One of the most common things we hear in the computer repair shop that I work part-time in is that the computer has crashed, and could we please make sure to get the data off of the hard drive before we reinstall windows.  And, the first question we always ask is, “do you have your data backed up?”  I probably don’t have to tell you what the common answer is to that question.

Many computer users assume that backing up their data is expensive.  We see advertisements for services that cost $40-$50 a month, and for external hard drive solutions that are several hundred dollars.  But, keeping your data safe, doesn’t have to be expensive.  In fact, I’ve got all my important data backed up, and I spend less than $50 a year.  It’s not because I have some inside information, or get favors from tech companies.  You can do it too.  And, if you value your data at all, you should.

This is the set-up I currently use.

Picture Backup

Pictures are one of the top two things that people are concerned about losing when they bring their computers in.  Unfortunately, pictures are also the largest files that you’ll likely have to backup and store.  If you take a lot, you can have Gigabytes of pictures that will need to be backed up. In my set-up, I pay for a full membership to photo sharing site, Flickr.  It’s about $26 a year, and allows for unlimited uploading to the site.  The pictures are then stored on Flickr’s server, and I can get to them whenever I want.  I should note that this isn’t the most elegant solution, as I would have to download the images one-by-one if I wanted to restore them to my local PC.  I’ll go over some more efficient services at the end, but you’ll likely have to spend more money to use them.

Data Backup

For any files that are important, besides pictures, I use a service called Dropbox.  Their basic plan is free, but limits you to 2GB of data storage.  Because I backup my photos elsewhere, I’m able to store everything else that is important with them, and keep the free account.  After several years of using it, I am getting close to the 2GB max, so I may have to upgrade to the next plan up soon.  The first paid plan allows for 50GB, and is only $9.99 a month, so I don’t think I’d ever have to go above that plan.  I should also note, here, that if you have a very large music collection on your computer that you’d like to backup, you’ll likely have to look at a paid plan.

Other options for data backup

There are several other options that you could use for data backup.  The aforementioned external hard drives can be super easy to use.  One drawback to using one, however, is that the data is still physically located in the same place as the PC you’re backing up.  That’s fine if you only need to restore because of PC failure, but can be a disaster if you have to restore due to something like a fire or flood.  Ideally, external hard drives that are used for PC backup should be placed in an off-site location, but since that’s a bit cumbersome and likely to keep you from actually backing up your data, they should be at least placed in a fire-proof safe when not in use.

Another, more ideal way to back you data up, is through a service like Dropbox.  There are a few others that are specifically designed and marketed as data backup services.  Carbonite is probably the most well-known of them, but there is also ElephantDrive, and Mozy that do the same job.  Carbonite comes in at $59 a year, while ElephantDrive and Mozy come in at $9.99 and $5.99 a month, respectively.

Not backing up your data can be an expensive mistake to make.  Not only can it cost you a lot of money ($100 or more) to get your computer fixed, but you could lose all of your valuable data.  Save yourself the money of having it recovered, and save yourself from losing years of photos and information; get a data backup plan.

Do you backup your data?  What do you use for your data backup plan?

photo credit: Sim75 (Simon Lane Photography)

In the financial sector, there is a term that you have likely heard before.  That term is Float.  I’ll try to define it as it pertains to this article.

Float – To use known time delays in processing of financial transactions to allow for extended time to cover cost of transaction.

Much like any other financial term, there are some good and bad ways to use float.  One bad way, is actually illegal in some places.  That’s the “check float”.  In a “check float” a person writes a check to themselves from an account they have at one institution and deposits it in an account they have at another institution in order to inflate the balance at the second institution and cover any outgoing transactions that would have otherwise been returned.  They then write a check from the second institution to themselves and deposit it in the first institution a day or so later to cover the first check.  It’s usually illegal because the person is technically writing bad checks.  Eventually, it will catch up to them, and they’ll get caught. It should also be noted that with recent Check 21 regulations, checks process much quicker than they used to and have cut back on this practice.

