The NoExcuseBudget Blog

My backyard. Well maybe not exactly in my back yard... but too close. This whole economy has taken a big step in the wrong direction. Anyone who thinks that it's not that bad must live in a shell on a far away island. Restaurants are closing, food is becoming more expensive and gas... don't get me started!

I actually sold my car and got one with better gas milage. Not only is my monthly payment 1/3 less but I can use regular gas instead of premium too. I love it!

Walking through the grocery store was a reminder of how great coupons are. It is definately hard to find the time to use coupons when you are working, being a parent and just living life, but they are too great to pass up. There's nothing like the feeling of getting something for a huge discount, or free, especially when it's food. I remember when I started using coupons, I'd have family over and they thought I was the biggest money waster because I always had all of the newly released convenience foods and normally multiples of them... finally someone actually asked me about it and I explained that the best coupons were for new products and that I used them at a store that doubles the coupon and it was all free!

Even when I don't have the time to use coupons as I should I still shop the loss leaders, spagetti sauce for $1, pasta for .33, yes, I'm there loading up!

Hope you all are hanging in there. I think we're in for a ride with the real estate market, gas and food for a while... and yes the stock market too! Remember to call up you creditors and ask for a lower interest rate and also remember that nothing last forever!

Yahoo News Agrees with me! Or should I say I agree with them?

Finally a news agency is "seeing" what I have been. We're in a recession in certain geographic areas. The Yahoo News Article pretty much sums it up. (There's a link on my website to this article.)

What does this mean to you? Maybe something, hopefully nothing!

If you live in an area that you feel is in a recession, regardless if one has been officially called, take steps immediately to mediate your future losses. I have guides to surviving and thriving in a recession on my website at www.noexcusebudget.com

If your area has not been hit beef up your emergency fund just in case it does hit your area. Best case scenario you won't need the extra money and you just increased your savings. Worst case scenario you are prepared.

There are lots of ways to take advantage of a down economy... start thinking now.

As a Real Estate Professional and someone who is passionate about personal finance I also recognize that a persons house is very important to them (duh) and that there can be ways to avoid foreclosure. So along with the change to the No Excuse Budget to reflect the new economy we are all facing, I'm going to be adding a whole section on saving your house, and surviving a foreclosure. It's not a pretty subject but it needs to be discussed. Those crippled in the fear of financial troubles need an advocate and I'll be offering help with loan modifications, shortage sales and deed in lieu of foreclosure and foreclosure.

A special thanks to everyone that emailed me their stories of financial success and links to their bloggs... it'll make the No Excuse Budget even better! I can't wait to unveil the new website in the near future!

As I go about my day to day life I find myself constantly being reminded about the down turn in our economy. I never want to be the person that is constantly screaming "the sky is falling", but at the same time I feel like I owe it to the people who are facing the really tough times to know that they are not alone and that there is a problem. On the other hand I want to take my lead from Paul Revere and warn everyone that the recession could be coming to their area (if it's not already there) and that there is still time to save themselves.

Yesterday I had another "ah ha" moment when the local San Diego news said that 1 out of every 74 homes was in some sort of foreclosure. That is crazy!
The reality is that we are far from the end of this. My best guess is that we have another 2-3 years, at least, of the down market. I've said it before, banks need to get more realistic. Homeowners that can and want to stay in their homes should be given any and all assistance to make this happen. This is absolutely necessary. Banks can't even keep up with all the short sale, loan modification and deed in lou of requests. They can't even keep up on all the bank owned properties they have. If the goal is to get the housing market back on a normal healthy track than these foreclosures need to stop, and soon. We don't need another boom like we saw a few years ago, we just need people to be able to sell their homes when they need to move, first time buyers need affordable housing and move up buyers that can afford a larger payment need loans available to them.

This whole mess has humbled me. It can happen to anyone. Even if you have the best safety net and plan B, life can come at you hard. As I get older I realize that everything I thought I new I didn't really know and I also learn that I have alot to learn.

I'm trying to spend as much time on updating my website to reflect the economy and housing market which leaves little to no time on blogging. I really enjoy the blogging so I'll be back!

Hope you all are doing well! Has anyone received their simulus checks yet? How are you going to use it?

...And I need your help!

I've seen the signs. I bet you have too. We're in more than a slow financial period. I'm sounding the bells. We're in a recession. We might even be headed into a depression. I don't care about the "real" definitions any more. I posted the real meanings a month or so again, but I've decided I don't care if we really "fit" the definition.

I hated how the media acted like the end was here. They "predicted" the housing bubble for years... but now it seems like they are not as "energized" about the real problem we are facing.

I've noted how my website traffic has soured with troublesome search terms in the past month, but yesterday it reached a high for my humble little website. Action is needed and people need real answers and hope to get through this period. The No Excuse Budget is going to morph in the coming weeks into a real survival website.

Here are the sections I'm working on adding.

1. I am going to have a section just for stories of survival. Stories of hope, but more importantly what exact steps these people took to get out of a bad financial situation and where they are at now. I hate reading stories that say they were near bankruptcy and then they made millions... we need to know how, right? If you have a story to share please let me know. I'd love to add as many as possible. They more I have the more others can be helped.

2. I also will be adding a new blog and website exchange. If you have a website or blog that talks personal finance please email me and let's exchange links.

3. I'll be adding a section on debt prioritization. Assuming you have no emergency fund and you loose your job you need to know which bills to pay and how to handle the ones you can't afford to pay... along with the consequences. This is all to help soften the blow and let everyone know they are not alone.

4. The next section is going to be about the psycological effects of debt. It would be simple to say that debt can feel like you are physically being suffocated by a pillow, but that would be an understatement. I will add links to websites that talk about coping mechanisms for insomnia, panic attacks, suicidal thoughts, marriage counseling and how to keep a "normal" routine for the sake of your children.

5. Losing your home. Understanding the basics of what happens when you can't pay your mortgage. From default to eviction. I won't be able to cover every states individual rules but I will be compiling a list of other websites that do. Again this section is to let you know you are not alone and an overview of what will happen and ways you can save your home.

I don't want to be an alarmist, but I think we are in for very troubled times. It would be easy for me to ignore all the signs like restaurants going out of business, rising foreclosures, gas that cost over $4.00 a gallon, and the unemployment rate sky rocketing. I could easily live in my own little world and pretend it's not effecting my life, but it is. It is effecting everyone whether you want to see it or not. It's time we all realize what is happening and take care of our families before it's too late.

Please email me if you would like to share your story of overcoming financial hardship, and/or with links to your blog or website.

webmaster@noexcusebudget.com

If you are facing a financial emergency right now, please remember that this is a temporary situation. Nothing lasts forever. Everything will be okay. Don't waste away in your troubles. Get out there and take action right now!

I'll keep this short and sweet (well not really sweet).

I think the U.S. Senate provides and encourages drug and alcohol use before they meet. How else can you explain the new suggested $7000 tax credit to anyone who buys a foreclosed home?

The worst part is that they are promoting this as "help" to homeowners and the housing markets. This is a load of crap.

The only ones benefiting from this are the banks. Yes, it's important to the housing market that the banks unload their inventory and get back to doing what they should be, making loans, but this only helps the banks, it helps NO homeowners.

If they really wanted to help homeowners and improve the housing market why not offer that incentive to ANY person that buys a property in todays market? By offering this incentive towards foreclosed, bank owned, REO properties they are hurting regular home owners who need to sell (remember them, the ones that really do need to sell). How can a regular home owner compete? They could drop their price by $7000, but then the foreclosed properties would do the same. There is no was that they can compete.

So to recap, this is a bad idea. Doing nothing would be better and no I don't really think they are drinking or doing drugs on the job... they must be sleeping through the discussion on this one!

What do you all think?

Edited to add: Neglected homes are the banks responsibility. They need to be made to mow the lawn and properly secure the home. It is the banks job to make sure homeless people are not taking over their REO's.

My point is that this hurts regular home sellers. These same people are also being hurt by REO's... I agree, but I'm starting to think that any help that is put towards the housing market is just being thrown down the toilet. I've yet to see anything offered to help homeowners... it's only helping the banks. Help the homeowners or do nothing.

I remember back in early 2001 watching the news say that gas was going to hit $3.00/gallon. I was really worried. We had a little one at home that had to go to the Dr. 2 times a week and the trip was 1 1/2 each way. Between medicine and the actual Dr. bills this was going to push us over the edge. This was when I took shopping with coupons up to the next level and we obviously survived.

Looking back $3.00 isn't so bad when you are currently paying $3.56/ gallon. Wasn't it just a few months ago when I was paying "just" $2.56/ gallon? Oh the good old days!

