Trey LaRocca

3 Cheap Weekend Getaway Tips

January 23, 2020 By Trey LaRocca Leave a Comment

It’s the first month of the year, and it is time to plan out those vacation days. The problem is, one relaxing week-long trip with family or friends can eat up all of your allotted time. The good news is, you won’t have to give up the Big One in order to get more breaks throughout the year. Oftentimes, the best (and cheapest) way to go is a nice weekend escape somewhere local. Now, we don’t want to spend a fortune on a trip a couple hours away. In order to maximize your time off this year, here are some great tips on your cheap weekend getaway!

Room Rentals (Avoid Hotels!)

Hotels are great on those big trips. when you’re blowing your vacation budget, you don’t want to be in somebody else’s house with somebody else’s rules. For a few days, though, room rentals can be the perfect way to maximize value. Websites like Airbnb and Homeaway are great tools to find a place to stay anywhere you want to go. Pick a weekend outside of major tourism periods, and you can get a perfectly comfortable spot for $50-100 per night.

The More the Merrier

Nothing is better than a weekend out on the town with a bunch of your closest friends. Getting more people to come along doesn’t just maximize fun, it also lowers the financial burden on each of you. Getting group rides and group rentals for lodging makes it super cheap to get lost for a couple of days. Not only does it make the big costs go down, but it also opens up more free entertainment opportunities like group games at the rental house. when even staying in can feel like a party, the urge to empty your wallet out at the bar just disappears. Odds are you aren’t the only one feeling limited by your PTO allowance, and pitching a cheap weekend of fun to your coworkers shouldn’t be too hard.

Go Someplace Quiet

If your goal is for a more intimate escape with just you and your partner, quiet is the way to go. Not only are cozy little mountain/beach towns the ultimate romantic excursion, they are also filled with free things to do. It usually doesn’t cost much, if anything, to go hiking on a beautiful windy alpine trail. Not one for exercise? Laying on the beach is totally free, and grocery store picnic food is dirt cheap. Going to places that aren’t known for restaurants, theaters, or other expensive attractions makes it much less necessary to break the bank. Plus, sometimes the best way to unwind from your typical workload is to just sit back and relax, enjoying some fresh air and gorgeous views. A quiet weekend getaway is a cheap weekend getaway!

How to Spot Counterfeit Coupons

January 21, 2020 By Trey LaRocca Leave a Comment

Everybody wants to save money when they are out shopping. One way to get this done is the use of coupons, and apps like Honey have made a killing off of it. Honey’s website even boasts that it has saved $1 billion for consumers thus far, so its safe to say coupons are effective. With that said, there are many scams and counterfeit coupons out on the market, and many ask for your information in order to access them. This is where things get dangerous, and we at Savingadvice are here to help. So, to keep you safe on your journey to frugality, here are the best ways to spot counterfeit coupons.

Date of Expiration

This one is pretty easy. Many consumers will try to use or sell coupons they found online or in the mail. Oftentimes, these coupons have already expired. Make sure you double-check the date on the coupon, especially the year. You’ll tend to see a lot of holiday coupons from previous years, so don’t fall for the trap.

The Company Involved

Always check a company site before giving any information (or money) for coupons. If a coupon isn’t verifiable on a company website, it (most likely) isn’t legit. This isn’t always the case, but if the coupon requires anything from you aside from entering a code or scanning at the store, don’t take the risk. Coupons are usually a way for companies to get more customers in the door, and they often run in tandem with marketing campaigns. As counter-intuitive as it may seem, companies are going to want you to know if they are having a killer sale.

The Coupon Information Center

The CIC is a convenient resource, and keeps an updated list of scam online coupons. It isn’t updated so frequently that it is perfect, but it can still be a helpful first check when deciding whether to trust something. This whole process should be multi-step, and start with the CIC during your evaluation.

Use Your Common Sense

Just like anything else, you need to trust your instinct with counterfeit coupons. Crude pictures on google images, for example, aren’t going to be the most reliable resources. Weird stipulations or the lack of a company logo are also some good red flags. The biggest red flag is the word “free”. If a coupon offers something for free without the need to purchase anything else, odds are it isn’t real. If it is, it is usually something everybody knows about, and is being publicized pretty widely. If these boxes aren’t checked, avoid the random “freebies”. This is especially true if you don’t really have a good idea of the source of the coupon.

Healthy Grocery Shopping Tips: Keep You (And Your Wallet) Lean!

January 15, 2020 By Trey LaRocca Leave a Comment

There is a popular myth floating around this country that you cannot eat healthy on a budget. Well, I’m here to bust that myth. Good news for some, bad news for those who needed an excuse to keep buying dry ramen and sugary cereal. Don’t worry, this list isn’t going to take away all flavor from your diet. Quite the contrary, these grocery shopping tips are going to help you make delicious and nutritious food without breaking the bank. For those with alternative diets, things get a little tougher. This guide, though, should fit the bill for the majority of readers.

