Cheap Living Tips

By Rosey Dow

Do you have a coffee habit demanding to be fed every morning around 7:30 a.m.? Does your car automatically turn into the parking lot of your local convenience store or coffee bar? Here’s some great news. You can keep your coffee habit and still save thousands.

Step 1

Figure out how much your coffee stop is currently costing you. If you are a latte lover, a low estimate is $5.00 per fix. Say, you stop for latte 3 times a week. That’s $15/week times 52 weeks a year for an amazing total of $780/year.

Or maybe you go for the more ordinary cuppa java for $2.00 per morning 5 days a week. Holding that labeled cup in your hand as you walk into the office does give you a kind of status. Besides, you enjoy drinking your brew in the car on the way to work. At $2.00/day, 5 times a week, your yearly total comes out to a mere $520.

Step 2

Take the total per year and use it like a savings account.

What kind of amazing coffee maker would make you feel pampered? What features would it have? Fresh grind? Timed start? Steamed milk? Let your imagination run wild. This coffeemaker will be the pinnacle of your kitchen purchases, so make it worthwhile. I found a coffee maker with the grind and brew option that also has a timer for auto-start in the morning. It costs $99. You can probably do better by shopping around online or checking eBay.

If you loved frothy steamed milk, you can pick up a latte frother with a stand for under $30. It makes the milk frothy right in your cup in 20 seconds.

Now you’ve spent less than $130. You still have $650 left from your yearly latte account.

What about the sprinkles and the syrups and the whipped cream? All are available online or from your local coffee shop.

How much gourmet coffee, flavorings, and cans of whipped cream can you buy for $650? Probably enough to cover the next 3-4 years. You can even splurge on a name brand hot cup to carry in your car. Next year you can subtract the price of the equipment and save even more.

Step 3

Stock up on the equipment and supplies. Take 5 minutes to get the pot ready before bedtime and come down to a luscious aroma. Froth your milk in less than a minute, pour in the brew from fresh ground beans and add all the doo-dads you like.

Enjoy your mug at the kitchen breakfast bar, at your desk, or on your commute. Best of all, you’re not missing anything except the strain on your wallet.

And now I’d like to invite you to http://PainlessPennyPinching.com a place filled with budgeting advice, up-to-the-second sales feeds, and in open invitation to an online shopping site where you can get cash back for shopping at Wal-Mart, Target and 800 other stores.

Rosey Dow is CEO of ExpertsinFocus.com

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What is Holding You Back From Being Financially Free?
By Jeff Earlywine

For many people, growing your net worth and becoming financially free is a desperate sought after desire. However, something seems to get in the way. It is almost as if when things begin going really good, something bad happens. In other word, you take one step forward, but slide back two. For instance, you are beginning to save on a regular basis and then the car breaks down draining all that savings. Sound familiar?

Below are few reasons why many people get held back financially.

Not PLANNING for the storms to come

We also know it will rain again some someday, both in the natural and in our financial life too. Even in ancient Bible writing we see this – the story of Joseph. The story goes something like this. Joseph was in prison, but was requested to attend a meeting with the ruler of the land. The ruler asked him to interpret a dream – a very odd request. Joseph told the ruler that for next several years things would be great, but after that famine would hit the land hard. He must have been convincing, because the ruler took him out of prison, made him second in command, and followed Joseph’s plan – a plan to save all they could for the next seven years.

In our lives we need to follow this same advice. You do this be having a plan to live by when things are good, preparing for when things take a turn for the worse. To do this you develop:

1) A savings plan

2) A spending plan

3) A sharing plan – allowing you to give more when you have it

You also must live within your means (not your neighbor’s).

Not PREPARING to take advantage of every opportunity

Being able to take advantage of sale prices can help the family’s budget tremendously. When should you take advantage of the ½ price sale? Great question – when you have the extra money, and would need to buy the item anyway. When shouldn’t you by that sale item? Another great question. When you don’t have the extra money, and it is a true “want” not a need for you and/or your family.

PAYING too much of… the list could go on and on, but here a few.

1) Interest – We all know that debt is too easy to get. Credit cards often charge over 20% interest, and the “Buying now, and paying later philosophy” is common in our culture

2) Taxes – The average family pays 25-50% of what they bring home in taxes. Something that can help you reduce this is to start a small home-based business.

