Guest Post - Stretch That Dollar: Living on Less

Today, I'm lucky enough to have a guest post on how to save some much-needed cash.

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Living on a budget can be a challenge, but the benefits outweigh the effort in the long run. Living frugally can not only be an enjoyable experience, it can help you save up for cars, houses or other big budget items.

Car Buying on a Budget

Particularly with an automobile purchase, it's truly is better to spend a little more on a newer vehicle in order to save yourself the hassle of costly repairs down the road. There are plenty of places where you can get your hands on a used (but newer and in good shape) vehicle for a little less. The stigma that used to surround buy-here-pay-here car dealerships is fading. Many of these places are more legitimate than they were thought to be in the past, and because they offer in-house financing, they are able to offer you more competitive rates than other dealerships. But in order to walk into those dealerships, you need to start living a little more frugally, and save a little more of your hard earned dough.

Planning

The hardest part about starting a new budget plan is the planning part. It's essential, but it can be daunting. Ever think you have plenty of money in the bank, only to get declined at the checkout counter, or get a nasty surprise when you check your account? Not knowing exactly where all your money goes can be one of the biggest stumbling blocks to starting, and successfully completing a tighter budget.

Balancing Cash and Cards

Cash is more difficult to keep track of than spending on a card, but a balance of the two can be helpful. Take a week to look at what you spend, and where you spend it. How much do you spend on take out, coffee or clothes? What about more expensive things like filling up your gas tank? Try and trim down your small expenditures to less than $40 a week. Take out $40 at the beginning of the week and use that cash for the small items. This way you can get a clearer picture of how much you spend on things you may not need.

Do It Yourself

It can be surprising how much money we spend on things that we can make for pennies on the dollar at home. Brewing coffee can be just as good at home as it is when it's bought from trendy coffee shops. Bubble baths, face scrubs, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies and other daily-use items can be made at home. This can also be an enjoyable activity for friends or young kids to get involved in, making it fun and cheap.
The best way to start your new life as a frugality champion is to make a budget and stick to it. It's alright to work gradually into a new stricter budget, making the change from lots of unnecessary spending to very little can be a struggle. But by keeping to the budget you set for yourself, you can be on your way to a wealthier you!

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Devin Perez

A recent college graduate, Devin enjoys the freedom that comes with a freelance writing career.

Seems Legit

I just came off my third telemarketing phone call today. No, I do not want to further my college education at this point. No, I don't need my kitchen redone. No, I'm not interested in Netflix. We've got one.

I don't remember signing up for any of this, but that's the line each caller uses. "We're calling because we received your request for our services."

Oh really?

And I feel bad because it's not their fault. They're just doing their job, and I'm the jerk who gave them my information.

So, today, I've been really nice to them. "Oh, actually, I'm not interested in that at all. You see, what happened was I thought I was going to get a $500 gift card from Victoria's Secret, but that turned out to be a hoax, just to pair me up with you. Sorry to waste your time."

So, yeah, I didn't sign up for any of these services. I clicked no or skip on each sponsor page. Doesn't matter. I gave them my cell phone number. And what kind of 29-year-old woman looks at a Facebook offer like, 'oh, hey, that looks legit?'

You have 90 seconds to like us and sign in and we'll give you a $500 gift card! No, really!

I can only explain it by saying that sometimes we don't do something for so long that we forget why we don't do it. I know better. I've known better since I turned 13 or so. But I forgot. Suddenly, I found myself thinking, well, heck, maybe I never get any of these giveaways because I never sign up for any of them. Why don't I sign up? I should sign up. I'm holding myself back.

Oh, right. No. Don't be like me.

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Things Should Cost What They Cost

I can't coupon. I'm too stupid to coupon. It's true. Any time I try to save myself some money - be it by using discount codes or signing up for junk mail to get a special deal - I mess it up, end up paying at least full price, and wasting hours of my time. Then I get the glorious after-effects, which usually involve five emails a day trying to entice me to buy more crap I don't need for prices I won't get.

I even managed to mess up Groupon. Somehow I signed up for Orlando Groupon. I don't live in Orlando. Not to mention, I never even bought anything through them, meaning I'm getting their deals (ie. junk mail) in my box three or four times a day and I never even saved 90 percent on anything ever.

I tried to get reward points through Southwest when I bought tickets to Connecticut. But I didn't feel like I got enough of them for the major purchase I made (four tickets.) So I went back and ordered them all separately, thinking if I used my name on each separate purchase, I would get points for each one. Nope. You only get points on purchases made with your information for yourself. Now, had I read the instructions thoroughly, I probably would have seen something somewhere about that. But I didn't. So, now I have four different itinerary numbers, four different tickets, I had to sign off on my kids because they can't "fly alone." The whole thing took me an extra ninety minutes to coordinate.

I can't coupon.

It is most likely because of this that I feel things should cost what they cost. If something costs X amount of dollars to make with material and labor, and you need to make Y percentage of profit to keep your business afloat, then the combination of X and Y should be what that item costs the consumer.

I don't want to play games with you. I don't want to clip little slips of paper, scour the internet for codes, go through manufacturer deals, store deals and outside party deals to pay for your item. To pay what your item should have cost in the first place.

