Financial Wellness Classes: Update!

Just wanted to give all our readers an update on when our Financial Wellness classes are available in the Pittsburgh area:

Ongoing:
McKeesport Salvation Army: Tuesdays 9:30a
Catholic Charities in Downtown Pittsburgh: Tuesdays at 2pm
Valley Point YMCA in New Kensington: Thursdays at 10am

Upcoming:
Three Rivers Center for Independent Living: Fridays at 2pm, starting June 1.
Rainbow Kitchen: Mondays at 1pm, starting June 4.

If you are a Family Services consumer, please call for available classes in your area.

For questions about classes or to RSVP, please call 412-820-2050 ext. 419. You can also email Lindsey Blocki at blockil@fswp.org.

P.S. WIBO (Workshop in Business Opportunities) will start at our UPARC location on May 15th! Classes in New Kensington will start September 13th and East Liberty will start September 11th.

Money Saving 101: Using Your Tax Refund Wisely

Some Americans will see a tax refund from Uncle Sam this year. Most of us that get the tax refund will thinking about blowing it on something and then regret whatever we’ve blown it on later. Here are 10 ideas for using that tax refund wisely:

If you don’t have an emergency fund, sock that money away in a savings account. That extra amount will come in handy someday soon. You never know when you’ll get in a car wreck or break a limb or have that 10 year old air conditioner decide to die on you. And, no, getting the latest PS3 game is NOT an emergency!

Pay off debt! I can’t stress this one enough. Start with the highest interest rate and work your way down from there. Think of paying off debt as a set of stairs. Take one step at a time. Put extra money towards the largest amount with the largest interest rate first while paying some on the rest of your debts. Then check off each time you’ve paid off a debt. Once you see that you’re making progress, it’ll be a nice boost to get going on the next one.

Buy that new pair of jeans/shoes/sweater you’ve been wanting for a long time. In my experience, most of us do not budget our tax refund into our household budgets. It’s okay to spend a little on yourself. I bought a pair of Sperry Top Sider shoes that I've been wanting forever. I planned out a portion of my refund to spend on myself and put the rest in my savings account.

Go on a vacation. If you’re like me, you love to travel. Make your money work for you on this vacation. Budget to use only the money you’ve gotten back in your tax refund.

Replace one appliance. Do you have a 1960’s stove like I do? Or a 25 year old furnace? Replace one with an energy efficient model. You’ll see a big savings in your utilities over the course of one year.

Take a class at a local college or community center. There is always value in education. It doesn’t matter how old you are, there is more you can learn.

Start a college fund for your kids or future kids. A 529 savings plan for each of your kids would be great. Even if you can’t afford to pay for your child’s entire college tuition, I’m sure they’ll appreciate some help. Click HERE for more information on the 529 account.

Save that money for Christmas or another holiday. I will be the first to admit that I like to buy people lots of presents at Christmas. Having that money saved up to use at the holidays would come in very handy.

Finally, if you’re getting back large sums of money during tax refund season, check in with your employer about changing your W-4 and state tax deductions. If they’re taking too much out during the year and you’re getting a large refund, that’s basically like letting Uncle Sam borrow your money interest free for an entire year. Instead, put that excess into a savings account during the year and earn some interest on it. 

What are some other ways that you’ve wisely used your tax refund?

Money Saving 101: When to Buy Brand Names

What is one thing you’d pay top dollar for? Everyone has that one thing, no matter how much it would cost, that you would buy.

How about food? 

For me, I would have to say Hidden Valley Ranch. I’ve talked about my love for Hidden Valley Ranch during my blog about generics. There is no ranch like Hidden Valley. I’ve tried almost every ranch on the market looking for a cheaper alternative, but have had no luck. There’s just no substitute for the original. Lindsey will only buy Daisy Sour Cream. She has tried others but, like me, cannot find one that tastes as great. 

How about clothing? 

My coworker’s husband only will buy a certain brand of shoes because he is a tall man and has large feet. Other brands do not stand up to the wear and tear of a 6’8” tall man playing basketball. My boss will only buy brand name tennis shoes for her kids because the other cheaper brands at Kmart/Walmart get destroyed quickly and start to smell. I will always buy two pairs of jeans if I find a pair that fit because I’m a small woman and it is hard for me to find jeans/pants that fit me well.

