Free From Broke

A Personal Finance Blog for Regular Folks

Saving

6 Ways Eating Out Less Has Made Our Family Better

Published or updated by 22 Comments

As you know we are living off of one income now. It’s been a bit different but I think we’re doing well so far.  One thing we’ve done to help stretch my paycheck is to cut back eating out so often.  I didn’t think we ate out too much before the income switch but now I can see that we had a budget leak that could have been more savings for us.  And we’ve discovered there are more benefits than saving money!

We were already in the habit of making dinner at home and having family time together. It was the weekends when we usually ate out.  Saturdays were probably the worst culprits.  We would get up and go to our favorite diner for breakfast.  Then as we’d go and take care of things during the day we’d find lunch somewhere.  This would also tend to be pretty unhealthy.  I’m talking mall food here.  Afterward we’d be too beat to make dinner so we go out for dinner or order in.  Three meals may not seem like a lot but it would drain my wallet pretty quick!  I would usually go to the bank on Friday to take money out for the weekend and often I’d find that I was broke by Sunday!

And that was just eating out on Saturday! I didn’t even get to eating out on Sunday or during the week.  Sundays would usually be breakfast and lunch out again.  During the week we usually ate in but if we were tired we would easily get food out!

Overall we’re really happy with the fact that we have been eating at home more.

Here are six ways eating out less has made our family better:

  • We have more more family time together. When we eat we eat together at the dinner table.  We have more time for conversation to talk about our days.  Our daughter knows that dinner time is “family dinner.”  “A family that eats together stays together.
  • We are eating healthier. Sometimes we would eat out at a nice restaurant with great food but most of the time it would be at a chain type restaurant.  Yeah, we filled up but the food wasn’t really great for us.  Now the food we eat is prepared by us and we know better what the ingredients are.
  • We’re setting a better example for our children. By eating together at home our kids see that we don’t have to eat out for every meal and they can learn how food is prepared.  This will set them up to take care of themselves later on in life.
  • We’re saving money. This is a big one for us.  This is Free From Broke after all!  It’s tough to put a dollar figure on what we’re saving but I can tell you that I don’t have to go to the ATM twice in one weekend anymore!!  We’re finding that although our food shopping expenses have gone up some we still have extra money at the end of the month that we didn’t have when we ate out more often.
  • We’re being more efficient. Now when we go food shopping we know that everything we buy  on our grocery shopping list will be used.  It used to be we would go out to eat and the food we had would spoil.  Even when we ate out our meals were so big most of it would go uneaten.
  • Our home is a home! It’s hard to explain but our home is more complete now that we eat out less.  We’re using our home to it’s fullest extent.  All those things we got for our wedding like salad spinners and cooking sets are being used rather than sitting up on shelves.  It just feels like this is what it’s supposed to be.

It’s a shame it took our going to one income to take advantage of all of these benefits! Imagine what we could have been saving when we had two incomes?!?  Or how much healthier we would have been eating?

We haven’t completely given up eating out.  We still have the occasional pizza night.  And we’ll get together with friends every now and then at a nice restaurant.  But eating out less has definitely benefited our family in more ways than we would have thought!

Sign up with ING Direct and get a $25 bonus

Booking A Hotel Through An Online Travel Site May Not Be Worth It

Published or updated by

In planning our recent trip to Virginia Beach I discovered that using an online travel site isn’t always worth it.  In fact they could be ripping you off!

every time we say goodbye

We finally decided on going to Virginia Beach and we wanted to stay as close to the beach as possible.  At the same time we really didn’t know much about the area.

My wife and I scoured the various travel sites such as Expedia, Orbitz, Hotels.com, etc…  Whenever we saw something interesting we checked it in Trip Advisor to see what kind of feedback people who stayed there had.  We tried to find out what we could about the area and what was available.  Because we waited so long to plan our trip many hotels were either booked on certain days or too expensive.  Finally, through one of the sites (I won’t mention which), we found a decent hotel with a rate we were OK with paying.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

So we found a good rate for a room.  We discovered that for $10 more a night we could also get a Continental breakfast included.  Ten dollars more a night to get the four of us going in the morning sounded like a good deal!

