Just Because You Can Afford It Doesn’t Mean You Need It

Wanting something and needing something are two very different things. Last week, my blender broke. It was over 20 years old and its time had come. I’ve been wanting a new blender for years but I felt guilty buying some new, fancy, expensive model when the old one worked just fine. In my head, I couldn’t justify the expense.

When I told my husband the blender finally bit the dust, he got very excited. “Does that mean we can finally buy a Blendtec?” he asked. For those of you not in the market for a blender, the Blendtec is a top-of-the-line blender that can blend anything – even a brick. (If you don’t believe me or you just want to be entertained, check out this site.) It also costs a lot of money – about $400 to $500. Its competitor is the Vitamix. It is equally expensive and claims to replace 16 different appliances in the average kitchen. These blenders are both really cool, and I would love to be the owner of either one. I can even afford one, but when it came down to it, I did not need all the functions that made them so expensive. I bought a $100 blender that does exactly what I need it to do, which basically is to make smoothies.

Saving money is sometimes as simple as weighing the difference between your wants and needs before you buy something. I wanted the expensive blender. I needed the less expensive blender. Being honest with myself saved me hundreds of dollars.

As you get into more high dollar purchases like cars and homes, weighing your wants and needs becomes even more important. You may need a car to get to work or drive your kids to school or get to the grocery store. Do you need the biggest, fully loaded, most expensive model on the lot? You probably don’t if most of your trips are less than 30 minutes long and your family is relatively small. Features like a built in DVD player and seat warmers (if you live in a warm place like Texas) also may be something you don’t need. Buy choosing a basic package over a premium package, you could save thousands of dollars, which translates to lower monthly payments when you are financing a vehicle.

When it comes to wants vs. needs, the best thing to do is to be honest with yourself. Are you buying something because you want it or do you really need all the bells and whistles it comes with? If you ask yourself that question every time you buy something, you’ll be amazed at how much money you’ll save.

Saving Money on Prescriptions – even if you have insurance

If you’ve had to buy a prescription drug lately, and a generic brand is not available, you know how costly that can be, even if you have insurance. My doctor recently prescribed a medication for me that has been life changing for a condition I have had and will have my entire life. It took my insurance company three weeks to approve the drug, and the cost is more than $50 a month. Ouch! If I had to pay for it without insurance, it would be several hundred dollars a month. Double ouch!

One day when I was on the phone with the insurance company for an entire hour (much of that was on hold), I decided to go to the website for that particular medication to see if they had any coupons. I figured while I was waiting on the insurance company to make a decision, I could just get a one week-supply of the medication and pay the full cost, minus any discounts on that website. I was pleasantly surprised with what I found.

The manufacturer of my prescription offers a savings card that saves me $15 off my co-pay once a month. Instead of $52 a month, the cost of my prescription came down to $37 a month. That’s still a lot, but by using that card, I’m saving $180 a year on a medication I have to take.

That got me to wondering how many other drugs have similar offers that most people never think to look for. At random, I started pulling up websites for medications I’ve seen featured on television commercials, as well as medications my son takes for asthma. I was surprised to see how many drug manufacturers offer programs to help people save money on their medications.

Some will help even if you have insurance, and some have programs specifically for people with no prescription drug insurance. If you take a medication regularly, you may want to search for that medication’s website and see what type of savings you can find. If you can’t find it there, find out the name of the pharmaceutical company that manufactures your medication, and go to that website to see if they have a program that helps you afford your medication. Here are links to prescription assistance programs for some of the top pharmaceutical companies in the country: 

AstraZeneca

GlaxoSmithKline

Bristol-Myers Squibb

Merck

Eli Lilly and Company

If there is a generic brand available for the medication you take, check with your pharmacy about programs they may offer. Wal-Mart has hundreds of medications for just $4. Tom Thumb, Albertsons, CVS, Walgreens and Kroger offer similar programs for generic drugs. Don’t be afraid to ask. There’s no harm in saving money on a medication that is saving your life.

