Day 9: Lower Your House Payment

August 9th, 2007

We have just lowered our house payment by about fifty dollars each month. How did we do this? Well, we finally got rid of our PMI.

If you don’t have PMI, you are already a step ahead of us. This was our first house and we really didn’t understand the concept of PMI and what exactly we were paying for. We are quite familiar with PMI now that we have gotten to pay for it for four years.

PMI stands for Private Mortgage Insurance and it is an unfortunate expense that can get added to your account if you do not have twenty percent down on your house. Why would you have to pay this insurance in addition to your homeowners policy? This insurance is added to your payment to protect the lender, just in case you should default on your loan. The lender also believes requiring PMI is also good for you, as the buyer, because they could not offer the loan to you if they didn’t have this type of insurance.

How much is PMI? Well, according to Quicken Loans, generally it calculates to about one-half percent of the total loan amount. Let’s say you buy a home for $200,000 and put five percent down or $10,000. The annual cost of PMI on your $190,000 mortgage might run $950 a year, adding an extra $80 to your mortgage payment each month.

Getting the PMI removed from our mortgage turned out to be much harder than we thought. By law, this insurance is supposed to be removed automatically once you have invested 22% into the house. The Federal Trades Commission website states, “For home mortgages signed on or after July 29, 1999, your PMI must – with certain exceptions – be terminated automatically when you reach 22 percent equity in your home based on the original property value, if your mortgage payments are current. Your PMI also can be canceled, when you request – with certain exceptions – when you reach 20 percent equity in your home based on the original property value, if your mortgage payments are current.”

Since we had been paying an extra hundred dollars each month on our house payment, in addition to making an extra house payment each year, we reached the amount required quicker than the lender had expected. Since we were still under the 22% we were told we would have to have an appraisal done on our home.

For $145, we had an appraiser (who was chosen by our mortgage lender) come out to our house and do an appraisal. She had to concur that our house had not declined in value due to our neglect or due to market values decreasing. I have to admit that I was quite nervous because the market in our area is extremely slow and houses just aren’t selling for what they used to.

Lucky for us, we met the standard and within a week we were notified that the PMI would be removed immediately and we would no longer have to pay for it.

I will admit that we had to jump through some hoops to make this happen. When we contacted our lender, they said that we couldn’t request PMI removal by telephone. We would have to submit the request in writing to the company. Upon request, they would then send us a letter, within six weeks, to explain what we would need to do to get it removed. This letter came and then we had to submit the check for the appraisal. This took another two weeks to set up and then we had to wait for the appraisal to come through. I am not surprised that this was such a lengthy procedure, after all, they are making extra money by our family carrying this.

Despite this lowering our house payment, we have continued to pay the same amount. Our taxes have lowered and the insurance was dropped, lowering our payment by about $115. We just pretend like these changes never happen and continue to pay the same. The same philosophy is applied to our credit card and student loan payments. If we could pay it before, we can pay it now.

We have lofty financial goals of having everything paid for in seven years time, utilizing the good old snowball effect. Dreams of owning our home and paying down all of our debt don’t seem as far away as they used to. Visualizing that feeling is what keeps us going in the direction we are headed.

If you are looking for more information on PMI and how to get rid of it, I would highly recommend reading this article, by CNN Money, and taking the actions suggested.

Potential Monthly Savings: $50 or more

Sound Off: Have you made any steps toward lowering your house payment? Do you have any personal experiences with PMI or PMI removal?

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Posted in Saving | 6 Comments »

Day 8: Open Your Own Beauty Shop

August 8th, 2007

Today I wanted to talk a little bit about ways that you can save in the beauty department. Every family is different, but for me it has always been about keeping us all cute, with as little maintenance as possible, for the least amount of money. This might sound funny, but I don’t really know of another way to explain it.

I don’t have bangs and I don’t have a cute layered haircut. Instead, I have no bangs (no routine cutting of bangs) and I keep my hair a little longer so I can go longer between cuts. I don’t highlight my hair because it so dark and the color moves so quickly that I look rather trashy after just a few weeks time. I instead do an all over color that I purchase from the drugstore and hope for the best.

