Swapping clothes with a friend is a great idea!! I remember growing up, my favorite thing to do was go through the clothes my sister was getting rid of after she cleaned out her closet. We all have that friend or sister who has a style we envy and certain clothes we wish we owned. Rather than trying to find something similar, I'd wait until she had worn it out for herself and was bored with it and take it then. Even to this day, if I notice something in her closet she hasn't worn in what seems years and doesn't seem like something she'd wear again, I ask her about it and most of the time she's pretty quick to hand it over. For me, it's like getting a brand new outfit for free. I love it.
This is kind of scary, but not in any way surprising. Its incredible what marketing and advertising agencies will do to make money. Pulling the wool over consumers eyes is a regular practice for almost all big corporations or industries. The only way to really get what you pay for is to do your research and know what you're buying before you buy it. Thanks for the article!
Not eating out is seriously one of the best ways to save a ton of money. People don't realize how much money they spend on everything from a coffee every morning to grabbing a sub at lunch. You can save a TON of money by making the simple choice to make everything at home. Make a grocery list and a meal plan for each week. This is not only so much smarter and cheaper, its much healthier.
I am using my CPA again this year. My tax situation is even more complex than usual since I changed jobs and work states. On a normal year, it's too complex for me with my diverse set of investments. This year, I am leaning on my CPA even more.
Of course! I always file my own taxes. When I accumulate more assets I will probably need professional services but for now it's fairly simple and cheaper to do it on my own.
Thanks for your very helpful piece. I am a messy creative type. For me, sentimentality and a manic frugal streak have a lot to do with it. I hate to throw out things that still have life in them even though they're not good enough to freecycle. Did Regina address those issues? Maybe another article?
We all say that better not run after wage which is correct, but sometimes we have to be like keen after our financial issues which makes us the wage slave.
I started filing my own taxes after discovering TurboTax and realizing just how ridiculously easy it really is. It also helps that I keep extensive records of my spending; I can account for every penny I spent on every day of the entire year.
Hell, it may sound strange, but I'm even beginning to enjoy it a little. I just started my Roth IRA and plan to open a brokerage account later on, so my taxes are going to increase in complexity when I start having to account for capital gains/dividends/etc, but I'm actually excited to see if I have the wits to do it myself.
I've filed my own taxes and my son's as well, using Turbo Tax online. I've used them for years now and always been satisfied with the guidance & results. If my taxes were more complex I would pay someone else to do them.
To save money at the grocery store you need to evaluate just what exactly it is that you eat and why you eat it:
(is it the convenience of bring the frozen cardboard box to work and nuke it?
is it because the food will keep outside of a fridge from the morning until lunch time?
is it because you don't have time to cook during the week?
is it because you're easily bored of the same foods?)
Armed with that information you can then review your grocery receipts and enter them into excel in two columns, item name, item price, then sort the columns by item price to give you an idea of what is costing you the most money.
Once you know what you eat, why you eat it and how much it costs you to continue to eat it, you can then look at recipes and price out how much the ingredients cost to see at what price point does it make more sense for you to just buy the item vs. make it yourself in a batch, on the weekend, and freeze it for later.
I basically cook all the main dishes for the week every Sunday in huge batches and freeze them. The only cooking I do during the week is to reheat a previously frozen main dish or to make a side dish or to grill something outside, so 20minutes max.
The benefits of this technique are:
You learn to cook.
You know exactly what is going into your food.
You have the convenience of a frozen cardboard box lunch but you have control of the nutritional and salt content.
You will pay the lowest possible cost for your food.
You will begin to find multiple recipes that use similar ingredients so that you can buy in bulk yet still have variety.
My husband did our taxes with the Walmart portal, H&R block free tax service. We'll be getting a little bit back this year that will go to car repairs.
Swapping clothes with a friend is a great idea!! I remember growing up, my favorite thing to do was go through the clothes my sister was getting rid of after she cleaned out her closet. We all have that friend or sister who has a style we envy and certain clothes we wish we owned. Rather than trying to find something similar, I'd wait until she had worn it out for herself and was bored with it and take it then. Even to this day, if I notice something in her closet she hasn't worn in what seems years and doesn't seem like something she'd wear again, I ask her about it and most of the time she's pretty quick to hand it over. For me, it's like getting a brand new outfit for free. I love it.