I'm actually doing okay with my battle over the kitchen (remember my post about being completely pathetic in the kitchen and all those great ideas I was given?). I've mastered (I'm not saying everything tastes great, but it's edible) enough menu ideas that we're not eating mac' n cheese or spaghetti every night. So the food part of my budget is doing well. Now I need to focus on gas.

We drive a lot for work. It's not unusual for us each to be on the road for 4-5 hours a day and that takes a lot of gas. We bought a sedan a few months ago and sold my husbands truck. We really needed the truck when we bought it a few years ago, but we did not have the same need for a truck anymore and we needed something that was nice to put clients in, but that also got better gas mileage. I'm so happy we did. We are saving close to $700/month since we got rid of the truck, but I can't help but think we could still do better.

My car is an SUV and although it's not the worst in gas milage it's not the best either and I really think about gas whenever I get in it. I'd love to get a smaller car but we need at least one car that can fit the whole family.

Here are the ways I'm trying to save gas... Please let me know yours too!

1. Group trips together- I do the bank, PO, kids pickup and grocery shopping all together whenever possible.

2. Don't speed. The faster you drive the quicker you burn up the gas.

3. Avoid the stop and go. I *try* to schedule appointments for times when I know there's not the usual stop and go.

4. Fill up when I see a good price. www.GasBuddy.com keeps track of gas prices and you can search by zip code.

5. Empty out my car. It's amazing how fast your car can "grow" junk. Not really, we seem to just leave stuff in the car and the more weight the car carries, the less gas mileage you get.

5. The old rule of getting your oil changed regularly and keeping my tires properly inflated.

6. No emergency runs for butter or eggs. It's not worth it to run out to the store for just eggs or butter unless I'm already out and about.

7. I buy my gas with this discover card that gives cash back on all fuel purchases. Link available at www.NoExcuseBudget.com

I think the one that is helping the most is mapping out my day the best I can. I seem to get the most bang for my buck, gas wise, is by not having to warm up a cold engine all the time and it's nice for the rest of my life to get all the errands done together and then spend the rest of the day getting actual work done.

My personal guide to surviving any bad situation is to “Control what you can and plan for what you can’t“.

Before you tackle this temporary financial situation (yes it is temporary no recession has ever lasted forever), access your emotional well being. The psychological effect of financial troubles can sometimes be debilitating. You need to take any and all steps to break out of the fog and start taking action. If you are really feeling blue please see a doctor or other mental health professional. Depression goes hand in hand with your inability to conquer this situation. If you need help, again please seek it.

Typically recessions last 8-16 months. Some say that this one will last 3-4 quarters or 9-12 months which would be similar to the recessions in 1969-1970 and the latest one in 2000-2001. I tend to feel that this one will last closer to 16 months, at least. During the last recession we were sent into even deeper turmoil by the events of September 11th (can you believe that was almost 7 years ago?), the already slow housing market and the internet stock market crash. Some would say that Sept. 11th helped with the recovery from the stock market crash, but I would tend to differ on that one as I know people who lost their businesses soon after due to consumers not spending for awhile after Sept. 11th, they saw no relief soon after these events.

This recession is different in many ways, especially in one big way. We are having a major credit crunch. Home loans and credit lines are not available. It’s one thing not to be able to afford the prices of homes in your area, but it’s another thing to be able to afford to buy a home but not be able to get a loan. Unless you have a very strong credit history and a hefty down payment loans are going to be too expensive, if you can even get approved. That’s not to say that it can’t be done. You can still get a mortgage, but it’s a lot harder and more expensive. The new FHA rules were a move in the right direction but I’ve yet to see it help the real estate market… maybe as we move into the spring/summer buying season we’ll see more market movement. I believe that the credit crunch is the fuel that is continuing to ignite this recession and until the credit crunch is over the recession will continue.

So what can you do to not just survive but thrive in a recession? I posted basic, easy and common sense ways in PART 1. But let’s take it up a notch and see what you can do to thrive in this economic environment.

1. Stay dedicated to your financial goals even after the media declares the recession over. Keeping at it will give you a head start on the next recession. Recessions can also be local instead of national, some areas will recover a lot sooner than others. Don’t get caught letting loose and then realize that you area is last to recover.

2. Buy a rental property is you can afford to and if you learn through research that you can come close to breaking even. Why would I recommend buying a house now? Easy, this might not be the lowest point in the real estate market, but it’s still a lot lower than it was before. As more people loose their homes these same people will need rentals to live in. There will be a need. The best part is that if you can make it “cash flow” then the payments you get every month will go towards the mortgage on the property, therefore paying it down AND during the next high market you’ll be able to sell at a profit or just let it keep getting paid down.

3. Consider changing to a recession proof job. The medical field is booming as the baby boomers age. The outlook for job retention and new hires in the medical field is very good. Why not consider going back to school to learn a new skill in the medical fiend.

4. Think of ways to make money that people always need to buy or do. Opening a restaurant would not be a good idea right now. Restaurants always feel the pain in a recession because customers cut eating out of their budgets first. But there are other business ideas to consider. Among them Debt Collection, Medical Transcribing, Handyman, and Ebay sales, etc.

See also my list of 50 Ways To Make More Money

5. Make yourself invaluable to your employer. Give your boss 150%, not just 100%. Work harder, smarter and more. Make yourself invaluable for job security. Make yourself invaluable and make your company more money. Make yourself invaluable and ask for a raise.

Here is the first part in my "surviving a recession" series... As always I like to hear your thoughts and comments! You can find more on tomorrows post and at http://www.NoExcuseBudget.com


With all the the recent turmoil in the housing market, stock market and the rise in gas prices it's normal to wonder how you and your family can survive a recession. You should be happy to hear that you are already on your way to not just surviving, but thriving in a recession, "why" you ask, because you actually have taken time out of your life to read this and care. The first step to learning how to do anything is to want to know and to search out answers.

From here there are many ways to survive any adverse economy. Lets look at some basic ideas.

1. If you have a job do your best to keep it. If you don't have a job, get one, even if it's not your dream job.

2. Consider taking on odd jobs to either pay down your debt or to build a safety cushion fund in case you do end up loosing your job.

3. Redo your budget. Write every expense you have on the No Excuse Budget Forms. Go line by line and eliminate or lower every possible expense.

4. Contact all your creditors and ask for lower rates. Call your credit card companies, your phone company and your bank, ask them all to lower your rates or fees. If they say no call them once a week until they give you something.

5. If you have a high interest rate loan or one that is about to reset, and you plan to stay in your home for any amount of time, call a trusted mortgage broker and see if your mortgage can be refinanced into a fixed, lower rate mortgage.

6. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Don't count on your job always being there. Don't count on your credit lines still being available and if you are self employed don't count on always getting work from your biggest client. There is a reason that you hear the saying "diversify" and "multiple streams of income". Think of other ways you can bring in money and do it now. Start right now. I can't tell you how many times I have heard people say they wish they had started ____________ sooner. It takes time and money to make money, start right now.

7. Save any extra money in a high interest savings account. I like The Orange Savings Account It all adds up and every penny counts. As interest rates are lowered your local bank will offer lower and lower rates. Put your money in the highest interest account you can find. If you have more than 6-12 months living expenses you can afford to put the remainder above your emergency savings into more aggressive places like stocks and bonds.

8. Put your kids in public school if you have decent schools. Buy a better fuel economy vehicle if you can get a loan that has a good rate and/or you drive a lot.

9. Rethink your insurance. Make sure you have enough and that you are getting the best rates. Shop around. Nothing can be a budget killer like not having or not having enough insurance.

10. Watch for signs and act before they act for you. Is your current job showing signs that you might not have a job for much longer? Are your paychecks late? Are sales down? Start putting together your reseme and possibly even start interviewing. If you do lose your job immediately file for unemployment and start looking for another job. This is no time to feel sorry for yourself. Act immediately.


Remember it's all about money. Money coming in and money going out. Your goal is to bring in as much money as possible while, save as much of that and limit what goes out. Easier said than done at times, but you get the idea.

Here are more easy ways to save without crimping your style :-)

Get rid of any reoccurring charges that are not absolutely necessary. How many subscriptions to random things are on your credit card?

Consider getting your hair cut at a discount chain instead of your normal salon, even alternating between the two can save you money. Just for the record I get mine cut for less than $12 ($7 if I have a coupon) and I never thought I could leave a salon and a long time hairdresser, but I like the way the budget salon cuts it more... same with my nails!

Make your coffee at home. Even if you have to have Kona coffee or another expensive type making it at home at save.

Eat at home.

Use your coupons.

Buy an entertainment book.

Find a mechanic that is not only good at fixing cars, but does it for a good price.

Indulge in small ways. If you see flowers on sale for a cheap amount buy them every once in a while. Seek out ways or places to buy things that make you happy that offer them at a good price.