My hair is not trendy, but I opt for a classic haircut that requires little maintenance on our part. It is a choice that I made for financial reasons and, with two rowdy kids, I don’t get to enjoy sitting in the hairdresser’s chair as much as I used to. We are too busy and I have little time without the kids being with me during the weekdays.

I am applying the same principles to our daughter’s hair. We are currently in the ugly stage of long bangs, but I know that all of the hard work and pretty clips that I have made to cover up the in-between stages will pay off and we will be enjoying the same low maintenance haircuts for her. When she is a teenager, the story might be a little bit different, but we have many years to go before that time.

As for the boys in our family, I invested in a pair of clippers from the drugstore and I am planning to invest in a good pair of scissors from our local beauty supply store. With these investments, I am able to pay for them after just two haircuts and we will have many years of haircutting out of them.

I admit that the first time I cut my husband’s hair that it took forever and I was sweating it out the entire time. If I messed up my son’s hair, it would not be as stressful because he is a child and hair grows quickly. My husband, on the other hand, is a professional working at a job where I want him to look good and feel good about himself. To mess up his hair would have been a travesty for me and for him.

We did survive the first haircut and I have never looked back. The benefit of learning to do this yourself is that it is convenient and you can always have your spouse looking sharp. Reunions, weddings, and special occasions happen and he can always look good because I can give him a great hair cut myself.

I highly recommend, if you cut your husbands hair, to talk to him like his hairdresser would. I cover my husband up with the cape and then I say things like, “Wow, I heard your wife was a total witch this week. I am so sorry to hear that.” It just makes it a little more fun and takes away some of that nervousness in the beginning.

If you aren’t brave enough to do the cutting yourself, there are other options out there that can save you money. Beauty schools, for example, offer very inexpensive beauty services because they are schooling their students on learning how to do haircuts and beauty treatments. Similarly, some of the more elite salons require their own additional training and can offer beauty services to their clients for a fraction of the price. You can score really great deals on colorings, waxing, haircuts, and facial services.

If you chose this option though, make sure to give yourself plenty of time for the appointment. These folks are in training so they are not going to move at the quick speed that your regular hairdresser works. They will need their supervisors to check the cuts as they are being made and this usually takes quite some time because the supervisor is monitoring many stylists, not just your own personal haircut. There are great savings in the waiting and it can be a great way to get a more professional haircut without the big price tag.

Just because you aren’t going to a salon doesn’t mean you have to give up the good life. Here are some other things that I do to save money in the beauty department, but provide the pampering pleasure I deserve:
I make my own brown sugar scrub and use this once a week. It works just as good as the pricey exfoliates, but costs pennies. In this recipe, I have subbed extra virgin olive oil for the almond oil (just because we already have it). I have also added lavender essential oils to make it smell more soothing.
I soak my feet weekly and have a little container of all the goodies I need to do a pedicure. In my container are Wet & Wild nail polishes (purchased for about a buck each), a base coat, a top coat, a file, a pumice stone, a small nail brush, and foot lotion. Almost everything can be bought at the dollar store. You can soak your feet in a dish tub or you could soak them in a an appliance made for these occasions. I add 1/2 cup Epsom salts to the water and 1-2 teaspoons of the lavender essentials to soak them in. I try and do this every Friday as my weekly treat to myself.
Make your own hand scrubs to treat yourself after doing the dinner dishes. I usually just drizzle a little olive oil on my hands and add a teaspoon of salt. Scrub gently for a minute or so and then give your hands a rinse and pat dry. When I get a chance though, I am planning to try out this recipe because it sounds wonderful. If it turns out, it would make a great Christmas or birthday gift in a pretty tin.
I try to do a mask once a week on my face. I have plenty of masks leftover from my beauty store junkie days, but this recipe sounds like a keeper for when I run out.
You can deep condition your hair weekly. I use the Suave hot oil treatments on my hair or you can try making your own deep conditioner.
The important thing to remember is that just because you are on a budget doesn’t mean that you have to give up these great things in life. I can pretend to be a lady of leisure who enjoys a weekly pampering, but I don’t have the credit card statements that go along with it.
You are worth it and your wallet is worth the savings!