3) Depreciation – especially on automobiles. Example… You buy a nice, new care for $25,000, you drive it for 2-3 years and decide to trade it in on another nice, new car. You really negotiate with the car salesman to get the best price possible – and you feel so good about it, then you mention your trade in. The salesman happily agrees to have your car looked at. He comes back to tell you that they will give you $12,000 for your car [he would word this that they will take another $12k off the sales price of your new car]. You invested $25,000 2-3 years ago, and now your investment is worth $12,000.

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You Can Save More Money Than You Think When You Shop
By Aydan Corkern

When you go shopping, there are a few way to save some money. Looking at prices is a way to save on clothes, shoes, and many other things. You can go online to buy things and some things are much cheaper than they are in local stores. Do not buy expensive clothes because you will just be wasting your money and it will not be worth it. Buy cheaper food like rice, beans, chicken, and many other foods that you can afford without breaking the bank. They also will last you a long time. Make a list when you go shopping or any time you go get food.

If you want to save money, look in the paper before you go to the store so you know where it is cheaper. This will help you save a lot of money every week or every month. If you stock up on food that will last you weeks or the whole month, it will save you money. It is a good idea to basic cooking staples on hand like noodles, rice, oil, and flour so it is easier to prepare meals at home. Go to the store on the weekends because sometimes the sales are better and you get a lot more.

Another way to save money is to cut out coupons so you can get what you need cheaper than what it normally is. Coupons can help you get more things and it can help you stock up. Did you know that if you go to the store a lot, you spend more money than going once a month? It is true. When you pay for things here and there, you spend more money than you, but if you go once a month, you will spend one price and no more. Go to different stores, and never just shop at one store because other stores will have different prices that will save you money on your food budget. Stop buying so much junk food and this will definitely save you some cash. Buying in larger quantities or bulk is always cheaper too.

Going to the store once a month will also save you on gas, which will also help you save money. If you are shopping for clothes, you can look for things on clearance. Clothes always get cheaper when the season changes, so all you have to do is to wait for new merchandise to come out and the older clothing will usually go on sale.

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Getting More Cows is Not the Answer
By Donald Fishgrab

A wealthy Eastern family bought a large ranch in Wyoming. One of the family members moved to the ranch to manage it. After several years, he told my brother he needed to get more cattle, as he wasn’t making it with what he had.

Terry, a career cattleman, was managing a ranch for a large company, which owns several ranches, asked what he meant. Joe,(not his real name)explained that he only had about 500 head and had lost about $25,000 the previous year. If he could up his herd to around 1,000, he’d make some profit.

Terry pointed out that he had lost $50 per cow and asked how much would he have lost if he had 1000 cows. Joe stared at him for minute, as he realized he would have lost more. “If a bigger herd would only have increased my losses,” he asked, “How can you make money in this business?” He went on to explain that in their primary business, increasing sales increased profits.

Terry pointed out that in that business, they could cut production costs per unit by increasing production in the same facility. Making more money on the ranch required reducing production costs also. Merely increasing the number of cows would not automatically reduce production costs, because the cost of feed would remain the same for each cow.

In order to make a profit, one must be more efficient in his use of time and money to increase yield for his investment. For example, if 2 pounds of alfalfa hay will produce 1 pound of beef, but 4 pounds of grass hay are required, then alfalfa hay at twice the price is cheaper because it takes less effort to feed and store.

Selling cattle earlier, before they have reached maximum weight may make more profit because you may be able sell them before it is necessary to begin feeding, saving a significant amount. Selling calves in the fall rather than wintering them and selling as finished cattle may make more money for the same reason. Simply increasing volume, will not increase profits if there is not a profit for each unit.

During the last recession finance companie discovered that they could package debt and sell the packages, called derivatives, to investors for around 115% of the package value. Because the jump in interest rates and penalties for late payments made them very attractive, they sold quickly. The Bank could then lend that 115% and repeat the profit. Banks lowered their lending standards in order to increase their number of loans. Eventually, too many people were unable to make their payments, and the derivatives became unprofitable, making them impossible to sell. This ultimately led to the present credit crisis.

