Posts Tagged ‘saving money’

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Ways NOT to Save Money-and Other Good Reads!

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

Daniel, at  Sweating the Big Stuff, posted this on Ways Not To Save Money-which I think is a good reminder of the trap that can grab you, with the rationalization of being frugal.  Being frugal, is not the same as being “CHEAP!”

I would like to add another couple of thoughts.  He mentions consumer traps.  The wholesale clubs are a great place to “not save money”.  Mainly because of all the temptations.  It is hard to resist all the great stuff at great prices.

To protect against this phenomenon, you definitely need a strong will, and a list-buy nothing unless it is on the list.

Watching TV certainly doesn’t cost anything, except when you are paying for 1000 channels of satellite tv, with the ginormous NFL, NCAA football, Nascar and movie  package comes in at a cool $150 bucks a month…..

Add in the wasted opportunity, when you coulda’  been reading a book on personal finance, (THE MILLIONAIRE NURSE comes to mind) getting free continuing education on the computer, or exercising (also can be free).

Another good read, by the Financial Samurai, is about working to make money, instead of following your passion. I think a lot of folks, unfortunately, are being given the opportunity to follow their passion-cause they lost their jobs.  That certainly can be looked at as an opportunity, rather than a crisis.  If you have always wanted to do _________, then if you have no job-go for it!

At Out of Debt again, there is a great story about Shopping at Whole Foods-my wife would have had the same sense of disbelief about a 6 buck pepper!

151 Days Off, (how bout that name for a blog), has written a post about not getting too uppity( Southern Speak) , if you are making progress in your walk towards financial freedom.  I don’t think that is likely for me, as I dig my way out of attempting to be a real estate baron in Florida-before the crash.   If anyone says they have never made a financial mistake-then run, don’t walk to the nearest exit….

All of these bloggers are in the Yakezie Challenge, which is a self -help/group support lesson in getting the word out about your blog.   I appreciate what they are doing to help the new folks on the blog-block get recognized.  Sometimes it gets lonely writing, and wondering if anyone is reading.  So look for other great posts from other members of the Yakezi Challenge. (I do love a challenge!!!)

Enjoy these great stories, I did!

FHJE69GFNCJE

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Posted in debt reduction, personal finance | 4 Comments »

Millionaire Nurses-W-I-D-E Your Way to Wealth!

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Wealth Building

The secret to building wealth is learning to live within your means, and begin saving for the future.  In this world of immediate gratification, and I have to have ______________ now, not later, how do you do it? How do you begin the process?

One way is to WIDE Your way to wealth.

Now you are thinking-”What in the world is Dr Dean talking about?”  WIDE your way to wealth, what does that mean?

What is one of the number one recommendations when trying to lose weight??? Writing down what you eat.

You can then figure out your calorie intake, and it also reminds you of all the times  you eat during the day-while busy with other activities.  It is like we think the calories don’t count, because we don’t realize we are eating, !!!

Spending Control

Everyone should, in their planned spending, have money for miscellaneous items, or needs that pop up day to day.  If not, you will never succeed with controlling  your spending. ‘ Cause I don’t care how intense you are about managing your money, you can’t predict the future.  But many of us, plan a reasonable amount, but then exceed it every month.

So try this technique  if you are having trouble keeping up with your miscellaneous planned spending.

Try Write-It -Down- all you spend money on for a two week period. Then-Evaluate (W-I-D-E).

This will accomplish two things:

  1. It will make you more aware of the spending that goes on daily, without conscious thought-the soda, or snack you bought because you were tired of working and needed a break.  The gadget, or top you walked by, that caught your eye, and you had to have it.
  2. You will help define your spending pattern, which will help you to prevent it.  If you always stop for a beer on Wednesday, because you deserve a break.  You have just had that egotistical doc, look down his long nose, over his readers, blaming you for a mistake HE made, and you just can’t take it anymore….  You can come up with another “reward” system, that doesn’t involve spending.

Analyzing your miscellaneous spending will help you control it.

So go forth and WIDE your way to wealth.

And don’t forget, to sign up for my free e-book, chock full of tips on saving you money today.  It will also be followed by an email mini-course on money management with tips on credit cards, banking, and other ways to save you money. So go here now and sign up-before you forget…

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Posted in Planned spending aka budget | No Comments »

Saving Money-While Losing Weight and Getting Fit-Win/Win/Win!

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

“How can you save money, get fit, and lose weight all at the same time, Dr Dean?”

