According to the American Pet Products Association’s annual survey for 2011-12, 39% of Americans own at least one dog, and 33% own at least one cat. This survey also states that pet owners spend a little over $200 annually for routine veterinarian visits. I would like to show you 5 ways that you can save money on your pet bills.

1. Initial Purchase

Our family owned a pure-bred Collie that we got free from a breeder that was having trouble selling the last two from a litter. While in a pet store my daughter saw a notice on the bulletin board, “Free Collie Puppies” and we were on our way to the farm. That dog was one of the most loved pets we ever owned. There is no need to pay hundreds of dollars for your new addition. Dogs and cats can be had for free all over the world. If you want to have a little assurance of its health, adopt one from the local animal shelter. There, all animals are given a physical check-up from a veterinarian and receive all their immunizations.

Another thing to consider is size. A friend of mine, and former Labrador breeder, recently shared that when their last chocolate lab passes on (he is in poor health), they will never own another large-breed dog. She said the bills were just too much to keep up with. He requires several medications and because of his size, the monthly cost is just too much for them. Going from a Collie to a Miniature Pinscher, I would have to agree. We’ve never had to face monthly medication bills for our dogs, but the feed cost alone is enough to make me think long and hard before buying another 100-pound dog.

Lastly, if you want to save money on your pet, do not purchase one that requires regular grooming. Grooming bills for long-haired dogs and cats, or ones requiring specialized haircuts, are atrocious. Groomers in our area wanted $50 and up to take care of our Collie. We had a sheep owner give him a clip each spring for $10. The rest of the year, the kids brushed him out whenever he needed it.

2. Immunizations

Immunizations are a controversial topic when it comes to children. However, I don’t think that pet owners give it a second thought. The first thing I propose is that if you have convictions against immunizing your children, why immunize your dog or cat? That said, you can save money in this area. Breeders generally administer their own “puppy shots.” Except for rabies, all immunizations can be purchased from a pet or farm service store. If you’ve never given an animal a shot, have the breeder you purchase the pet from, or a friend or vet tech, show you how.

World Rabies Day is September 28. To save money on this vaccine, watch the paper for announcements from veterinarian offices, pet stores, or local animal clinics participating in giving free or reduced shots on this day.

3. Spay/Neutering

We currently own a Miniature Pinscher. Our veterinarian wanted well over $100 for neutering. I found a spay and neuter clinic that did it for $55. They also do check-ups and gave shots at reduced rates. But because my veterinarian is reasonably priced, doesn’t charge an extra fee for “office visit,” and is close to my home, I will stick with her for his annual check-ups. It pays to ask around, and make phone calls.

4. Food

I buy 4Health dog food for my MinPin at Tractor Supply. A 4 pound bag costs around $7 and lasts several months. Of course, this 7½ pound dynamo only eats a cup or two of food each day. I also stretch this ration with my own homemade pet food. A quick Internet search will turn up several sites with instructions for making your own healthy pet food. Generally, the ratio is 60% protein, 20% grain, 20% vegetables for a dog.

Because we raise our own meat chickens, and our boys hunt deer, we have access to a lot of meat scraps for free. I grind these scraps into burger and can them for the dog. If you do not have access to free meat like I do, try a butcher (or another homesteader/farmer) for scraps at a reduced rate.

5. Accessories

I cannot believe how much a dog or cat toy costs. It’s positively criminal to pay $5-10 for a little stuffed animal for your dog to chew to shreds in a matter of days. Fortunately, I have a little boy that loves to make his dog toys. He takes old clothing or scraps of fabric, cuts long strips and braids a length. The same thing can be purchased for good money in the pet aisle at the local superstore. We’ve also picked up stuffed animals, Frisbees, or balls at the thrift store for a quarter. Hanging an empty thread spool from a length of cord from the door knob has kept my mom’s cat busy for hours. Dog beds and cat scratching posts are other things that can be made from re-purposed materials.

So, if you’ve been putting off getting the boy a puppy because of the expense, I hope that you’ve got some ideas here to show you can do it for less—without sacrificing care.

If you have any other ways of saving money on pets, we’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Puppy image from Shutterstock

Related Articles:

• How much do you spend on your pets?
• 10 easiest ways to save money
• How much does it cost to raise a child & 10 ways to cut the cost!
• A few great ways to save money

When a semester of college can cost more than a parent makes in a year, it is time to look for help. And although the mountain looks immovable, we need to remember that our Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills. If we know we are in His will for our future, He will provide the needed funds. With that in mind, I’d like to share 6 ways to cut that school bill down without taking out student loans. Graduate debt free!

1. Keep Your Grades Up

I earned a full paid scholarship to the local junior college simply for being in the top 10% of my graduating class. My son will transfer from his community college to university for free for carrying a 3.8 grade point average. A high school student needs to ask his guidance counselor for information regarding any opportunities that exist in his local area.

Registering with Scholarships.com is another way to discover scholarships. This service will ask a battery of questions regarding extra-curricular activities, parents’ affiliations, area of study, religion and location, and match you up with potential scholarships for which you might qualify.

In addition to grades, it is important to be active in the community, have significant adults in your life that can write references like a coach, employer, or youth pastor, and have a polished essay describing your financial need.

2. Apply for Federal Aid

Currently the Federal Pell Grant award amount is $5,550. That is more than enough for a student to pay tuition and books at a community college. To apply for the Pell Grant, visit the official website at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ and fill out an application. You will have to have your parents’ current year’s income taxes completed first. It is awarded based on need.

If you do not qualify for a Pell Grant, the government has alternative choices like a work/study program. Even if you think you won’t qualify, fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) anyway.  Other scholarship programs will want verification that you did apply for the Pell Grant and will use the information from that application.

