If you are married and both spouses work, watch out for the stimulus money that the federal government is giving to you in your paycheck. I read this article on Money.com which explains how it works.
Couples who are eligible to receive the stimulus money and file married/jointly will be overpaid because the system is set up to assume the other spouse doesn't work. Singles are supposed to get $400, and couples are supposed to get $800. But the article says that it's actually set up so that each spouse in a married couple gets $600, which means we'll get $1200 when we are only supposed to get $800. If we don't do anything, we'll end up owing $400 back to the government next April.
So dumb. It was easier to just get a check than to fool around with payroll.
Looks like it is time to revisit the IRS Withholding Calculator.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Married Couples: Watch Out for that Stimulus Money
Monday, March 9, 2009
A Real "Deal" at Circuit City's Liquidation
With so many big name retail stores going out of business lately, there are a lot of reports in the news about how liquidators raise the prices and then start small with their discounts when clearing out the merchandise.
When Linen 'N' Things was under liquidation, my sister and I went to look at what they had when the discounts were 30% and 40%. No deals there.
Early in Circuit City's going-out-of-business sale, Michael and I went to see what they had. We weren't looking for anything in particular, but we just wanted to see what was going on. No deals there either.
Yesterday was Circuit City's very last day of existence. Michael and I were running errands near one of their stores and decided to stop in -- just to see what might be left. There was hardly anything at all. It looked like most of their sales were of the store's fixtures. I even saw a lady get a Circuit City hand-truck/cart type thing that had been used to roll big items out to the curb for customers. She bought it for $10.
One of about two shelves that still had anything on it was stocked full of hi-speed USB cables. Then, I remembered -- I actually need one of those. Over the summer when I bought my new printer/scanner/copier (from Circuit City!), I borrowed my sister's USB cable to hook it up because I didn't have one. However, months later I still hadn't gotten one of my own, and she was looking to get hers back.
I really had no idea how much a cable costs, but they had them marked with a regular price of $33.99, and sale price of $1.50. $33.99 -- really?! I decided to buy one because even though I didn't believe I was getting that big of deal, I didn't figure I could get it anywhere else for less than a buck fifty.
We had to go to Target next, so out of curiosity, we went to the electronics department to see how much a similar cable would cost. It was $10. Come on now -- where did the liquidators come up with that $33.99 "original" price?
It's okay. We definitely got a deal. But it sure did prove that those news reports of jacked up prices before liquidating were true!
Monday, March 2, 2009
We Scored Big on Craigslist!
When I'm on the Internet, I usually keep an eye on Freecycle and Craigslist's "free" section for my area. Every ten minutes or so I'll just pause what I'm doing and click the refresh button for each. You can find some amazing things that people are giving away, but you usually have to be fast to get the best things.
Last Saturday afternoon while Michael was out running, I was working on the dinner menus for the following week and the grocery list. As usual, I was popping in and out of what I was doing to see what people were giving away for free.
I came across and interesting post on Craigslist that said the poster was planning to have an estate sale but ended up moving sooner than he or she thought. Everything had to go. There were some amazing things in the three photo galleries they posted -- art, decorations, furniture from various places around the world. I couldn't believe it was all going to be free. They were making everything available from 7 AM until noon on Sunday only.
When Michael got home, I told him about my find. However, by that time, the post had been flagged (meaning a reader of Craigslist believed something was wrong with the ad). **Sigh!** I guessed it was too good to be true. Yet, the advertiser re-posted it two more times. It seemed to be legitimate. We decided we'd check it out.
We got up at 5:00 AM to get ready for the day and left the house by 6:20 or so. MapQuest said it would take 30 minutes to get there. We arrived right at 7:00. One other car was there waiting. Another had just pulled up behind us. The people in the house were just opening the door and blinds.
It turned out the super-duper amazing things were either not there or for sale -- not free. But there was a house full of things for the taking. They said they'd like a small donation if you could, but it wasn't mandatory. It appeared to be three people in their late 20s or 30s (cousins, we found out) who were doing this for the mother of one of them. I think she was the older woman with a cane who we saw there. They said the donations, if you made one, would be for her since she was moving.
We've been trying to clean out our own house of unnecessary stuff, so we didn't take anything we couldn't use or didn't really like. Here's what we got: a brand new, unopened game of Scrabble (perhaps we'll keep, give as a gift, or give to Toys for Tots next year); a doll-sized Windsor chair (because it may find a place in our guest room, because it was too cute to pass up, and because it looks like it could possibly have been hand-crafted); a set of 3 wall hangings for the kitchen; a 37" x 31" framed, triple-matted, signed print by Pollyanna Pickering, and a little white storage bench type of thing.
