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Personal Finance, Saving Tips, Spending Advice, and some Economic News
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Recession Fighters - A Personal Finance Blog Carnival Ed. II

Welcome Back. Ed. I of Recession Fighters was a huge success, so we're back for round 2. Thanks to all of the submitters for pointing me toward their best article of the week. I hope everyone enjoys reading these articles as much as I did. I was a little a pressed for time this week, so thanks to Blog Carnival for doing most of the work on this one.

Saving:

nickel presents How to Save Money on Groceries - 45 Ways to Reduce Your Grocery Bill posted at fivecentnickel.com.

Money Tipper presents Monitor Bank Safety Online posted at Money Tipper.

Wenchypoo presents Omnibus Obama Tax Avoidance Tip Sheet and Small Loophole Collection posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket.

Dave presents Cheapo Ink Jet Cartridges Part 2 posted at Cheapo Groovo.

Miss Destructo presents Feeling the unemployed blues? posted at Destructo Deviations, saying, "Hillarious video and tips for keeping positive through these times."

Condo Blues presents How to Make Powdered High Efficiency Laundry Detergent posted at Condo Blues, saying, "I was running out of options, so I decided to try making laundry detergent myself. I didn’t want to make the liquid version because it makes like 5 gallons at a time and looks like snot. That’s when I found out how to make a powdered laundry detergent that will work in both regular and high efficiency washing machines. And it’s much less expensive too!"

Dollar Frugal presents Self-Imposed Guilt Trips - Ways to Motivate posted at Dollar Frugal.

Len Penzo presents Essential Tips for Lowering Your Grocery Bill (Part 2) posted at Len Penzo . Com.

KCLau presents 5 Ways To Take Charge Of Our Finances posted at KCLau's Money Tips, saying, "Are we doing the right things when it comes to managing our finances? Ask yourself five questions to know if you’re on the right track."

Nancy Muller presents Gardeners: What To Plant Now -- Very Comprehensive posted at Recession Depression Therapy, saying, "Save on groceries by growing your own, but how? Where do you start? Bookmark this little treasure I found to get you well on your way. Dig into the adventure. Everybody's gardening this year."

Earning:

Homemaker Barbi (Danelle Ice) presents 5 Surefire Ways to Recession Proof Your Job posted at Homemaker Barbi, saying, "5 Surefire Ways to Recession Proof Your Job: Guest poster Shellie shares several simple steps that can help you avoid being laid off."

Wenchypoo presents Timely Rerun: Timeless Moves You Can Make to Maximize Earnings and Minimize Taxes posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket.

vsocorp presents Step 1 For Creation Profitable Busines: Determine The Kind Of Business by VSO posted at VSO Corp: Logica Uspeha, usluga razvitie internet portal., saying, "That step tells about the determination of Yours successful and profitable business. In the article You will see some acts for that determination."

Kelsey presents Legitimate Paid Surveys posted at Cash To Spend - Online Paid Surveys.

Investing:

ifvat presents How To Pick Stocks And Mutual Funds posted at ifvat, saying, "Anytime you buy stocks what you want to consider first is whether the underlying value is worth the price. Ignoring this one important piece, may very well cause your portfolio to spiral downward."

Nesher presents Long-term Profits on Bear Stock Market posted at Internet Stock Trading for Beginners.

ifvat presents Investing in the Stock Market posted at ifvat, saying, "If you want to start investing in the stock market, first spend quite a bit of time learning about investing and learning about the stock market. Don’t invest a dime if you don’t know what you’re doing. You could lose it all. Are you interested in learning more about investing your cash in the stock market? You should first be asking how does the stock market work to earn extra money and then keep working."

Frank Vertin presents Just Buy Index Funds Directly posted at NO LOAD INDEX FUND, saying, "Buying an S&P 500 index fund through an investment counselor can substantially increase your initial purchasing costs and and drive up your annual management expense fees. Unfortunately, the vast majority of individual investors buy mutual funds and ETFs through brokers and investment advisers. Rarely do financial advisors recommend that you buy index funds with low fees. This is because low cost, no load mutual funds do not pay them as well as loaded, high fee mutual funds."

