Month: November 2023

Are you ready for the Christmas shopping season!?

smbaccari

Well, it’s that time of year again! Oh, sure it’s festive and it’s time off from work, and hopefully it’s time spent with family and friends! BUT it’s also a time of year when most of us go WAY over our typical monthly spending! What’s the answer here? For starters. We need to start with a total dollar amount that we think we can realistically handle. Really think about this….

According to a poll done by LendEDU, the average person will spend $997.00 on Christmas this year between gifts, food and decorations. And according to NERD Wallet 74% of people will use credit cards to pay for those gifts. Nerd Wallet also tells us 52% of people last year incurred credit card debt due to holiday shopping and 1/3 of them are STILL paying it off. Let’s not be one of those people this year!

This is so easy to do, right? We have all been there probably more than once. Maybe this year we REALLY do set a dollar amount on the spending. Hey maybe our challenge is to spend LESS than the Average person ($997) this year! Ya that does not mean we spend $996, 😊

So, what’s the game plan? Let’s really look at “THE LIST” Most of us can cut the list back, or spend less. It’s also OK to tell people early in the season, like now… That you are cutting back and paying off some bills or trying to save more.  You may be surprised at how other people might want to do the same thing and are grateful you said it first!

 One thing that may help these days are those office Christmas Secret Santa Gifts! That feels like something that did NOT come back after the pandemic, Thank God! It was not the money as much as the stress of WHAT to get that EVERYONE would like! Maybe we get thoughtful, yet personal gifts that do not need to cost much. After all it’s the thought… that’s what they say anyway.

The one thing I DON’T want is a huge credit card bill! This year I am going make most of the purchases with CASH.  I will decide on a dollar amount that I can handle with CASH, and then I MUST stay in that Budget. There will be some things I need a credit card for like online purchases. BUT I will also SET a limit on that amount as well.

Another “thing” I personally will also focus on… NOT buying things for myself while I am supposed to be buying for others! Come on you do it too! You see a great deal on boots, and it’s like, I NEED these, and they are on SALE! Merry Christmas to me! Ok none of that this year. 😊

They say “experiences” are remembered more than “Items”. Ex: Maybe you plan a day with your best friend or family member with something you found on Eventbrite vs buying a gift.

Maybe you take all the nieces and nephews out for a day trip together to the movies and make your own pizzas back at the house for a gift to your sibling and a day for the kids to remember the time together.

Look on Group On for your City, or Eventbrite or your town’s community calendar. Some museums are FREE on certain days, Some Zoos are FREE or Historical tours. There are many things to do that are low cost or FREE, like sledding or skating. GIVE people your time vs an expensive gift they may not even remember next year.

This year let’s challenge ourselves to be more mindful of what we buy vs buying it to get something/someone off the list.  Put some thought into how much we are spending and what we buy, is it really the “right” gift?  If we cut the spending down a little and set a limit on what we put on a credit card, say $200.00 IF you can get it paid off when the bill is due, and the rest CASH, AND get below the average person’s spend… Maybe we will be less stressed this year, knowing we do not have to pay for Christmas for the next 3 months+! 😊 Happy shopping/gift giving!

Week Three Money Challenge

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We spent the last 2 weeks looking back at our bank statements over the last three months or so to see how we can FREE up $100.00-$200.00 per month. That “Found” money we put 1/2 in a retirement account we already had, or we started one. The other half we put in the “emergency fund” which hopefully is in a high yield savings account. While you were scrolling those bank statements/activities online, did anything else jump out at you? Maybe there were things like your debit card at the grocery store! Maybe there were random trips here and there that you see a credit card or debit purchase? It’s not pretty sometimes, right? Sometimes it feels like money just passes through our hands like water…. ☹

Being more mindful of WHAT you spend money on might help us NOT spend as much???  Everything we do in life in general seems to be due to a “habit”. So what if we make a habit of really thinking about IF we really need to spend money on certain things or items, vs the impulse to spend. It’s hard! I get it! Maybe we say ok this week my budget for groceries is $100.00 that’s it! I will use cash only and really plan for the week as well as plan meals out. I am assuming this for a family of four.

Maybe it requires you to go to two or three different stores over the weekend to get everything you need. Assuming the stores are not far from each other, maybe it’s worth it! I started buying things at ALDi and another main grocery store than the one at the bottom of my street. I did some rough math and saved at least $30.00 this week! I even googled some coupons and saved on things like the special dog food at the pet store! Hey, it all adds up! Little by little more money ends up in our pocket vs out of our pockets. Your challenge for this week is MIND SET! Be aware of what you’re spending money on. Do I REALLY need this? Is this product sold some place else cheaper? EX. I buy my organic spinach at BJ’s, which is the same price at my grocery store, but at BJ’s it’s three times the size and I freeze it!  Let’s only buy what we need for a few weeks and see if we have some extra cash at the end of the month before the next check shows up. That’s how we start moving in the right direction, living on LESS THAN WE MAKE!! Not saying it’s easy, but it is possible…. We do this EVERY month. This is our NEW Habit.

Week Two Money Challenge!

smbaccari

Hi everyone,

So how did we do last week with finding an extra $50.00-$100 in our monthly budget to allocate to our long term/retirement accounts?! Again, the goal here is to keep us all accountable! Its like getting up at 5 AM to meet your friend for a run! You get up, because you know they are getting up! This blog is a support blog to keep us moving forward. If you miss a week or, have a weak moment and buy a new pair of shoes… Just get back at it! After all we are only human.

For week two, lets focus on re-looking at our monthly spending and really digging into where we are spending TO MUCH $$$!!!  I personally found 2 items, that I KNOW I cancelled, and YET there they were back on my monthly charges! I finally got that fixed! It was only a combined total of $40.00, but still.

Once you re-look at the past three -four months of your spending we now need to find another $50.00-$100.00 in the budget to build the emergency fund! The goal is to get to three months of expenses. But the first goal is to get to $1000 in that fund. Let’s make part of this week’s challenge to have that money go into a high yield savings account! This is different than a regular saving account. There are several to choose from. Some suggestions are SoFi, Marcus by Goldman Sachs, Citizens… Many to choose from. Just make sure you can open it with NO fees, and NO min. Read all the terms as well. Most of these accounts are Online ONLY.  It’s been a long time since your money could make 4%-5% interest in a SAVINGS account. This is NOT a CD account. It’s a high yield saving account and you can get at your money at any time, unlike a retirement account.

Should you have any questions on how these accounts work, there are usually 1-800 numbers to call and talk to someone.

So that’s your WEEK TWO Challenge! Find $50-$100 a month, set to automatically funnel into a High Yield Saving account with a goal to get to $1000 to be the start of your emergency fund! Remember when we set it to happen automatically, and treat it like a bill, you will make it happen!! We pay ourselves first!!! Good Luck! You got this!!!