How to Save If You Don't Have IRA or 401k Options

When you hear "save money" you automatically think savings accounts, money markets ,IRA's, CD's and other "forms" of saving money. Those are all good and well, but many of us don't have the money to open and contribute to those things.

IRA's and 401k's - if you are fortunate enough to work for a company that offers those - great! But what about those of us who work for companies that don't include such luxuries in their employment packages? It is quite common for them NOT to be offered, especially on the lower levels of job descriptions.

So what do you do? How do you get the money to open the savings, CD's or save for retirement?

Don't sell yourself short just yet!

Instead of your budget controling you, reprogram your thinking and budgeting to accomodate what you have so you control it! To get ahead you have to have more than you have right now, so that is where you have to start... Adjust what you have right now. Rearrange your availabilities, resources and expenditures and you can open your own version of a 401k or IRA!

First, you must reprogram your thinking about money. This is where I came up with my slogan "Save a little to save a lot". You only have so much monthly income - how do you plan to use it? If you're like me and have limited income - those options can be small and seemingly insignificant, but you put them all together, you'll be surprised at what the out come can be. Don't look at it as saving a dollar a day. Look at it as saving a dollar a day...FOR A MONTH! $30 a month is a good chunk!

Second, in order to make any money saving program work, you have to have a plan, a budget, a system - and YOU HAVE TO STICK TO IT. You must commit yourself to the program and follow through. If you don't, it won't work no matter how hard you try. If you are building a model airplane and get half way through and then stop working on it, you will never be able to enjoy playing with it or watching it fly!

Third, you MUST use common sense in your thinking. This world is full of get rich quick schemes, make millions over night offers, "I made $10,000 in one month" come-on's... well, use your common sense....if it was that easy to make that much money, why is anyone employed? Why does anyone have a job? Why is the employment field not shut down because everyone is at home making $10,000 a month?

Because, it isn't that easy and isn't always that possible, bottom line...to make money you have to spend money and if you don't have money to spend, you can't make that money. Read that fine print at the bottom of the TV screen - "not typical results" is on most of those ads - including the lose weight ones! Ergo, the theory "if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is". Common sense. It might have worked for a few, but if you are reading this article, it is most likely not something that will work for you. You must use common sense.

The most MAJOR factor to start reprograming your thinking about your money is to start at the bottom. If you give yourself an easy start, you'll see how easy it is and how quickly you can make a savings grow and next thing you know, it will be second nature to you and you can just watch that savings grow! Your thinking will adjust to "that was so easy...where can I find more?" You can even make a game out of it, and try to "beat" your savings this month over last month!

There are so many little wastes of money that we do - every day - sometimes a couple times a day. And we don't even think about them. It is only in relation to a buck or two, and at the end of the day you say, "It's two bucks! What's the big deal? I can't retire on that!!" Of course you can't retire on that, but we aren't talking about retiring. We are talking about saving money.

Again, common sense. $2 a day, is basically nothing. But $2 a day....for 365 days is $730 a year! Put that into a savings, CD, money market and let it collect interest! You do the math as to $730 a year for 10 years at X% interest rate, rolling over every year. Do it in writting. Once you see that final number on that paper - THEN you can think about what retirement has in store for you, or should I say what you have in store for retirement!

Just think, if you stop for a flavored cup of coffee ($3.75) every day, you spend $1368 a year! If you go through a drive thru fast food place for a large soda ($1.69) every day, you spend $616 a year! That's $1983 a year just for 2 drinks a day!!

Until it was recently increased, $2,000 was the maximum a person could contribute to an IRA - YOU HAD IT ALL ALONG.... YOU JUST CHOOSE TO SPEND IT ON SOMETHING ELSE!

Think about all the little things you do, how often you do them and do you really NEED to do that? Add up what those little things cost you EVERY MONTH. You can stop, cut back, compromise, re-adjust, re-program ... Take your pick on what you want to call it, but quite frankly, almost $2,000 a year just for 2 drinks a day - simple commons sense says that is most assuredly something that can be done without to further your savings!

Leave a comment! Click "comment" below! Thanks!

To make money, save money or just stretch what you have-continue reading articles for more tips, ideas and ways to do all 3!

Don't Let Your Utilities Grab Your Money? Save Your Money for Yourself!

To Save 10¢ a day, is nothing to bother with. BUT.... TO SAVE $1.00 a day is a great start (remember, that's $365 a year) and if it doesn't cost you anything and is so EASY TO DO - why not do it!!. Whether you call it Make Money or Save Money or just Stretch the dollars you have, why wouldn't you want to do it!!

"10 Things That Are Grabbing Your Money!"

