Learn The Basics Of Stock Investing

I thought some of you might be interested in this post on How a Beginner Can Learn About The Stock Market. It offers a six-step program for how to go from knowing nothing about the market to knowing enough to buy your first few stocks.

Remember our creed: The real way to save money is not by simply spending a little less--it's by putting money away in places that make you money.

Save Money On Your Grocery Bill

With prices on the rise on everything from gasoline to eggs, it's always great to be able to save a little money on things that you have to buy!

There is a great website that can help you save money on groceries, and they do the footwork for you which helps save you time! The name of the site is The Grocery Game. They even have a special promotion where you can try it for only $1 for 4 weeks.

If you don't think that it has saved you time and money than go ahead and cancel your membership, but if you are like me and feel that the time that it saves you is well worth the $10 every 8 weeks, then keep your membership!

That works out to $2 a week, you save more than that on the deals they send you. My time is definitely worth $2! I was spending hours a week trying to figure out all the deals myself, now I get an email and everything is right there, so simple, fast, and easy! Now I have more time to spend with my family!

You can choose as many stores as you would like in your area, the first store's info is $10 and each additional store is $5 more. Even that is well worth the price!

If you do decide to try them out, please put down my email address, marci_ann@hotmail.com, in the referral box, that way I can earn FREE weeks! Try out The Grocery Game and see if you don't love the savings of money and time!

Make Money Selling Your Old Books

Okay, I know that this site is mostly for saving money but hey we can all use a good recommendation for making money. Right? After all, you need to have money to be able to save money! Now this isn't going to make you rich but it will help you get a few extra dollars here and there.

If you are like us you have a ton of books at your house. We could lead the Book-a-holics Annonymous support group! What do you do with all the old books that were good the first time but your never going to read again, or the ones that weren't any good or just aren't your thing?

We have found some great sites that will let you sell you old books. We have been using Half.com for quite some time now, and average between $10-20 a month, like I said you're not going to get rich this way! Using Half.com is easy, you type in the ISBN of the books, dvds, or whatever you are selling. You then put in the condition your item is in and you get to pick how much you want to sell them for. If you are like me and just trying to clear out space, then price the items to go, at rock bottom prices. But if you are trying to make a lot or have an item that is worth a lot mark it at a higher price. That's it your done. You will get an email notifictaion when your item sells, and then you have 3 days to ship out the item. Now comes the shameless plug, feel free to check out my Half.com book shop, I am constantly adding new items.

I just came across a new site that will also buy your books, Cash4Books.net. It's easy enough to use as well. You go to their site, put in the ISBN of the books you want to get rid of and they will let you know if they are currently buying those books they will quote you a price an you decide if you are willing to sell them at that price. They will then send you a printable postage label. If you can not print from your computer than you can request printing labels from them to be mailed to you, you would then have to pay postage but they will reimburse you. I have not as of yet done business with them but I am willing to give it a try to clear out the space!

These are just a couple of places that we use to help clear up space on our bookshelves, and make a couple of dollars in the process. What are the places that you use?

Save Money At Red Lobster

My husband loves seafood, and loves eating at Red Lobster. We don't eat out there often well because, we don't eat out often anywhere. He got a gift card for Red Lobster for Christmas and he's been dieing to use it.

Anyway, I found out that if you join the Red Lobster Club and confirm your registration, they will send you a coupon for a FREE appetizer or dessert. You can bet that I signed up for that!

He might just get a chance to eat out here soon!

If you love seafood and Red Lobster than this is a deal that you don't want to miss out on!

Have fun while saving money, now that sounds good to me!

Save Money Dining Out

We all know that the best way to save money on dining out is to just not do it! I know, it sounds harsh but it really is the best way. If you are serious about saving money then not eating out will save you a lot. We have gone without eating out, it is doable and we are looking to get back into the habit of not eating out. No fast food, pizza, take-out, or even an ice cream. When you get your spending back under control then you can start eating out again.

