Money Saving Mom®

Guest post by Kristen of Celebrate Every Day With Me.

Are you productive when you talk on the phone? There are days when I am a mean-cleaning-talking machine. And there are other days (a few too many) when I don’t have anything to show after clicking end on my telephone — meaningful conversations aside.

One of my closest friends lives a couple hours away. But we make up for it in the number of times we talk on the phone each day and the lengths at which we talk on the phone. She tends to sit, comfy on the couch while we talk. I tend to pace around my house. (The reason I recognize this is that I have noticed when my kids are on the phone or pretend to be, they walk circles around the house. Hmmm.)

So in an effort to jump on Crystal’s bandwagon of amazing productivity, here are 20 quick ways to be productive while talking on the phone.

1. Pick up clutter

2. Sort laundry

3. Unload the dishwasher

4. Organize the pantry

5. Wipe down the counter or refrigerator doors

6. Wash a window

7. Go through a kid’s closet, removing what no longer fits

8. Spot-treat stains on clothing

9. Sort through a junk drawer

10. Purge unused mugs and sippy cups from the cupboard (Don’t we all have too many mugs?)

11. Take a Clorox wipe to your light switches and door knobs

12. Grab a stack of unfiled bills and sort them into piles on the floor

13. Purge your purse/wallet of trash

14. Cut coupons

15. Organize your video and dvd collection

16. Weed, if the weather is nice

17. Clean the microwave (Boil 2 cups of water, let sit for 10 minutes and wipe.)

18. Dust a room

19. Sort through the mail

20. Paint your toe nails (Who said productivity can’t be fun?)

Next time you hang up, you won’t have just a nice conversation to show for it, you’ll also enjoy the great feeling of accomplishment!

What do you like to accomplish when you are chatting on the phone?

Kristen Summers is a former event planner now blogging about fun ideas for children’s activities, party planning and creating memorable moments. She is the author of Teach Me To Serve: 99 Ways Preschoolers Can Learn to Serve & Bless Others. Catch up with Kristen at Celebrate Every Day With Me.

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Guest post from Carrie of Pocket Your Dollars

For years I couldn’t save money – not wouldn’t — but actually couldn’t.

I tried. I knew it was important, I had a savings account, and I wanted to save.

Still, my savings balance rarely exceeded $1,000 — more typically, it hovered around $150.

Looking back, I realized the reason I continually struggled to build a nest egg was because I constantly sabotaged my saving efforts.

It seemed that one of two things always happened.

1. I’d move the money back and forth.

I’d transfer money out of the checking account, into our savings account. Then, something would come up and I’d find myself moving the money right back into the checking account.

It was never anything frivolous or extravagant, but we seemed to always have a pressing need for the money.

2. I didn’t have enough to save.

Some months, after I’d pay our bills, there literally wouldn’t be anything left over to move into savings.

Sure, we had a budget line item called “savings”, but the money we intended to save somehow disappeared during the month.

And then… I learned HOW to save!

It’s been several many years since I stopped sabotaging our savings… by simply doing these 3 things.

1. We adjusted our attitude.

The starting point for any lasting change is on the inside.

Yes, we ultimately need to modify our behavior and habits. However, until your desired behavioral changes flow out of a new mindset, they’ll be short-lived. Isn’t that why most New Year’s Resolutions fail too?

In the past, we waited, hoped, and even prayed that the next tax refund, pay raise, or Christmas bonus would bring financial change to our family. Our plan was always to “start saving” AFTER each refund, raise, or bonus. We constantly pushed change into the future, always believing it was just around the corner.

Finally, in June 2006 change did come. But, it wasn’t via a cash windfall. It came because we changed our attitude.

My husband and I finally realized that it doesn’t matter how much money you make. What makes the financial difference is how much money we kept.

We committed ourselves to building an adequate savings buffer no matter our income level, so we would never again incur new debt.

Over the years, we have continued to keep that promise!

2. We distanced ourselves from our money.

All of my past failed savings efforts included a savings account attached to a checking account.

Dangerous!

The money is so quickly and easily transferred between accounts that I viewed savings as an extension of the checking instead of something untouchable.

To distance ourselves from our money, we opened up two different savings accounts.