1. A fish aquarium can run you about $88 a year. Do you REALLY want it - and the work? Think about it.
2. Christmas lights: 10¢ an hour for 100 lights. HOW MANY LIGHTS ARE ON YOUR TREE? And how many more on your house or for decoration? All those lights times 10¢ an hour per 100... you do the math. Could be $60 just for the month of December alone for just your average amount of lights! If you do more decoration in your yard or on the house, it goes up with every bulb you light. Then there's the November and January times to add on! Not to be a Christmas scrooge, but just watch what you do! Light them every other night. Light them only when you are home. TURN THEM OFF when you go to bed. If you aren't in the room where the lights are, turn them out until you go back into the room. Just use some common sense at this time of year! Light them 6 nights instead of 7. Depends on how much you want to spend and what's in your budget. I'd rather spend the money on a gift for my kids to have the rest of the year!!

3. Set your thermostat to 65 degrees (in the winter). Saves $80-$100 a year! And we are only talking about the winter months - 3-6 months a year depending on where you live. Throw on an extra blanket or sweater. Light the fireplace if you have one! Add a thermal undershirt! Sip that hot tea or coffee you made yourself! How easy is that! And it doesn't take long to get "used" to the cooler temp. And since germs breed "better" in warm tempertures, if your house is a little on the cool side, the germs aren't going to want to stay around!

4. Water bed (heated, no cover) can run up to $1.00 a day or $365 a year! Get a cover or just turn it off some nights! Turn the temp of the water down. Don't use it in the warmer months, and only on those really cold nights in the winter. Again, Common Sense can SAVE YOU MONEY!!!

5. If you do alot of laundry each week, do back-to-back loads - meaning, do at least three loads at once - not 1 now, another after you get back from where ever, and another before bed. It is easy to figure out a schedule for laundry. It is such a "nothing effort" job. When you do loads back-to-back you are using hot water (gas or electric to heat that water) that is already hot. Seperating your loads means each time it starts, it has to heat up that water - thereby costing more money! Same with the dryer, It is already hot after the first load was dried, so it just starts drying at that hot temperture. Once it cools down, it takes the gas/electric to heat it back up. So get it all done at once and SAVE MONEY at the same time!

6. Make sure you wash ONLY FULL LOADS of laundry. And even use just COLD WATER on the loads instead of warm or hot! They still get clean just fine!

7.. Often there are "low rate" times for your utilities. Check your utility bill or call the company. In my case, after 7pm and before 7am the electric rate is a bit cheaper than during the day peek hours when the utilities are being used more. So I start my laundry at 7pm. Or I start it a 7am. Any that doesn't get done at that time, just sits until the 7:00 rolls around again. It isn't hard - and since you are saving money - think of what you want to do with that money while you are loading that washer at 7:01 pm!

8. Run ONLY FULL Loads in your dishwasher. About 80 percent of dishwasher's energy use, goes to heating the water and the dry cycle. Select "unheated" or "air drying" to cut that by about 12%

span style="font-family:verdana;">9. Turn out the lights!!!! You have heard this over and over - but it is also so easy to forget to do!

10. Make sure you NEED the wattage of the bulbs in your fixtures. Most don't need those 100 watts. Many can do with just a 25 or 40 watter!

So give a look around and see what you find that you can adjust (not change, just adjust! How easy is that!) to help you save your money! I have been working on my utility bills for the last several months and have seen the gas and electric drop $10-$20 a month. And all I did was "adjust" what I did. It is so easy to do and so worth it when that bill arrives! You will be so pleased with yourself and think - how easy was that!!!

Leave a comment! Click "comment" below! Thanks!

To make money, save money or just stretch what you have-continue reading articles for more tips, ideas and ways to do all 3!

If you Scrapbook - Here's a Money Saving Freebie You Will LOVE!!!

Oh My Gosh!! This is the most FANTASTIC site for FREE scrapbook pages I HAVE EVER SEEN!! If you scrapbook, this site will save you TONS of money, not to mention free ideas!

It has TONS of themes and ideas and categories! So much you can do here! Pages, letters, stickers, die cuts, banners, journaling themes, and SO MUCH MORE and probably every theme you can imagen!
A friend shared this site with me and I am thrilled to be able to pass it on!

I'd venture to say "name it and it is here". There is just so much available! AND ITS FREE!!!!! Says so right there on the main page! You download them to .pdf files and print them out on your printer!

If you like digital scrapbooking, then this is also the place for you! I don't do digital, so I can't comment on that part of it, but it says that is what you can use it for so take a look and see what you think!
I am going to be using the themes and pages for a recipe book for my personal favorites recipes to give to my kids - pass on the flavor as they say!

