Home Archives — Page 3 of 8

5 Reasons Why You Should Declutter Your Home Once a Year

March 2, 2016 By MelissaB 3 Comments

When we moved from Chicago to Tucson 18 months ago, packing was a nightmare. We hadn’t had a good decluttering session in nearly 3.5 years, since our last move, which was local. We spent weeks, yes, literally weeks, giving away and selling junk that we just didn’t use anymore before we could even start packing our possessions.

When we moved to Tucson, I vowed to keep on top of the clutter and the household messes. However, when we prepared to go on vacation recently and knew that our tidy neighbors would be coming in and out of our house for two weeks to cat sit, we realized we had a problem. The clutter, and the messes, had returned since the move.

I spent several weeks decluttering again. Several bags of items went to the local kids’ resale shop; several boxes went in the garage earmarked for a garage sale later this year, and a lot of crap just got tossed in the garbage.

Now that we’re decluttered once again, I can’t believe how much better I feel. From here on out, we’re decluttering once a year. Here’s why:

Make Additional Money

I made nearly $100 at the kids’ resale shop. I opted for store credit to get 30% more money. I’ll use that over the next few months to get my kids clothes and birthday presents. (Yep, the store sells NEW toys at a fraction of retail.)

I also made another $150 selling items on eBay.

We haven’t had our garage sale yet, but based on what we have to sell, I think we’ll easily make at least another $100.

Sure, these amounts aren’t going to even buy us a month’s worth of groceries, but we now have several hundred more dollars than we had a few short weeks ago, AND our house is much tidier.

5 reasons to declutter your house — Original IMG credit: Dafne Cholet on Flickr.

Save Money

There were several items like my son’s arm shield for archery, our headphones for the computer, to name a few, that we were planning to replace because we couldn’t find them. Surprise, surprise, once we decluttered and cleaned up, we found these and many more things. We saved ourselves from buying duplicates. These small savings add up!

Kids Outgrow Things

Kids grow. . .A LOT! Pants that fit last winter may be two inches too short this winter. Games that they loved to play with last summer may be too babyish this summer. Why keep all these relics of previous phases of childhood? Clear them out so you have more room.

More Satisfaction With Being At Home

My youngest two children and I had a particularly painful decluttering session when we tackled all the papers, toys, and little pieces that were littering the floor in front of their toy area. But how much better we all felt when we could see clean, empty floor in front of the toy shelves. In fact, my children started playing immediately in that space and had a great time.

I notice now that the master bedroom is cleaner, I feel lighter and happier when I walk into the suddenly much more open space.

It’s Easier To Maintain Your Home

We hope to stay in our home for many years, but the reality is that my husband may not have a job here in another year or two. Until he secures a permanent position, we feel like our home is ours temporarily, so it’s important to keep up a maintenance and cleaning routine in case we have to put it on the market some time. Having a clutter free home makes this much easier.

What benefits do you get from a less cluttered home?

Even More Ways to Save on Groceries

January 4, 2016 By MelissaB 5 Comments

Besides your mortgage, your grocery bill may be your next largest expense. Of course, you usually can’t alter your mortgage payment, but with some planning and strategizing, you can alter the amount you spend at the grocery store and save on groceries.

A few months ago, I wrote about the techniques we’re using to keep our grocery bill low for our family of 5 (spending approximately $500 to $600 per month even with food intolerances to gluten, dairy, and corn). We’ve learned a few more strategies to lower our grocery bill that I thought I’d share with you, especially since it seems like the price of grocery is on the rise again.

Stop by the grocery store whenever you’re driving by. I know the “experts” say to go in the grocery store as little as possible. Many of them recommend shopping just every two weeks or once a month. However, if you’re a disciplined shopper, I recommend stopping by the store every time you drive by. Why? I only buy eggs on clearance for .99 a dozen. I also buy organic chicken when it is close to its sell by date and marked down by 50% or more. If I stop by the store whenever I drive by (every couple of days, usually), I have a better chance of finding these deals. If nothing is on clearance, I simply leave empty-handed. I don’t buy eggs or meat if they’re not on sale, or ideally, on clearance.

Don’t just take sandwiches for lunch. My husband packs his lunch every day. However, he never packs a sandwich. Instead, whenever I see clearance chicken fajita meat, sausage, or other meats, I buy those. He cooks something up on Sunday, like three sausages I found on clearance, and then he brings some every day along with a grain, veggies, and a fruit or two. His flexibility and willingness to move beyond sandwiches and my bargain shopping skills mean he saves a lot when packing his lunch.

