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Dealing With Holiday Hiccups And Budgeting For Christmas

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budgeting for christmas

December is next week! How crazy is that? It seems like 2018 flew by and, while we’ve made a lot of progress this year, we are looking forward to a much better year in 2019 financially.

First, we have to push through the hustle-and-bustle of the holiday season. We have a lot of plans coming up that will likely require some strict budgeting on our parts. Both of us love giving gifts. This year, we will be finding ways to do that without spending much cash so we can continue focusing on our personal goals.

A Hiccup in Our Holiday Plans

Just a month ago we were optimistic about being able to spend some money on Christmas. My other half had a new job and we were slowly starting to dig ourselves out of debt. However, the new job didn’t pan out the way we’d hoped and he has found himself temporarily unemployed again.

He almost immediately landed another gig that starts the first week of December. So, we won’t be down and out for long, but it will hinder our ability to do everything we’d planned on for Christmas. This year the folks that live out of town won’t be receiving big packages. Family and friends that live closer will be receiving handmade gifts and personal moments instead of anything too costly.

Budgeting for Christmas

Normally we budget around $1,000 total for our families and friends for Christmas. This year, we are scaling that WAY down. Instead of sending and giving gifts, we are planning to make quite a few of our items.

First, our godchildren are coming over the second Saturday in December to bake and do crafts. This will serve as their Christmas gift (and they’ll get to leave with something cool that THEY made). The entire day will only cost us about $20.

For family and friends that are local, we are planning to make goodie boxes. You can grab cookie tins for $1 each at the Dollar Store this time of year. Then we are going to make everything else from scratch. When all is said and done, it should cost around $5 per person.

Folks that live further away will be receiving a Christmas photo and card. We have some cards leftover from last year that we will use and potentially buy a few extra if needed. The photos will be printed at mass and cost less than $10 total.

I also grabbed some yarn at Michael’s on Black Friday (10 skeins for $20). I plan to make some hats and scarves for family and friends both near and far.

At first, we were a bit stressed and bummed out when we started budgeting for Christmas. What we realized was that this will probably be one of the most fulfilling Christmas seasons of all. Not only will we be furthering our overall goal of being more financially secure, but we will also be able to hand make gifts that will be appreciated by our friends and families.

Readers, how are you handling budgeting for the holidays? Are you making any gifts?

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Our First Thanksgiving

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thanksgiving budget

My last personal update had a ton of good news and it seems like that isn’t going to stop any time soon. In fact, we have some even better news!

Debt Payoff Progress

We paid a total of $391 on our credit cards this month (the first payment in a while). It felt so good to be getting back on top of each of our payments. We’re also happily saving up our $1,000 emergency fund. Once that is in place, we will have quite a bit more cash to snowball our debt. We are half way to our savings goal currently.

On top of that, we have a family first…

Our First Thanksgiving

My other half and I have had two Thanksgivings together (this will be our third). However, we haven’t ever hosted Thanksgiving. Our first holiday together, we visited with his family in Tennessee, and last year we stayed home and had a meal with just the two of us. This year we will be hosting our family!

This is huge for a few reasons.

First, I am happy we have the ability to host our family this year. We aren’t scraping by so badly we can’t spare $40 for a meal. This has given me some additional optimism about our current financial situation.

Second, it is absolutely a big deal to have the family here, in our home, and cook for them and have quality time. We’ve not had the entire crew here before.

Lastly, we have a budget and we’ve managed to stick to it! Here’s how…

Thanksgiving Budget

Like I said, we’ve managed to keep the entire meal under $40. Everything costed $36.89 to be exact. It hasn’t added any additional cost either!

We scoped out the different sales on turkeys and picked a 15-lb bird up for $4.10. The promotion required you to purchase $35 in groceries to get the $0.27 per pound price, so we just purchased our week’s worth of groceries and got the turkey at a decent price.

Everything else, we’ve picked up at Aldi. Because I had some marked down meat stored away, the “extra” cost of the Thanksgiving fixings was offset by having backup meals at home already. So, we didn’t go over our $50/week grocery budget when we got everything else either.

So, essentially, Thanksgiving isn’t going to cost us any extra this year! We are looking forward to a nice Thanksgiving with family in OUR home (without even altering our budget). How awesome is that?!

Readers, what do you have planned for Thanksgiving this year? 

