resolutions

Well, we did it. We made it to 2013.

From reading my friends Facebook posts, it seems like 2012 was a pretty stinky year across the board - Maybe the Mayans didn't mean to predict the end of the world, but were forewarning of a crap-tacular year. If that's the case, they hit the nail on the head.

I love the start of a new year. It's so fresh & cleansing. Needless to say, I love resolutions. I see the new year as a time to look back on the goals I previously made (if I made any), see where I'm at with them, tweek or make new ones. Because, really, aren't resolutions just goals with a fancier name?

Obviously, my goal/resolution is to keep on the saving money/paying off debt train - keeping in mind my long term goal is to pay it all off by the time I'm 30 (a little less than three years), but for 2013, my specific goal is to stop being lazy in all facets of my life. Or, at least, less lazy.

On the money front, it means to continue being proactive in tracking my spending, saving where I can, and - the big one - getting a second job. It's a move I've been putting off, but since getting a new car is literally right around the corner (this Saturday, in fact), it's something I have to do in order to avoid falling off my own fiscal cliff. Getting a second job will also help reign in my spending - I can't spend money when I don't have the time to do it, right?

On the savings money front, my friend Jenn just sent me this photo today:

Is anyone else up for the challenge? I'm going to go "Punch the Pig" right now! (that's PNC talk for putting money in your savings account)

Did you make any resolutions this year?

three points

I was passing the time at work reading A Cup of Jo 's archives yesterday and I happened upon a post about authenticity. Joanna's mother wrote this to her regarding the subject:

"It seems to me that being authentic is being brave enough or just candid enough to be honest about what you are experiencing or who you are, whether it is popular are not... Whenever you are honest, you are speaking for a thousand silent people who don't have the voice to say what they really feel or are really experiencing. So, if you ever talk about [the thing you went through], you will touch a million hearts. Because you are speaking for more than just yourself. You are never alone in what you are feeling."

It resonated with me the whole day.  I think I've done an okay job being authentic (so far!) with those that read this blog, but lately, I think I've been sticking my short-comings in the corner and not acknowledging them as I should. I don't want, nor can I afford, to resort back to the "ostrich syndrome" (sticking your head in the sand to avoid something). So with that, here's a list for you of what I've been able to do and what I still need to do in my financial life.

For Better:

Writing down daily expenses/purchases in a mini-notebook, including anything auto-debited from my account 

 Transferring chunks of money into my short-term savings account - I've learned that the less money I see in the "available" column, the less I spend overall.

 Spending less money on groceries, overall. I'll have a post about that soon.

 Being able to say no/put things back/be more realistic with my purchases. For example, I was in Target on Tuesday, and put back more than a few things that I just didn't need.

Still Needs Work:

 Using coupons. I'm doing pretty good with using coupons at major retailers, especially if gifts are involved. My grocery couponing is pretty much non-existant.

 Giving up some other non-essentials, like soda, specialty lattes from Wawa/Starbucks, & eating out when I don't feel like eating what I've made for lunch/dinner.

Increasing retirement contributions. I've upped the contributions on my Deferred Compensation & Roth plans to 2% of my annual salary. Still no where close to the 10% I used to be at, but we're getting there.

Has Been Totally Ignored:

 Not using credit cards. This could probably go in the "Still Needs Work" column, but I'm going to put it down here. In this post, I talked about not cutting up the cards after they were paid off, which was a stupid move on my part. My friend, Jenn, warned me that paying everything off in a lump sum probably really wouldn't "teach" me the lesson I needed, and she was right. I haven't used them lately, but I did during the summer, and now I'm not only paying the minimums on those, but my loan as well. Lesson definitely learned.

 Automatic savings. Confession: I have no auto-save from my paycheck set up. I did go to the credit union and get the paperwork, but I never turned it into Human Resources and now I have no idea where it is. That's my only goal for next week.

 Budgeting - in the sense of giving myself X amount of dollars to spend on a certain thing (like gas/groceries/shoes) per month. I am reviewing my Virtual Wallet Spending Tracker a few times a month to see where I need to cut back, but I just can't seem to give myself a hard & fast number.

So that's where I'm at. I'm getting there. Like most things, this takes a lot more time and effort than I initally think it will. I try not to get too frustrated with myself, but the perfectionist in me makes it hard somedays. I still get moody and want to buy a shirt sometimes, but I'm getting better at realizing that shopping high is going to last about as long as my bad mood.

