Search Results for “medical-costs-and-choices/budget4/brown-bagging-your-way-to-savings” — Page 69

4 Ways to Flog the Inner Impulse Shopper

Welcome to the time machine! This was originally posted on December 16, 2009.

Impulse shopping kills. Not literally, of course, but it stings. You need to stop. I need to stop. We all need to stop.

Here’s how:

1. Use a list. Everybody tells you to shop with a list. Nobody has problems shopping with a list. How, exactly, does a list prevent you from buying something on a whim? A list keeps you from forgetting things, it doesn’t stop your from putting Terminator:Salvation in your cart. Skip this one. It doesn’t count. No beatings for the inner impulse shopper means no honorable mention here.

Take 2:

3 Ways to Flog the Inner Impulse Shopper

1. Don’t Shop. I’ve found that it is almost impossible to leave Target for under $100. It’s too easy to grab a discount DVD or a small surprise for the kids. My solution is to use Alice.com. That’s right, I get my toilet paper by mail-order. With Alice, there are few opportunities for impulse purchases. I add the items I need, scan the deals for items I will need in the next few weeks, and have my wife review the cart for things I’ve either missed or don’t need. A few days later, there’s a big blue box full of deodorant, toilet paper and soap sitting on my front step. The manufacturer coupons are automatically applied and shipping is always free. I’ve easily saved $1000 in retail impulse purchases using Alice over the past few months. Alice is my favorite shopping-dom. Full disclosure: The Alice links are all referral links. If you click one and join, I will get 3% commission on your purchase for a year, and you will get a $10 credit after you spend $50 .

2. Set a goal and reward the goal – AFTER the goal is met. My wife and I have a goal to be out of debt in four years. We will enter 2014 free from debt. No car payment, credit cart, or mortgage. I have promised my wife that, in exchange for almost 5 years(we aren’t starting the process today) of frugal living, when we are done and have saved a bit at the other end of debt, I will take her on a cruise anywhere in the world. A real, debt-free vacation. AFTER we pay off all of our debt. AFTER we save enough to make the trip without sliding back into debt. This is the carrot instead of the stick. If the carrot doesn’t work, you can always try the stick. Not on your spouse, of course, but on the inner impulse shopper. Beat that little jerk ’til he cries.

3. Make yourself accountable. If you’re married, make yourself accountable to your spouse. If you’re single, go public with your frugality. “I’m a cheap bastard and I’m swearing off xxx until I’m out of debt.” Let your family and friends know what you are doing so they can be your support system. I regularly call my wife from a store, just so she can say “no” to me. When we are ready to check out at a store, we find some out of the way location and go through everything in the cart to see if we really need it or if it was simply an impulse grab.

How do you flog the masochistic little demon in your wallet?

Clearing Up Social Debt in 3 Steps

Finance

Debt can be thought of as a disease–probably social. Most of the time, it was acquired through poor decision making, possibly while competing with your friends, occasionally after having a few too many, often as an ego boost. Unfortunately, you can’t make it go away with a simple shot of penicillin. It takes work, commitment and dedication. Here are three steps to treating this particular affliction.

1. Burn it, bash it, torch it, toss it, disinfect. Get rid of the things that enable you to accumulate debt. If you keep using debt as debt, you will never have it all paid off. That’s like only taking 3 days of a 10 day antibiotic. Do you really want that itchy rash bloodsucking debt rearing its ugly head when you’ve got an important destination for your money? Take steps to protect yourself. Wrap that debt up and keep it away.

2. Quit buying stuff. Chances are, you have enough stuff. Do you really need that Tusken Raider bobble-head or the brushed titanium spork? They may make you feel better in the short term, but after breakfast, what have you gained? A fleeting memory, a bit of cleanup, and an odd ache that you can’t quite explain to your friends. Only buy the stuff you need, and make it things you will keep forever. If you do need to indulge, hold off for 30 days to see if it’s really worthwhile. If it’s really worth having, you can scratch that itch in a month with far fewer regrets.

3. Spend less. This is the obvious one. The simple one. The one that makes breaking a heroin addiction look like a cake-walk(My apologies to recovering heroin addicts. If you’re to the point that personal finance is important to you, you’ve come a long way. Congratulations!). Cut your bills, increase your income. Do whatever it takes to lower your bottom line and raise your top line. Call your utilities. If they are going to take your money, make them work for it. If they can’t buy you drinks or lower your payments, get them out of your life. There’s almost always an alternative. Don’t be afraid to banish your toxic payments. Eliminate your debt payments. This page has a useful guide to debt and how to clear it off.

Update: This post has been included in the Festival of Frugality.

Money Hacks Carnival #105: The All Government, All the Time Edition

Misc

Welcome to the 105th edition of the Money Hacks Carnival: The All Government, All the Time Edition. Deep in the bowels of tax season, it’s not surprising that tax- and government-related articles are popular.

Editor’s Picks

LeanLifeCoach presents What Is Your Learning Style? This is an important lesson for anyone trying to teach. My main side hustle involves teaching. We try to address each learning style to engage all of our students. I’m a visual learner. In school, I always read ahead and I’ve never been able to focus while someone reads to me.

Consumer Boomer presents The Best IRA for You. Holy Educational Post, Batman! Be careful, you’ll learn something if you read this post.