1. An Emergency Fund: we linked this account to our checking so we’d be able to transfer if necessary BUT, we chose a bank that required 4 days for all transfers. That meant no more spur-of-the-moment transfers to cover a potentially bounced check.
2. Non-Emergency Savings: we opened another savings account at a small local credit union to save for expected, non-emergency things like car repairs, medical bills and our next vacation. However, the credit union we chose has a limited number of branches, limited lobby hours, and very few ATMs — so we had limited access to our savings. We wanted to make it difficult, but not impossible, to get out money out. In fact, we didn’t even get a debit card when we opened the account, just an old-fashioned ATM card.

3. We set up an auto-transfer.

Once we’d sufficiently distanced ourselves from our savings, then we needed to fund those accounts. We set up recurring auto-transfers that happened on a set day each month.

Auto-transferring the deposits made a huge difference in our ability to actually save the money we intended.

Setting up recurring transfers was relatively easy. We could configure one of our accounts online. And we had to complete a form at our credit union. The transfers were unstoppable without going into a branch and signing a cancellation form.

I knew that if we didn’t have sufficient funds in the bank account then those auto-transfers would result in an overdraft charge. I didn’t want that, so I earmarked those designated amounts and made sure they were always available.

Doing these three things has enabled my family to save significantly more money, even on a limited budget!

What savings tricks have been effective for you?

Carrie Rocha blogs at Pocket Your Dollars. She’s also author of Pocket Your Dollars: 5 Attitude Changes That Will Help You Pay Down Debt, Avoid Financial Stress, and Keep More of What You Make (Bethany House), which helps readers make lasting financial change from the inside out. She lives in Minneapolis, MN.

Guest post by Andy Traub of Take Permission

Moms are amazing. I know this because I have one and now I’m married to one. Moms are also universally too hard on themselves. You’re hard on yourselves because the work you do is hard to measure. You constantly feel behind and rarely feel the tangible results of your hard work.

So how can you as a mom make measurable change in your life? How can you make changes that leave you feeling more joy and freedom and less guilt and unhappiness?

1. Be realistic about the results.

If you want to read a book and you haven’t read a book in a year, don’t make a goal of reading a book in the next 24 hours. Set a goal of reading through your book in a week.

Don’t set the same timeline as your friend with one child does when you have four kids. Don’t assume you’re going to build your habit and never skip a day. Assume you’re going to mess up sometimes because you are!

Be honest and realistic. That’ll save you lots of guilt. Guilt is a horrible motivator of long-term behavior.

2. Protect the time to put the change in place.

If you want to build a habit of reading, or exercising, or napping for 30 minutes a day, then look at your schedule for the week and schedule two times each day to complete your goal.

Why schedule two times? Life happens, that’s why! You’ll hopefully make at least one of the times work.

3. Don’t try to do it alone.

We’re all afraid of failing when we try to make changes in our lives. The good news is that fear hates community (I’m pretty sure I stole that line from Jon Acuff). Community brings encouragement and accountability and will help you succeed in putting change in place long term.

Yesterday, Crystal announced a 30-day Early To Rise challenge based upon my book. She understands the power of community. She knows that moms need encouragement every day and community brings that encouragement. Find community when you want to change.

Note from Crystal: The 30-Day Early to Rise challenge begins bright and early tomorrow morning! Are you participating? Leave a comment to commit to the challenge here, if you haven’t already.

4. Give yourself a pass.

You’re too hard on yourself. You’re not perfect. No other mom is perfect (despite what you see her post on Facebook).

When you’re trying to make changes in your life you should expect that you’re going to fail. You’re going to fail because nothing worth anything is easy to do. If it’s hard then you’re on the right track!

Remember that you’re trying to make change, and change is work. Work isn’t easy but it’s worth it in the end.

When you fall of the wagon and you get discouraged remember that you knew it was going to happen! Don’t let temporary setbacks become permanent failure. Everyone has setbacks. Don’t be too hard on yourself.

5. Make joy your goal, not discipline.

Make your goal not to be disciplined, but instead, to be filled with the joy that comes from living the kind of life you want to live. Discipline isn’t a goal I get very excited about, but pursuing a joy-filled life is something I can get out of bed for.

What do you want to change about your life and how can you make the goal more about joy than discipline?

Andy Traub is an first-time author, professional podcaster, occasional blogger, encouraging teacher, doting father and grateful husband. He and his wife, Sara, struggle to stay warm most of the year in Sioux Falls, South Dakota where they live with their three very young children. You can read more of Andy’s writing at Take Permission.

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