Money Matters MilitaryShoppers Page 12

Stop Committing Professional Networking Suicide

07/18/2014 By Michelle Volkmann

Dating is WAY easier than networking. Once you get married, you are no longer on the hunt for your spouse. You can relax. You are done. When it comes to professional networking, you are never done. Keeping your network alive and vibrant takes persistence and constant involvement, like a healthy marriage. It’s a tango of two people that’s a win-win for both parties.

In today’s professional world, people are either good at networking or terrible at networking. Military spouses who can negotiate the social tightrope of professional networking find themselves jumping from job to job like a trapeze artist. Others try and find that their network is nonexistent. Or worst yet, nonresponsive.

Networking is essential for military spouses in the job hunt. Essential. A nonexistent or nonresponsive network will kill your career faster than you can say “We’re moving in 6 months.”

Are you committing professional networking suicide?

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5 Tips to Reduce Relocation Expenses

07/10/2014 By Michelle Volkmann

How do you save money during a PCS? Share your tips in our comments sections.

I always underestimate the cost of a PCS. I tell myself that the Navy moves us so relocating from one military installation to another isn’t expensive. I don’t pay for anything. Right? This is my mental talk 30 days prior to a PCS. Then the whirlwind of the PCS happens and I am reaching for my credit card more than I have in the last 2 years. 60 days later when I am reviewing our credit card bill at our new duty station, I am shocked by the balance. How did we spend ALL this money?

The average service member shells out $1,725 for non-reimbursable moving expenses. That’s nearly $2,000. Let’s say that we move every 2 years during my husband’s 20-year career. That’s a total of $17,250 of MY money to move for the Navy. No thank you.

This year, we will be moving again and I’m committed to reducing our relocation expenses. But how do I cut costs when we are homeless and living out of our car?

Here are 5 tips for reducing relocation expenses when transferring to a new duty station.

Save for a Sensible Spending Plan.
Call it a budget. Call it a spending plan. It doesn’t matter. But make a plan for how much it will cost to set up your new home. Calculate an estimate for security deposits for housing and utilities. Cut back on eating out in the last 3 months of your current duty station and put that money in to a savings account. You’ll need it when you establish your new home. Do not depend on your Dislocation Allowance to cover all of your expenses. It never does.
Negotiate and Ask to Speak with a Manager.
Practice saying this phrase “Is that the best price you can give me?” When you set up your Internet and cable, ask for the “best price.” Let them know that you compared prices between different providers and ask if the company offers a military discount. You will never get a discount if you don’t ask for it. If you have a credit score of higher than 600, ask if your landlord will consider reducing the security deposit. Mention that you’re a classy military person who pays your monthly rent on time every month.
Embrace House Camping.
Hotels are expensive. Even staying at the lodge on base can get expensive after more than 5 days. If you don’t have your household goods, but you have a home, consider house camping. Eat on the floor, sleep on an air mattress, let your kids bounce a ball against the wall and eat food that you prepare out of your microwave. Is it ideal? No. Will it save you money? Absolutely.
Buy Used –Not New– Whenever Possible.
When we moved to Maryland, for the first time we had a yard. This was great news until I realized a yard means grass which means we needed to mow the yard. We didn’t own a lawnmower. Foolishly we bought a brand-new lawnmower. Now we live in California. We don’t need the lawnmower and it sits, collecting dust in our already-stuffed garage. What’s the lesson? Be patient and buy seasonal items used online. I recommend SargesList and those Facebook Yard Sale groups. For every military installation, there is a military spouse monitoring a Facebook group.
Take Another Service Member’s Trash.
Through Facebook you can connect with military spouses at your new duty station. Guess what? If you are moving there, I bet someone else is leaving that duty station. Most likely they have cleaning supplies, spices and random other things that they can’t or don’t want to take with them. Offer to take it. Free stuff doesn’t cost you anything.

Plan ahead to save money during a PCS.

What are your tips for saving money during a PCS?

Why You Need Renters Insurance

06/09/2014 By Julie Provost

Why Military Families Need Renters Insurance

Review your renters insurance policy every time you move.