 

Unique Valentine Gifts at Incredible Savings

It’s that time of year when florists jack up the prices of their roses and chocolate hearts line of the aisles of every grocery store you visit – all in the name of love. As hard as it is for me to believe, Valentine’s Day is already two short weeks away. Do you know what you’ll be giving your sweetheart this year?

When you’ve been married as long as I have (13 years and still going strong), it often becomes a challenge to give a gift that means something, doesn’t cost a fortune and doesn’t necessarily fit in the cliché heart-shaped box. I think women have a particularly challenging time finding meaningful Valentine gifts for their husbands.

This year, thanks to the many e-mail subscriptions I have to daily deal sites, I offer you these unique ideas that aren’t all cheap, but most of them are unique and an incredible value for what you pay. Most can also be gifted to men or women. Act quickly though. Many of these deals have time or inventory limits.

$15 for $40 worth of flowers from Flowers-Nationwide.com


$20 for $40 of casual fine dining at Jaxx Steakhouse


$30 for 60-minute full body massage


$59 for 3 Days/2 Nights in Vegas, plus $50 VISA Rewards


$84 - Lobster for Lovers Dinner for Two or Maine Lobster Dinner for Four


$159 for 5 Days/4 Nights at Laguna Suites Golf and Spa or the Ocean Spa Hotel in Cancun, Mexico


Pay $100 for $200 of seafood and steak at  to Spend at GetMaineLobster.com

If these deals aren’t for you, consider subscribing to daily deal sites (AP Daily Deals, Living Social, Groupon, Amazon Local, Urban Dealight, etc.) for other ideas. I saved a ton of money shopping these sites for Christmas and have already received more than a dozen e-mail offers for Valentine’s Day. Just be aware of the expiration dates. Nothing is a good deal if you pay for it and never use it.

 

 

How to Have $3,000 by the End of the Year

I was watching television last night and heard a statistic that just floored me. I imagine it might surprise you, as well. People who eat out for lunch every day spend as much as $3,000 in one year, just on lunch. $3,000.

Think about what you could do if you had an extra $3,000 to spend at the end of the year: 

• Take a vacation
• Pay off debt
• Make a down payment on a vehicle
• Go on a shopping spree
• Make renovations to you home

The list goes on and on. Regardless of how you spend it, or even save it, the point is that you don’t have to do much or give up much to save a significant amount of money.

Most people who eat out do it because they say it’s easier. That’s not necessarily true. If you make dinner every night, why not make enough to pack for lunch the next day? That’s what I do for my husband. He takes leftovers every day and warms them in the microwave at work.

Don’t have a microwave at work? You can still have a warm lunch from home. Just buy hot and cold packs from the grocery store – something that keeps food cold when frozen or warm when heated. When cleaning up from dinner every night, fix your leftovers in a portable bowl or container and refrigerate them. In the morning, microwave them and the hot pack at the same time and stick them both in a thermal bag or lunch kit. Your food will stay warm all day if you need it to.

You can even pack warm lunches for your kids and save the nearly $3 a day charged by the cafeteria. My son loves soft tacos or burritos. I make them with whole grain tortillas, shredded cheese and vegetarian refried beans (which taste exactly like regular refried beans. They just don’t have lard.) Obviously, he can’t heat his lunch at school, so I purchased a thermos for $1 at Wal-Mart. I make the taco at night and refrigerate it. In the morning, when I am making his breakfast, I boil water, poor it in the thermos and let it sit for five minutes while I am fixing the rest of his lunch. When the timer goes off, I microwave his taco or burrito, wrap it in foil, spill out the water from the thermos and stick the food in the thermos. It stays warm, even with an ice pack in his lunch box to keep the other elements of his lunch cold.

To me, that’s a whole lot easier than leaving the office, getting in the car and driving to a restaurant where I either have to wait in line or wait for a seat. It’s even faster than standing in line in the cafeteria at work.

Even if it doesn’t seem easier, it’s a small sacrifice to make for $3,000 a year. Try it. You may like it.

