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Going into the new year, I try to fall back on my finance background to save us money we spent on holidays and birthdays throughout the previous year. Since I am working part time now, to raise our kids and be available to them more, I'd like to share some of our money saving and finance tips I've used to help my family save a ton of money. I hope that at least one of these can help your family do the same. First, trim the fat. Anything you aren't using or that you have extra of, sell. This includes Dvds, books, or collectibles. I've used Craigslist, garage sales, and amazon to make hundreds of dollars this year. I'll go more in detail to specific programs later in this post. Also, what can you do well? Sew? Bake? use your talent to make gifts and let it be your trade mark. I took a year of cake decorating for fun, my resolve for the upcoming year is to offer to bake cupcakes or a cake for all holiday parties and birthdays in my family in exchange for buying a gift. This will save us a ton of money as I have four neices and nephews as well as Mom, Dad, and Aunts, Uncles. Whether its candles, baking bread, or sewing something, make it instead of buy it. That reminds me of a friend who sews, she hasnt bought new clothes in years but her children dress quite stylish. She alters all their clothes,, dyes them to give them a different look(costs about 2 bucks for dye)..sews on different buttons, alters pants into shorts for summer, and adds patches or designs to shirts.. sHe also exchanges their clothing at consignment shops(they have name brands and in exchange you get a store credit to shop)..those of us with kids know they always want the newest games or toys..its never too early to start teaching them about financial responsibility.When my kids want a new video game, we exchange it at Amazon through their trade-in account. They advertise which games they are accepting(or books or dvds) and how much they will pay. They pay for shipping and in about a week you receive a gift card for amazon. We do alot of our shopping like this. Some people use Gamestop but Ive heard that Amazon pays higher. As an avid reader, I also use paperbackswap.com its a free site that you swap books with other readers for free. As for in the home, there are MANY money savers. My electric bill was $700 so I had a free energy audit(if your bill is too high, request a free audit from your electic co.) and they found my extra fridge in the garage was costing me about $40 a month(it was too old)..heat was escaping through windows not properly lined, and the biggest shocker was that appliances that stayed plugged were using electricity even when not in use! The playstations, and especially cell phone chargers were the worst, costing up to .25 cents a minute even when not being used. My bill dropped from $700 the first month, to $270 the second and kept dropping. It is now under $80 every month. I changed all lightbulbs to LED costs more but saves over 25% on your total bill. Also we turned our water heater down and this shaved off another 20-30 bucks a month(your not using as much energy to heat the water if its not as hot) also cutting down on shower times and making sure kids dont fall asleep with lights/tv on..fixed this by taking tv out of little ones room and installed an appliance timer to cut off all running appliances in older kids rooms by 1130 pm. I see many of my neighbors still have their sprinkler on even though its raining the past three weeks? go figure..I have mine come on every other day for 5 minutes just in case we dont get rain, nothing will die.Also, the pool guy still coming at 80 bucks a month, once i figured out how to treat my own pool(fireyourpoolguy.com) we saved a ton of money on chemicals and cleaning.We dont swim during winter so only need to dump in chlorine to ward off bacteria from growing and use a huge tarp as pool cover to keep out debri. If you have credit cards, take them out of your wallet and put them up. You will be less likely to use them at a sale at the mall if you dont have them. They should be for emergency use only. Also call the number on the back of each card and tell them your considering leaving their company, but wanted to know if you can have a rate reduction and talk to a supervisor if necessary. You can do this with most cable companies and cell phones as well. I no longer use a phone company for residential, but bought magicjack for $40 and this is how we make all calls long distance or otherwise..it goes through your computer. You can also use Skype for free( a computer program to make calls).. Of course we pack our lunches and make our own coffee at home as well as take our own soda when we leave. Aside from groceries, theres no reason to consistantly spend money at drive throughs or convenience stores and we are teaching this to our kids as well. I have no room for planting in my backyard, but I do grow vegetables in terra cotta pots so this is one less thing we have to buy. Tomatoes and bell peppers grow with hardly any maintenance and are even growing now approaching winter time. We order our food through angelfoodministries...for anyone who doesnt know, look at their webpage and you will see that a bundle of food worth 65 dollars is about 31 dollars..its not qualifying and one bundle can feed a family of four for a week. It includes fresh/frozen foods, eggs, vegs and even a dessert. You can pay with credit card or food stamps and order online then pick up. I cut our food bill down by hundreds because we eat what I order, not what we want when we go into a store and are lured by advertisments or ploys such as bread baking and chickens roasting. Check and change vents/filters on heating/cooling units, dryers and refrigerators, again this will cut your energy bill down alot. Any memberships your not using, cancel..if you have your car , home and health insurance all at different places, consider changing to only one because you usually get pretty good discount. Have them give you a rate quote to compare. This goes for health insurance especially. It cant hurt to shop around and see where you can save at. Get your Christmas shopping done, right after christmas. I spent an average of $5 per child for my neices and nephews for pjs, art kits, and bath items..normally these itemsa costs $30 but were on sale 75-85% off right after christmas. So for $30 total I got them all 2-3 gifts and put them up for the next year. Oh i forgot to add, did you know you can improve your gas milage by 5% if you have the correct amount of air in your tires? Also drive slower to get more gas milage, did you know every 10 miles per hour you drive over 60 is like the price of gasoline going up about 54 cents a gallon? If you have more than one student loan, consolidate it into one and this usually offers a lower interest rate. If you are working less than 30 hours a week, or on unemployment, call your loan company and request a hardship deferrment. I did this and my payments of $330 a month have been suspended for 6 months. (use this money wisely dont spend it, I put mine into a high yield CD for 6 months).. Use coupons for everything..you would be amazed how this cuts your bill. If you subscribe to any magazine, ALLYOU is worth it, I get coupons for up to $5 off of makeup , and many many groceries and bath products. I have some sites that Ill give you that you can use for many free products. I encourage you to also sign up for free products. I have gotten coffee, toothpaste, vitamins, and diapers to name a few.They come in handy when your in between shopping. I am a Teacher and always refer parents to cramster.com  for free homework help. Tutors are expensive! Also for free graph paper go to graphpaper.us 