3. Dual Enrollment/Early College

Our friends have several children that started as university sophomores right out of high school and never paid a dime for their first two years of college. The Early College program is available for high school juniors and seniors that agree to a rigorous program of study in lieu of the mainstream high school curricula. If accepted to this program, the student does not attend their regular high school but moves right into the community college of their choice—for free.

According to the Early College website, this program is available in 28 states and District of Columbia. However, many similar programs may be found by doing an Internet search for “early college + state name.”

4. College Level Examination Program

For the student proficient in any given field of study, the CLEP test may be a significant way to save some money. Accepted by over 2,900 colleges nationwide, these tests measure what a person may know in a particular area whether from high school study, life experience, or military training.

CLEP tests exist for over 30 areas of study such as history and social sciences, composition and literature, science and mathematics, business, and foreign languages. The tests contain mostly multiple choice questions, take 90 minutes to complete, and cost $77.

5. Choose an Alternative Route

Rachel Poling graduated from college at the age of 19 with no debt. According to an article on Thriving in the 21^st Century, she used CLEP tests and the coaching service of CollegePlus!™ to help her design her own course of study. In the end, everything transferred to one school which granted her a degree in music.

Another option to consider is to enroll in one of the 11 colleges in the United States that offer a free education. These schools obtain their funding through various means and some require a work/study program, but you still end up with the degree.

6. Don’t Go

Everyone knows the economy has faltered in the last several years. However, few realize that college grads are some of the hardest hit. Leaving the academic setting with tens of thousands of dollars in debt, last year almost 2 million graduates could not find jobs using their newly earned degrees—or requiring any degree for that matter.

Forced to take jobs that require no skill and pay $10/hour or less, many young adults are forced to move back in with their parents just to survive. In light of this information, it makes one question whether a college degree is necessary at all. Before enrolling in a college or university ask yourself a couple questions:

• Does my chosen field of study require a degree?
• Is there a demand for employees in my field?
• Will this career pay enough upon entry to pay back any college debt within a couple years?
• Is there anything else that I would be happy doing?

Wondering how you’re going to pay for your kids’ college education? How do you save money for college? Take a look at some of these options and see what you think. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

Graduation image from Shutterstock

Related Articles:

• 4 Ways to Maximize College Scholarships and Grants
• How To Avoid Taking Out Student Loans
• How To Get More Value Out of Your College Education
• College Debt & The Student Loan Trap

When shopping for a car, you should look for the lowest price for the best quality.  Right?  Well, sort of … in the back of your mind, you realize that, all other things being equal, the car which gets better gas mileage is worth more than the one which doesn’t.  But how much more?

And what other factors should you consider?  Depreciation rates?  Cost of insurance?  How about maintenance and repairs?  If all of this is giving you a headache, don’t despair.  Edmunds.com has done much of the work for you, by calculating the true cost for owning any new or used car five years.

I appreciate the work Edmunds has put into their “True Cost to Own” (TCO) projections, but I advise caution about simply taking all of their numbers at face value.  You will need to use discernment because some of these numbers will apply to your circumstances and some won’t.

Let’s give it a try by comparing a 2007 Honda Accord EX-L with 60,000 miles, a 2008 Chevy Impala LTZ with 40,000 miles and a 2006 Cadillac DTS with 60,000 miles.  According to the Edmunds site, the market value of these three vehicles are all very close.  However, when applying the TCO figures, the Honda and Impala have a clear advantage over the Cadillac.

This chart summarizes my findings.

Just so you will know what to expect on the Edmunds site, I have included their Honda TCO stats below:

5 Year Details for 2007 Accord EX-L

Making the Edmunds Numbers Work for You

Edmunds has used the following factors in compiling their cost to own numbers: depreciation, taxes and fees, financing, fuel, insurance, maintenance and repairs. These are all legitimate costs of owning a vehicle, but each needs to be scrutinized to fit your buying needs.

For example, financing is a non-issue for me because I pay cash for my vehicles.  Insurance will vary from vehicle to vehicle, but you might be better served by asking your agent what those costs would be for you.

Other Considerations

How many years will you own the vehicle?

The TCO is a five year projection, so it would (probably) be more applicable if you plan to drive your car more than five years.

Do you love it?

I realize loving a car is quite subjective, but reality is this: we Americans (especially us guys) tend to first fall in love with a car, then seek ways to justify the expenditure.  But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing — if you buy something you love, you will likely take better care of it.  Conversely, if you buy a “ho-hum” car in order to save a few hundred dollars, you will probably not care for it as well.  Mind you, I am not advocating spending money you don’t have, but factoring in a “love” element may actually save you money.

Do you do your own maintenance?  Repairs?

Maintenance and repairs are two of the factors Edmunds uses for their TCO.  If you do your own, those issues become less of a consideration.

How many miles do you drive annually?

The Edmunds numbers are based on 15,000 miles driven per year.  Driving more would justify spending more on a vehicle which gets better gas mileage; conversely, gas mileage is not as much an issue for those who drive very little.

How about me?

I wish I could give you a glowing report of how using TCO helped me make a wise purchase, but I can’t — I have never considered true cost to own in any of my vehicle purchases.  However, I plan to next time, especially if I have narrowed my selection to two or three choices.

 To quote from Edmunds site: “With TCO, you get a snapshot of the car’s costs over time.  You will see the big picture – not just today’s price tag.”

Readers:  Have you ever used “true cost to own” to help you determine your vehicle selection?  How did it go?  Meet us in the comments section!

Car mirror image from Shutterstock

Related Articles:

• How to Save $5,000 on Your Next Car Purchase
• Purchasing A Car? Advantages Of Buying Used Cars
• Should You Sell Your Car or Repair It?
• Saving money with your car

Joe Plemon, a retired engineer, financial counselor and blogger, lives in Southern Illinois with Janice, his wife of 40 years. Joe likes online Scrabble, St Louis Cardinal baseball, blues music, power naps, high school football, short term mission trips and Sunday family dinners. You can read more from Joe at Personal Finance by the Book.