Hunt for Meat Deals

This one doesn’t apply to a few of you, but for the rest, it is vital. Meat is one of the best and most efficient sources of vitamins and macronutrients, and really helps shape the meals you’re cooking. Wit that said, you aren’t going to be shooting for ribeye and New York strips every trip to Walmart. Chicken is a great starting point, as deals can get as low as $2/lb on chicken breast. With very little inedible tissue, chicken breasts are the cheapest and most versatile cuts in the meat section. With beef, you’ll want to keep your eyes out for cheap-yet-flavorful cuts like top round and tri-tip. If your grocer or butcher has a butcher’s cut or “hanger steak,” that is about the best value you can find. As far as pork goes, it is all pretty cheap.

Rice and Beans, Beans and Rice

Universal staples, rice and beans are always cheap and always a bulk-buy favorite. Snag a 10-pound bag of rice and use it often. Black and red beans are my favorite, and playing with the seasoning can make these two ingredients feel new every time. Make sure you keep that spice cupboard a little varied, and make sure to include some veggies as well. Throw in whatever protein you purchased, and you’ve got a great full meal already!

Don’t Buy Veggies/Fruit Without a Plan

We have all done it. Maybe you had one killer beef and broccoli recipe, and got a little ambitious with how much of that mini-tree you’d actually eat. Maybe you were super determined to start eating more salad, and now you’re staring at a bag of sticky, brown romaine lettuce. The point here is this: If you don’t have a specific meal plan for every bit of veg you buy, don’t buy it. You are on a budget, and you can’t afford to have fresh food going to waste. Choose wisely, and make sure any extras you purchase are things you’d eat alone (and even raw) so you can snack through the excess. Choices like this include carrots, bananas, apples, and other snackables that you can toss into a lunch bag with confidence.

In Summary

This isn’t at all meant to be a complete guide to healthy shopping. Rather, incorporating these tips into a legitimate meal plan will keep your costs down without reaching for the junk. Following these rules exactly will keep you full, but you will want to throw in other ideas to keep it fresh. Know what your needs are, and if you have kids, make some concessions to make sure they eat enough. The main idea here is to give you confidence that your thin budget doesn’t have to harm your health.

Buy it Nice, or Buy it Twice: Save Money by not Going Cheap

January 14, 2020 By Trey LaRocca Leave a Comment

Here at Savingadvice, we know that cheaper isn’t always better. This may be a surprise, given most of our subject matter. Regardless, we know that there are some things that deserve a little more attention to quality than price. This balance is summed up by my favorite word: Value. Value is a principal that is built by comparing the quality of something, how useful it is to you, and how much it will cost. If you can snag something great for cheap, awesome; the reality is, though, that there are some items that make this pretty difficult. So in order to get the best value out of your purchases, here are 3 times when you should buy it nice, or buy it twice!

Cars and Trucks

First things first, do not read this as me telling you to go out and buy a new luxury car. New cars are a terrible value proposition, and luxury vehicles can struggle in terms of reliability. What I am saying here is that just because you “don’t mind bumming it” with a beater, doesn’t mean you should grab that $600 Altima with a blown head gasket. Consider paying around $3000 for a real reliable mainstay. As far as new vehicles go, if you just have to have one, don’t buy from brands that are known to break just because they are cheap. I used to work for a car dealer, and across the street was a massive Kia dealership with constant “blowout” sales. Don’t fall for this trap, which is common with brands like Kia, Nissan, and Chrystler. All of these brands have one thing in common: Their cars do not last. If you have to buy a new car, spend a little more for a reputable brand with a good warranty to get the most out of your money.

Furniture

This one is a very circumstantial call. Now, I’m not saying I think cheap brands like Ikea aren’t as bad as everybody says they are. Although, I do think that there is merit in paying a little more if you plan to live in one place for a long time. That is where discretion comes in. If you are putting together a nice looking dorm for a couple years, go ahead and cheap out a little. On the other hand, if you plan to decorate your forever home, buy with quality in mind. Don’t be afraid to look on the used market for good prices,, just avoid anything that won’t last.

Your Home

Whether it be an apartment, a condo, or your first real house, be picky. Low prices aren’t always good prices, and low-end homes can come with high-end issues. Some even come with severe health risks when bugs, mold, or water damage end up in the mix. Do your research, and if you aren’t experienced in doing so, don’t assume you’ll tackle a dirt-cheap fixer-upper. If you can snag a home for way under value, and have enough money to fix all the major issues in the home, go for it. With that said, do not buy too early and skimp out on a home missing major quality-of-life factors like solid HVAC systems or appliances, assuming you’ll “get to it later.”

