Regift

Tip #214 - Regift. There I said it. Regift. Ha, I said it again! In today’s overly-materialistic and ultra-crammed-with-stuff society, if you tell me that you did not receive something in the last year that you did not need I would be surprised. I would be very surprised. So what should you do with that sweater that is the wrong size but came with no gift receipt or the bath salts that you are allergic to? Uumm, why not give them give them to someone else? Is there really something wrong with that? Perhaps Emily Post or Amy Vanderbilt thinks so, but I don’t. Yes, the purpose of giving a gift is the thoughtfulness, I agree. And for someone’s special 50th anniversary or for someone who just graduated from college, I wouldn’t expect you to regift a present. But seriously, if you are doing a gift swap for your daughter’s third-grade class, a duplicate game your child received at her last birthday party works just fine. And those bath salts you received that you were allergic to would be perfectly suitable for a hostess gift for a luncheon your friend (whom you know loves bath salts) is having.

Aren’t we all just buying too much anyway? What’s wrong with spreading around what we don’t need? And while giving stuff away would work just fine that still leaves us with having to buy even more gifts when the need arises. And think about it, if you donate to a thrift store the gifts you receive that you don’t need, and then you go shopping at said thrift store for a gift for someone else, then all you are doing is buying someone else’s gift that they parted with. So you are regifting in a way anyway, just not with your gift. So why not just use one of the gifts you received in the first place, if it would work just as well. Besides, it will save you money.

The landfills are already filled up with too much Made in China junk anyway. Let’s not add to it by buying more when it’s not necessary. Don’t be ashamed to regift; lots of people do it no matter what Emily Post says.

In Real Life (IRL) - My daughter had 14 girls at her last birthday party (and I cut down the list!). Therefore she received 14 gifts. Ugh, how many craft sets, Junie B. Jones books, and Webkinz does she really need? Until I can successfully get our friends to stop bringing gifts, I will keep using some of them as gifts for others. Yes, I try to be thoughtful in my daughter’s classmates’ gifts, but frankly out of 14 girls, a large percentage of them like Webkinz, all of them like crafts, and most of them read Junie B. Jones (not us, though; she is too sassy for my tastes). So it’s really pretty easy to regift in that crowd. Furthermore, my daughter does not need to be receiving that many presents in one day and she has no use for most of them anyway. Usually, we let her keep the few gifts that she likes best. Those that have gift receipts get returned, and the others go in a gift pile in the closet to be used for future events. I personally see nothing wrong with regifting and am happy when others do it to us. It means there is one less piece of plastic being manufactured and one more inch of space available in the landfill.

In this season of giving if you are not comfortable with regifting, then why not try to cut down on the number of gifts you exchange? We put money in a bank account for all of our nieces and nephew for Hanukkah. And we stress (and warn!) the doting grandparents that we really don’t need a thing – no, our 2-year old does not need any more cars. And the 4-year old does not need any more new dresses. But if they insist on buying, guess what? It goes in the re-gift pile. And we don’t feel bad because we warned them. How about others? Do you regift? Do you feel guilty about it? If so, check out others' money saving tips at Frugal Fridays.

Saving Money Is Different Than Getting A Good Deal

Tip #213 - Saving Money Is Different Than Getting A Good Deal - Many blogs are focused on getting a good deal - where to get a free ice cream on your birthday, how to get a box of cereal for 39 cents, and how to pick up some buy one get one free glasses, for example. But there is much more to saving money than getting good deals on things.

When getting good deals on things, the focus is still on buying whereas the focus should be on buiding up your savings. So rather than trying to find out where you can get the best deals instead concentrate on how you can keep more money in your pocket. It is a subtle difference, but it is a difference.

Pick a reasonable amount you'd like to have saved by the end of the month, the end of three months, or the end of six months. then figure out how you can meet those goals - by bringing up your income, going out less often, eating in more, shopping less, etc. And if getting good deals on things you would have spent some money on anyway, then use that as a means to the end with the end being having more money in your pocket. The goal is not just to get a bunch of good deals.