I will often ignore the dishes, laundry tidying up to work on a creative project. They key is to get to the dull stuff later in the day.
Great article!
This is kind of scary, but not in any way surprising. Its incredible what marketing and advertising agencies will do to make money. Pulling the wool over consumers eyes is a regular practice for almost all big corporations or industries. The only way to really get what you pay for is to do your research and know what you're buying before you buy it. Thanks for the article!
Not eating out is seriously one of the best ways to save a ton of money. People don't realize how much money they spend on everything from a coffee every morning to grabbing a sub at lunch. You can save a TON of money by making the simple choice to make everything at home. Make a grocery list and a meal plan for each week. This is not only so much smarter and cheaper, its much healthier.
use 29= wont the floor get sticky or smelly? i spilled coke once on the tiled floor and it beacame all sticky.....another use perhaps? =)
I am using my CPA again this year. My tax situation is even more complex than usual since I changed jobs and work states. On a normal year, it's too complex for me with my diverse set of investments. This year, I am leaning on my CPA even more.
Yes, and I already did them and got my return :)
Of course! I always file my own taxes. When I accumulate more assets I will probably need professional services but for now it's fairly simple and cheaper to do it on my own.
Thanks for the mention!
Thanks for your very helpful piece. I am a messy creative type. For me, sentimentality and a manic frugal streak have a lot to do with it. I hate to throw out things that still have life in them even though they're not good enough to freecycle. Did Regina address those issues? Maybe another article?
I have filed my taxes using Turbo Tax online...with a $20 discount through AAA.
Doing my taxes myself. Using H&R Bloack at Home Deluxe plus State. Lots of work, but saves lots of money!
We all say that better not run after wage which is correct, but sometimes we have to be like keen after our financial issues which makes us the wage slave.
I started filing my own taxes after discovering TurboTax and realizing just how ridiculously easy it really is. It also helps that I keep extensive records of my spending; I can account for every penny I spent on every day of the entire year.
Hell, it may sound strange, but I'm even beginning to enjoy it a little. I just started my Roth IRA and plan to open a brokerage account later on, so my taxes are going to increase in complexity when I start having to account for capital gains/dividends/etc, but I'm actually excited to see if I have the wits to do it myself.
I'll be using HR Block.
Yeah, we'll do turbo tax or something like that.
Already did, used H&R block online and got a discount through the prime card.
Yes, I did my own using TurboTax. I might by a house this year, in which case I will itemize and use a professional for 2013.
I've filed my own taxes and my son's as well, using Turbo Tax online. I've used them for years now and always been satisfied with the guidance & results. If my taxes were more complex I would pay someone else to do them.
No, I've been audited before and prefer a tax preparation service!
Yes, I will doing my own again this year using Tax Act. My filing is pretty simple.
Hi, guest! Thanks for the suggestion - I love the almond oil idea - I think that would smell great. Thanks again!
To save money at the grocery store you need to evaluate just what exactly it is that you eat and why you eat it:
(is it the convenience of bring the frozen cardboard box to work and nuke it?
is it because the food will keep outside of a fridge from the morning until lunch time?
is it because you don't have time to cook during the week?
is it because you're easily bored of the same foods?)
Armed with that information you can then review your grocery receipts and enter them into excel in two columns, item name, item price, then sort the columns by item price to give you an idea of what is costing you the most money.
Once you know what you eat, why you eat it and how much it costs you to continue to eat it, you can then look at recipes and price out how much the ingredients cost to see at what price point does it make more sense for you to just buy the item vs. make it yourself in a batch, on the weekend, and freeze it for later.
I basically cook all the main dishes for the week every Sunday in huge batches and freeze them. The only cooking I do during the week is to reheat a previously frozen main dish or to make a side dish or to grill something outside, so 20minutes max.
The benefits of this technique are:
You learn to cook.
You know exactly what is going into your food.
You have the convenience of a frozen cardboard box lunch but you have control of the nutritional and salt content.
You will pay the lowest possible cost for your food.
You will begin to find multiple recipes that use similar ingredients so that you can buy in bulk yet still have variety.
I have always filed my own taxes.
I started using TaxAct a few years ago since it is cheaper than TurboTax.
My husband did our taxes with the Walmart portal, H&R block free tax service. We'll be getting a little bit back this year that will go to car repairs.