How about household items?

One thing the girls in this office will always buy a brand name of deodorant and toilet paper. Why? Certain brand names of deodorant work better than others for people. Toilet paper isn’t worth it if you buy one ply, cheap toilet paper. It’s like sandpaper and takes four times as much toilet paper as a brand name toilet paper. I have to buy Aveeno face wash and face lotion because I have Rosacea and other brands make me break out. My boss will only buy Tide detergent. She has four kids and nothing works like Tide to get stains out and keep her kids’ clothes looking good.

Why did I ask that question?

I asked that question because I wanted to let you know that it is OKAY to buy brand names. There are certain items that are just much better quality in the brand name form than they are in their generic form. Sometimes it is just better to buy a bottle of Tide for $11 for 64 loads than to buy a cheap brand that costs you $5 for 64 loads but doesn’t do a good job and you end up washing your clothes again. I recommend trying to find a generic that works, but in some instances, it’s better just to buy what you know will work for you and your family.

Money Saving 101: Spending Diary

Do you honestly know where you money goes on any given day? An activity we have in the Financial Wellness class is a one week ‘spending diary’. In it you are supposed to list all the things you spend money on, Sunday through Saturday. I challenge people to try it for a week and then take a good hard look at where your money went and if there is anything you could change for the better! I completed my own spending diary over the past week and here is what I discovered about my spending habits. 

Sunday

                         $0: Hooray!

             No money was spent on Sunday. My husband and I went to church and then visited family.

Monday

$5.00: coffee and snack while driving around for work

I found (as you will see from the rest of the spending diary) that I have a problem with little stops for coffee and a quick snack when spending a lot of time in the car. Once in awhile is fine, but I definitely need to work on cutting back! Those little $3 or $5 stops can add up fast.

Tuesday

  $4.48: small grocery trip for milk, bread and Cheetos

Bread and milk were necessities. Cheetos were not, but they were delicious.

  $26.00: dinner with my husband and friends

We had a wonderful time visiting with some friends we have not seen in awhile over dinner. We had a gift card for the restaurant we were at and the total above includes the tip. That total is not too bad for four people at a nice restaurant. Had we not had the gift card, the total bill would have been close to triple that!

Wednesday

    $0

Packed lunch and didn’t make any stops that required me spending money. That night, I made dinner at home! Another successful $0 spending day.

Thursday:

   $5.36: lunch

Between meetings and classes, I was not at my office at all on Thursday. My lunch would have sat in my hot car all day so I opted for buying instead. One way to avoid buying lunches on days like this is to invest in a good insulated lunch box and some ‘blue ice’ cooling pouches. Think about packing things like a good old PBJ, even if it’s not ice cold, it is still going to taste great!

     $17.13: Target stop for a refill on cleaning supplies, a mouse trap, Chap Stick and shampoo.

We have been running low on some household cleaners and when I needed to buy a mousetrap (yes, we have a mouse in the house). I decided to go ahead and grab the few other things we needed. Shampoo and Chap Stick were also on the list as things that need replenishing.

Friday

 $33.03: gas

Sadly, gas is costing us more and more. Thankfully, I get pretty decent mileage on my car and only have to fill up about once a week. I do try to look for the best gas prices to save some money as well. For example, the gas station by my house is usually .5 cents more than the one by my work. If I need gas I try to get it when I am at work. I also try to utilize any ‘fuel perks’ I earn while shopping at my local grocery store.

  $2.77: breakfast

Again with the small stops. After doing this spending diary I am going to limit myself to one coffee/snack stop a week!

  $30:  dinner date

A little while ago I wrote about using Groupons, spending within those Groupons to make them most effective and how to plan for when you know you are going to spend more. This is a restaurant that is more expensive in nature that we had a Groupon for. We did know ahead of time we were going to spend more than the Groupon and adjusted our eating out budget to fit both this and the dinner we had on Tuesday! We will be eating at home for the next few weeks!

Saturday

  $30: over budget during a shopping trip

I have an important evening event coming up and I have known about it for a little over a month now. Because of this, I have set aside some ‘dress money’ to go shopping, which I did, and ended up $30 over what I had planned. This happens to us all once and awhile, but the key is to A. Not go outside your budget in every category and on every trip and B. Have some savings put away to cover those extra expenses you are not planning on! The extra $30 was not needed to keep our lights on or our water running because we are careful to budget and plan. Going over budget once and awhile is ok but we stick to our budget 99% of the time to afford that little 1% luxury once and awhile – well worth it!