As a military family member you might be asking yourself these 3 questions when it comes to renters insurance.

Do I need renters insurance if I live in military housing?
What are the benefits of the coverage?
How often should I increase my coverage?

Let’s start with the first question: do you need renters insurance?

The answer is YES!

Renters insurance will cover your personal belongings, in the case of a fire, theft or other type of event that causes them to get destroyed. Some policies will even cover things such as food that spoiled during a power outage. It also can cover events where someone has an accident in your home and wants to sue you. It doesn’t cost very much every month and can be very valuable if something does happen. Check with your car insurance company, you might be able to get a discount to add renters insurance to your account.

Benefits of Renters Insurance

If you live off post and rent a home, you need renters insurance. Whether you are in an apartment, condo or single family home, it doesn’t matter. You just never know what might happen and you want to be prepared. If you lost everything (television, furniture, electronics, clothes) in a fire it would be a significant financial burden to replace everything without this type of insurance. You would have to start over. With renters insurance you would at least have the money to do so.

We never experienced a fire or major theft when we were renting, but I always liked knowing that we were prepared if we had. We did had our electricity go out for 36 hours. Our food went bad and all I had to do was call my insurance company, tell them what we lost and they sent us a check. It wasn’t a ton of money, but it was nice to not have to go out and spend the money to replace the food ourselves.

Do you need renters insurance if you live in military housing?

If you live on post, you might want to check and see what is covered. In most cases it would be best to have renters insurance even if you do live in military housing. It might just depend on where you live and what the duty station has decided to do.

When Should You Increase Your Coverage

Once you have renters insurance, it is a good idea to update anytime you buy a large item. You also want to update if you move, especially if you are moving to a different state.

Remember too that it really doesn’t cost that much to have this type of insurance so there is really no reason not to have it. You don’t want to end up in a situation where you regret not getting it set up.

What questions do you have regarding renters insurance?

Spend Less by Sticking to Your Grocery List

05/30/2014 By Amiyrah Martin

When you are on a budget, it’s essential to stay on task at the commissary. Whether it’s due to the kids, your cravings or that great sale on imported chocolate, we tend to buy impulsively. What can we do to alleviate this? Besides putting literal blinders on, there are a few tips that we can use to help us stick to the grocery list. Budgeting for groceries doesn’t have to be difficult, as long as you have a plan.

How to Spend Less at Your Military Commissary

Money-saving military spouses shop only the perimeter of their military commissary.

Learn the layout of your grocery store or military commissary.

This is one of the easiest ways to bypass grocery budget pitfalls. Money-saving moms shop the perimeter of a store. This is where you’ll find the items most needed in any home: produce, protein, dairy and discounted baked goods. Once you learn the layout of your store, you can create your grocery list to reflect it. If produce is the very first thing you see when entering the store, be sure to add the fruits and vegetables that are on sale to the top of your grocery list. Figure out which middle aisles are the ones that you visit once a week or twice a month. Be sure to only visit those aisles instead of perusing ones that you wouldn’t or shouldn’t visit (candy aisle, anyone?).

Bring your own snacks.

I’ve heard time and time again that you should eat before you venture to the grocery store, but most of the time that doesn’t work. Here’s a great tip: keep a granola bar, nut mix, or whatever healthy snack you enjoy in your purse or bag. When you walk in and smell freshly baked cinnamon rolls at your store, you’ll have your own snack ready and will be less likely to spend an extra 6 bucks on a treat you’ll regret later.

Create a shopping list that follows the layout of your military commissary.

Utilize your phone.

Our smart phones are our best friends, especially when grocery shopping. Use your phone to make your grocery list. You won’t have to worry about misunderstanding handwriting, even your own. If you’re a visual person, take pictures of the items you need from the store circular and use that as your list.

To keep you from spending hours in the store and getting distracted, set a timer for yourself. Do you allot an hour for shopping but end up spending 2 in the store? Set an alarm on your phone to alert you when your hour is up. Once that alarm goes off, select your last items and hit up the checkout lanes.

