A while back I posted at a frugal living website asking for ideas on how to make jewelry cleaner. Here are some of the responses I received.

Related posts

• Using Safer and Homemade Cleaners (10)
• Seven Inexpensive Gifts (6)
• Saving Money On Your Food Budget (2)
• No-Waste Holiday Ideas (15)
• Homemade Cleaners (1)

Related posts

• Ways You Can Save Money Each Month (0)
• Using Safer and Homemade Cleaners (10)
• Totally Free Samples (2)
• Snowman Dishes, Revisited (7)
• Simple Ways To Improve Gas Mileage (1)

Friendship Soup

Layer the ingredients below in a drinking jar and attach the following poem on the front and the recipe on the back.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup dry split peas
1/4 cup beef bouillon granules
1/4 cup pearl barley
1/4 cup dry lentils
1/4 cup dried onion flakes
2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
1/4 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
1/4 cup uncooked alphabet pasta

Poem:

Here’s a special mug of soup
That I’m sending your way
You can sip and enjoy it
Each and everyday

When you drink your soup
It will surely warm your heart
Just like our friendship has
From the very start

Recipe:

Additional Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
3 quarts water
1 can(28 oz)diced tomatoes

Remove macaroni from top of jar and set aside. In a large saucepan, brown beef.Add water, tomatoes & soup mix. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover & simmer for 45 min. Add macaroni, cover & simmer for 15 to 20 or until tender. Yield: 15 servings

Encourage Mints Jar

Fill a decorated jar with mints and attach this poem -
When you have a bit of doubt
And need some confidence
Just put your hand inside the jar
And take out encourage-mints.

Learning about how to save money for retirement requires gaining knowledge of several retirement investing vehicles. Make sure that you check out Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) which can offer you plans that showcase dissimilar tax advantages. Discover how you can set aside more money in preparation for your retirement by taking advantage of Roth IRA interest rates.

Rates of Return
One of the most important aspects of any investment is its rates of return. Thus, if you have a Roth account, you should be aware of how much money you generate from it. You should be certain that you are getting the best possible returns, particularly if you dream about retiring in comfort.

Currently, investing your Roth IRA in bank certificates will yield returns of no more than 4%, though the anticipated inflation rate is at 5% for the next twenty years. Note that financial experts and advisors do not see the rates of interest of CDs to increase much.

Some experts will influence you to join the bandwagon of stock market investors, specifically if you are looking forward to long-term investing, however, as you’ve noticed for the past months, it’s an incredibly unpredictable market and nobody expects it to become steady in the near future. Profits from this market for the last five years were documented at no higher than 8%. And recently, people who have tried their luck investing in the stock market mislaid over 20% of their contributed funds.

Roth IRA Interest Rates
To learn how to save money for retirement through a Roth IRA, it’s best to get educated about the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) policies as well the specific rules and regulations of a Roth account. You should assess the income limit and find out if you are eligible to contribute for this kind of retirement plan.

To become profitable with a Roth plan, keep in mind that the best rates of interest are attained by people that carry out self-directed investments. The good news is that there are no limits and restrictions on how much money you can generate when you invest in your preferred assets. Therefore, looking into non-traditional investments like the real estate will present you with opportunities to make tremendous amount of money, especially if you are able to tap the most lucrative segments of this market.

Investing in Real Estate
If you are tired of mediocre return that is less than your Roth IRA income limit, you should really consider placing your funds in the real estate market. Research and study the sectors with the most potential for profit. You can effortlessly recognize a 30% investment return each year with the right market segments.

If you want to obtain the best returns from a Roth IRA, you should get a good custodian who will allow you to invest in almost any assets permitted by the tax code. In addition, a skilled custodian will efficiently walk you through the entire process of retirement investing.

With numerous retirement savings option available in the market today and the overflowing online and offline resources concerning them, you can easily discover how to save money for retirement.

Related posts

• Shopping the Dent And Bent Stores (7)
• 3 Tips On Saving Money (0)
• Ways You Can Save Money Each Month (0)
• Using Safer and Homemade Cleaners (10)
• Totally Free Samples (2)

If you find it difficult to put aside money to purchase gifts for different occasions, you probably pass up on special events just to avoid gift giving. Although you inhibit yourself from spending by doing this, you also miss unforgettable moments with your loved ones and friends. This article will give you some tips on how to save money buying gifts and some gift ideas that will surely get you going in every special gathering or occasion.

