Free Wendy's Frosties!!

Right now at Wendy's you can buy a coupon for $1 that will give you free frosties for the entire year with any transaction. So you could buy a dollar hamburger and get a free frosty. The lady told me that if I bought one hamburger I could get six free frosties. (I bought six of these coupons.)

I was also told that they only do this at the beginning of the year and only offer 2,000 per store. I bought mine yesterday. She told me that they were selling about 100/day and they only had 1,000 left. So hurry in for a great deal!

*I went to the Wendy's in Royersford.

Something Scary

Two days ago it was time to take the girls to the bus stop. I went out to start the van....It wouldn't start. I had left the DVD player plugged in - and running- the day before. (I know, not smart.) The kids got a ride from a neighbor and I was left facing one thing I have been dreading for my entire life - jump starting my car.

I finally HAD to do it. There were errands I had to run, binders I had to ship. The men on the street were gone to work. It was just me and the van battery.

I was scared but decided I was bigger than this fear. Guess what? I did it and it really wasn't that bad!!

My challenge to you - Learn or do something that has been haunting you. You will feel so empowered!

Budgeting Class

Okay readers here is an opportunity to see me in the flesh. (Well not all the way in the flesh, but at least in person :). I am going to be teaching a class on budgeting and you are invited. Here are the details.

When: Wed., Jan. 27,2009

Where: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building

2530 Stinson Lane

Norristown, PA

Time: 7:00-9 or 9:30 pm depending on how many questions there are.

Fee: FREE - my favorite word.

Details: My Husband, Marcus, and I will be going through how to set up and execute (not kill, but to make it work) a budget. It is encouraged, not necessary, that couples attend. Or come by yourself if you don't have a significant other. However, NO babysitting will be offered. (even I have to hire a sitter.)

We will be offering a budgetcomputer program that can help you in setting up your budget. The cost for that will be $1 to cover the cost of the cd. I am also hoping to be able to offer some of the budget tools we will be talking about. Since I haven't seen anything like them, I have to manufacture them. I have no idea how much they will cost or if I will have the time. But hopefully they won't be more than $25. (I am only charging for the materials.) If you are interested, please bring cash. Also, hopefully they will be simple enough that you can make them yourselves as well.

If you are planning on coming. Please reply in the comments area. I want to make sure that we have enough chairs and a room big enough.

*Do you know how hard it is to find a picture with just Marcus and me? Usually I am the one behind the camera. Luckily, I did find one. Isn't he cute? When he isn't squinting he is even cuter. :)

How to Lower Bills part 2 - fixed Bills- car insurance

Yesterday, I was telling my DH about the cutting bills question and my answer. A funny thing happened. My first response to the cutting bills question had to do with variable expenses - ones that fluctuate. His first response was on fixed expenses - utilities, insurance, mortgage, etc. We had a good laugh because he is in charge of fixed and I am in charge of variable expenses in our family so we saw that question in a different light.

However, as I have been mulling this over, I think that in many instances - not all- that they can be handled in the same way. Keep in mind the questions 1. Is it possible to do this cheaper? 2. How?

Let's take a look at a bill that is considered more fixed. Car insurance. Let's use the questions. Is it possible to do this cheaper? Yes. I know you may not believe me but it is true. How? Keep reading.

Did you know that with one phone call, your insurance agent can lower your insurance rate? No lie. You just call them up, tell them you are looking around, and if they want to keep your business that they better give you a more competitive rate.

We did it, and had our agent scrambling. She got quotes from several other companies that she uses. We even found out that Nationwide started another company, with a completely different name, for the purpose of offering cheaper insurance! I'm not lying.

When you throw in a multiple car discount along with a home insurance policy, you can get even better rates. If you have teenagers, the good student discount helps out a lot. Also, driving in such a way that you don't get tickets or in accidents is very cost effective.

Here is another tidbit you may not know. If you go on vacation, you can call your insurance company and uninsure your car for the time you are gone. We had a car that we weren't driving anymore, so we didn't need the collision and liability insurances. We did want it insured in case it was vandalized or stolen. So for $7/mo. we were able to get those things covered.