It isn’t too difficult to find a place to file your federal tax return for free, but finding a service to file your state return for free is another story.

I did a little digging and found a few options to consider. But, let’s first start with getting a free federal return…

File your federal return for free!

If your AGI (adjusted gross income) for 2011 is less than $57,000, it should be very easy for you to get your federal tax return filed for free. In the past I have gone to the IRS free efile webpage, because they have links to a bunch of tax preparers that offer free tax return filing (for Federal anyway). Some of them offer a state return to be filed for free as well, but most don’t.

Watch this video for the specific instruction on how to use the IRS Free File system:

If you are interested in this option, you will have to use the links on the IRS page in order to get the free efile deal they are offering. Many of the tax preparation websites listed will not offer you the free efile if you go directly to their website.

How to file your state return for free!

As you have probably noticed, many places offer a free filing of a Federal return but don’t offer free state filing. But there are a few ways to get your state tax return done for free.

1. Free state tax filing websites

MyFreeTaxes.com - This is a not-for-profit with funding from the Walmart Foundation, The United Way and H&R block – and they offer free state and federal tax returns if you meet the criteria. According to their website, “most Americans can file their taxes for free online or offline (we have a van tour across the country), state and federal, as long as they make under $57,000 per year.”

TurboTax Freedom – The free version of TurboTax is available to filers with adjusted gross income of $30,000 or less. If you live in one of the following states they will also allow you to file your state return for free… AL, AR, AZ, GA, ID, IA, KY, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, NY, ND, NC, OK, OR, RI, SC, VT, WV. If your state is not listed it will cost you $14.95 to file the state return.

On-line Taxes – This one is pretty simple. You just need to be under 20 years of age and you can get your federal and state return filed for free. If you don’t qualify both returns cost $7.95. They are a little bit different than many of the other places in that they offer free customer service with a toll-free number, E-mail, and Live tax help. They also allow you to view the forms BEFORE paying.

Taxhawk – Prepare, print, and file your federal taxes online for FREE! Your state tax return is FREE if your federal AGI is less than $20,000 and you live in the following states:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, or Wisconsin.

Beehive.org – Filing your own taxes with BeeHive.org is easy. In order to be eligible free federal and state income tax filing, you need:

• Earned income in 2011 of less than $57,000
• A valid email address
• A valid Social Security Number (or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number)

TaxSlayer – TaxSlayer.com offers FREE online tax preparation and e-file of federal and state income tax returns if your household income is less than $56,000 AND you can answer “Yes” to any of the following:

• Are age 25 or younger or age 65 or older
• Qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
• Federal (AGI) Adjusted Gross Income is $10,000 or less
• Serve as active duty military (including Reservists, Coast Guard, and National Guard). Taxpayers must have a Form W-2 from the Military for the tax year in which they are filing.

UPDATE: Tax Slayer no longer offers Free state tax filing. 

2. Go to your local state government website

Also, you can go directly to you state’s Department of Revenue website to see if they offer a free filing option. For a shortcut, head over to this page which has links to each states free efile (if they have one).

3. Get the paper forms and mail it in

Yes, it sounds pretty archaic, but if you really want to file your state return for free and don’t qualify for the options listed above, this might not be a bad option. If you have already completed the Federal form online, it should be pretty easy to fill out the state return. You can get the forms from your local library or you can print them off at your state’s Department of Revenue website.

One last tip about e-filing your tax return

Do it before Friday morning. The government process tax returns in week-long blocks. So Friday morning at 11am, they process all the returns they received over the previous week. So if you can sneak it in right before the cutoff (Fridays at 11am EST) you will just get your refund that much quicker…

Related Articles:

• Free federal tax filing online
• File Federal And State Taxes for Free?
• Free Federal Tax Software Download with TurboTax
• File your taxes for free

Bob enjoys dark chocolate, paying off debt, giving, Foosball, loose-leaf tea, helping people succeed, learning, anything God created, playing guitar, Philippians, excellence, Chick-Fil-A, and making his wife smile. He started ChristianPF in 2007 and Co-Founded Blogging Your Passion in 2011. Find him on Facebook & Twitter.

Video Intro

This one is where the rubber meets the road. This is where we see how bad you want to be out of debt.

The sacrifice is only temporary!

The most important thing to remember as you are reading this is that it is ONLY TEMPORARY. By making a sacrifice you are not condemning yourself to that for the rest of your life. You just need to make up for all the overspending that has taken place in the past

If you have done some of the things mentioned in the last few articles, you are on a better financial footing than you were. But, if you expenses are still greater than your income, then we are going to have to take a few more steps.

Sacrifice your stuff and sell it!

Like we mentioned before, your balance sheet is the true indication of whether or not you are progressing financially. But, if your expenses are greater than your income, it is highly unlikely that you are increasing your net worth. So, in order to move forward you either have to cut expenses or increase income.

So far we have mostly been focusing on the less painful ways of cutting expenses in order to increase our net worth. Depending on how deep in debt you are, you may need to take drastic measures to get yourself back on solid ground.

What do you have that you owe money on?

Take out a piece of paper and write them down. Do you have loans on your house, car, boat, living room set, or anything else? The goal is to minimize our expenses, so what better way than getting rid of some of the stuff we owe on? Don’t worry, you will be able to get it again later, but now your goal is to break free from the bondage of debt!

You have to open your mind to things that you might not have wanted to do. This is probably one of them.

Cars are terrible investments!

Like we talked about yesterday, we pay a lot of money for them and they basically only go down in value until they to car heaven. In my opinion cars get people into financial trouble more than anything else. Most people don’t spend tens of thousands of dollars on something that knowingly goes down in value.

