My wife heard about heat blocking curtains and did some research online.  She found these at BOMULL curtains Ikea and they’re perfect.  I have to tell you they make a world of difference! We’d both seen blackout curtains that completely block out the sun, but that’s not really useful if you still want to have light in your house during the day! Duh!

The BOMULL curtains block out the sun, but they LET IN LIGHT! They had several colors available when we picked these up at our local Ikea and we chose the off-white. So for $20 per window we can now enjoy the sunlight while staying cool inside.

You may think that this can’t make that much a difference, but you’d be wrong.  It’s a huge change and one that you can instantly feel the moment you put them up.

On a side note I love Ikea’s product names like BOMULL.  There’s no way you can get them confused with another brand.  (Although it is possible to get them confused with other Ikea products!)

Discover recently introduced the Current card, a new kind of debit card for teens with built-in controls and notifications for parents. With the new ‘Current Card’, parents can add money to a card for their teens, set spending limits and receive e-mail or text message activity alerts. They can also track purchases and access exclusive discounts online. Teens get to choose from one of seven unique “teen card designs”.

What do you think? Is this is a good idea?

My son’s only two – so he’s not at that stage in his life yet, but I think this is a great idea if your teen wants to learn about personal finance and managing money and the dangers of credit cards. Start from the beginning by using this type of prepaid debit card and you can instill the proper value of using credit wisely and not spending what you don’t have. The fact that this is a debit card really helps with that. You can’t spend what isn’t available on the card!

The restrictions and control are definite features in my eyes. Being able to control what categories of purchases the card can be used for is a great concept. This could also be a great way to deliver a portion of a child’s allowance or what they make from a job – putting a portion of an allowance or earnings into savings is always something you should do.

Here’s what Discover says the benefits and features are for the card.

Current by Discover – Teen Prepaid Debit Card

• Debit Card for Teens with built-in parental controls
• Set daily, weekly, and monthly spending limits
• Restrict teen card use in unwanted shopping categories (e.g. liquor stores, tobacco stores, hotels, etc.
• Free Direct Deposit for parents & teens
• Free deposits from any credit card or bank account
• $0 fraud liability guarantee
• Withdraw cash at ATMs
• Get exclusive discounts at teen’s favorite merchants
• Free e-mail and text message activity alerts
• No minimum balances, loading fees, or credit check

The right emails can definitely save you money. Especially if they’re in the form of ING DIRECT’s Savvy Savings Tips monthly email newsletter.

I subscribed to the Savvy Savings Tips newsletter a few months ago and have been pleasantly surprised with the tips. There’s always the overt message to sign-up for one of their savings or checking accounts – which by itself isn’t a bad idea – but the meat of the messages are on point and offer good, solid advice.

I’ve linked up their archived messages here, so take a look and see if any of them appeal to you. You may even decide that you need an online savings or high-yield checking account to help you on your way.

Also, ING’s on Twitter, so you can follow them here @ingdirect. While your at it follow me @ThriftyLife too!

Savvy Savings Tips Archive

April 2009:

• Practice Random Acts of Online Saving
• To Own or Not to Own? Good Question
• Take Investing Back to Basics

March 2009:

• Take These Money-Savers on Vacation
• Punching Up the Home? Don’t Beat Up the Wallet
• Put Your Tax Refund to Work

February 2009:

• The Latest Word on Tax Savings
• Finding the Mortgage Lender that Works for You
• Leave No Retirement Dollar Behind

January 2009:

• Maintaining Good Credit in Today’s Economy
• Mortgages – What to Know to Get Started
• 2009: Year of the Wise Investor

December 2008:

• ‘Tis the Season to Go Online Shopping
• Save on Those Monthly Utility Bills
• Making ETFs Work for You

November 2008:

• Healthy Savings on Your Family’s Healthcare
• Getting a Mortgage Online Has its Advantages
• Investing Made Easy: Automatic Deposit Plan

October 2008:

• Great Savings in Everyday Places
• Homeownership: A Less Taxing Experience
• Dollar-Cost Averaging: Investing on a Systematic Schedule

September 2008:

• Stop Up Those Little (or Large) Money Drains
• Home Appraisal: Knowing the In’s and Out’s
• Investing: Getting Started Wisely

This list may be a wake-up call. If it is, start making some changes because there is no way you’re going to get out of trouble unless you change you mindset, change you habits and change you life.

1. You’re having trouble saving your income.  Pick an amount and start today.
2. You don’t know how much money you owe.  Big problem.  Go get a reality check and add it up right now!
3. Your friends wonder how you manage to live so well.  Ouch – the truth is you’re wagering your future against the present and you’re losing!
4. You’re paying some of your bills with your credit cards.  First problem is you can’t pay the bill.   The second is you just increased the bills amount by adding finance chargers.  The third, you probably can’t pay the credit card bill either!
5. You borrow money from relatives and friends.  They don’t mind helping you out because they like you. Right? … For now.
6. You’re bouncing checks.  Pay attention!  Each mistake you make like that has a fee attached to it makes the problem worse.
7. You don’t need or want some of the things you buy.  Go find the stuff you don’t need or want and return it or sell it.  Find a way to return some value from your poor decision.
8. You get turned down for credit.  First off – why do you need MORE CREDIT?  Second, GOOD!  Fix your current credit and solve your problem that way instead of looking for more.  Additional credit will only make the problem worse.
9. You stop opening mail and start ignoring bills.  You can’t ignore this problem.  It won’t go away unless you make it go away.
10. Money is haunting your thoughts, keeping you awake, and causing you anxiety.  This is your mind trying to send a message. WAKE UP! You’re making the wrong decisions.

Stop right now and start over.  You can get yourself out of this.  Start here.

1. Map out a plan.  Start by figuring out how much you owe.
2. Look at your expenses and cut out everything you don’t need.  And I mean NEED, not want.  This means everything except food, clothes, housing, transportation – the essentials.  The rest are LUXURIES that you can’t afford.
3. Start paying off your debt and don’t stop until it’s gone.

If you make it that far, you’ll know the changes you made and you’ll already know how to make sure you don’t fall into that trap again.  Start right now.  You don’t have a choice.

I just read a post by Ramit over at I Will Teach You To Be Rich and it struck a chord with me.  The post talks about the importance of automating transactions to do the right thing be default.  This is good, but what if you don’t have an extra $100 a month to move to a savings account? You need willpower and you need it now!

If you’re spending too much, too often on the wrong things, then personal finance is ABSOLUTELY about willpower. It’s about changing habits. If you’re automating a transaction to put money out of reach, that doesn’t change the habit. It just moves the location where you will go to get to your money when you want to spend it. For example, Ramit wrote:

If you think personal finance is about trying harder, ask yourself: How has that worked for you in the last month? The last year? Have you really saved more? Invested more?

With the problem we’re talking about though, trying harder is the wrong thing to attack here. If you’re trying anything, then you’ve got willpower. The point to attack is WHAT are you trying harder AT?

