September Spending Freeze Results

As I have posted all month, I was on a spending freeze for the entire month of September. I believe I have done really well this month with a few exceptions. I bought the following items that were not on my "approved spending list": 2 DVD's, 2 visits to McDonalds, and flowers for fall decorating. However, I only went over my food budget by $8 (total spending $183) and my "other" budget (which includes non-grocery spending, dining out and entertainment) by $44.56, total of $144.56.

During the Spending Freeze, I found many free activities to keep me busy. I went to a bridal shower at a winery and did some free wine and beer tasting. My DH and I took our DS to a "fly in" where there was a car show, tractor show and airplane exhibits. Also, the three of us went to a neighborhood picnic. I also caught up on some of my reading, I exercised more, I cleaned more, and I was able to spend quality time with my family. The only thing I had issues with while on my spending freeze was giving up the sale shopping and finding things to keep me busy when I was home alone. I still scoured through the sale ads to find the best bargains. I was proud of myself that I was able to pass over the items that were a great deal, but I didn't really need. My DS went camping with my parents one weekend that my DH was working. I was home alone with a strong urge to go shopping, however, I stayed home and read a couple books instead. Therefore, overall, I think my spending freeze was a success. I am not sure that I will continue the freeze for October because not only is my birthday this month, but also my niece's 21st birthday is too. So I can already see myself spending a larger amount on entertainment next month. Needless to say, I will not be going overboard on spending and I will try to keep to my budget as much as possible. I just have to watch the nightly news to remind myself to continue to save as much as I can.

Did any of you participate in a spending freeze this month? If so, how did you do?

Feed the Pig

Commercials for Feed the Pig came on my radio this morning. I love those commercials. Feed the Pig is a national campaign sponsored by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Ad Council. The mascot is a well dressed pig, named Benjamin Bankes, that encourages you to save money. So I thought that I would check out the web sites.

It does have a lot of good information like calculators. You can find out how much money you save by taking your lunch. It also has a credit card payoff calculator.

There are articles about establishing a budget, paying off student loans, and ways to cut down on expenses. Tools to help you with saving goals and delete credit card debt. Tips on what you should do before you get married, have children, and buy a home. It even has tips on caring for aging parents.

Benjamin has expanded his campaign to include Podcasts, MySpace, and YouTube videos. You can even have Benjamin send you mobile and email savings reminders and tips for free.

Benjamin Bankes is not a really good looking pig, but he does seem very smart. Check him out.
What do you think about the Feed the Pig campaign?

More Really Good Tips From Aunt Paula

• To make cheese last longer wrap in foil, it keeps the air out.



• Revive wilted lettuce with lemons remove the core then immerse in cold water with the juice of 1/2 lemon and refrigerate for 1 hour.



• Win items from these web sites:



• bracelet go to http://www.superjeweler.com/ww ends11/30:



• BMW go to http://www.hgvcsweeps.com worth $80,000
  ends 1/31



• footwear go to http://www.madberries.com expires 10/29



• Want to find out when your favorite online stores are offering free shipping? Go to: http://www.freeshipping.com



• For famous restaurant recipes go to http://www.recipes.robbiehaf.com/Copycat.html



• What are the cheapest healthy foods you can truly buy? How you can get your property taxes reduced? Get hundreds of money saving tips by going to http://www.tiphero.com
  

Leave your favorite tips in comments.

Getting Things Done

While doing my daily blog reads I came across a really good article for me. I get overwhelmed sometimes and I feel very claustrophobic with to much to do and not enough time to get it all done. I found a good way to help me calm down and prioritize. I have always made to-d0-lists, but sometime I get lax and just try to remember what I need to do or get at the grocery store. Of course things start slipping through the cracks and then I start to panic. I get stressed and cranky (my poor husband).

Simple Mom wrote an article that reminded me to just write things down. No matter what it is write it down. This saves time and money so you don't have to go back to the grocery store because you forgot the most important thing you went there for or an important date like someones birthday or a meeting with a client.