Print Your Own Scrapbook & Cardmaking Supplies

A tip for printing out on printer but still making the die cuts look really nice is to use shiney or matte photo paper - like you use to print out photos. That way when you cut the die cuts out, they are on a thicker paper and a nicer finish to them (besides just regular typing paper) and they will look nicer.
If you have any tips for using thi site for digital scrapping, leave a tip! Lots of us would like to learn about that!

Shared with me by AudreyO. Thanks for this goldmine, Audrey!

Leave a comment! Click "comment" below! Thanks!

To make money, save money or just stretch what you have-continue reading articles for more tips, ideas and ways to do all 3!

Save $2,553 a year - Anyone Can! It's Simple, Easy and FREE!

Save $2,553 a year - Simple and Easy and Free!

Saving money is not always hard. Often it just takes is commitment and that is free. Often it usually just takes a simple desicion - do I or don't I? And that is free

You simply have to look at what you are doing. How hard is that? Not very hard. And most importantly: Don't look at your expenses on a daily basis. A buck a day is no big deal. It won't make you or break you.

HOWEVER

and that's a BIG HOWEVER,

when you look at the expense on a monthly scale - a buck a day is actually $30 a month - and $30 IS a big deal! And can add up quickly before you even realize it!

Here are the 5 simple and easy ways to save over $2,500 a year!

Save $365 - A regular cup of coffee is about a buck. One cup of coffee a day is costing you $365 a year. (Make it at home or get it at work!)

Save $1,368 - A flavored speciality cup of coffee is about $3.75 (or more!). One cupof flavored speciality coffee is costing you $1,368 a year. (Holy Cow! Were you aware that you were spending that much? - do the math $3.75 x 365!)

Save $195 - - One soda from a vending machine is about 75¢. With about 260 work days a year, this soda is costing you $195 a year (buy a 6 pack at the store and take one with you every day!)

Save $260 - One bottle of water from a vending machine is about $1.00. With about 260 work days a year, this bottle water is costing you $260 a year (buy a case at the store and take one with you every day!)

Save $365 - Put $1.00 a day in a "piggie bank". That's $365 a year! Good way to use your change, clean out your pockets or purse at the end of the day!)

Add these up and you can save $2,553 in a year!

And these are just a couple things that are common -just to get the point across. If you don't drink the flavored coffees, what do you drink? A large soda from a fast food on the way to work? Those are about $1.69 x 260 days a year - your savings would be $439 a year! What do you do on a daily basis? Pick a few and stop doing them once a day and save that money! You'll never miss it!!!

JUST THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH $2500!!!

If you start now, you can collect that money in a savings account, collect the interest for the next year and you will have a nice nest egg for Christmas next year!! Or $1500 for your summer vacation next year! Or pay off a large debt by next year!

Want save $5,106 a year?

The above figures are for doing these things ONCE A DAY. Do them twice a day and
your savings will double! Most drink more than one soda a day or get a coffee on the way to work and on the way home!!!

Want to save even more?

Some of the above mentioned steps are based on "work days" in the year of about 260 days a year. If you were to expand the "work day" to all 365 days in a year - your savings would increase!

Take a look at what you are doing each day. Then add up what you have done and you
decide - "Do I really want all that stuff or do I want that money for something special?"

Remember, Save a Little to Save Alot!

Leave a comment! Click "comment" below! Thanks!

To make money, save money or just stretch what you have-continue reading articles for more tips, ideas and ways to do all 3!

I Found $75 in my Junk Mail! Yes, I Did!!!!

I always look through the junk mail and flyers - never know what you will find! And we usually get the same stuff all the time, so I know what to not bother looking at. I don't need a matress, or furniture or sports equipment. I don't need a home loan or home improvement.

But every couple months we get this envelope from an advertising company that includes about 50 coupons from local merchants. Again, loans, home improvement and other services I don't need or want.

But I look for things like car maintenance - free brake inspection, discount on tires or a regular service procedure. Oil changes, etc - all can be expensive so a coupon always helps. Sometimes there are "so much off" at some local independent clothing stores or speciality stores.

There are also coupons for local resturants and internet service. I often use the resturant ones, and it never hurt to stay a on top of what is out ther regarding the internet. It is a way of life and here to stay.

But then I noticed one from a bank. Bank, Junk Mail - they don't seem to have much in common, so I looked at it. Here, with this "coupon", if I went to this local bank, and opened a FREE checking account with first order of checks FREE, NO minimum balance, NO monthly service fee, FREE online banking, FREE ATM/debit card, and I opened it with $1,000, if I left the account open for 90 days, they would deposit $75 into my account! Of course, I figured there was a catch some where, so I called. But, no, no catch. Just open it with $1,000 and you can use that money and/or add more as you like. You just had to leave the account open (with NO minimum balance!) for 90 days to get the $75!

