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2008 Speaking of Women's Health notes
Get organized! Can you afford not to?
First and foremost -
NO SAVINGS IS TOO SMALL TO BE WORTH IT!
If you can save $10
a week on groceries, that is $520 a year. $1.69 a day on soda, that’s
$616 a year. $20 a month on cell phone bill, that’s $240 a year. $49 a
month on cable, that’s $588 a year for TV.
Bank
v
Checking Account
o
Avoid overdraft fees and
account fees (most banks offer free accounts, free overdraft protection,
free visits to the bank) shop around for bank accounts. If your bank
has free on-line bill pay, take advantage of it. You can save on
checks, stamps, envelops and late fees due to payments not being
received on time.
o
ATMs - Not using your brand
ATM could cost up to $3 at the machine, but your bank could also charge
a fee for using another machine. Getting $40 out could cost you up to
$46.
v
Credit Cards
o
Limit the number of credit
cards you have. 1 of every 7 Americans has 10+ credit cards. This can
negatively affect your ability to get a loan or future credit. If
you’re going to cut up your card, close the account in writing and have
the company send a confirmation letter for your records.
o
Pay off your credit card
balances every month. If that is currently impossible, cut up all but
one emergency card and start paying them down. Make the min payment on
all but the highest interest card, get that one paid off and start
working on the rest. Live within your means every month. If you can’t
afford it this month, you probably can’t afford it next month.
o
smartcreditchoices.com
great website to research credit card offers
o
800-5-OPT-OUT helps get
less or eliminate credit card offers
v
Late Fees
o
If you pay for something
with store credit to get a discount, pay off your balance while still at
the cash register. Then you won’t have another bill to look forward to
at the end of the month.
o
Late fees for everything
from cell phone bills, credit cards, utility bills etc can be up to $29
plus in many cases interest. This also affects your credit score. If
you know you are going to be late on a payment, call the company and
work out a date to get it in by or a payment plan. Many times you can
avoid finance charges all together by just calling ahead of time.
v
Reward Programs
o
Don’t buy stuff just to get
points for reward programs like airline miles, speedway rewards etc. My
husband didn’t want me using cash to buy groceries, because we could
earn airline miles for all that money spent. However, when I don’t use
cash, I was spending $500-700 a month. Now I spend $400. I’m sure we
aren’t getting enough miles to make up for the $1200-3600 extra I was
spending on groceries every year.
Clothing/Accessories
v
Need
o
Know what you have before
buying to prevent duplicates. For organization sake, when you get a new
white shirt because the old one has underarm stains, throw out the old
one.
v
Retail Price
o
I want to give you a new
way to think of shopping…Retail Price = Sucker Price. When I worked at
a department store and saw everything go on sale all the time, I always
thought it was so interesting how willing people were to pay full retail
price. Almost everything goes on sale - wait for it!
o
Clearance Racks - shop
after season sales for next year
o
Other good options include
thrift shops, garage sales, consignment shops, even craigslist.com or
eBay
v
Selection
o
Buy colors/styles that you
can mix/match.
o
This suggestion would seem
silly to even mention if I had not heard it from so many clients. DON’T
buy something in the wrong size or color, just because it is too good of
a price to pass up. No price is that good!
o
When I got my glasses, I
found some I really liked, and then the lady pointed out these that were
almost identical, but were covered 100% by my insurance. The other
glasses would have been $60. Sometimes settling is worth the savings.
In the long run, I’ve had these almost 2 years; I’m tired of the style
and ready to move on to another look. Good thing I didn’t waste that
$60.
v
Returns
o
Keep your receipts. If you
change your mind on a purchase, return it. Most stores have generous
return policies.
Communication
v
Cell Phones
o
myrateplan.com - compares
all available cell phone company/plans
o
Check your texts/minutes
two days before your monthly minutes reset, adjust plan if you need to.