You need to change the desire to spend if you truly want to change the fact that you’re not saving. Willpower is required to make such a change. There’s no way around that. If you have willpower you’ll find a way to keep pushing. You’ll find another option out there. Maybe it’s a cheaper replacement for a necessity or cutting out something from your budget that you don’t actually need. That type of analysis will start the engine and willpower will provide the fuel.

One more general point – there’s a fine line between automating payments and “setting and forgetting”. If you want to stop losing money, start saving more, start making more, etc. You need to start PAYING ATTENTION to your finances. You need to learn how to manage money. Creating an automatic transfer doesn’t teach you anything. It just moves your money around when you’re not paying attention. If you don’t change your spending habits, you will find the money you have and you will spend it. Your habit will see to it that it tracks down what it needs. In this case, that’s your cash.

Change the habit and you will learn the importance of saving and investing.

2. Understand how stores work
A basic understanding of merchandising can help you avoid overspending. These simple habits will go a long way toward keeping your budget in check:

•  Walk briskly toward what you came to buy and avoid distractions along the way. For example, have you ever noticed that the diapers and milk are often at the back of the store? You’re forced to walk past a lot of temptation to get to the items you need most often.

•  Products are displayed at the ends of the aisles in order to catch your eye. Think carefully about whether what you see there is really necessary — or a bargain — before you toss it in the cart. Many “featured” items are not bargains at all.

•  As you peruse the aisles, bend over to check the prices on the bottom shelves and compare them to the cost of the items at eye level.

•  Avoid buying the items displayed by the register. The magazines at the checkout stand cost much more per issue than they would if you had a subscription, and cookies in little packages cost more than a from a box. Almost everything near the register is there to inspire you to buy on impulse, not to save you money.

Tip: Make fewer trips to the store and you’ll find yourself with fewer chances to pick up a few extras you don’t really need.

Read the full article here.

This is something that we all should be doing, and it’s something that can pay off pretty quickly. It’s definitely something that I need to do more consistently and my shopping trip today was a perfect example.

My wife asked me to stop at the grocery store today to pick up some fresh fruits and vegetables and some other miscellaneous items. We’re looking to save as much as we can on groceries, so that means buying what we need and definitely shopping the sales. I scored some decent deals, bread that was on sale for $2.00 off the regular price and some fresh items we needed were on sale as well. I wanted to buy some tortilla chips too, so I surveyed the options. Tostitos were on sale for $3.50 a bag, but Santitos were only $2.29 for a 1lb bag. I will gladly drop one bigger name brand for another that’s sold for 1/3 the price. Done deal!

When I got to checkout, the chips were the first items scanned and they rang up for $2.49 a piece. At first I thought I had looked at the wrong tag on the shelf and that I had made the mistake. But after I paid I went back and sure enough the tag on the shelf said $2.29. I purchased two bags so we’re looking at a 40 cent difference. In the past I don’t think would have bothered going up to the customer service desk for 40 cents. But since we’re looking to save as much as we can – every penny counts, especially when I don’t have to do much work to correct an obvious error.

The woman at the customer service desk happily made the price change and refunded me the 40 cent difference AND she gave me one of the bags for free.  So instead of getting the 40 cents I had overpaid, I received an additional $2.29 off my total. That made my day. She thanked me for speaking up, so that they can get the correct price into the computer. That’s good customer service. And that’s why you need to speak up.

As I mentioned earlier, this seems like a small problem, one that you’re not likely to bother going out of your way to fix. But when you consider the scope of the issue, I think it’s extremely important to speak up. How many other people never checked their receipts and also paid too much for those chips? Now think about how many different items are for sale at local grocery store. THOUSANDS! There are bound to be dozens of pricing errors that could be found throughout the store. That’s why you need to pay attention when you shop and speak up if a mistake has been made.

Use your shopping list and keep track of the shelf and sale prices. Most of us shop with shopping lists, especially at grocery stores. So make sure to have a pen with you and as you find the items you’re looking for make a quick note of the price you expect to pay. That way when you get your receipt you can double-check to make sure you paid the correct price. Even better you can watch as the items are scanned and catch the error before it impacts your wallet.

Once you get home, keep a log of your purchases and the prices you paid. That way you can shop around and keep track of who has the lowest prices on the items you’re shopping for. And when the weekly circulars come out with the sale items, you can compare the prices you normally pay to the sale prices. Many stores will raise the “regular” price of an item in order to put it on sale. If you’re keeping track at home, you’ll be able to spot this tactic before ever setting foot in the store!

Don’t rely on the cashier to know the prices! They have no idea what the prices are. Most cashiers don’t even know what products the store sells, let alone what items are on sale from one week to the next! Robots could do this job, that’s all they are there for – that an trying to sell you on saving $4.14 cents by opening a new credit card account with them?! YOU can do this job better. In fact, if you have the opportunity, use a self checkout lane and do it yourself.  That way you force yourself to scan every item and pay attention to the price that rings up. Don’t put the onus on someone else to pay attention, when its your money at stake.

Don’t let yourself shop in a haze. There you are aimlessly wandering the aisles with your mind in the clouds. Wake up! It’s your hard earned money being spent – pay attention! And when the time comes and when a mistake has been made – AND ERRORS WILL BE MADE – speak up and get it fixed.

What else can you do to make sure you’re getting the right price? Post a comment, I’d love to know what your strategies are!

photo credit: beverlyislike

1. If you really need to get out for a meal, checkout gift certificates from Restaurant.com.  They offer highly discounted gift certificates to local restaurants.  Make sure to read the fine print though, or even call the restaurant before you purchase to make sure you’re aware of any limitations that the gift certificates come with.
    
2. What about dinner and a movie?  A night at the movies can really hit the wallet hard, so go to a matinee instead.  It’s a small change, but depending on the price it could be the equivalent of 2 tickets for the price of one!  And as a bonus, now when you get something to eat after the movie, you’ll have more to talk about at dinner since you saw the movie first!
    
3. If you’re looking for ways to save on a babysitter you may have a few options.  Do you have any friends or co-workers with children with babysitting experience?  What about other couples – have you ever considered exchanging babysitting with another family?  You take their kids one night so they can go out and they do the same for you on another night.  Exchange a little work in the form of a small body or two running around for a few hours for a night of relaxation.  Or you can share a babysitter with another couple.  If you’ve got more than two or three kids between you this might not be an option, but if you find the right person it could work just fine.  And last, but not least, what about relatives?  Grandparents make great babysitters and they’re more than willing to spend a few hours with their grandkids!
    
4. Instead of heading out to dinner, stay in.  My wife took on the challenge of coming up with home-cooked replacements for our favorite take-out meals. She makes mexican burritos, quesadillas and enchiladas and a fantastic lo mein.  And the twist is that we like her recipes BETTER than the take-out meals they were trying to replace. So go find some of your favorite dishes and try them in your kitchen.
    
5. I mentioned heading out to a matinee above, but a movie night at your house is always an option.  You have lots of choices when it comes finding a place to get a movie for a friday night, but I bet you don’t regularly ask your friends to borrow DVDs.  Why not?  Everyone has a few movies that they own, trying exchanging movies with friends.  Finding someone who has a different taste in movies can be interesting as well because it opens you up to discovering some new favorites. 

