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Tuesday’s Tip: Take the Roadmap Challenge (Part 2)

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Well, it’s been a week since I introduced the first part of the challenge. Did you try it? How did it go? Did you notice anything about your spending habits? Were you surprised by anything? Many times we’re shocked by how much we spend. We don’t realize that those ‘little things’, the inexpensive items we buy on a whim, can actually add up to quite a bit when it happens on a regular basis. Think about what you saved in one week – and now imagine that on a slightly grander scale . . .

Which leads me to the next part of the challenge, in three steps.

Step 1: Take a good, hard look at your expense log from the past week. Is there anything you could stand to cut back on or do without? (Answer HONESTLY!!!) You may find that there are a couple of things on your list. That’s ok.

Step 2: Pick just ONE thing on your list and cut it out for the next 30 days. April 1 – 30. One month.

Step 3: Keep track of how much you save over the course of the next month.

I’m not asking you to give up every extra expense, just one. Pick one that’s the most frequent purchase. Or maybe one that’s the most unhealthy. Or the most expensive one. Whichever one you pick, do without it for the next month. On April 30, take the amount of money you saved and multiply it by 12 to see how much you can save in a year. Then ask yourself, What else could I do with that money? Pay down debt? Make an extra payment on something?? Pay something off???

Once you’ve done that, contact me and let me know what you cut out of your spending, how much you saved in a month, how much you’d save in a year, and what you learned from the experience. If you do, you’ll be entered into the contest and you could win a FREE consultation with me. You’ll get the Money Roadmap package which includes my book, a binder, and ledger paper, plus I will help you set up your own Roadmap and teach you how to use it.

There it is. The Roadmap Challenge. Try it. What do you have to lose? More importantly, what could you gain with good money management??

Good luck! I know you can do it! I can’t wait to hear from you!

Today is April 1st. Ready . . . set . . . GO!

Tuesday’s Tip: Take the Roadmap Challenge (Part 1)

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Ah, Spring! Aren’t you excited? More sunshine. Longer days. Warmer weather . . . ok, I choked on that one, too. (For those of us living in the Chicago area, we’re still waiting for that last one!) But still, when I think of Spring, I think of trees budding, flowers blooming, grass greening, and I’m filled with a sense of renewal. That’s what Spring is all about, isn’t it? Things beginning anew. Fresh starts. And . . .

SPRING CLEANING!!!

When I say that, most people think of the mile-long “Honey, Do” list taunting them from the fridge door: cleaning out the closets, going through the stuff in the garage, and washing windows, to name a few. But I’m talking about cleaning in a more financial way. The concept is the same though . . . go through your stuff, keep what’s necessary, and get rid of the rest. Think of it as clearing up and reorganizing your finances.

Over the years, I’ve had many people ask me what they could do to accomplish that particular goal and my answer is always the same: Grab a pencil and paper and keep track of all the money you spend in a month, then sit down, take a very close look at it to figure out where your money is going, and determine what you need and what you can do without. (Coincidentally, it’s one of the first steps outlined in my book!!) Most of the time, the reaction is the same – jaws drop to the floor.

“A whole month?” they ask.

“Yes. A whole month,” I reply.

“That’s a really long time,” they complain.

“Yes, it is,” I say, “But it’ll give you a solid picture of where all your money is going.”

“And we have to write down ALL of it?” they ask.

“Yes. ALL of it. Every dime. Bills, credit cards, EVERYTHING you buy in CASH. ALL of it.”

Again, jaws drop to the floor. What I’ve found, however, is that everyone who was truly serious about taking control of their finances followed my advice and were astonished by what they learned at the end of that month. They also learned that, by doing away with some of the extraneous items they didn’t realize were emptying their wallets and bank accounts, they were able to save quite a bit of money. In some cases, hundreds of dollars a month. Some people even told me that after just one or two weeks of tracking their expenses, they could easily see which unnecessary items they could cut back on, or cut out completely.