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Financial Setbacks That Interfere With Getting Out of Debt

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It can be very hard to try to get out of debt. 80% of Americans are in debt, and this is largely because it is so difficult to overcome this particular problem. However, it is not impossible. If you want to get out of debt, you can do so with responsible spending habits and planning ahead. However, you should keep in mind that a financial setback is possible when you are trying to get out of debt.

In life, things hardly ever go exactly according to plans. People generally do not plan to have unexpected negative events occur that end up costing them money. However, it is almost inevitable that these events will indeed occur. For example, you can end up having a sudden problem with your car. The engine could die, or a headlight could break.

Alternatively, you could have some sort of problem around the house, such as a mold problem or some sort of issue with the plumbing. These are things that you would need to fix immediately because they could end up costing you a lot more if you let these problems go.

It can be very frustrating when something like this happens when you were trying to get out of debt because it throws your plans to get out of debt off-course. The money that you would have spent on paying off debt for the month now has to be spent on this unforeseen expense. Or if money is too tight, online fast cash loans get explored to cover the cost, which need to be paid back immediately. While this is an unfortunate occurrence, the best thing to do is suck it up and just pay the expense, so that you can have the problem fixed quickly.

It’s inevitably frustrating when something like this happens, but you should be prepared for events like this to happen. Your journey to get out of debt is very likely not going to go off without some type of hitch, so it is good to plan for this sort of thing to happen. If anything, it can motivate you to either make more money or save more money, so that you can actually have money allotted for this purpose and not end up being surprised.

When you are on the journey to getting out of debt, it can be a major focus of your life to the point where you want to do it as quickly as possible at all costs. However, you need to be reasonable about this and realize that skimping on fixing things that need to be fixed can end up costing you more in the long run and perhaps making it so that you end up being in debt later on

An emergency expense is rarely fun for anyone. However, it is important to accept that these things happen, so that you are not overly surprised and taken aback when they do. It is also good to be prepared for these events so that you do not end up taking too much of an emotional hit when your journey to get out of debt has been extended by a little bit.

You should keep in mind that getting out of debt is a marathon and not a sprint, and as long as you are responsible with your spending habits and keep on course as much as possible, you will get out of debt eventually despite any unforeseen financial setbacks that may occur in the meantime. Just be patient and handle every setback that occurs as it comes, so that you do not allow problems to be exacerbated.

 

How to Set a Moving Budget

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Moving Budget
The average American moves about 12 times in their life and, if you’re like me, you hate it! Last year I’ve had to move four (yes, four) times and it has been a trying experience.

From the heavy lifting that is involved in loading up moving trucks to the sheer financial cost of it all, moving can be a real drag. You should be able to take the time and enjoy your new place, right? That got me thinking… What if there was a go-to moving budget to reference before you decided to pack up and leave? You’d have one less thing to worry about during the move and you’ll be able to keep your finances on track.

How to Prepare a Moving Budget

First, you should create a moving budget spreadsheet for yourself. (I like to use the Microsoft Budget template for my monthly budget but created a new one for my moving budget.) You’ll want to organize the spreadsheet the way you see fit. I started with labels across the top beginning with bill/item on the far left, estimated cost and maximum cost.

Next you’ll need to break down the bills, moving material and other items you’ll need. Many people don’t think about the little things you’ll need once you move again. Here was my list:

  • Application and administrative fees if you are renting ($50 per application for each person over 18 and up to $200 admin fee at most apartments)
    • If you aren’t renting you will need to plan for down payments, realtor fees, etc.
  • Deposits
    • Apartment deposits can vary based on the development and your credit score. Deposits can range from $0 to first and last month’s rent.
    • You’ll also need to budget for deposits on certain utilities if you do not already have accounts open or that are not included in your monthly payments. (I paid $200 to have electric turned on, $50 for gas and $20 for water.)
    • If you have a pet and plan to move them as well you will also want to plan for a pet deposit and pet fees. Some apartment complexes charge up to $500 deposit as well as a monthly fee and restrict breeds that are permitted on the property.
  • Household Items
    • When you move you’ll want a new shower curtain, which you can get fairly cheap (under $20).
    • You may also want new trash cans. Most people don’t move with their trash or trash cans. Depending on your preferences, this could cost $30+.
    • Toiletries don’t often get moved with their owners. You’ll want to get all new body washes, shampoos, etc. Depending on the size of your family, this could be extremely costly.
    • New food to stock the new fridge. Most people also don’t move any food with them. You’ll want to budget having to buy all those kitchen staples (spices, etc) again. This could double your first week’s grocery budget.
    • Any other supplies that are needed. (I started out completely fresh after my move two weeks ago and will slowly build my apartment one piece at a time.)
  • Moving Truck
    • Get a quote for a moving truck but be sure to have at least twice that much set aside. Most Uhauls and other moving truck services charge a flat fee PLUS mileage. (I ended up paying about $88 for a Uhaul for six hours.)
  • Moving Help
    • You’ll also want to be sure to include moving help in your moving budget. Maybe you have friends that will be willing to help for free (or cheap). That’s usually the best way to go, however, if you’d rather hire a mover you’ll need to make calls, price compare in your area and budget that in as well too.

