Category Archives: Money

Jan26

More ways to save!

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I have mentioned in some of my recent entries that I love reading a blog called Daily Worth.  It a special blog designed for women who want to save for the future, whether it’s for their kids or for a trip to Italy.  I can’t remember how I stumbled upon it but you can sign up to receive blog posts, which come once or twice a day.

Daily Worth was also one of the places I had heard about www.mint.com.  More recently, they announced a $1,000 sweepstakes for those using mint.com to set goals and budgets.  All you have to do is to set a goal to save $1,000 using Mint’s goal features and send a print screen of the goal to dailyworth.  You’ll immediately get entries into the drawing.  Then, if you actually save $1,000 you could be one of three winners who will win $1,000.  You double your savings!!

To sign up for the Daily Worth, go to www.dailyworth.com.  To read more about the sweepstakes, go to here.

Jan23

Unsubscribe!!

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One of my hoarding habits is keeping emails, especially the ones that offer discounts or coupons from retailers and online stores.  You just never know who may be offering a great deal right when you need that perfect birthday present for a friend or just need a new door mat.

New front door mat I bought from zulilly.com. Just arrived!!

I read on my new favorite blog, Daily Worth, that one way to help you save money is to avoid being inticed by sales and new products from emails.  I probably spend an hour of my day shopping online simply because of these emails.  In the back of my mind I’ve always known the emails made me spend more than if I never received them but I couldn’t stop receiving them because WHAT IF I MISS A SALE?!?!  This time I made a deal with myself.  I will give up all the emails until I pay off my debt and then I can subscribe to those that I really make purchases from.  Over the weekend I worked on this project and unsubscribed from all the notifications I receive except for two and the Groupon and Living Social sites (they are coupon sites, after all!)  Today the number of emails I received was minimal and I didn’t even go into withdrawl!  I feel a little liberated, too, like I’m no longer a closet shopper.  I’m another step closer to paying off my debt sooner!!

Just don’t unsubcribe me!!

 

Jan22

Dollar bills, y’all!!

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We all want more money and sometimes the best way to get more of it is by changing our spending habits and paying off debt so we have more cash.  I wanted to share a couple of financial websites that are easy to use and will help you with any financial goals whether it’s paying off credit card debt, saving for a trip, or just budgeting better each month.  Both sites are free to use.

The first one is www.mint.com.  Mint.com has been promoted by TurboTax and another blog I read called Daily Worth.  When you sign up it will ask you some basic questions and then you provide all of your financial information.  You have to have  online access to your financial institutions in order for this to work.  It will also pull any savings including your 401k and if you own your home it will put a value on it, too.  It will pull every single transaction made on your checking account and credit cards and then itemize it.  You have the opportunity to change the itemized category the way you want and then it will put them in pie graphs or bar charts, whatever you want.  There is an opportunity to have your credit report run but I did not do that because you have to pay for both the experian and transunion reports each month.  The site will also give you credit card offers that may have a lower APR% or offer rewards.  One last piece is you can set your own budgets and goals for the month, year, or whatever you want.  Check it out!

The other website is www.creditsesame.com.  I signed up for Credit Sesame about two months ago and it does the same thing as mint.com but not as well.  It shows you ways on saving money on mortgages and credit cards and you can do some budgeting.  What I love about this site is it monitors my credit score for free and sends me notice once a month so I can see if there have been any changes.  My score went down one point this month thanks to the Christmas shopping so I paid off the debt quicker than I probably would have in hopes it will go back up next month.

If you decide to use these sites, or already are, comment back on your two-cents when using these websites.

Oct6

How important are gifts?

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Tuesday I bought two presents for Christmas.  I know, it’s early.  It was one of those deals that don’t come around all the time so I leapt at the chance to get it.  That evening I told Jacob that I bought some presents already and while he tried to guess what it was, I told him that I didn’t want him spending very much on me this year like he did last year.  He asked me if I even remembered what he got me last year.  (He knows I have a memory loss issue.)

“Yes, the ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ poster, the black diamond ring I wanted from Jared’s, and cash.”

So, then he was trying to remember what I got him.  “Binoculars!” 

This got us started on what other presents we had given each other and neither of us can remember what we gave/received from each other for our birthdays last year.  I know he gave me flowers, cupcakes, and a present but can’t remember what the present was.  I can’t remember what I got him for his birthday either.  But, even he can’t remember what the gifts were.  Why is this?  Is it part of my memory loss or is it really necessary to spend money on each other when the reason we don’t remember it is because we don’t appreciate it?

I worked with a friend who said she and her husband don’t exchange Christmas gifts and they put all their money towards the kids.  Well, I get that, but don’t you need to show some thought towards your spouse, or significant other.  At least give a card??  I don’t think I could ever not give a gift for Jacob.    Well that was until our anniversary came around and I got us two pictures to hang up and he bought me a super nice watch.  Still need to look into that one. 

Anywho, just wanted to share that thought on if presents were really important if we already show that we love each other and we’re the only things we need in life.  And that goes for family and friends, too.