Savings Archives - Page 6 of 6

Summer Fun On a Budget

This is a guest post by a moneywatch101 reader.

Remember when we were children and played in the backyard for hours during our summer vacations? Even though this wasn’t much, we stood entertained by the simplest things such as a piece of chalk or a jump rope.

Well, the summer is upon us and our kids will be out of school soon which means more free-time and spending a bit more. As a single parent, I know I’m working on a tight budget so I did some research and came up with a few money-saving activities on how to enjoy this summer. I think it’s time to show our newer generation how to have cheap (often free) summer fun. I have enjoyed a few on this list so far and I’m hoping you can too!

SUMMER MOVIE PROGRAMS

Did you know that most cinemas run summer promotions with big discounts? Yup ALMOST free movie tickets at your local theaters. Here are a few listed below.

Cinemark -Summer Movie Clubhouse: A 10 movie show pass for $5, or one movie show for $1. (Cinemark.com)

Regal -Summer Movie Express: Selected PG or G rated movies for $1 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. (regmovies.com)

Marquee cinemas –Kids Summer Movie Program: A special selection of family films brought to you each week during the summer at no charge. (marqueecinemas.com)

LOWES FREE KIDS CLINICS

Enjoy building a FREE wooden project with your kids that will keep them entertained for hours. Not only do they get to take these home but they can also take home the free apron, goggles, and patch to make them feel like real “handymen”. (lowesbuildandgrow.com)

ZOOS/MUSEUMS

These are always fun and often provide free admission. Check out the websites below to find a list of zoo/museums near you.

(Pettingzoofarm.com) (www.museumlink.com/states.htm)

SUMMER READING PROGRAMS

We often forget about education during the summer. With free programs provided by local libraries and book stores such as Barnes and Nobles, our kids can enjoy several books and activities.

One of my favorite is, being read to for free. Contact your local library/ book store and ask about “circle time” where your kids can enjoy a book or two with a group of friends.

They can also participate in the Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program. This consists of reading eight aged-related books, writing them down on a list, and then receiving a FREE book as a reward.

This is a guest post by a moneywatch101 reader and she wanted to share how to save and have fun locally.
Thanks for the guest post, Mrs Real. Its great to have many affordable options for the kids. Also if you are in the NY area Wednesdays I believe the Bronx Zoo has free admissions for kids. Go to their website for more details. Be safe and watch those kids.

RichUncle EL

Reduce your Grocery Bill

How to reduce your grocery bill:

1. Never go grocery Shopping when you are hungry.

2. Jot down all the items you need and stick to the list.

3. Always have a budget in mind that you want to spend for every trip.

4. Buy those nutritious items you eat often in bulk size and freeze the excess.

5. Cook a little bit extra for dinner to pre-pack for the next day’s lunch.

6. Teach yourself to go food shopping once a week or once every two weeks.

7. Sign up for the Store’s discount card and watch your bill get reduced with every trip.

8. Have a veggie night where you only eat, whole wheat and veggies.(No Meat)

9. Once or twice a week buy Di’Giorno Pizza for your family instead of take out. (6 dollars/family=Savings)

10. Take 1 minute to compare prices with competitor’s prices. Could save up to .30 per item.

I hope you can take something away from this post and redirect some of the savings off your grocery bill to investments or savings accounts. Some of these might seem obvious or things you already do, but it doesn’t hurt or take away if you follow all ten steps. One of the biggest expenses for a family of four is food and we all could use some techniques to reduce our bill on a consistent basis. For step # eight you can take it a bit further and do two meatless nights or instead try a meat and veggie night while eliminating the rice/pasta/bread carbohydrate portion of your meal. The savings will add up and your body will thank you because you’re consuming less calories.

One thing I struggle with is buying generic instead of the name brand stuff. How so you feel about Generic supermarket brands? Are they any good? What is your favorite generic brand? I could easily save a few hundred bucks a year by going that route, but I am concerned about the flavor of the generics. If you have a moment head over to Wisebread.com and look up all the cool food tips and savings ideas featured in that blog. Great resource if you take the time to read up on their posts.

Do you have some cool grocery tips that I missed and you would like to share with Moneywatch101 readers? Do not hesitate to comment what cool and unique ideas you may have. Just another strategy to help reduce your expenses compared to your income, which is a proven way to financial freedom.

Watch your Money!

Social Security- Will it be around?

I find this to be somewhat of an oxymoron in life. People have given to social security for years and are expecting to get it back in their golden years of retirement. What if they eliminated this program? Would you be bitter or will you just roll with the punches life throws your way and accept the changes. From my point of view, I would likely feel a bit worried as it is a program that is sustaining financially the older generations of American citizens. In any case if it came down to a vote, I would vote to keep it in place forever as it is beneficial to those people in retirement.