We have been struggling with decorating our house, specifically the walls. We don't want to put a ton of money into it, but we would like it to look nice and coordinated. These new-to-us wall hangings and picture came just at the right time. The ones for the kitchen will look nice -- albeit probably not something I would have spent money on. They look like something you would pick up at T.J. Max or Ross. Unless you are my mother-in-law (who finds amazing deals on this kind of stuff that an ordinary human couldn't otherwise find), they probably would have been $8-$12 each. That could really add up...
The framed Pickering print is quite nice. The colors and subject (little birds setting on a wagon wheel) work well with our guest room. I wouldn't have paid the $350 price that is penciled on the back of the framed or even the $120 they were asking for it if they had sold it at an estate sale. But for nearly free, it's perfect!
Just as we were leaving, Michael spied a cute little white bench type of thing. It's hard to describe. It's like a one-person bench that has a seat that lifts open and has storage space inside. When he showed it to me, my first question was, "What would we do with it?" He didn't know, but he thought it looked neat -- maybe something for a kitchen. I mentally scanned all of the rooms in our house and couldn't find a place for it. It's hard to pass up something that seems like it would be so good, but we really just don't need more random stuff. Then, Michael said he thought it would look nice on his parents' newly refinished back porch. "Oh, it would! Let's get it for a gift for your mom," I said.
When we got home, I realized this little bench needed some TLC. However, after vacuuming, scrubbing, and taking the Magic Eraser to it, it looked as good as new! There was a T.J. Max sticker on the back of it that said the "regular" price was $149; the T.J. Max price was $79.99; it was on clearance for $70.00; and the estate sale price tag said $55. I'm not even sure I would have paid the lowest price for it, simply because it wasn't something I needed. It was also too much to pay for a used thing to give as a gift. But for nearly, free -- again, it was perfect!
I was really excited at the prospect of giving this bench to Michael's mom. I thought she would enjoy it and that it would be nice on their back porch. However, I was falling in love with it -- all shiny and freshly scrubbed. But what would we do with it?
We actually found a great place for it in our kitchen. It holds our newspaper, mixed paper, and cardboard perfectly before taking it to the curb for recycling each week. I've been wanting something to hold that stuff for a long time so that it didn't just set in the middle of the floor. This is great! (Sorry, Michael's mom! We're keeping the little storage bench.)
Anyway, before we left the estate sale/giveaway, we dug into our pockets and found $21 between the two of us. We showed one of the guys what we had and asked if that little bit of money would be sufficient. He agreed it was. While I know we were helping them by just getting rid of what was probably unwanted junk to them, I felt better paying them a little something for it. After all, we got a number of really nice things. So, it wasn't quite free. But all of that for $21 -- that was a super deal. And we left just as the house was getting super crowded with other bargain hunters.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Price of Stamps is Going Up Again
I just read that the price of first class postage stamps is going up another 2 cents in May. I still have a few Forever Stamps that I bought last year before the price increase. I guess I need to count how many I actually have on hand and then estimate how many we'll need for the next year.
We don't use stamps a lot anymore. We still pay three of our bills by check, but the rest are done electronically. I like paying for as much as possible, including the bills, with my credit cards in order to reap the cash back rewards. We put that money in our Travel Fund. (Of course, we pay the credits off each month. There's no savings if you are paying finance charges!)
I'm planning to actually send Christmas cards this year. (Despite my original plan, I only did a few in 2008 -- as many as I could write while I was in the waiting room as my sister had knee surgery.) So, I need to figure out how many stamps that will be.
Yes, I will work on saving every little bit I can, even in postage. That doesn't help the economy -- and definitely not the post office. In fact, I'll be pretty sad if they cut back mail delivery to 5 days a week as they are considering. Since I was a little kid, I have always loved seeing what came in the mail. Of course, these days it's mostly junk or bills. But still, there's something exciting about seeing what's there. So, I guess by paying most of my bills online and then buying Forever Stamps before the price goes up, I might be contributing to the demise of 6 day delivery. But I'll take every little bit that helps our bottom line and progress towards our savings goals...even if it means one less day each week of seeing what the mail man brought.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Married Life: The Culture of Gift-Giving
As I mentioned last week, one interesting challenge that the Mister and I have encountered in new married life is gift-giving. In fact, it was probably the biggest puzzle we faced in combining our finances.
Until my brother got married in 2000 -- well, actually, not until my nephew was born several years later, I never gave one iota of a thought to the culture of gift-giving in families. I knew how my immediate family did it...and that's all I needed to know. It worked. It made sense.
I won't go into the details because it's not the real point of this story; however, once my brother's son came on the scene, I had the opportunity to learn a little bit about my sister-in-law's family's culture of gift-giving. While normal in the whole scheme of things, it was different from what we did, which did cause some interesting friction.