Use a reward credit card and actually use the rewards. My favorite credit card gives me rewards to book stores and animal supply stores... needless to say I never "buy" books or pet food... I love the library but sometimes I want to buy a reference book, or a special book for my kids, and I save the gift certificates for these reasons.

Don't become the local animal shelter. A lot of animal lovers are faced with this real problem. Once the word gets out that you are animal friendly, your home suddenly becomes a zoo. Don't let this happen to you.... it's expensive and counter productive. Instead make arrangements with an area non-kill animal shelter to bring in these homeless pets and spend your time helping at the shelter. The shelter has arrangements with Vets, food suppliers and more so your donations can go farther than they could if you opened up shop in your home.

Shop at thrift stores. This is the hardest for most people. There is a bad connotation with shopping and using stuff from thrift stores. As long as you really clean your finds you can get absolute bargains! When my children where younger I was able to buy those big plastic play structures for about 10% of their "new" cost. I cleaned the heck out of them till they shined like new.... and then sold them for a profit when my kids where done playing with them!

It's not like me to get real personal. I've shared that I have kids, but not much about them... and I doubt I ever really will. Stay with me on this one. I feel like my cyber friends are my real friends, but really how well do you really know anyone? I'm not willing to put my kids out there and you'll never see a picture of them. I don't "knock" those that do share more about their kids as I do what works and makes me comfortable and others do the same. I can't say if posting about kids publically is good or bad. It's a personal choice.

When I became a REALTOR® I did not put a picture on my business card. I know that most real estate agents do, but I just felt really silly doing it and do I really need everyone to know what I look like? I since realized that future clients really like to see who they are dealing with before they meet you in person and now I have a picture on my website but still not my business card, I just can't do it. I still feel silly having it on my website, but I felt like I had to make the plunge and do it... It's not a "glamour shot" or even a professional photo, just one of me looking like I normally do! I get a laugh out of peoples pictures and then meet them and they look nothing like their picture.... either they are years older or a Pro took the picture and it's had major air brushing (don't get me wrong, I could use some air brushing).... Even the picture I use here on my blog is kinda incognito with sunglasses and such. It's how I really look, and yes I always wear sunglasses, okay not at night, but definitely during the day. I'm just one of those people who is sensitive to the sun, I burn easy too! (now I'm hearing "I wear my sunglasses at night, so I can, so I can... remember that 80's song!)

So my point is that I am a really private person. I fight with this when I write. There is so much I want to share and talk about, but I balance sharing with maintaining privacy for my families sake. When I first started my website I was shocked at the emails I received, both with what others would share with me, a complete stranger and with how my comments could be interpreted. I am lucky that I have not had any truly bizarre issues, but I am mindful of what can happen... I am putting my thoughts and my budget plan out there to the world, literally and anything can and will happen. Having said this, this is a big day for me as I am going to share a very private part of my life. I feel like it's a confession of sorts, but not in a bad way, at least I don't think so.

Here goes. For the past two years I have spent a huge amount of money to have another child. This is the only area in my life where I would ever consider racking up my credit cards. My "story" started when I went to the hospital to have a "normal" "easy" "quick" (you get the picture) test done. The test took all of 5 minutes. I went home and life was normal. Almost exactly 12 hours later I was being transfered from one hospital to another via ambulance and this started a 6 month battle against an infection that left me unable to get pregnant without IVF. Had the ordering Dr. remembered to order me an antibiotic or the performing Dr. not lied that the instruments did not have latex (I'm allergic) none of this would have happened. This was one of those times in life where anything that can go wrong did go wrong. Basically the infection destroyed both of my fallopian tubes. One tube was removed as it was filled with infection after 6 months of antibiotics, the other was lost with a ruptured ectopic. This was just last September and as horrific as it sounds, the rupture and surgery were nothing compared to loosing the baby, that broke my heart, the surgery just "broke" my tube. After this I went on to have two more early losses from IVF, (the last being right after my husbands car accident by the uninsured motorist, two weeks ago). I'm not done yet. I will keep trying, but at what cost I must ask myself.

And here is where my question starts. Are there any really good reasons to rack up your credit cards and go into debt? I want to say yes. Having another child would be worth paying down debt for the next 100 years. I promise you I would never look at the child and say "you were not worth it". I can also imagine using your credit cards to pay for health care of a family member. There is really nothing I wouldn't do for my families health and safety wise. Money is just money. Easy come, easy go. You can always make more.

I used to be a very strict no debt, don't spend more than you make, suck it up, it's your fault you are in debt, kinda person. Having started the No Excuse Budget and thus hearing others stories has changed me. Having gone through this trying time in my life has taught me so much. I am a lot less judging and although I really feel like I can budget with the best of them, and I love my No Excuse Budget system, I also know that I can learn so much from others and that the No Excuse Budget is and will continue to grow from all of this. I still contend that we must be responsible for our actions and that there is No Excuse for not having a budget, but I understand that life throws curve balls and that we must adapt. There is trully nothing we can not overcome and there are no worthy excuses.

On another note, traffic to my website has grown a lot in just the past few months. What is especially noteworthy is that I have done next to nothing to encourage this. I have done no advertising. I have been spending all of my time focusing on making money to fuel my "have a baby addiction" so I was really surprised. The number one search term was "make a budget" and "survive a recession". This worries me. I've made it very clear that I think we are in a recession, at least in certain areas and I think more people are thinking the same way. I'll be adding a page to cover these topics on http://www.NoExcuseBudget.com in the next few days. In case you were wondering, the old terms that brought me the most visitors were "free budget worksheets" and "how to make more money".

So here is my question to all you die hard budgeters and frugal friends... is there ever a good reason to rack up your credit cards? Please share with me your thoughts...

Birthday season used to leave me seeing RED $$$$ signs everywhere! Between my kids parties and presents for the other kids birthdays it was a lot of money! You read about the parents that pay hundreds to thousands of dollars for a child's 1st birthday party and scream and then laugh because a 1 year old would have more fun with an empty box and a cup cake!

Here is how I've learned to save while still keeping the magic of birthday fun alive!

1. Shop all year. From gifts to party supplies, keep your eyes open to bargains.

I stumbled upon a great deal on books. Hard Cover brand new books that are still shrink wrapped and sell at Barnes and Nobles for $15.99 and I bought them for $.35 each. I bought 20 and used them as party favors! I have my child write a thank you note inside the book and then we handed them out as the child left. My kids love books and these were a huge hit!

I love after holiday clearance sales. After Christmas I buy all the red and green decorations and table settings like paper plates and napkins and Valentines day and easter always have me buying red and pink... I then use these as table settings for birthday parties. I add a table setting with the child's chosen theme and I've saved about one million dollars (not really, but it feels like it when I see the prices for the real paper plates and napkins).

2. Let the Dollar Tree and Oriental Trading Company be your friend

Dollar Tree sells helium filled balloons for $1. and has tons of party favors and more for $1. I can fill a goody bag for next to nothing.

Oriental Trading Company has lots of specific themed goodies for a really good price. This one you need to plan as they ship it to you and the sooner you need it the more that the shipping costs. So if you give yourself a couple months you can really make out.

3. Coupons

I've seen lot's of the home mailers sending out coupons for discounts on jumpy's and pizza... both good choices for an easy party. I also stock up on juice and snack type foods using the Sunday coupons and get most of it for free.

4. Choose your party time carefully.

Consider having your child's party at an off time. During the week is a great time instead of the weekend if you are using any outside services. Jumpy's, clowns, face painters, etc. will be more willing to negotiate on their fees if they are booked during a normally slow time.

5. Buy presents whenever you see them.

There are some presents that are always a hit, books, art supplies, remote control cars, flying planes, etc. I buy these up whenever I see them on clearance. It saves me gas, time and my sanity not to have to run out and get another present when we get another invite to a birthday party. I do ask the parent what the child wants for their birthday and if I don't have anything on hand that would work I go out and buy something, but 95% of the time I have something.

6. Just write a check.

This seems cold , but for my siblings I just write them a check. I don't even buy a card. I realized that at this point they know what they want and are too polite to blurt out what they really want so I give them a check... but I take it a step farther. I give them $20 plus the cost of a stamp plus the cost of a card and gift bag and tissue wrap. It's almost become a fun joke but it works for us... I love to hear what they bought for their birthday.

7. Remember that the things in life that children remember and consider fun are normally free or pretty close to it.

Why not just do the homemade pizza and cupcakes party? Let the kids run around and play. Plan a scavenger hunt. Let them color the sidewalk in bright chalk!

I started this month blogging as much as I could. I really like to blog, but then life caught up with me and I had to take a little time off.

Now I'm back! So why did I stop blogging? Well my wonderful husband was hit by an uninsured motorist. Not only did he not have insurance, but he also provided fake insurance which just messed up the whole thing. Thankfully my husband is alive. Hurt but alive. Since this is an ongoing issue I won't say more about the accident, but lets just say it has given me more to blog about.