Do you have a thrifty date idea? Add your comment below and share it with us! 

A special thanks to my wife for keeping our family’s thrifty habits in line and continuing to inspire most of what you read here!

photo credit: HAMED MASOUMI

1. Find another use for your old t-shirts. Do you have a lot of old t-shirts lying around that you never wear, but are too beat up to give to Goodwill or the Salvation Army? Cut them up and use them as rags.  You can dust with them, you can clean with them, but my ingenious wife has the best tip for those old t-shirts. Instead of buying expensive replacement wipes for your Swiffer, cut the t-shirts into perfectly sized strips and you can use and REUSE them to clean your floors.  They work great with a little floor cleaner and just thrown them in the wash and they’re ready to reuse for next time.
2. Save without thinking about it. One way to save money is to just stop yourself from spending it. So go online and create an automatic bank transfer of $25 from your checking account into your savings account. If you don’t have a savings account, or a second account at all go get one.  ING and other online banks offer higher interest savings accounts than most banks, so start here if you need to open an account. One of the tried and true methods to build up savings is to pay yourself first. So start here with a simple automatic transfer.
3. Quit procrastinating. There’s something that you’re not doing and it’s costing you money. Being late and putting things off is never going to pay off. Late bills turn into late fees. Running late means driving aggressively, which is dangerous in itself, but because you’re driving faster it puts more wear on your car. Even worse – taxes! If you’re late with your taxes you suffer penalties at the hands of the government and that can even turn itself into an audit. What a time sink that could be! Those are just three quick things, but it’s a very long list. So quit procrastinating, do whatever it is you need to do, and move on!
4. Get rid of your land line. The days of being tethered to the phone company are over. Cellphones are everywhere and if you have one, you don’t need another phone line, just for your house. Take the savings and bump up your minutes if you need to. If you have to switch to a service like Vonage. If $20 a month for 500 minutes is too much they even have a secret plan that will get you a phone number and incoming calls are free. I currently use this option for my business. We downgraded our service since we use our cellphones so much anyway, but we wanted to keep our business number. So with this plan we’re able to keep the number and it gets us free voicemail.  If someone leaves a message we can just call them back on our cellphones – which we would do anyway.
5. Work on your organization skills. Being organized has guaranteed benefits. If you know where stuff is, you can find it faster. That saves you time. After all time is money, especially if you do work on the side like I do. Any time I spend searching for something is time I’m not billing a client.Another example is being organized with records and maintenance. If you know when your car needs its next oil change or scheduled service on your car is, you won’t run the risk of suffering unnecessary car repairs. Maintenance is important and if you’re organized you’ll be able to stay on top of that stuff. Especially with big ticket items like cars and homes. Stretching maintenance times is a slippery slope. The first time it’s probably ok, but when it starts to become a habit it will absolutely start to cost you money. And for what? At that point you’re literally paying for not being better organized. Make a list, get a calendar, send reminders to yourself via email – whatever it takes.

photo credit: Kamal H.

So, what if I told you there was something you could do today that would make you more prepared for the unexpected? How about if it could also increase your chance of avoiding dangerous situations? Surely this bit of wisdom could help you make some good decisions, right? ‘But…’, you say, ‘it must be something difficult! Something that will surely take time and effort. Maybe it will even cost me money!’ Not in this case. The 2 second rule takes exactly 2 seconds to learn and 2 seconds to apply.

What is the 2 Second Rule?

You may know it already. If you do and you’re using it each day – excellent! But if you’re not, the question I’m asking today is why aren’t you taking it seriously?

The 2 Second Rule is a guideline for driving which helps you maintain a safe following distance. The principle is that as you’re driving you should stay at least two seconds behind the car in front of you. Pretty simple right? So why aren’t you using the 2 Second Rule. My guess is that since it’s so simple, you’re not convinced that it makes that big of a difference. I’m about to show you why it does.

The 2 Second Rule works at any speed and is equivalent to one vehicle length for every 5 miles per hour. But you don’t need to remember that. All you need to remember is to find a fixed object to focus on and to use simple counting to measure the distance between your car and the car in front of you. Here’s how to do it:

1. Find a fixed object, like a sign, traffic light, mailbox, or a marking on the road.
2. When the car in front of your passes that object, start counting.
3. When you pass that object, stop counting.

If you made it passed “one…two…” then you’re following at a safe distance. You’ve successfully applied the 2 Second Rule! If you didn’t make it to two, slow down a bit and try again. You can also use the phrase “only a fool breaks the two-second rule“. It’s been measured to take two seconds to say and takes into account that people tend to count at different speeds.

The Payoff

Let’s look at just some of the benefits of the 2 Second Rule. This is the part where you become convinced that you need to start using the 2 Second Rule.

1. It gives you more time to react if there’s something up the road like an accident or if the car in front of you hits something. Increase your distance and you increase the time in which you have to react.
2. The 2 Second Rule gets around the problem of remembering the correct stopping distances that are required for a given speed. It gives you enough time to slow to a stop within the proper distance. 
3. It’s been shown to significantly reduce risk of a collision, and the severity of an accident should one occur. 
4. If you do get into an accident because you’re following too close – it’s your fault. That translates into higher insurance premiums on top of any injuries you may suffer!
5. Should you get rear-ended at an intersection, if you’ve given yourself the proper space between the car in front of you, you’re less likely to hit it!
6. Plain and simple – it helps to avoid tailgating and road rage. 
7. Giving yourself room means you’re less likely to get boxed into a lane, miss an exit or turn, and you’ll have the opportunity to be more aware of your surroundings.
8. The only space you can control on the road is the space in front of you. I’m going to repeat that because it’s that important. The only space you can control on the road is the space in front of you. You can’t control the cars behind you or the cars in front of you. So take it upon yourself to stay our of harms way.

When is the 2 Second Rule not the 2 Second Rule?

When it’s the 4 Second Rule! Don’t worry, this is easy. During bad weather maintain an even greater distance of three or four seconds behind the vehicle in front of you. Bad weather means you’ll need to increase your stopping distances and there’s a greater likelihood of situations that can cause accidents.

Start using the 2 Second Rule and use this wisdom to give yourself enough time to react and to be a better, safer driver.

 photo credit: jonboy mitchell

One aspect of the data they collected speaks directly to the question of cost relating to dieting and staying in shape.
The report says:

More than half of our successful losers reported shedding the weight themselves, without aid of a commercial diet program, a medical treatment, a book, or diet pills. That confirms what we found in our last large diet survey, in 2002, in which 83 percent of “superlosers” — people who’d lost at least 10 percent of their starting weight and kept it off for five years or more — had done it entirely on their own.

I’m really surprised by these results. With the success of the diet industry and all of the products you can buy that support different diet strategies, it’s very telling that of these 21,000+ people that more than half of those who lost weight did it themselves. Does this prove that fad diets don’t work? That people already know what to do, it’s just a matter of doing it? Interesting questions…

The article also links to some good budgeting tips.

