More Ways to Save on Travel

The Internet is home to a myriad of travel aggregator sites, which allow you to comparison shop and hopefully walk away with a decent price on airfare, car rentals or accommodations. However, there is a lot more to finding the best price available than following the prompts on one of these mass-marketed sites. If you really want to save a bundle on travel expenses, you should follow the advice of people in the know. Travel experts often share valuable money-saving tips in an effort to help fellow vacationers stretch their dollars. Some of the best travel-related tips I’ve received and … Continue reading

Need Extra Cash? Sell Your Wedding Dress!

Weddings are expensive. We can pay upwards of thousands of dollars for our wedding dresses, which we wear once (okay, maybe a few times, if we do bridal pictures and have multiple receptions) and then they hang in our closets or sit in storage. Then financial trials come along, and we wonder how to pay off the new bills. Have you ever considered selling your wedding dress? Other brides are in need of beautiful dresses, and they’d be more than happy to save some money and purchase a gently used gown. You can do this in a number of different … Continue reading

Finding Extra Cash In New Ways

Is there any better feeling than cleaning out a coat pocket or fishing through a jean pocket, and pulling out a five, ten or twenty dollar bill, that you forgot was there. It’s like “found” cash. I have a rule on laundry day. If I open the washing machine, dryer or empty out a pocket with money in it, its mine. The last time I turned in the change and dollars I had found in the laundry, which I keep in a small bucket on my laundry shelf, I had accumulated $65.00 in about four months time. That is just … Continue reading

Can Sweepstakes Get You Out of Debt?

As you look at your pile of bills, at the roof that needs to be fixed, at the fact that at least one of your children may need braces, do you dream of winning a big dollar sweepstakes that would take care of your problem? For “sweepers,” those who make a hobby, or even a living, out of entering sweepstakes, the dream may not be so far from a reality. Entering sweepstakes can pay off and may even be able to get you out of debt, if you don’t spend more than you win, if you apply the bulk of … Continue reading

How to Score Big Savings on the Road

  When you are looking for ways to reduce travel expenses start small.  You may be surprised to see that in no time those minor moves can add up to big savings. Here are a few simple money-saving tips to get you started: Stay at a hotel that offers complimentary breakfast, and then take an extra apple, banana, yogurt or granola bar to eat as a mid-afternoon or late-night snack.  It beats spending additional money feeding the vending machine or calling room service when you get hungry later in the day. Bypass big city restaurants and dine at a cheaper … Continue reading

How to Use Garage Sales to Get Out of Debt

Garage sales can help you get out of debt in at least two major ways. Learn how you can use this staple of American culture to your advantage, as you pay down your bills and obtain financial freedom. Dave Ramsey, financial guru, once said to get out of debt he held a garage sale, selling so much that his kids thought they were going to be next. While this may seem like an extreme thing to do, the fact is that it is a good strategy to use in your arsenal of tools that will get you out of debt. … Continue reading

Summer Bonding

Who says you have to fork over thousands of dollars or travel hundreds of miles to strengthen the parent/child bond? During the summer months, many moms and dads feel obligated to spend an exorbitant amount of money on fancy vacations in an effort to build a better relationship with their children. However, child psychologists say the best gift you can give your child while he or she is out of school is good old fashion time. Instead of handing over a wad of cash to your kid and letting him run amuck at the mall while you get some chores … Continue reading

Get Serious About Saving

Saving money; it’s much easier said than done, especially in today’s slumping economy. With the talk of recession, depression and compression of funds in the news every day, there seems to be no shortage of financial experts providing tips on how to make pinching pennies pay off big time. But, here’s the thing about money gurus telling middle-class Americans that they should be socking away a third of their paychecks each month in order to create an emergency fund to use should some economic crises befall their family. If you are just scraping by as it is, there is no … Continue reading

Money Strategies That Worked in Our Marriage

Today I’ll tell you some ways we approached the money issue in marriage. Mick and I always worked out our finances together. There were no secrets, except for the ones around Christmas, anniversary or birthdays. The main thing is to work out a budget and stick to it. But each person should have a little mad money they didn’t have to explain. This can be spent on clothes, saved for gifts, or used for whatever. Shop less regularly for groceries. We grocery shop once a month. Unfortunately fruit and vegetables have to be more often but stick to only that. … Continue reading

Don’t Become Frugal Obsessed

When it comes to frugal living, some of us have a dirty little secret. Or perhaps it isn’t as secret as we might think. Sometimes people can become so obsessed by living a frugal life style that it completely takes over everything that we do. Sometimes we wind up missing out on life’s wonder because we are too stressed out about saving each little penny. Being good stewards of our money is one thing, but we also have to keep things in perspective. Frugal living, challenging ourselves to get great bargains and save as much money as we can, can … Continue reading