Does Your Debit Card Affect Your Budget?

Debit cards are a common facet of American life. They are so convenient and preferred by retailers over checks. Many people never carry cash because their debit card is readily available. But how much is that tiny piece of plastic actually costing you?

Banking institutions earn at least 20% of their non-interest earnings from debit card charges. Using the card at an ATM can cost up to $2.50 per transaction. Some banks charge a quarter per transaction at the register as well. That seems like a small thing but even $5.00 in charges per month becomes $60 per year. How many tanks of gas are going to your bank instead of in your tank?

Pulling out plastic offers you a disconnection from parting with your hard-earned cash. That makes it easier for you to spend more when you’re paying via debit card. Try it sometime. Pay with your debit card then make a second purchase soon afterwards with cash. You’ll notice a much deeper feeling when those greenbacks leave your hand.

It’s a known banking statistic that debit cardholder are ideal “cross-sales” candidates, especially for loans. So, holding a debit card opens you up to more telemarketers and more junk mail. Each contact by these sales people ups your chances of falling for an offer that you really don’t need.

Debit card purchases open you up for overdrafts and can cost you hundreds of dollars in a single month. Paying with cash eliminates any danger of overdrafts, so when the bank account is low, hand over the bills instead of swiping the card.

Withdrawing cash for your food and gas budget can save you hundreds per month.

Your Financial Thermometer: What's in Your Wallet?

How you carry your cash is a great indicator of your attitude toward money. If you want to change your financial picture, a good place to start is your core relationship to the paper you carry around with you. Logically, you may think, "I want to be affluent and enjoy the finer things of life," while inside something may be whispering, "Money is bad. It causes trouble," or "You don't deserve it." How you treat your cash can reveal your true core feelings toward money.

Which of these are you?

Diane Disarray: Be careful when you look into Diane's purse. You might think C-4 had exploded. She's the one we get impatient with at the cash register. When it is time to pay, she digs around in her "bottomless pit" pulling out wads of paper, laughing and telling the clerk she hopes she has enough cash because she does not want to write a check.

Hoarding Harry: Harry's wallet is arranged by amount, newness of bill, and year printed. He carries large amounts of cash for emergencies, but in actuality he won't turn loose of any of it. You would think he is the penny pinching dream, but he has forgotten that money is just a tool. If you are counting on Harry to donate to a family who just lost their home to a fire, don't hold your breath!

Carefree Carl: His cash is peeking out from all sides of his wallet. He's never sure how much he has. He only knows that today he has to spend some somewhere. Perhaps a lotto ticket would be just the thing or a tool he can throw into his stash. Sure, he has to buy gas for the week. For now, he just wants to live for the moment because this cold hard cash feels hot in his pocket!

Balanced Bette: Bette has her coins and cash separated. She knows the amount of money on hand and keeps it for weekly needs. She knows that expenses often come up or that she may need something extra special for dinner tonight. When a situation arises, her first thought is how that will affect her budget. She knows that life can change on a dime and she needs to be ready to weigh the cost with the benefit. She does have an envelope in her sock drawer where she sets aside money to go crazy on vacation. That at least gives her the illusion of spontaneity.

Go ahead. Open your wallet and take a look. Would your spouse be happy if you treated him or her the way you're treating your cash? Take a moment to smooth out the bills, organize them by amount and count your change. Remember, money is a tool. Any craftsman knows, you need to treat your tools with respect if you want them to work for you.

How Much is Your Job Costing You?

When we thing about working, we generally focus on the hours we work per week and the total paycheck. While it's true that getting the most pay for your hard work is critical, there are other aspects to consider when thinking about the value of your job.

While employment brings you income, but it costs you as well. If you are on track with living a simpler, healthier, greener lifestyle, you need to consider all drains on your budget including this one.

Here are 5 ways your job may be costing you:

1. Commute expenses.

A. How much gas are you when you travel to work? Figure out your average gas mileage:

1) The day before your work week begins, fill your car with gas and jot down the mileage reading on your odometer.

2) Get the accurate distance of your drive, not your estimate but the mileage from your odometer. Jot down the mileage when you leave home and the mileage when you park in the lot then subtract them. Or use your vacation mileage counter, if you have one.

3) When the tank is low, fill the tank again. Note down the number of gallons you've used and the miles you've driven.

4) Divide the miles by the number of gallons. For example, if you have driven 355 miles and used 10 gallons of gas, you would divide 355 by 10. Your miles per gallon would be 35.5.

5) Take your distance to work from #3, multiply by 2 to get the to-and-from amount. Then multiply by the number of days you work per month. For example, if you drive 5 miles to work, then your to-and-from distance is 10 miles per day. If you work 20 days per month, you drive a total of 200 miles per month.

6) Multiply the miles per month by your gas mileage. In this case 200 miles times 35.5 miles per gallon equals 5.63 gallons per month.

