It’s amazing how your decisions can be shaped by your “money radar”! My radar comes alive when I know that I have a small cushion in my bank account. It could be $50 or $1500 or even $10,000. When I reach my “money radar” limit, I visit the local super store or surf the web for deals.
This “cushion season” is not the time to visit the local home improvement store if you consider yourself handy, or the craft shop if you are feeling creative. For you, it may be lingering too long on the home shopping network or surfing the internet for better deals.
I know my money radar has hit interference when I am headed out the door with a cart load of things I talked myself into purchasing. On the drive home, my cushion is quickly replaced with guilt over all my purchases. (Could this be why the return isle at the local store is so long?)
It’s time to turn up your radar to at least 3 times your monthly budget and leave it alone. If you are blessed with a cushion, protect it. You have worked too hard to see it dwindle away.
When your money radar comes alive and you finding yourself drawn to spend, think about things that will bring true contentment: a walk down in the fresh air, a visit with someone who needs your time, or diving into a (no spend) project you have been meaning to tackle like cleaning out your closet.
Experts say everyone should keep on hand at least 3-6 times their monthly budget in case of illness or job loss. This is especially true today. While low savings account interest rates may have discouraged you in the past, remember the interest income is not the greatest reason for saving. Your family’s security is.
Set your money radar dial at its highest level and stay the course. The airways are filled with the temptations to give away your nest egg, but keep your focus. Building that bank account cushion is the one thing that will lead you on to financial peace and freedom.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Laundry Day Instead of Every Day
In my clearest memory of my grandmother, she was washing laundry was on her back patio in a large tub-like contraption with two rollers at the top. My mother tells me those white monsters washed everything amazingly clean. It was wash, wring, rinse, wring, and rinse and wring again. She heated water on the stove for the whites and scrubbed tub after tub of clothes hour after hour.
She quickly hung the dripping garments out to dry, folded them, and put them away all on the same day. Yes, that was the Dark Ages. But what can we draw from those memories? Actually, I get tired just thinking about the whole process, but I am wondering if there isn’t a lesson in frugality in the midst of that dinosaur technology.
What about the concept of having a fixed laundry day? When the loads are fuller, there will be less loads to wash. The clothes are sorted better with the larger amounts, and the dryer never cools down. Better yet, hanging clothing out to dry on a breezy, summer day could save you up to $.50 per load. That’s not only frugal, that’s green, too.
Get the family involved. Setting a laundry day will bring renewed discipline in how kids dress. If they are involved in sorting, folding, and hanging out they may think twice before donning that second or third outfit of the day. They may also realize that some things can be worn twice before pitching clean clothes into the hamper.
Laundry day…imagine what it could save you!
She quickly hung the dripping garments out to dry, folded them, and put them away all on the same day. Yes, that was the Dark Ages. But what can we draw from those memories? Actually, I get tired just thinking about the whole process, but I am wondering if there isn’t a lesson in frugality in the midst of that dinosaur technology.
What about the concept of having a fixed laundry day? When the loads are fuller, there will be less loads to wash. The clothes are sorted better with the larger amounts, and the dryer never cools down. Better yet, hanging clothing out to dry on a breezy, summer day could save you up to $.50 per load. That’s not only frugal, that’s green, too.
Get the family involved. Setting a laundry day will bring renewed discipline in how kids dress. If they are involved in sorting, folding, and hanging out they may think twice before donning that second or third outfit of the day. They may also realize that some things can be worn twice before pitching clean clothes into the hamper.
Laundry day…imagine what it could save you!
Frugal Living: Define your Wants and Needs to Balance Your Budget
We’ve heard it all our lives: there’s a difference between what you need and what you want. Have you stopped to think about the real-life difference between wants and needs for you today?
Let’s think about that need-want equation in different facets of our lives:
1. Food. Everyone knows food is a necessity. However, within that category you have a lot of leeway. Yes, you need 3 meals per day, and you need good nutrition. But does that mean grilling steaks instead of hamburgers or noshing on elegant chips and gourmet dip in front of the TV? What do you really need to be satisfied and healthy?
