A while back, I wrote about how my wife and I spent the better part of a weekend doing a deep clean of our home. We went through every room in the house and ended up donating or trashing old clothes, dishes, cooking utensils, DVDs, useless papers, you name it.

And, as I stated before, it was an amazingly cathartic experience and, when it was all said and done, felt like we had a two-ton boulder lifted off of our shoulders. (I’m a poet and didn’t even know it!)

Since then we’ve aspired to follow a minimalist lifestyle, meaning we try to get by on no more than what we truly need. This, too, has been an awesome experience.

One would think that living in a consumer and materialistic society, the adjustment would be difficult. In fact, the opposite is true, mostly because of how great we now feel.

For example:

Being frugal is a lot easier. The enemy of being frugal is a warped sense of knowing the difference between needs and wants.

In our materialistic society, many people determine their own personal worth by how many things they can acquire, how big of a house they can buy, etc. Ultimately, you’re mostly succumbing to your wants, which, in turn, makes you want even more!

By following a minimalist path, you’re succumbing to just your needs. You’re not out every other weekend at Pottery Barn trying to buy the new trendy lamps for your home. Your basic, solid-color lamps do just fine of filling your house with light. You don’t have 800 decorative pillows on your bed because the only ones you’re not going to chuck aside as you fall asleep are the pillows you lay your head on.

In cutting out the wants, you’re able to save boatloads more money.

You feel happier. When you aspire to own a bunch of stuff and fall short, you’re left with an empty feeling. Or, even worse, when you are able to get everything you want and it’s still not enough, you’re left with an even bigger void.

By being genuinely happy with less that void simply does not exist. If you can have all of the basic stuff you need – food, shelter, companionship – along with a few small indulgences, you’re much more likely to feel whole and fulfilled; you’re not constantly chasing things.

These two points are big, but they’re just the beginning.

Seriously, please consider going the minimalist route. You’ll be incredibly happy you did.

What are your thoughts? Have you tried being a minimalist? Does the idea seem weird to you? Leave your comments below!

Well, apparently the author bug has really bitten me, because I’ve already released another book for the Amazon Kindle!

The book, “Family Money: Easy Ways to Cut Your Family’s Expenses,” is a light-hearted how-to book on ways to drastically slash your monthly expenses without correspondingly affecting your lifestyle. Through years of writing on Saving Without a Budget I’ve found that the single biggest reason people don’t adopt a frugal lifestyle is because they think they’re going to have to live a life of self-deprivation. It’s not because they’re lazy or stupid; it’s because they falsely believe they’re going to have to drastically alter the way they live day-to-day.

The book offers well over 100 simple ways individuals and families can reduce their monthly expenses without ever really noticing a change in their lives. These money saving tips are broken down into different types, like utilities, clothing, and groceries; i.e. the major expenses in people’s lives.

Considering the price of the book is only $3.97, buying Family Money is certainly a worthwhile investment, especially when you consider following just a few of the tips for less than a day will save you much more than $3.97!

Please leave a comment below and let me know what you think!

Today while scanning my usual personal finance sites I came across an interesting video (see below) on household gadgets that not only pay for themselves, but eventually end up saving you a little bit of money.

The video made me think of an interesting point, probably something which my much smarter readers have already thought of: when making a purchase, you should make sure you consider the long-term financial implications.

For example, if something costs $5 to buy now and ends up costing $95 to use over its life, you’ve essentially spent $100 on that item.  However, if something costs $20 to buy but costs just $50 to use over its life, you’ve essentially spent only $70 on that item.

Long story short, you pay $15 more up front, but spend $30 less overall.

Anyway, watch the video I’m talking about:

For those of you who didn’t feel like watching the video, here’s the gist of it:

1. Power saving strips and outlets
2. LED TVs
3. Do it yourself soda machines
4. Water filtration devices (think: Britta)
5. Home brewing system for coffee fanatics
6. Reduced flow shower heads

These are definitely very interesting tips.

If I were in the market for a TV, I would definitely consider an LED HDTV, but right now that’s a little too rich for my taste.  However, I’m definitely going to check out the special power strips they reference in the video.  It seems like a pretty small investment that will pay for itself in just a month or two.