There are less criminal ways to take advantage of float, however.  For instance, at my institution, I know that there is a delay between when I tell the bill pay service to send a payment and when it actually is deducted from my account.  Because I know that, I can sometimes send a payment a day or two before I am paid in order to make sure the payment gets where it’s going on time.  People who get paid on the 1st and the 15th will sometimes get paid earlier when the payday lands on a weekend.  That’s a kind of float as well.  In some ways, a payday loan is a type of float (legal, but should be criminal in my opinion).  People go to a payday loan institution and get a short term loan (float) to gain access to funds before they are paid.  When they are paid, they pay off the balance of the loan along with some high-interest and fees.

Using float can be a very slippery slope.  In some cases, it’s just illegal and should be avoided.  In others, like payday loans, it should be illegal, or heavily reformed.  Other uses, like my bill pay example, are more innocent.  But, all of them can lead to trouble if the user isn’t careful.  Using float once in a while can be fairly safe, but repeated use can often find you in a hole that you dug for yourself.  In almost all cases, the necessity of float can often mean your spending has outstripped your earning.  Use float sparingly, and legally, and you can avoid the slippery slope.

photo credit: marktristan

For the past month or so, I’ve been performing a bit of an experiment.  I’ve been taking 10% of all income from this and my other sites and splitting it between an investment account and my Lending Club portfolio.  The idea, of course, is to see which performs better.

In order to do that, I needed to find a good way to calculate what the real rate of return to me is.  Here’s the formula I settled on.

(1- (Total Deposits / ((Total Deposits + (Total Interest Received – Fees Paid))*.97)))

I should qualify the rest of this by saying that I’m not the best at math, so there may be flaws here.  Feel free to let me know in the comments.  Also, if there’s a better way to go about this, please let me know in the comments as well.

So, let’s break that down a bit.  The *.97 part is  meant to give some accounting for inflation.  It takes 3% right off the top as an inflationary cost.  Is 3% enough?  That’s debatable, but it seems like a fair average, historically.  This bit: (Total Interest Received – Fees Paid) is merely the total income on the portfolio.  I’m missing a small bit here, as the cost of the principle is not equal to the actual principle of the portfolio.  That’s because I live in a state where Lending Club doesn’t have the right permissions to allow me to directly invest in the loans.  So, I’m having to go through their foliofn note trading platform to buy my notes and there is usually a small premium on the notes.  I haven’t decided on a good way to really include that in, or if it really should be.  The next bit, (Total Deposits / ((Total Deposits + that previous bit is basically determining the % growth.  Total deposits divided by current “balance”.  The 1- part at the beginning just gives the cleaned up decimal percentage.

Let’s walk some numbers through it. We’ll use these:

Total Deposits = $1000

Total Interest Received = $25

Fees Paid = $5

So, plugging those numbers in we get: (1-(1000/((1000+(25-5))*.97)))

We’ll do this old school and solve as we go, showing our work.  Parenthesis get priority, followed by addition and subtraction.  So, we next end up with (1-(1000/(1020*.97))).  Then, we end up with (1-(1000/989.4)).  Next step, 1-1.011 = -.011.  So, we get a return of -1.1%.

Seems logical right?  In the case of my portfolio, the result comes back as 10%.  That’s a pretty good number, if you ask me.  I haven’t had any defaults yet, and I’ve had loans in my portfolio since January of 2010.  (the experiment I talked about earlier only began in July, however, but previous portfolio is included for easy of calculations)

I’m sure there’s some much more complicated formula that would take in risk of default on remaining invested principle, and a way to get the most accurate number, but really, I’m not sure that I want to take it that far.  This will never get to the point, I don’t think, of having a majority of my overall portfolio in it.  It’s not nearly safe enough for that, and my retirement accounts will remain in more traditional markets.