Having that experience in my background, going into my own marriage I knew I had better find out about my in-law's gift-giving practices before the occasions arose. In fact, as Michael and I discussed our credit histories and current financial status soon after our engagement, I inquired about his family's culture of gift-giving (even though I had a feeling I already knew what it was).
Just as I thought. It was completely different from the way my family handled things.
My family gives one gift to each member of the immediate family (now defined to include spouses-in-law and children of siblings) at Christmas. If they have a big one-time life event (i.e. marriage, birth), we give gifts for those occasions too.
For birthdays, we might send a card to immediate family members. We almost always call the birthday person on their big day (except that my brother doesn't usually remember anymore). We never give gifts (except to children). (Although our parents still give us something for our birthdays.)
For the most part, we treat Mother's Day and Father's Day the same way as we do birthdays (card and phone call)...unless we happen to be with them on that occasion and then we'll treat them to lunch or something.
My husband's family does things differently. Gifts are a very big deal. You have to give something, and you will receive something for Christmas and birthdays. Phone calls and cards are optional. Mother's Day and Father's Day also require gifts, cards, and phone calls.
Trying to merge two different gift-giving cultures is not easy. If you make a change to what your family is used to (stop or start giving gifts when you used to give or not give), you will cause waves that will ripple out to everyone in the family.
For example, if out of the blue we gave my brother a birthday gift this year, my sister may feel guilty that she didn't also give a gift to him. Maybe she feels like suddenly she's going to have to start giving him a birthday gift too. He also may feel bad that he never remembers anyone's birthday anymore. And that means we also need to give my sister, sister-in-law, and parents birthday presents too...and they will feel like they need to reciprocate to us. In the interest of fairness, it would also mean that they would have to give each other gifts too.
Likewise, it would be odd if Michael stopped giving gifts to his family for these occasions.
This is my problem with gifts. Even if no one should feel obligated to reciprocate, they do -- we do.
I pondered this situation for several months before we were married. It would start to get really expensive to give gifts to 13 family members for all of these occasions. It wouldn't settle well with my siblings in particular if Michael and I started a new practice of giving everyone birthday gifts. It wouldn't settle well with Michael's family if we quit giving so many gifts. For me, in the interest of fairness, giving extra gifts to one family and not the other was out of the question.
What would we do?!
A few weeks after we returned from the honeymoon I worked on a household budget for married life. (I do the number-crunching and budget-making and then take the results to Michael for approval.) With 13 immediate family members and lots of friends and family who have special occasions, gifts was going to be a significant line item in the budget. But how much? How would we give gifts and keep everyone (and us) happy?
The solution: the 13 close relatives each get a dollar amount assigned to them for the usual gift-giving occasions (birthdays, Christmas, Mother's Day/Father's Day). There are three categories of people: parents, siblings, and children. Everyone in each category gets the same amount budgeted each year. Michael and I decide for our own family members how we want to use that money. The adults in my family don't get birthday gifts, so they have a larger amount for Christmas. Michael divides his allotments up by all of the occasions. So, we spend less on their Christmas gifts, but they do get birthday gifts.
Will it be strange to Michael that I won't give my sister a birthday gift in a few weeks? Yes. But was it unusual to me that he sent his sister-in-law a check (because he couldn't think of an actual gift to give) for her forty-something birthday this past fall, oh yeah! -- especially, since the check was cashed but never otherwise acknowledged.
It's not a perfect system, but nearly 6 months into marriage and many gift-giving occasions behind us, it's working because we are each pretty much happy with it.
What is your gift-giving culture?
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Money Talk: A Financial Course for Women
If you are a woman and live in the Arlington, Virginia area, here's some great news for you: the next Money Talk course is open for registration. (If you don't live in this area, check with your local Cooperative Extension to find out if they will be offering Money Talk near you.)
Several years ago I took this class, and I highly recommend it. I had friends who took it with me. They aren't personal-finance nerds like me, but they got a lot out of it too. Afterwards, I recommended it to another friend who gathered some friends and coworkers and drove in from Fairfax to take the class. (You don't have to be an Arlington resident to take it.) They felt they benefited from it too.
So, here's the scoop:
Money Talk: A Financial Course for Women
Women have unique financial needs. Most will at some time be on their own financially. Some will never marry, some will see their marriages end in divorce, and others will outlive their husbands. This course will provide you with information that you need to take charge of your financial future. The course includes five classes:
February 4 Financial Basics
February 11 Insurance Basics
February 18 Investing Basics
February 25 Investing for Retirement
March 4 Planning for Future Life Events
All classes will be held 7:00-8:45 p.m. at Arlington Central Library (1015 N Quincy Street). Cost: $20 (for the accompanying textbook). Access the registration brochure at: http://info.ag.vt.edu/vce/offices/webinfo/files/Money%20Talk%20Brochure7.pdf or contact: jabel@vt.edu or (703) 228-6417. This is a program of Virginia Cooperative Extension and Arlington Public Libraries.