Don't just write things on scraps of paper. Make sure you have a central location for everything. Then you can go back and prioritize that list. I have been using the Palm Treo to get me organized and I have spent the last couple of hours updating my calendar and to-do-list.

My goals for the next 30 days are to:

1. Sync my Palm with Outlook every night
2. Print out my to-do-list for the day after I sync
3. Add reminders to my calendar so that I don't forget meetings, birthdays, etc.
4. The last week of the month check the next months calendar for birthdays and buy birthday cards, sign, address them to be sent out. Put an alert on my calendar to mail them out a week before the birthday.
5. Add incremental deadlines for long-term projects.
6. On Sundays, go over to-do-list and meeting schedule for the week.
7. The last Sunday of the month, go over to-d0-list and meeting schedule for the next month.

I think this will help me be better organized and not forget what I need to be doing. It will also keep my stress down.

How do you stay organized? Do you use an electronic gadget, a special web site, or just an old fashion notebook? Please leave your tips and ideas in a comment.

My Other Blogs

Since I have learned so much by writing articles for this blog, I thought that I would do the same for other areas that I needed help with in my life.

I use Healthy Living Frugally to keep me somewhat on track with my diet. I have been trying to lose 20 pounds since March. It hasn't been easy especially at my age and going through In Vitro Fertilization treatments. I have started putting articles about the food of the week and I have done some research on aspartame.

If anyone is going through In Vitro Fertilization treatments, visit IVF Plus 40. I have some tips and great web sites that I have gathered from message boards.

I have been asked how you make money by blogging. One way is to click on the advertisements that you are interested in or buying the books I have on the blog by clicking on the book. Please only do this if you are interested in the advertisement or the book. I have also posted a similar message as this one on my other blogs today. I usually don't do this, but I thought that I would share with those who are interested in the same subjects.

Please feel free to leave other web sites that you love to visit or your blog in a comment. I am always interested in other blogs and web sites.

Frugal Dailies

Since there doesn't seem to be an end in sight for the down economy, I am going to post some of the things I do on a regular basis to save money and/or make money on the side. Some of these things you may have seen posted in the past, but I believe it is important to do what you can to help make it through these tough times.

Things I do to save money:
*Only wash full loads of laundry and then hang to dry. I only use the dryer to fluff stiff clothing.
*Carpool 4 days a week and I work from home at least one day a week. (I know this isn't an option for most people, but it saves about $200 a month in gas for my DH and I)
*Clip coupons and use them only on things that I need or when the item will be near (if not completely) free.
*Multi task outings. Example: Doing all of my shopping on the way to or from work.
*Only washing full loads in the dishwasher.
*Make coffee and tea at home or at work.
*Cook meals at home with low price ingredients and take the leftovers to work for lunch the next day.
*Make greeting cards or I buy them for a whole year when there is a special promotion.
*Be creative with gifts. People generally appreciate gifts more if you put some thought into them. Great gifts don't have to be expensive or even cost anything at all.
*I track my fuel usage on Fuelly.com. This helps me trend my gas mileage so I know what gas saving tips actually work.
*Go shopping only on value days. I try to go to the grocery store when they are having a $10 off a $50 purchase day or if I have other store coupons that I can use in addition to my manufacturer coupons.
*Take advantage of CVS and Walgreens "free" items.
*I use my LP stove/oven sparingly. I usually do all of my baking on Sunday so that I don't have to heat up the oven more than once per week. Most of my cooking is done on my electric grill, crock pot, microwave, or barbeque grill during the week to reduce propane usage.
*Use A/C and furnace sparingly. The windows are there for a reason, right?
*Reuse plastic containers. I use icing tubs, tv dinner trays, and butter tubs as tupperware.
*I buy spices in bulk or I grow my own herbs and spices.
*I take advantage of product points to earn free things. Sites like Pepsistuff.com, mycokerewards.com, and Disney Movie Rewards allow you to earn points off products you buy and then I use the points to get music downloads and free merchandise.
*I pay for almost everything with my credit card to earn points and then I ALWAYS pay off the balance in full every month.
*When I get low on milk, I use powdered milk to cook with so I don't have to make a special trip to the store.
*I buy clothes and household items at yardsales. Just because I didn't buy it new doesn't mean its not new to me.
*I cut my own hair and dye it myself. Sometimes I require the assistance of my niece with this task, but I help her with her hair in return.
*I unplug almost everything before I go to bed. Every night before I go to bed, I start in the living room and unplug every electronic device in the house except the alarm clock to save on electricity. This saves about $5 per month.