Use specials and coupons! This seems like such a simple thing but it really does help. If you have an entertainment book, it's a book full of coupons for your area, use the coupons in there. Use the buy one entree get one free coupon. Use the kids eat free deal. Whatever the deal or special is, if your going out to eat use it. We hardly ever pay full price for a meal when we go out.

Eat out only for special occasions--birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Maybe for a job well done at the end of the school year, or whenever you can afford it.

Don't eat at really expensive restaurants. If you can't afford it, don't eat there. NEVER and I mean NEVER charge a meal on your credit card--you will be paying for that meal for months to come! We hardly ever eat at expensive places because we can't afford to, the only time we do is when someone else is footing the bill. Yes, we're cheap but we are living within our means.

Don't let your eyes get bigger than your stomach. I admit this is my big downfall. Every thing looks so good that you can sometimes go crazy when ordering. Don't order more than you can comfortably eat. Not stuff yourself to the gills so you can barely walk, but what you can eat comfortably eat.

Split your meal with someone else. The portions are usually so out of control, that you can't comfortably eat the amount you are given. Not only will your pocket book thank you but sop will your waistline!

Always drink water. This is something that we have pretty much always done. We don't drink a lot of soda at our house so every once in a blue moon we will order a different beverage. But our beverage of choice will always be ice water with a slice of lemon. Also, you don't end up drinking a ton of calories at your meal. Another plus for the waistline!

Don't order an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert all at one time! If you are at a place that you just love the dessert than order an appetizer as your meal so you still have room for the dessert. I have done this many times, and the appetizer is just the right size to fill me up so I'm not starving but then again I'm not stuffed to the point that they have to roll me out.

Instead of going out for a whole meal go out for just dessert. Eat dinner at home and then go out for a nice dessert. Or, go out for the meal and come home for the gooey yummy dessert that you have at home waiting! Yum!!!

Ask if you can order off the children's or senior menus. It never hurts to ask, the worse they can say is no. So what do you have to lose? Nothing but you could end up saving a few pennies! Some places also have half orders, even if they aren't listed on the menu ask if they serve them.

When you have very little money or are trying to save some money or pay off debt don't go to places that require you to tip. You can end up spending as much on a tip as you would for a meal at a fast food place. So until you can afford to, don't. Another word of advice, if you do go somewhere where you tip, tip well. We will not order as much just so we can over tip the server. I wouldn't want their job and am glad that I don't have to have their job so why not give a little extra?

Do you have any ways that you save money when you go out to eat? Let us know, leave us a comment.

Helping You Save Money On Your Grocery Bill

We are not big advocates of spending a bunch of money to buy a bunch of stuff that is "going to help you save money." A lot of times the things that you buy are not worth the price you paid for them, they end up not having all the information you thought that it would, doesn't help you in the real world, or they want you to spend more money to get "all the information."

I came across the Supermarket Savings 101 course by Crystal Paine, and decided that I would go ahead and give it a try, after all I read Crystal's blog faithfully and find her a down to earth person. (and it was on sale) So I went ahead and ordered the course, and let me tell you, I am extremely impressed with it. It is a great course that really does seem to give you the information that will be helpful to you as you are trying to save money on your grocery bill.

I also like the fact that this is something that she does herself. She shares with you the things that she does, how often she goes shopping, how she organizes her menus, coupons, and lists. This course is full of information that you and I can use as well!

This is not one of those courses that doesn't give you the info or wants you to keep spending money to get all the information. There is the one time fee to buy the e-book, and that's it. Along with the e-book, she includes mp3 file of her talking about what you are going over in the e-book. You also get a link to her forum where they discuss the Supermarket Savings 101 course, totally free, it's included in the price of the course. I also got a few different copies of different e-books that go along with the course.

And the course is not going to cost you hundreds of dollars either. It is reasonably price, you will make back the price of the course with what you save on your grocery bill the first time! And it is full of great information.

I definitely recommend this course for anyone who is trying to figure out how to save more money on their grocery bill.Click Here!

