Breakfast Bowls

I have a confession to make, I am addicted to McDonald's.  My love of breakfast (and sweet tea) is well known by my friends and colleagues.  The problem is that a sweet tea and a couple of breakfast burritos per day is not good for either the waistline or the pocket book.

Lately I haven't been feeling the healthiest.  Not that I'm feeling terrible, just sluggish and yucky.  Typically when I feel like this is because I'm overloading on non-healthy food, sugar, caffeine with a little bit of not exercising thrown in.

Outside of the fact that I love their sweet tea and burritos, one of the reasons I stop every day at McDonald's is the convenience.  Having a non-fast food breakfast requires planning and forethought - how fun is that?  You're right, it's not very fun at all but a necessity if I want to improve my eating habits.

One trick that I've been using is to buy the Jimmy Dean Delight Breakfast Bowls.  They're very yummy and I can get them for about $2.19 at my grocery store which is only a couple of pennies more expensive than my McDonald's run (minus my sweet tea).  Of course, my next thought is "I can make that myself and save myself the money!"

The beauty of making your own breakfast bowl is that 1) you can choose your own ingredients 2) it's significantly cheaper 3) no preservatives or additives.

Breakfast Bowl
Makes five servings

• 1 dozen eggs
• 2 small potatoes
• 1 small onion
• 1 package turkey sausage
• cheese (any cheese works fine)
• other ingredients as desired (mushrooms, tomatoes, etc)
• seasonings (salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic, etc)

Dice your potatoes, onions and other ingredients.  Season (I used rosemary and garlic) and saute until cooked.  Add to a large mixing bowl when finished

I used pre-cooked turkey sausage so I just cut into small pieces and then added to the mixing bowl.  If you are using non-cooked sausage you will want to cook, drain and crumble before adding to the mixing bowl.  I personally like to use Jones Turkey Sausage because there are no nitrates or additives, however any brand will work.

Crack your eggs in a bowl, adding any additional seasonings.  I used salt and pepper with a dash of milk to to make them fluffy.  If you prefer, you would be able to use egg whites or an egg substitute instead.  Typically I like my scrambled eggs a little more cooked but since these will be heated up in the microwave I left them a tad bit underdone but still thoroughly cooked.  Once finished, add to the mixing bowl.

Add cheese and mix thoroughly separating into five containers.  As you can see, I like to use freezer bags but a bowl you could eat out of would be more convenient.

Voila!  The finished product

I estimate that these cost about $.75  and are about 275 calories per serving.

Now I'm not only eating healthier but with making my own sweet tea I'm saving money too!

This recipe has been featured at:  It's a Blog Party

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Financial Goals - Reviewing our Insurance

Earlier this year I posted 12 Steps for Getting Our Financial House in Order.  One of those steps was to shrink our bills.  The first bill that I decided to focus on was our insurance. Our insurance bill is actually quite high.  We have four vehicles that we insure as well as our umbrella policy and our homeowners insurance (with multiple riders).  A couple of years ago Michael was responsible for a serious accident that required the totally of both cars as well as a settlement for the other driver.  You can only imagine how much our insurance went up after that!

Our insurance policy is one of those things that I've let go on for a while.  Mike and I have had the same insurance agent since before we were married.  Considering we'll be celebrating our 22nd anniversary this July, that's a long time!  Late last year our agent retired and we were assigned to a new agent.

Our new agent called to introduce himself and asked us to come in to review our policies.  He told me that when reviewing our file he found a few areas he thought he could save us some money.  I'm sure you're thinking that I got right in there to save some money.  Well, you'd be wrong!  I put off going in there for almost six months and it sure did cost me!

As I stated, our new agent had spent some time going over all of our policies so he had some recommendations for me when I got in there.  Here are some of the changes that we made:

• Modified the deductibles on our automobiles.  Because we had our coverage so long, we had some crazy low deductibles that are no longer available.  All things considered, the benefit of increasing our deductibles outweighed the risk so that was one of the first things that we did.  Within the next year or two we may consider dropping collision from my son's vehicle.  At some point the cost of the insurance plus the deductible aren't worth the value of the car.
• Modified our umbrella policy.  We carry an umbrella policy to cover us in the event we would have a settlement against us that would require more money than provided for in our ordinary policies.  A couple of years ago we were sent a form asking us if we wanted a certain coverage under our umbrella.  Thinking that the more coverage I had the better I went ahead and sent it in.  Turns out that we had plenty of coverage under our car policy and we were better off not taking the extra rider.  Eliminating that rider has saved us quite a bit of money.
• Added a rider to our homeowners policy.  If our house is damaged by hail, the previous policy would only have fixed the damage portion.  I can tell you from experience that matching damaged siding is impossible (especially when the color is discontinued!) and can lead to a lot of money out of pocket.  We added a rider so that the full house would be covered.
• Modified the deductible on our homeowners insurance.  Once again, the amount of money that we are saving outweighs the risk of having a higher deductible.

These changes, for the next three months are saving us about $100 a month.  Isn't that crazy!?  A portion of that savings is due to a credit, however we'll still be saving over $75 a month.  I told you that my procrastination cost me!

