8 Easy Ways to Lower Energy Bills This Year

Many people struggled with the rising cost of living in 2012. In 2013, with a few easy tips, you could save a lot of money on your energy bills. Here we have compiled ten of the easiest ways to save money on your energy for 2013.

1. Use Energy Saving Light Bulbs

If you haven't already, we recommend you change your light bulbs to energy saving bulbs. It has been reported that if you switch your light bulbs to more energy efficient ones you'll save around £30 over the lifetime of that bulb. Even though these light bulbs might be more expensive to purchase, they actually last up to 10 times longer than regular light bulbs. So such a simple little change, this is an easy way to save money.

2. Turn off the Lights

We often forget to turn off lights. It's every father's pet hate, forgetting to turn off the light when we're not using it is a cardinal sin. Just try your best to get into the habit of turning off the light when you leave a room, you could save a bundle.

3. Unplug Appliances

Here's another easy way to save money on your energy bill. Just unplug appliances that you're not using. One report found that, in an average home, 6% of the electricity is consumed by appliances while they are turned off. So when you're not using appliances, unplug them. Leaving appliances on standby is costing you money!

4. Choose the Right Appliances

When you buy new appliances for your home, get energy efficient ones, just like your light bulbs. Although these energy efficient appliances are a little more expensive to buy, you'll save a lot of money. Items like kettles, dishwashers, clothes dryers and fridge freezers use most of your electricity. Using energy saving ones could half the price of your energy bill.

5. Wash Your Dishes

How hard is it to wash your own dishes? Dishwashers use a lot of energy, you could save a lot of money by doing them yourself or getting your children to clean and dry them. If you'd prefer to have your dishwasher clean the dishes you should at least turn off the energy sapping "heat-dry" setting. Letting your dishes air dry instead is a much simpler way to cut your power bills.

6. Use Fans and Open Windows

If you have the privilege of owning air conditioning for your home, you'll know how costly they can be during the summer. But there are far cheaper ways to keep your house cool. Use fans and open windows to cool your home. This will save you quite a bit on your energy bill through the summer.

7. Get Curtains

Covering windows with curtains and window covers can help keep your home cool during the summer. In the winter, thick curtains will keep your house a little warmer too. So not only do curtains look nice, by covering sun exposed windows your air conditioning unit won't have to work as hard.

8. Or Don't Use Your Heater

If you're really desperate to save money on your energy bills, turn off you're heater. Instead of turning up the heating, try putting on a second layer of clothing or wrapping up in a blanket before you turn up the heating.

Emergency Management - It's an Investment, Not a Cost

When setting your budget or making a case for the necessary funds for an emergency management program a common assumption may see your endeavours not reach their full potential. Many people, Chief Executive Officer's and Chief Financial Officer's alike, view requests for funding with regards to emergency management as a cost. Like everything else on their spreadsheet, emergency management is something that incurs allocation of valuable revenue and competes with every other project or running cost.

Changing that point of view from a necessary cost to an investment in the safety of the premises, business and its employees may be the difference you need to make your case, or the different point of view required by a CFO to approve the expenditure.

In the aftermath of many industrial accidents and emergencies it is astounding how often investigators discover that companies, in an effort to save a few thousand dollars, create or overlook a safety deficiency or take shortcuts on implementing emergency preparedness. This saving, in so many instances is so small as to be insignificant when compared to an incident that ends up costing the company millions, if not billions of dollars in lost production, damaged or destroyed infrastructure or stock loss, reputational damage and customer backlash, legal fees and compensation.

Two very prominent examples include firstly, BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion 2010. In January 2011 the White House oil spill commission released its final report on the causes of the oil spill. They blamed BP and its partners for making a series of cost-cutting decisions and the lack of a system to ensure well safety.

Secondly, the Kings Cross, London Underground fire 1987, a subsequent public inquiry determined that the fire was caused by a lit match being dropped onto the escalator, a careless action or accident leading to the deaths of 31 people. London Underground were strongly criticised for their lax attitude to fires because there had never been a fatal fire on the Underground. Consequently, staff had been given little or no training to deal with fires or evacuation.

These are but two examples in possibly thousands of incidents, accidents and emergencies stemming from the perception of saving money by safety and emergency short cuts.

