We have a Sam's Membership, and save at least 10 cents per gallon of gas, and my husband needed new tires a few months ago. They were at least $100 cheaper at Sam's than anywhere else, and Sam's does free flat repair for all members regardless of where the tires are from.
Thanks for the comment Nora, but, so far I have felt no reason to go to school,it has only taught me how to cheat. And as for appreciating things, I think I do a great job of that! I've always been thankful for everything that was given to me. Now I would like to earn something, drifting just sounds like a very satisfying way to earn something!
@Tyler - I must implore of you: stay in school! I didn't sell up everything until I was almost 30 years old, and I think that I needed those years under my belt to appreciate it for all it's worth. If you quit school you'll limit your chances...at the very least finish school, then you can re-evaluate.
I love the comment "If Money Doesn't Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren't Spending it Right." Spot on.
Our shopping habits are reflective of the hunter/gatherer in us. Men and women shop differently. We get a short, little bit of pleasure from shopping, which is quickly replaced with feeling normal. Spending smaller amounts more often seems to be a great way to deal with that.
Within weeks of your review and the comments here, the US economy went completely off the rails, taking with it most of the world's developed economies.
The US national debt is now in the teens of trillions, but the elephant in the room - the "un-funded future obligations" - effectively pushes the figure to a nightmare-ish $70T.
That is not a typo. Seventy Trillion Dollars. But hey, that's not budgeted for, so it's not "real", so the government hopes you'll buy into ignoring it... at least until it's someone elses problem down the road.
And the governments answer? More debt. More borrowing to finance its insane rate of expenditure.
It's as screwed up as a drunk man who thinks he can drink himself to sobriety.
Currently, if everyone was taxed 100% of their income, the country still would not have enough to pay off that debt load.
I think it's high time I.O.U. USA got another viewing. Too many people just didn't get it, didn't grasp the message, back in '07-'08.
Costco gas is often cheaper than normal gas stations. Also, it's a great place to purchase batteries for all the kids toys, baby swings, etc. We have found the Kirkland batteries last just as long as name brands.
We got our home owner's insurance through Ameriprise, which gives Costco members a discount. I compared prices and that alone saves us more than $200 each year.
Items that we find to be cheaper at Costco: chicken nuggets (the only form of meat we've convinced my son to eat), Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes ($15 vs. $40 from the restaurant, not as much for the kids as for us), Carter's footed pajamas, string cheese, gourmet cheeses, organic apples, spinach and artisan breads.
Even though I only go to Costco about once a month, and I do most of my grocery shopping elsewhere, I find our membership to be well worth it.
With new twins in our house we're looking forward to really putting our Costco membership to work.
However, unfortunately for us, it doesn't look like our boys will be able to use generic formula anytime soon and Costco doesn't carry any diapers below a size 2. But for now we're continuing to stock up on paper goods (as mentioned above) food and Monster Energy drinks ;-).
Hmm, the organic products got me interested so I did a little poking around online. Sounds like the organic strawberry spread and organic hamburgers are good ones to try.
OK you never actually said why you still write paper checks - you just exlainied why all the reasons you used to do it are no longer valid! So what gives? You just like spending money on stamps and stationary? You like having to manually balance your checking register to keep track of outstanding checks?
I am forced to write a check each month for 2 HOA bills which don't accept electronic bills and I HATE it. I hate having to remember the due date and address the envelope and buy stamps every 6 months or so and wait the 2-3 weeks it takes for them to cash the darn things after I mail them. I pay in advance every three months to minimize the hassle.
Totally agree with the points you make, and happily all of them apply to my current work suitation. I have just been offered a promotion within my job and although there are aspects which are new to me, my boss is happy to train me, which makes me feel valued and more commited to the job.
