Category: Budgeting

We are currently living in a world that is dominated by technology. It seems like smart devices are springing up like mushrooms after the rain, and have made their way to every aspect of our lives.

While there are some gadgets that are ridiculous and unnecessary, there are quite a number of connected devices that everyone should own.

But with a myriad of gadgets and gizmos, how do you really know if one is worth buying?  Today, let me present with you 6 must-have gadgets that will not only save you time but also money.

1. Motion sensor switch.

A motion sensor light switch is definitely a convenient way to save time and energy. With its advanced sensing technology, the lights are automatically turned on when it detects motion, and are turned off when the motion is not detected anymore.  Now, you don’t have to worry about lights left opened in rooms and hallways that waste a lot of energy and money.

2. Programmable thermostat.

$20-Honeywell 1 week programmable thermostat to a $200-Nest learning thermostat that you can control remotely through Wi-fi. Either way, this product can save you up to 10% on cooling and heating costs.

3. Power strip and surge protector.

In case you don’t know, devices and appliances left plugged in are still consuming power, which in turn, wastes energy costs. That is why a power strip is definitely a must-have for every home so you can easily shut off electronics when not in use. These outlets also protects your devices from surge when voltage fluctuates, swells, or spikes.

4. Freshness extender.

Food waste is a worldwide epidemic which is not just causing a toll to our environment but our pockets too.  To save money and reduce waste, make sure to keep your fruits and veggies fresh for longer by storing them properly and using freshness extenders. This one from BluApple promises to save you hundreds of dollars every year. It will slow down the rate of spoilage by absorbing ethylene gas, which signals produce to ripen.

5. Self-cleaning electric shaver.

For regular groomers, self-cleaning electric shavers are a must-buy. It may cost you a couple hundred dollars upfront but think about the money you save from disposable razors and shaving creams. Not only that, you will be able to clean your hair with foam and gel through a unique dual-filtration system, lubricate the shaver for the perfect shaving, and automatically charge after use – all in a single press of a button.

6. Slow cooker.

Also known as a crockpot, this kitchen gadget should be a staple in every household. With a slow cooker, you can easily whip up soups and stews from your leftover meats and vegetables. Plus, it saves you so much cooking time because all you have to do is toss the ingredients inside your crockpot and let it cook there while you do your other chores.

Techy or not, these devices are really worth investing in!

The most loved-up day of the year is just a weeks away and while some may find this “occasion” ridiculous and useless, others go all out to make their lovers feel special on Valentine’s Day. No wonder this holiday has become a billion dollar industry.

Believe it or not, U.S. consumers are expected to spend an average $143.56 on Valentine’s Day this year, with a total spending anticipated to reach a whopping $19.6 billion.

CRAZY. 

There’s nothing wrong with showing love through material things, but let’s face it, some gifts are just meaningless and not worth spending on.

Let me name a few and share with you some ideas of what to give instead.

Bouquet of roses.

A lot of you may disagree with me but we all know flowers cost a lot during this time of the year. And while it may look pretty for a few days, it’ll just make their way to the trash in about a week.

A delightful arrangement of Valentine’s Day colored roses would cost you around $60-$90, which has a very short shelf life. If you want something that won’t quickly go to waste, get her one of these preserved roses that can last 2-5 years.

Another wise idea would be a flowering plant that you can both take care together.  African violets, Peace Lilies, Orchids and Red-flowered Anthurium are perfect for Valentine’s, as they can bloom year-round indoors in the right light conditions.

A fancy greeting card.

You don’t need to buy a pre-made card in order to express your love to your significant other through words.

Instead, make your own card or just write a simple handwritten letter. Trust me, this is more special and will be more appreciated.

Box of chocolates.

Sweets for your sweet, of course. Chocolates have become a traditional gift during this season but unless your sweetheart is really a chocoholic, then you’re just wasting money when you can just spend it on something they will fancy even more.  I, for example, would rather eat candies, gummy bears and potato chips rather then chocolates. So if you’re planning to get your partner an edible gift for Valentine’s, get something that he/she really likes, whether it’s sushi, donuts or guilt-free healthy treats.

Dinner at a fancy restaurant.

Treating your lover to a fancy dinner on Valentine’s Day can be a memorable date night, but you will certainly spend a lot of money and just find yourselves stressing over how crowded the restaurant may be.