Things I do to make money:
Besides working our full-time jobs, here are some things that my DH and I do to make extra money.
*Mow grass. My DH mows his mother's lawn for $20 per week.
*We recycle soda cans and scrap metal.
*I do paid online surveys.
*My DH is a very good welder and he does it as a side job.
*I have two yardsales every year, one in the spring and one in the late summer to get rid of my DS's outgrown clothes and toys and any household items that we no longer require.
*I prepare income tax returns for family and friends.
*I do freelance finance consulting.

Smart Money Smart Women Conference

Margaret and I went to the Smart Money Smart Women conference last week. The conference is to encourage women to take charge of their own finances.

I know for me and my husband we have a joint account and each have our own individual account. Early in our marriage we were arguing about how much each other spent. So now we each get a certain amount of money of our own to spend however we want and the rest goes to the joint account to pay all the bills. It is working out very well for us.

One of the subjects that kept coming up in all the breakout sessions was the current economy. How do we still invest without freaking out about losing all our savings. They had a lot of suggestions like buying bonds. But they also stressed the fact that the Stock Market will eventually go back up. Right now is a great time to buy since you can buy more stock with less money. Don't take your money out of the Stock Market or your 401K. I published an article on this last June "Keeping Track of Your Investments".

I still recommend putting money into a high interest savings account until you reach the max amount the FDIC will still insure, which is $100,000.00. Right now my local bank is still offering interest rates on special checking accounts that is even higher than the online savings account. So right now I am keeping money in my checking account until I reach the max of $25,000.00.

They also highly recommended making sure your money is not all in one basket. Diversify, Diversify, Diversify was repeated over and over. Some money in stocks, bonds, savings accounts, mutual funds, and precious metals and stones. I know that until recently gold has been going up in value at a very steady rate.

Lately the credit cards have been jumping into the savings and checking realm. I have been receiving offers to open savings accounts with Capital One at a higher rate of 3.55%. The only catch is that you have to have a balance of $10,000.00. It is an option if you have more than $10,000.00 in a lower interest account.

For the most part, almost everyone is saying the same things. Get rid of debt as soon as possible, make sure you have an emergency fund, after that you can start investing. Do research to find the best investments for your goals and lifestyle.

Things are getting bad, but once we hit bottom the economy will pick up again. Sometimes we just have to wait out the bad stuff to get to the good stuff.

An update: Suze Orman was on Oprah yesterday. She has much more information that was also said at the conference. Some really good advace if you were planning to retire or are retired. Check it out.

Three Biggest Obstacles to Saving and Investing for Women

Most women don't feel they have enough information, time or money to begin saving and investing.

• Many women don't like to take risk especially when it comes to money and lack confidence in their knowledge of basic financial principles and investment skills.
• We are interested in the stock market but don't feel that we have enough money or information to do anything about it.
• Time is a big problem for women to do anything. We don't take the time or feel we have the time to educate ourselves so that we can make the necessary financial decisions and track the progress.