Whether it’s your dad’s birthday, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas, or your daughter’s graduation, you should never worry about going into debt when you purchase gifts. Remember the following pointers, which are an idea beyond the traditional thinking, “it’s the thought that counts.”

Packaging –
Prevent yourself from purchasing gift bags and wrapping papers. As an alternative, save up all the gift bags and wrapping papers that you’ve received from other people and use them again. You can also try to go eco-friendly by wrapping your gifts up with old newspapers or you can be more creative by making a collage of old photos and use it as gift wrapper. Through these steps, you are not only saving money, but you are also supporting a good cause to save the planet.

Dollar Stores –
There is no point in visiting expensive shops and boutiques for a birthday gift if your budget is limited. You can learn how to save money buying gifts by making your present more personal and sentimental. You can buy an album or a picture frame from a dollar store. Place your favorite photos in it and include a personal letter that recounts what happened in each picture. Your relative, best friend, or special someone will surely be appreciative for the gift’s personal touch.

Dinner Date –
If you want to surprise your special someone, you can cook his or her favorite meal in your home. Set the tables and then light the candles. This absolutely beats splurging lots of money at a fancy restaurant and compensating the server a tip.

Music –
If you are searching for a gift for someone who loves music, you should get in touch with his or her inner deejay by making a personalized CD. Make sure that the album cover features him or her.

Poetry – How about making a poem for your friend, loved ones, or special someone? Even if you are not into poetry, when you begin to think about his or her special qualities and attributes, you’ll definitely come up with a great poem. You can place it in a frame and decorate the frame with his or her photos.

Books – Books are gift ideas that will help you recognize how to save money buying gifts. Bookstores always have sections where they sell books at a bargain cost. For only a few dollars, you’ll be delighted to see the books you can purchase such as dictionaries, former bestsellers, and even how-to and DIY manuals.

In the end, you don’t have to spend a fortune to show your receiver how much you love and appreciate him or her. Check out flyers for discounts and deals, create your own gifts at home, and always remember to reuse gift bags and wrapping papers.

Read our inexpensive Valentine’s ideas!

Related posts

• Saving Money On Your Wedding (0)
• Saving Money On Your Food Budget (2)
• Free E-Book: Thriving On Less (0)
• Using Safer and Homemade Cleaners (10)
• Snowman Dishes, Revisited (7)

Written by Carol, one of our readers:

We’d all like to save money each month, but how to go about it is another story. Start by making a budget; that scary, imposing, restrictive plan that keeps you in line. Only it doesn’t have to be that way, a budget is really only putting down on paper your priorities and recognizing you absolutely cannot spend more than you make in any given time period. It also, contrary to popular belief, doesn’t have to come together in one sitting, start the first month with just writing down general categories and amounts. Over time you can refine and fill it out more completely. It took us three months to get a good handle on our budget, each month getting more and more detailed, even today we are constantly adjusting the numbers.

Once you know where you money is going it is now time to start trimming the fat. If you look at your monthly expenses, looking to saving $500 it will seem overwhelming and impossible. But what if instead you looked at shaving a few dollars off each item? As we began looking at our budget we decided to go through and renegotiate each item we could. After knocking out the cable and downgrade our cellphone plan – saving $65, reviewing our car insurance and changing our coverage – $25 less and changing our restaurant habits to only twice a week. This all totaled approximately $125 a month in savings. Besides the mortgage payment, food and general merchandise are our biggest expenditures.

Even with the constant coupon clipping and avoiding the pricier groceries stores we couldn’t make the budget numbers and the real world numbers agree. That’s where web surfing finally began to payoff. There are plenty of websites out there that can multiply you efforts. The blogs that track specific stores rewards programs, letting you know what items are free or worth the most rewards points/bucks, will give you an edge. Lots of promotional programs let you trade your name and email address for free samples and /or coupons.

Also look to farmer’s markets and co-ops, we spend $17 every two weeks for $50 worth of fresh fruits and vegetables. Little by little we have shaved almost $200 off our monthly grocery bill.

