Frugal Living

Many people that create a budget have a difficult time sticking to it for one reason — incidental expenses. Although incidental expenses are only a small fraction of your expenses, they can have a really big [...]Recommended For You:Make Better Financial Decisions: Take Care of YourselfWhy Keeping Track of Expenses Is ImportantThe Zero-Based Budget, A Critical Key for Saving CashFun Fund: Saving Money for Entertainment and Travel5 Steps to Making a Budget That Works Read the rest of 5 Things That are Killing Your Budget at BeingFrugal.net.

If you’ve got a ton of questions about buying your first home, you’re not alone. Join @RBC_Canada and a panel of 5 experts for the #FirstHome Twitter chat, on June 6 at 9 pm, EST. Get answers to your most burning questions – and a chance to win RBC Visa Gift Cards! This month I celebrate two years of home ownership. It’s been an interesting (sometimes overwhelming) journey that required years of research and saving up to make sure I was ready. Although home ownership has definitely not been easy, I feel like I made a smart, calculated decision that I’m still really happy about. Here’s why: My mortgage is comfortable When I decided I was ready to stop renting and become a homeowner, I knew the bank would approve me for much more than I was comfortable spending. And when I was pre-approved for close to $300,000, I had already gone over my finances and decided that I wasn’t going to take on a mortgage of more than $250,000. Related: Take this quick and easy quiz to see if you’re ready to become a homeowner! No matter how stable you might think your life is, things can change. Case in point, eight months into my home ownership adventure, I was faced with the opportunity to live in Germany for what turned out to be almost 11 months. Because my townhouse complex does not allow rentals, if I had taken on a bigger mortgage, there’s no way I could have afforded to g I can still save for everything else in my life I ended up taking out a mortgage of just over $238,000 – which meant my monthly mortgage payments are approximately $1,070/month. I decided to increase my payments by 20% and opted for a bi-weekly payment option in order to pay off my mortgage faster. Had I chosen a more expensive home, I wouldn’t have the wiggle room in my budget to save for retirement, travel frequently, and pay down my mortgage faster. The place feels like a home It can be so tempting to head to a home improvement store and go on a renovation and decorating spree. But if you haven’t set aside money in your home buying budget for improvements, it’s likely better to hold off until you can afford to pay for your purchases in cash. Part of my strategy to becoming a first time homeowner was to be able to make renovations or buy furniture and decorations as soon as I moved in. I wanted it to feel like home – so I saved $4,500 and spent the entire amount on new floors, fresh paint, and furniture (which I purchased off Craigslist to save more money). I have all my finances in order Buying my first home was the biggest, most important financial decision of my life. Not only am I single (so the “household” only has one income to support the mortgage), I also had to take in to consideration many different things – including my work history, credit scores, and cash savings. I knew that the cleaner my overall financial history was, the better chance I would have at snagging the best interest rate possible for my mortgage. I started thinking about becoming a homeowner six years before I closed on my townhouse. In that time, I eliminated all of my debt, increased my net worth by over $80,000, created an emergency fund, and tucked money aside for closing costs, moving expenses, renovations, and furniture. Doing my research well beforehand, and making sure I had enough money to cover every detail of the purchase made my home buying experience a lot less stressful. The post Two years of home ownership appeared first on Give Me Back My Five Bucks.

