This question depends on your situation. This number can be as low at $40,000 a year and up to $100,000 a year. I believe that a $75,000 / year salary would buy happiness. Why? Because by making $75,000 / year would allow my wife to quit her job, and grow the business that she loves, Firefly Flashbacks Photography. It would also in turn allow her to stay home with the children we will have some day. What’s your magic number?

Save money on must have items

Lets face it, how much toilet paper do you use? Tons I bet, and even more if you have women in the house. You can save up to 50% or more off of Items like toilet paper, light bulbs, washing power, dish-washing liquid, etc.

Allows you to try new products

Have you seen those new razors? You know the ones with 4 blades instead of 3, and before that 3 blades instead of one. This is just one example but there are several products that you can try at a reduced price. Other items may include food, HBC items, cleaning products, etc.

Eat Free, Get Free Products

Its hard to believe this but yes, coupons can score you free food or free products. Just yesterday I scored free fries at Wendy’s and you can too. Usually if you look on restaurants websites, when they come out with a new product, they place coupons for free items, so the consumer can try before you buy. Other products may be a little harder to get, but still obtainable. You may have to combine coupons to get the products free. With a little searching you can get free food and free products!

Coupons make splurges more affordable

This applies more to electronics, clothing and home goods. If you look in your Sunday’s paper, I guarantee you may find a coupon for 40% off one item at Hobby Lobby, or maybe 20% off Macy’s, or maybe $10 off $50 at Kohl’s. Some coupons like the $10 off of $50 may encourage you to spend more, but if you use them on occassions such as anniversaries, birthdays, or holidays you can save tons. Check out how we saved $255.00 on our Christmas Shopping this year with the use of coupons and sales.

Fresh coat of paint

Paint is very is one of the cheapest improvements you can make to your home. If you have bright vibrant colors in your home, I suggest toning the colors down to appeal to a wider range of home buyers. Go with neutral warm colors, they sell its a fact. Weather painting a small room or a huge room you will need the necessities. A small and large paint brush, a small and large paint roller, and lets not forget a gallon bucket. If you hate painting like I do you may want to try to barter your stuff with a painter like we did.

Energy-Efficiency Upgrades

Did you know that by replacing your old refrigerator with a new energy star one can save you more than $100 per year on your electric bill. Imagine how more appealing your home would be if you could share those facts with the home buyer about all your appliances. Currently the government is offering a rebate on Energy-Efficient Appliances. Do your due diligence, I think the rebate runs out as of Jan 1, 2011, so you must hurry to take advantage of this…

Install new fixtures

Most of this can be a DIY project. You can easily replace your sink faucets, shower heads, change out the dated brass and upgrade to stainless steel or aluminum. If you don’t feel comfortable jumping in and getting your hands dirty there are several videos on youtube that can teach you how to change just about any fixture you can imagine, not to mention the experts at Lowes and Home Depot can steer you in the right direction. They usually offer free classes. Contact your local Lowes and Home Depot to find out when their next class is. I’ve noticed that just about any fixture you can dream of is available online, and cheaper, sometime with free shipping. Take a trip down to Lowes and discover your perfect faucet,toilet, shower, etc, then head back home and search amazon for it. I guarantee you more than likely will at least save $20 or more on it.

Curb Appeal

Lets face it, if the home buyers don’t like the outside of your home you have no chance of getting them through the front door where they can feel your home out. Its very important that your yard be well maintained, bushes trimmed, no trash in the yard. The same applies to your neighbors yards surrounding your house. Its a fact your neighbor can make or break a deal. If you haven’t already, make buddies with your neighbors. Volunteer to help them out with their not so hot yard. By improving their yard, your increasing your homes value and your neighborhoods worth.

Switch out color of outlets and light switches

If you live in an older home, your light switches may not be white. In my case they were a tan color. I made it a point to upgrade plugins in each room as I painted the room. White looks fresh and new, tan looks old and used. This is simple and inexpensive. You can get a 10 pack of outlets covers onAmazon for only $7.99. Light switch covers cost about the same depending on if you need single or double switch cover plates. If you really want to do it right replace the recpticle and cover plate.

If you apply these 5 steps. I guarantee you success!!!

Thrift Stores are usually non profits, that take in any kind of donation, and turn around and sell it for a reasonable price, to keep their mission going. Thrift Stores provide jobs, and sometimes shelter to people who are in need. Consignment Stores are retail stores that pocket their percentage of the profit and move on to the next deal. They offer no jobs for people trying to get back into the work force, nor do they offer shelter, for those who have none. From a consumer side and humanitarian side, the Thrift Store just makes more since. I guess you can say its a circle of giving. You can donate items, that the Thrift Store turns around and sells to other people at reduced prices, that pays the employees that need jobs, and helps feed and shelter the ones that need it, as well as puts food on their table, and a tax write off in your file.

I much prefer shopping at Goodwill any day over a consignment store. The prices are much more affordable. $4.25 for a gently worn polo shirt is much better than $20 at a consignment store any day. I’m not saying I wouldn’t shop at a Consignment Store, but by shopping at a Thrift Store, I’m helping a larger crowd, not to mention helping myself to great deals. I use to visit Goodwill weekly to see what I could find. We have found several awesome deals. You may remember our $50 table and what it looks like now with a fresh coat of paint or my great trash to treasure finds. Its like a treasure hunt, go visit your local Goodwill today and see what you can find!

So what did we get? and how much did we save? That’s the big question all of you want to know. Get ready your going to be proud of us this time around. If you remember back in August we took a trip to Charleston, SC to celebrate our 1st year of marriage. While we were there we received $75 gift card to Bass Pro Shop for setting through the awful Bluegreen Resorts presentation. We took that $75 gift certificate and applied it to the $159.99 Stealth Cam Jim Shockey “Sniper Pro” 8.0 Mega Pixel Digital Camera bringing our balance down to $94.59 tax included.

Stealth Cam Video Recorder Savings of $75

Next we moved on to Bed Bath and Beyond. We love this place, we have been collecting 20% off coupons for sometime now, and every now and then we get $5 off $15 coupons. The great thing about Bed Bath and Beyond, they let you use one coupon per item, and it doesn’t matter if the coupon is expired or not!! We bought a Keurig B-40 B40 Elite Gourmet Single-Cup Home-Brewing System. Regular price was $99.99 we saved 20% = $20.00 off. So we spent a grand total of $84.16 tax included.

Keurig Single-Cup Brewing System Savings of $20

Next was Target. Target had an add in the paper for a Westinghouse 26" LCD 720p HDTV - SK-26H730Sfor only $199.00 the regular price was $279.99. That’s a savings of $80.99. Luckily we got the last one at that great price. I don’t know if you know this but LED is the newest kind of TV, slowly replacing LCD TVs. Great deal for a combined Christmas gift. Grand total $210.94 tax included.

Westinghouse 26″ LED TV Savings of $80.99

On to the PGA Tour Store, back this summer Katie got a $20.00 gift card for helping with a golf tournament at work. Time to put that to use for us. We bought her grandfather a
Dorfman Pacific Hat Regular price $28.95 – $20.00 gift card Grand total of $10.69 tax included.

Straw Golf Hat Savings of $20

Lastly we stopped at Office Depot and picked up 2 Ativa 7″ Digital Photo Frame for the Grandmothers for $39.99 each with an instant savings of $10 on each for a total savings of $20 on the 2 digital photo frames. We also picked up a couple 4GB SD memory cards to house the photos for original price $29.99 with a savings of $20 on each of them. Grand total of $84.76 tax included.

2 Ativa 7″ Digital Photo Frame & 2 4GB SD Cards Total Savings of $60

If you take your resources, like gift cards you’ve collected and coupons you’ve clipped, and ads you just happen to notice in the weekly sales paper you too can save a ton during the holiday season.

How much did you save on your Christmas shopping this year?

My Top 10 Favorite DVD’s for $25 or less

What’s on your stocking stuffer list???

Being frugal is something I learned from my mother. I’ve always been amazed how she could walk in to a CVS and walk out with $50+ worth of merchandise for less than on average $5 – $10. Why would you pay more, when you can pay less, sometimes nothing? In 2011, its time to tighten down and get my frugal living on. I’ve made it through my 1st year of home ownership, and my 1st year of marriage, surely everything gets cheaper from here?

My Frugal Living in 2011 Goals

Save money and eliminate your debt in 2011

No doubt about it, I’m a sucker for no interest for 12months – 18 months. This is a great option to get things you need, not things you want at a SAME AS CASH cost. This past year, I’ve rung up about $5500 between a new bedroom suit, king size matress, LG 42LD450 42-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV
, and Katie’s new Canon EOS 7D Digital SLR Camera. Thankfully, all is paid for except for the camera, and its on its way to being paid off within the first 6months of the 18 months Best Buy has given us.

Track my spending habits in 2011

This year, I’m startarting the year off right. I’m going to track ever single thing we buy, and categorize it by type. Google Doc’s is great for online management of this. Or you can pick up a free calendar from you local insurance company, and track your spending that way.

Subscribe to the news paper for coupons in 2011

This year I plan on subscribing to the local newspaper. Chances are I can just subscribe to the Sunday paper to get the coupons. I get my news from TV and internet so, I’m definately not paying AJC to tell me something I found out the day before on channel 2 or yahoo.

Weekly Freebies in 2011

I’m making it a goal to get at least one thing free each week at the grocery store or drugstore or even free samples.

Back off that lead foot in the car

Chances are that if I can do this my millage per gallon will increase over time.

Stay out of the Theatre

Katie and I love going to the movies, but the truth is I’d rather lay on the couch and watch the movie at the house. My goal is to trade expensive movie dates for night ins. Redbox $1 or Free with promo compared to $18-20. Make your own popcorn and refreshments. I guarantee you can do it for a lot less than the $12 more the theater charges for popcorn and soda.

What are your goal in 2011?? I’ll encourage you if you’ll do the same!

Truth be told, there’s not one thing that I need. I feel I’m very blessed to have what I have. I’m employed, have an awesome wife and great family and friends. What more could a guy need? Nothing, but there’s always some wants. That’s just human nature. I like to kick back and watch others get things they really want and need. I’d never complain about receiving gifts but have you ever thought, why do we get presents? Its not our birthday! It’s Jesus’s birthday. I guess since he’s not in human form to accept gifts, people decided to start giving presents to each other? Who knows..

All that aside, Christmas is a time of Giving not just receiving. So give someone a blessing if you can. It will make you all tingly inside. I’m so blessed to be an American. Besides the president and all the politics, America is a very great place to live. I’m rambling now. Below is my short list of wants, not needs.

	Macbook Pro 15″ i5 Like I said not a need, but definitely a want. My old Macbook Pro is getting some age on it and I can tell it doesn’t react as fast as it use to. I have some clients that have them and I really like what I’ve seen… Lightweight, long battery, and speed… What more could a guy dream of?
	IPAD 64 GB WI-FI / 3G What can I say, I’m an apple guy, my whole list will reflect my love of apple products… These are cool but I’m kind of leaning towards Android Tablets, for the price, opensource ability and expansion ports.. Who knows…
	Apple iPod nano 8 GB Graphite (6th Generation) NEWEST MODEL Told you I like apple. I’m wanting to start running next year. This would be great size for running. Holds just enough music, lightweight and pretty inexpensive. I think it also has a pedometer and radio built in… Pretty cool…

Well that’s pretty much the extent of my wish lists / want list….. What’s on your wish list / want list this year???

No doubt the temperature has definitely taken a dive in the past few days. If you live in a 20 + year old house you can definitely tell a difference in the temperature. Why? you may ask. Back in the day the contractors didn’t insulate homes like they do today, or if they did they didn’t do it to today’s standards. Over time things wear out as you all know. The seal around my doors have defiantly started to crack and let air seep in. I have 3 simple solutions that cost me less than $20 total for 2 doors.

Step 1,Feel the breeze

light a candle and hold it next to the door or window seal. If it flickers this indicates you definitely have a breeze.

Step 2, Stop the breeze

There are several ways to achieve this. One is simply blocking the airway with old towels. Another is buy new molding for around your door. A third way is buy some painters caulk and fill in all the gaps around windows and doors where air is seeping in.

Step 3, Enjoy the fruits of your labor

If you have followed step 1 and step 2 your definitely on your way to a warmer home.

Hope these tips help keep you warm in these winter months.

My wife has a new toy!!! If you didn’t know, my wife is full force into growing her up and coming business. Katie has went full force attacking the photography industry. Her new toy will help her climb the latter faster.

So what kind of camera did she get?

Katie got a Cannon 7D

What’s in the box?

EOS 7D Digital SLR Body Eyecup Eg (Not Shown) Wide Neck Strap EW-EOS7D Stereo AV Cable AVC-DC400ST USB Interface Cable IFC-200U Battery Pack LP-E6 Battery Charger LC-E6 EOS Digital Solution Disk Great Photography is Easy” Booklet and “Do More with Macro” Booklet (notshown) Software Instruction Manual (not Shown)

Why is this one better than her other camera?

Faster, Longer battery life, professional grade, and shoots HD video!

Katie, absolutely loves her new Cannon 7D EOS camera. Happy wife = happy life. If your in the Atlanta area looking for a maternity photographer, newborn photographer, engagement photographer, or wedding photographer. Contact Firefly Flashbacks Photography

Whats next on her list of professional development?

I have a feeling these will show up on the door steps shortly.

	Canon BG-E7 Battery Grip for 7d
	Canon LP-E6 Battery Pack for 7d
	Captured by the Light Book
	Adobe Light Room 3
	Kandle LED Book Light

Halloween is approaching quickly, do you have your Halloween Costume? Last year Katie and I, probably spent a combined $80-100 on our Halloween Costumes. This year is going to be different, because were spending $0. We’ve decide to take this year off and hand out candy to the kids, but next year is going to be the best Halloween Costumes ever, and this year your about to learn how you can make your costume for less than $20.00.

Sure, you could go to the store and buy one, but often the costumes available aren’t very original, not to mention all the money you spend on something you only wear once. So why not be creative and make your own costumes?

Below are a few Ideas I’ve had in Halloweens past, and I may execute for Halloweens to come

You’re in good hands, am I? I believe so. Friday, I visited my local Allstate office in Lawrenceville, GA and found out that if I added my car to my wifes policy, not only would I drop the premium, but drop it greatly.

We’ve been married just a little over a year now, and we finally started switching car titles, insurance etc from parents names to our names. Were all grown up now!! LOL, Anyways I was paying about $300 every 6 months to be on my mothers State Farm Insurance, with full coverage. Katie was not paying, her dad was… So a few months back we switched the title on her car and modified her policy to her name our address etc, and the bill went up about $100.00 because we did it over the phone. When I met with Carlos Friday, I was expecting to add another $300 + to her policy.


Boy was I shocked when I found out that by just adding me as a driver to her car dropped her premium by $10 per month, and adding my car dropped it even more, due to multiple car discounts, married etc. I was expecting to pay maybe an additional $250-300 to add my car. Nope…. Guess how much???????? I was shocked to read this in the online statement “Your premium for the current policy period has been increased by a total of $69.76. Your discount savings for this policy period are: $309.55 “. $69.76 thats like 2 weeks gas, WOW I love Allstate Insurance. I didn’t believe there add. Save $300 on your premium… I totally have full confidence in them now. If you haven’t had a car insurance quote in a few years, I dare you to visit your local Allstate and get one. Hopefully you will be as shocked as I was……

It’s about that time, Rock N’ Ribs Festival will be back for the third time this weekend. Seems like it just gets better and better every year. Hope it doesn’t rain like last year.

Rock N’ Ribs Festival, what a great idea. Its back and so will we be tomorrow. Friends are headed down for the weekend. Its going to be a great time. Rumor has it that this year, the beer garden, is going to be expanded on to two streets, not just locked into a 20×20 fenced in area like last year. There should be more vendors this year. I’m not eating tonight, saving my tummy up to try atleast 4-5 vendors. Cant wait! If your in the metro Atlanta area, I suggest you load the family and friends up and come on down to the Lawrenceville Square tomorrow! For more details and driving directions Official Rock’n Ribs Festival Oh yeah theres going to be a Journey Tribute band, so come check it out. No admission Fee…

I ordered the Cajun chicken pasta, Logan ordered the same. Megan had country fried steak with gravy and okra, and Katie had fried chicken with sweet potato poppers. Needless to say we ate every bite and wish we had more. If your in the Buford area I definitely recommend the Red Sky Neighborhood Grill. We will definitely return asap. Can’t beat it for the price. Average plate cost $10-12 with drink. Great place for date night. We used our Resturant.com coupon for $25 off $35. Of coarse I paid $2 for the certificate. Logan and I came out of there very cheap. You do the math! LoL. If you eat here and don’t enjoy the food, the people and the atmosphere, your nuts.

Today we visited one of our favorites, at least it use to be Mccray’s Tavern on the square in down town Lawrenceville. Upon arrival we noticed several things have changed on the menu. All my favorites are no longer listed. What’s up with that?

After we finally found something that sounded good we proceeded to order and we notified our waiter that we had a resturant.com gift certificate. Nice Sunday lunch roof top in the shade right? We got our food and it was what we expected, wait staff was great. After an hour of conversation with friends, eating some great food we were presented with the bill. FULL PRICE!!! We were notified that restaurant.com could not be reached for verification. OK, so why were we not notified ahead of time? Don’t you think the coupon should be verified before we order? Since the coupon must be presented when we arrive?