In general, I saw that I was spending way too much money on making little stops and will definitely be cutting back on that! I also saw the benefits of sticking to your budget so when you do go over once and awhile, it is ok and you do not need to stress. Budgeting is so important to have a financially well life and this exercise really opened my eyes to even the little things that can affect it. Always remember the big picture when spending your money! I would encourage everyone to try this – you never know what you are going to find!

Money Saving 101: It's that Wedding Time of Year Again!

(Lindsey is today's author. Welcome her back!)     

‘Tis wedding season again! It seems like every year since graduating from college I have a multitude of weddings to attend Spring & Summer. I personally love everything about weddings but it was not until I got married myself that I truly appreciated all the time, work and money that goes into a wedding. To put it simply, weddings are expensive! I found myself working hard to still have all the nice things I wanted but trying to figure out ways to keep the cost of the wedding down. Here are some of the ways that I discovered to keep the budget under control while still having the day of your dreams!

First and foremost, you are going to want to decide what is most important to you. Is it the dress, the honeymoon, the venue? I found when you knew what the important purchases were, it was easier to make them a priority and search for creative ways to cut costs on things that were not so crucial. 

 

The second thing to think about is when you are having your wedding. What time of year has a big impact on what things are going to cost you!  My husband and I got married in February in Pittsburgh – definitely NOT peak wedding season. Because of this, we were able to get our venue, DJ and catering for half of what it would have cost us if we had the wedding in the summer! While it was not our intention to have a winter wedding, we found ourselves saving tons of money and would recommend this to anyone whose heart is not set on that June wedding. 

If you can make it, do! While some people are not necessarily ‘crafty’ people, craft stores like Jo Ann Fabrics or Michaels make it easy to create things for your wedding, even for those not-so-Martha Stewart types. For example, we bought invitation kits and printed them out on our computer. I used a kit that was being discontinued and only paid about $12 a box! These kits vary in what they come with but mine came with 25 invitations, decoration sleeves and ribbon, response cards and all the envelopes needed. It was a little time consuming to feed each individual invitation into the printer, but it was worth it to save a couple hundred dollars and just because you’re making it doesn’t mean it has to look cheap! People said they had no idea we had done the invitations ourselves since they looked so professional.  I also made everything from the programs, center pieces, and seating cards to the church decorations – saving tons of money. All you need is a hot glue gun, a little creativity and friends and family to help! If you are having a hard time finding things or not sure what to make, look at websites like Pinterest or bridal magazines for some inspiration.

Another great way to save money is by utilizing your resources! Do you have a friend who does photography or a relative that makes cakes? See if you can use them and they may give you a nice ‘friend/family’ discount! We had an aunt that made wedding cakes and she did ours for free as our gift.  It looked absolutely amazing and would have costs us hundreds of dollars to have a baker make something similar. 

Some other ways to save money are looking into doing silk flowers instead of real or selecting seasonal flowers from a local florist. You can chose to not ‘waste’ money by forgoing the traditional ‘gifts’ you give your guests that usually get thrown away and donate money to a charity in lieu of favors. If you want to save money on stamps, you can create a wedding website for free on sites like The Knot or My Wedding and have guests submit their response online. The possibilities are endless thanks to all the kits, projects and websites that have come out in recent years. Cheers to wedding savings!  

Looking for Entrepreneurs & Small Business Owners!

We are ready to begin recruiting for our first ever Workshops in Business Opportunities (WIBO) class! This 16 week course is touted as a miniature MBA course for the budding entrepreneur or small business owner. Do you have an idea for a small business? Do you already own your own business but are looking for more ideas on how to grow your business? Then this is for you!

A WIBO participant must be able to commit to the following:

1. 16  week course: The participant MUST attend each and every session.

2. The participant must be on time for every session and willing to participate.

            3. The course costs $700+ for the 16 weeks at other locations across the US, but we are able to      offer WIBO to our participants for a small fee of $50 due to generous grants from the RK Mellon and Hillman Foundations.