Next time you are preparing your emergency budget, don't make the case for the expenditure as "How much will this program cost?" but rather "How much could this investment stand to save us?"

Getting Support When Getting Out of Debt

While working your way out of your debt, you should get somebody on your side to support you to stay on track. In the event that you are not married, lots of the details present here may still be applicable. If you are married, you will discover this process to turn out to be difficult and also gratifying as you work together.

Assuming you're not married, I would suggest you find a friend who comprehends exactly what your main goal will be and will not make fun of you for trying to end up being out of debt. Better still, chose a close friend who wants to do so at the same time and assist each other. Believe it or not, lots of people do not understand the drive to be financially free. This is apparent by the current state our country's economy is in. But I don't want to get into politics here. Should you not have any good friends able to help, the next ideal thing is to use books, blogs such as this one, radio programs, or anything else that'll provide you with encouragement and help you stay on the right track.

For anyone married, it is important for you to both have the exact same objective. That is to get out of debt. Two individuals with the equivalent goal are a powerful force. You will discover working with your better half to be both challenging and pleasing. I know it has made my relationship with my wife stronger. We honestly enjoy discussing money now when before we feared it. Having a common objective brings you closer to each other.

Anytime you are working together with your spouse, you must learn how to keep calm anytime things go wrong. Things will go wrong, they have for many of us, and money is a very stressful matter in the first place. As a result it's vital you do not blame or yell. Calmly discuss what actually happened and then come up with an idea together intended to correct the situation and make it possible to not get into the situation again.

I can offer you the instance my wife and I; we struggled with all too often and at times still battle. That is we'd spend beyond our means on our grocery allowance. Sometimes, we might drastically overspend. We tried a number of things to get our spending in check in this area. We attempted increasing the dollar amount we could spend, using only cash for the groceries, etc but it was still very simple to overspend if you happen to made small purchases. The idea that ultimately solved the problem was to take advantage of the smartphone version of our budgeting app (which you can find below) and register purchases against the food fund right after they occurred. Then you always see how much is actually remaining. Never guessing or estimating because that typically ends up in exceeding your budget.

Cell Phone Plans to Cut Your Costs Down

One of the most expensive bills we all have is our mobile cell phone. Thankfully with each passing year more and more affordable cell phone plans hit the marketplace. There are more and more ways to save money, depending on the cell phone plans you and your family are signed up for.

I used to be with at&t and I was paying over $100 per month. I had a limited number of minutes I could use each month, with anytime minutes after 9:00 pm., and free weekends too.

This meant that I had to wait until 9 every single night to make Free phone calls - Or postpone those calls till the weekend to avoid paying overage fees by using up my allotted minutes.

To top it off, I was in a contract so I could not leave and go to another company without first, having to pay an arm and a leg to get out of the contract I was in.

Does this scenario sound familiar to anyone else?

Perhaps you are in a similar situation with a different company?

Changing my cell phone plan was on my list of things to do - and luckily for me my contract was almost up. There are pros and cons to all things, and so naturally being in a contract does come with some benefits, such as the ability to pick up a phone and visit a store to deal with any issues you may be having.

Unfortunately most of these companies sell insurance plans separate from their cell phone plans, and so even though you're paying lots of money, make sure you do not lose your phone. If you do lose your phone, let's hope you have insurance or else you'll end up paying full price for another one.

Right now there are 3 Big Phone Companies that are dominating the cell phone industry right now. They are At&t, Verizon and Sprint. T-Mobile is a close, but distant 4th. While there are more and more MVNO's popping up, the majority of these companies are unheard of, and rarely trusted.

So what can we as consumers do to level the playing field?

I'd start by suggesting we educate ourselves about this industry.

Too many of us just go with the big boys, when we should take the time to research what other options we have in the marketplace. It's a marketplace that is ever-expanding and improving.

There's a lot of good news for us as consumers, however if we continue to just go with what we know, we'll all continue being stuck in cell phone plans that break us each month, rather than provide us with quality service.

My recommendation is to start with the Mobile Virtual Network Operators that are buying space on the networks from the big 3 - and are then able to determine what their customers will pay each month.

However, also be sure to investigate each one - some are start ups that frankly are not backed by enough money to be a long term option for you. You'll save money but will sacrifice quality. That's not something that anyone wants to do.