• Price vs. nutrition: Making smart choices – A brief list of foods that are both healthy and have a low cost per serving.
• The Downturn Diet – 20 strategies for eating healthy on a budget.

I also found this last quote interesting, related to the habits of those who are thin or working on staying fit:

The eating and exercise habits of the vast majority of the always-slim group look surprisingly like those of people who have successfully lost weight and kept it off.

Both groups eat healthful foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and eschew excessive dietary fat; practice portion control; and exercise vigorously and regularly. The only advantage the always-slim have over the successful dieters is that those habits seem to come a bit more naturally to them.

“When we’ve compared people maintaining a weight loss with controls who’ve always had a normal weight, we’ve found that both groups are working hard at it; the maintainers are just working a little harder,” says Suzanne Phelan, Ph.D.

A very interesting twist on the common stereotype that thin people are just thin and that they don’t have to work at it.  So apply this to people who are living on a budget and still seem to always get what they want.  Maybe they’re efforts aren’t as obvious, but I would bet that they’re working just as hard if not harder to stick to their budgets, to make good choices about where their money goes and to stay focused on their overall financial goals.

What do you think?

 photo credit: malias

There’s some great reading at the carnival so stop by and take a peak.  Here are a few of the posts I thought were interesting.

• What to do when your credit cards are closed due to inactivity
• Managing frustration with money goals
• Consider a part-time job to help jumpstart your debt reduction

The problem with this approach is that if you do have an emergency – and you will, we all do – you will have to rely on your credit to cover the emergency costs. So if your refrigerator breaks or your car dies, you’re left with no other options and will end up paying interest on those emergency expenses.

So why not try a different approach.  This worked for me and may do the trick to get you over the emergency fund hump as well.

There’s a technique used for paying off debt which shares an aspect of the debt snowball approach called snowflaking. Snowflaking involves using small windfalls from smaller streams of income, outside of your main income like your salary, to make additional payments against your debt. For example, you could sell some stuff on eBay or craigslist, work some extra hours, find a way to save money on a current bill, or do some freelance work on the side and then use that extra income as an additional payment on your debts.

But if you don’t have an emergency fund – why not try snowflaking and build one! Put the extra cash you earn from those smaller income streams into a savings account and you’ll build up your emergency fund. Then once you have your emergency fund you can turn your snowflaking back towards your debt and keep it going. After all snowflaking is supposed to be extra effort to get ahead. So put that extra effort into being prepared and you won’t suffer financially when an emergency comes up.

I’ve done this myself and found it worked great. I’ve been doing some freelance work and my wife and I have been selling things we don’t need or use on eBay. We’ve built up enough to cover some additional car expenses that came up at the end of the year and we still have enough for a decent emergency fund. We’re not finished yet, but we’re on our way. So as we gain extra income, we’ll build our little piece of mind and when the next emergency comes along we’ll be prepared. Try it – it may be enough to give you some piece of mind too.

photo credit: *PaysImaginaire*

EAT BETTER and EXERCISE MORE!

I can hear it now – “Oh man! Come on, what kind of tip is that?” Simple question, simple answer. It’s the kind that will get you results! This is easy in theory, and I’m sure you already “know it”, but there’s no way you’re doing all your can. You’re ignoring something on purpose or by accident, that directly affects all areas of your life – including your wallet!

For most people getting fit and staying healthy is a constant challenge. There are people out there who eat well and stay active. They’ve been able to keep this up through hard work and they’ve made it part of their daily routine. For others it just never happens. I think most people are in the middle somewhere, including myself. You can find lots of different sources of motivation for getting fit and staying healthy, but one you may not have thought seriously about is what it costs to be unhealthy.

Here are a few examples of how getting healthier can change your life.

• If you’re health, you will spend less on health insurance, copays and prescriptions. If you have an HSA (Health Savings Account) health insurance plan, this also means that you’ll be saving lots of money for an serious or emergency medical expense.
• You’ll change your routine to include physical activities. That means that you could start spending less on hobbies and activities by participating in free sports clubs, running, biking, walking, etc.
• You could change your transportation habits and bike or walk someplace you’d normally drive or take public transportation.
• You’ll cut the extra expense of junk food and unhealthy foods out of your grocery budget.
• You’ll teach your children better habits and they will grow up in a healthy, active environment and live healthier lives.
• You’ll feel better! 

You absolutely can’t overlook the last one. You will feel better! Raise your hand if you feel the best you’ve ever felt in your life. I see very few hands. Not even my own! So please don’t think I’m just standing on a soap box telling everyone else to change. I’m doing this too. This post is as much targeting myself as it is offering a challenge to others who are looking for an opportunity to change their lives.

As part of this goal, I’ve been looking for resources that I can use to jump start my health and start getting back on track to living a healthy life. Here are a few that I’ve found, some articles, some tools, hopefully enough to get you started in the right direction. 

• The New York Times – Keeping That Diet Resolution – 8 sites to help you lose weight or at least eat more healthfully.
• The New York Times – The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating – Try this strategy – buy one new food each week and see if you can work it into your diet!
• Divine Caroline – 20 Healthiest Foods for Under $1 - A great list of staples to include in your diet that will fit into ANY budget!
• Men’s Health – 10 Easy Ways to Lose Weight Without Starving
• MyFoodDiary – Subscription tools to help you track your health – activities and diet – via web and mobile. Also includes support forums for users.
• Health.com’s Get Fit Blog
• Discovery Health’s Healthy Living
• Rodale Publications: Men’s Health, Women’s Health and Best Life

I want your support!

Contribute your ideas and resources in the comments for staying healthy this year and in the future! What are the best health & fitness blogs out there? Where can we find the best resources for getting and staying healthy?

 photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography

I loved soda! Like most of us, I used to drink it all the time. When I went out I’d always get a soda with what ever I was eating, but I’ve cut it from my diet. Now, I only have soda on rare occaisions and when I do, I try to make it an all natural or specialty soda. I’m a big fan of root beer, so it’s nice to buy a small four-pack of a microbrew root beer for a special treat. But that’s the key – it’s just a treat.

For my normal daily routine I drink water. I’ve come to love a nice glass of ice water or iced tea. Not that sugary “iced tea” stuff – real brewed iced tea. You’d be surprised what things actually taste like when you stop relying on sugar as the main flavor in everything you eat and drink.

Soda has become a part of our society’s normal intake, like coffee and sweets. Just look at all the marketing we see that’s focused on soft drinks! You’d think since everyone is drinking it, it must be ok right? But it’s not. These days with all the chemical additives it’s a far cry from the soda-pop made from carbonated water and flavorings that made the drinks popular at soda fountains.

So take a closer look at how much you’re spending on soda and try to cut back. If you’re a big soda drinker like I was, limit yourself to a smaller daily amount. Then slowly limit yourself to a weekly amount and then leave it off your shopping list. I’m sure you have something else you can do with the money you save and you’ll feel better too. Our bodies thirst for water for a reason! Try giving your body what it wants instead of a chemical-loaded sugar drink. Your body will thank you and so will your wallet.