There’s no doubt that moving can be extremely stressful (for me anyway) but if you are able to plan far enough ahead and write out a solid moving budget you’ll have one less thing to worry about!

If you liked this post you may also enjoy “Should You Be Using a Bill Calendar?“

Photo: Olympic Movers

Best value for money TV streaming

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Online streaming is becoming the viewing method of choice for an increasingly large number of people. However, the seemingly endless variety of box sets, movies, and sport comes at a price. Here are details of three of the most popular services; to help you decide which one best suits your needs and you can use comparison sites like Broadband Choices.

Netflix

Since its inception in 1997 Netflix has grown at an amazing rate. It now claims to have 98 million worldwide subscribers.

It is renowned for producing its own quality TV shows, for example, Orange is the New Black. In addition, you can watch both US and British TV shows and movies.

Netflix is free, for the first month, to new customers. After this free period the cost of watching Netflix is as follows:

For £5.99 a month you can watch on only one device, at any one time. The picture quality is in standard definition.

£7.49 a month gives you HD viewing and the flexibility of watching on two devices.

The most expensive option is £8.99 a month. For this, you will get Ultra HD, if available, and the opportunity to watch on four separate devices.

The content you will receive is identical, regardless of how much you pay. So, the main criteria are how you want to watch the shows, and if you need HD quality. If you are a family who sits around the TV together to watch a programme, increasingly rare these days, you might find the cheapest option will suit your needs. Otherwise, go for a more expensive option to stop those arguments about what programme to watch!

Amazon Prime

Membership of Amazon Prime costs £79 a year or £7.99 a month. For this, you receive a whole host of Amazon services, e-books, music, etc. in addition to Amazon Prime Video. Alternatively, for £5.99, you can subscribe to Prime Video only. There is a 30-day free trial to give you a chance to try it out.

While not as well known for its original content as Netflix, there are some shows which are unique to this service, e.g. The Man in the High Castle. In addition to these shows, some TV channels can be accessed via Amazon Channels service. This allows you to subscribe to individual channels, for an extra cost, to watch either live content or archived material. Subscription is on a monthly basis, so there is no long term commitment.

While not having the variety of original programming that Netflix has, the selection of movies is comparable.

If Sky’s satellite service is beyond your budget, Now TV might be the answer. It offers much of the content available on Sky, including sport.

The payment options, called “passes” vary according to your viewing choices, and are priced as follows:

The Entertainment Pass costs £6.99 a month. This gives you access to some, but not all, live channels, as well as a selection of box sets.

The Sky Cinema Pass is a monthly fee of £9.99. The movies available are much more recent than the offerings from Netflix and Amazon, giving Sky a big advantage in this area. A 30-day free trial is available for new customers.

For £2.99 a month, a Kids Pass is available. This gives you access to a large selection of children’s channels.

The Sports Pass is structured differently, offering a £6.99 one day pass, a weekly option for £10.99, or a monthly pass at £31.99. This is ideal if you are interested in a particular sporting event, enabling you to watch without the expense of a full Sky Sports subscription.

Each of these streaming services has their strengths. All are available on a number of devices, to offer flexibility for viewing.

If you are a sports fan, Sky is the obvious choice, with its unparalleled coverage. However, the cost of the monthly pass can be prohibitive.

Netflix and Amazon offer high-quality content for TV and movie fans, with the former just having the edge on original programmes.

Finally, a free trial period is a good way of discovering which service is best for you. However, if you decide that you don’t want the service, don’t forget to cancel it before the trial period ends.

 

More around the web:

Kitchen Staples: How to Stock Your Kitchen Without Breaking the Bank

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kitchen staples

If you read Monday’s blog post you know I’m no stranger to moving. In fact, I consider myself a bit of a moving professional at this point. That being said, there are some things that go overlooked when you are starting fresh in your new place. One of the biggest rooms that gets overlooked is the kitchen.