The issue here is managing debt. The real key to investing in real estate (rental income property - not primary residence) is understanding how to manage cash flow and expenses. The beauty of real estate is that the investor is in CONTROL, not some fat cat in NY picking which company he thinks will go up in the near future. If an investor takes time to understand how to acquire property, rent out the unit for more than the mortgage, the owner will absolutely realize equity. Let me be again refer back to my original example, if an investor buys a rental property for 100K (puts 20K down, bank finances 80K) they will probably have a mortgage of $500, in most markets this house will rent for $850-$1000 per month. If you keep 6 months worth of reserves per property and 10 years later the property is still worth 100K, you will probably have 15-20K (on top of your initial 20K down payment) new equity just by nature of the tenant paying down your loan. The example I have just given doesn’t even take into account tax benefits, depreciation, possible appreciation, inflation and yearly net income from cash flow. Again, over-leveraging is dumb and can absolutely be avoided. If people don’t take time to understand what they are investing in, they might as well hide their money under a mattress. I will say this in closing, if someone made poor choices with their investments and over-leveraged, then they were the direct result of their circumstance and I can except that. However, what I can’t except is throwing away money into the stock market hoping my diversified portfolio will grow based on another person's understanding of the “market”.
We LOVE Costo and we save big time on Pet supplies! Frontline, Dog and Cat Food, Cat Litter - and who can beat the $20 giant dog pillows. Our pets are big fans.
Costco offers very little in the way of savings on diapers. We assumed we'd save a ton but once I did the research, we could always find them just as cheap in numerous other types of more convenient retailers (grocery stores w/coupons, non-club big boxes, etc.).
This entire article is ridiculous. I'm not going to take someone seriously when they suggest that I could save money by not buying a washer/dryer. You're saying the opportunity costs of me spending [at least] an entire day on laundry is less than the one-time investment and ongoing operating costs of a washer and dryer? I'd really like you to explain this one, please.
And I have to agree with other commenters, you have a house cleaning service and you're worried about Post-It notes? Do you know how cheap those are? Besides, it seems like you can get free Post-It-like products from people trying to sell you stuff all the time. I bet there's a bank in your town giving away free post-it pads with their branch name on them right now :)
We have a large bonfire (about 120+ people) every year and roast hot dogs and make s'mores. We save well over $200 on hot dogs, buns and chocolate bars when compared to the grocery store. Parents might find that shopping for just one party will offset the expense of the membership.
We also used the Costco Auto Program and saved a lot on our car!!
We used to buy diapers, but now Amazon Mom/Subscribe and save is even cheaper. However, we love Costco's wipes (both baby wipes and their disinfectant wipes). Paper towels, toilet paper, and dishwasher detergent are as good as name brands and cheaper (unless you have some killer coupons and a sale at another store).
Milk is cheap and we save a bunch on produce and fruit--it's all very high quality.
We also buy wine, toys, and lots of stuff here. Returns are hassle free and the times I've had issues with items, Costco's customer service rules. My savings more than pay for the membership. And, with the executive rebate, I never even pay for my membership.
Lunchmeat! It's half the price at Costco that it is at Shaw's. We buy a loaf of their 7 Grain bread, a pack of roast beef and a pack of swiss cheese there almost every week.
We have Sam's instead of Costco where I live, but most of your findings are similar across all the club stores. I would remind parents that while diapers might be ever so slightly less expensive at the club stores, you can't use a coupon. There are always coupons out there for diapers, so it's probably better to use those and purchase diapers at a big box store. I do like the convenience of bulk paper goods as you mention, even though that's another item that may or may not be less expensive at Costco/Sam's.
don't forget about all the free samples... you can feed your kids for free a few times a year and not feel too guilty about it! HA :)
Teacher here as well.
I have yet to be in a district (nine so far) that gives teachers enough books. I think the best presents I get are gift certificates for book stores.
I am with the home made things- sweet- but often get thrown away because I cannot be assured of origin:<(
I love things for the classroom- games for rainy days, bottles of non scented lotion for the kids and pencils. These are things I purchase myself. If a parent buys them- the kids and I both win!
I concur! The power of handwritten notes go a long way these days. They show people you cared to take the time for them, which shows they mean something to you. It's amazing how infrequent people even send thank you notes these days!
Online shopping has definitely been a lifesaver for me this year. I like to shop the off peak hours too - nothing worse than getting stressed over parking spaces or long checkout lines.
Nice post:). I actually shop all year round for Christmas, although I always have a few more people to add to my list around the holidays, and a handfull that I have not found anything for yet (I take stock of my gift cupboard around this time).
I always tell myself, things like holidays and celebrations should never be stressful because it takes away the entire point of it. Much easier said than done sometimes, but it helps to center things for me again.
We have a Sam's Membership, and save at least 10 cents per gallon of gas, and my husband needed new tires a few months ago. They were at least $100 cheaper at Sam's than anywhere else, and Sam's does free flat repair for all members regardless of where the tires are from.