Well, you don’t have to spend that much when you can just whip up your partner’s favorite meal and have a romantic and cozy Valentine’s date night at home. If you got zero cooking skills, you can just order a meal delivery service that already comes with fresh, perfectly-portioned ingredients and easy-to-follow step by step guide to help you prepare a gourmet meal in just about half an hour.

It is definitely possible and even more meaningful to make your significant other feel special, appreciated and loved in an unconventional, non-traditional and budget friendly way.

Celebrating Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to cost a fortune. At the end of the day, it’s all about what happens all-year round.

It’s not about the gifts. It’s about making them feel loved every single day of the year. Because that’s what true love is all about.

When it comes to formulating a budget, a line-item budgeting model is what we often see, where one focuses on the expenses rather than the savings.

This type of budgeting style details a precise amount of money for different spending categories, and just end up saving whatever amount they have left before the month ends.  Unfortunately, not everyone is lucky enough to still have remaining money at the end of each month.

If you are one of the “unlucky ones,” I guess it’s time to reevaluate your budgeting method (and your spending habits too…) because it doesn’t sound like this one’s working for you.

One financial game plan that you might want to consider is doing the total opposite of what you are doing right now – think “reverse budgeting.”

Reverse budgeting focuses on savings.  Basically, you just have to figure out how much you want to save and spend the remaining amount of money for the rest of your expenses.

So yeah, you just always have to remember to “pay yourself first.”  Simple, yet not many do this.

To help you get started, here’s how to do the Reverse Budget Method:

First, you need to figure out how much you may be able to save each month.

When I say “pay yourself first,” that doesn’t mean without considering your important fixed expenses, such as rent, insurance, kid’s tuition fee, etc. Remember that the amount allocated for coffee runs, gas, groceries, eating out and other leisure purchases every month are clearly out of the picture.  These are variable expenses and the culprits of your overspending.

So before jumping into the savings department, you need to do a little math first – subtract your fixed monthly expenses from your monthly income to get an idea of how much you can pay yourself with.

Once you got that already figured out, it’s time to decide on how much you are really willing to give.  It’s highly recommended to pay yourself as much as you can based on the amount left over after subtracting your fixed expenses.  But make sure to make it realistic and leave a wiggle room for emergencies or other unexpected expenses.

Next, is to set savings goals to help you decide on how much money you need to set aside for savings.

Your goals can be as big as saving for retirement or a house, or just simply paying yourself in advance for a dream vacation or items from your wish list.

To make sure that your savings stays untouchable, make “paying yourself first” automatic using a separate savings account.  Your options would be setting up an automatic transfer wherein your savings bank will automatically debit your checking account once your salary is deposited or just ask your HR department to split your direct deposit between checking and savings account.

Now the money left is what you can only spend for all your monthly variable expenses.

The best thing about this is that you will be encouraged to make wise spending decisions, become frugal (but not cheap) and find other ways to boost your income.

Remember, budgeting take time, patience and a bit of trial and error.  What works for others may not work for you, and vice versa.  So don’t be afraid to try out different methods. Someday, you will surely find a budgeting style that is best suited for you.

I hope this blog post helps. :)

You might think that it’s a little too early to start setting up your Christmas budget but FYI, we’re only a little over a month till the 25^th of December.

Year after year, Santa’s sleigh becomes heavier and heavier, or should I say, more expensive.

According to the National Retail Federation’s annual holiday forecast for 2018, consumers will be spending an average of $1,007.24 which is 4.1% more than last year’s $967.13.  So yeah, it just shows that Santa’s sleigh is indeed becoming heavier and heavier, or should I say, more and more expensive every year.

So before the cost of Christmas season creeps in and put you in a pile of debt come January, here are 4 helpful apps to organize your holiday budget.

Santa’s Bag

This Apple-exclusive app is set to revolutionize your Christmas shopping experience from creating your gift list, gift planning, budgeting, managing gift receipts to gift ideas from your favorite merchants, and more.

When it comes managing your budget, the app shows you the number of days before Christmas, how much you’ve already spent, how much you have left and the total amount that you still need to spend for the pending gifts that needs to be bought.  The app will also give you an alert that says if you are “under or over budget,” which is a very helpful feature to easily keep track of your holiday budget.

