Trash to Cash

When we bought the Casual Shack my husband and I had to combine two households.  We had two of everything, 2 sets of dishes, 2 irons and on and on.  In addition to that, my husband liked to save stuff "just in case".  That tendency really comes in handy at times but when you're trying to cram 2000 square feet of stuff into a 1000 square foot house you find you don't need 3 Weed Whackers anymore and somethings gotta give.  This led to our first yard sale.  

That first year I did the yard sale by myself over a 3 day period.  We had that much stuff!  We rigged a rope from a tree to the fence to hang clothes on.  We used milk crates and trash cans with doors on top for tables.  We had everything you could imagine out there.   People came and they bought and they bought.  It was crazy busy and though my husband helped me set up the tables and put the big stuff out once things got going I was on my own.  BIG MISTAKE!  People everywhere asking for prices, haggling, wondering if I had this or that and best of all, shoving money in my hand.  They were buying things that I had almost thrown out thinking "who in their right mind would want that piece of junk".  Good thing I didn't as we made over $1400 that year.  We used the money to buy dining room chairs and new window treatments along with some other things we needed for the house.

Of course that wasn't $1400 profit.  I'd say only about 10% of that first sale was "found stuff" that we didn't have a monetary investment in.  That 10% came from seeing something on the curb and bringing it home or someone moving and asking "hey, you want this?" but it wasn't something we were focused on doing.  

Shortly thereafter as I was jogging one evening, I saw a mountain of stuff on the curb in front of a house that had a yard sale the previous weekend.  As I jogged home and passed it again I realized I was looking at what we now refer to as an "Instant Yard Sale".  We filled up the pickup truck, brought it home and sorted through it.  I could see from the pricing why they didn't sell much.  I put new prices on everything and we stored it in the garage for the following year.  By the time we got to the next sale our ratio of "our stuff" to "found stuff" was probably closer to 50/50. 

My husband helped with the second sale.  We found it's much easier to haggle when you don't have a dime in it and again we made over $1000 allowing us to buy my husband a fancy riding lawn mower.  We were even able to upgrade to real tables, no more makeshift door tables for us.

We lucked into another "instant yard sale" for our next sale pushing our "found stuff" to "our stuff" ratio to about 80/20.  I find we are a little more likely to watch for treasures on the street now.  It amazes me what people throw away, it amazes me more what people will buy if you price it low enough.

Because of the success of our last two sales, we've decided to continue having it the same weekend every year in February.  As we get closer to that time, I'll be posting my tips for a successful yard sale.  Right now, I need to get back to the garage to finish cleaning and pricing our latest finds.


 

Learn to say no

At one point or another anyone trying to follow a budget will be faced with choosing between being true to their financial plan or giving in to the pressure of others. 

Perhaps a friend wants to try an expensive new restaurant but your eating out budget couldn't cover the tip, what would you do?  Though you may be tempted to go you would probably spend the evening miserable knowing you are spending money you really don't have.  It's okay to say no. Simply tell them it isn't in your budget and suggest an alternative you can afford.  Search the Internet for things to do in your area such as free admission days to local museums or perhaps pack a lunch to eat at the local park.  If spending quality time with your friends requires overspending your budget consider finding new friends.

Work is another place that may leave you feeling pressured.  Well meaning employees always seem to be asking you to contribute to a workplace collection.  You don't have to give just because you are asked.  It's not a requirement of the job.  If not participating makes you feel uncomfortable budget a set amount for such collections, giving only what you can afford.  If someone accuses you of being "cheap" tell them you are on a budget and this is what you can afford.  Gift giving should be because you want to, not because you feel you have to.  I would much rather get a gift that cost the giver nothing yet came from the heart rather than get an expensive gift given from a sense of obligation. 

The only people who should get a say in how you spend your money are you and those in your household.  This is your personal finance, don't let the wishes of others dictate where your money goes.  As you realize the benefits of sticking to your budget, saying no will get a whole lot easier.




 

The shopping report, what I saved today!