Here I Am!
Oh wow! I haven't blogged in so long. It's almost been two months. What in the world have I been doing?!
Well...December got really crazy. It mostly had to do with the fact that it was serious gift buying season. I have it noted to blog about it in the future -- now that we are married gift-giving has taken on a new form.
We had to (wanted to) get Christmas gifts for our immediate families -- that includes two sets of parents, two sisters, two brothers, two sisters-in-law, two nephews, and a niece. We also had to (wanted to) give birthday gifts to the niece and nephews at Christmas to avoid shipping charges. (Their birthdays are in November, January, and February.) We also had to give a gift to a sister for her December birthday.
So, we had to think of things to give to all of these people for all of these occasions. And then we -- okay, let's get really -- I had to wrap them all (except for the one Michael was giving to me).
We were also hosting an early Christmas celebration at our house for my parents and sister since we wouldn't see them on Christmas this year. As part of our marriage compromise, we are visiting one family for Thanksgiving and then the opposite one for Christmas. The plan for next year is to swap holidays. We were with my family for Thanksgiving this year, so we had to make other arrangements for celebrating Christmas with them.
It suddenly occurred to me that we -- okay -- I had to do the gift shopping much earlier. So, I had a bit of a last minute scramble, which normally doesn't happen to me. (I tell you in a later post about why I was the primary gift-shopper.)
We left very early on the morning of Christmas Eve for Atlanta to spend the holiday with Michael's family. When we make that long trip (about 11-12 hour drive), we usually stay a few days to make the visit worth the effort and expense. However, Michael wanted to run the Mississippi Blues Marathon in Jackson, MS on January 3. So, we extended this trip -- by a lot.
It was a pretty good idea to combine trips. After all, we were already in the South for Christmas. It made sense to head deeper south from there than from all the way up here in DC. We added in some sight-seeing and family-visiting in Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana. And that made a 13 day trip!
It took a while to prepare for that big excursion. It also took a while to recover...and unpack all of those gifts. Not only did we receive Christmas gifts, but birthday gifts too because Michael is a December baby, and my birthday is in January.
All that, plus we have still been trying to get our house settled since we got married 5 and a half months ago. It's just been hard to keep up with daily life and all of the longer term projects. So, I started cutting things out of my life, including my dearly-beloved blog.
Last week we had a 4-day weekend thanks to MLK, Jr. Day on Monday and Inauguration Day on Tuesday. (Being in DC, January 20th is a holiday for both of our companies every 4 years.) Ever since (a few months ago) I discovered that the calendar was creating this generous holiday weekend, I had been longing for it. Two-day weekends just don't cut it. I always have more things to do than I have time. But with 4 consecutive days off, I got tons -- TONS -- done. And it was great!
Now, I'm not exactly were I'd like to be in terms of my projects. Currently, I have a list of 21 things to work on that don't include daily living (i.e. grocery shopping, meal planning, laundry, cleaning). But I'm going to try a very conservative goal for Save 4 Fun -- writing at least once a week. Eventually, I hope to get back up to speed.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Support Two Causes for One Super Low Price
One of the departments at my office is collecting books to give to an after-school program run by a shelter in Washington, DC. Many of the the children don't speak English at home, so they try to promote literacy during the after school program. They need new and gently used books for children ages 3 to 10.
I love a book drive for "gently used" books because I know just where to get them: the book sale at the public library.
My county's public library system has a nonprofit organization that supports it in a variety of ways...supplementing what they can do with the public funding they receive. I think most/many library systems have similar organizations. In my area, they are called the Friends of the Library.
The Friends of my library have used book sales set up in all of its branches. They sell gently used books, CDs, DVDs, magazines, etc. for super cheap prices. These are items that have either been taken out of circulation or that have been donated to the library but aren't needed for their shelves. They sell children's books for just 50 cents!
With this deal, I can make a donation – to two causes – and stay well within my budget.
It's December and a big time for collections and donations to charities. If you know of a place that needs books, now you know a great place to buy them!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
A Coupon Code Success Story
A good friend and Save 4 Fun reader emailed me yesterday all excited about a deal she got on a baby gift. I do love a bargain, so I thought I'd share it with all of you too. Here's what she wrote:
Just had to tell you about the good deal I got...I was ordering a gift for a neighbor who just had a baby. It's her 2nd son, born in the same season as the 1st, so I didn't want go to the clothes or toy route. So, I thought of a brothers picture frame. I found one that I could personalize with their names. It was on sale online, but shipping was $8.95. geez...so I Goggled for a coupon code for that company, and sure enough there one was for $5.00 off. I never do go hunting for coupon codes on the web, b/c I rarely purchase anything online. I was so excited to save $5! Just thought I'd share my good savings with ya!