 

Don’t Take Their Word for it – Read the Fine Print

A while back, I blogged about how excited I was to pick up a smart phone and data plan that didn’t cost any more than the monthly plan for my old cell phone. I have since found out that the person who sold us the phones wasn’t completely honest with us. The plan is still the same price, but she included a lot of extras we didn’t verbally agree to.

It’s been several months since we got our new smartphones, and as busy as the holiday season tends to be, I wasn’t very diligent about reading my monthly bill. I just went online and paid it. Last week, however, I spent some time organizing my online banking merchants, checking that their addresses were still correct, my account numbers were accurate, etc., I had gotten into the habit of paying bills on each company’s website, and I wanted to streamline that for the new year.

When it came time to pay my cell phone bill, I realized it was almost double what it used to be. Thinking that maybe I overlooked a payment, I went out to the cell phone provider’s website to look at my bill. I was shocked at what I found. They have been charging us $15 per phone for insurance and another $7 per phone for a warranty each month. With two phones, that’s an extra $44 a month. Why am I paying for a warranty on a phone? It should already be covered by the manufacturer. And why do I need insurance if the phone is covered under a warranty. These are questions I can’t answer yet, because I haven’t had a chance to call that company. That’s on my list to do this week.

There are two important lessons to learn here. First, don’t take a salesperson’s word as gold. I am positive that I would have turned down any extended warranties and insurance had she mentioned it. I’m sure it’s on the paperwork, but I trusted her and did not read the paperwork. That was a mistake. The second lesson is to pay attention to your bill each month. If I had been paying attention to the bill for the past few months, I would saved myself over $100. My choice to be lazy was an expensive one.

Sometimes saving money is about paying attention. When you shop at a store, you pay attention to prices, right? You know what you’re willing to spend and what you think is just too much money. It shouldn’t be any different with your monthly bills. Know what you are willing to pay and know what you are paying for. It could save you a lot of money in the long run.

Setting Financial Goals for the New Year

It’s hard to believe the holidays are over and a new year has begun. Wasn’t it just yesterday that we were ringing in 2011? As we get back to work, back to school and back to reality, it’s a good time to start thinking of our financial goals for 2012.

This is sometimes a painful process for people. We know we may have over spent during the holidays, and we’re not ready to see exactly how much. Or, we already know we have too much debt, and we don’t think there is any way to get out of it. Maybe you haven’t been saving enough, and you’re dreading giving up something you love to put that money in savings.

Now is the time to start dealing with those feelings and taking action to make your situation better.

If debt is your major concern, you may be able to consolidate your high-interest credit cards into one low interest loan, which will help you pay down your debt faster. Sometimes just calling the credit card companies and asking for a lower interest rate helps, especially if you tell them you have an offer from another credit card to consolidate your debt at zero percent interest.

If savings is your major concern, figure out what you can give up that won’t feel like too much of a sacrifice. If you eat lunch out every day, maybe you can cut back two days a week. If you stop for coffee every day, perhaps you can buy yourself a coffee maker with a timer and get it ready the night before so you always have coffee when you wake up.

The important thing about setting goals is to be realistic. Much like dieting, if you set goals that make you feel like you are giving up too much, you’re not going to stick to them. If you have $10,000 in debt, figure out what you need to do to pay off maybe $2,000 this year. If you can, make more than the minimum payment, or consolidate your loans.

If your goal is to save more money and you’ve never done that before, don’t start by saving $100 a paycheck (unless you feel that’s comfortable for you). Start small with maybe $10 a pay check, and have it deducted automatically from your pay check and deposited to a savings account. If you find you can do more, increase that amount next month or later in the year.

Whatever your goals, take baby steps. You didn’t get into debt over night, and you won’t get out of debt every night. You didn’t spend your savings overnight, and you won’t build it back up over night. Be patient, and you’ll be amazed at how well you do.