I do my grocery shopping once per week.  I do a circuit of three different stores.  It starts at Walgreen's, then next door to CVS, culminating at Winn-Dixie.  There are only two chain grocery stores in my area.  Winn-Dixie is 7 miles away, Publix is 20 miles away.  To save time and gas I have opted to stick to one store and make the best of what they have to offer.   It does hinder my savings potential but it's the price we pay for living on a rock in the middle of the ocean.

Here's what I need to prepare for my weekly shopping trip:

 

 

Each Saturday I buy 4 Early Edition Sunday papers giving me 4 sets of coupons.  By buying the early edition I spend $4.00 each week as opposed to the $8.00 I would spend buying the Sunday edition.  Some people use more coupons but I find 4 is my magic number, anything more for me and my often hectic schedule would be overwhelming.

From those papers I pull out the coupon inserts and the ads for the stores I'll be visiting.  To clip the coupons I seperate them into single pages, stacking each like page together.  I then cut four like coupons simultaneously.  After cutting I take each stack of 4 coupons and file them into my coupon binder.  My binder is divided alphabetically.  I don't over categorize things, I like to keep it as simple as possible.  For example, the "F" section has fruit and frozen foods, the "M" section would have meat as well as medicine.  It's just easier for me to remember things that way.  If I try to micromanage my coupons I'll forget where I filed them and invariably waste them. 

After organizing the coupons it's time to make my list.  In addition to the items we need I like to check the ads for deals on items we might be running low on in the near future.  By buying extra and stockpiling when an item is at a great price I avoid having to pay full price on an item because we ran out of it.

For the CVS and Walgreens list I like to visit a site called HIP2SAVE.  There are many sites that can help you to find the best sales and coupon combinations but I like this one because for me it's extremely user friendly.  The site name is pretty cool too. 

As I make my lists, yep there's 3 of them, I look for buy one get one deals for products I use.  If I have a manufacturer coupon for the item I'm sweetening the deal.  The preparation process, start to finish, usually takes me about 2 hours.  Once my lists is done it's off to the store. 

After about 2 hours of shopping, I came home with this:

It's hard to see what's in the picture so here's a list:
4        Mrs. Smith's deep dish pies
2        Cool Whip
1        8 oz Philadelphia cream cheese
1        1/2 gallon whole milk
1        cucumber
3lbs.  sweet potatoes
2        32oz Kraft mayonaisse (with bonus Shake n Bake!)
2        boxes Stove Top Stuffing
4        Ritz Fresh Stack crackers
20      large cans Alpo Chop Filet dog food
4        cans Campbell's turkey gravy
2        packets McCormick brown gravy
1        McCormick Gourmet Chicken Rub
4        cans DelMonte vegetables
4        2 liter Diet Coke
2        15 pound frozen turkeys
6        6 oz cans Bumble Bee white chicken
2        Lady Mitchum antiperspirant
4        2 liter Mountain Dew
4        2 liter Diet Pepsi
2        12 packs Mountain Dew
5        12 packs Diet Pepsi              (yes, we drink too much soda at the casual shack)
2         2.8oz French's french fried onions
1        box Kraft Mac n Cheese
1        32 oz bottle Powerade
1        Phillips universal remote control
1        Easyfeet
1        Starbucks doubleshot
1        Starbucks refresher
1        Thermacare back wrap
1        Finesse shampoo
1        Advil 10count
1        Kotex U panty liner 18 count
1        1.25 liter Diet Coke
1        box Nature Valley Protein granola bars
1        Carmex lip balm
1        roll Charmin Basic

That's a lot of stuff. 

AT CVS I spent $45.02, saved $34.16 for a savings of 43%
At Walgreen's I spent $30.75, saved $33.00 for a savings of 52%
At Winn Dixie I spent $75.69, saved $90.06 for a savings of 54%.

My out of pocket for all three stores and the 4 newspapers was $155.46.  I saved a total of $157.22 using $11.05 worth of manufacturers coupons and taking advantage of sales.  That's a total savings percentage this week of 50%.

50% sounds good, right?  It gets better! 

Cash back!!  That's right, both CVS and Walgreens gave me coupons good toward future purchase.  At CVS I received 16 Extra Buck rewards totalling $32.92!  At Walgreens I got one for $4.00.  I will use these as cash toward my shopping trip next week and report back here as to how I'm going to maximize this $36.