The way to defeat this of course is to drive older cars (older cars have already suffered much of the depreciation and therefore lose a whole lot less in value each year).

What is good about this is that if you have a car that you paid $25,000 for and it is now worth $17,000 you can sell it, take the $17,000 and use $6,000 to buy an old car and use the remaining $11,000 to pay down your debt. Just think about this for a second. You can knock out $11,000 of debt just by making one sacrifice: driving an older car.

Now I know not everyone is in that situation, but the principle still applies. So, if you have a boat that you owe thousands on still, or a couple cars, it doesn’t really matter. If you are making payments on it, you should consider getting rid of it.

And come to think of it, if you do own it and it is still worth a decent amount, you can sell that too!

“But if I get an older car, it will be expensive to maintain.”

Not necessarily. Go to Consumer Reports and give them $5.95 for one month of access to their website. They have, hands down, the best and most useful information for buying a used car. The rate just about every car in the book for all kinds of criteria. Not the least of which is reliability.

What you will find is that over the years Honda and Toyota (on average) have consistently made the most reliable cars. If you were looking for the single best old car that is cheap & reliable, I would say it would probably be a Civic. But, do your own homework at Consumer Reports.

Sacrifice your time and get to work! Again.

Yep, if everything up to this point isn’t getting you into the black, then you may need to think about getting a second job. The good news is that second jobs aren’t what they used to be. I remember when I was younger I would put in a hard day’s work at the grocery store and then make my way to the restaurant for the completion of about 12-16 hours on my feet.

Needless to say those days were very tiring, but it doesn’t have to been that way. There are many work-from-home opportunities that you could get involved in as you work to knock out the debt.

Work Overtime

Ask your boss if he/she has anything extra you can work on to pick up some extra hours. This will likely be the best paying additional income you could find.

Sell on Ebay

This is probably the most popular method these days for people looking to supplement their income. The greatest part about it is that you can start with stuff laying around your house. If you have not sold on Ebay before, I highly recommend it as a way to generate some extra income. For more info you can read the earlier article I wrote for beginners called 7 Steps to selling on Ebay.

Freelance Work

Do you have a skill that you could make some money on the side with? If so you can post an ad in Craigslist for free. You can check out elance.com or one of the millions of Freelance job sites out there. Google “Freelance work” to get a small sampling of what is available.

What sacrifices are you making or have you made to get out of debt?

Related Articles:

• Should You Get a Second Job to Pay Off Debt?
• Set a Time Goal to Get Out of Debt Faster
• Get Out Of Debt With The Debt Snowball Method – GS4
• Making money buying and selling cars

Bob enjoys dark chocolate, paying off debt, giving, Foosball, loose-leaf tea, helping people succeed, learning, anything God created, playing guitar, Philippians, excellence, Chick-Fil-A, and making his wife smile. He started ChristianPF in 2007 and Co-Founded Blogging Your Passion in 2011. Find him on Facebook & Twitter.

I had a revelation about cars that has caused me to not really care what mine looks like. It’s not that I don’t want a really fast car, it is just that there is something I want a bit more: financial freedom.

Video Intro

Is any car worth your financial freedom?

The thing I have noticed is that so many people give up financial freedom for their whole lives solely because of the decisions they make with their cars.

I know it sounds like a bold statement, but I think it is frightening how true it is.

For most people, a car is the second largest purchase they ever make. Second only to their home. The huge difference is that even if they make a bad home purchase, generally speaking it will go up in value over time. Car Depreciation on the other hand, is a beast. Regardless of whether you buy a new or used car, is going to go down in value, but the key is how fast does it go down in value?

So, if you compare a new car vs. a 6 year old car, the new car will lose a couple thousand dollars in resale value each year. The 6 year old car on the other hand will lose several hundred each year. If you think about it from an investors perspective, it is easy to see that if you must have an investment that loses value you will probably pick the one that loses LESS each year.

What if your car choice cost you $1 million?

A friend of mine illustrated this concept perfectly. He bought a 10 year old Ford Taurus for $500 from his grandma. He drove the car for 4-5 years and then sold it for $800. Not a bad investment at all.

It is an especially good investment when during the same period I saw friends buy brand new $25,000 cars and trade them in when they got sick of them a couple years later. My first friend had a monthly payment of $0 for 5 years and sold his car at a profit, while the other friends were paying $400+ a month on a car payment and ended up selling their cars for less than they owed.

My first friend had that $400 to invest each month. The amazing thing is that one simple decision very well could have made my first friend $1 million in retirement.

That is why I am okay with driving an older car. The new car smell is nice, but not worth $1 million.

Should I never buy a new car?

Dave Ramsey would say yes. I don’t necessarily feel that strongly about it, but financially speaking it isn’t the best decision. I do realize that there are other “non-financial” factors that could be affecting the decision. But, I will say this – IF you do buy a new car…

• Research it and find a reliable one
• Maintain it
• Take great care of it
• Plan on keeping it for a decade.

These are the best ways to get your moneys worth out of it.

Break the car-payment cycle

The key is to break out of the car payment cycle. Far too many Americans believe that they will always have a car payment. The goal should be to get the cars paid off as fast as possible, then start saving cash to buy the next one with cash. It is a nice feeling to have all your cars paid off and be in a position where you can save $400 a month to buy your next car with cash, rather than using that $400 to pay off a loan.

Homework:

Spend some time thinking about your current car situation. Are your car purchases making your bank richer or you?

Related Articles:

• Making money buying and selling cars
• How do you pay off a car?
• 6 Financial Mistakes and How to Recover Quickly
• How to Calculate Your Net Worth & Why You Should – GS3

Bob enjoys dark chocolate, paying off debt, giving, Foosball, loose-leaf tea, helping people succeed, learning, anything God created, playing guitar, Philippians, excellence, Chick-Fil-A, and making his wife smile. He started ChristianPF in 2007 and Co-Founded Blogging Your Passion in 2011. Find him on Facebook & Twitter.

