Saving Money

3 Cheap Weekend Getaway Tips

January 23, 2020 By Trey LaRocca 1 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!

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.

New Year’s Savings Resolutions That Are Easy To Keep

January 1, 2020 By Tamila McDonald 1 Comment

Many people make New Year’s resolutions every year. The problem is, keeping them can be a challenge. It isn’t uncommon for most people to abandon their goal by February. According to one report, only 8 percent of Americans actually achieve their objective. Often, the problem is that the resolutions themselves aren’t realistic or are too vague. Luckily, by choosing goals that are achievable and measurable, you can increase your odds of success. If you don’t know where to begin, here are some New Year’s savings resolutions that are easy to keep.

Add $500 to Your Emergency Fund

If you don’t have any money socked away for a rainy day, make 2020 the year your emergency fund becomes a priority. By getting $500 in the bank, you’re are setting yourself up for long-term financial success. When the unexpected happens, you might be able to avoid adding to your debt, and that’s a big win.

Even if you have an emergency fund, growing it is probably wise. Having three to six months of expenses in savings is a smart move, as that protects you from a multitude of hardships, including the impact of an unexpected job loss.

By aiming for a $500 boost to your emergency fund, you’re making it easier to achieve your goal while still doing something wonderful. It’s less than $2 a day, or just shy of $42 a month. For most households, that’s fairly achievable.

There are plenty of ways you can get that $500, too. You can set aside part of your income, start a small side hustle, sell items at a yard sale, or take a multitude of other approaches. It’s even possible to combine a few of those options to reach your goal. Consider what works best for you and make it happen.

Open an IRA to Save for Retirement

Saving for retirement is important for everyone. Whether you have an option through your employer or not, opening an IRA in 2020 is a good idea. It gives you another retirement-oriented savings vehicle that can work for you, giving you the ability to secure your financial future.

Even if you don’t have a lot of money to spare, there are IRA options that can work for you. Some financial institutions don’t require significant initial deposits, and some allow you to get started without having to put in a single dime immediately. You just need to make sure you can make the required monthly deposit.

In some cases, you can find options with no minimum balance requirements and with monthly deposit minimums set at $50 or less. Just make sure to review the fee structures before you commit. There are some financial institutions that have IRAs with incredibly low fees, and you might even find a few that don’t have any at all for specific kinds of accounts.

Get a High-Interest Savings Account

Saving money shouldn’t just be about increasing your balance on your own; it should also include earning interest. If you are setting money aside in an account that doesn’t have a great interest rate, you aren’t maximizing your savings potential.

Currently, according to the FDIC, the average savings account interest rate is a measly 0.09 percent. If you have $5,000 in an account with that rate (that compounds monthly), you only earn $4.50 in interest over the course of a year. In comparison, if you find a savings account with a 1.5 percent rate, you get $75.52 in interest. That’s a $71.02 difference. You essentially get over $70 more without doing any work or depositing additional money.

In 2020, make finding a high-interest savings account option a resolution. Explore online banks, credit unions, and other options that have high-yield accounts. Seek out institutions that offer 1 to 2 percent or more and don’t have any fees that chip away at your earnings. Then, open a savings account there and move your money over.

Are you trying any financial New Year’s resolutions in 2020? If so, which ones? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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$1 A Day Savings Challenge

December 31, 2019 By Jeffrey Strain 4 Comments

If you’re looking to save a bit more money this year, an easy way to accomplish this is to do a $1 a day savings challenge. There are a lot of different challenges out there that try to catch your attention but even when they aren’t that complicated, they still aren’t nearly as simple as the $1 a day savings challenge. The concept is easy and straightforward. All you need to do is put away one dollar a day and at the end of the year, you’ll have an extra $365 in the bank. That’s all there is to it.

In fact, the hard part of this challenge is figuring out where to get an extra dollar a day. This shouldn’t be too difficult to figure out for most, but if you’re having trouble, using a random making money idea generator can help you come up with ideas to create that extra dollar a day.

This challenge is actually too simple for a lot of people. It’s so straightforward and easy that they don’t see a challenge in it. There are certainly a number of different ways to adapt this challenge to make it seem more complicated, but we hope you can learn how to embrace the simplicity that comes with this savings plan. Learning to relish the simple ways to save will make saving money a lot easier for every aspect of your life in the long run. In fact, while saving money is important, far more important is getting into the habit of saving a little bit (in this case, $1 a day) and forming that habit.

How Dollars Can Add Up

If you want to save more money, you can adjust the daily amount saved to increase your overall savings. If you opt for a $2 a day savings challenge you’ll end up with $730 at the end of the year. Still not
enough? The $3 a day savings challenge will net you $1,095 at the end of the year and the $4 a day savings challenge will put an extra $1,460 into the bank after a year. You can even try the $5 a day savings challenge to end the year $1,825 richer. There’s no need to stop there if you want to save even more money.

As mentioned above, while this truly is the easiest fashion to save money, there are some people who need a little something extra or some type of twist to make saving money more of a challenge. A couple of
good examples are the 365 penny a day challenge that will save you nearly $668 at the end of
the year and the classic 52 week money challenge that will help you save $1,378. If you’re looking for a $1 a day savings challenge more along these lines, that’s certainly possible as well.

$1 A Day Savings 52 Week Money Challenge

If you want to save approximately $2,000 for the year, there’s a simple way to accomplish this by combining the $1 a day savings challenge and the 52-week money challenge together. In this case, you would save $1 a day for 5 weeks, $2 a day for 5 weeks, $3 a day for 5 weeks, $4 a day for 5 weeks, $5 a day for 5 weeks, $6 a day for 5 weeks, $7 a day for 5 weeks, $8 a day for 5 weeks, $9 a day for 5
weeks and $10 a week for 5 weeks. Those 50 weeks will help you save $1,925 and then you can determine how much you want to save for the final two weeks of the year ($5 a week for the final two weeks will get you to $1,995 and $6 a week for the final two weeks will make your yearly savings $2,014).

This $1 a day savings 52-week money challenge is far more complicated than the $1 a day money challenge, but as we mentioned, there are some who find having to save different amounts each week more of a
challenge. This is when it’s important to understand what motivates you most when saving money. Both of these are year-long challenges which means you’ll need a lot of dedication and motivation to see them
through. Choosing the challenge option that can best appeal to what motivates you most will be essential to successfully complete either challenge.