by Pam on January 4, 2012
I used to be the type of person who would go to great lengths to save a buck, regardless of how much time it would take me to do it. I wouldn’t think twice about spending a half hour to save a few dollars. But now I have come to realize that time is of much more value to me than money is. There is plenty of money floating around out there that is there for the taking, but my time is limited.
So, rather than spending my precious free time scampering around trying to save a few dollars by buying my groceries at four different places, I have decided to choose one store to shop at, even if I may not get the best deals on everything at that one store. Rather than spending three to four hours worth of time buying groceries by shopping at so many locations, I have been able to cut down my shopping to an hour or less every two weeks. Changing my shopping habits has saved me a tremendous amount of free time.
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by Pam on January 2, 2012
Unless you are one of those people lucky enough to have an amazing advisor who keep you accountable and on track, you are probably like most of us who spend a minimal amount of time actually thinking about and planning strategies for personal finance.
I heard the other day that we spend approximately 20 hours a year planning for our vacations and just one or two hours a year on taking care of our personal finances! Does that shock you? It definitely shocked me.
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by Pam on December 30, 2011
1. They take way too long to collect. I can think of many other things I would rather spend my time doing than clipping coupons. Whether you enjoy it or not, think of all the time you are spending looking for just the right deals. If you are a coupon clipper, I would recommend that you pay attention to how much time you spend each day/week gathering your coupons. Make sure the savings is worth your time.
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by Guest on December 28, 2011
Last month, I bought a kindle
. Although my only desire at the time was to have a portable library to carry with me on planes, trains, and (the passenger seat of) automobiles, I soon discovered that my Kindle gives me access to hundreds of free books. Far from being a mere convenience, the availability of so many free books means that, for the price of a Kindle, anyone can become the smartest blogger in the room, with money to spare.
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by Pam on December 26, 2011
The Cheapskate Next Door: The Surprising Secrets Of Americans Living Happily Below Their Means by Jeff Yeager
As a fellow cheapskate, I have to admit I absolutely loved The Cheapskate Next Door
. I sat down and read it all in one day as it was truly humorous and captured my full attention. A witty personal finance book is hard to come by so I wanted to highlight this book in particular, as it is both informative and entertaining simultaneously.
The author, Jeff Yeager (who is also a cheapskate) travelled around on his bicycle and visited a whole bunch of other cheapskates. He stayed in their homes and got a chance to learn some of their money saving tricks. He also compiled data from a huge survey that he had self-professing cheapskates fill out. I want to share just a few of these tidbits with you to whet your appetite so that you will want to read this book, too.
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by Guest on December 23, 2011
Think off campus when finding cheap alternatives to the campus bookstore
If you’re a college student you already know that textbooks cost a small fortune. Textbooks can cost almost as much as tuition, according to a study from the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, which shows students paying an average of $1000 or higher per year for books. However, that’s only for suckers who decide to buy their assigned reading from the campus bookstore. There are other ways to find cheap textbooks, for instance, you can buy used textbooks, photocopy textbooks or even rent your textbooks. Just let that creative student brain think outside the box—or rather outside of the campus box—and look for the following money saving alternatives to buying textbooks for college on campus…
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by Guest on December 21, 2011
Home insurance is a necessity for home owners across the US and Canada. You cannot risk having an accident or burglary and not having the means to cover it. Repairs are expensive and the cost of replacing damaged or stolen goods may run into the thousands of dollars. Heirlooms may be irreplaceable. It is far easier to avoid that stress and insure your home. In these tough times, saving money on your essentials is something you should not be afraid of doing, even on things like insurance, which a lot of people just don’t bother touching. We will look at different ways of saving money on your home insurance in this article.
Examine Your Deductible
This is one of the simplest ways to save money. A deductible is how much you have to pay towards damage, theft, etc. to your home. Your insurer will cover the rest. Say you have an accident which causes $10,000 worth of damage and you have a deductible of $3,000. You will pay the $3,000 and your insurer will pay the remaining $7,000. Increasing your deductible will reduce your monthly premiums. Remember to only increase it to something you can afford. Don’t put your finances under pressure.
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I used to be the type of person who would go to great lengths to save a buck, regardless of how much time it would take me to do it. I wouldn’t think twice about spending a half hour to save a few dollars. But now I have come to realize that time is of much more value to me than money is. There is plenty of money floating around out there that is there for the taking, but my time is limited.
