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Are Tablets Worth It?

BY Jordann - 37 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Are tablets worth it?I've wanted a tablet since the first one was presented to the world. The sleekness, the small size, the operating system!

I collectively gasped right along with the rest of North America. Ever the frugal girl, it would be years before I got to hold my very own in my hands, as a Christmas gift from my Dad.

I was in love, I got a Nexus 7, and I didn't put it down for three straight days. It didn't do anything my cell phone couldn't do, but the seven inch screen was so much easier to navigate.

It wasn't until I was sitting on my couch a few days later that the bubble burst. I had my lap top on my lap, my cell phone in one hand, and my tablet in another. My inner minimalist cringed. That's just too much technology. I shrugged it off, I had a new tablet! Who cares if it didn't actually add much functionality to my life, it was so pretty.

Then, on the way into bed, I picked up my phone and my tablet, and carried them over to my night stand. That cringe again. Two pieces of technology instead of the traditional one? Weird.

So, are tablets worth it?

[Read more…]

Spending Less Money on Clothes and a GIVEAWAY

BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 73 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

My closet last year.

Hey everyone! Today's post is all about spending less money on clothes.

And there's a giveaway too. I'm glad to be a part of another giveaway. I really am enjoying taking part in these, and I hope you guys still love winning stuff! If you're anything like me, then you probably enter tons of giveaways every week.

I made a post early last year titled A peak into my insanity (AKA my closet). At that time, I talked about how I had TONS of clothes. My closet is actually the old laundry room (we have the washer, dryer, etc. in the basement), so this is a decent sized closet that I have. And it's COMPLETELY packed. You can hardly walk into it now.

I don't wear a ton of it because a lot of my daily outfits are business clothes for my job. I had over 50 dresses, over 20 skirts, over 70 shirts, and so on. And this is with me selling my clothes every month. If I never sold clothes or got rid of them every month, I can't even imagine what my closet would look like.

While I would love to save that my shopping problem is under control, it most likely is not. Yes, I'm not spending as much money as I used to, but I really need to start selling things in my closet in order to make things more efficient. Spending an hour each time I'm looking for a specific clothing item is just a little excessive.

Jordann, on my blog, recently talked about Maintaining a Minimalist Wardrobe. This is something that I definitely want to work on.

My plan

Now, I don't plan on just not buying anything ever again. I do love clothes and dressing nice. Instead, my plan will be to focus more on quality and not just quantity. Yes, I will buy the occasional “trendy” dress from Forever 21 or Express, but for the most part I want to be saving my money and spending it on better quality items that will last longer. I will also be following a lot of the tips that are listed on J's site How to Save Money on Clothes. I love her website and how she's able to come up with so many different ideas.

I also plan on not buying items until I clear out items out of my closet. For every 1 item that I buy, I want to put TWO items from my closet into a bag that will be either sent to be donated or sold.

How much do I want to spend?

I do want to start spending less on clothes as well of course. I want to spend the least amount of money out of my own pocket on clothes that I can. My goal is to spend less than $100 out of my own pocket on clothes per month. So this does not include whatever I spend on gift cards or the money I get from selling clothes.

This is not exactly a “no spend” year, but it is a start. I know many people who spend much more than this amount every week on clothes.

This doesn't seem like too hard of a task for me to complete, but it's also about me cleaning out my closet. I have a couple hundred in clothing gift cards already, and will make a couple hundred more from credit card rewards. Also, I already have a ton of clothes in my closet that will work for the next year and still look great, so it's not like I'll be going naked everywhere.

I have a decent amount of clothing gift cards that I have received lately. Some I received for Christmas from my sister, and some I have won from giveaways. I plan on trying to use gift cards to fund my clothing spending. This won't be super difficult, as I also plan on using the gift cards and cash that I earn from my credit card rewards towards this as well.

I also plan on selling a lot of my clothes that are currently in my closet and using this money towards buying new clothes as well. Wish me luck! At the end of 2013 I will make an update post on how much I spent on clothes throughout the year, and how much I spent out of my own pocket on clothes.

Are you trying to spend less on clothes?

What do you do to save money on clothes?

Last question, how much do you spend on clothes in a month and in a year?

 

 Giveaway

[Read more…]

Keeping Up With The Joneses

BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 67 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Do you ever feel like you are trying to keep up with the Joneses? It seems like everywhere I turn, a big purchase is happening to someone I know. A massive 3 story house, nice cars, fancy vacations, a new iPad every other month and everything else.

When a friend goes out and buys the next greatest phone or buys a new car every couple of months, it kind of makes you wonder, and maybe it makes you jealous?

I'm not going to lie, the jealous monster takes over my life every now and then. This is something that I am working on and something that I need to change in my life. Am I the only one? Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who is jealous and no one else has these crazy feelings. Since my extra income seems to be continually increasing, sometimes I feel the urge to spend it.

Maybe the jealous monster has taken over your life as well and you are trying to keep up with the Joneses.

We know someone who isn't showy with his money, he is careful with how he spends his money. He doesn't buy all the latest gadgets that don't mean anything to him. Instead he spends money on his family, vacations, making his house into a home, family gatherings at his home, and other things that truly mean something to him.

He is the perfect example that just because you “might” have money to spend, it does not mean that you should. Buying all of the newest things all of the time doesn't always mean everything in life.

[Read more…]

A Jar of Pennies…Planning My Future Budget

BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 11 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

At the end of every day I empty out my pockets for loose change and throw it into an old Poland Spring 3 Liter bottle.

At first the change hit the empty bottom of the container loudly, but as the months passed it has gotten quieter and quieter as I put more money in. This makes me happier & happier.

This lil jar of change is my Mad Money stash because I believe everyone should have a little something for that rainy day. However, from the holidays and definitely what Michelle here as described as Lifestyle Inflation I almost brought my lil jar to the bank and cashed it out.

