Friday, March 25, 2011

Honoring what God has giving us

Most of my other posts have been about what products we can get for little or no money. Which dont get me wrong I love doing. Now I would like to talk about how we as consumers should spend and save our money responsibly and honorably, and part of that involves how we bank and how we save.

Whoa..take a deep breath. Here we go. The constant question is Bank or Credit Union. Debit Cards or Credit Cards. I do not think I can tell you which is best for you, a lot of thought, debating and education goes behind making this decision. Here is what I do know. Many larger banks are now charging to have accounts-even for the simple stuff like having teller's perform transactions, having a certain number of transactions per month, and using the bill payer service. Credit Unions however, often have no charges on the accounts the offer. Having accounts at both places I can tell you that my experience has always been better at Credit Unions. They are non-profit financial institutions. I have never been "sold" something and they do not make commission of the loan the give me. When I walking in the door I don't feel like they see dollar signs.

I am not going to go into the details of which place is better because honestly each has pros and cons. Do you homework and we can all save more money! This makes me want to spark a challenge. I know it is already March, but lets make a goal to save 5,000 this year. What are creative ways we can save money, cut back and live frugal fulfilling lives? Lets do it together!

Here is a link to get you started in your education, its a bit biased but what article isnt?

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/BetterBanking/DitchYourBankForACreditUnion.aspx

Happy Savings!

Fifi

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Free Books!

If you're anything like me you are actively opposing the kindle fad. I truly hate those things. In a country where the "green revolution" has been in full swing for many years, why are we created more e-waste, more wires, more computers, more everything? Why?

Ugh, Now on to the main event! I have heard people discussing at the library and school for some time now that websites exist that allow you to swap books for free with other willing swapers. Well, I'm here to tell you that is true! I am a big supporter of my local library, I can and do get lost in the rows of seemingly endless knowledge contained in those walls for hours, but lets face the facts. The library can only hold so many book and due to budget cuts the amount of new books are sure to be limited. That's where the internet can come in handy. This site allows you to type in the book(s) your looking for and presto, you find a willing person with the book you want and you give them a book they want! It kind of reminds me of pin pals in a way, only for books!

With money tight and stress high in our oh-so-thriving(not) economy make yourself a little goal to expand your knowledge, read out of your normal genre, and my favorite part-do it for free!
And in true library style you can get movies, music and games as well!

I have never tried this site before, but I have heard good reviews! Try it out and let me know how it goes!

www.swap.com

Happy Reading!

Fifi

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Spring into action!

With spring technically here I can not wait until I can start planting my own fruits, vegetable, herbs and flowers. If you are just starting out let me give you some tips early on!

1) Save the seeds after you eat! - When you buy vegetables and fruits at the store-save the seeds! Store them in an air tight container such as a zip lock bag and label them until you are ready to plant them. If you buy one tomato, you will get plenty of seeds for your garden, this works for cucumbers, squash, nearly anything! This is something that few people think to do, but lets face - seeds in those cute little paper bags are the same thing you pay for many times a year when you are buying produce.

2) Shop early and thrifty! - I was recently at a local dollar store and to my surprise they had small, medium and large planters in a few different shapes for one dollar. At other stores you could pay five dollars per container. This is a deal!

3) Dirt is dirty work. - Potting soil is something that is rarely discounted to the point I want to spend money on it, but when it is stock up! Especially if you are going to be eating the items planted, splurge for the organic stuff. Why grow your own if you are going to do it the same way as the mass farmers of the world?

4) Plant herbs early and often! - I was at Target the other day and I was checking out the dollar spot and saw they had herbs with dirt and a tiny planter for one dollar. Now - in reality this probably is not a huge deal however, I bought some to experiment and they are growing after a few weeks. These can be started inside and then transplanted to an outdoor pot when needed. This way you can plant often and have fresh herbs all summer and fall.

New Walmart Coupon Policy!


Although there are several changes that you should review before heading to the store, my favorite one is that they now give cash back for coupon purchases!

Example-You have a coupon for $3.00 off of a product and they product is only $2.00. You get $1.00 back in cold hard cash, or you can apply it to your other purchases! Win Win!

Check it out here.

http://walmartstores.com/7655.aspx

Happy Shopping!

Fifi

Coupons, Coupons, Coupons!

I have always been aware of the "coupon world", and I have never really coup'd till recently. And let me tell you...I left Target with 5 bags of groceries and odd and ends, spending less then five bucks and I'm never going back to the store without coupons!

In my neck of the woods you can get a Sunday paper delivered to your doorstep for a dollar a week, and on average I save 20 bucks PER PAPER. Or, if you would rather not have the paper you can download from tons of websites and print what you need! I think that's worth it! When you want to get carried away like I have, you need to monitor sales, have reward cards which are almost always free and shop with a purpose! Every time I go to the grocery store it becomes my own little black Friday sale. People give me looks as I am gathering the right coupons and sorting through my cart to make sure I have all my ducks in a row before I get to the check out line. Then the magic happens, you watch the total go from 120.00 to 110.00 to 65.00!!!! That's when the stares change, and people ask you how you do it. I give them a little smirk and move on.

The key to really saving money is only buying what you will use. If you have a coupon for cereal and don't eat cereal...then don't buy it, duh! Another key is to buy in bulk, give up brand locality and stock up when on sale. I have always been a thrifty person so brands do not mean much to me. Trying new brands can expand you're horizon, and ya' know what? They are practically the identical items! So get ova' get!

So, I challenge you to cut your grocery bill in half! Why would you not want to spend 20 min on a Sunday morning drinking a cup of joe and saving money!? It may take you some time so start small, take 20 bucks off of your weekly shopping trip. you can do it! Have questions? Follow me and ask away! I will be starting to post recipes, coupon tip and more. Have something to add? Please, Im always up for saving money.

Happy Shopping!

Fifi