If it has been a while since you have reviewed your insurance I would encourage you to do so.  Some of the items you may want to explore include:

• Is there a cheaper insurance company available to you?  If it's been a while since you've shopped around you may want to see what's available.  Just be careful that you are comparing apples to apples (i.e. same deductibles)
• Are you adequately covered?  Depending on your situation you may not have enough coverage or you may have to much coverage.  If you've spent some money updating your basement you may want to consider a rider that wold cover you in case of a water back-up.
• Understand your policy.  It's been so long ago that we took out our homeowners, I really didn't understand what was all included. 
• Check your deductibles.  Some things to keep in mind.  What is the lower deductible costing you (or the higher deductible saving you)?  Will you be able to pay the higher deductible if you need to?  What is the value of the car?  There is no right or wrong answer, it's really all about your risk tolerance.
• Do you need collision?  If your car is worth $1,500 and you have a $1,000 deductible, it may not make sense to pay insurance to receive $500 "just in case" you have an accident.  If you are considering dropping your collision I would encourage you to ask these questions 1)Do you have some funds to replace your vehicle or will the $500 be crucial in helping you purchase a new vehicle.  2) will you save the money you've saved from dropping your collision or will it go into the general fund?  Saving the money to put towards car repairs would be a good way to protect yourself if there is a problem.  Keep in mind that you should always carry liability, in fact some states (like mine) require it.
• Make sure you are getting all possible discounts.  Usually there are multiple vehicle discounts, good student discounts, driver school discounts, etc that you can take advantage of.  Make sure you get every discount you are entitled to.

Do you have any other suggestions for saving money with your insurance?

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Saving for Christmas – Viggle

                                                        

As you know, I’m always looking for creative ways to fund my Christmas purchases. Recently a friend of mine shared that he was using an APP called Viggle to accumulate points that he would use to buy gift certificates.

Straight from their website: Viggle is a loyalty program for television that gives people real rewards for checking into the television shows they’re watching. Currently available for Apple iPhone®, iPad® and iPod touch®, Viggle automatically identifies what television shows its users are watching and awards them points when they check-in. Viggle users can redeem their points in the app’s rewards catalogue for items such as movie tickets, music, gift cards and much more.

As you can see, one of the downsides of Viggle is its limited availability. I would hope that as they get more market awareness they would look to expand their APP availability to capture a new audience.

I’ve been using the APP for a little over a month now and have to say that I like it and find it well worth my time. My gift certificate of choice is the Old Navy gift card which is currently available for 18,000 points. I’ve already collected one and should be able to collect a second one in a few days.

In my opinion, you don’t have to be a crazy TV watcher to use this APP. Individually we aren’t huge TV watchers in our house, but between the four of us it does add up. There are also a variety of other ways to earn points.

Ways to Earn Points

• Log onto any TV program and you will receive 1 point per minute of watching
• Log on to bonus programs (they are specifically identified) and in addition to the point per minute you will also be awarded 100 – 300 bonus points depending upon the show that you watch. Last Friday if you were able to watch Ellen and checked in you were awarded 1,500 bonus points!
• Play games on certain shows while checked in. Some of the bonus programs will have questions that if answered correctly can earn you up to 25 bonus points. Answering the questions wrong will give you at least five points.
• Watch commercials and trailers. I just watched a David Beckham Burger King commercial and earned 75 points. The points per trailer/commercial vary; the biggest award that I’ve seen is 100 while the smallest is 5.
• Invite your friends. By registering here or through one of the links I have posted throughout this review, I will earn 200 points for anyone who signs up the first time they check in.

Positives

• Ease of the program. The APP is very easy to navigate around and doesn’t take much time to check in
• You do not need to be glued to the TV at all times. As I said, we aren’t crazy TV watchers. We have one account that we share as a family. My husband and I usually have the news on all morning while we are getting ready, my son will typically watch sports in the afternoon and after dinner we’ll flip on the TV for some evening shows. While we may not be glued to the TV at all times it is usually on so we just check into whatever is on. Sometimes we’ll decide what to turn on based on the value of the bonus points!
• Points accumulate fairly quickly. We average about 1,000 points a day between our bonus points, games that I’ve played and commercials. If I’m checking in consistently that equates to a $10 Old Navy gift card every three weeks.
• Variety of prize levels available. The prizes range from $5 certificates to Starbucks and Redbox all the way up to an Kindle Fire.

Negatives

• My biggest negative is the evolution of the program. In the short time that I’ve been with the program I’ve seen the prices of the rewards go up. My friend who has been using it longer than I have has stated that the prices have risen several times and the earning potential has decreased. As a business person I totally get that you need to do what you need to do to stay profitable. As I consumer I don’t always like it.
• Sometimes getting your program checked in is difficult. The way it is supposed to work is that you “tap” to check in, your phone listens to your TV and identifies the program that you are watching. The system will go through that cycle twice before it gives you the option to manually check in it if can’t determine your show. For some reason, mostly on my iPad, there are times that it won’t give me the manually check in option. This is quite frustrating when the show is playing, the device won’t identify it and I can’t manually check in. I’m even more frustrated if it’s a high value program.

Overall this is an APP that I would recommend if you have an Apple device. The program requires very little work with a fairly lucrative payout. While you won’t get rich, having $50 - $60 bucks to offset your Christmas spend (or before school clothing spend) will be very beneficial.

Have any of you used Viggle? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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Paying Cash for Braces

Braces are a dreaded necessary for many of us parents with pre-teen to teenage children. Fortunately our older child didn’t require them — but we knew early on that our younger child would need them.


Our daughter recently had her braces put on and I’m happy to say that we were able to pay for them with cash. Our ability to do so was the result of advanced planning, research and taking advantage of several programs.

Here’s what we did…

For the rest of the story head on over to Money Saving Mom!

Saving Money at the Grocery Store

Anybody out there not need food? I didn’t think so. Food is one of the basic requirements to sustain life; all of us need to eat. For most households, the food bill is one of the biggest chunks of the budget next to housing. Food prices rose by 3-4% in 2011 and are projected to increase by another 3-4% in 2012. Personally, I think our family’s impact has been closer to 10 – 15%.


For the pantry challenged issued by Jessica over at Good Cheap Eats, I’ve challenged myself to get our grocery bill under budget. For the last few months we have been over our $200 a week budget, sometimes significantly. $200 a week seems like a large amount for a family of four but there have been times when I’ve been amazed at how little was in the cart when we went over budget.

Here are some of the strategies I’m using to ensure we come in under budget.

