Grocery delivery might sound like a wasteful expense for some, but it really depends on how you'll be spending the free time you paid for. If you're spending that free time watching TV or otherwise sitting on your ass, then you've wasted that cash. But if you used that time to start your own business or become a better parent then it is definitely worth it!
I agree with the whole article in general. These are basically what bloggers do these days on their sites aside from the traditional online thing. The good news is it will help them earn money with their writing hobby.
As for your question, I give a benefit of the doubt to bloggers as some of them really review a certain product while others are paid to do it. I basically read the post and see how personal it’s written. Most of the time, you’ll feel if the content is real or not by just reading them. Second, I’ll compare them with other independent review sites just to see other facts for consistency and accuracy.
One way my husband and I are trying to control spending while still allowing this is that our budget includes an allowance for each of us. The rules are pretty simple: don't go over your allowance. (hubby's still working on this, but we're getting better)
So, my hubby cannot say *anything* about how I spend my allowance, and I cant say anything about how he spends his allowance, as long as we don't go over-budget. I recommend this, because it gives us each some wiggle room in finances, but controls it well. And, if I really want to save up money for something big, I can!
Thanks for these recipes- they all sound wonderful! My husband and I stopped using bottled dressing last February and love making our own!
This is the best blue cheese low fat dressing I have come across:
1/3 cup of EACH low fat mayo, greek yogurt and low fat buttermilk
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 tablespoon of tarragon vinegar (or use white vinegar)
1 tsp. dijon mustard
salt & pepper to taste.
Mix with a whisk. 32 calories for two tablespoons! And it's DELICIOUS and cheap!
When it comes to buying off a site I've never used before and dealing with the nervousness of providing my credit card, that's when I'm glad that I have a Citi credit card. Citi allows you to create a virtual credit card number on the fly that you can set to expire in the current month and set any credit limit, so that you can put it near your purchase price. This would prevent someone from going hog wild using your credit card info if it turns out the site isn't legit.
I know that this is a really old post, but it looks like it's still alive so I thought that I would comment. I made these for the first time tonight. I substituted one of the mashed bananas with a 1/3 of a cup of peanut butter and used rice syrup for sweetener. I used raisins and a 1/3 chopped walnuts. I cooked them for 18 minutes and they set up perfectly. My husband loves them. I definitely plan on making a weekly batch and will double my recipe next time!
@John - Thanks for your advice. I guess it depends on where you're traveling...hotels in some cases can be quite secure, and in other cases quite the opposite. If I do leave my passport in the room, I lock it up at the very least. And if I'm in a country where I'm always required to carry my original, I will stick it in an under-clothes wallet.
Where though, will only having a photocopy land you in jail? I'd never heard that before.
I think you also have to weigh the odds: what are the odds of having your passport mugged from your person, versus being stolen from the room? The answer depends highly on where you travel.
@Rob - Great suggestion. As an additional form of photo ID, I like to have an International Driver's License. It also comes in handy if you want to drive elsewhere in the world!
@Personal Finance - I agree with you completely on principle. However it's in the execution that most people fall short of doing a complete budget. Any suggestions?
I'm 22 and for the past year I've been saving 16% of my income in retirement accounts, up from 6% the last two years. I plan on raising that to 20% this year. Part of the problem is, I only make 20k a year, my employer doesn't match, and I'm trying to pay my way through school. Gas alone costs at the very least 10% of my income. I would like to save more so I could put a down-payment on a small house (in my area that would be cheaper than renting). Already I feel horribly frustrated that without a higher salary, there's not much I can do to save more money, but since I have to work full time it's taking significantly longer to finish school in order to get that better salary. Meanwhile, I have friends who are making much more than I am, but haven't put a penny of it aside. So it's somewhat amusing that though I am already frustrated about my finances 40 years down the road, I'm still better off than pretty much everyone I know around my age.
Hannah, you're more than welcome to buy your products however you choose.
But assuming you trust a blogger's recommendation, why wouldn't you want to support them in a way that costs you nothing extra? Amazon affiliate links don't make your purchase any more or less expensive.
If you enjoy what a blogger writes about and trust that their recommendations are genuine, deliberately avoiding their affiliate links isn't the way to encourage them to write more.
