Budget Archives - Page 4 of 90 - Making Sense Of Cents

Would You Consider Living In A Camper To Pay Off Debt Quicker?

March 19, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 47 Comments

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What would you do to save more money and pay off your debt quicker?

One thing that I've noticed more people doing is living in a camper in order to save money.

Before we begin, I will say that RVing is funny. Some people who don't RV think that all RVers are trust fund babies, and others think the complete opposite, like that we are all truly homeless and have no money.

In reality, living in a camper has a wide range of costs, just like houses that don't have wheels do. You could live in a $1,000 travel trailer, or there are $2,000,000+ motorhome mansions. Similarly, the budget you keep while living in a camper can vary widely too.

Some people manage to spend just hundreds of dollars a month, whereas others can easily spend several thousands of dollars a month RVing.

While we don't live in an RV to save money (the house we used to own was actually much less expensive than our motorhome), there are many who have been able to pay off debt, save for early retirement, and more, all by living in a camper. [Read more…]

How We Became Professional House Sitters In Europe & Saved Over $5,000

March 16, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 2 Comments

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Today, I have a great article from professional and trusted house sitters who have saved over $5,000 by house sitting. Enjoy!

House sitting! Did you know that you can save money and stay in beautiful mansions by becoming a professional and trusted house sitter? #housesit #housesitter #housesitting #howtobecomeahousesitter We are Brittnay & Jayden, full time roaming enthusiasts from Australia and New Zealand, respectively. Find out how we managed to save over $5,000 in 3 months, in one of the most expensive cities in Europe.

We met in the Australian Alps and quickly discovered each other's passion for travel. We were eyeing off South America as our next trip. However, one snowy Sunday afternoon we came across flights to London for $300 AUD ($220 USD). The next thing we knew we were booked and were applying for our UK work visas.

Two wild and exciting years in London quickly followed. We had managed to visit over 21 countries in Europe and Africa in that time and not ready to stop. Our visa’s expiry date quickly approaching. We scrambled, not quite ready to head home, we put our heads together, Spain was an early thought and then a friend mentioned Dublin. It was close, easy for work visas for and similar climate to the UK.

However, after deciding on this move we found out that Dublin is known as one of the most expensive cities in Europe. When we looked into rental properties, we were shocked. It was a minimum of $1450 for a room in a share house. Our recent house sitting job came to mind- we could try that there. After lots of research and applying, we landed our first house sitting job via Skype. [Read more…]

Stop Being Lazy – Why Overpay When You Can Save Money On Insurance?

March 14, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 30 Comments

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Do you know how to save money on insurance? Sadly, many don't and end up overpaying on their car, home, and other insurance! This can easily add up to thousands of dollars each year. Have you been paying attention to how much insurance is costing you these days?

While it is a necessity, it’s possible that you are overpaying and could benefit from learning how to save money on insurance, from car to home, and more.

I know people overpay because at one point I was overpaying. When I was 16, I had just gotten a new-to-me car. It was cheap, had high miles, and had more paint chips than actual paint.

Even though everything else about the car was overused and cheap, the insurance was over $100 a month!

My Dad helped me find a policy, and neither one of us paid much attention to the cost, which was surprising considering how frugal he was. Yes, I was a teenager and a new driver. However, neither my Dad or I did our homework and shopped around to save money on insurance, as we just used my dad’s insurance company.

Also, I had all kinds of coverage on this cheap, ugly car. I had a very low deductible (like $250 or something), and collision insurance (which usually isn't needed for a super cheap car). Once I realized all of the mistakes I was making, I made changes and my insurance dropped by over HALF. I went from paying over $100 a month in car insurance to somewhere around $50 a month. [Read more…]

I Wish People Would Stop Spreading This Awful Financial Advice

March 12, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 54 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

People just love giving others advice. And, many times, it is pretty bad financial advice. Here are the 11 worst pieces of financial advice I have heard. Between running this personal finance blog, and the fact that I've always been fairly open about money, people love talking about money with me. So, over the years, I have heard countless pieces of bad financial advice.