In Real Life (IRL) - I've always mentiioned that I'm not a big mall or store shopper. But the online deals I read about on a daily basis are more tempting to me. They are just so easy! And who can resist very cheap or free? The problem is that "things" are more appealing when everybody is talking about the good deals they get than keeping track of how much savings you as an individual are building up.

I find myseelf getting caught up in the excitement of getting a good deal before it goes away or being one of the lucky few who got something cheaper than some others. I have to remind myself that my goal isn't to get more doll dresses for my daughter, no matter how good of a deal they are. But, instead my goal is to build up my daughter's college fund. If getting a good deal on a birthday present is one means to building up her college savings, along with making some income selling one eBay, and eatin out at restaurants less, that's fine. But my focus shouldn't be on just the best deals I can get my hands on.

This holiday season when lots of excellent deals aboound, remind yourself that your goal is to save money not to spend it.

Pretend You Are Making Less

Pretend You Are Making Less – With all of my tips for saving money, ideas for making money, and lists of ways to make the most of your money, the bottom line is that the only way to accumulate money is to live on less than you earn. If you have no discipline with money - that is, if money burns a hole in your pocket - then you need to pretend that you don’t earn all that you do.

This is no different than having your spouse hide the Halloween candy so you won't eat it. If you have no discipline from pigging out on candy if it is in front of you, then you need to pretend it’s not there so you cannot dig into it. Obviously some people have more will power with money than others. And if you are one of those who will spend money it if it comes into your hands, then don’t let it come into your hands. Or put it away as soon as it does. There are several ways to do that:

Use Direct Deposit – Have your work direct deposit your money into a savings account. This way you are not actually receiving a check that is begging to be cashed. Once it’s in a savings account, you can transfer a fixed amount per month to your checking account for your use for the month. Everything that remains will become your savings. Some companies or banks may even do this for you – they may automatically arrange for a percentage to go into your checking account and a portion to go into your savings account. If your company does not do this, then do it yourself as soon as you get paid!

Put the Money In a Separate Account Yourself – As soon as you get paid, whether you use direct deposit or not, put a portion of your money in a separate savings account. You can do this with every paycheck or on a monthly basis. On the day that you get paid, write out a check and send it to a savings institution, mutual fund, or other savings vehicle.

Invest In Your Company’s 401(k) – If your company offers a 401(k), then participate in it! The minimum you should put in is up to the amount that they will match. If you can swing it, put in the maximum into your 401(k) that the law and your company will allow. The 401(k) money comes out of your paycheck much like your portion of your health insurance premiums. When it comes out automatically, you don’t even miss it! Plus, because it’s coming out pre-tax (you don’t need to declare that money as income until you withdraw from your 401(k) fund so you don’t pay taxes on it), then the blow isn’t that bad.

Save Any Extras - Put any bonuses, extra paychecks, raises, or overtime pay directly into a savings account. If you are living on $50,000 per year and your budget reflects that, then any bonuses or overtime should not need to be spent. Put these extra payments right into your savings account. If you get paid every two weeks and have a monthly budget, then your two extra paychecks can be deposited right into a savings account. If you have been living on $40,000 per year and get a raise for next year of 5%, then try to put 5% of each paycheck right into a savings account.

Have A Budget Envelope For Savings – If you do an envelope system or something similar, have a budget for savings. It can be for any amount. When you put your cash into envelopes for groceries, rent, gasoline, you put a certain amount into savings, too. Then each month bring it over to the bank.

All of these plans won’t work for everyone, but you should be able to take away something to work for you. Many of us manage to find money to eat out, to go away for the weekend, or to buy a new dress, there is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to put aside money for savings. And it often works best if you take out this money before you spend it on other things.

In Real Life (IRL) – My family lives on 75% of what we earn. The other 25% comes out of our paycheck either through automatic deductions or at the beginning of a pay period before we spend it. Our budget, for all intents and purposes, is based on the remaining money.

We get the maximum allowed by my husband’s company deducted for his 401(k) contribution. Because we never see this money, we are not tempted to spend it, and we don’t even realize it is there or miss it. And at the end of each quarter we are thrilled to record that we are saving thousands of dollars toward retirement without any real sacrifice on our part.