But, with results like 10%, and the current state of the stock market, one has to begin to wonder if the stock market is the safer of the two markets.  The stock market certainly isn’t showing returns of 10% recently.

photo credit: lumaxart

Street Smarts: Beyond the Diploma
By: Jim Randel

Often, when we’ve “grown up” and graduated college, we all move on to our new lives as adults with the expectation that our schooling has given us everything we’ll need to be prepared for the wide world ahead of us.  And, just as often, we are disappointed.  While school has the advantage of preparing us for the work part of the world; we can all read, write, and do most arithmetic; we are usually very unprepared for the subtle nuances that take place that will give us a step up on the ladder of success.

Jim Randel, if you’re unfamiliar with him, is the author of the Skinny On series.  I’ve reviewed a few of those here before, which, I would guess, is why his company sent me a copy of this book.  (That’s my disclosure, folks.  I was sent a free copy of the book.)  What he’s done with both the Skinny On series and this new book, Street Smarts, is to take some very complex issues, and simplify them enough that you can get the basics without having to knock your head against the wall trying to understand them.  Street Smarts holds 125 lessons on how to better succeed in the real world.  Each lesson is short, to the point, and valuable.  There’s very little chaff to sort through, and it’s an easy and fast read with some rereading value.

One thing you won’t find inside it’s pages is explicit detail.  There is not, for instance, 20 pages on the mathematics behind the rule of 72.  There also is not 100 pages or more on the workings of a mortgage loan.  Each is it’s own lesson, and is two pages.  You’re not going to learn everything there is to know about any of the topics by reading this book.  What you will get is the highlights that will allow you to safely navigate the topic without causing yourself too much trouble.

The book is also paired with a website where they’ve been putting up regular fresh content.  It’s already got quite the archives of good tips and information.  You can visit it at TheStreetSmartBook.com.

This book would make a great gift for a newly graduated senior, of high school or college.

If retirement is fast approaching and you haven’t spent much time preparing for it, then you will likely find your golden years to be a little restrictive when your regular income stream ceases and you haven’t planned on how to replace it. However, you don’t need to panic just yet as you may still be able to create the life you want for yourself in retirement by dealing with a few issues you had previously put off thinking about, such as ensuring you can live comfortably in retirement, and making sure you don’t lose your home or financial independence. If you are only around five years away from ‘receiving your gold watch’ you are cutting it fine but you still have time to go through this checklist and get yourself ready for your retirement future.

1 – How and Where You Will be Living

First up of course you will need to turn your mind to how and where you will be living.  For instance will you be able to remain living where you are now or will you have to move.  In some cases, couples approaching retirement sell everything and buy a smaller apartment or sometimes even a motor home to travel around the country. Spending your retirement on the road gives you a chance to see places you have only dreamt about, or read about, while still maintaining part time work.

Often the family home will become too big for you once your children have moved out and you can choose to embrace the freedom of this lifted responsibility by swapping your home for a home on wheels, or downsizing to a smaller place. While you will still have family ties and community responsibilities, you can enjoy the freedom of a smaller home which is easier to maintain, not to mention easier on your finances too.

2 – Complete All the Paperwork in Advance

Whatever you plan to do in retirement you will have to prepare yourself for the changes that will eventually take place.  You will have to complete the required documentation to allow you to receive any benefits that you may be entitled to such as Social Security, Medicare. You’ll also need to make other personal arrangements such as include superannuation and life insurance.  If you have investments, now is the time to start clearing them and sorting out the kind of portfolio you will have in retirement.

3 – Choose a Good Financial Planner

You can also seek help with this checklist from your financial planner, which can be useful if you have investments that are earmarked to provide you with a passive income when you are no longer earning in your own right. Either way, you will need a list of your assets and all the debts you will still owe when leaving paid work.  You don’t want to carry any debts over into your retirement years as your earning capacity will be reduced, and so too will your ability to repay these debts quickly, plus you want all of your retirement funds to be allocated to enjoying life.  After clearing all your debts you will then have a clearer picture of how much you will have to retire on.

