Budgeting

Good morning, savvy savers! I hope you are all well rested, and in the mindset to save this morning!  So today, in keeping with this month’s cleaning trend, I want to focus on another problem area in many homes, our personal closets. Yes, our little caves of wonder. If you are anything like me, your closet is nothing short of a time capsule of the last decade of your life, and probably in need of an overhaul today! 

So today, I challenge you to purge your closet. But there is a catch to today’s challenge, you can only keep 40 items. Now before anyone gasps in horror, this is a purposed experiment. I am challenging you to limit your closets to 40 hangers, 40 items so that your closet only contains clothes you can currently fit, look great in, and simply love! All of the clothes being purged can be donated, sold, or upcycled, too! 

So here are a few tips to help you purge your closet:

• Purge veraciously.  Keep only the items that you absolutely love, can comfortably fit, and wear on a regular basis.  
• If something doesn’t fit “just right,” has holes, stains, is out of season, or you haven’t worn in one year, toss it! 
• Skinny Bin. For clothes that you are five pounds from fitting, create a bin or basket which can be placed in the top of your closet; no more than ten pieces. 
• Think Fabric. Torn or stained items, made of interested fabrics, can be reprieved from the donation bin, and instead may be cut into strips or squares for crafting; think pillow cases, framed vintage tees, tee-shirt rugs, and more! 
• Invest in great hangers.  Think smaller, huggable hangers for clothing, and bendable hangers for swearers; plastic hangers can be re-purposed to hang fabric in your craft room, and wire hangers can be stored for wreath forms.
• Maximize your losses.  Purged items can be sold via Craigslist, eBay, Facebook, consignment shops, Threadup, or garage sales.  

So, here’s how I did today’s challenge:

We each are allotted: 40 hangers, a skinny bin, and that’s it!

For me, I was able to clean out my closet and had eight hangers left over, after work in an hour and a half several days ago, woohoo! As well, all of my purged clothes will be used next week during our “selling week;” all of the clothes being purged can be donated, sold, or upcycled, too! My closet, which was already small, went from having the rod bowing in the center, to being freed up! I can now see all of the pieces I love! I forgot I still had my Burberry wrap! How awesome is that! 

Now, before anyone asks, my boxes shoes are located above my closet, and I have an awesome, huge set of built-in drawers which house my house clothes, pajamas, scarves, and more. But my closet, long the place where garments were pressed together so tightly they could not move, is now free-flowing, organized by fabric, and I now feel that despite losing a few dozen items, I have more options, as every item I kept I can fit, and just love! 

As I organized my closet I kept three piles: A pile of wearable outfits, a pile of donations, and a pile of clothes which can be sold. And when I was finished I tried on each and every outfit in the keep pile, and guess what? Three outfits were too large for me currently, which was an awesome affirming moment for me! All-in-all, this was painless, and left me feeling elated! 

The 40 hanger system is a keeper for me! 

So, here’s the before and after:

Don’t think of this as a chore, but a life lesson. By purging the things we don’t need, want, or use, we are making room for all of the clothing and accessories that make our bodies look and feel better. Today we are freeing ourselves for the bigger, better deals. So today, let’s see how we can change our perspectives, one closet at a time! 

Here’s to saving,

Hello again, savvy savers! It’s a new day, and time for a new challenge! Did you know that you can request from your utility companies, your gas, water, and power companies, an itemized summary of your peak and non-peak hours and service pricing? Did you also know that you could be saving as much as 1/4 off of your bills monthly? Well, you can! Here’s an example…

Starting last Spring, my water bill went up by 20% in a months time! Not that it was a lot of money, but in a year’s time it would have amounted to $400.00! I set out to figure out how to reduce this amount!

 Here’s what I did:

1. I started by calling my city water department, who did not return my call.
2. I then called my city managers office, and was informed by a kind gentleman there, that water, like electricity has a variable cost, and there are peak and non-peak times of the month, season, and year when water charges are higher, so countries and cities can offset the cost of public works projects in many areas. He also said, that you can request in writing, that your city water department tell of you of current charges, pending spikes for everyone, etc.
3. When I found this out last summer, I noticed that charges were higher the last week of the month, so I implemented new water usage strategies in my home; I purchased rain barrel systems to attach to my gutters, which I now use for watering my garden the final week of the month, I also do not wash during that week, making sure all of my wash is prepped before that time, for example.
4. I also checked all of my toilets, plumbing, and water lines for any leaks or pipes that needed to be replaced; luckily they did not!
5. Just these two changes saved me $38.10 monthly!

