Posts Tagged ‘budget busters’

Christmas Spending:Payback Time Will Be Here Soon!

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

Christmas is here again- I love this time of year.  I try to keep my focus on the reason for the season-it is easy to get into the materialism thing with the ads-Black Friday/Cyber Monday hype.

Today my focus is getting my Christmas tree up with minimal stress/foul language.  We still buy a real tree every year-found a good buy at Home Depot yesterday-and the sales person even trimmed the bottom limbs and cut off the bottom of the tree for me.  I usually cut it two or three times till I get a flat cut, that will stand up in the tree stand-I will let you know how she did with that small electric chain saw-looked flat to me.

I am using a budget I found at HomeEverAfter.com for our Christmas list this year.  We have in the past just used a list with numbers by names, but I am trying this spreadsheet this year.  It needed a few tweaks but so far seems are working just fine.  I will let you know how well we do in staying within the limits we have self-imposed.   I am not a spread sheet geek, can barely find my way around them.  Fortunately for me I have a CPA for a brother and a son-so my spreadsheet questions are answered pretty quickly, except at tax season, when they will disappear for a couple of months.

Check out these earlier posts if you missed them about budget busters and this one about ways to decrease stress around the holidays to make sure you keep in mind the reason for the season.

And remember, that any overspending you do this month, will come back to haunt you with a vengeance in January, so be careful out there.

If you hear someone yelling today/ignore me-it’s just me fighting with the Christmas tree.

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Black Friday-Will You Blow Your Spending Plan in a Moment of Frenzy

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Black Friday-the day the retailers look forward to all year long.  The Friday after Thanksgiving gives all the retailers a chance to celebrate or suffer, as it frequently sets the tone for the holiday’s profits or losses.  Last year saw a drop in holiday spending as the recession took hold, the first drop in years.  What does this holiday season of spending look like?

Those of us on the other end of the  professional marketers spear, who have to do our best to avoid over-spending during this day are in the crosshairs.  We will be bombarded by advertisements, and recommendations for who has the best prices.

Unfortunately this sort of hype works.  Who can forget the video shots of those riots a couple of years ago, where someone was killed by a horde of shoppers.

So how do we prevent  over-spending, while still enjoying the traditions of shopping on Black Friday?

  1. Make sure you have a spending limit and stick to it.  Maybe carry your money in cash (safely of course), leave credit cards at home-similar to what some gamblers do to keep from over gambling.  You can only spend what you take.
  2. Make sure you have a list with prices of your planned purchases.  Part of the fun of this day, so I am told, is the excitement of finding something you were going to buy, at a better price than you had planned to spend!
  3. To find the best prices, and decide where to shop, do your due diligence.  Scan the shopping ads, and do your online research.  See this earlier post where I reviewed several coupon sites on the web.  See this question at Cash Commons, a great new site for personal finance questions on this subject.
  4. Frequently the best buys are early in the morning-you can’t be everywhere at once-so pick your battles-based on the amount of savings of items you have on your must-buy list.
  5. Enjoy the company of friends and family, make the day an adventure, and don’t feel left out or depressed if you are not sliding that credit card through the slot every few minutes.

So let us hear from you folks out there, share with us your shopping stories.  Confess your sins if you spent too much-confession is good for the soul.  Also let us know if you hear about a specific bargain that you would think others would like to know about.

And remember, if you need “Emergency Money Resucitation” go to my website at www.themillionairenurse.com and for your free e-book, maybe it will help you get your mind on saving money here close to the holidays.

And remember to let your friends and co-workers know about this blog, so we can get the word out to potential “Millionaire Nurses” everywhere.

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Posted in Planned spending aka budget, Uncategorized, personal finance | 2 Comments »

Generic or Brand Name: Saving Money and Does it Matter?

Sunday, October 25th, 2009

Generic drugs are the chemical equivalent of brand name drugs and have to meet bio-equivalancy standards-that means that have to reach the same blood levels in testing-for you non-medical readers.  Does that mean they are equal-well yes and no.  Equal when discussing generic drugs means that are within an expected range of equivalancy on testing-doesn’t have to be  exactly equal.

So why am I raising this old argument today, in my blog about personal finance.  My wife just mentioned to me a discussion at work among her nursing co-workers.  They were talking about cold/flu meds they were purchasing for themselves and their families. Yes H1N1 is here too.

My wife, who makes me look like Donald Trump when it comes to pinching pennies, was shocked at how most of her colleagues spent extra money on brand name over the counter medications.

They were buying brand name Tylenol, instead of acetaminophen, brand name Robitussin instead of the generic or store brand variation-frequently at a 50 % increase in cost.

So is buying name brand when it comes to your OTC medications worth the extra money? NOOOOOOO.

Maybe if you are on Digoxin(heart medication)  and your cardiologist warns you to get the brand name, maybe I can agree.  But with aspirin or cold meds, save your money.  You feel lousy enough if you are having to buy something for your cold - don’t go blowing your budget.

Now sometimes for non-medical people, it may be hard to tell what is what when reading labels.  The secret is reading the active ingredient list and the amount of medication (usually in mg’s).  As long as the active ingredient and the amount of the two products is equal, then compare the price.  Just like buying cereal.

So don’t let your stopped up head affect your brain and your bank account.  When you have to buy over the counter meds, go with the generic, and spend your savings on a movie or book to help you feel better.

Let me know what you think about the generic versus brand name argument.

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Food Budget, Now it's Time to Party!

Monday, October 12th, 2009

Budget Buster: You’ve worked a 12 hour day-your food budget is at its limit.  The idea of cooking the chicken you had put in the fridge to thaw makes you nauseated.  Your car just keeps leaning towards that turn to Carrabba’s-take out.  What do you do?

You need to give yourself a break, without breaking the budget.  “So how do I do that, smarty?” you say.  Have a “party meal”.  I can’t take credit for this one.  When my kids were little, when I called home to let my wife know I wouldn’t be in for dinner-it was apparently party time.  I don’t think they were celebrating my absence… but who knows.  Being an Ob/Gyn is tough sometimes.

Out came the whole wheat bread, cut into squares, with peanut butter and bannana applied just so.  Crackers with cheese were arranged on a platter.     Carrot sticks, celery, and broccoli were arranged on a tray with a central cup for dipping in the ranch dressing.  I am sure the kids were drinking water, or juice-the wife-who knows-but it probably wasn’t water.

My point is a healthy meal can be thrown together in about 10 minutes.  It doesn’t have to be a four course gourmet dinner.  Just make sure it is nutritious, and quick, but no budget busting required.

The only way to stay on a budget, or the term I prefer, Planned Spending, is to resist those spells of “I deserve a break today” that will torpedo your efforts and all that  planning.  Studies show smokers who are successful at quitting, have planned what to do for their quit day.  They have a diversion ready for those times that they would be normally lighting up.  They have buddies ready to intervene when their resolve is weakening.

To stay on a “planned spending” course you need to do the same.  Have inexpensive healthy snacks, raw veggies, and fruit, or their dried varieties on hand.  Know that there will be times when your best intentions will be blown out of the water by real life.  And know that if after all this, you still turn into Carrabba’s-the shrimp alfredo is pretty good-and you know you will make it last for two meals.  You just have to eat mayo sandwiches for a few days to make up for it..

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