27 and Frugal

When starting to get your finances in check, everyone will tell you to create a budget. Budgets are key to tracking your spending. Included in your budget, should be a category for savings. However, if you do not track your savings any other way, it is easy to lose sight of your savings goals!

Tracking savings allows you to see financial improvement; to see how successful your budgeting actually is!

Savings Tracker

I have created a separate worksheet just for savings within my budget spreadsheet. Savings and spending go hand-in-hand, so it really is important to keep these together.

My monthly budget & savings worksheet can be downloaded here: http://www.27andfrugal.com/files/easy_peasy_2010_budget.xls

If you already have a budget that works for you, simply copy/paste the Savings worksheet and use it on it’s own.

Ideally, the worksheet should mimic your savings account, so start with your beginning of the year balance. This sheet will be filled in automatically once you input your savings into the monthly budget sheets. Or simply manually enter in how much you are transferring to savings each month.

The interest does need to be entered manually from your monthly bank statement. Seeing exactly how much or how little interest you are earning every month may make you want to look into alternative saving account options.

The box on the right is the most important part of the whole sheet… your goal! Do everything you can to keep this goal in the back of your mind each time you make a purchase. When you are over 50% of the way to your goal, you will have incentive to put more into your savings every month. Continue reading »

Being laid off from work is like being dumped. Only worse. Not only do you emotionally feel rejected, alone, and abandoned; but you also have to deal with losing your entire means of financial support. Below are some tips to deal with the emotional and monetary woes that go along with being unemployed.

1. Develop a routine

Keep a weekly routine just as though you’re still working. Wake up in the morning (no sleeping past noon), eat some breakfast, search and apply for jobs, fix lunch, work out, make dinner then relax. Yes, there will be gaps in there and you need to be self-disciplined to use them wisely. In general, stick to a normal day-time schedule. Go to bed at a normal time and get up at a normal time.

Sure, you can stay in your pj’s for a while but the more you keep a real-world schedule the easier it’ll be to keep a healthy mentality. The easier it will also be to re-adjust to a work schedule when you find another job.

2. Set a goal

Set a goal in something else in your life that you enjoy doing. Now is a good time to spend more time with those hobbies that are often ignored. The idea is to keep yourself busy but still focused on something productive.

One example is to set a workout goal. Have you always wanted to run a 5k but didn’t feel prepared? Simply, budget out $25 and sign up for one. Schedule this training into your day and stick with it. Since being unemployed can cause you to feel down, meeting this goal will provide a nice boost to your self esteem. Continue reading »

Netflix 101

Netflix has a slew of subscription plans. Their bottom tier is $8.99/mo for 1-disc-at-a-time but unlimited discs throughout the month (this is what I use). This means that I can only have one Netflix DVD in my home at a time, however I can rent an unlimited amount of DVDs every month. The 2-discs-at-a-time plan is $13.99 and 3-discs is $16.99. With all of these plans, you can also stream Netflix Instant Watch movies & television shows without any extra charge; this is included in every unlimited plan.

Netflix DVDs have a 1 day turn-around. If I mail out my postage-paid DVD on Monday, the distribution center receives it on Tuesday and immediately sends out the next DVD in my queue, which I will receive on Wednesday. If you want to watch something in between those days, you can use Netflix Instant Watch.

Continue reading »

Don’t ever throw that stale bread out! Making your own breadcrumbs is so easy and I bet you already have the ingredient on hand (bread!).

There’s a variety of ways to make your crumbs:

• Throw a piece of stale/toasted bread or two in a food processor
• Rip a few pieces of stale/toasted bread in half and chop with a manual food chopper
• Put a few pieces of stale/toasted bread in a sandwich bag and roll over it with a rolling pin

You can also make breadcrumbs out of crackers, nuts, or cornflakes.

Just store your breadcrumbs in a container in the cupboard … Continue reading »

Ready for my guide to getting in shape for just pennies? Here we go:

1. Don’t buy anything
2. Take a walk outside; jog the last five minutes
3. Repeat tomorrow

How’s that for easy!

Okay, maybe I oversimplified. But, not really. You don’t need anything to start working out. You just need to go outside and do it! Continue reading »

Making a budget is tough! For starters, you can’t just go out and make your budget. Why? Well, how are you going to know what to budget if you don’t know what you already spend?

Be Realistic

See, this is usually what happens with budgets. You make your budget. You estimate $100 for groceries and $50 for eating out. By the second week, you’ve already exceeded both of these budgets. Not wanting to starve yourself, you declare budgeting to be “stupid” and “a waste of time.”

A budget is only successful if it is realistic. So, let’s start with my Beginner’s Budget template that I’ve already created just for you. (Yes, you!). Continue reading »

Let’s be honest, I try to keep my morning routine to a minimum because I really like my sleep! So I don’t make cooked breakfast during the week. However, I have found that oatmeal is very quick to prepare and quite affordable.

I love eating oatmeal for breakfast on a chilly winter morning; But those instant packs of flavored oatmeal aren’t all that healthy and can be pricey. With four ingredients and 5 minutes, you can just make your own! Continue reading »

Home-made

• There are plenty of in-a-jar gifts that you can find online. For this type of thing, I’ve done something different. Last year, I made my own hot cocoa mix based off of an Alton Brown recipe. However, instead of layering it in a jar, I made individual servings. I made the mix in bulk, then spooned out 1 serving size onto some saran wrap, wrapped up the mix and tied a ribbon around it. I then gave several of these little cocoa bags to my friends. This makes it easy for someone to bring the mix to work and to easily prepare without worrying about measuring. It worked out great and the entire process took me under a week to do. Also, not having to buy jars or other packaging really kept the costs down.
• Similar to the jar gifts, you can prepare your own spice mixes and put them into a shaker container to give as gifts. This way you can even personalize the mix to the person. If you know someone prefers spicy and someone doesn’t, you can just adjust the recipe or add a little more spice to one. This is also a pretty unique gift that the person will use over time. Although, I don’t recommend it to someone who doesn’t like to cook.
• Bath salts are very easy to make just by mixing epsom salt, an essential oil and some food coloring. Simply fill a jar or small bag with the salts and you have an instant gift.

Continue reading »

It’s your money. Yours! Don’t you care where it goes?

Customer service representatives (regardless of their bad reputation) really are there to serve you! You are paying for them already. Have you ever been charged for something you didn’t ask for? Ever have a late fee? Or an overcharge? Did you know you can just ask to have them refunded? It’s easy!

When I switched to AT&T, I took a look at my first statement and saw a $2.99 charge for “Roadside Assistance”. Since I already have AAA, I decided this was an unnecessary charge … Continue reading »

I waited a while before finally sinking money into an iPhone. Not only was the price of the phone holding me back, but more so the monthly plan price. Before the iPhone, I was paying $53.62/mo for 400 rollover minutes and unlimited texting. I told myself that when I bought the iPhone I would have to cut out the texting plan. I saw this as reasonable since I mainly texted when I was bored and the iPhone has more communication choices (aim, facebook, email). So, last June I bought the iPhone 3GS. My bill shot up to $73.62. This includes 400 rollover minutes, 200 texts, and the unlimited data plan. I had budgeted for this and knew that I could afford it. I am fine with paying ~$75 for a cell phone. Continue reading »

In my post yesterday, I mentioned that all of my clothes fit in my closet. Earlier today I was asked how this was possible. So, here’s a picture. And an explanation. Continue reading »

“If it can’t be displayed, throw it away,” was Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural philosophy. Continue reading »

I have already mentioned making your own face exfoliator. Here is another beauty tip that I live by. It might sound a little ridiculous but trust me on this one. Continue reading »