Potential Monthly Savings: $60 or more

Related Readings:
Sound Off: What are some beauty treatments you have tried at home?

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Posted in Saving | 15 Comments »

WSBT-TV: Saving Money By Going Green

August 7th, 2007

Here is today’s segment from WSBT-TV. We talked about decisions we made to save money, that also had a positive impact on our environment.

Related Readings:

Cloth Diapering 101
Making Your Own Cleaners
Reducing Plastic Bag Consumption
Happy Homemaking the Homemade Way

Sound Off: What are some money-saving things you have done that also have benefited our planet?

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Posted in Saving | 6 Comments »

Day 7: Brown Bag Your Way to Savings

August 7th, 2007

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the seventh day in our Month of Savings series.

Today we will be talking a little bit about how you can brown bag your lunch and save your family loads of money.

 

I stay home with my kids, but I still go to playgroups where the opportunity arises for a lunch to be bought.

The temptation towards going out for my husband though is prevalent every single day, since most of his coworkers forgo the savings and enjoy lunch out daily.

The thing that has always been important to me is that we don’t feel like we are being deprived of anything.
 
For me, being deprived of things makes living a frugal life hard. I don’t like to feel like I am missing out on anything and I try to reflect that in what we do in our house.

 

 

My husband takes his lunch daily to work and I try to take great pride in what we eat for dinner so that pride can be reflected in his leftovers the next day.

For him, sandwiches aren’t as filling as the leftovers.

For us, the leftovers are cheaper than the sandwich meat and snacky type of foods that I would pack for him.

 
I go to our Dollar Store and get the sectioned containers there for our lunches.
 
These run $1 for two containers or $1 for four smaller containers
 
. The containers weather the trips to work and back, but they don’t cost very much so I am not worried about them returning.

 

 

We put our containers right underneath the area where I serve our dinner.

Immediately after I have dished up everyone’s plate, I fill any leftovers into these containers for my husband.

We have designated a special section in our fridge for the leftovers so they are easy for him to find in the morning to take them into work.

 
I always try to include any condiments he might need and sharp cutlery for tougher cuts of meat.
 
You can save ketchup, mustard and mayo packets from restaurants to include in your lunches.
 
Syrup can be poured into a baggy and tied with a twist tie for brunches on the go.

 

 
Fresh herbs sprinkled on top give the food a more finished touch, but dried herbs can add a splash of color to your leftovers (although not as tasty!)

 

 
If you have a place that you can keep snacks, at work, hit your local superstore and pick up soda and snacks to keep in/around your desk.
 
This can save extra money too, by not visiting those pricey vending machines.

 

 
Potential Monthly Savings- $100 or more


Sound Off: Do you have any brown bagging tips to share? How do you save your family money in this category?

 

 

Check out these other great posts from MomAdvice.com:

 

Easy Ways to Save Money with a Chronic Illness

 

 

7 Things I’ve Learned that Save Us Money

 

 

 

DIY Lunchbox Creation Station :: MomAdvice.com

DIY Lunchbox Creation Station

 
 

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Posted in Saving | 7 Comments »

Invaluable Feedback

August 7th, 2007

Well, I am just overwhelmed! I appreciate all of the feedback and it meant so much to me that people left comments. I was having one of those kind of days. You know, one of THOSE days, where nothing seemed to be going right.

I have loved all of the responses as it does challenge me to think more about how to handle things and what you guys are enjoying and not enjoying. We are hoping to relocate the Product Reviews, but these things take some time. Please understand that this is in the works to be a separate blog. I don’t ever want there to be confusion about honesty and trust among my readership and myself. I always try to be honest in my reviews of products and I always disclose that the products were given me to try and share with others. I do try to include snippets from the product sites to try and explain the workings behind or the history behind the products and a link to the company. My impression of the products will always be my honest opinions on them. There have been products I have really liked and some that were just plain bad. That is just part of sharing my reviews and the companies know this when they send the products to me.

