First, I'd like to thank a reader (SallyC) from my website http://www.noexcusebudget.com for sending me over here! Now I'll be posting my blog here too!
I talk a lot about really taking a hard look at your spending and then cutting back. It seems to be the hardest thing to actually do, but when you actually start doing it it's actually easy. Simple things to save on gas is to group trips. When it's time to go pick up the kids from school, do your banking and go to the post office. When you are out and about remember to keep a mental note of gas prices till you have a feel for the station that has the best price. When you are getting low on gas and you are in that area of town fill up. Make saving money a regular part of your life style.
I've read so many styles of saving money... from extreme to hilarius. Some of my favorite advise (for humor value) suggested saving money by making your own lemonade at restaurants (ask for lemons and sugar) and rinse out potato chip bags, turn inside out and use as a gift bag. I'll never do either of those, first of all buying potato chips will cost you in the long run with medical bills, secondly making your own lemonade at a restaurant is just plain cheap. There is a difference between being cheap and saving money. I do recommend saving money by just ordering water at restaurants. Around here it costs about $2.50 for a drink, with 4 of us that's a $10 savings... about the same cost as the kids meals. But even more importantly water is so much better for you. How much water do you drink in a day? The recommended amount is about 8 glasses a day. Most people don't even come close. So please.... drink your water! Be healthy and save water!
Simple ways to save more money
October 21st, 2007 at 09:22 am
October 21st, 2007 at 09:49 am
October 21st, 2007 at 03:15 pm
October 21st, 2007 at 05:07 pm
October 21st, 2007 at 05:13 pm
Kudos to you! Keep on saving!
October 21st, 2007 at 07:37 pm
October 21st, 2007 at 10:02 pm
October 22nd, 2007 at 08:46 am
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:33 am
Another funny story for you, my family still teases me about this one. I went to a buffet in las vegas. We had our drink orders taken and I always order water with lemons. I get kidney stones and fresh lemon juice helps stop their formation, anyways I love the taste of lemon juice now, the more juice the better, so I ordered water with lots of lemons. The server turns to me and said "sweety, just order lemonade, the drinks here are free, all you can drink".
October 22nd, 2007 at 03:52 pm
October 22nd, 2007 at 09:58 pm
October 23rd, 2007 at 08:15 am
Specifically you mention using Quicken (which I've done since it was written for DOS), but then proceed to give almost all your lenders access to your checking account.
If you have Quicken 2002 (or later), you could simply link Quicken to your various creditors and your checking account, and send an electronic payment using Quicken.
Since I had a tough time of things (17+ years ago), I decided to only pay bills by having the bank either electronically send the payment to the creditor (most of our bills), or send them a check. Most banks will do this nowadays for no fee, simply because it's easier for their processing.
As for water, I drink 6-7 bottles every day. And usually one or two bottles of homemade tea. I simply refill the 1/2 Liter (1 pint, 0.9 fl oz) bottles for a few weeks at the most from our house (we have well water).
October 23rd, 2007 at 08:35 am
I've never had a "confusion" comment, lol!
My site has detailed instructions for beginners to learn to budget and pay bills on time. The way I have it set up is to pay your bills from your checking account... I *think* that's what you are saying to do to.
At any rate, you are definately more of a "PRO" than a beginner and I look forward to your further comments!