We got billed $90 overage for 200 minutes one month. Had I called
before the month was over to find out we were over, I could have upped
the plan by 700 minutes for only $20.
o
Pictures/text - if you
don’t want this capability, block it. If you do want it, buy a package.
o
Do your kids consistently
go over on cell phone minutes or text/pic messages? If they won’t
listen, make them pay all overage charges, take the phone or get them a
pre-paid cell phone with limited minutes. You are the parent….we didn’t
grow up with cell phones, if they can’t be responsible with them; they
can grow up without them as well.
v
Discounts/Warranties
o
411 calls (typically $1.99
call) - dial 800-free411 you listen to 2-10 second ads and get free 411.
o
Find out if you can get a
discount on your bills through your work. My husband works at Miami
Valley and we get a discount on our cell phone and YMCA membership
through his job…two things we were already paying for.
o
saveonphone.com - compares
long distance companies
o
lowermybills.com - offers a
lot of information from insurance, to debts, credit cards, phone,
internet, mortgages etc.
o
Extended warranties -
according to consumer advocates, most extended warranties are a waste of
money and should be turned down. Never get an extended warranty unless
it is offered directly through the manufacturer. Home and car
warranties can sometimes be exceptions to this rule.
v
TV
o
We all enjoy our TVs but
have you ever considered life without cable/satellite? With the new HD
programming, there are now between 13-20 local channels you can get with
bunny ears. Try turning it off for 3 months. My parents did this and
the cable company offered to put a 6 month freeze on their account and
hook it back up free if they changed their minds. You have nothing to
loose. If you must be able to record shows, TIVO is much cheaper than
cable. www.dtv2009.gov
Eating Out
v
Budget
o
Give yourself a monthly
budget.
o
Box up half your meal
before eating. You’ll be less tempted to over eat and have a meal left
over for later.
o
If you just feel the need
to get out, pack food and eat somewhere different. You can have a home
packed picnic at the mall food court in bad weather. Be creative.
o
Share meals. Ask for them
to be split, you often get more food.
o
Many places like Applebee’s
have happy hour, where appetizers are ½ price. If you are just looking
for an inexpensive place to sit and gab over food, this might be a good
option.
v
Coupons
o
Don’t be afraid to use
coupons. Almost everyone offers them now-a-days. They even print out on
the back of some grocery receipts. However, give tips based on the full
price and do not go to a tipping restaurant unless you can afford to tip
well. There are plenty of nice places like Chipotle, Pot Belly and
Panera that have sit-down atmosphere without tipping.
o
Use frequent shopper cards
like Cici’s pizza; you buy like 5 meals get the 6th free.
v
Kids
o
Give them a set amount and
let them choose. A good method for fast food is giving them enough
money for two of the cheapest menu items. They can choose to get a
drink and cheap item, two items or one more expensive one. You are
teaching them values for life. Grandma used to give us $1.60 for Taco
Bell.
o
Look for kids eat free
nights.
Energy Bills
v
Budget
o
Getting DP&L and Vectrin
set up on budget billing can make your monthly bills more predictable
and easier to budget for. Then you don’t get hit with those surprise
$400 bills in the dead of winter or scorching heat of summer.
v
Heat/Air-Conditioning
o
You can save 1% on your
energy bill for every degree cooler/warmer you keep your house for an 8
hour period. So if you kept your house 1 degree cooler for 24 hours
you’d save 3% on your bill
o
866-674-6327 low income
home energy assistance program
v
Appliances
o
Turn down your water
heater. Next to your furnace, your water heater uses more energy than
any other appliance in your home. Turning it down from 140 to 120 can
save up to 10% on your energy bills. If you have a larger family, turn
it down 5 degree at a time until you get complaints there’s not enough
hot water. Then turn it back up 5 degrees. This will be your new
minimum temp.
o
Re-use towels. Who thinks
this is unsanitary? Do you change your sheets everyday? You don’t
always go to bed after a shower; you loose skin cells, hair, sweat, and
drool…all while you sleep. Reusing your towels is much more sanitary
than that.
o
Florescent light bulbs use
75% less energy and last 10 times as long as standard incandescent
bulbs.
o
Older appliances can use a
ton of energy. My sister had an extra freezer in her garage. She
decided not to use it and unplugged it, then discovered she had been
paying between $40-50 to run it. My new refrigerator I believe uses
like $20 a year to run. If you must have the appliance, consider the
cost of replacing with a more energy efficient model. We had a 54 year
old furnace. Worked like a charm, but .60c of every dollar we paid to
heat our home went up the flu. It made sense for us to replace the
furnace to a 95% energy efficient model so only .05c now goes up the
flu.