One of the current suggestions for resolving the credit is for the federal government to buy the bad derivatives. This will cause new demand for derivatives, putting us back to where we were 6 years ago, with readily available credit.

Unfortunately, This is very much like Joe’s idea that getting more cows will automatically make a profit. Unless the program is changed, it is inevitable that we will get the same results. Increasing the demand for derivatives will give a temporary increase in available loans, but will ultimately increase the losses in the long term. Sooner or later we will come to another crisis, with much larger losses.

Following the same path can only lead to the same result. Doing it more vigorously only increases the amount of the results, it does not change what they are. That can only be changed by doing something different.

Don Fishgrab is owner of http://www.DebtManagement.DoBetterToday.com, a source of information about debt, and publisher of BeingChristianToday.com, a blog about Christian living.

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Jump Start Your Year With A Written Financial Plan
By Edna Ferman

Would you like to have more money in your pocket?

Would you like to know how to do it?

It is not hard; it is all a matter of organizing your finances.

Everyone has expenses, some have large expenses and some have smaller expenses. It doesn’t really matter how much you earn – expenses are the results of our: wants and needs.

For managing your expenses you have to manage your wants and your needs and control them in order to be in control of your expenses.

Your needs are usually your living expenses like rent, mortgage payment, electricity, tel, etc.

You have to control your needs in a way that they will be controllable. Not every need we really need. We consider many of our needs as a must but the reality is that we can do without them or we can economize, a good example is the cell phone; once you have a cell phone you can not do without it but you can control the cell’s bill; You are in control of how much you talk on the phone.

Many times we think that we must have all our needs but if we will stop for one moment and ask ourselves the most important question: Do I want it OR do I need it? And think for a moment – we will identify for ourselves if we just want this item or we really need it.

The same question should be asked when we spend money on our “WANTS”: Do I want it OR do I need it?

Everyone can manage and reduce their expenses; it is all a matter of”wants”.

We are living in a society of abundance, we have much more than we need. Actually we don’t need too much, there is a saying that says: you can’t seat on two chairs. But we still acquire much n access of what we need in every area of our lives.

The best way to manage your money is to have a written financial plan.

A starting point for a financial plan is preparing a plan for the next month. Start with one month at a time.

A financial plan shouldn’t be a complicated thing. You can do it with paper/pencil, a word document or spreadsheet, the main point is to get it down in writing.

The first financial plan will take a bit longer, just to get all the information of all the expenses but the next ones will be quicker. The ideal is to plan your finances every month or two.

The two main columns in the financial plan are: Income and Expenses
The income column should have all the different incomes: wages, salary, commissions, and other income.

The expenses column should have all expenses listed in categories and sub-categories:

Housing expenses (mortgage payment, rent etc), everyday living expenses (electricity, gas, internet, phone, credit card etc.), medical expenses, transport expenses (car loan/lease, gasoline, repairs, bus/train fare, parking etc), insurance expenses, children expenses, clothing expenses, pet expenses, taxes, entertainment (movies, videos, books, gym etc.), grooming (haircuts, manicure, cosmetics etc.), holiday expenses, savings and unexpected expenses ( gifts, dentist etc.).

To assemble all your expenses amounts you should check all your bills, all amounts that are charged on your credit card and all receipts you might find.

As a tip for a good housekeeping : collect all your receipts for goods paid for with cash or items which are paid by credit card, in order to know exactly your expenses.

The next stage is to compare the two amounts: the total of the monthly earnings and the total of the monthly expenses. When you have the two amounts displayed, it is displayed to you and you can see if you live above your means or below your means.

If your income is greater than your expenses – you live above your means.

If your expenses are greater than your income – you live below your means.

That is the point where you can see each of your expenses and decide which expense is necessary, which expense is only a want and the most important is how to plan your finances.

You are on the right way to your financial freedom…

Edna Ferman
http://www.theekgmethod.com

Edna Ferman – Expert and Coach and the creator of The EKG Money Method. EKG stands for Earn it, Keep it and Grow it. It is a method and a system to manage your finances and to get you on the way to your financial freedom.

For more information and tips about managing your finances, get an instant pay raise, put more money in your pocket, plan a practical budget, live your dreams at your GOLDEN AGE and achieve your financial freedom.

Listen to my free audio at The EKG Money Method:

http://www.theekgmethod.com

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