8 Changes to the system as per RichUncle EL:

1. If you are a multi-millionaire- Banned from the program
2. The age of receiving benefits should be set for everybody at 65, and never change.
3. If you have a portfolio of real estate / investments that earn substantial income- Banned from program
4. For the Government to never raid the SS Fund for other purposes. (Make it a federal law.)
5. Make the inflation adjustment a yearly standardized rule. (Based on the CPI Index)
6. If you have a trust with assets over 2 million – Banned from program
7. Individuals with standard pension retirement account should receive less in S.S. benefits than others who never benefited from a plan like this.
8. If you receive enough passive income to live from royalties / patents-Banned from program

In any case there is a great article featured in NY times.com that explains the current state of the program. Social Security Article The article goes to show that S.S. benefits will be exhausted as of 2033 and I retire in 2045 so I will be in a pissed off mood for a few days, unless I become a multi-millionaire before my retirement. Ha Ha. It may seem that I am excluding the rich from benefiting from this program, but if you are making tons of money from your assets why would you care to get a $1,500 check from a struggling federal government program. It just doesn’t make sense for somebody who is considered financially rich to apply for Social Security. What’s your take on the rich applying for the program?

In any event I hope they extend this program and fix all of the bugs and for crying out loud the government should follow my 8 steps to fix the Social Security program. Thus making the U.S. a better place to live in.

Watch your money cause the government might not do it for you.

Slash your bills by $100

I did this experiment in my past and I know most of you can also, I successfully found a way to cut expenses on a monthly basis, all of you should follow the simple steps to save yourself a Benjamin Franklin too. So I didn’t do anything complicated, I just harassed a few companies and asked if there was anything they can do to lower my bills. Negotiation tactics 101 at it’s finest and guess what I slashed my bills by a hundred dollars. That’s basically the gist of this post. Never settle to pay more when a quick phone call can net you better results for your money. Cable companies and credit card companies never want to lose you as a customer so do your best to talk them down a few bucks on a monthly basis.

Continue reading Slash your bills by $100

Night Life Costs Broken Down

Go Barack Teach her how to do the Salsa!

I wanted to find out what the average person spends on drinks and night clubs/entertainment and share it with my readers. Obviously this would be an average for someone in their 20-30s who goes out about 3-4 times a month. One thing to consider is where you live and how the prices of drinks vary by location. For example a drink in Paterson, NJ will cost you about 7-8 dollars while a drink in Las Vegas will cost you about 21 dollars. So you will have to run your specific calculations based on your actual location and prices.

Scenario 1 – NJ Night Club

Pre-Game Bottle at home $40 / 2 split it with a buddy= $20 Dollars each.

Night Club Entrance= $20 Dollars

Drinks while Clubbing = 3*7 = $21 Dollars

Total for 1 night of entertainment = 61 round it down to= $60

Total for the month 4 nights out is – 4 * 60 = $ 240

Total for the year 12 months – 12 * 240 = 2,880 Round this up to – $3000 for other expenses like – Haircuts, Gas, clothes, Etc.

This scenario is obviously on the low end of the spectrum because the prices are low estimates. The point I am trying to make is that if a young person spends this much on just night life then the possibility to save $$ gets eliminated or vastly reduced. Many people do not have an extra 250-500 a month after all expenses to splurge on night life and still be able to save adequately for future goals/retirement. That’s why most usually fall under either savers or spenders. I also understand that every situation is different and that some younger individuals may be living rent free in good ol’ mom and dad’s house. If this is the case then those folks can maybe get away with it in for the time being. But as soon as rent/mortgage payment gets thrown into the equation saving $$ should take priority over the expensive night life option. For the sake of being fair I will run the calculation on someone that goes out 2 times a month and saves the other half in a mutual fund for 10 years.

Scenario 2- Half Fun / Half Save

Total for month is = $120 night life round this up to 150

Total for year is = $1,800 Night life expense and 1800 Saved in Mutual fund. = $ 3,600

Go to the calculator at the bottom of the page and plug in $150 a month X 10 years to save.

The Grand total with a 4% savings rate is about $22,000 dollars.

In conclusion if you cut your night life spending in half and save the rest you can have a good foundation for a better life in the future. Everybody always makes regrets later in life, but those who take action will never be caught off guard financially. We all can find the right balance between fun and saving for the future. The problem some people have is that they do all fun and not one penny to save. If you’re in a situation where you don’t have money left over at the end of the month to allocate to savings, then just increase your income or do the half fun/half savings strategy I mentioned in the example above.

Make a plan, stick to it and watch how your savings grow.

Another excellent way to watch your money!