Please don't do the stupid mistake of purchasing from the BUYTHEMAXNOW.COM website like I did. It doesn't work and they promise guarantee in which when you go and request a refund they will not even email you or answer their phones. They are scammers!!! Save your money and buy a real booster.
I know it will be less expensive for us because we locked in our propane at a much lower rate than last year. Our propane company sent us a contract that seemed much too high a rate. I checked the projected average winter price for propane in the South and their rate was higher than that. I called around to a bunch of other local dealers and got a quote for forty cents lower than our company. In the end my company matched the lower price (and theirs had gone up by ten cents more while I was doing this!) and avoided the fees for emptying and removing the tank. :>
Very good tips. Another tip is to contact credit card companies and ask for reduced payment and lower interest for a few months. I was able to get Target to reduce my payment and interest while I was unemployed for a year.
Be very careful when using 401K as a loan or withdrawal. it could cause you to incur more debt with the IRS. Yikes!
I don't see what netspend did wrong here, if anything you should be mad at whoever suggested your husband for the card, netspend is only providing the service its a PREPAID DEBIT CARD its pretty much like having lent in your pocket if you don't load it with cash, even when activated its worth nothing so don't have a cow man..... If you believe it's a scam then the financial system as a whole is a scam as its ran the same way as any major bank...........in other words stop trying to bash a company for sending you the card that it thought you could use you might be broke anyways.....
Here in Scotland, the number 1 hangover cure is a bottle of Irn Bru (full sugar of course).
Irn Bru is a fizzy soft drink, bright orange in colour and rammed with sugar and caffiene. In Scotland it's sales have been higher than those of Coke and Pepsi for a long time.
Grocery delivery might sound like a wasteful expense for some, but it really depends on how you'll be spending the free time you paid for. If you're spending that free time watching TV or otherwise sitting on your ass, then you've wasted that cash. But if you used that time to start your own business or become a better parent then it is definitely worth it!
I agree with the whole article in general. These are basically what bloggers do these days on their sites aside from the traditional online thing. The good news is it will help them earn money with their writing hobby.
As for your question, I give a benefit of the doubt to bloggers as some of them really review a certain product while others are paid to do it. I basically read the post and see how personal it’s written. Most of the time, you’ll feel if the content is real or not by just reading them. Second, I’ll compare them with other independent review sites just to see other facts for consistency and accuracy.
One way my husband and I are trying to control spending while still allowing this is that our budget includes an allowance for each of us. The rules are pretty simple: don't go over your allowance. (hubby's still working on this, but we're getting better)
So, my hubby cannot say *anything* about how I spend my allowance, and I cant say anything about how he spends his allowance, as long as we don't go over-budget. I recommend this, because it gives us each some wiggle room in finances, but controls it well. And, if I really want to save up money for something big, I can!
Thanks for these recipes- they all sound wonderful! My husband and I stopped using bottled dressing last February and love making our own!
This is the best blue cheese low fat dressing I have come across:
1/3 cup of EACH low fat mayo, greek yogurt and low fat buttermilk
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 tablespoon of tarragon vinegar (or use white vinegar)
1 tsp. dijon mustard
salt & pepper to taste.
Mix with a whisk. 32 calories for two tablespoons! And it's DELICIOUS and cheap!
Wow!
A low fat, inexpensive ranch dressing recipe?
If the taste is anything close, I'm all over that one....
When it comes to buying off a site I've never used before and dealing with the nervousness of providing my credit card, that's when I'm glad that I have a Citi credit card. Citi allows you to create a virtual credit card number on the fly that you can set to expire in the current month and set any credit limit, so that you can put it near your purchase price. This would prevent someone from going hog wild using your credit card info if it turns out the site isn't legit.
Do what you want to do! Make sure that if you want something that you get it!
I know that this is a really old post, but it looks like it's still alive so I thought that I would comment. I made these for the first time tonight. I substituted one of the mashed bananas with a 1/3 of a cup of peanut butter and used rice syrup for sweetener. I used raisins and a 1/3 chopped walnuts. I cooked them for 18 minutes and they set up perfectly. My husband loves them. I definitely plan on making a weekly batch and will double my recipe next time!
@John - Thanks for your advice. I guess it depends on where you're traveling...hotels in some cases can be quite secure, and in other cases quite the opposite. If I do leave my passport in the room, I lock it up at the very least. And if I'm in a country where I'm always required to carry my original, I will stick it in an under-clothes wallet.