Here are some suggestions on what we can do to increase our savings and start investing:

• Instead of seeing if you have any money left at the end of the month, start out by paying yourself first. To save time, have the money automatically taken out of your paycheck and put directly into a savings account, 401K, or some kind of IRA account.
• Consider transferring any credit card balances to a card with a lower interest rate.
• Use unexpected "windfalls' from bonuses or gifts to pay down credit card debt.
• Make additional mortgage payments. Make sure you write "to principal" in the memo portion of the check so your bank will apply the entire amount to your principal. By lowering the principal, you also lower the amount of interest you owe.
• Start educating yourself on investing by attending workshops like Smart Women, Smart Money. These conferences you can attend for free and are hosted by most state treasurer's offices. Illinois has a web site: www.illinois.tomorrowsmoney.org that has more information.

What are some of the things you do to save time and money?

Save Money While Doing the Laundry

Thanks again Aunt Paula for this money saving tip.

Save $100.00 a year by only putting in half of the detergent. Detergent alone is not what cleans your laundry. The actual cleaning is done by the agitator and by the clothes rubbing against one another,

Save $40.00 a year by using cold water

Save $30.00 a year by washing full loads.

Save $40.00 a year by cleaning the lint trap. If you use dryer sheets wash out the lint trap with dish detergent. Using dryer sheets clogs it up so air can not get thru the tiny holes which in turn could cause a fire.

Car Free Day

I just logged into my company employee web site and in a big advertisement block there is a cartoon with September 22 declared as car free day.

This is to encourage people to walk, ride a bike, take public transportation or at least car pool. This will save money, improve your health, and help save the environment.

Check out the website for more information in your area http://www.worldcarfree.net/wcfd/.

Recycle, Coupons, Crafts

Here are some web sites that our Aunt Paula sent us that I thought

Have an old camera,mp3 player, or computer send your old ones to http://www.gazelle.com

A pricing guide lets you know in advance how much money you'll get for it.

Old cd's, dvd's and video games will net you some greenat http://www.cashforcds.com
or http://www.secondspin.com
which pays up to $18.00 per item

Books you want to get rid of try http://www.cash4books.net
which offers $1 to $4 for fiction and non fiction and up to $80.00 for college texts.

dining out coupons go to http://www.valpak.com
or http://www.hotcoupons.com

Sign up for your local restraunts emails they will send you specials that are only for the people who get their emails.

Then use them to get bargains for even less. Go to http://www.retailmenot.com
and http://www.ebates.com

Our cousin found this website last night that has free samples you can get. Has all kinds of free samples.

http://www.spoofee.com

Looking for another way to make money? Do you sew, knit, crochet,etc...? Go to http://www.etsy.com an online craft market place. You can list your items for a small fee (20 cents per listing, plus 3.5 % of sales. Check out the Alchemy section where customers solicit bids for custom handmade items.

Interesting Articles from the Blog World

I am having some writers block so I thought that I would point out some articles from other great blogs.

The Wisdom Journal has 50 Frugal Things You Aren’t Doing.

Frugal Dad re-posted “How To Live on Only One Income”. This is something that I have been trying to figure out for myself. I even asked an old neighbor how she did it. She gave me pretty much the same advise ad Frugal Dad wrote in his post.


Frugal Dad also posted an article on what you can do to improve a bad situation, When Frugality Isn’t Enough.

Get Rich Slowly writes about “The Power of Attentive Spending”. Kevin writes a guest post about why you should know what you are spending every month and why you should have a budget.

I’ve Paid For This Twice Already… has an article just for Margaret. “Just Because You Clip It Doesn’t Mean You Have To Buy It”.

Please post any other articles that you would like to share.

Gas shortage back

I feel like I am back in the 1980's. Not only are the clothing and shoe styles back from when I was in high school, but so is the gas shortage.

It was reported yesterday that gas station were closing for the fact that they had run out of gas. My husband just called and said that there were about 36 gas station closed in the St. Louis area alone because they had run out of gas.

The oil refineries had closed because of Ike. Reports say that there was very little damage to the refineries, but there is no electricity start the refineries back up or to pump the gas and oil through the pipelines. It may be a month before they are back up and running.