What’s better? I then went on to repeat this process for all of my other services, too! I found out that every county seat in this country must provide customers that opportunity to learn what are peak and non-peak hours for consumption. I requested this from my local power co-op, and was then able to see that later in the week, from 7-12 am nightly power premiums were less in price, so I adjusted my washing, drying, dish-washing, and vacuuming to this time. I also found out the same schedule from my city managers office, in terms of out city water department, and adjusted watering for my garden to Sunday’s and Wednesday’s, as the water was nearly 20% less in premiums on non-peak times.

With just these two changes, I was able to save over $400.00 last year!

 So today, I challenge you to pull out your paper and e-print utility statements, check out your peak and non-peak hours, and then write your companies and request an itemized usage statement so that you too can reduce your overall gas, power, and water consumption rates in your neck of the woods! 

So today I challenge you to start the process of seeing where you can save on your utilities, too! Be sure to come back this evening to see today’s recap!

Here’s to saving,

Hello again, savvy savers! So, for Day 2 I am challenging you all to come up with a list of a list of meals, with all of the staples being comprised of your freezer, deep freeze, stockpile, and pantry items. You will need to come up with:

• 13 Breakfasts
• 13 Lunches
• 13 Snacks
• 13 Dinner Options
• 13 Desserts

Each option will be eaten twice for the remainder of the month, as the entire month will be rotated bi-weekly. Now, this task may seen daunting to you all, but consider the following:

1. No-spend months are a great time for 5-can soups, dump cakes, casseroles, and pot pies. 
2. This is also a great time to consider “Food Swapping,” with family, friends, and neighbors, where you will prep meals and then exchange the meals accordingly. 
3. This is also the time to consider menu streamlining; eating the proper amount of meals, as well as small snacks throughout the day, as well as cutting your dependency on carbonated beverages, and instead eating healthier options all around, will not only fill you up more, stave off food cravings, which will ultimately end up costing you less the month over. 
4. Consider using “Meatless Monday,”  food options; you can save up to $240.00 annually using this method once a week!
5. You can also check out sites like SuperCook, where you can add the ingredients you have on hand to their database, to find recipes to suit your stockpile of goods!
6. My best tip for today’s challenge, “Rollable Meals,” or meals that leftovers can be made into different meals using the same ingredients; for example on day 1 you make double the amount of hamburgers and a pan of brownies for dessert. On day two, you can take one patty, broken up and make breakfast tacos, and as a beef topped salad(s) for lunch, and using your additional reserved patties, make crockpot beef patties and gravy for dinner, and using your leftover brownies you can make two additional desserts to last the remainder of the week, brownie parfait cups, brownie flurries, or brownie and berry trifle!

Also, here are a few of my own recipes that can be made inexpensively:

Throwback Thursdays: Homemade Easy Bake Oven Chocolate Cake Mix & Frosting Kits, For Only $0.20!

Completely Couponed Coconut Mango Chicken Crockpot Curry

Blueberry Overnight French Toast Casserole!

1-Hour Freezer Cooking: Chicken and Dumplings!

Throwback Thursdays: Homemade French Dressing!

Making More Out Of Monday Meals: DIY Hot Cocoa Mix!

1-Hour Freezer Cooking: Frittatas!

Couponed Crockpot Chicken Mole!

Making More Out of Monday Meals: Misty’s Merry Maple Bacon Cookies!

Making More Out of Monday Meals: Homemade French Onion Soup Mix!

Easy Moroccan Tagine Chicken Recipe!

Neapolitan Trifle!

Cupboard Clearing Cake!

Couponed Crockpot Chicken Stew!

So, just get out a tablet, make a boxed grid; 11″x 8″, divide into a calendar, with seven boxes across, and four boxes down, and there you go! 

For further ideas, be sure to check out my Weekly Menu Section and Pinterest Menu Idea Boards!

Be sure to check Instagram tonight for today’s review!