When Should You Use Your Credit Card?

January 9, 2020 By Trey LaRocca 1 Comment

One of the most controversial topics in personal finance is that magic piece of plastic in your wallet. Everyone you ask will have a different opinion, with many just saying to avoid them altogether. While I wouldn’t call someone a fool for holding that opinion, I do honestly think credit cards have a place in your life.

The major hurdle here is assessing exactly how large that place is, and your ability to stay disciplined. Studies have shown that sliding a piece of plastic that isn’t linked to your cash makes it easier to spend money. As a result, going overboard is extremely common. So, for those who aren’t sure how to maximize the benefits of credit while mitigating the risk, here is the answer to the golden question: When should you use your credit card?

When?

An obvious first step is to address the main question. There are a few use cases that I find the most low-risk as far as habit-forming goes. The first is bill payment. Selecting one low-cost bill to put on your credit card each month will make sure that you have utilization to build credit, but don’t run the risk of overspending.

Bills tend to stay relatively similar every month, so “going crazy” when using a credit card to cover a bill isn’t all that tempting. If you are too young to have bills quite yet, consider using your card to cover something else that you usually already cover with cash. The important part here is to make sure you are using it once or twice a month. Keeping the use infrequent keeps you from getting used to leaning on the card.

How much?

This one is a little less subjective. As far as responsible wealth management goes, a credit card is too high-interest to be heavily utilized. I don’t care what “rewards” you get. If you were the one benefiting the most from those reward programs, they wouldn’t exist. Credit bureaus do want to see some usage every month, though, and the highest scored utilization level is typically 1-9% each month.

If you keep your bill or routine credit spending in this range, your FICO score will increase rather quickly. A more obvious underlying rule here is to never spend more than you can pay off at the end of the month. Our directive is to never get interest charged on our credit card spending– that’s money in the toilet. Pay your card off every single month in its entirety. Then watch as your credit limit and FICO score skyrocket.

Know Yourself

To close this one out, here is a vital piece of the puzzle. You need to evaluate whether you should even have a credit card. If you have filed bankruptcy in the past, or came close due to impulsive spending, having a credit card in your pocket is a bad move. If you haven’t had enough time to get into a situation that dire, but know you have spending issues, don’t try it out.

Credit cards can help you in many ways, but none are as severe as the ways they can hurt you if misused. So, take a look inward before considering any of these rules, and make sure you have the discipline to stay focused on your goals. Just like any other addiction, impulsive spending is a temptation that never really goes away. Be responsible and don’t test waters in which you have already drowned.

How to Turn Old Clothes Into Cash

January 7, 2020 By Trey LaRocca 2 Comments

Is your closet getting a little cramped? At a certain point, you just find yourself glancing into the cotton abyss and there are many things you haven’t worn in months. This becomes especially frustrating when you want to buy new clothes, but you just don’t have the space to store them. Even worse, when you have to move and you realize that boxes actually… cost MONEY? No, this just won’t do. So, we find ourselves needing to offload some clothes, and what kind of savers would we be if we didn’t find a few ways to turn old clothes into cash?

OfferUp

One of the best apps for selling anything, OfferUp provides a clean and simple interface to sell your personal belongings. while not specifically geared for clothes, it is one of the most widely used online resources on this list. The best part about OfferUp is that you probably already have the app on your phone. Putting up an ad is easy, quick, and the analytics are very consumable. Definitely the way to go if you are just trying to get rid of one or two higher-priced items.

Poshmark

Now we are into the clothing-focused secondhand apps. Poshmark is a favorite among most of the secondhand sellers I know, as you get to personalize your own online storefront. Not only this, but they make the shipping process super easy. After a purchase is made by a customer, you are sent a prepaid shipping label and you send it off. You can use Poshmark for all varieties of clothing (even menswear) and you’ll get plenty of attention. Poshmark is the perfect upfront fee-less option for somebody who is really trying to empty their closet. One major downside, though, is the 20% cut they take if you do sell something. As a result, it is usually a better idea to post higher-end items here as well.

thredUP

As far as online consignment goes, thredUP is an absolute titan. With thredUP, you can post items for sale, recycling, or even donation. They are the quickest way to get rid of all your clothes, and the process is very simple. You pay your two-dollar fee, receive your bag and prepaid shipping label, and send your clothes off to them. Just like that, you’ve freed up all the closet space you need. After about a month, you will find out exactly how much money thredUP will give you for the ability to resell your clothes. They won’t always be willing to sell everything you send, and you can pay $11 to take back those unwanted items, or just allow them to recycle them for you for free. So, if your primary goal is to get rid of a lot of clothes, and you don’t mind only taking in a bit of cash, thredUP is your play. With that said, keep in mind they only accept menswear as donations.