What does this mean? It means that some gas stations may be out of gas for up to a month or more, which means it is going to get really hard to get gas even at $4.09 a gallon. So stock up if you can or start looking at those bus and train schedules. Of course if the bus companies can't get gas, then you may have to walk to work or look for ways to work from home. Things are just getting better every day, NOT!

Please leave me comments on how the gas stations are doing in your area.

Gas and Food during Ike's aftermath

With Ike now a tropical storm in the midwest (my area of the U.S.), prices of gas has jumped 50 cents in one day. Gas prices here are now $4.05 a gallon. Cost of everything is going to rise yet again. So now with our budgets even tighter and so much damage in the south, how will you help your neighbors in the disaster area.

It is getting harder and harder to have a few extra dollars to put into the donation tin at Wal-Mart or send to the Red Cross when disaster hits our neighbors. I hear more and more reports that food pantries are running low on food to share with those in need. Even the Salvation Army has reported lower than normal donations.

Those in the path of the hurricanes and living in flooded areas are not the only people who are suffering because of lower cash donations and fewer items on the food pantry shelf. Those who have lost their jobs in the last 12 months. According the the U.S. Department of Labor ...

"The number of unemployed persons rose by 592,000 to 9.4 million in August,
and the unemployment rate increased by 0.4 percentage point to 6.1 percent.
Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed persons has increased by
2.2 million and the unemployment rate has risen by 1.4 percentage points,
with most of the increase occurring over the past 4 months."

With the disasters from the hurricanes, even more people not only be without homes, but also without jobs.

How do we survive until the economy starts to recover?

Keep doing what we have always suggested. Donate when possible, cut coupons, raise the temperature on your thermostat, cook more at home, do without that high prices coffee from Starbucks, or shop at yard sales instead of Wal-Mart. Maybe even declare this month or next month as a spending freeze month and donate half of your savings to charity.

As always please leave your money saving tips for us all to use.

Budget Killers

I was reading an article on Get Rich Slowly about Food Budget Killers. JD was listing some items that they splurge on because the cheaper alternatives are not adequate for their taste. I find this true for myself as well. My question is, why do we think we "have" to buy these certain things? Is it because they are truly superior in quality and we can't survive without them? Or is it more the fact that we just think we need them? My DH prefers a certain brand of razor above all others because of its close and non-painful shave. This razor is not an inexpensive brand, but I can usually find it on sale. Could he live without it? Probably, but he would surely complain about it a lot. I also prefer a certain brand of self tanning lotion. Do I even need self tanning lotion. No, but I don't like spending money on tanning at tanning beds and the health concerns are far less with the lotion. However, I rarely need to buy the lotion because a medium sized bottle lasts several months.

I see examples of more extreme personal "necessities" all the time. For instance, I was watching "On the Money" with Carmen Wong-Ulirch on CNBC the other night and there was a woman on there that had a large amount of debt and she wanted advice on how to manage it on her and her husband's current income. She paid $400 a month for a dog walker, $2429 in rent (I can't remember where she lived, but that is high for rent regardless), and two car leases totalling $920 a month. Personally I don't think that these are necessary expenses if you are wanting to get out of debt, but the woman did not seem to want to give them up. She could easily give up the dog walker and walk the dog herself or trade services with a trusted neighbor or friend. I understand that breaking a lease is difficult for both housing and cars, but the monthly payments should be considered before entering into the commitment. I think people need to prioritize their life to determine if luxuries and peer perception is worth the financial ruin they put themselves in.

UPDATE: I forgot to add that it is ok to have these little splurges as long as you cut back in other areas to make up for the expense.

What type of things do you splurge on? Do you really need them? Why do you buy them?

How To Spend Less & Enjoy It More

I found a book in my boxes of un-read books titled "How To Spend Less & Enjoy It More". It is a little outdated, but for the most part it has some really good tips.

