Unclaimed Money

The days are getting longer. The daffodils are starting to come up, and soon it will be time for that annual American ritual; spring break. The kids will be home from school, and we all will have a touch of spring fever. Tired of winter, we will be ready for a change of pace. Many of us will hit the highways to head for some fun in the sun. Here are some ideas to keep spring break in the budget:

1. There is no place like home,
Spring break is a peak travel time. The airlines won’t be discounting their tickets. The gas stations will not be lowering prices either. Travel isn’t cheap. One way to address this is to stay home. Pretend to be a tourist in your own town. Take day trips to go see the sites, the museums, and other things that locals tend to take for granted.

2. Or those places close to home.
If you simply must have more sun than your home location provides, opt for destinations that are closer to home. Staying closer to home means less travel time and cost, and more time and money available to enjoy the destination.

3. If you go, go with friends or family.
Depending on the size of your family, you may be able to share transportation. You can share lodging in the form of cabins or rental houses, and depending on the situation you may be able to share childcare responsibilities so each couple can spend some time alone.

4. You can’t pack the kitchen sink, but you do want one.
Eating out for every meal is expensive! Look for places to stay that have a kitchen or a kitchenette. Cook most of your own meals. You might want opt for more convenience type meals while on vacation, but even those are much cheaper than dining out.

5. Enjoy the local cuisine, frugally.
Of course you probably will want to eat a few meals out. Make those meals less expensive by looking for deals at restaurant.com, in local coupon books, or keeping an eye out for specials such as kids eat free or early birds. In most cases it also is less expensive to eat out for lunch than dinner.

6. Look for free entertainment.
Check with local park systems, museums and other places for free or low cost attractions. Of course you will also want to search for coupons and specials at places that do charge. Don’t schedule every minute either. Just relaxing is an important part of spring break.

7. Sensible souvenirs.
If you want to buy souvenirs don’t just buy some piece of junk to say you bought something. Buy something you will use that reminds you of the vacation. One of my favorite souvenirs is a wind chime we bought in Florida. Seeing it always reminds me of the sun and the beach.

Spring is almost here, and with it spring break. Get out enjoy it, but do so without spending a fortune!

In this world geared to instant gratification, patience can be hard to come by. We have the world at our fingertips, and it tells us that we can have what we want now. In most cases exercising patience works to our benefit. Patience, after all, is a virtue, and this is especially true when it comes to our finances.

When I look back at our financial history I see many purchases that were made impulsively. Most of those impulsive buys were made with credit cards. Some of those items seemed like deals to good to pass on at the time. When we were unable to pay the balance of the credit card at the end of the month, the interest charges made those good deals quite expensive.

Some of our impulse purchases were things we convinced ourselves we deserved. We worked hard, and lived frugally most of the year. Didn’t we deserved that three day cruise that we got the good price on? The plain and simple fact was that these items were beyond our means.

Some of these impulse purchases were things we really did need, but maybe did not need right this minute. These purchases were not planned for, nor were they well researched. Taking the time to plan (and save) ahead, and to find the best deal could have saved us a lot of money.

Over the years we have learned to be patient when it comes to our finances and purchases. Things still come up, and we still are tempted to buy impulsively, but where we have exercised patience we have consistently seen three results.

The desire goes away.
Sometimes in the heat of a moment you can convince yourself that you really need something or that a particular item is too good of a deal to pass up. Waiting often shows you that you truly do not need the item, or that the deal really isn’t that good.

One example from our life is our computer. Our computer is old, and a few months ago I was really frustrated by it. I had myself convinced I needed a new one. I went to a local store, and started picking one out. Then I went home to think about it. I am still using the old one. A new one would be nice, but there really isn’t room in the budget, and this one really is adequate.

You find a better deal.
Knowing that you want (or need) to make a purchase, but choosing to wait gives you time to research, and find the best deal. Often, by waiting, we have found the items we were wanting to buy used at a fraction of the cost. In the best cases we have found free items to fit our needs on Freecycle or from acquaintances.

The latest example of this in our lives is bunk beds for the kids. We have four kids; two boys and two girls. They share rooms. We had one set of bunk beds. The youngest two were in a crib and toddler bed. Several months ago we realized that we were going to need another set of bunk beds soon. A few weeks ago my husband’s co-worker mentioned his daughter wanted to give away a set of bunk beds. Score! Now we have a second set, and only need to purchase mattresses.

You find an alternative.
Sometimes when there is a need or want patience breeds creativity, and you find another item that will serve the purpose for less money.

Recently, our microwave died. It was the third one in as many years. I really was ready to go out and buy another one, but wrote about my frustrations at another place. I was surprised by the responses I got from people who do without a microwave. They offered alternatives to some of my most common uses for our microwave. I decided to wait on that purchase. I have found that those alternatives really are almost as convenient, and have decided not to buy a microwave, for now anyway.

Patience really is a frugal virtue, and I hope that the examples above have helped show that. So, how do you develop patience in this world of instant gratification? Here are some things that have worked for us:

Look to the future.
Many times you can see upcoming needs. Prepare for them now by saving money and researching now.

Impose a waiting rule.
If you really want to buy something self impose a three day rule, or whatever time period you feel is sufficient.

Cash only.
Don’t carry your credit cards. Then you can only buy what you can pay for.

Make it a team effort.
If you are married, hopefully, this is something you and your spouse are doing together. If you are single you can partner up with a like minded friend or family to encourage each other in your frugal endeavors, or start a blog. It really does help keep you accountable.

Instant gratification may be the way of the world, but it really is not the best way for your finances. Patience is a frugal virtue. Developing and exercising patience will save you money, and help you to reach the financial goals that are most important to you.

