Saving Your Home’s Energy

Do you dread looking at your electric or gas bill every month seeing numbers that are larger and larger each time you see it?  Do you wish there was something you could do about this dreaded monthly bill?  Well, there is and it is easy to remedy.  You just have to check your home to make sure that it is the most energy and cost efficient that it can possibly be.

It might be shocking to you that most people do not even know that because of lack of efficiency they are loosing 25 % or more of the energy used in their home.

Did you know that there are some common every day things that you can do to save energy and money around your home.  Doing it yourself can save you both time and money that you might invest in someone else’s promises to save you money.  I don’t know about you, but I trust myself more than someone else’s empty promise any day.  All it takes is a few calculations, some common sense and you can be on the road to savings and increasing your home’s use of energy.

Some of these steps include:

1.    Calculating your energy cost.  Do you know how much fuel your home is taking to run and how much that cost you?  You need to know this before you can determine if you can lower those costs.
2.    What will it cost you to save.  What things must you put into practice in order to save on your energy monthly?  This is where you have to determine the balance.
3.    Determine your largest needs.  Some practices will save you far greater in the future than others.  You must first determine your area of largest need and go from there.
4.    Developing new habits.  Many of us have habits that cost us energy every day.  We must realize those bad habits and begin putting new habits in place in order to save energy, time and money.

These are only a few of the ways that you can begin to save money on your energy bill and have a more cost efficient home.  There are many more ways to save and you will love how easy those savings come to you.

About the Author:
Cara Mirabella is a WAHM with one toddler from New Jersey. She owns and manages TheHouseholdHelper.com – a site dedicated to saving your time, money and sanity when managing your household. She has written several articles, reports and e-books including <a href=”http://thehouseholdhelper.com/ebooks/EnergyEfficientHome.html”How To Make Your House Energy & Cost Efficient.<a/>

Frugal Living Tip: Groceries

The Grocery Store – this is definitely one place where lots of money can be saved. In order to save money on groceries, you need to plan your shopping trip, use coupons, and meal plan. Below is a step-by-step guide to follow to make the most of your grocery shopping and save money!

Create a budget for your grocery shopping.

Whether it’s one hundred dollars of three hundred dollars, it’s important to not go over that amount. Be sure to bring a calculator to the store to keep track of your expenses. A good rule of thumb is just put the price on the tag in the calculator and watch that total then you’ll end up saving more at the end once you use your coupons and special discounts. Be sure to add everything into the calculator so there are no surprises at the checkout counter!

Before you get going into saving money tips at the grocery store, think about how often you like to shop. Do you like to shop each week, daily, twice a month, once a month? Determine this before going forward. If you like to shop once a week, take the total amount for groceries that you have budgeted for the month and divide that by the number of weeks in that month. That is how much you can spend at the store each week.

If you have two hundred dollars a month for groceries, and four weeks in the month, you have fifty dollars a week for groceries. Another tip: if you have fifty dollars to spend and only use forty-five dollars, take the extra five dollars and put that into savings. Don’t save it to buy more groceries or think that you can go get a burger and fries. Be frugal and save it!

The next step is to make an inventory of all the groceries you currently have.

Go through your pantry, freezer and refrigerator and list what you have in stock. If you can do this on the computer, it’ll be helpful to update regularly. Create three columns: Item, Amount, and Purchase.

Put a list of all the products you have in the “Item” column and how many of each item you have in the “Amount” column. The “Purchase” column is where you can place a check mark when you run out of the entire item or you get very close to being out and you need to pick it up the next time you go shopping. Keep this list near the pantry or cabinet where you have all your groceries. Make the same type of list for your refrigerator and freezer as well.

Another step is to clip coupons.

I recommend having the Sunday paper delivered to your house each week. In the long run, you will be saving a lot more than the subscription price is worth. Take the time to clip coupons and create a good system for you for sorting them. Be sure to also check to see if a store doubles coupons. You save even more when stores do that for you.

You can also print coupons on your computer. Sites like Coupons.com and CouponSurfer.com are always updated with the latest coupons that are available. Just be sure to check your store’s policy and see if they accept printed coupons.

Join your grocery store’s frequent shoppers club.

Most are free and you get bonus coupons and deals by having the card when you checkout. With the way stores can keep track of what you purchase each time you visit them, they will begin to send you coupons based on your past purchases and when you checkout, they will print you off extra coupons for you to use on your next trip.

Create a grocery list before leaving the house.

Now that you have a list of deals, clipped coupons, a frequent shopper’s club card and a list of what you need from the store, it’s time to sit down and put it all together. Look over everything on your list, go ahead and get coupons ready and make sure you know exactly what you are going for while at the store. Going to the store without a list is detrimental to the entire process of living frugally.

