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Monday Morning Personal Finance News – 3/14/11

FormerBigSpender — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 12:00:48 +0000

Happy Monday Morning. This week is Spring Break in the Six Figures and Broke household. My husband took the week off work and although I still have blogging to do for clients, I only need to put in about 10 hours of work this week. We’re spending Spring Break this year by staying local and enjoying the outdoors, taking a shopping (not buying) trip to Ikea (the kids love that store) and hanging out with family. Definitely Spring Break on the cheap!

Without further ado, I present you with this week’s Monday Morning Personal Finance News featuring stories on how you can help with the relief efforts in Japan and a spending limit on debit cards.

If you have money left in your giving envelope and want to help out with the Japanese earthquake efforts, read this article on CNNMoney.com with ideas on how you can help.
If you’re a debit card user, this story on a possible $50 spending limit on debit cards should have you a bit concerned. I know that I am! If this limit is implemented, it will also limit your purchases if you use your debit card as a credit card. This may force many of us to bust out the ole checkbook again!
This headline certainly caught my eye: Factories having trouble finding workers.
I’m not a big doom and gloomer but this is a bit worrisome: 10 Reasons to Worry About the Stock Market.
Are you heading into retirement? If so read this article on dealing with inflation risk during your retirement years.
Although I’m not a fan of credit cards, this story did have me a bit miffed. The recent credit card reform is having an unexpected yet negative impact on a specific population – stay-at-home-moms (SAHMs). If a SAHM wants to apply for a credit card, she can’t use her household income but instead needs to only use her income. If she doesn’t have any then she needs her spouse to co-sign. Again, I’m not a fan of credit cards but this is just silliness IMO.
Here’s another reader story from Get Rich Slowly – How I Avoided Student Loans – great read!
Check out Julie’s article on finding money to get out of debt and while you’re at it, check out the other great posts on her blog, The Family CEO.

Monday Morning Personal Finance News – Valentine’s Day Edition

FormerBigSpender — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 12:00:48 +0000

Happy Valentine’s Day! Did you buy your true love a Valentine’s Day gift? If so, did you budget for it? I hope so! I’m dedicating this week’s Monday Morning Personal Finance News edition to all things Valentine’s Day!

Groupon is still recovering from the controversy surrounding its insensitive Super Bowl ad and now it has a new brouhaha brewing – the Groupon/FTD floral “deal”.
A box of candy not enough for your sweetie? Check out one of these Extreme Valentine’s Day gifts.
Not really a lovey dovey story but today itemized filers and others waiting on the IRS can now file their federal tax returns!
Forget extreme V-day shopping, find out 5 new ways you can cut your Valentine’s spending.
Although it’s too late to take advantage of this advice for this year, find out how you can send the most affordable Valentine’s Day roses next year!
The average consumer in the United States will be spending $116.21 on Valentine’s Day gear this year. Are you average? I’m not!

Photo: Rdoke/Flickr

Prices Are Going Up and Product Sizes Are Getting Smaller

FormerBigSpender — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 12:00:25 +0000

Inflation is a concern for 2011 here in the United States. When grocery prices go up, that tight budget gets even tighter. Unfortunately, prices are going up and product sizes are getting smaller in some instances. Of course this isn’t the case across the board, but a recent article on CNNMoney.com looks at shrinking product sizes.

Here’s a quick list of the ten products examined in the article and the before and after product sizes:

Ivory Dish Detergent – 30 oz. to 24 oz.
Tropicana Orange Juice – 64 oz. to 59 oz.
Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream – 16 oz. to 14 oz.
Kraft American Cheese – 24 slices to 22 slices
Kirkland (Costco) Paper Towels – 96.2 sq. ft. to 85 sq. ft.
Scott Toilet Tissue – 115.2 sq. ft. to 104.8 sq. ft.
Lanacane First Aid Spray – 113 grams to 99 grams
Chicken of the Sea Salmon – 3 oz. to 2.6 oz.
Classico Pesto – 10 oz. to 8.1 oz.
Hebrew National Franks – 12 oz. to 11 oz.

When you pick up that bottle of Ivory Dish Detergent, you don’t see a big label that says “Now with 6 fewer ounces!” You may even think you’re getting more because the redesigned bottle looks bulkier. Instead, you’re getting about 20% less dish soap than you were before.

