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Where the hell have I been?

For the last year or so, I haven’t been writing much, which feels weird. I used to write three timer per week. I’d write about saving money, investing, frugality, sometimes, relationships and parenting.

But that stopped. Why?

When I started this site, I was about $110,000 in debt, and just starting my journey out of it. A few months before, I was looking into bankruptcy, because I didn’t know how to get out of debt.

For years, the ways I saved money, cut corners, and earned extra money was fodder for this site. Everything I did was about saving money, earning money, and paying off debt.

Now? I’m about 2 months away from being completely debt-free. I paid my mortgage off last month, and have about $10,000 in credit card debt at the moment. I know, I paid that off backwards, but there are reasons. Reasons I’ll share another time.

4 years ago, I was essentially working 4 jobs. My day job, my gun training business, my internet marketing business, and my websites(including this one). I was working all of the time. It was necessary, but it’s a path to burnout. Then, I changed jobs a couple of times, nearly doubling my day job’s pay. My business partner got promoted out of a position that generated leads for one of our businesses, then had an accident that the other shared business on hold for a while.

Suddenly, I had free time and enough money coming in that I didn’t need to work all of the time. It was a crazy place to be after spending more than a decade pretending to be a workaholic just to keep my head above water. (Here’s a secret: I’m incredibly lazy. I’m just the busiest lazy man I know.) So I started pursuing hobbies.

Linda and I have been taking ballroom dancing lessons and are nearly to the point that competing is a real possibility.

I cleaned out my garage and assembled a decent wood shop, which is something I’ve wanted to do roughly forever.

I’ve been taking blacksmithing lessons with my teenage son.

I’ve been playing games with my kids, dating my wife, and simply enjoying my life.

This site?

Through all of that, I haven’t known what to write about.

“Dear audience, this month, I paid my bills, didn’t go on vacation, and bought a drill press.”

“Dear audience, my debt went down another $500 this month.”

“Dear audience, I didn’t buy a car I can’t afford this month. Again.”

Those aren’t good articles. Financially–while paying off debt is disturbingly exciting–my life is very repetitive. That’s the hardest part about paying off a lot of debt. It’s good, it’s necessary, it’s boring. My wins have been spaced out by several years lately, and I haven’t been creatively frugal. Screw frugal. If you can afford some conveniences and luxuries, frugal sucks.

Anything new happening in my world that would apply to this site would make it read like an accountant’s ledger book. $100,000 minus $1500 plus $10,000 minus $300, ad nauseum.

Instead of inflicting boring accountancy on you, I’ve been absent.

What next? Who knows. I enjoy writing. I enjoy writing here. I’ve started writing a novel.

What would you like to see here?

10 Top Tips for Reducing Household Expenses

Finance

Regardless of the economic climate, it is always a savvy move to assess your expenditure and look for ways to cut your energy costs. Small changes can make a big difference to your energy efficiency and reduce your outgoings significantly.

1. Know Your Accurate Energy Usage

Do not pay for estimated resources. Using a smart meter will tell your exact energy consumption and means you simply pay for your actual confirmed gas usage. So many customers are unknowingly trapped into paying for estimated energy, which can be very costly.

2. Secure an Suitable Tariff

Once you have established your actual gas and electric consumption using a smart meter, speak your energy supplier regarding the various available tariffs.

There are over 120 tariffs available for energy in the UK and there is definitely one to suit all households. Being more assertive in this area can save you money instantly.

3. Let There Be (Energy Efficient) Light

Lighting accounts for up to 40 per cent of our individual electricity bills.

Change light bulbs to energy saving bulbs for a progressive way of reducing your energy expenses. As energy efficient bulbs last ten times longer than normal high-watt bulbs, any cost in making this switch will be quickly recuperated.

Although many days in the UK are dismal, cleaning windows and opening blinds means that rooms can generally be lit with natural light.