Where though, will only having a photocopy land you in jail? I'd never heard that before.
I think you also have to weigh the odds: what are the odds of having your passport mugged from your person, versus being stolen from the room? The answer depends highly on where you travel.
@Rob - Great suggestion. As an additional form of photo ID, I like to have an International Driver's License. It also comes in handy if you want to drive elsewhere in the world!
@Maurs - These are awesome suggestions! Thanks! I didn't know about the fire-lighting properties of citrus peels either. Cool.
@Personal Finance - I agree with you completely on principle. However it's in the execution that most people fall short of doing a complete budget. Any suggestions?
I'm 22 and for the past year I've been saving 16% of my income in retirement accounts, up from 6% the last two years. I plan on raising that to 20% this year. Part of the problem is, I only make 20k a year, my employer doesn't match, and I'm trying to pay my way through school. Gas alone costs at the very least 10% of my income. I would like to save more so I could put a down-payment on a small house (in my area that would be cheaper than renting). Already I feel horribly frustrated that without a higher salary, there's not much I can do to save more money, but since I have to work full time it's taking significantly longer to finish school in order to get that better salary. Meanwhile, I have friends who are making much more than I am, but haven't put a penny of it aside. So it's somewhat amusing that though I am already frustrated about my finances 40 years down the road, I'm still better off than pretty much everyone I know around my age.
I would not swtich banks on a whim, and there would have to be a pretty serious breach for me to do so.
If I did want to, I'd dig deep into the research of the new bank.
New policies, complete fee schedule, and probably a personal visit so I could "grill" a rep about any "hidden" stuff I might not be aware of.
Also, if you bank online and have any kind of ACH's from your account, remember that all of this will have to be set up with your new bank.
All of that translates into a little too much hassle for me at the moment.
Hannah, you're more than welcome to buy your products however you choose.
But assuming you trust a blogger's recommendation, why wouldn't you want to support them in a way that costs you nothing extra? Amazon affiliate links don't make your purchase any more or less expensive.
If you enjoy what a blogger writes about and trust that their recommendations are genuine, deliberately avoiding their affiliate links isn't the way to encourage them to write more.
If that's Norfolk in the UK drop me a line. Dave.
Please don't do the stupid mistake of purchasing from the BUYTHEMAXNOW.COM website like I did. It doesn't work and they promise guarantee in which when you go and request a refund they will not even email you or answer their phones. They are scammers!!! Save your money and buy a real booster.
Sounds like what I am looking for! Can you tell me the name of your plan or recommend a reputable company for high deductible insurance?
I know it will be less expensive for us because we locked in our propane at a much lower rate than last year. Our propane company sent us a contract that seemed much too high a rate. I checked the projected average winter price for propane in the South and their rate was higher than that. I called around to a bunch of other local dealers and got a quote for forty cents lower than our company. In the end my company matched the lower price (and theirs had gone up by ten cents more while I was doing this!) and avoided the fees for emptying and removing the tank. :>
Very good tips. Another tip is to contact credit card companies and ask for reduced payment and lower interest for a few months. I was able to get Target to reduce my payment and interest while I was unemployed for a year.
Be very careful when using 401K as a loan or withdrawal. it could cause you to incur more debt with the IRS. Yikes!
You were used to put a voice to the story, pretty well. I agree with Will though about Mirren (sp?). She totally stole the show!
I don't see what netspend did wrong here, if anything you should be mad at whoever suggested your husband for the card, netspend is only providing the service its a PREPAID DEBIT CARD its pretty much like having lent in your pocket if you don't load it with cash, even when activated its worth nothing so don't have a cow man..... If you believe it's a scam then the financial system as a whole is a scam as its ran the same way as any major bank...........in other words stop trying to bash a company for sending you the card that it thought you could use you might be broke anyways.....
Here in Scotland, the number 1 hangover cure is a bottle of Irn Bru (full sugar of course).
Irn Bru is a fizzy soft drink, bright orange in colour and rammed with sugar and caffiene. In Scotland it's sales have been higher than those of Coke and Pepsi for a long time.
I work for a call center, Convergys, and ended up with 17% discount for my service, sadly no discount for being a student at APSU.
No one is shooting at me.