Hello again, savvy savers! As many of my readers and online friends may know, I am always juggling several projects, business opportunities, scholastic goals, and home projects at any given time. With so much constantly going on, it’s sometimes easy to forget one of my main passions, and antithesis for this blog, the ability to save money, while live a better live, in hopes of having a “whole living blog,” to help me have a better run life. So, for 2015 I have decided to take an old-school approach to spending, and so for every other month this year, for the months of February, April, June, August, October, and December I will be participating in a NO SPENDING month cycles! 

Why this crazy idea? Well, a month of NO spending is an awesome way to both reset your spending patterns, as well as to either kick-start your budget or revamp and make changes to any existing budget you or your family may have. This is also a great challenge for personal responsibility; you can track what you have been spending your hard earned funds, and keep yourself on track, in terms of responsible spending thereafter. 

I will be blogging daily about my NO SPEND struggles, victories, and suggestions from the previous day, and will be posting easy-to-follow daily challenges for my readers during my no-spend months. As well, each Sunday will share what I’ve learned, saved, and gained from this challenge as part of my Weekly Goals & Reflections Posts. I hope that many of you will join me in this challenge, as we can all you use more ways to save around the home.

The rules are pretty simple:  

• No spending on anything  beyond absolute necessities.
• Eat from your pantry & freezer as often as you are able.
• And make changes to the way you purchase and consume goods, services, and commodities in your home. 
• The idea of the challenge is to keep up with your daily activities,, but the main goal is simply to stop spending.  
• This challenge can be a life changing experience, as you may just be amazed at how your mindset and perspective will change after just a month of seeing how you can enrich your life, without spending more!

Challenge 1: Part 1, Commitment

This first challenge has two parts. The first part of the first challenge is committing to the challenge itself. Knowing that starting any personal challenge, starts with following through with the challenge itself, and this no-spend month is no exception! 

Also knowing that this April is not just about not spending, although that will be our main goal.  I always challenge each of you to find ways to live well, live better, find new sources of joy, will spending less. You may just find out just how much we already have, and how little more we really need.  And hopefully, by the end of them month, a life rich with family, friends, and creative planning, secured by fiscally responsible measures, will be who we truly are. In addition, I hope to make my posts comments section a place of encouragement and accountability for us all, too!

I’m not gonna lie, there presumably will be tough moments, and for that reason, with one week remaining, stock-up on any items you currently feel you cannot do without. But the biggest reason for following through with this month daily challenges? In the month of February, I was able to save $1,456.87! 

This month is not about thinking what you won’t be spending and economizing on, but what you are saving for!

With that in mind, for today’s challenge, I encourage you all to physically take a few  minutes to make a list for this month, to include the following:

• How much you plan to save this month.
• What are your long-term financial goals.
• What activities will you plan this month, to take the place of your spending.

Challenge 1: Part 2, Pantry Organization

I should warn you from the get-go:  my challenge is going to be geared around a lot of cleaning, organizing, self-and home inventorying this month! This is done in an attempt to re-wire our spending habits to include less conspicuous consumption, and finding more contentment is the ability to live off of what we currently have, and moreover, can afford! This is a spend less, dig deeper kind of month!

So today, we are going to start by taking stock of exactly what we have on hand. And if  you are a couponer/stockpiler like me,  you probably have more than a few forgotten packages hidden in the recesses of your pantry, and it’s time they come out to play!

Here’s a few tips for cleaning up your home pantry:

1. Clear your kitchen counters, kitchen islands, and table before you begin to allow you so you have adequate work space. 
2. Empty your pantry.
3. Put like items together; all like items should be grouped separately into piles.
4. All open containers need to be grouped separately.
5. Any items that you will not be eating in the next six months, discard.
6. Any items that will expire in the next three months, that you will not eat, group separately and donate. 
7. Wipe down and sanitize cleared shelves.
8. Take a sheet of paper and create an inventory of what you currently have in your home pantry.
9. Keep in mind, when placing items back into your pantry, arrange items closest to expiration, nearest to the front of your shelf, and those items farthest from expiration towards the back of each shelf.