Please keep in mind that competition is always a good thing. The more choices you and I have the more competitive these industries will become and that always brings down price.

Ways to Renegotiate Your Mortgage

Australians are increasingly making more and more bad financial decisions. We are far removed from the times of our grandparents who would have never borrowed to pay their expenses. Borrowing in our times is a must, it would be difficult to maintain a high standard of comfort and quality of life without borrowing, but in doing so we need to be astute knowing what we are getting ourselves into so that we do not end up in a situation which will cause us to sink financially.

One way to get control of your finance before it spirals into a massive debt monster that you can no longer control is to refinance your mortgage.

Refinance to get peace of mind with a fixed rate, or to reduce your monthly payments. You can use a refinancing product to consolidate credit cards, personal loans or other debts to reduce your interest rate and monthly repayments.

Refinancing can also unlock the equity in your home to finance a renovation or free up some capital for property investments.

How to Refinance?

Refinancing your mortgage has a similar process to when you originally took out the loan to buy your home. Your lender has to approve your eligibility. However, you're not obligated to refinance with the same lender.

Your home loan-to-value will be considered along with your current credit rating. The best thing about refinancing is that you can shop around for the best loans. If you've had a great history with your lender, he may offer you a better financial product if you bring other competitive offers to the table.

We look at ways to get you out of difficult financial situation and there is always possible solutions to whatever problems one could face and often is being creative and to be able to find that way out. We cannot be an expert in every field, so that's why it pays to consult with someone who has the expertise in the field. No matter what field it is. We move from one shop to the next in order to find the best price for a sofa. a television or any household item and yet people often do not shop around when they are seeking to secure a home loan which they will be paying for the rest of their life. Strange enough this is the fact of life

Your Best Money Saver Yet - Your Time

If you make the best use of your time, it can be your most important money saver. Why? The less time you spend on routine chores, the more time you will have for your job, your hobbies, your errands or other things that might bring in money or stretch your money.

One of the most efficient time savers is never giving in to procrastination. In other words, do things as they are needed. For instance:

When you get your mail, deal with it immediately. Put the junk mail in the trash and other pieces where they belong (bills in a bill folder, coupons in your wallet, etc.)

If possible, answer your emails when you receive them. Put important emails in folders instead of letting your inbox become so full you cannot find them.

When the laundry is done, fold it right then and put it up.

When dinner is over, take the few minutes to load the dishwasher or do the dishes by hand (if you don't have a dishwasher) and don't allow them to pile up.

Make your bed when you first get out of it (unless you get up early and leave someone else there. In that case, maybe you can persuade the last person out of bed to make it up!)

Even minor chores can pile up: When you use the last paper towel, put a new roll on your holder right then. When the toilet paper roll is gone, put a new roll on before you leave the bathroom. Wipe down the sink every time you use it (just as suggested on airplanes). Fill your soap dispenser as soon as you notice it is getting low. If you have a two story house, take something with you that belongs upstairs when you are going that way. Even in a one story house, make a habit of taking something with you that belongs in the next room.

Do you need to send a birthday, thank you or get well card? Do it when you think of it. I have a basket full of cards that is my source for this project. That way I seldom have to go to the store to purchase a single card.

One Key Ingredient Needed To Obtain Wealth

Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which, having no chief, officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest -Prov. 6:6-8

I've been doing a lot of reading on money and financial freedom from people like Thomas J. Stanley, Dave Ramsey, T Harv Eker and, Farrah Gray. One thing I hear a lot about in becoming a millionaire is time management. Millionaires know how to manage their time. No one has to tell them what needs to be done, they just do it. They are self-motivators with no needed supervision. I often ask people "If you were financially free, what would you do with your time?" Some say travel, others say "whatever I want!" But that is too broad of a statement. With that mentality, one can seriously hurt themself spiritually and physically without any restriction to do "whatever I want."

I like the Proverbs 6:6-8 because the writer of proverbs says to "go to the ant" and observe her ways because they have no chief officer or ruler (or bosses). In other words they are self-motivators. Many jobs have managers or supervisors simply to keep the employees on time with deadlines and orders that need to be filled. Managers are to keep the employees in check because of the lack of time management on the employee's part. If the manager takes a day off the employees tend to slack off and production is low. We are to work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men Col.3:23 I know you may not like your job, but if you want to have your own business and make money you have to master the art of time management. Sadly, some people need others to ride their coat tail in order for them to be productive.