Cheap Ways to Ring in the New Year

I am always amazed at how much money people are willing to spend on one night of fun to ring in the new year. It’s not just the cost of the event at restaurant hotel. It’s the cost of the dress or the tux, the new shoes, a possible hotel stay, a limo and more. If that’s what they want to do, more power to them. If you’re more like me and would like some more affordable options, you’ve come to the right place.

Have a party at your home. Provide finger foods and ask each family to bring an appetizer, as well. Buy enough champagne or sparkling cider for a midnight toast, and ask your guests to bring the beverage they want to drink. Just be sure to monitor your guests to be sure they are safe to drive home.

Have family game night. Let each family member choose a game to play and play them all. Set out snacks or your family’s favorite finger foods and have fun enjoying time with each.

Go Bowling and have pizza. There are two bowling alleys near my home and both are offering New Year’s Eve specials. They are considerably cheaper than typical New Year’s Eve events and are closer to home (for us anyway). One place offers two different times, so small children can still have fun but make it to bed at a decent time.

Attend a party or event at a friend’s house. For years, it has been our family’s New Year’s tradition to hang out with two other families at a home where it was legal to shoot fireworks. Once we have our fill of those, we head inside for a game of Scene It or other family-friendly party game. Sometimes we are there until 4 a.m. just having fun with friends.

Have a family movie night and pajama party. Much like game night, let each person choose one movie, and watch them all as a family. Take a break to maybe make your own pizzas or make ice cream sundaes. Set out a bunch of blankets, cushions and sleeping bags on the floor and let the whole family sleep in one spot.

Host makeover night. Invite a bunch of girlfriends to your house for manicures, pedicures, hair and make-up fun. As one of the “girls” if their husband will host a guy’s night at their house. That way everyone has something to do.

However you choose to spend New Year’s Eve, enjoy yourself and stay safe. Happy New Year from Neighborhood Credit Union!

 

Last Minute Gifts that Won’t Kill Your Budget

Have you finished your holiday shopping? I thought I had. Then I went through about 10 boxes in my dining room that have been delivered over the past two weeks, and I realized I was severely short on gifts for my husband.  To add insult to injury, I went to the website for the top item on his list and it’s on back order. Yikes!

I hate to admit it, but this has happened to me before. In fact, it happens to me every year, which makes me the queen of last minute gifts. Here are some hints to help you get through these last few days with a gift for everyone on your list.

1. If something is not available online, and that retailer happens to have a store nearby, I go to the store and buy it. If the store doesn’t have it, I purchase it online, print a photo of the item and wrap it in a box with a note that says the gift is on its way. They may not have it on Christmas day, but they’ll know it’s paid for and coming soon.

2. Look for a suitable replacement. Find an item with similar specifications and include a gift receipt. When they open it, explain that the one they wanted wasn’t available, but this one is practically the same. If they don’t like it, they have the gift receipt to return it and get what they want.

3. Buy gift cards. Grocery stores, Wal-Mart, Target and others carry a wide assortment of gift cards to other stores. Many online retailers give you the option to print gift cards using your own computer. If you absolutely have to have a gift on Christmas Day, give a gift card.

4. Give something homemade. If you are handy with the computer, make a photo calendar using online templates. Google “photo calendar templates” to make it easier. Put together a photo CD or DVD. One year my father-in-law made me a quilt rack for my living room. It’s still one of the nicest things I’ve ever received from him. Use whatever skill you have to make something thoughtful.

5. Give the gift of time. Make a certificate or a coupon book promising dates with spouses, play time with children, etc. Think about what is important to the recipient and craft an event around it. Perhaps your spouse works a lot. Offer a day where you’ll do his chores, or let him sit and watch TV all day and serve him his meals on the couch.

If you give a gift with thought, they’ll like it, if it isn’t something they’ve asked for. From our family to yours, have a Merry Christmas!

 

Unconventional Ways to Find Steep Discounts this Holiday Season

This is the first holiday season where gift ideas have just fallen into my lap. I haven’t even shopped in a store. Most of my gift buying has been online, either through deals that other friends have posted on Facebook or through e-mails I have received from various daily deal sites. Apparently I have been in the right place at the right time this year, but part of that is knowing where to be in the first place. Here are some ways for you to find super steep savings on gifts for most people on your list.