7) With gas at $2.00 per gallon, your total gas allowance for your job is $11.26 per month.

B. Do you own your car because of this job? If so, add your car payments, insurance, and maintenance costs per month. Even stops at the car wash should be included. The average older car costs about $1200 per year in repairs, so add $100 per month for repairs as well, if your car is more than 5 years old.

2. Does your closet contain clothes you consider your work clothes? If so, how much does it cost to maintain your wardrobe. For example, bank tellers and clerks at upscale clothing stores are expected to look classy on a very un-classy paycheck. How much is your work wardrobe worth? And how much does it take to maintain it?

3. Do you pay for daycare or after-school care? Be sure to add those expenses to your list along with special food, diapers, or other materials these services require.

4. What about the fatigue factor? Do you stop for fast food or call out for pizza because you are so tired you can't face the kitchen routine? Mark those charges on your kitchen calendar (Ordered Pizza, $25) and add them up at the end of the month. Add 75% of the total to your monthly work expense list since you would still pay about 25% of the cost when you cook a meal.

Once you have your 4 amounts, think about how you could cut costs in each category. By shopping for consignment items? Paying a student for after-school care instead of a childcare service? Trading in for a more fuel-efficient car?

Don't rule out the possibility of finding a job closer to home or a job with flexible hours so you could avoid childcare expenses. Working at home eliminates the car, wardrobe, and childcare altogether. Even at a greatly reduced income, you may still come out ahead. Is that an option for you?

No matter how large your paycheck seems, what really matters is how much you get to keep.

Creating Tempting Leftovers for “Free” Meals

The greatest saving strategy you can have is to use every scrap of food that comes into your home. The trick is to disguise leftovers as a completely new meal. Here are some ideas for putting leftovers to good use. And while you are at it, consider the advantages of planned leftovers.

1. After each dinner, add leftover vegetables with their juices to one large freezer container. Add any leftover gravy or cooking juices as well. When the container is filled, use it as the foundation for nutritious and tasty vegetable soup...practically free.

2. Leftover mashed potatoes can be used in Shepherd's Pie, Canadian Meat Pie, or in Beef Patties.

3. Leftover gravy can be used in Shepherd's Pie or over Supper Pancakes.

4. Freeze bread heels and stale bread in a bag or freezer container. Blend the frozen bread to use it as bread crumbs or cube the bread for stuffing or bread pudding.

5. Rejuvenate leftover muffins by scooping out the center, filling the cavity with butter or jam and baking at 350° until warmed and the butter is melted. Or cover the warmed muffins with creamed eggs for a breakfast treat.

6. Use leftover oatmeal in Oatmeal Cake or Oatmeal Muffins.

7. Marinate leftover vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower, or even green beans, in Italian dressing and use them as a flavor accent for your salads.

8. Thick stews can be used as filling for pot pies. If your stew isn't thick, add a few potatoes and simmer until it thickens.

9. Add white sauce to any leftover vegetables and heat thoroughly. Add cheese, for more protein.

10. Cook twice as much broccoli, cauliflower, or spinach as you need for a meal. Set aside half the vegetables to appear again in 2 days in a casserole with cheese and crumb topping or in quiche.

11. Leftover pasta or rice can become the crust for quiche or meat pie.

12. Grind leftover ham in a food processor or meat grinder to mix with a small amount of mayonnaise and use as a sandwich spread.

13. Meatloaf is often left over but seldom used. Place ¾" thick slices of meatloaf on a broiler pan. Spread with ketchup and broil for 3-5 minutes. Top with cheese and returned to the broiler until melted.

14. Use leftover coleslaw in soups and stews. Simply place coleslaw in a colander and rinse it under a faucet, then dump the coleslaw into the soup pot.

15. Biscuits can be split, buttered, and toasted under a broiler for 2 minutes. Use these biscuits as a substitute for rice, potatoes, or cornbread in recipes such as Creamed Chicken or Curried Chicken. Or sprinkle on cinnamon sugar for a tasty breakfast.

16. Use leftover pasta or rice in casserole recipes. This would be an excellent way to save time as well.

17. Besides banana bread and other baked goods, brown bananas have many uses: banana milkshake, banana-peanut butter sandwiches, Banana French toast (add mashed banana to milk and egg dip).

18. Leftover cake can be used in many ways. Use your imagination. If you have leftover chocolate cake, make a trifle with chocolate pudding with cherry pie filling for a delicious Black Forest trifle. How about yellow cake and vanilla pudding with peach pie filling and raspberry jam for a Peach Melba flavor?

19. Sour milk should never be poured down the drain. Instead, use it to make baked goods that call for buttermilk such as pancakes, waffles, gingerbread, or cornbread.

These were taken from the chapter "Tempting Leftovers" in the Penny Pinching Meals cookbook.