Don’t believe me? Ok. Let’s consider my friend, “Lucy”, who once told me that she’s addicted to a mocha coffee concoction and has to have it every morning on her way to work. She says she wants to get a good jolt to start her day, so she orders a large. Ok. With tax, she pays $3.58. Multiply that by 5 work days. That comes to $17.90 per week. Multiply that by, say, 49 actual work weeks in a year. The total now becomes $877.10 per year. Hmm . . . I can think of a few things that I’d rather do with $877 than drink coffee . . .

Still don’t think that makes a difference? Ok. Try this one on for size. Let’s say you go out to eat two times per week. For the sake of making it easier to calculate, let’s estimate that you spend about $50 per week. $50 multiplied by 52 weeks comes to $2600 per year. I suppose if you really want to get goofy, imagine you get a mocha coffee every day AND go out to eat twice a week . . . that’s almost $3500 per year that could go toward something else. And that’s just for two people. What about a family of 3? 4? 5? It boggles the mind.

So, here’s my challenge to you: Track your extra expenses for the next week and calculate how much money you could save per month and per year by cutting back or cutting them out. I’m not even talking about bills. I’m talking about those extra things you put on your credit card or things you pay for in cash. Those dinners out. Those lattes in the morning on the way to work. Movies. Drinks with friends every weekend. Try to focus on the extra little things that you pay for fairly often. Is there a habit forming?

Now think: What would happen if you went 30 days without them? Would it make a difference in your finances? Are you willing to find out?

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Roadmap Challenge . . .

Tuesday’s Tip: Break the Bad

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Everywhere I go, I hear new year’s resolutions being flung around as freely as candy from a parade float. People are vowing to make changes to better themselves, their lives, their communities, and even the world. However, the most common goal, by far, was to lead a healthier lifestyle, which encompasses a multitude of different options ranging from losing weight to exercising more to breaking bad habits. And that got me thinking . . .

Breaking a bad habit is tough to do. I know, first hand, how hard it is, but I also know how wonderful it feels to be successful – in more ways than one. I confess that I used to smoke. (There it is, folks.) I tried to quit several times, but always seemed to give in eventually. I was smoke-free for quite a long time before having kids and during my pregnancy, then started again when they were about 6 or 7 months old. It was easy to blame it on stress, of course. Then, when they were almost 2, I finally managed to quit altogether and have been rid of the habit for over ten years. Don’t get me wrong, there are days I seriously wonder why the heck I ever quit! Then I think about all the progress I’ve made as a runner, how much I love it, and how smoking would completely ruin it, and I decide it’s not worth it. So, you could say that I’m enjoying the health benefits of being a non-smoker.

Just recently, I noticed a sign at the corner gas station advertising a sale on cigarettes: $6.85 per pack. Wow! I couldn’t believe it. That’s a lot more than I used to spend over a decade ago. And that got me thinking about the cost of being a smoker now. What would I be paying if I were still smoking? When I got home, I grabbed a calculator and did a little experiment to find out the financial benefit of not smoking. I know the cost per pack varies depending on location, but I live in the Chicago suburbs, so I’m going to use the average for this area, which is about $7.50. Ok. Let’s see. I used to smoke about 10 cigarettes per day. That means it would cost me $3.75 per day . . . times 365 days . . . that comes to $1,368.75 per year. If I smoked a pack a day, then the cost rises to $2,737.50 per year. Really? I was amazed at the numbers starting at me from the calculator. I instantly thought of a few things I could do with an extra $2,700 per year. Then, just for kicks, I multiplied that number by 5 . . . $13,687.50 saved in 5 years. Holy cow! Then I took one step closer to ridiculous and calculated the savings for 10 years. I nearly fell off my chair! $27,375. Amazing! Do you know how much house you could pay off with that money? Or you could buy a nice little car! You could save it for a rainy day . . . or college . . . grad school . . . vacations . . . retirement . . . The list goes on and on.