See why most people won't become millionaires? They need other people to manage them because if they were left on their own, the job wouldn't get done. One could actually make more money if they were good time managers. If all the employees were good stewards of their time, the company wouldn't need a manager and therefore split the manager pay amongst the employees. We have to be faithful over the few things before we are made ruler over many Matt. 25:23 Also, while we are working for others remember: If you are not faithful with other people's things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?

Tips for Using the Envelope System to Save Money

How many times have you had more bills than money at the end of the month? For some that happens every month while others it only happens occasionally. Whether you've had this happen or not, it's not a bad idea to look at your finances to see what you can do to stop or prevent it from happening. Here are some tips to help you save money.

One of the best ways to prevent overspending is to use the envelope system. While it takes dedication to make this system work, you'll find when you make it work each month, the end result will help you with your money.

When you decide you're going to do the envelope system the most important thing to remember is you pay cash for everything. This will help you to spend only what you have. It's easy to spend money when you use a debit or credit card, but harder when you only have a certain amount of cash in your purse.

To get started you need to get enough envelopes to cover every single bill you have. You'll want to write the vendor name on the outside of the envelope along with the due date and the monthly payment. You'll want to keep them in a place where they fit well and you'll have easy access to them. Keep them in order by the day you pay them so you don't forget to pay something.

While most vendors don't take cash any longer or they don't have local offices that accept payments, they do offer internet, mail, and phone options for payment. If this is the case, the most important thing to do is use your checking account specifically for these types of payments only. You need to pay cash for everything you can so you don't overspend. Groceries, meals out, bills, and any extra things you need should be paid with cash.

Are You Broke and Tired of It?

By now you are saying to yourself, how do I get my $1000 Emergency Nest Egg Fund set up? What's my first step? Gabby and Jay are going to tell us how they did it! For one week Gabby and Jay tracked every receipt and purchase they made including the ones for their computers. They kept all their receipts and expenses and wrote them down in a note book. They included every purchase they made even small purchases for sodas, snacks, lunches, dinners, breakfasts, groceries, going to the movies, purchasing snacks, gas for their cars, cigarettes, and any other items they purchased that week. Jay and Gabby also wrote down their weekly spending for pay pal accounts, group on offers, credit cards, game accounts and iTunes accounts on their computers.

Gabby saved all her receipts for one week and totaled all her receipts. She looked at her first couple of receipts and realized she had gone to Starbucks with her friends 5 times that week spending $4 a day for Coffee, a total of $20 for the week. She decided to go to Starbucks with her friends three times the next week, and invites her friends to share coffee at her house two days a week, and puts the $8 she saved into her Piggy Bank to start her $1000 Emergency Nest Egg Fund. In a months' time Gabby realizes she will save $32 and in 6 months she will save $192 towards her $1000 Emergency Nest Egg Fund.

Gabby continues looking at her receipts and realizes she bought 3 packs of cigarettes a week at $5.50 a package, $16.50 a week. Gabby says, "I spent $66 a month on cigarettes. If I cut down my smoking to a pack a week I can put $11 into my "Piggy Bank" for my Emergency Nest Egg Fund each week and in a month's time I will have saved a total of $44 in my "Piggy Bank" toward my $1000 Emergency Nest Egg Fund. In 6 months I will have saved $264 toward my $1000 Emergency Nest Egg Fund."

Gabby says, "If I continue to go through my receipts and eliminate the items I don't need or cut down other expenses I will have my Emergency Nest Egg Fund in place in less than 6 months. By cutting back on Cigarettes and coffee I've already saved $76 this month. I will go through my receipts and look at what else I can eliminate or cut down on. My goal is to have my Emergency Nest Egg Fund in place in 6 months. I am determined to do it!"

