Cheap Winter Clothes: Find the Best Winter Clothes Sale

Cheap Winter Clothes!

Find the Big Clearance Sales and Get Cheap Winter Clothes!
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Winter clothes are the most expensive clothing you can buy, compared with clothing for the other seasons.  Winter coats are expensive, sweaters are expensive, and fleeces are expensive.  In the fall, the winter clothes appear in stores for full price.  The prices remain high all winter, through February.  Some winters, a cold snap comes along and motivates people to buy warm clothes at full price.  Then, in the early spring, something amazing happens...

Winter Clothes Sale- Spring Clearance

Last winter, I got curious about what happens to all those expensive winter clothes and coats.  The stores seem to have a good inventory of winter clothes all season.  Then in the spring, the stores have spring clothes for sale.  Do they ship the winter clothes to a warehouse for storage? Do the ship the winter clothes to the southern hemisphere, where it is fall when it is spring in the northern hemisphere?

Cheap Winter Clothes!
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

During the winter, my kids had some activities, and while I was waiting for them  I got to spend some time in the mall walking around.  I got in the habit of walking through stores and monitoring the prices and keeping an eye on some of my favorite items that I would like to buy if they weren't so darn expensive.  The weather was warming up.  The days were getting longer.  It was still cold, but spring was coming.  February turned to March- but winter clothes were still in stores, and they were still full price!

Then it happened.  I stopped by the Sears store in the mall over lunch break on Thursday, March 7, 2013.  The Spring Clearance sale had begun, apparently that morning.

Save at Winter Clothes Sales
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The Cheap Winter Clothes Bargains Go Fast!

This was the big one!  All of the winter clothes were suddenly on sale cheap.  Not just the odd sizes and weird styles, but the good stuff too.  There were racks of long sleeved Docker's dress shirts and high quality fleeces.  This was just what I was waiting for!  And the discounts were huge- there were racks of $50 long sleeved shirts for $5 each.  There were racks of winter fleeces and sweaters, most priced at $5.  There were also racks of winter coats on clearance.  Even though friends, family, and even complete strangers describe me as a penny pincher, cheapskate, tightwad, and other things- I decided to get in on this action!

I picked out 5 of the nice shirts and a couple of the fleeces.  This was a major shopping spree for me, even though I only spent about $40.  I used a couple of other tricks to save even more than the 80% off clearance prices.

Find the Winter Clothes Sale Early and Beat the Crowd
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How to Find the Cheap Winter Clothes Sale

Just after the sale started at noon on Thursday, there were no crowds and tons of selection.  I must have happened upon the clearance racks shortly after everything was marked down.  I came back the next day at noon to get a few cheap winter shirts and fleeces for my sons and most of the good stuff was gone already.  Timing is everything.  Here is how to find the big winter clearance sale to get cheap winter clothes:

• Start patrolling in late February or early March- you don't want to miss the big mark-down.  All of the best winter clothes bargain can be gone in a matter of hours.
• If you can, walk through your favorite stores around lunchtime every day.  Lunch break works well.  
• If you go to the Mall, you can walk through several stores in only a few minutes, instead of focusing on a single store
• The big sale will likely hit a couple weeks before Spring Break so stores can make room for the new spring merchandise
• Be ready to pick up bargains when the big clearance sale starts- know what items, sizes, and colors you need for everyone in your family
• Carry your coupons
• Be ready to consider signing up for a store credit card to save even more- sometimes you can get an additional percentage off of your purchase
• Be especially alert the first week of March in most areas

Not all stores have a big mark-down all at once.  Some stores walk the prices down gradually over a few weeks.  This does not work well for me- the prices are too high at first, so I won't buy anything.  By the time the prices get low enough to consider, all the good stuff is gone, and warm weather has arrived.  If your favorite store does the gradual mark-down strategy, look at other stores to try to find a big, sudden mark-down sale on winter clothes.

It is Worth Some Effort to Find the Cheap Winter Clothes Sale

Walking around the mall is good exercise and generally enjoyable.  As long as you can avoid buying anything at full price, hunting for the big winter clearance sale is a good sport for penny pinchers.  Even though I have a good supply of winter clothes after finding the big sale last year, I may try to find another big sale this year- just for fun...