In the wise words of Alanis Morisette: "And what it all comes down to/ Is that I haven't got it all figured out just yet"

How are you doing in your financial life?

mish mash

I have a whole mess of financial thoughts running through my head today.

First, Molly is sick today. Actually, she's been sick since about Wednesday, but this morning it started to get worse instead of better. I took my child to the doctor like any good mother, only she's not covered by my health insurance. $255 later, we had blood drawn, a shot, meds, and new food to take home. I had to put that on our joint Chase card since this is the paycheck where the mortgage comes out and we're going to Disney next week.

Speaking of Disney, I managed to put aside $300 to take with me. We leave Wednesday night and come back Monday afternoon. Saturday will be taken up with race day, so I'm hoping that other than food, my expenses will be minimal and I'll be able to come back with some of that money.

Yesterday, I received an email that my job is not continuing my health plan in 2013. Next month I have to decide whether to jump onto the hubs plan or to take the other plan that's offered. I'm leaning towards the former right now, but it'll depend on what kind of coverage they'll offer for my post-op doctor visits and physical therapy when I get knee surgery later this year. It's very frustrating decision to have to make. I'll admit I had a "poor poor Kathy" mindset last night, but I'm getting over it.

It's not all bad news, though. I've been very good at documenting my spending this month and I think I've managed to reduce spending - not by much - but a little. I was able to stick to a budget when buying a bridal shower gift last week and spent less than I usually would. I even went to Home Goods yesterday with some co-workers and didn't see anything I wanted to buy! That's huge.

Any news with my readers - who's got big weekend plans? We're having people over for the Jets / 49ers game on Sunday since the tickets were too expensive for us to actually go.

sub or hero?

Disclaimer: this post is not actually about the linguistics of a sub/hero/hoagie. I don't want this blog to be the start of geographical warfare (because that's totally what would happen). Authors Note: If you're visting South Jersey, it's hoagie.

I was reading Stephanie's blog this morning and she noted she has never made zucchini bread with nutmeg, simply because she didn't have it in her pantry. Instead, she uses pumpkin pie spice and it works out just fine. This got me thinking about all the times I haven't had something in the pantry/fridge that a receipe called for. When, and if, I meal planned, I usually just went right down the list and bought everything a receipe called for. This can get very expensive and half the time I don't use the ingredient again. Talk about a waste of money.

Lately, I've been getting better at checking out substitutions for common (and not so common) ingredients. I thought I would share with my lovely readers (all three of you) my favorites so far. Just know that these are necessarily "healthier" substitutions, but perhaps, easier.

Allspice: equal parts nutmeg, cinnamon, & cloves

Bread crumbs: rolled oats (crushed up a bit) or even plain potato chips crushed finely

Butter: 7/8 cup of oil for every one cup of butter

Buttermilk: just under 1 cup of milk combined with 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice. Let sit for five minutes then use as needed

Egg: applesauce, half a banana, or plain yogurt can be great egg substitutes in baked goods, just remember to add a pinch of baking powder if you need the food to rise when cooking. If you're really in a pinch, try mixing two tablespoons of water with two tablespoons of baking powder.

Fish sauce (my secret ingredient in a lot of things!): 1 teaspoon of light soy sauce

Ginger: 1/2 teaspoon ground to substitute for 1 teaspoon fresh

Molasses: 3/4 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup white sugar combined with 1/4 cup water, OR 1 cup dark honey or maple syrup

Vinegar (white or cider): 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice

That's just a very brief list - check here if you're looking for something specific.

It might take a few more minutes to make a substitute, but your wallet will definitely thank you when the receipe is done! What's your favorite?

off track

Hello?

Anybody out there?

I know, it's been awhile.

As you can probably guess, I've pretty much fallen off the savings wagon. Summer got the better of me.

I'm going to make it up to you, though. On September 4th, we start a new school year and a new savings year. Ten months to save as much as humanly possible.

Getting excited?

No?

Me either - but some things just have to be done. We'll get through it together.

no news, good news

My apologies to the blog fans/readers out there for the lack of posts. Unfortunately, nothing too exciting (money-wise or other-wise) has been going on in our lives to blog about. My first payment on the new loan is coming up in a week or so and I've been dutifully documenting all my expedentures in a notebook that goes everywhere with me. It's not as hard as I envisioned it to be - except when I throw out a receipt and have to jot down the approximate amount of money I spent until I can get onto my online banking and see how much it actually cost.