Before I was able to reserve the room, my wife, in her mighty wisdom, told me to check out the hotel’s site and maybe give them a call to see what they charge.  Good thing she told me that.  I checked the hotel site and I found that their rooms were the same price as the online travel site.

Ok, no biggie.

Then I discovered that the Continental breakfast was included in all the reservations!!  The travel site was going to charge me $10 a night for something the hotel gave out for free!  It gets better.  We found that the hotel gives discounts to AAA members.  I plugged in our membership card and was pleased to see that the room would be discounted another $18!

In all we saved $28 a night by going directly to the hotel’s site rather than booking through an outside travel site!  Over five nights that’s a savings of $140.

I’m sure there are real great deals out there on these travel sites but this proves that you have to do your homework.

Sometimes the best deals may be from the hotel itself!

What travel tips do you have?

Creative Commons License photo credit: [charlie cravero]

Buy That Fun Stuff Without Going Into Debt

Published or updated by

Cash Register

You want to buy that new something.

Maybe it’s the Nintendo Wii and the Wii Fit?  Maybe it’s a new digital camera?  Perhaps it’s a new flat-screen TV or a GPS?  You can’t afford to buy it out-right.  If you charge it to a credit card you will be paying interest on top of the price of the item.

What if there was a way to buy the item and earn interest?  What if we can help make sure you buy it at a great price?

Sounds interesting right?

I’ll tell you what we’re going to do.  First off I have to tell we’re going to wait to buy this item.  Bummer I know.  You want it now.  But you don’t have the cash and paying interest on it, as well as being in debt, isn’t a great option.  Deal with it.

We’re trying to be responsible here and still get our new thingamajig.

Do you have an online savings account that allows you to create sub-accounts?  Good.  Now go into your account and create a sub-account titled Thingamajig (or whatever it is that you want to buy).  This is where you are going to save your money.

Now what amount of money can you put away into this account monthly without hurting your budget?  Can you cut back on Starbucks or something similar every week?  What would you expect to pay on your credit card if you charged it?  That’s a good amount to start with too.

Figure out how much a week this comes out to.  Go back to that sub-account.  We’re going to set up an automatic, weekly withdrawal into this account.  Why weekly?  This way you can see the money building up quicker.  I don’t want you getting impatient waiting for a monthly addition to the account.

Now we wait until the account fills up with the cost of your thingamajig!  This can be tough as you’ll test your patience but it will pay off.  Resist cashing out until you have the full amount to cover the purchase (you calculated taxes, accessories, possible warranty, delivery, etc…into your cost already, right?).

Here’s where this plan is great:

  • You earn interest while you save! – Every month you save you’re helping yourself with the interest you are earning rather than paying a credit card company interest for the privilege of using their money!
  • You now have time to do research – Go check out the thingamajig in a few different stores and ask the salespeople about the item. Go online and read consumer reactions. Check everyone’s price and see what locations give you the most bang for your buck (do some throw in accessories or have better return policies should something not work?).
  • A new improved model may come out – In the time you’re saving you may find that a better version has come out. Maybe the first was discontinued. Technology changes rapidly. today’s top of the line cell phone could be a clunker after a little while. It could be another company now has a better product.
  • The price could drop – Look at that. Now the thingamajig isn’t even as expensive as it was. You’ve earned interest and saved on the cost!
  • You may find you don’t want it anymore – This may sound crazy but in giving yourself some time to save and watching your savings grow you may not feel the thingamajig is worth the money anymore. Maybe it was just a fad that’s already faded? Either way, you now have a little extra to add to your savings. Sweet!
  • You became more responsible with your money – You didn’t go into debt buying your thingamajig. You set up a savings plan and stuck to it. You might have even looked at your expenses and found some things you didn’t really need in order to save quicker. What you were saving is now extra savings for you if you choose after you buy your thingamajig!