How to Save Money On Your Utilitiy Bills

With prices increasing constantly you can often feel like you are never going to be able to pay all your bills each month, let alone get out of debt! (At least, that's how we sometimes end up feeling) I have come across some ideas on how to save money on your utilities. They are not the most comfortable at times but they do work.

Keep the thermostat between 78-82 in the summer, I know that this is a big one for us here in sunny southern California. Especially for me, I get hot really easily and I hate being hot. But we did this last year for a few months and yes, at times it was uncomfortable but it was well worth it when our electric bill was under $125 instead of over $300 on months when we didn't keep the thermostat set at a higher temperature! I try to keep mine at 80 degrees in the hotter months!

Keep the thermostat between 60-65 degrees in the winter. You can always add more layers or keep blankets around to cuddle into if you get too cold! If the kids, or you, are complaining about being cold put on more clothes, don't turn up the thermostat. We usually keep our heater off in the winter months, and we hardly ever get down to 65. (My parents live in Pennsylvania and my dad refuses to turn on the heater because it costs so much, instead they use wood burning stoves to heat the house, another great idea if you have this available to you)

Also in the summer, remember I hate being hot, I will do the things that require me to be up moving around in the morning which is the coolest part of the day. Thus saving the warmer parts of the day for activities that are less physical and more stationary. Also, we are spoiled right now as our apartment complex has a swimming pool that we take full advantage of during the summer, spending the hottest parts of the day in the cool water of the pool. Make sure you use lots of sunscreen!

Use fans instead of your central air or air conditioners. Most fans use less electricity than your central air or air conditioner uses. Open the windows in the opposite corners of the house to "draw" the air through first thing in the morning and in the evening when it is cooler. Make sure to remember to close them later before the heat of the day hits. Let me emphasize again how important it is to remember to close them, I forgot a couple of times and those were the worst days of summer, ever!!!

Here is a trick that I learned when I was little from my dad, put the fans in your windows backwards to draw hot air out. If you want the cooler outside air to blow across one room, then place a fan in a window directly across the the house to suck the hot air out and the cool air in.

Plan ahead when baking during the summer. Only bake on cooler days, ideally when you won't need to use the air conditioner and can keep the windows open. Bake what you can in advance so if a really hot day comes you can avoid using the oven at all that day. A lot of times I will bake on Saturday in the morning, and then we all pile into the car to run errands in an air conditioned store, let them pay the huge bill. Or go to the library in the afternoon, or go swimming, you get the idea. The summer is a great time to grill and use the crock-pot as well!

If you don't have to use an appliance, then don't. I have many fond memories of being outside with my mom hanging up clothes on the clothesline to dry. That is one downfall of apartment living--no yard to hang a clothesline. Now some appliances you can't really not use, for example please don't unplug the refrigerator to save on energy costs. And then there are some appliances that reducing the usage of is not going to save you money, so go ahead and use the blender.

Sometimes, you can save money by replacing an inefficient appliance. A word of caution here though, most of the time it will take some time for the cost of replacing the appliance to make the energy savings worth it, so don't go out and replace every appliance just to save on your utilities. If you know that you will soon be necessary to replace an appliance, replace it with a more energy efficient version since you will be incurring those costs anyway.

Consider using fluorescent light bulbs if you use a lot of lights. There are lots of newer style fluorescent bulbs that are more friendly with the quality and color of light. Fluorescent bulbs can be expensive compared to incandescent, I was able to find some at the dollar store, a dollar for one fluorescent compared to a dollar for 4 incandescent bulbs. I did pick up a few of both kinds and replaced those bulbs that we use the most with fluorescent. Typically fluorescent bulbs tend to last longer than incandescent, about 10 years. If you decide to try fluorescent, try one or two at first, as you will want to make sure that you find bulbs you like before spending a lot of money to replace them all.

These are just a few tips that I have come up with, I am sure that there are many more out there, and I welcome you to share any tips that you know of that I may have overlooked.