What tips do you have for sticking to your grocery list?

7 Things to Buy in May

05/21/2014 By Military Shoppers

May is a great time to take advantage of deep discounts. If you’re in the market for any of these 7 things make sure you get them at a steal this month.

Mattresses

Need a reason to get a new mattress?

May is the best month to buy a mattress. If yours is 8 years or older, it’s time to get a new one. There’s a big secret when it comes to buying a mattress too…you don’t have to pay the price listed. That’s right, it’s haggle time. Just as you can talk your way into a better deal on a car, you can sweet talk the sales guy into a true deal on a mattress that is already discounted. Make sure you shop around first before forking out your hard earned dough though.

New Car

We all secretly covet a new car. You see ‘the one’ pass you on the highway and wish you were in the driver’s seat. Stop day dreaming and pay attention to the road! Now go buy your own car and let someone else drool over yours. First, make sure you get a good deal. A new ride is even sweeter when you’ve gotten it for a steal. Dealers are trying to clear out this year’s models to make room for the next so now’s the time to shop. How do you know you’re getting a good deal though? As with any big item, it’s all about research.

Vacation Packages

None wants to pay full price for a vacation. Plan ahead and take advantage of discounts this May. Everything from wedding packages, airline tickets and condo rentals to airfare upgrades and spa treatments are on sale. Booking online will get you the best price. For flights and hotels, Friday and Sunday are the most expensive days so try to avoid them.

Digital Cameras

With the upcoming vacation season, cameras will be on deep discount. Check out the camera at a retailer then go online and see if you can get a better deal. Some stores price match. The military exchange does and remember, there’s no sales tax.

Camping Gear

Planning a big family camping trip this summer? Tents and other outdoor gear will be marked down now. Make sure it fits your family’s needs or is accommodating to the particular plans you have for your vacation. A good deal is great but not if your whole family isn’t going to be comfortable. Don’t forget to use a promo code if you buy online!

Patio Furniture

Make your patio fabulous with furniture at a great price

Deals on patio furniture are in full swing this month with extreme discounts and coupons. Pay attention to circulars and online deals for special offers on full sets of outdoor furniture. If you’re shopping at Target, note that each store does NOT price match. If you need 6 cushions but one store only has 5, you won’t get the deal on the 6th if you buy it in another Target if it isn’t on sale there.

Athletic Shoes

Now is a great time to purchase running and other athletic shoes. If you told yourself you’d get into running this spring and have yet to do it, here’s a step in the right direction. Kohl’s marks down shoes as far as 80% off and on Wednesdays seniors get an additional 15% off. Surprisingly, most stores mark down shoes on Wednesdays so don’t wait for the crowds on the weekends.

Knowing there are such great deals out there during May, what items are you planning to buy this month?

7 Ways to Simplify Bill Paying

04/22/2014 By Amiyrah Martin

Paying bills is something that we never thought about as children when we wished to grow up. It goes along the line of dealing with taxes and cooking your own meals. The great part is that even though bills are a necessity for adult life, there are many ways that we can make this chore easier on ourselves.

Here are 7 ways to simplify bill paying within your home.

1. Make a Date with Your Bills

Whether you get paid weekly, biweekly or monthly, you need to have a set day and time that you will dedicate to paying your bills. Just like your significant other, bills deserve your undivided attention, but unlike your significant other, that time can be as little as 15 minutes. During this time, make sure you are in a quiet place where you can concentrate and won’t miss a bill payment.

Tip: Spend minimum time with maximum concentration on paying bills.

2. Automate It

In the world of technology, finances can easily be managed through an app, computer program, or simply through a note or two saved on your smartphone. Websites like mint.com are perfect for those of us that need to see our finances all in one place. These financial organizational tools make it easier to see which bills can be automated and the program reminds you when bills are due.

Lower bills, like debt payments around $100, can and should be automated. If a bill has been constant throughout the year, set up automated payments through your bank or credit union. For larger bills or bills that may have hidden fees or fluctuations (like cell phone and cable bills), I suggest getting your own eyes on that bill every month.