Previous installments: Part #1: How to create maps / Part #2: How to plan for food / Part #3: How to pack and ship your foodI haven’t been looking forward to writing this installment to the series because I didn’t want to add up the outrageous amount of money I spent on gear.Before my trip, I received the first check for my book, making this the first time in my life I had a good chunk of money in the bank. So, between wanting to buy the best gear for my trip and feeling okay about treating myself to gear I’d probably use over and over again, I wasn’t exactly frugal when making my selections. I was seeking top quality, light-weight gear. I wanted to embrace “ultralight” backpacking as much as I reasonably could. Over the course of the trip, though, my opinion on ultralight backpacking would change. But I’ll get to that later. Clothes Item Weight Price Wool Socks (carried two pairs) 7 oz $52 Patagonia Nylon Pants 10.7 oz already owned Synthetic boxer shorts (carried 2 pairs) 5.4 oz $40 Polyester undershirt 8.4 oz $60 Wool overshirt 10.7 oz $105 Thermal shirt 7.2 oz $34.50 Thermal pants 5.4 oz already owned Rain pants 9.6 oz $34 Golite Malpais Trinity rain jacket 7 oz $80 Golite Cady Synthetic Jacket 15 oz $69 Gaiters 8 oz $55 Gloves 7.4 oz $85 Winter Hat 6 oz $30 Beanie 2 oz $30 Facemask 1.8 oz $25 Baseball cap 2.2 oz already owned Orange vest 6.8 oz $10 Total 2 lb 6 oz (on person) 5 lb 2 oz (packed) 7 lb 8 oz (total) $709 I began the trip with a pair of nylon pants, a light wool underlayer shirt, a medium-light top layer shirt, two pairs of socks, two pairs of boxer shorts, a baseball cap, winter hat, gloves, rain pants, rain jacket, and a light jacket. This was a fairly minimal approach to carrying clothes on a backpacking trip, and they would have proved enough for a summer excursion, but once winter came I had Josh (my base camp) buy and ship me more items, including another wool shirt, gaiters (for trudging through the snow), a facemask, and beanie. Three things I learned about clothes: 1.) You only need one pair of pants. If my pants got soaked during the day, I wore my thermal bottoms at night, which kept me warm. In the morning, I’d put on my wet pants, which was unpleasant, but better than having to carry another pair of pants. 2.) Bring layers; don’t bring a heavy jacket. While hiking, I was constantly peeling off or putting on clothes to maintain comfort. This is possible with layers; it’s not with a big parka. 3.) I always thought recreationalists were lame for paying so much attention to their gear, especially their fabric type. But that stuff matters, especially fabric. Cotton does not handle moisture well; it’s very slow to dry. You’re better off wearing synthetic materials, or, better yet, merino wool, which breathes nicely, weighs little, and dries out very quickly.Those Patagonia nylon pants were amazing. They were old when I began the trip with them, but they held up for the whole trip and are still very usable. I probably had to stitch them up at least twenty times because of barbed wire incidents, though.My GoLite rain jacket was incredibly disappointing. It was very expensive, yet it failed to keep my clothes dry. Also, the seams started to come apart, which was especially disappointing because I'd hardly had to wear the jacket on account of it being such a dry fall/winter. Seam in jacket tearing. Thermal underwear was infrequently worn, but was absolutely critical on days when I had to walk/sleep in extreme cold.The GoLite synthetic jacket worked admirably. It was a good sized jacket: not too big, and thin enough to fit underneath my rain jacket. I've had this REI hat since May 2007, and it's still in great shape. Shoes Item Weight Price Vasque hiking boots 3 lb $80 La Sportiva Raptor trail running shoe 12.3 oz $85 Total 3 lb $165 I began my hike with some La Sportiva trail running shoes, which were very ligh

I've pulled together 8 Memorial Day freebies and deals for the 2013 holiday weekend, including offers from Fandango, Starbucks, Shoney's and 7-Eleven.You might also enjoy (Note: Some offers may have expired)Suddenly Frugal’s Freebie Friday: Veterans Day 2012…Discount Tickets for Holiday Shows and EventsGet Up to 50% Off TicketsThe post Memorial Day Freebies and Deals for 2013 appeared first on Suddenly Frugal Blog.

I’ll admit it – I’m a shopping addict. But the last place you’ll see me, if I can help it, is at a shopping mall or retail store. I’m an online shopper and greatly prefer it [...]Recommended For You:5 Things You Should Never Keep in Your Wallet or PurseProtect Yourself Against Identity Thief Before He Gets YouDo You Need Credit Monitoring? How About a Free One?How to Choose the Right Tax Software for YouBest Tips and Tricks to Save Money Shopping $500 Giveaway Read the rest of 7 Secrets to Smart Shopping on the Web at BeingFrugal.net.

Is your car ready for summer car trips? Here is a list of six things you should do before you hit the road for your summer vacation.You might also enjoy (Note: Some offers may have expired)7 Tips to Save Money at the Gas Pump9 Free and Low-Cost Ways to Save Money & Energy This…First Car: How to Buy a CarGUEST POST: No B.S. Financial Advice6 Upcoming State Sales Tax HolidaysThe post Is Your Vehicle Ready for Summer Car Trips appeared first on Suddenly Frugal Blog.

Estate sales are a step-up from yard sales or garage sales. Instead of selling items people no longer want, they are trying to sell a house full of possessions people actually owned and used. They are [...]Recommended For You:The Best and Worst Things to Buy at Yard Sales10 Yard Sale Shopping Tips to Get the Best Bargains8 Tips for Successful Garage Sale Shopping10 Tips to a Wildly Successful Garage SaleFrugal Home Buying Tips Read the rest of Tips for Finding Estate Sale Bargains at BeingFrugal.net.