When you are getting ready to move most people focus on getting the place furnished. Not many people are concerned with their kitchen. Of course you can bring your old pots and pans, cooking utensils, etc. from the last place but you likely won’t be moving your food.

Repurchasing all of the food items that are normally in your kitchen can get costly though. So, I came up with a kitchen staples list and a few ideas on how to stock your pantry without breaking the bank.

Kitchen Staples

Kitchen staples is a term used for those items that are always in your pantry but you may take for granted at times. Think about that bag of flour that you know is in your kitchen right now or the spices you are certain are above your stove. All of those items are staples that normally stay behind when you move from one place to another. You don’t even realize how convenient having these kitchen staples is until you need them.

  • Bread Crumbs 
  • Broth
  • Canned Tomatoes – Diced, crushed, tomato paste, etc. can come in handy with some recipes!
  • Canned Beans
  • Dressing/Sauce – You’ll need to buy ketchup, mustard, mayo, any other regular condiments as well as cooking sauces (like soy).
  • Flour
  • Frozen Goods – Frozen veggies and quick meals are great kitchen staples to have at your fingertips.
  • Minced Garlic 
  • Nuts – Read about why I always buy my nuts in bulk.
  • Oils – Cooking oils (vegetable, peanut, etc)
  • Pasta and Pasta Sauce
  • Rice
  • Salsa 
  • Spices – Depending on how expansive your spice cabinet is you may want to consider moving this with you! Spices can be pretty expensive.
  • Sweeteners 
  • Wines – Cooking wines. Again, consider moving these with you (especially if they are unopened).

Your personal kitchen staples list may vary. For instance, if you have an allergy or dietary restrictions your list may have additional or removed items from the list. You may also consider some kitchen items to be “must haves” that others do not.

Stock Your Pantry For Less

Now that you have the preliminary list of kitchen staples you may be thinking, “there is no way I can afford to restock an entire kitchen.” Well, don’t worry! There is.

In my experience the best way to combat the cost of groceries and other kitchen items is to compare prices. It is likely that you’ll be able to find most of these items on sale in your area (and there may even be a coupon circulating). You can also try shopping at Aldi (something I recommend). By switching to shopping at Aldi many people have been able to cut their grocery bill down significantly so stocking your new kitchen with groceries from there should help cost as well.

If you have any items you think should be added to the kitchen staples list or how to stock up for less, please let us know! We’d love to hear from you. 

Photo: Vogue

Paribus Review: Does It Really Save You Money?

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Paribus Review Does It Really Save You Money As more people shop online, price matching and comparing prices seems a little easier. But what happens when an item goes on sale after you’ve purchased it? Paribus will help you get a refund and put that money backinto your pocket.

Sound too good to be true? I thought so too. In the one week that I used Paribus, I shopped online exclusively. Before I get into the nitty gritty, I’ll tell you how much I saved…a whopping $12. Now, this may not seem like much to you, but my Paribus review isn’t just about the money that I’ve saved.

Paribus Explained

So what exactly is Paribus? Paribus is a website and app that monitors your purchases through your email and alerts you when an item that you bought drops in price. In return, they will file a price adjustment on your behalf and give you a refund.

This means the app can be a real way to save money if you primarily shop online. But is it worth it if you don’t?  Let’s discuss the upsides first.

Paribus Review: Pros

What are some pros for Paribus?

Free To Use

Paribus is free to use. They don’t charge you to sign up.  So, there is no financial cost to having the app on your smartphone.

Ease Of Use

I was pleased to see how easy Paribus was to use.  Both the sign up process was easy and the apps interface was smooth and intuitive. All I did was enter in my email. In less than 5 minutes I was ready to save money! The great thing about Paribus is that it basically does all of the work for you.

If you are someone that hates checking for deals, Paribus could become your new best friend. Once it is installed, you don’t have to worry about checking around and trying to find rock bottom prices. Instead, Paribus will check everything on your behalf, and you’ll still the see the savings. Cool, right?

Savings

In my one week of using Paribus, I saved $12. I knew I would be testing out the service for my Paribus review, so I saved all of my purchases for test week. So, I bought an electric hand mixer, a new rocking chair, and a semi-expensive coat to prepare for next winter. I also bought a few household items, as well as pantry staples.

In all, I paid around $250 and saved $12. Considering the fact that I only gave the app a week to work, I’m satisfied with the savings. If I let it continue to monitor my purchases, I should see more savings in the future.

Works Well With Retailers

Besides a slight mishap with Amazon, I was able to use Paribus with just about every retailer! Here are all the stores Paribus works with. The stores are subject to change.

