Penny Pincher Calculators

Calculate How Much Money You Can Save

Last year I got a used book on JavaScript at a half-price bookstore and figured out how to make calculators to let you figure out all sorts of things right on a web page.

Last night, I moved my JavaScript calculators from dppmoney.com to right here on Penny Pincher Journal..  I decided it would make more sense to have the calculators on Penny Pincher Journal instead of my other website.

Penny Pincher Calculators are Easy to Use- Just Type in Your Information and Click "Compute".
This one calculates how long it takes to pay off a credit card and the total cost of payments.
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These JavaScript calculators are all really easy to use.  I tried to use color-coding and provide some example values right in the calculator so you can easily see how to use the calculators to better understand your financial options.

You can calculate some interesting things, such as how long it would take to save $1 million dollars.  You can also calculate how much you would save with credit card consolidation or how much you would save by refinancing your mortgage.

Penny Pincher Calculators

Here is a list of Penny Pincher calculators to help you save money:

Mortgage Refinance Calculator- calculate how much you would save by refinancing your mortgage.  How much lower would your house payments be after a refi?  Your mortgage is likely you biggest loan- you can save a lot of money if you can get a lower mortgage interest rate.

Debt Consolidation Calculator- calculate how much you would save on interest by combining several high interest debt accounts into a debt consolidation loan with a lower interest rate.  You would be surprised how much you can save on interest.

Credit Card Consolidation Calculator- calculate how much you could save by taking several high interest credit cards and consolidating these into a lower interest credit card consolidation loan.  Some credit card interest rates are 20% or even more.  Find out how much you can save with a balance transfer to a lower rate card.

Credit Card Payoff Calculator- figure out how long it will take to pay off your credit card.  Try out different monthly repayment amounts and see the effect on how long it takes to pay off a credit card and the total amount you will pay.

Monthly Car Payment Calculator- calculate your monthly car payment given the loan amount, interest rate, and length of loan.  How much car can you afford?  How much lower will your car payment be with a 5 year / 60 month loan or even a  6 year / 72 month loan?

Savings Calculator- let's say you deposit a certain amount of money every month and receive interest over time.  This calculator will let you figure out how much your savings will grow over time.

The Millionaire Calculator- this is my favorite.  Enter your savings rate and rate of return to figure out how long it will take to reach your goal.  The default goal is 1 million dollars.  You can also choose to account for inflation and capital gains when calculating how long it will take to get 1 million dollars of purchasing power.

Investment Calculator- let's say you are investing in a retirement fund and want to find out when you can retire.  Input how much you invest and your average return to calculate how long it will take to reach your goal.  You can account for inflation and capital gains tax.

Mortgage Payment Calculator- there is more to a house payment than principal and interest, you also pay taxes and insurance.  Use this calculator to estimate house payments including principal, interest, taxes, and insurance.

Walking Time Calculator- this one is not about money, but useful to figure out how long it will take to walk.  Enter the distance to walk and select your walking speed (leisurely, purposeful, or brisk) to get an accurate calculation of how long it will take to walk.  Walking is less expensive than driving and is healthy as well.

Check out these easy to use calculators to help you find ways to save money.

Penny Pincher Journal

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Rubberific Rubber Mulch- Lasts for Years

Rubberific Rubber Mulch

Bags of Rubberific Rubber Mulch
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When my wife brought home some bags of rubber mulch to try this spring, I was skeptical.  Regular wood mulch is pretty cheap and works pretty well.  We usually get the cheap Cyprus mulch.  The down side of wood mulch is that it breaks down and looks faded and old after less than a year.

Rubberific Rubber Mulch is an interesting idea.  It is made from shredded up tires that are dyed.  It looks just like wood mulch, and considering that old tires seem to last forever, I think this mulch will last a long time.

Rubberific Rubber Mulch In My Flower Bed
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The rubber mulch itself is really light since it is dry.  I am used to picking up bags of wood mulch that are much heavier for the same volume.  I was surprised how much the shredded rubber looks like chipped wood.  You wouldn't notice unless you are really looking closely.

Rubber mulch could be one of those things that is more expensive at first and pays for itself over the years.  Replacing mulch every year not only requires the cost of the mulch, but also time and the gas to drive around to get the mulch.  The Rubberific rubber mulch costs about 3 to 5 times as much as wood mulch, depending on what kind of wood mulch you get.  This product has a chance to be cost effective if it really does last 10 to 15 years.

Rubberific Rubber Mulch- Shredded Tires Looks Like Wood Mulch
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Just as I was getting impressed and thinking that rubber mulch really is "Rubberific", I remembered the mulch we used in a different flower bed this year.  It was a rock mulch.  The rock mulch will last much longer than 10-15 years- more like billions of years!  But wood mulch looks better than rocks in the shady location in front of our house, so the choice is between wood and rubber.  In the shade, it may last even longer than the advertised 10-15 years, so I may never need to replace it.

I can think of a few downsides to using rubber mulch.  It is more expensive than wood mulch.  Since the recycled tires certainly contain a lot of chemicals, I wouldn't want to use it around vegetable plants or fruit trees.  Also, I think rubber mulch placed in the sun could get really hot and maybe even smell like rubber tires on a hot day.

