Saving Money is Easier than Expected with These 5 Tips

Behold July! 

I feel like I should start saving for the holidays now. I'm in full-paying off mode, and S and I have finally done a household budget. It wasn’t as painful as we imagined. 

I have models of my budget set in folders on Learnvest, where I can follow how much I am spending and saving each month.

Here’s a few things to try..

·         Buy a gift card each month to keep for Christmas gifts (I read this somewhere, going to start trying it 5 months before the holidays, this month) If I buy a visa gift card, it’s on my CC statement, plus if I don’t spend them all, I can use them for groceries. I am going to pick one up this week. I like this better than putting money in a Christmas account, in my opinion.

·         Make and take my lunch every day. Lunch out only once a week. This is a huge investment to get lunch at work each day- sometimes around $9. That’s about $80 a month if I get the café even just twice a week, and that could be a nice dinner out with my honeypie.

·         Make my own coffee daily- this is a biggie for several reasons. I work in Philly, miles from my home, I leave very early so stopping to get a leisurely cup of joe isn’t on the schedule. 
I wake up, I go to the kitchen, turn on the Keurig, get dressed, and make coffee- boom, one cup for me.

·         Barter for services. Got a skill- USE IT! Teach yoga for electrical work, make meals for gardening. Local time banks are helpful too.  
Obv, use common sense and be aware of your surroundings and people that you are bartering with.

·         Shopping in house. I want to change up some things, so rearranging the furniture, finding new uses for items and repurposing is a fabulous way to shop without spending any money.

what are your favorite ways to save?

September Goals!

September 2015 Goals!

Be super-awesome at my day job

Stay under budget and pay down the credit cards

Get two new writing/PR clients

Squeeze every bit of sunshine & summer out of September

Downsize house clutter and stuff by 5%

Kayak, swim, cook more, and spend time with my awesome family and great friends.

Have lots of fun and stay thankful and grateful!

What are your goals?

I just deposited checks for articles and the Y. Yay happy! now i can (hopefully!) pay off my visa. next i shall tackle my line of credit!

i did go to a housewarming last night and i bought 3 bottles of wine for $32, 1 for the party and two others (Mondavi chardonnay and bogle sav/blanc) were on sale for 10-11 each and so i got them for me! Party was fun, sat under the campfire, and then onward home.

today- i had a busy morning and just ran out to the bank and then wendy's...i so am not being frugal, but i didn't pack a lunch, i ate all my leftovers. i have odd things in the fridge, like homemade applesauce and an egg soufflé thing. and a hunk of raw broccoli, mushrooms, and strawberries…must eat them first!

Okay- just had a another huge meeting- so busy now! Whohoo!

Tonight- attempting to make Kung Pao chicken for B.