While we don’t do an actual envelope system like some people do, I do have a category for each type of spending – true expenses categories and savings categories in our budget. If you were to see my budget, you would see a line for our monthly mortgage payment, a line for gifts, and a line for college savings, for example. For our children’s college funds – we save $2000 per year per child - $500 per month goes toward college savings. I usually like to invest in $1000 increments, so I often put the money in a holding account before I put it toward their college savings. We do something similar with our Roth IRA funds.

Currently we don’t have room in our budget for any “extra” savings anymore, but when I was younger and single, I sent away about $200 per month to a mutual fund company. As soon as I got paid on the last day of the month, I would write the check and send it off. Not only did that savings build up quickly without me every really getting a chance to see the money, it allowed me to purchase shares in a mutual fund at different points throughout the year so that I wasn’t putting all of my money in when the market was high. Years later, I haven’t touched that mutual fund and have nearly $20,000 in it just from putting a couple hundred dollars into it each month.

Lastly, because my husband's new company gives 26 paychecks per year, we take the two extra paychecks and use them for savings. This is a forced savings for us. We live on the same two paychecks per month, so those two months where there is one extra, it goes right into savings.

All of these types of forced savings are often advised by experts as paying yourself first. Wouldn’t you rather pay yourself the money than pay the guy down the street who is roasting gourmet coffee or give money to the the big box chain that is selling the latest electronics? Don’t you want and need the money more? Don't you deserve the money YOU earned? Then take the money out of your paycheck and put it in savings before you get a chance to give it to someone else for something you don’t really need. And you won't even miss it.

Don't Get Caught Up In The Excitement

Tip #211 - Don't Get Caught Up In The Excitement. It's easy with Christmas around the corner (and Hanukkah, New Year's, etc.) to get caught up with the "buying season" and throw your budget and your money out the proverbial window. Don't. Do. It. While I certainly suggested in an earlier post to take advantage of good deals that stores are offering and to buy things for the lowest amount that you can, it does not mean blowing your budget on things you don't need.

Many of us are good all year long with setting a budget and trying hard to stick to it by not shopping, using coupons when we do, doing our research on big purchases, and setting a limit on what we will spend on frivolous items, but then Christmas comes, and all of the hard work we've done all year gets lost in a few weeks' buying binge.

At this time of year, try not to get sucked into all of these great deals. A $47 portable DVD player is NOT a good deal unless you were already in the market for one and it is the lowest price you've seen for the brand you wanted. If it's just a great deal on something you weren't going to get then it is a waste of money.

My advice? Like advice I've given earlier, just don't go shopping. It's the easiest way NOT to spend money. But if you must go because you are buying something you planned to buy, ignore the glow of the bright lights, the alluring sounds of "lowest price of the year" and the influence of everyone else throwing things into their shopping carts. Say to yourself, "I will save money this year. I've been good all year. I won't blow it now." Christmas seems to be the downfall of many people when all spending plans and good intentions go out the window. And then when January comes and brings the bills, reality sets in. And it also starts us out on the wrong foot for next year's budget.

So please this holiday season, remember what you've worked hard on all year and try not to get dazzled by all of the sales. It's all just stuff most of which we don't need. Take a second look at your budget for this year, look at the gift category and try hard not to go over it. And on December 31 when we are making a new budget for next year and calculating how much you managed to save this year, you will be happy.

In Real Life (IRL) - I had no intention of going shopping on Black Friday. We are visiting my folks in suburban Philadelphia, and we actually planned on taking the kids to some historic sights like the Liberty Bell and Betsy Ross' house. But my husband has been under the weather and the real weather was quite cold, so we put those plans on hold until our springtime visit. So as we sat around my parents' home, my oldest daughter began to look through the sale circulars. Wow, I'm glad we don't get the newspaper at my house anymore because they are tempting! My daughter had gotten a gift card to Target for her birthday. She wanted to buy something with it, and saw a craft that she liked in the Target circular. So rather than relish in our nation's history I joined the masses at Target on Friday morning.

