Tuesday, July 31, 2012

30 Day Challenge Part Dos: We're done!

Today's author: Lindsey


We made it! I am proud to say that we did not go out to dinner this last week – although so tempting this weekend with the Olympics on and not wanting to be away from the TV to cook. But, instead of doing that, we took turns cooking!

We also made our first Costco shopping trip since starting the challenge. We spent around $80 stocking up on our meats, non-perishables and some household items such as sandwich bags. This will last us at least two months!

This has been a great learning experience and I would challenge everyone to try it! After some reflection, here are the top three things we learned: 

  • Not eating out takes planning ahead. This means making sure when you go to the store you get food you can actual make meals out of, not just some chips and a couple things of lunch meat!
  • Creativity goes a long way. Sometimes it is tempting to eat out because you are board with what you do know how to cook at home. I am by no means a chef nor am I obsessed with cooking. However, I did try to be more creative by thinking of some of my favorite things to get while at a restaurant and try to make them myself. As an example, I made ‘fried’ baked zucchini. I love fried zucchini at restaurants and found an easy recipe to make it at home and bake it, a much healthier alternative to frying! It was delicious and I just had to pick up some zucchini!
  • Sometimes you have to eat out but what is it that you really need? If you forget your lunch, or you had a 100 degree hot car disaster as I did, you need to buy lunch. To save some money, ask yourself if you really need the drink, fries and sandwich? Perhaps the bottled water you already have and buying a sandwich will do. It is easy to stare at a menu you want way more than you are actually hungry for – so try to be mindful when it’s not exactly in the budget!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Do you want to be your own boss?


Do you have an idea for a business? Or do you already have a
business started and you’d like to learn more? WIBO is for you!

What are the WIBO Workshops at  Family Services of Western  Pennsylvania?
· The WIBO workshop is a 16 week mini MBA program for beginning entrepreneurs and small business owners to learn more about the basics of business. Due to private support, participants pay only $50.00 for the 16 week workshop and its materials. The market value of the workshop is an estimated $4,000.

Why choose the WIBO program over other programs?
· Over 54% of national WIBO graduates are in business after 5 years, compared with the national average of 20%.  Fifty percent of WIBO business owners report their business is their main source of income.
· In 45 years, the national WIBO office reports that WIBO has developed over 15,000 entrepreneurs resulting in the creation of 31,500 jobs.

When are the WIBO workshop classes?
· Fall classes will begin at our East Liberty Location on Sept. 11 (Tuesdays from 6-9) and at our New Kensington Location on Sept. 13 (Thursdays from 6-9).

Where are the classes?
· Fall classes will be at our East Liberty and New Kensington locations.

How do I sign up?
· Email Brittany Linville at linvilleb@fswp.org for an application.
· Send in your application with payment.
· Applications are taken on a first come, first served basis. Space is limited. Get yours in today!

Questions?
Call or email Brittany Linville:
(412) 820-2050, ext. 419
linvilleb@fswp.org

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

30 Day Challenge Part Dos – Can you keep the challenge while traveling?


Today's Author: Lindsey

This past week, I went for a short trip to visit my parents in South Carolina. It was an absolutely fantastic trip and I enjoyed it very much. Traveling was one of the expectations we had for the 30 Day Challenge but I still tried to be mindful of what I was spending. I wanted to share what some of the things I did to save money while traveling both in food and otherwise!

Parking: Obviously the cheapest thing to do is to have someone take you to the airport and pick you up. If you do park, as I had to, look for the cheapest option. In most cases any ‘extended’ parking options are the cheapest. In Pittsburgh, the extended parking rate is $8 a day. 

Airport food: On my way to South Carolina I had an evening flight. After working all day I definitely needed a cup of coffee. I got a medium coffee from a smaller chain vs. some of the bigger names like Starbucks or Seattle’s Best. This saved me about 50 cents and every penny adds up!