Update: Kohl's Winter Clearance February 2

Kohl's must be expecting an early spring this year.  Today, I happened upon some great winter items marked down 80% already.  There was a great selection of winter sweaters and fleeces for $10, marked down from $40-$50 or more!

Kohl's Started Their Big Winter Clearance on February 2
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Recommeded Reading:
How to Survive Store Crowds at Clearance Sales

Kohl's Credit Card and Kohl's Cash

Penny Pincher Journal

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Debt Consolidation Calculator

Debt Consolidation Calculator

A good way to save money on interest and potentially reduce your monthly debt payments is to consolidate your debt.  Debt consolidation means combining several credit cards or other loans into a single loan with a lower interest rate.  If you have a good credit rating and enough income to make payments on a consolidation loan for your debts, you can get a much lower interest rate than typical credit card interest rates.  This allows you to pay the debt down faster since the interest rate is lower, and you may be able to reduce your overall monthly payments as well.

How does debt consolidation work and how much can you save?  Find out by using the Debt Consolidation Calculator to analyze your debts.

Debt Consolidation Calculator How Much Can You Save with Debt Consolidation?
Current Debts and Loans		Current Payoff Plan
Enter Debt Balance ($): Enter Interest Rate (%): Enter Monthly Payment ($):		Payoff Time (months): Total of Payments ($): Total Interest ($):
Enter Debt Balance ($): Enter Interest Rate (%): Enter Monthly Payment ($):		Payoff Time (months): Total of Payments ($): Total Interest ($):
Enter Debt Balance ($): Enter Interest Rate (%): Enter Monthly Payment ($):		Payoff Time (months): Total of Payments ($): Total Interest ($):
Enter Debt Balance ($): Enter Interest Rate (%): Enter Monthly Payment ($):		Payoff Time (months): Total of Payments ($): Total Interest ($):
Step 1: Debt Analysis
Current Debt Summary Total Balance ($): Total Monthly Payments ($): Total Cost to Payoff:
Debt Consolidation Plan
Enter Credit Card Balance ($): Enter Interest Rate (%): Enter Monthly Payment ($):		Payoff Time (months): Total of Payments ($): Total Interest ($):
Total Savings with Debt Consolidation:
Step 2: Update Debt Consolidation: Change Interest Rate or Monthly Payment and Recalculate...
Copyright (c) 2014 Dr. Penny Pincher. All Rights Reserved http://pennypincherjournal.blogspot.com

Using the Debt Consolidation Calculator

Enter information about your debt payments and loans in the Current Debts and Loans section of the calculator.  Enter the debt balance, interest rate, and monthly payment that you are currently making.  You can enter up to 4 debts in the calculator.  If you have less than 4 debts to enter, just enter 0 as the balance for the extra debt entries in the calculator.

Next, click "Compute" in the Step 1: Debt Analysis section.  This will calculate the payoff time, total of your payments, and total interest for each debt account.  The sum of all of your debt balances will be entered under Current Debt Summary, along with the total of your monthly debt payments and the total that you will pay under your current plan.

An example debt consolidation loan will also be entered under the Debt Consolidation Plan section of the calculator.  The default amount of the debt consolidation loan is the total of the debts entered under Current Debts and Loans.  The interest rate is 6%, and the monthly payment on the consolidation loan is the same as the total current payments on your debts.

You will be able to see how long it will take to pay off a consolidation loan and how much money on interest payments you will save.  The blue box shows your total savings with a debt consolidation loan.

Recommended Reading:
How to Become a Millionaire- The Millionaire Calculator

Credit Card Consolidation Loan Calculator

Penny Pincher Journal

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Credit Card Consolidation Loan Calculator

Credit Card Consolidation Loan Calculator

A credit card consolidation loan allows you to pay off your high interest credit cards with a low interest bank loan.  If you have good credit and high enough income, you can get a credit card consolidation loan from a bank and save a lot of money on interest.  How much money can you save with a credit card consolidation loan?  Find out with the Credit Card Consolidation Calculator!

