Tracking Cash Spending

For me, part of spending less money is limiting myself to spending only cash. I know that a lot of people like to stick with the envelope system to make sure that they are spending their cash from the correct category, but that really doesn't work well for me. I hate having a bunch of envelopes to keep track of and I feel like it clutters up my purse.

My solution is to track my cash spending on my iPhone. I use the Spend Lite app which is completely free. The Spend Lite program only lets you track daily or weekly budgets. If you want to track bi-weekly, monthly, semi-monthly or annual budgets you will have to pay $0.99 for the full Spend program.

I love that this app automatically puts my budgeted money into the proper category on the specified day. Plus I can export my spending records via a csv file in an email from my iPhone to anyone I choose. You can also password protect your file with a pin. That way if someone else picks up your iPhone you don't have to worry about them seeing your financial information. And, if needed, you can transfer money from one budget to another.

I also setup a "budget" to track my extra income. For this category my budgeted amount is zero and whenever I make extra money I do a deposit to that category. I love it. You could also use this to track your monthly savings and so forth. I can easily zero out this account each month or keep a running total. It's also super easy to see how much "extra" money I've made.

The one thing that I don't like about this app is that you can't rename a category. For example, I have a category "Food" and it should really be "Household." I would love to have the correct name on this, but I can't figure out a way to change it.

I love the Spend Lite app and the fact that it's free only makes it better. Since it is free, if you're looking for something like this and have an iPhone or iPod Touch, why not download it and try it out?

I will note that I do not use this app for tracking my bank accounts. I track them in a completely different application which is the subject for another post.

For more Frugal Friday Tips, head over to Life As Mom. And if you have any recommendations for iPhone apps that you love, I would love to hear about them. Feel free to leave me a comment with the name of the app or email me.

Returning Bad Food

I don't know what it was this week, but I had the curse of the bad food or something. On Sunday evening I stopped at the produce stand and picked up a watermelon. When I cut it open Monday it was rotten and moldy inside. Then on Wednesday morning I stopped at Starbucks and got a tea and scone for breakfast and my scone was moldy. Naturally I didn't discover this until I was several miles down the road and if I went back to return it I would be late to work.

Unfortunately I didn't have a receipt for either item. At this point a lot of people probably would have just thrown the moldy food away and been done with it. I figured it was worth trying to return them though. So hubby went back to the produce stand and they were good enough to give us a new watermelon. And Thursday morning I took the scone back to Starbucks. They gave me a choice of getting a new scone or my money back. I opted for my money back. I think it's going to be awhile before I get any of their baked goods again.

So my Frugal Friday tip is that even if you don't have a receipt, if they item you were sold isn't any good, you should at least try to return it. Most retailers will work with you if you have a legitimate problem and make a reasonable request. It won't work in every case, but what are you really out by trying?

For more Frugal Friday, head over to Life As Mom.

Avoiding Library Fines

This week I was very upset with myself when I saw that I had an overdue library book. The fine is $1.60 which I can certainly afford, but I hate having to pay fines. My library offers online access to your library card so you can easily see what books you have checked out, when they are due and what your fines are. You can also renew your books online. Since our trips to the library don’t have an assigned day my due dates are all over the place and can be hard to keep up with.

My solution to preventing future library fines is to review my card online every Monday. I setup a reminder in Google Calendar which will email me a reminder. Now, every Monday I will go online and see which books are due that week. I will automatically renew all books due in the coming week. This will prevent fines even if I don’t make it to the library. I will also keep a tote bag by the door where I will deposit all library materials that need to be returned. Now I can just grab that bag when I’m heading to the library instead of running all over the house gathering up books.

Since this is only the second time in my life that I’ve had a library fine I can’t be too upset, but I will still do everything I can to keep it from happening again. Especially now that Pumpkin loves the library and we are spending more time there.

To see more Frugal Friday tips, head over to Life As Mom.

Frugal Tip - Online Bill Paying and Statements

I've mentioned before how much I hate filing. So I've started enrolling in online bill paying and statements. I love this method because I don't have papers to file. I save an electronic version of my statement on my computer.

To keep those files organized I have them in folders by year and then the file names are the name of the company and the date of the bill. For example, my AT&T Bill for April would be saved as "ATT Bill 2009 04.pdf". This makes it easy for me to find the bills if I need them. I also save a pdf file of my confirmation of payment using the same file format, example "ATT Rcpt 2009 04.pdf". It's oh so easy and I don't have to file anything.

Another benefit of this method is that you aren't using a stamp to mail your payment. You may think oh, it's just a stamp, but keep in mind that one year of postage as $0.43 a month adds up to $5.16 a year. So this can add up really fast. Plus, if you pay for your checks you're saving money by not using a check.

For those of you that don't like going to each site and setting up your payments, some banks offer free online bill paying where they will mail the check for you. You still save the postage and a check. It's certainly worth checking in to.

Note: I used $0.43 as the postage rate above because that is what the new postage rate will be on Monday, May 11, 2009. So, if you do need stamps I suggest heading out and picking up a pack of Forever stamps before Monday.

Edit: Postage is actually up to $0.44 today (May 11th) I had the wrong rate. Aargh!

For more Frugal Friday tips, head over to Life As Mom.

Yard Sale Tips

What a week. Thanks goodness Friday is finally here. And, since its Friday that means its Frugal Friday and time for a Frugal Tip. Last weekend we had a great time hitting yard sales and we plan to do the same this weekend. So, in honor of the opening of yard sale season around here, I’m going to give some yard sale tips. Remember, while you can get some great deals out there at yard sales, not everything is a deal. Check out the item and make sure it something you will really use before you spend money on it.