I think trying out rubber mulch in a shady flower bed is a good place to experiment with it.  If you use mulch in your landscaping, check out rubber mulch for a longer-lasting alternative to wood mulch.

Penny Pincher Journal

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Cheap Duct Tape Projects and Repairs

Duct Tape for Cheap Projects and Repairs

About 35% of one of the brake light covers on my trailer was missing.  This was pretty easy to repair!
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Duct tape is useful for making quick repairs and doing simple projects.  If a few cents worth of duct tape can save you from replacing something for awhile at least, it is probably worth doing.  Some of the features I like about duct tape are:

• Duct tape is fairly cheap, a few bucks for a roll 50 or 100 feet long that will last you a long time
• Duct tape is durable, some repairs and projects using duct tape will last many years
• Duct tape is easy to work with- you don't need any special tools, skills or experience

Duct Tape is Handy to Have Around for Projects and Repairs
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I like duct tape so much that I mentioned this as a topic in my most recent book as one of the 101 ways to save money.  You can read Tip 90 about using duct tape for cheap repairs here:
Tip 90: Duct Tape and Other Cheap Repairs

Duct Tape Repairs

Repair Gloves with Duct Tape

The other day while working in the garden, I felt some weeds poke my thumb.  This was surprising since I was wearing heavy leather gloves.  Unfortunately, a hole had developed in the thumb.  This was clearly a repair that called for duct tape.

Use Duct Tape to Repair Gloves
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It took about 1 minute to repair the glove with duct tape.  In the picture, you can see that one of the fingers has also been repaired with duct tape.  I put that duct tape on last fall, and it has lasted through quite a bit of use already.

Repair Garbage Can with Duct Tape

After making this repair, I decided to look around and see what other repairs and projects I had around that use duct tape.  I didn't have to look far.  Right next to the workbench where I repaired my gloves, I have a garbage can with the lid repaired with duct tape.

Garbage Can Repaired with Duct Tape
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It would seem silly to me to throw away a garbage can or garbage can lid that would be repaired with duct tape.  The lid had broken and it would no longer snap in place on top of the garbage can.  I was able to simply tape the lid back together so that it fits on nicely again.  This repair has lasted for about 6 months so far.  The duct tape if flexible enough to handle some abuse as the lid gets dropped to the ground by the garbage man every week.  I guess I could have used black duct tape to make the repair blend in a little better, but the silver doesn't really bother me.

Duct Tape Projects

Continuing my walk around the house to see where I have used duct tape, I found some projects where duct tape was a key component.

Window Crank Pole Duct Tape Project

The first is my contraption to crank open 2nd story windows.  Before I made my pole, I would need to use a ladder to open and close the windows.  The pole is an old telescoping pole for a swimming pool net.  I duct taped a loop of heavy shoe lace on the end.  I used more duct tape to pad the metal pole to avoid scraping up the window cranks.

Duct Tape on Pole to Crank 2nd Story Windows
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As you can see in the picture above, I got fancy and used two different kinds of duct tape.  I used the thinner, stickier 3M silver duct tape to hold the shoe lace in place, and then I used the thicker black Gorilla duct tape to provide padding over the exposed end of the pole.

Telescoping Pole to Crank High Windows
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This project was great- it only took about 15 minutes, it didn't cost anything since I had the materials around, and it was immediately useful.  I was able to crank my windows open that day without getting out a ladder.  I have been using my duct tape window pole for about 2 months now.

Temporary Table with Duct Tape

In the room with the high windows, I have a table set up to start vegetable plants from seeds for my garden.  The table I used is actually a temporary arrangement using some saw horses and scraps of wood.  I used duct tape to tape everything together.  With kids and pets running around, I wanted to make the temporary table as stable as possible.

Temporary Table from Scraps of Wood, Saw Horses, and Duct Tape
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Duct tape was handy for this project, since I was able to make a stable table using some pretty small scraps of wood.  I didn't want to put screws into the saw horses, and that would have been more work anyway.  Now that I am done with the temporary table- the plants are going into the straw bale garden this weekend- I can just remove the duct tape and get my scraps of wood and saw horses back to use for other projects.

Clothesline Ratchet with Duct Tape

My next project using duct tape was just outside.  My wife put up a nice clothesline this year.  I say nice because it was so quick and inexpensive since we were able to put a clothesline up around two trees.  The problem was that the clothesline would sag under the weight of clothes hanging on it.  It was a lot of trouble to untie the knots and adjust the line every time it sagged.  The cotton clothesline is stretchy and tends to sag a bit over time.  I bought a metal ratchet that is normally used for a wire fence to use to tighten up the clothesline easily.  I was worried that the metal ratchet would cut the clothesline where the metal was in contact with the cotton clothesline, so I wrapped this part of the clothesline with duct tape to protect it.

