Earning & Managing Money

Yesterday’s Mud Experience & Why You Should Always Watch Where You Walk

by Crystal on April 29, 2013

Yesterday, we went to a nearby nature trail for a picnic lunch after church. It had rained Friday and Saturday, so the ground was still wet and muddy in places.

But it was a beautiful spring day and we couldn’t resist, despite the mud. We walked the nature trail, observed animals tracks, discussed bird calls, walked down by the river and found shells, and just enjoyed the quiet, peace, and fun family outing.

When it was time to go, we found a short cut across the field to get back to the parking lot. A lot of people were taking this route and so we followed suit.

There were lots of muddy places on the short cut route, so we kept reminding the kids over and over not to step in the mud. Things were going well until about halfway to the car when one child forgot to look where they were going and stepped right into a mud hole.

They had trouble getting their shoes out from the strong suction of the mud. When they finally did, they had mud all over their shoes and feet and were pretty upset about the whole thing.

The mud slowed them down considerably and us, in turn. Then, we had to spend a long time wiping everything up with baby wipes (the only thing we had!) when we made it back to our car.

It was all good in the end and, once the mud was cleaned up, this child’s attitude lightened considerably. So the fun day was salvaged, in spite of the mud experience.

While we were dealing with all the mud, I kept thinking about the life analogies that it contained. How many times in our adult lives do we get distracted and not pay attention to where we’re going and all of a sudden end up in a muddy mess?

This is especially true when it comes to our finances: we can make a plan for our finances, but then we get busy and we take our eyes off of the path we’d mapped out. We get distracted, we become undisciplined, we let our good habits slip.

Little bit by little bit, we start veering off the path. And then, all of a sudden we can find ourselves stuck in financial mud and frustrated that we didn’t notice we were walking right into it.

The moral of the story? Keep watching where you’re walking.

Have accountability in place so that you’re constantly checking the path (your financial or life goals) to make sure you’re not getting way off course. Those little course corrections will keep you from ending up mired in a mucky mess.

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Should I Snatch Up Every Good Deal That Comes Along?

by Crystal on April 26, 2013

I would love to hear your thoughts on balancing “snatching up a good deal” versus “impulse buying”. I feel like there are often time-limited sales or good deals that come up, but if I haven’t budgeted or planned to spend that money I have to pass them by or else spend money I really shouldn’t be spending. -Anna

I think this is such an important topic to bring up — because we must have balance in our lives. It’s wonderful to get great deals and bargains, but I think we need to set clear criteria for what constitutes a true “deal”. Otherwise, we can spend a lot of time and money needlessly chasing down supposed bargains that really aren’t a good deal for us at all.

Here are five things that we’ve set up as a criteria for making sure we’re not overspending and that a good deal truly is a great deal for us:

1. Create and Follow a Budget

Without a budget, we won’t have any way to track whether we are truly saving money. In fact, without a budget, we might be spending more money by chasing down sales and bargains.

Sticking with a cash budget has been so helpful to me — especially because I’m not a spreadsheet nerd. I know that the money that I have in the envelope is what I have to spend. And when the money’s gone, the money’s gone. Cash provides instant self-discipline and guarantees that you don’t spend more than you have.

2. Budget for Everything

We have fairly specific cash envelope categories and find that this really helps us to stay on track. For instance, instead of just having a “clothing” budget, we have individual cash envelopes for each person in our family. We don’t just have a Food cash envelope. We have a Groceries envelope and a Dates & Eating Out envelope.

In addition, we budget for everything — from hair cuts and clothing to homeschooling supplies, gifts, and car maintenance. Everything we regularly spend money on (even if it’s just an annual purchase that we routinely make) has a category in our master budget spreadsheet (I’m so thankful that a married a math nerd who loves to create and track things on spreadsheets!)

On those rare occasions that a necessary purchase arises that we haven’t budgeted for, we either have to find a way to shuffle things around in a few categories to be able to afford it, we don’t buy it, or it comes out of our blow cash envelope.