So then you ask, can I get it cheaper? yes. How? Share a car, and the expenses, with someone. You could also drive older cars that are cheaper to insure. Or, you could give up your car all together and ride public transit or get a bike. Your cost is free, after the bike. But you could probably get a bike for free too. (Not that I am saying this is very viable for most Americans, but it is a possibility.)

I am convinced that with most things there is always a way to get it cheaper, even a little bit. It just takes a bit of asking and information.

**Real story. My dad used to sell insurance. I was his summer secretary so I saw a lot of people come in and out of his office. One time, I heard my father quote a man $700/mo. for car insurance. I couldn't believe it. I asked my dad if the company really wanted that much for insurance. My dad said that he had some leeway with the quotes he gave.

He knew this guy's car was impounded for D.U.I. and not being uninsured. This guy was trying to get his car out and needed to show proof of insurance. He also didn't want to shop around for multiple quotes. My dad knew that this guy was a huge risk and that after one month would default on his policy. Not a good thing for the company or my dad's commission.

So my dad jacked up the price and figured if the guy wanted it badly enough from him he would pay a lot of money, and the company would make some money for taking the risk. You know what? That guy paid it and the exact thing happened that my dad said would happen.

My point with all of this is that your insurance agent has more power then they let on. It takes a little nudging a.k.a negotiating, shopping around, being informed, and being willing to walk. But it is worth it. It could save you hundreds of dollars every year.

**The picture is of my brother-in-law. Pretty funny huh?

My Life on Film

The holidays are over, our family has left, the cold I have been running from all week has finally caught up with me, and I wanted to chill. I did something I rarely do, I sat in bed and watched a movie - Julie and Julia.

I thought I was settling into a movie about cooking. Strangely though, as the movie developed, I felt like so much of me was playing out before my eyes. A tall woman, with short curly hair. A big personality that LOVES people. And so competitive it drives her to do things that other people either say are impossible, or that they can't believe you are doing that particular thing. Sometimes I can't believe it and sometimes I drive even myself crazy.

Then there is a husband that is shorter than you, especially when you wear heels. He is so sweet and supportive that he not only puts up with the craziness of what you are doing, but actually encourages it. He listens and gets excited when you show him your latest trash find, or tell him how much you saved on groceries. He even helps clip and organize the coupons. And you are crazy in love to boot. (Only my hubby still has his hair and prefers no facial hair.)

You are driven by a passion that shapes your life into something you never thought it would be. You want to teach it to others so that their lives can be fuller too. For Julia it was cooking, for me it is frugal living.

There is also a blog. You want your ideas to be heard so you put them out into cyberspace. Hoping that someone will read them - and appreciate them. You think, "How hard can it really be?" and start to type.

Then you realize that it takes TONS of time and wonder if anyone is even reading it. And is it worth the time? Still, my mind mulls continually about what to write. What nugget of frugality can I possibly share that will make a difference in someone else's life?

And even if I don't have a ton of readers I will continue to write. I will write for my daughters. This will be the place where I write down the things I wish my mother would have taught me. I don't want time to dim the information that has been so powerful in my own life.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to have a ton of followers (and if you read this, please sign up :), but I think I have come to realize that I blog because I have a passion for what I do. I LOVE TO SAVE MONEY and I LOVE PEOPLE and I LOVE TO TEACH.

But for now I must go. It is 11 pm and I should have been asleep two hours ago to help with this cold.

Good Night.

Allowance

This is a post I am really excited to write. I get questions all the time about allowance. Also, being a teacher, I get excited about teaching my kids about the almighty dollar.

First, after talking to many people and reading books on allowance, we decided NOT to have allowance tied to chores. Our kids are expected to help around the house because they live here, not because they get paid to do them. Also, it only takes one time of them deciding they don't want allowance, and the chore thing goes out the window, and a fight ensues.