Tip: Set up automatic bill payment for bills that are less than $100.

3. Pay Everything Once

Yes, you can pay every bill at the same time, even if you are on a budget. While you have the option of automating small bills, you can also choose to pay them off once a year. Utility bills, membership fees, and insurance bills can all be paid on a yearly basis.

If you choose to go this route, make your payment when you get a bonus or extra money, like your tax refund. Be sure to ask if there are discounts for paying a bill up-front. Insurance companies often offer money back if you pay in advance, so take advantage.

Tip: Pay insurance and utility bills annually to save money.

4. Change Your Due Date

It is more difficult to stay on track with bill paying when your bills are due on different days during the month. The easiest way to remedy this is to call the companies and ask for your due dates to be changed. Try to switch them to days when you know you will have enough funds to pay the bills.

Tip: Pick 2 days each month and schedule your bills to be paid on those days.

5. Pay Yourself First

This is the most important bill that you pay each month. Why is this essential for the payment of all of your other bills? It gives you motivation to not only make more money, but to pay down bills and debt in order to pay yourself more. This bill should be paid first and put directly into a savings account, whether it’s for fun money or your emergency fund.

Tip: Designate money to be deposited into your savings account monthly.

What bill-paying system works for you?

6. Mark Your Bills as Paid

Just like paying yourself first works as a motivation, marking your bills as paid can cause you to keep your bill paying less stressful and as simple as possible. By marking these paid, whether it’s writing it in red marker on a paper bill or typing “paid” next to the bill on a computer program, you’ll ensure that you don’t pay a bill twice and that you are making progress in your efforts.

Tip: Use a red marker to write “PAID” on each bill.

7. Tailor Your Bill-Paying System

You can take all of the advice listed above, but you still have to tailored it to your own personality. Do you love lists? Are you into calendars? Do you do better when EVERYTHING is computer-based? Pick what you gravitate to and stick to it.

For our family, we are online and paper calendar people. We use Google calendar with alerts so that my husband and I both know when a bill is due. But we also use a paper calendar during our bill-paying “dates.” For us, it helps to see the date the bill is due and the paper bill, as well as on a computer screen.

Tip: Find a bill-paying system that works for you.

Which tip will you use to simplify your bill paying this month?

4 Ways to Reduce the Stress of Finances

04/21/2014 By Amiyrah Martin

For those of us looking to be more financially responsible, stress seems to be a big factor of how we handle our new spend-less, save-more lifestyle. Bills, debt, after-school activities for our kids, and even birthday presents can cause our hearts to race when we think about the amount of money each of them takes from our household. With a budget that’s based on the military pay scale, that stress can easily amplify.

Here are four great tips on how to handle the stress of finances.

Stop Thinking about Money

Yes, this may seem counter-intuitive, but thinking about your finances all the time can not only cause stress within yourself, but stress within your home. It’s fine to think about bills that may be due that month or groceries that have to be purchased, but never think of them in dollars. We have a mindset that cringes at the thought of losing money even to important things like food, so if we imagine “funds” being used instead of dollars, our demeanor changes.

Set a Financial Timer

Do you find yourself constantly checking your account balances a few times a week or even a few times a day? Set a timer where you allot 10 minutes to check your finances a day. 10 minutes. No more and no less. This tells your brain that you’ll have a set part of the day when you can review your checking account, stocks, mutual funds, or any other finances. After doing this for a few months, our family is now down to checking our account only once a week for 10 minutes. Conditioning your mind to put any financial stress on the back burner until your scheduled financial time will allow you to rest your brain and calm your nerves about paying bills.

Set Long-Term Goals

Living paycheck to paycheck causes us to forget the end result of why we are paying off debt or staying on top of bills. Make solid long-term goals for you and your family. Maybe it’s a vacation to Australia or owning your own home, but keep those goals in mind each week. If you are attracted to visual encouragement, place a picture of your goal as a screensaver on your computer or your cell phone. Have the family create a vision board and place it in a prominent area of your home. Assign something positive to finances and you’re more inclined to stress less about it all.