3. Analyze Every Purchase

Because I have a limited supply of cash to work with in each envelope, this forces me to evaluate every purchase and make sure I’m getting the best deal. I’m constantly asking myself questions like, “Do we need this?” “Is this the best use of this envelope money?”

Note: I think that you can get to a point where you over-analyze purchases — like I did with my candle purchase. If you’re agonizing for 30 minutes over a $0.50 purchase, you may need to lighten up a little bit. :)

4. Don’t Buy Something Just Because It’s a “Good Deal”

What’s a good deal for someone else won’t necessarily be a good deal for you. This is an important thing to constantly remember. If you don’t have the money for it, it’s not a good deal for you. If you don’t need it, it’s not a good deal for you.

If you feel panicky because you’re missing out on a “good deal”, that’s probably a sign that you need to step back and re-evaluate things. It’s great to get good deals and I’m all about stewarding our money well, but I think we need to be careful that we don’t become obsessed. Life is about a whole lot more than getting the best bargain.

5. Take a Break From Bargain Shopping on Occasion

It’s good to occasionally to just shelve your coupons and maybe even take a break from reading blogs that share bargains. I do this at least once or twice a year — and I find it really freeing!

Taking a breather will help you get some fresh perspective and help make sure that you’re staying balanced in life. And it also usually causes you to be re-energized and excited when you come back to bargain shopping again!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic! Weigh in on this in the comments!

photo from BigStock

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How to Organize a Clothes Swap Meet

by Crystal on April 23, 2013

Becky from Organizing Made Fun has a great post up on how she organized a Ladies’ Clothing Swap. She has lots of pictures and details on what worked if you’d like to do something similar.

We do this at least once or twice a year as a church and it’s a great way to clean out our houses and get some items we need — for FREE!

Have you ever been a part of a swap of some kind? I’d love to hear your ideas and what did or didn’t work for you!

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52 Ways to Save at Least $100 Per Year: Get the Best Bang for Your Buck at Yard Sales {Week 16}

by Crystal on April 22, 2013

Every Monday in 2013, I’ll be sharing a different way you can save $100 this year. If you do all of these things, you’ll be able to save over $5,000 this year alone! Many of these things will likely be things you’re already doing, but hopefully all of you will pick up at least a few new ideas or some inspiration from this series.
This post by MaryEllen from last year was so good and helpful that I wanted to re-air it this week as yard sale season is starting to gear up again…

Guest post by MaryEllen at The Deal Scoop

The reader tip on stockpiling clothes is something our family has already been using to save an incredible amount of money each year. As I read through the comments on the post, I noticed some readers’ concerns.

There were some readers who don’t think they could find good enough deals at yard sales to make stockpiling clothing worth their while. Some felt that all they can find at yard sales is junk and that they would rather buy clearance items at the stores. Then there were those who admitted that they aren’t organized enough to know what they need and don’t need.

Here are a few tips on how to get the best prices at yard sales and how our family has been able to make stockpiling clothing work for us:

On Friday night, check your local paper or Craigslist.org ads for Saturday’s yard sales.

(Or if you live an area with a lot of Friday sales, check on Thursday night. Go whenever is best for the area in which you live.) Most people will list some specific items that they will be selling. Mark the ones that specifically have kids’ clothing listing and skip the rest. In my family’s experience, you will barely have time to make it to just those yard sales, and there is no sense wasting time and gas going to yard sales that don’t have what you’re looking for.

Plan your route ahead of time.

If you need directions to certain places, be sure you have them all printed out the night before so you can go from place to place quickly and use gas efficiently. The more gas you use, the more those yard sale clothes will cost you!

Go as early as possible in the morning.

Many people think there is only junk to be found at yard sales, but a lot of times that’s because there are high-quality items to be had for nearly pennies. The first ones at the yard sales find all the best stuff before it’s gone!

Set a target price and don’t be afraid to make deals in order to hit it.