Ratchet to Tighten Clothesline Protected with Duct Tape
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I used my favorite 3M silver duct tape again for this project.  You can see the duct tape to the left of the ratchet in the photo where I wrapped it around the clothesline to protect it from being cut or damaged from the tension of the line against the metal edge of the ratchet.  Just pull on the short piece of line hanging down to tighten up the clothesline.




I didn't need to try very hard to find examples of duct tape projects and duct tape repairs around my house.  A little creativity and a little duct tape can go a long way for making cheap repairs and doing quick and easy projects.

Penny Pincher Journal

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Buy In Bulk: Save Money

Buy in Bulk and Save

Bulk Toilet Paper- Case of 80 Rolls!
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Tonight I was looking for a replacement spark plug for my riding lawn mower.  I pulled up the manual to find the exact type of spark plug that was recommended, then searched on Amazon to find one.  I have Amazon Prime, so I get free shipping on most things.

I found the spark plugs selling for $4 to $5 each.  Some two-packs were $8.  The manual wasn't clear whether I need one spark plug or two spark plug, and I couldn't remember if this engine has one cylinder or 2 cylinders.  I figured I might as well buy two- I'll either use them both this year, or if I only need one then I'll have it ready for next year.

Then I came across a deal for a 24-pack of  the same spark plugs for $8.57.  Shipping was still free, but delayed by a couple days since the package was heavy.  This pack was marked down from $83.76 which works out to $3.49 per spark plug.  At $8.57 for 24 spark plugs, that works out to about 36 cents per spark plug!  The bulk spark plugs are packaged in compact case, rather than individually packaged in cardboard boxes.

Bulk Spark Plugs- Save with a 24-pack
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I decided to buy spark plugs in bulk.  I have room in my shop to store the box of spark plugs, and I will be set with spark plugs for the life of my riding mower and then some.  I'm sure my wife will think it is a little ridiculous to buy a 24-pack of spark plugs, but it's a great deal!  I could sell or give away spark plugs to friends and still have plenty of spark plugs.  Buying 24 didn't cost much more than buying 2.

What to Buy in Bulk?

This bulk purchase of spark plugs got me thinking about buying in bulk.  What other things do I buy in bulk to save money?

Clearance Items You Know You Will Use

A few months ago, I found some really high quality oatmeal on clearance and bought a ton of it.  I bet I ended up buying a full shopping cart of boxes of oatmeal.  This is great stuff, and only cost 4 cents per serving.  That's hard to beat.  Before buying, I checked the expiration date and tried to estimate how much I would eat before it expired.  I know that food stays good a bit past the expiration date, but I didn't want to get carried away and buy more than I really needed.  Still being cautious, I bought a few boxes to take and home and try it.  After finding out that it was good stuff, I went back to the store and bought more.

So one category of item to buy in bulk is clearance items that you know you will use.  I wasn't shopping for oatmeal that day, but when I saw it so cheap, I knew I could save a lot of money if I bought it.  The cheap oatmeal saved me money since I needed to buy less food.

Things You Buy Anyway

Another category of item to buy in bulk is stuff that you are going to buy anyway.  I have dogs, so I need to buy dog food.  I buy the biggest bag of dog food that they sell.  The same goes for my cat food.  Bulk bags are not the most convenient size to haul around, but it is the least expensive per pound.  Take the cost of the bag and divide by the number of pounds to get the cost per pound.  The bigger bags of pet food are a lot less expensive per pound.

One benefit of buying pet food in bulk is that I don't need to buy it very often.  The big bags last a long time, which means I spend less on gas driving to the store to pick up pet food.

Toilet paper is another thing I buy in bulk.  We get big bales of 24 rolls, which is the lowest price per roll.  One downside is that we need lots of space in the closet to store toilet paper.  The upside is that this saves money, and we usually have plenty of toilet paper around.

Other than the bargain oatmeal that I mentioned, I can't really think of food items that I buy in bulk regularly.  Bulk food can get stale.  With food, I try to buy a little as possible.  I know some people buy tons of meat when it is on sale and put it in a freezer.  I don't have a freezer, so I haven't tried this.

When Buying In Bulk Wastes Money

There are plenty of ways that buying in bulk can go wrong, and you end up spending MORE money instead of saving money.

Things You'll Never Use

If you buy things you'll never use, it doesn't matter how good of a deal you got- the money spent is wasted money.  Imagine if you bought tons and tons of blank VHS tapes in bulk, then you ended up getting a TiVo or Roku and no longer have a need to record TV shows on VHS tapes.  Not only are the video tapes wasted, but you wasted space storing something that you will never use.  Plus you wasted money that you didn't need to spend.  When you buy in bulk, it commits you to use a lot of something and sometimes this doesn't work out.

With my example of buying spark plugs in bulk, I am taking a some risk that my lawn mower will break down and I will not need that type of spark plug anymore if I get a different one.  But I am not too worried because the spark plugs were so cheap, and I think I could probably sell extra ones on craigslist if I wanted.