Credit Card Consolidation Calculator by Dr. Penny Pincher How Much Can You Save with Credit Card Consolidation?
Current Credit Cards		Current Payoff Plan
Enter Credit Card Balance ($): Enter Interest Rate (%): Enter Monthly Payment ($):		Payoff Time (months): Total of Payments ($): Total Interest ($):
Enter Credit Card Balance ($): Enter Interest Rate (%): Enter Monthly Payment ($):		Payoff Time (months): Total of Payments ($): Total Interest ($):
Enter Credit Card Balance ($): Enter Interest Rate (%): Enter Monthly Payment ($):		Payoff Time (months): Total of Payments ($): Total Interest ($):
Enter Credit Card Balance ($): Enter Interest Rate (%): Enter Monthly Payment ($):		Payoff Time (months): Total of Payments ($): Total Interest ($):
Step 1: Credit Card Analysis
Current Credit Cards Summary Total Balance ($): Total Monthly Payments ($): Total Cost to Payoff:
Credit Card Consolidation Plan
Enter Credit Card Balance ($): Enter Interest Rate (%): Enter Monthly Payment ($):		Payoff Time (months): Total of Payments ($): Total Interest ($):
Total Savings with Credit Card Consolidation:
Step 2: Update Credit Card Consolidation: Change Interest Rate or Monthly Payment and Recalculate...
Copyright (c) 2014. All Rights Reserved http://pennypincherjournal.blogspot.com

How to Use the Credit Card Consolidation Loan Calculator

Update the Current Credit Cards section with the information from your current credit cards.  Enter the credit card balance, interest rate, and monthly payment that you are making.  The Credit Card Consolidation Calculator can process up to 4 credit cards.  If you have less than 4 credit cards, simply enter a zero balance for the extra credit cards in the calculator.

Next, click "Compute" in the Step 1 green box.  This will calculate the payoff time, total of payments, and total interest cost to pay off each of your credit cards.  Your total credit card balance, total monthly payment, and total cost to pay off your current credit cards is calculated and shown in the Current Credit Card Summary section of the calculator.

Example values will be automatically entered under the Credit Card Consolidation section.  The total credit card balance will be filled in, an interest rate of 6% will be entered, and your total monthly payment on your current credit cards will be used as your payment on your credit card consolidation loan.

The payoff time, total of payments, and total interest paid for the example consolidation loan is calculated.  The blue section shows the total savings achieved with a credit card consolidation loan.

You can change the interest rate or monthly payments for the consolidation loan and click "Compute" in Step 2 to update the results.  You may want to try making a higher monthly payment to pay off your loan faster and save even more money on interest.

Recommended Reading:
Savings Calculator

How to Become a Millionaire- The Millionaire Calculator

Penny Pincher Journal

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Credit Card Payoff Calculator

Credit Card Payoff Calculator

Find out how long it will take to payoff your credit card with the Credit Card Payoff Calculator.  Enter your credit card balance, monthly payment, and interest rate.  The Credit Card Payoff Calculator outputs the time to payoff your credit card and also the total amount of your payments to payoff the credit card.

Credit Card Payoff Calculator by Dr. Penny Pincher How long will it take to payoff your credit card? Copyright (c) 2014. All Rights Reserved http://pennypincherjournal.blogspot.com

INPUTS

Enter Credit Card Balance ($):

Enter Interest Rate (%):

Enter Monthly Payment ($):

RESULTS

Payoff Time (months):

Total of Payments ($):

With the Credit Card Payoff Calculator, you can check how much the interest rate affects your time to payoff a credit card.  For example, if you are paying 12.9% interest and you transfer your balance to a new credit account with 0% interest, will this help you payoff your credit card faster?  With the default settings of a $5,000 credit card balance, 12.9% interest, and a $350 monthly payment, it would take 15.6 months to payoff the credit card at a cost of $5457.53.  If you could get a 0% introductory rate, you could pay the credit card off in 14.3 months and save $457.53.

You can also check the affect of making bigger payments on your credit card to payoff the balance faster.  If you pay an extra $100 per month, how much faster will you payoff your credit card and how much money will you save on interest payments?  For the default example, if you increased the payment by $100 to $450 per month, you would payoff the credit card in 11.9 months at a cost of $5353.32 at a savings of $104.21.

Credit Card Payoff Calculator Instructions

Calculator Inputs:

Enter Credit Card Balance ($):  Your total credit card balance.
Enter Interest Rate (%):  The annual interest rate on your credit card.
Enter Monthly Payment ($):  The amount you pay on your credit card every month.