1. Have only the budgeted amount available to spend.

Typically I just use our general checking account to pay for groceries and don’t worry too much about going over since I keep some slush in there. I think back to the days when money was tight and I only had X amount available, not a penny more. By being mindful of what went in the cart we always managed to squeak by at the cash register. Keeping track of what you are spending as you walk through the grocery store is critical to coming in under budget.

2. Plan a menu.

I'll admit, menu planning can be a drag. Thinking ahead for a week or a month as to what you are going to serve your family for dinner can be a little daunting. Menu planning serves a number of purposes. The first is that you are able to make a shopping list of only what you need. If you go into the grocery store without a plan you will most likely overspend. The second benefit is you know what you are serving for dinner and can plan ahead, saving money from the take out budget. Third, if you have a plan you can get help from the family in putting dinner on the table. As a working mom, I rely on my husband and kids to do a lot, if not all, of the prep work for family dinners.

3. Make a list

If you have a menu plan, making a list of needed items is pretty easy. By having a list of what you need, and sticking to it, you will not overspend in the grocery store. This is one area that I’ve fallen down the last few months and has contributed to us being over budget. I’m working on a list of items that we typically buy, laid out in the order of the grocery store we shop at. Currently when I’m making my list I try to mentally go down each aisle, but it never fails that some kind of produce ends up at the bottom of my list. Fortunately my husband is usually with me and doesn’t mind being the “procurer of forgotten items”, that doesn’t work so well if you are shopping alone with small children.

4. Inventory your pantry

How many times have you bought something only to realize you have plenty at home? Spending five minutes to look in your cupboards will save you substantially in the long run. Last year when we did the pantry challenge I found a month’s worth of dog treats in the pantry. We were in the habit of buying them every week whether the dogs needed them or not. Buy only what you need!

5. Utilize more coupons

As a working mom I don’t have a lot of time to cut and organize coupons or run to various stores for deals.  I usually find that my savings don'tt justify the time spent. However, I can snag a few minutes to go online to some of the coupon sites and see if there are any coupons available to print. By printing out the coupons right before I need them and clipping them to my list, they are available and handy when I need them without a lot of time or energy spent.

6. Target something fun with the savings

If possible, I would suggest that you target something fun with your savings. Knowing you’ll be able to do something fun with the money that you may not otherwise do can be very motivating. If I can come in under budget every week by $25 I could treat my daughter to a mother/daughter massage on our upcoming vacation.  That's pretty motivating for me.

The final suggestion I can offer is to make sure that you are shopping at the cheapest store in your area. Keep in mind that sometimes the cheapest store isn’t in your city. There are three large grocery stores within two miles of my house that I rarely shop at because they are so expensive. We drive a half hour to go grocery shopping because the items are consistently so much cheaper. If you live in Wisconsin or the Chicago area I would encourage you to look for a Woodman’s. It’s a big store and can be overwhelming but is definitely cheaper than most other stores. Woodman’s does not accept credit cards.

That’s how I plan to save money on grocery shopping. Do you have any other tips for saving money on your grocery bill?

I'll be linking this up over at Life as Mom

2012 Financial Goals

Do you like the picture?  I've been playing around with adding more pictures to the posts for some visual interest.  I thought this would tie in nicely with Financial Goals posts, the small change really does add up.

Yesterday I shared where we ended our 2011, today I'm going to share our plans for 2012.  While we aren't necessarily big on "down to the penny budgeting", I have found that setting financial goals and tracking them monthly has been a great way to stay on track.  This will be our third year of doing so and I'm quite excited about doing so.

1.  Create a vacation account

Traveling is high on our list of wants but not something that we regularly save for.  Typically we pay for our vacations by paying large chunks with disposable income, but that's not really the best way to plan for something if it's important to you.  While it may have worked out for this vacation, I want to make sure that we are covered and have money for our future vacations. 

My plan for this year is to open up a savings account specifically for vacations.  We'll most likely pull from it for our trip this spring, but after that we'll be saving for the next family trip.  Hopefully that will be sooner than five years from now!

2.  Create a decorating account

I wrote about my twelve decorating/organizing projects for 2012 here and have decided that the best way to finance this is to set money aside every paycheck for it.  Most of these projects aren't terribly expensive, but it would be nice to have $500 accrued in an account for my new window treatments instead of juggling our finances around to purchase them.

3.  Increase our retirement savings

Time flies by and before we know it we'll be retiring, I'd love to do so earlier versus later.  While we are doing fairly well, at least according to various Internet resources, I would like to ensure that our retirement is well funded so that we aren't financially strapped in our later years.

I don't know for sure what this increase will look like but one I can say that if I get a raise this year I will up my retirement by that amount.  We'll see what we can do over and above that.

4.  Decrease our debt

Paying down debt is important to us and something we want to keep on our radar.  The arbitrary number that I have chosen for this year is 55%.  If we hit the end of the year at that number we will have made up for the amount that we missed in 2011 and be on track for our four year plan.

With that being said, we may need a couple of vehicles this year.  I was hoping to pay off our vehicle loans and save to pay cash for a new vehicle but I don't know that we'll be able to hold off much longer.  My husband's truck is a bit of a lemon and he is really chomping at the bit to get a new one.  I've been able to talk him out of it for the last year but I don't know if I'll be able to do so much longer.  Also, our daughter will be getting her driver's license at the end of the year and we'll be buying her a car.  Many may see her getting a car as an unnecessary expense and get by without their children having vehicles, but with my husband's schedule and my long commute it is a necessity for us.

5.  Buy a motorcycle for me

My husband got a motorcycle a few years ago for his fortieth birthday.  Since then we've wanted to get one for me but there always seemed to be something else that we needed to get instead.  My husband's bike is to small for us both to ride comfortably for long distances, we'd like to be able to take weekend rides and the only way we'll be able to do so is with me getting my own bike.  Of course, he did offer to buy himself a larger bike so I could ride comfortably but what fun would there be in that?  Besides, a bike specifically for me would actually be cheaper than going with a larger bike for him.