We did NOT go at 4 am! We actually drove over there at 10 am. And while it was a very crowded parking lot, the store was prepared for the number of people it expected. We found my daughter's craft, and we should have been on our merry way. But being it was an opportunity for me to shop freely without my 2 and 4 year old and because I very rarely go to Target because it's farther from my house than I like to shop, I will admit that I succommed to the shopping frenzy that was Black Friday. All the shoppers seemed to be running around trying to find any of the great 4 am doorbusters that were still left. And it was easy to get caught up in the excitement. I admit it, I did. I ended up spending $50. Admittedly, some of the stuff were things we needed - socks, shoes, and underwear for my daughter. But some of the things were not on my need to buy list - two DVDs, two one-dollar gifts for my younger children, a very cute dress for my younger daughter (really not needed) and a gift (same craft my daughter bought) for a future unknown birthday party my daughter will be going to. And while the socks, shoes, and underwear were on my mental list for quite some time, none of the other things were.

Because of my recent experience, I can see how easy it is to buy when we go to the stores. And that's why I still stick by my earlier advice of staying out of them. But it's hard this time of year when we have presents to purchase. So, this "in real life" example follows the old adage of do as I say not as I do. Please, don't get caught up in the excitement of holiday shopping. It will only leave you with less money in your pocket. I speak from experience. I am $47 richer than I could have been, though. Target was all out of $47 DVD players. Ask me how I know. Oh, and one of the DVDs is going back.

Give Your Kids An Allowance

Tip #210 - Give Your Kids An Allowance. Giving your children money allows them to have practice with it. And their having it, using it, losing it and experiencing spending it will hopefully lead them to using money wisely when they are older. If a child doesn’t use money on a regular basis until he gets a job when he is fifteen or sixteen years old, how can we expect him to know what to do with it when he is an adult at 18 or 21 with just a few short years’ experience? It is only with practice that a child will get better at spending and managing money. Like with most other things, it takes practice and experience to learn how to handle money. If you agree with me on the above points, you might have some questions about giving an allowance to your children.

Should Children Earn Their Money? Some parents feel that allowance should be tied to chores or extra jobs around the house because that’s more realistic how adults earn money in the real world. Others say it’s okay to give them a set amount on a regular basis for nothing in return. After all, chores are expected to be done regardless, and the money is a separate learning opportunity. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with giving children money for doing nothing in return. After all we give them clothes and food for nothing in return. That’s not realistic in the real world either. But regardless of whether you decide to tie money to chores or not, the most important thing is getting your kids to start handling money when they’re young.

At what age is a good age to start doling out allowances? It seems most experts suggest about age 5 or 6. Of course some of it might depend on your child’s personality and maturity. In their younger years, the child may not have much understanding of how to use money, and it may just accumulate in their piggy bank. By the time they are 7 or 8 years old, however, I guarantee that most children will have many plans for their money. And that’s when the teaching opportunities will abound.

How much money is the right amount to give? A lot depends on your family’s income and what your spending habits and values are like. A millionaire family may feel comfortable giving their child $10 per week, while a working-class family might choose to give $1 or $2. Also, you may want to think about what your child will be buying with the money you give her. If you expect her to buy lunches at school or clothes, you might want to give more. If you are just giving it to her for extras like candy and toys, then you might give less. The younger the child, the less they need, in general. Overall, a few dollars per week is probably more than enough for most children under 10.

Should we tell the child what to do with their money? I think it’s best to guide your children in their use of it, but don’t force them in how to spend it. It’s often the mistakes we make that are the greatest learning experiences. Many people tell their children they can spend half and have to save half. Some families make their children put their money in three categories of money – spend, share, and give. While I like the concept of both ideas; I don’t think we should make our kids do anything with their money since it is, after all, their money. Instead, making suggestions of how they might manage their money is better. Teach them that saving money will lead them to having the ability to buy bigger items at a later date. Share with them that there are others who are less fortunate than we are, and that it’s a good idea to share a certain percentage with charities. Explain how you the parents manage your money – how you divide your spending, saving, and giving, and encourage them to do the save. Giving children money is a teaching opportunity. And guiding their use of it is a better teaching tool than forcing them how to spend it.