May has been a pretty quiet month on the spending front.. a few impulse spending moments here and there, but nothing too budget busting. The hubs and I agreed I need to try and save a car payment per month... the Katmobile is still trucking (for now), but I know in a year or so, it's going to be time for another and I need to be prepared. I'm hoping to save around $300 a month. I have to get down to the credit union to increase the amount they deduct from my paycheck for savings ($100 a paycheck, instead of $50) so that will cover most of it. The rest I'll just transfer over into our "Reserve" account - $20 a week, perhaps? Sounds managable.

Anything exciting going on the big bad world out there? Do tell!

332.0 - 332.999

I've been reading personal finance books off and on since starting the blog. I get through a few chapters, then put the book down for a week or so before coming back to it. I have David Bach's "Debt Free for Life" by my bed, Carl Richards' "The Behavior Gap" at my desk, and Ben Stein's "What Would Ben Stein Do?"

I haven't picked up Mr. Bach's book in weeks and I'll probably just return it to the library. Like Dave Ramsey and other financial advisors out there, Mr. Bach focuses on paying off all your debt in the fastest amount of time by sacrificing just about everything else. While this approach may work for some, it's just not for me. Full on deprivation just leads me to overdo it later. Plus, I'm not getting another job to help pay off the debt faster. Fact: I'm lazy. I did toy with the idea for a few weeks, but right now, the hubs and I have something going on just about every weekend until June. I'm hopeful I might be able to pick up a nights & weekends gig during the summer when the hubs is off and we don't have to worry about Molly Monster, but we'll see.

I'd rather work with I've got and learn subtle tips and tricks to save more, but still being able to feel like I'm enjoying life. I know, I know, you don't need money to enjoy life, but it sure does help!

Mr. Richards book is more my style. While it's primarily about investing, there are some snippets of wisdom that have stuck with me. Plus, there's pictures! (Diagrams, really.) One phrase I've been carrying around:

"'Personal finance... is more personal than financial.' It's true. Planning for your financial future is personal. It has to be. A good plan will be unique to your situation, and what is right for your situation may be a disaster for your neighbor. So ponder how the advice you encounter applies to you before you make important decisions about your money."

Last month, I embarked on trying to pay down my debt myself. As we saw at the end of the challenge, it didn't work out for me as well as I'd hoped. My overall debt total only went down a smidge and I was a bit dicouraged. And I had barely anything left over at the end of the month to put in our savings account, which frankly, was stressing me out. I decided to go back to another option I had previously shurgged off: getting a personal loan to pay off my credit cards and starting fresh. PNC offered loans with a starting rate of 8.25% if payments were deducted from my checking account. I applied... and was rejected.

Remember back when I reviewed all the componants of my credit report/score on Credit Karma? One of the biggest black marks on my record was my high debt to income ratio (43%). This was the main reason why I was rejected for the personal loan. Fresh off our anniversary conversation, the hubs told me to re-apply, but to to add him on the loan as well, thereby increasing our incomes while keeping the debts relatively the same. I did and this time we were accepted.

On Saturday, we took a trip to the bank to sign all the paperwork. Our rate ended up being 8.99% which is still half of what the lowest interest rate is on one of my credit cards. I took out a $9,000 loan for four years at $225 per month. There is no penalty for pre-payment, either, which means anytime I have some extra money, I can throw it towards the principal and pay it off faster. Plus, now I know I'll be able to contribute more to our savings account (I already increased the automatic transfer to $100 per paycheck, instead of the previous $50). All in all, this feels like a much better fit for my life than the previous attempt.

And for the credit cards? They're still tucked away. I opted not to cancel any of the cards, since another black mark on my credit report was the "length of time accounts have been opened." Instead, I'll just let them hang out for awhile. Maybe in a few months, when I feel like I have more control over my spending, I'll break them out for one necessary purchase per month, like gas or groceries. But until then, I'll recognize my weaknesses and keep temptation out of my grasp.

I already feel like a burden has been lifted. Even though I know the debt is still there, being able to see zero balances on the cards AND being able to save for any unexpected expenses, instead of having to whip out a card to pay for them, makes a world of difference. And if I ever get tempted to buy something unnecessary on credit, all I have to do is read my own blog.

Anyone else have any similar experiences lately - either with money or something else?

close out

Is it just me or did this month fly by? I can't believe tomorrow is the start of May.

I have to admit, I fell back into some old habits this weekend when it came to spending. But, I recognized it (albeit after I had spent the money) and now I'm ready to get back to saving.

Let's close out April by reviewing the last few steps of Financial Literacy Month (review the other 26 days here and here).