UPDATE! Check out this post I found on HealthBolt on the immediate and lasting effects of drinking a can of coke. Interesting stuff.

 photo credit: poolie

The second blog running a similar list is Money Smart Life.  They’re took a different angle in The Best Money Posts of the Year and asked personal finance bloggers to submit their best posts of 2008 and more importantly tell everyone why they thought is was their best.  Again, you’ll find lots of great info so grab a pen and paper and start taking some notes!

What’s was the best post you read this year?  What tip sticks out in your mind and will help you save some money going into 2009?

Find free local events.  If you’ve got your heart set on going out, check your local papers for free New Year’s Eve events.  Skip the big-ticket parties and expensive dinners and find a family-friendly event.  Try local churches and civic organizations who often host family themed parties and gatherings.

Host a game night. For years my family would host a New Year’s Eve game night.  We’d play all sorts of games, but a seasonal, massive trivial pursuit game was always the party favorite.  This is a great opportunity for friends to share a new game they may have received over the holidays, or pull out an old favorite, as we used to. 

Host a junk swap.  Here’s an opportunity to start the new year and get rid of some stuff. Invite guests to bring items they’d like to trade and you can swap the junk you don’t want for something else you’d like. Ideas for things to trade include books, DVDs, clothes, video games, CDs and anything else you think you might be able to get rid of!

Host a spa night.  This may not be one for the guys, but a girls night in can be a great New Year’s Eve idea.  Spend the evening relaxing and pampering yourself. It may be the perfect way to kick off a new year.

Host a pot-luck or fondue party.  Nothing beats NOT cooking a big dinner for a host of friends.  So invite your friends to bring the dish they’re famous for.  You’re bound to end up with a gourmet feast.  If dinner still seems like too much, skip it and go with a dessert-only pot-luck and just start the party later.

If you still want to throw a big party make it late!  Start the party around 10pm and people can drop-by for the ball drop.  Many couples end up house-hopping on New Year’s Eve anyway, so give them a timeframe for your party, and they’ll make you a priority stop.  A shorter shindig means you can skip on providing dinner and go with some simple snacks and drinks.

Try a progressive, house-hop.  Give each house a course and pick an overall theme and you can spread out the party and let everyone host for a little while.  You also spread out the expense!

Host a movie marathon. Ok, maybe you don’t want to geek out and watch all 11+ hours of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy’s Extended Director’s Cut. But a movie marathon can be a great idea.  Try picking a theme and each family or guest can bring a movie that fits the theme.  Monster movies, mysteries, comedy duos, adventure movies, or pick an actor or actress and watch their greatest hits.  Enjoying the big screen with friends is always more fun.  And if movies aren’t your thing, with all the TV shows on DVD now, you can pick your favorite 70’s or 80’s TV show and host a marathon.  When it comes to TV and movies – you’ve got lots of options!

Don’t forget a romantic evening.  Take-out from your favorite restaurant and a quiet night may be the perfect way to start the new year.  It’s fun, romantic and can very economical.

 photo credit: foxypar4

You remember a lot of important things: The first time you saw Star Wars on the big screen. The first time someone looked at you in that that way. The first time you realized that childhood was over. I remember all those things too, plus other bits of detritus floating around in my long-term memory file. Like the first time I ever heard the word “thrift.”

It’s a perfectly good bit of memory that could have been, should have been, reallocated to some other infinitely important thought, if only to add more details in the recall. I’ve learned that my brain just won’t work that way. It’s committed to a lifelong pursuit of remembering things that are random and sometimes odd, but it does make me a hit at parties where trivia games are involved. Sometimes, however, the strangest memory pays a surprising dividend.

The first time I ever heard the word “thrift” was during an episode of Starsky & Hutch. I was six and S&H could do no wrong. I was devoted to it every week, even though much of it went over my head. Heroin? Junkies? Prostitutes? These were words that held no meaning for me. All I cared about were the car chases and gun fights! But little did I know that during this one particular episode, a seed would be planted that would see fruition over the years that followed.

The villain of that episode (Season 2’s “Starsky and Hutch Are Guilty,” aired April 1977) was masterminding a scheme that involved using two guys who looked like Starsky and Hutch, with the intention of giving the real S&H a bad rep and getting them drummed out of the precinct. The mastermind, during her exposition monologue concerning the scheme, made a comment along the lines of “I had to raid every thrift store to find the right clothes.” It was intended as a pot shot about the main characters’ sense of fashion. At least, that’s how my six-year-old mind perceived it. And so, I attached a negative association with “thrift,” because it was used in a disparaging manner toward my beloved car-chasing, gun-shooting, lady-loving heroes. I tucked the word away in my mind, always inwardly frowning whenever it cropped up in life. Until 1988 or so. That’s when thrift rematerialized with a vengeance.

Freshman year in college. I discovered a store just a few blocks from campus, right down from the local comic book shop. It sold vintage clothing. Now, as a freshman in the late 80s, and a theater major at that time because acting was where the beautiful artsy girls were, redefining yourself was mandatory. Vintage clothing offered the opportunity to go old school cool for less than $10. That ten bucks would get you several sweet ensembles, including a leather jacket so worn out it imbued a depth of character that no amount of posturing, teen angst and youthful rebellion could ever hope to muster. Thrift was no longer a dirty word. It had become cool.

And now, twenty years later, thrift is a dear old friend of the family. We sit on the porch at night after dinner, Thrift and I, as I pluck the twangy guitar that I paid for with just two crisp twenties back in the late 90s and we reminisce of days when five bucks took you far. We end our evening chats with a sigh as thoughts turn to the economy and how thrift is much more important than ever. Way more important than Starsky & Hutch and vintage stores. Well, almost.

 photo credit: pixeljones

As the child of depression-era parents, I grew up in a time where money was spent carefully and always with an eye toward saving for a rainy day. Having one pair of shoes was the norm, and small ranch homes (800-1000 square feet) with three bedrooms and one bath housed a suburban family of five comfortably. We played outside, so didn’t need lots of toys; everyone was in the same boat, so none of us felt deprived.I certainly respect the values my parents lived by, and appreciate the safety and security of my childhood. As prosperity increased in the decades following WWII, new opportunities for accumulating material possessions abounded, but my parents maintained their careful spending and lived comfortably but never excessively. Their cautious approach to financial matters was admirable, but it also put unnecessary limits on their willingness to share what they had or to enjoy all that they had worked for.

My point is this: being prudent and thrifty is a good thing. Saving and planning for the future are smart and admirable practices. But taking these to an extreme – being fearful of never having “enough,” feeling deprived, or being unwilling to share ones’ resources with others in need – gives power to money and possessions that far exceeds their value. Be thrifty, but be sure to enjoy the important things that money can’t buy.