4 – Don’t Forget That Medical Check Up

With all your debts paid off and a clear picture of your financial future starting to take shape, it will be time to have a thorough medical check up.  You will need to do this so that you will not be surprised if any health problems were to suddenly arise that would throw all your carefully planned financial future and retirement activities into disarray.  Remember your medical insurance cover might well change too once you have retired and you may need a current check up for your files.

Whatever the result of your medical check up, or if illness should strike in the future that was previously unforeseen, don’t let it take over your life, try to live your retirement life to the full no matter what the odds are.  If you had planned to travel, do so, medical care is widespread around the country and the continuous change of scenery might be of immense help in giving you a renewed approach to life.

5 – Rearrange Your Life Insurance

As you get older you will be approaching the business end of your life insurance – the eventuality you have taken out a policy for is closer than ever. Also look at the policies you have to protect your family because while you may have had a life insurance policy which could cover your childrens’ college expenses if you were to die when they were young, your children are probably finished their studies and pursuing their careers, so find out whether your term life insurance policy is one which has the option to convert it to a senior term life insurance.

Your main goal is still to avoid leaving behind any financial hardship for your family or friends when you finally die.  Therefore, make sure your funeral costs will be fully covered along with any debts that may remain outstanding, and don’t forget to keep your will up to date.  Many people fail to make it clear about how they want to disperse their belongings, but a will can put paid to any disagreements that may arise after you have gone.

A good approach to a successful retirement is to realise that you can’t take it with you after your life has ended, so therefore arrange matters which allow you to live comfortably within your means, do things you have not been able to do before, like travel and meeting new friends while keeping active mentally.

Kristy Ramirez writes for Life Insurance Finder where she helps people to compare life insurance quotes and select the best life insurance policy to meet their needs at the best possible price.

That’s right.  Bull.  All these experts go on and on about calculating the opportunity cost of something and adding that in to your cost analysis when deciding whether you should do something yourself, or hire it out.  Heck, even I have used it before.  But, we’ve all taken it way too far.

Let me ask you this; What is your opportunity cost of reading this post?  Of eating your breakfast this morning?  Not relevant?  Bull, again.  We use it to determine if we should keep cable T.V.  We use it to determine the added cost of our daily commute.  Personally, I’ve used it to validate paying people to do all sorts of things.  Mechanics?  The cost of doing it myself is too great, let them replace those brakes!  Plumbers? I hate doing plumbing.  Let them fix that leak!  We’ve become so obsessed with being frugal and pinching our pennies that we figure out the cost of everything that we do.  If the cost is too high, we should avoid doing it, or do it ourselves, our mantra goes.  But, that isn’t always true! Sometimes, it’s just straight up bull.

We all want to improve our finances.  That’s why we do those calculations.  It’s simple mathematics.  The problem with opportunity cost, however, is that most people assume a 100% efficiency.  I hate to be the one to break it to you, but there is nothing that is 100% efficient.  Not you, me, or anything ever created.  There’s gonna be some loss.  So, yes, I can figure the opportunity cost of my time.  But, it depends on my using that time to be efficiently working on something that will make me money.  The opportunity cost of my time at work is about $25/hour.  But, that doesn’t mean that every hour I sit at home watching T.V. has an opportunity cost of $25/hour.  I can’t stop watching T.V. and replace that time with paid time for work.  They don’t like paying overtime.  Plus, I’m paid on salary, so every extra hour I work at work, reduces the effective hourly pay.  Did you catch that?  Every hour over 40 hours a week that I work reduces my efficiency to earn money.  If I were paid hourly, that might be slightly different.  But, I’d be willing to bet, my employer would still have an aversion to paying overtime and would not allow me to work many more hours over 40.

If you’ve got side projects, like I do, there is a opportunity cost for every hour that I’m not working on them.  Some side projects are extremely easy to figure the cost of.  If I contract out my work on an hourly basis, my cost (for every hour I’m not working that project) is that hourly rate.  But, just like my job, I can’t be 100% efficient at my side project either.  I’ve got to sleep sometime.  (Egads!!!  The opportunity cost of sleep!!!)