What do you think?  Anything in the video catch your eye?  Leave a comment below and, as always, please share this post using the social bookmarking buttons below and at the top of the page – especially Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks to record low mortgage rates and home prices that have fallen roughly one-third on a national level from the real estate bubble’s peak, buying a home is now more affordable than it has been in decades.

(NOTE: This takes into consideration the price of the house/mortgage only, not other costs such as HOA fees, insurance, taxes, maintenance, etc.)

If you decide now is the time to buy a home, make sure you know what you're doing.

So, at a macro level, now is a great time for first-time homebuyers to consider purchasing a home. Obviously, individual factors will have to come into play – how long you think you’ll be living there, is your job stable, do you think prices will sink further while rates remain constant, etc. – but, in terms of affordability only, now is a great time to explore your options.

If you do decide that now is the right time to buy your first home, make sure you’re not going into the process blindly. Chances are this is the single largest purchase you’re going to make in your life, so make sure you’re treating it as such. Do your due diligence, talk to a bunch of different lenders and real estate agents, and see a lot of properties, among many other things.

Don’t end up making a purchase you later regret! Here’s a great article on 10 first time homebuyer mistakes that will hopefully help to ensure you make the best possible decision and don’t end up with home buyer’s remorse.

Here’s a Cliff’s Notes version of the first time homebuyer mistakes:

1. Not knowing what you can afford
2. Skipping mortgage qualification
3. Failing to consider additional expenses
4. Being too picky
5. Lacking vision
6. Being swept away
7. Compromising on the important things
8. Neglecting to inspect
9. Not hiring your own agent or using the seller’s agent
10. Not thinking about the future

Click here to read the article in its entirety. I definitely recommend you check it out!

From a financial standpoint, I believe the two most important items on this list are 1) not knowing what you can afford and 3) failing to consider additional expenses.

If you rely on someone else telling you what you can and cannot afford, you’re setting yourself up to get screwed. Keep in mind, many of these jobs tied to real estate are commission based. It’s in their best interest to stretch you into the highest priced property you can afford. I’m not saying every person tied to the real estate industry is shady or dishonest, but greed makes you do a lot of things you wouldn’t otherwise do.

Additionally, your mortgage person isn’t really going to know the ins and outs of your monthly finances. Come up with a figure you want to spend based on your knowledge of your own finances. If you know you want to spend no more than $1,500 per month on a mortgage stick to your guns, even when you’re told you can afford a $2,500 payment.

You also have to keep in mind that owning a home is not cheap. You’re responsible for all of the maintenance and upkeep; when something goes wrong, you can’t call your landlord and have him pay for the repairs.

Make sure that when you’re going through the home buying and mortgage qualification process you are able to set aside some money each month for maintenance and upkeep of your home. Chances are you’re not going to spend $200 per month, but by saving $200 per month, when you have to replace your roof in five years, you’ll already have most of the expense, if not all of it, covered without having to dip into your emergency fund or take out a loan.

What was your experience as a first time home buyer? Leave a comment below and, as always, please share this post using the social bookmarking buttons below and at the top of this article – especially Facebook and Twitter!

Editor’s Note: Throw out doesn’t necessarily mean put in the trash. Recycle, donate, sell or put in the garbage is what I mean.  Putting that in the title makes it a little long…

A little over a week ago, my wife and I did a deep clean of our house, and it was, in a word, awesome.

Even though we had only been in our house a little over eight months, we were able to get rid of enough stuff to donate seven boxes of clothes, linens, and electronics; recycle two bags of papers; and throw out three bags of stuff that should’ve been gone years ago.

Throw it out!

On top of that, our home now bigger and far more open, we can actually use the office, and, in general, we just feel a lot better because we’re not being suffocated by junk!

Obviously, I’m happy with what my wife and I did and I think we made some real progress.  That being said, I just found an article on Wise Bread that really, really wish we would have had prior to our deep clean.