The federal government is making huge profits when it lends money to college students and their parents. According to a recent Congressional Budget Office report, the government pockets a tidy sum for each student loan dollar you borrow. For each dollar lent, the U.S. government makes: Subsidized Stafford Loan: 12.49 cents per dollar lent Unsubsidized Stafford Loan: 33 cents per dollar lent Parent PLUS Loan: 49 cents per dollar lent GradPLUS Loan: 54.84 cents per dollar lent According to CBS Moneywatch, the CBO report attracted surprisingly little attention. Meanwhile, the press is up in arms over the prospective doubling of the interest rate for subsidized Stafford Loans on July 1. After a lot of backing-and-forthing during the 2012 election year, Congress managed to forestall the looming increase until this year. If you’ve listened to/read media accounts of this scheduled rate hike, you might mistakenly assume that this is the biggest problem facing college loan borrowers today. CBS MoneyWatch reporter Lynne O’Shaughnessy and Mark Kantrowitz, a nationally recognized financial aid expert, report that the rate hike would cost a borrower an extra $760 over a 10-year repayment period, which amounts to just $6 a week. Congress is in blinders with respect to the issue, focusing narrowly on whether the impending rate hike will happen. In reality, what Congress should be doing is taking a broader perspective of how the financial aid system could be fixed. One issue in particular should draw their attention: why aren’t the rates on federal college loans market-based? Currently, Congress sets the rates (the unsubsidized Stafford rate is 6.8%), which explains why these rates are arbitrary and attract too much political posturing. Solutions anyone? In an attempt to encourage in-depth examination of federal student aid programs, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded grants to organizations that could suggest solutions. Organizations that submitted papers included the College Board, The Education Trust, the New America Foundation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This is actually an excellent time to be generating these proposals because Congress is scheduled to renew the federal Higher Education Opportunity Actnext year. This is when Congress is supposed to take the long view and go beyond enacting piece-meal legislation. One significant change that emerged from the last renewal was the requirement that all colleges and universities post net price calculators on their websites. This is a big deal for families: now any parent can use an institution’s net price calculator to get a personalized estimate of what that school will cost long before a child sends in an application. Some of the Gates’ grantees are urging Congress to move to market-based rates rather than letting Congress continue to arbitrarily set them. Student groups want any market-based system to include salary caps. Two other areas that attracted a great deal of attention from the Gates participants were focused on loan repayment and tax credits. Automatic repayment based on income Under current law, borrowers with federal student loans can choose several repayment plans and some qualify for the income-based repayment plan. The IBRessentially allows students who are unemployed or underemployed to repay their student debts based on what they can afford rather than what they owe. Some groups have suggested that graduates with federal student loans be automatically enrolled in the IBR program. Tax credits Eleven of the 16 Gates-funded proposals called for consolidating, shrinking or killing off education tax credits, which are controversial because they are regressive. The tax credits chiefly benefit more affluent families whose children will be heading off to college with or without these credits. Money saved from curtailing the tax credits could be sunk into Pell Grants that benefit needy families. As a political reality, however, elimin

Monday 13th + $130.95 dress refund $8.91 dinner Tuesday 14th No Spend Day! Wednesday 15th $29.61 groceries Thursday 16th $16.22 dinner Friday 17th $23.70 lunch Saturday 18th $25 brunch at Graze Restaurant Sunday 19th – Las Vegas, NV $200 cash Freelance Income: + $0 (+ $130.95 refund) Expenses: - $303.44 TOTAL: - $172.49 This was a pretty stressful week at work, so as a result I didn’t bring in any freelance income (although I did bill out), and my dining out was a bit excessive. Granted, Friday was a team lunch with co-workers, and Saturday I met up with a former editor I used to work for. On Sunday, I flew out to Las Vegas. Instead of trying to track every dollar I spend in cash (which is next to impossible in Vegas), I’m just going to lump it in as a cash sum. It doesn’t matter anyway, since all travel expenses will end up getting put into one category at the end of the month. Here are a few pictures from this past week: The post Spending Recap: May 13-19, 2013 appeared first on Give Me Back My Five Bucks.

I can't quite put my finger on why, but there is definitely something about the presence of a roof rack that screams "ADVENTURE." Quark, sporting his cool new summer haircut, concurs. Either that, or he's decided that the Vanagon is some sort of mutant sheep in need of serious herding. No way of knowing which. Regardless, my new custom fabricated solar rack is now in place, and after driving a few miles on the freeway this evening, I was relieved to find it precisely where I left it. Always a good thing. I also made some good progress on the cabinet design today, and the basic structure for both sides is now just about finished. With plenty of odd angles and contours to deal with, it's been slow going, but the results are shaping up nicely. All that aside, the real highlight of the day was when Q installed the latest addition to the workshop to end all workshops. I don't want to tempt Mother Nature, but I think the impending summer heat just got a little more tolerable...