No Room For All The Bulk Stuff

Another problem is if you actually buy more stuff than you have room to store trying to get the lowest unit cost.  At Sam's Club, you can buy some very large quantities of items.  I could imagine someone buying 144 rolls of toilet paper trying to get the best price per roll.  Then you really would need an entire closet to store it all.  Or you can buy a 50 pound bag of rice for really cheap- but where will you put it?  Running out of room in your house is not only inconvenient, but it can cost money.  If you have so much stuff packed into closets and cupboards that you can't find anything, you might end up buying things that you already have.  If your house gets too crowded, you might end up renting a storage garage, or even moving to a bigger house.  Added expenses like this would greatly offset savings from bulk toilet paper!

Finally, buying perishable items in bulk is risky.  You may have good intentions to use the perishable items right away, or to can or freeze them.  But there is a chance the bulk purchase will get stale or spoil before you can use it all.  In this case, you may be better off buying a smaller quantity and not wasting any than buying a bulk amount and wasting some of it.

Buy in Bulk

If you are careful, you can save money buying in bulk.  Make sure to buy items that you know you will use and that you have room to store.  It is worth checking the savings before buying in bulk- it is not always cheaper to buy in bulk.

Penny Pincher Journal

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I Got Gas for Under $1 a Gallon Today with Hy-Vee Fuel Saver!

Wow- Gas for Under $1

This Receipt Shows That I Got Gas for Under $1 Per Gallon!
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Gas Under $1 per Gallon- Price at the Pump
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This morning, I was almost out of gas and stopped at Casey's to fill up.  As usual, I swipped my Hy-Vee Fuel Saver card at the pump.  Hy-Vee Fuel Saver is a program that provides fuel discounts when you buy certain grocery items at Hy-Vee.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saved $19.48 on my gas today!  With my discount, my gas was just under $1 per gallon!

I Saved Nearly $20 on Gas Today!
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I often save a little bit on gas with Hy-Vee fuel saver.  My wife does most of the grocery shopping at Walmart or Target, so the few things I buy at Hy-Vee don't add up to much savings.  But today was different.  How did I save so much on gas this time?

I told my wife about this at dinner, and she said she bought groceries at Hy-Vee and had them look up my Fuel Saver number since she doesn't have a card.  That was a good move- it saved us nearly $20 on gas.

Here is an article that describes Hy-Vee Fuel Saver in more detail.  Hy-Vee stores are mostly in the Midwest, so you won't be able to find a Hy-Vee if you live on the coast.  The fuel saver discount works at Hy-Vee gas stations and also at Casey's gas stations which are abundant in the Midwest.

Hy-Vee Fuel Saver Works at Casey's and Hy-Vee Gas Stations
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Tips to Save on Gas with Hy-Vee Fuel Saver:

• If you shop at Hy-Vee at all, you might as well sign up for Fuel Saver.  You will save some money with almost no effort.
• Buy only things you need- don't buy extra stuff just to get the fuel saver discount.  You won't save money if you do.
• As my wife discovered, you can have the cashier look up an account with a phone number if you don't have your Fuel Saver card with you.
• Groceries at Hy-Vee are fairly expensive compared with Walmart, but with the Fuel Saver discount, you might still be able to shop at Hy-Vee and not spend that much more money.
• When you get a good discount built up, buy as many gallons as you can.  Luckily, my tank was almost empty when I got the big discount so I maximized my savings.

Penny Pincher Journal

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Finding Cheap Dress Shoes for Under $25

How I Found Cheap Dress Shoes for Under $25

I got these new dress shoes for under $25!
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My black dress shoes were pretty much shot.  I noticed this when I nearly fell down at work and noticed that the sole was separated from the shoe, creating a trip hazard.  I have tried to repair such problems before using Superglue or other adhesives, but repairs like this are only a temporary measure.  I could take the shoes to a shoe repair shop and get the sole sewn back on for about $10, but the leather uppers were pretty much worn out too.  It was time for a new pair of black dress shoes.

My old black shoes were hard to walk in anyway- they weighed about 5 pounds each.  This time I wanted much lighter shoes.

Fortunately, I had $10 Kohl's Cash and a 30% off coupon from Kohl's in my coupon envelope in my car ready for just such a situation.  I like to keep my best coupons with me in case I need to buy something.

I checked out the black dress shoes at Kohl's and found some lightweight black dress shoes priced at $69.99 and marked down to $41.99 on clearance.

With my $10 Kohl's Cash and 30% off coupon, I saved $47.60 off of the original price.  The final cost of the pair of shoes was $23.96.

I think these shoes have potential to be a good pair of shoes for me.  I can't go too far wrong for $23.96...

My new cheap dress shoes- under $25 for the pair!
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Here is an article about Kohl's Cash and other ways to save at Kohl's.

Cheap Shoe Options- Used Shoes

If you are willing to consider buying used shoes, you can find cheap shoes for sale at Goodwill, thrift stores, or garage sales.  I think used shoes could be a good way to get some high quality shoes pretty cheap.  I suspect that there are lots of used shoes for sale that were originally very expensive and that have been worn very little for whatever reason.

If you get used shoes, you might want to disinfect the shoes with Lysol or something like that.  I have never gone with used shoes myself- I would be concerned with picking up a foot fungus, warts, or other diseases from used shoes.

