The New Eating "Out"

I love those Target ads which depict the "new" ways of doing things in this current economy, like home haircuts and date nights in lieu of the more expensive alternative. Target should have consulted me about that ad campaign because I have been living most of their suggestions for the past 2 years! Needless to say, about a month ago on a Friday night my husband came home and told me that he thought we should go out to eat dinner. It was the end of a long week and the thought of yummy Mexican food as he suggested did sound like a great option. Then my reality-meter kicked in: eating out with a 6 year old who has zero patience and with a baby really doesn't make for an optimal dining-out experience at least not for the cost involved, most likely $40+. Although initially I burst my husband's bubble, he did agree with my logic and we decided we would rather save the money.

At this point we were hungry for Mexican food, not the pork chops I had planned, and I quickly offered to run to the Grocery Outlet where bargains abound. At the store I bought some tortilla chips, an avocado, tomatoes, and more importantly some beer. Total cost for these ingredients was $11 (including a 12 pack of beer). At home I cooked the pork with some onions and taco seasoning, something I had never tried but has become a new favorite. We then decided to make a huge tray of nachos and involved my 6 year old in the assembly process which he loved. In the end we made taco salads with the vegetables, meat & nachos, and topped it off with fresh guacamole. The result was a delicious meal for a fraction of the cost of eating out, with leftovers and beer well into the future. All in all, two thumbs way up for the new "going out". Is there some way you can turn your favorite restaurant experience into a fun and more affordable at home, dining-in experience? Please share your ideas, I'm getting hungry!

Wedding Season

I always love hearing how my friends are choosing to Live Large with Less and today's post comes from Charlene who attended one of my classes last summer. As we head into wedding season I thought others might appreciate her story.

"Getting married has never shown up on my “to do” life list yet, here I am, getting married. And as I’m learning, my beloved’s lukewarm interest in the planning is pretty typical of groomsmen everywhere. I’m naturally inclined to be an organizer and planner, always starting well in advance of typical timelines, usually thorough. And now, cheap. This wedding business can quickly get out of hand. Neither Dave nor I want a huge pagent of a wedding but we both want a great experience for ourselves and for our guests. A memorable party that has to walk some slippery slopes between informal and formal, between traditional and ours.

As things we are supposed to do and how much it costs to get them accomplished are piling up, one of the aspects I’m currently wrestling with is the rentals. There are some minimal things to rent even if we are skipping the string quartet, the DJs and the chocolate fountains. We need: Tables, Chairs, Dishes, Glasses, Flatware, Tableclothes, and Napkins. Without getting into the possible tent rental (”in case it rains”) and the outdoor dance floor (who can resist dancing to our iPod wedding playlist?), we are looking at paying about $700. For things we’ll use once. For things we’ll have to set up ourselves. Dave suggested using plastic plates instead. You know, he emphasized at my stunned look, the really nice ones. As I started looking into rental prices I started entertaining the plastics possibility. Turns out they are rather expensive too. I’m not being el impossibly cheapo bride. They seriously cost as much as cheaper ceramic plates. Which got me thinking…

What would the costs be if instead of renting 75 place settings, we bought them, along with tableclothes and napkins. Turns out, buying is neglibly more expensive than renting. Which got me thinking…

Why not buy our own linens and tableware? And then, rent them out to friends and family for their big events? We’ll buy them for about $1000 instead of renting for $700. And then we’ll gladly rent them out for … what? $200 per event. We could recoup our costs to some extent and still have some useable plates and napkins in the future. And our friends and family would save their own big bucks by renting from us at a great bargain price.

Am I getting too cheap? Or am I clever beyond belief?"