Step 27: Understand the cost of credit. Compare the following before you borrow: Interest rate, length of loan, the total cost of the loan (including interest), credit limit, minimum monthly payment, grace period, and overdrawn & late payment fees. I would also add any pre-payment penalty (I honestly can't believe banks charge you for being responsible). Their blog also reminds you to take into consideration the psychological costs of debt, which, in my opinion, can sometimes outweigh the actual costs (it did for me!)

Step 28: Assemble a financial team. This includes a tax advisor/accountant, a credit counselor, a financial planner, and a lawyer. You may not need all of these componants, but I've heard visiting a financial planner is an expense that's well worth the cost. It can definitely help to have an objective opinion about your finances. The Weakonomist compares your financial team to a football team (helpful!)

Step 29: Appreciate the benefits. "Change may be hard, but the payoff can be priceless." MMI provides a little checklist - "If I stick to my plan, I will..." - I have every box checked off:

feel a sense of accomplishment

have less anxiety

build a secure financial future

improve my creditworthiness

appreciate the things I have purchased

avoid legal problems

be prepared for financial emergencies

feel more in control of my finances

I would also add "have a greater sense of self"

Step 30: Moving forward & Reflections. Is it weird I'm kind of disappointed Financial Literacy Month is over? Even though many of the topics covered during the month were things I already knew, it was nice to review some concepts and apply them to my current finances.

The last reflection of FLM is "What will you do next?" One of the themes I saw over & over during the month was tracking your spending, which I do... kinda, sorta, not really. So May's goal will be to jot down every expense. Whether it's fifty cents in the vending machine at work or paying my half of the mortgage, it's going down in my dollar store journal. I'm hopeful that actually writing it, instead of just reviewing it on the computer screen, will help keep my spending in check.

Did Financial Literacy Month help you at all? I wonder if May has any kind of money theme... "Mad Money May", perhaps? Let's make it happen.

sugar lips

That title has nothing to do with money and everything to do about the massive amount of sweet treats I've eaten today. Free breakfast at work... is there anything better? (actually, a glass of milk would be awesome right now, but I'll manage.)

I'm currently waiting on Card #1's decision about my credit line (read more about that here) and I have another financial transaction pending that I'll be able to divulge more information about soon, hopefully. In the mean time, it's been awhile since we checked in at Financial Literacy Month, so let's catch up!

Step 17: Save for Your Goals. The tips for savings are "make it automatic, turn a hobby into an income, downsize, & use gifts wisely." I already started the automatic savings ($50 taken out pre & post tax into separate accounts), but I don't really have a "hobby", unless you know somewhere I can get paid to lay on the couch and watch Law & Order SVU. We don't really have a lot of stuff to begin with in order to downsize, and we recently used our tax return to re-bolster our savings account; However, if I get monetary gifts for my birthday or Christmas, I'd be lucky if they lasted a week in my wallet. That'll be a goal to work on at the end of the year.

Step 18: Where Does All the Money Go? Seriously! Where is it? This step is about tracking expenses. I hate tracking expenses, even though I know it's a necessary evil. I just can't seem to commit to carrying a piece of paper or a notebook around for more than a week. Instead, I've been trying to log onto my online banking every few days to analyze/catagorize where the money is going. Next week, I'll be breaking down this month's spending and see where I can do better.

Step 19: Identify Fixed Expenses. Sounds easy!

Mortgage: $600.00 (includes taxes)

Water/Sewer: $40.00 (paid quarterly)

Cell Phones: $178.00

Cable: $125.00

Student Loans: $205.00

Credit Cards: $300.00

My total fixed expenses are about $1,200 or one paycheck per month. I did not include the electric bill, because that's our biggest variable expense! It's like a roulette wheel every month on what it's going to be.

Step 20: Identify & Plan for Periodics. It's crazy that I never even thought to pre-budget for these expenses before now. "Often, we know when these events will occur, but still fail to plan for them." Uh, hello, that's me! As I touched on yesterday, birthdays are an expense I don't specifically budget for, even though they come at the same time every year. Renewing my car's registration is another one (for the hubs too!). I do a fairly good job at budgeting for Christmas. Usually around October I start pestering everyone for gift ideas, but I've also been known to buy things throughout the year in order to spread out the spening.

Step 21: Document Your Spending. FLM suggests uploading your monthly expenses into their worksheet or a similar one in Excel or Quicken. I know my SIL uses a spreadsheet tracker. I guess I better jump on this bandwagon!