6.  Complete my list from "Getting Your Financial House in Order in 2012"

I wrote about 12 things I wanted to do to get our financial house in order this year, you can read about that here.  Re-writing that list here seemed a little redundant but in addition to writing each month about them I'll  post my updates here.

I'm actually excited about this series, I plan on doing some research to determine the best approach to each task.  Hopefully I'll be able to write a post that you will find information and meaningful when it's time to share.

That's pretty much it for our goals this year.  Keeping the list reasonable and targeting a few items that we can apply laser focus is important for our success.

What are your financial goals for 2012?  Feel free to share in comments.

Getting Your Financial House in Order in 2012

I'm taking a little different approach to goal setting this year.  This year I'm compiling all those things "I've been meaning to do" and will be getting them done in 2012.  Earlier this week I wrote about 12 decorating/organizing projects for the year.  Today I'm letting you know the 12 steps I'm going to take to get our financial house in order during 2012.

For those of you who read me regularly you know I've shared our financials goals and have been updating our progress monthly.  There are a number of other items that I've been "meaning" to do in regards to our finances and haven't found the time to get around to them.

Earlier this month I was reading Money Magazine, they had an article entitled "Money Management for the Time Pressed".  While I didn't think all of the suggestions pertained to our situation, I did think that a significant number of them should be reviewed.  Here are some of the items from the article as well as other items I've added.  I plan to tackle these throughout the year and will share my progress with you monthly as well as write in more detail what I've learned.

1.  Set a Budget

We are not a family who tracks every single penny.  I know, I know - according to Dave Ramsey and others we should.  If we did I probably wouldn't have to ask "where does all our money go", however that's not the way we roll.  I do recognize certain "black holes" of money that could be plugged (can anyone say take out) as well as some changes I can make to our money management.  This will be the first area I tackle in 2012.

2.  Target Savings

I've shared with you the success that I've had with our Christmas account.  My plan is to replicate that success with a decorating account and a vacation account.  We didn't quite hit our target this year for debt repayment, mostly due to the fact that I needed to buy our airlines tickets and pay for the balance of the cruise.  I'll be looking at all of our savings areas to see what enhancements can be made

3.  Review Our Tax Situation

Preliminary review of our taxes show that we will be paying in again this year.  Instead of increasing our withholdings, I plan to do some research to see what we can do to decrease the amount of taxes we pay.  Planning ahead will allow us to take full advantage of deductions and credits that we may not be currently maximizing.

4.  Review Our Retirement Plan

I think a lot of us put our retirement plan on auto pilot and don't really think about it.  The financial company who manages our 401K has a plan that allows for this auto pilot, but I do think that we need to periodically look at the full portfolio to determine if changes need to be made. 

5.  Review Our Credit Score

We recently refinanced our mortgage so I am aware of what credit score was as of December.  However, it's important to review your score at least once a year correcting any mistakes or inconsistencies.  We found that one of the accounts we paid off didn't show a zero balance, easily correctable but emphasizes how easily mistakes happen.

6.  Shrink Our Bills

How many of us don't pay attention to our cable, Internet or phone rates?  With electronic billing it's very easy for the rates to creep up while we don't even notice.  The best way to make sure that you are getting the lowest rates is to periodically shop to see what the competition is offering. 

7.  Review Household Energy Efficiencies

While we can't necessarily shop our utilities, we can make sure that we are taking simple steps to maximize our household efficiencies.  I'm pretty sure that we have many areas in our house that could be improved with fairly little effort.

8.  Prepare for Medical Incapacitation

When my mom had her medical condition early this year I talked about the importance of preparing your finances in case you are unable to communicate.  Guess what, I haven't done a lot of what I wanted to do.  This is an area that I need to get in order so that if something happens to me it's one less stress for my husband.

9.  Prepare a Will and a Living Will

I've told enough people about my wishes were something to happen to me that hopefully there would't be any arguments about what to do, but we shouldn't leave some things to chance.  In the last couple of years I have seen many young people die unexpectedly.  Having a will and end of life wishes clearly outlined can save a lot of heartache for those left behind.  This is an area that my husband and I haven't given a lot of focus, we will be rectifying that this year.

10.  Cut the Clutter

While I've taken steps to control my paperwork there is still much more to do.  My filing system needs to be improved and I'm sure that there are papers to be purged.

11.  Disaster Preparedness

Do you have all your important documents together if you need to get out quickly?  What about if your house burns down or is blown away in a tornado?  Making sure that you have copies of key documents is important and another thing we haven't been very good at doing.

12.  Career Readiness

Does your family rely on your income?  How easy would it be for you to find another job?  Is your resume updated?  None of us plan to be without a job but many of us find ourselves unexpectedly in that situation.  What's your plan and how long can you survive?  I'll be reviewing my personal readiness and identifying gaps that I can work to improve.

How about it, you want to come along for the ride?  When I post my monthly topics feel free to link up any related posts.

I'll be linking this up at Life as Mom

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Baking as Cost Effectively as Possible

Ah, the season of stressful Christmas cooking baking is upon us.  That time of year when we are forced have the pleasure to bake unending batches of cookies and candies.  That time of year when we can go broke buying ingredients for our baking needs.

Let's face it, baking is expensive!  Have you checked out pecan prices this year?   If not you are going to be in a for a rude awakening when you go to make your candied pecans.  Some of us (yes, that would be me) don't think about ingredients until right before (or sometimes during) the baking day which makes the cost even more astronomical.  Do you know what a convenience store charges for sugar and an orange?  Ugh!

In my opinion, there are a few ways to cut down on the expense of baking.