Read the entire article: Your favorite products – now 20% smaller.

Monday Morning Personal Finance News – 12/6/10

FormerBigSpender — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 12:00:22 +0000

Happy Monday morning on this first Monday in December 2010. Here’s some personal finance news highlights from the past week or so. Please note: The links will open up in a new window.

The November 2010 unemployment rate ticked up to 9.8%. Only 39,000 new jobs were added during the month, about 100,000 less than what was predicted by many economists.
Businesses are learning to do more with less, or so says Chris Isidore in his article “Why employer’s won’t hire.” – Makes sense to me!
Kill two birds with one stone – figuratively of course. Studies show that if you pay cash for groceries, you might just shed a few pounds!
If you’re a parent, did you know that toys can help teach kids about money? Just make sure you don’t buy that Barbie with the credit card!
Are you still working on trimming your budget? Check out 3 New Ways to Save on Gas for ideas on trimming the fuel budget.
Find out the latest in the extension or expiration of the “Bush Tax Cuts.”
Although more than 15 million Americans are officially considered unemployed, another 9 million are working part-time because they can’t find a full-time job.
Don’t get caught up in the buying excitement at wholesale clubs, check out Wisebread’s How Parents Save Money at Costco before your next shopping trip.

Monday Morning Personal Finance News – Black Friday Edition

FormerBigSpender — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 12:00:53 +0000

Happy Monday Morning! This week’s Monday Morning Personal Finance News post is dedicated to Black Friday. For those of us in the United States, the day after Thanksgiving is nicknamed Black Friday. Savvy shoppers can find some amazing deals but those without discipline can easily blow the Christmas budget. Don’t forget, the links below open in a new window.

Read a brief overview of What Would Jesus Buy? in The Coming of the Shopocalypse post at Get Rich Slowly.
Prepare for the day by reading Wallet Pop’s 10 Tips for Smart Holiday Shopping, Black Friday edition.
If you’re like me, you’d rather sleep off your turkey dinner and stay snuggled in bed while others stand out in the cold and check out the online Black Friday deals instead.
Check out Kiplinger’s alternative top 10 list – 10 Ways to Fatten Your Wallet on Black Friday.
If you’ve already got your budget set and your gift list planned out, check the Black Friday 2010 website to see if any of the specials match up with your list.

So are you planning on battling the crowds and being one of the expected 138 million shoppers on Black Friday?

Photo: tshein/Flickr

Looking Back: My Financial Goals for 2010

FormerBigSpender — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 12:00:48 +0000

At the beginning of the year, when I launched my Six Figures and Broke blog, I wrote a post detailing My Financial Goals for 2010. Now that we’re coming up on the holiday season and the New Year is right around the corner, I figured it would be a good time to look at the progress we’ve made towards this year’s financial goals.

Reducing Expenditures
One of my primary goals was to reduce my outgo and I’ve made great progress in this department, at least in my opinion. We reduced our grocery budget, we reduced our restaurant expenditures, we cut back to basic cable and basic internet, we cut out our mobile broadband internet, and much more. We have shaved several hundred dollars off of our monthly budget over the course of the year.

Paying off Debt
We have made huge progress in this department. Just look at my October 29 Baby Step 2 Update for proof. As of October 29, we were about halfway through our debt payoff. We slowed down on our debt repayment earlier this year while we cash-flowed a new air conditioner/heat pump system and then again in October and early November while we piled up $7,500 in cash. I am projecting that we will be down into high $20 thousands by the time of our next Baby Step 2 update later this month.

Savings
As I mentioned in my January post, we are not following Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover plan exactly. Although he’s an expert in the field and his plan has worked for probably millions of Americans, we’ve chosen to tweak it just a bit. We have saved up more than the recommended $1,000 Baby Emergency Fund and contribute to our 401k.

We initially only contributed 2% to the 401k but when my husband received a 5% raise earlier this month, we upped the 401k contributions to 6%. My husband receives a 100% match with instant vesting on this 6% plus it reduces our taxable income slightly.

Reflections
Last year about this time my husband had started a new job. He had been trying to obtain a position with this company for years and now it was becoming a reality. We were a bit nervous as the base pay was slightly lower than what he was making at the previous position but with the new job came commissions, bonuses and even an RSU stock award. With our new focus we had a plan for this money and in looking back at the first 10 months of this year, we know exactly where it went. I only wish I’d smartened up a few years ago but hey, better late than never, right?