Hurrah for searching out a deal on a great gift idea! And this goes to show that you really should hunt for coupon codes before shopping online.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
I Remembered the Coupon I Got Last Year!
Last year when I went to the eye doctor, I read on my receipt about an opportunity to get $20 off of my next purchase if I completed a survey about my experience there. I took the survey and got the coupon. It said it didn't have an expiration date, so I saved it.
I only go to the eye doctor once a year. A year is a long time to keep a coupon. It can also be hard to remember to take it with you after 12 whole months! But I marked it on my calendar, and I remembered to use the coupon. So, I just saved $20. Yippee!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Penny Pinching: Using the Water Saver Line
I have been mindful of my water consumption over the past year as a means of being kind to the environment but also to save money. I have put a half gallon jug of water in each of our toilet tanks to keep at least a little bit of water from going down the drain with each flush. I use water from the dehumidifier to refill the toilet tank after flushing. I also use leftover water in drinking glasses to water the plants.
Our shower water takes a while to heat up. So, another way we save water is to let the water run into a bucket until it is warm enough in which to shower. It's a 10 quart bucket. Depending on a variety of factors (i.e. whether the hot water has been used recently and therefore more quickly ready to go), it may only collect a half gallon or so. Other times the bucket may be completely full by the time the water is at a comfortable temperature. I use that water to refill the toilet tank after flushing too.
We rent a townhouse built in the early 1980s. We aren't in a position to make energy and water saving upgrades that a homeowner could. So, I look for other ways to save. In the case of our toilets, they aren't the new water-efficient models. But I've noticed there are two different fill lines in the toilet tank: the regular one (up at the top) and a lower one marked "water saver line." I couldn't figure out how to make it automatically use the saver line. So, I turned to Google.
I found a great video on ExpertVillage.com with a representative from the City of Santa Barbara's Water Resource Department explaining how to adjust the toilet tank's float to use the water saver line. I made the adjustments on our toilets earlier. It was easy!
So just when I thought I was stretching our water use as much as realistically possible, I found yet another way to save a little more. The adjustment I made today alone should save us about $40 to $50 per year. Again, not huge...but there's no point literally flushing that much down money down the toilet!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Penny Pinching: Slaying the Energy Vampires
One way we have been pinching our pennies a little tighter is by reducing some of the "vampire energy." We have 4 power strips in different parts of the house that we use for electronics that use energy even when they are turned off.
We have one power strip for the computer. The monitor and printer are also plugged into it. If we aren't going to be using the computer for an hour or more, we turn the whole thing off and then flip the power strip to off. If I'm planning to come back to the computer in a short period of time, I'll put it in standby mode.
We have a stereo upstairs and one downstairs. We don't actually use either one very often, so they get power strips too and stay off the majority of the time.
And we also have a power strip for the TV, cable box, and modem. That one we have off unless we are watching TV, are on the Internet, or will be back to use one of those things in a short period of time. So, it goes off at night when we head to bed and stays off all day while we are at work. Because all three of those things have lights/clocks on them that stay on when they are "off," I know for sure they are energy vampires.
I'm not 100% sure how much we are saving on an annual basis with this tip, but based on Good Magazine's chart, it looks like it may be in the ballpark of $100. That's not huge, but I'll take it. Otherwise, it's like tossing a Benjamin right out the window. And who would do that? The only effort it takes is to remember to turn the power strips on and off.
Oh yes, there is the cost of the getting power strips if you don't already have them. Well, the good news is that you can get basic ones for free after rebate at various stores. I think I may have only paid full price for one of our power strips years ago. I got one of the others at Staples free after rebate one year on Black Friday. I've seen them advertised for the same deal periodically throughout the rest of the year too. I got the other two power strips free after rebate at Rite Aid.
Good news if you need a power strip now: the week of Sunday, November 23, Rite Aid has them free after rebate! (Don't forget to shop early if you want one because they sell out of their rebate deals quickly.)
Finally, this is not only a way to save money, but it's saving energy which is environmentally friendly too!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Is It Possible to Pinch Our Pennies Even Tighter?
As you know from reading this blog, I'm a regular saver. I'm always trying to stretch my dollars just a little bit further. I used to love watching the bars on my net worth chart in my financial software program creep higher each month. I felt a sense of accomplishment -- like my penny-pinching was paying off. Now, of course, my net worth chart seems to be plummeting nearly every day. Ugh.