Needless to say the ladies were not going to accept this Megan and Katie took the lead while Logan and I set back and watched our ladies get justice. Megan requested to speak with the manager. We actually got the owner. (a not so friendly or business savvy guy).after going back and forth 25 minutes, he was not budging. Any business minded owner would accept the coupon and keep trying after we left. He told us that he’d rather loose us as regular customers rather than loose $25. After the jerk of a owner left, we decided there was no way we were going to pay full price, when we had a coupon that we knew was valid and we did our due diligence by presenting it upon arrival. Logan and I began to dial the restaurant.com number.

Busy! , Busy! It took my 18 tries and Logan’s 12 tries to get through. We did it. Logan quickly passed the phone off to the waiter. Coupon was valid as we knew it would be! Finally after one hour of eating and one hour of trying to leave, we finally parted ways. Good riddance to that place place I use to be a regular. I use to take out of town friends there. That place that use to have awesome food and great management. I guess the cook got tire of working for that jerk, now they have a basic menu. The owner, just isn’t business savvy at all. I feel sorry for him, I really do. I’m the customer, I’m always right, especially when it’s in black and white. He may have not lost his $25 that day but, he will loose $1000s over the next year from us alone, not to mention others we would have brought with us or recommended.

If you plan on coming to Lawrenceville for Rocking Ribs October 2nd, I know you will have a great time. Great food from vendors all around Georgia. When it gets time for the Dawgs to play, I beg you, don’t find yourself under the roof of Mccray’s Tavern. They don’t deserve your business. Hop in the car and visit Diggers on Duluth Hwy or Hail Marry’s on Grayson Hwy! They will treat you like a customer, and they have far more tvs, wider variety of drinks and greater management.


Dear owner of Mccray’s Tavern, I hope you learn how to be a businessman before you loose your business. Your staff and management are great, but you will bring your own demise if you hang around too much, and don’t learn this simple rule of business. “your customers are your income, with out us, you will be shutting down shortly.”
I know he will probably never read this, but if I can keep just one loyal customer from returning, I’ve done my job.

One whole year, its been a short one.

If you’ve been reading all along. Thank you. If you’ve started reading along the way thank you.
Thanks for reading! I hope this next year my blogging skill get better, and I provide everyone with more enjoyable content. If you have any questions about how we save money. Ask, I’m full of answers!

Don’t believe me? How much gas do you put in your tank each week? Multiply that by 52. I almost guarantee your number is $2000 or more, add in your yearly vacation fuel plus seasonal trips, you probably looking at around $3000.

Add oil changes every 2-3 months $25-$75 each depending on what type of car you have and where you have your oil changed. Let’s not forget occasional trips to the shop to replace worn parts usually $500 – $1000 per year. If you are keeping up were at almost $5000 just to get to work, pickup the kids and take a Sunday drive. Your married? Then double the total. Most married households spend on average between $7,000 and $10,000 per year just to get around.

It just doesn’t seem fair does it? How can you reduce your annual car expenses? There are several ways, some involve changes to how you use your automobile others are changes to your lifestyle in general.

Top tips to cut annual driving cost.
1. Change oil every 5000-6000 miles instead of every 3000.
2. Decrease the urge to stomp the gas to pass other drivers.
3. Change your air filter with every oil change.
4. Car pool – this one sucks but you can cut you expenses in half by sharing the bill with a friend or coworker.
5. Ride a bike, this one is a stretch for most but if you have one try using it every once in a while.
6. Take alternative transportation, like MARTA or VanPools.
7. Roll those windows up. Having the windows down kills your aerodynamics.
8. Shut the sun roof- same applies like #7.
9. excelerate slower. You don’t have to beat the car beside you at every red light.
10. Don’t ride your breaks- learn how to drive without using brakes. Brakes are only needed for stopping, not slowing down!

If you apply just a few of these tips to your daily commute you are sure to lower your yearly travel expenses.

I guess it depends on who you ask, and how much the meal ends up costing you in the end. I believe most all you can eat buffets are worth the price you pay.

Get the most out of your all you can eat buffet by coming hungry and leaving totally full. I try to get at least 3 full plates of food, plus one plate of deserts. An easy way to save a few dollars is drink water with your buffet meal. Not only will this save you a few bucks it will open your taste buds up to experience the full flavor of the food. Coke and tea dilute your taste buds and don’t let you experience all of the flavor.

Lunch buffets are my favorite, cheaper price than dinner with same benefits of all you can eat. Usually the food is freshest right around lunch!

What do you think of buffet bars? I love comments.

A dot com millionaire is a person or company who has netted $1,000,000 online. This can be achieved by selling products, selling advertisements, selling your thoughts, building communities, etc.

Dot com millionaires sprout up over night sometimes, it just takes a great idea and a can do attitude. Mark Zuckerberg is a great example. A not so popular guy, trying to make friends. Little did he know how popular he would become. Actually he thought of it as a popularity contest none the less, to see who could get the most friends. You can build groups, fan pages, share photos and more. Basically one Mark built a following, he monotized it through selling ad and user information.

So how can you become a dot com millionaire? Competition has become a lot tougher. You absolutely must build a community to have any chance at all. There are several bloggers making $100,000 or more from one blog alone. This money doesn’t just fall into your wallet as easily as you would think. There is tons of preparation for this. Once you reach that level “The Trust Level” then your on to something.

I’m still working on getting all of you folks to not only like me but trust me and build a relationship with me through comments. I can’t wait for the day, when I can check my email and see I have tons of comments. That means I’ve done something right. Till that day comes I will just keep trying and building my blog with useful information. I hope you enjoy!
If you like my post please add your two cents below in the comments bo

After our weekend trip to Charleston, I realized that it really only cost a tank of gas each way. $35 times 2 equals $70 to get us to our destination and back home. Not bad at all. So what’s your point?

I guess my point is if your willing to drive and have the extra day or so for travel you can save a ton of money over the cost to fly somewhere. A great example is I have a friend that has lived in New York since high school, I’ve always wanted to make my way up to visit, but just haven’t due to the cost associated with it. Now that I’m married and both of us are considering the trip more and more, I decided to try to compare the cost to fly and the cost to drive from our home on the out skirts of Atlanta to Brooklyn where Ben lives.

According to Priceline.com, It cost anywhere from $200-$250 for each of us to get a round trip air plane ticket to New York. The trip is less than 4 hours. So $400-$500 to fly plus expenses when we get there. Probably looking at $1000 for a short 3 day weekend.


If we were to drive it would only cost $153.58 for the round trip, plus food, entertainment etc hopefully much less than $1000. According to costtodrive.com, It would take us 14 hours and 31 minutes to get to NY. It says we would stop 3 times for gas each way based on the year, make , model of my car. It even maps out the cheapest gas stations to fill up at.

Hopefully before it turns cold again we can load up and get our roll on. I’ve never drove that far before. It’d definitely be an experience. if your planning a road trip of your own, I definitely recommend checking out costtodrive.com

You may recall months back, when I decided to experiment with my car maintenance schedule. I realized that 3,000 miles gets here way too fast and that experts say the oil is actually good up to 8,000-9,000 miles.

For the past 4-5 months my wife and I have been putting off our oil change till 5,000 miles. Every oil change shop recommends 3,000 miles. We’ve had no problems. Our cars actually seem to be running smoother.

Some luxury cars like BMW recommend changing the oil every 15,000 miles. My Nissan is no sports car, but I believe it’s built just as well if not better than the BMW I referenced. What’s your thoughts? Has anyone mad it 10,000 miles between oil changes in a Honda, Toyota, Nissan?

I am, it’s been far too long since I’ve seen the Georgia Bull Dawgs play ball.
This year even though the temptation was great, I did not buy season football tickets, like some of my friends. I do however plan to watch all the games on the big screen at my house or friends homes. To have a successful football party you need 3 things. Keep this in mind all of these are way cheaper than the $1200-$1500 for season tickets this year.

1. Friends
2. Food and Drinks
3. TV

Two out of 3 of those you already have. So call up some friends invite them over, and make a quick trip to Aldi or Krogers. It’s time for some football!!!!

Enjoy your weekends this football season, and remember Gooooo Dawgs!!!!!

I can remember back in my younger years, everyone had to have polos and new cars. Back before we had a concept of what money was and how hard it was to make it. Back when all we had to do is ask. Do you remember going shopping with your mom for school clothes? Ever get anything off the sales rack at Belk? I did, I use to think that was a bad thing and that the red pen mark on the tag ment it was bad or maybe someone would see it and ask what’s up with that?

Now I’m proud to say in my adult life I’ve never paid more than $25 for a shirt. I can remember asking my mom for shirts that were $60 and up. If we only knew about Goodwill and consignment stores back then. If we did I’d probably hold my nose up high as I sorted through the clothes. Now paying $3.95 for a used $70 shirt is a great thing. I can spend $25 or less and walk out with a new shirt for every day of the next week.

I can remember my mom clipping coupons back in the day as she still does today. Now that the tables have turned , we too use coupons. I’ve learned frugal is a great descriptive word for a person, cheap is as well.

What do cheap and frugal have in common? Knowledge , and know how. Clipping coupons can save you tons. Shopping at Goodwill has saved me at least $1000 so far in my adult life.

Mom, if you read this I’m sorry for giving you such a hard time when I was younger. You are actually the most frugal person I know. Who else can walk in to CVS with $5 and come out with $50 with of product? You can! This post is dedicated to you mom! I’m frugal because I learned it from you. When money is tight be aware coupons will always get you there.

Frugal is the new cool. The tough economy has opens the eyes of tons of people. More and more people think using coupons is smart, and the only way to shop. If your new to this whole frugal thing, keep reading my blog and I will enlighten you, as I learn the newest ways to save.

That’s a question several Americans find themselves asking every day.
To put it quite simple, “CAR PAYMENTS SUCK!!” as do any monthly reoccurring bills. The difference is you can decide your own fate when it comes to a car payment.

If your fortunate enough to own a car right now, consider yourself blessed. No car payment for you, right? Depending on how old your car is, you will come to a cross roads where you will find yourself asking, is this thing really worth fixing? My answer is always going to be YES, at least till I reach the 250,000mile marker. I’m currently at 175,000 miles and I’ve made it a personal goal of mine to see it that far.

By that time I’ll easily have money saved up to pay cash for my next vehicle. I personally will probably try to go for 300,000 miles once I make it to 250,000 miles. Then purchase a used car about 5 years old with about 100,000 miles on it. What’s your thoughts? Do you hate your car payments and wish you could get out of them? Trade in for something you can pay cash for or pay off in 2 years not 5-6! Will you fall into the new car temptation? Are car payments something you can live with out?

We planned on using it for our one year anniversary. Cheap trip to celebrate right? Since it’s was our first and the room was paid for I decided we should splurge and take $500 and really see what we can see and eat what we can eat.

We arrived in Charleston about 8:30 Saturday morning after driving through the night. We stopped at the welcome center for obvious reasons. Jeff, the visitor center employee ask us how would you like to experience the city for free. FREE I replied, he explained that if we would go sit in on a 90 minute presentation about new condos/ time share we would get a choice of a variety of things. We got to choose 3. We were up for anything, it was only 9am so not many things were going on.

Then he scheduled an appointment for 9:30. It was 9 by now and we figure why not? It will help us prepare for our presentation tomorrow, you know the guys that paid for our room.

We arrived at mystic resorts at 9:30, met our salesman and chit chatted for about 30 min. Now it got serious they turned the pressure up, and didn’t like to hear no, after about 3 times saying “no were not interested” my wife spoke up and said look we’ve been here going on 4 hours, give us our gifts and were leaving.

We were so furious when we got out of there. There product sounds good, but not good right now. They just couldn’t understand the words “no thank you” eventually after the 3rd no they finally gave us our gift cards and we high tail out of there.

We finally got out of there and got some lunch. We planned on breakfast. Ha I wish…..

So ask me, what was 4 hours of our time worth?
About $200.00 worth of gifts.
1. Hour horse carriage tour around town.
2. Day passes to a 500 acre plantation.
3. Ghost tour at the old haunted jail.

Was it worth all that? Absolutely not.

But wait we still had to do the same thing again tomorrow, with a different company. We trying to enjoy what was left of our day and night, but in the back of our heads we knew we had to do it all again the next morning.

Morning came and we drug ourselves out of bed and to the Blue Green Resorts presentation. We were prepared to put a muddle on this guy and tell them were not interested from the start. Well 4 more hours we finally got out alive. 2 night hotel stay for 4 hours of terrible conversations, not worth it at all.

We enjoyed the rest of our anniversary , ate some great food and did a lot of sight seeing.

The story of this post, is free never equals free. I like to thank my time is valuable. Our time on our 1st year anniversary was with double or more what my time is usually worth for obvious reasons. I wish I was able to bill them for our time they wasted.
Stay away from the Blue Green resort people and any one else trying to sell you a vacation club membership!!!!!

Learn from our experience

If someone offers you a 3day 2night package, I advise you tell them to keep it. This post was definitely a long one, thanks for hanging around. If you have had a similar experience I’d love to hear about it.

Would I do it again? Absolutely not. Never ever ever….. Were frugally cheap but this 8 hours of our weekend was wasted, please enjoy your vacations don’t spend them in high pressure rooms.

Tonight we visited the Footprints Cafe in Lawrenceville, GA. Upon arriving, we were greeted and seated very quickly. The restaurant had an island meets modern feel to it. The bar had a full floor to ceiling water fall. Pretty cool.

We paid $2.00 for a $25 gift certificate, with the requirement we spend $35 + 18% gratuity. Katie and I both ordered a shrimp and chicken pasta mix. It was very spicy, and very filling. The food was absolutely what I expected, pure excellence. The sweet tea was pretty awesome too.

I would definitely recommend this place to anyone. If you can get a gift certificate from restaurant.com I highly recommend it. It saved us over $25. More than 50% including the $2 cost of the gift certificate.

Lets face it times are tough. Why pay Blockbuster $5+ to rent a movie when you can pick one up at your local Red Box for FREE. Red Box, has made it convenient and affordable for people to rent movies at a reasonable price. I of coarse have found a way to beat the $1 per day and now we rent movies for free.

The key to my success is all thanks to Red Box. Each and everytime we decide to rent a movie, I first hit up google and search for “Red Box Promo Codes”. I’ve found

Redbox Insider to be the most reliable source for codes. You should check them out the next time your in the mood to rent a movie

Once again we got to eat at a great place $35 worth for only $15. Today I logged on to resturant.com and bought a $25 gift certificate for only $10 then I applied the code “STEAK” , saved 80% off of $10 and got it for only 80 cents. If you do the math it was definitely a great deal. The terms of the certificate required us to spend $35. So $35 – $25 = $10 + 80 cents + tip = $15.

This place looks like a great place to be on game day. Tons of tvs, cold drinks, and great food everytime you turn your head. We had a great experience and will definitely be back to visit on game day. This place is only 6 miles from my house and we were overly pleased with the food and service. Visit Resturant.com today and get yourself gift certificates at reduced prices! If your in the Lawrenceville / Grayson area I definitely recommend Hail Mary’s!

Ah the American dream, having a piece of dirt to call your own. Whether you’ve taken the plunge or just thinking about it, home ownership is the way to go. Owning a home has it’s advantages but it also has costs associated with it. Some cost are one time others are monthly or yearly.

One Time Expenses:
- Down Payment & closing Costs
- Home Inspection
- Cost to move (truck rental, gas, etc.)
- Cost to turn power on
- Cost to turn utilities on
- Cost to have cable and Internet hooked up.

Monthly Expenses:
-Lawn Care (gas, tools, etc)
-Preventative Maintenance (Cleaning, painting, caulking, etc)
-Fix broken things, stop leaks, etc.
-Upgrade appliances to get tax credit
-Light Bulbs

Yearly Expenses:
- Property Taxes (Paid to the city or county)
- Home Insurance (Get a deal, by combining your home insurance with your car insurance plan)
- Termite protection (Paid to a company like Terminex)

Renting an apartment may look very appetizing to you now. No lawn care, not responsible when things tear up or wear out, no property taxes, No termite protection, list goes on.

These are the list of things that keep us home owners on our toes. The large list may look bad but it’s really not.

Just remind yourself one day you will own the house and the monthly payment will vanish, as were if you were renting you would continue to help pad someone else’s pockets and never achieve ownership or piece of mind. You will always have maintenance fees associated with owning a home but some are actually tax deductible. And as you age your property tax can be discounted up to 50%. Now that’s something to look forward to.

Lets face it the one thing besides water, and food that we absolutely can not live with out is gas. Gas accounts for more than $2000 per year of your income. I bet you’d love to save 10 cents on every gallon. I would and I do enjoy the savings at least once a month. Ok Chris, tell me how this works! If your a frequent shopper at Krogers as most of us are, you may qualify and didn’t even realize it.

Saving on gas has never been easier! For every $100 you spend in a calendar month using your Kroger Plus Card, you can save 10 cents per gallon on a single fuel purchase at the Kroger Fuel Center! At the beginning of each month, a new accumulation period begins. At the end of the month, accumulation for that month ends, and you will have 4 weeks to redeem your discount(s). Prescriptions, alcohol, and tobacco do not count towards qualifying purchases. The maximum discount on any fill-up is 10 cents per gallon. Discounts may not be combined. Discount is off non-Plus Card pump price. Check your receipt to see your rewards for this month.

