Substance of Living

When you and your family head out for vacation this year, don't leave your household budget at home.  The price of rest and relaxation ought to be priceless but in more cases than not are quite expensive. Add up all your cost: transportation, accommodations, sightseeing, souvenirs, food, attractions -- you might be tempted to cancel the trip altogether. Alas - you can still enjoy your vacation, family, and stay within budget by following these simple tips. Be Flexible Travel during "Shoulder Season" (Not during peak season or off season) April - May or Mid-August - October Choose alternative dates or days of the week to travel Try Vacation Packages or All-Inclusive Packages   Eat for Free (or nearly free) Many restaurants offer a free child's meal for each paying adult.  There may be restrictions such as two children maximum or might only be available on certain days. If you do eat out, lunch might be your best time.  The prices are reasonable a...

Welcome to 2014! January is a time of newness.  We put away our holiday decorations and prepare ourselves for the future.  Many of us have resolutions, set annual goals or financial goals , create a visual board , or choose a word to help guide us through the new year. My word for last year was RELEASE .  I worked on letting go. Release my past.  Moving on and looking forward. Letting go of clothes that no longer belong in my closet whether they still have the price tag or not. Paired down my book collection. Released negativity. R elinquished control and allowed others to help. My word for this year is PASSION .  I want to wake every morning with a spring in my step and an eagerness to get out of bed and get my day started.  Doesn't that sound like a great goal - to be excited to greet every day?  I know we all have a passion in which our soul is trying to make us aware.  Are you living your passion? Each of us has a purpose an...

Let's face it, it's tough in today's world.  More people are out of work, working two jobs, in debt or "under water" with their homes. How is the ancient art of Feng Shui going to help?  It is said that through decorating your home or office using the Feng Shui principles you will reap the benefits of: Better Health Increased Prosperity and Better Relationships By making subtle changes to your environment you can positively affect your life.  The subconscious mind understands chi (the subtle flow of energy) even though we may not. Think of a time when you walked into a store and the lights were too bright and the place felt harsh.  Or take the store that the lighting was too dim.  Did you feel clean or were you looking around wondering what was in the corners?  A room that is too bright can feel aggressive and one that is too dim can feel weak and secretive. The same theory can be used with a room that is full of stuff.  Antique shops ca...

Gluten-Free websites I've learned about this month: Please join me in a new journey to find at least 5 websites each month that will be highlighted in (at a minimum) the following categories: Gluten-Free Vegan Vegetarian Decorating DIY Money Management If you have a website or know of an author that you'd like to see showcased please let me know. A Gluten-Free Day A Gluten-Free Day Emilia , the author/chef/photographer of this site lives in Finland.  She cooks gluten-free along with some soy-free, egg-free, and diary-free.  She prefers psyllium husk powder over xanthan gum and feels the former lends a texture more similar to gluten when baking. Emilia answers a question many of us have:  " What I do if I accidentally eat gluten?" "I always know when I have eaten gluten because I get at first a strange empty feeling in my stomach, after that I start having pains. My general strategy is to take L-Glutamine powder one t...

Are you like me and secretly wish you were more like Martha Stewart when it comes to your house, garden, decorating, entertaining, and just about every other aspect?  If only Martha could advise me on finances I'd not need look any further. However, I've recently come to start channeling Suze Orman where my finances are concerned and went online today to find a spreadsheet by her and wasn't able to find anything.  She has several books about family planning, trusts, and why finances are so important but sometimes just the basics are needed.  Do you remember the show where the guy says, "Just the facts, Ma'am."?  So, until Suze starts emailing me personally, here are some budget worksheets to get us started.  There are more out there for holidays , vacations , gift purchasing , weddings , and just about everything else. Here are the basics... Quick-Start Budget by Dave Ramsey Household Monthly Budget by Practical Spreadsheets Household ...

The SIXTH step is to start saving a little each month. The money used, at first, might be the savings from using coupons, the difference between taking your lunch and what you would have spent by eating out every day, the change in your pockets or purse at the end of the day, rebates, or the savings from using a coupon while eating out.  Have a garage sale.  Take your nicer items to a consignment shop to be sold. Start SAVING money to pay CASH for Holidays, Birthdays, and other Special Occasions. Start saving money for a specific Goal. Start saving money for annual or quarterly payments such as insurance. DH and I have used our saved change to pay for vacations, holidays, or splurges.  We have some friends that hold a couple garage sales each year and use that money for a particular purchase.  I know you can do this with everyone in the family pitching in.  The key will be to find new and fun ways to get everyone involved and ex...

The FIFTH step is to pay down the debt while enjoying life. Knowing how much money is coming in and where your hard earned money is going puts you in the drivers' seat. See which credit cards or loans have the highest interest rate and start paying more each month. When you pay one credit card or loan off, apply that payment to the next highest interest rate loan. Pay your bills on time and ALWAYS pay more than the minimum required payment. See if you can feasibly transfer a balance to another credit card with a lower interest rate. If you do this, make sure that the amount transferred as well as the transfer fee does not take you over the limit. Do not use this newly transferred-to credit card for anything else.  At least until it has a ZERO balance. Pay your bills online through your bank.  Your bank ensures that the payment is made on the date you request and that it doesn't get lost in the mail. Check your statement to make sure that the amo...