I rationalize that the accounts that are tanking are nearly all for retirement, and we don't need that money for decades. All will be well. However, as this economic problem drags on and seems to get bigger daily, I get a little more concerned about the short term (meaning, our jobs).
We'd be okay for a few months if one of us lost our job. Survival -- paying the monthly bills -- is a slight concern, but it's not overwhelming at this point. But what is irritating is the thought of not being able to saving...of having to use our savings for every day expenses and not for the big dreams and goals we have. I have a great plan all mapped out. However, if the income part of that plan is pulled out in a significant way, it will completely fall apart. After all, we aren't financially independent.
So, over the next few posts I'll tell you about how I'm trying to turn our usual savings up a notch. It's nothing super drastic at this point. But I firmly believe the little things count. They add up to be big savings. We are fortunate in the fact that things are clipping along as usual. Actually, we both recently got raises! But I don't think we should take that for granted. We are staying pretty serious about saving...however, we are also still spending (goodness knows, the economy needs us to spend!). Stay tuned to find out where and how I'm tightening the belt a little more.
If you are doing the same, let me know. I'm always looking for new ideas!
Monday, November 17, 2008
I Would Spend an Extra $100 Bucks
I was reading Clever Dude's blog today and saw a guest post by Donnie Gamble entitled What Would You Do with an Extra $100 Bucks? He is suggesting that you should invest it wisely - save it. What would you do with it?
I know what I'd do with "found money" - put it in our Travel Fund. I guess that is saving for the short term, albeit "very" short term. (We are usually going on a trip at least every 6 months if not sooner.) In fact, we're putting our "extra" income (i.e. Craig's List and yard sale profits, credit card cash-back rewards, etc.) in the travel budget now.
So, why do we do spend it on travel rather than save it for the long term or put it towards paying down debt? Well, our budget is set up so that we are plowing quite a bit towards long term savings goals as well as retirement of debt. But we still want to do fun stuff -- but that means we have to come up with extra cash.
We do have a small amount ($100 per month) in the budget for travel expenses, but the two of us won't get too far on $1200 for the year. Mind you, that money is supposed to cover everything from transportation (gas for the car, airline tickets, etc.) and food to attractions and lodging. Even using a travel budget and a lot of cost saving measures, one of our long weekends for a marathon can run (no pun intended!) several hundred dollars to more than $1000, if we are flying.
So, we use extra money to fund traveling, which we love to do. It makes us work harder to find those bonus dollars. It also helps us keep our main savings goals as the priorities with much larger amounts budgeted for them than for travel. So, I don't find putting found money towards fun stuff to be frivolous at all.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Upselling to Craig's List Customers
A major tenet of sales is upselling. That's when you try to get someone to upgrade or add additional purchases to what they were already intending to buy. I've tried it with some of my sales on Craig's List, and it's worked!
As we've been working on organizing our new "married" home, Michael and I have had to part with a fair amount of excess stuff. Some of it has gone to Goodwill or Freecycle. We've sold some of it at yard sales. And I'm trying to sell other things on Craig's List.
On Craig's List, I've put a keyword at the bottom of all of the postings for like items. Rather than telling the reader to search for that keyword, I've made a hyperlink. Let me give you an example...
We have 30 hardback and paperback novels to sell. I sorted them by author and made a separate post for each group. For the ones where we only had one or two by a particular writer, I grouped all of them together to make a posting for "assorted authors." I priced each book individually and then by lot (post) at a slightly reduced rate. So, three hardbacks by David Baldacci are $2.00 each or $5.00 for all three. Three hardbacks by John Grisham are priced the same but are listed in a different posting. Individual listings make it easy for someone looking for books by one particular author.
At the bottom of each posting I listed a keyword like "Books2008." Then, I do a search on Craig's List for that keyword. I use that URL and make a hyperlink in my posting. So, in each ad I end with "Click here to see the other books we have for sale." It makes it super easy for shoppers to find all of the similar items I have for sale. If they are interested in David Baldacci books, maybe they'd consider buying our other ones by John Grisham too. Maybe finding several items that interest them will make it worth their while to contact us and make the purchase.
When someone contacts me about buying an item we have for sale on Craig's List, I like to include the links to other like items that we have for sale in my email response to them. They may have already seen them online, but I want to make sure they have an opportunity to consider buying anything and everything that we have for sale. Also, if they come to my house to make the purchase, I will set out other items that we have for sale that might interest a buyer. If they see the things in person, they may be more likely to buy them.