Penny Pincher Journal

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Envelope Budgeting Tips

Tips on Envelope Budgeting From My Experience

Envelope Budgeting Tips from Experience
Image Source: Wikipedia/Michiel1972 cc-by-sa

What is Envelope Budgeting?  For an introduction on envelope budgeting to save money and stay within your budget, see my earlier post that covers the basics of envelope budgeting.

Today, I will talk about some things I have learned that make envelope budgeting work better in practice.

Get a Good Envelope

Envelope budgeting really involves only two things:  an envelope and cash.  It helps to use a good envelope.  I have found that the money envelope gets some wear and tear as I carry it around and my wife also carries it around.  My bank has nice envelopes that they offer me when I take cash out.  I always get one of these.  These envelopes have a resealable flap and are made out of a tough paper that may have a bit of plastic content.  I think a regular mailing envelope would wear out quickly.  The resealable flap is useful to hold change in the envelope as well as bills.

Get the Right Bills When You Load Your Envelope with Cash

If you get too many small bills, they won't fit easily into an envelope.  Big bills are not accepted everywhere and I worry more about losing a big bill.  I have found that a mix of 10's and 50's works well.  The 10's are nice for smaller purchases, and the 50's work well for paying for a bigger trip to the grocery store.

Account for Spending Outside the Envelope Quickly

We have had a few times where we used a credit card instead of the money envelope when we did not have the envelope with us.  Actually this happened a few times.  I kept track of the amounts by writing it down on the envelope when I got home, and within a few days I removed this amount from the money envelope so I can deposit it into checking and use it to pay the credit card.  This works fine since the food budget is not effected.  We did use a credit card instead of money from the envelope, but then I took the money out of the envelope to account for this.  The trick is to keep track of any spending that should have been taken from the envelope and make up for spending outside the envelope quickly before you lose track and no longer know if you are staying within your budget or not.

One of the biggest problems with the envelope system is that it would be easy to stop doing it.  This is the same thing that happens when going on a diet.  You have good intentions and may do well for a few days, but then go back to your old eating habits.  If you have an easy way to make up for spending that should have some from the money envelope, then you can get back on track.

Pull Out Money From the Envelope Before You Go Into A Store

At first I was carrying the money envelope into stores with me.  It was sort of awkward sorting through the bills in the envelope at the checkout.  I realized that I can just put a few bills in my wallet while I am in the car.  Today I went into a store thinking the damage would be around $45, so I loaded $50 in my wallet from the money envelope before going in the store.  Paying was quick, since I knew exactly how much was in my wallet, and it was less awkward than carrying an envelope stuffed with cash around.  The total turned out to be just under $42, so everything worked out fine.  Worst case, if you don't take enough into the store, you can run back out to the car to get more from the envelope.

Penny Pincher Journal

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Envelope Budgeting- Save Money with the Envelope System

What is Envelope Budgeting?

Money Envelope System For Budgeting:  All You Need Is Money and an Envelope!
Image Source: Wikipedia/Michiel1972 cc-by-sa

Envelope budgeting is a simple and effective way to both keep track of spending and avoid going over your budget.  When you get your paycheck, get cash for the amount you budget for an expense category and put it in an envelope.  For this discussion, I'll use your grocery budget as an example.

Let's say you get paid every two weeks and your grocery budget is $500 for two weeks.  On payday, get $500 cash and put it in an envelope for groceries.  Every time you buy groceries, take money from the grocery envelope and put the change back in the envelope.  You can check at any time how much you have spent on groceries by counting the money in the envelope.  If you like, you can keep your grocery receipts in the envelope so you can see exactly where your grocery budget went.

How Does Envelope Budgeting Work?

There is something about spending cash that is more difficult psychologically than spending money using a credit card.  I learned this myself when we tried out the envelope system for food this month.  I was planning to bring my wife some lunch at work.  The thought of spending cash to buy her a sub at Subway was painful.  I texted her and asked if a peanut butter and jelly sandwich would be OK.  That is a good example of how the envelope system works.  When you have cash and can see it, it is hard to spend.

The other way that the envelope system works is that it provides a natural limit on spending.  If you buy groceries using a credit card with a $5,000 credit limit, there isn't much of a limit on how much you can spend on groceries.  If you aren't paying attention, there is no feedback at all that you have overspend until you get your credit card bill the following month.  Of course, you can check you credit card balance any time, but this requires effort.  If you buy all of your groceries using cash from your envelope, it requires no extra effort to see when you are running out of money!

