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10 Everyday Items You Can Save Money On Today

May 6, 2020 By Susan Paige Leave a Comment

Saving money is the safest way to build assets, as investing money always carries risks. That’s why the best way to take control of your finances often involves creating a flexible budget that ensures a certain amount of money will go toward savings every month. Here are ways to save on 10 everyday items.

1. Food

The best way to save money on food is to not each out as much. It doesn’t mean cut all restaurants from your budget, it means focusing more on preparing your own meals. If you can’t stop eating out, at least look for coupons or gift certificates.

Fruits and vegetables are still fairly cheap yet are high in nutrition, giving you more quality for your money. You can save hundreds of dollars per month by making your own salads and sandwiches. Mixing water with juices is an economical way to get the benefit of diverse flavors and nutrients at low costs.

2. Energy

Cutting down on dependence of electricity is important for various reasons. You never know when there may be a disaster with the electric utility company and you’ll be without power, so it’s good to prepare for such catastrophes. Conserving energy helps the environment by reducing fossil fuel emissions. Energy costs can also be unpredictable, so it’s a good idea to adopt energy conservation techniques. Smart tools are spreading to help remind consumers the amount of energy they are using. Turning off all appliances when not in use is a major key.

3. Water

Water bills can get surprisingly high in the event of a water leak. As with energy, there are now smart tools to detect water losses in piping systems. The key to adhering to values of sustainability is to simply not waste water. Use it as necessary, but don’t turn water on and forget about it. If you don’t have timers on sprinklers then be aware of when it’s time to turn the water off.

4. Transportation

A good way to save money on transportation is to walk more when it comes to short distances. If you live near a store, for example, save gas by walking. For longer distances, consider riding a bicycle or public transportation such as trains and buses. You can save money on daily rates by purchasing a monthly pass.

5. Disposable items

Part of regular expenses are often disposable items such as paper towels and tin foil. These items can be purchased cheaply at discount stores that sell items for a buck. These stores also carry a wide variety of soaps, cleansers and personal care products.

6. Entertainment

Spending money online for entertainment can add up to big bills if you watch a lot of movies. Playing Mini Lotto is a much cheaper alternative than other forms of online spending. At least with a lottery you have the satisfaction of enjoying the thrill of possible winnings until the numbers are called. Joining a lot of different streaming services can add up to a lot of money even if each one only charges $10 per month. Lotto is a fun affordable way to be in the running for expensive prizes.

7. News consumption

At one time everyone used to subscribe to newspapers delivered to their doors. Over time these papers would stack up and occupy space in the garage. Eventually online publications became the norm for keeping up with news. Ask yourself if going completely digital works for you and if there are online sources that publish the news you want for free.

8. Exercise

Instead of investing in a physical fitness gym, you can stay fit by doing exercises at home. Walking or jogging around the block is one way to stay fit for free. If you live in an apartment complex with a swimming pool, think about how swimming uses every muscle of the body. Finding a track at a nearby public school with a basketball court can also help cut fitness costs.

9. Clothing

One of the most important things to remember about saving money on clothes is that practicality often has more value than fashion. One of the reasons people buy new clothes is to keep up with the latest fashions. Then when the clothes go out of style they just take up space in a closet. Consider cleaning out your closet and selling old items to used clothing stores. Then make room for clothes you know you’ll need for every season.

10. Internet

The internet is a great tool for saving money on anything. Mobile phone users can use digital coupons offering discounts while they visit stores. Thanks to many businesses emphasizing the internet as a way to find them, there are countless promo codes and ways to learn in seconds with search tools where the best deals are online.

Image source, Pictures of Money, Via Flickr.

4 Ways TV Watching is Hurting Your Finances

February 3, 2020 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

There’s nothing better after a long, hard day of work than to kick back and watch your favorite television show. However, what you consider to be a harmless way to unwind may be affecting your wallet in ways that you hadn’t even considered. In fact, there are 4 ways TV watching is hurting your finances.

Expense of Cable

At the most obvious level, you’re paying money to have the television set, pay for the cable, and use the electricity. If you still have cable, you’re likely paying $60 or more for the privilege of watching a wide variety of channels. That is at least $720 a year. If you’ve broken up with cable, congratulations, you’re saving yourself some serious money.

4 Ways TV Viewing Is Hurting Your Finances — Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash

However, you likely pay for Netflix or other similar programs. You might be spending as little as $11 a month on this, so you’re looking at approximately $130 a year, much better than paying for cable. While you can pat yourself on the back for this smart move, know that watching shows is still costing you money, but in different ways.

Unrealistic Expectations

Watching television shows and movies can fill you with unrealistic expectations. While you may make a modest salary and be in the market for a modest house, thanks to shows like House Hunters, you expect a large master suite, a perfectly manicured lawn, and a three car garage. Your expectations have been elevated outside the realm of your own budget thanks to television.

Likewise, you may see characters like Rachel on Friends struggling to make it working as a coffee shop waitress, yet she wears glamorous clothes and has a nice New York City apartment. This is not reality, but television isn’t about being real. It’s about selling a dream, and most of the audience accepts the dream at the cost of their own finances.