Celebrate the Positive

While you’re making long-term goals for your finances, keep in mind the positive outcomes that are currently in your life. Have you paid down a debt? Celebrate. Are you on track to having multiple thousands of dollars in savings? Rejoice. Whether it’s getting a 20% decrease in your cable bill or you found a new way to automate payments that causes less stress, you have to celebrate those small victories within your finances. If we wait to acknowledge an accomplishment when it’s something big, we may never feel like we are getting anywhere within our finances. Pat yourself on the back weekly, daily, or even hourly. You deserve it.

Want more tips on how to stick to your budget? Sign up for our newsletter.

5 Ways To Prepare For Commissary Closures

04/03/2014 By Amiyrah Martin

It’s been all over the news for months. Commissary closures have been the big discussion throughout the country, and military families have been feeling the stress and suffering already. With an average of 30% savings at the commissary, how can military families set themselves up to ease into this big change that may be on the horizon? Here are some tips that will help protect your family from feeling the effects of commissary closures and pay-cuts.

Create the ultra stockpile. While stockpiling can already help a family stretch their grocery budget, making a game plan to stock up on 6 months of your essential non-perishables will create a cushion to help you get used to the sales cycles of other stores. Items tend to go on deep discount every 6 to 8 weeks, so you’ll be able to see when your favorite pasta, brown rice or olive oil will be at it’s best price. Until then, take advantage of the commissary’s coupon deals, and the manufacturer coupons available in your local sunday paper to fill up the pantry.
Use alternative food sources. Now is a good time to find out if a small garden is allowed at your base housing. Planting just a few items like tomatoes, sweet peas and lettuce will help to offset your grocery budget. Also, search for CSAs in your area, or even local farms that may allow you to buy half a cow or other proteins. These memberships can be split with other military families, which will help the whole community save.
Contact your favorite brands. In the age of emails, texts and apps, we tend to forget how important a letter can be, especially when you are a loyal customer. Look for addresses for your favorite grocery brands and write them about our current situation. Most brands will send you coupons for free product, while others may mail you a small stockpile of actual product. The good news is that companies will send you coupons once every 6 months. All you have to do is ask.
Win your financial cushion. Did you know that at any given time, a blog or website will be giving away gift cards to your local grocery store, or even regular Visa or Amex gift cards? Why not win these to help stretch your budget? This is a bit unorthodox, but it has helped my family when we need a little extra funds to stock up on proteins and special dietary items. One easy way to keep up with these giveaways and contests is to create a Facebook group with a few fellow military families, and you’ll alert each other of any new contests you may come across. Make sure to follow all rules and regulations, which are usually very simple, and you’ll be surprised at how much you can win. Also, pay attention to the hashtag #giveaway and #contest on twitter for up to the minute giveaways.
Have a talk with the whole family. When times like these are given to families like ours, it’s time for a talk with all members. Explain to your kids how the closures will cause changes within your family, and ask them for their input on how you can handle it as a team. You’ll be surprised by the inventive and useful ideas they will come up with, mostly because they appreciate you including them in the game plan. Make this a monthly meeting, just in case a family member may have new ideas of how the grocery budget can be stretched even further.

Ways to Save in March

03/20/2014 By Amiyrah Martin

March marks the return of spring, preparations for the Easter Bunny, and warm weather! Well, the weather part hasn’t exactly been panning out for most of CONUS, but this month does mark new beginnings. Here are a few new ways you can actually save this month, whether it’s on clothing, home decorations or groceries.

Home

Air Conditioners – this is a great time to price check air conditioners for your home. While most thought that the dead of winter was the best time to find a deal, great clearance prices are released right before May. New models are displayed at the end of April, so the older models are put on clearance this month and during the beginning of April.

Garden Seeds – Spring IS on it’s way (I promise), so now is a great time to get those coveted seed packets that gardeners are looking to grab up. Some of the best deals on seed packets are found online and at you local dollar stores.