“Well, I am glad you asked.”  Here are my rules, for “Millionaire Nurses”, who know the value of saving money,  good health and fitness.

  • Burn more calories:  Bike to work, walk to work, even if it is only once a week.  Same for shopping, park the car and walk to several of your destinations if possible.  If you have to drive, park as far away from your work as possible-(won’t save money, but will burn calories.)
  • Stop fast food-take healthy food for lunch.
  • Switch shopping time to exercise time.
  • Take advantage of health insurance/workplace incentives to lose weight and exercise-Some companies drop premiums, or even give cash bonuses if you meet certain measures of losing weight, stopping smoking, or exercising.
  • Cook at home-make it fun-turn the tv off, put on your apron with nothing underneath(keep it safe), turn up the music, use healthy ingredients, have your family help(with clothes underneath the apron if you have kids, please!)
  • Instead of date night out at the movies, or on the weekend-make it play time out-take a walk at a park, bike, build a snowman, cross-country ski.
  • Smaller food portions at meal times translates to lower grocery bills.
  • Skip desserts at home and when eating out.
  • Take showers together with your spouse-(if you don’t know how this can lead to burning extra calories, then we need to talk.)
  • Stop buying pre-packaged, high sodium/preservative sandwich meat.  Buy a chicken breast/bake or grill/cut on the diagonal for sandwich size portions-you can do the same with pork-loin, or inexpensive roasts.   If you have too much to use in a couple of days, freeze them, labeled with date and identity, in sandwich size freezer bags.
  • When buying exercise equipment, buy used on Craig’s list or E-bay.
  • When joining a gym, watch for special rates, ask for friend referral coupons, and make sure you have a way to cancel your membership without penalty!
  • Switch to whole grain cereals or oatmeal-buy in bulk/add low-fat milk, fruit instead of cereal bars, or skipping breakfast.

What are your favorite ways to save money while losing weight and getting fit?  Let us know your tips.

And to get you started, here is a link to a 2 bucks off for Soy milk by 8th Continental-I love the stuff! And it’s healthy too.

And if you need “Emergency Money Resuscitation” then go pick up my free E-book, filled with money-saving tips-did I say free.  You will then receive my e-mail mini-course on personal finance, and newsletter- all free.

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Posted in goal setting, Quality of Life | No Comments »

Saving Money: How to Teach Your Kids to be Millionaire Nurses!

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

The savings rate in our country became positive in 2009 for the first time in years.  This means we actually spent less than we earned as a society.  It only took the worst recession since the great depression of the 30′s, and double-digit unemployment as our slap to the back of our head. (You NCIS fans know about slaps to the back of the head).

So now folks are scrambling to learn how to live on less than they make, and save for a rainy day.

So how do we keep this trend going, especially after the pain of this recession fades from our collective memory.

One way is to teach our kids the benefits of saving, and learning about the benefits of compound interest.  One Website that is designed to help is  “Three Jars”.  The theory here is that money given to kids, such as allowance or money for chores is submitted electronically to the Three Jars site.  The money is then divided into savings-50%, spending-40%, and giving-10%.

The spending money is available for the kids to use either with cash or card.  There is an option for the savings part of the account to earn interest.  The site is kid friendly, allowing them to check balances and to learn about money.  Now there is a charge of 30 bucks per family for the service.

The money in the giving jar is available to send to the charity of your choice or one of several national charities that are accessible through the site.

Now for you thrifty folks, can you do the same with a little effort, without going online, and paying thirty bucks?   Of course, but whether you spend the amount of time it takes to teach the kids about money, will be up to you.  And thirty bucks a year seems reasonable for the lessons learned.  And we all know kids are more motivated by a computer screen than a piggy bank….

So what are your thoughts?  Did you get an allowance?  If so, were you encouraged to save part?  Were you encouraged to give to charity?  And if you have used, or know someone who has used Three Jars, let us here from you.

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Posted in personal finance, Quality of Life, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

What are You Changing? Saving More in 2010!

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday safely.  Monday will bring back a full week of work for most of us.  And looks like global warming is slamming us here in the south with another record cold wave.

An interesting poll done by Putnam Investments was released a couple of weeks ago.  You can read an article about it at this link.

In this poll of 1000 investors online, they found the number one goal for the new year,wasn’t weight loss, but to SAVE MORE MONEY in 2010.