If you made financial goals at the start of this year, I’d love to hear your progress.

Working on the Christmas Budget

FormerBigSpender — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 17:52:05 +0000

I know that some folks may already have all of their Christmas shopping done but I’ve only just started. I picked up a few items that were on sale and then realized that I needed to fine-tune our Christmas budget. Sure, my husband and I had briefly discussed our holiday spending but hadn’t really set anything in stone. So today I’m working on the Christmas budget.

In year’s past we’ve just spent willy nilly on Christmas gifts. If something looked cool, we bought it. The bulk of our spending was geared towards our children but we also buy for our nephews and then my parents. Years ago my sister and I decided that there was no reason to buy for the adults, besides our parents, and instead focused on the kids.

This year we’re still just buying for the kids and then doing something from the kids for the grandparents, but we are absolutely scaling back our spending. Last year we ended up around $2,000 spent for Christmas – and we don’t even travel! This year our budget is $600. Yup, $600.

We’ve already told the kids that they aren’t going to be gobbled up by presents and wrapping paper and much to our surprise, they were totally OK with it. Sure they enjoy opening presents but they enjoy spending time with family more. So this year on Christmas morning while I watch the kids open their gifts I’ll know that we carefully planned out our expenditures, paid for it with cash and won’t be making payments on it by the time Christmas 2011 comes around.

I’d love to hear your plans for the holidays. Do you already have a holiday shopping budget set?

Photo: BZMomma/Flickr

Monday Morning Personal Finance News – 11/8/10

FormerBigSpender — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:00:29 +0000

Happy Monday Morning! Here’s some personal finance news to get your week started off right including tips on saving money for the holidays and more.

5 ways to save $500 or more for the holidays – WalletPop

The holidays are right around the corner and if you don’t have a holiday sinking fund in place, WalletPop has a list of five ways to save $500 or more for the holidays. Number one on their list – boost your take home pay by checking your tax withholding! Click on through to WalletPop for the other four ways.

7 Uncommon Ways to Save For the Holidays – Fox Business

This Fox Business article will also help you get prepared to cash flow the holiday season. Two of the ideas in this article include stop spending for two months and gift your skills. Click on through to Fox Business for more ideas.

Stocks End at Fresh 2-Year Highs – CNN Money

U.S. stocks wavered Friday but ended with slight gains, as investors digested a strong jobs report at the end of a week full of big economic news. All three major indexes closed at fresh two-year highs and the Dow and S&P logged their biggest weekly gains in more than two months.

Americans’ Perception of Their Standard of Living is Unchanged From a Year Ago – DailyFinance

Americans’ perception of their standard of living is unchanged from both last month and a year ago, indicating that any optimism from gains in the stock market and U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) has been offset by issues such as unemployment and a stagnant housing market.

This Holiday Season, Consumers Expect to Be Frugal – Kiplinger

Consumers may spend slightly more this holiday season than last, according to projections from the International Council of Shopping Centers and the National Retail Federation – but they will be spending cautiously.

What We Are Doing to Get Out of Debt

FormerBigSpender — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 12:00:44 +0000

After reading the comments on the Consumerist.com article yesterday, I realized that I’m just telling you how much debt we’ve paid off in my monthly update but not really talking about what we are doing to get out of debt. Today, I’m going to rectify that.

First and foremost we are trying to follow Dave Ramsey’s My Total Money Makeover plan. His plan consists of the following Baby Steps:

Baby Step 1 – Start a $1,000 Baby Emergency Fund
Baby Step 2 – Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
Baby Step 3 – 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings
Baby Step 4 – Invest 15% of household into retirement
Baby Step 5 – College funding for children
Baby Step 6 – Pay off home early
Baby Step 7 – Build wealth and give!

We aren’t following his steps exactly because, as Dave said, personal finance is PERSONAL. But for the most part we are using his baby steps as a guideline and his call-in radio show as motivation and support to help keep us on track during our get out of debt journey.