1.  Cut back on the amount and varieties that you make. 

If you are one of those who really enjoy this time of year this may not be something you want to do.  However, if you find the baking season a little stressful cut back.  As I mentioned in the baking post in my "De-Stressing the Holidays series", we only made our family favorites this year.  I also cut down significantly on the number of batches I made of our favorite cookies.  Trust me, there is still plenty and I won't be throwing any away in January.

If money is really a concern, you may want to craft your list based on the cost of the ingredients.  If you skip the candied pecans you may be able to add two different types of cookies.  It's all about what's important to you and your family.

2.  Plan ahead.

This doesn't sound like fun, does it?  Planning ahead is really key if you want to pay the least amount for baking.  Planning ahead (and I'm talking months) allows you to keep your eyes open for sales.  Most baking items store well and can be kept for several months.  To assist you in your planning ahead I would recommend you do the following.

• Make the list of goodies you plan on baking and the quantities needed.
• Create a shopping list of items (and quantities) you need.
• If possible, add the regular price of the item to your list.  This will help you when you are out shopping to know if it's a good deal or not.
• Keep an eye out for coupons and specials, picking up and setting aside items when at a good price.
• Buy one item a week over the course of several months to create your baking stock pile without breaking the bank.

3.  Share the pain.

Cooking together is not only more fun it can also be more cost effective.  We've done many multi-generational baking days over the years.  One thing that I've found is that sometimes one of us may have the expensive items needed already in our pantry.  We typically make the shopping list and then go through on own pantries committing to certain items.  For any items not on the list we'll all chip in money for one of us to pick up the rest of the ingredients.

By cooking as a group, if you choose to, you can usually have a larger variety of cookies in smaller quantities.  Multiple hands make the baking of different cookies easier.  An added bonus is the memories that you will have of spending the day together.

Do you have any other recommendations for saving money baking?

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Broken Appliances

If you've been reading my monthly financial check-ups you will know that we have had a lot of unexpected expenses this year.  A number of them have been broken appliances.  Within the last two months our TV, dryer and dishwasher have all broken down causing us some fits.

The question becomes, do you repair or replace?  The TV was easy, it was about 15 years old and a dinosaur so we weren't going to bother paying someone to look at it.  However, this created a dilemma in the fact that the new TV didn't fit well in our entertainment center so we've had to get a much smaller TV until we can afford to a big screen and a new entertainment stand.  We'll save that story for a different day.

The dryer was another story since it was only about 6 years old.  When we needed to replace our washer and dryer we did a lot of research, based on everything we read we choose a LG washer and dryer.  When the dryer went out, the first step I took was to go to the Internet and look for a repair solution.  We were pretty thrilled when we read there was a reset button we could use (you can read about that here).  However, after a week it went out again.  Long story short:  six weeks, four vacation days and $250 later the dryer went out again after working for another week.

I've come to the conclusion that I couldn't invest any more time or money into the dryer so we went out and bought a new one this past week.  It was delivered on Thursday, it is such a wonderful feeling to have an actual working dryer!  Bonus points for getting an excellent deal.  When I went to the store I explained the situation to the salesman.  After expressing disbelief that a LG would be so unreliable (he was the third "industry expert" to express that opinion) he started asking me questions about what I was looking for.  Because I wasn't picky about color or model he was able to direct me to the "bargain room".

Because I was willing to take an "out of the box dryer" I was able to get a good deal.  Here is the dyer I was able to get for $600 delivered.  It's a Frigidaire with a built in steamer.  Yeah - an easy way to get out the wrinkles!

It's not the same brand as our washer, but I'm not going to get overly worked up about that.  When our washer goes out (knock on wood it will be a while) we'll look into getting the matching washing machine.

Now, to answer the question "Do you repair or replace?"  I would say that it depends.  Except for the fact that we waster $250 on repairs, I don't feel bad that we tried fixing our dryer.  It was a reputable brand with only six years use.  Everything that I had heard told me it was worth trying to fix.  If the repair would have worked I would have been ecstatic over saving $600.

Here is the criteria that I use to determine the repair or replace question.

1.  Am I financially able to replace the appliance?
2.  How old is the appliance?
3.  How reputable is the brand?
4.  Do I have the time to devote to a potentially length repair?  Keep in mind that parts frequently need to be ordered.
5.  How expensive is the repair?  My tolerance is less than half of a new appliance. 

Keeping these questions in mind we are now moving on to our dishwasher.  We the kids have been hand washing dishes for the last month.  While this hasn't been a real hardship (since it's the kids doing the work), I would like to get the dishwasher fixed.  Here are the answers to the above questions.

1.  Yes, we are able to financially replace the appliance but I would prefer to put the money towards our vacation.
2.  The dishwasher is over 10 years old.
3.  It's a reputable brand but since it's a plastic interior not worth spending a lot of money on (that's from the dryer repair man.  If it would have been a stainless steel interior he would have recommended us spending some money on it)
4.  I'm not overly concerned about time since we have a simple alternative
5.  According to Lowe's, the repair may be fairly inexpensive. 

My husband talked to a salesman in the appliance section and he recommended replacing the seal.  He gave us the Lowe's part number to order the part.  We'll go ahead and spend the couple bucks to install a new seal ourselves.  If the new seal doesn't work all we'll be out is a few dollars in parts so it's worth the effort.  If it doesn't work, I'll finally get a new dishwasher that matches my stainless steel appliances!

What about you, do you repair or replace?

I'll be posting this at Life as Mom

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Thanksgiving Dinner on a Budget

Let’s face it; there are a lot of expectations around Thanksgiving Dinner. Quite often those expectations carry a pretty hefty price tag. In an annual report put out by the American Farm Bureau Federation, the cost of this year’s Thanksgiving dinner will be about 13% higher than last year. They claim the average cost to feed 10 people will be almost $50 which honestly feels a little light to me.