This is probably the most crucial part to the whole game of stockpiling clothing, and I’ll be the first to admit that my husband is more skilled at it than I am. Our family’s personal target is $0.25 per clothing item, $1 for a pair of shoes and up to $1 for nice dresses for our daughter. That may seem like quite an ambitious goal, but my husband has proven to me that it is quite doable. Here’s what I’ve learned by watching him:

::If a seller has high quality items and is asking 50 cents each, pick out three things and ask if they will take $1 for all three. Nine times out of ten, they will. Although that is $0.33 per item and not the target $0.25, you can average it out later.

::Ask the seller if they will consider a bag special. If there are a good number of items in which you are interested, ask the seller if they will allow you to fill a shopping bag for a certain price. If they will sell you a bag of clothing for $3 to $5, you should be able to hit your target price. (This is especially true when you’re buying smaller sizes because you can fit more pieces into the bag.)

If they charge $5, you’ll need to fit at least 20 pieces into the bag in order to hit $0.25 an item. (It’s amazing how many pieces will go in when they’re folded neatly!) If they charge $3, you need to fit at least 12 pieces in the bag in order to hit your target.

Then, there are always the sellers who surprise you by saying, “Sure, fill a bag for $1!” It happens, and those are the times that help you bring your average back down to the target price when you’ve paid a little more for something you really like.

::If a seller is asking $1 for a pair of shoes, ask if they’ll take $0.50. The worst they can say is “no”, and if they say “yes”, you’ve just brought your average price per item down. If they’re asking $2, ask if they’ll take $1. Then you can get the shoes at your target price.

Skip the junk.

Don’t buy something just because it happens to be your target price. If you don’t like it or it’s worn out, skip it. You’ll find something else later.

Buy only classic styles and colors.

Remember, by the time your children wear the clothes you find, it may be a couple years down the road. Trendy things go out of style very quickly and you’ll end up not using them and wasting your money.

Keep a detailed list of what you have and what you need.

I don’t think it makes sense to buy another pair of pants, even if they are only $0.25, if our son already has enough pairs in that size. On the other hand, if the end of yard sale season is approaching and we see that he still needs pants for the upcoming winter, we can up our target price for that item. I’d rather pay $0.50 or $0.75 for the pants instead of waiting until we get out the winter clothes only to find out we have to run to Walmart and buy a couple pairs at full price.

Spreadsheet Tip:

Our family uses two spreadsheets, one for boy clothes and one for girl clothes. Each spreadsheet includes every size from birth through several sizes beyond what our children currently wear.

There are categories for every different item, such as play shirts, shorts, dress pants, dress shirts, etc. We also include every size of shoes.

Every time we come home from yard sales we immediately wash everything and add it to the spreadsheet. The next time we find something at our target price we can check to see if we already have enough of that item in that particular size. We keep a copy of our spreadsheets on the computer, and carry a printed copy with us to the yard sales.

Properly organize all the clothes you have stockpiled.

It’s no fun to know you have clothes available when your child has a growth spurt, but you can’t find them anywhere! I like to keep everything in airtight tubs that are labeled by size and gender. I haven’t figured out a better way to do shoes, so everything just gets thrown into either a “boy’s shoes bin” or a “girl’s shoes bin”.

When one of our kids outgrows their shoes, I just look on the spreadsheet to make sure we have the next size for them. Then I can rummage through the bin to get their next size shoe. I love being able to make a trip to the attic when our kids have a growth spurt instead of making an emergency trip to the store!

We Save Over $140 Per Year By Stockpiling Clothing and Shopping at Yard Sales

If you’re still not convinced that stockpiling clothing from yard sales would be worth it to you, here are a couple rough figures of how much money we save this way. Let’s say my little girl needs a minimum of five tops, five bottoms, three Sunday dresses and three pairs of shoes for each season. If we buy the five tops and five bottoms at $0.25, the three Sunday dresses for $1 each, and the three pairs of shoes for $1 each, we end up spending $8.50 for an entire season’s worth of clothing.

If we found some really great sales at Target or Walmart and bought the same amount of clothing for $5 a piece, we would spend $80. So we save at very minimum $71.50 per season, or $143 a year per child.