Christmas List

Don’t worry Android users, I also got you covered.  Just like Santa’s Bag, Christmas Gift List is a free app for creating gift lists and setting a gift budget for each person on your list.  Aside from providing a certain amount per person and per gift, it also has a feature that lets you see useful stats such as money spent so far and your total budget. And in the app, you can mark the gifts as purchased as you buy them and even mark them as wrapped as you get around to wrapping them.  As for gift ideas and shopping, it comes with an auto-generated Amazon suggestions tab that will allow you to do all your shopping within the app while keeping an eye on your expenditures.

ShopSavvy(iOS, Android)

Now when it comes to scoring the lowest price or the best deal for your holiday shopping, ShopSavvy is a brilliant app to assist you with that.  The app comes with a barcode scanner that you can use while you’re shopping to easily compare prices for ultimate savings.  You can also search through hundreds of product categories and discover deals from both online and in-store retailers, including Best Buy, Amazon, Target, Newegg and Walmart to name a few.

Dosh (iOS, Android)

To earn rewards from all your holiday shopping, Dosh is a cash-back app that automatically finds existing offers, redeems them and puts the cash into your Dosh Wallet.  Unlike other cash-back programs though, Dosh will give you cash and not just gift cards or coupons.  Aside from getting rewarded for physical purchases, you can also get up to 10% cash back on dining out and pumping gas at thousands of merchants and brands nationwide – perfect for your holiday travels.

The apps listed in this blog post are really worth trying if you want to maximize savings during this very expensive time of the year.  Make sure to download all of them to avoid overspending this holiday season.

Happy holidays!

With back to back Christmas parties, traveling, food, decor and gift shopping, the holidays surely bring you a long list of expenses. And without a holiday budget ready, you’ll be faced with a big amount of debt come January.

If you are one of the many Americans who sink into holiday debt year after year, it’s time to make a change and start saving up this October.

Here’s how to get started:

Create your holiday gift list.

One of the things that you can decide on as early as now, is the people whom you want to buy gifts for. When you have a holiday gift list ready, you can certainly save yourself from the stress of last-minute shopping and avoid going over your budget for holiday gifts. You will have plenty of time to find the perfect but budget-friendly gifts for the important people in your life.

Give up one or two of your little luxuries.

Giving up one of your luxuries would be a great help to boost your holiday savings, whether it’s your daily latte, hump-day Margaritas or Friday night pizza.

Collect coupons from your favorite stores.

Check online and on magazines for coupons and subscribe to your favorite stores’ newsletters to get exclusive deals because these discounts and freebies may come handy when shopping time comes.

Cash in rewards.

Start checking the balances of your credit card reward points or other loyalty cards to redeem the points for gift cards or merchandise that you can use for buying gifts and other things that you will need for the coming holiday.

Start making homemade gifts and DIY decors.

DIY projects take time so now is the perfect time to get your creative mind and hands working.  You don’t have to spend thousands on new holiday décor when you can just make your own.  As for gifts, personalized gifts are not just inexpensive but very special as well.  With a dash of creativity and some inspiration, you don’t need to spend a fortune on gifts and décor.

Consider purchasing some of the gifts now.

Last minute shopping isn’t really a smart decision if you are on a tight budget.  If you spot a great deal, it’s okay to buy it now or just wait till Black Friday to take advantage of lots of deals and savings.

Find ways to earn extra money.

Whether it’s getting a part time job or selling preloved items, an extra source of income is a very helpful way to increase your holiday savings .

Don’t worry, we’re still a few months before Christmas… you still have plenty of time to beef up your holiday savings with these ideas.

Remember, it’s never too early to get into the holiday spirit, especially when it comes to your budget.

 

We are only a short time away from the holiday season, which means that you need to prepare yourself for some back-to-back spending.

Fortunately, in the season between summer and winter is the time of the year when we can find numerous ways to save more money.

Fall is such a beautiful time of the year and today, I will share with you how you can take advantage of this season to spend less and save more.

Put your gym membership on hold.

Okay, so the last few months of the year will surely be busy, which means that there is a big possibility for you to not be able to go to the gym as often as you can.  That being said, it’s just practical to consider pausing your gym membership.  But that doesn’t mean you also put your fitness routing on hold.  Take advantage of the cooler weather to do your workouts outdoors.  From running, to cycling to hiking on the weekends, the options are endless when it comes to looking for physical activities during the Autumn time.

