“Spending Money” Archive

On this page you will find the search results for the search term that you queried.

Navigating Black Friday…

Shhhh. Don’t tell anyone (and by ‘anyone’, I mean my mother) but…

I read Cosmo.

Come on! I read finance stuff all the time and every once in a while, it’s nice to read garbage *cough*, I mean, light reading.

Anyway, for those of you crazy folks *cough*, I mean money savers, who shop on Black Friday, Cosmo has some tips on surviving the busiest shopping day of the year.

#1 – Go to Blackfriday.com. They have a listing of retailers you can sign up for e-mail notifications when their deals are posted. They also let you know what stores are running pre-Black Friday deals.

#2 – Go online early, add items to your cart, and press refresh when the sales start to see if your items went on sale.

#3 – Join your favorite retailer’s Facebook page or subscribe to their Twitter feed. Sometimes subscribers get early access to sales.

Or…

#4 – Don’t buy gifts this year and pay down debt.

OK, they didn’t write #4. But that’s the one I’m doing.

Posted by Beks on November 1, 2011 at 5:00 AM in Spending Money | 7 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

Layaway Comes Back…

I was listening to talk radio the other day when the host shared Wal-Mart’s latest decision to offer layaway this holiday season. Wal-Mart had ended the program five years ago due to low usage but reopened the program this year because of requests from consumers trying to avoid using credit cards. I’m not a fan of layaway personally. I’d rather save the money myself and save the $10 fee for the program BUT, if it came down to credit cards or layaway – layaway would win every time.

A few stores offering layaway this holiday season:

Sears, Kmart, TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, Best Buy, Toys ‘R’ Us and ELayaway

Check out this article and decide for yourself if layaway is right for you:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/12/earlyshow/living/money/main20104801.shtml

I don’t have to worry about layaway this year since hubby and I won’t be purchasing gifts but have any of you done layaway? How’d you like it?

Posted by Beks on September 22, 2011 at 5:00 AM in General Personal Finance, Spending Money | 17 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

Are you wasting $42 each month?

I was watching a commercial yesterday and was a bit shocked to see a Ziploc ad share that most Americans waste $500 each year on spoiled food.

At first, I denied it. There is NO WAY I spend $42 each month on food that goes bad before I have time to eat it. Then, I opened my fridge. I clean it out once a week but thanks to the time spent caring for a tiny infant, I haven’t had time to clean it in 3 weeks.

I stuck the poor little guy in his swing and set out to calculate how much food I wasted this month.

I tossed a few soft apples, a couple grapefruit, a few Tupperware’s of left over dinners, and a half head of lettuce. Not close to $42 but definitely hovering around $20. No biggie right? Except that’s not counting the craziness I threw away in my pantry last month.

I may be closer to that $42 than I thought.

What did Ziploc recommend? Freeze everything. For my leftovers, this is a great idea. I think I’ll try it out this month.

As for the fruit and pantry items, I’ll work on buying a little less.

How close are you to that $42 mark? And be honest! No cheating.

Posted by Beks on August 5, 2011 at 5:00 AM in Living Frugal, Spending Money | 12 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

Cell Phone Woes…

I opened my first cell phone bill since the big switch last month. Expecting a lower bill (as promised by the sales guy – of course), I happily opened my bill to discover…

A big fat number reading – $324.

Cough. Ack!! $324?!?!?

Thinking my husband or I somehow went over the minutes or violated some sort of agreement, I searched the bill looking for answers.

Overages: none.

I waited a minute or two for my blood pressure to return to normal and called the cell phone company. Turns out, activation of new service requires you to pay the current month, one month in advance, activation fees, and taxes on everything. They did give me the amount I will be paying in future months and, yes, it will be lower than what I was paying but… a little warning about the first month would have been helpful.

I’ve got to sell a lung real quick.

Youch!!

Posted by Beks on July 26, 2011 at 5:00 AM in Spending Money | 9 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

If My Mortgage Doesn’t Kill Me, Costco Will…

I scrimp, I save, I budget but there are two things that can empty my bank account in three seconds flat:

My mortgage and Costco Wholesale.