It starts with the basics like lowering your thermostat in the winter and keep it a couple degrees higher in the summer. Turning off lights when you leave the room. Adding another layer of clothing in the winter time instead of raising the thermostat.

Here is one that I didn't have. Make your own house hold cleaner. In 1994 Consumer Reports actually published a homemade glass cleaner that will clean just about anything.

1/2 cup sudsy ammonia
1 pint alcohol
1 teaspoon liquid dish soap
water to make 1 gallon

When it comes to food, Dale and Sandy Larsen suggest borrowing a cookbook from the library to get some new recipes.

They suggest that if you need to eat cheap, but still want a balance diet build your meals on eggs, carrots, cabbage, rice and apples. These foods seem to be consistently the cheapest foods. You can also add oatmeal and skim milk for breakfast.

Another way to stretch small amounts of meat is to add it to a casserole. Most casseroles use condensed cream of something soup. Make your own cream of chicken, mushroom, etc. by:

2 cups dry nonfat milk
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup dry bouillon - chicken, beef, vegetable, or any flavor
any seasonings you want (salt, pepper, onion flakes, thyme, oregano, garlic powder)

Keep the mix in a tightly lidded jar. To substitute for one can of condensed soup combine 1/3 cup of the dry mix with 1 1/4 cup of water. You can add a tablespoon of butter or margarine.

One thing that I don't know that I could do that they suggested was to stop buying paper towels. Use rags around the house instead. Sorry, with 3 dogs in the house and one is 14 years old. I am not reusing rags that I used to pick up poop or mop up pee with.

One suggestion that is becoming more and more popular with gas prices rising is walking or riding your bike around town. Maybe even take public transportation.

It has 50 great ideas to save money. I just looked on Amazon to add a link and the book is out of print. But www.half.com has a few listed for sale.

Please leave your ideas on how to save some money.

$10 off $40 purchase at Walgreens

Click here to print out a coupon for $10 a $40 purchase at Walgreens Friday, September 12th and Saturday, September 13th only. See coupons for rules and restrictions.

Spending Freeze update

The spending freeze is going much better this month than last. So far I have spent $49.53 in groceries, $56.99 on prescriptions and personal items, and $72.01 in gas. I have used $94.74 in coupons and rebates. I don't think that is too bad. Especially since I went to my highschool reunion this past Saturday and after the keg ran out (rather early in the evening), it was a cash bar. I didn't have to buy one drink. Also, my DH had to get a tank for his welder which was $225, but our neighbor, whom DH does a ton of welding for, paid for it. (We did not ask or hint that we wanted him to.)

Being on the spending freeze has freed up some time for me, which I have mostly devoted to work. However, when I am not working I have been catching up on other much needed to do's. Items such as: exercising, cleaning, family time, reading, and watching movies (for free or on tv) and political events. All these things are free, so they fit perfectly with what I am trying to do.

Finding out what works for you.

In earlier posts I have stated that I was going to increase my earnings by doing surveys and working with Cha-Cha. Well I discovered that some things just don't work out as well as others.

I took an afternoon signing up for the surveys that Margaret suggested and submitting my resume to Cha Cha. Now I have a bunch of e-mails wanting me to complete the surveys and receive a bunch of points. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to fill them out. Actually, I don't want to make the time to fill them out. I hate filling out surveys. To me it is just a company that want a bunch of private information that I don't really want to give out.

I do make time for other money making and money saving activities like designing web sites, cutting out coupons, researching subjects for all my blogs, selling stuff on E-bay, working on the DJ business, keeping track of arbitration accounts, and converting reel-to-reel audio tapes to CD.

I think that I have enough other activities that I prefer and work well for me to increase my income without filling out surveys. This weekend I will probably take time to unsubscribe to all of the survey web sites and try to decrease some email activity.

What money saving activities have you decided not to participate in?

