Woman's Day Money Tip--Tuesday Tip

This comes right from Woman's Day Magazine. I have been doing it and I have saved, $100 this month.

"In 2007, Kathy Adams ..., read a tip in Woman's Day that she didn't quite believe. 'It said I could save a lot of money just be stashing $5 bills.' says Kathy. Though skeptical, in January 2008 she opened an interest-bearing savings account solely for her fives. Every times she got one, she'd put it in a jar. Then, on the first of each month, she'd deposit the money in her account.

One year later, she'd saved a whopping $2,703.47!"

Now, my $5's are going in my account for my PhD.

Provident Living--Tuesday Tip

Finances are a big problem--right?

No matter how many books you read or seminars you attend, every one will tell you one thing that is the same...no matter what the program you are to follow...

PAY YOURSELF FIRST.

Every book I have read, every seminar I have attended, every TV program I have watched says give 10% of your income to yourself.

Try it, you will be amazed how fast it accumulates. If you can't stand to do 10% start small. Even $5 a paycheck. You will see an increase. Don't put it off, start with the next paycheck you get.

Where to put it is another question. Right now, a Savings account or a Money Market account will be your two best bets. Then when you have saved a considerable amount and the market has rebounded, you can get creative in where to put it.

When do you spend it?

This money is not spending money. It is not a savings account to help you by a big screen TV or for a vacation. This money is for emergency use only. If you want to save money for a TV or a vacation, you need to open a separate savings account. Trust me, you will be glad you took this advice.

Compound interest is a good thing:
If you start with $1,000 compounded monthly at 1% interest, and you don't add any more to it, you will have $1,115.67 at the end of a year.

If you start with $100 and put $100 in your savings account every month with just 1% interest you will have

$1,268.25 at the end of one year
$2,697.35 at the end of two years
$4,307.69 at the end of three years
$6,122.26 at the end of four years
$8,166.97 at the end of five years

That is with only $100 a month being saved in one of the lowest interest bearing account out there. Let me know how you do!!!

Another way to save money win neat stuff!!

$600 later, I can smile about it...

Tarzan and I are on a very strict budget!!!

We each have a Paypal card with spending money on it. If we run out of money on our Paypal, we have to wait until the next payday to get more.

So, today, Tarzan had several packages to mail to the grandchildren (okay I had a couple also) and I very generously said, "I'll take them by the UPS store on my way to work." To which he expressed his deep and profound gratitude, but did not offer to help pay the postage. Actually, this strict budget thing is so new to us that I didn't think of it either until...

Mr. Brown (aka the UPS man) rang up the total and it was $5 more than I had in my Paypal account, yikes. Mr. Brown put my order on hold and I drove off to work with the promise that I would stop by after work and pay for the shipping.

Just as I passed the CVS Pharmacy, I reached for my cell phone to tell Tarzan how picked on I was because my allowance was smaller than his when I misjudged how close I was to the curb and ran over -- oh, how can I explain this, there were 4 cement thingys with a sidewalk in between and I ran over all of them...

Can you say blow out?

There was a hole big enough for my fist to fit in on the right front tire.

I called:

1. AAA
2. Work
3. Tarzan

Tarzan laughed at me.
I hung up on him.
Tarzan called back and made me feel better.

I called my crazy sister--she always helps me see the humor in any situation and after I got through telling her with both of us laughing until we were out of breath, she said, "well it could have been worse..."

It seems she got in her car once, in a huff, and backed up and hit a pole--she hit it so hard her wig fell off. Now, that would be worse. At least, I still had my dignity.