Chances are you easily spend $100 per week at Krogers on your family of 4. Cash in on your built in perk. Think about it next time you check out

There’s no doubt about it, there’s more and more things to spend money on in 2010 than back in the 90′s. Looking back at my younger years, I spent my money on things like water guns, ice cream , and Nintendo games. Fast forward 10-15 years, things have totally changed. I’ve taken on tons of new responsibilities. No more free food. No free roof over my head, and the things I hate most no more free power, cable, water, internet, and free money, thanks mom!

In 2010 I now have a mortgage, insurance premiums, birthday and wedding gifts to buy, cable and power bills the list could go on for days, but I have taken control of our spending habbits. If I knew back then what I knew now, boy how things would be different. Most Americans spend 30-40% on eating out and entertainment. I call those “one time pleasures”. Another 30% goes into housing, utilities, and groceries, “the necessities”. 10% or less goes to savings, 10% to car payment gotta have the “new car” and the other 10% seems to disappear with inflation. My percentages are a little differnet. It all depends on how you value things.

Our income dispersment looks a little more like this. 40% goes to the roof over our head, because were trying to pay down the principal. 10% goes to our church in tithes, 10-15% goes to savings, 15-20% goes to food and necessities like clothing, 15 % goes towards entertainment and the remainder goes back in to the cycle for padding. We have no car payments !

Tips I’ve learned along my 15 year journey:

If you rent, I advise buying a home. The facts are that while your renting, your literally throwing money away. If you eat out daily, I advise packing a lunch because your still throwing money out the window. If you gamble I advise investing your money in mutual funds at least you have better odds of winning some return in the long term.

If you own a deck, you know how get it is to use, but over time the finish fades and its time for a revamp. When your deck reaches this stage there’s two options. Refinish it yourself or hire a pro? Just recently I decided I was going to take this job on myself. I’ve heard how much of a pain it is, but actually it wasn’t that bad. If you decide to take this project on yourself you will need the following.

I’m new to the whole home owner thing, so I didn’t have a pressure washer. I weighed the cost of renting one, about $75 per day vs buying one for a little less than $400. If I were to pay some one to do it for me it would at least cost me the $400 plus some. I opted in to just buying one, because I can use it for other projects like the driveway and cleaning the exterior of the house and it never hurts to have another gas powered toy!

Next I found out that I needed 2 gallons of stain. The number of gallons of stain will be different for you based on how big your deck is. I ran out half way through, so I had to make a trip back down to Lowes to by another gallon. I chose Cabbot’s Decking Stain about $35 per gallon. Total of $70 for stain.

Once I got started, it went pretty fast, but once I hit the middle of the deck, I ran out of stain so I decided to call it a night and wait till the next day to get another gallon. The next day after work, I rushed home and went back to Lowes to get my 2nd gallon, on the way home it began to rain, and rain. It has rained on and off for the past week.
Finally 8 days later, I got to finish up, well kind of, I still need to finish all the spindles. I stained the larger supports as well as the hand rails, because it seemed like the thing to do as I made my way across the deck. Unfortunately now I have to go spend a few more hours finishing the details . I didn’t really time myself but I have probably spent a total of 6 hours on the project.

I discovered the hard way, that the brushes don’t really wash out. They actually harden up after washed out. I have have used a total of 2 brushes and have one more that I will use to finish of the spindles. Be sure to buy a few, if you have some helpers put them in their hands and you will save lots of time.

My patience has definably grown over the past few weeks. I’ve looked out the window at work as the temperature rose and rose, sunny as can be, but by the time I got home every day rain every day for a solid week. I suggest checking with weather.com and see what the forecast is before you begin your deck project. I know I rambled a lot but I hope this information helps you build confidence that you too can refinish your own deck.

As of June 26th, we’ve officially been in our home for one whole year. It’s been a fun year, and it flew by very quickly, so quickly in fact we have’nt really took time to decorate our home. We live and sleep in it, yet its not really decorated. In our one year, we have purchased quite a bit of items, but most of them large. We’ve painted walls and stained the deck, but no really touches of our own. I think it’s about time we start making our house our home. We’ve purged our items, so now what was mine and yours is totally ours. We’ve got rid of the things we no longer have need for, and now have somewhat the things we need. I guess its time to move on to the things we want?

We both live busy lifes, working full time jobs and growing our businesses on the side. So when will we actually get a chance to pursue this, and how much will this cost? Hopefully soon, were both thrify shoppers, so I’m excited to see the end result. Im sure it will be a masterfull creation! Right? So where should we begin? We’ve painted our bedroom, hallway, foyer, kitchen, and livng room. I say we start with one of those and finish it off. Then move on to the bare, unpainted rooms. Paint made a big difference, im sure nicknacks will finish the effect. Stay tuned for pictures of our newly wed decor project.

1. Stick with “.com” – The .com A.K.A TLD (top-level domain) is by far the most widely accepted extension for a domain name. If you are looking for a domain name for a business then it is even more important to choose a .com for your domain name because of the credibility boost that a .com domain name brings. Yes, there are still some very successful businesses that have domain names ending in .net or .org but just think, as a new business do you really want to chance having a lot of your customers forget that your domain name ends in .net and instead type in your domain name + .com when they go to find your website?

2. Shorter is Better – The shorter your domain name is then the easier it is for your visitors to remember, the easier it is for your visitors to type, and the easier it is for your visitors to tell others about your domain name. All of these are good things.

3. Brandable – 5 years ago know one knew who or what a “Bing” was but now bing.com is an extremely valuable and very brandable domain name. Don’t get too carried away with being clever but a brandable domain name can go a long way in making your site successful.

4. Keyword Rich – Choose a domain name that is full of keywords that are related to your website. If your site sells books then try and choose a domain name that contains the word “books” in the domain name. Take it one more step, if your site sells used book, and your located in georgia, try “georgia used books” or “used books in georgia”.

5. Singular vs. Plural – Make sure that you set up a website on the domain name that makes the most sense when choosing between the singular and plural of the words in your domain name. One thing that you definitely should do is purchase both the singular and plural variation of your domain name if applicable and then redirect the not as good sounding domain to the best sounding domain. Keep in mind that for some domain names the singular will sound better than the plural while with others the plural will sound better than the singular. For example, if you have a site that is devoted to health insurance plans then mymarketingtips.com sounds better than mymaketingtip.com but to avoid confusion and keep the singular domain away from your competitors then it would be best to buy both of the domain names and then redirect mymarketingtip.com to mymarketingtips.com.

Next time you buy a domain, keep these 5 tips in mind when picking a great domain name and as always get your domain names at Go Daddy!

Social Media Marketing has many definitions. I define it as how you represent your business online through all communication streams. Basically the communication between your product or service and your clients or potential clients. Amazon’s review feature is a great example of social media in its simplest form. Amazon, allows users, to post their honest opinion of a product. Those reviews can sway a potential clients way of thinking about that product. If 40 our of 50 reviews are bad, then you probably will stay away from that product right?

There are tons of avenues to express your thoughts and opinions via social networks, Flickr, youtube, and facebook are just to name a few. With smart phones relatively affordable, people are able to update their statuses on the go, comment on product reviews, and publish press releases all from the palm of your hand.

If you haven’t already noticed, all of these services are free. 100% free, so get out there and get your words out! If your new to social media check out the books below. They will jump start your social media marketing journey!

You may have read one of my previous post Why I use Blue Host Web Hosting this post listed all the features, I love about Blue Host Web Hosting.

Below is an example of the Once Click WordPress Installation mentioned.

Signing up for Blue Host is just as easy!

Signing up for Blue Host is just as easy! Click the banner below, or the one in the side bar, and get your blog up and running in less than 10 minutes for less than $100 per year. Most people spend $6.95 / day at Starbucks! Invest in your future today for less!

Blue Host provides shared web hosting at an unbeatable price, only $6.95 per month or $83.40 annually! Have you ever heard the old saying, “You get what you pay for” ? With Blue Host, this is definitely not the case! You get excellent 24/7 phone support, 99% uptime, and one click script installation.

What’s Shared Hosting?

Shared hosting, is as it implies, you share a server and server resources with other Blue Host clients. With past Web Hosting Companies I have used this was a very problematic scenario. For instance say your website and my website are on the same server and your website gets a spike in traffic that results in your database hogging the bandwidth, with other web host, I have experienced my website creeping, sometimes timing out when loading a page. Blue Host has this problem under wraps, they keep and eye on the servers constantly, so when they see your spike in traffic, they limit your resources, rather than letting you max out and the other paying clients sites go down or crawl.

Unlimited Domains

This means you can host multiple domains with Blue Host all for the price of only $6.95 per month. I currently have 10 or so websites hosted for only $6.95 per month. I’m sure unlimited really has a limit, but I’m not willing to test them. I suggest if you have more than 10 active domain names, set up an account for each set of 10 you have. Technically it says unlimited, but to be safe I prefer to have 2 Blue Host accounts, it just makes more sense for my accounting purposes.

Unlimited Space

With Blue Host web hosting, you don’t have to worry about how large your mysql database may grow, and believe me it will grow with each post to your blog, each picture you add etc. Never fear Blue Host is here for only $6.95 per month.

1 Click Script Installation

Blue Host provides an easy one click installation of all the most popular blogging systems, content management systems, and forum systems. Blue Host has teamed up with SimpleScripts to provide the easiest one click installation available on the market. Install wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, Zen Cart, phpBB , and many more blogging and forum systems with just one click of your mouse. Click here to see just how fast the one click installation is!

So How Do I Sign Up

Signing up is easy as clicking the add at the top of this post. Then once redirected to Blue Host click on sign up now!
A novice internet user can have a Blue Host account setup, a wordpress blog installed and posting their first post in 10 minutes or less. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Passive Income is an income received on a regular basis, with little effort required to maintain it. Sounds great doesn’t it. There are several ways to achieve this. Some people achieve this with rental property, royalties on a song, book, video etc, others achieve passive income selling products. I personally achieve it through internet marketing and affiliate marketing. Currently I pull a little over $100 per month. My goal is to achieve $1000 per month by Christmas.

So whats my plan?

Basically create all the content I possibly can. The ultimate goal is to get my readers to come back daily to see what I have to say, but the only way I’m going to be able to do this is by creating useful content that applies to your daily life. I hope to teach you things you don’t know and enlighten you on things you think you know about. A successful blog, needs interaction, so I need my readers to post comments on my post. Tell me what you think. Give me your insight and feedback.

Whats my main stream of online income?

Currently my main stream of online income comes from Google Adsense. You may also notice Amazon ads, I get 4% of the total price of your shopping cart, if you click on my product link and buy something. Pretty sweet huh? I think so. So if your interested in what my post is about check out the sponsor link to find out more detailed information, and you will have the opportunity to make the product or service yours! Pretty simple concept huh?

My plea to the readers

Help me achieve my monthly passive income goal. Think of it as a tip jar. or don’t think of it as a tip jar. The choice is yours, enjoy my journey on my pursuit to $1000 monthly passive income

Most people at least visit there once a month. Some visit every morning. $3 x 30 days in a month is an easy $90. What could you do with an extra $90, probably a lot. This post is here to make you think about your monthly expenses and how you can reduce your monthly expenses.

Below are there categories you can easily slash spending on every month:

Transportation

Your car is a money pit, all vehicles are. They constantly depreciate in value, eat gas by the gallon, and often require all manner of repairs and maintenance work. How can we reduce the cost of automobiles in our monthly budget?

Use public transportation – If your in a city where you have an option that enables you to ride to regular commute instead of using your automobile, you can save quite a bit of money on gas and maintenance by just dropping a few coins on the bus or the rail system and leaving the car at home (or parking it at a station – PARKING is FREE @ MARTA). I tired this back when I had the option and In fact, I saved a ton of money on gas by riding public transportation. Its kind of like having your own driver on a cheap!

Carpool If you have an opportunity to share your ride to and from work with someone else, or maybe to and from school, I suggest jumping on it. There are many benefits, HOV lane to be my favorite not to mention car pooling reduces wear and tear on your car and gas expenses.

Maintain your car – For most people this takes no thought, its more like repetition. Change your oil every 3000-5000 miles, keep the air filter clean, and make sure your fuel filter is clean! Have your tires rotated atleast every other oil change or 10,000 miles. Once a month, stop by a local gas station that offers free air and check the air pressure in your car tires, then fill each one to the maximum recommended amount as stated in your manual. Its also posted on your drivers door in most vehicles. This improves gas mileage by one percent for every two PSI of air you are able to add to your tires.

Automobiles are money pits – they constantly go down in value, devour fuel by the gallon, and often require all manner of repairs and maintenance work. How can we reduce the cost of automobiles in our monthly budget?

Use public transportation If you have an option that enables you to ride to regular destinations (such as work, the store, or a shopping center) instead of using your automobile, you can save quite a bit of money on gas and maintenance by just dropping a few coins on the bus or the rail system and leaving the car at home (or parking it at a station). In fact, during my earlier days, I exclusively used public transportation and it was painful to add an automobile to my monthly finances.

Energy

Install a programmable thermostat A programmable thermostat allows you to automatically alter the heating and cooling of your home when you’re not at home, when you’re asleep, and so on, saving significantly on your heating and cooling bills.

Unplug all unused electrical devices – Are there any electrical devices around the house that stay plugged in, but that you rarely use? Most electric devices use a small amount of electricity constantly, a phantom charge. To eliminate that usage, unplug the items. I recommend, plug all your TV and Computer parts into a power strip, when there not in use, turn off the power strip! Amazingly enough, those little lights on the tv, the clock on the microwave, and your cell phone charger add up to tons of savings. Its not hard, just takes practice.

Install a programmable thermostat – You can find these on Amazon or at your local Lowes or Home Depot. A programmable thermostat allows you to automatically alter the heating and cooling of your home when you’re not at home, when you’re asleep, and so on, saving significantly on your heating and cooling bills. I turn my air up to 80 during the day while I’m gone then adjust it 30 min prior till my arrival. Nice thoughtless way to save a few bucks.

Entertainment

Think of the holidays, where does everyone gather? The kitchen! Well I like to gather there year round and by doing so more often then eating out, we save tons of money.

Reduce or eliminate eating out or getting take-out Drive thrus can be a huge timesaver for a busy family, but the expense can be devistating – and often doesn’t save much time, either. Instead, look at other options for dining at home: prepare lots of meals at once and freeze them for easy cooking later, focus on simple recipes, and choose recipes that utilize the fresh produce in season in your area.

Start a garden – Growing Vegetables is an enriching hobby that can often turn a profit if done well. Focus on vegetables that are easy to grow and produce abundant fruit, like tomatoes, and learn how to store the excess through such processes as canning. Opening up a jar of tomatoes in the winter that were grown by you in the summer and canned in the fall is a wonderful experience – and it can really help with trimming the food bill.

Buy generic – Many products (not only food) are available in a store-brand or generic form for substantially less money , often with the name brand, you’re paying for their advertising budget with the higher cost. Look carefully at the ingredients in generic and name-brand products and if they’re the same, go with the generic one on a regular basis, which will consistently trim money from your shopping bill. Check out the local ALDI, you can fill your buggie for less than $50, I’m not even kidding.

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You’ve probably heard many friends and family tell you this – never buy a new car. But with all that has happened over last few years (with the auto sales crash), is this piece of advice still valid today? There is a lot of truth behind the advise. There are several things to take into account. First thing that you need to keep in mind is that cars are not assets. They very rarely go up in value in less you have held on to your first car you bought back in the 50′s 60′s 70′s. The classic sports car or family sedan. Often loose as much as 20-30% in depreciation as soon as you drive it off the lot.

Then you’d begin to lose money every year since, not to mention the maintenance costs and gasoline/diesel costs. I recommend purchasing a car/truck/suv at least four to five years old. A new car brings a limited time warranty ,but you will pay for it in the total price of your new vehicle and warranties usually only cover larger parts of the car like the engine and the transmission. Everything else comes out of your pocket if something goes wrong.

Lately car dealerships have been enticing potential buyers with a large number of unbeatable deals. Toyotal at Mall of Georgia is offering a live time warranty on all major moving parts, and just last year we had “Cash for Clunkers”, others are offering buy back programs in case you happen to lose your job in these tough times with no impact on your credit rating. I’m not sold on the idea. I’m not a buy here pay here kind of guy.

So does the advice still hold true? In my opinion. Yes. Compare that new car price to a car a few years older, that looks exactly the same, and probably has more features. I guarantee you will come out with a sweeter deal at more than 30-40% savings. Most newer cars are on the road at least 300,000 miles so don’t let 80,000-120,000 miles talk you out of buying a used car. Every car I have ever owned has been used. I either paid cash for it, or paid it off with in one year. Don’t tie up your income in a monthly car payment, there is better things to spend your money on.

If you’ve completed the 90 challenge share your experience with us.

We found this chair a few houses down from ours on trash day. Sure it looks ruff but a little spray paint, new fabric, and a few staples can work miracles. The total cost of this project = $0.

How did I come to this number? Well the chair was free. We got the new chair covering fabric from Katie’s mom, and we always have staples laying around. Hope this post motivates some of you nay Sayers.