The more children you have, the more your savings will multiply. Plus, though I have nothing against clothes from Target or Walmart, our children are wearing Children’s Place, OshKosh, Gymboree, and Carter’s clothing instead. Many times the clothes and shoes we find are brand-new with the tags still on.

I do understand that this method of saving on children’s clothing is not going to work for 100% of you due to lack of storage space or because you may live in a rural area with very few yard sales. However, I do hope that those of you who have the means to do so will give some of these tips a try. You may be surprised at how well you can do!

MaryEllen Bream is a stay-at-home mom who is always looking for more ways to stretch her family’s budget. When she’s not playing with her kids or shopping yard sales for their clothes, she can be found sharing deals and money-saving tips on her blog.

photo credit

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Sign up for Pinecone Research and get paid $3 per survey (18-24 year olds)

by Crystal on April 16, 2013

If you are between the ages of 18 and 24, sign up for Pinecone Research to see if you qualify.

Pinecone Research is one of my favorite survey companies. They promptly pay $3 per survey taken.

See more of my recommended survey companies here.

(Note: The links in this post are my referral links. Read my disclosure policy here.)

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Homemade Tub & Tile Cleaner

by Crystal on April 10, 2013

I was so, so happy with how this recipe from my friend Ruth (from Living Well, Spending Less) turned out.

It smells wonderfully. It is easy to make. And it works really well.

Just be sure that you mix it up in a larger bowl. You would think I would have learned my lesson about baking soda and vinegar! :)

I realized after mixing it up that I don’t have a funnel.

So I improvised and used my tea pot instead. Hey, it was a little non-conventional, but it worked!

And then I used the spilled cleaner to scrub my clean off my kitchen table.

Homemade Tub & Tile Cleaner

  • 3/4 cup baking soda
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 3 Tablespoons salt
  • 3 Tablespoons dishwashing liquid
  • 1/2 cup vinegar
  • 10 drops essential oil (optional)

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour into a plastic container with a lid. You can use a spray bottle (that’s what I had), but since the mixture is thicker, I couldn’t get it to spray out of my cheap spray bottle.

To use: Shake and pour a small amount onto a rag or directly onto the area you are cleaning. Scrub and then rinse with water and wet rag.

Recipe from Living Well, Spending Less

See more homemade cleaner recipe ideas I’ve tried here.

Head on over to Ruth’s blog to see her incredible post with 10 homemade cleaning recipes that can all be made with just the same 10 ingredients in less than 10 minutes each. She even has a free printable recipes sheet.

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Swagbucks: Get 70 free bonus points when you sign up this month!

by Crystal on April 10, 2013

Swagbucks — one of my favorite ways to earn free gift cards! — is offering 70 free bonus points to my readers this month when you use bonus code CRYSTAL70 at registration.

To enter this registration code, click the text that reads “I have a sign up code” and enter code CRYSTAL70 while you’re signing up.

This code is valid through April 30, 2013.

Read more about how Swagbucks works and also learn 15 Ways to Earn More Swagbucks.

(Note: The links in this post are my referral links. Read my disclosure policy here.)

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A Quick & Easy Method for Freezing Fresh Herbs

by Crystal on April 09, 2013


Ever buy a bunch of cilantro when you only need a small bit for a recipe? Or do you plant an herb garden that always overproduces?

Here’s a very quick & easy way to freeze those fresh herbs for later use:

Wash, remove stems, and chop the herbs.

Put roughly 1/2 to 1 Tablespoon of the chopped herbs into ice cube trays (I didn’t measure; I just plopped some into each cube). Fill the ice cube tray with water and freeze.

Remove cubes and place in an airtight freezer bag for up to two months. To use in recipes, just pull out the necessary amount of cubes and add to your soup, stew, sauce, etc. If need be, thaw first and then add to your recipe.

How simple is that? It’s a great way to preserve fresh herbs — and to not let any go to waste before you have a chance to use them!

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52 Different Ways to Save $100 Per Year: Rent Movies for FREE {Week 13}

by Crystal on April 03, 2013

At the beginning of every week in 2013, I’ll be sharing a different way you can save $100 this year. If you do all of these things, you’ll be able to save over $5,000 this year alone! Many of these things will likely be things you’re already doing, but hopefully all of you will pick up at least a few new ideas or some inspiration from this series.