Now that you are at the store, take your time. Never shop on an empty stomach – this will prevent some impulse purchases.

Read the sale ad and the tags on the shelf carefully- then compare prices to save the most money.

A good rule of thumb is to have a calculator or extra paper to determine what your best deal is. Have the ad from the paper as well to check out any special deals that are going on. Some stores have listed in their ads if you buy ten of these certain products, you will get three dollars off at checkout. The important thing with this is to look at the list carefully. If you need the products listed and they are cheaper than their counterparts, then it is worth it to get all those items.

Another thing to consider deals with the frequent shoppers club card. All over the store there will be signs stating that with your card, this item is “Buy 10 for $10.” So each item is one dollar each. For that particular item, this may be a good buy. But if you take a look at the generic item right beside it that is regularly priced at eighty-nine cents each, that is the better deal to go with. Don’t always be fooled by the signs.

Furthermore, “Buy 10 for $10″ could be misleading. You might not have to purchase 10 to get the sale price. With your card, you might be able to save a certain amount on each, regardless of how many you purchase. This is why you must read carefully to fully understand the sale.

Ever been told it’s better to by the family size of an item?

Don’t be fooled here either. When you see that you can purchase a family size box of granola box where you get thirty-six granola bars for five dollars, you might think that’s a good deal.

But then you see that you can get one box of granola bars with ten bars in each box for one dollar each. If you do the math, you can either get thirty-six granola bars for five dollars or get fifty granola bars for five dollars.

While this might be the case here, in other places, it’s more beneficial to purchase the family size. For example, frozen French fries. For one, these can be frozen so even if you are single, these will last awhile. If you look at the smaller bag of fries, you might get fifteen ounces for $1.99, but you can purchase the family size of forty-five ounces for $2.99 so for one dollar more, you get thirty more ounces.

When buying groceries, in most cases, buying generic is the exact same as buying the name brand product.

Try it and see if you don’t notice a difference or lack thereof. Generic is usually approximately thirty percent cheaper than name brand if not cheaper.

Again, you do have to look at in-store specials and coupons before determining exactly which product to buy. You will probably begin spending longer in the grocery store than before, but if it’s worth it to save twenty percent, thirty percent or more, then it’s worth the extra time.

One other thing to consider is getting a membership to a wholesale club.

At these stores you can buy in larger quantities and save money on the things you purchase the most. You’ll save more than what you pay for the membership. It’s helpful to have a place to be able to store the extra you have on hand and possibly another freezer or refrigerator. You tend to save twenty to thirty percent when you buy in bulk and it is beneficial when you have a large family or only wish to go shopping for certain items a few times a year.

Another part of the grocery scenario is meal planning.

One reason people spend extra money eating out is they fail to plan ahead. Meal planning is key to saving money on your groceries. It eliminates the last-minute trips to the store. It eliminates the dash to the fast food drive-through. When you plan your grocery shopping list, plan your meals too,

A good tip is to pick one day a week and spend it cooking meals for the week. It’s very easy to make several casseroles and freeze them and on any given day, all you need to do is pull the casserole out in the morning and it’ll be thawed out by the time you come home for dinner, ready to pop into the oven and cook while you wind down. Think about using recipes for the crock-pot that cook all day while you’re gone (or even while you’re at home) and it’s ready for dinnertime.

Saving money on groceries can be easy, if you prepare. So let’s recap what you need to do:

1. Create a grocery budget
2. Create an inventory of what you have on hand
3. Clip coupons
4. Join your store’s customer shopping program
5. Carefully read the circular and the tags
6. When you can, buy the family size or in bulk
7. Buy generic
8. Plan your meals

If you’d like more information on how to meal plan, I have a low-cost,  easy-to-read ebook that gives you a step-by-step formula for meal planning. Check out The Household Helper’s Guide to Meal Planning for Busy Moms.

Frugal Living Tip: Clothing

Everyone thinks they need that they need to latest and greatest when it comes to fashion. Most of the time, this just isn’t so. But if you feel that you do need to keep up to date, then be sure to shop sales.

A good tip if you want to buy name brands at well-known stores, is to find ways to get gift cards for that store and sign up for mailings to receive coupons either through the mail or your e-mail. There are many websites on the Internet where you can read e-mails, surf websites and more to earn points that will get you free gift cards for different stores.
If you feel okay with not being on the up and up, shopping at discount stores, consignment stores or Goodwill stores are good places to find good clothes at good prices. Check around and find out when they are having huge sidewalk sales. They usually mark everything fifty percent off or more.