As for money exchanging hands, there is not ever any money changing hands between myself and these companies. The advertisements on our website are what helps to support and pay our bills. When you visit the advertisements, we receive money. When you view a web page, we receive money. I work really, really hard and in order for this to be beneficial for us, we have to make some profits.

Affiliations do arise and I try to be upfront about those as well. When we are affiliated with a company, we receive a small amount of money by referring people to that company. I have and only will promote companies that I really like and that I believe will save you money. You will never see me throwing around company names just to get the money in my pocket. I can only recall two companies that I have ever really promoted an affiliation with, despite many requests from companies for those partnership opportunities.

In order for this particular Month of Savings series to work though, there will be links to other sites and I will have to feature other sites to try and show you ways to save. It is not because I receive money from this companies. Just like my obsession with Aldi and other great companies out there, I don’t get anything for sharing my love for these stores or sites. I just am passionate about sharing things that work in our life. That is part of being a blogger- sharing my opinions with everyone!

Thanks again- without you, these opportunities would not be possible!

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Posted in Saving | 3 Comments »

Hating the Series?

August 6th, 2007

I was excited about sharing thirty ways that we save our family money. I am not advertising for companies, but I may, at times, be highlighting companies that we have used to save our family money. These can be ideas you implement in your house, or not…

I have been getting some nasty emails from people so I can discontinue the series. I have already written the posts for the week and really wanted to share some new things we are trying to do for our family, but if you guys are hating it then I can stop.

Future posts would include free family days, how to rent/find cheap movies, coffee tips, cheaper prescriptions, brown bagging the lunch, lowering your house payment, and many more things that we are doing in our house.

I just hate to work this hard on something like this and get mean emails and comments.

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Posted in Saving | 58 Comments »

Figuring Out How Much Your Time is Really Worth

August 6th, 2007

Life. On a Budget has an excellent post about figuring out how much your time is worth. She explains the argument that most people use for figuring out how much their time costs might not be the right philosophy.

Enjoy the great read!

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Posted in Saving | 2 Comments »

Day 6: Take Advantage of Rebates

August 6th, 2007

Rebates can be a great way to save money for your family and no one does it better than the office supplies stores and drugstores. Unfortunately, four out of ten people never even apply for their entitled rebate. Maybe this is why these companies offer them?


Consumer Reports offers the following tips to better your chance of successfully completing a rebate and getting your money back:

Rebate Tips

  • Read and understand rebate requirements, including deadlines, before making a purchase.

  • Make copies of all rebate materials and put everything in a file folder, in case the company rejects your rebate claim or loses your submission. A paper trail is critical if anything goes wrong. Write down on the cover of the folder in big letters the date when the refund is due.

  • Act quickly. If the rebate form is available online, be sure to print it out immediately after you buy the product. While you may have a few weeks to submit the claim, the official form may be removed from the Web site after the promotional period ends.

  • Submit rebate requests promptly. Don’t wait until the filing deadline. If the company informs you that something’s missing, the extra time will be necessary to gather the requested documentation before the clock runs out. It may sound silly, but also remember to put enough stamps on the envelope, in case the enveloped is oversized.

  • Keep a careful eye out for your rebate check, as it sometimes resembles junk mail.

  • If the rebate doesn’t arrive when promised or at all, contact the company and jot down the name of anyone you speak with. If the matter isn’t resolved to your satisfaction, file a complaint with the state’s Attorney General where the company is based or the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov or 877-382-4357.

I used to take advantage of rebates more regularly, but have fallen off the bandwagon this summer. I checked my paper on Sunday though and the rebates were too good to pass up. I clipped my coupons, grabbed the rebates flier in the store and came armed with that week’s advertisement.

CVS was running a great rebates deal this week. Buy $20 worth of Post & Kraft company products, get $20 back in refunds. They also are offering their Aquafresh toothpaste for $2.99 with a $2.99 rebate (limit of three).