v
Home Improvement
o
Anyone who gives my husband
an estimate that is only good today, my husband would never hire. That
is a pressure tactic and shows that their product cannot simply sell
itself.
o
Take your time on big
purchases. Research price, quality and time of year. Chimney cleaning
- not in the fall, heating - during the summer, air - late winter/early
spring, indoor renovations - winter or rainy months. Roofing - cold
rainy months. We had two huge trees we wanted removed, but didn’t want
to pay $600 a tree for removal. Last winter, a tree company came around
hurting for work and removed one tree and 4 bushes for $300. The other
tree was uprooted in that wind storm and fell in the street so the city
removed it. Good things come to those who wait.
o
Be knowledgeable about what
needs to be done. We had a crack in the basement wall that was leaking
and pooling. We called 4 companies out for an estimate. Two were $300
and they injected something in the crack to seal it up, one wanted close
to a thousand and they would create a crack in the floor along the wall
and create drainage for the water. The last company wanted $16,000, but
if we decided today, they could do it for $13,500 because he had a crew
that didn’t have work for the week. They would dig out all the dirt
around the entire foundation of the house, seal the entire foundation
with a black tar coating and back fill the dirt. After researching the
problem on the internet, my husband pushed more dirt against the house
creating a little drain off and made sure the gutter was draining far
enough away from the house. That was last winter and we haven’t seen a
drop of water in the basement since.
Entertainment
v
Packages/Memberships
o
Look for package deals -
you want to go bowling? Call around, find out the best time of day/week
and if there are packages. Near our house, up to 6 people can bowl on
one lane for 2 hours with a large pizza and soda for $30 on Sundays. 6
people for only one game, shoes, pizza and soda would normally be around
$50. And that’s only one game.
o
You can almost always get
b1/g1 deals for zoos and museums. Call ahead to ask where you can get
coupons before going
o
Get memberships like
Boonshoft, Cosi, Zoo, Kings Island, but don’t use that as an excuse to
buy the over priced food and gift shop stuff. Pack your snacks and take
a picture to remember the day.
o
If you have memberships
like a gym membership, tanning membership etc use it or lose it!
Elizabeth had gym for $39 a month and tanning for $21 a month for over a
year without ever setting foot in either. That was over $720 wasted
that year.
v
Free Fun
o
Ask about free admission
days. Cosi is generally free one day a year, the day before
Thanksgiving. Call ahead to make sure it still is.
o
Look in the paper or online
for free concerts and events
o
Join free social or
educational groups
o
Check your books out at the
library instead of buying every one you want to read. You can have
books transferred from library to library as well.
v
Stay Home
o
Set up a real tent in your
living room and roast marshmallows in the fireplace.
o
Stay in and try out a new
recipe. Let everyone do part or add to the decision making.
o
Rent a movie instead of
going out
Gifts
v
Budget
o
Give yourself a gift
budget. Maybe you decide not to spend more than $10 per person for the
14 people you buy for at Christmas. If you only spend $5 on 3 people,
that’s $15 more if you’d like to splurge on someone else.
v
Be Creative
o
It’s the thought that
counts. All my nieces and nephew are getting a mason jar bank this year
for Christmas. I got the ½ gal jars free on freecycle.com and I’m
buying lids and decorating them special for each kid, then I’ll give
$5.00 in change and bills to each kid to get them started saving. No
more toys for their parents to get rid of.
o
If you insist on getting
gifts for everyone for every occasion or have a lot of people to shop
for, start a gift box. If you need a last minute gift, you just might
have one on hand. If you re-gift something, put the name of who gave it
to you so you won’t accidently re-gift it to them.
v
Birthday Party
o
Instead of throwing an
expensive birthday party for 10 kids, save yourself the trouble and
offer your child the opportunity to take 1 friend somewhere really fun.