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Zecco vs TradeKing: Which Online Stock Brokerage Account To Choose? posted at The Digerati Life, saying, "Thanks!"

Larry Russell presents Most Individual Investors Are Poor Personal Portfolio Managers | Personal Investment Management posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog, saying, "Investors more easily understand investment costs that are directly measurable, such as fees deducted on investment statements. However, many investors ignore or are unaware of the opportunity costs of their sub-optimal investment behaviors. Opportunity costs are usually much more difficult to measure directly, but these investment costs can be even higher than more visible investment fees."

Spending:

Wenchypoo presents Skipping EVEN MORE Nickels and Dimes for Bigger Savings (Long and Updated) posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket.

JL Scott presents Balancing your personal and your business goals posted at Strategies for Making Money Online and Your Home Business | JL Scott Revolution.

Others:

Credit Card Addict presents Outlawing Retroactive Interest Rate Changes posted at CreditAddict.

Wenchypoo presents The Consumer’s Guide to Functioning in an Economic Cycle (L-O-N-G) posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket.

Insurance Toolbox presents Insurance-Fraud Related Arson Cases are Skyrocketing since Onset of Recession posted at Fine-Tuned Finances.

Gavin R. Putland presents Employment tax credits: the 'marginal' approach to full employment posted at On Line Opinion.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of recession fighters using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Posted by RB Admin at 4/5/2009 7:50 PM | View Comments (18) | Add Comment

Want to Cut Costs? Learn to Do Without

The 5th and final part in my series on Ways to Reduce Spending is learning to do without. Gasp! Not me. Not doing without something I want. Yes that's right, perhaps the easiest way to reduce spending and save money is to get rid of the things you can live without.  At this point it's probably a good idea to take out that budget we talked about and find the fluff. 

A good place to start is to break your spending down into categories: needs, wants, really wants, why the heck am I wasting my money this...however you choose to group them is fine as long as it's relevant to your spending habits. After you have the groups all laid out, start cutting out the things you least want and keep working your way up until you get to a comfortable mix of needs and wants spending.

So what can I cut out of my budget? Here's a list to get you started reducing your expenses today:
  • Cable - Cut it completely or get a cheaper plan. Hulu anyone?
  • Internet - I couldn't live without this one personally, but make sure you have the cheapest plan.
  • Dining out - It hurts to write, but it's one of the easiest ways to save. Brown bag that lunch.
  • Car - That's right, do you really need it? does your family have an extra. Get rid of the fluff.
  • Insurance - No, don't live without any insurance, that's just foolish. But do you have more coverage than you need? It's worth investigating.  I would seek some advice from a professional before acting on this, but one you can think out for yourself is on your car insurance. Do you have collision on an older car? It may not be worth it.
  • Electronics -Just because Apple released a 2nd gen doesn't mean your first one is broke.
  • Room Tempature - You won't die if your house is not at 72* all the time. Turning back the heat or a/c a few degrees can lead to huge      energy savings in the long run.
  • New Clothes - are your old ones worn out?
  • Pets - I never realized Fido cost so much
  • Landline Phone - I haven't had one in forever. I have a cell phone. I don't need 2 phones.
  • Name Brand Items - buy generic, this should be a no-brainer.
  • Starbucks - Also hurts to type.
and my favorite, number 1 item that you should learn to live without...
  • DEBT - You'll save on finance charges, you'll be able to save for your future, you'll rest easier at night. These are just a few in the long list of reasons why you should give up debt, even if that means living without the things you really, really want.

Interested in learning more ways to reduce your expenses? Find the whole series here:

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Posted by RB Admin at 4/1/2009 9:07 PM | View Comments (4) | Add Comment

Stocks Dip on Auto News

After having some very solid gains last week, stocks took a nosedive Monday. Almost all stocks were down, including the large banks such as Citigroup and BOA. This was on news from the Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner they would probably need more money from the government to get out of this mess.