And what about other costly habits? I could think of a couple. How much could people be saving by kicking those bad boys to the curb? They don’t even necessarily need to be bad for you, like smoking was, for me. What about that iced coffee on the way to work everyday? Or eating out for lunch everyday? Or even twice a week? How about takeout dinners? Shopping every weekend? Blah, ba-blah, ba-blah . . . Please understand that I’m not suggesting we all become hermits, eat ramen and rice for the rest of our lives, deprive ourselves of things we need, and never do anything fun – we gotta live, right?! The trick is to be sensible about it.

Moral of the story: breaking a bad habit, or any habit that drains your pocketbook, could potentially save you more money than you think. Don’t believe me? Pick a habit . . . do the math. See what happens. The truth lies in the numbers. Cutting out a habit, or at least scaling way back, could mean some serious extra cash in our pockets. I don’t know about you, but I like that!

Tuesday’s Tip: Invest in Your Kids

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In this week’s installment of ‘what to do with your tax refund’, I’d like to suggest that you invest in your children. Invest in their futures. “You mean, like, save for college?” Well, yes. And no. There’s more than one way to give your kids a helping hand. Even if you don’t have kids, but will, keep these thoughts in mind for future reference.

If you have visions of sending your kids off to college someday, you may want to consider a higher education savings program. And by ‘higher education’, I mean anything beyond high school. There are several options out there, and that can get pretty confusing, so it’s best to chat with a professional who can sort it all out for you and help you decide which way to go. Every investment firm has people to help you, or you can ask a friend or colleague to recommend one. I’ll be going into a little more depth about these options at a later date, but for all intents and purposes, today, I’m just trying to plant a few seeds for you. One word of advice though . . . start as soon as you can and then stick with it. Or start with your refund and do what you can when you can. Every little bit helps.

Another way to invest in your kids is to get them involved. Use the refund money to pay for music lessons or to learn a sport. Both activities teach kids how to be valuable members of a group, develop fine motor skills, and improve self-confidence. Sports help kids maintain healthy lifestyles and weight, and studies have shown that kids involved in music do better in school. So, not only will your kids be active and engaged, but the skills they’ll learn will teach them discipline, cooperation, and that hard work pays off. Who knows, their talents may even help them into college, if that’s their dream.

If your child is completely against music or sports, there are other options to pursue. There are classes they can enroll in through libraries, park districts, and even local community colleges. If your child has a talent for creating delicious meals, then try a junior chef class. If he or she has a knack for computers, there are many classes that focus on things from program or gaming design to architecture. And if your kid loves photography, try one of those. The possibilities are nearly endless. Talk with your children about what interests them and move forward from there. There are lots of inexpensive options if you spend a little time doing some research.

I could go on and on about the benefits of getting kids involved in all kinds of activities, but I’ll save that for another time, maybe. But for now, I’ll just make the humble suggestion of putting your tax refund to good use by using it to pave the way to self-discovery and to help build their futures . . . whatever they may be.

Tuesday’s Tip: Set Up Camp

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I don’t know about you, but Cabin Fever has crept into our house and settled in. It’s cold and dreary outside, with no snow to play in, and it’s making us nuts. Ugh! We were discussing that very thing at dinner and how much we wished for warmer weather when it dawned on me . . . and I said to my family, “You know, camping season is less than two months away.”

The kids gasped, exchanged wild glances (mouths gaping), and began to cheer. This is exciting stuff for us. Truly. Some may understand and agree, while others may crinkle their noses and think ‘ewww’. The images that are conjured up in the mind include mosquitoes, big bugs, campfire smell, getting dirty, and public bathrooms. But for us, it means summer. It means travel and freedom. It means campfires and s’mores. It means swimming, fishing, and being outside. It means grilling, picnics, and hayrack rides. It means hiking, exploring, and a host of other fantastic adventures. And we can’t wait for it to start . . .

