Arby's coupon

Christianbook.com special!

If you're looking for just about any Christian or inspirational book or gift, this is an excellent site to check out - some really good deals, and now check out this blurb about no shipping - yeah!!!

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Become a saver

How do you become a saver? It is hard at first, and can feel not very fun when you're starting. Once you start, though, it feels good. Less stress, less worry, more dignity, more calm. As you watch your balance grow, it becomes a little addictive and you'll want to keep going!!

Any stories you can share on this?

Boost it

How can you boost your savings?

• When you get a raise, try to save more. Aim for half!! (This is what Mary Hunt advises, though right now, with all of our costs going up, this is hard!!)
• Save the payment. When you finish paying something off, like a car loan, keep paying yourself into savings. A $330 payment saved for 5 years and invested at 6% turns into $23,470 in five years - cash for a new car!!
• Do something big. Once you start savings, do something big. Get rid of a car. Downgrade your house. Save big!

Easy Things to Do Today

1. Sell out. Go through your drawers and closets. If you're not using it, sell it on eBay or have a garage sale.
2. Give it up. If you give up a daily coffee, candy bar, cigarettes, or for me, fountain soda, it can add up. Saving $5 a day gives you $1,825 a year!
3. Think hard about driving. Cutting out 20 miles a week of driving will save about $5, or $260 a year.
4. Buy used. Check out Craig's list or even giveaway sites like Freecycle.org. It takes a little time, but can save a ton.
5. Cut the cards. It is a lot easier to spend too much money when you are using plastic (credit cards)

Watch it grow

It is said that Albert Einstein called compound interest "the eighth wonder of the world." Even in today's volatile stock market, you're better off to stash your money in some sort of interest bearing account than not. Mary Hunt gives this example: If you save $25 a week in a savings account earning 3.5% interest, and you do this faithfully through your working years from age 35, you will have $69,000.00 in your savings account when you retire at 65, even though you only deposited $39,000 of your money. If you up it to $50 a week at 6% interest you'll have $219,000 at retirement!! Wow! Even the first, conservative account, earns you $30,000 for doing nothing but not touching your money!! Makes sense - now let's do it!

Don't forget to change your clocks back one hour this Sunday!!!

Jump in and save!

A few weeks back I started sharing some of Mary Hunt's tips for saving, and I lost track of myself... Right now we can certainly use all of the help that we can get, so here we go again!

Jump in and pay yourself first. Before you pay any bills, buy groceries, do anything, put something into savings. I'd actually modify this to pay God first by tithing, then save next, but you get the idea. Even if it's less than you hoped to do, save something. Baby steps count!

Free Cappuccino!!

Penny Pincher Gazette

Hey there - just received this in an email a few days ago and wanted to share!

October 08, 2008

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Saving money by reducing energy costs - last part :)

A few more tips to wrap up this little series on reducing your energy costs...

• Think about all of the standby power being used in your home. The little green or red lights on your TV, cable box, VCR, coffeemaker, and the rest, all use power. This standby power uses between 6-30% of the average US home's electricity bill.
  
• Unplug what you're not using if it's sucking up standby power. Consider a power strip to turn off several things at once (for example: computer, monitor, printer....)
• Your computer uses up to 250 watts, so if it you leave it plugged in all of the time, but only use it about 4 hours a day, you could be wasting about $212 a year!

None of these tips are HUGE money savers, but all added together they could offer some help to the crazy bills that we'll all be facing this winter. Let me know if you have any more ideas!

A.C. Moore Coupon

Just wanted to share a coupon and some sales!

Saving money by reducing appliance costs

This article was huge - do you see why I split it up? Jam packed full of ideas from Mary Hunt about saving money on your energy bill....

Ideas on saving money on your appliance costs:

• If you're replacing your appliances, look for Energy Star-rated appliances.
• Fully load your dishwasher. It costs about $1 for each time you use it, counting soap, energy and water.
• Air dry dishes. Using the air dry option on your dishwasher can reduce its energy use by 15-50%. If you don't have this option, open the door to let it dry after the rinse cycle.
• Use the smallest appliance possible. A slow cooker or microwave uses less energy than the oven.
• Clean out the fridge. If it's too full, the air can't circulate well, and the refrigerator uses more energy to stay cool.
  

Saving money by reducing hot water costs

And more tips from Mary Hunt's article...

To save money on your water heating costs:

• Consider switching to a more efficient tankless water heater.
• Install aerating, low flow shower heads.
• Take showers instead of baths; they use less water.
• Lower the thermostat. 120 degrees is fine for most uses, including killing most bacteria and germs in the laundry. You'll save 3-5% of the cost for every 10 degrees you lower the temperature.
• Insulate your hot water storage tank (Be careful not to cover the thermostat, air intake, or flue).
• Change the laundry temperature. Using warm water instead of hot water cuts the load's energy house in half.
  

Saving money by reducing lighting costs

A few more tips from Mary Hunt's article on saving money on your energy costs, this time specifically in regards to the lighting portion of your energy bill, which typically accounts for about 20% of your electricity bill.

• Switch to CFLs. It costs about a dollar a month to run a regular 100 watt bulb for 3 hours a day. If you use a compact fluorescent bulb (CFL), that cost drops to 25 cents a month. The Department of Energy estimates that changing a quarter of your home's bulbns to CFLs could cut your lighting bill in half.
• Turn your lights off. If you'll be gone for more than 5 minutes, better to turn your lights off.
  