One of the ways my husband and I have saved a lot of money over the years is by having at-home movie nights instead of going to see a movie at the theater. On the rare occasions when we do go see a movie, I always choke at the prices they charge.

$8+ per ticket? That adds up quickly!

We love a good movie as much as the next person, though, so we’ve found creative ways to enjoy the occasional movie on the cheap. Here are some of those ideas:

The Library

When Jesse was in law school, we lived in Topeka, KS, home to one of the best libraries in the U.S. (yes, I’m a little biased and oh how I miss that library!). Not only did we check out dozens of books each month, we also frequented the DVD section for our at-home movie dates. You can’t beat FREE DVD rentals!

Not all libraries offer free DVD rentals, but if your library does, take advantage of it! Our kids especially love checking out old TV series to watch during movie time each day.

Redbox

Sometime near the end of law school, Redbox came to town and we switched to getting most of our movies from the Redbox kiosks. Back then, they gave away free movie codes like they were going out of style so whenever we wanted to get a free movie, we’d just check Inside Redbox for a valid code.

Now, the codes are a little less frequent, but they still release them on occasion. Coupon Dad keeps a running list of free Redbox rental codes and I also post any that I find as they are valid. (There’s a free Redbox code available through May 8, 2013).

You can use one free code per card, so if you have multiple cards, you can use the free codes more than once. If you have a texting plan, you can text SIGNUP to 727272 and you’ll get a free rental code the first Monday of every month, plus Redbox coupons and occasional free rental codes throughout the month.

Amazon Instant Video Rental

Thanks to Swagbucks, Amazon is becoming more and more our go-to place for renting movies. The Amazon Instant Video library contains thousands upon thousands of movies, TV shows, and more.

They occasionally release free Instant Streaming credits that we use to download movies and they also often have $0.99 rental specials. The thing I love best about the $0.99 rental offers is that you have 30 days to start viewing them. So I can purchase one and save it for a movie night later in the month. Once you start viewing the video, though, it’s only available in your account for 48 hours.

I use a few of the Amazon gift cards I earn through Swagbucks each month to pay for some Instant Video library purchases from Amazon. We’ve been very happy with Amazon video rentals and we love that we don’t have to mess with going out and getting a video or the possibility that they might be all rented. In addition, if we’ve had any connectivity issues with a movie playing, Amazon has always refunded our money all on their own — even when the connectivity issues weren’t anything major.

There are also other options like NetFlix, Hulu, and watching shows online, but the library, Redbox, and Amazon Instant Video are our top three favorites.

How Much Can You Save?

If you go to a theater once a month and spend and average of $20 (two movie tickets + popcorn), you’ll save around $240 per year by having at-home movie nights. That’s fairly significant!

Plus, you don’t have to mess with finding a sitter and you can make your own snacks — which are much better than most of those icky movie theater options (can you tell I’m not a soda pop and candy bar girl?!).

Do you like at-home movie dates? What are your favorite alternatives to paying for movie tickets?

photo from Big Stock

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Sign Up for the Free 4-Week Online Blogging Class (offer ends this weekend)

by Crystal on March 29, 2013

Just a reminder: This offer ends this weekend!

Blogelina is once again offering her very popular 4-week blogging class — for FREE! This online class will be held in April 2013.

If you sign up for this free class, here’s what you’ll get:

  • A class manual – packed with 60 pages of information that will help take the overwhelming out of starting your own blog
  • 4 weekly online class sessions where you can ask your questions and get personalized feedback
  • A FREE year of web hosting.
  • Blueprints, step-by-step tutorials, networking with other bloggers - Everything you need to grow your blog.
  • Save yourself a lot of time, trouble, and money – learn from my own experiences what to do and not to do.

Go here to sign up for the FREE 4-week blogging class. 

(Note: Some of the links in this post are my referral links. Read our disclosure policy here.)

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