We look forward to slashing our current $400 monthly grocery budget
and saving years of payments from our mortage.

Our Grocery Budget Strategy
*Check the newspaper for the best sales.
* clip those coupons and match them to sales.
* utilize the cvs rewards program for toiletries, razors, shampoo,
soap , etc.
* try to get everything we can for free or cheap.

Check back weekly for updates and possibly recipes. If you have any
tips or suggestions please comment!

There’s no supprise, father’s day is right arround the corner, less
than 2 days to be precise. So what do you get him? How do you show him
you appreciate everything he has done over the years? What do you get
someone who has everything? Or everything toy they want is out of your
price range? I’ve come up with 3 great Father’s Day Gift Ideas. Hope
these help someone out.

1. Have is vehicle detailed – Most busy dads neglect washing the car,
because there busy spending time with you. Help dad out, bling his
truck out. No sweat involved, for you lol.
Average hand wash, vacuume, wax $100

2. Give him a night on the town -
After all the money he has spent on you over the years, you should be
able to send him and mom out to eat and to a movie, or play, out for
ice cream
Average night on the town less than $100

3. Take him golfing – spend some quality time out on the golf coarse
with him, buy him lunch, make him feel special!
Day of golf for 2 and lunch $100 or less.

If your having trouble finding a gift for your father this father’s
day, feel free to give my ideas a shot. Actually, your covered for the
next 3 years, just pick and choose!

What are you doing for father’s day?

Well after a few hours a day of work and sweat, this is the finished product. Our $50 kitchen table with 4 chairs. If you have no idea what I’m talking about read about our Goodwill Find.

This post is to modivate those who care to get their hands dirty, to roll up their sleeves and really do something with nothing. I bet who ever donated this table to Goodwill had no idea that the dirty ol’table could have a $5 face lift.

What should we look for next? We do need an a tv stand for our bedroom, or small bookshelf. Look for it in our “Goodwill Finds” to come.

We’ll this past weekend we were at Katie’s movie in the park, and upon boredom, I started my usual search on my Iphone for cheap work truck on craigslist. I actually found one. One that runs, doesn’t have holes in it, and looks pretty decent. I must admit this was an impulse buy.

I kind of cracked into the anniversary trip money, and added $300 out of our general checking account. At the time, I thought the deal was too good to pass up and it was.

As a freelance WordPress Website Designer, I’m always taking on new clients, so I figured I could cover it in the next month. All that said, one of my potential jobs fell through, lets hope my other one that I’m meeting with next week will not. T-minus 2 months, surely in 8 weeks I will recover that money!

The moral of this story is I finally got what I been wanting, and now we can actually move stuff without asking for other peoples help, but at the same time I robbed Peter to pay Paul. Usually, I’m the penny pincher, and watch every dime, but this time, I saw what I wanted and went for it. I saw it as a great investment, if nothing else, but its definitely not a liquid investment, like I could hope for, but $125 for six months of car insurance, is definitely not a bad deal.

Katie despises the truck, but I’m sure she will come around. She rode me around the hood just the other day. I think she enjoyed it. Her love for my new found toy will grow as we find things at Goodwill and yard sales that we can refinish and resale.

Katie and I have been married almost one year now, and in that whole year we have yet to get a new kitchen table. We’ve been making do from my high-top bar table I bought about 3 years ago at Rooms to Go Express, when I moved away from home and got my 1st apartment.

I think back then I paid $250 or so for the high-top table, 4 bar stools and I bought one additional stool for $25. Grand total of $275.00. We’ve eyeballed tables our 1st couple of months in the house, but we never got around to buying one. We were out joy ridding on a Sunday afternoon this past Sunday as we often do, and we came across a new Goodwill that we have never been to before. It was the Snelleville Goodwill, about 15 miles from the house. As we made our rounds looking to see what we could see, Katie came across this awesome table with 4 chairs for a whopping $45. Then we made our way to Lowes for a few cans of spray paint. New refinished pictures coming soon.

Extra time = save money. Katie has taken this on as her project lets see if she finishes by my birthday!

Buying a home is most peoples biggest expense. You pay and pay and pay, some pay up to 30 years or more, that’s how big of a purchase buying a home is. Most people find that their mortgage payment on their home is less than the rent they have come accustom to paying. Just think, if your renting currently. How much money have you actually invested in your apartment or land lords rental ? Probably a ton. This post is to educate renters and home buyers a like just how much money they actually spend to have a roof over their heads. Of coarse it all depends on where your located too, I’m located just north of Atlanta, Georgia so these numbers reflect home prices in my area.

Here’s the facts, we purchased our home in June of 2009 for $139,900, we financed $137,365 for 30 years at 5.25%, that makes our payment $938.95. My rent use to be $1200, so I’ve continued to pay $1200 or more every since the 1st payment. What you may not realize is that out of the $938.95 only $177.98 actually goes towards our principal debt. $580.56 goes towards interest and $180.41 goes towards escrow (Home insurance, Property Taxes, Private Mortgage Insurance). So you see if we were to only pay the minimum it would take us 30years to pay off our home and cost us $338, 022 in payments. That is more than double the cost of our home.

There are 3 simple ways to pay down your mortgage, even if you don’t have lots of extra money laying around, knocking off a few years is a great and easily achievable goal by most.

#1 Add principal payments monthly.

This may seem like a no brainier but adding even $25 , $50 , $100 to your monthly payment can save you years of interest payments.

#2 Add Annual principal payments

This is the same concept as above but paying a bigger chunk once or twice yearly. Starting with at least $1000 – $1200 would be a great goal. This could be really simple, feed this with your income tax return if you get one.

#3 Make lump-sum payments when you can

The great thing about paying down your mortgage, is you can apply payments to the principal at anytime. Say you inherit $25,000 from your parents, dropping this at your principal could take off up to 7 years off your loan in just one payment. Anytime you can do this, do it.

When paying down your mortgage you have options, the 3 above are the basics. Combine 2 or more and your sure to see your mortgage payments disappear faster and faster!!!

It’s no secrete, we don’t live in Dalton anymore. We live outside the perimeter, in Atlanta. Big city = big prices. On the long drive home from the beach last week, I noticed that my belts continued to squeal, at least every few hours if not sooner.

So I decided I would go have my car checked out, when I got back. I was told I needed 2 new belts, front wheel bearing, and a full alignment. Total estimated bill was creeping at $600.00. $350 in labor alone and then the remaining $250 in parts. I realized this was a bad deal concidering their hourly rate is $92/hr and its not even a dealership. So I bellied up the $20 for them looking at my car 15 min and another $46 for a half hour of tightening my belts. Total of $65 for them to just tighten my belts and tell my what is wrong.

What a rip…

Back in the small town of Dalton GA, I could have went by my favorite mechanics at Johnson’s Tire, and they would have probably tightened by belts for nothing, because I have a long relationship with them. So I decided even though its an hour and half a way, I headed home Monday to see what they thought about the $600 estimate. They came back with $375 for all of the above. What do you think I did? I let them do it all, even if it takes me 2 trips to get it all done its soooo better, than giving my money to the big overpriced franchise. The moral of this story is if you have someone you trust, its worth your time to go out of your way to be a loyal customer, and in return you know they will take care of your problems, not to mention I got to spend the day with my mom, which is rare these days.

1. Don’t stop for food on your way.

Pack a cooler full of drinks, chips cookies etc, if its going to be a long ride. On average you can at least $10.

2. Buy groceries when you get there.

If you plan on staying a while, which we all do, buy groceries, and eat them for breakfest and lunch. Treat yourself to a nice dinner, or stay in for a tasty sandwich on the beach.

3. Use coupons from visitor center

Visitor centers always have coupon bundles with cool things like 2 for one go carts, put put golf etc. Sometimes you can get 2 entrees for the price of one at some of the more high end restaurants. Don’t forget you can always use Resturant.com.

How do you have a frugal vacation?

I’ve used WII and my LG 42LH50  HD TV. I’m a fan of both. You can always do it old school and hook your computer up to your tv via VGA Cable, but then you have to run the sound via mini jack most likely. If all of this is over your head, don’t stress its really not hard at all.

Netflix offers 4 plans to choose from. I really don’t see a need in any of the other options but I’ll tell you about them anyway. I of coarse went with the $8,99 plan, because I could care less how many cds I get in the mail. I much rather watch instant movies, and you really only need the minimum plan to do that. But if your a DVD freak have at the other options.

Select a plan

• 1 DVD out at-a-time+ unlimited instant watching $8.99 a month
• 2 DVDs out at-a-time+ unlimited instant watching $13.99 a month
• 3 DVDs out at-a-time+ unlimited instant watching $16.99 a month
• 4 DVDs out at-a-time+ unlimited instant watching $23.99 a month

Signing up for Netflix is easy as long as you have access to the internet. Try the trial today your wont regret it. If you enjoy it as much as I do, pick a plan.

Stream HD to your TV or DVD?

• How to stream Netflix to your WII
• How to stream Netflix to your XBOX 360
• How to stream Netflix to your Roku
• How to stream Netflix to your IPAD
• and hopefully IPhone soon!!!

Top Benefits

• Easy Signup
• Affordable Plans
• Add movies to your Instant Player with one click
• No Late Fees on DVD returns
• Movies Arrive Quickly
• Don’t have to leave the house

Netflix is great!!!! Give it a shot, try the 30 day trial today!!!

I’m hoping and wishing that my wife is going to get me a Kodak Zi8 camera. What do ya’ll think? I originally wanted a FLIP Camera, but through watching YouTube Video Reviews I am pretty much sold on this camera.

Cross your fingers and hope I get it. You can get yours from Amazon below. Don’t forget anything over $25 you get free shipping on!!! My wife reads my blog from time to time so if your reading, I want the red one Katie. Save us some money order from Amazon.

You would probably think I’m crazy if I told you that this past weekend my mother, wife and I ate a $35 meal for only $12. Well this is a common occurrence in my family. So I guess your wondering where did we eat? How did we eat so cheap? Who is your connection? Your about to learn the secrete that 1000 of consumers experience daily. Its called Resturant.com. Resturant.com brings GREAT PEOPLE and GREAT RESTAURANTS together.

How did I find out?

Months back my mother turned me on to resturant.com, and I’ve never looked back. Restaurant.com serves as the community matchmaker, introducing great restaurants to great people. From appetizers to dessert, from wine to dinner, Restaurant.com helps restaurant owners promote the new and unique aspects of their restaurants while providing diners with great value in a fun, new and cost effective way. Your favorite restaurant is in your neighborhood – maybe you just don’t know it yet. Restaurant.com is here to help.

How did we get our food so cheap?

• I went to the Restaurant.com website and search for restaurants in my local area. Their find a restaurant by city or zipcode feature makes this an easy task.
• Next I chose a restaurant I was interested in, and read all the small print. (Most require you to spend more than your gift certificate)
• I selected my restaurant of choice, and clicked add to cart, next I entered my Promo Code that I via e-mail.This took my ballance from $10 to $2. WOW!
• Then all you have to do is proceed with check out. Upon checkout you will be redirected to a page where you can print your Restaurant.com Gift Card
• Now all you have to do is go present it at your local restaurant that you chose, be sure to read the terms of service. Some are only good for certain days, others require 18% tip be added in.

Where did you eat?

We ate at Dickies BBQ in Snelleville, GA. The food was great as always and we had far too much to eat, because we had to buy $35 worth of food, but we only paid $2 for the certificate and $10 for the difference of the $35 minimum order. So that’s how I came up with a dinner for 3 + some for only $12.

Benefits of Restaurant.com Gift Certificates

• Save money!!
• Get to try new restaurants you otherwise would not eat at
• Stimulate the local restaurants.

Its a win win situation, the restaurants get new customers and we get a cheap meal to try them out. I encourage you to sign up as soon as possible.

Whats your experience with Restaurant.com?

Share your thoughts, reviews below in the comments.

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/restaurant-com-save-up-to-80-on-eating-out/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/how-to-save-money-on-wedding-gifts-free-shipping http://howwesavemoney.com/how-to-save-money-on-wedding-gifts-free-shipping#comments Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:31:59 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=615



Wedding season is here again. Almost a year ago, Katie and I were walking that isle and collecting presents left and right. Spring is officially wedding season so save money and head aches by ordering wedding gifts from Amazon. I love giving toaster ovens. Its one of my favorite wedding gifts that we received. Ideal multi-function oven can easily toast up to 4 slices of bread, bake medium size pizzas, broil meats and much more. Obtain maximum cooking versatility with the dual-position rack slots and 30-minute timer. Large Capacity

Black and Decker Specs

* Curved Interior for Medium Pizza
* Broiling Rack Fits 4 Slices of Bread
* Dual-Position Rack Slots

Easy-to-Use Cooking Functions

* Bake, Broil, Bagel, Toast and Keep Warm
* Toast Cycle
* Stay On Feature
* 30-Minute Timer

Cleans Easily

* Removable Crumb Tray
* Easy-View Glass Door
* Baking Pan

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/how-to-save-money-on-wedding-gifts-free-shipping/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/what-is-frugal-living http://howwesavemoney.com/what-is-frugal-living#comments Sun, 25 Apr 2010 01:16:24 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=610



Frugality according to wikipedia is the practice of acquiring goods and services in a restrained manner, and resourcefully using already owned economic goods and services, to achieve a longer term goal.  Frugal Living would be the act of living by these practices. Frugal is not a bad word. I started this blog months ago to show how we save money frugally. Check out these past articles to get an idea about what How We Save Money is all about.

How to Create A Budget - Learn what exactly having a budget means, and how to set a budget and stick to it. Following a budget allows you to be in charge, not the debtors.

How we Save Money On Our Mortgage – Where newly weds so all this home ownership stuff is new to us. Learn our 10 – 15 year pay off plan.

How to build and Emergency Fund - Things happen, be prepared for when they do. Learn simple tips to get your emergency fund growing on the right track.

5 Ways to Save Money on Lunch -  Most people don’t realize just how much money they spend weekly on what they put in their mouths. Learn how you can save money at lunch and not starve doing it.

If you like what you have read above and through out the site signup for my feeds, and get my new post in your e-mail box. 1 per day. Just enter your email address below:

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/what-is-frugal-living/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/5-great-tips-for-saving-money-for-beginners http://howwesavemoney.com/5-great-tips-for-saving-money-for-beginners#comments Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:43:22 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=606



In today’s economy everyone is rethinking saving money. More and more people are becoming frugal with their money. For those of you taking baby steps in to regaining your financial freedom here are 10 Great Tips for Saving Money.

1. Don’t go shopping as a form of entertainment. This is probably how you got into the financial trouble your in. If you don’t have a need to be in a store, stay away. Take up a hobby such as walking or basketball, something that you can occupy your time for free and not spend money.

2. If you must shop, Try shopping for used items. GameStop is a great example. You can buy the same item you were going to buy any way with a 25% discount because the new has wore off. If you think used before new, when your out shopping you will save money. Guaranteed.

3. Cancel unused club memberships. If your a member of a gym, country club, shopping club etc, but have not been there in months. Cancel your membership. You can easily save $20-100/month this way. If you decide your actually going to use the membership, just rejoin at a later date.

4. Install a programmable thermostat. Programmable thermostats make regulating temperature in your house automatically according to the schedule that you set. So your home is only heated or cooled when your home. Not all day long. This has great potential savings of up to 15-20% off your monthly bill. If you think about it you spend much more time at work and away from home than you spend at home. Quit heating and cooling your home when your not there to enjoy it.

5. Make a Shopping List before you go shopping – and stick to it. You should never go shopping with out an idea of what one will be buying while there. Make a list then try to find coupons that correspond with the items you will be buying for the week. Southern Savers, provides great tips, coupons and even helps you build your grocery list.

If you’ve found these tips helpful please leave some feedback.

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/5-great-tips-for-saving-money-for-beginners/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/bartering-services-is-the-next-big-thing http://howwesavemoney.com/bartering-services-is-the-next-big-thing#comments Sat, 17 Apr 2010 19:26:59 +0000 admin http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=597



This past month my wife hooked up a sweet deal. She’s trying to kick start her new photography business, and needs some weddings to add to her portfolio.

Not all but most brides like to see a preview of what
you can do before they trust you with their special day.

Katie found someone on craigslist that is on a tight budget but her
fiance is a professional painter and has time to trade painting
services for photography services. Score is all I can say. We hate
painting, were no good at it, and Katie really needs wedding photos to
show other prospective clients in the future. Perfect fit.

Fire FlyFlashbacks Photography traded engagement photos as well as wedding
photos to have our living room, foyer and hallway painted. So happy
with the work they did. And they are overjoyed with Katies engagement
photos. Maybe Katie can do some children photos at a later date and
get another room done? I hope so.

If need a service or a product and you can trade a service or a
product give it a shot ask the product / service provider of you can
make a trade. Both of you get what you want and no money exchanges
hands. Great deal!!!

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/bartering-services-is-the-next-big-thing/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/5-cheap-date-ideas http://howwesavemoney.com/5-cheap-date-ideas#comments Sat, 17 Apr 2010 01:25:06 +0000 admin http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=593



Going out and having a good time, can be tough sometimes in today’s economy. Learn how to have a great time with out a lot of money. 5 great cheap date ideas.