It's amazing how it all amounts to money. If the party at fault had paid for insurance, (like the law says you have to) our life would be different. Thankfully we have uninsured motorist, but this is still costing us big! Talk about taking a hit to the budget...

Anyways, insurance is up there with housing and food for me on my budget... just wish it was for everyone else!

So what have you all been up to?

Do you think about money all the time, good or bad? Do you think most people do?

What's the old saying... "Money makes the world go round"? Most of my friends and family are to some degree self employed so the majority of what I hear is from their point of view and it seems that money is always the conversation. How to get more, how to spend less and how to save more. I often wonder if those who work for others think about money as much as the self employed.

It makes sense that money would be on their mind as there is no guaranteed paycheck (although is there ever a guarantee that your paycheck will always come). But I wonder if the S.E. are always thinking of ways to make more where is the other is thinking more along the lines of saving more and spending less.

If you are S.E. or not which way do you think about money... as a way to make more, a way to spend less, or a way to save more.

It will be interesting to see the comments.

I'll go first. I'm the responsible party (along with DH) for bringing home the bacon, and I think predominantly about ways to make more money. I definitely think about saving and spending less, but the biggest thought is making more... what about you?

I am a recovering restaurant eater. My problem stemmed from a lack of cooking skills (I'm a horrible cook) and a lack of time (I work every second I'm awake).

I expected the "normal" perks of eating at home like when I started eating at home as much as possible but I was surprised at the end results:

• save money on expensive eating out
• save time not waiting in lines
• eat healthier by knowing exactly what is going in your food

But I did not expect to actually save money on my grocery bill. After a few months of eating at home I tallied my receipts and I actually am saving money on my groceries compared to when I would eat out. These are the only explanations I can come up:

• I am more realistic about how much we really eat, I purchase accordingly, so there is less waste. I hate to throw out spoiled food.

• Planning our meals based on sales

• We're not eating as much, home cooked meals make us fuller?

Whatever the reason I'm enjoying the benefits and realizing I might not be the worst cook... I actually might be an okay one... not great but okay!

I'm curious are there any other cooks that might not be the best but are trying like me? Any secrets?

A few days ago my child was shown a video at school about a third world country and the struggles they face to survive. I was deeply moved. It’s hard not to feel pain when you watch a 5 year old walk an hour by themselves without shoes on just to get an education that they are so excited to receive.

I think about my own children, facing the pain of hunger, the desire to learn and the bleak future that those children face. The presentation was compliments of “change for change” which encourages children to bring in change to their classroom which they then pool together to buy families in third world countries a goat or other animal. The animals are used to boost the families income and change their life. If a family is given a goat they can sell the milk and use the money to send their children to school. Then when the goat has a baby the baby is given to another family to provide the same help. That initial change keeps on giving.

It’s a great idea. How better to help others by not only giving them a fish, but also teaching them to fish. It also teaches the children compassion, charity, and that even small amounts of money do add up. I was truly inspired at the thought of helping others.

But, I couldn’t help but think why aren’t we helping others here in America that are starving and lacking an education to better their lives.

It pains me to see anyone struggling here or in another county, but I feel like we are so close to the ones here that need help, some even in our own backyards that only sending money far away is like saying we don’t care about our own.

I don’t want to appear uncaring to the needs of others that are not American and I don’t want to cut off support to Countries that need it, I just want to see those that are hungry where we live fed too.

I once did a TV appearance where I showed how you can save major money by using coupons to “buy” food. I bought around $225 worth of food and only paid $2.15 (if I remember correctly). The news crew followed me through by grocery shopping trip and then followed me to the local food bank where I donated all the food. I included the food bank trip because people always assume that coupon shoppers buy food they don’t need and waste money doing so. I was able to prove that not only did I not waste money using coupons, but that even when I didn’t need the items I was buying someone else did. As we were unloading the car full of groceries people were lined up outside the local food bank waiting for the food. There were people here that were hungry and there was a way to feed them that costs very little in time and money.

I just wish we could play a video of the people struggling here in America… lining up at the food banks and unemployment offices… and teach our children how to help them too…

You change your website. http://www.noexcusebudget.com

What do you think? I think the changes make it easier to read and follow. I'm taking the email's I get and let those lead me. I'm going to be adding a section on budgeting for children, teens and young adults as this seems to be a big area of questions I get and another about doing debt settlement yourself. I'm also rewriting the budget itself. The features will be the same but I'm rewriting the instruction and adding video of it actually being done. I'm excited about it... I'll let you all know when it's done.

So it was almost 2:00 am when I finally made myself step away from the computer. I really wasn't tired but I made myself stop. Now I'm tired and this is going to cost me money as I already feel an emergency coffee stop this afternoon after my meeting is over... I guess it's not that bad since I can't even remember the last time I actually went to a coffee shop... my coffee pot works just as well at home!

Have you all had nights like that? What do you do when you can't sleep?

No, not the real “definition” of a recession. A true recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth in real Gross Domestic Product and we’re not there… yet. But do you think we’re in a recession based on what you are seeing in your community?

Living in Southern California it’s feels like it’s always feast or famine. Some days I am convinced that we are definitely in a recession (in certain neighborhoods at least) and then other days it almost feels like a healthy financial period. The “signs” that I see are restaurants that were normally very busy 1 ½ years ago now have empty tables and nail and hair salons are not as busy either… along with car washes and the malls.

Another really obvious sign of trouble are foreclosures. Driving through some neighborhoods they are everywhere and then in other areas they are few and far between. Just when I think it’s all going down hill I drive to another community and I don’t see even one distressed home.

Putting it all together I think that we are definitely seeing signs that we are heading towards a recession if we are not already in one, but I think that the most noteworthy piece of information is that it is localized. Some areas are really feeling the pinch and others, not so much. It appears that the hardest hit areas with foreclosure and recession like activity are the ones that have the most track homes as apposed to the areas with more custom homes.

My personal view is that although we are not in a depression based on the actual definition of the term, I believe that certain areas are definitely in a recession and that more will be soon. I don’t believe that any area is not being touched by the slow down, just not to the extent that others are.

What are you doing to recession proof your life? Are you putting away more money each month into savings? Are you thinking of back up plans incase you loose your job? Do you think that we are in a recession? What’s it like in your area?

Half the budgeting battle is cash flow, income, paycheck, otherwise know as bringing home the bacon. It's not so much what you owe, or even how much you spend as much as how much you make. It's one thing to cut back on all unnecessary spending, but it's an entirely different goal to bring in more money.

My Dad always said that cash might be king but that cash flow was God. It took me years to really get this, but it's true.

If you are new to budgeting and you want to do it well you need to do two things. Spend less and bring in more money. Either done separately will surely help, but doing both together will catapult you towards your financial goals a whole lot quicker!

A good budget allows you to have the financial security of no bad debt (your mortgage, student loans, 0% credit cards with the money sitting in a high interest earning savings account are all not bad debt) and a large emergency fund. I've put together a list of 50 ways to make more money to help you reach your financial goals. When deciding what you want to do to make more money first start with what you like to do. Next ask yourself if you are good at it. Then research research your idea to see if there is a need for it and if you can make money offering it. A good place to start your research is at http://www.craigslist.org/. Not only is craigslist free, but you can search other geographic areas to see what is missing from your area that others are offering (and making money) in others of the country.

Quick Note- Are there any stay at home Moms out there? I get tons of emails from stay at home moms... telling me that they have no idea what they could possibly do to make extra money because they have been out of the marketplace for so long being a mom. Every time I see one of these emails I'm amazed! Stay at home moms have one of the toughest jobs out there. Moms learn so many very valuable lessons just by becoming moms. Some great ideas for moms that need their self esteem boosted are babysitting, clean houses, organize kids parties, tutoring, cooking, etc. The possibilities are endless and many of these things can be done while your child is with you!


So here's the list. Please feel free to share your ideas too. I'd love to get this list over 100 to give others even more ideas! You can also find more detailed instructions for some of these ideas byclicking here!

50 ways to make more money today!



1. Mystery shopping

2. Part time jobDeliver newspaperWalmart night stocker

3. Craigslist poster, post ads on craigslist for others and make money doing it.

4. Rewards Programs- Join ebates. Whenever you make a purchase online buy through your account at ebates and earn a rebate on your purchase.

5. Recycle- yep, pick up cans and glass items and turn them in for cash.

6. Do Online surveys. There are a few posted above... join them and then read the ebook above for inside information to join many more!

7. Check to see if the government has any money that is owed to you. http://www.unclaimed.org/

8. Clean houses

9. Do yard work for a profit

10. Start your own day care

11. Construction cleanup. Call construction companies, pool builders, kitchen and bath remodelers and offer your services.