In the article, “25 Things to Throw Out Today,” author Paul Michael not only lists the 25 things you need to throw out, but he also references my favorite quote from the movie Fight Club:

There’s a great quote from Fight Club, one of my favorite movies. It comes from Tyler Durden, Brad Pitt’s character, and it’s prophetic — “The things you own end up owning you.” After watching several seasons of Hoarders, that’s got to be one of the most truthful statements ever to come out of a movie.

Now, we all have a little hoarder inside each of us. We see some things that we just can’t bear to get rid of, probably because there’s an emotional attachment to them. Sometimes things are valuable, and we keep them for that reason. On rare occasions, we don’t even know why we’re hanging onto something, but we are.

Well, there’s a great feeling of liberation that can come from shedding these items. If you’d like to feel it yourself, here’s a list of 25 things that you should throw out today. And by that, I mean donate, dump, trash, incinerate, whatever you like… just remove them from your life.

You should certainly take the time to read the entire article, but for brevity’s sake, here’s the entire list of the 25 things you should throw out today:

1. Clothing and shoes you haven’t worn in the last 18 months
2. Old paint
3. Contents of the junk drawer
4. Dated receipts, paychecks, and bills
5. Unread books
6. Expired medicines and vitamins
7. Cups and mugs
8. Plastic containers
9. Linens
10. Power cords
11. Magazines
12. Spices
13. Old greeting cards
14. DVDs, VHS and audio tapes, CDs and video games
15. Makeup
16. Old underwear, socks, and bras
17. Dated technology, including old cell phones
18. Coat hangers
19. Toys
20. Those “fix it up” projects
21. Cribs, car seats, and other baby/toddler products
22. Perfumes and colognes
23. Jewelry
24. Rugs
25. Food

Check out "The Joys of Less" for more motivation on decluttering your home and life!

This, obviously, is a very inclusive list and highlights a lot of items we hold on to for nonsensical, and even reasonable reasons.

For me, getting rid of things like power cords, plastic containers, coat hangers, etc. is difficult because it’s easy for me to see a scenario where I could use the items in the future.  The problem is, those scenarios hardly ever come to fruition, so all I’m left with is something I don’t really need taking up space in my house.

Long story short, print out this list and over the next weekend or two, deep clean your house.  Sure, it’ll be painful while you’re in the middle of cleaning, but once you’re done you’re going to have gotten a rid of a lot of stuff and you’re going to feel great for it!

What do you think of this post?  Leave a comment below and, as always, please share this post by using the social bookmarking buttons below and at the top of the page – especially Facebook and Twitter!

Monthly recurring costs can take up a big chunk of your budget. And sadly, because these costs are expected each month, we end up paying the bill without much thought, especially now that many of our bills can just come directly out of our checking accounts without us having to even really look at the bill.

While this is convenient and easy, it also lends itself to a lot of wasteful spending.

Without ever really thinking about or examining the bills for your monthly recurring costs, chances are pretty good that you’re needlessly spending anywhere from tens to possibly hundreds more per month that you should. Over the course of a year, these things can ultimately cost you thousands of dollar for things you don’t need or even use.

For the purposes of this article, I’m going to look beyond things like groceries and utilities, because those can be somewhat variable. However, I’m sure a few articles in the not-so-distant future will be published on this site showing ways to dramatically cut those costs, too.

Gym Membership

This ends up being a very wasteful monthly cost for a lot of people. They sign up for the gym thinking they’ll use it at least a few days per week and deceive themselves into believing that having the cost will help to keep them motivated to stay on track with their workouts.

The problem is, in many cases after the first few weeks of zeal wear off, a lot of people get very minimal, if any use out of their gym. That doesn’t mean the monthly payments stop though.

Since I’m of the belief that most people can get their exercise requirements without a gym – walking, jogging, bodyweight strength training – my suggestion would be to cancel the membership and save yourself the cash. If you’re of the belief that you need a gym in order to work out – maybe you like to do heavy squats and other lifts – make sure you’re actually going to the gym!

Insurance

Most people get insurance policies for their lives, cars, homes, valuable property, etc. by doing a little bit of upfront research and then picking the company that, at the time, is the best value. But, just because the company you went with was the best value then, doesn’t mean they’re the best value now.