Try once a week cooking, or once a month cooking if you’re ambitious! There are so many tasty once a week cooking recipes out there that you’re bound to find some that you like.

Due to the fact that we didn’t start our marriage with the financial acumen that we now possess there is a tidy sum sitting on credit card balances. This can be a dangerous lever, waiting to dump us over the edge at a moments notice. We headed it off by finding a low APR, zero interest on balance transfer offer and moved everything we could onto that card. Then we proceeded to cut up our physical cards except for one emergency card and have begun applying the snow ball methodology. The snow ball theory has you paying off the lowest balance card while making minimum monthly payments on the others, as you pay off a card you roll what you had been paying on it into you payment on the next one. With this consolidation we erased about $50 a month in additional interest fees.

Lastly, we began looking at efficiency around the house and in our travel habits. By lowering the thermostat by 3 degrees and running only full loads in the dryer, we cut $15 off the electric bill. Using public transportation and walking for quick trips to the nearby store translated into more than half a tank of gas saved every two weeks; which at today’s price means $50 a month left in our pockets. Together we have identified our spending priorities, changed our spending habits and challenged ourselves to find fun and rewarding ways to save a little bit in each category on our budget. This has tallied up to savings of almost $400 a month, which comes in handy when saving for the next rain day.

Related posts

• Saving Money On Your Food Budget (2)
• Totally Free Samples (2)
• Sign Up For Free Samples (3)
• Get Coupons, Freebies And Deals (9)
• Free Printable Coupons (8)

Posted by Leila D:

There are tons of ways to save money on monthly expenses but most of these ways consist of cutting back on day to day luxuries that we don’t really need. I’m always trying to find good ways of saving money and I always end up finding something new to “get rid” of in my life. But this can sometimes be a good thing. Let me talk about a few ways.

The first for me would definitely start at home. I live in Texas so the weather gets a little crazy here. I find that weather sealing my windows and doors saves me a ton of money during the winter. Spending a mere $50 dollars in the first month to make my gas bill in the low $100′s the rest of the season is way better then spending close to $300 a month for almost four months in a row.

Next in home would definitely be energy saving bulbs and fans during the summer months. I once had an electricity bill of close to $600 bucks in a one bedroom apartment. That is all it took to wake me up and make me more aware of how much electricity I was using each month. I found that the energy saving bulbs cut it back about $8 bucks a months so they pay for themselves in the first month.

Next I bought some plug-in stand up fans for each room. I figured that the air conditioner cooled the whole house, but why would I need to cool the whole house if I’m only in one room at a time? Well I don’t! So for about $100 bucks at a place like Wal-Mart or Target you can almost cut your electric bill in half depending on the size of your house.

Now we move on to eating habits. Eating fast food everyday like the average American can lead to it becoming a habit of spending $15 to $20 bucks everyday just to eat! I pride myself on breaking that habit and spending $15-$20 bucks on food a week. That’s roughly a $120 a week difference. But not only do you save a ton of money, you can lose weight, feel better, and overall end up healthier. Plus you learn a lot of fun fruit and vegetable recipes. So just remember, the grocery store is the way to go. Also try to learn some once a week cooking tips. Check the link for more information and some great once a week cooking recipes.

Last but not least is saving money on gas. This one isn’t for everyone, but for some of us, its huge. I personally live about a half a mile from work. So of coarse, I walk or ride my bike. Some people spend close to a grand a month on gas. That to me is insane. I drive only when I have to. Which is going out of town, across town to see friends or family, or in a minor emergency. And in this case, just like with food, you lose weight and become more healthy from walking or riding a bike.

These are just a few simple ways to cut back on money each month. You can always come up with new and improved ways to save money. So feel free to use mine and come up with some new ones of your own.

Related posts

• Using Safer and Homemade Cleaners (10)
• Totally Free Samples (2)
• Saving Money On Your Food Budget (2)
• Saving Money on Window Coverings (1)
• No-Waste Holiday Ideas (15)

(click the book to purchase)
In this guide to frugal living, Deborah shows you how to live within your means and enjoy doing it. Among other things, she shows you how to:

* Take the sting out of gift-giving
* Dress well on a budget
* Save on family expenses
* Slash household expenses
* Involve the whole family in saving money
* Save more for the things you want

Frugal Living for Dummiescovers all areas of life with common sense advice and guidance on:

* Working with your partner to achieve financial goals
* Going to the grocery without being taken to the cleaners
* Quick and thrifty cooking techniques
* Providing kids the basics on a tight budget
* Looking good and feeling good on a tight budget
* Frugal holiday fun year round
* Saving money around the house and driveway
* Finding quality in pre-owned merchandise

Packed with tried-and-true techniques for cutting costs, Frugal Living For Dummies is the ultimate financial survival guide for the rest of us.