12. Start charging for your hobby- do you like to design websites? Take Photos? Make some money doing what you love.

13. Write blog articles for others...

14. Sell Avon

15. Write a book

16. Become a "at your home" call center Representative

17. Become a medical transcriber...

18. become a tutor, teach English, Spanish, french, whatever you speak

19. Do you know how to play a musical instrument? Teach it.

20. Do you know a sport, how to ride a horse? How to paint? Teach it.

21. Deliver new vehicles to new car dealerships.

22. Become a movie extra

23. Be a dog walker

24. How about a personal chef?

25. Offer yourself as a personal assistant

26. Become an Organizer. Organize garages, offices, paperwork etc. Learn all the tips of the trade

27. Write resumes for others.

28. Sell your books, CD's and DVD's online

29. Sell on Ebay. Figure out what sells that you can get for a discount and sell it.

30. Enter sweepstakes. Someone has to win, why not you?

31. Write political campaign material contact the local office and apply for a job.

32. Become a freelance translator33. In store demonstrator

34. grocery store coupon stocker

35. Write an e-book and sell it

36. Start an errand running business

37. buy and sell website domain names

38. Get paid for posting on new website forums

39. Write a newsletter and include advertising in it.

40. become a link seller. Offer your services to website owners and get paid per link you sell to other website owners.

41. Data entry

42. Host estate sales/ garage sales. Keep a percentage of the profit.

43. Sell celebrity photographs

44. become a petition peddler

45. Become a website hoster

46. Become an ebay assistant. Ebay actually sends you the leads!

47. Become a job broker. Help others find jobs.

48. Keep an eye out for good deals on the internet and resell them. Watch my tips section on the home page and pick up the bargains I post and then resell them!

49. Have a garage sale- Click here to learn how to get the most money at your next garage sale!

50. Join the Billion dollar medical transport industry. To learn how to start your own transport business

By far the easiest way to save money is by using the law of lazyness.

The law of lazyness is shopping at home in your bed, in your pajamas, at midnight on the internet and then sleeping in the next day because you are so "exhausted" from shopping.

Now I take this "law" a little farther and I only pay for things at really deep discounts preferably with a coupon code and a rebate too.

Here is an example for you to see how it works.
Say I need to buy school uniforms for my child (my kids don't wear uniforms, but this makes for a really easy example as I recently helped an online reader with this exact purchase).
1. I would go to Ebates (sign up if you haven't already by clicking here) and look to see what companies are listed that sell uniforms.
2. You will see that Lands End sells uniforms.
3. Click on the link to Lands End.
4. You will now get 2.5 % cash back on your purchase right now from Lands End. Look to see is they have any specials on their home page, maybe a free shipping coupon or a dollar off
or % off coupon. If they do read the instructions on how to use it and follow them.
5. If you did not find a coupon code on the website open a new internet window but keep the Lands End one open too.
6. Do a google search for "Lands End" coupons.
Jackpot.... right the one down that works best for your needs.
7. Shop


Remember to shop through the rebate links whenever possible. It may seem like a small amount of money that you are saving at the time, but it all adds up!


Some of my favorite websites that list good deals (besides The No Excuse Budget Website ) are
http://www.fatwallet.com and http://www.slickdeals.net. Both have forums where people post when they find a good deal on both the internet and in regular stores. It's fun to keep an eye on what
others deals are out there, but you need to be careful not to buy something just because it's a good deal. You have to actually need it and have the money budgeted to buy it. Fat Wallet also has a rebate program too.


My favorite rebate programs are Ebates and Upromise . Ebates has tons of stores to shop through and upromise does also. Ebates gives you actual cash back. Upromise deposits money into an account for college savings and also to pay off existing student loans for you or your family members. You can sign up other family members to help you save for college through upromis too!

I find myself doing some simple little things to save money throughout the day. I decided to keep a list of them today. I realized that I'm so conditioned to save money that I had to really think about the way I did things today so that I could list them...

Here they are.

1. Wash your laundry in cold water.
2. Do more than one load of laundry at a time. Once the drier is heated up it saves energy to dry the next load.
3. Only do full loads of laundry.
4. Eat at home. I did for all three meals today.
5. Make your own coffee, don't buy it the coffee stand. I did!
6. Run all your errands at the same time to save gas. Post Office, Bank, Pick up the kids, vet, etc.
7. Never pay your bills late. Avoid late fees. I paid mine today.
8. Question any charges that don't seem right. I just took my cat to the vet for a stomach issue. When I picked him up there was a charge for a urinalysis. I asked about this charge and was told it was an error. The test was not needed and not completed. That was a $50 savings. Had it been needed I would have happily paid.
9. I bought spaghetti sauce today for $1. I'm not normally brand specific but when my favorite brand goes on sale for $1 I stock up. I just wish I had coupons for it... it would have been even cheaper!
10. Use coupons in stores and on the internet. I bought Quicken for a friend and used an great coupon to buy it (there's a list of quicken coupons here-http://www.noexcusebudget.com/quickensavings.html

Hope you can use some of these little things to save big! I'd love to hear what you do to save big in a little way! Email me! webmaster@noexcusebudget.com

PS. Just got an email first thing this morning that my website was reviewed at http://www.goreviewit.comHow fun is that? It a new website that reviews actual products and websites, (I liked the dog bone one) with videos and comments from others. I'm going to check it out more later... join me!

PPS. Yes, it was a good review!

*I have edited this post for clarity*

I’ve had this on my mind for weeks now. All this talk about the “hope” or “lifeline” plans to help homeowners and the stimulus checks to boast the economy has me going crazy!

First the checks. There are so many flaws with this mass amount of cash being flushed into the hands of America. A very large percentage of people that responded to various polls said that they would not spend it, that they would indeed save it or use it to pay off bills. Now I am all for saving and paying off bills with extra money, but how will this help the economy? It was explained that the money would help the economy by allowing people to splurge and buy more consumables… therefore giving the economy a boost with this explosion of cash. Hmmm, who really thought that this would work. Aren’t we facing a recession (if we aren’t already in one) partly because people are scared to spent?

Second, the “miracle programs” that are going to save homeowners from loosing their homes. What a load of crap they are serving. Without getting into my personal thoughts on how this housing mess started, or whose fault it is, the reality is that there is a problem and it needs to be solved as cleanly as possible. The truth is that these programs were created with and by the lenders. They help the lenders… oh and a very, very, very small percentage of the homeowner they “claim” to help. The paperwork alone that the homeowners have to fill out is almost impossible to complete and the end result is almost always going to be frustration on the homeowners part. My favorite part is that you have to be at least 60 days late but not more than 90 days late. I want to know how many homeowner are current on their mortgage payments, but are maxing out all their credit cards and living in poverty levels just to pay their mortgage and minimum payments on their credit cards. In order to qualify they would need to let their mortgage go late. If they did that then their credit scores will tank, making their insurance payments higher and triggering “universal default” on all their credit cards… and then what if they still don’t qualify for the mortgage rate reduction or other “miracle programs”? Oh and let’s not forget the late payments fees on their mortgages! There are so many restrictions to these programs, and once again it is a “reactive” solution as opposed to a proactive solution. Pretty much it offers to possibly help the ones that are already in deep trouble but offers nothing to the ones that could easily be saved before it reaches emergency status. Why not help them both? Both are deserving, if only to help the whole countries economy.

I’m one that always says that if you are going to complain about a problem you better have a suggestion for a solution. I will admit that I do not have all of the answers for this problem, but I do have a few suggestions.

1. Don’t send out the checks. Our government does not have money to be sending out in hopes that it stimulates the economy. What part of “don’t spent what you don’t have” are we missing? If I thought it would work it might be a good idea, but it most likely won’t and then were will we be? More in debt. Let’s spend this money on something that will really help.

2. Make a real plan to help homeowners keep their houses. Ask a large amount of homeowners what it will take to help them save their houses. Is it a lower rate, making their loans into 40 or 50 year loans, putting anything in the rears onto the end of the loan, or all 3 or different things? It’s hard for those of us that are not in the position of loosing our homes to know what these homeowners really need. I can only imagine how “hard” it was for the writers of this plan to “know” what would help the HOMEOWNERS, when they just collected a HUGE cash bonus!

3. Here’s the kicker. Use the money that was to be sent out in checks to the masses as bonuses to the lenders when they save a person from foreclosure. Offer assistance to all homeowners who need it. Limit the eligibility to homeowners that are owner occupied, not just those with owner occupied loans, conventional, non-conventional, prime or sub-prime, arm or not loans. Offer assistance to all home owners that actually live in the property regardless of the type of loan they have.