Every six months to a year, it makes sense to do some comparison shopping.

Start off by calling your current provider and ask them how they can give you lower premiums; most companies will work with you since it’s cheaper to keep you than it is to find a new customer.

After you have the new price, which will hopefully be made effective once you’ve completed your call with your current insurance company, go and get quotes from other insurance providers. If the cost is less and you’ll be getting the same service – both in terms of what will actually be insured and in terms of customer service – it might be worth it to consider switching companies.

Cable/Internet/Phone

These costs are all being bundled together because it seems more often than not, people are getting these services from the same provider and, usually, as part of the same monthly bill. This also tends to lead to a lot of waste.

Do you have a land line but never use it because you use your cell phone instead? Cancel the line and save money. Are you paying for premium cable channels or things like DVR and never really using them? Cancel them and save money. Are you paying for the highest speed internet but don’t do much streaming or downloading/uploading of data? Go with a lower-tier package and save money.

Cell Phone

As is sort of the recurring theme here, make sure you aren’t paying for services you don’t need: are you paying for a 500 minute plan when a 350 minute plan would more than adequately cover you? Carrying insurance on an old phone you could easily replace for free by renewing your plan? Just take a look at your bill and I’m sure you’ll see places where you can save money.

Also, check to make sure you’re not under-covered on your plan, too. Do you have a 350 minute plan but spend 600 minutes on the phone? Those extra 250 minutes are probably really expensive and cost way more than it would to upgrade your plan.

Finally, if you don’t really use your phone much, consider going to one of those month-to-month pay as you go plans. It might be a good way to save money over a “traditional” provider.

Moral of the story: if you are able to cut a couple bucks off of each of your recurring monthly bills, over the course of a year those savings are really going to add up.

What did you think of this post? Please leave a comment below and, as always, share this post using the social media buttons below.

This weekend, my wife and I did our first deep clean of the home we bought give or take nine months ago.  And let me tell you, it was one of the most awesome and cathartic things we’ve done since moving in.

Decluttering is a cathartic experience!

(Well, that was definitely a bit of an overstatement, but it was certainly long overdue, and despite all of the hard work, it definitely made us feel great!)

After cleaning out what was meant to be the office but somehow became the de facto “junk room,” the garage, and our bedroom closet, we were able to donate seven boxes of stuff, recycle two bags of papers, throw out three bags of stuff, and ultimately lift what felt like a three ton weight off of our shoulders.

Long story short, I’m not really sure how to explain it, but getting rid of all of that stuff just felt great!

Before my wife and I started our deep clean, we had to lay down some ground rules.  After all, this wasn’t our first time attempting to deep clean, it’s just every time prior had ended up being nothing more than an exercise in futility.

As it turns out, there was really only one ground rule we need to abide by.  And, in an attempt to help expedite your spring/summer/fall/winter cleaning, I thought I would share the one rule that worked so well for my wife and me.

This is not my wife and me. If you can tell which is the woman, you win a prize.

When either of us would grab something, no matter what it was, and try decide whether or not to keep it, we had to ask ourselves: “Will I ever really look at, use, or need this again?” 

If the answer was anything other than a definitive yes, we had to put it in the donate, recycle, or trash pile.  If the answer was maybe, I think so, possibly, or even if there was a pause in our thought process, the item had to go.

Due to the fact we made de-cluttering such a black and white issue thanks to this rule/question and answer, we were able to get rid of things that had done nothing but take up space and collect dust.  Things like stuffed animals, broken DVD players, sweatshirts that hadn’t been worn in years, and useless papers – all gone.  And it felt great!

So, on that note, I would like to offer the following advice:

1. De-clutter and downsize, and do it immediately.  Your living space will feel a lot bigger and you won’t feel like such a slave to your possessions.
2. Enact the “will I ever really look at, use, or need this again?” rule.  This will maximize your de-cluttering efforts and expedite the awesomeness that comes with it!