Video Intro

What is the best way to start a budget?

The first thing that anyone who wants to make a budget must do is to compare their income versus their expenses. The good thing is that it is quite easy to do.

To get started you can download this free Excel budgeting spreadsheet (or you can look through 10 other budgeting spreadsheets) which will help you calculate how much you spend each month and compare it to your current income.

It’s too bad most of us never learned this in school and had to figure it out on our own – so here is the lesson that we should have learned in 5th grade:

Expenses  >  Income  =  Bad   &   Expenses  <  Income  =  Good

And honestly, as simple as it sounds, that is the key to wealth. Anyone, and I mean anyone, who IS wealthy (I emphasize IS because I am not talking about people who appear to be wealthy, but who are actually in debt up to their eyeballs) spends LESS money than they earn. AKA – their expenses are less than their income.

The great news about this is that anyone can do this – no matter what their income level. If you can do it on a small income, then you can do it on a large income. If you can’t do it on a small income, then you won’t be able to do it on a large one either. Trust me!

If you don’t believe me, just ask all of the lottery winners who went bankrupt within years of winning millions of dollars.

Back to making our budget…

Regardless of how your expenses and income compare right now – get excited, because you can easily change it!! If it is bad you can make it so much better!! If it is good, you can still make it even better!! I will show you how later, but for now…

Let’s make a budget!

Did you calculate what your monthly expenses and income were? Were your expenses less than your income? If so, you are a rare breed who is in great shape, so just sit tight for a minute.

For everyone else, whose expenses exceeded your income – you are not alone. You actually have a lot of company. The problem is that it isn’t good company! Most of our debt-ridden society is in the same boat, but you are one of the bold ones who is jumping out of the debt boat!!

So, if your income is $1000 and your expenses are $1200, that means you spend an extra $200 each month that YOU DON’T HAVE!! What your job is now is to find out what you can get rid of or quit buying each month to save that $200. If you have no idea where to start you can check out these money saving tips or browse other money saving ideas.

I know, I know – this is the part that hurts. Just like pruning a bush – cutting back hurts, but ultimately you are going to yield so MUCH more fruit because of it!!

The goal here is to get your expenses and income to AT LEAST be equal. Once that is accomplished we can work on eliminating wasteful spending or cut other costs to bring the expenses below the income.

Now that you have calculated what your monthly income and expenses are we can start designing our budget. We will first discuss the less effective, but easier method for budgeting…

The world’s easiest budget

There are 2 simple rules to do a simple budget:

1. You can’t spend more than you earn – carrying a balance on a credit card is not allowed.
2. Money must go to the budget categories as soon you get paid.

The way it works:

Rather than having 10-20 different categories of items to be budgeted for you only focus on the 1-3 most important ones and let the rest of the chips fall where they will.

So, to do this you take your paycheck of say $1000 and right off the top you put the money to your main priorities. For many people this is tithing to their church, retirement savings, college savings for children, etc…

A sample of this would be:

It is absolutely critical that the money gets taken out FIRST for these few budgeted items. If not, I can almost guarantee that the full amount will not make it as intended.

I highly recommend making this process automatic by using direct deposit or some other form of automatic withdrawal. There is just something about human nature that has a hard time staying consistent with things like this.

Why do you think the U.S. government takes our taxes directly out of our paycheck, rather than coming to collect the full sum at the end of the year? It is the same principle – use it to your advantage.

Easy budget, but not very efficient

I think this budget is perfect for people who don’t want to budget. It is simple, doesn’t take up much time, and will help you reach some savings goals. That said, it is still inefficient and leaves the door wide open for inefficient and foolish spending.

I think it should be considered the “lazy man’s budget” – and you are not LAZY and you are willing to work to get your finances in order!! I know this because you are still reading. So, since you are NOT lazy and are hungry for more of a challenge, let’s look at how the pros budget.

The money saving budgeting method

Yes, this method takes a little bit more time and energy, but it also will provide you will long-term financial benefits if followed.

To do this we are just going to expand on the lazy man’s budget mentioned above. Rather than having just 1-3 categories of items budgeted for, we are going to create as many as we need to put a limit on our spending in all areas.

You can use the budget spreadsheet (mentioned at the top of the article) as a guide for tracking your progress. Try to account for every possible expense that you could run into. You will never be able to budget for every possible scenario, but the goal is to minimize surprise expenses. Inevitably, there will still be surprises from time to time – so I suggest creating a category for these surprises (or you can just use your emergency fund).

How to stick with your budget

The almost sure-fire way to make a budget that fails is to NOT budget for any fun stuff. I wrote about how budgeting should be fun and it is a necessary ingredient for success. You need to budget for clothing, entertainment, going out to dinner, or whatever else it is you love to do! The key is to do it in moderation and to set limits and abide by them.

The amazing thing is that by budgeting for fun stuff, it actually liberates you to spend money on these items. When you have money budgeted each month to buy clothes, the money is now sitting there waiting to be used for that assigned purpose. Suddenly you can go clothes shopping without feeling guilty!!

This is how budgeting truly becomes fun. When you have money sitting in the bank waiting to be spent. Or, even better: if you start budgeting for vacation and after a little while you have hundreds of dollars begging to be spent on a vacation!! You go on your trip and come back home and don’t owe any money to a credit card company – now that is how a budget becomes fun and what helps you stick with it!!

I also suggest you check out the envelope budgeting method, or the method that I used to budget with ING.

Other budget options

There are many ways to make a budget work. The key is to finding a system that works for you and sticking with it. This article has gone over a basic method of budgeting, but if you need a little more hand-holding, and are willing to pay a little for it, I suggest YNAB budgeting software.