Plus, people just love giving others advice. Yes, I've heard great financial advice, but some of it has really been awful financial advice, that I knew was bad even as a kid.

Some of the financial advice I've heard has had me shaking my head in disbelief, and others have left me wondering how that person has made it so far in life.

Money is a funny subject like that, though. And, until we start talking about it more openly and spend as much time learning about finances as some of us do reading the latest gossip, watching sports, or something else, then we still have a long way to go.

It's been almost four years since I first published The Worst Money Advice I’ve Ever Heard. Today, I want to continue on that – talk about some that I mentioned four years ago (some of those still make my jaw drop on the ground and make want me to bang my head on the wall) as well as bring up some more that I haven't discussed. [Read more…]

Join the Down Payment Movement

March 6, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

The following is a sponsored partnership. All opinions are 100% my own. This movement is powered by Unison.

Hello!

I have partnered with several amazing personal finance bloggers to help you save for your down payment on your next home.

Why am I doing this, you ask?

I want to help motivate my readers to save for their down payment for their home. I know many of you are interested in purchasing a home, but may not have the motivation to actually save for your down payment – and your down payment is so very important!

I purchased my first house at the age of 20. See, I needed a place to live (I was on my own since I was around 18 years old and my dad passed away. I received no inheritance, and desperately needed a place to call my own.

I was young, though, and I made so many mistakes when it came to purchasing a home. While I did manage to buy my own home when I was very young, there were so many mistakes that I made.

One thing I did was that I didn't save enough for a large enough down payment. Instead, I put the smallest amount that I could down and this led to me paying PMI. I recommend reading Can You Remove PMI From Your Mortgage? to learn more about PMI. [Read more…]

How To Side Hustle- Answers To The Most Common Side Hustle Questions

February 26, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 32 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Having a side hustle is great for many reasons, like helping you pay off debt, save more money, test out a business idea, reach financial freedom, and more. Here are your common side hustle questions. #sidehustle You all know that I love side hustling.

Here on Making Sense of Cents, I talk a lot about making extra money, especially through side hustles. After all, having side jobs changed my life and allowed me to pay off $40,000 in student loan debt.

My side jobs even turned into my full-time business, which is something I will always be grateful for. I love my business, I earn a good income, I travel full-time, and I have a great work-life balance.

Side hustling is one of my favorite topics due to the fact that it positively changed my life, and I truly believe it can improve the lives of others.

Luckily, many are seeing the benefits of side hustling. More than 44 million Americans have a side hustle and 50% of millennials have a side hustle.

And, while I love talking about and helping people cut back their expenses, I believe that earning more money can be extremely helpful too. This is because there is no limit to how much money you can make.

Making extra money is great for many other reasons, like helping you pay off debt, save more money, test out a business idea, reach financial freedom, and more. [Read more…]

4 Great Self Care Online Classes You Should Take (Plus Thousands of Other Classes to Up Your Game)

February 25, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 7 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

The following is a sponsored partnership with Skillshare. All opinions are 100% my own.

It's funny, when you're younger, I feel like you'll do anything to rush through school and not be learning all the time. I still vividly remember being in college and there being an older person in one of my classes. Everyone asked him “why are you taking this class if you're not trying to get a degree?”

No one could understand and we all thought he was crazy. He then replied that when you get older, that you will enjoy learning new things. I still remember that like it was yesterday, and now I completely understand it now. I am always wanting to learn new things now, and it's always a joy to do.

Recently, I learned about Skillshare and I am so excited to share it with you all. Skillshare is an online learning community for designers, photographers, marketers, entrepreneurs, really anyone! They have more than 18,000 classes in the broad categories of creative, business, technology, and lifestyle.

And, it's affordable. [Read more…]

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