Possible solutions for owner occupied properties include:
- rate cap of 6% or even 7% (there is still lot’s of profit in those numbers) for 5-10 years
- you do not have to be late to qualify
- no financial qualifying, no forms, or berating by lenders. You already qualified to purchase the property. You want to save it, and you live there. That’s enough “qualifying”. This will greatly reduce the amount of REO’s (bank owned properties) and will help stabilize the real estate market.
- you are “kicked out” of the program if you ever go 90 days late and foreclosure proceedings can resume exactly where they where when you entered (if you were late).
- the program participation will not be noted on your credit report. It is very important that the homeowners credit is not negatively impacted or we will need another program to save homeowners from credit card and loan “universal default” or raising rates on insurance and other credit score driven products. There is already a credit crunch, let’s not add to it.

Sorry investors (I’m one too) but we need to save the houses we actually have owners living in… can’t ask for too much, but I did include the provision if you choose to move into a prior investment property… this could help!

Lastly, we need to remember that this needs to be an incentive based program to the lenders. The lenders are in it for money, it’s a business. It would be un-American and down right illegal to force lenders to do any of this. The choice must be theirs to make and we need to be able to reward them financially for doing this. We could use the money from the checks and offer tax incentives to encourage their participation. They would need to calculate if it would be better for them to take the loss from a house through foreclosure or short sale, or the loss associated with offering a lower interest rate and lower payment and a longer return on their money. The pinch will be felt hardest by the private money lenders than the large corporations. It might be a huge loss for the lenders today, but with a stabilizing real estate market they can get the REO’s off their books and get back to lending money like they are supposed too! For the homeowners, they would win today and in the future.

*Added-

POINT 1. I wrote this from the point that the government had decided that they will be offering some sort of assistance and that not offering assistance was not an option. I felt that if they were set on offering "help" than these were my thoughts on the help. Not offering help at all was something I actually thought *might* be a better option (I would need to think that through more), but I wrote this from the view of it's already going to happen, so at least it should be done in the best possible way.

POINT 2. By no paperwork I am speaking of the typical qualifying paperwork, i.e.. bank statements, tax returns and the loan application. NOT the disclosures. Disclosures ABSOLUTELY must still be provided. My feelings were that the borrower already qualified for the loan and that it's obvious that the borrower now can't make the payments regardless of what the paperwork will show. At this point if the borrower is wanting to save the home than who cares about the qualifying paperwork. It would be great for everyone if they could save their home, including the borrower, lender and the local real estate market. By not having to do the qualifying paperwork more borrowers will be able to save their home. Again all disclosures must still be completed and signed. Disclosures will state the terms of the loan modification and the borrower must read, sign and more importantly understand the terms.

POINT 3. I removed any reference to the war. It was not my intention to start a dialog about the war. I mentioned the war as a reason as to why the government can not afford to throw away money. I understand that the war also creates money via jobs and I also want all of our soldiers back. I am not against the war. I am not "for" our soldiers being gone for so long. I am not "for" the huge amount of money we are spending there. I am not "for" a specific withdrawal date as I fear it would put our soldiers in more danger and create a new threat. Thank you for all the emails requesting my view on the war. I hope I confused you even more with these comments. I do not feel more view of the war is warranted in regards to my very strong view on personal finance.

POINT 4. Again, I am very pleased that this post got people thinking. I really do appreciate everyone's views, and I want to thank you all for reading my blog. Please keep the comments coming.

Are you into hypermiling?

I was looking on the net for cooking help. I'm a horrible cook, but that's another post altogether... so here I am typing "chicken easy" and somehow I found a website that is dedicated to the fine art of hypermiling! From what I'm reading you can go from 22mpg to 32mpg (or the like) if you follow the steps. I'm going to try it... I'm always up for a challange. Here's a link to the hypermiling website http://www.hypermiling.com/car-mpg.html.

On another note, I haven't been to the "office from h*ll" lately. I was going to stop by and work more on it but I need a few hours stretch and I havn't found it yet. I will take pictures when I get there. I have a really bad feeling that it will have multiplied and filled up again, I hope not, but I bet it will have.

Last Monday I started a new project. A friend has been asking me for help for months now and I finally said yes, but I knew it was going to be a big project that would take time... time I really don't have. So here's the scoop... she is a very busy executive that spends her "free" time working/volunteering for various non profits. She owns 2 companies and numerous real estate properties and her office was a mess! No, REALLY a mess. I think she was scared to use the trash can because she was worried she would need whatever she threw away, but when she did need something she couldn't find it.

The thing is I really like organizing offices. It's a sickness I have and I don't often advertise this side of my "hobby". If I got paid for it maybe I would, but making paper go where it is supposed to makes me happy. I'm thinking it's some sort of a control issue on my part... I can control paper... and it never talks back.

Back to the crazy office...So I blocked off 4 hours on Monday. I really thought that I could get everything sorted in 4 hours. I was so wrong. I only got through about half of the office. I will take pictures today and post them later. After the 4 hours were done I was exhausted but happy to see the floor. I am not kidding.

This is a perfect example of what I've been preaching for years. They need to teach budgeting and personal finance in high school and college. Not text book teachings, but real life lessons. How many of us started our bad money habits in the college aged years of our life? It's the 18+ years that we develop an unhealthy use of credit cards when we should be saving every penny. I see very successful people that could use a basic lesson on personal finance and organization. It's not that these people are on the verge of bankruptcy (although some are) but it's just that they are time pressed and overwhelmed by the piles of papers so their options are to hire a CPA or bookkeeper to do the sorting and bookkeeping or put up with the mess.

After organizing quite a few offices, the most frustrating thing I've noticed is that people often pay their bills late, but not so late that it affects their credit. I hate seeing someone pay a bill a day or two after it was due. They know that the long term affects of their laziness (it's different if you don't have the money to pay the bills on time) is JUST a late fee, but what if you saved all those late fees in an investment account? You could have a large nest egg... yikes, it's easy to pay your bills on time, especially with the No Excuse Budget... oh well!

So how organized is your office? Mine stays pretty well organized, except my overflow box. I have a box that I put papers and magazine and coupons in. Anything that I want to look at or might need in the future I put in this box. I've found that I end up throwing most of it out without having looked at it though. I always have such great dreams of having time to read it all, but I never do.

I'm going to try and take pictures of this crazy office and I'll post them later. We're expecting a big storm so it just depends on timing. I laugh at saying a big storm as a So Cal big storm is like a drizzle to everyone else!

Really, who new grocery shopping could be so fun... and teach a 7 year old about money?

Fresh and Easy has come to town and I never thought I'd be this happy! It's not just the $5 off a $20 purchase coupon that they are giving out either (although the coupon lover in me was delighted), but the prices and freshness of their products are what really make this grocery store great!

The first time I knew about Fresh and Easy was when I noticed that the town next to mine was getting some MAJOR updating on one of their older, run down shopping centers... It's always nice to see a deserving neighborhood get revitalized... it almost empowers all the surrounding areas and encourages everyone else to care about their neighborhood again.

A few months later I saw the same thing happening in my little town. Although my town as a whole has great character there was one shopping center that needed a little TLC and Fresh and Easy remodled this one too! The shopping center looks wonderful now, complete with the communities quaint character shining through... and the store hasn't even opened yet!

Back to the store itself, because honestly looks are good, but the goods are what count. I first stopped at the Fresh and Easy in the neighboring community by myself. I figured it was either going to be good or bad, and if it was bad I wanted out of there asap, and bringing the kids would slow me down. The first thing I noticed was the brightness of the store. Not to the point that my eyes hurt, but to the point where I could see the product and read the ingredients. The aisles where wide and the whole store was clean. Wondering employees were spread out to see to the needs and questions of all customers, and there is even a sample bar in the back of the store where you can taste all of their specialty items.

Some of our new favorite items are :

Field green salad $1.99 This salad could easily feed 4. It comes with a bunch of different lettuce types, carrot shreds, cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes and the most delicious balsamic vinaigrette. You could easily eat it for lunch as it even comes with an individual napkin and fork!

Ready to eat mac n' cheese $2.99 Both the kids and us adults liked it... rare!

Butter $2.08 Good price out here!

Pizza dough Ready to use $.99 Tastes great!

Frozen bag of broccoli florets $1.29

Tomato and mozzarella sandwich $2.99 This is so good! It's a baguette with aoli, Buffalo mozzarella, fresh sliced tomatoes and water cress. It's one of those things that you crave!

Peanut Butter $1.89

And so much more. I know that I like to see prices so I included a few. There is also a whole section of fresh baked stuff like bread, scones, muffins, and lots of dessert items.

I could go on and on but the reason I really like Fresh and Easy is because my kids now want to help around the house more. I'm sure Fresh and Easy had no idea that their store could make my kids want to do extra chores to make more money to spend on groceries. It's not that we don't have more than enough food at home, it's not that I make them buy their own groceries, it's just that they love Fresh and Easy! They love to pick their own food (I rarely have had to say no to anything they sell), they love to budget the money they have and discover how much more items they can buy if they use a coupon. They love scanning their own purchases and bagging the groceries. They especially love the fresh fruit selection and the baby carrots. I love that they eat the baby carrots and fresh fruit and don't complain when I say we need to go grocery shopping when we run out of milk!