Jay has saved all his receipts for one week and totaled all his receipts. He looks at his first set of receipts and realizes he has 5 days of lunches at $8 a lunch for five days and he's spent $40 on lunches this week. He says, "If I bring a bag lunch to work three days a week, I can save $24 to put in my "Tin Can" to start my $1000 Emergency Nest Egg Fund. In a month's time I will have saved $96." Jay then goes to his computer receipts and realizes he's spend $45 a week on his computer for his PayPal accounts, Groupon offers, credit cards, game accounts and his iTunes account. He says, "Do I really need these accounts, are they going to help me get my Emergency Nest Egg Fund up and running? These purchases are bleeding away my hard earned money. I'm going to close these accounts. That way I can put $180 a month into my "Tin Can" to save for my $1000 Emergency Nest Egg Fund. I will go through my receipts and look at what else I can eliminate or cut down on. My goal is to have my Emergency Nest Egg Fund in place in 6 months. I know I can do it!"

So, what are the three steps for you to save for your $1000 Emergency Nest Egg Fund just like Jay and Gabby?

Track your spending for one week. Keep all your receipts and expenses for the week, writing them down in a note book, and at the end of the week add them together to get your total expenses for the week. Include every purchase you make even small purchases for sodas, snacks, lunches, dinners, breakfasts, groceries, going to the movies, purchasing snacks, gas for your car, cigarettes, and any other items you purchased that week. Also list your weekly spending for pay pal accounts, group on offers, credit cards, game accounts and iTunes accounts on your computer.

2. Evaluate each of your receipts, just like Gabby and Jay did, and decide if it is a needed expense or not and start putting your saved money into your Emergency Nest Egg Fund "Piggy Bank or Tin Bank".

3) Look at your computer receipts like Jay did and decide if your weekly pay pal accounts, group on offers, credit cards, game accounts, and iTunes accounts on your computer can be eliminated or cut back. Jay turned off his pay pal account, his Groupon offers, his game accounts, his iTunes account and stopped spending his credit card money on things he didn't need. Jay said, "These purchases are bleeding away my hard earned money."

By following these three steps and being determined and disciplined to do it, you will be like Gabby and Jay, able to set up your $1000 Emergency Nest Egg Fund. You can also save on gas for your car each week by being aware of which gas station has a special day for saving 5cents for each gallon you purchase.In our City it's every Thursday. What day is it in your City or town? Every penny you save can go into your $1000 Emergency Nest Egg Fund. The sooner you start the sooner you will have your $1000 Emergency Nest Egg Fund in place.

Six Budget Items You Shouldn't Forget

When setting up a budget there are many items that you may leave out thinking they aren't important or you may simply forget about them until it's too late. Many times these items can bust your budget very quickly when the "unexpectedly" sneak up on you. When we first started, we found a few things we were lacking and worked to quickly fund them. These are six items we overlooked but you should consider and be sure to include.

    Allowances - This is extremely important in being happy while budgeting. Consider a small amount each week to cover lunches. Then you won't feel you need to justify to anyone spending from this account.

    Prescriptions - If you have prescriptions that you or your family need on a regular basis, don't forget to include these. Since prescriptions are typically given out in 30, 60 or 90 day fills, it is relatively easy to calculate how much cash to set aside for this expense.

    School Incidentals - This is a category that can be difficult to fund. This can be used for incidentals such as pictures, mid-year fees, uniforms, etc. 1). One big one that got us is we knew our kids were going to go into band when they got into the upper levels of grade school and could have saved for a band instrument over the summer. We didn't do that and it was difficult to make it work when the time came.

    Auto repairs - Having a fund that will pay for oil changes and other routine maintenance is something we set up right away. What we hadn't done right away was to start funding an account that would pay for either an insurance deductible in case of an accident or medium cost car repairs. These are repairs that are necessary but are hard to predict when they may occur. Things like breaks, water pumps, etc. Funding this account can be done gradually over time until you get to an amount you feel comfortable with.

    Family entertainment - This is a budget buster if you expect to just take $10 - $20 here and there from your household budget to rent movies, etc. Once we had this account established, we found we were better able to keep our household items budget in check.

    Gifts - The holidays are always stressful unless you have an account ready for this time of year. It can be used for birthdays as well. Having this budget item really makes the holidays enjoyable. Without it, you may end up in trouble and breaking out the credit cards again

How To Make A Budget In 3 Easy Steps

Planning a major event, vacation or making a major purchase takes a lot of planning. And so does creating a new product or service or starting a major project. And the first thing people do for each of these tasks is create a budget, right? So why is it that when it's time to start a business you don't create a budget??