The thought of hosting Thanksgiving can be a little overwhelming but it doesn’t have to be. There are a number of things that can be done to spread the cost. Don’t use (or let others) the excuse that you can’t change things because “that’s the way it’s always been done”. It’s a fact, life changes.

I understand that telling family and friends that putting on the dinner may be a hardship is not pleasant or something anyone wants to do. However, wouldn’t it be better to get some help rather than stressing about it? If you are attending a dinner where you know this may be a hardship, go ahead and offer some assistance. Just make sure that you are delivering the message in a non-insulting way. Saying “you host every year, let me help out by providing the turkey” comes across much better than “I know you don’t have any money so I’ll buy the turkey for you”. Same result but the delivery is a little more tactful.

Here are some ideas on how to cut back on expenses; I’m going to save the most controversial one for last.

• Commit to providing the meat but have everyone else contribute a dish. So what if no one makes the mashed potatoes like you do. If the potatoes turn out lumpy you’ll have something to talk about for the next 20 years (been there done that!)
• Let someone else provide the turkey. One of your guests may get a free turkey from work or else would prefer to supply the meat versus cooking a dish.
• Leave non-essential items out. How many items do you put on the table that barely gets eaten? If no one really likes cranberry relish than leave it off the table. If Uncle Ron is the only guest eating the pecan pie don’t provide it. Of course something like pecan pie can be controversial so you may want to give Uncle Ron the heads up so he can be prepared. Who knows, he may offer to supply the pies!
• Make less food. How many years do you have so many leftovers you can barely eat them all? Cutting back on the amount of food you make will help shrink the budget.
• Plan in advance. I know we’re awfully close to Thanksgiving and there isn’t time this year to prepare ahead but I would guess that everyone has almost the same items year to year. Make your sweet potato casserole in September and freeze it. If you have the freezer space you could pretty much buy or make one item a week leading up to the holiday spreading out the cost over several months as well as cutting down drastically the work to put on such a big dinner.
• Open up a Thanksgiving Club. Ok, I made this one up but if you really put on a big spread and it costs you hundreds of dollars think about opening up a savings account just for Thanksgiving. $5 a paycheck doesn’t sound like a lot of money but if you get paid 26 times per year you could have $130 to spend for Thanksgiving.
• Don’t serve turkey. I’m a diehard turkey for Thanksgiving fan but if all these options don’t work then you need may need to take drastic measures. Consider making something liked stuffed chicken breasts instead of the turkey. Price your different meat options and go with whatever will have the least amount of impact on your pocket book.

How do you save money at Thanksgiving?

I’ll be linking this up over at Life as Mom , Crystal and Company and We Are THAT Family

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Cutting Back on Christmas Spending

The approaching Christmas season is enough to strike fear in the hearts of anyone struggling with money.  There is such an air of expectation among the children.  What parent wants Santa to let them down by not getting them exactly what they want.  Who doesn't want to buy their mother/father/sister/niece the "perfect" gift that will make them squeal with delight?  Unfortunately all this costs money.

In my husband's family we exchange presents with everyone.  "Everyone" currently includes: Mom and dad, two sisters, two brothers-in-law, four nieces & nephews, an uncle and the uncle's significant other.  That's twelve people just on his side of the family.  The present push starts on Thanksgiving when we all need to come with a list of what we want so the Black Friday shoppers can get prepared.  Christmas morning the living room is a maze of stacked presents.  Presents are taken over to my in-laws on Christmas eve so everything can be arranged prior to us arriving.  We are given assigned seats and our presents are stacked around our seat.  It's not unusual for the piles to be 2-3 feet high and only a small path to our seats.

The kids absolutely love it.  As an adult, it strikes fear in my heart.  Fear of the money it takes to buy the presents, fear of the time it takes to shop and wrap all those presents as well as fear of what to do with all the stuff once it's opened.  When our kids were young there were a couple of years that we needed to make two trips to get all of the stuff home.

This may sound like I'm complaining but I'm really not (except for maybe those years it took us two trips to make it home).  What I am saying is that it may be a little excessive.  With all the hustle and bustle to get ready for Christmas I feel like the reason for Christmas gets forgotten.  I think it's still possible to have a nice Christmas without all the materialistic trappings. 

Here are some ideas on cutting down on the work and/or financial strain of gift giving.

1. Stop exchanging.  This hasn't necessarily gone over very well when I've brought this up in the past (hence the fact that we are still exchanging) but I do think it's a valid point.  If you or someone in your family is truly struggling with finances this would lift the gift giving burden immensely.  No one wants to admit to financial struggles so I would encourage anyone who isn't struggling to be the one to suggest the change.  Think of what a relief it would be for your struggling family member to have someone else make the suggestion to change the status quo. We've done this with my family and it has actually made the get together more enjoyable.
2. Limit gift giving to children under 18
3. Exchange names and only buy for the one person each of you have drawn
4. Have a white elephant exchange.  Go through your house and give away something old or hideous (just make sure it wasn't the sweater you sister-in-law gave you the year before).  Everyone gets to purge an item from their house and open a gift.  There will be no emotional attachment to the gift you receive so it will be easy for you to give it away.
5. Host a gift grab.  Everyone brings one gift (with a $ limit).  Everyone draws a number.  When it's your turn you can either "steal" a present from someone else or grab one of the unopened presents
6. Have a homemade Christmas.  Limit all gift giving to homemade gifts. 
7. Have a themed Christmas.  One year a friend of mine had a "Wisconsin" Christmas.  Everything purchased had to be made in or representative of Wisconsin. 
8. Instead of exchanging gifts put the money towards a get away weekend.  Book a condo/house with the extended family for a weekend at the beach, skiing, etc.
9. Go on a family excursion.  To cut down on the amount of "stuff" and make my shopping a little easier I've started giving theater tickets to our local performing arts center.  I'm not saving money but I am making my shopping a little easier and not adding to the amount of "stuff" my sister-in-law needs to take home.  Last year we had so much fun that my nieces begged me to do it again this year.  The best part is I get the tickets at a discount through my employer.