How To Save Money on a Life Insurance Policy

If you're the kind of person who is looking to save money, chances are you're the kind of person who needs life insurance.

Because let's face it--there's only one kind of person who doesn't need life insurance, and that's the person who doesn't have to worry about money.

Even if you're single and have no kids, you'll still at least want enough life insurance to take care of your funeral arrangements when you go, so nobody else has to.

But if you are married, or if you do have kids, you know you want the life insurance, so that things will be taken care of when you go.

How Much Life Insurance You Need

The first key to saving money on Life Insurance is to know how much life insurance to get.

The best way to determine this?

Well, think about it this way. As bad as it sounds, the purpose of the money that comes in from life insurance is to replace you when you die. The money needs to fill your role in the household.

If you're the family breadwinner, this means enough insurance that the interest the money could earn would replace your income, or the income your family could live on once you go. For instance, $250,000 in life insurance may sound like a lot, but that would mean a $25,000 a year income for your family. Would that be enough?

If your family gets by okay on what you make, you probably want to go with 10-15 times your income in life insurance.

However, it's not just the breadwinners that would be missed if they were gone. Often people neglect to insure the other members of the household, and this can be a costly mistake.

For example, if you're a stay at home mom, you would want enough life insurance that your family could pay to have the jobs done that you do. Nobody knows better than you do how varied those are! Not only does that include the obvious things like childcare, but if your husband keeps working, the family will probably need more pre-prepared meals, which are more expensive than the fine, home-cooked meals you make. They'll probably need to buy more clothes, since you won't be around to do the mending.

Talking with your husband about how much to insure you for may sound morbid, but it will force him to recognize just how many dollars your work is contributing to the household!

How to Save Money On Life Insurance

Once you decide how much you need, how do you get it as cheaply as possible?

The answer is to choose a Term Life insurance policy instead of Whole Life insurance policy.

What does this mean?

A whole life insurance policy is a policy that you buy and then have for the rest of your life. It generally has a fixed cost, but you make monthly payments on it as you "buy" the policy, sort of like financing a car. Just like a car or a home, this means that a whole life insurance policy can build up equity which you can borrow against as it gets paid off.

On the other hand, Term Life insurance policies are temporary. You pay each month in order to be insured that month. Whenever you want to stop, you can stop.

Because whole life policies always pay out (everybody dies someday), they're more expensive than term life policies. $500,000 in whole life will always be more expensive per month than %500,000 in term life.

One More Secret To Making This Work

Of course, there's one more secret to making this work--you actually have to save money in the meantime.

As we've said elsewhere, saving money doesn't just mean paying less for stuff--it actually means putting some money away for later, in a place that can earn you interest and make you money.

In this case, once you've managed to save the $500,000, then you can go ahead and cancel the term life insurance--you don't need it any more.

In fact, if you've managed to save 10 to 15 times your income, you're now in that category of people who don't have to worry about money any more. It means you could lose your job today--you could even quit your job today--and you wouldn't experience so much as a hiccup in your lifestyle.

That's the type of freedom we're looking to give you with the money saving tips we're talking about.

And as tragic as loss is, if you have life insurance, at least you have the comfort of knowing you've left your family that type of freedom.

Hope this helps.

Save On Gifts

Okay, if you are like me you just finished your holiday shopping yesterday, the day after Christmas. (Last minute gifts for friends we were seeing after the holidays.) And if like me, you are totally worn out from holiday shopping and crowds, I'm sure that you don't want to even think about setting foot in another retail store until next December! But I beg you to be patient with me as I talk about preparing for next years gift giving extravaganza.

I have decided, and I know I say this every year, that I am going to get my holiday shopping and gift making done early this coming year. But, this year I am so serious, and I have even taken the first steps in making this possible. Which is, making a list!