It is what I use and I would argue that it is the best budgeting software out there (although Mvelopes isn’t a bad budgeting tool) and makes the whole budgeting process as simple as it can be. But be warned, it isn’t a magic tool that is going to eliminate all the work – it will just make it easier to manage the budgeting process.

As far as paying for budget software I think it depends on the user. It is not a necessity by any means, but investing a few bucks could save you some time and make the process a little easier. It just depends on personal preference really.

Either way, I suggest making sure that you are committed to this whole budgeting thing before buying the software  - no one likes to waste their money!  But if you do decide to go with it, make sure you try it out first with their 34-day free trial.

Homework:

1. Create your budget!

I would love to hear what budgeting method has worked for you and what hasn’t. Let us know in the comments below…

Technorati Tags: how to make a budget, budgeting

Related Articles:

• Make Your Own Personal Budget: Articles, Tips, & Resources
• How to budget with ING direct
• 10 Free Household Budget Spreadsheets
• How to Budget: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Begin

Bob enjoys dark chocolate, paying off debt, giving, Foosball, loose-leaf tea, helping people succeed, learning, anything God created, playing guitar, Philippians, excellence, Chick-Fil-A, and making his wife smile. He started ChristianPF in 2007 and Co-Founded Blogging Your Passion in 2011. Find him on Facebook & Twitter.

Originally this article started as 16 ways to save money by NOT being normal, but over the years we have written about so many great ways to save money, I thought I would expand on it a bit to create an even larger list of some of the best money saving tips.

Video Intro

1. Use Ebates when shopping online

Normal = Don’t get any cash back on purchases

If you are shopping online Ebates is a no-brainer! Basically it works like this…

You visit Ebates.com, then click a link to your favorite online store (they have over 1200 stores like Target, Kohls, Walmart, etc) and make your purchase like normal. Ebates will then will be paid a referral fee by that retailer and will share the earnings with you. They pay you a percentage (1%-25%) of the purchase price back. It is completely free to and they even give you a free $5 gift card for signing up. I have been with them since 2008 and have earned hundreds of dollars. For more info read my review (what is Ebates?).

2. Save money on Cell Phone Purchases

Normal = Just pay the regular price at the Verizon store

I had no idea that you can save $100 or more by NOT renewing & upgrading your cell phone service at the store. Instead you can buy cheap cell phones online from Amazon.com and do it all with them. I didn’t think much of it until I saw that some of the top phones are $100 or more cheaper from them than through your carrier. You can find out more about the program here.

3. Get Rid of Your LandLine

Normal = Spending $25/m for a phone you never use

Many people can save money by only using their cell phones and just doing away with a landline. If you are like me and prefer to use a landline rather than a cell-phone, you can still save money by getting free long distance calls using a device called Magicjack. I have been using it for years, when I purchased mine it cost me $20 for the device and it costs $20 per YEAR to use – which equates to about $1.66/month. Admittedly it is a little quirky, so read my Magicjack review to be sure you know what you are getting into.

4. Save money with the library

Normal = Pay for things that the library offers for free

If you can get past the frequently outdated décor, public libraries are home to a wealth of resources. Of course you can borrow books instead of buying them, but they also often have subscriptions to high cost services or publications like Hoovers or Valueline. Our local library has grown a huge collection of popular CDs and DVDs over the last few years. So, it can be a cheap (free) ways to catch a few good movies. If you must be “Normal” and buy, at least use these 5 ways to save money on books.

5. Buying used stuff always saves money

Normal = Buy new

This is one of my favorite creative ways to save money. I first learned the power of this back in college, when I discovered that I could get my textbooks for free, by buying and selling them at Amazon. I was paying a few bucks (at most) for my textbooks that many of my classmates were paying over $100 for.

Leo from Zenhabits suggests to, “Send out an email to family or friends, or just ask around. You might be surprised. I was about to buy a printer, and then found out my mom just bought a laser printer and didn’t need her old inkjet.” Freecycle.org and craigslist.org are also good places to look. And of course, you can always check out garage sales and thrift shops.

6. Simplify your wardrobe

Normal = Buying clothes that you like without looking at the wardrobe as a whole

Don’t buy clothes that will only work as one outfit. Look for clothes that you will be able to wear with many other things, creating multiple outfits. Instead of buying that green and purple striped coat that will only go with one or two outfits, you could get a solid color gray that will work most of what you wear. Spend less money on the trendy items that won’t be in style long, and spend more on quality items. You really can do this and still be stylish at the same time. Simplifying your wardrobe is just one way you can save money on clothes.

7. Make money with your clutter

Normal = Garage sale or throw away clutter

It is easier than you may think. eBay and Amazon.com make the process a breeze. Sign up for an account, take a few digital pictures, post it, and watch the buyers come to you. HINT: The biggest key I have noticed is selling brand name items and taking a few seconds to think, “If I wanted to buy this item, how would I search for it?” If you do this, you will be much more successful.

Below are a few more ways to make money selling your clutter…

• How to sell books on Amazon.com
• How to sell your stuff on eBay
• How to sell old electronics
• Selling Your Gold? Be Careful!
• What to do with old cell phones

Of course, some of your junk won’t be worth the effort of selling it online. For that stuff – maybe garage sale, maybe just save yourself the hassle and give it to the thrift store.

8. Maintain stuff

Normal = Buy new, don’t maintain, it breaks, then buy new as cycle repeats again and again.

Even if you buy the best stuff, if you don’t maintain it you will not save you as much money as it could. You’ll then spend less on buying new stuff. When you buy something worth maintaining, take a few minutes to read the maintenance manual, and create a maintenance checklist that you can attach to the item. For important things like your car’s oil changes or tune-ups, put them in your calendar. To make it even easier schedule most of your maintenance all on one day with a Car Day.