Step 22: Identify Ways to Reduce Spending. One way I've reduced spending that I've briefly mentioned before is carpooling. I now only have to get gas 3-4 per month instead of 5-6 times. It doesn't seem like a lot, but with as prices on the up & up, saving an extra $60-$70 a month comes in handy! I also use the GasBuddy app on my iPhone to locate the cheapest gas near me. A penny saved is a penny earned, right?

Step 23: Save Money on Groceries. Ugh, yes, this is what we need. You may recall the other week when I noticed we spent almost $500 on groceries in March 2012. And there's only two of us in the house. FLM's website encourages weekly meal planning. One of my co-workers does this with success, but I really haven't been able to get into it. What I plan out on Sunday just doesn't translate by Thursday when I want chicken instead of fish. Instead, I've been utilizing my favorite stores apps to make lists and stick with them and trying to set an overall budget. It's a work in progress, but I'm getting better.

Step 24: Share a Financial Tip for Change."When you identify ways to reduce spending, you are being honest with yourself about your finances.  Being honest with yourself and others about your finances will ensure your success." Well this blog is one big lump of honesty - the good, the bad, the ugly, it's all here.

Step 25: Document Your Desired Spending. In other words, indicate how you would like to change your spending. I actually just revamped my budget last week and set up e-mail alerts so I know when I'm at or near my budget threshold. I decreased spending in a few catagories (namely personal catagories like health/clothing).

Step 26 (for good luck): Protect Yourself by Performing Personal Financial Check-Ups. Check in on your home/auto/health/life insurance policies to make you're covered in a way that best fits your lifestyle. There's no sense in paying for stuff you're not going to use!

How is your financial literacy month shaping up? I think it's clear my goal for May needs to be an exhaustive documentation of my month's expenses! Has anyone received a good financial tip lately?

goal tending

In continuing the theme from Wednesday's post, we're going to sail on into Financial Literacy Month with more tips. This weeks FLM topics seem to be centered around goal setting and goal tending. Ironically, I was listening to the Man versus Debt podcast yesterday and Baker interviewed a blogger who believed in a "no goals" theory.

I'm not sure yet whether goals are for me, but perhaps that's because I have a hard time setting realistic goals. Or even if the goals themselves are realistic, I can't deal with slow results. I'm a "needed it yesterday" kind of person. I want immediate results, whether it's in my finances, weight loss, the house, etc. So as you can imagine, I'm often disappointed when things don't happen as fast as I think they should and I abandon whatever the goal/resolution was. I'm honestly surprised I stuck with the Lenten goal (for the most part) even when I wasn't able to make big dent in the debt overall.

But back to Step 12: Set short, mid, and long-term goals. Their default goals are: Pay down debt (short), establish emergency savings (mid), and Retirement (long).

My goals would be:

Short (one to two years): Build our emergency savings back up & save for a new car

Mid: (two to five years): Pay off credit card debt (we established back in February this would take me at least four years)

Long: Continue contributing to my retirement accounts and increase the contributions back to 10% once the debt is paid off. Establish a solid long-term savings. Sell our house and buy one I actually like in Atlantic County.

Step 13 of FLM covers a topic we're super familiar with around these parts: methods to pay down debt. They provide the examples of Debt Snowball (lowest balances first) and Debt Avalanche (highest interest rates first). I'm not one to beat a dead horse, so here's a handy debt pay-down calculator if you're interested.

Moving right along... we're going to bang out Steps 14 & 15 today as well, since I'm a bit lax on the weekend blogging.

Step 14 talks about the importance of an emergency savings account. This is an area I've been worrying a lot about lately, since our savings was wiped out after the bat removal. If we hadn't just received our tax return, I don't know how we would have managed. I know most financial websites recommend saving three to six months of living expenses which would put us somewhere between $7,377 & $14,755. Yow-za. I think we have $1,300 in the account right now (all thanks to the hubs).

Step 15 makes me feel better since it's about preparing for retirement and I'm all over that. Prior to this debt paydown journey, I was contributing 12% of my salary to a Roth IRA and a Deferred Compensation plan. This was in addition to our mandatory pension contributions (which, to be honest, I wish I could just opt out of since I doubt NJ will have the money to pay it back to me when I retire). For now, I'm contributing 2% while I focus on knocking out my debt, but I'm look forward to getting back to fully funding my retirement accounts once my credit cards are wiped out. The Hubs also contributes a lot (I don't know the percentage off the top of my head) towards his 403(b) plan so we're on track to spend our retirement golfing (him) and at the beach (me).