1. Take her on a picnic – take her to one of the local parks. Free
parking! Pack a basket full of goodies. Premade sandwiches with chips,
cookies etc are ideal. Kick back and soak up the sun. She will love
it. If you can find a secluded area even better.

2. Take her for a ride. – load up the ole gas tank and set off in any
direction. Depending where you are, you may have a scenic drive with
tons of farm land or the complete opposite, a busy city with traffic
jammed streets. Might want to think this one out, I do like going
random places but I hate setting in traffic.

3. Take her to the lake – if your fortunate enough to have a boat or
have great friends who do, head out to the lake for a day of fun in
the sun. pack a lunch and gas the boat up. Be sure to thank your
friends by donating some cash for the gas.

4. Take her on a hike – Where I’m from there are tons of state park
land to explore. If you think she’s up for it, boot up and head out to
the great out doors. Watch out for snakes and bears! Just kidding you
shouldn’t have to worry about that at most State Parks.

5. Take her to her own personal movie – a few weeks ago, both me and
my wife had a day off during the week. We had the great idea of going
to a matinee movie. We hadn’t been to the movies in a while so we
decided to go. To our surprise we were the only ones in the theater.

Have ideas to add to the cheap date idea list? just comment below.
Remember you can have a good time on a budget, and she won’t think your
cheap.

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/5-cheap-date-ideas/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/how-to-have-a-successful-yard-sale http://howwesavemoney.com/how-to-have-a-successful-yard-sale#comments Fri, 16 Apr 2010 01:00:01 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=579



Spring has definitely sprung. Time for some spring cleaning. Clean out the closest, and garage. Lets face it we all have stuff we wish we didn’t. The perfect solution to get rid of your extra items is have a spring cleaning yard sale.

My wife and I are busy busy bees, but in the next few weeks were going to try to set aside some time to clean out the old, shrunken clothing, and knickknacks, picture frames, furniture, electronics, etc that we no longer have a need for. I realized this fact back years ago. “Stuff I don’t want or need , other people will show me the pay good money for”. Read about our game plan. Whats yours?

The Yard Sale Game Plan

The key to success in any thing is organization. I learned that from my mother years ago.

1. Organize Garage Sale Items -

Sort like items into specific areas of the garage together. Think of it as your own little store. The more organized you are the more likely you are to sell you items. No one likes to roll up to a junk sale. Pep it up by organizing it!!!

2. Have an extension cord close -

Especially if you have tons of old electronics like we do. You know if it were you, you would like to try the electronic item out before you purchase it at a great prices. No one likes disappointments. I suggest only try to sell items that actually work.

3. Hang items if possible -

Think of it as your own little Macy’s. You may not have high prices like Macys but appearance is everything. No one wants to buy something out off a garbage bag.

4. Advertise -

Think of those billboards you notice on the side of the highway. You probably don’t know what half of them say, but the bright colorful ones stick out and you tend to take a closer look at them. Use this same tacit in your yard signs. Use bright colors, with bold letters. People are more likely to read your brightly color yard sale sign at oh, say an intersection.

Be sure to go back to the basics and advertise in the local paper. Serious yardsalers check the Friday and Saturday newspaper and make a game plan.

5- Be positive:

Yes, you are up bight and early on a Saturday morning, but hopefully your going to get rid of a lot of stuff and you will make some cash. Price items fairly and you will succeed. Good luck my fellow yard saler.




]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/how-to-have-a-successful-yard-sale/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/what-is-an-emergency-fund-how-much-do-we-need http://howwesavemoney.com/what-is-an-emergency-fund-how-much-do-we-need#comments Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:55:26 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=560



Ok, so what exactly is an emergency fund? Experts recommend that you have 3-6 months cash stashed away for a rainy day. In today’s economy you never know when your going to need to dip into it. Its tough getting started, building up an emergency fund. I recommend trying to save at least $100 per week. If you can’t afford this do what you feel comfortable with.

Set goals, and take baby steps to reach your emergency fund goals. Your goal is to eventually save up 3-6 months of monthly expenses. This will include things like rent/mortgage payment, groceries, utilities, phone bill, etc. Monthly reoccurring bills. Just because money may stop coming in, doesn’t mean the bill collectors will quit calling be prepared to buy yourself sometime and your credit score.



If you had a $1,000 unexpected expense come up right now, how would you pay for it?

More and more Americans would say charge it. But charging it could end up costing you double overtime, if you pay only the minimums. I suggest credit only when you get a same as cash deal. Like 90 days same as cash or 0% interest for 12 months. These offers are music to my ears.

Things always come up, be prepared

Will you be ready for it? I am, or at least I try to be. If you find your budget with little to no extra money to save. I suggest cutting back on something. Maybe eating out, or weekend trips. This will only be temporary till you can get your funds raised. But once you get your emergency fund built, if you keep up the habits that helped you build the fund you may be able to double your stash over time.

Where to Keep Your Emergency Fund

I suggest a bank, or savings account preferably one that pays you a nice interest rate. We use HSBC online savings account. It pays 2%apr. Look for the best rate you can get and build the fund as much as you can.


Building up 3 to 6 months cash will take some time, but don’t give up too soon, and hope for the best. But always try to be prepared for the future. One thing in life is constant, CHANGE , be prepared for it.

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/what-is-an-emergency-fund-how-much-do-we-need/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/tire-shopping-save-money-on-your-next-set-of-new-tires http://howwesavemoney.com/tire-shopping-save-money-on-your-next-set-of-new-tires#comments Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:30:51 +0000 admin http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=554



Having an automobile is a chore sometimes. Most parts last at least 100,000 miles are more. But some car parts like tires, you must replace every 40,000 to 50,000 miles. There are several good reasons to replace your worn tires; safety, comfort, and fuel economy are some of the best reasons to replace your tires. Before you endanger you or your loved ones, keep an eye on those tires.

Check to see if the tires show excessive wear an tear. Replace them when you notice major wear. New tires can cost anywhere from $60-$300 each plus installation depending on what type automobile you drive, and how big your wheels are. Replacing all four tires can slim your wallet quickly. To save yourself some ca$h on your next set of tires, follow these tips.

Rotate Your Tires Regularly – Have your tires rotated at least every 6 months or 10,000 miles. This will keep your tires from wearing un-evenly.

Replace All Four Tires at Once – It can be tempting to buy tires in pairs (front or rear) to save money, but it will cost you more in the long run. Uneven tire wear is bad on the wallet, trust me.

Keep Your Car Aligned – If you have ever notice your car pulling to one side, your car is probably out of alignment. Most auto shops do alignments for less than $100 in 30 minutes or less if you get there early. This will dramatically improve your car tire’s tread life.

Shop Around – Most people take their cars to the local tire store and buy whatever the salesman recommends. If you purchase tires with lifetime maintenance but your tires blows out in another state, that warranty isn’t going to do much good. Most other tires stores are not going to accept your local tire stores warranty. Get your wallet out…… You can easily dodge this bullet. Buy your tires at Walmart, Sams, Pep Boys or Costco. There’s a better chance that one of these BIG NAME STORES will be in the town you have your next flat tire.

Do you know what the size on your tire actually means?

It can be found on the side of one of your tires. It will read something like 215/70/15 . That reads as (tire width/aspect ratio/wheel diameter).

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/tire-shopping-save-money-on-your-next-set-of-new-tires/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/save-money-on-gas-bill-by-adjusting-your-temperature http://howwesavemoney.com/save-money-on-gas-bill-by-adjusting-your-temperature#comments Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:52:45 +0000 admin http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=543



		Today I learned how my hotwater heater works!

Check out this video I found today.  Pat from Energy Saver Guy has lots of great tips.


I just adjusted my water heater to warm. I also drained a few gallons out of my water heater. It was black just like he said it would be. This guy knows his stuff. Being a new home owner and newly weds, were willing to try anything to save money on daily things we use. I can’t wait to try out the Vacation Mode. I will let you know how much I save next month.

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/save-money-on-gas-bill-by-adjusting-your-temperature/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/utility-bill-has-reached-a-new-high http://howwesavemoney.com/utility-bill-has-reached-a-new-high#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:41:13 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=534



		You read it right, up again! January Power bill $161.10 February Power bill $389.16 March Power bill $ 403.35 Compared to previous months

If you’ve been reading howwesavemoney the past few weeks, we have not really saved much but spent more and more. You may ask why? We didn’t do it intentionally, but things happen, and stuff wears out. We live in a house that is old as we are. Being 25 years old, its about time to start replacing things like the old poly water line and just recently a new shower head. Having a small leak in our wateline has cost us more and more each month.

This past months bill covered from Jan 15 – Feb 15. We had our waterline replaced Feb 9th, so hopefully the Feb 15 – March 15 drops back below the $200 mark. Water is suppose to be cheap, and it is, but sewage charges are where it really hit us this month, almost $100.00. I called the utility company, and notified them we have had a leak. YAY we got a $16.00 credit, not much but we will take it. Keep reading to find out how we save money and pad our pockets not others.

How is your utility bills this winter?

If you live in the south, the weather has been crazy this winter. Snow one day 70 % the next repeat. Changes in temperatures like this can add up quickly.

• How are ways you lower your monthly utilities?
]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/utility-bill-has-reached-a-new-high/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/top-5-ways-we-save-money-at-lunch http://howwesavemoney.com/top-5-ways-we-save-money-at-lunch#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:28:53 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=529



Does your lunch look like this? My lunch looks nothing like this. Learn how your can even save the few dollars on these brown bags below.

1. I Re-use plastic shopping bags as a lunch bag

Think about it. How many plastic shopping bags do you get from the grocery store every week? I bet you at least get 5?

2. I pack my lunch every day. (EVERY DAY)

I work 4 10 hour days, so it doesn’t hurt my feeling to take a lunch those 4 days.

3. I Do not buy things from vending machines

In the 2 years that I have worked where I work, I have not once bought anything out of a vending machine. After high school, I worked with a vending company. I know how much of a mark up there is on each candy bar and coke. Why pay $2.50 when I can have 2 cokes and 2 candy bars if I buy in bulk and bring them with me to work!

4. I bring my own drinks to work.

Why buy from someone else, when you can supply yourself for cheaper? If you like coffee, bring you a coffee machine and spit it with your co-workers. If you like hot coco, it cost nothing to make, but $2-3 per cup to buy from Starbucks.

5. How do you save money at lunch?

I only have 4 main ways of saving money at lunch. Lets hear your ideas.

Share your knowledge with us through your comments. Help us, help others save money on everything. Remember to pad your pockets not others!

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/top-5-ways-we-save-money-at-lunch/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/do-you-change-your-oil-every-3000-miles http://howwesavemoney.com/do-you-change-your-oil-every-3000-miles#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:08:24 +0000 admin http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=505



		For almost 10 years now, I’ve changed at 3000 miles, but what if I wait 4-5000? Ok, so I have always, always changed my oil every 3000 miles in every car I have ever had. My wife has been over a 1000 or so miles before.

I drive approximately 75 miles round trip to and from work 4 days a week, plus where ever we go on the weekends. If you do the math it doesn’t take long to get to 3000 miles. Currently, im almost 1000 over my normal 3000 mile oil change mark. I’m wondering will my engine have anymore wear and tear if, i change it every 5000-6000 miles? From reading comments online, most people think that the “every 3000″ is a marketing tactic. They advise checking the user manual for your car. So I did that and guess what Nissan recommends?  They recommend an oil change every 5,000 to upwards of 10,000 or more. Even if they recommend 5,000 you can probably even extend it a bit further if you do primarily highway driving.

The Savings Can Add Up Fast


Over the lifetime of owning a vehicle the cost of regular maintenance such as oil changes can add up. A quick oil change place will generally charge between $20-$30 per change, where the main difference in cost comes from the brand of oil used and the size of your engine. So let’s take a look at this example to see what this can really cost. Let’s say you own a vehicle and drive it 150,000 miles for the time you own it.  I’m actually rolling up on 160,000 And let’s also assume that I pay $30 for every oil change. Here are the total costs over the 150,000 mile period:

Every 3,000 miles: $1,500
Every 5,000 miles: $900
Every 8,000 miles: $562.50

What could you do with an extra $600 – $900? plenty of things.

Check out this video:

I don’t have a newer car, but my car definitely doesn’t burn oil like 60′s , 70′s , and 80′s model cars do. I have a 1999 Nissan Altima and my wife has a 2000 Nissan Sentra. I think I’m going to take the advise of this video and other readers online and atleast wait 5,000 to 6,000 miles before we get oil changes. Im going to monitor the oil level and color the 1st couple time.

Share your advise with me

How often do you change your oil?

• 3,00 miles or 3months
• 5,000 miles
• up to 8,000 miles

Share your knowledge with us through your comments. Help us, help others save money on everything. Remember to pad your pockets not others!




]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/do-you-change-your-oil-every-3000-miles/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/our-2010-taxes http://howwesavemoney.com/our-2010-taxes#comments Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:03:53 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=511



		Are you getting a tax refund? We never do, the goal is to break even. Why give the government an interest free loan? We did pretty well this year.

If you didn’t know, I have a day job, but i am also a freelancer. I develop wordpress themes and setup sites for folks in need. I am an Internet Marketing Specialist serving the Atlanta area. Because I have side income coming in, I have to file 1099′s with each client that pays me more than $600. Sometimes these can be a pain, but I’m thankful for the extra income. Having a side business is nice because it allows me to write off  office equipment and gas when I go to meet with clients. Most people don’t get the concept of breaking even. There super excited to get a tax refund. I’d rather not allow someone else to draw interest on my money for free. We did pretty good this year, we paid less than $200. Not bad at all. We did score $8,000 earlier in the year for buying our 1st home.

Share your advise with me

How did you do on your taxes?

• I got a big refund. Why do I not want a refund?
• I have to pay taxes.
• I broke even, Im living the American Dream.

Share your knowledge with us through your comments. Help us, help others save money on everything. Remember to pad your pockets not others!

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/our-2010-taxes/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/0-apr-till-2012-on-new-furniture http://howwesavemoney.com/0-apr-till-2012-on-new-furniture#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 21:33:53 +0000 admin http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=520



		We’ve been married 6 months now! I finally gave in on new furniture for our bedroom. I’m not one to be in debt, but when I have the offer of 0% APR till 2012, I crumbled for her.

Well I finally gave in. My wife has been wanting furniture for our empty bed room since the day we moved in. Now that we have settled a bit, I figure its time to make her smile This past weekend the MOM’S came down to visit and we took them on a surprise shopping trip. After we went store to store we finally found what we wanted, at half the price Ethan Allen wanted to give us a similar set for. In total we are financing $2800.00 for some very sturdy furniture.

So what are we getting?

1. King size head board
2. 2 night stands
3. dresser
4. mirror for dresser

When are we getting it?

The sales lady says less than 3 weeks. Were excited!!!

Did we pay cash? or Finance?

The furniture store we ordered from had a special financing plan 0% intrest till 2012. That comes out to just less $200 / month for 22 months. As long as we pay it off before Jan 2012, it will be same as paying cash!! Personally I don’t usually like to do this. I prefer paying cash and being done with it. But in these economic times it makes more since to have money in my pocket and the furniture in my house. Rather than furniture and no money. This is how the rich stay rich. They use this same principal of buy now pay later as long as its 0% APR and you pay it off before time, game on…

Check out this video:

Share your advise with me

How do you feel about 0% APR deals?

• Love them, keep that cash in my pocket
• Hate it, I pay cash for everything.
• Undecided

Share your knowledge with us through your comments. Help us, help others save money on everything. Remember to pad your pockets not others!

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/0-apr-till-2012-on-new-furniture/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/february-2010-utility-bill-outrageous http://howwesavemoney.com/february-2010-utility-bill-outrageous#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:54:28 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=496



		Its been cold out, so I expected a higher bill January Power bill $161.10 February Power bill $389.16 Compared to previous months

So what happen? Thats almost double. Turns out we have had a slow water leak, that has cause our waste , water and gas to increase drastically.

Story short, we found out that we had this old school waterline coming into the house. Apparently back in the day they ran the water lines with this blue stuff. Plumbers refer to it as blue poly. Turns out this stuff is bad news. So bad it was deemed defective and there was a civil case against the company who created the pipe. We learned this to late. We just shelled out $2400.00 for brand new copper piping from the street to the house. It was bound to happen, but I didnt know it was going to become a problem. So WARNING!!! if your buying an older home, check out the plumbing, if its blue poly instead of copper, stay away from it. Run from it, or try to negotiate the current owner to pay to have it replaced.

	Old busted
	New

Have you had to replace your water line?

If you live in an older home, chances are you probably have blue poly, or use to have blue poly.

• Did you get your blue poly replaced for free under the civil act?
• Did you get a discount off the asking price of your house because the house has blue poly?
• Where you like me and didn’t know what blue poly was? and how much did it cost you?
]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/february-2010-utility-bill-outrageous/feed 1 http://howwesavemoney.com/how-we-are-saving-money-on-painting-our-new-home http://howwesavemoney.com/how-we-are-saving-money-on-painting-our-new-home#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 01:12:08 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=483



		I hate painting, but its looking good! Did I mention, I hate painting? I discovered this when we painted the kitchen. It seems like it took forever. The icy day Friday, left me with much boredom, so I picked up the paintbrush and went at it. We decided a few months ago that we were going to paint all of our wood trim white. So that’s what I have began doing this weekend.

