Til Debt Do Us Part

As a person who loves saving money, I love watching shows that focus on money management.  One of my favorite shows is Til Debt Do Us Part that airs on CNBC on Saturday nights at 10:00 and 10:30 pm.  There are two 30 minute episodes that are back-to-back, and the shows are set in Canada.

Til Debt Do Us Part has Gail Vaz-Oxlade helping married couples (mostly) to acknowledge and deal with their money issues.  During the 30 minute shows, Gail scares the hell out of them, makes them do certain challenges, and at the end, Gail may reward the couple with up to $5000 to help pay down their debt.

Why do I watch this show?  Well, for a couple of different reasons.  First, it makes me feel good that I am not in the position of the couples that Gail is helping because I know how much I owe, I know how much I save, and I know where my money goes.  Next, I am fascinated that there are people in such denial about what they are doing with their money.  Toward the beginning of the show after Gail informs the couple as to where their money goes and what their true debt is, she then will say something like, "if you keep spending like this, in five years, your consumer debt will be (whatever the amount is)."  When the figure ends up being something like $750,000, the look of disbelief is unbelievable! 

Although looking at Gail, one would think she is a cupcake of a person.  Wrong!  Gail is one major task master, but she will help set the couple on the right track!  The one thing that she does is to make the couple give up all of the credit and debit cards and live on cash that is put into little glass jars for various purposes; when money is taken from the jars, an entry has to be made in a spending journal.  That forces the couple to keep track of where the money goes and how much is spent. 

If you are having problems managing your money, watch this show!  It will give you things to think about.  The one thing that is key is that ignoring debt is only going to make matters worse.  Face it and deal with it! 

Love Ya, SmartyPig!

So where are you saving your money?  I have looked at the area brick-and-mortar banks, and the interest they are offering for their saving accounts in insulting!  Is there an alternative?  Yes!  There are many online banking institutions that offer rates many times higher than the local banks can or will offer.  When you start looking at these online saving institutions, keep one thing in mind - if you find a better rate or better perks at another institution then move your money!  Don't develop an allegiance to any online bank.  Always remember, it's your money, and you need to earn as much interest on that money as possible!  Since I started using online savings institutions, I have switched banks several times.  If I find a better deal, I am on it!  Another thing that you want to make sure to check is that the online savings institution is guaranteed by the FDIC.  No FDIC - look elsewhere!

The online savings website that currently has my favor is SmartyPig.  This is a great place for individuals who have $50,000.00 or less in their account.  The current rate is 1.35% APY on amounts of $50,000.00 or less.  Over $50,000.00, the rate is .50%.

SmartyPig has a feature that is hard to find at other savings institutions, and that feature is the ability to have separate goals.  In a traditional savings account, all of the money is lumped in together.  However, with SmartyPig, you can have separate savings goals, and when you add money to the account, you can either add the money to one of more savings goals that you have already created,or you can create a new savings goal. 

Let me give you an example.  After you have signed up for your SmartyPig account, let's say you want to save for a vacation and a new TV.  Well, for each, you would create a goal that gives the name of the goal (e.g., Vacation), the amount that you will need to satisfy that goal (e.g., $1500.00), and the date by which you want to meet that goal (e.g., December 15, 2011).  You would then fund that goal, so we will say that you start out with an initial deposit for that goal of $250.00.  SmartyPig will keep track of that information, and they will let you know how much you have saved, how much you still need to save in order to meet that goal, and they even give a visual of a pig as it fills up with savings (It's cute)!  Of course, you would do that for each goal.  The next time that you want to put money in your SmartyPig account, you simply log in, select the goal, click the Add Money button, and add the money to a goal. The money is then transferred from your regular bank account to your selected goal within your SmartyPig account.  Confused????  Watch the SmartyPig video as the video can explain the process much better than I can!

Even if you don't use SmartyPig, make sure your money is working for you!  Remember-the institution must be federally insured before you can even begin to trust it!

Couponing the Right Way!

I am one of those individuals who used to throw away coupons.  On the rare occasion that I decided to cut one out to use it, I typically left it on the kitchen counter when I went to the store.  I simply did not know how to use coupons the right way!  If you do not coupon, you are probably wondering what I am talking about.  Well, thanks to a wonderful book, I now know how to coupon effectively so that I am saving some real money!