Breaking down the rule changes

1. Interest rate changes. The first HUGE change offers protection against arbitrary rate increases.  “Savings associations”, as the Office of Thrifty Supervision calls them, are required to disclose, at account opening, the annual percentage rates (APRs) that will apply to the account and prohibits savings associations from increasing APRs unless expressly permitted.  This doesn’t mean that they can’t raise your rate, they can.  It means that they can’t raise your rate without explicitly telling you when you open the account that the rate will increase.

Once your account has been open for a year, they may increase the rate for new transactions by providing a 45-day advance notice.  They may also increase a variable rate due to the operation of an index – meaning that if your rate is variable it will fluctuate as the index increases or decreases in value.  That’s something that hasn’t changed.

Finally, they may increase a rate on existing balances when the consumer is more than 30 days delinquent in paying the credit card bill.

2. Reasonable time to pay. New rules also prohibit savings associations from treating a payment as late unless the consumer has been provided a reasonable amount of time to make the payment.   In this case they classify a reasonable amount of time as 21 days.

3. Payment allocation. This one is a big change, and I can’t wait to see the benefits of this in action.  When you have an account balances that has different APRs, for example you have standard transactions at 15% and a balance transfer at 0%, the typical practice has been for the credit card company to apply your payments against the lowest interest rate first.  This costs you money, plain and simple.  You’re stuck paying the 15% interest rate while the 0% balance gets paid off first.

The new rules give you two options.  They require the credit card company to allocate any amount paid in over the minimum payment to either the highest interest balance or evenly divided among all balances.  It’s your choice. It’s not clear how you will specify which your preferred method of allocation is, but I suspect that by the time the rules go into effect it will be well publicized how to make this distinction.

4. Double-cycle billing. Credit card companies are also prohibited from using the practice often referred to as “two-cycle billing”.  This is when they impose a finance charge based on balances associated with previous billing cycles.

5. High-fee sub-prime cards. Companies are also prohibited from charging fees for issuing credit that consumes the majority of the available credit during the first year your open your account. Fees over 25% of  your credit limit must be spread over a minimum of the first six months that the account is open, rather than charged as a lump sum during the first billing cycle.  I wasn’t aware of this practice, but certainly spreading this type of fee over time makes it easier to manage, and you won’t have to pay interest on a large lump sum right off the bat.

6. Exceeding your credit limit. Companies are restricted from placing “too-high” fees for exceeding the credit limit solely because of a hold placed on the account.  At first pass, I didn’t see any mention of what exactly “too-high” was defined as.

The fine print

This sounds pretty good right?  So when does this go into effect?  While the Office of Thrifty Supervision(man I love that name!) requires companies to comply by July 1, 2010, they’re urging companies to put these practices into effect sooner.  July 2010, is a long time from now, especially if you’re focused on paying down debt. But hopefully credit card companies will see the marketing value of getting out in front of this and we’ll see a few of them put these practices into effect sooner, so that they can claim they care about the customer.

If you’d like to read more try the following sites:

• The Office of Thrifty Supervision Press Release
• OTS Published PDF Summary/Fact Sheet

photo credit: TheTruthAbout…

Sarah wrote:

Remember that less is more.

Hanging one gorgeous wreath on your front door is just as merry and bright as a wreath hanging from all windows and doors. Much less work and less chance of damage to your home as well.

Light one beautiful tree on your lot rather than lighting all the bushes, the lamp post, the house, the mailbox…

Agree to a spending limit with your immediate and extended families. The limit can apply to each person or the family as a whole. Or agree to choose a charity to donate to every year. If you have adult children to buy for, don’t go overboard. Stockings of goodies are cute to look at and fun to open, but my guess is that it costs between $10 and $30 to fill one! Instead of treating your adult children like small children again, help them make Christmas magical for the small children in your families. Or use the stocking creativity – rather than fill with trinkets, give your gift inside!

Also, children don’t need a lot to be happy. Focus on spending your time and energy with them rather than in the stores or online buying for them. A few gifts under the tree Christmas morning will bring just as many squeals as fifty gifts. Begin new traditions this year! A few ideas are: Picking out then decorating a tree, listening to holiday music, watching age appropriate holiday specials, making cookies, reading special stories, and helping wrap gifts or even decorating the wrapping paper or box with their own artwork. Children naturally want to help – let them! They adore attention, especially from a parent.

Cut out some food extras this season and help your wallet and your waistline! Offer one or two desserts after your holiday dinner rather than an entire table. Bake one or two kinds of cookies. Or host a cookie swap with friends and family. Arrive with a few dozen of one kind of cookie and come home with cookies of all kinds!

If you have stockings and ornaments for your tree, you have enough. Avoid the temptation to walk through the holiday decoration aisles at the stores. This is the hardest one for me! I love ornaments! Don’t even bother going down that aisle after Christmas day either. Sure they are on sale, it’s a good deal, but you don’t need it. On the other hand, if you are just starting off on your own and only have a few ornaments to your name, set a spending limit and purchase ornaments after the holidays. The best part is that you probably won’t remember them all when you unpack them the following year. It’s a wonderful surprise gift to yourself and the perfect way to decorate for less.

I could go on and on…

Wow! Please do! Keep those great comments coming guys!

 photo credit: kimberlyfaye

Dust light bulbs occasionally (with the power off) to increase light levels. You’re already paying for the electricity powering the lightbulb so get all of the light you can out of it. You may find that you only need to have one light turned on, rather than two.  Turn this into a habit and you can maintain a nice, bright light level in your home.

Don’t purchase products with excessive or unnecessary packaging. If you pay for trash removal, this will absolutely affect your wallet.  The more packaging you bring home, the more trash you create.  This can also increase the cost of shipping and handling, if you made your purchase online or from a catalog.  Amazon.com’s CEO Jeff Bezos announced their initiative to create frustration free packaging with the goal of creating smaller, easier-to-open packaging made from recyclable materials. Amazon’s selection is currently limited to a few brands. But this is something that will surely take off in the future.

Use rechargeable batteries instead of conventional batteries. It’s cheaper to refill a battery with power from your outlet than it is to go buy a new battery.  These days rechargeable batteries are more powerful and can charge much quicker than their predecessors.  Invest in a good charger and enough batteries to power the devices you want, plus a few extras for switching out when a pair are used up.  If you don’t know where to start, try here.  We own several sets of Duracell rechargeable batteries and have been completely happy with them.  We use them in everything from wireless computer mice, to remote controls and even the external flash for our digital camera. One note though, if you’re using electronics, especially photo gear like a flash which require a lot of power, you may want to purchase the more powerful 2650mAh batteries.

Invest in a rain barrel and use collected rain water to water plants and wash cars.  You already have the rain water soaking your roof and running down your gutters so all you have to do is collect it! This is a green, sustainable solution ready for anyone who wants to make the investment in a rain barrel. You can find a variety of styles, shapes and colors, but whatever your choice, you’ll be saving water and in the process saving money. In my neck of the woods we’ve been in a severe drought for the past few years. That means limits on watering your garden, your lawn and don’t even think about washing your car. I have several friends who use rain barrels for this exact purpose and it works like a charm. Once we buy a house in the next few years, you can bet that we’ll have at least one rain barrel as well.