9. Saving energy = Saving money

Normal = wasting energy

Even though, “Being green is so IN right now,” the “normal” thing to do is waste energy. So not only will everyone think you are cool, but you can save money as well. Check out these10 Energy saving tips.

Also, I am not sure how much money this will save you, but check out Blackle.com – birthed out of a question, “How much energy would be saved if Google had a black screen instead of a white one?” Supposedly, the search results are the same as the regular Google results.

10. Save money on exercise

Normal = Sign up for an expensive gym membership and never use it

Why not be extremely abnormal? You can get much cheaper access to a gym AND use it too!! Sign up for a class at a local community college (as little as $35 a semester). Then, use your ID to work out at the community college gym. That is a lot better than the $30-$40 a month most gyms charge.

11. Regularly Shop Insurance Rates

Normal = Buy insurance and keep renewing without checking rates

Regardless of who you buy from, you can be abnormal and save money by shopping around every year or so for insurance. I have saved over $530/year for the same coverage by getting car insurance quotes on a regular basis. Now there is something to be said for finding a top-rated insurance company – it may not be worth saving $50/year to switch to a terrible company, so use your own judgement.

Term life insurance is recommended for most people and you can read my Zander term life insurance review if you are interested. To get other types of insurance quotes you can just click the links below…

• Get a Health Insurance Quote
• Get a Life Insurance Quote
• Get an Auto Insurance Quote
• Get a Home Insurance Quote

12. Use PerkStreet Financial‘s Cash-Back Debit Card

Normal = Don’t get any cash back on purchases

My PerkStreet 2% cash-back debit card is my new favorite financial product. A lot of people like to use rewards credit cards so they can get cash back from their purchases, but just one late payment can completely negate any rewards earned that month. But when you find a debit card that pays rewards just as good (if not better) as most credit card rewards programs it seems like a pretty simple decision to me. I have been banking with PerkStreet the last two months and have earned $147 in rewards over that 2 month period – not too bad!

13. Live in a smaller home

Normal = Buy the biggest house you can afford (or more than you can afford)

For some reasons, Americans just love to assume that bigger is better with just about everything. There is a plague of families constantly having to get a larger dwelling because their stockpile of junk gets too large for their current home. Often just by throwing junk away and spending time organizing storage areas and closets, you may realize that you DO have a big enough living space, it just needed a little organizational love. A lot of money can be saved by living in a smaller place. When you think about it that way, organizing really might pay very well.

14. Buy a used car

Normal = Buy a new car, pay it off (or maybe not) and buy a new one

You can save a lot of money on car depreciation by purchasing a car 2 years old or older. Some cars can lose as much as 35% in value during the first year. It’s best to drive a car as long as you can especially if you do purchase them new.

15. Shop after the season

Normal = buying Christmas décor during Christmas season

Shop for holiday cards, decorations, and gift wrap as the season ends, and keep them for next year. We do this and then we also enjoy the nice surprise after Thanksgiving of finding out what we bought the previous year that we forgot about.

16. Shop when no one else wants to

Normal = House shopping while the weather is nice

If you are considering a new home, remember the best time to buy is in the dead of winter, when other buyers huddle inside. You can save 5 percent off the peak-season price.

17. Save money on your home entertainment

You can now watch many TV programs and many free legal movies online if you hook your computer up to your TV. Or you could spend about $60 on a device that allows you to watch HDTV on your computer. Or if you rent a lot of  movies one of the best ways to save money is to use Netflix or Blockbuster’s streaming or online video rentals. For even more, you can check out these 5 movie renting alternatives.

18. Buy jewelry from a discounter

Normal = Buy jewelry from the mall jewelry store or another traditional store

If you haven’t purchased jewelry in a while, you may be interested to know that the jewelry industry is going through some major changes. Diamonds have always had ridiculous markups, but recently there are more options for relief. Many direct importers are selling rings themselves at much better prices than you could get from the traditional stores. It makes perfect sense – the traditional stores have to pay for a storefront, sales force, utilities, etc., therefore the importers can usually beat their prices hands down. I bought my wife’s engagement ring at Amazon and ended up having it appraised for thousands more than I paid. That may just be my best way to save money.

19. Save money at the hospital

Normal = Don’t know that it is possible to save money at the hospital

I didn’t realize that you had options and to be honest most times if the hospital is involved, I am “normal” and could care less about what it costs. But, if it isn’t an urgent matter there are ways to save money at the hospital that I had never thought of. Did you know that you can bring your own stuff (e.g. pillows, linens, nightgowns)? Evidently, hospitals charge quite a bit for these items. (I have no personal experience with this one – can anyone confirm or deny?)

20. Go out to dinner for half price

Normal = Go to the same few restaurants all the time and pay full price

I love to try new restaurants, but since it is quite an expensive hobby – it is nice when you can save a few bucks. Enter the Entertainment Book. This wonderful tool costs about $25, but will pay for itself quickly if you use it a couple of times. It is available for most large U.S. cities and has thousands of coupons to participating restaurants – most of which are buy-one-get-one-free. This is one of my favorites ways to find new places to eat and save money in the process. Also consider Groupon.com or Restaurant.com who sells $25 gift certificates (with restrictions) for $10 to thousands of restaurants across the country.

Feel free to share any creative and ways that you save money by NOT being “normal.”

Related Articles:

• 5 Simple Ways To Save Money Shopping
• A few great ways to save money
• How to Save Hundreds of Dollars By Taking a Day Off Work
• 15 Ways to Cut Your Expenses – GS2

Bob enjoys dark chocolate, paying off debt, giving, Foosball, loose-leaf tea, helping people succeed, learning, anything God created, playing guitar, Philippians, excellence, Chick-Fil-A, and making his wife smile. He started ChristianPF in 2007 and Co-Founded Blogging Your Passion in 2011. Find him on Facebook & Twitter.

