tips for saving money MilitaryShoppers Page 4

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?

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.

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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.

[button link=”http://www.militaryshoppers.com/onsalethisweek/index.php?20140315″ size=”large” color=”green” window=”new”]Commissary Specials[/button]

Save money by packing lunch – in mason jars!

03/01/2014 By Julie Provost

I have always loved Mason jars. You can do so much with them. You can use them to decorate your home or put yummy drinks in them. You can also save money by packing lunch – in mason jars. If you tend to be on the run a lot, work outside the home or just want a simple and cost-effective way to eat your lunch, you should start making your lunch in a Mason jar.

There are a lot of different things you can do. I personally love the idea of salads in Mason jars. I am a big salad eater myself. I love how you can customize salads in so many different ways. They never have to get boring.

In order to make a salad in a Mason jar, you will need to gather up all of your ingredients. Figure out what types of salads you would like to make. Put your dressing in first. You want that to be on the bottom. Add vegetables, fruits and meats next to provide a buffer between the dressing and the lettuce. When it is time to eat, just pour everything from the jar into a bowl and you are good to go.

Other foods you can put in a Mason jar for lunch are lasagna, chili and cornbread, pastas and soups. You can also put dessert in a jar. You can do cheesecake, pie, pudding, muffins or even fruit and whip cream.

You can make lunch even more efficient by making more than one meal at a time. You can get ready for the work week and put together 4-5 different lunches to have on hand. This not only saves money but will streamline your day. Lunch has already been made and is easy for you to grab and go. I love saving time by planning ahead.

As a Military spouse, I think sending Mason jars filled with foods is a great idea for care packages. Cake in a jar is a real favorite and a great way to make your Military family member smile.

5 Shopping Mistakes to Stop This Year

01/17/2014 By Military Shoppers

Are you making it a goal to save money in 2014? Are you new to budgeting? If you said yes, this is your 2014 Guide to saving money!

Broad resolutions are often the easiest to break each year. Start off the New Year by changing specific personal habits to avoid spending money. You can amaze yourself by the amount of money you save by cutting out extras, spontaneous purchases and other small expenses that might not be noticeable. Planning before you spend a cent is a great way to start tightening those purse strings.

Are You Making These 5 Money Wasting Mistakes?

Not using Coupons & store loyalty cards– This is a big way to save money on things you buy anyway. Learn the basics of couponing and sign up for your favorite store’s reward card.
- Commissary Sales – Plan your grocery list based on current sales
- Online Coupons – Print out coupons from a wide selection of sources
- Register for MilitaryShoppers.com– Register to save, find coupons and more
- Order groceries online- from local store for delivery or participating commissary (Click2Go) for pickup. This will save time AND money by stopping those extra purchases.
Making payments instead of managing debt– Determine your existing debt and make a plan to manage payments in order to pay it down.
Paying “what you are given” interest rates: Active duty members can lower interest rates during deployments under the SCRA. A lot of companies are willing to negotiate rates and payment due dates for anyone.
Making a budget but not budgeting – Planning is the biggest step in successful money management. Create a family budget to see how much income you have, how much money you can spend, and how much, if any, will be left over. The key is to actually live on the budget you create.
Fast food and restaurants– Fast food and restaurants are a luxury some of us can’t cut out completely. Search for daily deals, kids eat free nights, coupons and other specials. Make it a point not to eat out unless it is with a coupon or a special discount.

Small moves to make during 2014:

Use online banking (auto bill pay, saving gas or taking advantage of USAA’s exclusive member discounts can help you get ahead)
Find out your credit score and start to take steps to improve
Ask for discounts (military or otherwise)
Set up an emergency fund

Start with changing these 5 habits and add the smaller moves as the year progresses. You will see what is working, and what is not, for you. Plus, the motivation from seeing the savings add up is priceless! Use one or use all of these tips, but make this THE year that you start spending wisely.

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