Related posts

• Saving Money On Your Wedding (0)
• Saving Money On Your Food Budget (2)
• Snowman Dishes, Revisited (7)
• Shopping the Dent And Bent Stores (7)
• Using Safer and Homemade Cleaners (10)

Mortgage loans are calculated depending on the kind of interest that you signed up for. This is based on the interest rate and the length of mortgage. The shorter the duration of the payment, the more expensive the bill is on a monthly basis; however, the higher the bill per month, the shorter the time duration of the payment.  It comes down to how much you can afford.

Create a budget and envision, how much can you actually pay in a month and think long term. Will you still be earning that particular amount in two, three years time? Do you have enough savings just in case an unforeseen accident occurs? How long can you keep on paying the mortgage?

This is how some lenders calculate how much they can lend you. The
housing payment is your total mortgage payment set alongside your monthly income and the total debt ratio – meaning what you are obligated to pay in the big picture. That’s why there’s also the question of “Should I buy or rent?” If the person isn’t yet financially stable, it is better that he rents in the mean time. However, calculations show that the expenditures on rent are somehow close to signing up for a home mortgage.

Also, there’s a great sense of pride in owning your own home. But with that comes the responsibility of paying your bills on time. Plus, now that you’re a homeowner, you’re also required to set aside a significant amount of your salary for taxes. Owning a home also means paying for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and food.

For you to decide, think whether choosing a home is what’s suitable for you at this time. Determine if you have enough to actually afford to buy your own home. If not, then it’s better that you rent. Now here’s where the mortgage rates come in.

Begin by checking the interest rate and rate movements of a specific mortgage loan you’re signing up for. Mortgage rates depend on the Wall Street securities. Keep an eye on the stock market and the mortgage market trends to know the secrets on the direction of where your mortgage is going.

You must also study the APR or the Annual Percentage Rate. By law, mortgage companies are required to disclose the APR to their clients. That is how they should advertise a rate. This is done so that people who signed up under them will be aware of where their rates are going. It represents the real cost of the loan to the borrower and can be seen extensively when the yearly rate is presented. This prevents lenders from hiding fees and for clients to have an open relationship with their mortgage dealers.

As much as possible, try to personally meet with the lender. When money is involved, personal arrangements are better because not only can you clarify better, you could also have an idea of what kind the person is on the end of the phone or at the receiving part of the email you send out. Now that you have met up with a dealer, know your APR, study the stock market, and then you are ready to lock in your rate. This means that you are ready to commit with a lender and the lender is bound to a promise to this certain interest rate. From there, you must work on a budget.

You must set aside a specific amount from your salary for your mortgage; and, if you can pay faster, then why not? If you have extra money, talk to your lender and ask if you can pay for a higher amount. For good credit history, always pay more, not less. Pay on time, not late. This is to ensure that you won’t have a hard time dealing with insurance matters in the future. With the right decision-making and the right budget, you won’t have any problem with money. It’s just having the discipline of creating a budget, sticking to it and paying on time. If it is arranged as such, notice that you could even save a couple of your dollars.

Related posts

• Setting Up A Family Budget (0)
• Saving Money On Your Wedding (0)
• Saving Money On Your Food Budget (2)
• Saving Money By Buying Before You Need It (0)
• Free E-Book: Thriving On Less (0)

These days, brides are all about saving money, but you don’t have to scrimp on having a fabulous wedding! Check out this video for
cost saving ideas for your ceremony, reception and more. See how top designers are creating gowns to fit brides with all budgets and tips for saving money at your cocktail hour.

Related posts

• Saving Money On Your Food Budget (2)
• How to Save Money Buying Gifts (0)
• Frugal Living for Dummies (7)
• Free E-Book: Thriving On Less (0)
• 50 Tips for Frugal Living (17)