The Importance of a Gas Budget

I love to save money on purchases and in general. I have learned somewhere in my adulthood about being careful with money. It really started when I started blogging. I learned quickly that it wasn't always steady each month like a job outside the home. It became something I started doing very quickly. Using tools like coupons and fuel budgets are a great way to really know what you are spending. It will help you know where your gas money is going or even how much you are spending. You can easily cut down.

We budget for food, entertainment and clothes. We often forget about car related expenses like gas. Even with the lower gas prices depending on your mileage you may spend $45 each time you fill up. If you do a lot of driving that has to add up quickly. If you drive a half hour each way to work that can become expensive. Most jobs don't offer reimbursement on fuel. It's just part of having a job. The only way they will reimburse you is if you are traveling for business. I am pretty sure pizza delivery drivers aren't reimbursed for their gas while working. Hopefully they make more to factor in their fuel costs. A fuel budget is pretty important to them because they may find out that delivering pizzas is no longer worth it to them.

Making a fuel budget is really easy and can help you know what you spend on gas each month. Learn how to create a gas budget.

Saving money this Christmas

Christmas is an expensive time for everyone, so it is important that we save cash wherever we can. Here are some effective money-saving tips that will help you out this season:

Look out for store discounts

It has been reported that the UK alone will spend £10 billion pound online this year, so the total for the world is set to be astronomical - and it’s easy to see why. Compared to shopping in store, there are a range of bargains and discounts to be had online.

Before I purchase anything online, I always do a quick search for voucher codes. I simply type the name of the store and ‘discount code’ into a search engine and I can usually find some great discounts. I’ve saved so much money over the years!

Like many other people, I am looking forward to all of the Black Friday savings to be had, although I don’t think I’m quite cut out to battle through the stores. Instead, I’ll be enjoying it online. Amazon have had some pretty great discounts in the past, so I am excited to see what they’ll have to offer this year.

DIY

Shop-bought cards and gifts can be expensive, bumping up your Christmas budgets. While you will inevitably have to fork out for gifts at some point, there are some great DIY options too that could save you some cash.

Not many people send Christmas cards nowadays, but it is a nice touch especially if you are sending them to people who live far away. If you have kids like me, you could get your little ones to hand make a few cards – your friends and relatives will love the personal touch.

I’m tempted to put my computer skills to the test and try a spot of card designing on my PC. The only problem is that our printer is not very good, so I’ll need to invest in a new one before I start designing – there’s no point in having a beautiful card that I can’t send to anyone!

As United Carlton is based in the UK, I know I can’t order from there, but I have been looking on their website to get some ideas on what printer to go for. They’re printing specialists so I know that they will only recommend the best.

As you know, I love to bake and cook. I’ve found this recipe for gingerbread men online. They look delicious and the ingredients will be much cheaper to buy than ready-made ones, plus I’m sure Noah wouldn’t mind giving me a helping hand! I may even dish these out to our friends and family as extra Christmas gifts!

Four ways to cut your spending

With the economy being how it is at the moment, a little extra money to spend is something many people would welcome. If cash is tight there are a number of options available to you,such as getting a credit card or taking out a loan. But even if you do that there are other simple ways to reduce your expenditure too.

Consider where you buy

In days gone by, comparing prices meant going from shop to shop and making a note of how much an item you wanted costs. Thankfully, if you’re prepared things can be much easier these days and thanks to the internet you could almost entirely avoid the high street if you wanted to. It’s easy to compare prices online and (depending on what you want) it can be cheaper too, so always have a look before handing over your cash. If you’re shopping for a holiday then prices can vary greatly, so never settle for the first price you find. Remember too that it might be worth waiting for your credit card application to be approved, to protect your cash in case of something going wrong.

Slash your bills

Household bills can soon add up, so it’s well worth finding out if you could make savings in any way. This might be possible by switching to a new tariff, paying by direct debit or moving to a new supplier. If you’ve been with the same company for a few years then your loyalty might not be paying off, so find out what the competition has to offer.

Save money on your car

If a car is something that’s essential in your life then it’s probably an expense you have factored in to your budget. But that’s not to say you couldn’t be paying less. Shopping around for a better car insurance deal might help, but you might also like to consider car sharing when possible. This could mean sharing driving duties with work colleagues, or weighing up if your family really needs that second car.