Thanks for the comment Nora, but, so far I have felt no reason to go to school,it has only taught me how to cheat. And as for appreciating things, I think I do a great job of that! I've always been thankful for everything that was given to me. Now I would like to earn something, drifting just sounds like a very satisfying way to earn something!
@Tyler - I must implore of you: stay in school! I didn't sell up everything until I was almost 30 years old, and I think that I needed those years under my belt to appreciate it for all it's worth. If you quit school you'll limit your chances...at the very least finish school, then you can re-evaluate.
I love the comment "If Money Doesn't Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren't Spending it Right." Spot on.
Our shopping habits are reflective of the hunter/gatherer in us. Men and women shop differently. We get a short, little bit of pleasure from shopping, which is quickly replaced with feeling normal. Spending smaller amounts more often seems to be a great way to deal with that.
Postscript: After The Crash
Within weeks of your review and the comments here, the US economy went completely off the rails, taking with it most of the world's developed economies.
The US national debt is now in the teens of trillions, but the elephant in the room - the "un-funded future obligations" - effectively pushes the figure to a nightmare-ish $70T.
That is not a typo. Seventy Trillion Dollars. But hey, that's not budgeted for, so it's not "real", so the government hopes you'll buy into ignoring it... at least until it's someone elses problem down the road.
And the governments answer? More debt. More borrowing to finance its insane rate of expenditure.
It's as screwed up as a drunk man who thinks he can drink himself to sobriety.
Currently, if everyone was taxed 100% of their income, the country still would not have enough to pay off that debt load.
I think it's high time I.O.U. USA got another viewing. Too many people just didn't get it, didn't grasp the message, back in '07-'08.
Costco gas is often cheaper than normal gas stations. Also, it's a great place to purchase batteries for all the kids toys, baby swings, etc. We have found the Kirkland batteries last just as long as name brands.
We got our home owner's insurance through Ameriprise, which gives Costco members a discount. I compared prices and that alone saves us more than $200 each year.
Items that we find to be cheaper at Costco: chicken nuggets (the only form of meat we've convinced my son to eat), Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes ($15 vs. $40 from the restaurant, not as much for the kids as for us), Carter's footed pajamas, string cheese, gourmet cheeses, organic apples, spinach and artisan breads.
Even though I only go to Costco about once a month, and I do most of my grocery shopping elsewhere, I find our membership to be well worth it.
I can tell you haven't worked in food service before... It's really not as easy as it looks.
With new twins in our house we're looking forward to really putting our Costco membership to work.
However, unfortunately for us, it doesn't look like our boys will be able to use generic formula anytime soon and Costco doesn't carry any diapers below a size 2. But for now we're continuing to stock up on paper goods (as mentioned above) food and Monster Energy drinks ;-).
Hmm, the organic products got me interested so I did a little poking around online. Sounds like the organic strawberry spread and organic hamburgers are good ones to try.
OK you never actually said why you still write paper checks - you just exlainied why all the reasons you used to do it are no longer valid! So what gives? You just like spending money on stamps and stationary? You like having to manually balance your checking register to keep track of outstanding checks?
I am forced to write a check each month for 2 HOA bills which don't accept electronic bills and I HATE it. I hate having to remember the due date and address the envelope and buy stamps every 6 months or so and wait the 2-3 weeks it takes for them to cash the darn things after I mail them. I pay in advance every three months to minimize the hassle.
Totally agree with the points you make, and happily all of them apply to my current work suitation. I have just been offered a promotion within my job and although there are aspects which are new to me, my boss is happy to train me, which makes me feel valued and more commited to the job.