4. Don’t Tumble Dry

Tumble drying your clothes is one of the most financially and environmentally expensive appliance usages. Though energy efficient products are now available, try to make use of any other means you have for drying clothes.

During the winter months, fill indoor clothing racks and radiators within items to be dried. Summer washing is generally less of a problem, with warmer temperatures meaning you can hang loads of washing outside to dry naturally.

5. Switch Off Electrical Equipment

Turning your electronic equipment off at night can cause impressive yearly reductions in your expenditure. Encourage the family to turn all laptops, consoles and computers off during the night, and unplug phone chargers when not in use.

Simply switching off a computer overnight saves £35 on the cost of running the equipment 24 hours over the course of a year. Once you have factored in the number of computers and other electronic equipment in your home, this could amount to quite a saving.

6. Moderate Your Heating

Turn your heating down by just one degree. Such an unnoticeable alteration to your thermostat holds the potential to cut your energy bills by a whopping £55 per year.

Enhance your savings by becoming more energy efficient. Rather than switching on heating and cooling systems, use doors and windows to regulate temperature.

7. Invest In Energy Saving Appliances

Most appliances on the market now offer detailed insight into their environmental impact. Buying eco-friendly products not only benefits the climate, it also benefits your pocket. The lower the amount of energy the appliances consume always equals lower energy bills for your household.

8. Reduce Water Waste

A dripping tap can cost up to £400 per year. Paying out for plumbing services now will definitely save on your water bill.

Rather than bathing daily, swap alternate baths for showers. Showers typically use 35 litres of water, whereas baths take more than double this amount at 80 litre of water per tub. Though this varies depending on the type of your shower, according to South Staffs Water, power showers still save approximately 20 litres on the average bath.

9. Replace Your Old Boiler

If your home currently uses an old G-rated boiler, of 15 years of age or more, then you may find that investing in a new A-rated boiler will save you money long term.

Gas burning boilers eat energy and money and are a costly way of fuelling your home. The government currently offers £400 to those who are looking to purchase a new energy efficient boiler, with companies such as British Gas doubling this grant.

10. Insulate Your Home

Alongside grants for new A-rated boilers, companies are being encouraged by the government to offer discounted (and free) loft and wall cavity insulation. Take the time to see if you are eligible for this as it can make your home significantly warmer, reducing your reliance on central heating.

Be assertive to how you are using resources within your home, small changes can make a big ecological and economic difference.

This is a guest post.

Selling Your Car

Finance

: English: Jalopy car in Joshua Tree National Park in Hidden Valley Campground (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When it’s time to replace your car, most people focus on the new car, instead of the old, but that is ignoring real money. Your old car–unless it has disintegrated–still has value. Sometimes, it’s just time to ask yourself, “When should I sell my car?”

When you’re looking to sell your car (like with We Will Buy Your Car), you generally have several options:

Tow & crush. If your car has been wrecked, doesn’t run, or is just old and beat up, you may be stuck with calling a junkyard and accepting $50 for them to pick up your car and crush it for scrap.
Trade it in. This is probably the least hassle, but–other than #1–doesn’t pay well. Dealerships are willing to pay something under what they will get at a wholesale auction, which is quite a bit less than the blue book value.
Sell it yourself. Now you’re thinking, “He’s going to buy my car! Oh, bother.” It can be a pain, but it’s also the best way to get a decent price for your wheels.

When you sell your car, there are a few things to keep in mind, much like when you sell something on Craigslist.

Don’t be alone. There are bad people in the world, but they don’t like witnesses. Bad things are much less likely to happen if you have company.
Know your price. Specifically, know three price: your dream price, the price that would make you happy, and the absolute lowest price you are willing to accept. Make sure you figure these numbers out ahead of time. Know what you are comfortable with before it comes time to close the deal.
Check IDs. The buyer is going to want to test-drive your car. That’s fine, but you want to make sure you know who is driving off in your car. “Officer, Sumdood took my car. He was wearing jeans.” That won’t get your car back.
Clean it up. Get the car detailed before you show it to a potential buyer. A sparkling-clean car will almost always bring in a few hundred extra dollars. It’s well worth the expense.