• Plan out your route ahead of time. To do this you need to know where the yard sales are that weekend. Look for signs while you’re out driving around, check the local papers, and check online. The Yard Sale Queen has a great list of online yard sale resources to help you find those yard sale.
• Make sure your car is cleaned out. You’re going to need room to haul your new found treasures home. Think of how upset you’ll be when you find a great deal on something you could really use and it won’t fit in your car. If it’s a large item like a piece of furniture, the yard sale host may be willing to help you get it home. It doesn’t hurt to ask, but its best if you have a plan in place already.
• Have small bills and change. Don’t count on the yard sale host having change. Sometimes they don’t plan ahead and have change or maybe the person before you bought something small with a large bill. It’s just much better all around if you have small bills ready.
• Have bags with you. I typically have my collection of reusable shopping bags in the car. This way I don’t have to count on the host having bags. Plus, even if they do, do you want more plastic bags cluttering up your house?
• Use a fanny pack or wallet that will fit in your pocket. It’s much easier to check things out at the yard sale if you’re not dragging a purse along. Stick with the fanny pack or small wallet and your hands are free to hold your purchases and check out the items.
• Have snacks and a drink with you. This will help keep you from spending too much money at a convenience store or fast food joint while you’re out yard sale-ing.
• Encourage kids when you see them participating in a yard sale. Kids are usually so excited when they sell their stuff and make a little money. For me, its worth spending a little bit of money, even if its on something I didn’t necessarily need, just to see the excitement on their faces when they sell something. Little things like that are priceless.
• Don’t be afraid to haggle over the price. They may come down a little bit and they may not. The worst they can say is no. Then you can decide if you really are willing to pay that much for the item or not.

Do you have more yard sale tips you’d like to share? Feel free to leave them in the comments. I’m always looking for more tips and tricks for yard sales.

For more Frugal Friday tips, head over to Life As Mom.

Frugal Friday - Grocery Shopping

I am one of those strange people who actually enjoys grocery shopping. I love planning out my shopping trip, checking the deals and pulling my coupons. It's a blast to see how little I can spend on the food we need and want. For me, it's all part of the grocery game.

For a quite a while I was running around to several of the grocery stores in my area every week picking up all the good deals at each store. That got to be a little too time consuming for me. So now, I check out the sale papers for all of my local grocery stores and decide who has the best deals that week. Then that is the one store I shop at. It's still possible I will hit another grocery store if I'm nearby and they have a really great deal on something we need, but it doesn't happen often. Right now this method is working very well for us.

Here are some tips I use to help limit my grocery spending. You can use these tips whether you shop at one grocery store or several of them. These tips work for me no matter which store I shop at.

• Plan your meals out before you go shopping. The meals should be based on what is on sale and what you already have on hand.
• Make a list and stick to it.
• Pull the coupons you know you will need before you go. This allows you to have the coupons you are most likely to use readily available so that you can make sure you are buying the correct item. I like to clip my coupons to my list.
• Take all your coupons with you to the store. Sometimes when you're at the store you will come across an unadvertised special of a product you use. If you also have a coupon, you can maximize your savings by combining the sale and coupon.
• Keep all the coupons you know you are using together in your cart. Once I check my coupon to make sure I have the correct item and put the item in my cart I then put the coupon in a "coupons being used pile." This saves you from having to pull your coupons right before you check out and possibly missing one.
• Check the meat and dairy sections for "manager specials." Most grocery stores mark down items that are close to their sell by date. If you find these items and they are something you will use or freeze before that date, buy it if the discount is a good one. I have seen items on manager special that I can still get cheaper at other stores, so watch the prices.
• Know the prices of items you buy regularly. This helps you know when to stock up on items you regularly use. I keep most of these prices in my head, but other people create price books. Use whichever method works for you. You do not need to track prices of every item you buy, just stick to those items that you buy and use frequently.
• Know your stores coupon and pricing policies. Know if your store doubles coupons, accepts Internet coupons, allows you to combine store and manufacturers coupons, and so on. Many stores have these policies posted. If they don't, stop at customer service and ask BEFORE you shop. Knowing the policies can help avoid problems when you're checking out. Also find out what your stores does if an item rings up at the wrong price. Some stores will give you one of the item free and some will just give you the item for the posted price.
• Keep an eye out for coupons around the store. You can find coupons in the blinkie machines and on tear pads around the stores. If these items are also on sale, you just may be able to get a good deal. Even if you aren't going to get the item today, you can grab a few of the coupon if it is for an item you use. If the coupon is a manufacturers coupon you can even use it at another store if they have the item for a better price.
• Get rain checks when sale items aren't in stock. Also find out what the store's rain check policy is. At some grocery stores the rain checks don't ever expire. At others you only have a few weeks to redeem them. If you aren't sure, ask when you're getting the rain check.
• Be friendly to the cashier. You can accomplish a lot more by being friendly if a problem comes up. Most cashiers are good people who want to do a good job, but if you make them mad, they will be much less likely to try and help you.

As you can see, there are lots of ways to cut your grocery bill. This list just covers some of the ways, you can probably come up with even more. Just keep your eyes open and watch for the deals. And the biggest tip I can give you for avoiding problems is to be aware of your store's policies and sticking to them.

If you have any of your own tips that you would like to share, feel free to post them in the comments section.

For more Frugal Friday tips, visit Biblical Womanhood.