The other driving force behind the decline was from the auto industry. Obama rejected GM and Chrysler's restructuring plan, telling them they must do better. From Chrysler he wants to see a merger with Fiat and from GM he all but forced CEO Rick Wagoner into early retirement. All in all I think it is probably for the best that GM has someone new at the helm. Whether or not Wagoner was doing the best he could under the circumstances is debatable, but in my eyes getting rid of someone who has been the face of so much struggle should help to brighten the future outlook at GM.

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Posted by RB Admin at 3/31/2009 8:11 AM | Add Comment

Recession Fighters - A Personal Finance Blog Carnival

Welcome to Edition I of my blog carnival, Recession Fighters. Since this is my first one I'm not being very picky, basically I'm going to post up all articles that were submitted and point out my favorites. As I do a few more of these and start to get the hang of it I will be a bit more selective about the entries that make it. Expect a carnival every weekend so come back to see a great compilation of useful articles.



ishanbansal presents 10 Tips to Reduce Car Expenses posted at Save Few Bucks



Savings Toolbox presents Are you Saving For a Job Loss or Job Change? posted at Savings Toolbox.


Earning:
ishanbansal presents Work From Home Call Center Jobs posted at Save Few Bucks


Relax presents The art of taking risk posted at The Wise Curve

Others:
Nickel presents Money Tips from Twitterville posted at http://fivecentnickel.com/ - Also a favorite of mine.

Anco presents Avoid Debt Like A Plague posted at Tipskey - Unlock Practicality - always solid advice.

Abigail Perry presents Who will the recession favor? posted at i pick up pennies - a look at the job market.

Free Money Finance breaks down a comparison of 2 popular budgeting softwares at Quicken Versus YNAB.

Matthew Paulson presents Too Good To Be True: Beware of Online Job Scams posted at American Consumer News.

And there you have it. My very first blog carnival. Let me know what you liked, didn't like and would like to see more of. Happy reading!


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Posted by RB Admin at 3/28/2009 3:15 PM | View Comments (3) | Add Comment

Negotiate to Save Money

The 4th item in my Ways to Reduce Spending list is to negotiate. Negotiating is a great way to save money as long as your using it on things you already have or need. What I'm trying to say here is don't buy something just because it's a good deal or you think you talked the guy down to a good price. Instead, use negotiating to save on the things you already have like cable tv or other services. Haggling over your cable isn't a new idea, but in times of a recession it is important to know that you can negotiate on almost anything.

Unlike the good times, almost all retailers are getting more and more desperate the deeper this recession gets. So hone your negotiating skills and start negotiating on everything you buy. I've heard of people asking for lower prices at common retailers like WalMart or clothing stores like American Eagle or Gap. Besides what's the worst can happen, they say no and force you to pay full price or you walk out and take your money elsewhere.

My tip here is not to be too arrogant while negotiating for a better price. In my experience asking nicely is often good enough to get the deal done, there's no reason to act like you own the place. So what great deal has anyone gotten through some clever wheeling lately?

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Posted by RB Admin at 3/26/2009 6:53 PM | View Comments (3) | Add Comment

Markets Show Signs of Life

The stock markets have been having a surprisingly strong week. Some news that came out today showed that new home sales increased in February for the first time in 7 months. This led to the S&P 500 continuing its best month in 17 years. Of course things had to get pretty bad last month for such a strong rally to occur, but hey...at least they bounced back for the time being.

I'm considering this exceptionally good news to see the housing market start to stabilize. I feel like the whole crash of the housing market was a big player in this recession getting so deep. To see a turnaround in this area is a great sign. There was also growth in durable goods ordered, another positive sign that people are beginning to purchase again and get the economy moving. Of course it hasn't all been good news (we are still in a recession), there was some negative stuff coming from BOA and other financial players, but we wont focus on them now. We'll just keep to the positive stuff.

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Posted by RB Admin at 3/25/2009 6:38 PM | Add Comment

Reduce Expenses by Being Patient

Item #3 in my reduce spending overview is to Practice Patience. This is so hard to do at times and retailers know it. Why do you think grocery store checkout isles are packed with useless but attractive goodies and so much money is often spent on large flashy displays?They try to play on our urges so we'll spend money on things we don't really need. The goal is to only make wise, informed decisions and most times you'll be making the right one that will save you money. Of course, splurging on a candy bar while your groceries are rung up isn't the biggest blunder in the world and wont send you into the financial hall of shame, but buying a new computer, car or other large purchase on a whim sure would.