A few additional tips to keep in mind:

• All shelved goods should be checked and rotated seasonally, and this is a task that should be placed on your calendars accordingly. 
• Place all unopened containers in your pantry in like areas; cans with cans, boxes with boxes, jars with jars.
• Open snacks, cookies, and candy should be taken out of the pantry and placed in other areas of the kitchen so that they can be easily consumed.
• Be sure to wipe down the front of your pantry; this includes cabinets, panels, knobs, etc.
• Take a well needed break, for a job well done!

Stay tuned for my end of day report updates, which will be reported to Instagram!

Here’s to saving.

Hello again, savvy savers! Tomorrow starts a new No-Spend Month Challenge on The LadyPrefers2Save! So, here is a re-cap of last months start, the ground-rules, and the basics for this month:

As many of my readers and online friends may know, I am always juggling several projects, business opportunities, scholastic goals, and home projects at any given time. With so much constantly going on, it’s sometimes easy to forget one of my main passions, and antithesis for this blog, the ability to save money, while live a better live, in hopes of having a “whole living blog,” to help me have a better run life. So, for 2015 I have decided to take an old-school approach to spending, and so for every other month this year, for the months of February, April, June, August, October, and December I will be participating in a NO SPENDING month cycles! 

Why this crazy idea? Well, a month of NO spending is an awesome way to both reset your spending patterns, as well as to either kick-start your budget or revamp and make changes to any existing budget you or your family may have. This is also a great challenge for personal responsibility; you can track what you have been spending your hard earned funds, and keep yourself on track, in terms of responsible spending thereafter. 

I will be blogging daily about my NO SPEND struggles, victories, and suggestions from the previous day, and will be posting easy-to-follow daily challenges for my readers during my no-spend months. As well, each Sunday will share what I’ve learned, saved, and gained from this challenge as part of my Weekly Goals & Reflections Posts. I hope that many of you will join me in this challenge, as we can all you use more ways to save around the home.

The rules are pretty simple:  

• No spending on anything  beyond absolute necessities.
• Eat from your pantry & freezer as often as you are able.
• And make changes to the way you purchase and consume goods, services, and commodities in your home. 
• The idea of the challenge is to keep up with your daily activities,, but the main goal is simply to stop spending.  
• This challenge can be a life changing experience, as you may just be amazed at how your mindset and perspective will change after just a month of seeing how you can enrich your life, without spending more!

There are a few exceptions to the rule as follows:

1. Unavoidable expenses related to employment, such as gas, are okay.
2. Unavoidable school related expenses.
3. Doctors appointments, veterinarian appointments, co-payments, family/pet prescriptions, and therapy sessions are okay.
4. Do keep existing service and repair appointments that can’t be rescheduled to “Spending” months, such as hair appointments, lawn care services, trash removal, in-home repair services, etc.
5. Do keep existing tithing and charitable giving.
6. Do have an adequate stockpile of necessities prior to beginning this challenge, such as pet food, bedding, litter, laundry detergent, dish soap, snow salts, bottled water and emergency staples (if you live in areas frequently affected by seasonal weather), etc. 
7. Do keep up with healthy living habits. I will continue to use my envelope saving system to fund app purchase rebates (iBotta, Shopmium, Snap by Groupon) for fresh produce and milk savings that may pop-up during my no-spend months; due to my PCOS I need several servings of fruits and veggies daily, and these app savings help keep my freezer stocked on a budget. 
8. And it goes without saying, please do pay all of our monthly obligations; rent, mortgage, insurance, utility payments, banking fees,  student/financial/business loans, medical expenses, and assumed or credit card debt. 

February is not just about not spending, although that will be our main goal.  I always challenge each of you to find ways to live well, live better, find new sources of joy, will spending less. You may just find out just how much we already have, and how little more we really need.  And hopefully, by the end of them month, a life rich with family, friends, and creative planning, secured by fiscally responsible measures, will be who we truly are. In addition, I hope to make my posts comments section a place of encouragement and accountability for us all, too!

I’m not gonna lie, there presumably will be tough moments, and for that reason, with one week remaining, stock-up on any items you currently feel you cannot do without today;  you will also need pens, paper, a clip board, laundry basket, and an open mind these coming weeks!

I’m not sure how many of you are on board for this month’s challenge but the gauntlet has been tossed, and I am calling on all of you all to try this challenge, in your own way, with your own rules, and just to do this with me. Right here, right now let’s both commit to a whole month of no spending, starting tomorrow!

Here’s to Saving,