Get a tear in the knee of your pants? Don’t throw them out! You can purchase a pack of iron-on patches for a small amount and fix the hole. If it’s a small hole, sew it up quick before it gets any bigger. Same with buttons or the seam comes undone on a shirt. Don’t throw it away, be proactive and sew it up!

Think you might have too many clothes? Not sure which ones you really wear that often? Take one day to go through your entire closet. Try on all the clothes. If they are too big or too small, put them into a pile. All the clothes that are the right size put them back into the closet.

Hang the hangers all in one direction. Once you wear something, when you go to hang it back up again, turn the hanger in the other direction. If after a month or six months, you still have items that haven’t been turned around, take all those clothes out.

You have three options (at least) when it comes to the piles of clothes you’ve just made. You can donate them, take them to a consignment store or have a garage sale to earn some extra money to save for later. If you have children, you can take the clothes they’ve outgrown and hand them down to others you know. Some moms with large families love hand-me-downs and the kids enjoy new clothes.

Frugal Living Tip: Miscellaneous Purchases

Most of the larger groups of topics have been discussed when it comes to saving money. But everyone always has other purchases that have to be made. Televisions need to be replaced, people want to watch cable television, computers will break and more. Babies will be born and children will go to school and have expenses there. But you don’t have to worry about breaking the bank when it comes to these things.

If you don’t mind used items that you can get for free or little money, check out the local Freecycle group in your area. All major cities have one and some smaller communities do as well. Freecycle is a place where you can post that you have items to offer people and you can post when you are in need of items as well. There are always items available and more than likely you will find what you need for nothing except maybe the gas to pick it up.
There is also another opportunity out there on the Internet called Craigslist. Here you post things that you want to sell and others post things they are selling. Most of the time, pictures are available and you can locate what you are looking for at more than half the price.

Televisions sometimes do need to be upgraded as times change. But there are several options out there before you run to the electronics store to pick one up. For starters, look at different stores and see what they are advertising.

If you have researched and know exactly what television you desire, compare the prices at the different stores. If you plan on putting the purchase on your credit card, it is best to use the credit card for that store. Most of the time, they offer a discount if you put it on your store credit card or no interest for a certain amount of time. The key to this method is making sure you make all your payments on time or your no interest option will go away.

Another option is watching, waiting and saving. If this is a purchase you want to make, forget about impulse buying. Check out the ads each week and while you’re doing this, be setting back money each week for the purchase.

There’s no shame in making this big of a purchase and paying cash. If you are diligent, you can place this on a credit card, but immediately pay the credit card off. You can use these plans for any major purchase such as a computer or DVD player or other items.

Think about buying furniture secondhand when you do need something new. There are plenty of stores selling good quality furniture at discounted prices. Think about reupholstering furniture instead of buying new if the fabric is just worn. You do have to judge the cost factor there. The material could be more expensive than a new piece of furniture.

Remember that when you do have a new baby in the family, feel free to ask for hand-me-downs. Borrow your friend’s crib mattress if they aren’t using it anymore. Buy diapers and wipes in bulk to save money as well. Don’t over buy as far as toys go and ask to borrow the larger items like strollers, cribs, changing tables, walkers, high chairs and more.

Getting Out of Debt: How To Stay Motivated

Getting out of debt is a goal that many Americans would like to achieve. But, like many New Year’s resolutions, this goal is often abandoned shortly after the goal is set. Why is that?

One reason is that getting out of debt often takes a long time, so there are no immediate rewards for paying off debt. This leads to a lack of motivation to meet this goal. After all, it’s hard to keep with a debt management plan when you may not see the benefits for several years.

So, how do you keep motivated when you’re trying to get out of debt? Here are three steps to keep you motivated and on track to getting out of debt:

1. Determine the reason you want to get out of debt. Is it to reduce stress? To be able to spend or save the money that you are currently applying towards debt? To improve your relationship with your spouse or partner?

2. Think about the rewards you will earn by paying off your debt. Rewards might include a feeling of accomplishment, or a feeling of peace knowing that you have paid off your debts. Another reward might be the fact that you will have more money to spend for other things, such as vacation, clothing, or even saving for retirement.

3. Finally, determine your route to freedom from debt. Take an inventory of your debts and determine a payoff schedule.

As you continue on your journey to pay off your debts, review the reasons you want to pay off your debt, and the rewards you will experience when your debt is paid off. Imagine how you will feel when your debts are paid in full. These exercises will remind you why you want to pay off your debt, and will keep you motivated on your path to freedom from debt.

Does credit card debt have you stressed out? Click here to sign up for the free teleseminar, ‘Your Top “How to Get Out of Debt” Questions Answered’.