Make days and nights out cheaper

In summer it can feel like one gathering after another and while that’s great for your social life it can take its toll on your bank balance. So instead of dining out at a restaurant, it might be worth inviting your friends over for a barbecue. That way everyone can contribute with a little food and drink and the costs can be kept to a minimum. The same applies to days out, so take a picnic to the park instead of forking out to go to the cinema.

Enter to Win a $50 Amazon.Com Gift Card from Net Worth Envy

Sometimes when I am watching TV and movies, I wonder how much certain celebrities are worth.  Just out of pure curiosity.  I love to watch The People’s Court and I know that Judge Milian buys her reading glasses at the dollar store.  I think that is awesome.  I remember looking up her net worth once.  She is fiscally responsible.  Another time I looked up how much Judge Judy is worth because she bet one of the litigants, part of her salary in a case. I was curious to just how much that would be.  Judge Judy is definitely worth a lot, because she has had her show for many years.  One of my favorite actors is George Clooney.  His net worth is 185 million dollars according to Net Worth Envy. It’s a pretty cool site where you can find out celebrities net worth and what they are spending their money on.  What kinds of cars they drive and if they own a yacht.  I have definitely bookmarked it to keep up to date.

Net Worth Envy has generously offered an awesome giveaway to Amazon. They are offering a $50 gift card.  I love Amazon, because I can pretty much find anything I could want on one site.  It’s great not to have to shop around at a ton of different stores or sites. You don’t have to pay shipping to a bunch of different places and wait for tons of packages.  It all comes bundled in one. You can usually get free shipping when you spend $25 or more. You can definitely score free shipping if you are the winner.  So hurry up and go enter to win a $50 Amazon.com Gift Card from my friends at Net Worth Envy.

ENTER TO WIN

Tips on How to Prepare for Retirement

When you get older, you start thinking about retirement. You start making bucket lists and start thinking about all the fun things you want to do.  The biggest question is "How am I going to afford it?" It depends on your employment if you receive a retirement check. You usually have to pay in to it out of your wages.  Many people have worked for most of their lives, some at the same job. My mom is a teacher and has been teaching for thirty six years. She was a teacher in Indiana for 33 of those years. So, naturally she has paid into it for a long time.  So, when she retires she will be fine. The amount of your retirement from your job will be less than your salary. It also depends on how much you paid in to it. Unless you have a high paying job that you have been at for many years, you won't be able to live on that retirement alone. I read an article on Fox Business about three insurance policies that can help pay for your retirement.

There is also Social Security. That too depends on your employment and how much you pay in to it. Social Security also isn't a big amount each month usually either. I know that some people opt for 401k's.  A 401k is retirement savings plan. The contributions are often partially or fully matched by the employer. There are also other private retirement savings plans you can save for your retirement on your own on before taxed income. Another option is an IRA which is an Individual Retirement Account. An IRA reduces your taxable income until you take it out when you are usually are in a tax bracket. You are saving for retirement and saving money by using an IRA. There is a limit of how much money you can put in an IRA a month.   I know this is all kind of confusing, thankfully my friends at Genworth has tons of information to help protect your nest egg.  Be sure to check out their Everything Retirement section.

If you are close to retirement or not, I don’t think you can be too early when you start planning. The earlier you start; the better off you will be later. Retirement is meant to be a happy and joyful experience, don't let finances take your joy away.

This post was inspired by Genworth and Brandfluential. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Handling Finances as a Single Mom

Since I am a single mom, who doesn’t receive any child support, money is really tight for me. I am fine with the fact that I don’t receive child support from my ex-husband.  It just means I have to be a little creative when it comes to spending money and planning my budget. My income can be steady or sporadic, it just depends on what I have going on.  I have learned to save for a rainy day or a rainy month.  It’s really important for me to plan for months that I may not have much money coming in.  I recently explained it to my friend as being a squirrel gathering nuts for the winter. I also use a lot of coupons, shop sales and go to the dollar store. My trips to the dollar store can be risky but I have gotten a lot better about buying random stuff. I can’t take Noah in there though; it is a disaster waiting to happen. Being a single mom is rough when you are the mom and dad. Once you throw in the financial burden it can be difficult without a plan. My good friends at Genworth have all kinds of tools that can help me plan for my present and future financial needs. I really like the Plan Workbook to help me plan long term.