Turn off the faucet when you shave, brush your teeth, wash dishes or even while soaping up in the shower.  Remember if you’re not only paying for water coming into your home, you’re also paying for the sewer costs for it to leave your home.  Besides the environmental impact, a running tap can increase your water usage very quickly.  The average bath can use 30-50 gallons of water, while a 5 minute shower with a low-flow shower head can use less than 15 gallons.  If you really want to push yourself try a Navy Shower.

Ok now go dig through your couch! Every penny counts!

 photo credit: numberstumper

Now keep in mind, big changes aren’t usually easy.  They carry more up-front work, or require that you make bigger changes in your life.  This means you’re going to need to weigh the consequences of your actions and really think and plan ahead before you jump in head first.  But don’t get discouraged!  You CAN plan out the details and you CAN make big changes in your life.  Consider the following possibilities:

1. Turn your family into a one-car family.

Many families have at least two cars. Can your family survive with a one less?  Can one of the adults(or both) carpool to work?  Are there buses available for the kids?  When you sell a car you gain the immediate cash that the car was worth, but you also have residual impact on your expenses.  Your car insurance will be lower, your fuel costs will be lower, and you maintenance costs with be lower.  My wife and I are currently planning on selling both of our cars and getting a slightly newer used car.  We won’t gain a huge windfall from selling the cars, but we are putting the cash into a more reliable vehicle. That will have a direct impact on our maintenance costs.  Plus, we’ll still have a reduced insurance bill and reduced fuel costs.

2. Downsize your car.

So maybe you already have one car, or maybe you can’t become a one car family.  Can you downsize and live with a smaller car?  You can still save a boat load of money by going with a smaller car.  For one, the fuel costs will be much lower, especially with the crazy price of gas these days.  Prices could jump and we could see $4.00 a gallon again a month from now.  There’s no certainty with fuel prices, so finding a small, more fuel-efficient car will always benefit your.

Now we get into the really big changes.

3. Downsize your home.

With the current state of the mortgage industry, homes as status symbols are going the way of the dinosaur.  Larger homes are starting to look like giant anchors weighing down the families stuck inside.  When I see a small family or couple living in a home where each person in the house has their own wing, it’s not impressive, it’s sad. You need to be able to take care of your home by yourself.  If you can’t afford the house, you definitely can’t afford the maid, gardener or pool guy.  You should be focused on living in as small a house as you can and still be comfortable.  If you’re carrying a ton of debt and you’re spending your nights and weekends in a huge empty house, you’re clearly not getting it.  You can save thousands of dollars a year by downsizing to a smaller house. Consider it.

4. Sell the house and rent.

A mortgage isn’t necessarily a better investment than a lease. You need to take the interest into account and especially the costs to keep your house livable.  You need to pay for insurance, home repairs, landscaping and don’t forget you still have to include all the utilities.  Some rental properties will include some utilities in the price of the unit.  If you can rent a home for less than your mortgage, you can invest the difference(or pay off debt!) and in a short period of time you can put yourself in a much better position financially.  This is not a quick fix.  This is a tough, life-changing decision.  But it could be the decision that saves your life, if you’re living beyond your means.

Take this to heart – a big change produces a big impact.  Find something big to change in your life and you will earn a big reward.

1. Turn you heat down three degrees.  Don’t question it, just put on a sweatshirt and do it.  The difference is small, but your next heating bill will be smaller.
2. Unplug electronics that aren’t being used.  That phantom power drain is draining your wallet!  Unplug your television, cellphone charger, stereo, and anything else with a power adapter.  Just because something isn’t being charged or “used” doesn’t mean it’s not using power.
3. Don’t buy bottled water. Buy a safe, reusable water bottle like these, fill it and bring it with you.  I have two Sigg bottles and I use one at work and one at home every day. The up front expense will pay itself off in a week or two, plus the bottles are very durable, and stylish too.
4. Don’t buy coffee from a coffee shop.  Brew your own, bring it with you to work. I’m sure you hear this all the time, but you’re still not doing it.  So this time, do it!  
5. Are you a big reader?  Do you find yourself in Barnes & Noble or Borders regularly.  If so, you’re missing a big opportunity to save money.  The discounts and coupons those stores offer are ok, but you’ll save real money buying used books at Half, Amazon or eBay.  I’ve bought $30 and $40 books online for less than $10 used.  Do you honestly care if the book is worn a bit?  When I’m reading a new book, I’m always worrying about keeping it in perfect condition.  Buying used allows me to get passed that quickly.  So now I find since I don’t care as much about keeping the book in perfect condition so I take it with me, throw it in my bag and a torn or bent page is no big deal.   Another bonus – look for sellers on eBay selling books in lots.  You’ll get several books for less than the price of a single new book!
6. Do you have a laptop? Don’t keep it plugged in all the time. Laptop batteries are designed to be used and that means drained and charged. The proper way to use the battery is to let it drain all the way down and then recharge it.  You can still use the laptop while it’s recharging, but keeping up this routine will save your electricity and it will keep your battery at its highest capacity, so you can get the most out of your mobility.
7. Turn off the heated dry option on your dishwasher.  Water evaporates on its own, so let it.
8. It’s that time of year, so buy a cheaper Christmas tree.  Everyone always jokes about having a “Charlie Brown” Christmas tree, yet most of the time their “Charlie Brown” tree is a full-sized gorgeous tree. So this year, get the most unique(read: cheapest) tree you can find. Create a new Christmas memory and buy a tree that isn’t even close to perfect.  Then do something else you’ll remember with the money you saved.
9. Pay attention to electricity rates and peak usage costs.  Did you know it may be costing you more money if you run your washer and dryer at certain times of the day.  Your electric company has their peak usage rates posted online.  When I checked our rates, I found that we were paying more to run our dishwasher in the evening.  We adjusted our schedule and so should you.
10. Analyze your cell phone bill or combine plans to save money.  If you’re not using all of the minutes you’re paying for you could have an opportunity on your hands to save money each month.  Check out what lower cost plans are available and switch to a cheaper plan that better fits your usage. Another option, if you and your wife, or other family members have separate plans, get a family-talk plan.  We recently switched our service from two separate carriers to a single family talk plan and are saving just under $40 a month.
11. BONUS TIP! When we switched cell phone plans we found that our carrier, AT&T, offered a discount for employees of the company I work for.  So we were able to save an additional $20 a month! Look for discounts offered by your employer or organizations you belong to. This is a popular perk many companies and groups offer their members and the deals can range from travel discounts – air, hotel and car rentals, to vacations and everyday items – even restaurants and movies.

 photo credit: Unhindered by Talent

Try these four ideas to pay less for tv and movies!

1. Subscribe to Netflix or BLOCKBUSTER Total Access and get DVDs by mail. Don’t pay movie theater prices when you can watch unlimited movies in your home for less than the cost of two movie tickets per month. Both programs have trial options that let you try their services for a few weeks.