I had resolved to write a post for my blog everyday. By the 2nd of January I had already failed. The truth is that I did actually write the posts, they just didn't get posted. I'm the type that once I write it I'm over it... I'm already sick of the "idea" I wrote about. Are any of you like that? So I'm saving those posts for a time when I'm without inspiration.

It's funny everyone thinks that April is the busiest time of year for money stuff, but in reality I think it's January. I've been bombarded (in a good way) with questions about my budget system and that's why I never posted my articles... just ran out of time.

So here is the number one question and answer I've received over the past few weeks.

Question: What's the most important thing I can do to help me with organizing my finances now?

Answer: I think the most important thing you can do today is to get a box and an envelope... and a pen!

I actually gave this as gifts this year (along with a real gift). At first my friends and family thought I was really weird... but now they get it. This is so easy but for the beginning budgeter or the un-organized it really helps and works.

Large Envelope- The type that can hold an 8x10 piece of paper. Write TAXES on the front. This is the time of year when all of your important tax papers are mailed... your CPA will send your planner (if you use a CPA) your mortgage company will send your interest paid statement, your bank will send your interest earned statement and you'll get any 1099's from any independent contractor work and your employer will send your earning statement. You should receive all by the first week of February, if you don't call! You don't have to do anything with all this right now, just having a place to put all of this will help tremendously when it's time to do your taxes.

Box- I don't care if you use a fancy plastic box or a card board box, as long as it holds papers, a large amount of paper... your good to go! You'll need to put every important paper and all receipts into this box. Even if you have no time to file or do anything else... you'll be set when you do have time to do more because everything will be in one spot when you do.

So those are the 2 most important steps to take now. All you old budgeting pros I'm sure have already done this, but for you beginners this is a good place to start!

By Heather D. Reese


This is a follow up to yesterdays post, why I love credit cards.

I find that in my life there are things that I have a love hate relationship with, credit cards are definitely one of them. I love the benefits they offer, and I’ve weeded out the bad cards in my “portfolio”, but hearing others horror stories keeps the memory of the bad cards fresh in my mind.



Here are my top 10 reasons to hate credit cards.



1. Two cycle billing. Some credit cards still do this and it’s amazing that consumers let them. Two cycle billing is often discovered by the consumer when they pay off their credit card. The next month they get a bill for interest even though they paid off the card in full last month. Not only does two cycle billing eliminate your grace period, but With two-cycle billing, the average daily balance used to calculate interest charges is calculated from two billing cycles rather than one costing you more money!

How to avoid this- Check the fine print in that little booklet that the credit card company sends you every year. If this is not your oldest most established credit card, or your highest limit one, consider replacing this card with a friendlier, single cycle credit card.



2. Universal default. This topic alone deserves it’s own post, but the skinny on this is that if you default on any obligation your credit card can impose a default rate. It can be quite a shock and surprise when you open your credit card statement and find your minimum payment doubled and your interest rate is now 30%. The ultimate betrayal is when universal default causes unrecoverable damages. Everyone has gone through issues in life, a birth, a death, a natural disaster, etc. One late payment and all your credit cards can raise their rates and what was a temporary situation that can be fixed is now a situation where you are forced into bankruptcy.

How to avoid this- Many credit card issuers are moving away from universal default… are yours? Time to call them up and ask! If you can ditch the ones that still do universal default all the better. Now before you ask why I didn’t simply say don’t pay your obligations late, let me say that all care should be taken to pay your bills on time (more are http://www.NoExcuseBudget.com ) but there are times when these things are out of our hands as in life events, and credit card processing errors, and it takes much time and heartache to straighten out the mess. By avoiding cards that use universal default you avoid the whole mess.



3. High interest rates- Not too much to say on this one other than charger be ware! There is no excuse for such high interest rates. Even with less than stellar credit you can find a card with a descent interest rate. Credit unions are the best for this. Last I checked Navy Federal has a card with a regular non-promotion rate of 7.9 for purchases. That’s a great purchase rate… and it comes with rewards!

How to avoid this- Shop, shop, shop! Not for things, but for a good card. Call or surf the net to your favorite financial institution and see what they have to offer. Be sure to inquire about the rates for different uses. If you are often taking cash advances you’ll need to consider that rate too!

4. Rewards that are hard to use- Can you imagine a rewards card that only lets you use the rewards on the third Tuesday in February, but only on leap years? Okay, so this is an exaggeration, but there are some cards that make it extremely difficult to ever even use the rewards.

How to avoid this- Reading the rewards fine print will help, but a good internet search for others experiences redeeming rewards will bring the biggest insight into how easy it really will be to acquire and use your rewards.




5. Yearly membership fees- Another crap fee, pardon the expletive. Today there are so many cards out there that a yearly fee is a thing of the past, or should be. It used to be the cards with the best reward would always charge a yearly fee, this is not the case anymore. You can find a really good rewards card without a yearly fee.

How to avoid this- Sometimes it may make sense to pay a yearly fee. Often this will be with a business card or line of credit, not so much with consumer cards. If you are really happy with the benefits your card offers and the benefit way out ways the cost of the yearly fee, keep your card, but do call up your credit card issuer every year to ask them to waive the yearly fee even if you have to threaten to close the account. They will often waive the yearly fee each year, even when they say “ this year only”!



6. Pathetic fraud protection- Credit card issuers declining charges for ridiculous reasons all in the name of fraud protection. A few years ago we were traveling for business. It was a 6 hour road trip. We filled up on gas in our home town. About 4 hours later we filled up again. I’m one of those people who hates to get too low on gas so we really just got about ½ a tank of gas then. When we reached our destination we again filled up the next day before a day of driving around. I figured we didn’t know the place too well so it was best to fill up by the hotel. Went to fill up and the charge was declined… called the issuer who told me they suspected fraud. No problem I appreciated their vigilance against unauthorized charges. I assured them with every security question that I was me, and that all was well. They said no problem, you’ll be receiving a call shortly, answer the questions and your card will be good to go again… “okay, do you want my cell phone number”, I asked? No the customer service rep responded, we’ll be calling at your home phone number… needless to say, I did not use that card for the rest of the trip!

How to avoid this- Call your credit card issuer before you travel or make out of the normal charges. Do not assume that one card is enough if that is going to be your only payment option, always bring one or two or even three cards for trips. Always try to make a photo-copy of the cards you bring when traveling incase your wallet is stolen, you’ll then have the 800 #’s of the cards that were lost and you can call and have them re-issue you a new card with a new number.



7. They make it hard to actually dispute a charge and get your money back. When you really need the fraud protection they make it as hard as possible to get your money back. Aside from the normal questions, do you have your card in your possession, when was it last used… the questions get more and more ridiculous and the credit card issuers try to side with the business more and more often, and it makes sense when you think about how much money that the businesses pay to even take credit cards, but it doesn’t make it right. Jumping through hoops is an understatement when it comes to the forms you have to fill out and then have notarized (a cost you have to eat). You’ll feel like they think you are the one committing fraud not the true criminal.

How to avoid this- Keep good records when it comes to using your credit card. Follow the disputed charge rules very carefully and write down the name of the customer service rep. you deal with along with notes of your conversations. Most importantly, check your credit card and bank statements at least monthly… if you have quicken or other money management software you should be downloading your charges daily and looking for inconsistencies.



8. American expresses financial review- Few have heard of this fun little game that Amex. plays until they ask you to play! Normally Amex. only issues a financial review when you have both a charge card (no set limit, pay in full monthly) and a credit card. This combo seems to set them off. An Amex financial review will include providing them with pay stubs, bank statements, your blood type and your first born. Well maybe not all those things, but by the time your done you’ll feel like you did give blood and not only will they likely still close your accounts, but it’ll hurt your credit report to have an account read “closed by credit grantor”.

How to avoid this- Consider having either a charge card or a credit card through Amex, not both.


9. Non existent customer service. You need an answer to a simple question. You Can’t log -on to your account online, you need to change your address… there are lot’s of reasons to need to call your credit card issuers, and you have been on hold for over an hour and all you can do is keep going through their automated system, yet they promise your call will be answered by the next available rep… of and your call is REALLLLLLYYYYY important! Customer service is just not like it used to be and credit cards seem to have the worst!

How to avoid this- There might be no way to avoid this, but you can at least plan for it. Call your credit cards during off peak hours, normally early morning Tuesday-Thursday. Keep notes of who you talk to and if you are not satisfied ask to speak to a supervisor. If you are still not happy send them a letter. It’s easy to find the head cheeses info on the internet now, the office of the president normally has a “gripe” department that really does try to help and often can and will.