Your kids can practice the SAT or ACT for free at number2.com 

You can also take free college classes at ocw.mit.edu  MIT OpenCourseWare is a Web-based publication with most of MIT’s courses and exams, and it’s available to everyone.  You can get one free credit report a year at annualcreditreport.com 

Enroll your child aged 1-12 in the toyrus program for birthdays and they get a card and gift on their bday..trubdayclub.com  Burgerking kids club also offers a free kids meal on their bday and also free cone at BAskin robbins, go to their sites to sign up and the birthday meal and dessert is covered!

I have a ton of more tips, if you have a specific question I can try to research for you or find you more free sites to use..but sleep is calling me so I'll post more another day.

Once I learned to live on less, we had so much extra money but dont spend it foolishly now. I hope that you can do the same so you can enjoy what matters most in life..Your relationships!

Goodnite!

char

I just thought I post an update on how I am doing.  I am still under the weather, but partly due to doing a lot of things at once.  My main goal since I have been out on disability was to to find work from home or to to further my education at an online college.  I am able to find assistance for now to try to cover my utility expenses until I get back on my feet without messing with the payday loans.

Also what I have been getting into lately is to find a legitimate work from home business for me at little or no cost.  I have been involved in a program which allows me to save money on  internet, tv, and home phone, and others without hitting my budget. 