We also decided that for them to learn how to manage money, they had to have it in hand. Just like if you want them to read they need a book in hand. So we give them $1 per month for every year old they are. So DD1 now gets $8/mo., DD2 $6/mo., DD3 nothing (allowance doesn't start until Kindergarten. It also ends at age 12 when they are old enough to get babysitting jobs.) If they want to earn more money, there are extra chores they can do as well.

When do we do this? In a perfect world we would get to it the beginning of every month. However that doesn't always happen. In fact sometimes we miss a month entirely. HOWEVER, there are consequences for us as parents if we go past the 15th of the month. We PAY a late fee of $1. Our girls LOVE this. In fact they won't hound for allowance because they hope that we are late. We use this to teach them that it costs you more money if you are late paying your bills.

I also want to add in here that we do some things in extremes in this system - like paying a $1 late fee. That is a big percentage. We also match their savings by 100% - another big percentage. I think this helps them understand the concepts better and gets them excited about the rules of investing.

So HOW do we do this? They each have a little bank that we got from this link http://deseretbook.com/store/product/5007477. We start out by giving them in $1 bills their entire allowance. Then they give us back a dollar, we give them change so that they can pay tithing - 10% of their gross income. They put that into their slot. I am going to start to have them fill out their tithing slip right there so that it is sure to make it to church.

Next is savings. Same thing as for Tithing. They are required to save 10% and then we match it 100% as above. We show them as they put their money in their bank, that then we are putting in the same amount of money. Again the extreme, but we want them to learn that when you invest money, you make money. (I am thinking about upping this percentage to 20%. They both have quite a bit of money now, and I think they can manage this.)

Last is their fun money. This is what they get to spend. They love this and so do I. If they want a toy, great, if they can afford it, they can have it! No more fights in Target no more whining for other things either. It is also funny, they DON'T want to buy stuff at Target. They want to go to the thrift store or yard saling because they understand they get more for their money that way.

Also, they have a paper in their bank, where they keep track of their expenditures, investments, and tithing. This way it trains them to keep track - and be aware- of their spending.

What about borrowing? Sometimes, they don't have their money when they want something. Fine, they can borrow some money. However, if they don't pay me back RIGHT when we get home, they owe ME a late fee (just like a credit card). Their interest is $0.25. This is the same if they borrow money from each other.

Sometimes I borrow money/cash from them because I rarely carry cash. I then owe them the $0.25 borrowing fee. I LOVE that the rules go both ways. That means no whining about when things don't go your way. The rules apply to everyone.

If they borrow money because they are completely out of money, they would be charged a 100% fee for that. So if they want $5 for a movie, by the next Sat. they would be required to pay me $10. We haven't hit that yet, but I am sure we will someday. Again, an extreme, to make it hurt to borrow, and spend, money when you don't have it in the first place.

We do have some money charges tied into chores if they don't do them and I have to do them. They pay me a cleaning fee. But I will blog about that in my chore section.

I got most of these ideas from a book called The Parenting Breakthrough by Merrilee Boyack. It is written for an LDS audience, however no matter what faith you are, the ideas are easily transferrable. This woman is AMAZING at what her kids know by the time they are 18. Here is the link http://deseretbook.com/store/search?query=the+parenting+breakthrough. Both the tin and the book are from the same website so you can save on shipping. This book is in my permanent library of parenting books. I would pay twice the full price for this book. That is how much I LOVE it.

One other thing. How do the girls like this? They LOVE it. It is so fun to hear them say, "They want $10 for that? That is waaay to much. or I will just get one at the Thrift store." They understand that it costs a lot of money to eat out and if you run out of money you have to wait until the next pay period.

They are sooo money savvy it makes me laugh. The next step is teaching them about investments, but I need to learn more about them myself before we head into that territory :)

How to Lower Your Bills - Clothing

This is the next part of my reader's question, "How do I lower my bills?" Without knowing the specific bills you want to cut, I can only give general info on this one. (Please let me know specific bills you want to cut.)

There are two questions to ask your self when trying to lower a specific expense. 1. Is it possible or have I already slashed this as low as I can? 2. If it is possible, HOW can I do it?