What are your financial goals? Do goals motivate you or do you get discouraged like me? Any tips for better management?

omg! pyf. wth?

Yesterday, I was chatting up a co-worker for details to add to Thursday's post and she mentioned a concept I hadn't thought of since my personal finance course at Simmons College - Pay Yourself First (or as I like to say, PYF).

The concept is simple - set aside money in some type of account before you pay bills, buy groceries, or hit the bar. Like most people, I think about saving only when there's barely any money left in my bank account. In October 2011, Americans were saving about 3.6% of their disposable income which is only 0.5% higher than our pre-recession savings of 3.1% (from here). When I think about how much I take home per year, while it's not much, 3.6% in savings seems downright pitiful. Clearly, paying myself last isn't working out, especially after crunching the numbers yesterday.

What does work (for me) is an automatic payroll deduction. If I can't see it, I can't spend it. A few months ago, I enrolled in a deferred compensation plan and opened an IRA, both offered by my employer, in addition to the money taken out for my pension (I'm of the mindset the pension probably won't be there by the time I retire). Between the two accounts I was contributing 12% of my pre-tax income towards retirement. So I actually was paying myself first for a bit. Once I started this debt payoff challenge, I decreased my contributions to 3% in order to sock the extra $120 or so towards credit cards. Unfortunately, my savings account has grown only infinitesimally in the past two months and I decided it's time for more drastic measures.

Our employer won't automatically deduct money into just any account so today, I signed up with our county's credit union online. All they asked for was $5 to open a basic savings account. On Monday, I'll pop in with my signed form and my driver's license and they'll be able to route $50 from every paycheck into this new account. Once I have $100 in the account, I'll receive compounded interest quarterly. The rate isn't much (0.1%), but at least I'll have money set aside every month before I can figure out a way to spend it.

one day this will be me.
(with money. not with a colored face but a grey neck/hands)

Who else PYF's? Can we get this acroynm happening for real? LoLz.

Day Thirty Two Spent:
$0.85 vending machine Oreo's
----------------
Day Thirty Two Saved:
$5.00 in new credit union account

For Richer, For Poorer

Today, I thought it would be interesting to see how my peers handle finances within their relationships. You already know I'm not the best when it comes to communicating with the hubs about money. I was curious to see if anyone else had the same difficulties or if I was the only one with my head in the sand. I gave everyone the same three questions to answer, but all the respondents have been together for varying amounts of time (names have been changed).

1. How did you view money before you were in a committed relationship/engaged/married?

• "I would say my husband and I have always been "loose" with our money" - Gloria, married 1.5 years, together 7 years
• "I was actually a better saver before...but I was also working two jobs" - Julie, married 6 months, together 5 years
• "I didn't think about money that much, I would spend it like hot cakes. I didn't save much, or if I did, it was because I wanted something expensive." - Wes, married to Julie
• "Back in the day I was probably the consumer who bought things without researching and double checking. I just did stuff without thinking about the future." - Sophia, getting married in August, together 1.5 years
• "Prior to being in a committed relationship, I viewed money as something to spend on clothes, gadgets, going out, or vacations." - Dan, in a relationship 2 years

2. How has being in a relationship/engaged/married changed the way you view your money?

• " When we first opened the joint account, it took a little getting used to, because we were both so used to just doing what we wanted all the time, and not having to worry about what anyone else was spending...But with the joint account, you have to know what the other person is doing so you don't overdraft. If we are running low in the checking account, I just give my husband a heads up so he can watch his spending until the next direct deposit is put in.  Neither one of us spends too frivolously... With big purchases, he usually just goes by my opinion since I handle the finances." - Aubrey, married 3.5 years, together 9 years 
• "Before we got married, we settled a lot of debt and refuse to use credit cards except for 1 small one to build our credit- less than $500 limit... We have made a point to try to make all big purchases in cash... Overall, our relationship with money has been the same- what's mine is his and vice versa." - Gloria
• "I think of everything WE need, for example if I want to buy a Coke for work, I think is there anything we need at home...Now-a-days money is the third thing I think about everyday!" - Wes
• "As much as I make fun of him for making pie charts and talking in percentages... I have found myself looking at the charts and making sure that whatever I want is #1: necessary; #2: affordable... I used to spend money on crap that I really did not need- only because I didnt have a goal." - Sophia
• "I've always been a saver, so if anything, I've influence my husband to be better with money." - Bridget, married 28 years