You’ll save a lot of time and headache and probably make a more
memorable day for your little one. Plus you probably won’t end up with
so many un-necessary gifts cluttering up your house.
v
Special Day
o
Make a day special. One of
my best friend’s birthdays is tomorrow, and she’s here today, so for her
birthday I wanted all of you to sing Happy Birthday to her…her name is
Leann. See, that gift was free and she will never forget it! In all
seriousness, I’m taking her out for a bite to eat and a chat without our
kids for her birthday. Make memories without breaking the bank.
o
Give kids a card that says
“grandma’s going to take you out and you can spend $10 any way you
choose.” Then you’re making a memory and they’re excited to have the
power to take you where ever they want.
v
Gift Cards
o
Don’t give gift cards
unless you are sure someone will use the whole thing. Give cash with a
note of intent instead. “I wanted to give you $25 to use for dinner at
the Cheesecake Factory, but feel free to use however you wish.” 10% of
all gift cards sold in the US are never used accounting for 8 BILLION
dollars in unused gift cards. Even prepaid debit cards may not get
fully used, and often you have to pay up to 10% processing fee to
purchase them. The person receiving the gift will be thrilled with cold
hard cash.
Groceries
Who has been feeling
helpless to do anything about the cost of groceries? According to the
Farm Bureau Federation, the price of groceries is up 8.5% from this time
last year. Does anyone here know how much the US government considers
a moderate weekly grocery budget for a family of 4? $182 a week which
is over $750 a month, which made me feel a little better about the fact
that I was spending between $500-$700 a month for my family of 4, but I
knew I could do better. I currently spend $100 a week for all my
groceries, diapers, cleaning supplies, dog food, toilet paper etc. You
can’t do this without a little thought and planning, but it can be
done!
$100 a week provides
$1.19 per person, per meal if all that money was actually spent on
food. A few quick tips: Don’t shop hungry, full is even better,
v
Grocery Lists
o
Always use a list and stick
to it.
o
Create yourself a shopping
list of your most commonly purchased items. Every time you shop or read
ads, write the lowest price you find, then you will know if you are
getting a good deal or not.
v
Quality
o
Try out off brands. Many
things like vegetables are all put in cans at the manufacturing plant,
then some receive name brand labels, some get store brand labels. It’s
the same can of tomatoes with a different label.
o
Be sure to look at
ingredients. Some off brands put a lot more fillers/sugars/corn syrups
etc in. For instance, Ovalteen has many vitamins; the store brand
almost has none.
o
Protein - Americans in
general get far too much protein and in general too high saturated fat
content. Look into less expensive protein sources such as eggs, beans,
and tuna. If you buy less expensive cuts of meat, the crock pot is a
great way to soften a tough cut.
o
The least expensive foods
are often the healthiest - dry beans, fresh produce.
v
Sales
o
Request a rain check when
advertised sale item is not in stock
o
Start looking at your
weekly grocery ads before going shopping. When you make your menu and
grocery list for the week, base it on what’s on sale, not just what
you’re in the mood for. If chicken is $1.88 lb that week, plan to make
chicken based meals.
o
Stock up when items are at
their best price. Revolving sales - About every 6 weeks, my $13.99
laundry detergent goes on sale for buy one, get 2 free. I buy 3 and it
lasts me until the next sale.
v
Bulk
o
Be careful buying in bulk.
If your family cannot use the large amount before it goes bad, it’s not
a good deal.
o
Baggie your own snacks.
You can get 16 oz of cheese-its in a box for less than 6 oz in
individual packs. For the same price, you can get 24 oz of apple sauce
in individual containers for the same price as a jar with 48oz. Even
fruit snacks, raisins, chips, cookies are cheaper when bought in
packages and put in baggies.
o
On your shopping day, open
all your bulk items, baggie them up and have a basket full of snack
baggies, then packing lunches is just as easy for a fraction of the
price.
v
Expiration Dates
o
How many of us have
problems using all our food before it goes bad? Do you throw much
produce/left over’s away?
o
Start a game with yourself
called the “I can’t go shopping until we are literally out of food
game. This can be fun and maybe you’ll learn some new recipes. If you
have a little bit of several veggies left, half a loaf of bread that’s
getting stale and some cheese, make a pot of veggie soup and grilled
cheese. Empty your kitchen before restocking it.
o
If your family doesn’t eat
bread before it goes bad, only keep several pieces out of the freezer at
a time. I like whole wheat, my husband likes Italian, we also like
whole wheat English muffins and bagels but we can’t eat it all up in a
week, so we only pull out a couple days supply at a time.
v
Coupons
o
Couponmom.com - a great
place to learn about all kinds of deals
o
Only
1.26% of the 300 billion coupons are used
every year.
o
Only use
coupons when combined with a great sale. If a box of cereal is on sale
2/4 and you have a coupon for .50 off…that is doubled at most stores and
you only pay $1.00 for that box of cereal. I generally will never pay
more than $1.50 for any box of cereal. Coupons are only good if you
were already going to buy the product and it’s on sale. With double
coupons at Meijer and Kroger, sometimes I even get things for free.
