30 Days of No Eating Out: PART DOS!

Lindsey and her husband, building on my original 30 Day No Restaurant Challenge, have decided to take on one of their own! We'll keep you updated on how it works for them!

Whelp, it finally happened. After a weekend of eating out (we went out three times), my husband and I sat down (at a restaurant) and decided to try the ’30 day no restaurant challenge’.  Many of you may remember when Brittany did this a few months back. Using her blogs as a guide, we will also attempt no eating out from this last week of June until the end of July. 

While my husband and I are the Groupon king and queen, we found ourselves going out more and more. When we thought about it we realized that it wasn’t so much the dinners that were getting out of control, but the meals and coffee and snacks we were buying during the day for ourselves. We both drive around a great deal for work and everyone can agree, simply running into a Chinese place or through a drive through is much more convenient than worrying about packing, keeping cold, and carrying a lunch around with you all day. However, if you spend on average $6 on a lunch three times a week, you are spending $18 a week/$72 a month! Since we were both eating lunches out about three times a week (sometimes more) for the two of us it would be $144 a month! Remember that is not including any additional days we ate out or any additional stops (like coffee stops I was making a few times a week, oops).   

My husband and I decided if we were going to do it, we were going to go all the way. So while our spending during the day was the major problem, we decided to also cut going out to dinners as well and come up with new and fun things to do instead. Here were some ground rules we set:

1.      Any previously planned meals were still ok to do (there was only 1). We have been planning on going to brunch and window shopping Saturday morning a week from now in the Strip District in Pittsburgh. That’s still ok to do. Lunches and stops during the day are the big focus! 

2.      My husband’s work does not count. As an advisor, much of his work revolves around meetings for lunch or coffee. Obviously, he can’t not go to a meeting simply because he is not supposed to buy coffee for a month, so that will not count either.

3.      Traveling has some leeway as well. We both have trips coming up in July in which we will be flying different places. If you are in an airport and have not had anything to eat or drink for ten hours, then it’s ok to buy something. 

4.      We will pack lunches and bring snacks when on the road! We still stock up at Costco and buy the smaller items at the local supermarket so we will be more lunch and snack conscious when making any purchases. 

5.      We will make dinners at home. I’ve started looking up some fun new recipes to try and we will work together and take turns so not one person feels overwhelmed. We also decided it was ok for people to buy us dinner, lunch, etc. but it is not ok to ask people to do it! 

6.      I will update you all with the recipes we come up with, ideas we have and, of course, the money we save! 

Here we go!

Marriage & Money

Author: Lindsey

My favorite show on TV, hands down, is How I Met Your Mother. If you have never watched it, I would highly suggest doing so immediately after you finish reading this blog post! 

The reason I bring this up is because it is a perfect example of today’s topic: marriage and finances! Two of the main characters, Marshall and Lily, get married. Lily has thousands of dollars worth of credit card debt she has never told Marshall about. She is constantly saying ‘she will take care of it and get her spending under control,’ which of course she doesn’t. Marshall finds out about this debt when they try to qualify for a home loan and can’t because of all Lily’s debt! In the end, the two work it out and start to pay of her debt. Yes, in real life that happens, but, no, it does not always turn out so sitcom perfect! 

It is said that the number one reason for divorce is financial problems. This is a sad statistic to me because while not all financial problems can be eliminated, they can all be discussed and worked on! As someone who married a financial consultant, money and finances were always something on the table for continuous discussion but for many, it may not be. Financial matters should always be one of the first things discussed when thinking about getting married, getting married or if you are already married!

The conversation can seem daunting at times, so to make it easier focus on three things – the past, present and future! 

First and foremost, you need you be upfront about your financial past. Do you have any debts? If so, what kind, how much and what is their status? Have you ever declared bankruptcy or had things in collections. What were some of your financial priorities and have they changed? These are some simple questions now that will save you a lot of headache and heartache in the future! 

Spend a lot of time on the present. How will you put together two potential incomes? What will your new budget be and how much will you a lot for things like rent/mortgage/bills/fun money and more. Do you plan on accumulating any new debts soon – car, school, etc? Will you have joint or separate accounts and how will you keep each other accountable? Thankfully, many marriage prep courses and even banks are now offering resources to help get couples finances together so if you have questions, ask!

Finally, think about the future. If you are renting, will you want to buy a house and when? How do kids play into the mix? What will you do in the event of an emergency and should you be updating or getting more insurance coverage? What are some additional long term goals? A trip to Paris or retiring at 60? Whatever your goals, your past, present or future, it is always best to be on the same page with your other half! So, sit down and have the financial wellness conversation.