Budgeting and accounting are necessary evils. No matter what - they have to be done. And no one wants to do it. People dread it as if it is the black plague. But you must perform these tasks regularly in order to manage you business finances.

So I am going to share with you three simple steps to create and maintain a budget. These steps can be done by anyone for any one of the major activities I mentioned above. And I am giving them to you because I don't want you to have ANY excuse as to why you didn't create a budget.

So here goes...

1. Determine your monthly income. Most business owners, well people in general, budget for expenses. No one ever thinks about the revenue. In order to have a complete budget you have to factor in the revenues and the expenses. Think about it - if you only budget for the expenses you are already at a loss. Never thought about it that way before have you? So figure out how much income you want to earn per month and then multiply it by twelve to determine the total for the year. I also suggest adding 5% - 10% cushion to cover unexpected expenses that may not be accounted for.

2. List ALL of your monthly expenses. There are so many costs built into a budget. And often times people budget for the big items but not the little incidentals. And it is those little items that can cause you to blow your budget. So don't forget about the little expenses, such as office supplies, internet fees, and even parking. List them ALL by month and then multiply those figures by twelve to determine your total spend for the year. Now if you notice that this fee is close to or higher than your revenues then you need to do one of two things:

a. Revisit step one and update your revenue or

b. Go through your expenses and make sure all of the costs are reasonable. You may need to push some items to succeeding years or find new vendors with lower costs..

3. Track it. Whether you maintain this budget within your accounting package or in an excel model, it doesn't matter just track it somewhere. Don't create a budget and then try to manage it in your head. It won't work. You can't remember it all. Input your actual figures monthly or weekly, depending on the project, and compare your actual figures against your budget. This will help you monitor your spending and better manage your cash flow. It's a simple process that can take as little as five minutes. This process will help you keep a handle on not just the items budgeted but also those incidental items that you didn't budget for. Again, these expenses are what can blow your entire plan and if you don't know they are there you can't take a recourse action.

Money Saving Tips in 2013

Make a shopping list

Food shopping forms a significant part of our monthly outgoings and the supermarket is where the bulk of the money is spent. Tesco takes £1 in every £8 spent by UK shoppers. But be warned, stores spend a small fortune studying ways of making us part with more of our money than we would otherwise intend to. Have you ever wondered why your favourite song is playing in the background as you navigate the aisles? Have you even noticed the background music? Possibly not, but you will have noticed at the checkout that the bill is often more than expected. To circumvent this, simply make a shopping list. Dig out the cookery books, plan a few meals and only buy what you need.

Shop online

The internet is gradually taking over. Online grocery shopping is getting better all the time and there are plenty of comparison websites to help find the best prices for bigger items. Give it a try, unless of course you like fighting your way through supermarket crowds.

Consider own-brand goods

You can buy a tin of Asda own-brand baked beans for 14p and a loaf bread at Asda, Tesco or Sainsbury's for 19p. Enough said.

Sell your clutter on eBay

Take this quick test: You're at home. Open a cupboard. Look inside. If it's full of clothes you haven't worn, or 'good ideas a the time' you haven't used, for, let's say, three years - you don't need them. So why not sell them to someone else who does? eBay, the online auction house, has opened individual sellers to a world of buyers. And you can flog anything for the cost of a small commission. Tip: you may want to buy a few items first to build up your rating as a respectable eBayer before you start selling.

Ask yourself: do I really need this?

Imagine the scenario. It's lunchtime and you've got an hour to kill. You find yourself in a department store and there's a sale on. You pick up a beautifully packaged selection of barbecue tools and associated garden paraphernalia. And it's half price. Now, stop! Ask yourself: Do I really need this? Exactly. Now, put it down and walk away.

Cancel your gym membership

Recent figures show that 77% of UK adults sign up for Gym memberships then fail to attend, with the average person wasting £303 per year totalling a massive £37 million waste by consumers on Gym memberships. If you are one of these statistics, cancel your membership immediately and look at alternative ways to improve your fitness, such as walking or cycling to work.

Do you need all those TV channels?

