Fun with a Slide Show!

Here, we have a slide show that claims to show painless substitution to save you money.

1) Tights - buy non-designer instead of designer tights. Yeah. Seems a bit obvious to me, but then again, not sure I wore a single name-brand piece of apparel when I was growing up. Perhaps this particular tactic is a part of my childhood skill set.

2) Grocery store - buy store brand instead of brand name. Often, yes. For me, this is where couponing, should you do it, coupled with things like grocery store club cards, and comparing price per unit/ounce/sheet comes into play. A coupon does not always make a name brand product cheaper, but conversely, a store brand product isn't always the most frugal option either. Making the switch from name- to store- brand products that you purchase frequently will certainly help to bring down your overall bill. So will smart shopping. I guess my approach isn't so much painless as it is time consuming. :)

3) Movie Rental - opt for Netflix, not the brick and mortar store (if you can still find one). 5 bucks month for two movies (what they suggest) won't satiate the movie viewing appetite at my house. Honestly, we've recently discovered the joys of Redbox. The selection isn't always great, and outdoor locations do make on the spot browsing a bit chilly right now, but at a buck (plus tax) a day, it is far friendly on our wallets. We've also found out that you can search individual machines online and reserve specific movies. It does require a credit or debit card.

4) Coffee - froth the milk for your latte at home. Seems that they are suggesting a pseudo-latte, depending on your definition of latte, by brewing your own coffee, then adding the frothed milk. Substituting at-home coffee for cafe-coffee is always going to be a money saver. If you choose to go the route of buying a frother for the home, just make sure you research the appliances, and buy one that suites your needs, without breaking the bank.

5) Mail - pay bills online (automatically) instead of ponying up for stamps to mail them. Paying bills online is certainly a great way to eliminate paying for stamps and envelopes, and helps to cut the amount of paper you use. Scheduling online payments also helps you control when the money will actually be taken out of your account. All good - my sticking point is a personal one: setting up automatic drafts. A great idea in theory, especially if you are salaried, and always paid on the same day/date. If your pay amount or schedule is subject to change, automatic drafts feel risky to me. It can also be a pain to try to cancel automatic drafts once a service is terminated.

Having worked at a gym that sold auto-draft memberships, I fielded my share of phone calls from ex-members who were still being drafted. Sometimes it was their fault, sometimes ours, sometimes the bank. Also, we currently have our car insurance automatically drafted from an account. When we moved, we sold one car, and took it off our policy. Or so we thought; a random audit by the insurer placed the car back onto our payment plan, and for a few months, we were charged for a car that was 600+ miles away, titled under someone else.

*And*

6) Drinks - drink at home with your friends before going out. Or don't drink? Haha! Alcohol is expensive. Alcohol at a restaurant is mind-boggling. At a time when ordering a soda or iced tea (or sweet tea!) at a restaurant can easily add 2 or 3 dollars to your bill (per person), ordering one alcoholic beverage can be like adding a whole other entree! If drinks and friends are the motivation for going out, starting the outing at someone's house could be a more frugal alternative. Of course, this is provided that you do so responsibly, knowing your limits, and always having a designated driver, or alternate method of getting home. A cab ride is always going to be cheaper than driving drunk.

So, what do you think? Are these suggestions truly a painless way to make a few substitutions and save a bit of money? Are my critiques too heavy handed?

Article on saving money that might actually help me/people save money

One of my whole reasons for starting this blog was a feeling of dissatisfaction with the "Save money! Now!" articles that kept popping up on my computer screen. They seemed to be geared towards people with money to spare who were temporarily squeezed or simply looking to be smarter with their money.

I came across this article today, though, on Yahoo. While it falls into some of the same traps, concerning ATM fees, collecting your spare change daily, and coffee-house coffee, and assuming a decent credit history/bank account, there is some information that is helpful.

"Know how you use plastic" - a sound piece of advice, because it is easy to deny your own habits. This is something about which I have had to be honest with myself. For me, if my card is getting too much of a work out, a mental reminder isn't enough. Physically removing it from my wallet/purse, and putting it someplace where it is inconvenient to access helps. Someplace like a box, tucked away in the closet, or the freezer, in a bag filled with water. Having to de-clutter a closet or defrost a card will make you think twice about using that card.

"Are you really going to pay yourself first." - I like direct deposit, and my automatically deducted retirement plan payments. Splitting your direct deposit amongst savings versus spending accounts is a great way to ensure money is getting saved. But, this pre-supposes that you have a job who will do direct deposit (which does seem to be more frequent now), and that you have a bank account. I used to think that everyone did, but have learned that grown-up does not equal bank account, for various reasons. If you live a cash-only life, I'm not sure what to tell you, other than the envelope method sounds like a good place to start.

"Have paychecks deposit paychecks into savings account" - again, presupposes a bank account... see above?

"Allow yourself only one ATM withdrawal per week" - How about avoid ATM withdrawals at all costs? I'm thinking of the fees involved. The article seems to be thinking that if you automatically get cash back off of every debit card transaction, you are not fully aware of how much cash you are spending, which is true. Taking a moment to think about your expected cash needs for a given time period, and then using only that money is a safe way to go about using cash.

"Record credit card purchases as you make them in your check register" - I like the idea behind this: keeping track of CC spending, as if it were debit card spending. Not only does it help you keep track of your spending, but it also ensures that you will have the money to pay the bill, and pay it off. So, no late or missed payments, plus, you'll be able to pay off the balance monthly (assuming you start doing this at a 0 balance, yada, yada...) It is the application where I am weary. My uneasiness stems from the fact that I live almost a cashless existence. If I have cash, I will spend it like water. So, that means I use my card a lot. So, I should be recording everything, but the simple truth is I don't. Do I need to do some serious behavior modification, probably.

"Save your spare change" - I guess these guys are trying to cover all bases by talking about ways to save with CCs and with cash. I can attest to the value of saving spare change, having helped collect over $100 in coins, mainly pennies, from my mother-in-law's house when they moved. Should you start using cash more in order to have change to save? Should you stop spending change in order to collect it up as a holiday stash? I'm inclined to say no. If you use cash, and have change, save it. If you are currently using change to buy bread and milk, keep on. So, this is a good idea, but I'm not sure that I would drastically alter my behavior in order to do so.

"Bag the savings from taking your lunch" - An interesting idea. Seems to be a lot of work if you aren't using cash to buy your lunch in the first place (at least a lot of work for your mouse, if you online bank, or for your teller, if you go in daily to transfer $5 from checking to savings). I suppose you could always just say at the end of the week "I took my lunch X number of days, so I saved Y," and transfer that. But then, I wouldn't have written out my entire thought process. And what fun would that be. So, yes, this is a good idea, but what about people who are taking their lunch because that $5 lunch excursion would have equaled no rent money? C'mon, guys, these are the kinds of things I contemplate.

"Pay yourself once you've paid off a debt" - I like this. If you don't have other debt you'd rather put the money towards, this is great. I don't think I can be reminded about this enough. I admit it, I am tempted to keep up with various different Joneses sometimes. A reminder to keep paying myself and my future is always good.

"Give yourself time to think about purchases." - my husband does this, the "it'll be here tomorrow; if not, I wasn't meant to have it." Frustrates me sometimes. But, I realize the wisdom in it. We don't usually go back for the item, or if we do, it is gone. Honestly, can't remember what it is we haven't bought.

Alright, there you have a little insight into my brain. What do you think? Did you like the article? Am I being too nit-picky, or not nit-picky enough?