They also said their number one concern for the next year was job growth, followed by economic growth, not health care reform, or global warming.  And finally, only 38% felt the feds stimulus was likely to help them this year.

Now I think these are very realistic assessments.  The most important thing now, as we have stressed in other posts, is execution of these great sentiments.

So what do you do now?

  • Increase your savings from your paycheck automatically-study your planned spending and decide how much to automatically shift to a savings account, out of your paycheck each month.  Maybe it’s 10 dollars, or maybe its 100, but just do it.
  • Increase the amount deposited in your 401-k or IRA out of each check.   Again, set it up to happen automatically-you don’t want to have to remember to transfer the money yourself-temptation to spend is great.
  • If you think your job is in danger, increase your emergency savings fund, to allow you to get by while you look for new work, if you do get laid off.
  • Decrease your monthly expenses-study your bills and find ways to save.
  • If you get a raise, work overtime, or get other unexpected  earnings-have a plan to save either all or a set percentage.
  • If you screwed up, and put a lot of Christmas on a credit card, then start now, to save money to pay it off as quickly as possible.  Have a yard sell, take clothes to consignment, take extra hours at work.   Make a concentrated effort to knock it out now, before  you get used to seeing that balance on your card statement.

So, what are your plans and worries for 2010?  With better planning, you can get rid of the worries.

So stay warm, and if you get snowed/ iced in spend a little of your time, talking and planning with your spouse, studying your financial situation, and let’s make this a GREAT year!

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Posted in goal setting, Planned spending aka budget, Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Millionaire Nurse: Mega-Consumer or Careful Consumer? Dr Dean's Rant!

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

I spent the weekend in a resort community, celebrating 29 years of marriage to my favorite nurse.  Before you say, hypocrite, we found a deal (the place was empty) and paid less for the weekend than in recent memory anywhere.  We only ate out for two meals, (so why would we be out and about much, it was our anniversary?).

We made pizza with one of my wife’s homemade whole-wheat pizza crusts and sauted garlic,  onions, and spinach.  And a little bit of  Burke Beef, caramelized in our iron skillet prior to the trip.

No, this is not the food network, but just an explanation, that you can have fun in the kitchen and save money at the same time.

The point of this post, however, is there was an outlet mall 5 minutes from where we were staying, and we needed to finish a little Christmas shopping, so off we went.

I am not a good shopper, I am a pretty good buyer, but not so good on the “shopping” thing.  So cell phones are a great invention.  We can go our own ways-and check in periodically – when enough is enough.

I have never been what you would call a wasteful spender, but I in years past, I could get a little crazy with spending at Christmas.  Maybe it was guilt for spending time away from the kids and away from home so much, back in my baby delivering days.

But as I wandered through the different stores this year, many of which would be called “designer outlets”, I was almost sick to my stomach.  It became obvious to me, that as I have written, learned, and began teaching personal finance, that I am now a different person.  The idea of spending 40 bucks for a t-shirt because it was fitted and had a neat logo using letters such as U and A seemed crazy-and remember this was an outlet mall.

My wife had mentioned she needed a purse-there were two different “purse” stores.  The least expensive one I saw in either place was about $150 bucks.  Now my wife is worth anything in the world to me.  But she would kill me if she thought I bought her a purse for that much money, that she would be slogging around to work and to the Y.

Now for those of you who feel that spending mega-bucks on designer merchandise is ok, then we have a problem.  If you are debt free, have provided for your retirement, have 6 months income in savings, money for kids college,  and you want to splurge on what would be considered designer clothing, and accessories, then I can live with that.  Personally, I would suggest buying the basics and giving away the “designer premium” ,but I would not judge you for that decision.  (I really try not to judge, that is not my job).

But for those of you struggling to get by, trying to pay your bills, trying to get caught up with your credit card debt, please, please, please, don’t get caught up in the hype that the marketers throw at you to sell over-priced goods, with logo’s.  Remember that Christmas is for celebrating a special birth, and for spending time with your family and friends, not for being a Mega-Consumer.

And for those of you who are still Christmas shopping, review this post about HOW to do it the Millionaire Nurse way!

And for your basic clothing purchases -so you can walk around fully clothed- buy good stuff, that will last.  I am not in favor of “being cheap” as you usually do have to pay a price for quality.  But, do not, do not, spend a dime extra for a LOGO!

Not if you ever want to be, “A Millionaire Nurse“.

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Posted in personal finance, Quality of Life | 3 Comments »

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