Following this plan should make the sale go as smoothly as possible and bring you the most possible money.

Readers, what have you done to dispose of an old car?

This is a sponsored post written to provide some insight into the world of used car retail.

Pizza Delivery Bike — Image by Kevin H. via Flickr

Today, I am continuing the series, Money Problems: 30 Days to Perfect Finances. The series will consist of 30 things you can do in one setting to perfect your finances. It’s not a system to magically make your debt disappear. Instead, it is a path to understanding where you are, where you want to be, and–most importantly–how to bridge the gap.

I’m not running the series in 30 consecutive days. That’s not my schedule. Also, I think that talking about the same thing for 30 days straight will bore both of us. Instead, it will run roughly once a week. To make sure you don’t miss a post, please take a moment to subscribe, either by email or rss.

Today we’re going to look at ways to boost your income.

People spend a lot of time talking about ways to reduce your expenses, but there is a better way to make ends meet. If you make more money, you will—naturally—have more money to work with, which will make it easier to balance your expenses. I’ve found it to be far less painful to make more money than to cut expenses I enjoy.

I can hear what you’re thinking. It’s easy to tell people to make more money, but what about telling them how? Guess what? I’m going to tell you how to make money because I rock.

By far, the simplest way to make more money is to convince whoever is paying you to pay you more for what you are already doing. In other words, get a raise. I know that’s easy to say. Money’s tight for a lot of companies and layoffs are common. None of that matters. Your company knows that hiring someone new will involve a lot of downtime during training. If you’ve been visibly doing your job, and the company isn’t on the brink of failure, it should be possible to get a bit of the budget tossed your way.

The first thing you need to do is get visible. If you habitually come in 15 minutes late, make it 15 minutes early. If you are working an alternative schedule, consider switching to the standard schedule, so everyone who matters can see you are at work. Start sending status updates to your boss, including copying him on emails to other people you work with, if those emails signify important milestones in a project.
Next, log your work. Keep track o what you do, what you’ve accomplished, and—most important—how much money you have made or saved for the company.
Third, do your research. Hit the salary survey sites to find out what other people in your field are making. Don’t worry if you are on the high side. There is always someone making more than you. If you are the exception to that rule, try using a similar variation of your job description and title. What’s the concrete difference between a software engineer I and and a software engineer II? About $15000.
Finally, schedule a meeting with your boss and ask. Lay out the things you’ve done, the amount you make for the company and what other companies are paying. Chances are, your boss will have a hard time refusing your request.

Another simple idea is to get a second job. Personally, I hate this idea, but it works wonders for some people. Gas stations and pizza stores offer flexible schedules and they are always hiring. If they aren’t willing to work with your schedule, or it doesn’t work out, you can always quit. This isn’t your main income, after all.

My favorite option is to create a new income stream. What can you do?

Take a piece of paper and a close friend and brainstorm how you can make some money. Write down every type of activity you have ever done or ever wanted to do. Then write down everything you can think of that other people who do those activities need or want. Remember, during a brainstorming session, there are no stupid ideas. Take those two lists and see if there is any product or service you can provide.

You can start a blog—although don’t expect to generate much money early—or try writing for some revenue-sharing article web sites, like hubpages or squidoo. Other options include affiliate marketing, garage sale arbitrage(buying “junk” at garage sales, fixing it up and selling it), or even doing yard work for other people.

One interesting business I’ve seen lately is a traveling poop-scooper. These people travel around and scoop poop out of ddog-owners’ yards. Business booms in the spring when the snow melts, but it can be an ongoing income, since dogs don’t stop pooping.

Raising your income can make it easier to pay your bills, pay off your debt, or even taking nice vacations. How have you made some extra cash?

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