Downsides of Envelope Budgeting

During the month trying out envelope budgeting, I have noticed a few negative aspects of this system:

1. You have to get cash to put in the envelope.  For me, this means a trip to the bank.  Buying with credit cards does not require a trip to the bank, so using a credit card is more convenient.  However, convenience isn't the point of envelope budgeting- saving money is the point.  So if I can save money, it is worth the hassle to go to the  bank a couple times a month to get cash for the money envelope.
2. There is risk in carrying cash around.  I recently went to the grocery store after stocking my envelope with cash.  I felt a bit uncomfortable pulling out the envelope and digging through $500 in cash to find the right bills to pay for $40 worth of groceries.  It would be easy for someone to grab the envelope and run, or to break into my car or house and steal the envelope.  However, I live in a safe neighborhood, so there is little actual risk of the cash being stolen.  I will probably be able to get comfortable with carrying some cash around with practice.
3. Dealing with change is a hassle.  It seems to take more time to count out bills to pay at the grocery store and then have the cashier deal with making correct change.  Credit cards are certainly a faster and easier way to pay.  But again, this is not about convenience- in some ways the envelope system is about making spending more inconvenient so you won't do it as much!
4. It is easy to end up at the store without your envelope.  What do you do then?  For maximum effectiveness of the envelope system, you should drive home and get the envelope.  However, what I have actually done is used a credit card from my wallet, kept track of the amount, and then adjusted the envelope later.  I couldn't deal with wasting money and time driving around when I could easily make up the difference and get back on track with the envelope system.

How Much Can You Save Using Cash Envelopes?

Again, I am just getting started with the envelope system, but I can see that we are saving money on food spending.  Knowing that you have a limited amount to spend that can run out, and being able to see when you are getting low on money in the envelope provides powerful feedback to help limit spending.  Using an envelope of cash for budgeting seems to be pretty simple and pretty effective.

If you don't want to deal with actually carrying cash around, there are software packages and apps for smart phones that can help you do envelope budgeting using credit cards or bank accounts.  The software helps keep track of your spending by category and provides a virtual envelope.  This would be more convenient than carrying cash around, but I do not think it would be as effective.  It is hard to spend "real money" and that is a good thing when you are trying to stay on a budget.

Keep Some Cash Around for Disasters

Another benefit of keeping an envelope of cash around is that it could function as an additional supply of emergency cash in case electronic transactions are not available.  We already keep some emergency cash around, but in an emergency the envelope would give us even more cash if needed.  In this case, by "emergency", I mean a situation where electronic funds are not available.  For example, cash could be the only way to make purchases if there is a widespread power outage or if electronic banking system get hacked or some other disaster occurs and credit cards and bank cards are not working.  Once during a flood and power outage, I saw people with credit cards and bank cards turned away from the grocery store.  Signs were taped to the door that said "cash only".  I think having some cash around at all times is a good idea.

Update:  Money Envelope Tips

Well, I have stayed with the money envelope system for several months now!  It is working to help keep us on target on our budget.  Here is an article I wrote with more tips on saving money with the money envelope system:
http://pennypincherjournal.blogspot.com/2015/03/envelope-budgeting-tips.html

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State Farm Credit Card- Looks Like a Good Deal!

State Farm Credit Card Offer

State Farm Credit Card- It's a Good Offer
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I get several credit card offers per week in the mail- sometimes even more than one per day.  Today I received a credit card offer that is a really a good deal.  It is a Visa State Farm Credit Card.  The offer was 2 years at 0.9% interest on balance transfers AND there is no balance transfer fee AND there is no annual fee.  Almost all of the credit card offers I get have a 3% balance transfer fee.  This would mean that if you transferred a $10,000 balance the fee would be $300.  I recycle any offers that charge a balance transfer fee.

The rate on purchases is 12.9% and the 0% introductory rate goes up to 12.9% after 2 years.

The State Farm Credit Card also has a benefit that you can get cash back if you use the State Farm Credit card to pay your State Farm Insurance bill.  The offer I received was a "pre-screened" offer that came in the mail.

Save Money on Your Insurance Bill- Use a State Farm Visa
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Of course, 0% interest would be even better than 0.9%, but you wouldn't pay much for interest compared with a $300 balance transfer fee.  The interest on a $10,000 balance transfer would be about $90 for 2 years if you pay it off.  If you check my math, it might not look like this adds up, but if you steadily pay down the balance over 2 years, the average balance would be $5,000 for 2 years.

This Is What a Good Credit Card Offer Looks Like...
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Seeing this credit card offer reminded me of a good way to save money on high interest credit cards- transfer balances with high interest rates to cards with low- or zero- interest and get them paid off.  Watch out for the transfer fee, which is typically 3% of the balance.  Also watch out for annual fees- some cards charge an annual fee of $50 or more, which I try to avoid unless the card has a really good points or travel miles program that offsets that cost.

If you have a credit card balance with a high interest rate, look for a deal like the State Farm Credit Card with $0 balance transfer fee, no annual fee, and a low interest rate.

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Almost Free Lunch- Only 4 Cents!

How Did I Get Lunch for 4 Cents?  Better Oats!

It is true that you can't get much for a penny these days, but I have my lunches taken care of for several months at only 4 cents each!

The cheap price is not the only good thing about my lunch plan for the new year- it is also quite healthy.

While picking up a few things at the grocery store for my wife's homemade chicken pot pies, I came across some boxes at the back of the grocery store with a sign that caught my attention.