Not everyone believes in giving children allowances, but when you look at the overall expense of it – it could be less than $100 per year – the learning opportunities it presents are worth it. We give our children clothes and toys and expect them to take care of them by treating them with care. We give them jobs to do and hope they’ll learn how to properly set a table or rake a lawn. Then why not give them money and encourage them to manage it well? How else will they learn if not by giving them a hands-on opportunity to do so?

In Real Life (IRL) – Our three children are ages 8, 4 ½, and 2. We started giving my oldest daughter an allowance when she started kindergarten at age 5 ½. But she wasn’t really interested in the money, and her lack of interest led us to me less than consistent with giving the money to her. But as she approached age 7, her understanding of money increased dramatically. She started asking for things that were more than I wanted to give her. And I figured out it was time for her to have some spending money of her own. My husband and I devised a plan. Every Friday before we usher in Shabbat, we would give each of our children an allowance. Deciding an appropriate amount presented a challenge – we didn’t want to give a lavish amount but enough that she could build up her earnings to buy something nice if she wanted to or buy some small frivolous items more frequently.

We came up with a system – for each number of years old they are, they get a quarter. So our 7-year old daughter would get $1.75. Our 4-year old would get $1, and our 2-year old would get 50 cents. When our 7-year old turned 8 two weeks ago, she began getting $2 per week. Our total expenses for the year for giving allowances – about $175 – not bad for the teaching opportunity it presents us. We feel by the time she was 16, $4 per week will be more than adequate, and she can supplement it with a summer job, babysitting, or something similar. By the time she is ready to go off on her own, we will hopefully have prepared her well enough to manage her money.

Obviously, our 2-year old has no understanding of the money given him. We just deposit 50 cents in his piggy bank each Friday. Our 4 ½ year old understands that money is worth something, and enjoys receiving the dollar and putting it in her bank, but has not asked about spending it yet. Our 8-year old, on the other hand, discusses each week how she will be spending her money. She discusses her ideas with me, asks me how much things cost. She questions how long it will take for her to save for a certain item – a camera, a doll, etc. And she never forgets on Friday afternoon to remind us that it is allowance time. While I haven’t forced her how she must spend her money, I have disallowed a few items that she asked to save for that I felt were inappropriate. She has shown some interest in sharing some of her money – but to date only those she knows – like her sister or her friends. She has bought some things with the money she has earned, and she has saved a good portion of it, too. She enjoys thinking about how she will spend it someday – and her ideas of how it will get spent often changes on a daily basis.

While I am obviously not an expert on how allowance works – I haven’t done studies on thousands of children to see if those who receive allowance as children do better managing money than those who don’t. I cannot imagine that the experience we are giving her with money cannot be doing anything but helping her. If she wastes her money, she will learn how long it took to earn it only to be lost on something useless. If she saves up for something nice, she will learn the patience it took to save for that item. Having her own small amount of money to manage will hopefully teach her how to take charge of large amounts of money when she’s older. Do any of my readers give allowances? Care to share your experiences?

Bring Your Coupons And Play The Game

Tip #209 - Bring Your Coupons And Play The Game. Today’s merchant business seems to rely heavily on different types of promotions, specials, coupons, and other gimmicks to get us to buy things. Years ago, this did not happen with the frequency that it does today. In the past, department stores had sales maybe once per season. Coupons for grocery stores equaled only 5 cents, 7 cents, or maybe a dime. Every once in awhile a grocery store would do a promotion for totaling up receipts to get a free turkey or to buy dishes. But on most days purchases were straight out purchases without gimmicks attached. Nowadays, promotions take place more often than not. And they are more confusing than ever – buy two packs of cookies, get a milk free; spend $200 over the next three months and get 10 cents off gas; 40% off sale and 25% off that with a coupon. It gets more and more confusing to figure out what to buy, how to buy, and what it will cost when you get to the register.

I did a post a few weeks ago about how to calculate percentages and I’ve done a post or two on doing research before you buy. And it is because of all of these types of promotions that stores have that these two tasks are important. Well with Christmas sales coming up the promotions, deals and specials have gotten bumped up a notch. And if you want to get the best price on an item that you’ve researched and know you want to buy, then you need to play the game the retailers are throwing at us.