 

Paribus Review: Cons

Despite being easy to use and a proven money saver, Paribus does have some downsides that merit mentioning.

Availability

Paribus is not currently available on Android. I’m an avid Android user. When I first went searching for the Paribus app, I couldn’t find it. Thinking I made a mistake, I did some research online. I found that an app had been released for Android, but was removed by the time I tried to use it.

This is one of the biggest cons in my Paribus review, mainly because I use my phone a lot. I like the idea of having it on my phone and getting notifications when I’ve saved money. The good thing is that I can easily use this app on my computer. If you are an iPhone user, you can get the app for free on the app store.

 

Sign Up Options

If you are wary of giving someone access to your email, Paribus may not be the app for you. The app monitors your receipts by using your email. It then scans the receipts you receive and keeps the items stored so it can know when they drop in price.

Giving Paribus access to my email didn’t bother me at all, but I understand there are some people that are more private about their information, which is why I’m adding this as a con for my Paribus review.

Paribus Review: My Conclusions

So there you have it, my Paribus review! Overall, I think Paribus is an easy way to save some cash on purchases that you make online. As long as you are comfortable sharing your information and can work around the fees, you will enjoy this app!

If you want to sign up for Paribus please use this link. It will help us keep bringing you amazing content on this site. 🙂

Contact Lenses: Where to Buy Them to Save Big Money

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Contact lenses are those items that you need but hate to buy because of the price. Every time I buy them it hurts, especially if I can get them cheaper elsewhere! My husband and I both wear contacts and our vision insurance covers our yearly eye appointment and one of the following: up to $300 for glasses or up to $130 for contacts. Because of the better deal, we always opt in for using the insurance for glasses when our vision changes. So, that means we are paying out of pocket for contacts for the entire year.

My husband wears the 1-Day Acuvue contacts because he has a lot of allergies year around and his eyes are really sensitive. Before switching to the 1-Day Contacts from the 30-Day he would have to get prescription eye drops as well.

We normally order his contact lenses from the eye doctor and they were costing around $170 for a 3-month supply. Ouch! About 2 years ago we began ordering them through 1-800 Contacts and they normally run around $145.00 ($72.25 per eye) with free shipping.

After researching Walmart.com and Walgreens here is what I found:

Contacts Comparison

Store

$ Per Eye

Shipping

Additional Steps

Misc. Information

Local Eye Doctor

 $90 Pick Up Order on-site N/A

1-800 Contacts

 $72.25 Free Shipping Submit Prescription Price match guarantee and you can also get a discount when you buy larger quantities. ($61 for 4+ boxes)

Walmart.com

 $66.00 Free Shipping Submit Prescription Can get a discount if you buy larger quantities. ($56 per box for 4+ boxes)

Walgreens.com

 $49.50 Free Shipping Submit Prescription Currently offering 25% discount on any contact order.

Walmart.com always has very competitive prices on almost any item they carry. I also found that Walgreens.com in now selling contacts as well. Walgreens always has promo codes to add to online orders and they have been having a 25% promo code for the last 2 months on contact lenses. Their contacts were originally $66 per eye, but after 25% off it came down to $49.50 per eye!

After much research, I ordered my husband’s contacts through Walgreens. I submitted his doctor’s name and fax number. Walgreens was able to verify the prescription that same day! I ordered his contacts on Monday afternoon and we got his contact in the mail that Friday and saved about $45 compared to our last contact purchase from 1-800 Contacts! That means we will be saving $180 a year on my husband’s contacts alone!

1-800 Contacts has a price match guarantee and you can also get your contact lenses cheaper via rebate if you buy 4 or more boxes. I normally don’t purchase more than a 3 month supply for my husband’s contacts because they are so pricey to begin with. Also, if I don’t have to deal with rebates to get the best deal I gladly decline. The price match guarantee also seems like a lot of trouble. Especially if you are in a hurry to order more. It’s always important to read the fine print with these.

When it comes to saving money I don’t mind going the extra mile in getting the prescription verified as long as I order ahead of time just in case there is any delay. $180 is a lot of money to save in a year on a product you can buy somewhere else and it’s the same brand. Right now ordering our contacts through Walgreens.com is a no brainer!

For more ways to save check out these great articles.

8 Ways to Save Money at Target
Save Money at the Grocery Store with this Quick Tip
52 Week Challenge: Save $1,404 By Saving No More Than $52 a Week!

What about you? Do you wear contacts? If so, where do you purchase them? do you know of any other places that have great deals?