3. Do you find it difficult to talk with your significant other/spouse about money?

• "Some times it's difficult to talk about money with my husband, especially after I splurged on something for the house or myself or even when the grocery bill gets a little higher than usual." - Claire
• "It's very difficult because I never had to explain to anyone how I spent my money... We both have a love/hate relationship with payday because we know we have money but at the same time we know we need to sit down and talk bills..." - Wes
• "No. We often have discussions about money." - Bridget
• "There are no difficulties talking about money with my partner, we talk about it all the time, our goals, and how to spend and save." - Dan

It wouldn't be fair for me to ask others about their personal lives without discussing our own, so I sat down with the hubs tonight and made him talk about these topics (spoiler: he wasn't very interested).

1. Prior to dating, we were both spenders and we didn't think about what we were spending our money on.
2. The hubs said "it's easier to save now, but only because I make more money." He thinks he spends money on the same kinds of things he did before we were dating. Obviously, you all know I am trying not to spend the way I used to and (attempting) to save more money.
3. We both think it's difficult to talk with each other about money. He says it's because I "have my own ideas about a situation." I can admit I have trouble listening and/or seeing a different perspective other than my own. I feel it's difficult to talk to him about money because he can be very dismissive about what I see as a problem (for example, how much money should we have in savings).

Feel free to respond in the comments with your answers to the questions as well! I think it's so interesting to hear about others relationships. Must be the sociologist in me. Or I'm nosy. Probably both.

Day Thirty Spent: $0.00
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Day Thirty Saved: $0.00

Go Green, Save Green

There are numerous ways to go green in order to save money: buy a fuel-efficient vehicle, repurpose/reuse, make your own cleaners, etc. I recently discovered a new way to save money that's also super healthy - making green smoothies!

that's not me. i don't smile that much in the morning.

In the past, I was hesitant to buy produce in bulk because inevitably some would go bad before I could eat it. I was spending more money to buy smaller quantities and making frequent trips to the grocery store. This was especially true in the late fall to early spring before the local farm stands re-open. I might as well have thrown money straight into the trash can. Now, if any of my fruit is too ripe to eat raw, I just pop it in the freezer for later use.

For the "green" portion, you can use just about any leafy vegetable that your heart desires. I'm still pretty new to the smoothie game, so I use spinach because it's mild in flavor and it's easy (& cheap) to come by. I'm looking forward to purusing my local farmer's market this summer for fresh kale, chard, and mustard greens to use in the smoothies. I also like to add some greek yogurt for its protein and creaminess. Depending on my fruit supply, I may choose a favored variety for an extra kick of fruitiness or just the plain fat-free version. You can often find individual greek yogurts on sale at your local grocery store or a larger fat-free container at a big box store.

Lately, my go to combination has been strawberry kiwi. Shop Rite had 6 kiwis on sale for $1.99 and a large container of strawberries for $2.50. I use about a half kiwi per smoothie and probably about a cup of sliced strawberries (it's really about personal taste preference, so I don't have exact measurements for you). I add almost enough water to cover the fruit and two heaping tablespoons of fat-free greek yogurt. I blend those first until smooth, then I add the spinach. The first smoothie I made, I only used one handful of spinach, but now I throw in about two & a half.

The whole process takes less then 10 minutes, depending on how many fruits you need to cut up. I like that I can carry it around the house as I finish getting ready for work. One 12-16 ounce cup keeps me full until about 11 AM, which is even longer than when I eat eggs for breakfast! It also helps curb my cravings for unhealthy food which is great. Don't feel like you need to get a fancy blender, either; We have a basic $30 blender from Target, which works fine for chopping up small or sliced produce (if you want to blend ice in though, maybe splurge a little more).

In short, green smoothies are good for you AND your wallet! Anyone inspired to try one tomorrow morning?

Day Twenty-Four Spent:
$25.00 gas
$10.00 March Madness pool
$1.00 Mega Millions lottery ticket
$1.00 chocolate bar (sheriff's fundraiser)
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Day Twenty-Four Saved: $0.00

So App-ealing

It's going to be a slow week at work, so there will be plenty of time for posting. If there's anything you'd like me to write about, please let me know in the comments!

I figured I would share some of my favorite iPhone apps that help me shop smarter. All the apps are free, so hopefully they'll save you some money, too!