10. Pre-approved offers. I hate pre-approved offers. I’ve opted-out, deleted myself from mailing lists and I still get pre-approved offers… my shredder is overflowing with these offers. My shredder actually overheats and smokes. I hate all the waste and I hate having to sit for hours every month and shred unwanted offers. At least most credit cards offers now come without your name on the fake credit card in the letters, those fake cards were the worst on my shredder, and we all know I’m too money conscience to buy a new shredder until mine completely stops shredding!



How to avoid this- Opt-out, be added to all do not call and do not mail lists, and don’t be like me, buy a bigger better shredder. In today’s world your best defense from identity theft is a shredder and never revealing personal information to those who really do not need it. Carefully read all of the fine print that you are send from your creditors each year and individually opt out to each creditor.



The moral of the story is that it’s all about finding the right card for you.

by Heather D Reese

Most “heavy shoppers” love credit cards. I used to be a “heavy shopper”, groceries, clothes, dog food, it didn’t matter, if you could buy it, I wanted to buy it. If I could use a credit card a credit card to pay for it, even better… Then came kids. My whole life changed. Shopping took on a whole new meaning. I was now responsible for someone else and I could care less about shopping for all the crap I did before. I shopped for diapers, formula and baby food, for baby clothes, medicine and juice, then one day it hit me… this baby is just going to poop in these diapers, and I’m going to need to buy even more to be pooped and peed in. Why not try to get the best deal on something that’s not going to increase my net worth and that in essence will be thrown away as quick as I can buy it.

This is where my love affair with credit cards came from. It wasn’t during the days of my overspending, it was from my days of deal shopping (today).

With any love affair there are the good days and the bad days, but the following make my good days far better than the bad days!

1. Choose a card that offers rewards you will actually use. If you are scared to fly and only will do so once every 10 years to go to a funeral, your miles will expire before any friends or relatives will.

2. Pay attention to the interest rate. On the off chance that something comes up and you have to carry a balance choose a card that had a lower interest rate. Start with your local credit union.

3. Pick a good card. Stay away from double billing cycles.

4. Be aware of any extras your credit card offers. Some offer extended warranties for all products bought on the card, others offer rental car insurance, shop around for the benefits that you will use the most.

5. Do you drive a lot for work? Consider a gas card that gives you cash back on your gas/fuel purchases.


A real reminder of the benefits of using a credit card vs. a debit card was sent to me right before Christmas by one of my No Excuse Budget Readers. Sue sent me an e-mail explaining her situation. Sue was working with very limited funds for this Christmas. Her husband had just taken a new job (a better one) but she would be loosing out on one paycheck since her husbands new job required 2 weeks of training at no pay. She budgeted enough to buy each of her grandchildren one special gift. She watched for sales and saw a great deal… she spent her budgeted amount at the retailer using her debit card. They were to ship her the item as soon as they came in. By mid December she was worried, the product had not arrived. She called the retailer and was told they were not going to be able to fill her order… and no substitutions were allowed. The worst part was that the refund was expected to take 8 weeks because they process it via check as it was a debit card transaction, had she used a credit card, it would have been in her account within 48 hours. To say she was crushed was an understatement.

I often preach that credit cards can be one of the best tools to your financial success and I’m saying it again today… when used responsibly, you might fall in love with credit cards too!

by Heather D. Reese


I was so excited today when my daughter came home from kindergarten today and asked me what I really need in life. More specifically, are the things in my life a "Want" or a "need".


At first I was confused, was she really asking what I thought she was? I've talked about this before with both of my children, they know the value of money... but I've never used these terms with my kindergartner.



She then pulled out a worksheet that teached them the difference. They had to circle the "needs" out of pictures of the following... Food, water, apples, candy, a bed, a teddy bear and a mom hugging her child. My daughter circled everything except the candy and teddy bear. I asked her about not circling the teddy bear... she said it would be nice to have, but that she doesn't need it to survive... I was so proud!



She then started saying things in her life that were wants and what was a need, "I guess my sister is a need". I said yep, "it'd be hard to survive without her", she says "yes, who would make me popcorn?". And the moment was over.



It really did open up a whole new level of money talk between us though. I'm a firm believer in talking to your children about money from the time they are toddlers, but I just didn't realize she was ready to understand even more.



It's about time that the kids are taught more about money in schools, and what a great way to start in kindergartner with the wants vs. needs. I think a lot more adults are also struggling with being able to differentiate the difference between a need and a want....

by Heather D. Reese

Now I love Thanksgiving and Christmas like the rest of the world... but I really love it in a frugal shopper way too! Grocery shopping and coupons make this the "happiest time of the year" (to the tune of Christmas music)

The first reminder that this wonderful time is approaching is when coupons for the necessity of my pantry start show up in mid October and it just gets better from there...

$3 off turkey, $1 off sugar or flour and more... you can stock your pantry and freezer for pennies on the dollar!

Here are the tips of the trade for holiday food shopping

Start with your newspaper- Keep all the coupons and the grocery coupon ads.

Match the coupons to the advertised sale prices. Remember to look for other specials like spend $25 and get a free turkey. If you have room in your freezer do this as many times as you have room for the turkeys... they keep for months in the freezer and think of all the meals you can make with a whole turkey!

This is the time to stock up.Good deals can be found and created on canned vegetables, gravy, milk, soup and more!. Look at the expiration dates on the items and buy as much as you have coupons and room for. Packaged meal products like stove top stuffing (.79 a box at Target right now and there are .50 coupons out there making it .29 a box) and instant potatoes and rice are offered at great sale prices and companies are issuing coupons for all these products. If you are a semi-homemade kind of cook then this is the best time to really stock up your pantry. Other deals you'll find are on things like frozen pies ( I normally can find these for $1.99 and then I use a $1 off coupon at a store that doubles and it's free) and canned broth. Even bottled water and soda are offered at a great savings... maybe not super bowl savings amounts... but that will be here soon enough!

by Heather D. Reese

This article is a follow-up to yesterdays titled Frugal, Prepared and Organized... the typical saver . As you can see most wealthy people know how to time a market. They know how to act in any economy.

They know how to time a market. During the good times, the high stock market and the booming real estate market, they stockpile their money away. They might invest in the stock-market some and the real estate market a little but they know that in order to come out ahead they must buy on the low and sell on the high. They recognize that buying in a high market is not the easiest way to success.

They take risks, and limit their risks. Sounds like a play on words, but they know that in order to really come out ahead they must take risks. They know that they will not always pan out like they planned and so they limit their exposure at the same time. They know how to take a risk but limit it to what they can handle.

They watch for signs and act quickly. Occasionally they do take on more than they bargained for and in this case they constantly watch for signs that their investment may be in trouble and act before a major catastrophe occurs. They follow the media's news stations, but more importantly they get out and get first hand knowledge of exactly what is going on. They realize that it's their money at stake and take a personal interest and responsibility to find out what is really happening. They process this all and act at the first signs, not when it's too late to rebound.

They surround themselves with like minded people. They dine, play golf, and vacation with others that have the same goals and life plans. They thrive on networking and keep working even during their down time. They see every moment as a way to get ahead. This is not to say that they do not value their friendships on a friendly level, it's just that they see friendships beyond the normal sense of the word and onto a higher level of possible financial gain.

They know that failure is a temporary place. They know that in order to be successful that they have to taste a failure here and there. They know that the only way to feel good times is to feel the bad times. They don't quit, they get up and keep going and learn from the mistakes that brought them to this bad patch. They view it as a test of their resilience and they get on their way to building up their wealth. Most wealthy people have had bad times and will share them with you openly. They are proud of how they made a comeback.

They build a team of the best people for each job. They know they are not and will never be the best at everything so they hire others that are the best in each field. They go to these people, the experts, for advise and they use this advise.

They love what they do. They really have a calling for the type of work they do, but rarely do they feel it's work. They find enjoyment getting up everyday and the thought of a new day keeps them going. They might have a high level of stress, but they truly find happiness in their chosen path.

Lessons we can learn from. Do what you love. If you can't quit the job you have now, start transitioning towards the job you want. Prepare your life for the time when you are doing what you love. Start today by taking on extra work to build an emergency fund that would allow you to leave your job and start your new career. Click here for 50 ways to make more money . Time your market. If winter is the busy season in your industry plan to put in extra hours to earn overtime. By planning for this you can take advantage of the extra pay that's offered. You'll know it's temporary and that the money is really going towards your future. Search out your own experts and use they're advise. Advisor's are not for the extreme wealthy anymore. Everyone can benefit from some expert advise. Surround yourself with others that are heading the same way. Keep negative influences to a minimum. You'll never be brave enough to follow your dreams if everyone keeps telling you you'll fail. Keep the faith in yourself alive and "just do it"!