If Christmas is overwhelming for you I would encourage you to sit down, make a list of what is overwhelming and brainstorm how you can solve it.  We should be enjoying Christmas and celebrating what it's really about, not getting stressed and crabby.

How have you cut down on gift giving?

I'll be linking this up over at Life as Mom

 

Maximizing Your Clothing Budget

I like wearing nice clothes.  The problem with nice clothes is that they are expensive, even when on sale.  To keep my wardrobe budget at a minimum I maximize my wardrobe by buying as much as I can on clearance and wearing most of the pieces all year long.  Since I live in the Midwest with climate extremes it isn't as easy as living in a more temperate climate but it is still doable.

Here are some tips for maximizing your wardrobe budget

• Find a store that carries clothes that fit you all the time - this is important if you are difficult to fit, if clothes always fit and looks great on you then this isn't a big deal.
• Sign up for mailing lists to your favorite stores - you will get calls and/or e-mails about fantastic sales before the event in addition to coupons.
• Stop in or shop online as frequently as you can - unless you don't have willpower and will spend unnecessarily this is a terrific way to find great deals.  When we had a Liz Claiborne outlet in town I would stop at least once a week to check out there clearance racks.  It was rare for me to pay more than $10 for an article of clothing.  I'm very sad that they are no longer here.
• Buy quality pieces that last.  You can buy three cheap shirts for $10 a piece that don't fit great and won't make it past one season or you can buy 1 shirt for $30 that looks fantastic and lasts for several years.
• Mix and match your clothes, this really does work.  My trick is to buy some really different shells to wear underneath jackets.  A black jacket paired with a red shell and black pants looks very different than that same jacket with a black shell and grey pants.
• Splurge on one or two pieces of really cool jewelry.  A standout necklace will help make a blah outfit shine.
• Wear as many pieces all year long.  I have a few seasonal pieces (like the crocheted sweater for summer or the poncho for winter) but otherwise I try to buy pieces that I can wear all year long with some minor modifications.

Here is an example of maximizing your wardrobe.  I received an e-mail from one of my favorite stores (Chico's) that I could take 40% off clearance items from their website.  Chico's clothing fits me pretty true to size so I feel confident buying tops from them (I never order pants online).  I spent $100 for all three pieces, including shipping and tax.  That may still seem like a lot of money but these three pieces will last me quite a number of years and will be worn all year long.  Here's what I bought



This is a very lightweight jacket and is actually see-through.  During the winter months I'll be wearing a fitted, long-sleeved black t-shirt underneath to keep me warm and to keep skin from showing.  When the weather warms up I'll wear either a black or white tank underneath to keep from getting overheated.  I plan on wearing this around the house or to work on casual Fridays with a pair of casual black pants




During the winter months I'll be wearing this sweater with a brown turtleneck or the same black t-shirt from above and either brown or black pants.  Once the weather warms up the combinations are almost endless.  The neutrality of this piece will allow me to pair it with almost any color pants or shell.



This was a little bit of a splurge because it's not quite so neutral and doesn't have as many options but I like having a couple of stand out pieces in my wardrobe.  This is a lightweight trench coats that during the winter months I'll be wearing to work with black pants (or jeans on the weekend) and a black shirt.  Once the weather warms up I can wear this as a lightweight jacket outside.

For full disclosure, unless I've gone a year or two without buying much I rarely spend more than $300 a year on my wardrobe.  Most of the time I'm buying pieces to freshen up and replace worn pieces, I'm not replacing my entire wardrobe.  However, there are years when I may spend more if I need to replace some of my suits.

How do you maximize your wardrobe?

I'll be linking this up over at Life as Mom

Christmas Shopping - Swagbucks

In some of my earlier posts I shared that I was going to use Swagbucks to help with Christmas presents.  My goal was to get enough Swagbucks to get a $50 certificate.  I've been diligently printing coupons, surfing, answering polls, etc to get my bucks up to the 6,000 mark. 

Now, I'm sure some of you know this but I didn't so I'm going to let you in on the secret I learned.  It's cheaper to buy 10 $5 Amazon certificates than to buy one $50 - significantly cheaper.  I've seen people post that they would pick up a $5 certificate as soon as they had enough points but I guess I didn't understand why, I do now!

I'm going to let you in on another secret, you can only buy five of the same certificates in a month AND it takes almost two weeks for them to be usable.  Soooo, if you are planning on using them for Christmas you better get cracking!

I've bought my five certificates for the month and will buy five more early November.  I'll have enough Swagbucks to get more (and will pick them up in early December) but I won't be using them for presents since it will be getting to close to Christmas.  Still haven't decided yet what I'll be buying from Amazon but I know that there is something on there that would make a nice gift.

Are there any other Swagbuck secrets out there that I may not know about?  I'd love to hear your Swagbuck plans

I'll be linking this up over at Life as Mom

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The Benefits of a Large Freezer

When we were on vacation last week we went out and bought ourselves a chest freezer.  I've been wanting one for a while, but like everything else you 'want' there always seemed to be a need that had to be purchased first.  Plus you need a spot to put it, you can read about that fun project here.  I'm so glad we bought the freezer when we did since we had car repairs a couple of weeks later.  My freezer would have been put off - again!

I had a few reasons for wanting a freezer.

• Freezer cooking is easier if you have somewhere to put your food
• Freezers in the garages don't work during winter in cold climates.  The food spoils and all your hard work needs to be thrown out
• The bananas are hidden from your husband so he won't throw them out before you make banana bread
• The husband won't complain about the vast amount of frozen tomatoes sitting in cold storage

So far I've been stocking my freezer with freebies.  I've received tomatoes, zucchini and apples from friends and co-workers that I have processed and stuck in the freezer.  This is on top of all the strawberries I purchased earlier in the summer . 

