Fabulous Financial Solutions

One thing that almost all successful dieters have in common is the food diary. A food diary is a journal where you write down every single thing you eat in a given day, including that potato chip you stole off your coworker’s plate. By doing so, you become aware of exactly how many calories you are eating.

So if you want to cut financial expenses, put yourself on a financial diet. Start by keeping track of everything you spend. Excel works fine for this, since you probably don’t want to spend money on a financial program. Or perhaps you do–just be sure to write it down!

Track your expenses for a week, a month, and you’ll see exactly how much you’re spending on lotto tickets, mints and magazines. Or whatever your particular weaknesses are. It really adds up! You may find that this tool gives the the ability to create a workable budget where you can trade all of those mints for a vacation in Cozumel. You never know.

I’ve been on a “slow carb” diet lately, and I’ve found that one of the easiest (and cheapest) things to eat is beans. One of the ways that I save money is by taking my lunch to work–as if I’d rather eat cafeteria food anyway!–and lately, what’s been in those lunches is beans. Specifically, a half can of refried beans.

Refried beans can be purchased for about a dollar a can. Since each can gives me two lunches, that’s fifty cents per lunch. I put a couple of tablespoons of cheese on my beans as well, at a cost of about fifteen cents. So, I’m spending $3.25 on my lunches–for the week!

The downside to this is that after a while, I will get tired of refried beans and cheese. Then it will be back to chicken breasts, which is considerably more pricey!

Recently, I stopped buying sodas at the store. Here are five reasons why.

1. They are horrible for your teeth. Sugar aside, it turns out that soda has acids that will eat away at the enamel on your teeth. The dentist blamed it for my last cavity, even though I was drinking Diet Coke.

2. They are expensive. Recently, 12-packs of my favorite soda went up in price to over four dollars. Considering that not only are my sodas sugar-free, but are also caffeine-free, what exactly am I paying for?

3. Drinking soda in front of my son is setting a bad example. We all know soda is rotten for kids. Why be a hypocrite?

4. They stain your teeth. I am a big fan of Crest Whitestrips. Why have to bleach my teeth more often than necessary because they are turning yellow from caramel coloring?

5. They give you gas. Enough said.

As an alternative, my family has been drinking iced tea. It is much less expensive, and is even healthy! The downside is that it still stains teeth, but it’s nice to do away with the other negatives and save some money!

Most of the time, it seems like you have to PAY money to lose weight. You know, gym memberships, fancy diet food, personal trainers… Well I’ve found a way to lose weight while saving money! Here are the two key components of my plan.

Walk Everywhere

No, not literally. If you have to go visit your aunt in Alaska, definitely take a plane. But walking to all errands within a mile or two of your house works. If you can consolidate the errands, that’s even better. Currently, I walk to work, the farmer’s market and the convenience store. Walking to work saves me a bit on gas. Since I don’t have the car five days a week, I tend not to use it after work. Who wants to get home from work and then go run errands?? The result is that I save up all the big errands for Saturday, and then go do them all at once. So I only use my car once or twice a week. The high gas prices are not affecting me very much–at least not when it comes to fill-ups.

Go on a Slow Carb Diet

The cool thing about this diet is that unless you buy a lot of packaged low-carb junk food, you’ll save a ton of money on groceries. Well, unless you have an affinity for ribeye. I find that I am filling my cart up with lots of beans and frozen veggies. That, supplemented by vegetables bought reasonably at the farmer’s market, has definitely cut my grocery bill down. Not to mention the number on the scale.

I love efficiency. This approach definitely kills two birds with one stone.

It’s pretty much a given that it is more expensive to live in a city than in a small town. Perhaps, though, you haven’t considered how many ways you can save money by moving to a small town. Other than Vail, that is.

You will find that housing is much less expensive. I bought a three bedroom house in a historic downtown neighborhood for 60K! This would be unheard of in a city.

Entertainment is usually free. In the town in which I live (population 30,000), we go to church functions, school functions, parades, free concerts in the park, parties, parties and parties. I’ve found that I don’t miss things like comedy clubs that much after all. I can always download a clip on the computer and get my fix that way.

Since you aren’t stuck in traffic, you don’t spend as much money on gas.

If you need to find your child a tutor, you can do so for about fifteen dollars. Since the cost of living is low, so is the cost of services. I’ve had my entire yard mowed and raked for thirty dollars.

These are just a few example of the ways that you can save money living in a small town. Just make sure you find a job before you move!

I just love that bikes are more in style than ever. It makes sense for so many reasons. Here are three of mine.

1. You can save lots of money on gas. Once you’ve gotten in shape, it is a piece of cake to cycle five or ten miles to work. Over a weeks time, you may save $20 on gas, which in turn will relieve stress.

2. It’s a great stress reliever. (See above.) My town has zillions of little bike trails, as well as a couple of larger ones that can take you quite efficiently across town. The trails are beautiful and wooded, and several run along a stream. Being in nature is relaxing. Exercise gets rid of stress. So does saving money.

3. You’ll get in shape. It is impossible to ride a bike 50 to 100 miles each week and not get in shape. You’ll probably lose weight, and even if you don’t, you’ll feel better, and be giving your body some badly needed exercise. Also, if you’re like me, you may enjoy exercise more if it has a point, like getting to work on time.

I’m too close to work to bother biking–I’d rather spend the time walking. But I certainly do feel fortunate to have all of the trails to explore, and it’s a great thing to do with kids!

I’m familiar with the usual “painless” ways to save, such as having the money taken out of your check a la direct deposit. However, that takes the fun out of the whole thing–although it is probably the most effective way to save that there is! In addition to that method, here’s a couple of other to try:

Save every penny. Literally. Whenever I receive change, I throw it into the bottom of my purse. It stays there until I get around to asking my son to put it in the “kitty bank”. Every now and then, we trade in the coins for cash. The hundred dollar bills go straight back into the kitty, along with more change. This is our trip fund. I’ve found that my son especially enjoys saving this way. He’s even put part of his allowance in the kitty before!

Start a fund for a specific item that you want. In my case, it’s the down payment on a new car. Yes, a NEW car. I know better, but still. I set aside $100-$200 a month from my check for this goal. It is fun to see it in the bank, because then that gives me license (excuse the pun) to enjoy all of the online shopping that I am doing for my new car. It IS a good feeling to have money in the bank!

It’s a good thing (for stores) that I don’t shop the same way in them as I do online. The way I determine if I really want something or not is by putting it in the shopping cart. Then I revisit it the next day. Most stores will keep the items in the cart for 24 hours, so that is not a big deal. If I am still dying to have it the next day, I will give it more consideration.

Even better is Amazon’s wish list. I’ve been utilizing it for years. The other day, I was looking at it for the first time in forever, and realized that ninety percent of what was in it was junk I no longer wanted. Just imagining the money I would have spent if I had made all of those impulse purchases was a real eye-opener!