The work from home project that is working out for me right now is a pending opportunity to continue my customer service telephone work from home.In a couple of weeks I will work with a client for an online site Alpine Access.  it's a free opportunity to work from home.  this definitely works for those who have a disability or who wants to cut their commute.  i signed up last week and I was concerned that I was not going to get an interview.  But I was offered an opportunity on Sat 7-17-2010 and I have to fill out the normal tax paperwork.  needless to say i am excited for the opportunity, but I will continue to search for opportunities that will help me get back on my feet without overwhelming myself.  that has alwats been my problem.  Well anyway I'm going to turn in.  I'll keep you posted on this and more.  For those who are struggling or borderline, i wil continue to offer my prayers and say that things can only get better from here.

Stay blessed

We all know what the world’s impact is on how money is being spent. It is feed to us every night at our local news or national news. But have you ever thought about what is your economy? What do you need to do to survive? What are you doing to save money? How is your defecate going down? Do you have a set budget for the next year or the next five years?

One of the biggest problems that I see everyone have, is we keep paying attention to the world’s economy and how it’s impacting the neighborhood you live in. Even what your state is doing. But in reality we all need to start paying attention to our own personal economy.

I know what were supposed to do in a national level. And in the state level is very obvious to see. But you have to break it down to your personal level. You have to start looking at your money and control it to your standards and your needs.

When you spend money, how is it impacting your wallet? What is the kind of things that you are buying for your home or how are you managing things around you? Can you look at the next year and tell yourself that you can make it towards the end of the year? How are you planning to pay off the debt? Can you change to make your economic factors change in your life?

We keep getting pushed the information of the world economy and changes have to take place and wants and have to need to be fulfilled. But in the real world, you have to see how it’s going to impact you. Where is your future laying? What do you have to do to make your economy work for you?

So my friends, we all have bills, defecate going up and money is short. But if you step back a little and look at the impact of your economic stage. Then you will realize that your economy is more important right now then the world’s economy. It all comes down to what we personally are doing to help make the rest of the world economy work right.

Impact your economy today, make that budget and stick to it. Pay the bill off to help things out. Pay attention to your wants and needs instead of the world’s wants and needs and overall everything will turn out fine for your economic adventures of the world. 

To Save on Electric Costs, First Look at Your Heating and Cooling Devices

Yet, it is one of our most expensive utility. I am sure we all would like to learn how to cut down on it. After all, if we use less electric we save money.

Here's a look at some basic steps we can take. See how many you all ready know. You might be surprised to know that you know most of them. You just don't take the time to put them into action. No, you are not the only one. We all are to blame. But let's look at them again and actually start thinking about doing them.

What is your biggest electrical use? Your heating and cooling appliances. For that reason this is where you need to take the most care. To do this, try the following suggestions.

1. Lower your temperature down by 1 to 2 degrees in the winter and raise it 1 to 2 degrees in the summer months. (especially at night when you are sleeping)

2. Don't run your heat as high or your cooling system as low whenever nobody is at home.

3. Make sure all air filters are clean, all year long.

4. Heat/cool only rooms that you are using. Close the vents and doors to unused rooms/

5. Install storm windows or install inexpensive plastic sheeting on the inside to control temperature efficiency (especially in winter)

6. Make sure all your doors and windows are sealed with weather stripping strips and or sealants, such as caulking.

7. On a windy day feel for leaks around windows and doors, make sure you get them all sealed as quickly as possible.

8. Check for holes in your roof and in all heating/cooling pipes, vents.

9. Never allow furniture or rugs to block needed vents.

Although heating and cooling aretwo major electrical expenses, there are also a few other things we should do.

Lighting is another major electric expense. One way you can save money on lighting is to replace a fourth of your lights that you use the most with fluorescent lightning. If you do this, you can save about fifty percent of your lighting energy bill.

You can also save on your lighting expense by using dimmers, timers and motion detectors outside. And, of course, you should always shut off lights

 that you are not using.

A few other ways you can save money on your electrical bill is by turning off appliances no one is using. You should also unplug all your television sets, vcr's and other entertainment devices that has a light on all the time into a surge protector with a shut off on it. Then when they are not in use you can easily shut off all of them. You would be surprise just how much electric that little timer on these advises costs you per year.