But wait there's more!  Remember the Universal Remote and the Easyfeet in the list?  I don't need either of those items but by buying them I got an equal amount of Extra Bucks so in the cart they went.  I'll put both these items into the annual Trash to Cash yard sale for a potential additional $10 in my pocket.

So there you have it, $312.68 worth of products, $155.46 out of pocket, a 50% savings with a bonus of $36.92 in register rewards and 2 items for the yard sale.

Life really is good, keep it casual!

The benefits of paying extra on your mortgage

Our single biggest financial focus is to pay off the house before we retire.  We have a lofty goal of reducing our 30 year mortgage to just under 9 years.  We bought the Casual Shack in the summer of 2009 taking advantage of a short sale. To date we have made 41 monthly payments and have reduced our mortgage term by 71 months.   That means if we only make minimum mortgage payments from here on out we will pay it off almost 6 years early and have already saved close to $58,000 in future interest payments.  $58,000!!

The purchase price of our house was $200,000.  If we didn’t pay extra over the life of the loan our house would have cost $405,000. At this point, with no further additional principal payments the Casual Shack will cost $347,000.  That’s still too much.  If we reach our 9 year payoff goal our house will cost us $261,000 which is close to market value for this area, saving us $144,000 in interest payments. We can live with that. 

In order to do this we have sent an additional payment every month since the first payment.  Sometimes a lot, sometimes a little, dependent upon our extra income and unexpected expenditures.

You don’t need to add thousands of dollars to your monthly payment to make a difference.  Had we only added $100 per month, every month consistently we would still have saved $42,000 over the life of the loan and reduced the payment term by 64 payments.  That’s $42,000 that can stay in your pocket and over 5 years early!  These figures are based on our loan and its interest rate so the numbers will vary.  Here's a link to an Amortization calculator to see how much you can save by adding that little bit extra. 

I don’t know if we’ll reach our goal of owning our house by May 2018.  I do know that we have already deprived the big bank of $58,000 of our hard earned money.

Making the most of Holiday shopping on the internet

Black Friday is not what it used to be.  More and more shoppers are opting to sit in their jammies shopping online as opposed to waiting in line for hours and fighting for one of a limited supply of the hottest toy or electronics item.  Online stores have responded with huge discounts referring to the Monday after Thanksgiving as Cyber Monday.  Last year I picked up some awesome bargains on Thanksgiving Day.

You can optimize your online holiday savings by shopping through a portal such as ShopatHome.com and Ebates.com.  Simply register with them, search the list for the store you want and click on the “coupon”.  You will then be redirected to the store you have chosen.   After completing your purchase you will be credited for the percentage offered in the deal you chose.   I’ve gotten rebates ranging from 3% to 8%.  We purchased a riding lawn mower last year through ShopatHome.com, we received a check for $120.00 and we got free freight delivery directly to our door.  In addition, we used our cash rewards credit card and received an additional 1.25% cash back on top of that. 

Check with your bank and major credit card, they may also offer a shopping portal with a cash rebate. 

Whichever way you choose to do your holiday shopping remember to gift from the heart and keep to your budget!

When your credit card puts money in your pocket

Several years ago I realized that carrying a balance on my credit cards was detrimental to my financial health.   Over the course of two years I paid off over $20,000 in credit card and auto loan debt.  Since then I have not carried a balance on a credit card.  I cut up most of those credit cards believing that cash was the only way to go.   I worked out a budget and a spending/savings plan and attempted to make the transition to a cash only lifestyle.  This didn’t work out so well for me.  You see, if I have money in my wallet, I’ll spend it.  It’s a mind game for me, if I don’t see it, I don’t have it to spend, simple as that.  So in order for me to stick to a budget I needed a credit card because I knew that I had to pay it off each month and I could be disciplined enough to not go over my set spending limit.  If you are the opposite of me, and are more disciplined using cash, then please do not attempt this.

My favorite credit card is Blue from American Express.  There are many cash rewards out there, go to a site such as bankrate.com to find one that has reward levels suited to your spending.  Look for a card that has no annual fee and gives a percentage of cash back for all purchases.  Some cards require that you register for that quarters’ deals.  I tried one of those and invariably would forget to re-register each quarter.