Clearance Better Oats Oatmeal!
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I checked this out carefully to make sure each BOX with 5 packets of BetterOats oatmeal was being offered for 20 cents, rather than 20 cents per bag which would work out to $1 per box.  But the offer was in fact 20 cents per box, which is only 4 cents per bag of oatmeal.

The next thing I checked was the expiration date on the boxes.  Some expired in 2 months and others in 3 months.  I figured that I could eat quite a bit of oatmeal in 2 or 3 months and my kids like oatmeal as well.  My parents eat oatmeal every day too, so I decided to load up the cart.

Bulk Oatmeal is a Cheap Lunch and Snack!
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Cheap, Healthy, and Easy to Make at Work or at Home

I sent 10 boxes (50 packets) home with my parents and had about 15 boxes left.  After trying the blueberry muffin flavor, my kids informed me that 15 boxes would not be enough.  This was really high quality oatmeal with nice packaging and good ingredients like whole blueberries and flax seed.

I figured that the bargain oatmeal would be gone right away, but I happened to be in the store a few days later and there was still a good supply so I picked up about a dozen more boxes.

I have found that it is easy to make oatmeal at work.  Just pour the oatmeal in a paper cup, fill the bag with water (these bags have a mark for the correct amount of water), and microwave for about 65 seconds.

Check out this deal on Amazon for 52 packets of oatmeal:


I have been eating more than one packet of oatmeal per day, typically 2 or 3 packets so far this year.  There are several flavors including:

• Blueberry Muffin
• Apple Cinnamon
• Chai Spice
• Cinnamon Roll

The lesson I take from this is to keep an open mind about discounted items at the grocery store, but make sure you can use the clearance stuff before it gets too far "past code".

Plus I was reminded how much I like oatmeal and how healthy it is for you.  See if you can find some good deals on oatmeal- happy hunting!

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Work at Home as a Professional Penny Pincher!

Work at Home as a Professional Penny Pincher!

Work as a Professional Penny Pincher- the Money is Real!
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Surfing around on the Internet, I see all kinds of offers for programs to work at home and make some extra money. Most of the concepts I see seem difficult and may or may not work. For example, not everyone is cut out to sell things, make phone calls, or write marketing copy. I suspect many of the work-at-home schemes make money for the people selling the scheme, but not for the people who pay for the program and try to make money.

Here’s an easy work at home plan: make your second job focusing few hours a week on spending less money. Now that I think about it, I am a professional penny pincher! If getting paid to do something makes you a “professional”, then I am a professional penny pincher since I save money every day.

This article describes my daily routine that adds up to over $17,000 of savings per year. That works out to nearly $1,500 per month. You may be able to save this much or even more if you are willing to work at saving money for a few hours per week- think of penny pinching as a part-time job. This sounds like a good opportunity to me!

I’ll go ahead and put out an advertisement for professional penny pinchers, I think this would be a better way for people to end up with extra money each month than most of the work-at-home schemes out there. Of course, I’ll need to describe this work at home plan in flashy marketing language to compete with the fancy advertising for other work-at-home plans out there. Here goes:

Now Hiring: Professional Penny Pincher

Work at home, set your own hours, and make hundreds- or even thousands- of dollars per month. No experience required. No need to purchase any program or start-up materials. Become a Professional Penny Pincher- start today for free!

Find Ways To Spend Less Money as a Professional Penny Pincher!
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Is Professional Penny Pincher the Right Job for You?

So let’s review. You are interested in working at home a few hours a week to make extra money. You want something easy to do that doesn’t require spending money to get started. The opportunities out there seem to require purchasing a program or doing work that you would rather not do. Plus it seems questionable how much money you could make at the work-at-home jobs.


Now you have come across an ideal work at home job: Professional Penny Pincher. You don’t need to buy any program or start-up materials to get going. You don’t need any particular skills or experience. You can choose how much time to spend working as a penny pincher. Your time spent working as a penny pincher can make a lot of money for you with only a few hours of work each week. I think we have found the ideal work at home job for you!

Your Time Spent Saving Money Pays Well as a Penny Pincher
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How to get started as a Professional Penny Pincher

Here is a list of some expenses that many people can cut to get a jump-start on saving money immediately. Many people could cut thousands of dollars of expenses per year without much effort.

So you are ready to sign up- great! How do you get started? As with most things, getting started is the hard part. What should you do on your first day of work as a penny pincher? Since you are working at home, we can skip the tour of the building and showing you where the coffee maker and bathrooms are located...

The place to start is by thinking about your spending and attempting to separate spending into “needs” and “wants”. This task is difficult because there is often not a clear line between needs and wants, and also because you may view some of your “wants” as “needs”. You may be able to think of some expenses you could cut to spend less money with only a few minutes of thinking.

Since you are a “professional” penny pincher, you may want to go further and make a list of your expenses for the month. Some of the bigger expenses will be easy to list and you may even know the amounts already.

The quickest opportunity to save money right off the bat is often in the smaller expenses and unnecessary purchase you make out of habit. Since you have spending habits that are set, it may be difficult to see which purchases are unnecessary. Check out Penny Pincher Journal for specific ideas on ways to spend less money every day.