Calculator Outputs:
Payoff Time (months):  How long it will take to payoff your credit card.  Note that fractions of a month are shown in the calculator.  For example if paying off your credit card will take 12.3 months, this would require 12 full monthly payments and a partial payment on the 13th month.
Total of Payments ($):  The total of your payments to pay off the credit card, including interest.

This site run by Drexel University introduces the basic formulas used to calculate compound interest for calculating credit card payoff time and cost.

Recommended Reading:
Savings Calculator

How to Become a Millionaire- The Millionaire Calculator

Penny Pincher Journal

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Monthly Car Payment Calculator

Monthly Car Payment Calculator

Use this calculator to find out your monthly car payments.  Simply enter the loan amount for your car, the length of the loan in years, and the interest rate.

Car Payment Calculator by Dr. Penny Pincher Calculate your car payment! Copyright (c) 2014. All Rights Reserved http://pennypincherjournal.blogspot.com

INPUTS

Enter Loan Amount ($):

Enter Length of Loan (years):

Enter Interest Rate (%):

RESULTS

Monthly Payment ($):

For example, the default values in the Car Payment Calculator calculate car payments for a car loan of $28,000 for 4 years with an interest rate of 6%.

Car Loan Terms and Interest Rates

Typical terms for a car loan are 4 years or 5 years.  You can also get 3 year car loans and even 6 year car loans.  The longer the car loan you get, the more you will end up paying in interest.  However, an advantage of taking a longer car loan is that you can get a lower monthly payment.  Try entering different loan lengths in the Car Payment Calculator to see the effect on your monthly car payment.

The type of car you buy can affect the interest rate you get on a car loan.  The interest rates are lower on newer cars.  Banks have less risk in loaning money to buy a new car, because this asset is more likely to hold its value than an older car.  You can find car loans under 5% interest on newer cars.  Older cars can have interest rates of 10% or more.

Surprisingly, in some cases it may actually cost less to buy a newer car because of the lower interest rates you can get to buy a newer car.  The purchase price of an older car will be less than a newer car, but the total cost of paying the loan can be lower for a newer car if the interest rate is significantly less.  You can use the Car Payment Calculator to see the impact on your car payment of  buying a less expensive car at a higher interest rate vs. a more expensive car at at lower interest rate.

This site has some sample car payment calculations- you can enter the test parameters of  a 3 year loan, $15,000 car price, and 7%  interest rate and match the example calculation of $463.16 per month using the Car Payment Calculator.

Penny Pincher Journal

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Savings Calculator for Savings Accounts with Interest

Savings Calculator- How Much Will Your Savings Be Worth?

The bad news:  Interest rates on savings accounts are very low.  It is almost impossible to find a savings account with an interest rate of even 1%.

The good news:  You can still grow your money without risk in a safe savings account.  But how fast will your savings account grow?

The Savings Calculator calculates how much your savings account balance grows over time.  Just enter your investment time, your starting balance, and how much you save every month.  You can also adjust the interest rate (rate of return) and click "Compute".

Savings Calculator by Dr. Penny Pincher How much will your savings grow? Copyright (c) 2014. All Rights Reserved http://pennypincherjournal.blogspot.com

INPUTS

Enter Investment Time (years):

Enter Starting Investment Amount ($):

Enter Monthly Investment Contribution ($):

Enter Average Annual Rate of Return (%):

RESULTS

Amount Obtained in Current Dollars ($):

Savings Interest Calculator

With the default settings, the Savings Calculator will calculate how much money you will save in 10 years if you start with $1,000 and save $350 per month.  The interest rate of 0.85% on a savings account is pretty good right now, but you can find savings accounts at 0.85% interest, especially if you look online.  The Savings Calculator uses monthly compounding to calculate the interest on your savings account balance.

If you are interested in growing money faster than you can with a savings account, check out this Investment Calculator.  It is set up to show you typical returns from stock market investments, including effects of capital gains taxes.  However, when you move from a savings account to investing in stocks, you will lose the safety of knowing that you will not lose money from a bank account.  But with the interest rate so low, you might want to take some risk for the possibility of a much higher return.

With the Savings Calculator, you can try out some scenarios to see how your savings grows.  For example, you can check how fast your savings grows if you save $100 extra per month.  Is it worth moving to a different bank to get 0.25% more interest on a savings account?  You can use the Savings Calculator to find out how much your savings will grow.