Clothing

Easter/Spring Outfits – These types of outfits actually started to go on sale back in January, so now is the time when you’ll get them at a clearance price before stores put out their second wave of Spring and Easter outfits. Here’s a tip: check online to see what styles are trending for spring(yes even for the kids), and search for those in the stores. These styles will be the ones that will be on clearance, since the fashion world has been wearing them since December.

St. Patrick’s themed clothing – Since the holiday is now officially over, you’ll be able to stock up on green clothing pieces, and those cute but funny t-shirts that everyone wears each year. For kids, be sure to grab shirts or clothing pieces that are at least 2 sizes bigger, as they tend to grow by 2 sizes each year.

Groceries

Frozen Foods – Clean out that freezer and take advantage of the many frozen food sales that are happening at your local grocery stores and the commissary. Frozen vegetables tend to last the longest in the freezer, as well as frozen dinners for those of us that have busy after school/work lives. Frozen breakfast items tend to yield good prices during this time as well. Don’t forget the ice cream! You can stock up on ice cream now for those ice cream socials in May.

Cleaning supplies – It’s the month of spring cleaning, so this is a great time to buy your favorite cleaning items while they are on sale. Take advantage of cleaner sales, which may also include paper products like paper towels, facial tissue and toilet tissue.

What items are you planning to stock up on this March? Let us know in the comments below.

Spring Cleaning Life Hacks on the Cheap

03/07/2014 By Amiyrah Martin

Before we know it, we’ll be hearing birds chirping, watching flowers bloom and catching the sunlight hit just right on the dust bunnies in the corner of our living rooms. That’s right, it’s time for spring cleaning. Every year, we see many people go overboard with how they’ll tackle this year’s must-cleans. They buy the newest cleaners on the market. They have to have to best storage bins to replace the ones they picked up years ago. But they forget the big secret: spring cleaning is all about the life hacks. When it comes to life hacks, the cheaper the better. Here are some spring cleaning life hacks for those of us that are on a budget.

Lemon and Salt for Cleaning

This dynamic duo creates one of the best, and cheapest, spring cleaning life hacks. While lemon on it’s own is responsible for getting rid of water stains in your bathroom and kitchen, the combination of lemon with kosher or coarse salt creates a scrub that can’t be rivaled by store bought scrub products. I love to use this to give our tub and shower walls a deep clean, and to get caked up grease off of our stove. Just cut the lemon in half, sprinkle salt on one of the halves, and go to town.

DIY Cleaning Solutions

Each and every year I make up a new batch of homemade cleaning solutions before I start my spring cleaning. The ingredients are always very simple and inexpensive: vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, essential oils, and sometimes olive oil. I’ve used these ingredients to make disinfecting spray, glass cleaner, and furniture polish. If you are looking for great homemade cleaners, just do a google search for your favorite cleaner with the word “DIY” placed before it. There are tons of great recipes out there.

Alka Seltzer Tablets For a Bubbly Clean

This is one of my favorite secrets to spring cleaning a truly nasty toilet bowl. Antacid tablets are not only great for your tummy troubles, but they clean the heck out of a toilet bowl. I place 2 or 3 tablets in our bowl, and let them bubble away for about 5 minutes. Once I’m ready to clean, I’ll splash in some vinegar to use as a disinfectant, and scrub away with my toilet brush. You’ll be surprised how clean your bowl looks after this.

Cleaning Schedule: 15 Minute Time Limit

Now this may seem like a peculiar item to add as a money-saving spring cleaning life hack, but time IS money. By setting a 15 minute time limit to your cleaning tasks, you make sure that you’re taking care of the essential items that need your full attention. Plus, you won’t exhaust or overwhelm yourself. I only spend 1 hour a day for a week spring cleaning. That hour is broken down into four 15-minute increments. Less time cleaning like a mad person, and more time to clip coupons, make a homemade meal or spend with your family.

What are your favorite spring cleaning life hacks on the cheap? Please share in the comments below so we can give them a go! We will choose one tip at random to win a Starbucks or Amazon gift card! Winner will be chosen April 1st, 2014 so get going!

Also be sure to check out the commissary specials to see if any of your favorite cleaning items are on sale.

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