If I told you that you could spend a few hours of your time and it would translate in to thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars saved – would you be interested? Well, refinancing is one way that many of us can do that.

Refinancing Video

Recently I have been looking into refinancing again since rates are still very good. In my case, I am paying a 5.5% rate on my mortgage and from comparing some quotes I can see that I can easily refinance to a 4.5% rate (or lower). 1% may not seem like a lot, but that 1% difference will save us $171/month on our mortgage payment. This will save us over $2000/year! And over $55,000 for the life of the loan. Not bad for just a few hours worth of work!

Assuming average closing costs being about 2-3% of the loan amount we would break even sometime within the 2nd year.

The thing about refinancing is that it can feel overwhelming and complicated. There are a bunch of closing costs and you while you can and should get a good-estimate from prospective lenders, you still aren’t likely to have all of the exact numbers to do the calculation.

But, if you are planning on being in your home for a while and you see that rates are 1% or more below what you are currently paying, you should at least spend some time figuring out how much you could save.

I mean seriously, if you can spend just a few hours and save thousands of dollars a year for the length of your loan, isn’t that a better investment of your time than watching American Idol?

Homework:

1. Check the rates in your area to see how they compare to your current rate.

2. If you find a 1% difference and plan on staying in your home at least 5-10 years, use this calculator to see how much money you can save.

3. Find a few mortgage lenders and ask them for good-faith estimates of their closing costs. Pick a good one, ask questions until you are comfortable, and do something smart with all the money you are going to save!

Related Articles:

• 5 Questions to Ask When Deciding To Refinance Your Home Loan
• Why Refinance A Car? To Save Money!
• Tips for your mortgage refinance
• Buying A Home: The Missing Manual Reviewed

Bob enjoys dark chocolate, paying off debt, giving, Foosball, loose-leaf tea, helping people succeed, learning, anything God created, playing guitar, Philippians, excellence, Chick-Fil-A, and making his wife smile. He started ChristianPF in 2007 and Co-Founded Blogging Your Passion in 2011. Find him on Facebook & Twitter.

So, you spend more than you make – you are not alone

This is a tough one. Spending more money than you earn is common practice in the U.S., and increasingly in other countries around the world. Credit card companies have simplified the process so much that it requires quite a bit of discipline to live only on the money you make. This is a difficult task, but it is the first step (and most crucial) for most people to financial freedom.

Video Intro

Just like there are more than one way to “skin a cat” or to quit smoking, there are multiple ways to spend what (or less than) you earn. Listed below are the steps that I took to make it happen for me.

1. Believe that you can.

This is so important, because it is this belief that is going to carry you when you feel like quitting. Find people who have gone from overspending to living within their means and get encouraged by their stories. I am not sure what made me decide that I needed to change, but I had read enough stories of people changing their financial picture that I truly believed that I COULD DO IT.

If you do not yet believe that it is possible, keep reading and listening to success stories until you believe that you can do it. When you get discouraged and feel like quitting, go over the stories again and encourage yourself. The motivation gained from other people’s successes are going to be one of your main keys to succeeding, because if you do not BELIEVE that you can do it, you are NOT going to make it.

2. Eliminate the temptation to spend.

I don’t really have an opinion about cutting up credit cards, because to me it is kind of like throwing away a smoker’s pack of cigarettes. It is pretty easy to go buy another pack of cigarettes and it is almost just as easy to get another credit card. Obviously, the key here is to have a burning desire to want to curb your spending. It is not a bad idea at all to cut up the credit cards. I think I did cut up my credit card (luckily, I was too foolish to know that you could have more than one credit card at a time).

Romans 13:14 says to,”make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

I did this by not going to the mall and not going out to eat. These were my two big areas where I spent/wasted the most money. Especially with the case of the mall, I could eliminate most of my temptation just by not being there.

3. Learn to say “NO” to yourself.

Learning to say NO to ourselves is one of the most beneficial habits we can develop. I call it a habit because it is truly is. People who never tell themselves NO have a difficult time doing it. On the other hand, people who regularly tell themselves NO find that although it may not be easy, it becomes less difficult the more you do it.

Your success is based on your ability to say NO

It is difficult to find a person who has had success in any area of their lives who didn’t become good at saying NO…

• If you want to lose weight, you have to say NO to your body when it tells you that it is going to die if it doesn’t get a Krispy Kreme doughnut.
• If you want your marriage to last you have to tell yourself NO when you really, really want to say something that you probably shouldn’t.
• If you want to succeed in your career you have to say NO to your body’s desire to be lazy and work hard and smart (even when no one is looking).
• If you want to get out of debt, you have to say NO to fun indulgences even when everyone else around you has them.

The list goes on and on, but the point remains the same: Get good at saying NO.

“Do something you hate every day, just for the practice.” –John Maxwell

The point John was making in this quote was that in order to succeed you have to do things you do not want to do. People who achieve their dreams have to pass up a whole lot to reach their destination.

As I think about areas of my life where I have been able to implement this in small steps, the corresponding rewards have been great. My walk with God, my finances, and my relationships have all seen great progress as a result of saying NO in seemingly insignificant moments.

By following these simple, yet difficult steps I went from spending about 125% of what I made to 85%. If you are over 100%, make that your first goal: not getting into anymore debt, then your next goal should be to snowball your debt and move to well below 100%.

Related Articles:

• Quit spending (Part 4)
• Encouraging story of getting out of debt: Patrick Gesselman
• How to negotiate with credit card companies – GS5
• Is It Possible to Manage Credit Cards Well?

Bob enjoys dark chocolate, paying off debt, giving, Foosball, loose-leaf tea, helping people succeed, learning, anything God created, playing guitar, Philippians, excellence, Chick-Fil-A, and making his wife smile. He started ChristianPF in 2007 and Co-Founded Blogging Your Passion in 2011. Find him on Facebook & Twitter.