So, how is this related to saving money? Easy. Camping is less expensive than typical vacations. In most cases, there is an initial investment to consider, however the long-term benefits are phenomenal, especially when you consider the cost of lodging. Depending on where you camp, fees can be as low as $10 per night. The more amenities there are, the higher the price, but we’ve never paid more than $30 per night – anywhere. Good luck finding a hotel room for those prices! If you’d like to give camping a try, here are a few tips to keep expenses to a minimum.

First of all, keep in mind that you’ll be taking your stuff with you and hauling it back home afterward, so you’ll need to pack lightly. Take only what you absolutely need. Pack minimal personal items, like clothing and a few toiletries. Pack a couple of travel-sized games or cards and a book. These are all things you probably have at home, so no need to buy anything. If you’re going for just a night or two, bring your food with you, but make sure you plan easy meals. Nothing elaborate. You’re camping, not ‘dining’.

Second, if you don’t have any gear whatsoever, you have a couple of options. You can purchase the basics, like a few pots and pans, at discount stores or simply bring what you need from your own kitchen, especially if you’re testing the camping waters. Also, use paper plates and plastic utensils and cups to make clean-up quick and easy. Plus, they’re cheap, lightweight, and easy to store. And chances are that you already have a sleeping bag hidden in a closet somewhere, so you’re halfway there.

Third, if you are new to camping and don’t have a tent, borrow one if you can. Most of us know someone who camps, so it’s not that difficult to track one down. If, however, you absolutely can’t stand (or can’t physically handle) sleeping on or near the ground, you can go the camper route. Many campgrounds and dealerships rent various types of campers from pop-ups to 5th wheels to luxury busses. If you know someone with a camper, try offering to rent theirs, or ask if you can go camping with them to see if it suits you. (Camping is always fun with more than one family!)

Finally, make sure you research different campgrounds. Compare campsites, prices, and amenities. There’s a difference in price for primitive vs. water & electric vs. full hook-up. Also, some campgrounds have all kinds of things like pools, tennis and basketball courts, mini-golf, horseshoe pits, hayrack rides, outdoor movies and games for the whole family – but beware! Some places include many of these items in the price, and others charge extra for just about everything.

Really, though, the trick to camping of any kind is to keep it simple. Take what you need. If it doesn’t fit in the backpack, leave it behind. You’re not going to need your phone, fax, and copier. Or your surround sound system. Disconnect! It’s easy to get caught up in the complexities of life and we think we can’t live without all of our gadgets, toys, and gizmos, but the reality is that camping is an inexpensive way to bring us together and enjoy all the simple things in life that we’ve forgotten. The warmth of a blazing campfire, the sweetness of a gooey marshmallow, the glow of the morning sun on a still lake, the giggles of kids playing tag, or the songs we sing on a sunset hayrack ride . . .

Campin’ season’s a comin’!

Tuesday’s Tip: Cook

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As you may have noticed, there’s a slight trend with my last couple of posts. They all have to do with food! So, I figured I’d continue the food theme and give you one more money-saving tip: COOK! I know it’s tough to work all day and then have to come home and cook, but it can be done and here are a few reasons why you should consider home cooking more often . . .

First, and foremost, it’s much less expensive than take-out or going to a restaurant for dinner. For example, at a popular restaurant (that shall not be named) I priced a fairly simple dinner. Chicken Caesar Salad for an entrée ($9.90), a non-alcoholic beverage ($2.30), and treated myself to a chocolate shake for dessert ($4). (I know the shake completely contradicts the salad, but go with me on this one. It’s hypothetical.) That’s $16.20. With tax and tip, this meal costs around $20. Just for one person! I just happened to make Chicken Caesar-ish Salad for dinner tonight, at home – with my family. I used Romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, big croutons, baby carrots, chicken breast strips (sautéed in olive oil, with basil, marjoram, and a squeeze of lime!), a few sprinkles of Parmesan, and drizzled Ranch dressing on it. For dessert, we had pudding parfait. Even with overestimating the cost of the ingredients, the total came to about $10 . . . for the entire family. Divide by 5. That’s $2 per person. So . . . $20 . . . or $2? Hmmm . . .