You should also try to have a full load when washing clothes and dishes. You can also save money by washing your clothes in the cold water cycle. They even make special detergents now for the cold cycle.

When buying appliances, look for the energy star label. This label shows that the government rates this appliance as being energy efficient.

I know some of these steps seems very small. But every little bit that you do, can save you money in the long run. Besides the less energy we use the more energy that we will have tomorrow.

Flora International has created 2 new programs to help people make dreams come true

1. The Dream Manager program

This is a for profit program designed to help people articulate their dreams, set short term goals, medium term goals, and long term goals. They conduct research; help with plans and putting the plan in action, guidance and coaching. 10% or all profits go into the dream maker program. Another 10% will go into the local community, church, or charity.What do I get with this program?1.Finacial counseling, relationship counseling, money management, savings plan, dream management plan, life coaching, team building, charity, a feeling of growth and accomplishment, loyalty, commitment, inspiration and much more…  money back guarantee. Free assessment, no sitting or assessment fees.

(Example: If your dream is to take a family vacation, but don’t know how to do it, they would assess your finances and make a budget and savings plan that you would have to agree upon. They would help with location, times, transportation, lodging, photos, food expensise and fun activities. The even would work out the funds for your missed work, so you do not have to worry about bills while you are gone on vacation.) The dream manager would coach you, inspire you encourage you like a spotter in a gym.

2.                  The Dream maker program,

Is a charity based program that 100% of all profit after expenses, will go to people, their children, their spouses, disabled, elderly, etc to make dreams come true, that go outside the criteria of the dream manager program.

To sign up for the program, call 757-818-8138, ask for Troy Flora and reference the program you are inquiring about.To donate to others to make dreams come true, send, check or money order to:

 Flora International Inc

827 cathedral drive

Virginia Beach Va 23455

As the roller coaster ride of our lives is happening at this time and we are seeing to many ups and downs. We have to start looking and analyzing at the big picture to the small pictures of everything that is around us. We have to find a norm or can we. But one of the things that we all are hurting on is the gas prices. We can’t live without it and we can’t live without it. But in order to put things at ease at least for a small period of time. Here are some tricks that we all have learned to make the price at the pump easier to swallow.  

Always buy gas before 9:00 a.m. daily. The gas stations are regulated by state and the price of the gas changes after 9:00 a.m. in your area. So if you want to buy cheap gas, do it before 9:00 a.m.

Stay away from buying gas in the downtown area. The gas price is more expensive there. Drive a little further out and buy gas from and away from the downtown area.

Only drive when needed. Learn to walk a block or two. Make one trip for everything you need instead of making several trips.

Use mid grade gas. It might cost about a penny or two more but it last longer. Plus your car will handle better.

Start sharing rides, I found some people in my neighborhood that work in the same spot as I do. We share cars. Sometime on the weekend when we are both off, we go grocery shopping together to save gas and it fun to make a friend.

Tune up your car and keep the oil change current. By keeping your car cleaning and in tune less gas will be spent.

Drive the speed limit. By driving the speed limit. You can save a bunch of money. Your gas will spend less and you will get be benefit from your car better. 

Know where you are going. Americans spend so much time looking for where they need to go. Map out your route, pick where you want to go before you leave your home. Just go where you need to go and don't change your map. You have to do this to surive now a days. 

Give rides for a price. I found that many people are giving people rides to certain locations for a charge. I have 1 neighbor that takes people to the grocery store on Sunday and drives them back for $5.00 bucks. He makes the money which in turn, gets money for gas.

Lot’s of these ideas are only suggestions and these are things that do work. But you must follow your way of doing things. The list keeps going and going and you can get it right for what works for you. Remember the whole idea is to save money on gas and make your car work for you. Until next time.

Money is a tool that we use in our society to trade for goods or service. Money can be found in all shapes and sizes. It is easy to save one dollar, as it is to save one million dollars. But what gets you there is how you see money.