Luckily I had half a can of Killz primer left over from the kitchen. So I started taking down all the doors in the hallway and foyer, I taped everything up nicely and begin the task of painting all the molding. I’m so thankful that the hallway doesn’t have any windows. I hate painting windows, and cabinet doors. I drug Katie to Lowes this weekend and told her to pick a color any color, then I told her what I had in mind. After spending 30 minutes or so of looking at tan colors we left Lowes only owing $8 and some change. Thanks to the Gift Card from Christmas. I bet your wondering what color she chose? Well you will just have to check back later this week to find out. Hopefully I will have the hallway and foyer painted by the weekend and all I will have left is the doors.

Share your advise with me

Which method should I use to paint the doors? I have 4 average size doors, and 2 closet doors plus one more average size door from the kitchen I’d like to repaint.

• Paint the doors with a brush?
• Roll the doors with a paint roller?
• Belly up and buy a paint gun?



]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/how-we-are-saving-money-on-painting-our-new-home/feed 1 http://howwesavemoney.com/frozen-day-off-from-work-can-cost-you-or-save-you-learn-soon http://howwesavemoney.com/frozen-day-off-from-work-can-cost-you-or-save-you-learn-soon#comments Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:54:20 +0000 admin http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=475



Icy conditions, why risk it? Thursday night it started snowing just as the weather man said it would. Even better than that, all the roads froze over Friday. I knew this would happen. It was a great feeling getting to sleep in on Friday and get paid for it. Some people just had to try to go to work. We decided our lives are more important than getting hurt trying to go to work or getting stuck somewhere along the way.

Friday, we got to sleep in till 11 or so, then we watched the pile ups on the news. Not just a few but all day long. The point of this post is we saved something better than money, our lives. We learned something very interesting Friday as well. If you wreck because the roads are iced over, its still your fault. The Insurance Commissioner of Georgia enlightened us, that it your responsibility to be in control of the car at all time. Driving on icy roads takes away from your ability to control the car, thus making any accident you may have, your fault. Cant blame it on anyone else. Take my advise, sleep in on icy days, don’t risk your live or adding car payments to the equation.

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/frozen-day-off-from-work-can-cost-you-or-save-you-learn-soon/feed 1 http://howwesavemoney.com/how-we-saved-5000-00-on-our-shower-leak http://howwesavemoney.com/how-we-saved-5000-00-on-our-shower-leak#comments Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:32:09 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=461



Drip, turns to rain in the basement If you’ve been reading for any amount of time, you know that we just bought a house in June 2009. It was all good, till one day when the moms came and visited. You know how moms are, they will never sit down and just enjoy themselves. Long story short Katie’s mom was throwing a load of clothes in to the washer, and I was in the shower. Needless to say my refreshing shower was raining on her head and my floor.

December, makes exactly 3 months since we haven’t used our shower in the master bathroom. I finally had some cash saved up so I started getting estimates. Bath Fitters, came out and showed me their custom built showers, measured mine and told me I could have a brand new one in 1 day for only $4900.00. I was outraged, but at the same time it would be really nice to have our master bathroom fully functional.

I figured, OK if I’m going to have to pay this much $4900.00 + , I might as well have my old shower tore out and a custom tile shower in its place as well as the whole bathroom tiled. Tile would definitely raise the value of our home. I had a tile guy coming out the same day from Atlanta Metro Flooring, I called all the references, he does awesome work. At the same time, I really don’t want to deplete what little bit of savings we have accumulated over the last four months so I canceled the consultation with him, and called my buddy Keith who is a general contractor. He told me that my odd leak was probably coming from the washcloth rack. So, I taped it off, let the water rip, and behold no rain in the washroom. That was awesome. So now I found the source of my problems.

I visually inspected the area and discovered I can easily take the rail out because the end caps are where the water was seeping in. Needless to say a phone call ,and less than $5 in supplies from Home Depot, which I used a gift card for, our major problem was solved. Why did I not think of calling Keith earlier? Hes always busy? True. This ones to you. Thanks for saving our shower for the time being. We will eventually give the tile guy a call and get the whole bathroom remodeled, but for the next year or so this tub/shower is gonna be leak free thanks to my hands and about 30 minutes.

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/how-we-saved-5000-00-on-our-shower-leak/feed 1 http://howwesavemoney.com/how-we-racked-up-a-nice-stash-of-cah-from-christmas http://howwesavemoney.com/how-we-racked-up-a-nice-stash-of-cah-from-christmas#comments Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:00:24 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=450



Paid holiday, time off with family, great food can’t beat it. Christmas has more benefits than presents, but lets say we did pretty nice racking up on cash. It must be the newly wed factor. We got gift cards for Home Depot, and Lowes as well as cold hard cash. Katie really racks up because her birthday is at the first of the month, and we usually don’t go back to our home town for that. So what did we do with it? I’m setting on mine for a rainy day or a big splurge day. Katie has already depleted her Christmas / Birthday funds, but she bout some really high tech stuff for her camera. So I guess I should have named this article how I saved Christmas cash.

Christmas, is one of those holidays that I enjoy hanging out chilling with the family, but now I have a much larger family, more places to go and people to see. Can’t forget, More food to eat !!! YUM.  Next year, I think it’d be wise to try to work out a two week vacation. Sounds nice, I’ll let you know how that goes.

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/how-we-racked-up-a-nice-stash-of-cah-from-christmas/feed 1 http://howwesavemoney.com/new-year-new-budget-get-on-track-now-so-you-wont-derail-later http://howwesavemoney.com/new-year-new-budget-get-on-track-now-so-you-wont-derail-later#comments Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:43:13 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=441



		Happy New Year, Its been quite sometime since my last entry. I apologize for that. The month of December is a crazy month. I had 4 Christmas dinners to go to all on the same day. Welcome to my world. Lots of things to catch up on.

Things to come:

• How we racked up a nice stash of cash from Christmas Presents.
• How we saved $5000.00 on our shower leak.
• Frozen, Day Off from work. Can cost you or save you. Learn soon.
• How we are saving money on painting our new home.
]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/new-year-new-budget-get-on-track-now-so-you-wont-derail-later/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/tis-the-season-live-laugh-love http://howwesavemoney.com/tis-the-season-live-laugh-love#comments Sat, 26 Dec 2009 03:18:59 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=490



		Merry Christmas! Today has been an action packed day, as it has been for the past few years. We started off with a Christmas Morning Breakfast with my cousins 10am-12:30ish. Next we moved on to Katie’s dads house 1:00-2:30sih. Next stop my mom’s 3:00-5ish, and finally finished off the day at her mothers 6:00pm-9ish. Long busy day, lots of eating and socializing. Wish it could last longer, but its time to head back to Atlanta before you know it.

Hope all of you have a great Christmas and a Happy New years!

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/tis-the-season-live-laugh-love/feed 1 http://howwesavemoney.com/how-planning-meals-saves-you-money http://howwesavemoney.com/how-planning-meals-saves-you-money#comments Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:51:23 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=434



Eating at home definitely saves you money. The key to saving the maximizing the amount of money you save while cooking and eating at home is to plan before you shop. This is not really a difficult thing todo. Just set down and decide what you want to feed the family for the week. Then pick up the sales paper and find deals on the groceries needed to complete the meal. Really simple.

Keys to successful saving

1. Buy only the food you need for the following week.

2. Plan meals that you will have leftovers. Eat the leftovers for lunch!

3. Search for food that is on sale.

Share you success. Give me some feedback on my tips.

Thanks,
Chris

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/how-planning-meals-saves-you-money/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/aldi-has-a-double-guarentee-on-pantry-items http://howwesavemoney.com/aldi-has-a-double-guarentee-on-pantry-items#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:18:37 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=428



ALDI offers a double guarantee if your asking what is Aldi?, Find out here.

What’s a double guarantee?

Move through the aisles at ALDI, and you’ll discover high quality select brands. Products made to extremely demanding standards. Products designed and tested against the national brands to exceed them in taste, quality, and/or performance. In fact, for every national brand product you regularly buy, chances are there’s an ALDI select brand that’s even better.

First-time shoppers tend to gingerly pick out three or four items to try. Cast that caution to the wind. Because at ALDI, every regularly-stocked food and household item is covered by our exclusive Double* Guarantee.

Quality, taste and satisfaction are always DOUBLE* guaranteed at ALDI. If for any reason, you are not 100% satisfied with any product, Aldi will gladly replace the product AND refund your money.

*The Double Guarantee does not apply to non-food Special Buy items and alcohol.

Win / Win Situation every time you shop at Aldi

So this is a win win situation, your guaranteed to get great tasting food at a really reduced price, or you get your money back plus another product. Can’t beat that.

On this weeks trip to the local Aldi, i picked up some macaroni and cheese for only 35 cents per box, and I tried out the Aldi brand of pepperoni pizza for only $1.99. We usually pay at least 50 cents or more at other stores for macaroni and cheese, and my usual pizza I pick up for $2.50. So I at least saved a dollar on just those two purchases.   Give Aldi a try if you haven’t already.

Tell me about your savings at Aldi, have you ever challenged Aldi’d Double Guarentee??

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/aldi-has-a-double-guarentee-on-pantry-items/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/how-we-save-money-on-our-mortgage http://howwesavemoney.com/how-we-save-money-on-our-mortgage#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:32:22 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=421



I’ve heard that paying 30 years on a home is ridiculous. Well  I did the math just to show you how ridiculous it really is. The original amount of our mortgage was $137,365.00 at 5.25% interest for 30 years. The payment breaks down like this Total Monthly Payment $971.45

It’d be nice to think that all that actually goes towards the amount that we owe, but it does’nt  in all actuality only only $162.46 of the $971.45 actually goes towards what we owe.

$596.08 goes to interest

$212.91 goes into Escrow for insurance and property taxes

and then the measly $162.46 goes towards the payoff of our home debt.

If this sounds like a load of crap, your preaching to the choir. So you ask how can you get out of this 30 years of pain and suffering? The solution to that is simple. You may have to give up some luxuries along the way, but in the end you can buy you something nice will all the interest you save. Did you know that interest on the average home mortgage will cost homeowners nearly TWO TIMES the cost of the home.

In our example our original loan amount was $137365.00. If you account for the principal and intrest multiplied by 360 months at 5.25% FHA loan, we will have paid over $273,204. That’s nearly two times the cost of the home!

So whats our plan?

If you step back and think, the answer is obvious. Make extra payments and pay on the principal.

Our strategy thus far has been paying an additional $228.55 to the principal of the loan. Just doing this will save us 12 years!! Are you shocked? You should be. We moved in June 29, 2009 our payoff date is scheduled for 07/01/2039.  30 years is a long time. I hope to pay an additional 4-500 more per month after the new year.


Examples

Heres examples of how much extra we can pay and how much quicker we will pay the house off and move on to better things! As I said before paying an additional $228.55 to the principal will save us 12 years of payments. If I we add $200 more to that making it $428.55, we will save 16 years. That would cut our mortgage time in half and we would pay our home off in less than 15 years, 14 years to be precise. My goal is to pay the regular payment of $971.45 + my $228.55 (currently paying) + $400 extra. Thats $628.55 that goes towards the principal plus the little chunk out of the $971.45.   Total monthly payment $1600 total years saved  19 years off our loan. We would only actually pay 11 years. That would make us the ripe old age of  36 not too shabby.

Whats your game plan?

Post comments, tell me what your game plan is. What do you think of mine?

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/how-we-save-money-on-our-mortgage/feed 2 http://howwesavemoney.com/it-has-been-some-time-now-since-my-last-post http://howwesavemoney.com/it-has-been-some-time-now-since-my-last-post#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:47:32 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=414



I want to apologize for being M.I.A. I know you depend on me to give you your daily does of savings. I’ve had a business venture that has occupied most of my last 2 weeks. I plan to start blogging full time again as of this Friday. Get ready to hear about our visit from the local police office, lost and replaced my wedding band, flying ants and more. Stay tuned. I promise it will get interesting quickly.

Have you been following the How We Save Money blog? Have you told anyone else? Please tell a friend, co-worker, spouse, they need to read my blog. If you don’t agree with any of the previous statement, please leave me feedback in the comment box below, as to how I can improve your reading experience.

Thanks always,

Chris

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/it-has-been-some-time-now-since-my-last-post/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/how-to-save-money-on-groceries-at-aldi http://howwesavemoney.com/how-to-save-money-on-groceries-at-aldi#comments Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:03:03 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=402



Katie and I visited the local Aldi for the 1st time Sunday afternoon. Aldi is a totally different shopping experience. First thing we noticed is that all of their products are not namebrand. I’m ok with that seeing how Kroger’s gallon of milk is $2.38 and Aldi’s Fresh Farms milk was only $1.59. Just by buying milk there we automatically would save 79 cents.

Upon arriving at Aldi, we left the car in hopes of getting a buggie, little did we know we needed a quarter to do so. This is really quite genius. Basically you have to insert a quarter into the buggie, that unlocks your buggie from all the others, when you take the cart back, you get your quarter back. (This saves money on bag boys) Pretty cool idea.

Fresh Fruit

If you are a Costco member, you know Costco has really huge fruit. We’ll so does Aldi. a 3lb bag of apples was only $1.50 compared to Kroger 10 for 10 deal, 10 lbs of apples for $10. I personally don’t need 10lbs of apples, and I’d much rather have the over sized apples at a reduced price.

Produce

As with the apples, the eggs were also larger, and more appealing to the eye. I think they have a deal with local farmers. We will definitely be back for some eggs, and more milk.

Meat

We were really shocked by their meat. We got about 3lbs of pork tenderloin for at least 25% off of that , which we were paying at Walmart or Kroger. Ground beef is to die for. Save a ton, and get you some.

Do yourself a favor, find your local Aldi and give it a shot. Remember to bring your quarter, or your hands will get really tired. Also bring your own bags, or it will cost you. We grabbed a box off of a display and loaded it as we walked around the store. If you plan on getting more than a handful of items, definitely invest in a reusable shopping bag. You may think this is crazy, but there were no plastic bags to be found. They have paper sacks available for a fee of 10cents each. This really cuts even more off of your shopping bill, because there not charging your for their supplies. Check it out, share your shopping experience with me. I’m interested to see what you think of them.

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/how-to-save-money-on-groceries-at-aldi/feed 2 http://howwesavemoney.com/we-lowered-our-power-bill-by-72-44 http://howwesavemoney.com/we-lowered-our-power-bill-by-72-44#comments Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:24:34 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=381



So, we set a budget of $250 per month for our Utilities based on what the Electric Company told us the average bill was for the previous owners. Our utilities consist of Electricity, Gas, Water, Sewer, Garbage, and Storm water, and lets not forget taxes. We thus far in 3 months have never tapped out thankfully! This past month, was the best month yet. Below are the results of our past 3 utility bills.

This month’s Bill October 2009:

Billing Date 10/07/2009 :
Billing Cycle : 8/17/2009 – 9/16/2009

$177.56

Savings from last month $53.86
Savings from budget $72.44

Last Month’s Bill September 2009:

Billing Date 9/02/2009
Billing Cycle : 7/16/2009 – 8/17/2009

$231.42

Increase from last month $44.19
Savings from budget $18.58

Our 1st Bill July – August 2009:

Billing Date 8/05/2009
Billing Cycle : 6/25/2009 – 7/16/2009

$187.23

Savings from last month $62.77 (Previous owners bill average $250.00
Savings from budget $72.44

What will we do with the savings??

I would like to apply the extra to the principal of our mortgage payment. We will see how that goes.


]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/we-lowered-our-power-bill-by-72-44/feed 2 http://howwesavemoney.com/save-money-on-georgia-football-tickets http://howwesavemoney.com/save-money-on-georgia-football-tickets#comments Sat, 10 Oct 2009 09:48:06 +0000 admin http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=363



“I SAID ITS GREAT TO BE A GEORGIA BULLDOG” Football weekends can be expensive, but this one is fairly super cheap.

How can you have a super cheap football weekend?

Option 1. Have some friends over, cookout and watch the game at the house.

Option 2. Go watch the game somewhere like Taco Mac, great atmosphere on game day.

Option 3. Buy football tickets from scalpers after the game has started. Why? because after the game has started they really want to get rid of their tickets or they will loose the money they invested

Option 4.
Work for an awesome company, that will hook you up with tickets from time to time.

Option 5. (MY FAV!)
Have great friends and family that will give you tickets.

So your thinking, how are you going to the Georgia vs. Tennessee game on the cheap. Did I mention this is an away game? Aren’t away games usually even more expensive because of unknown territory?

We’ll lets say I’m definitely blessed. Katie, Justin , Savannah and I are getting to go because of Option 5. A.K.A Katie’s dad! Did I mention gas included? That’s where my best friend Justin comes in I hooked him up with the extra tickets, he repays his gratitude with gas, and a ride to the stadium.

I hope everyone reading my blog, gets to experience Option 5 at least once. Family is great!

Ya’ll have an awesome day, now go watch the Dawgs kill TN! Starts a little past 12. If your not a Bulldog fan, you should be! Keep reading my blog I will convert you.