These upselling techniques have worked. Just yesterday I sold 18 of our books. I initially had 25 of the 30 books posted on Craig's List. Someone emailed, interested in buying 13 of them. A few days ago, we set up a time to meet on Saturday afternoon at a Metro station. In the meantime, Michael gave me 5 more books to sell. So, on Thurday I emailed the buyer and sent her the link to additional books we were offering. She decided that she'd like to have those too. So, instead of getting rid of 13 books for $18, we freed our house of 18 books and added $22 to our Travel Fund (where we put all of our Craig's List proceeds)!
In September when I had some leftover wedding decorations to sell, a bride-to-be came to make a $5 purchase. When I invited her to make the purchase, I had all of our items setting out on the dining room table. The display actually looked quite nice. I told her that everything was for sale. I gave her suggestions on how she could use the items. It worked! Instead of spending $5, she spent $18.
Upselling and being a friendly, helpful salesperson will bring more cash in for your unwanted stuff just like they would in a retail store.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Free Tomatoes from Del Monte
If you are one of the first 50,000 people to respond to this offer on Del Monte's website (in the bottom right corner), you'll receive a coupon in the mail for a free can of Del Monte No Salt Added Diced Tomatoes! I just requested mine this evening, and it said they'll mail the coupon to me 4 to 6 weeks after the offer ends (April 30, 2009). As a consolation prize, they will give you a 50-cents-off coupon if they've given away all of the coupons for the free can.
Of course, there is a catch. You do have to sign up for Del Monte's monthly e-newsletter called The Dish. Actually, I found out about the offer through that newsletter because I was already receiving it.
I do try to at least scan all of those marketing newsletters that fill my inbox. They do often have news about special offers, coupons, freebies, etc. But I learned several years ago to have e-newsletters sent to an email account separate from my regular email. I actually check that email box as often as I do my regular email, but at least the messages are separated. It keeps my virtual mail more organized. And if I don't have the time or desire to read my "junk" mail, I can just quickly delete everything in that inbox.
If you haven't already set up a special email account to use whenever you register for something that requires an email address, do it now. Do it before you take advantage of this Del Monte offer. Get a free email account from Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail, etc. Then, you can take advantage of special offers from companies like Del Monte without filling your regular inbox with spam.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
What Social Security Means to You
I just got my latest statement from Social Security in the mail yesterday. Commissioner Michael J. Astrue wrote the cover article entitled What Social Security Means to You. In a nutshell for me, the answer seems to be"not much" unless something changes.
My full retirement age is 67 years old. That is in 2043. However, Commissioner Astrue wrote in his letter that, "Without changes, by 2041 the Social Security Trust Fund will be exhausted and there will be enough money to pay only about 78 cents for each dollar of scheduled benefits."
I'm not 100% sure what that means. "Exhausted" sounds like it will be out of money, but "78 cents for each dollar of scheduled benefits" sounds like I just won't get the full amount the statement is telling me that I'm eligible to receive when I'm 67.
Actually, inside the statement it has an asterisk by my estimated retirement benefit amount. Down below, it says, "Your estimated benefits are based on current law. Congress has made changes to the law in the past and can do so at any time. The law governing benefit amounts may change because, by 2041, the payroll taxes collected will be enough to pay only about 78 percent of scheduled benefits." That makes it sound like I could get something. But I'm still missing the full benefit by 2 years!
Either way, I'm not counting on it. I think of any money I will collect from Social Security at retirement as my bonus money. I've never been in a job that has paid a bonus, so that will be really nice -- to be retired and receive a bonus!
Commissioner Astrue also wrote in the statement that, "Social Security is the largest source of income for most elderly Americans today, but Social Security was never intended to be your only source of income when you retire. You also will need other savings, investments, pensions or retirement accounts to make sure you have enough money to live comfortably when you retire." I believe that, and I'm acting on it -- socking away as much as we can for retirement.
It is frustrating when I think of all of the things I want/need to do with my money. There's just not enough to make everything happen perfectly...and that's for a relatively simple life. But there's one thing I know for sure: I want to be able to retire and live comfortably during retirement. So, I'll keep saving for it.
In the meantime, I'm off to the grocery store and Target now with my list of sale items and coupons. I'm continue to pinch my pennies pretty hard in order to stretch them further. I want to meet as many of my financial goals as possible...with lots of effort, hopefully I will.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
You've Gotta Love Free Underwear
Over the past couple of years Victoria's Secret has been sending Michael a coupon for a pair of their VS cotton panties. Thankfully (for many reasons!) he always passes them on to me. I've gotten 3 pairs of underwear so far, which is a retail value of $22.50. No purchase is necessary to get the free undies either. They are truly free.