The new year is almost upon us, and as tradition holds it is a good time to reflect on the past year, and plan for the coming year. Many of us right down a lengthy list of resolutions to make our lives better. Most of us do not hold to those resolutions through the month of January, and quickly slip back into our old routines.

Reflecting and making goals are valuable tools. Many of us fail to meet keep to our resolutions because our goals are too broad, and there are too many. This year, as you consider your financial life, put an action plan behind those broad goals.

Saving money and creating a small emergency fund is a worthwhile  goal, but how will you get there? Decide how much you would like to save. If you have debt to pay off, many would recommend that your emergency fund stay small; one or two thousand dollars. Set an amount that you feel comfortable with.

How will you get there? Look at your spending. Where could you trim and save money? Could you make your coffee at home? Pack your lunch for work? Eat out less? Carpool? Decide where you are willing to trim the budget,  how much it will save you, and purpose to do it. To be sure that the money gets to the savings account set up an automatic withdrawal from your checking to savings,  or deposit a set amount yourself on payday.

Of course this is only one example, but the point is to put some meat on those New Year’s Goals. If you truly want to make changes in the coming year think carefully about your goals and make a plan that will help you meet them. If you have several changes in your financial life you’d like to make, I suggest implementing the changes one at a time. Making change gradually will help you make them a habit.

Have you ever known people who seems to be broke no matter what? In college they are broke, because after all, they are just students, there is not much income. Then after graduation, they are working, hopefully in their field, and still broke because now they have all those student loans to pay off.

You meet up with them a few years later, they have landed the promotion, and the big raise to go with it. Perhaps they are married and their spouse is also working a good job. They have a big beautiful home, furnished with all the bells and whistles. They are driving new cars, and are dressed to impress. Yet, they still complain of being broke, and just how expensive things are these days. They are broke, no matter how much they make.

The story above is not about any particular person. Parts of it do resemble my financial history, and I’m guessing many of yours. We all have a tendency to spend to, or even beyond, our income level. When our income is small, there aren’t many frills, and we still have trouble making ends meet. When our incomes are comparably larger, there may be more nicer things around our home, but many of us still feel the same stress and pressure of living paycheck to paycheck. The pressure of being broke. How can that be?

It is because we have never learned to live below our means, or to be content with what we have, no matter what our income level. Living below our means takes a great deal of discipline, but it can be done. First commit to not incurring more debt. Don’t use the credit cards, unless you are one of those rare people disciplined enough to get the rewards with out running up the balance. Then to guarantee you are living below your means, siphon off a portion of your income before you start spending it. You can do this as you deposit your check, or set up an automatic withdrawal from your checking. Put the extra money in savings, and/or donate it to charity. If you do get a raise, dedicate most of it to your savings. Of course if you are carrying debt, it would be wise to put that money toward your debt. You will pay off that debt faster, and still be teaching yourself to live below your income.

Contentment is a little harder to develop. It involves a change of thinking and of attitude. If we were truly content, it would be easy to use the next raise for our savings or debt, but for most of us it is not. We see a friend’s new flat screen T.V. and suddenly our model seems inadequate. We are bombarded daily with information designed to create a feeling of need for a 100’s of products. It is hard to stay content with what we have. A couple things that may help put it in perspective; think about the payment that goes along with that item, and the number of hours you would have to work to pay for the item.

We must learn to live below our means, and to be content there. If we don’t, we will stay in debt. We will accumulate stuff, but never the security that comes with accumulating wealth. We will be broke, no matter what our income level is.

Life is busy. There is always something demanding our time and our attention. It is easy to feel like you are spinning your wheels, yet the to do list just keeps getting bigger and bigger.  If you are trying to live a frugal lifestyle, you will find many frugal activities require your time in exchange for their money saving benefits. More things to do! Don’t despair. Rest. It will save you money, really.

I’m not talking about a good night’s sleep, though that is very beneficial. I am referring to a day devoted to doing nothing. No deadlines. No to do list. No pressure. A day just for relaxing, and as we call it, piddling. Relaxing doesn’t mean sitting or sleeping all day, though that is fine, if it is what you need. Relax by reading a book, listening to music or taking a walk through the woods. Those are the things that I find relaxing, but perhaps you craft, drink coffee with friends, or piddle on other projects. The point is you engage in activities you enjoy, and feel no pressure to complete. We need these days to replenish ourselves, both physically and mentally.

How does this save you money? In so many ways.  When you are rested the world just looks better.  You can think better. You can look at options, come up with ideas, and plans, and have the ambition to try new things to solve problems.  All of which will save you time and money in the long run.

When you are rested you are less likely to reach for the convenience foods at the grocery store, to run through the drive through, or take the family out for dinner. You’ll have the energy to pack your lunch and make your dinner from scratch. You won’t be needing all those super charged caffeine drinks or the high carbohydrate snacks that go with them, to keep you going either, so skip the overpriced coffee shop too.

Taking time to rest will also benefit your health, making your body more able to fight of the virus’ waiting for the chance to make you sick. Potential savings there in medicine, doctors visits and time off work.  Not to mention the mental drain of trying to function while you are sick.

We need a day to relax. Ideally, it should happen once a week. Though that is not always possible in reality. For my family, days devoted to rest probably happen once every other week on average. If you haven’t had a day to rest in a long while, schedule yourself one now. Yes, put it on your calendar, in big bold letters RELAX! You’ll find it beneficial, mentally, physically and financially.

Few areas of credit are as complicated today as that of student loans. There are many types, with lots of terms, complicated conditions, and fine print. But studying those options is important in order to make the best long-term choice for education funding.

You’ll find basic ideas about student loans and that is where you should start.