]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/save-money-on-georgia-football-tickets/feed 1 http://howwesavemoney.com/tired-of-windows-and-the-blue-screen-of-death http://howwesavemoney.com/tired-of-windows-and-the-blue-screen-of-death#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:41:41 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=334



Replace the Windows blue screen of death with the G OS system. Save the headaches and fix your blue screen in less than 15 minuites.

So your tired of your windows machine, new and old? Vista sucks too? INDEED it does. I’m a Apple man myself. When it comes to computing, I’d have nothing less than a Mac Book Pro.  If your a serious designer, or video editor, you probably dont need a MAC, but there cool. Anyways the G OS system is available for free download. Its built off the Linux framework. If you have’nt noticed, its totally about GOOGLE.

On the main menu bar you have your old faithful firefox, and his friends gmail, google calendar, google finance, open office, skype, youtube ,and even a chat program. Basically all the applications you could ever need for basic web surfing and networking. And the price comes out to less than $1. Thats right! If you have 30 minuites you can have this system up and running in no time. It starts up and shuts down 2-3 times faster than your Windows machine ever has.

Get your free copy today!      CLICK HERE

Improving the Linux user experience…

Since our debut in 2007, gOS has been praised for being the most beautiful and easiest to use Linux operating system on the market. Now with our third and best version of gOS, we have carried on our effort to create a Linux for the rest of us.

…with Google Gadgets

Turn on your computer to a desktop full of your favorite widgets, fresh with live, personalized content just for you. We want to personally thank the Google Gadgets for Linux team for their efforts.




]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/tired-of-windows-and-the-blue-screen-of-death/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/save-money-durring-the-recession http://howwesavemoney.com/save-money-durring-the-recession#comments Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:00:55 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=292



1. Consolidate errands into one trip. If you have to get out try to consolidate all of your errands into one trip away from home, instead of driving back and forth several times from store to home.

2. Hand-pick coupon deals. Combine coupons with store sales to maximize savings. Our local CVS store recently had Colgate Toothepaste  2/$4. I found a coupon for $1.00 and the CVS REWARDS paid me 2.00 back as well, So we walked away with two tubes of toothe paste for $1.00. Don’t use a coupon to buy something you don’t need.

3. Don’t run water when shaving or brushing teeth. While I shave I always pull up the sink stopper and pool a little water in the sink for rinsing my razor.

4. Put away the credit cards. Save cash for larger purchases by creating a dedicated savings account specifically for the next item on your list. Make regular contributions to the savings account with each paycheck, and when the balance is high enough to pay for the item, pay for it with cash.

5. Brown bag it. Thats right take your lunch to work. save on average $5-10 per meal times 5 times a week you will easily save $100-200 per month. What can you do with all that money you save on just lunch alone? Find out here!

6. Avoid stores. Stay out of stores unless you have a list of specific things you need to buy. Shopping out of boredom leads to impulse buying and can quickly blow a budget. Wants become needs really easy when lingering around.

7. Wash your own car. Driving through the car wash is nice and convenient, but washing your own car will help keep you out of those stores! Have kids? Make a game out of it. Who can get their wheel cleaner. LOL

8. Raise insurance deductibles. Assuming you have an emergency fund in place, raise deductibles on insurance policies. The difference in a $500 deductible and a $1,000 deductible on your auto insurance policy can help reduce your monthly or semi-annual premiums.

9. Unload the trunk. Added weight in the trunk reduces gas mileage, I use to ride around a 15″ speaker that with box and amp weighed well over 50lbs. After only one week of not having the bump in my truck, I found I gained 25 extra mile before I had to fill up.

10. Cut the cord on your land line telephone. If  you haven’t already, cut that home phone off. There is no reason for it with cell phones, mobile to mobile minutes, and unlimited nights and weekends. If you like to leave the phone off the hook, just turn your cell phone off.

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/save-money-durring-the-recession/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/unleash-your-apple-tv-atv-flash http://howwesavemoney.com/unleash-your-apple-tv-atv-flash#comments Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:46:21 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=309



Apple TV, one of the greatest things Apple makes!!! Pretty cool huh!, Would you think it was much cooler if I told you that you can stream youtube, hulu, and the greatest of all Boxee? Tired of having stacks of DVDs cluttering your media center? Do you wish your AppleTV could play more video formats? Want to surf the Web?Take a look at aTV Flash.

This user-friendly software package supercharges your Apple TV, unleashing  unlimited new functions to you your Apple TV.

Play nearly any video format, add additional storage capacity, gain access to the Jaman independent movie library, and surf the web, all from the comfort of your couch. Well hang on tight because Im about to tell you about aTV Flash, the greatest thing that has ever happen to Apple TV.

New Features of 3.6.4

• Attach an external USB hard drive and gain access to more storage capacity.
• Couch Surf, A powerful built-in web browser provides convenient access to the web, email, and Twitter all on your TV
• Go beyond iTunes and get more movie-playing capabilities. aTV Flash will enable the playback of DivX, Xvid, WMV and other media.

Ok so your going to ask me how do I save money on this? We’ll when you buy it, and you will if you want to see the full potential of your Apple TV. Go ahead and get the Lifetime Membership. Its $30 more, but its worth every penny. I signed up for one year, with updates and have been able to update almost every month as they have developed newer things for my Apple TV.

My membership expires in December and I’m affraid I might have to buy the program again, and get the life time membership. I will let you know. I just sent them an email requesting that I be able to update for the difference of what I paid originally.

I plan on writing a tutorial about how to install aTV Flash very soon, I also plan on writing a review of my favorite application Boxee. Check back often for updates.






]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/unleash-your-apple-tv-atv-flash/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/reasons-for-paying-cash-for-car http://howwesavemoney.com/reasons-for-paying-cash-for-car#comments Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:54:32 +0000 admin http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=279



So you’ve had you car for years now. Its getting to the point that you don’t want to put anymore money into your clunker. You’ve made your decision, your going looking for a new car. There’s no turning back now. Think about this before you go into debt on a new car. Paying cash for a used car has its advantages.

No need to qualify for a loan

Good news, if you have the cash, you can walk out clean and clear with the car today. No lengthy loan paper work. No need to release your credit information to anyone.

No Noticeable Auto Insurance Increases

What you may or may not be aware of, when you don’t own your car free and clear, your auto insurance is at least 15% more for the full length of you loan or lease. So don’t waste money on insurance increases.

No Payments

You won’t have to worry about making monthly car payments. If you pay cash its all yours. You can take what you were going to pay for a car payment and add it to your emergency fund.

No Hidden Fees

When you pay cash for your new car, there’s no hidden fees. Bankers like to tack on additional fees to your automotive loans. Save $1000 or more by paying cash for you car.

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/reasons-for-paying-cash-for-car/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/save-money-on-clothes http://howwesavemoney.com/save-money-on-clothes#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:13:26 +0000 admin http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=265



Who doesn’t love clothes, especially nice clothes for work. I absolutely love POLO by Ralph Lauren but I refuse to pay full price or even half price most of the time. Here are some places you can get clothing and not pay an arm and a leg for them:

Consignment Shops

Consignment shops are popping up all around the Atlanta area. If you have never been to one, your in for a treat. Imagine all the old clothes in you closet that you cant fit in, don’t wear, could do with out. Then multiply that by 100 +. Point of the story is you can get other peoples used clothes much cheaper than you can go buy new ones. You can also sell your old clothes. Consignment shops often have some really nice clothes for very low prices. Consignment shops will frequently have newer and less used clothing.

Ebay

The possibilities are endless. Compare prices and compare user ratings. Be cautious when buying in bulk. Deals that sound too good to be true, are 99% true that you may never see that item you purchased.

Garage Sales

Another really cheap option is garage sales. Personally, I’ve found some really good deals on some great clothing at garage sales. Baby clothing seems to be the most popular items. If you have children, this is a score for you.

Kohls, TJ Maxx, Ross dress for less, Marshall’s, etc

Great options for reduced clothing and home goods. They carry name brand goods at extra low prices. Note though, even though the names are on the items, the quality isn’t always the same and frequently the clothes can be items that have defects. The best option is to find an item that has a defect nobody would ever notice. Then bring that defect to the attention of the manager, usually they will give you an extra 20% off of the item.

Thrift Stores

By far this is probably the cheapest option and my favorite. Thrift stores can contain some great bargains if you are willing to spend the time looking through the clothing. Clothing items can frequently be found for just a few dollars each and are often in very good if not new condition. Of course you won’t find the latest fashions there, but you will find clothing dirt cheap. My favorite is Goodwill.

I can go down to the Roswell Goodwill or the Chamblee Goodwill on any given day and walk out with a few button down shirts for less than what I could purchase one for. Usually, highend clothes are dropped of by corporate individuals when ever they grow out of them or they dont want them anymore. The best part about this is they are fresh from the dry cleaner. I have even bought a Banana Republic shirt with the tags still on it. Retail $80, Goodwill $3.95

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/save-money-on-clothes/feed 1 http://howwesavemoney.com/save-money-on-car-maintenance http://howwesavemoney.com/save-money-on-car-maintenance#comments Sun, 04 Oct 2009 05:07:17 +0000 admin http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=216



Most cars have no problem running for 200,000 miles or more. The picture to the right is my 1999 Nissan Altima. As of today currently has 151,522 miles on it. I plan on driving it till it has at least double that. Taking care of your car isn’t so hard if you don’t neglect minor cracks and pops you may hear along the way. Ive had this car for 2 years now. That’s 2 years that I haven’t had car payments. That’s 2 glorious years of no car payments. Im about to tell you how I’m going to keep my daily driver going another 10 years.

Change the Oil Regularly

* Its very important that you have your oil and oil filter changed in your car every 3,000 miles, regardless of how often your owner’s manual recommends. More frequent oil changes are the single most important factor in extending the life of your engine, and will more than pay for themselves in savings on repairs and engine wear. Potential Money Savings: $700 – $4,000. Learn how to save money on your oil changes

* Check your car’s air filter monthly. A dirty filter shortens the engine’s life and reduces gasoline mileage up to 10%. You can clean the filter by removing it and blowing it with an air hose, or you can replace it. Potential Money Savings: $150/yr or more.

Check Your Gas Grade

Unless your car is knocking and pinging, don’t use a higher octane gas than your owner’s manual recommends. For most cars, premium gasoline offers no benefit. Unless your car has a high-performance engine and your manufacturer recommends a high-octane gas, use the less expensive gas. Premium gas costs 10% to 15% higher than regular. Potential Money Savings: $225-450/yr.

Keep an Eye on Your Tires

* Check your tire pressure regularly. You can lose up to 6% in gasoline mileage for every pound of under-inflation. Potential Money Savings: $140-400/yr.

* Add thousands of miles to the life of your tires by having them balanced once a year. In addition to destroying the tread, improperly balanced tires can wear out your shock absorbers and damage your suspension system, leading to more expense. Potential Money Savings: $175-250/yr.

Fluids are Like Blood, Your Car Needs them to Run

Check fluid levels regularly. Low battery water shortens your battery’s life. Also check coolant, automatic transmission fluid, brake and clutch fluids. Potential Money Savings: $50-300/yr.

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]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/save-money-on-car-maintenance/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/we-bought-a-kitchen-toy http://howwesavemoney.com/we-bought-a-kitchen-toy#comments Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:19:48 +0000 admin http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=144



Weekend Trip to Costco

This past weekend Katie , and I stopped by Costco to get some Regal movie tickets (2 for $15 Love Costco), and to shop for some fruit. We’ll we ended up leaving with a $400 blender. But its no average blender. It liquifies anything you put in it. It makes ice cream in 45 seconds. It makes hot soup in less than 3 minutes, smoothies in less than 1 minute.

So your thinking $400 for a blender? Thats not saving money!

This may be true, but the guy that was demonstrated it to us put spinach and cabbage into ice cream! We didn’t even taste it. I absolutely will not eat anything green, except for green beans. I look at this nifty machine as an investment in my health. Katie can easily mix veggies into our smoothies and over time I will become healthier, with out trying too hard.

Saves time cooking!

I look at my time as valuable, I don’t like wasting time cooking. This nifty machine has made some meals really, really simple and quick. Hot Soups can be made in less than 3 minutes. Thus far we have had potato soup, daily smoothies and orange juice. Every time we have had friends over, they agree its cooler than our Kitchen Aid mixer. 45 second ice cream is the favorite right now.

Commercial Quality

You have seen the unique square jar before, in every Starbucks; Professionals have used Blendtec machines in the best coffee shops, juice bars, gyms, and restaurants around the world. Blendtec machines are known for producing the best, most consistent results in taste and texture. With the Total Blender, you will enjoy the same great results in your home!

Power, this thing has killer power!

Tired of your blender not being able to crush ice? The Total Blender has so much power (1500 Watts) it turns ice to snow and actually comes with an Ice-Crushing Guarantee.

Specs on this modern marval

Color: Red
Weight: 12.00lbs
Width: 7.50Inches
Height: 15.50Inches
Depth: 8.00Inches

You heard me right, it was on Modern Marvels! Watch the video below, it will blow your mind.

Recipies

It comes with a 200 + page recipe book. You can also find other recipes online. We like to create our own. Especially with smoothies. Just throw in anything your heart desires, and ice on top of it, then press the smoothie button. Seconds later, you get a perfect smoothie mixture.

Warranty

Comes with a 3 year warranty!

Do you have a Blendtec Blender?

Tell us about your blender. If you do not have a Blendtec blender, I totally recommend you pick one up from my sponsors. It will be on your door steps in days.




]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/we-bought-a-kitchen-toy/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/why-eat-out-everyday-save-some-cash-pack-a-lunch http://howwesavemoney.com/why-eat-out-everyday-save-some-cash-pack-a-lunch#comments Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:18:14 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=115



Do you eat out for lunch daily? Unlike most, I pack a lunch each and everyday. Sometimes it contains leftovers, some times just a sandwich, chips, and a little debbie. you may ask why do you pack your lunch? Its only a few dollars everyday.

So how much do you spend each day on lunch?

Step back and figure out on average how much you spend a day then multiply it times 5 then again by 52. That will give you a ballpark figure of how much you spend per year, just on lunch.

Shocking how much of your paycheck you eat?

The numbers may shock you. some people actually spend $2000-$3000 per year just on lunch alone. Not to mention the coffee and breakfast in the morning, another $1000-2000 /year. Thats a total of $4000-$5000 you could be remodeling your house, paying off debt, taking a nice vacation the possibilities are endless,

What could you do with just your lunch money?

• Save for early retirement
• Get some new clothes
• Take your wife out for a really nice night on the town
• Replace outdated appliances
• Pay your insurance premiums
• Pay off outstanding credit debt
• ………

The possibilities are endless. So next time you see someone that packs there lunch, just think I could be like them and repurpose the money.

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/why-eat-out-everyday-save-some-cash-pack-a-lunch/feed 1 http://howwesavemoney.com/save-50-80-on-eating-out http://howwesavemoney.com/save-50-80-on-eating-out#comments Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:12:03 +0000 admin http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=45



Eating out on the weekend is what I look forward to!

After packing a lunch everyday Monday-Friday, we deserve a nice dinner on the weekend. We enjoy trying new food at new restaurants in various areas around Atlanta. Don’t get me wrong we still look out for deals. I was googling one day and I came across a site I am now quite fond of. The web address is Restaurant.com

What is Resturant.com ?

It is a great tool that serves as the community matchmaker, introducing great restaurants to great people. From appetizers to dessert, from wine to dinner, Restaurant.com helps restaurant owners promote the new and unique aspects of their restaurants while providing diners with great value in a fun, new and cost effective way. Your favorite restaurant is in your neighborhood – maybe you just don’t know it yet. Restaurant.com is here to help.

So how does it work?

It’s so easy. Just use our the search to find a restaurant. All you have to do is enter your zip code. Many of the restaurants have different offers, pick a place that suits you best. They go all out providing handy descriptions and even menus to help you decide. Follow the instructions for purchasing a gift certificate and print it out. In minutes you’re all set for a night out for less!

Wow so I can get a $25 gift certificate for $10?

Yes, even better, sign up for their emails and you will receive special promo codes that will discount that price up to 80% at sometimes. So look at it this way pay about $4 after discount + tip =$10-11 for a great meal that would cost you $25 + tip around $30.

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/save-50-80-on-eating-out/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/clip-coupons-save-money-double-your-savings http://howwesavemoney.com/clip-coupons-save-money-double-your-savings#comments Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:15:29 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=30



Save money at CVS CVS has came out with a great campaign, that benefits us the consumer. They call it “Extra Bucks” or “ExtraCare Rewards”. Sounds good to me I’d like some “Extra Bucks“, who wouldn’t.

What Are ExtraCare Rewards?

* Rewards are called Extra Bucks that you can earn at any CVS/pharmacy store or online when you use your ExtraCare card.

How Do I Earn Extra Bucks Rewards?

* You Earn 2% back with every purchase in-store and online at CVS/pharmacy. *
* You also Earn 1 Extra Buck for every 2 prescriptions purchased in-store and online at CVS/pharmacy. **

How Do I Get My Extra Bucks Rewards?

Additional Notes

* Every 3 months your Extra Bucks will print on your store register receipt, or visit CVS/pharmacy online to print your Extra Bucks.
* Spend your Extra Bucks at any CVS/pharmacy location or online the next time you shop!

What other ways can I save when I shop in-store with my ExtraCare card?