The book that I have been telling everyone about is called How to Shop for Free by Kathy Spencer!  It is amazing!  While I was reading it, the light bulb in my brain went off, and I found myself thinking, "So that is how it is done!"  The techniques that are given in this book are so easy to do, which would lead to you saving big time on your shopping bills!  Read the book!  You will not regret it! The book is available at Amazon.com for $8.35!

Using a Smart Phone as a Shopping Tool!

Do you have a smart phone or know someone who does?  If you do, you have a handy shopping tool at your disposal!  All you need to do is search for an app that read a UPC from a product and then tells you which store has that product for the best price. 

After I bought my iPhone, I started to look for various apps.  One day, I heard about the apps that saved people money by reading a product's UPC and then told where to shop for the best price.  Well, I decided to give that type of app a try!  Being the money saver that I am, I opted for one of the free UPC reading apps.  The first UPC that I scanned with the iPhone's camera was the one for Smucker's Chunky Natural Peanut Butter.  The price (before coupons) that I normally paid was somewhere in the neighborhood of  $2.99 for a one pound jar.  The UPC reading app told me that I could get that same peanut butter at Wal-Mart for $2.28!  The actual price was a few cents more at $2.34.  That is a savings of $.65 without any coupons!  My kind of savings!

What do you need to do?  Get a hold of a smart phone and start scanning to see where you can find the best prices for the products you buy!  May the deal sweeter by using coupons!

Free HP paper at Staples!!!!!!!!

Yes, you read the title of this post correctly!  You can get paper at Staples that ends up being free!  Ok, so the free isn't immediate, but free is free!

The first thing you need to do is to go to coupons.com and print off two copies of the HP paper coupon.  The coupon is valued at $1.00.  Once you have those coupons in hand, go to Staples and buy two reams (the limit) of  HP's multipurpose paper.  Each ream is priced at 5.99, and with the coupons, you will end up paying out of pocket (OOP) $4.99 a ream.  Make sure the price is indeed $5.99 a ream.  You can then apply for the rebate for the paper, which is for $4.99 a ream.  That makes the two reams of paper free (except for sales taxes)!!!!!!  This offer is for a limited time so act quickly!

Saving on Laundry Soap and Fabric Softener

This posting is dedicated to an very old cocker spaniel named Cory, who was deaf and almost completely blind, and who passed to the Rainbow Bridge in February 2011 at age 17.   Cory was 15 when he came to live with me as my foster dog.  This sweet, old dog had bladder problems in that once he decided he needed to go out, I had less than a minute to get him outside before he would find his blanket and urinate on it.  Unfortunately, with my schedule, I did not always get to him in time.  As a result, I was changing his doggie blanket two to four times a day! 

Although I always have a large supply of doggie blankets on hand, I was having to do a lot of blanket washing in order to keep up with Cory's bladder!  For many months, I washed his blankets in Era and then used Snuggle Fabric Softener sheets in the dryer.  The cost was ridiculous!  I thought about making my own laundry soap, but I knew I would never get it made, so I looked for an alternative.  That's when I discovered a product at Sears called Ultra Plus.   I paid $28.74 for a 26.4 lb. box of the soap.   However, not only is it laundry soap, it has fabric softener in it!  One scoup of Ultra Plus replaced a capful of Era and a Snuggle sheet!  The first box that I bought lasted a day or so over six months, and that was with all of the loads (about 13-14 loads) of dog blankets that I did every week.

I will continue to use Era and Snuggle for my clothes and towels because I know those two products do not irritate my skin.  However, when it comes to other washable items, I am using the Ultra Plus!  The savings have been fantastic!

Welcome to Money Saver's Musings!

I am an American just like you - one who is affected by today's economy.  I have discovered  some simple ways to save money, and I scour the Internet looking for others.  Using those tips and techniques that I have found, I have managed to save some of my hard-earned dollars.

Join me as I share some of the information that I have learned or discovered.  Hopefully, you will find that you have some extra dollars in your wallet as a result of implementing some of the ideas that you find here.