Second, cooking at home gives you much more control over what goes into the meal. If you’re aiming for healthier eating, the experts say you should eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Thankfully, those are fairly inexpensive to buy. (It’s the meat, pork, or poultry that jacks up the cost of any meal – especially when you’re dining out.) Not everything is in season all year, obviously, but you can change up your menu throughout the year by getting the items that are in season and on sale. You can also add or omit flavorings, spices, etc. based on your own tastes or needs instead of hoping the cook behind the counter doesn’t dump half a cup of salt on your fries. As chef, you have total control.

Finally, making meals that can be eaten as leftovers, or frozen, can help lower your food costs by spreading it out over more than one night. For example, I’ll make something like lasagna (from scratch!) and freeze half of it for another time. It makes for a quick, home-cooked fix when you’re short on time. Other great multiple night meals include homemade soups, spaghetti, pizza, Mexican, and even roasts or turkey. I knew a gal who used to cook meals for a whole week on the weekend, then freeze them. She didn’t have to worry about cooking during the week – she just grabbed something and heated it up. A real time-saver!

I know it’s much easier to hop in the car and have someone else cook for you, but if you think about the time it takes to get there, be seated, order, wait, then eat, pay, and drive back home, you could’ve cooked, eaten, cleaned up, and be on to the next activity – even if that’s lounging in your favorite chair. Who knows, by cooking at home you may discover your inner chef . . . or have fun with your family. And if you have kids, it teaches them some valuable lessons they can take with them when they’re on their own.

Tuesday’s Tip: Master Your Menu

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Last week I wrote about including all your family members in the menu-making process. It not only helps you plan for the week, but also aids in eliminating the moaning and groaning that may drive you completely insane. This week, I’d like to expand on that topic a bit and show you how planning a menu in advance can save you money in a couple of different ways . . .

First, creating a menu for the week will give you the building blocks for an efficient shopping list. When you come up with a menu, you can then make a shopping list that includes everything you need to make the meals. To begin, you’ll need to see what you already have in your cupboard, fridge, or freezer. For example, I keep things like pasta, tomato paste, canned tomatoes, rice, beans, cooking soups (you know, cream of chicken, etc.), bread crumbs, oils, broth, frozen and/or fresh veggies, spices, and the like on hand all the time. I buy these kinds of staples when they’re on sale, or when I have coupons, and they’re there whenever I need them. But these items are also common in lots of recipes, so it’s easy to base your menus on them as well. I even buy things like beef, pork, or chicken when they’re on sale, then freeze them for later use. Next, you’ll write down whatever you need to buy at the store. By doing this, you’ll cut down on extra trips to the store because you forgot something while you were there the first time. This saves more money than you think, because you may go to the store “for just a couple things”, but you almost always leave with more than what you went for in the first place. (You know it’s true . . .)

Second, having a complete shopping list cuts down on extra spending by cutting down on impulse buying. Grocery stores play the soothing music and count on you to take your time perusing the shelves, meandering up and down every aisle, and picking up more than you really need. The key is to have a list that is complete so that you can get what you need and get out without spending an arm and a leg. I’m not saying that you’ll never make that extra trip, but you’ll make them a lot less often. By only buying what you need, plus reducing the number of times you make extra trips to the store, you save a lot of money. Make sure you know which aisles to navigate, then skip the ones you don’t need to visit, and voila! – you’ll smile when you see the total savings on your receipt!

So there you have it. One of my little secrets to saving money on groceries. I recently told my sister about it, and she laughed, telling me that I was “so completely organized it’s unbelievable”. Well, I can’t afford NOT to be organized and shopper savvy. LOL 😉

Oh! And if you want to save even more money . . . have a snack or a meal before you go to the grocery store so that you’re not hungry when you’re looking at all that luscious food! Confession: I once looked at register receipts from two trips to the store – one when I was hungry and one when I wasn’t – and was completely flabbergasted to find that I’d spent almost $60 more than I needed to just because I was hungry! Oh, ugh!