I hit the store, when we got home from church, and was able to get the following:

10 boxes of Post cereal
3 boxes Kotex pads
3 Aquafresh toothpastes
1 Colgate Total
2 Colgate Advanced (with bonus free toothbrushes)
1 box Revlon Hair Color
1 Schick Silk Effects Razor
Grand Total Before Savings: $60.28
Coupon Savings: $8.75
Rebate Savings: $35.97
Total Savings: $44.72
Final Total: $15.56

Walgreens also offers a similar rebates program and they run some pretty stellar deals themselves. You can check their EasySaver catalog online or pick a copy up when you get to the store. From what I understand, these rebates do have to be mailed in and take up to three weeks to clear.

CVS offers instant rebates that print out on your receipt. Bring in your Extra Care Bucks and they will scan them to put these savings towards your purchases. You also do receive 2% back on all of your purchases in the store or online.

Potential Monthly Savings: $40 or more

Sound Off: Do you utilize rebate programs? How do you stay on top of getting your rebates in on time? What is the best rebate you have received?

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Posted in Saving | 12 Comments »

French Bean Recall

August 5th, 2007

Thanks to our reader, Erica, for letting me know about the French Bean Recall. The recall is due to a possiblity of botulism in certain brands of canned french beans. Happy Harvest brand is listed in the recall, along with many other store brands.

Posted in Aldi | No Comments »

Day 5: Use Ebay and Save

August 4th, 2007

Welcome to Day 5 in our Month of Savings. I hope that you guys are enjoying it so far and are able to take something away from it. I am surprised how long these entries are taking me, but I really want to cram as much information into them as I can.

Today I want to talk about how much ebay has saved our family. ebay can truly be a frugal family’s best friend and I am interested in hearing what unusual deals you look for on Ebay. I am sure that everyone is searching for something different so I will just share some of the best deals that our family has found…

Coupons- ebay really saved our family a lot of money when we were in the baby food and formula stages because I was able to buy multiple coupons off of the website and use them when I would do our shopping trips. The cost on these is minimal compared to the savings you will find from using them. Keep these coupons in mind when doing your shopping for baby food, formula, diapers, and any other household item that you use frequently. I was able to get our baby food for less than a quarter a jar utilizing coupons that I found on the site.

Magazine Subscriptions- Magazine subscriptions are extremely cheap on ebay and can be bought for less than a quarter of the price of the traditional subscription prices. They are sold by magazine wholesale companies and the savings are huge. These are on of my favorite gifts to get people and it has really saved our family quite a bit of money to buy them through this resource.

Phone Batteries & Accessories- Phone batteries are expensive in the retail stores, but can be bought for less than half the price on ebay. We use this resource frequently when we need an item like this.

iPod Accessories- iPod accessories are extremely inexpensive on ebay and I would highly recommend using ebay for finding these types of items. In a retail store, an iPod adapter for your car costs around sixty to eighty dollars. We purchased ours on ebay for only $14.99. The accessories are not necessarily from the Apple company, but they work just as well and cost a fraction of the price.

Tickets- You can get tickets to theme parks, concerts, and sporting events for a lot less money than buying them online or at the door. Always make sure to go with retailers who have excellent feedback!

Car Parts & Accessories- If you are getting your car repaired, ask what part is needed and the price on it. Sometimes you can find the same exact part on ebay for a lot less money. This is also a great resource for someone who does their own repairs or is trying to make money by selling cars.

Not only can you save a lot of money by buying on ebay, you can also make some money for your family by selling on Ebay. Look around your home at all of the items that are just taking up space, but you are not actually using. Look up the items on ebay and see how much money you could potentially make from the sale and imagine what you could do with this new money in your pocket. You could use this money for a trip or buy a special item that you have been longing for. Check out books from the library on how to present your item and start listing!

Potential Monthly Savings- $40 or more

Sound Off: What do you look for on ebay? What is the best deal that you have gotten on the site?

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Posted in Saving | 11 Comments »

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