Britain is switching to digital-only television and time is running out for you to choose your new digital TV provider. The choice is already bewildering and with telephone-based services now being launched it's going to get more complicated. Packages range from full the monty, including every sports and movie channel costing around £50 a month, down to Freeview, which is free

Is It Costing You More To Go To Work?

No matter how long our work week is, we always look forward to pay-day. However, is it costing you more to go to work? Sound rather strange and it is ironic that we work to earn money but some have not really put pen to paper to see the exact revenue against our expenditures. Some say "A dollar in is better than a dollar out" and they will do anything to classify themselves as being employed. We will look at various factors to see if we are actually losing more than we are gaining.

Cost Of Child Care

Some people who have children employ, nannies, caregivers and babysitters and the cost of such services is strenuous to our pockets. Nevertheless, it is necessary, as we can't leave the kids by themselves. If we were working from home we would have saved the extra expense.

Eating Out

Some persons work long hours and they will have to either take a sandwich to work or eat out during work hours. This is also an additional cost borne on the pocket that might not be taken in consideration. If you were operating from home, maybe it would have been easier to eat leftovers or skip lunch until dinner time. Psychologically, most person might abstain from eating frequently when they are at home as opposed to being somewhere else. It is not safe to take cooked food in your bag the entire day unless you have a refrigerator at work to store the food. Some individuals do not have the privilege of storing meals and therefore have to purchase fresh food during breaks. Whichever way we choose to eat, it affects our budget.

Cost Of Transportation

This is expense is mandatory if you are not working from home. Some persons drive to work while others commute by train, ferry, taxi or bus. It would be wise to probably find employment in reasonable proximity to home to limit transportation cost.

Stress Factor

This is the most critical factor in determining whether it is worth working for your current employer. Some workers are victims of psychological and emotional abuse at the work-place. There is also physical pressure when some have to double-up due to frequent staff shortage. This becomes unbearable over long period of time when the boss is reluctant to fill the vacant post.

Consequently, employees spend hundreds of dollars on stress medication and hospitality bill as a result of work pressure. High blood pressure or hypertension is the order of the day.and one considers whether it is worthwhile staying home instead. Suppression from higher authorities can also add to your dilemma at work.

Cost Of Credit

If you are basically living from pay check to pay check, you might find yourself buying things on credit until pay-day. This incur charges if you don't pay off your balance before your next credit card bill cycle.

Think Smart

If you are paying out $100 and earning $60, then obviously you are living above your means. If you are living in deficit, you might want to find a job that pays over $100 or stay home and manage your own home business.This can be a tedious route as well but you are able to manage your kids and work at the same time. You could be saving hundreds of dollars per month by cutting significantly on:

    Cost of Child-Care
    Food
    Transportation and possibly stress

Finding a job that pays more is also another option to consider. but it would be remiss of me to over-look these factors:

    New Challenges to confront
    Working in unfavorable conditions just for the pay
    Lack of flexible or extra time for your family
    If you are a female and thinking of extending your family, you are not entitled to any maternity benefit until you are qualified

These might be few factors to be aware of before leaving your current employer. The bible says "By the sweat of our brows we shall eat bread" but some are actually eating water crackers while they work, because of limited resources. Work is honorable and good but if it is at a higher cost, you might want to weigh other options.

A Budget Item You Can Stick To

Budgets never deliver the results. Have you actually discovered your self, or anyone else saying that in the past?

I think that budgets unquestionably work. The main problem is that most people do not work at keeping with tips on budgeting. The principle of a budget is incredibly simple, and to claim that it does not work is simply ridiculous.

Budgeting and financial planning are the cornerstones of responsible money management. Not only that, but they are vital in developing a workable plan for the future, and can even reduce stress.

While many people shy away from the accountability and responsibility required to create and maintain an accurate budget, buckling down and building a budget can ultimately help reduce stress and worry, and lead to a more pleasant and fulfilling life.

It is normal to find ourselves asking, HOW TO START A BUDGET? Making a suitable budget and sticking to it will come naturally to you in no time. Also, it is not uncommon for many people to need assistance in planning for a budget. Many people who earn a good income often get complacent and neglect the importance of budgeting, but in my opinion, having more money makes it even more necessary to have a fixed plan on how best to spend and save it.