Daily Deals Sites

If someone would have told me a year ago that I’d be holiday shopping on daily deal sites, I would have thought they were crazy. This year, I’ve purchased four gifts through various websites that send an e-mail every day with a special discount offer. On Urban Dealight, I purchased a ride for my son and my husband in a World War II Aircraft to view Christmas lights. The flight usually costs $250 a person. I paid $75. On Groupon, I purchased an electric corkscrew for nearly 50 percent off and a $30 gift certificate to a specialty store which only cost me $15.

There are two valuable things to know about these sites. First, you don’t have to wait for an e-mail to find a fabulous deal. Go to the sites and browse the deals available. This time of year, you may find hundreds of deals. Second, don’t limit your shopping on these sites to the city where you live. The corkscrew I bought was through the Amarillo, Texas Groupon site. If you’re buying it online, what does it matter what city the deal is for?

Other daily deal sites I know about include:

AP Daily Deals

Living Social

Amazon Local

If you Google “daily deal sites” you may found several dozen more.

Amazon Lightning Deals

Last week, I purchased a laptop for $250 off the retail price thanks to lightning deals on Amazon.com. These are deals available at specific times of the day. They publish that time in advance, and they time the length of the sale. When the time is up, the deal is dead.

Lightning deals are not just for electronics. They are on anything Amazon sells – toys, books, music downloads, cookware, etc. If you are looking for something specific, check the lightning deals first. You can view them sometimes days in advance. You just can’t buy until the specified date.

There is still plenty of time to shop online and get your gifts in time for holiday giving. And, don’t forget yourself. If you find a steep discount on something you’ve been pricing for a long time, and you have the money in your budget, buy it now. You may not find deals this good ever again.

Free Santa Fun

One of my favorite Christmas songs is a tune my mom used to play when I was a kid. I can still hear Glen Campbell’s voice singing, “Christmas is for children, just for children, grown ups say.” I don’t necessarily agree with that sentiment, but now that I have my own child, I am constantly looking for ways to keep Santa’s magic alive. My son is eight years old, and I’m not sure how many years I have left before his Christmas beliefs change. Here are some resources to help you extend the magic with a child or children in your life.

Free Santa Photos and More at Bass Pro Shop

There are two Bass Pro Shops in the DFW area – in Garland and Flower Mound. Both have transformed a section of their stores into Santa’s Village. There are free games, crafts and other activities, including a free visit and 4x6 souvenir photo with Santa. You do have the option to upgrade your photo package, but there is no purchase necessary for your child to join in on the fun. Check the store websites for hours of operation.

Free, Personalized Videos From Santa

The Portable North Pole (PNP) is by far my favorite online Santa site. It lets you create a free, personalized video from Santa to a child. The video is customizable. You can upload the child’s photo, input information about what the child wants for Christmas, have Santa compliment the child on a major accomplishment this year and have Santa mention something the child still needs to work on, like listening to mom and dad, eating vegetables, etc. At the end of the holiday season, you have the option to download the video. I believe it was less than $5.

Disney also offers a free Santa video. It’s customizable with the child’s name and photo, but it’s not nearly as personalized as the Portable North Pole.

Free Printable Letters from Santa

Would your child like to receive a personalized letter from Santa? Send them one for free on this website. Choose from five different letters and five different page designs. Customize certain fields in the letter and print it in your own home.

NORAD Tracks Santa

This site does more than let you and your family track Santa’s progress on Christmas Eve. There’s also an online village where you can countdown to Christmas with different activities every day. There are holiday video messages, facts about Santa and more – all for free.

25 Days of Christmas Crafts and Recipes

This site is not necessarily Santa fun, but it gives you all kinds of fun things to do with your family this holiday season. When school lets out next week, you may be happy you have all these activities.

Have fun making free holiday memories with your family this year.