The issue here is managing debt. The real key to investing in real estate (rental income property - not primary residence) is understanding how to manage cash flow and expenses. The beauty of real estate is that the investor is in CONTROL, not some fat cat in NY picking which company he thinks will go up in the near future. If an investor takes time to understand how to acquire property, rent out the unit for more than the mortgage, the owner will absolutely realize equity. Let me be again refer back to my original example, if an investor buys a rental property for 100K (puts 20K down, bank finances 80K) they will probably have a mortgage of $500, in most markets this house will rent for $850-$1000 per month. If you keep 6 months worth of reserves per property and 10 years later the property is still worth 100K, you will probably have 15-20K (on top of your initial 20K down payment) new equity just by nature of the tenant paying down your loan. The example I have just given doesn’t even take into account tax benefits, depreciation, possible appreciation, inflation and yearly net income from cash flow. Again, over-leveraging is dumb and can absolutely be avoided. If people don’t take time to understand what they are investing in, they might as well hide their money under a mattress. I will say this in closing, if someone made poor choices with their investments and over-leveraged, then they were the direct result of their circumstance and I can except that. However, what I can’t except is throwing away money into the stock market hoping my diversified portfolio will grow based on another person's understanding of the “market”.
We LOVE Costo and we save big time on Pet supplies! Frontline, Dog and Cat Food, Cat Litter - and who can beat the $20 giant dog pillows. Our pets are big fans.
Costco offers very little in the way of savings on diapers. We assumed we'd save a ton but once I did the research, we could always find them just as cheap in numerous other types of more convenient retailers (grocery stores w/coupons, non-club big boxes, etc.).
This entire article is ridiculous. I'm not going to take someone seriously when they suggest that I could save money by not buying a washer/dryer. You're saying the opportunity costs of me spending [at least] an entire day on laundry is less than the one-time investment and ongoing operating costs of a washer and dryer? I'd really like you to explain this one, please.
And I have to agree with other commenters, you have a house cleaning service and you're worried about Post-It notes? Do you know how cheap those are? Besides, it seems like you can get free Post-It-like products from people trying to sell you stuff all the time. I bet there's a bank in your town giving away free post-it pads with their branch name on them right now :)
Savings fail
This is a good way to save a couple of dollars and miss some golden opportunities. What's the phrase, penny wise and pound foolish?
We have a large bonfire (about 120+ people) every year and roast hot dogs and make s'mores. We save well over $200 on hot dogs, buns and chocolate bars when compared to the grocery store. Parents might find that shopping for just one party will offset the expense of the membership.
We also used the Costco Auto Program and saved a lot on our car!!
We used to buy diapers, but now Amazon Mom/Subscribe and save is even cheaper. However, we love Costco's wipes (both baby wipes and their disinfectant wipes). Paper towels, toilet paper, and dishwasher detergent are as good as name brands and cheaper (unless you have some killer coupons and a sale at another store).
Milk is cheap and we save a bunch on produce and fruit--it's all very high quality.
We also buy wine, toys, and lots of stuff here. Returns are hassle free and the times I've had issues with items, Costco's customer service rules. My savings more than pay for the membership. And, with the executive rebate, I never even pay for my membership.
Lunchmeat! It's half the price at Costco that it is at Shaw's. We buy a loaf of their 7 Grain bread, a pack of roast beef and a pack of swiss cheese there almost every week.
We have Sam's instead of Costco where I live, but most of your findings are similar across all the club stores. I would remind parents that while diapers might be ever so slightly less expensive at the club stores, you can't use a coupon. There are always coupons out there for diapers, so it's probably better to use those and purchase diapers at a big box store. I do like the convenience of bulk paper goods as you mention, even though that's another item that may or may not be less expensive at Costco/Sam's.
don't forget about all the free samples... you can feed your kids for free a few times a year and not feel too guilty about it! HA :)
Teacher here as well.
I have yet to be in a district (nine so far) that gives teachers enough books. I think the best presents I get are gift certificates for book stores.
I am with the home made things- sweet- but often get thrown away because I cannot be assured of origin:<(
I love things for the classroom- games for rainy days, bottles of non scented lotion for the kids and pencils. These are things I purchase myself. If a parent buys them- the kids and I both win!
I concur! The power of handwritten notes go a long way these days. They show people you cared to take the time for them, which shows they mean something to you. It's amazing how infrequent people even send thank you notes these days!
Online shopping has definitely been a lifesaver for me this year. I like to shop the off peak hours too - nothing worse than getting stressed over parking spaces or long checkout lines.
Hello Little House!
Nice post:). I actually shop all year round for Christmas, although I always have a few more people to add to my list around the holidays, and a handfull that I have not found anything for yet (I take stock of my gift cupboard around this time).
I always tell myself, things like holidays and celebrations should never be stressful because it takes away the entire point of it. Much easier said than done sometimes, but it helps to center things for me again.