Financial problems are some of the most common causes for stress and frustration. If you have had problems with your finances, it is time to take action. You can begin the process of resolving your financial woes by beginning to make a budget. Many people don't use a budget but once you begin to use one, you'll have a much better idea of where your money is going.

It is important, no matter how much you make, to manage your finances wisely. An important tool in personal financial management is the budget. Although the concept can be intimidating, a budget is nothing more than a monetary breakdown of income vs. expenditures. There are many logical reasons for creating and following a budget, such as planning for unexpected expenses or the loss of a job, saving for your retirement or your children's education, and getting out of debt.

You say you know where your money goes and don't need it all written down to keep up with it? I issue you this challenge. Keep track of every cent you spend for one month and I do mean every cent. You will be shocked at what the itty-bitty expenses add up to.

Food Storage - Beyond the Emergency Fund

Having an emergency fund is critical to successfully sticking to a budget. When used only for emergencies, the fund will go a long way to keeping you from needing to use debt to see your way through unexpected financial situations.

I also believe in being prepared to sustain yourself and your family in the event of economic trouble, disasters, etc. I'm not a guy who thinks the world will end next week. I do think however, that it's our duty in a society that values individualism and freedom to be prepared and not be a burden on others if we can help it.

In my mind, this is the fundamental principle behind saving and having an emergency fund. To supplement your emergency fund, one idea is to start to stock up on things you would need in the event that you or your spouse lost their income through layoff or disability. I'm not advocating this as a replacement for disability insurance. Insurance is an important part of the budgeting process when you are able, but I think every little bit you can save will help.

Stocking up on household items you will use anyway is a relatively easy way to save for an emergency. I'm also not recommending you stock up on things to the point where you need to take over the garage with your stock. Things go bad and become hard to manage when you do that not to mention that it can be expensive. Couponing can help but that's another topic. Here are a few categories of things we like to stock up on:

Hygiene

Personal hygiene is important for health and also if you lose your job and need to find another one! We stock a couple extra of these types of items to allow our family to not have to purchase anything in this category for at least a month or longer if needed. This is dependent on the item of course. Items we stock are toothpaste, floss, soap, shampoo, extra tooth brushes, hair product, women's personal items, and even toilet paper although that can be bulky and hard to find an out of the way spot to store it.

First Aid

First aid items tend to not be used as often so it doesn't take long to get a stock of items. We purchase extra band aids, pain medications, a month extra of allergy meds (over the counter), iodine, triple antibiotic ointment, hydrogen peroxide, and rubbing alcohol.

Cleaning

Cleaning items are important too but maybe not something you would normally stock up on. We are pretty light on this item but we do have extra dish washing detergent and cloths washing soap. That's pretty much it for that category.

Food

This is a category that can be expensive and also hard to find room to store. My approach has been to buy a couple extra items when we go to the store for things that last a long time and also that we would use up as a normal part of living.

You could buy freeze dried or dehydrated food but in my opinion these are expensive. If you have the extra money and want to do it, go for it. We do have some but we also use it for camping trips so I could justify having a little bit around.

Items we buy typically are canned goods and dried pastas and grains. Our family uses canned ham, chicken and tuna for many dishes so keeping a stock of those items is easy to do and in an emergency, a stockpile of protein.

We also purchase canned vegetables, soups, powdered milk, flour, rice, dried beans, peanut butter, pastas and grits.

Grits are great to use to stretch how far a few eggs go.

As an experiment, I bought a can of crystalized (freeze dried) and a can of powdered eggs (dehydrated). If you can afford it and want to store eggs, crystalized are the way to go. They taste much better than powdered.

Frozen food is another thing you can stock but unless you have a big freezer, it can be tough. We do stock frozen meat (mostly beef, chicken and fish) but that's about it.

Rotating

The last part of this is rotating stock. If you don't do this or keep an eye on it, you'll end up with out of date product and it will end up costing more than it's worth. I've found it to be pretty easy, you just have to do it when you bring home your groceries.

It doesn't take long to develop a food stock that could last you for 3 months. It doesn't take too much room for that amount either. If you have a family of four and have three month's worth of food, that would significantly reduce the amount you need to have as income if someone in your family loses their job.

You can also use it to help others who may be in need. If a friend, neighbor or extended family member falls upon hard times, you just may be the person who can really make a difference to them.