            4. The participant must already have an idea. This isn’t the class to figure out what your idea is, this is the class to take to turn your idea into a reality. At the end of the course, you will have a business plan in your hands. You will learn Marketing, Human Resources, Legal, Budgeting, Cash Flow, Management, etc.

Our start date is Tuesday 5/15/12 from 6-9p here at UPARC in the Large Conference Room and will continue for 16 weeks. If you are interested in this program, please contact me for more details on how to apply for our program. We will take approximately 10-15 people per class.

Please contact Brittany Linville for more information! Email: linvilleb@fswp.org or via phone 412-820-2050 ext. 419. Applications are due by May 5^th!

Money Saving 101: Taking a great vacation for less!

(Welcome Derron, one of our Budget Counselors, as our guest writer today!)

How many of you go into a vacation with a plan of cutting costs so that you don’t run yourself broke while you and your family have some fun?  I know I sure do, but as usual, things come up.  I’ve heard it all when it comes to things getting expensive:  this one needs a souvenir cup; that one wants a sweatshirt; it costs extra for this; it costs extra for that. My favorite one of all: while walking into almost anywhere anymore, I am asked to pay for a beautiful photo of me and my family.  I honestly want to say “dude, I own a camera”, but I don’t and politely decline their offer.  With all that, I still try to find some creative ways of saving money when we take family vacations.  I’ve come up with a few sure fire ways to save a couple of bucks on vacation without breaking the bank.  Here goes:

1.  I drive everywhere.  If where I’m going lies within the borders of North America, I can get there.  However, with any long drive comes the issue of meals.  During a typical 14 or 15 hour drive, we probably eat 3 or 4 times.   We pack sandwiches and snacks.  For my most recent vacation, it cost us $5.35 for a pound of lunch meat and a dollar for a loaf of bread.   There were snacks that are bought that totaled between 5-10 dollars and we purchased a case of water for 4 dollars.  That brings the total for our trip anywhere between 15-20 dollars, one way.  If we were to stop and buy meals for everyone for each fuel fill up or bathroom break, we are looking at least 5 dollars per person per stop.  For 4 people that adds up to $80 if you stop 4 times.  By packing our own meals, we save a minimum of $60. That’s a tank of gas.


2.   If you are amusement park goers like my family is, food can very expensive there as well. Therefore, we tend not to eat full meals at the park.  During our most recent vacation, my family visited Universal Studios in Florida.  They have a meal plan and numerous restaurants.   The meal plan price is $29.99 per day for anyone in your party 10 yrs. old and over.  For my party of 4 it would be $120 if we want to eat at the park for one day.  The restaurants are nearly as expensive, as we would pay a minimum of $10 per meal per person, 2 meals during the day, which then adds up to $80 for eating during the day.  Instead, we chose to stay at locations that offered a full kitchen.  So yes, we are paying a little extra for our stay (only $14 per night) but it pays off with the ability to cook and snack where we are staying.  We normally supply our kitchen with the same amount of food we would use at home, approx. $80-$100 per week.  We then use this just like at home.  This includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and beverages.  For me, it sounds a lot better spending $100 dollars in groceries for the week instead of the $120 a day for the park’s meal plan. Also, buy the parks all you can drink refillable souvenir soda cup, 8 bucks initially but free to fill up with water the rest of the trip.

3.   Last, but not least…I buy almost everything I can in advance.  My wife and I start purchasing gift cards almost immediately after we return from one vacation to prepare for the next.  Anything from Dollar Tree to Disney to Target to gas cards, we buy in advance.  It is a lot easier to buy a gift card 6 or 8 months prior to a vacation than 2 days before you leave.  If I pay for a McDonald’s gift card in March and my vacation is not until October, it is a lot less likely to impact my daily living.  If that same gift card is purchased 2 days before leaving for vacation, you may need to use money that you would like to put elsewhere on your trip.  This may sound funny but gift cards for vacation make awesome Christmas and birthday presents.  My daughter receives a certain amount of gift cards that she is permitted to use towards vacation.  This can both create more money in hand to use when vacation time arrives and also can teach a valuable lesson about budgeting to younger members of your family.

These are just a few tips for the vacationing family that I use that may decrease the overall cost for you and your family while traveling.  Give them a try and see how they work out!