Penny Pincher Journal

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How to Become a Millionaire- The Millionaire Calculator

How to Become a Millionaire

You can become a millionaire by inheriting a million dollars or more- that is the easiest way!  As long as you still have one million dollars after paying taxes on the inheritance, you're all set.  But most people do not have wealthy relatives who will leave them enough money to become a millionaire.

You can become a millionaire by landing a high paying job such as a doctor, CEO, or professional athlete.  Some highly paid individuals make more than one million dollars every year from their job.  But earning such a high salary takes hard work and years of training- and not everyone has the skill and talent to earn a high salary.

What else can you do to become a millionaire?  The most realistic way for most people to become a millionaire is through investment.  If you invest a small amount of money slowly and steadily, you can become a millionaire.  But how much do you need to invest, and how long will it take to become a millionaire?

The Millionaire Calculator

This JavaScript calculator will tell you how long it will take to become a millionaire.  The investment goal is set at 1 million dollars.  Enter your starting investment amount (it is zero if you haven't started investing yet), and enter the amount you can invest every month.  Click "Compute" to find out how long it will take to become a millionaire.

Millionaire Calculator by Dr. Penny Pincher How long to reach your financial goal? Copyright (c) 2014. All Rights Reserved http://pennypincherjournal.blogspot.com

INPUTS

Enter Investment Goal ($):

Enter Starting Investment Amount ($):

Enter Monthly Investment Contribution ($):

Enter Average Annual Rate of Return (%):

Adjust for Inflation?: Enter annual inflation rate (%):

Adjust for Capital Gains Taxes?: Enter capital gains tax rate (%):

RESULTS

Time to Reach Investment Goal (years):

Amount Obtained in Current Dollars ($):

Total Gains from Investment ($):

Total Capital Invested ($):

How Long Will It Take To Become a Millionaire?

You can adjust parameters in the Millionaire Calculator such as your rate of return on investment, and whether or not inflation and capital gains tax is taken into account.  The long-term historical return from the stock market averages about 8% per year, so this is a reasonable figure to use for planning.  The long-term inflation rate is around 3%.  If you want your future investment to be worth 1 million dollars in today's dollars, you will need more than 1 million dollars.  Prices tend to go up over time due to inflation.  For example, a car that costs $35,000 today might cost $70,000 years in the future.  You can check the "Adjust for Inflation" box on the calculator so that your investment will have 1 million dollars of value in the future when each dollar does not buy as much.  As a result, you will need to get more than 1 million dollars to reach your goal.

Capital gains taxes are taxes that are collected when the value of your investment goes up.  The good news is that you may be able to avoid capital gains taxes if you invest in retirement accounts such as ROTH, IRA, or 401K plans.  If you just want to put money in the stock market and take it out any time without any restrictions, then you'll likely need to pay capital gains tax.  You can check the "Adjust for Capital Gains Taxes" box on the calculator to see how this affects the length of time to reach 1 million dollars through investing.

Read more about how to get rich through investing.

Penny Pincher Journal

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Investment Calculator- How Long to Reach Retirement?

Investment Calculator

This investment calculator determines the time to reach your financial goal.  How long would it take to make a million dollars from your investments?  This calculator provides an answer.

This investment calculator allows you to input the average rate of return from your investments as well as allowing adjustment for inflation and capital gains taxes.  The investment calculator is developed in JavaScript and runs in your web browser.  Just enter your financial goal, set the parameters, and click "Compute".

The default goal is one million dollars.  Depending on your retirement plans or financial goals, you can adjust the Investment Goal in the investment calculator up or down.

Investment Calculator by Dr. Penny Pincher How long to reach your financial goal? Copyright (c) 2014. All Rights Reserved http://pennypincherjournal.blogspot.com

INPUTS

Enter Investment Goal ($):

Enter Starting Investment Amount ($):

Enter Monthly Investment Contribution ($):

Enter Average Annual Rate of Return (%):

Adjust for Inflation?: Enter annual inflation rate (%):

Adjust for Capital Gains Taxes?: Enter capital gains tax rate (%):

RESULTS

Time to Reach Investment Goal (years):

Amount Obtained in Current Dollars ($):

Total Gains from Investment ($):

Total Capital Invested ($):

Investment Calculator Instructions

Enter Investment Goal ($):
How much are you trying to accumulate from your investments?