2. Clothing. Are you shopping because your last pair of jeans are coming apart at the seams or because you’d love to have a new top for the weekend—even if you have a coupon?
3. Utilities. We all need electric, water, and (some of us) gas. Do we truly need as much energy as we use?
4. Telephone. Communication is essential today. Our kids need cell phones with them at all times in case some crazy at school or the mall causes a crisis. Or they could have a car break down on a lonely street in a seedy part of town. But if everyone in the family has a cell phone, do you really need a landline phone? Many people are eliminating their landline and saving hundreds of dollars in phone charges, long distance carriers, and taxes.
5. Cars. How many do you truly need? And do you need the latest model or can you trade that newer car in for an older model and eliminate a payment plus lower your insurance premium?
6. TV. With all the free movie and TV series sites on the web today, do you really need that cable or satellite service? Yes, you’d have to change your habits but what would you really lose? You’d have to give up a lot of commercials, that’s for sure. Why pay $50-$100 each month for something you can see for free?
7. Internet service. Do you have more download/upload power than you truly need? If you are in business, sure you need to be online in a big way, but what if you’re not? Or maybe you can cancel the $75
satellite bill in favor of a $30 DSL connection. That makes sense. But having both? Maybe not.
8. Grooming Products. If you have allergies, you may need a $5 bar of soap or $7 bottle of body wash. But what if you’re not allergic? And how many bottles of lotion does it take to keep your skin soft? Generally a single bottle from the dollar store lasts about 6 months—for $1. Total up the cost of the body products in
your bathroom and compare. Which of those do you really need?
9. Eating out. Do you need to go out every weekend? Or call for take-out on a regular basis? Instead, how about inviting friends over with everyone bringing food along? The cost would be the same as eating
at home but you get to share and have fun too.
10. Toys. Do we need to say more? If you want to replace the basketball hoop so you can shoot baskets with your 10 year old, great. But a $60 video game?
Let’s think about that need-want equation in different facets of our lives:
1. Food. Everyone knows food is a necessity. However, within that category you have a lot of leeway. Yes, you need 3 meals per day, and you need good nutrition. But does that mean grilling steaks instead of hamburgers or noshing on elegant chips and gourmet dip in front of the TV? What do you really need to be satisfied and healthy?
2. Clothing. Are you shopping because your last pair of jeans are coming apart at the seams or because you’d love to have a new top for the weekend—even if you have a coupon?
3. Utilities. We all need electric, water, and (some of us) gas. Do we truly need as much energy as we use?
4. Telephone. Communication is essential today. Our kids need cell phones with them at all times in case some crazy at school or the mall causes a crisis. Or they could have a car break down on a lonely street in a seedy part of town. But if everyone in the family has a cell phone, do you really need a landline phone? Many people are eliminating their landline and saving hundreds of dollars in phone charges, long distance carriers, and taxes.
5. Cars. How many do you truly need? And do you need the latest model or can you trade that newer car in for an older model and eliminate a payment plus lower your insurance premium?
6. TV. With all the free movie and TV series sites on the web today, do you really need that cable or satellite service? Yes, you’d have to change your habits but what would you really lose? You’d have to give up a lot of commercials, that’s for sure. Why pay $50-$100 each month for something you can see for free?
7. Internet service. Do you have more download/upload power than you truly need? If you are in business, sure you need to be online in a big way, but what if you’re not? Or maybe you can cancel the $75
satellite bill in favor of a $30 DSL connection. That makes sense. But having both? Maybe not.
8. Grooming Products. If you have allergies, you may need a $5 bar of soap or $7 bottle of body wash. But what if you’re not allergic? And how many bottles of lotion does it take to keep your skin soft? Generally a single bottle from the dollar store lasts about 6 months—for $1. Total up the cost of the body products in
your bathroom and compare. Which of those do you really need?
9. Eating out. Do you need to go out every weekend? Or call for take-out on a regular basis? Instead, how about inviting friends over with everyone bringing food along? The cost would be the same as eating
at home but you get to share and have fun too.
10. Toys. Do we need to say more? If you want to replace the basketball hoop so you can shoot baskets with your 10 year old, great. But a $60 video game?
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