What about your Friends?

"If every player in your clique is rich your clique is rugged
Nobody will fall cause everyone would be each others crutches" -Jay-Z

Like the old saying “birds of a feather flock together,” you can tell a lot about a person by looking at who they spend the most time with.  Think about your core group of friends…you shop together, eat together, and share common interests.  However, some of your bonding activities might be hurting your wallet, and steering you away from your financial goals.  The regular girls' night out at the hot downtown restaurant or the weekly shopping excursions may be fun, but once you start monitoring your spending, you may find that A) you can’t afford it! or B) it’s hard to say no to these indulgences when everyone else is doing it...after all, it's what you guys normally do! 

So what do you do now?  Decline all invites from your crew? Replace your old friends with new frugal ones? No!

Savings Sunday 6/12/11

Every Sunday, I will feature one easy, painless, money saving tip. 

Today's Tip: How do you spend your weekends? Is your idea of a good time trolling the mall and going out to restaurants? Try to replace activities that may tempt you to spend with hobbies that are free or cost very little.  Need ideas? I've got you covered. 

Hope you find a way to incorporate today's tip into your routine this week!

Savings Sunday 5/29/11

Every Sunday, I will feature one easy, painless, money saving tip. 

Today's Tip:  Try cooking most of your meals at home.  Home made meals are usually cheaper than at a restaurant or pre-packaged meal, you know exactly what you're eating (which helps if you are trying to watch calories), and you can make as little or as much as you like.  If you're short on meal ideas or short on time, there a number of cookbooks out there just for you.  Check out Best Ever Three & Four Ingredient Cookbook and Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats--A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners (A 30-Minute Meal Cookbook).

Hope you find a way to incorporate today's tip into your routine this week

Savings Sunday 5/22/11

Every Sunday, I will feature one easy, painless, money saving tip. 

Today's Tip: Always have a shopping list.  If you're like me (well the old me lol), you find yourself in the grocery store starting at one end and going up and down every aisle making sure you don't forget anything...and along the way discovering more items that you need/want/crave :)  Have a plan and stick to it to keep your shopping budget under control.

Hope you find a way to incorporate today's tip into your routine this week

Meal Planning for Savings

Man it feels good to enjoy my weekend without spending all day in the grocery store.  Better yet, it feels good to have spent 3 weekends without having to haul in bags and bags of grocery.

A few weeks ago, an impromptu money conversation with the boyfriend turned into a commitment to seriously decrease our food costs.  We started planning our meals in advance and are trying to eat what we already have in the freezer and pantry instead of doing more shopping.

Holiday Shopping Tips

It’s that time of year again!

It’s the season where budgets go out the window and the line between wants and needs become blurred.   Before you join this spending frenzy, here are a few tips to keep you on track with your financial goals:

Fun & Budget Friendly Idea Generator

One of my goals is to have a "no-spend" weekend each month.  Needless to say, I've had to become creative in finding ways to manage my time without wrecking my budget.  To make things easier, I've created a simple generator with 50 low cost activities that anyone can do.  It's easy to use, and if you are indecisive like me, it will select one idea for you with just the touch of a button! Your idea of fun may be different from mine, so feel free to add your own ideas to the generator.  Download by clicking HERE or selecting the link under my "Helpful Tools & Downloads" page.

Let me know what you think!