Spending Good Money after Bad

Get Rich Slowly posted an article this morning that hit home for me. Due to some stress in his life he paid for a six month subscription to World of Warcraft only to realize that he reverted back to an old addiction. He spent so much time playing computer games that he neglected his life (wife, work, family). Even though he had already paid $77.94 to play the game, he had to give it up. Psychologically, the more you spend on a game, car, house, membership, the harder it is to let go.

In my case it was a wedding. The more I spent time with my x-husband the more money it cost me. I almost left him at the altar and became a run-away bride. But I kept thinking about all the money that I had spent on the wedding and couldn’t just leave it all go to waste. Well, I spend a lot more money trying to stay married than it was worth. My X spent more money than we both made and more until we were denied credit and no more room on the credit cards.

The moral of the story, just because you spent the money doesn’t mean you should continue with the plan. If the car, house, membership to Sam’s Club isn’t worth the money you are spending to keep it, then it is time to cut your losses. Trade the car in for a different one, sell the house and buy one that is more practical for your family now, stop paying for a membership to a club that you no longer use or that is not worth the money.

Is it time to re-evaluate your expenses. Do you need to cut your losses before you spend more money?

Children and Kites

Syndicated columnist Erma Bombeck once wrote a piece the likened children to kites.

"You spend a lifetime trying to get them off the ground. You run with them until you're both breathless. They crash. They hit the rooftop. You patch and comfort, adjust, and teach. You watch them lifted by the wind and assure them that someday they'll fly.

Finally, they are airborne. They need more string and you keep letting it out. But with each twist of the ball of twine, there is a sadness that goes with joy. The kite becomes more distant, and you know it won't be long before that beautiful creature will snap the lifeline that binds you two together and will soar as it is meant to soar, free and alone. Only then do you know that you did your job."

Brokers

Brokers differ than investment advisers. Brokers recommend specific investments like stocks, bonds, or mutual funds. Most Borkers work with you to meet your financial goals but they do not give detailed financial plans. They are generally paid a commission when you buy and sell securities.

All brokers are not created equal. Some have large staff and are able to service most any kind of financial transaction you may need. Other smaller organizations only specialize in specific investments. There are other companies in between.

A discount broker charges lower fees and commissions but generally you have to do the research and choose the investments yourself.

A full-service broker costs more which pays for the broker's investment advice based on the companies research.

Word of mouth is always the best way to find choose an investment professional. Ask co-workers, friends, and family who they recommend. Always meet with the adviser to make sure you both understand the end goal.

The broker should ask you about your investment goals and personal finances. The broker relies on this information to determine the investments that will best fit your needs. If a broker tries to sell you an investment before asking you any questions, leave the office and find a new broker.

You should have the final say in any investment unless you give the broker discretionary authority. Discretionary authority allows your broker to invest your money without consulting you about the price, the type of security, the amount, and when you buy or sell. This is not recommended.

Most investors maintain a cash account that requires payment in full for each security purchase. You can open a margin account which you borrow money from the broker for a portion of the purchase price.

There is so much more information in "A roadmap to start you on a journey to financial security through saving and investing." I would recommend going to www.sec.gov and request your free copy.

Putting Things in Perspective

Earlier this week I decided to add a tab to my budget spreadsheet to calculate my yearly spending. It was quite an eye opener to see the totals. For instance, I pride myself on having a really low electric bill every month compared to other people in my area. It usually runs about $67, however, when I totalled my propane bills for the year and averaged it in with my electric bill, my total was about $220 a month!! That is huge to me. A couple of other bills were shocking to me too, such as, my cell phone and satellite TV totals, $880 and $550 respectively. I could easily do without both of these items, but I am not sure my DH and DS could. I would much rather see that $1430 invested in a CD or high yield savings account.

Totalling up my expenses really put them in perspective for me. Sadly, I didn't realize how much I was spending a year on most of them. I am going to figure out ways to reduce our propane use, especially during the winter when we use it the most. I am also going to call our insurance company to see what other discounts we qualify for since I think our rates are a little high. I am not sure I can get any better packages on my cell phone or satellite because I am already getting the best deals I can find. Never the less, I am going to speak to my DH to see if he can relinquish his premium channels.