 

I am happy that I am able to be home with my son and not have to worry about who will watch him after school or when he gets sick. I am pretty lucky. I feel that I would rather have this precious time with Noah than make a lot of money where I am working long hours away from him.

Someday, I would love to meet a nice guy and ultimately get married again. Daily Finance has a great article about tips to help protect your finances before you move in with someone.  After talking to some of my older friends, it is common for a husband and a wife to have separate bank accounts.  I know that sounds kind of odd. If you can’t share money, then maybe you shouldn’t get married or live together. I think it is more common when you have been married a couple times. It is extremely important not to share a bank account with the person you are living with, even if it a serious relationship. They could take all your money and be in the wind. You shouldn’t get an animal with the person you are dating.  When you want to just walk away, you are bound by doggie custody agreements and joint vet bills.  You can really lose everything you worked hard for.  Be sure to take a few extra steps to protect your assets before it is too late. Love can be blind and doesn’t always last.

This post was inspired by Genworth and Brandfluential. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Importance of Life Insurance

Before I was a mom I taught at a daycare. One of the benefits they offered was term life insurance. I was only 19 at the time so I wasn't really sure of the benefits.  I think that i signed up for every benefit they offered. It was my first experience with having my own insurance. I was always on my mom's plan. I had my mom as my beneficiary. It was for 75,000 dollars and only paid a couple dollars for it a pay  check. I teased my mom about her thinking of ways to bump me off like in the movies . My mom would never do that of course.    She loves me and I don't remember using my health insurance more than a couple times during the time I worked there.

You can get a lot of coverage for not a lot of money.  I read that if you are healthy you can get a 1,000,000 dollar policy for five dollars a month. Five dollars a month is like the price of a grande cup of coffee from Starbucks. I always like to compare things like that. If you think about it like that it will be easier to grasp. If I wanted to be like those commercials and pull out my calculator it comes out to sixteen cents a day! You can't even make a phone call or buy a gum ball for sixteen cents. The only thing I can think of that is sixteen cents is a baby root beer at a restaurant I like, which is the perfect size for Noah.  Just think how you can protect your family and provide for them with a million dollar policy for meager pocket change.

Now that I am a mom I realize the importance of having it. 

Investing in Noah's Future

Noah is starting kindergarten in the fall, where has all the time gone?  It seems like just yesterday he was a baby.  Now that I have registered him for school, and soon will be buying him school supplies and paying book rental and sending him on the bus, it has me thinking about the future. I have always thought about the future but I really need to start some kind of college fund for him so when he graduates high school, he can go to college.  I am not going to be a parent that relies on a scholarship for my son. I have faith that he is smart enough to get one but you never know.  I know that he is very advanced for his age but I need to be proactive about this.  I need to sit down and look in to investing my money in to something that can provide for Noah’s future if he goes to college or not.  I want to check out purchasing some walking liberty half dollars.  I was always told that gold and silver were both a good investment. 

My dad gave me a couple pieces of silver when I was in Jr. High and I still have them both.  I couldn’t tell you where they are, but I still have them tucked away somewhere.  I thought it was really cool that he gave them to me.  I could have sold them at a pawn shop or something, but I kept them for a rainy day. I think I might pass them down to Noah when he gets older.  You know I am big on heirlooms and by the time he is an adult, they will be over 25 years old. I know some of you might be thinking he’s only 5 now and I have time, the last 5 years has flown by so I am assuming the faster I get on the ball I am able to help him go to the college of his dreams.  He wants to be so many different things, it changes all the time so who knows what he will do with his life.  I just need to check out a company like Independent Living Bullion to start investing in Noah’s college fund while he is still young.  The longer you have the more likely you are to be able to do something like this.  I have big dreams and hopes for Noah to be whatever he wants and will help him achieve his goals in life.

Do you invest in anything? Do you have college funds for your children?