$50 a week will we sooooo easy for some of you to find right away.
How????
MAKE YOUR LUNCH. Yes it is that simple. Spending $10 a day is easy to do when you go out for lunch and snacks. Just by brown bagging it, you can free up an extra $50 a week in your budget. That's $200 a month....$2400 a year!!!!! That's a vacation!!!!!
I know some of you are saying, "I don't have time for that." or "Ugh!!!! I hate making lunches." Believe me I understand. I've been there....heck, I AM there!!! Here are some things that get me past that and inspire me to make and maximize my time.
I hate making lunches! Drives me crazy, so I only do it twice a week. I still make lunches for 5 days, but I only make them twice. I make 3 lunches on Monday, and 2 on Thursday, put them in sealed containers and shove them in the fridge. It takes the same amount of time to make 3 lunches as it does to make one. Think assembly line technology.
Try making them at night instead of in the morning when you are running around like a crazy person trying to get out the door. This makes life so much smoother in the morning.
Cut up veggies and put them in a sealed bag and they are easy to grab all week, without having to wash, peel and chop daily.
Freeze it. Make extra at supper for the next couple of weeks and freeze the extra in lunch-size portions. Next month, you can enjoy that nice piece of lasagna or other favourite food in your lunch without any more effort than grabbing it out of the freezer and heating it in the microwave at work. I've even seen companies selling frozen grilled cheese sandwiches, so why couldn't you freeze your own?!!!!
If you still resist, remember, that if you are making $10 or $20 an hour at your job, you are working 2.5-5 hours a week, just to pay for your lunches!!!! This isn't including dinners, weekend lunches, etc, this is approximately 10% of your time and money going into just paying for 5 lunches!!!! UGH!!! It sure doesn't take me 2.5-5 hours a week to make 5 lunches!
It actually takes less time than you think. We often just make it a big deal in our minds. Think Nike and 'Just Do It'. I can make 3 lunches (actually it is 6, because I make it for both my kids) in less than 10 minutes. If you figure 10 minutes, twice a week or 20 minutes total to save $50, you just got paid $50 for 20 minutes of work. This equates to being paid $150 an hour......who wouldn't like to make that kind of money!!!
REMEMBER: Even $10 counts. Each day you make your lunch, you've saved another $10, and those $10 add up fast.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
turn junk to cash
Recently I started selling some 'junk' (one person's junk is another one's treasure) on the internet. There are so many great places to do this....one of the most popular being e-bay, but there are also many local ones. I used kijiji, myself.
One week later I have cleared out a few items out of my home that I never used or wanted and have an extra $332 in my bank account with more items still to be sold!
Don't pre-judge what someone would want to buy, you'd be surprised what people are looking for. I even sold a bunch of old LP record albums and an old pots and pan set (things I never thought anyone would contact me about)!!!
What's the worse that happens? You don't sell it and it is still in your basement for now.
What's the best that can happen? You sell everything you want to get cleared out of your closets, attics, basements and drawers and have turned your junk into some extra cash! A great side benefit is that your home starts to look less cluttered.
REMEMBER: $10 does make a difference!!!! So even start with one $10 item and go from there.
One week later I have cleared out a few items out of my home that I never used or wanted and have an extra $332 in my bank account with more items still to be sold!
Don't pre-judge what someone would want to buy, you'd be surprised what people are looking for. I even sold a bunch of old LP record albums and an old pots and pan set (things I never thought anyone would contact me about)!!!
What's the worse that happens? You don't sell it and it is still in your basement for now.
What's the best that can happen? You sell everything you want to get cleared out of your closets, attics, basements and drawers and have turned your junk into some extra cash! A great side benefit is that your home starts to look less cluttered.
REMEMBER: $10 does make a difference!!!! So even start with one $10 item and go from there.
Monday, June 1, 2009
$10 does make a difference
Finding $10 here and there does make a difference!!!!
Find $10 extra in 10 places and you just found yourself an extra $100!!!!
Find $10 right now: Telephone company. I called my phone provider and told them I was looking to save some money, explained what services I used and what I didn't. They were able to save me $10 right away by switching me to a different plan that had the features I wanted. The only drawback (and it wasn't a biggie) was that I now had to type in a password to access my voicemail!!!! It was certainly worth $10 a month to type in a couple of numbers before I check my voicemail!!!
Find $10 extra in 10 places and you just found yourself an extra $100!!!!
Find $10 right now: Telephone company. I called my phone provider and told them I was looking to save some money, explained what services I used and what I didn't. They were able to save me $10 right away by switching me to a different plan that had the features I wanted. The only drawback (and it wasn't a biggie) was that I now had to type in a password to access my voicemail!!!! It was certainly worth $10 a month to type in a couple of numbers before I check my voicemail!!!
If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else. Yogi Berra
You can't change what you don't acknowledge. Dr. Phil
The first step in saving money is acknowledging where you are. If you are in denial and think that you don't need to make changes in order to improve your financial outlook, then you are mistaken! The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result! If you are currently not where you'd like to be financially, then what you have been doing hasn't been working and you need to do something different to see different results. Get real with yourself!
