Tip of the Day

Instead of going out to dinner with friends, take turns hosting dinner parties.

Have an afternoon cookout with the adults and the kids. Or do a later in the evening dinner party just for the adults.

Host family supplies the main dish. Have others bring the sides, salad, desserts and drinks.

Tip of the Day

Extending the life of your cell phone battery.

• Turn the phone off
• Stop searching for a signal.
• Do not follow the method of full charge and full discharge. Avoid letting your cell phone's battery run all the way down.
• Turn off your phone's back light

See the rest of the tips Here



or just

Tip of the Day

How much to save? Aim for 10% minimum and try and increase it from there. But have a method to your madness. Have a goal....house down payment, car, retirement, emergency fund. And have a plan to reach that goal.

Tip of the Day

Make your monthly loan payments forever. That;s right, never pay that car off. But pay yourself instead of the lender. Many of us have monthly loan payments, whether for a car loan, credit card debt, a mortgage, or all of the above. When you’ve finally paid off a debt, try to keep it up. But instead of sending a check to the lender, deposit the money into a savings account. You've increased your net worth by paying off the debt; now keep up the good work by building up your assets.

Say you've got a car payment that is $435 a month and you finally get that sporty Camry you bought paid for. That car is gonna last another 10 years if you care for it. Keep "paying" that $435 a month, but dump it into a savings account or a mutual fund, depending on your goals. In another 10 years that payment will be worth over $52,000 even if its sitting in a crappy savings account and over $60,000 if its in a mutual fund. Unless of course the economy goes into the crapper.

Tip of the Day

"Crooks are taking advantage of the difficult economy, including tighter credit and higher unemployment, to trick people into accepting fraudulent and deceptive offers that seem beneficial on the surface but actually could cost a lot of money or result in identity theft," said Michael Benardo, manager of the FDIC's Financial Crimes Section.
Here are some common schemes being reported:

Mortgage rescue schemes

Other credit-related scams involving upfront fees

Work-at-home scams

"Mystery shopper" scams
  
As in anything finance related, use common sense, and realize if it sounds to good to be true...it certainly is.

Never give out personal info, such as: social security number, account numbers, credit card numbers etc...unless you are positive you are dealing with someone reputable. When in doubt walk away or hang-up. Better to be thought rude than be in the poor house.
  

Tip of the Day

Be sure to take advantage of discounts and/or incentive programs provided through your employer. For example, the company I work for offers discounted rates for computers, fitness center memberships, movie tickets and passes to summer festivals. We can also join a credit union, which has decent rates and fees. I don't use the credit union because I like my online bank better.

Check your corporate intranet or talk to your human resources representative.

And don’t forget the best deal of all – investing in your 401(k)! Most companies match a certain % of investment.

Tip of the Day

Enjoy going out but trying to save money? Check for local free events. Look in your local newspaper, if they haven't gone out of business yet. Check at the local library or with city hall or look on your town's website.

Use those resources to learn about free or low-cost parks, museums, concerts, film showings, sports events, and other places which you and your family would enjoy.

Go to a town hall or city council meeting and heckle the politicians. Ask your mayor why your town doesn't have its own tanks and fighter planes.

Tip of the Day

It pays to practice preventative dental care, since a good cleaning routine helps prevent fillings, root canals, and dental crowns, which are expensive and no fun, This is especially true if you have dental insurance that pays for cleanings every 6 months. My company provides good dental insurance that pays for the cleanings in full. So all 14 of us get our teeth cleaned twice a year, not all at once. We should do that one day, schedule 14 cleaning appointments for the same day.

Tip of the Day

Cancel or let your magazines subscriptions run out, especially if you hardly read them. I've let my car and my running magazines run out. Almost all the material is available online for free.

For example both Runners World and Running Times post their articles on their websites.

Same applies to newspapers. The content is free online, stop paying to have the paper delivered. Sure all those philosophy majors will have to go find new jobs, maybe Starbucks is hiring.

Tip of the Day

Turn off the TV and radio, especially during ads. Or change the channel. Or just go out and do something.

Seeing all those ads isn't helping your budget.

Tip of the Day

Plan your weekly meals around what's on sale in the grocery store's ad. Not by what you want to make. We see what meat's are on sale each week (meat being the most expensive thing we buy) and stock up on those meats. Ground beef on sale? Well then it's burgers, meatloaf, tacos and burgers for that week.

We also eat whatever veggies and fruits are on sale each week. Kids want pears but apples are on sale that week? Then apples it is and the kids will just have to wait to have pears when a sale rolls around.