We use this card for all of our budgeted monthly purchases and pay the balance in full each month.  Our electric, water, cell phone and television services are all automatically billed to this card.  We use it at the grocery store, gas station, pharmacy and even put Doctor and Veterinarian visits on it. The important thing to remember is if it’s not in the budget, it doesn’t go on the card.

By using the credit card in this way we have been able to redeem cash rewards which we can apply to our current savings goals.

 

If you want to be rewarded remember these three points:

1.        Get a card with NO ANNUAL FEE

2.       Use the card ONLY FOR BUDGETED PURCHASES

3.       Pay in full each month, NEVER CARRY A BALANCE

 

See a penny, pick it up!

It amazes me that there are people who would be embarrassed to pick up a penny if they saw one on the ground, yet if it were a greenback they wouldn’t hesitate.  I’m not one of those people.  In fact, I love “found money”, it’s a form of extra income.  Pennies add up to nickels, nickels add up to dimes, dimes add up to quarters and on and on.  Before you know it, you’ve got a dollar.  It may not be a paper dollar, but a dollar is a dollar, no matter the form.

Just today I picked up 3 dimes and a penny.  That’s 31 cents I didn’t have when I got up this morning.  Let’s say that on average I pick up $1 per week and I throw that change in a jar.  After 3 months I would have $12.

I then deposit that $12 into a savings account.  I deposit an additional $12 every 3 months.  Currently my savings account is earning a paltry .80%.  The compounding would look like this over a five year period:

Starting amount				$12.00
Years				5 years.
Additional contributions				$12.00 per quarter
Rate of return				0.80% compounded annually
Total amount you will have contributed				$252.00
Total interest				$6
Total at end of investment				$257.57
Year	Additions	Interest		Balance
Start	$12			$12
1	$48.00	$0.34		$60.34
2	$48.00	$0.72		$109.06
3	$48.00	$1.11		$158.17
4	$48.00	$1.50		$207.67
5	$48.00	$1.90		$257.57

 

As you can see, I would have accumulated $257.57 after 5 years.  All for picking up $1 worth of loose change that I saw lying on the ground.  Free money!  Who doesn’t love free money? 

To all those people who will only pick up paper money I say thank you for leaving more for me!

Pets and Prescriptions

Two furballs live at the Casual Shack.  While they both provide endless love and amusement they also bring a multitude of added expenses.  

Princess

and Zip

Two dogs with a combined weight of 155 pounds eat a lot of food.  Caring for these two fur factories doesn't stop at food, sometimes pets get sick, in our case really sick.  

A few years ago Princess got an infection known as Pyometra, which means her uterus got infected.  While preparing her for a hysterectomy a bladder stone the size of a quarter was found.  The poor thing was a mess.  Because of the bladder stone she will require medication to control her PH balance for the rest of her life.  Fast forward to this year.  During her routine annual check up we learned that our little girl has Lymphoma.  We had two choices.  Choice #1 Surgery to remove her tumor infested spleen followed by Chemotherapy or #2 Put her down.  We opted for #1, take a look at her again, could you end her life?  We couldn't.

Chemotherapy is expensive, not as expensive as people Chemo but it's a huge chunk of change which would challenge anyone's budget.  Here's where the money saving tip comes in.  

Just because your Vet prescribes a medication for your pet does not mean you have to buy it from them.  You have options.  Pets take antibiotics, people take antibiotics, there's no difference in the drugs other than the word Canine on the label which means you can go to any pharmacy with a free antibiotic program to get them.  In our case it's our grocery store.  We do not pay for antibiotics for our dogs when we ask the Vet to call the prescription into our local grocery store.  The vet charged us $1.67 for 1.5 Ciprofloxacin pills, Publix gave me 21 pills for free.  That's a savings of $23.31.

Your second option is purchasing online.  Due to the Chemo we can expect Princess to stop eating due to nausea within 36 hours.  To prevent this we give her Metoclopramide.  Metoclopramide at Walgreen's cost us 11.99 for 24 pills.  That's close to .50 each pill.  By ordering through 1800Petmeds I was able to reduce that cost to .29 per pill.  A simple internet search will yield many other online pet supply stores.