Saving money by reducing energy costs

I read a great article in Woman's Day, by Mary Hunt, that talked about simple ideas on ways to save money on your energy bills. I thought I'd share them here in a few bite sized chunks....

First it hit on how to save on your heating bill, normally one of the biggest energy expenses for households. Ideas?

• Apply weatherstripping - check if you need it by having a lit candle on one side of the door or window and a helper with a blowdryer on the other. If the candle blows out, you've got drafts and need to seal up!
• Insulate outlets and light switches with a specially made foam gasket.
• Turn down your thermostat. It's estimated that for every degree you turn it down for an 8 hour period each day, you can save about 2% on your bill. Try a programmable thermostat to help you remember.
• Only use exhaust fans when necessary. They can actually get rid of a houseful of warm air in about an hour, according to Habitat for Humanity.

Any other ideas that have worked for you?

"Only through focus can you do world- class things, no matter how capable you are."

Bill Gates

Pick a Goal

Another short and simple idea from Mary Hunt - pick a goal. Make it specific, realistic, and measurable. Her example: "I'm going to save $500 within the next 5 months by transferring $25 every Friday to my savings account."

Ideally, most experts recommend having 3 months' income in savings. Yikes!! I know!! Maybe aim for one week first, then one month, and so on.... She also recommends hanging a sign or some sort of reminder to help keep you on track.

Any luck with trying something like this?

Simple Cents

I was reading an article in Woman's Day the other day about saving money and thought I'd share a few tips here. My time normally comes in bite size pieces, so it will take a few posts....

First one is easy - never spend your coins! Save 'em! The author of this article, Mary Hunt (love her stuff) saved more than $1,00 in one year doing this! Think about how light your purse will be too! :)

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Saving money when homeschooling

PerX Discount Program

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Free Starbucks Coffee!!

Starbucks Offers Free Coffee for Homeschool Parents
This coming Monday, September 29, homeschool parents will be able to pick up a complimentary tall size (12 fl. oz.) cup of Pike Place Roast from Starbucks. Read more >>

Financial Bondage

I was emailed these thoughts from Dr. Jack Graham and thought them applicable to share here...

Are you in financial bondage?

If you're not sure, here's what financial bondage looks like...

1. You charge daily expenditures for the lack of funds.
2. You put off paying a bill until next month.
3. You borrow money to pay fixed expenses such as your mortgage, insurance, or energy payment.
4. You are unaware of how much you owe your creditors.
5. You have creditors calling or writing you about past-due bills.
6. You take money from savings to pay your current bills.
7. You take out new loans to pay off old loans.
8. You and your spouse argue about money.
9. You consider being dishonest about your finances.
10. You find it difficult to tithe.

If any one of these markers describes your life today, I want to offer you a word of encouragement: There is a way to escape financial bondage!

Number one, you need to confront the problem. When you have a problem, you have to be willing to be honest about it.

Number two, you need to take decisive action. As our Scripture today says, you need to have a plan if you're going to escape financial bondage. It's not just going to take care of itself on its own! This will probably involve such things as reducing your spending, putting up or tearing up your credit cards, and budgeting your income.

The last way to escape financial bondage is to focus on what you can give--not on what you can get. In Luke 6:38, Jesus says, "Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you."

If you find yourself in financial bondage, I encourage you... make the decision to free yourself today!

YOU WILL NEVER BE THE BLESSING AS GOD INTENDS AS LONG AS YOU ARE IN BONDAGE TO MONEY.

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

--Proverbs 21:5

Lack of action

This quote was probably not intended for advice regarding finances, but it really is applicable for all of life, including money stuff...

Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."
- Will Rogers

What am I doing to get on the right track, and also to get moving, in regards to my finances?

Airline cheapness

I traveled this weekend by plane, and it was a wonderful trip! I was able to find fairly priced fares, so that was very cool. I was surprised however, at the cheapness of many other things besides the fares!

Remember flying years ago and getting the little snacks and drinks and stuff? Well, in two out of four flights I had soda, half a can, and no snacks whatsoever. Yikes!!

And did you know that now, for many airlines, you can't check ANY bags without paying a fee? You have to carry on everything, which is challenging considering all of the security restrictions. I had heard that there would be fees for additional bags, which I understand, but not even one!?!

Ok, enough complaining.... Catch you soon!

Garage sale failure

We had a garage sale today and it was an abysmal failur. I had hoped to clear some clutter out of our home at the same time as making a few dollars, and when all was said and done I ended up netting about 75 cents!!! My girls did a little better, but our total was still under $20!! That's very very sad for being up and setting up by 7 am, and being outside "working" until 3:00 pm. We had signs. We ran an ad in the paper. We had eye catchers up front. We had a free box. We did it all right. It did rain all day, quite heavily at first, so I'm guessing that's what did us in. Sighhhhhh.... There is a town wide one coming up soon, so since everything is labeled and sorted, I guess we'll try once more. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Free Direct TV channels

I know the whole reason that they do this is to get you hooked on these extra channels, but it's fun when they do....

Direct TV is offering a couple of free previews this month:

	Starz® FREE Preview & Offer FREE preview 9/11-9/14. Chs. 520-533. Upgrade & get a $25 Best Buy gift card. Offer ends 10/15.

FREE SPORTS PACK Preview FREE preview 9/19-9/21. College football, hoops & more. Chs. 601-699.

	HBO® & Cinemax® FREE preview 9/5-9/8. HBO®, Chs. 501-508. Cinemax®, Chs. 512-514.

I really like free :)