Tip of the Day

Buy a pair of hair clippers and cut your own hair and the hair of your boys. Ladies/girls are exempt from this tip. Unless you want to do the bald chick thing.

We have 8 sons. Clippers have saved us a small fortune over the years. Eventually the boys get older and start making some $$$ and decide to pay for haircuts themselves, but as long as we are footing the bill they get the momma mauling them.

I buzz my own hair off about every month or so. A set of clippers are around $20-$30 and seem to last forever. Even if they don't last forever, they pay for themselves after a few haircuts. Go checkout Amazon or head over to Walmart (at your own risk).

Trust me nothing can go wrong.

Tip of the Day

Invest in a full size freezer. You can stock up on meat when it is on sale, boneless chicken was on sale last month for $1.69lb, my bride bought 100 pounds. Our freezer is currently the Dolly Parton of freezers.

You can also make meals ahead of time and store them in the freezer. Running late or don't know what to have for dinner? Whip out one of the meals.

If you join the Mob, having a large freezer can be indispensable.

Look for used or frees one's before buying new. We got ours about 10 years ago for free. From a friend of a friend who was moving and downsizing.

Or use it to stash your liquor.

Tip of the Day

Accelerate your equity. Make bi-monthly payments instead of monthly. With bi-monthly plans, you make half a house payment every two weeks rather than a whole payment once a month. You'll build equity faster, save tens of thousands of dollars and pay off your mortgage years ahead of schedule. Talk to your mortgage lender and see if they allow this, but make sure they don't charge you a fee.
This is a simple way to save money that doesn't cost you any extra out of pocket money each month.

Tip of the Day

Pack food before you go on a road trip. Heading out on vacation or to an activity that is gonna take a few hours?

Pack some food and drinks for the trip. You know you and the kids are gonna get hungry and thirsty. That way, instead of stopping in the middle of the trip, driving around looking for a place to eat, spending a bunch of time there, and then paying a hefty bill, you can just eat on the road or, better yet, stop at a nice park and stretch for a bit. Plus, you’ll save a lot of money and a fair amount of time this way.

Tip of the Day

Don't have your own teens that can babysit for you for free? Setup a babysitting exchange/swap/co-op with other parents of small children.

We now have 7 kids that are of legal babysitting age (13 years old in the People's Republic of Maryland) so we are set. Now we just have to find the extra money to go out with.

Tip of the Day

House hunting? Buy a fixer-upper or foreclosure. Im not suggesting you have to buy a total wreck of a house that needs major repairs. But buying a house that needs paint, carpet and minor repairs can save you a bundle.

Here is a personal example: we bought a foreclosure that was $75,000 below market value. It was pretty beat-up. We put about $25,000 into and a whole lotta sweat. And we ended up with a nice large house that holds all our kids.

Tip of the Day

Thinking of buying a non-essential item, take the amount the item costs and divide it into your hourly wage. If it’s a $125 golf club pair of shoes and you make $25 an hour, ask yourself, is that golf club really worth five long hours of work? It helps keep things in perspective.

Tip of the Day

Think first, then think again and then act.

According to Connie Kilmark, a financial counselor and consultant in Madison, WI. Consumers’ spending decisions are processed “5% by the numbers and 95% by emotions".

Before making any purchase, especially the large ones, ask yourself if this is a want or a need. If it's a "want" ask yourself if you can really afford it and if you could make do with something you already own or maybe borrow. Will you be jeopardizing your financial stability because you can't control your purchases? Wait a few days/weeks before making the purchase, then see if you still really want it. Impulse buying is a curse that most of us seem to suffer from at times. I have at least 25 pairs of running shoes in my closet, now I do use them and pass them on to my kids when I have worn them out, but still, 25 pair! Really? Really!

The reality is, that with a large family you are gonna have to purchase less of your wants. This may change over time as the kids get older and move on and as your income rises. But for now we are playing it safe and being careful with our purchases and maximizing our retirement savings. No living in a trailer park and eating Alpo for us.....I hope. But once the kids are out of the house I'm getting a dozen more pairs of running shoes.

If it is truly a need, then ask yourself if you are getting the best deal possible. Could you get a less expensive one (house, car, appliance etc...)? 

 And don't kid yourself, not everything on your "need" list is really a need.

 

 

 

 

 

Tip of the Day

Got a crock pot? Use it.  A crock pot is perhaps the best deal on earth for reducing cooking costs in a busy family. You can just dump in your ingredients before work, put it on simmer, and dinner is done when you get home. There are countless recipes out there for all variety of foods, and every time you cook this way, you’re saving money as compared to eating out.