Blockbuster normally offers two options for signing up – a free two week trial, or 50% off your first month. Both include in-store exchanges allowing you to utilize your local Blockbuster location. And as an added bonus if you checkout with PayPal they’ll deposit $25 into your PayPal account.

Netflix also allows you to watch movies on demand on your computer or via a set-top device like the Roku Netflix player or other network enabled DVD players.

2. Watch TV and movies on your computer. Most major television networks are now offering prime-time television shows as well as their backlog of past shows online for free. In fact, there’s less advertising when you watch online than on tv. Another benefit is that you get to choose when and where to watch. Try these sites:

• Hulu.com(NBC Universal, Fox, MGM, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. and more)
• Fox On Demand
• CBS
• ABC
• CNN
• YouTube
• MSN
• Google Video
• AOL TV On Demand or AOL Video

3. Rent movies from Red Box at one of over 10,000 locations – like your local grocery store. For just $1 a night you can rent many recent DVDs including new releases. You can reserve them online, pick them up at your local grocery store and drop them off when you’re done. You can get a free rental right now by signing up for their email alerts, and they will send you more free rentals via email.

4. Borrow movies from your local library. Most local libraries have expanding DVD collections. Use your local resources and take advantage of FREE movies. And if you’re not into movies, most libraries I know have TONS of books and magazines for you to read! And those are FREE as well!

 photo credit: Capra Royale

Poor money management can lead you down some dark and dangerous roads.  Ever hear the term “dead end”? Of course, we all have. The image that comes to my mind when I think of “dead end” is being stuck, unable to move or unable to make a decision.  People use “dead end” in all sorts of different situations and almost always use its perceived meaning.  Something has ended or will inevitably end. 

Let’s take a closer look at “dead end”.  Just that fact that we say ‘end’ assumes that something has concluded – most likely a trip or journey of some sort. When you add ‘dead’ into the mix, that just reinforces how serious the conclusion is. There is clearly no going back. The real problem though, is that’s not true at all.

Maybe you’re referring to a dead end job, or you hit a dead end and can’t find a solution to a problem. These examples make the case that encountering a dead end is a bad thing.  That’s the obvious conclusion right?  I don’t think so.

Let’s think a bit more about dead ends. Where do we see dead ends most often? Easy, right?  While we’re driving.  And what do you do when you get to a dead end? Do you just sit there in your car… waiting… doing nothing…  No, of course not. You TURN AROUND!  

Working with computers I solve all sorts problems every day.  When I’m working to solve a problem I encounter dead ends every few minutes!  Wow, that can be frustrating!  But it’s not. Dead ends don’t frustrate me, they challenge me.  If I didn’t encounter dead ends while debugging or troubleshooting and issue, I would never solve the problem.  A dead end presents me with an opportunity to cross an item off my list of possible culprits for a problem.  Like a detective tracking down leads, when you hit a dead end, you have to go back and challenge your thinking.  You have to analyze your assumptions, patterns and habits and find something that doesn’t fit.

So let’s return to our discussion of money management.  With any bad habit or life changing exercise, you need to find a turning point.  A dead end is exactly that kind of turning point.  You’ve come to the end of a journey.  Maybe it’s been a tough few years caused of spending outside your means.  Or you could be cash poor and carrying a ton of debt.  It sounds awful, and it can certainly be stressful, but I’ve got some good news.  You’re at a dead end!

Really, it’s GOOD news! You’ve found a turning point.  Take this opportunity to change your habits, get real with yourself and start living the thrifty life. Don’t fall for the idea that a dead end is a bad thing. Use it as a springboard to challenge your spending patterns and money management habits and make a change to get yourself on a different road.  You may just find that hitting that dead end was just what you needed.

photo credit: andrewk100
photo credit: ktylerconk

I can’t help thinking that “becoming thrifty” is like going on a diet – and just as futile as every fad diet that comes along if you try to do it all at once, cold turkey, without making the necessary changes to your perspective. Being thrifty has to be a long-term lifestyle change to make a real difference. Just like a weight-loss program has to be about healthy living, not just losing weight, becoming thrifty requires a mindset that is motivated at least in part by an appreciation of a simpler way of living, not just by the possibility of accumulating more “stuff” some day in the future.

There are lots of ways to live more efficiently, and many of these have the added bonus of being kind to the environment. “Reduce, reuse, recycle” has become the mantra of many, and there really are no downsides to maximizing the usefulness of the resources we have, and not accumulating more than we need. But the key to being thrifty AND happy is to embrace the simplicity that comes along with it. The piece that eludes us sometimes is the recognition that “stuff” isn’t the only thing that proves our worth and signals our success. Instead, being secure enough to make choices about what we have and what we need is a better measure of who we are.

Long term goals and deferred gratification are not as romantic as the quick-fix of the newest “toy” or the flashiest car – but in the long run the goals that we work toward and ultimately reach are far more valuable.

• Bring lunch with you instead of buying lunch
• Turn your thermostat down 3 degrees(or more!)
• Sell something on eBay(or anywhere for that matter)
• (Scroll down to read all of his suggestions here)

The other items on the list, the more difficult items, are the ones that interested me the most.

Tip #23: Go cash only for 15 to 30 days – Limit yourself to cash only purchases for two weeks, a month or more. If you can cut out credit card purchases you are guaranteed to save yourself money. How often do you wait for a sale to buy something, only to put it on a credit card that has a higher interest rate than the percent off you saved on the sale? I’m getting into the habit of asking myself – “Is it worth paying 10%(or more) interest on this purchase?” Most of the time it’s not. The other aspect of going cash only is that it forces you to only work with the money you have right now. Try this – it may change your perspective on spending – it did for me.

Tip #21: Save thousands by pre-paying your debt – The bottom line here is that you will save money if you pay your debts off as soon as possible. Math comes to the rescue to prove to us with number we can all see. It works like this:

1. Interest is calculated based on what you owe.
2. If you pay more than the minimum payment, you will lower the amount of money that you owe.
3. Lowering the amount of money you owe reduces the value that the interest is calculated against.
4. You pay less in interest if you don’t owe as much.

Take a look for yourself and see if any of his other ideas resonate with you.

If you can break the cycle of thoughtless purchasing and consumption you can take control of your spending and work towards affording the things in life you’re truly trying to save for.

Here are 7 things to ask yourself, so you can be certain that you’re making a smart decision.

• Do I need this?  Can I live without it?
• Can I afford what I’m buying?
• Is there a cheaper more cost-effective solution?
• If you’re buying something new – is there a used or refurbished item available?
• Am I throwing money at a something, rather than fixing the real problem?
• Why am I buying this?  Is it for me, or am I trying to keep up or fit in with someone else?
• BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF!  Don’t lie to yourself just to get a new toy or do something extravagant.

If you can get through these questions and you still feel comfortable making your purchase then it must be a good decision.  But even now, if one of these questions is still bouncing around in your head, you might want to take a day or even an hour and think about it.  It pays to think before you buy.

 photo credit: striatic