Tuesday’s Tip: Muffle the Menu Moaning

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Too much whine with dinner? Tired of “What’s for dinner?” and the groaning that accompanies your response? Or have you gone completely insane trying to please everyone by making a few different things each night? Ugh. There’s a better way, my friend. A better way . . .

When I was growing up there were two options for dinner: Take it or Leave it.

Yeah . . . that didn’t work in my house.

So, I came up with a different plan: I asked my family what they wanted to eat.

I will admit, dinner in our house used to be a stressful power struggle. I hated dinnertime. Nothing I cooked made anyone happy. That is, until I began including everyone in planning the meals. Thankfully, our kids like vegetables and fruit, plus all the other stuff that most everyone likes – and even a few things out of the ordinary. So when I asked them for meal ideas, they all chimed in with their favorites. Over the past few years or so, they’ve taken an active part in planning dinners for the upcoming week and we posted the menu on a whiteboard attached to our fridge so that everyone could see it. I’ve also taken some time to peruse the 100 unused cookbooks in my cabinet and proposed some different things based on what they enjoy. Some were added to the ‘favorites’ list, others weren’t. But we encouraged our kids to at least try something new and they ended up developing a taste for some interesting recipes . . . and dinnertime has become much more harmonious.

So, if you’re looking to remove some of the stress and aggravation from family meals, try asking your family what they would like to eat. Put the plate in front the them and ask them to fill it. In doing so, you’re not only taking some of the pressure off of yourself by having to create the menu all the time, but you’re taking away their opportunity to complain. If they choose what to eat, then they can’t complain about what’s being served.

Tuesday’s Tip: Holiday Feasts

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One of my favorite things to do during the holidays is EAT! I make meals or goodies that I don’t normally make . . . friends and family do the same . . . and whenever we get together to celebrate the holidays, sometimes we end up acting more like grazing cows than humans. Don’t get me wrong. Our family Christmas feast is a full-on, sit-down, stuff-your-face event with all of our favorite foods. But other social gatherings offer a help-yourself-as-many-times-as-you-can selection of foods and before you know it, you’ve filled your plate five times in one evening. Oh well. It doesn’t happen very often, right? Right?!

So, what does eating have to do with saving money? Well, as anyone can tell you, preparing for a holiday feast can get pretty expensive, not to mention stressful, especially if it’s left up to one or two people. Everyone knows someone who insists on taking care of absolutely everything, while others don’t seem to mind letting everyone else do all the work. So, for those of us that fall somewhere in the middle, it helps to share the responsibilities of preparing the meal. If you’d like to try divvying up all the work among family or friends, but don’t know exactly how to go about doing it, here are a couple of strategies that might work for you.

First, let each family or guest make their own favorite dish or two to bring to the table. Or, if you’re like my family and you already know who-likes-what, simply count up the number of different favorites and then split them up evenly among everyone. Then again, there’s my dad who insists on buying the shrimp, but doesn’t want to cook it! LOL (Love you, Dad!)

Second, try letting each family pick a part of a multi-course meal: appetizer, main dish, dessert, or drinks. For example, we have something called “Neighbor Night” and four families get together on a somewhat regular basis. Well, at least we try. And we’ve agreed to rotate responsibilities whenever we get together. For instance, whoever is hosting the party at their house provides all the drinks. The other three families then supply the rest, and it changes with every party. That way no one is stuck with the same thing every time.

With the economy the way it is right now, I don’t know too many people who can foot the entire bill on a huge holiday gathering. But then again there’s just something fun, exciting, and comforting about sharing a meal with the people we love and sharing our favorite things with them all. It’s not only easier on the wallet, but also less stressful knowing it’s not all on our shoulders. And who knows, you just might discover something new about yourself, your family, friends, and oh yeah . . . food!

Yum!