The FOURTH step is to have a plan that will help you attain your goals. Find a program that works for you.  There are so many forms on the internet, books written containing forms, computer programs, and Apps that you will need to know yourself and what will work best. Gather as much information as possible this first month. Paychecks Bank Statement Credit Care Statements Car Loan Other Loans Child Care Insurance Statements (Mortgage/Rent, Life, Health, Car) Cable Bill Phone Bill Membership Dues (Fitness Club, Golf Club, Movie) Subscriptions to Newspapers and Magazines Guesstimate how much you spend on groceries, eating out, entertainment, doctor appointments, shopping, hair, nails, massage, gas, etc. Add more information next month with actual receipts.  (Try the June 2012 Money Management Challenge ) Groceries Meals out Entertainment Shopping Hair, Nails, Massage Gas Now you can really sit down and figure how much money you have...

It's important to know how much money is coming in, going out and where it's going.  It's also very important to have goals.  We need to ask the five W questions Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? so we can set clear goals.  Answering the questions will turn the dream or thought into an accountable and attainable goal.  The efforts to reaching a goal must be track-able. Who:   Who is responsible for each task What: What is the path, What will get paid off first Where: Where will the savings go When: When is the deadline or date Why:   Why save money How:   How is each task going to be accomplished The THIRD step is to look at your goals. Budgets that have short or long-term goals are most effective.  For example, a short-term goal might be to eat out once a month without using a credit card or taking money away from the bills.  Or, a long-term goal might be to take a vacation and pay cash. Start slowly with monthly sho...

Wearing a Mask Doesn't Always Protect Your Identity from Thieves   The SECOND step is to protect your identity.  Did you know that there are probably over 500,000 people, each year , that have their identities stolen? Thieves have ways of stealing your personal information: They could hack into your computer, break into your home of office, riffle through your trash, steal your mail, steal your purse or wallet, copy your credit card information.  There are probably as many ways as there are thieves. What specific items are these thieves seeking? Credit Card information Your FULL Name, Mother's Maiden Name, or any other information they may think you might use for your security codes or passwords Anything with your Social Security Number, Tax Information Pre-Approved Credit Card Offers Your Family's Names and Addresses, Email Accounts Where you went to School I'm sure there are more items.  Think about the information you might provi...

Do you have more month than money?  Are you not checking your mailbox because you know there are bills waiting for you?  Do you feel that the money goes out as soon, if not before, the money comes in?  Are you working two jobs and thinking how you can fit in another job just to pay your bills? You're NOT Alone. We can take the easy road and blame it on our parents.  But, if we did that, would we be any further ahead?  Probably not.  We would still be victims.  WE ARE NOT VICTIMS! Before you start grabbing your statements and bills, ask yourself how and why you are in this situation.  That's what DH and I had to do, and I'm sure many other people before and after us have done.  We, all of us, find ourselves over-extended from time to time and sometimes to no fault of our own. I think more families have filed bankruptcy in the last 10 years (since 2001) than ever before.  I don't know that for a fact, but looking at the unemplo...

We've had two full weeks of receipt collecting with the June 2012 Money Management Challenge .  Hopefully it's starting to become second nature remembering to keep the receipt or to ask for one.  What system did you choose?  Are you separating your receipts by week, putting them all in one envelope, or sticking them all on your refrigerator door? You've seen the commercials or magazine ads for Neat Receipts and the cool things it can do.  But do you really want to spend about $200 or more on a scanner or another piece of office equipment?  Probably not. Since the object of our goal is to save money, we tend to agree with Jack Busch at GroovyPost when he said, "Why not use my iPhone and Google Docs’ OCR capabilities and roll my own digital receipt filing system?"   So here are some ideas to help you continue collecting receipts for budget purposes, work, or taxes without having to spend more money. One of the larger organizations online is Min...

How are you doing so far with June's Money Management Challenge ?  Are you remembering to save all your receipts? DH and I are both taking the challenge.  The biggest thing that DH has found is remembering to ask for a receipt so he's had to write down a few purchases on a piece of paper.  He is keeping his receipts in an envelope and mine are stuck on the refrigerator with a magnet. In honor of full disclosure; we thought about postponing this challenge to another month that wouldn't be as hectic, but wondered what month would actually work.  See, we've had quite a few unexpected purchases already this month.  In addition to that, we're moving into our new home and to top it all off, DH has to get a crown on one of his molars.  All this, and we're not even to Father's Day yet!  Whew (wiping my brow)! But then, like we said, what month would have been more conducive to the challenge?  There are always going to be unexpected events or purchas...