Takes Time Away from Other Pursuits

The average American aged 35 to 49 watches five hours of television a day! (NY Daily News). That is 35 hours a week. Imagine all of the other things you could do with that time. You could invest your time in growing your income, whether that means a side hustle, going back to school to increase your future income, taking online classes, or reading a book. Your time could be used in so many other productive ways. Plus, advertisers would not be able to reach you as they reach those passively watching television, which means you’d likely keep more money in your pocket.

Health Issues

Finally, those 35 hours of passive television watching can take quite a toll on your health. Not only are you likely to indulge in unhealthy snack foods while watching television, you’re also not exercising. Years of excessive TV watching can lead to an increase in weight and health issues. In fact, according to CNN, researchers discovered that “for every additional two hours people spend glued to the tube on a typical day, their risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases by 20% and their risk of heart disease increases by 15%.”

While watching television may seem like a harmless pastime, keep in mind how much it’s really costing you. If you want to relax, consider grabbing a book instead or hanging out with friends.

How much television do you watch? Do you agree that T.V. viewing is affecting your finances, or do you not feel it has an effect?

Is the Living Wage Realistic?

March 21, 2014 By Shane Ede 6 Comments

I recently found an interesting calculator (Via Lifehacker, via MIT), called the Living Wage Calculator. The smart folks over at MIT put it together to”provide a minimum estimate of the cost of living for low wage families.” Normally, when I see one of these calculators, I try it once, scoff lightly, then move on to something far more useful with my day. This calculator is a bit different from some other ones I’ve seen in that it actually gets pretty localized. Others tend to use a generalization like “urban” or “suburban” and leave it at that. The fault there is that the living wage in an urban setting like Los Angeles is going to be very different from a living wage in the urban setting of a city like Fargo.

The MIT living wage calculator gets localized down to the county you live in, and then goes a bit further and can go right down to the city that you live in in some cases. I gave it a run based on my county, and then based on my city. Not surprisingly, I got the same number in both cases. The city I live in is both the county seat, and the largest city in the county. I suppose it’s possible that the numbers could vary a bit at the two levels, but I don’t think it would be too much in any case.

A Living Wage: Example locations.

To compare how the results fare based on your actual location, I ran it for a few different locales. First, using the example above, for Los Angeles city. In all cases, I used the 2 adult, 3 children number. For Los Angeles, the calculator returned an hourly wage of $27.97 which translates to just a hair under $58,200. (using $/hr * 2080) For Fargo, the calculator returned an hourly wage of $20.56 which translates to about $42,800 a year. To be honest, I was a little surprised by the small difference between the two. Not that almost $16,000 is a small amount, but considering the difference in the size of the two cities, I really expected the living wage to much more significantly different.

For a second example, I compared Fargo against the city that I live in. The numbers for Fargo are above. For my city, the calculator returned an hourly wage of $19.20 which translates to about $40,000. This difference was a bit more expected. The two cities are only a couple of hours away, and their economic differences are pretty minimal. I also got curious and looked up what it would spit out for a living wage for New York City (Queens County). There, it estimates the living wage at $26.12 an hour, or about $54,300 a year.

I found it somewhat interesting to dig into how they were calculating the living wage. They’ve estimated some of the expenses for an average family of a certain number of adults and possible children. Based on our own expenses, I think it’s safe to say that some of them are a little low. They’ve also assumed that any 2 adult family with children is a one-income family with no childcare expenses. In fact, I’m not so sure that they aren’t saying that a 2 adult household with no children would be a one-income family.

Given all of that, it was a bit reassuring to know that our family makes more than what they’re assuming is a living wage for our area. However, that’s with two incomes. Which also means that we’re spending plenty of extra on child care. If I use their numbers for expenses for 2 children and childcare, then add it to their 2 adult, 2 children number the resulting number is not that far from what we’re really making. There’s still a bit left over above that amount, but it’s a bit of a reality check too. Time to find some ways to increase income!

A Living Wage: Is it Realistic?

All the playing around brings a question to mind. Is the living wage realistic? It’s important, I think, to realize that the living wage is meant as an indicator of the amount of income that is necessary to assure that a family can pay for the bare necessities of “living”. Keeping that in mine, it might be realistic. But, one of the key things I don’t see in the expenses categories is a line for any sort of debt servicing. Which means they’re assuming that you’re renting a house or apartment, and that you don’t have any other debts. And we all know how realistic that assumption is. Or not. I think, for this to be truly realistic, it’s got to assume that the family will be dual-income. It’s also got to assume that at least one of the two adults will have some student loan debt. More likely, both. And it’s got to assume that there’s going to be some other debts that will need servicing. Then it might border on a true living wage. Otherwise, it’s just another way of saying poverty line.

Go and give the calculator a spin. How close to the number are you? Are you so far from it that it’s scoff worthy? Or is it time for you to find a way to increase your income too? Do you think that the living wage is realistic?