The Scale

As someone who has attended Weight Watchers in the past, I cannot help but see the analogies between money management and weight management. Every week at WW you step on a scale and your current weight is recorded enabling you to literally "see" the progress towards your ultimate weight loss goal(s). I must note that I HATE stepping on the scale and will go to great lengths to avoid this act which most likely explains my 11 month absence from WW! However, last week I knew it was time to gain some accountability for both my weight and my eating habits so I returned to WW to step on the scale. Fortunately the damage of inattention was not as bad as I had anticipated and the reality check gave me my weight loss marching orders.

So it is with our finances, while I can certainly move forward in life without a budget or verifying my bank account, having real-time information is a much better and proactive place to be. This means tracking your spending (stepping on a scale) and seeing how it aligns with your budgetary goals. recently my husband and I were more than a month behind on inputting our receipts into Quicken. Typically we do this twice per month, but in the absence of this I felt as if I was spending money in a void. I was hoping everything was ok but I didn't have the confidence without complete information. The scale can be scary, as can reconciling a check book, tracking receipts, or creating and maintaining a budget can be but the benefits of knowledge, truth and reality can not be overlooked. Take a step in your personal finances to be honest and know exactly where you are today and where you want/need to be in 6 months, a year and farther into the future if you can. One of my favorite quotes is, "If you aim at nothing, you very often hit it."

It's a Way of Thinking

As I have been busy promoting my upcoming class by telling people that "Living Large with Less" is as much a way of thinking as it is about money-saving strategies. In fact, I would go so far as to say that without changing how you think about money many of the potential benefits of my practical information will not be realized. This brain change takes time, but a willingness to open yourself up for change is the perfect place to start. The title of my class begins with the words, "Living Large", so I would suggest you begin this mental journey by thinking about your life's priorities, where/how do you want to Live Large? Is it spending more time with family and/or friends? Is it being able to travel regualrly? Is it being able to buy artwork? Is it setting up a college or retirement account, something you've always desired but haven't done? Or giving to favorite charities generously? Or as simple as enjoying a latte at Starbucks every day? The possibilities are endless.

The second half of the equation is the "with Less" piece. Where can you save or let go of money in order to achieve to aforementioned goal(s)? In my case I wanted more time at home with my family instead of spending 45+ hours/week in a stressful corporate job. I made a decision that cost me 80% of my pay. I changed jobs to work just 20 hours/week at my church, reducing both hours and stress and more importantly increasing my time at home with my young children. Living with Less wasn't easy initially as it meant changing how/where I spent my new, lower income. Yet when I kept my eye on the "Living Large" goal it made it easier. For example, saving money on my monthly groceries freed up money for other bills to be paid...so the whole thing begins to work together. Again, time is what we all need to set and attain goals, to make changes both mental and practical, so hang in there and continue moving forward.

So Where are those Gift Cards?

In 2007 a research firm estimated the value of unused gift cards in the U.S. at $8 billion for 2006. So where are your giftcards, the ones you received for Christmas or your birthday last year? Are they hiding in your desk? In your wallet or purse? Or do you have no clue? I have a single drawer where all of them are kept and I think I seriously counted 16 cards the other day. This my friends is FREE MONEY. I will not succumb to the $8 billion statistic, I use my cards with zeal and purpose. Take a moment right now and see if you can collect all of your unused giftcards into one location and then take stock of what you have. Typically there is a phone number listed so you can find the remaining value of each. My husband likes to write the value, using a Sharpie pen, across the front. If the card is subsequently used he crosses out the old value and writes the new one.

In my drawer I have a few giftcards for restaurants, this is like a double treat, as each will become the basis for a future date....without paying the dinner bill! Coffee cards tend to stay in my wallet, but due to lack of space I simply cannot tote my entire giftcard collection.

My hope is that we would all enjoy using the many gifts we have been given, instead of giving the companies who issued these cards a windfall. Take time to locate, assess, and then determine how you might spend them in the near future. I was recently able to enjoy a manicure, which is something that is not in the current budget but was a fun treat thanks to a birthday gift card. This weekend my husband and I will be enjoying both dinner and a movie courtesy of our giftcards. And last week I went to Home Depot and bought new door mats, something I had been meaning to do and when I realized that I had a giftcard to support the purchase it was the perfect time! So start digging for your very own "Free Money". Looking forward to hearing what you might have unearthed.