The HOW is where you need to think about it from many different angles and be open to possibilities that aren't mainstream and some you may not be totally comfortable with at the beginning.

Also keep in mind the Three E Rule. Look at my older post at this link for the specifics. http://thecouponbinder.blogspot.com/2009/06/three-e-rule.html

Let's do an example...Clothing.

Most Americans buy their clothes from a department store of some kind. We'll call this retail. Now there are different levels of retail. Full price, sales price, and clearance rack. If you want to keep buying your clothes from a retailer, those are the levels you have to choose from. Each step down will take a little more patience to find the style and fit you want and work in terms of going to the store more often or going and not buying anything because it isn't in your price range, but your savings will increase with each step down.

You can also get an additional discount if you actually work at a specific store. This would also allow you to see the items on the clearance rack before the customers do and it will get you to the store everyday. So if you are REALLY into brand new clothes - especially a specific brand, this might be a good idea for you.

Now if I were at the retail level, let's even say the clearance rack level. I need to ask myself, "Is it possible to get this cheaper? If so, HOW?"

YES I can get clothes cheaper. HOW? By going the next tier down. Thrift Stores. This is a bit more work then retail, but again, the savings will increase. Here, there are no guarantees that you will find what you need at that moment. But if you don't have specifics in mind and are willing to wait to find the fit and style you want, this is a great option. Again, if you are into having many clothes to wear, you will need to go on a consistent basis. Or you can drop your expectations.

This is a step that a lot of people aren't comfortable with. I know I wasn't for a LONG time. I wasn't raised "Thriftin' " (a term my friends and I use). It took a good friend that I looked up to, to introduce me to this realm. Funny thing, she actually has more money than I do. I figured if she could do it, so could I.

We also turned it into a game. It was time we could spend together, shopping for our families, and when we found a good deal we both get excited. If something is over priced we say out loud across the store, "Really? $5 for this?!! Waaay overpriced!" We also laugh at the goofy stuff you find there. So there is an entertainment factor as well.

Now again the question, "Is it possible to do this cheaper? HOW?"

YES, cheaper is possible. Yard sales. It took another friend to get me to dive even deeper. I wasn't completely comfortable with this realm because you had to negotiate and I didn't know the market prices for yard sales. Again, there is a bit more work at this level as compared to the levels above it, but your savings increase again.

There is also fun in this because negotiating is SO MUCH FUN!! Many people (women especially) are afraid of it, but it is so empowering! And what better place to learn it when there are only a couple of dollars riding on it. Better to learn it here then when you want to buy a house or car.

So this level actually can give you skills to save money in other realms. Also, when you see how much things depreciate it turns you off to buying ANYTHING new ever again. (In the spring I will be posting more on yard sale tips so stay tuned for that.)

Now again the questions, "Is it possible to do this cheaper? HOW?"

FREE. HOW? People give us clothes for free and I LOVE this, so do my girls. I have a reputation for being super frugal - which is true. People know that we will accept all donations without feeling like we are a charity case. In fact we are VERY grateful and try to thank the giver profusely. When we wear a given item, we also make it a point to show the giver we are wearing it, (if it works out that way). Or I will make it a point to tell them how much we are enjoying it and how cute the girls look.

If someone is thinking about giving something to the thrift store, they will ask us first if we can use it. I will always say yes. It is better to go through a bunch of stuff, find a few items you can use, and then donate the rest. It also means I will make the thrift store run instead of the person who gave us the stuff, but I think that is a fair trade off. (I have to say with clothes we keep most of them.)

We don't have a lot of outfits that are the cutesy matching kind. But our oldest in is 2nd grade and the kids aren't really into fashion yet. I have been to her classroom and she looks just the same as everyone else.

Some people won't be comfortable with getting other people's cast offs and that is okay. However, try to do something that stretches you. I had to go through every step down this ladder one at a time. Each one stretched me and I learned great skills in all of them.

Now again the question, "Is it possible to do this cheaper? HOW?"

No, it is not possible to do this cheaper than FREE and this is where it ends. Merry Christmas!