Retailers like using gimmicks and promotions to drum up business and get people excited, but they count on only a small percentage of people to actually follow through with their promotion or for customers to buy enough other things in their store to make the loss on their promotion items worthwhile. If they want to play that game then we can, too. Take advantage of what they offer. Just make sure you are buying stuff that you would have bought anyway!

So, before you go to the stores, look at their flyers. Read the fine print about stores’ gimmicks so you don’t get stuck buying something that isn’t covered by a promotion that you thought was covered. Make sure you follow any games, promotions, and gimmicks correctly – sometimes the details are confusing. Bring any coupons you cut out from newspaper inserts with you to the store. Look for coupons in other places such as directly inside the newspaper, magazines and in mailers that come in your mailbox. Find out the stores’ policies on accepting competitors’ coupons.

If you don’t get a newspaper with flyers inside, then look online. Most stores have their circulars posted on their website. Do an Internet search for coupons for the stores you are considering. Look at the store’s competitors’ sites to see if they have coupons you can use. This early in the season look at Black Friday sites to see if what you want to buy will be cheaper on the busiest shopping day of the year. Go to Retailmenot.com to read about any online coupons for that store – it might be cheaper to buy it online and have it shipped to the store for pickup.

I am not one to encourage shopping for unnecessary things or to buy things because they are free or a very good price. But if you are in need of something – small appliances, gifts for family or friends, or whatever, now is the time to take advantage of some of the deals that retailers are offering.

In Real Life (IRL) – I like to get a bargain as much as the next person. But I will admit that sometimes it takes hard work. Since I don’t shop that often any more I no longer look so hard for the games and gimmicks that I liked to do when I was younger. Yes, it was time consuming to look for the coupons or get up early on Black Friday, but if it saved me money, it was worth it to me.

These days I don’t shop at retail stores so much. I rarely go to the mall. But with two daughters who like to do crafts, as a mom who likes to throw fun birthday parties, and as a Girl Scout leader of my daughter’s Brownie troop, I find myself shopping at Michael’s quite frequently. And that is one store where I refuse to pay full price. It’s amazing to me that at any time I can get 40% off most items in their store. I would be stupid to go in there and pay full price. The catch is that they don’t offer 40% off coupons every week. So if I am in need of something from the store, I either have to be patient for their next coupon offering or I have to give in and pay full price. Right?

Wrong. In our area, there is a competitor store to Michaels called AC Moore. I know in other areas Hobby Lobby and Joanne's are competitors. AC Moore is a great store, but much less convenient to where I live. But the great thing about Michael’s is that they accept competitors’ coupons. Since AC Moore competes with them in this area, Michael's takes their coupons. And AC Moore has coupons every week and online. This means I can print out a coupon every day and go to Michael’s to pick up an item. Since Michael’s is less than 1 mile from my house, it makes it worth it even factoring gas in if I decide to drive. Sometimes I bring my oldest daughter with me and we each use a coupon. For a couple weeks before a birthday party, I will shop there once a day, using a coupon for one item per day. Why not? They’re offering it, so I’ll take it.

It gets even better than that, though. Our Michael’s (and each one is different) does not accept their coupons for books. But, when I asked the cashier about it she said they WILL accept competitors’ coupons for books. Can’t beat that! This makes for some nice and pretty reasonable birthday presents. Many times, especially around the holidays, there will be 50% off coupons from both AC Moore and Michael’s. I like to save any big purchases I want from those stores for days when they offer that coupon.

Other places I have taken advantage of gimmicks is the supermarket. One of our local markets sells gas and for a while they were giving 10 cents off per gallon for every $100 spent at the store. Now I realize that is only $1.50 off a full tank fill-up for spending $100 or a 1.5% savings. But when I was shopping there anyway it made for a nice gas savings as long as I paid attention to the date it expired and used it before then. Some things they offer clearly aren’t worth it to me, so I don’t take advantage of the promotion unless I was buying certain products anyway.

But it pays to look at the various stores that you like to shop at to see what promotions they are having that do appeal to you and make sense with your needs. Especially this time of year, the gimmicks abound. If they work for you, take advantage of them. Again, only use them for things you were planning to buy anyway! For other frugal ideas, check out Frugal Fridays.