* Use coupons on top of using the card. (Sometimes you can walk out of the store with free items, and cash to spend on your next trip!)
* Get instant savings on items featured in our weekly store circular ads.
* Earn even more Extra Bucks on select brands advertised in our weekly ads. Your Extra Bucks will print on your receipt immediately following your qualifying purchase(s).

What Other ExtraCare Rewards Benefits Can I Get?

* Additional special offers print on your store receipt frequently throughout the year.
* Receive special savings exclusively at CVS/pharmacy when you sign up for email offers.
* Turn everyday purchases into college savings with Upromise .
* The more you use your ExtraCare card, the more rewards you will receive.

Great another card!

Your right, another card, but the great thing, like Krogers you can just tell them your phone number. No more weighing down your key chain!

For more information, Visit your local CVS !

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/clip-coupons-save-money-double-your-savings/feed 1 http://howwesavemoney.com/we-got-a-check-8-weeks-after-buying-our-1st-home http://howwesavemoney.com/we-got-a-check-8-weeks-after-buying-our-1st-home#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:45:35 +0000 admin http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=56



Our Search for our HOME

Two to three months before Katie and I got married we started looking for a house. We decided that my apartment in Chamblee, GA just was not going to work for us. One of her roommates told us about the Trolley home tours in Lawrenceville, GA. We thought why not lets check it out. It was on Sundays for 3 months straight.

How We Found our Home

We met in downtown Lawrenceville to board the trolley “Anna Bell”. Shortly after boarding we were on our way. We were taken to several neighborhoods in the surrounding area with homes for sale in them. Katie, myself as well as 10 or so others got personal tours of all the homes. After our 3rd trolley tour and riding around with the Realtor a few days we decided to place an offer.

We Made an Offer

After going back and forth a few days , our negotiated offer was accepted. Next we moved on to the home inspection. All was good there, the home was in great condition for its age 25 years old, just like us. Next came the loan process and before we knew it most of my savings was gone. We had high hopes of getting the $8000 tax credit.

Limited time offer, as all good things are.

We got the house for $20,000 less than asking price!!! The seller paid all closing cost, as well as purchased us a home warranty for the 1st year. I really urge you to take advantage of this great deal from our new prez.

Success, I Found the Check in the Mail

The very next day I had my accountant file the amended tax return. He said he had filled out tons of these lately and the average return has been 10-12 weeks. We thought that was great news. We would hopefully get it back before our wedding, and Indeed we got it just before the weddingWe closed June 26, 2009 and were married Aug 29, 2009. We were totally shocked and thankful to get the refund that quickly.

Tax Credit Provides Outstanding Opportunity for Home Buyers

A tax credit of up to $8,000 is available for qualified first-time home buyers purchasing a principal residence on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.


Learn more about the faqs here


]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/we-got-a-check-8-weeks-after-buying-our-1st-home/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/tax-credits-are-now-available-for-home-improvements http://howwesavemoney.com/tax-credits-are-now-available-for-home-improvements#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:15:25 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=171



Ready for an upgrade? Get 30% cash back up to $1500

Guidelines to ensure you get paid:
• must be “placed in service” from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2010
• must be for taxpayer’s principal residence, EXCEPT for geothermal heat pumps, solar water heaters, solar panels, and small wind energy systems (where second homes qualify)
• $1,500 is the maximum total amount that can be claimed for all products placed in service in 2009 & 2010 for most home improvements, EXCEPT for geothermal heat pumps, solar water heaters, solar panels, fuel cells, and small wind energy systems which are not subject to this cap, and are in effect through 2016
• must have a Manufacturer Certification Statement to qualify
• for record keeping, save your receipts and the Manufacturer Certification Statement
• improvements made in 2009 will be claimed on your 2009 taxes (filed by April 15, 2010) — use IRS Tax Form 5695 (2009 version) — it will be available late 2009 or early 2010
• If you are building a new home, you can qualify for the tax credit for geothermal heat pumps, photovoltaics, solar water heaters, small wind energy systems and fuel cells, but not the tax credits for windows, doors, insulation, roofs, HVAC, or non-solar water heaters.


Enjoy the savings while they last!

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/tax-credits-are-now-available-for-home-improvements/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/fall-is-finally-here-time-to-save-money-on-the-power-bill http://howwesavemoney.com/fall-is-finally-here-time-to-save-money-on-the-power-bill#comments Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:48:58 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=21



Bigger House = Bigger Bill

We’ve been in our new house for almost 3 months. In this short amount of time, I’ve found that on average the utility bill averages somewhere arround $240. This includes gas, water, power, trash pickup and sewage. Not too terribly bad, I don’t guess for a 2000 square foot home and a 400 sq foot utility building. Months back I was living in Dunwoody in a 900 sqft apartment and paying on average $140 for power, water, trash , and sewage. My bill has almost doubled. Well thanks to the weather, its about to be rolling back prices like Walmart.

Save on Heating & Air Its been said that on average 40-45% of your power bill comes from the heating and air unit. I’ve got news for you durring October through December and sometimes all the way up to February, I dont use my heat or air systems. So that’s automatically 40-45% back in my pocket. YEAH!! We’ve been blessed with ceiling fans in all the rooms in our home except for the bathrooms of coarse. What does this mean? I can move air around at a reduced cost. Ceiling fans have a switch that allows you to reverse the motion in which the blade spins. This means the hot air that rises to the attic, I can now pull some of that back down into our living area.

Save money on the power bill all through the year

• Unplug Desktop Computers when not in use

From what I have found by simply turning off big bulky desktop computers when not being used I can save at least an additional $30 / year.

• Unplugging phone chargers that are not in use

If you didn’t know, your cell phone charger is a mini power inverter. This means it is always converting power. So UNPLUG it, save money!!

• Use a power strip in each room!

Walk around your house in the dark. How many little red, green, multi-color lights do you see glowing back at you? Well all those lights = $. It become a pain very fast going around unplugging and plugging appliances and tvs, a much smarter way to approach this save is to use a power strip. Then all you have to do is flip the switch, just like the one on the wall that turns the power on and off. By putting those “Christmas lights” out you are guaranteed to save some money and not have to thing too hard about it.

Additional tips

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. ( Splurge and buy the better grade filters, and then you only have to change it every 3 months)

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.

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/fall-is-finally-here-time-to-save-money-on-the-power-bill/feed 2 http://howwesavemoney.com/how-to-create-a-budget http://howwesavemoney.com/how-to-create-a-budget#comments Sat, 26 Sep 2009 05:38:48 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=232



Creating a budget is definitely not the most exciting thing Ive ever done, but it is vital in keeping my financial business in order. In this post Im going to share with you how you can create a budget. Detailed information is the key to a successful budget. Ultimately, your budget should be able to show where your money is coming from, how much is there and where it is all going. The cash flow.

Gather your Financial Statements

Search through your files and find all the current statements for this billing cycle. This will include bank statements, investment accounts, utility bills and any information regarding where your income comes from and where you spend it. The key for this process is to create a monthly average so the more information you can dig up the better.

Write Down All of Your Monthly Income

Include all sources of income. If you are self-employed or have any outside sources of income be sure to record these as well. If your income is in the form of a regular paycheck where taxes are automatically deducted then using the net income, or take home pay, amount is fine. Record this total income as an average monthly amount. (Some incomes differ month to month, try to find a monthly average income if this applies to you.)

Write Down All of Your Monthly Expenses

Create a list of your monthly expenses. Make a list of all the expected expenses you plan on incurring over the next month. This includes your mortgage payment or rent, car payments, auto insurance, groceries, utilities, entertainment, dry cleaning, cell phone, internet, cable , retirement or college savings etc. Anything you spend money on.

Categorize Your Expenses

Place your expenses in two different categories, Fixed Expenses and Variable Expenses.
Fixed expenses are those that stay relatively the same each month and are required parts of your way of living. They included expenses such as your mortgage or rent, car payments, cable and/or internet service, trash pickup, credit card payments and so on. These expenses for the most part are essential yet not likely to change in the budget.

Variable expenses are the type that will change from month to month and include items such as groceries, gasoline, entertainment, eating out and gifts to name a few. This category will be important when making adjustments.

Add up Your Monthly Income & your Monthly Expenses
If you take your total monthly income and subtract your monthly expenses and have excess, then your on your way to saving some money. Now you can prioritize this excess to areas of your budget such as retirement savings or paying more on credit cards to eliminate that debt faster. If you are showing a higher expense column than income it means some changes will have to be made or you will be in the RED. You do not want to be in the red. RED = BROKE

Adjust Your Budget

If you have accurately identified and listed all of your expenses the ultimate goal would be to have your income and expense columns to be equal. This means all of your income is accounted for and budgeted for a specific expense.

If you are in a situation where expenses are higher than income you should look at your variable expenses to find areas to cut. Since these expenses are typically essential it should be easy to shave a few dollars in a few areas to bring you closer to your income.

Review the Budget

It is important to review your budget on a biweekly basis to make sure you are staying on track. After the first month take a minute to sit down and compare the actual expenses versus what you had created in the budget. This will show you where you did well and where you may need to improve.

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/how-to-create-a-budget/feed 1 http://howwesavemoney.com/save-money-on-oil-changes http://howwesavemoney.com/save-money-on-oil-changes#comments Sat, 26 Sep 2009 04:39:02 +0000 admin http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=193



It seems that every time I turn around, Im going to get my oil changed. This is a common thing for most folks where I live. We live on the out skirts of Atlanta , OTP (Outside the Perimeter). This means my commute to and from work racks up almost 70 miles per day. Driving this aggressively, puts me in the waiting room at random oil change places almost every other month, sometimes monthly. Oil changes can cost anywhere from $25-$50 depending on where you live, and what type of oil you get.

My average oil change usually cost me $19.95 or so. I never get my oil changed at the same place. I go where ever the coupon leads me. Knowing that Oil Changes are one of the regular expenses of the car. Here are a few tips that can save you money on oil changes.

Change your oil after 4000 miles:

Be a rebel, If you use quality oil, you are able to change it at 4000 even 5000 miles. The oil companies and mechanics that recommend to get oil change done after every 3,000 miles. That was true many years back, but the cars that are being produced since last few years do not need this frequent oil change. In fact, if check your car’s manual, your manufacturer’s oil change recommendation would be after every 5,000-6,000 mile, or even more. That is because the oils are now better, last longer, and car engines do not need them that often. So, changing your oil change frequency from 3,000 mile to 6,000 mile would cut your oil change expenses in half.

Use Non-Synthetic Oil

Regular oils are being produced at better quality nowadays. So, synthetic oils are not required, but if you follow step 1, I suggest using synthetic oil, or your car manufacturer recommends synthetic oil, or you feel a need to use synthetic oil, I recommend that you buy synthetic oil separately from Wal-Mart, and take that to a mechanic. That could save a few bucks.

Never Take Your Car to the Dealership for an Oil Change

All auto dealers charge the more for their oil changes, inless you have a newer car and the dealer is paying for your oil changes for X amount of years. Always go to a local mechanic. They are completely knowledgeable about oil change, and charge much less. Sometimes I see the mechanics on the side of the road, waving you in.

Use Oil Change Coupons

The Sunday paper is usually filled with coupons for car repair companies like Midas or Jiffy Lube.

Change Your Own Oil

Its really not that hard. Its just time consuming if you don’t have access to a car lift, which most people don’t. You would need Five to six quarts of oil, Oil filter, Funnel, Pan, Oil filter wrench and socket wrench, and Bucket with a lid. Check youtube for a tutorial video. It will be quite helpful if you have never attempted to change your own oil before.




]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/save-money-on-oil-changes/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/no-more-clipping-coupons-for-krogers http://howwesavemoney.com/no-more-clipping-coupons-for-krogers#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:02:34 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=76



P&G the king of all coupons that I clip from the paper have started a campaign called the P&G eSaver. If you dont already know, you can register online at PGeSaver.com. Signing up is a simple process. By signing up you can easily load the coupons to your Krogers card. Then when you check out all you have to do is scan your card and the savings will show up on your receipt.



Pros

• No more clipping coupons
• Easy to use electronic system
• Get coupons any time of the day

Cons

• Hard to remember what you have coupons for
• Not as visual as matching up coupons to ads

If you can adjust to the above cons this is a great program. You can also continue to clip coupons and use them at other stores. Maybe one day they will make a universal card, or an option on the check out where you can enter your phone number? Until that day enjoy the eSaver System and continue to use your coupons else where.

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/no-more-clipping-coupons-for-krogers/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/10-ways-to-take-a-bite-out-of-your-food-budget http://howwesavemoney.com/10-ways-to-take-a-bite-out-of-your-food-budget#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:59:03 +0000 chris http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=251



Food is definitely a big expense in our family, we love to eat. We have realized that we can cut the cost of our grocery store visits, and use the savings for other things. Listed below is our 20 ways, we take a bite out of our food budget.

1. Don’t go shopping on an empty stomach!

We’ve observed that our bill is always lower, if we wait till were not hungry at all. Our stomachs seem to influence how full our cart gets before were even half way through the store. Shopping while you’re hungry is a sure way to overspend.

2. Make a list before you go to the store.

Sit down before you make the trip to the store, and plan out the next week of meals. Decide what your going to eat for dinner, and what your going to pack for lunch.

3. Learn to cook

Learning to cook, has saved us tons of cash, over eating out. We also get to spend more time with each other while were cooking, and get to catch up on small talk from our day of events. Not to mention, cooking an awesome meal for your wife definitely gets you brownie points!

4. Shop at stores that double coupons

This doesn’t take any effort at all really. Just pick up the phone and call all the local grocery stores in your area and ask them if they double coupons. (Some stores double coupons on certain days, don’t be disappointed, find out the facts.)

5. Make them match prices

If you don’t want to travel all over town, ask your grocery store to match the prices published in their competitor’s weekly circular. Walmart has no problems doing this. Just take the ad with you to the check out counter. Sometimes they will even beat the competitors price.

6. Buy only groceries at the grocery store

Don’t load down your grocery budget with household goods. Items such as shampoo, deodorant, make-up, and toothpaste etc. You can probably buy those items much cheaper somewhere other than the grocery store. CVS has a great rewards program, that sometimes pays you to take the products home with you. CVS REWARDS PROGRAM

7.Treat your spending like a job!

Save your receipts from your weekly trip to the grocery store and try to beat last weeks savings, by using coupons. Track your savings. Total your monthly savings, and deposit that amount into a savings account. We have decided to use our savings to pay for our vacation next year. The more we save, the longer trip we get to take.

8. Keep a journal

Use the receipts from step 7 and compare the items bought. You can find trends of items you buy weekly. Take your new found knowledge of these repeat items and search for coupons online for these items. Remember the more you save the more $ you have to deposit to your savings.

9. Visit family & friends

When has your parents ever let you down on taking you and your spouse out to eat when you come to town. Plan cookouts with friends, split the expeneses.

10. Use those Coupons

Its almost like a sign from God. There is always coupons in our mailbox, and in the weekly paper. Its all in your reach, just walk on down to the end of the drive way.

]]> http://howwesavemoney.com/10-ways-to-take-a-bite-out-of-your-food-budget/feed 0 http://howwesavemoney.com/raise-your-deductibles-and-lower-your-premiums http://howwesavemoney.com/raise-your-deductibles-and-lower-your-premiums#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:00:15 +0000 admin http://howwesavemoney.com/?p=354



Your automobile insurance policy deductibles might be costing more than you think. A small adjustment now may save you money over time.

What is a deductible?

It is the $ amount you agree to pay out-of-pocket each time you cause an accident and make a claim under your collision coverage. The same applies to your comprehensive coverage. In short, your deductible is the predetermined amount the insurance company “deducts” from the total bill and you pay that amount. If the total damage comes to $8,000 and your deductible is $500, you would pay $500 and the insurance company would pay the remaining balance of $7,500. In another example, if the total damage is $350 and your deductible is still $500, you would be responsible for paying the $500. This part sucks!

Choosing the Best Deductible for You is easy.

Get with your auto insurance agency, and ask them to draw out all of your options. Once you see them on the table, then you can weigh the odds, and bump your deductible up and your monthly, quarterly, yearly insurance payments down.
If you are involved in an automobile accident, your collision coverage will pay for the damage to your vehicle; that is, after you pay your deductible for that accident. The comprehensive portion of your insurance provides coverage for damage to your car caused from events other than accidents. For example, a rock cracking your windshield on the highway or a branch falling on your parked car, would be covered through your comprehensive coverage. It is not necessary to apply the same deductible to both your collision and comprehensive coverage. The cost to repair the damage caused by a “collision” is potentially much greater than the non-collision events. You might be able to lower your insurance costs by raising the deductible on your collision coverage and taking advantage of discounts offered by your insurance carrier. So, make the decision about your deductible amounts for collision and comprehensive coverage separately. This is the key to savings!

Over the years, I have realized that many of us tend to choose the lowest deductible possible, not realizing we could be saving a considerable amount of money each year if we accept a higher deductible. One word of caution here; if you won’t be able to manage the larger deductible payment, if and when an accident happens, it doesn’t make sense to raise your deductible amount. Another factor to consider is your driving record. If you have a history of accidents, you’ll want to plan ahead based on those past trends.

Compare the numbers then choose a deductible wisely, you can always up it or down it at anytime, so try it out and see if you don’t save over all.

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