PT presents How to Find Free Stuff Online Without Getting Spammed. I like free things. I hate spam. I’m a part of the target audience of this post. I use an active Gmail account for getting freebies. The spam filter can’t be beat.

Fanny Seto presents 5 Tips on How to Get a Job in this Economy. I’m glad I haven’t had to deal with this recently. If you’re unemployed, take the opportunity to develop a hobby or explore other opportunities. You may be out of work, but that means you have the one thing you can’t replace: time. Use it wisely.

Taxes or Feeding the Monster

Jeff Rose presents How to File Taxes with Your 1099s. All you’ve ever wanted to know (and more!) about the 1099.

Paul Williams presents Deduct Haiti Earthquake Relief Donations on Your 2009 Tax Return. If you itemize, make sure you include any donations to Haiti relief.

freefrombroke presents TurboTax Online 2009 Overview. I love TurboTax. I use it every year and have done so since I discovered I wasn’t capable of figuring out the Earned Income Credit.

Four Pillars presents What Happens If You Lose Your W2 Form?. Keeping track of your tax documents is always important, but what do you do if that doesn’t work?

Matthew Paulson presents Troublesome Tax Myths. Taxes aren’t optional. Ask Wesley Snipes.

Working for a Living or Earning the Monster’s Feed

Darwin presents 10 Highest Paying Degrees 2010 – Best Majors in Demand Now. The part that doesn’t surprise me is that the hard sciences pay well. Art-as-science comes with a smaller paycheck. Hmm….

J. Money presents Life in Grad School Doesn’t Have to Suck…All Your Money. I’ve didn’t make it to grad school, but I did work my way through college with a small baby. It’s good to have a support network.

The Financial Blogger presents Getting Ready for Another Purchase!. I’ve never given any thought to buying a blog. It’s a fascinating read. Make sure you read the related posts to get the full value.

Banking, Credit, and Investing or He Who Pays the Piper Calls the Tune

GLBL presents What to Expect From Mortgage Rate Trends for 2010. I learn something every day. Define “intraday”.

pkamp3 presents Cutting Up the Card. It may be caused by a down economy, but less consumer debt isn’t a bad thing.

D4L presents 20 Dividend Stocks Riding The Tsunami Of Dividend Increases. My first dividend-paying stock paid me 16 cents once. Stocks kind of scare me. In my mind, they’re not much different than a slot machine, so I don’t buy much. I think I had 20 shares of that first stock.

Personal Finance or The Government Doesn’t Have to Be Involved

Matt_SF presents Personal Finance Equations You Should Know: the Cash Flow Equation. If equations make you smile, this is the post for you.

Craig Ford presents 101 Ways To Improve Your Marriage Money Relationship. This goes beyond finance and dips firmly into happy relationship territory.

Hedy presents My Better Business Bureau experience. I’ve found that the sincere threat of a Better Business Bureau complaint can be effective, too.

2 Cents presents Economics: Your Personal Finance Weather Forecast. As a sci-fi junkie, I love the quote at the beginning of the article.

Dodging Taxes and Anarchism

Nope. No submissions in this category.

That’s all. While you’re here, don’t forget to subscribe to my rss feed and follow me on twitter.

Link Roundup

Misc

Doctor appointments, speeding tickets and too much work. That’s what this week has been made of.

Finance links:

Why do the non-politician folks who want taxes raised think a fund for voluntarily paying extra is stupid? If they were sincere, they’d be contributing to that from the start. As it is, it’s just a demonstration of either hypocrisy or a looting spirit.

Paying off your Visa by charging it on…your other Visa doesn’t accomplish anything for you or for Visa. Even if you are GM and Visa is the federal government.

My wife and I are thinking of starting a potluck/boardgame night. Boardgames are a cheap way to spend a fun evening.

Misc links:

The iFixit Blog. Dedicated to teaching you how to fix your own gadgets.

I am not only a geek, I am a Halloween geek. The Stationery of Horror is full of want.

The Pareto Principle works. Even at work. I get 80% of my value from the time I spend writing blog posts. Err. Nevermind.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-17

Misc

@Elle_CM Natalie's raid looked like it was filmed with a strobe light. Lame CGI in reply to Elle_CM #
I want to get a toto portable bidet and a roomba. Combine them and I'll have outsourced some of the least tasteful parts of my day. #
RT @freefrombroke: RT @moneybeagle: New Blog Post: Money Hacks Carnival #115 http://goo.gl/fb/AqhWf #
TED.com: The neurons that shaped civilization. http://su.pr/2Qv4Ay #
Last night, fell in the driveway: twisted ankle and skinned knee. Today, fell down the stairs: bruise makes sitting hurt. Bad morning. #
RT @FrugalDad: And to moms, please be more selective about the creeps you let around your child. Takes a special guy to be a dad to another' #
First Rule of Blogging: Don't let real life get in the way. Epic fail 2 Fridays in a row. But the garage sale is going well. #

Search Results for: medical-costs-and-choices/budget4/brown-bagging-your-way-to-savings

Take 2:

3 Ways to Flog the Inner Impulse Shopper

Editor’s Picks

Taxes or Feeding the Monster

Working for a Living or Earning the Monster’s Feed

Banking, Credit, and Investing or He Who Pays the Piper Calls the Tune

Personal Finance or The Government Doesn’t Have to Be Involved

Dodging Taxes and Anarchism