I suffered an attack from both yesterday.

My mortgage cleared my account in the morning and even though I’m prepared, even though it’s budgeted, it’s always a little disheartening to feel rich one day and broke the next. It’s like watching a car full of cash leave my checking account each month.

For some reason, I thought yesterday might also be a good time to go to Costco. We ran out of paper towels and we would soon need napkins and toilet paper. This trip SHOULD have cost $45.

I tried to make a straight line down the center of the store, directly to the paper products (conveniently placed in the BACK) but found myself saying, ‘Peaches? OF COURSE I need a huge flat of peaches. Sure, it’s only hubby and me and we’ll have to eat 17 peaches each in the next 5 days, but I CAN’T live without them.’

It’s as if all logical thought and reasoning disappear at those roll-up doors.

I loaded the cart with apples, pre-cooked dinners, dog food, and paper products. My exit cost me…
$191.

I’m tricked into thinking I’m ‘saving money’ by purchasing toilet paper 92 rolls at a time but those rolls are typically accompanied by loads of items I don’t need.

It’s not as if anything I purchased will go to waste, but it will take 10 years for us to use it all. Fortunately, my husband worked a side job a few weekends ago and we had the cash, but that’s $191 that won’t be going into our emergency fund this month.

I think I’m going to have to break up with Costco.

Posted by Beks on July 21, 2011 at 5:00 AM in Spending Money, Ways I Save Money | 14 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

Waste…

I decided to dedicate my Saturday morning to rearranging all the food products in our pantry and throw away any outdated goods. I figured this might be my only shot to get organized for a while and assumed this task would take about an hour.

THREE hours later, I slipped my final can into an organized row.

And for the part I am ashamed to admit…

I had to toss 6 trash bags of food. I easily wasted several hundred dollars of grocery budget by letting my food expire. As someone who worked in a grocery store, I guess I missed the lesson on first in, first out.

It’s not that I don’t know how it happened. I come home from work, exercise, tidy the house, and tiredly open the pantry doors to grab whatever food is in front. I simply lack the energy to move things around – especially in the last 9 months.

Off to Walmart I went to purchase $15 worth of plastic bins. Using plastic bins as drawers in my linen closet has helped to keep my shampoos, lotions, and body washes organized so I figured I’d give it a shot in the kitchen. Pulling out 10 individual cans to find one in the back? Not going to happen. Pulling out one clear plastic bin? Pretty darn easy.

Ugh. Why didn’t I think to do this years ago! I wouldn’t have to live with the guilt of all that wasted food!!

Posted by Beks on June 30, 2011 at 7:52 PM in Saving Money, Spending Money | 17 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

Consumption…

The roommates have been out about a month now and we are starting to receive our very first utility bills for just the two of us. We all used the same common areas and shared the TV so I didn’t anticipate much of a dip when they left. Sure the water bill would drop a little but that’s it…

Or so I thought.

The water bill did drop a little, only about $20. Since our water bills are sent every two months, this wasn’t a full cycle for two of us, but it’s a pretty good indicator of what we’ll be paying next time.

The cable bill dropped more than $30. They took their cable box and DVR with them and I didn’t realize the monthly expense of the extra cable box. That’s what I get for writing checks and not reading bills!

The most shocking bill of all? Electric. Since we’ve had roommates from the day we moved into our home, we never knew what the total would be without them. The statement would always hover between $135 and $160 per month. This month? $78.

We don’t have roommates to cover half the bills BUT…

Overall, we aren’t that far from what we’ve been paying.

Who knew we were so ‘green’!!??!!

Posted by Beks on June 20, 2011 at 9:58 PM in Saving Money, Spending Money | 4 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

Older Archives »

About This Site

My Debt

Original Debt: $38,495.86
Added Debt: $1,781.50
Total Debt: $40,277.36
Paid: $36,084.36
Remaining: $4,193.00
Broken Down
Auto Loan 1: $0.00
Credit Card: $0.00
Student Loan: $4,193.00
Auto Loan 2: $0.00
Vet Loan: $0.00

Blogging Away Debt

Good Info I've Collected