So I did it! Got my first 400 checks for free. Got the ATM card (don't use it but nice to have if I want to!) No service fee, no monthly charges and a "post dated" receipt for the $75 on that 91st day!.

Just $1,000 of my money, to spend or save as I see fit and when I hit that 91st day, $75 goes into my account and is MINE, MINE, MINE!!!! I can close the account after that if I want to, or just leave it sit for "emergencies" or start using that bank instead of the one I currenly use! But for doing nothing, I got $75!

And all because I looked at the junk mail one day!

Leave a comment! Click "comment" below! Thanks!

To make money, save money or just stretch what you have-continue reading articles for more tips, ideas and ways to do all 3!

Save Your Money and Have the Best Cheap Lunch in Town!

Don't let the word "cheap" determine whether you save money or not! Whether you read the word, hear it or say it, "cheap" can be one of your best friends!! I happen to love that word and it catches my wallet all the time! A lot of things I have are a result of not ignoring that precious, priceless word! Thank you, "cheap"!

Cheap is just the good stuff rearranged in your life - or in this case, on your plate!

For instance:

Local fast foods, offer Value Meals or $1.00 Menus. This is where they offer you many of the same items as they do in a combo meal, but seperately. For $4.99 you can get a hamburger, fries and a drink. On the value menu, you can get a hamburger, fries and a drink for $3.00. Mix and match and you have a wonderful array of lunches!

Ms Syd Barr sent me her way of stretching her dollars!

A certain fast food place has a $1.00 menu. A side salad w/dressing is $1.00. An order of chicken pieces (4 nice size pieces) is $1.00. Buy these 2 items, Break/cut up the pieces of chicken into small bite sizes pieces and place them in the salad. Bingo! You have a nice chicken salad for $2.00!!! The salad comes with dressing of choice. Add a small drink (with free refills) and you have a fantastic lunch both in price and nutrition!

The salad is only 20 calories and the chicken pieces are l70.
The least calorie dressings are: (if you used the entire pkg.)...
low fat Italian is 50 calories...
low fat Balsamic is 40 calories...
Ranch is 170

Plus, if you want to eat a little more, order 2 salads and 2 chicken piece orders! Just get a different dressing on each and you will have more varitey for your meal that day!

Check the $1.00/value menu at your favorite fast food. Mix and match and every day you can have a great and nutritional meal for about $4.00! Drop any change into your purse so at the end of the week, you can collect it and put it in your piggy bank for savings.

Give it a try! See what fun, nutritional and CHEAP meals you can create! And thanks for the tip, Syd

P.S. Ask your fast food place if they offer discounts for "seniors"- some offer seniors a small drink for 49¢ with free refills!! Again, it never hurt to ASK!!!

Leave a comment! Click "comment" below! Thanks!

To make money, save money or just stretch what you have-continue reading articles for more tips, ideas and ways to do all 3!

Don't let the word "cheap" determine whether you save money or not!

Don't let the word "cheap" determine whether you save money or not! Whether you read the word, hear it or say it, "cheap" can be one of your best friends!! I happen to love that word and it catches my wallet all the time! A lot of things I have are a result of not ignoring that precious, priceless word! Thank you, "cheap"!

Cheap is just the good stuff rearranged in your life - or in this case, on your plate!

For instance:

Local fast foods, offer Value Meals or $1.00 Menus. This is where they offer you many of the same items as they do in a combo meal, but seperately. For $4.99 you can get a hamburger, fries and a drink. On the value menu, you can get a hamburger, fries and a drink for $3.00. Mix and match and you have a wonderful array of lunches!

For example: A certain fast food place has a $1.00 menu. A side salad w/dressing is $1.00. An order of chicken pieces (4 nice size pieces) is $1.00. Buy these 2 items, Break/cut up the pieces of chicken into small bite sizes pieces and place them in the salad. Bingo! You have a nice chicken salad for $2.00!!! The salad comes with dressing of choice. Add a small drink (with free refills) and you have a fantastic lunch both in price and nutrition!

Plus, if you want to eat a little more, order 2 salads and 2 chicken piece orders! Just get a different dressing on each and you will have more varitey for your meal that day!

Check the $1.00/value menu at your favorite fast food. Mix and match and every day you can have a great and nutritional meal for about $4.00! Drop any change into your purse so at the end of the week, you can collect it and put it in your piggy bank for savings.

Give it a try! See what fun, nutritional and CHEAP meals you can create!

P.S. Ask your fast food place if they offer discounts for "seniors"- some offer seniors a small drink for 49¢ with free refills!! Again, it never hurt to ASK!!!

Leave a comment! Click "comment" below! Thanks!

To make money, save money or just stretch what you have-continue reading articles for more tips, ideas and ways to do all 3!