Chance are, you’ll find tons of stuff to donate (which can lead to a nice tax write-off), recycle, and throw out.  And by getting rid of all that stuff, I guarantee it’ll feel great.

Now, enjoy this video on some extreme de-cluttering!

Apparently lots of people still don’t trust banks and financial institutions nearly three years after the financial crisis, which, to be perfectly honest, leaves me shaking my head.

In an article entitled “Stashing Cash in Tampon Boxes – And Other Sneaky Spots” published on CNNMoney, author Blake Ellis writes about all the weird places people admit to stashing their cash:

Earlier this week, personal finance site Mint.com asked its users to name the most unusual places they’re hiding their cash.

Answers ranged from an iPhone case, the back of a boom box, a box of Animal Crackers to an unused purse. There was also a door frame and a box of waffles.

For sure, America’s cash hoarders have moved beyond the traditional safe haven — their mattresses.

One person is hiding money inside the wood panels of a bed frame, while someone else has cash hidden in rolled up nylons in the back of a drawer.

“We actually mounted a smoke detector on the kitchen ceiling that we removed all the guts from,” said another cash hoarder. “Perfect spot for a cash stash. It was easily accessible from the step stool we kept in there. I don’t think a burglar would be checking the smoke detectors.”

To be perfectly honest, I think the idea of stashing large amounts of money in some obscure place in your house is kind of ridiculous.  The last major bank runs occurred during the Great Depression, so, even in this financially unstable environment, there’s about a 99.99% chance your money isn’t going to vanish into thin air should you deposit it at a bank.

Plus, by having the cash on hand, it’s not really doing anything for you.  Sure, we are in a low interest environment, but every little bit counts, as Ellis’ article points out:

Of course, hiding cash around your house can be risky, said David Hefty, president of financial planning firm Hefty Wealth Partners. Not only do you risk getting it stolen, but you get no financial benefit — whereas a savings account could at least earn a little interest.

“This is the typical fight or flight mammal response,” Hefty said. “These people are very fearful and have a large distrust with our financial system right now.”

While I think many of these responses are comical, I certainly wouldn’t recommend you take the same tact. 

It’s absolutely a good idea to have some cash on hand.  That being said, having a hidden treasure chest filled with cash in your home isn’t exactly the brightest idea in the world.

In continuing with my new obsession – and hopefully yours as well – I thought I would write more about some less-than-extreme couponing tips that I think will help you save hundreds of dollars per week and thousands of dollars per year.

CouponMom.com is one of the best resources to learn about couponing.

Considering the economy is growing at a much slower than expected pace, being able to save every dollar you can is certainly a great idea.  And when you take into account the fact you can cut lots of money per week from your grocery bill by taking just a few minutes to clip coupons and plan your meals around good deals, there’s really no good reason to justify not making the effort.

In an article in U.S.A. Weekend entitled “How You Can Become a Coupon Queen” – which, to be perfectly honest I do take some issue with considering I’m a 30 year old man who clips coupons and most certainly is not a “queen” – Jean Chatzky offers up the following couponing insights and tips:

When it comes to grocery shopping, the New American Pantry study says 48% of us are now willing to wait for a sale. Shoppers have tuned in to the fact that prices change frequently. For them, the sale price has become the only price they’re willing to pay.

Do it right: You have to know how much the items you buy most frequently cost when they are on sale. This may mean keeping a log of the best price you paid for a particular product (sometimes called a “price book”) until you commit those prices to memory. Then you stock up when items are cheapest and shop in your own cupboard until they go on sale again. Take apple juice, for example: Mullen knows if she can get it for $1 a bottle, that’s a good price. Note: The website grocerypricebooks.com can help you get started.

She then goes on to write:

There’s couponing — sitting down with the Sunday newspaper and clipping those offers your family will use — which saves the average family about $1,000 a year, according to NCH Marketing Info, which tracks coupon use.And then there’s organized couponing — spending hours clipping and organizing coupons, buying an extra copy of the Sunday paper because the deals are so good, downloading and printing coupons from the Web and using technology to clue you in on which stores in your area have the best deals each week. That, as Mullen has learned, can save you much, much more. Last year, there were 332 billion coupons and 3.3 billion redeemed, which put $3.7 billion in consumers’ pockets. “The overall face value savings per coupon is $1.46,” NCH vice president Charlie Brown says.