If money is looked as a need, then little money will produce. If you see money as a tool, you will get a lot of it. Money can only been seen through the eyes of the believer and the more you believe, the more you will get.

When you get money, keep in mind that it’s a tool to help trade for goods or service in our society. Don’t let it not become a hot hands issue when you get it. That means that as soon as you get it, you have to spend it. Why do that? We all go into a spending habit as soon as we get it because our mind is a powerful tool and it will tell you what you have to do in the now. So you naturally you will listen to it.  

But it’s only a tool and you must you use it that way. As much as a car, garden hose, or a kitchen sink. You must treat it that way. You must understand it that way. When you do, you will see the good that it can do for you and your family.  

Here are some tips that will help you save money or what you can do to get money to save it. Yes you can do it because you can get it.

1. I’m sure you have tons of things in your home or apartment that is just sitting around or maybe you haven’t used it in more than 1 year or 2 years. Sale it, you will not miss it, so sale it and save that money.
2. We all know more than what we think we know and we can sales those services. So what if you are a school teacher or a baker or a banker, I bet you can baby sit or take care of elderly or take care of dogs. What about work in a kitchen or become a bellhop. I know you can do it. Save that money.
3. Turn in all the change that you have. Go through your car, house or jar. Collect it and exchange it and save that money.
4. If you have a car that you are not using or a large ticket item. Sale it and save that money.
5. Get a part-time job. It does not matter where the part-time job is. Whither it’s Starbucks or Target. Take that money and save it.
6. The paycheck that you earn, not matter how big or small. Always, always take at least $1.00 each pay period and save it. Let me tell you, it will add up. Put that money in a jar or a can. There are some saving accounts around the country that will allow you to open a saving account for $1.00.
7. Every time you go out and eat, if you have to do this. When you pay cash, whatever the change is, save it. Whatever it is, 50 cents or $2.00. Save it.
8. Sale CD, or DVD that you no longer watch or listen to and sale it. Save that money.
9. Cut lawns in the neighborhood. It’s not only for kids; adults do it all the time. They are more dependable in doing the job. Take that money from there and save it.
10. Drive a person from your neighborhood to work that works in your area. Put a little ad in craigslist or create an ad flyer in your local grocery story. Charge for gas money and save it.
11. Take someone grocery shopping. Such as a disable person or an elderly person. Something that can be helpful and charge a small fee. Save it.
12. Sale aluminum cans and glass bottles and newspapers. Sale it and save the money.
13. Teach people a trade or how to fix something, tell them you will charge them a small fee and take that money and save it.
14. Create a flyer, and envelope design or help write a letter. Charge a small fee and save it.

Now that you see some ideas that will help you earn extra cash for saving money. Again, we have to look at tasks and money differently. The reason the rich get rich is because they do these task and sale services for cash. Everything they do and touch has a price tag to it. That is why they are rich. The rich are rich because they save money. The don't over spend. They make sure that they have the cash for it. 

Keep in mind because of the different way of thinking that you are starting to do on money. You will start seeing where you can get it and it will come to you, in bundles. Once you realize that it's there for you. 

But remember that you must not abuse money because money will abuse you.

I found SOMETHING that might help us to help OURSELVES

Wanna help without spending a DIME?
Sign up here as a PLAYER and Play 1 days worth of tickets
HERE'S THE LINK
Then Sign up here as an AFFILIATE
HERE'S THE LINK
You'll earn me $3 towards saving my home.
And yes they pay, I've been paid by them a few times.

Does anyone not use thier sunday paper coupon inserts?
I can use them!!!  I use coupons to cut costs to the household, and get quite a bit of our food for free using them.
If you don't want yours, I'll take them!!
I can also use refund forms (things like get $2 back when you buy sucha nd such product)
Or any other coupons you might find in places like magazines, hanging on bottles of wine or licqour, on tear pads by products in stores.
B. L.
P.O. Box 296
Fort Plain, Ny  13339