The point is this; If you’re going to try and figure the opportunity cost in order to validate a decision, don’t do it blindly.  Realize that you won’t be 100% efficient.  Just because you disconnect the cable T.V. doesn’t mean you’re going to replace all that T.V. watching time with efficient money making time.  Some of it might be spent reading a book.  Or playing with kids.  Or napping.   Each of those may have some benefit to you, but they really don’t have much place in a financial cost analysis.  Sorry, you can’t bill your kids for playtime!

The personal finance world is full of stuff like this.  Mantras and rules-of-thumb that we use like crutches to validate and justify why we do what we do.  It’s like an addiction.  If you truly want to take control of your finances and live a better life, you’ve got to discard those addictions like you would a pack of smokes and begin to analyze what you do with a critical view.  Nothing is worth using in your finances until you’ve tested and proven that it is.

photo credit: zogh

The banking and credit card reform laws were supposed to help us – and they did in many aspects – but one of the unintended consequences is that banks are making up for the lost revenue sources by creating new ones… fees, fees, and more fees!

I just closed my brokerage account from BoA/Merrill Lynch because they started charging a $50 “maintenance fee” twice per year – when I opened it years ago, I remember it was advertised as something that would always be free… not anymore! I also closed one of my credit cards from American Express that started charging an annual fee. However worse yet is being charged for a checking account, since that is something so essential to our lives and historically (at least in recent history) we’ve all become accustomed to not paying for it.

Fortunately though, we don’t have to be stuck paying these fees. When it comes to checking accounts, there are a few different ways to weasel out of them which I will discuss below:

#1 – The direct deposit trick
The exact rules vary by bank but with many, if you have direct deposit setup, your checking account fee will be waived. But what happens if your employer doesn’t offer direct deposit or you are self-employed?

Well I found a trick that has been working great for me so far. I have a brokerage account (different from the one I closed) and it allows me to setup automatic withdrawals or deposits. I have arranged for it to direct deposit $1 every month into my BofA checking, thus meeting the direct deposit requirement to get free checking. I’m going on year 3 or 4 of using this technique and so far it’s worked beautifully! However please note that some banks require a minimum amount for direct deposits to qualify.

#2 – The waiver for multiple linked accounts
With some banks, if you have multiple account types – i.e. checking, savings, and/or brokerage – you will automatically be exempt from checking account fees.

For example with Charles Schwab bank, in order to get free checking you have to have it linked to a Schwab brokerage account. Don’t have a need or desire for a broker account? No worries, because the rules don’t actually require that you use it or have money in it. So basically, you could just open up a broker account and never use it.

#3 – The minimum account balance waiver
The most common and well-known technique to get free checking is to maintain a minimum account balance. If you can afford to do it (usually $1,500 to $5,000 depending on the bank) then the fee for your checking account is waived. However if money is tight right now and this isn’t an option, then I would recommend one of the other four strategies.

#4 – Use the bank’s debit or credit card
Some banks offer to waive the checking account fees if a certain number transactions are made each month using an affiliated debit or credit card.

For example, you would normally be paying eight bucks a month for the basic account from Citi. However if you use the account’s debit card for at least five transactions per billing cycle, then the fee will be waived. Of course the drawback to this is that you may be missing out on travel rewards or cash back rewards you get with your credit card, but Citi doesn’t have a dollar requirement on the debit card purchases, so if you prefer just use it for five small purchases (and your preferred card for everything else).

#5 – Switch to a credit union or smaller bank
Last but not least, if you don’t want to play these games with your big bank, then you should think about switching over to either a community credit union or a regional bank. Because they’re the underdogs in the banking world, they are usually much more likely to offer free checking accounts (and without any hoops to jump through). I know switching banks can be headache because you might have your online payments all setup with your existing account, but just remember, making the switch may save you around $100 to $150 per year in fees!