Now that I have the space, instead of throwing away items as they reach their peak freshness I'll be able to freeze them for future use.  Some of my ideas (that need to be taken care of this weekend) are:

• Carrots - I bought these a few weeks ago for a carrot cake and they're starting to look a little sad.  I'm going to make homemade glazed carrot and freeze them for family dinners
• Mushrooms - We have some mushrooms that are starting to look a little sad too.  Since I love mushrooms and put them in a lot of different things (stuffing, meatloaf, etc) I thought I'd cut them up and freeze them for future use.  I'm not quite sure how that will work but since they're going into cooked items I would think they should be fine.  I'll let you know!
• Potatoes - I rarely make mashed potatoes from scratch (my friend Betty - Crocker that would be) does it so well.  However, I got a little overzealous in my purchase of potatoes a couple weeks ago and will need to do something with them.  I plan on making mashed potatoes and freezing those in dinner size portions too.

Before we bought the freezer I would just throw this food out.  I wouldn't recommend going out and buying a freezer just to try and save money (it will probably be a while before it pays for itself) however if put to good use I think the freezer will save us quite a bit of money and help us to stop being so wasteful.

I know I'm repeating myself, but please bear with me.  We have 19 more days of this :)  One of my kind readers nominated me for the top 25 home management blogs at Circle of Moms.  If you go to the top of this post, to the right is a button that would take you to the Circle of Moms voting site.  My blog is about halfway down the page.  I'd appreciate your votes!

What sorts of items do you put in your large freezer?

I'll be linking this up over at Life as Mom

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How I Save Money - Making My Own Slipcovers

As I've said in earlier posts I want to re-do my living but don't want to spend the money right now.  What I didn't tell you is that a few years ago I wanted to update the living and didn't want to spend the money so I decided to make new cushions myself!

One of the smartest things we did when we first bought our house was to buy "This End Up" furniture.  The reason we chose that line of furniture was for it's affordability, durability and flexibility in changing designs.  In the last 18 years I have replaced the slip covers twice, once by purchasing new and once by making them myself.  It looks like I'll be choosing the making it myself option again.  Ugh!

The cost to purchase the slip covers and cushions (which do need to be replaced but I can do without) would be about $1500+.  I can get all the supplies I need for about $300, less if I can get a sale.  Since this is in our main living room it's important to me that I don't skimp and make sure I absolutely love what I buy and that there is some durability to the material.

Here's a picture of the living and the slip covers that I made.  Don't think my sewing would pass a Martha Stewart examination but I am quite pleased with how they turned out even though I am dreading doing all the work again.

Do you have any ideas on how to save money decorating?

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Financial Frugality - It's a Balancing Act

"Seriously?  Do you need that many apples?"
"You don't need a haircut - you just had one last summer!"
"I bought you a new Easter/Confirmation dress, can't you wear that for your graduation?"
"We just bought you some t-shirts at Christmas time, what happened to those?"
"No - you don't need a souvenir"

Do any of these sound familiar?  They are all things I've said to my family in the last week or so.  Sometimes we get so wrapped up in not spending money that 'no' is our first go-to word.  I need to remember that every once in a while it's ok to say yes because saying no doesn't send the message of financially frugality but can sometimes be construed as we don't care.

"I bought you a new Easter/Confirmation dress, can't you wear that for your graduation?"
My daughter has a big year this spring.  She's getting confirmed and graduating from 8th grade.  Do you remember your 8th grade graduation?  I do - my mom bought me a special dress and I felt absolutely beautiful in it.  I forgot how special I felt until my daughter started crying that I didn't understand her at all and getting a new dress was really important to her.  I think it's important to examine if you are saying no because you truly can't afford it (in that case it's important to stick to your guns or find a creative solution) or if it's because you don't want to spend the money.  For me it's because I didn't want to spend the money.  Is that what I want my daughter to remember about her8th grade graduation?  It's not - we'll be going out and buying her a new dress, different from her confirmation dress.

"You don't need a haircut - you just had one last summer!"

This is another one with my daughter.  She has long straight hair so she doesn't really need regular haircuts (I have shorter hair and I'm terrible about getting regular cuts!).  She's been complaining about split ends and wanted a hair cut, which for some reason I've kept putting off.  Part of this reason was it meant spending money and part of this was time.  I promised her last night to take her to Cost Cutters (won't be happening again) for a hair cut and then decided to surprise her with a manicure and pedicure (her pedicure only consisted of toe painting - I got the works =:)  The evening really made her feel special, I don't always do a good job of letting her know how important she is.  A night out like that every so often is well worth the money.
"Seriously? Do you need that many apples?"

In my quest to keep our grocery bill as low as I can (I budget $200/week) I'm constantly nagging my husband about what he puts in the cart.  While saving money and being fiscally responsible is important, relationships can't be sacrifice for it.  My husband has shared with me that when I nag him like that I make him feel  bad.  I tend to nag more when I'm concerned that we're going off budget for the week (i.e. unexpected expenses have cropped up)  When I get in my 'nagging' moods I'm missing opportuntities to share quality time with my husband and I'm potentially damaging our relationship.  What I have found to be a better way to approach is if I share my concerns with my husband so that he can be part of the solution instead of feeling hostile towards him for spending money and then expecting me to 'come up with it'.  If he doesn't know that I'm stressed about unexpected expenditures (new dance shoes, $100 school field trips) he just thinks I'm being a crab.
I'm not advocating spending more money than you can afford and I'm not advocating saying yes all the time.  For me personally I need to examine more why I'm saying no and what affect my answer is having on my loved ones.  One more thing to add to my 'self-improvement' list!