Hi-ho, Hi-ho, it's off to Work I Go

I returned to my part-time job at the beginning of the year and as a result, I can see that my blogging time has taken a hit. Given the economic challenges in the U.S. and all of the changes to corporations even since I went on maternity leave in October, I am just plain thankful to even have a job right now. Working outside of the home is not everyone's first choice but for those of us who do work, now is the time to buckle down.

My thoughts for today are for those of us struggling with financial pressure of any kind; perhaps it is a growing mountain of debt, a spouse who has lost a job, or perhaps your own job loss, or loss of hours or wage of any kind, or simply that income doesn't cover the necessary expenses. While I was on leave I began to stress about a small loan we had recently taken and how impossible it seemed to repay. After stressing for weeks I realized that I had the capacity to work more than 20 hours/week, if I could do so when my husband was home so I wouldn't need to pay for childcare. I began to think about some options for evening retail or grocery work, I didn't need to earn a ton but I needed the flexible hours. Then one Sunday at church I noticed that the Hospitality dept needed somebody to help serve dinner to families attending the evening services. Bingo! I contacted the director and was hired on the spot. Now this job isn't glamorous and it is hard work for 6 hours straight, and yet I am thrilled to have figured out a solution that a) generates additional income, b) allows me to do so without needing outside childcare and c) alleviates most of my concern about the loan as I am on track to repaying it in a timely manner.

My challenge for you is to think creatively if you are in a situation where a little extra income would make a big difference in your family. Sometimes the obvious idea, "earn more money" seems to escape us, and quite possibly the solutions may just be under our noses. (Recently I also added a bi-weekly babysitting gig for a friend.) This is not the time in the economy to put pride before your financial security, you may well need to take a job that you consider beneath your ability/skill set....and then be thankful for it. Please share your creative work and/or revenue-generating ideas with all of us, we need to help each other here!

New Year, New Phone Service

I did some research during the month of December, prompted by a Consumer Reports article saying that most people could save money by going with a pre-paid cell phone service. I had been thinking about this for months but it took a little work to decide what the best replacement for our cell service should be. Each pre-paid Provider's program is a bit different and depending upon the need certain ones make more or less sense. I started by really examining my cell phone bills for the past 8-10 months. I spent approx. $50/month which included $10 in taxes and averaged 10 cents/minute across the months. Please note: truly heavy cell phone users may be better off sticking with their contract as the more you talk, the cheaper the minutes.

There are Providers which require you to pay only on the days you use it, these are called "Pay as you go" plans (typically $1/day + 10 cents/min) and then there are "Pre-Paid" plans which means you buy chunks of minutes on the front end, at a variety of price points per minute. These chunks of minutes have expiration dates of varying lengths so you need to study that too. Again, you need to think about how often you use the phone.

I also realized I used my cell phone from home a lot to call locally which is a total waste since my land-line can do so for the cost of my local monthly service through Qwest. As a side note I downgraded my local calling plan from one with 3 additional features (voicemail, caller ID & call waiting) that cost $40/month with tax to a plan that costs just $21/month including tax, same unlimited local calls but without the features. Additionally, we bought a phone card at Costco for $20 which will give us 700 long distance minutes for those calls we typically make from home to friends out of state, but used our cell phone out of convenience. The calling card is just under 3 cents/minute as opposed to 10 cents/min!

The pre-paid phone I ended up purchasing was from Costco, via T-mobile, but these phones are also available at Target and a variety of stores around town. Costco gave me a better phone for the money, but again it depends upon your needs.

In total I plan to save about $35-40/month on cell service and nearly $15/month on my landline once I account for the addition of the Costco calling card for a healthy savings of $600-700/year!! Now that is a nice chunk of change.