I am making lists of all potential gift giving extravaganzas through out the year; birthdays, anniversaries, Easter, and Christmas! I am breaking done each month with important dates and what needs to be bought for each event, will just a card do or do I need to purchase a small gift. Then the plan is to sit done with my husband and put a dollar amount next to each name and date.

I know that I can purchase cards at the local dollar store for $.50 each, have I mentioned that I love the dollar store? So, for those events that only require a card i will be able to budget $1.00 and be covered, even including postage!

After the budget limit is set I will then sit down and brainstorm what that person's interest, hobbies, etc. are. Finally I will then brainstorm ideas of things that I can make and or buy for each event.

I will then carry this list with me wherever I go, shopping, library, bank, post office, homes of people I visit, everywhere! You never know when an idea will hit and I want to be prepared with my list!

Another reason to carry the list with me everywhere is so when I see something that "so and so will like" or "would be just perfect for," I can then whip out my list and decide if yes that would be perfect or no keep looking. And if I have my list with me I can purchase things on sale at great prices throughout the year. Thus spreading out the money spent on gifts throughout the year instead of being hit with big amounts at certain times.

Also, when I purchase something I can then write down the exact thing purchased and for how much, making sure to stay under budget!

The last thing that my list will do is help me keep track of where I am storing or hiding everything. How many times have I bought something months in advance and then been unable to locate it when it is needed? More times than I can count! I don't really save anything buying early if I can't locate it when needed, and then I have to turn around and buy something else! No more!

Who's ready to join me and put an end to being unorganized, last minute gift buying, and buying overpriced items! This year is the year I will succeed!

Frugal People Don't Buy On Credit

So, how are you at Monopoly? Ever played? Any good at it?

Imagine we change the rules a little bit. Imagine if, when you played Monopoly, every time you passed go, you gave the bank the $200. Not the other players. Just you.

How long do you think you would last in the game playing like that?

Well, using credit cards and other forms of interest is like playing monopoly that way.

Not only are you paying the price for whatever you're buying, but the interest that you're paying on top of the purchase prices is like tossing money away, jacking up the prices of everything you've bought.

Just like in the crazy Monopoly game I described above, people who regularly use credit to make purchases are unnecessarily inflating the prices of everything they buy, tossing a little bit extra away every month that could have gone to other things or been saved.

Saved money earns interest instead of costing it. It's better to know about savings products like CDs, money market accounts, and other savings products than it is to learn about great credit card deals or how to float a balance between cards to keep an interest rate low.

That's like getting the bank to pay you the $200 plus some every time around the board.

Now that would be how to get ahead in Monopoly.

And it's the secret to getting ahead financially in real life.

Home Owner Calculators

If you are thinking of purchasing your first home or even your second or maybe you are wondeing if you should refinance, then you need to check out the FREE calculators available online at Fannie Mae. The calculators will help you figure out just how much you can spend without breaking your budget.

They have calculators dealing with:

• How much house can you afford?
• What monthly payment is needed for a house with a specificsales price?
• How much can you afford with a specific monthly payment?
• How much is your monthly payment?
• Is now a good time to refinance?

Buying a home can be a scary process unless you do you homework. So make sure to take a quick stop at Fannie Mae to help work out the money before you take the leap!

Happy house hunting!

How To Save Money On Lunch At Work

You've probably heard the old adage before--brown bag it to work, and you can save some money.

The problem is, well, I think in this day and age, the idea of brown bag anything is so blah as to turn anybody off. Somehow, even a guy who spends a good five minutes building his forearms up by trying to squeeze that last half an ounce out of the toothpaste tube can imagine that little brown bag and think, "I'm not that poor."

Well, the good news is that in this day of microwaves and toaster ovens, brown bag lunches don't have to be, well, brown bag lunches. Anything you can whip up at home can usually be re-heated or even made at work.

At one office I worked in, somebody brought in a little George Foreman grill. On my way in to the office in the morning, I'd swing by the Grocery Store across the street and look for a piece of meat that was coming up on sale time and had a discount sticker on it. I'd cook it up on the grill during my lunch break, and throw it on some bread or with something else I'd brought from home to make a tastier, cheaper, and healthier lunch than some fast-food place would have whipped up to clog my arteries and drain my pocketbook with.