This post comes from guest blogger Mike, founder of the message board/blog, CreditCardForum. He writes credit card reviews (most recent being the AmEx Blue Cash Everyday) and everything else on the site comes from forum members. Despite his borderline OCD obsession with cash back and rewards, he stresses that anyone who doesn’t pay their balance in full every month should avoid credit cards like the plague!

Not to be confused with the scales that our friend Lady Justice carries around with her everywhere, the scales of finance are a bit different in function.  To truly weigh something, using a scale, you load up one side of the scale with that which you want to weigh and then put weights of a known mass on the other side.  When the scale is balanced, you count up the known mass weights and you’ve got the weight of the item(s) on the other side.  Lady Justice, as the story goes, does this by weighing a persons crimes and adding the appropriate amount of punishment to the other side so that the Scales of Justice balance.

When we think about personal finance, there are those that are die-hard frugalers.  There is no other way to save money, retire comfortably, or live, than by being frugal.  The more frugal you are, the more you save, and the less you spend.  Coupons are their best friends, as are black friday deals and places like farmers markets and flea markets.

There are also those that are the die-hard incomers.  Skipping a latte isn’t for them.  The only way to get ahead is to make more money while not spending any more.  They’ll work three jobs to achieve levels of income that were previously unheard of and use that added income to pay off debt and save for retirement.

But, much like justice, the scale can pretty easily be tipped into unbalance.  Frugaling, while a good idea, can only take you so far.  Income increasing can only take you so far.  Eventually, you’ll need to make a bit more money, or work less.  The right way to do it is to strike a balance between the two.  Cut your costs as much as you can, without going to extremes.  Increase your income as much as you can, without going to extremes.  Find a place where you can balance your financial life while still getting to live life and not be classified as a cheapskate work-a-holic.

Balancing the Scales of Finance

• Create a budget. Know where your money is going (even if it’s going down the drain), and plan where you want it to go.
• Cut costs. A little bit of frugal living isn’t going to hurt you.  Drop cable T.V.  You can replace it with Netflix, or books.  Find other things that you can do without completely or cut usage of.
• Analyze your finances. Use your budget to determine the inflow/outflow of your finances.  How long to payoff your debts?  Could it be accelerated greatly by taking on a second job?  Maybe you only need a second job for 6 months to pay off a credit card.
• Increase your income. There are other ways, besides taking on extra jobs, to increase your income.  Prepare for, and then ask for a raise.  Sell off stuff you no longer use.  Find a way to get paid for hobbies you already do.
• Don’t over-do it. Maintain focus on your end goal, but keep your sacrifices to a bearable level.  All that extra income won’t do you any good if you burn out in 3 months because you’ve been working 80 hour weeks.  And all the frugal in the world won’t do you any good if you burn out in 3 months because you’ve been manually separating the plys on your TP.

Don’t think that just because you do all of this once, that you’ll remain in balance forever either.  At first, you will probably benefit from regular weekly or bi-weekly check-ups.  As you get more comfortable with it all, you might be able to do it once a month.  Much more infrequent than that and you’ll lose your focus and begin letting things slip.  If that happens, pick up where you left off and continue on.

As you continue on, the Scales of Finance will become easier to balance.  You’ll become better at it, and the scales will gain a little extra margin for error.  It may seem hard now, but it does get easier.  And, believe it or not, it can be fun.

Photo credit: Thatedeguy on Flickr

Married couples have been doing it for centuries.  Combining their finances is just something they’ve always done.  Call it tradition if you want.  Call it necessity.  Recently, it’s a tradition that has come under fire as being old and outdated.  After all, the reason that the tradition exists is because it was rather usual for the woman in the marriage to stay home and be a homemaker while the husband went off to work and earned the money.  Since the woman wasn’t contributing to the financial inflow, there was no reason for her to have her own account.  What would she put in it?