And you're right. Sometimes you'll give out Coke for 3 cents a bottle, or mustard for a nickel and those products do cost more to make. But I don't care about that. In fact, I would ask that you just not do that because the reason you are able to pull stunts like that is because you've been overcharging me for other products for years and you have enough padding to gimmick it up. Just charge me what it cost you to create the product plus what you need for profit margin and I will buy what I need, okay?

This is in no way bashing those who can and do use coupons regularly. It's not against the extreme couponers who get a million items and the store pays them. That's great. This is the way the world is, and you have cashed in.

But for those of us (and maybe it's just me) too impatient and too stupid to figure out the savings schemes, sign up for the right deals, and win the right contests, can things just cost what they cost?

I really feel that things should cost what they cost.


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I Hope You Didn't Think You Were a Person or Anything

I talk a lot about judgment doled out to stay at home parents by those in the working world, by other parents, by non-parents and by themselves. That's all small potatoes compared to a new ruling by the Federal Reserve.

Credit card companies have been told to stop issuing cards to people who do not pull in an income.

On its face, this ruling seems to make sense. People who don't make any money shouldn't have the responsibility of having to pay credit card companies back for their consumption needs.

Behind that face, however, the issue is so much deeper. Behind that face are women and men who stay home to take care of their kids while their spouses work, providing the more disposable income. To prevent these men and women from being approved for credit takes their legs out from under them, squelches their independence and deems the work they do worthless.  Now I don't care if you don't think being a stay at home parent is a career or even a job. This isn't about needing appreciation for the work done or not done. This is about being forced into a box because of personal life decisions.

This rule is unrealistic and it oversteps boundaries, in my opinion. The economy still falters. Many have lost their jobs. The saving grace for some has been the ability to stay at home with the kids, raising them and saving money on childcare costs while they look for other work. Other work that hasn't been coming. Now The Fed tells us that we can no longer get credit unless we can prove we can individually pay for it?  Okay, fine. Make the jobs come back and society will get right to work on that. Or not. Because it's our choice to work or not if our families can afford it, and repercussions should not be lauded over us for our personal family choices.

What about people who need to build their credit? They can't. What about those stuck in abusive relationships? Without access to credit, they're left crippled, forced to stay with their partners, given one less avenue in which to forge their escape or start a new life if they so choose.

This takes the stay at home parent back to a level of dependence the country hasn't seen since the passage of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974, which prohibits credit issuers from discriminating on any basis, including gender.

Because this is discrimination, plain and simple. You can say you're looking out for the consumer. You can point to the housing bubble collapse and blame the consumer. You can tell us it's for our own good. But you're wrong. It's constricting, belittling, and, honestly, it's dangerous.

Stay at home parents are not irresponsible with their money simply because they're not currently making any.  And while their home situation is okay right now, everyone deserves to have an individual safety net should circumstances change. The Fed is taking that net away from many parents. A death, a divorce, an abusive situation...without a credit history, the victim is rendered helpless on their own. It's a trap.

I have my health insurance through my husband's job. I have my car insurance jointly with my husband. I hold a joint bank account with him. If the government and insurance companies and other businesses accept my worth combined with my husband's, why not credit card companies? Or are my insurances and bank account next on the chopping block?

Well, go ahead and take them. I don't need them. I won't even notice they're gone. I'll be too busy over here in the kitchen in my heels and apron, making dinner for my provider and asking him if I can borrow a few dollars to buy the brood some shoes.

Let's not let it get to that point, okay, Fed?  Just because we stay at home does not mean we're not independent. But it will if you take all adult avenues away from us.


Article with more information:
http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/stay-at-home-parent-credit-cards-household-income-1282.php


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Everything is a Toy

I was reminded yesterday of one of the many habits of babies that I've known for years, and, yet, somehow always manage to forget: they can turn anything into a toy - and not only turn it into a toy, but turn it into the best toy ever.

Last night, I got a flashlight out of storage.  Amazingly, my two year olds had never seen a flashlight.  They were intrigued.  More than intrigued.  In fact, I have rarely seen anything delight and confuse them more.  (Thank you, Home Depot, for selling flashlights in a two-pack.)

"Light!  Light on!  Flash... light.  Flashlight!  Ball!  Ball?  Light?  Light!"

With each exclamation, they excitedly flicked their wrists and ran toward the light they had been casting on the wall, only the light was no longer there.

Confused, they would stop and look for it.  Oh!  There it is, on the ceiling.  They would start talking about it enthusiastically, waving their arms around for emphasis.

Wait a minute!  Where did that light-ball go?  It was just here!

We're now on day two of this.  It's clear the flashlights are going to provide our family with hours of tantrum free, hilarious, entertainment and all for the price of four D batteries.  This is a steal.  Christmas has come early.

This is a great lesson to be reminded of at Christmas time.  Sure, my kids get enjoyment out of their more expensive toys.  A year later, they're still playing with the talking Elmo from time to time.  They'll dance along to their music-maker if I point them in that direction.  They make sure to pour out all of their blocks on the floor several times a day, although it's been months since they've shown any interest in actually building with them.  It's not as if these toys go to waste.

But in this economy, parents might do well to remember that a cardboard box and a cooking spoon can be a drum.  Blankets and a flashlight can be a fort.  Wiggle a string, and you're taming a snake.  The toddler's imagination is the true Christmas coupon.  With a little make believe, a $20 Christmas has the potential to be even more fun than a $2,000 Christmas.