Do it right:Despite advances in digital coupons, the biggest bang for your couponing buck is still the Sunday paper. Those shiny inserts contained 88% of all the coupons issued in the past year.

Clip the ones you’ll use and start a file that will help you keep track of them. Watch expiration dates, Brown says.

Next, hit the Web and spend a little time on couponing sites. Nationals such as couponmom.com and thekrazycouponlady.com, and locals such as ppgazette.com in Los Angeles, can help you keep track of where your coupons match up with the best sales. These websites also will point you to digital coupons — the ones you can download and print at home or load onto your smartphone.

As you know, I’ve raved about CouponMom.com and TheKrazyCouponLady.com before on this site, and believe they are great resources for anyone — again, not just coupon queens — interested in learning how to cut their grocery bills by up to 60%.

As Chatzky points out in her article, extreme couponing is tough and, more or less, is a full-time job in and of itself.  If I had the time to do it, I’m sure I would try, but having a full-time job and wanting to enjoy my remaining free time with my wife and friends, I just can’t do it.  But, I’ve also learned how spending just 30 minutes every Sunday morning clipping coupons and planning our weekend meals can save my family thousands of dollars per year.

If I were you, I would certainly give it a try!

Do you clip coupons?  Do you extreme coupon?  Leave your comments and share your best couponing tips below!  And, as always, please share this post using the social bookmarking buttons – especially Facebook and Twitter!

Related articles

• The Best Sites for Extreme Couponing (savingwithoutabudget.com)
• Extreme Couponing Is the Most Addicting Game I’ve Ever Played (savingwithoutabudget.com)
• Extreme Couponing Tip: Patience Pays (livingrichwithcoupons.com)
• Are Coupons Really Worth It? (couponshoebox.com)

As you can tell by my previous post, I am now kind of addicted to extreme couponing.  To me, it’s a really fun game where every time I go shopping for things I need and use, I try to walk out of the store paying as little as possible – and no, this does not mean I resort to shoplifting!

The Coupon Mom book is the Bible of extreme couponing!

TLC’s show, Extreme Couponing, is really what got me to take my couponing to another level.  I’ve been clipping coupons since graduating from college, but thanks to Extreme Couponing, my eyes have been opened to a whole new side of coupning.  And, yes, I am a 30 year old man, not an 80 year old woman.

One of the things I don’t like about the Extreme Couponing show is they don’t really give you the nuts and bolts of how to extreme coupon.  Instead, they just show other people in the act of cutting $500 off of their grocery bill.  Thankfully, there are lots of websites that pick up the slack.

An article on CNN Money (Best Couponing Sites and Apps) written by Paul Keegen, gives a quick list of useful sites for couponers.  The sites and apps he lists are:

• Coupons.com
• Retailmenot.com
• Restaurant.com
• CouponMom.com
• Yipit.com
• GeoQpons (it’s an app, not a site)

This is certainly a pretty all inclusive list, and goes beyond the typical couponing to include restaurants and deals you can get directly to your cell phone.

Here’s a list that I like, that focuses primarily on sites that give advice regarding extreme couponing:

• The Krazy Coupon Lady: My favorite page on this site is the one that shows all the freebies you can get online, most of which I’ve taken full advantage of.  They also give great tips on how to slash 50% off of your grocery bill.
• Addicted to Saving: Another great resource that not only points out great deals at places like CVS, but is also a good resource for people just taking up couponing.
• For The Mommas: A little less on how to extreme coupon, but definitely heavy on freebies.  Lots of good stuff here.
• SmartSource: This place doesn’t teach you how to extreme coupon, but it gives you all the coupons you need in order to get the job done!

There are plenty of other good resources out there, but I don’t want to overwhelm you!

What couponing sites do you use?  Haven’t started but are interested?  Leave your comments below and, as always, please share this post using the social bookmarking buttons below, especially Facebook and Twitter.