Use fall produce for your home-cooked meals.

Take advantage of the season’s harvest to make more home-cooked meals using in season produce that will save you loads of money – such as squash, apples, and various types of root crops.

Ditch the heat and air conditioning.

You won’t need air conditioning or heating when the weather is just right, so take advantage of this time to save on energy costs.  Also, use this time to check on your heating and cooling system.  It’s better to have them repaired now than to wait until there’s a problem, which can cost you thousands more.

Time to declutter (and make money out of it).

Spring gets all the credit as the season for cleaning but hey, fall cleaning is a must too!  Get your end of season clean-up game on and declutter your home.  Get rid of the items you don’t use anymore and sell what you can.  Also, it’s a wonderful way to find old Fall clothing pieces and décor that you can reuse instead of spending money on new décor and wardrobe.

Find cheap entertainment.

Autumn is an amazing time to be outdoors.  Instead of shelling out money on other leisure activities, just look for cheap and sometimes free fun activities to do with your friends, family or significant other – like driving around to see the beautiful fall foliage, hiking, apple picking, camping, etc.  Fall is definitely THE time for frugal fun.

Take advantage of Fall sales.

During this time of the year, there will be a lot of sale events coming up that you can take advantage if you want to save money on holiday gifts or other important big purchases.  Just make sure that you will be purchasing what you really need and not just buying them just because they’re on sale.

Find a side hustle.

Lastly, beef up your savings by earning money on the side.  There are lots of money making ideas during the Fall season so take advantage of that.  Check out seasonalemployment.com for some fall job opportunities.

Make sure to keep these ideas on mind so when the holidays come around, you’ll feel more comfortable and financially ready to take on a new season.

 

We’ve all been there before – making unnecessary purchases that we know are out of our budget.

Going over budget from to time is quite inevitable but for some people, this happens every. single. month, which brings their finances into a downward spiral.

Overspending is a serious problem.  If you find yourself in this situation, it’s time to make a conscious decision to change these bad spending habits before they destroy your life.

Here are 7 ways to help you get through it:

Set goals and write them down.

Having financial goals will motivate and encourage you to stick to your budget and avoid unnecessary spending.  Aside from this, it’s also very helpful to set mini goals for your spending. For example, “not buying new clothes till you’ve worn your other ones” or “only have dinner out once a month instead of once a week.”   Just start small and make them realistic and specific.

Have a budget and stick to it.

Speaking of budget, do you even have one?  If not, then you should start creating one because having a budget is an important tool to prevent you from spending more than you are earning.  A budget will give you a clear picture of how much money comes in – that way, you’ll be able to see your spending limits.  Just to warn you, creating a budget is easy, but sticking to it is hard.  At the end of the day, it still boils down to discipline and self-control.

Know your triggers.

Retail therapy – the practice of shopping in order to make oneself feel more cheerful.  Yup, we’re all familiar of that. But it doesn’t always have to be that way. By identifying your triggers, such as making unnecessary purchases when feeling sad or overspending on food when stressed out, you get to take control over your emotions and manage your feelings the right way.

Just carry cash at all times.

Credit and debit cards take the pain out of “paying.”  It’s the culprit for spending impulsively.  So just drop them and pay cash for your purchases.  This way, you’ll see money leaving from your hands (which I hope will discourage your from making a purchase).

Mute the notifications.

Knowing about the latest offers, bargains and sales from your email subscriptions and social media accounts will surely tempt you to make purchases you don’t even need. To avoid that, turn off the notifications and unsubscribe/ unfollow accounts of retailers and deal sites.

Think before you buy.

No matter how big or small, making random purchases without thinking it through is a toxic habit to your finances.  Here’s one tip – before making any purchase, ask yourself these 4 Questions.

Budget for a little fun.

As much as you want to help yourself stop overspending, know that depriving yourself can do more harm than good.  Yes, getting over self-deprivation ends up being more expensive!  So give yourself some money to enjoy yourself in order keep a positive relationship with your finances.

I hope this article has encouraged you to take the initial steps towards improvement.  I know that you can’t transform your habits overnight but what’s important is that you are committed to make a change and gain control over your finances.