Don't be afraid to tell your Vet that you want to explore less expensive options when it comes to prescriptions for your pet.  Princess' doctor was not aware that the first anti nausea drug she prescribed cost 69.83 for 12 pills, just a 3 day supply. When I asked for a less expensive alternative she suggested the Metoclopramide which works for our dog.  

This advice applies to Heartworm medication, pill pockets, specialty foods and any other item your Veterinarian may be selling in their office.

$23 here, .21 a pill there may not seem like much but in our case it's the small change that adds up to the big reward.  At the Casual Shack the reward is a happy, bouncy, tail wagging dog in remission as she nears her last treatment next month.

Magazines and Coca Cola

There's a reason they sell magazine racks that hook on the back of the toilet, most people like to read in there and I'm no exception.  What I don't like is paying for reading material so I found a way to stock my bathroom with a little light reading for free. 

Brad and I both work outside in neighborhoods whose inhabitants have yet to master the trashcan jumpshot.  Lots of trash hits the ground providing us with the means to get free magazines. 

Coca Cola has a program called MyCokeRewards.  In a nutshell, each bottle of a Coca Cola product has a code inside the plastic cap, that code can be entered at MyCokeRewards, codes can then be redeemed for various items.  The plastic caps are worth 3 points, the 12 pack carton is worth 10.  Up to 130 points can be entered at their site each week. 

So when I see a discarded coke product I pick it up, screw off the cap and throw the bottle in the trash can.  This accomplishes two things.  I've helped to clean up the neighborhood which makes where I work a more pleasant environment and I've gotten a free 3 point code. 

 One year of Popular Mechanics is 200 points, which works out to 67 3 point caps or 20 12 pack codes.  By getting it free I've saved $12.00 per year.

You're not limited to magazines, Rewards come in many forms.  There are baseball caps, coupons for food products, movie passes, household items, electronics and even gift cards.  If you don't want to profit from the codes you can also donate them to a charitable cause.

It can also be used as a money maker.  We redeem codes each year for Coca Cola branded baseball caps.  We easily get $5 for each one during our annual Trash to Cash yard sale. 

Now get out there and clean up the neighborhood, it's a win/win situation!

Here's a link to MyCokeRewards http://www.mycokerewards.com/howItWorks.do?WT.ac=mnuHIW_PO

Need versus Want

Today I'd like to talk about Need versus Want.  Understanding the difference is, in my opinion, the most basic step in any endeavor to save money.

Very simply put, Need is a requirement, Want is a desire.  Learning to distinguish a Need from a Want will enable you to make decisions that will keep more of your hard earned money in your pocket. 

We would probably all agree that Food, Shelter, Clothing and Transportation would be classified as Needs but would you also agree that they can also be Wants? 

For example, we all need to eat.  There is no exception to this rule, if we didn't eat we would die.  Food is without a doubt a need, going to a 5 star restaurant for that food is a Want.

We all Need Shelter. It is when we expand on the basic 4 walls and a roof that it becomes a Want. 

It is the same for clothing.  We could run around naked all day long inside our 4 walls but when we interact with the outside world we have the issue of modesty, not to mention it's illegal most everywhere to run around with your junk hanging out.  You might look fabulous in a pair of Gucci sneakers that cost $105 but wouldn't a pair of $35 Converse also cover your feet?

Are you seeing a pattern here?  If we can distinguish Need from Want we will immediately have the power to save money.  What are your financial goals?  Are you saving for your kid's college education or perhaps to buy your first home?  Maybe you just need to stretch your dollars further to keep up with rising costs.  Every purchase we make affects our ability, or inability, to reach those goals. 

This is not about Wants being a bad thing, I believe everyone should indulge in the things that bring them joy.   It is when we overindulge that our financial health suffers.  There is much truth in the phrase "too much of a good thing". 

Next time you are faced with a purchasing decision consider whether it is a Need or Want and how it will affect your financial goals.  Shifting your spending focus away from the Wants and concentrating on the Needs is an easy first step in reaching your goals.