Assignment: If you don't know how much your annual expenses are, you should add them up to see. You may be a little surprised by what you find.

UPDATE: I am going to give you all an update on my spending freeze. I am doing very well. Today was the first day since August 29th that I have spent any money and I only bought gas for my car. We are out of milk and papertowels, so I am going to the store tomorrow. I am keeping my fingers crossed and I will keep you updated on my progress.

Stocks and Bonds

Yesterday I wrote about a booklet that I received in the mail call "A road map to start you on a journey to financial security through saving and investing". Here is what it says about investing.

What is the difference between a stock and a bond?

A bond is a promise from a company to return money plus interest. The risk is if the company files for bankruptcy, you may not get your money back. If there is any money to be distributed, you will receive your money before any stockholders.

A Stock is an investment in a company that depends on the company profits or its reputation to having potential to increase profits. The value of the stock may go up and you will receive dividends. In this case you will receive more money than if you bought a bond. The risk is if the company does not do very well and the stock goes down. You may lose part of your investment or even all of the investment.

What about mutual funds?

A mutual fund is a pool of money that is controlled by a professional or group of professional investors. After researching many companies, the professional investors will pick the stocks or bonds of a group of companies and group them into a fund. Investors can buy shares of the fund. Their shares will increase or decrease in value depending on how the group of companies do in the market. Investors in the fund may pay a fee when they buy and sell shares in the fund. These fees pay the salaries of the professional investor(s). You can go to www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/inwsmf.htm for more information about mutual fund fees and expenses.

Do you need an investment professional?

If you have the time to really do a lot of investigation on your own on companies that you think will do well in the market and you feel you have a good understanding about investing, then no. But most of us don't take the time or want to investigate every company to make sure we pick the best companies to invest our money. I really think the subject is a little boring so I choose to leave all that to the people who enjoy it.

Tomorrow I will go into Brokers. What professional investment companies do you use?

Saving and Investing

A couple of months ago I requested some free information about saving and investing money. I finally received it through the mail a couple of weeks ago. If you go to the The Securities and Exchange Commission you can receive a bunch of information. One of the booklets that I received is "A Roadmap to start you on a journey to financial security through saving and investing".

There are two ways to make money: work for it or save it and/or invest it.

Saving money usually means putting money into a savings account, checking account, or certificate of deposit. Money is always available, but it doesn't make a lot of money from interest. But the money is safe and is insured by the FDIC, up to $100,000.00.

Investing money is a little more riskier. Putting money into bonds, stocks, mutual funds, real estate, or commodities is not insured by the FDIC and you could lose all your money. On the other hand the stock market has historically provided around 10% annual returns. For good return on your investment, you will have to invest your money for 10 to 20 years.

Investors best protect themselves against risk by spreading their money among various investments, hoping that if one investment loses money, the other investments will more than make up for the losses. This is called diversification.

Tomorrow I will go into the different investments. In the meantime you can go to the web site and order the information for yourself.

Affirmation Sunday #5

I know this is Monday, but still a holiday weekend so I thought that I would still post something for Affirmation Sunday.

Take Time

Take time to take --

the small gifts so hesitatingly offered by a friend. The proud handmade present from a child.

Take time to listen --

to the old man's too oft-told tale
to a husband's words of love

Take time to share --

a moment with a lonely soul (for loneliness shared becomes love).
a sorrow with a bereaved friend (for sorrow shared becomes comfort).

Take time to touch --

another human (which means "I care for you, I trust you").
another life (for that is what life is all about).

Take time for each other --

to dance for fun
to sing for joy
to paint or sew or create a beautiful gift

Take time to watch --

the snow swirling outside the windowpane
the flames dancing in the fireplace

Take time for gladness --

for this faltering, fumbling world is, after all, mostly good!