But, with a new age, comes new standards.  Now, it’s expected that a woman will enter the workforce (or, at least, the contingent workforce).  And she’ll remain there even after marriage.  Not only will she remain in the workforce, but there is a chance that she’ll bring more to the table financially than her husband.  Suddenly, the decision to combine finances isn’t such an easy one.  In fact, combining finances can lead to more arguments than keeping them separated, unless both parties are on the same page financially.  The way I see it, there are three ways you can handle finances as a couple.

Combined accounts. (What we do.)

We came to the conclusion early on in our marriage that combining finances made the most sense for us.  Neither of us made much more than the other, and we both brought about an equal amount of debt to the marriage.  We combined and pay all of our bills and other expenses from one account.  It makes it easier to balance, easier to pay, and avoids having to figure out how much each owes to what bill, or when/how to transfer money from one account to the bill pay account.

Combined account hybrid.

If you want the convenience of combined accounts, but still have a bit of an issue with purchasing things for each other.  Or, just want a “me” account where you can purchase whatever you want, whenever, no questions asked, a combined hybrid set up might make the most sense.  Combine all of your accounts, but open a new account in each of your names.  Those accounts get a set (budgeted) amount deposited into them each month.  Each account is completely hands off to the other partner.  Spend it however you like, as long as the cash is in the account to cover what you spend.

Completely separate.

You don’t like the idea of combined accounts at all.  They should be separate.  Each of you keeps your own account and you either agree on who is paying which bill, or you create a third account that each of you deposits your share of the bills into and pay all bills from that account.

Which is right for you? I can’t say which is right, or which is wrong for you.  It’s something that you need to sit down and discuss with your spouse/partner and decide on.  I think that combined finances are easier, but with automated deposits and bill pay, the separate accounts could be made pretty easy as well.  And, just because you settle on one way, doesn’t mean you can’t change it down the road.  What I will say is that people are sometimes quick to judge based on the decision that you make.  Are you too trusting by combining?  Not trusting enough by leaving things separate?  Perhaps your relationship is doomed if you don’t combine?

The truth of it is this: a majority of divorces have some root in money issues.  Forcing yourselves into a money model that you don’t like won’t help with that statistic.  Be open with each other about money.  Be willing to discuss your finances, both separately and combined, and get yourselves on a path to a solid financial future.  If you do that, it won’t matter which option you choose, it’ll be the right one.

photo credit: Will Folsom

Are you shocked by the recent high price of groceries?  Have you noticed a jump in your grocery bill?  I have noticed a jump of about $20 a week that I am paying now for the same groceries I used to buy for much less.  Unfortunately, I am not much of a coupon diva, and I don’t see myself suddenly becoming one.

Regardless if you use coupons or not, there are ways to put the brakes on increased spending at the grocery store:

1.)     Once a week, consider having breakfast for dinner.  Eggs average out to .10 to .15 a piece.  If you have 5 in your family as I do and serve every one 2 eggs, you are looking at $1.00 to $1.50 for the main meal component.  Round it out with some toast and fruit and you have a light, frugal dinner.  Or, consider serving French toast or pancakes.  Quiche and breakfast casseroles also will work.  My kids love getting breakfast for dinner, and lately we have been doing this once a week to try to curb our grocery costs.

2.)    Have one meatless meal a week.  Meat often is very pricey.  Omit it for one meal and save yourself that expense.  You could try beans and rice, tuna noodle casserole, vegetable fajitas, spaghetti, pasta primavera, etc.

3.)    Buy produce when it is on sale and freeze it.  We love red peppers but often can’t afford them.  When I found them on sale for $1.00 a pound, I bought 10 of them and chopped them up and froze almost all of them.  Throughout the winter I pulled them out to use in stir-fries.  We have successfully done the same with bananas for smoothies (chop up, sprinkle with lemon juice and freeze individually on a pan and then place all of them on a freezer bag), green peppers, strawberries and blueberries.

With the recent high prices of both groceries and gas, many families are feeling the pinch as more money leaves their hands.  If you use coupons, you will see increased savings, but even if you don’t coupon, try implementing some of these strategies to lessen the pain you may be feeling at the grocery store.