Michael has no idea why he gets these coupons because he's never purchased anything from Victoria's Secret. They don't have him on their catalogue mailing list -- just for coupons. I think I've gotten one of those coupons over the past 6 or 7 years, and I've even purchased things from VS. It seems like they should send me more coupons. That's okay; I still benefit from the ones he gets.
Since we've gotten married, Michael has moved to where I had been living with my sister. He did a change of address with the post office, but I didn't think junk mail followed you. Well, a free underwear coupon really isn't junk, but I would think in the eyes of the USPS it might be. But good news Victoria's Secret found out his new address! Michael got another free panty coupon in the mail yesterday! I'll be heading to the store soon so they don't run out of my size before I get my pair.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
A Sign of the Times
My sister, a regular gym-goer, always complains how busy the gym gets in January and the early part of February. Folks have obviously made their New Year's resolutions to get fit/lose weight, and they pack the work-out facilities. By the end of February and into March, as folks start breaking their resolutions, attendance starts to peter out and just the die-hards remain.
It appears that this downturn in the economy has made people start their resolutions now to cut back on expenses even though January is still 2 months away. Like those exercise-resolution-makers who pack the gym, people who have resolved to save lately are packing my Rite Aid drug store at 7 AM on Sundays!
In the past 3 weeks, I've been in town -- and at Rite Aid -- on two Sunday mornings. Rite Aid has had some great deals, many of which are free after rebate. I've learned over the past 3 or 4 years of being serious about sales, rebates, and coupons that you do have to get to the store early to ensure you'll get items you want. The best deals go fast.
A Rite Aid that's not too far from my house opens at 7 AM on Sundays. Knowing there really is no other fool who is going to be there at that hour on a Sunday, I drag myself out of bed and swoop in to get my pick of everything during the first minutes of that week's sale. I may run into one or maybe two other people -- usually a senior citizen buying a newspaper -- but I rarely see anyone honing in on the sale and rebate items like me...until recently.
Three weeks ago there were so many people there after the rebate items that I thought it was Black Friday! I couldn't believe it! This past Sunday there was similar crowd. Now the store wasn't really packed, but usually it's just me. Now I have 4 to 6 fellow early-bird deal-finders.
Then on Sunday afternoon, I read an article in the business section of the Washington Post about Snipping, Clipping, Scrimping. Apparently, it is a sign of the economic times.
It's hard to say when, but the economy will one day get back on track. I wonder if people will continue going after the sales, rebates, and coupons -- continue saving money -- after the stock market works itself out. Or will they fall off the bandwagon like so many of the exercise New Year's resolution people at my sister's gym?
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Traveling with a Budget
Believe it or not, I've never been too good with a budget. I think I'm too much of a literal thinker to make it work. Variable expenses (i.e. electric bill, water bill) frustrate me. It's high one month and low another month. Even grocery shopping is like that. Sometimes I want to stock up on a sale item, but that puts me over budget. I understand the concept. I've even had others explain it to me. But it's just never worked for me.
However, there is one budget that I actually like: our travel budget.
My husband and I take 2 to 4 trips a year for him to run marathons. He has a goal to run one in every state! It's a great way to see the country. This past Saturday, he just completed his 24th marathon (23 states plus DC). This time we were in Newport, RI. He only has a handful of states left east of the Mississippi, which means the cost of these ventures is going to start to really increase (when we add in airfare for two). But marathon trips are our "thing," and we have written the expense into our monthly savings plan.
We put a small amount of our paychecks toward our Travel Fund. Then, we beef it up with a variety of other sources (i.e. proceeds from yard sales/Craig's List sales, credit card cash back bonuses, savings account interest). It's a really good plan.
Then, before a trip, we think about all of the things we want to do while we are gone. We include budget line items for lodging, gas, tolls, airfare, car rental, food, admission fees to attractions, souvenirs, race entry fee, etc. Of course, I have a spreadsheet for our travel budget. I print it out, fill in the actual spending as we go and track our progress.
Thanks to a drop in gas prices, we did extremely well with our budget on our trip to Newport. We are leaving the leftover money from this trip in our savings account to put towards a future trip. Maybe this kind of budget works for me because it's over just a short period of time...
The budget actually helped us "live large" on this most recent trip without feeling guilty. I think it's because we had a complete understanding of what we spent and what we still had.
Michael's treat after a marathon is always a big steak dinner. This post-race celebration was no different. However, we were in the Ocean State, so we had to get some seafood too. We went for the $35 surf and turf -- filet minon and half of a lobster! We budgeted a decent amount for the steak dinner, but our big dinner choice put us $15 over the limit. No problem! We knew we still had money in the budget. We weren't looking to use up every penny just because it was there. However, this was a great way to treat ourselves -- guilt-free! And what a great dinner it was!