Enter Starting Investment Amount ($):
If you a current investment to use as a starting point, you can enter that amount.  Otherwise enter 0 if you do not have any investment already.

Enter Monthly Investment Contribution ($):
Inter the amount you can invest every month going forward.

Enter Average Annual Rate of Return (%):
The long-term historical return from the stock market is about 8%, including the Great Depression and other economic downturns.

This page provides a good reference on compound interest calculations.  Monthly compounding of investment returns is used in the Investment Calculator.

Adjust for Inflation?:
The Investment Calculator allows you to choose whether or not to adjust your investment goal for the effects of inflation.  The long-term average rate of inflation is around 3%.  You may want to adjust your goal for inflation  If your investment goal is to reach one million dollars, you will need more than one million dollars in the future to purchase what one million dollars can buy today.  Since prices are rising slowly but steadily, you can automatically adjust your investment goal to account for inflation.

Adjust for Capital Gains Taxes?:
If you are investing in taxable investment accounts, you'll want to account for capital gains taxes.  For example, if you make $1000 of gains from an investment and you have to pay 28% capital gains tax, you'll need to come up with $280 for the IRS.  If you check the capital gains option, the tax payment is taken from your investment amount.

If your investment is in ROTH, IRA, 401K, or other tax-deferred investment accounts, you will not need to pay capital gains taxes if you follow the rules.

When payment of capital gains tax is selected, the total gains plus total capital invested will exceed the account balance result.  The difference between these totals reflects the removal of funds to pay taxes as capital gains are realized.

Investment Calculator Results

Time to Reach Investment Goal (years):
This result shows how long it will take to reach your investment goal in years, based on the input parameters.  If it will take more than 100 years to reach your goal, the calculator returns "More than 100!" for the time that it will take.  If this happens, either try investing more or choose a smaller goal.

Amount Obtained in Current Dollars ($):
This result is the amount obtained at the time your goal is reached.  The Investment Calculator uses monthly totals, so the amount obtained may be slightly larger than the goal at the end of the last month of your investment.  If you adjust for inflation, the amount obtained can be significantly more than your goal- this reflects the reduced value of money in the future due to inflation.

Total Gains from Investment ($):
The total gain from your investment is shown.

Total Capital Invested ($):
Your total investment of capital is shown.


Recommended Reading:
How to Make 1 Million Dollars by Investing Your Car Payment

How to Get Rich

Penny Pincher Journal

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Mortgage Payment Calculator

Mortgage Payment Calculator

The Mortgage Payment Calculator below estimates your monthly mortgage payment.  Enter your home's value, the amount borrowed, and interest rate to find out your monthly payment.  The Mortgage Payment Calculator is written in JavaScript and runs in your web browser.  Find out your mortgage payment right now for free!

If you know your tax or insurance cost, you can enter these costs into the calculator.  If you don't know the tax and insurance costs, the Mortgage Payment Calculator also estimates your property taxes and insurance costs and calculates your monthly payment including principal, interest, taxes, and insurance.

Mortgage Payment Calculator by Dr. Penny Pincher Calculate monthly home mortgage payments Copyright (c) 2014. All Rights Reserved http://pennypincherjournal.blogspot.com
Enter value of home ($):
Enter amount borrowed ($):
Enter interest rate (%):
Enter length of loan (years):
Step 1:	Click to Compute Monthly Principal and Interest Payment and Typical Taxes and Insurance
Principal + Interest Monthly payment ($)=
Taxes + Insurance Enter annual property tax ($): (typically 1.38% home's value) Enter annual insurance cost ($): (typically 0.35% home's value)
Principal + Interest + Taxes + Insurance Monthly payment ($)=
Step 2:	Optional: Click to Update Total If You Want Enter Your Own Tax & Insurance Costs

Mortgage Payment Calculator Instructions

Enter the basic information required to calculate mortgage payment amounts in the top lines of the calculator:

• Value of your home
• Amount borrowed
• Interest rate, for example enter '5' for 5% interest
• Length of loan in years

Click "Compute" to see your monthly mortgage payment for principal and interest.  The calculator will automatically calculate typical property tax and insurance cost based on the home's value and enter these in the calculator.

The calculator will also calculate your total monthly mortgage payment including principal, interest, taxes, and insurance.