The most difficult part of change is the mental part...changing the way you think about things.
We all have a mental picture of what money is or does for us. We all have a mind-image of what we deserve or don't deserve and these images and thought processes can aid or sabotage our goals for our lives. We've all heard of those people making large 6 figure incomes who are broke, or the person who won a million dollars in the lottery and a year later they have nothing left. Is is really a need? or is it a want? We may need a car, but we don't need to have a brand new one, no matter how you try to justify it. That car is just a means to get from one place to the next. "But I want something reliable", you might say....or "If I spend the extra now, I'll save it later." These are just justifications for your want, not your needs. Notice the difference.
Spending money can act like a drug, sending an adrenaline rush and a 'high' feeling when you make a purchase. The 'high' is not long lasting, though, and the spender feels the need to go out and buy something new to feel good again. Often people who love to get a great sale or bargain shop are the biggest addicts and justify their addiction by saying, "But I saved $10 on that." The high of the purchase can be followed by big lows when the bills come in and you realize you can't pay them.
Money can be a power trip. Your spouse buys a new power tool, so you feel you deserve that new outfit, then he sees the new outfit and, like a vicious circle, decides if you have a new outfit, he certainly deserves that new accessory for his truck, and so on, and so on. Often this whirlwind is difficult to get out of because both parties are in the cycle of saying, "I'll stop when he/she stops." and neither is willing to be the first one to break the pattern and keep it broken, no matter what the other spouse continues to do.
Be honest with yourself....remember: YOU CAN'T CHANGE WHAT YOU DON'T ACKNOWLEDGE! If you aren't willing to admit that you use shopping to make you feel good, then why would you ever want to change something that you think is working just fine????
Step one: Take a good look at your life and identify what your thought processes are when it comes to money and the things money buys in your life.
Do you feel you deserve things?
Do you feel that it is only fair that you get something because someone else has them?
Do you get a high from a shopping trip?
Do you want to impress others with your clothes? car? home? lifestyle? etc.??????
Do you think you don't deserve to live a better life?
What did your family say about money when you were growing up?
Do you feel that it is hopeless and there is no way out of the debt cycle?
Write down your feelings, so you can look back on them later and think about them when you are in a different state of mind again. Ask yourself, "Am I being honest with myself?" Even try ranking yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 for each area or statement.
You can create a life free of debt, filled with joy, security and abundance, it all starts here.
You can't change what you don't acknowledge. Dr. Phil
The first step in saving money is acknowledging where you are. If you are in denial and think that you don't need to make changes in order to improve your financial outlook, then you are mistaken! The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result! If you are currently not where you'd like to be financially, then what you have been doing hasn't been working and you need to do something different to see different results. Get real with yourself!
The most difficult part of change is the mental part...changing the way you think about things.
We all have a mental picture of what money is or does for us. We all have a mind-image of what we deserve or don't deserve and these images and thought processes can aid or sabotage our goals for our lives. We've all heard of those people making large 6 figure incomes who are broke, or the person who won a million dollars in the lottery and a year later they have nothing left. Is is really a need? or is it a want? We may need a car, but we don't need to have a brand new one, no matter how you try to justify it. That car is just a means to get from one place to the next. "But I want something reliable", you might say....or "If I spend the extra now, I'll save it later." These are just justifications for your want, not your needs. Notice the difference.
Spending money can act like a drug, sending an adrenaline rush and a 'high' feeling when you make a purchase. The 'high' is not long lasting, though, and the spender feels the need to go out and buy something new to feel good again. Often people who love to get a great sale or bargain shop are the biggest addicts and justify their addiction by saying, "But I saved $10 on that." The high of the purchase can be followed by big lows when the bills come in and you realize you can't pay them.
Money can be a power trip. Your spouse buys a new power tool, so you feel you deserve that new outfit, then he sees the new outfit and, like a vicious circle, decides if you have a new outfit, he certainly deserves that new accessory for his truck, and so on, and so on. Often this whirlwind is difficult to get out of because both parties are in the cycle of saying, "I'll stop when he/she stops." and neither is willing to be the first one to break the pattern and keep it broken, no matter what the other spouse continues to do.
Be honest with yourself....remember: YOU CAN'T CHANGE WHAT YOU DON'T ACKNOWLEDGE! If you aren't willing to admit that you use shopping to make you feel good, then why would you ever want to change something that you think is working just fine????
Step one: Take a good look at your life and identify what your thought processes are when it comes to money and the things money buys in your life.
Do you feel you deserve things?
Do you feel that it is only fair that you get something because someone else has them?
Do you get a high from a shopping trip?
Do you want to impress others with your clothes? car? home? lifestyle? etc.??????
Do you think you don't deserve to live a better life?
What did your family say about money when you were growing up?
Do you feel that it is hopeless and there is no way out of the debt cycle?
Write down your feelings, so you can look back on them later and think about them when you are in a different state of mind again. Ask yourself, "Am I being honest with myself?" Even try ranking yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 for each area or statement.
You can create a life free of debt, filled with joy, security and abundance, it all starts here.
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