When I got there I needed some dinner but waited till I was out of the airport and stopped a Subway. I definitely saved money by eating outside of the airport where a sub was over $6 and I got a six inch for $3.75. 

On the way home I had a big lunch with my parents and just had a glass of water on the plane. No money was spent at all! 

Eating during the trip: I was visiting my parents so all my lodging and food was provided for! If it had not been, the first thing I would recommend is checking hotels for discount rates. Using a membership like AAA can also save you money! Check Groupon or Living Social for awesome local restaurant deals and decide what meals you want to eat out at or if you can buy some lunch items and make your own during the day. 

Activities: Groupon and Living Social often have activity discounts like boat rentals or amusement park coupons. Try to also go on an ‘off’ day (not Saturday or Sunday) and see if you can save money by doing that! Many things are free like parks, beaches, etc. so make sure to make the most of your location!

Friday, July 20, 2012

30 Day Challenge Part Dos – Week 3

Today's author: Lindsey


I am happy to report that week three was successful. We did not go out to eat for dinner. We have been using food we had at home and did our biggest ‘shopping trip’ since we started the 30 day challenge (shopping at Costco every two months really lasts a long time!). We went to the local supermarket and bought fruit, milk, veggies, bread, etc. and spent about $30 in total. 

For lunches we continued to use some of the food we had bought including some yummy Hot Pockets we bought during our shopping trip. I did, however, discover one thing. Even though we pack lunch with good intentions, sometimes it just goes bad. 

Everyone has been experiencing a heat wave where they live and Pittsburgh has been no stranger. Reaching close to the 100s (!) everyday has made things pretty unbearable. As I have mentioned before, because I spend a lot of my day driving to different locations for work, I don’t always have a fridge and a cold office to store my lunch in. On Wednesday I had made myself a delicious salad and put it in an insulated lunch box with ice. Sadly, it was soggy and hot when I opened it some four or five hours later. Clearly I was going to have to buy lunch. Instead of going all out and spending $6 on a complete meal, I decided on an iced coffee and baked potato from Wendy’s and only spent $2.77! I also felt pretty good about eating semi-healthy and avoiding my favorite food, French fries. 

All in all, we were pretty proud of ourselves this week, but realized sometimes, you just can’t beat the heat.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Money Saving 101: Transportation

Today's author: Lindsey


A little extra ‘drive’ to save money.

Transportation can be expensive. Whether you drive, bus or anything in between, costs have no sign of going down, so what can you do to maximize your personal transportation cost? One thing I have learned since living in the city is that a little drive outside of it can save me a ton of money! While you may not live in a city, the principle would still apply – is where you are spending your money really the best place to be doing so?

Gas: The gas station on my street is currently selling their gas at $3.45 a gallon. Those of us who have cars know; you can’t not get gas! I have found, however, that just because I HAVE to get it does not mean I NEED to stop at the first gas station I see. When I am in the suburbs, I have found gas to be almost 10 cents less than the gas I find in the city. That is a lot of money when thinking about the price of gas! What I have started doing is planning my fill-ups when I will be in the areas with better gas prices. Another tip would be to look around the area you are in, like fast food resultants that seem to all be beside each other, many gas station have a competitor across the street or down the road a little way that may be priced better! 

Bus: If you use public transportation, sit down and figure out what is best for you! Do you ride the bus or use the transportation system enough throughout the week to make it worth any sort of month or week long pass? Though it may seem cheaper now, if you don’t use it enough to have it ‘pay for itself’ than you may be better of paying per a ticket! 

Travel: How to get there? Drive, bus, train or plane there are many ways to travel. When taking a trip and your budget is a factor, sit down and decided the most cost efficient way to get there. It may be longer but driving can be cheaper. Contrary to popular belief, trains or buses can sometimes be more expensive that a plane ticket so do your research to find out what is cheapest! When flying, remember than a car rental may be added into the equation on top of a ticket so remember to calculate that as well. 

These are just three of the many ways you can start looking at your cost of transportation. What are some other things you do to save?