Optional: If you know your actual property tax or insurance costs, you can replace the automatically calculated estimates and enter your own values.  Click "Update" to update the monthly mortgage cost using your own figures for taxes and insurance.

This monthly payment formula is used in the Mortgage Payment Calculator.

Penny Pincher Journal

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Walking Time Calculator- How Long Would It Take to Walk?

Walking Time Calculator

Walking is an easy form of exercise that requires no special equipment.  You can save money by walking instead of driving- but how long will it take to walk to your destination?  Find out with the Walking Time Calculator!

Find how long it takes to walk any distance using this simple walking time calculator.  Select the units you would like to use for distance: miles, kilometers, or blocks.  Select your walking speed: leisurely, purposeful, or brisk.  This article describes the different walking speeds.  Input your walking distance and push "Compute".  The time required to walk the given distance at the selected walking speed will be displayed.

Walking Time Calculator by Dr. Penny Pincher Copyright (c) 2014. All Rights Reserved http://pennypincherjournal.blogspot.com
Units: Miles Kilometers Blocks (650 feet)	Walking Speed: Leisurely (3.1 mph/5.1 km/hr) Purposeful (4.2 mph/6.8 km/hr) Brisk (5.9mph/9.5 km/hr)	Enter distance to Walk:
Result: Time to Walk= seconds
Result: Time to Walk= minutes
Result: Time to Walk= hours

* Remember to click "Compute" to update the results when you change units, speed, or distance!

Your walking time is calculated and is presented in seconds, minutes, and hours.  The resulting time in seconds is equivalent to the time in minutes, which is equivalent to the time in hours.  The different time units are shown to allow you to look at the result that makes sense based on your walking distance.

Walking Time Calculator Instructions

The Walking Time Calculator calculates your walking time in seconds, minutes, and hours and give you the answer for how long it takes to walk any distance.  Simply set the units that you wish to use to enter your walking distance, type in the distance, and click "Compute".

Walking Speed Calculator Input

• Leisurely walking speed is actually the average human walking speed of 3.1 mph which is 5.1 km/hr.  
• Purposeful walking is the speed people walk when they want to get somewhere- it is a comfortable walking speed for most people at 4.2 mph or 6.8 km/hr.
• Brisk walking speed at 5.9 mph or 9.5 km/hr is very fast walking- most people could not sustain a brisk walking speed without being in top condition.  Typically, you only see people walking at brisk walking speed during training or perhaps at an airport trying to catch a flight.

Walking Distance Calculator Input
I included units of blocks since people often think in terms of blocks when walking in a city.  Blocks are different lengths in different places- blocks are even different lengths within the same city.  In my area, blocks are about 650 feet long on average.

Walking Time Calculator Outputs
All of the results outputs from the Walking Time Calculator are equivalent- you get your walking time presented in seconds, the same walking time presented in minutes, and the same walking time presented in hours.

The walking calculator result is output in seconds, minutes, and hours so you can pick the one that makes sense based on the distance you are walking.  For example, if you are only walking a few blocks then the result in minutes would be the most useful.  If you are walking a long distance, the result in hours is easier to comprehend than looking at a very large number of seconds.  If you want to check walking time for very short distances, the results in seconds is easiest to understand.

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Everlast Punching Bag: Heavy Bag and Speed Bag

Everlast Punching Bag

When most people talk about a punching bag, they mean a heavy bag.  A heavy bag is a bag about 4 feet tall and 18 inches across.  My Everlast 4008 Traditional Heavy Bag weighs 80 pounds.  The other type of punching bag the people think of is a speed bag.

A speed bag is a small punching bag about the size of a basketball that is attached to a wooden platform.  You punch the speed bag and it bounces back rapidly.  My Everlast speed bag provides good hand-eye coordination training and aerobic exercise.

Everlast Heavy Bag

A heavy bag is about the size of a person's torso- just right for punching as hard as you can.  I wear Everlast Neoprene Heavy Bag Gloves when I punch my heavy bag.

Punching a heavy bag is great exercise, both for building upper body muscle and for aerobic exercise.  I have been working with a heavy bag for about 10 days and the difference is noticeable.  I look and feel stronger already.

Everlast Heavy Bag installed in my basement
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

A heavy bag work-out is intense.  I do one exercise where I rapidly punch the bag and keep it lifted up with my punches for perhaps 30 seconds or so.  I also spend some time working on jabs.  I know almost nothing about boxing.  The punching bag was a Christmas present for my teenage sons and I use it just for fun.