Consider having a separate meat budget. I just learned about this technique, and I plan to start utilizing it. Say you have $500 a month for groceries. The idea is that you set aside a certain amount, maybe $50 or $100 a month, solely for meat. The rest you spend on your other groceries. If you’re able to save up $500 or $600 in the meat fund, you might buy a ¼ side of beef, which you’ll likely get at a much cheaper price than at the grocery store. Then, you eat that meat and start saving again for your next bulk purchase of meat. Eventually, you’ll have a deep freezer full of healthy, lower cost meat direct from the farmer.

Slowly buy in bulk. I have consciously started buying in bulk to lower our grocery costs. I’ve had to do this slowly because we don’t have a lot of wiggle room in the budget. Gluten free oats cost $2 a pound, and that’s when they’re on sale! Instead, I bought a 50 pound bag of gluten free oats for $61. That is $1.22 a pound, which is cheaper than I could ever buy them at the store. Then, I bought a 25 pound bag of pinto beans for $12.50, or .50 a pound, which is again cheaper than the rock bottom price I can get at the store. Just remember when buying in bulk not to buy items you really don’t want to use or won’t be able to finish before they get stale.

What are your favorite techniques to lower your grocery bill?

What Effect Does Student Debt Have on Home Ownership?

November 14, 2015 By Satinder Haer Leave a Comment

Millennials are doing things differently than previous generations, especially when it comes to homeownership. Compared to just a couple decades ago, first-time home buyers today are delaying home purchases and renting for longer – and most are millennials. The low rates of homeownership in this demographic have been primarily blamed on overwhelming debt from student loans. After all, Americans owe a combined $1.2 trillion in student debt. While student loan debt can impact an individual’s ability to save for a down payment or qualify for a mortgage, new data suggests it is a myth that student debt is the reason homeownership rates are low among recent graduates.

As long as you get a four-year degree or higher, the effect of student debt is actually negligible on your probability of becoming a homeowner. If you obtain a bachelor’s degree with no student debt, you have a 70 percent probability of owning your home. Someone who graduates with the same degree and $50,000 of student loans has a 66 percent probability. The likelihood of homeownership only drops a measly 4 percent even with $50,000 of undergraduate debt.

For married couples, the key is getting at least one degree between the pair. If at least one spouse has a bachelor’s degree and no student debt, the couple’s probability of homeownership is 69.8 percent. Add in $30,000 of student debt for that degree and the probability drops a mere 2.1 percentage points. Getting approved for a loan or saving for a down payment might take time but the research shows student debt isn’t a major hurdle in homeownership, whether you’re married or single.

Graduate school loans have an equally minor effect on homeownership. Obtaining a masters, medical, law or doctorate degree actually insulates you from the adverse effect of student debt when you buy. The probability of homeownership is highest for individuals with a doctorate and no student debt; they have an 87 percent chance of owning homes. That likelihood only drops to 84 percent if the individual incurred $50,000 of student loans obtaining the doctorate. At the master’s degree level the probability falls from 80 percent if you have no debt, versus 75 percent with $50,000 in student loan debt. Getting an advanced degree increases your overall likelihood of owning a home, despite the small negative impact student loans have on your probability of homeownership.

Individuals with an associate’s degree or no degree are impacted the most by student debt. The probability of homeownership drops from 73 to 57 percent if you obtain an associate’s degree with no student loans versus carrying $50,000 of debt. And for those with no degree, homeownership probability is even lower. The probability of homeownership is 48 percent for an individual with no degree and no student debt and declines steadily with the debt amount. Getting at least a four-year degree significantly increases your odds of owning a home.

The outlook is positive for millennials who want to become homeowners. Not only should student loans have a minor effect on ownership, the research reveals millennials who put down 5 percent and spend 30 percent of their income on a mortgage can afford 70 percent of for-sale homes on the market. While this inventory isn’t spread evenly across the country, buyers who focus on properties in the Midwest and South can afford as much as 86 percent of the for-sale homes. In major metro areas, the pickings are much slimmer; millennials can only afford 25 percent of the inventory in Los Angeles and 27 percent in San Diego. Location is key to affordability, especially for individuals also balancing student loan debt.

Recent graduates should not shy away from exploring their options. It’s surprising how many homes millennials can actually afford, despite their student loan debt.