Some ways to spend less money do require effort, such as packing your own lunch or keeping track of coupons and shopping lists- but the payoff is high considering the amount of work required.

Over time, you can work at reducing your larger expenses. I have been able to move to a smaller house to save money on mortgage payments. You may also be able to get your car paid off and eliminate car payments as well.

Here's Where You Make Your Money as a Penny Pincher...

Next, bring income into the picture. As you find ways to spend less money, you will have more of this income left at the end of each month to save or invest. This is your payment for working as a professional penny pincher. If you calculate your hourly rate by dividing how much money you save by the number of hours you spend working at pinching pennies, being a penny pincher may be one of the highest paying work-at-home jobs around.

Working as a professional penny pincher has benefits that go beyond making money. You may find that you are eating healthier, have reduced stress, and have less clutter in your house. Good luck on your new part-time job as a professional penny pincher!

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Penny Pincher Skills- Improve Your Ability To Save Money

How Can You Improve Your Penny Pinching Skills?

Improve Your Skills at Saving Money
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It takes skills and abilities to be good at saving money instead of spending it.  Some abilities are more at the innate end of the spectrum, for example you may naturally be a patient person, or you may naturally be impatient.  However even something like patience can be improved with practice if you work at it.  Determination is another example of an innate trait that can be improved with work and through your circumstances.

Skills that can help you save money can be learned and improved.  For example, when I bought my first house I had no plumbing skills at all.  Over time, I learned to do more plumbing work.  Last week, I cut off copper supply pipes, removed a kitchen sink and sink base cabinet, and sweated on new shut-offs and installed new drain lines for the new sink.  I bet I saved well over $500 on plumbing bills by using skills to do something myself instead of paying someone else.

What Skills Help You Save Money?

If I were training you to improve at basketball, I would teach skills like passing, dribbling, shooting, and defense.  What skills can you work on to become a better penny pincher?  Here are some that come to mind:

Negotiation Skills:  There are many situations where having good negotiation skills can save you lots of money.  When buying a house, car, furniture, or other big ticket items there is often a lot of room for negotiation in the price.  The keys to successful negotiation are to understand the realistic market value of what you are buying and try to understand how you can sweeten the deal for the seller in ways other than paying more money.

Budgeting Skills:  Are you good at keeping track of expenses and how much you are spending?  Do you know where your money is going?  Some people seem to be naturally good at doing this, while other people struggle with keeping track of expenses.  No matter what your current skill level at budgeting, improving you budgeting skill can help you become more effective at saving money.

Home Improvement Skills:  There is a lot of opportunity to save money on maintaining and upgrading your house if you develop some home improvement skills.  You can save money if you can do simple electrical repairs and upgrades such as changing a faulty light switch or replacing a light fixture or ceiling fan yourself.  Plumbing skills, such as being able to replace copper fittings and install new sink drains, can save tons of money if you are planning upgrades to your kitchen or bathroom.  Painting yourself- both interior and exterior- can save you lots of money if you are able to do this work yourself.  The more landscaping and yard maintenance you can do yourself, the more money you’ll save.

Improve Your Home Improvement Skills to Save Money
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Couponing Skills: Coupons represent a lot of planning and work that people put into saving money.  It takes some time, effort, and organization to use coupons effectively- but the payoff is well worth the effort.   I would say that I use some sort of coupon of money-saving program almost every time I buy something.

Improve Your Skill at Using Coupons to Save Money
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“Smart Shopping” Skills:  I describe this skill as being able to accurately identify things that you need and obtain them at minimal cost.  This may involve shopping at clearance sales, or purchasing used items at consignment stores and thrift shops.  For example, today my wife found a pair of dress pants she can wear to work for $7 at a clearance sale.  This is a lot better than waiting until new pants are urgently needed and then risking paying full price for them.  A couple years ago, we had no chair in our living room and picked one up at a consignment shop for $38.  We would have paid 10x more at a furniture store.

Cooking Skills:  I’ll admit this is an area where I have a lot of room for improvement!  Fortunately my wife is good at cooking and enjoys doing it.  If you get good at making food at home, you can save a lot of money on eating out and eat healthier as well.

Gardening Skills:  Growing your own food provides a great feeling of independence, as well as an opportunity to save money on buying groceries.  If you are good at gardening, you can produce a lot of food using few resources.  If you are lucky, you grew up helping in the garden and know how to do it.  If not, you’ll need to read books and get tips from others who are good at gardening to increase your skills.

In the past, car maintenance skills may have made the list, but cars are so complex now that it is hard to work on them at home.  You can find coupons and get an oil change for under $20 which is hard to beat even if you do it yourself.  The oil change shops like to get your car in the door with a cheap oil change so they can recommend other repairs you may need while you are there.

Improve Your Penny Pincher Skills

So how can you improve your penny pinching skills?  Practice to improve your skills by taking on small projects or tasks and challenge yourself to see how well you can do.  Get some books at the library or read articles on the Internet to get up to speed on the knowledge required.  Choose a problem and see how well you can solve it while improving your skills at the same time.

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