Installing an Everlast Heavy Bag

Punching Bag Stand
If you don't want to mess with attaching hardware to your ceiling, you can get a free-standing heavy bag stand such as this Everlast Heavy Bag Stand .  The main advantage of using a stand over permanent mounting is that a punching bag stand allows you to easily place the heavy bag anywhere you want to work out.  You can move the bag without installing or uninstalling anything- just move the stand.

The main disadvantages of a stand are that it is an extra item to purchase, and that it restricts your movement and access to the heavy bag somewhat during a workout.  For some people, using a punching bag stand is more convenient than attaching a heavy bag hanger to the ceiling.



Ceiling Attachment
I installed my Everlast traditional heavy bag using lag bolts to attach it to a joist in my basement ceiling.  I used a Everlast Wood Beam Heavy Bag Hanger to mount my heavy bag to the ceiling joist.



My house is new construction- usually a good thing.  However, the joists are engineered material rather than solid wood.  The joists use what looks like OSB and plywood rather than solid wood.

Since the joists are not solid wood, I wanted to beef the area up a bit before hanging the heavy bag.  I used deck screws to attach 1x2 pine boards above the bottom edge of the joist.  I screwed the 1x2's from the sides and also screwed through the bottom edge of the joist into the 1x2's to add some strength.  I did not want the lag bolts to pull through the bottom of the joist, and I did not want the bottom board of the joist to separate from the 3/4" OSB part of the joist.  If you look closely at the pictures below, you can see two of the four green deck screws that I used to strengthen the board on the bottom of the joist by screwing it into the 1x2 bracing through the bottom.

Added Bracing (1x2 boards) to strengthen bottom board of engineered joist for heavy bag hanger
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Installation of Everlast Heavy Bag in Ceiling Joists using Heavy Bag Hanger
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

After hanging the bag, I noticed that the joist would flex side-to-side as the bag was swinging.  I did not want to fatigue the joist, so I added some 2x4 bracing to stabilize the joist.  I cut some 2x4 scraps to length to get a friction fit, and I nailed the bracing in place so it wouldn't fall out when the bag is swinging.

Using the Heavy Bag Hanger along with some bracing did the job.

Everlast Speed Bag

My kids also got an Everlast Leather Speed Bag  and Everlast Elite Adjustable Speedbag Platform for Christmas.  They must have been really good all year!

Everlast Speed Bag installed in my basement
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

The speed bag was simpler to install than the heavy bag.  I have exposed wall studs behind a vapor barrier in the basement wall.  The lag bolts were not included with the platform kit, so a quick trip to the hardware store was required to pick up 4 lag bolts.  I drilled out holes so that the lag bolts could be installed without cracking the studs.  The picture below shows a close-up of the installation of the speedbag platform to the wall studs.

Everlast Speed Bag Platform is attached to the wall using 4 lag bolts.  One of the 4 is shown at the far left.
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

The Everlast Speed Bag Platform allows about 8 inches of height adjustment.  My first attempt to install the platform resulted in the speed bag being too low for anyone to use.  The bottom of the speed bag should be about chin high.  I had to take the platform off of the wall and re-install it with the top board near the ceiling to get the platform high enough.  The height that worked for me was with the top board installed 90 inches (7' 6") from the floor.

Everlast Boxing Gloves

But wait, there's more!  My kids also got Everlast Neoprene Heavy Bag Gloves.  These work with both the heavy bag and the speed bag.  I got tired of borrowing my kids' gloves, so I ordered my own pair.




Punching a heavy bag would be hard on the hands without gloves.  These gloves work great.  I use the heavy bag gloves on the speed bag as well.

Everlast Punching Bag Gym

I am surprised how much fun it is to have punching bags in my basement.  I like to alternate between the speed bag and the heavy bag.  Sometimes I use the heavy bag at the same time as one of my kids, punching from the opposite side.  I like the quick workout you can get from punching bags- it only takes a few minutes to get some serious exercise.


Recommended Reading:
The Perfect Multi-gym Pull-up Bar- with installation tips

Cheap Bikes For Sale- How to Get a Bike for Almost Free!

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Copyright © 2014 Dr. Penny Pincher.  All Rights Reserved.  Privacy Policy