Follow Through With Your Savings Plans

Saving Money Tip #208 - Follow Through With Your Savings Plans. In one of the first Seinfeld episodes, Jerry’s friend Kramer is staying at Jerry’s apartment when it gets burglarized. Jerry and his friends cannot understand how someone could have broken in because Jerry has about 18 dozen locks on his door including the super foolproof Kryptonite lock (or something like that). But finally Jerry puts two and two together and figures out that the reason the locks didn't work was because Kramer didn’t close the door. Duh, all of the best locks in the world won't work unless we follow through and close the door.

And like the closing the door so the locks can work, we need to follow-through on our savings plans for them to work. We can have them all written out on paper so they look great. We can buy the savings envelopes to use for our budget categories. We can have the spreadsheet written up with how much we’re going to spend (and save). And we can have the best ideas in the world for income and keeping money in our own pockets, but unless we follow through with these plans, they won’t work.

We need to actually need to use the envelopes for our budget categories (if that’s our plan) and we actually have to follow our goals such as bring lunch everyday to work, and it’s imperative that we use the coupons that we cut out. Otherwise, all of our planning and ideas are just a waste of time.

Yes, this advice sounds cliché, and it is. But the reason sayings become clichés is because they are usually true. How many things do you have on your “to do” list in order to save money or make money that you haven’t gotten around to? Is one of your goals to make more money by getting a seasonal job? Then why haven’t you filled out the employment applications yet? Did you plan to only eat out once a week by having meals prepared in advance and at the ready when you get home from work? Then start cooking! Did you hope to curb spending by not shopping on the weekend? Then make plans for other, cheaper activities.

Sometimes we all have grandiose plans, but until we follow through with them, they won’t work. Take the first step and look at your plans. Organize stuff for a garage sale; make some meals; cut some coupons; apply for a job; send money away to a mutual fund account. None of your savings goals will come to fruition unless you follow through. Oh, and don’t forget to lock the door on the way out.

In Real Life (IRL) – I am as guilty as the rest of the crowd of putting off things that I need to do or not following up with some of my plans. But two events stuck out this weekend that made me think of this topic for a blog post today. First, I was checking our credit card statement when I saw a charge for $300 from a few days earlier. Thinking my husband had some work done on the car that he mentioned being needed, I asked him about it. “Oh, that’s the new lawnmower I bought,” he replied. I was shocked because although I knew our lawnmower had just died, I didn’t realize that he had gone out and bought a new one. I will admit that I am the more frugal, money saving half in our couple, and I had talked to my husband about discussing any purchases over $50 before they were bought. In addition, when I intend to make a large purchase, I like to research which one I want to buy and then find the best price. My “gotta have it yesterday” husband does things differently. He’ll check out a few stores and pick out what he likes best. We had a similar situation happen last year over a vacuum and he assured me he would consult me with future purchases so I can do research first. But he didn’t. So that’s one thing on our financial plan that we did not follow through with. Maybe we would have saved $50 or maybe we would have gotten a better lawn mower for the same price. I’ll never know. What I do know is that had we followed our laid-out plan, we’d probably be slightly better off financially.

The second thing that happened this weekend was I finally got around to listing some items on Craigslist and eBay. My written down goal at the beginning of the year was to list five items per week on eBay or similar site. And when I follow that goal, I make some decent extra money. But I will fully admit that I have been lazy lately. I bought some items that I knew I could make money on, but they were just laying around the house. I had something to list on Craigslist from our dog who died back in April. It was just taking up room in our garage. Other than pure laziness, I had no excuse not to be following through on this income-earning goal of mine. I finally got around to listing a few items at the end of last week and have already sold two and have bids on the third item. I will admit that selling some items provides motivation to sell more. So hopefully I will continue to list things.

Both of these events sparked the idea in my head for this post. If we are not following through with our plans and goals, then the outcome we want won’t happen. Just like buying the best locks in the world won’t keep the burglars away if we don't close the door. Look at your goals for saving money and then figure out which ones you have not done. Then work hard on doing what you set out to do. Follow-through is the only way to meet your goals.