There you go!  You got your thingamjig, you didn’t go into debt, you earned interest to help pay for it, and you got the best possible price for it.

I bet it’ll feel good when you get home and open it up!

photo by skippy13

Best And Worst College 529 Plans From Morningstar

Published or updated by

Morningstar has released their picks for the top five and worst five 529 college-savings plans. To make their choices, Morningstar “focused on diversification, fees, flexibility, and the underlying funds.”Here are the top five:

– Illinois Bright Start College Savings Program
– Maryland College Investment Plan
– Virginia Education Savings Trust
-Virginia CollegeAmerica 529 Savings Plan (broker sold)
– Colorado Scholars Choice Savings Program (broker sold)

The worst five:

– Ohio Putnam CollegeAdvantage (broker sold)
– Mississippi Affordable College Savings Program
– Mississippi Affordable College Savings Advisor Program (broker sold)
– New York 529 College Savings Program
– Nebraska AIM College Savings Plan (broker sold)

I’m a little concerned that New York’s plan is considered one of the worst. Not only do I have two funds under the plan (one for each child) I also said recently that it’s a good plan. The main criticism from Morningstar is that the plan doesn’t have any exposure to international funds so it’s been missing out on international gains and it’s not hedged against US economy downturns. Other wise Morningstar says it’s moderately priced and they like that it’s made up of Vanguard index funds.

Many people, like myself, contribute to their own state’s plans since it’s likely they get a tax break. But depending on the plan and state you may be better off contributing to another state’s plan.

The Wall Street Journal suggests the following when considering a 529 plan:

“• When shopping for a 529 plan, you should consider costs, investment options and asset-allocation strategies.

• Weigh any tax advantages of investing in an in-state plan against the plan’s total costs.

• Look for annual asset-based fees of less than 1% for direct-sold plans and less than about 1.3% for broker-sold plans.

• Compare state plans at www.savingforcollege.com, www.collegesavings.org or www.morningstar.com.”Hopefully Morningstar’s review will prompt the New York 529 plan to consider some international exposure otherwise I may have to look into some of the better plans.

Do you contribute to a 529 college-savings plan?

ING $25 Referral Bonuses

Published or updated by

Have you wanted to open an online savings account?

Well here’s your opportunity to open one with ING Direct! They offer high-yield savings with no minimum to open (this includes both savings and CD’s). This means better interest earnings than most other banks. I’ve been using them since April 2003.  If you use one of the referral links below you will receive a $25 bonus. You’ll also be giving me a bonus of $10 so it’s great for us both. In fact, once you open an account you can refer your friends and receive the same bonus as I would. The catch (isn’t there always one) is that you need to open the account with at least $250. What about those no minimums? You can always open an account with any amount lower than $250 but you won’t be eligible for the $25 bonus.

And check this out – If you open with $250 your $25 bonus is an instant 10% return!

Here are the links to use:

Shoot me an email for a link!

ING Sign-up Bonus
ING Sign-up Bonus
ING Sign-up Bonus
ING Sign-up Bonus
ING Sign-up Bonus
ING Sign-up Bonus

If you get the message “We’re sorry, but the referral link within the email you received has expired and is no longer valid. We recommend that you contact the sender and ask them to re-send the referral email. Or click ‘Continue’ to proceed with the application process without the account opening bonus” then the referral has already been used. Shoot me an email and I’ll send you a new link.Like I said, I’ve been using ING Direct for years and I highly recommend them. If I had kept my savings in my brick and mortar bank I would have missed out on a lot of savings and earnings. So what are you waiting for? Go open up a high-yield savings account!

If you don’t have $250 but still want to open an an ING account please click the banner below (please note this is for the Electric Orange account not savings):


As always read the fine print from ING to make sure their online savings is right for you. You should never sign up for anything online without understanding what you are getting into.