Now on to the actions that we are taking to get out of debt. First and foremost we have a big shovel. My husband started a new job last November and while the base pay was slightly lower than his previous position, the new job comes with up to 30% of his base pay in commission. To our surprise, he’s been able to achieve this on a regular basis. So our shovel is even larger. Secondly, I have the ability to be a bit flexible with my income – I can write more and thus earn more.

In addition to increasing our income, we’ve decreased our outgo. Here’s a list of some of the cuts we’ve made:

Cable TV – we use Hulu, PlayOn and streaming online movies via Netflix to get our TV fix
Drastically reducing our restaurant visits – Not only do we visit restaurants fewer times each month, we don’t frequent the pricey restaurants we used to
Reduced entertainment budget – We’ve almost entirely cut out our entertainment budget
Meal planning and coupons – I plan my meals at least a week in advance, I’ve ventured in to a few once-a-month cooking meals, I coupon and I shop sales
Monitor home energy use – We live in a hot climate and summer air conditioning bills can get crazy, we turned the thermostat to a higher temperature and saved a little money that way
Stopped most extracurricular activities – no piano for the kids for a bit

In all of this we have learned a new word – patience. Instead of being a princess and buying what I want now, just because I want it, I am delaying gratification and giving myself time to really think through purchases.

For example, our garbage disposal recently broke. Instead of calling a plumber over instantly, I bought a new garbage disposal at Lowes and my husband installed it. This may sound silly but we easily saved $100+ on a plumber. My point in sharing this with you is that these $100 choices add up.

So there you have it, these are some of the things we are doing to get out of debt. We lived on the edge for far too long and have nothing to show for our fantastic income. Although we’ve made mistakes in the past we’re working on changing them for a better future for our family.

6 Budgeting Apps for the iPhone

FormerBigSpender — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 12:00:54 +0000

If you have an iPhone and want to keep track of your budget while on the go, check out one of these 6 budgeting apps for the iPhone. Most of the apps are also compatible with both the iPod Touch and the iPad.

Budget by Deskescape
Budget by Deskescape is a $0.99 budgeting app that is compatible with iOS 4. The app currently has a 2.5 star rating from customers and is compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. With Budget you can keep track of your current spending and ensure that you say on budget for a given time period. You can also easily see the percentage of your total income that you have dedicated to each budget category.

Ace Budget by SVT Software
Ace Budget by SVT Software is another budget app rated but this one has an average 4 star customer rating for the current version. Like Budget by Deskescape, the app is compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad and has been tested as compatible with iOS 4.0. With Ace Budget you can create multiple budgets including weekly, monthly, semimonthly, quarterly and yearly budgets as well as compare historical data and much more. For $1.99 the app comes with all of these features and supports the following languages: English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

HomeBudget Lite (w/Sync) by Anishu, Inc
HomeBudget Lite (w/Sync) is a limited free version of the HomeBudget application. The lite version allows users to get a feel for the app but it is limited to only 10 expense entries and 5 income entries. However, the app is free and if you like what you experiment with you can feel comfortable upgrading to the full version. HomeBudget Lite (w/Sync) has a 3 star customer rating for the current version.

HomeBudget with Sync by Anishu, Inc
The full-featured version of HomeBudget with Sync is available from the app store for $4.99. The app is designed for both iPhone and iPad and allows you to track income, expenses and bills. The app includes a Family Sync feature which allows a group of devices to exchange information and you won’t need to buy multiple copies if the devices all share the same iTunes account. The full-featured version has been iOS 4.0 tested and has a 3 star customer rating.

Spend Free – Personal Budgeting by Adamcode.com
Spend Free is another free version of an application. The app only has a 2.5 star rating but more than 11,000 customers have rated the application. Unfortunately this is for all versions and not enough people have rated the new version so the iOS 4.0 version may be better.

Spend – Budgeting by Adamcode.com
The full-featured application, Spend – Budgeting, is available for only $0.99 from the Apple iTunes App Store. Unlike the free version, there are plenty of people rating the new version and it has earned an average 3.5 star rating. The app is compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad and requires iOS 3.0 or later. While you can keep track of your budgets with the app you can also export the data into a CSV file, handy if you use Excel or another spreadsheet program to keep track of your bigger financial picture.

Of course there are many more budgeting apps available for the iPhone, some that focus primarily on budgets while others are personal finance apps in general.

If you have an i-device, what budgeting app do you use?