discipline – watching the quantities of items to be sure you do not run out of diapers, fuel, dish soap or other important necessities before your next spending day. Continue to better yourself weekly – Don’t beat yourself up if you struggle to pull it off at first. Seek for progress, not perfection and you will inevitably start to see your savings account grow. Depending on your families success rate, you could see some substantial savings start to build up right away in your savings account. Don’t get excited and decide to spend it all though, but try to see how high you can build that account up. In the meantime, enjoy all the quality time you will suddenly find that you have with your spouse and kids on those no spending days.

Happy Travels!

Building and maintaining a savings cushion is vital for your financial health. Most financial experts recommend having a minimum of three months’ worth of living expenses set aside in case of an emergency, but many people may find it difficult to build up that much money in savings. If you think that you might have difficulty in building up the savings that you need, you might want to consider some of the following ideas.

Focus your spending

Create a budget and track your spending. After seeing where your money goes, it’s much easier to decide where you can cut. Then live by it.

Treat saving like a bill

Consider your monthly savings amount a bill that has to be paid. Pay your account every month or every two weeks.

Think small

Many people don’t think their budget allows room to save, but even a small amount adds up over time. Depending on the size of your family, skipping a meal out each week could result in a $160 per month savings deposit. Take a good look at your spending habits, and you probably can find $150 or so each month in extras that you could do without to build up savings.

Save your raise

The next time you get a raise at work or a tax refund, consider directing half to savings. If you’re not used to the money, you won’t miss it.

Continue paying

When you pay off a car or other loan, consider making half of the payment to yourself and put it into your emergency savings account. You will not miss the money if it is in savings, but you will find a way to spend it if it remains in your checking account.

Turn off the TV

Don’t listen to the advertisements, Ignore sale flyers or mail-order catalogs. The latest sale tempts you to spend money unnecessarily.

Think before you charge

Unless you’re in the habit of paying your credit card bill in full each month, don’t use the cards for anything you can eat or wear.

Consider a refinance

Shop for loan quotes and see if interest rates are lower than they were when you took out some of your major loans. Consider refinancing your mortgage and your car loan.

Alternate your commute

If you live in an area that has good public transportation, see if you can get around without the car. Maybe you can get by on one car instead of two.

Conserve energy

Do an energy check on the house. Replace cracked storm windows and renew the weather stripping.

Java-jolt savings

If you’re a coffee drinker, don’t stop at the coffee shop each morning. Make your coffee at home.

Participate in a 401(k) or 403(b) plan

If your employer doesn’t offer these plans, then you could start saving in a tax-advantaged IRA or Roth IRA account.

Involve the whole family

Even the youngest child can contribute change to the savings goal. It is easier for children to get involved if they understand why they must give up pizza night (or at least cut down the number of toppings!). Also, you are setting a good financial example for your children.

Savings rewards

Plan a treat for you, your family or both when you reach your emergency savings goal. Make it something everyone will look forward to, but not something very expensive, like a day at the zoo or at the beach. The important thing is to mark the occasion and congratulate yourself and all those who helped!

Your food budget is the most flexible area of your household budget. Grocery savings will free up a significant amount of money if you need to balance the budget, or fund your savings accounts.

If you haven’t figured it out already, your kitchen is a Goldmine. There are numerous ways to reduce the grocery budget and free up funds to use in other areas.

How much should you be spending on groceries?

The USDA Food Plans at the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion suggests that a family of four is currently spending about $100 to $116 per week based on the “Thrifty Plan”, depending on the age of children. Anyone trying to reduce the food budget should follow the guidelines for the “thrifty plan.”

This should give you at least some idea what the average family spends.
I recommend you shoot for something less than that figure if at all possible by implementing as many of these grocery saving tips as possible!

Eliminate eating out! Period! – O.K. if you’re family is screaming mad at you then take them out at least once a month. Make it an occasion. Most of us get caught up in fast paced living and eat out at least one or two times per week. It’s just an insane waste of money. Your family will appreciate a dinner out much more when it’s not such a regular event. Consider it “quality time out”. And, remember to look for coupons good at local restaurants for additional savings. Minimize the use of convenience foods. – You can make it yourself for a fraction of the cost, try it! Many of us are so accustomed to convenience foods that we forget we can make it ourselves. If you already love to cook from scratch then congrats! For the rest, I know this is a scary thought. It’s hard to go back into the kitchen and actually get your hands dirty. However, I must insist you try this. There’s gold in them there hands! Use ‘em. If you don’t have a lot of time, don’t worry there are literally hundreds of recipe books for the busy lifestyle. There are many that promote frugal living as well. You’ll find substitute recipes for everything from baking mixes to shake and bake and salad dressing. All it takes is a little extra time. Even if you had to pay yourself for doing the cooking you would come out ahead. Do your homework! – Know what’s on sale and plan your menu around the weekly sales flyers. Investing a little extra time in planning will help maximize grocery savings and reduce the food budget! I make it a rule to never buy meat over $2 a pound. Although I allow myself $2, I usually only spend on average 39 cents to $1.69. Occasionally, (rarely) I indulge in something special if it’s a good value. Eat meatless meals at least twice a week. – Beans and rice are a good example. Egg dishes are a nice change in routine for dinner. Try a vegetable stir fry or casserole. Don’t use packaged mixes. – Cake, breads, muffins, pastry, pizza dough, pancake, and waffles all come in a variety of pre-packaged mixes. Make your own for not much more effort and a lot less money! Know what your local stores offer. – Which ones have the lowest prices? Start carrying a little memo book to record prices of items you buy regularly. You can organize trips to save time and money when planning your grocery shopping. Who accepts coupons and do they double? Do they have a rebate program? Do they have a clearance or bargain area? Which grocery stores accept additional discount programs like ValuPage? Build your coupon file! – It seems coupons are available everywhere now. Your newspaper is a great starting point. Pay careful attention when looking through magazines. These are easy to miss. I often find coupons in home, ladies, or cooking magazines. Check out the free grocery coupons on-line. Be sure to do your research, many stores do not accept computer generated coupons due to the high incidence of fraud. Be sure not to waste your valuable time on this one if you don’t have a local store that accepts them.

Be an informed consumer. I can’t stress this enough!

Informed consumer = More grocery savings!

Once you know where to shop, use all your resources. Combine rebates, sales, and coupons whenever possible for maximum grocery savings. This takes a bit more dedication but, you can literally get paid to purchase items if you’re willing to invest the time.

Grocery savings aren’t just for the grocery store. many drugstores now have food sections where you can save on groceries.

Here’s a great tip:

Always check your cash register receipt. Many stores offer a refund of full price policy for items that do not register the correct sale price.
I have cashed in on this one many times. Remember, these price adjustments are usually entered by humans. Human error is always a possibility, so cash in on it!

Because of a simple mistake, you have increased your grocery savings!

If you….

Plan ahead – Use your sale flyers to plan weekly meals.
Use what you have on hand first – Plan meals based on foods you have in your fridge, freezer, and cabinets already
Utilize your savings tips – Get more for your money using a combination of resources listed above
Make it yourself whenever possible

….You will be able to tap into that Goldmine hiding in your very own kitchen!