Takes a little planning, but it’s well worth the time.
o
Dayton Daily
News has 2 coupon sections - clip only the items you know your family
uses or those you would like to try if the price were right. Often
companies will give coupons which will make items free when combined
with a sale to get you to try it. Remember, it’s not a deal if your
family won’t use it. I just spent $3.78 for $35.24 in groceries at
Meijer. Coupons for 3 packs of wipes, 4 jars baby food, 2 premade
formula, 80 pack diapers and 2 suave body wash plus transferred a
prescription with $15 coupon from entertainment book.
v
Rebates
o
If you buy something
because of a rebate, turn it in. I bought 4 new tires last December
because mine had very low tread and they were offering $500 in free
gas. The tires were almost $400. All I had to do was buy $100 a month
of gas from the same station and mail copies of the receipts in and I
would get $25 gift card every month for 20 months. I just got my first
$200 in gift cards this week after mailing everything in timely and
making about 5 follow-up calls. It will end up costing me about $25 in
copies and postage earning me $475 for my trouble.
o
Rite Aid has single check
rebates. You can shop each week, even buying only the things that will
be free, and at the end of the month enter all receipts on-line and get
one check for the month without even paying for a stamp.
Kids
v
Babies
o
Make your own baby food.
All you have to do is steam veggies in the microwave and puree them with
water. Smash your own banana. You can get several whole bananas for
the price of one jar of baby food bananas. Natural applesauce is the
same in the big jar as it is in the baby jar, add some rice cereal to it
and you’ve got breakfast. 100% juice in big bottles is the same as baby
juice. Water it down and it will be fine. Puree whatever you’re having
for dinner.
o
Cloth diapers are cheaper,
but are they worth it. When babies are little and their poo is runny,
it’s really hard to clean. But when they get formed poo, you can just
dump it in the toilet and put the diaper in a pail of lightly bleached
water. Up to you, but may be worth a try.
v
Kids
o
Garage sale and thrift shop
a season in advance for clothes
o
Find second hand sporting
gear after a season ends. If you know your son will be in football next
year, look for gear at the end of this season.
o
You can even get brand new
toys from kids who had too many or got duplicates much cheaper than
retail on eBay, craigslist or at thrift stores.
o
Lots of Halloween costumes
are also sold on eBay craigslist or thrift stores. Buy now for next
year.
o
Most things you can buy
new, you can also find gently used - we wanted a juicer, but didn’t want
to spend over $100 for a new one. Just bought an almost new one on
craigslist for $25
v
Teens
o
Who here had a cell phone
as a teenager? Who here had a new car as a teenager? Anyone here wear
something that was not name brand as a teenager? Of those of you who
raised your hands, did it kill any of you?
o
Stop catering to them just
because they whine! Anyone feel like a walking ATM with your teenagers?
o
In my family, it was
understood that if you wanted to drive, you had to have insurance money,
gas money and $100 repair in the bank before we could get our license.
Offer way to make money and leave the rest up to the kids. They will do
much better having learned financial responsibility before graduating
high school than figuring it out after graduation.
o
Come up with a reasonable
clothing, entertainment budget. $35 is enough to buy a nice pair of gym
shoes, if they want something more expensive, have them pay the
balance. Give them a set amount for eating out, make up, movies etc.
Maybe $10 a week and let them prioritize how to spend it. After the
first huge fit they throw because they don’t have money to go to the
movies, they’ll learn.
o
Most important, don’t give
in to tantrums! Not at 2, not at 10, not at 15 and not at 17. That’s
not how they’ll get things in the real world either.
Pets
v
Adopt a Pet
o
Don’t buy. Craig’s
list/newspaper is full of animals people are giving away for free. Many
of which they paid a lot of money for. My sister just waits for people
to decide they don’t want to take care of a pet, and then she gets them
and all the cages/food for free with them.
v
Veterinarian
o
Choose your vet wisely.