Even if that's not an option, microwaves are generally as common as restrooms in the modern workplace. Just cook up a little extra of whatever fine meal you're having for dinner, and the next day, you'll have a tasty, real meal at work that will leave your co-workers wondering what smells so good.

My Number One Secret For Saving Money

I have a favorite secret for saving money, and it's this:

Patience.

I'm serious.

There's an old adage that says, "You can have it fast, cheap, or good. Pick any two."

It really is true.

Think about dinner. You've got your choices. Let's say you want to have a good dinner. That leaves with two choices. You can get it fast, by going to a restaurant, but it isn't going to be cheap. You can get a good meal more cheaply, by cooking it yourself, but it isn't going to be very fast.

So obviously, on this blog, we're dialed in on cheap. We want to save some money, right?

This means we've got to give up one of the other two. And who wants to give up good?

That leaves fast as the thing we have to sacrifice to get good stuff cheap.

If we're willing to put some time into it, we can get good quality stuff at a cheaper price.

How do we do that?

Well, it might mean waiting for it to go on sale, or waiting for it to go on clearance. Buying things out of season or waiting for the new version to come out is a good way to get something at a deeply discounted price.

It also might mean spending more time shopping around. Obviously, taking the time to hunt all over the county (or the Internet) for a used car takes more time than heading down to the closest Used Car lot and picking out the best deal there, but your time pays off with deep discounts.

So next time you're looking to save a few dollars, ask yourself if there's a way that you can put some time into getting a discount, and turn those minutes into some dollars off your purchase.

Save Money On Your Grocery Bill

With grocery prices on the rise everyone seems to be looking for ways to save money on groceries. The most obvious way is to use coupons. A word of caution about coupons; only use a coupon if it something that you were originally planning on buying! Using a coupon to get a few cents off something that is just going to sit on your shelf and never be used is not really saving you money. And believe it or not sometimes even with your coupon the store brand just might be cheaper.

Does this mean that you shouldn't use coupons? No! Just do your homework. Know what it is you need to buy and pour through the sale ads. I have used many a coupon on an item on sale at a store that offers double coupons and ended up saving a lot.

Now a word about store brands--there really is nothing wrong with buying store brand. Most times you can't tell the difference between the store brand and the name brand. I urge you the next time you are at the store compare the ingredients in the name brand to the store brand, you will be surprised that most times the ingredients are the same! Why is the name brand then more expensive than the store brand? Advertising. Yes, when you purchase a name brand you are paying for the advertisement of that product.

Always plan your shopping trip. This is so important, especially with the rise in gas prices. Know which stores have the items you need on sale, or if not on sale, which store is cheaper. Also, don't travel all the way across town just to buy one item to save 10 cents. The time and money spent on gas is not worth it.

Always go with a grocery list in hand!!! This one step either breaks or makes our food budget. If I run to the store to just pick up a few things with out a list I come home with a lot more stuff and a lot less money!

What goes on your grocery list? First off, things that you need or have run out of. I keep one of those cheap magnetic pads on my refrigerator and as I run out of things or notice something getting low I write it on the pad. Voila, instant start to your grocery list.

Second, it's easier to make a grocery list if you have a menu plan. Know what you meals you are going to make that week and write down what ingredients you will need. I tried to plan out what meal we would eat on which day and found that didn't work for us. What I found works for us is to just write down the meal on a piece of paper and hang it on the refrigerator, when I fix a meal I cross it off. This gives me more choices and I don't feel so locked into a rigid schedule. So, find out what works for you and do it!

Only buy the amount that your family can use before it goes bad. If you buy something in bulk because you couldn't beat the price and half of it ends up going bad you really haven't saved anything. You've actually ended up throwing away money.

There are many more ideas out there, as these are just a few tips to get you started.

Happy deal hunting!