The Aftermath of the Spending Diet

(Author: Brittany)

Well, it lasted a solid week. That's one week with absolutely no spending. I didn't go to my beloved Starbucks and get a latte. I didn't go to a restaurant for dinner because I was too lazy to cook. I didn't spend any of my money on stupid things. I don't know if I could calculate the amount of money I saved, but I usually budget $100 week for groceries, entertainment, gas, etc. So I saved probably around $100.

I would say, though, that my greatest pleasure in my spending diet is that I didn't binge after the 'diet' was done. A lot of people on a real diet binge on food when they're done with their diet. I managed to keep my spending pretty much under control. The reason my 'diet' ended in the first place was because I had to buy kitty litter and then we decided to adopt a new kitten, so we had to buy all the accoutrements for said kitten, who we named Luna.

That's Little Miss Luna. Cute, isn't she?

After we adopted Luna, I've had an easier time of keeping my spending under control. I bought my boyfriend a birthday present, which was my one "extra" for the past couple of weeks. Otherwise, it's been mostly food, gas and Starbucks. Nothing extravagant and nothing out of the ordinary.

How long can you go without spending any money?

Quotes About Money

Author: Lindsey

As Mother’s Day and Father’s Day rolled around this year I felt myself thinking about some of the phrases and sayings my parents always told me. To this day I still think ‘brush, brush, brush, up, up, up, down, down, down’ when I brush my teeth thanks to my mother! My parents had many random, funny and wise words of wisdom they passed down to me though out the years and many of them had to do with saving money. “A penny saved is a penny earned” was one of their favorites taken from Benjamin Franklin.

I decided to do a little research and find out what other people had to say about saving money. Some of it was funny, some of it serious and some simply for comic (or financial stress) relief!  Enjoy what history finest had to say about a penny earned!

Put not your trust in money, but put your money in trust. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. 

Drink Water, put the money in your pocket, and leave the dry-bellyach in the punchbowl.   ~ Benjamin Franklin
 

Put all good eggs in one basket and then watch that basket. ~ Andrew Carnegie

Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget rule No. 1. ~ Warren Buffet

If you can, you will quickly find that the greatest rate of return you will earn is on your own personal spending. Being a smart shopper is the first step to getting rich.  ~ Mark Cuban

Never spend your money before you have it. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Money grows on the tree of patience. ~ Old Proverb 

Saving is a very fine thing. Especially when your parents have done it for you. ~ Winston Churchhill

If money is your hope for independence you will never have it.  The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.  ~ Henry Ford

In the old days, a man who saved money was a miser; nowadays he’s a wonder. ~ Unknown 

If you think nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of car payments. ~ Earl Wilson

Do you have any good quotes about saving money? Please share them in the comments!

Back to School Shopping Savings: Thrift Store Shopping

Derron is back again today with some tips on how to save on back to school shopping.

Every year when it comes to school clothes shopping, Christmas or birthdays, clothing is always a hot topic for purchases.  One of the things that I learned early on is that we were spending an enormous amount of money on clothes every 6-8months.  My daughter was just growing too fast and she wasn’t stopping.  It was really running us broke, and that’s just for one child.  One day, my wife and I decided to stop at a local  store to check it out.  What we found was amazing.  We were able to buy 4 outfits for just under $10.  What was this new destination we had found for clothes shopping?  A thrift store.  We had spent hundreds of dollars every school year buying new things for my daughter to wear.  What I had just discovered is that because my daughter was growing out of clothing so fast is that we were really wasting time and money buying BRAND NEW.  So what my wife and I decided to try was thrift shopping for clothes.  Now there are a lot of these types of stores out there.  From Salvation Army to Goodwill to stand alone thrift shops, we started checking them all out. 

We went in with a plan.  My wife and I settled on a dollar amount we would spend and go from there (this did not include socks, undergarments and shoes).  To our surprise, our plan worked.  We were able to choose from a larger selection at a discounted price.  This past school year, we spent less than $100 school clothes shopping and this did include a few new outfits.  But for a much cheaper overall expense, we were able to get more for our money and still get quality clothing.  Now thankfully, the growth spurts come and go less frequently, but we still use these “thrifty” little stores as often as we can.  What had been a major expense within our budget just became a way to save money. 

Now I know there are those of you who refuse to buy anything “second hand” and that’s fine.  But for me and my wife, it was a way to save and now my daughter now would rather go to a local thrift shop than go to the mall.   She chooses to go to the more trendy second hand shops, where the clothing is of higher quality, but we are still saving money along the way and she is learning a valuable lesson on spending.

So don’t be afraid to go “thrifting”.  You may be surprised at what you can find.

TIPS FOR THRIFT SHOPPING:

1. Look over the clothes. Be sure there are no holes, loose strings or stains.

2. Go on special sales days. There are typically a few days throughout the month where you can find very good deals. For example, 50% off day, senior citizens day, etc.

3. Try things on! Make sure what you're buying actually fits.

4. Wash it before you or your child wears it!