Shop around. I got estimates on a dental cleaning for my Jack Russell
terrier to find a vet. I got estimates from $80 to $240 for the same
service. I went with the $80 and have a vet office I now love.
o
Look into
spay/neuter/vaccine deals. Sisca offers low-cost spay/neuter.
o
Go to vet school to have
them care for the animals. In the same way, you can go to beauty school
for your hair cut/colors, dental school for cheap cleanings, and massage
school for them to practice. It’s all supervised and is a fraction of
the cost you’ll pay elsewhere.
v
Home Care
o
Give your dog vaccines.
You can buy on-line for under $10 instead of paying a vet $100. If we
can deliver a baby ladies, we can stick a needle in our dog’s leg once a
year.
o
Clip your own dog’s nails
o
Check out a dog training
book at the library, read thoroughly and try what it says before paying
for dog obedience school. It takes a lot of time either way, why waste
the money. Your friends with dogs may also have good tips.
Vacations
v
Airlines
o
airfarewatchdog.com gives
you all the deals leaving from your departure city. You can sign up for
alerts for new deals. They will also tell you if there are near by
cities with better deals.
o
Kayak.com will tell you
when the best of the week/month is to buy.
v
Vacation Deals
o
Research, look for deals,
and travel in the off seasons.
o
EBay - people who have
timeshares they aren’t using, sell them for cheaper just to get them
used (Like my friend) Just look under vacations.
o
Timeshares - great way to
get a cheap vacation. You get 4 days/3 nights at a resort and all you
have to do is sit through a 45 minute presentation and take a tour
through the resort. Just don’t buy it. My friend ended up spending
$24,000 over 10 years for a 4 days/3 nights stay at a resort. That was
one expensive vacation! They could have shown up, sat through the
presentation, thanked the company for the stay at a nice resort and
enjoyed their vacation. Show up, but let someone else fall for the
pitch.
o
Military - afvclub.com has
discounted vacation packages only available to those in the armed
forces.
v
Be Flexible
o
Did you ever plan for a
vacation to go something like this….and end up with something like
this? You plan for vacation to be amazing, and then it rains the entire
time. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. If you don’t build it up
too much, you can even have fun when things don’t turn out as planned.
v
Be creative
o
Pack snacks or mini-meals.
Limit eating out to one meal a day.
o
Look for local places. At
the Sauerkraut Festival in Waynesville, water was $2.50 a bottle. When
we got to the center of town, I ran in the local grocery store and got 5
sodas and a water for my family for $5.10. Think outside the box!
Vehicles
v
Gas
o
Plan out your trips to
economize on gas.
o
Put car in neutral when
sitting still or rolling up to a red light to conserve on gas
o
You can save 10-20% on gas
mileage by not braking/accelerating excessively
o
Turn car off for waits of
more than one minute. Any wait over 30 seconds costs more in gas to
keep it running than to turn it off and restart when you’re ready to go
again. Long waits at drive-thus or waiting for someone to run in a
store is a good time for this.
o
Keeping tires properly
inflated reduces friction on the road thus saving gas money.
o
Only use the air
conditioning when driving over 40 mph. Roll windows down when driving
slower.
v
Maintenance
o
Keep your car properly
maintained.
o
Almost everyone offers
coupons for oil changes. Don’t be afraid to ask if they have any
coupons out. I went to Grismer on Tuesday and asked how much an oil
change is. I was told $26. I asked if they had any coupons or
specials. He gave me the $17 coupon price. Most of the time they will
honor a coupon even if you don’t have it to keep your business.
o
Shop around for estimates
on other services like tires, brakes etc.
v
Insurance/Roadside
Assistance
o
When purchasing anything -
even car insurance, car parts etc. make sure you’re comparing apples to
apples. Get lots of info before deciding. Don’t make financial
decisions on an impulse.
o
I used to pay $75 for AAA
roadside assistance, but now only pay $16 a year through my insurance
for better coverage. Find out what discounts you can get through your
auto insurance.
o
Almost had my car towed.
Had my sister pick me and the girls up, later my mom took me out to get
the battery tested which was fine, hooked it up and turns out it just
had a loose connection. Had I had it towed, I would have paid a
mechanic to tell me that.
THE SECRET TO HAVING
IT ALL is realizing you don’t literally need to have it all. Better
stated, the secret to having it all is believing that you truly already
have it all
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