The plan for this lil jar will be future vacation or maybe the wedding dress of my dreams fund. Luckily I resisted the urge to cash it and realized I didn’t need more money…I needed a budget & the self-control to remain on that budget.

Hi Everyone, I’m a Chloe, from the blog Ergo, a 27 year old homeowner, who escaped of college without student loans & has a mediocre job. 

Throughout the past 2 years though I have been carelessly living with a credit card swipe here & everywhere to the point where I have depleted my entire Checking account. I do have a savings account cushion that I WILL NEVER TOUCH so I’m not in debt yet.

However, if I continue on with my compulsive shopping habits and careless behaviors it will be the road I will be on. Now the Matter at hand is “How to build my Checking Account back up & Budget.”

I’m compiled a Mini List of a Few Rules & Tidbits I’m going to use to Start of my New Year w/ Saving Money & building back up my checking account:

  1. Confront my Inner Battle between Need vs Want…
  2. Shutting off my television at night. I sleep w/ the TV on…It’s not good for my TV or my electric bill. Also, I plan to not turn on every light in the house… Only if I’m in the room will I leave the light on.
  3. Identify my Biggest Spending Habits. Lunch-hour. If I stayed in on my lunch hour, it would really make a difference. My biggest money culprit is eating Lunch Out & Lunch-time shopping. If I stayed in and walked around the Office Complex where I work, I’d get an extra work-out in too. This would kill 3 birds with one stone. A) Save Money by Brown-Bagging it. B.) Save Money by NOT shopping at the Nearby Mall & C.) Save Gas, which in turn saves money.
  4. Date Night Every Other Week or Once a Month. If my boyfriend and I go out to eat it is at least $40. We eat out a lot. If I cut back to having a Date Night Once a Month after 2 & half years of dating I think that would be okay. There are MANY cheaper alternatives to the classic Dinner & a Movie Date…I can’t wait to find them!
  5. Creating a Master Excel Expenses Spreadsheet – I plan on laying out ALL of my Expenses & using the nifty formulas to calculate exactly how much I can spend or not each month.
  6. The most important thing I have to remember is just because I have a coupon, DOES NOT MEAN I HAVE TO USE IT! Additionally, if it is On Sale, IT DOES NOT MEAN I HAVE TO BUY IT! I’m guilty of both…This ties into Need vs. Want.

 

With these as my starting point, I definitely need to visualize the reality of the situation and take off those rose colored glasses w/ my personal finances. I’m shaking my head & kicking myself that I let my checking account get in fact so low. But in any changing experience, identifying the problem is the first step.

What Are Some Changes You Are Going to Make in The New Year to Save Your Pennies?

Let The Chicks Hatch

BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 14 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

I have to say… I never thought I'd be irresponsible with money. My mom and dad gave me a GREAT start into the financial world, and gave me every tool a parent could give for me to get and keep financial stability. I took less than $11,000 in student loans for a four year degree, I have a degree as a Respiratory Therapist in the “recession proof” health field, and I am married to a man who has never done less than provide a comfortable life for us. We had everything good going for us. It's amazing how quickly the feeling of stability can fall away from you!

Here's my first and hopefully ONLY major financial mistake:

I was only six months away from graduation when I decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to look at getting a new car. Fast forward a month, and I was the proud new “owner” of a 2010 GMC Terrain. Oh did I ever have stars in my eyes! A beautiful, nearly new SUV with good mpg's was sitting in MY driveway. It was my early graduation present to myself, because who would ever think that a Respiratory Therapist would have a hard time finding a job? The payments were easily managed, and I would have a great paying job within six months for sure, right? Wrong. I wish someone would have slapped me and said:

[Read more…]

Why I Love My Budget (For Serious)

BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 22 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hey everyone! I am currently on my way to St. Thomas (WOOHOO!) and have some wonderful posts lined up for while I'm gone. I always love finding new blogs, so I hope you enjoy these great writers who were actually willing to post for me 😛

Today’s guest post is by Emily from Evolving Personal Finance. Emily is a graduate student in North Carolina and writes about life transitions, finances and relationships, and living well on less.

I fall more in love with my budget with every year that passes, and I think that you should love your budget, too!

It’s taken me some time to understand the true meaning and utility of budgeting, but after five years of practice and honing I’m ready to share with you the reasons it’s grown on me so much.

My Budget Reflects My Values

This is a truism that works both ways – you can identify your values by how you spend your money and you can direct your spending to be more in line with your values. For example, my husband and I value our relationships with family and friends, so we save a ridiculous amount of money monthly toward travel so we can be with them for weddings and holidays. [Read more…]

Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)

BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 125 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Find out how I bought a house at 20 years old. This is a great list!Hello! If you are new here and wondering how to buy a house at a young age, please take a look at my about page. Here on MakingSenseofCents, I talk a little about everything. My more popular posts are usually about how I quit my day job to pursue full-time freelancing. I now make over $75,000 a month online, which I fully detail in my monthly business income reports.

Buying a house at a young age and how to buy a house at a young age is a topic I am often asked. Whether you are planning on buying a house at 18, buying a house at 19, buying a house at 21, or any other age, it is a big deal.

We bought a house at the age of 20 – there I said it. Most people think we are crazy and either think the house is something dumpy, that someone in my family pays for it, or that I'm lying (yes, I've been told that). I am often asked how I bought a house so young and what I learned from it.

I am especially asked a lot of questions now about what I learned from it since a lot of my friends are buying their first homes right now.

So, I'll start off with a little background: Why did we buy our house at the age of 20? I was still in college, and we both didn't have the greatest jobs. However, we were both working full-time and made slightly enough money. There are sooo many things to learn and know about before you buy a house. [Read more…]

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