In general the larger the purchase the more time you should spend researching it. Know exactly how much a car should cost before ever stepping foot on the lot. Understand what a fast processor is and how much memory you need before going to Best Buy when computer shopping. This does go for smaller items as well. Go over the Sunday coupons and weekly store circulators before picking up your groceries. If you're in the store and haven't done any research yet the Save Benjis app for the iphone is pretty good way to see comparable pricing on a large number of items. 

I always like to check the Internet before making a purchase. Ebay is an awesome place to get good deals on quality products and even a simple google search will let you know what a product is going for these days. Take these steps to avoid over-paying for a purchase of any size and you will see the savings start to pile up. Researching is a great way to save money by getting the best deal possible. So avoid those impulse buys and start studying.

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Posted by RB Admin at 3/23/2009 8:22 PM | Add Comment

Reduce Spending by Thinking Creatively

The 2nd item in my Ways to Reduce Spending list is thinking outside of the box. Being creative can lead to awesome ways to reduce your expenses. You don't have to be creative to cut your costs. You could just look up other people's creative ideas and pawn them off as your own, either way someone was creative at some point... so you get credit. This doesn't mean you have to come up with the next great idea or invention, just read around about what other people are doing and try to follow suit or take their ideas and find a new twist that can help you save even more money!

Here's a great idea this guy has come up with No Fee Balance Transfer. Now that is a great example of thinking creatively. Read around his blog, there's a ton of cool ideas that involve buying dollar coins from the US Mint to your benefit.

A few things I think I do well to cut expenses are (not that they're all that creative, but they work):
  • Bike to work - I made a move to cut out my commute last year and it's awesome having the extra time and extra gas money
  • Haircuts - probably not for the ladies, but I have short hair, so my fiance is also my barber
  • Eat bananas - not only are they a healthy snack, but they only cost between .50 and .60 cents a pound. Now that's some good bang for your buck
  • Turn off the lights - and unplug everything you're not using. This is a great way to bring down your electric bill along with turning down the thermostat
  • Change your own oil - this can easily be done for at least half the price charged by a shop and it's a rewarding feeling
  • Drink water - when you dine out drinking water is a great way to keep the total price of the meal down. And this is tap water...avoid bottled water not only are they not eco-friendly, they're not wallet friendly either
  • Use a rewards credit card to pay as many of your "must have" bills. Hey, you have to pay for it anyway, might as well get a few percent cash back. I wish I could pay my rent with one of these...

Those are a few of the items that I think I do well on a daily basis to reduce my expenses. What do you do?

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Posted by RB Admin at 3/19/2009 2:35 PM | Add Comment

Cheapskate's Tips to Save 20K+ a Year

Jeff Yeager, author of "The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches," lists 5 ways to save $20,000 to $30,000 a year in a CNN article.
  1. Get rid of your cell phone - easily cut 100 bucks a month
  2. No extra cars - the average family owns 2.5 cars and probably only needs 2 max
  3. No eating out - not even for a salad
  4. Stop buying new clothes - apparently only 2 percent of the clothes we throw away are actually worn out
  5. Avoid college room and board, live at home - living in a dorm does cost a lot, but it's also a fun experience
My only question is, how would I text my friends without a cell phone?  Some of these are pretty extreme, considering the own everything lifestyle us Americans have to come to expect, but if you're serious about saving, why not try one or two of these. Any great ideas of your own? Speak up.

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Posted by RB Admin at 3/17/2009 8:15 PM | Add Comment

Markets Have Best Week in '09

The stock markets had their best week of 2009 last week.  The 4 day rally started on Tuesday on news that Citigroup was operating on a profit for the year and continued throughout the week.  For the most part, the markets were level today. There appears to be some good feelings lingering on Wall Street, maybe this week will end with more gains.

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Posted by RB Admin at 3/16/2009 4:14 PM | Add Comment
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