• CardStar - Essentially a virtual wallet where you can store all of your loyalty cards, even non-grocery cards like Best Buy Rewards, Hallmark, etc. This way you can get rid of the pesky key tags (or in my case, the whole additional card holder for the regular size ones). It also provides you deals & coupons to the stores you have saved.
• ShopAdvisor - Say you see a shirt in Macy's you really like, but it's not on sale and you don't have any coupons. Just scan the bar code into ShopAdvisor and it will search for the product until it's within your budget.
• Coupon Sherpa - A database of mobile coupons for grocery & department stores. There are also links to printable coupons that you can e-mail to yourself & print out. I actually haven't used this app too much because stores in our area do not scan coupons from your phone. Plus our printer stopped working and I haven't fixed it yet.
• Buy Me a Pie - This is the app I use when I'm shopping somewhere that doesn't have its own mobile app (like BJ's). Helps to keep my impulse spending in check.
• SavingsStar - Made by the same people as CardStar, you load your grocery/drug store loyalty cards into the app then select coupon offers you think you would purchase. After purchasing the item, a rebate is applied to your account. The hubs and I share an account and we've gotten about $7 back in rebates so far (the rebate is linked with your Paypal account)
• Weekly Ads - Just what it sounds like, the weekly ads for stores near you. This is great, since we get a very limited supply with our mail and most end up in the recycling.
• Gas Buddy - While not a "shopping" app., this little guy has come in handy lately! It shows you the prices of gas in and around your area. The only beef I have with it is there isn't a way to distinguish cash versus credit price differences.
• Locavore - Tells you what food is in season for your area and helps you find local farmer's markets, both of which are cheaper than buying food brought in from other places

I also have the mobile app for our bank which allows me to securely view our balances and conduct transfers as well as the apps for Stop & Shop, Shop Rite, & Target which let me view the weekly specials and make lists. I'm still waiting for Acme to come out with an app.

Are there any apps I missed? What helps you?

Day Twenty-One Spent:
$.75 vending machine Cheez-Its
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Day Twenty-One Saved: $0.00

Working Hard for the Money

I saw this image on Pinterest last week:

It combined two of the things I'm not very good at into one effective plan- Score! The hubs and I are currently doing the 60 Day Insanity workout. We have successfully completed 8 days of the workout so today, I transferred $8 from my checking account into my short term savings. It's a win-win.

Speaking of wins, last night, we got together with a few of our friends at JD's Pub & Grill to play Quizzo. We used to go weekly when we all lived closer together, but it's been at least a year since our team played together. We were a little rusty out of the gate, but managed to win it all in sudden death overtime! The prize was a $25 gift card to the restaurant which we were able to use on our check last night. $25 divided by 6 = $4.17 per person. So essentially, I got a glass of wine for free!

the rhinos smell like victory. and beer.

Smart and money saving. Now that's a sexy combination.

Day Nine Spent:
$1.00 vending machine Raisonets
$34.00 gas (9.6 gallons @ $3.55 a gal.)
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Day Nine Saved: $12.00

It's Electric!

As part of my goal to save more money, I will be reviewing different financial categories to see if there is anything I could be doing differently. In addition to my personal spending, I also want to look at our household spending. Obviously, there's nothing we can do about our mortgage payment, short of refinancing, but since we just bought the house last year, that's not really an option now. Plus, our interest rate isn't too bad (4.25%).

One area where we can and have spent a lot of money is our electric bill. The house is wired for all electric use and according to our last bill, the majority is for heating. Hot water is second. We already do a lot to try and keep costs down. Our friends can confirm we keep the house on the chilly side and many of the rooms don't even have the heat on. We replaced the hot water heater almost immediately after moving in so that has helped some. I rarely wash our clothes in warm or hot water (unless it's something that needs it, like towels or sheets) and often skip the heat cycle on the dishwasher. The hubs can tell you I am a fanatic about unplugging things that aren't in use.

Even with all these little steps, our last bill came in at $289 for 1,662 kwh of electric. Ouch! So I decided to take a chance and signed up with Constellation Energy. They offered us a 12 month fixed rate of 9.55 cents versus our current rate of 10.67 cents with Atlantic City Electric. If it doesn't work out, at least I have 90 days to cancel without penalty. Hopefully we'll be able to beef up our joint savings with the reduced rate!

In other news, I did some unnecessary spending today. It was Molly's last basic obedience class and afterwards we went to Petsmart for a new toy & bones. I also had to buy her ear cleaning solution. So two wants and a need in that purchase.

Day Four Spent:
$22.35 Petsmart
$30.01 Wawa (gas)

Day Four Saved: $0.00