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!

I know things have been quiet on Saving Without a Budget lately, and I apologize. That being said, I have a legit reason – I’m now a published author!

Over the past month, I’ve been working to get my ebook How to Make a Budget: Simple Budget Techniques and Ways to Save Money up on the Amazon Kindle platform. As of this morning, it is up and running, which I’m super pumped about! In fact, I’ve already made a few sales – that I know of – and have gotten three likes. No reviews yet, but hopefully soon enough.

Anyway, I would be absolutely thrilled if you headed over to Amazon and checked out the book – at the very least, clicking the like button up by the “write a review” link.

Thank you for your patience with Saving Without a Budget. I hope you enjoy How to Make a Budget: Simple Budget Techniques and Ways to Save Money so much that you forget all about the fact Saving Without a Budget has been dormant for the past month!

The other day I started cleaning out the drawers in my office desk and, because sometimes I’m not good about avoiding the office vending machine, I ended up finding about $5 worth of spare change.  This got me to thinking: where else do I have a few buck in coins just lying around?

Some people make it rain. I make it drizzle.

After checking the center console of my car, my sock drawer, in between the couch cushions, and about ten other places, I ultimately came up with $18.23 in change.

Yeah, I know, not exactly enough to retire on, but it’s still $18.23 more than I had before.  Well, not really, but you get the point.  Either way, I’ll take it!

So, what about you?

Where do you keep your spare change?  Do you ever do anything with it, or just let it collect dust and forget about it?  If you do actually do something with it, what do you do?  What’s the biggest amount of spare change you’ve ever had?

Leave your comments below and, as always, please share this post via the social bookmarking buttons below and at the top of the page – especially Facebook and Twitter!

Because of my timid nature, I never used to complain when I was dissatisfied with a product or service. Like many of you, I just sucked it up and counted it as a lesson learned.

Lately though, I’ve started being an “effective complainer” and have been really satisfied with the results. I never attack the person to whom I’m complaining, and just simply state facts as to why I am dissatisfied as well as what I think fair compensation is in order to make me whole (i.e. make up for the fact I dealt with sub-par service or products).

Screaming at someone from customer service isn't going to do any good. Why do you want to make her sad?

I also don’t make threats or ultimatums since the person I’m complaining to almost always is not the source of the problem.  Kill ‘em with kindness!

I think because I’ve started doing this things, I almost always get what I’ve asked for, if not more.

The tact I outline above is more or less the same guidance given in a great article on The Simple Dollar.  In a post entitled “Dissatisfied Customer? Make an Effective Complaint,” author April Dykman states the following:

But sometimes it’s uncomfortable to be the squeaky wheel. Even though I write about money and personal finance, I often avoid complaining. I feel uncomfortable being in the presence of others while they are complaining — I stopped going to lunch with a former coworker because he complained to the manager at almost every restaurant.

While that’s a little extreme, it is important to speak up. Companies want to retain you as a customer, especially if you’re reasonable and have a valid complaint. Good customer service still exists. The key is to approach the complaint process with a plan.

Dykman’s article does a great job of drilling home the point that you can’t expect results if you’re shooting from the hip; you need to clearly define not only why you are dissatisfied and why you deserve something, but also what that something you deserve is.

Dykman also goes on to talk about how you can try to get results via a social media campaign, which I think is an interesting twist, although not something I’m sure I would expect to get me the best results:

I worked at a nonprofit that monitored Twitter carefully for mentions of the organization. When a member tweeted that he was having problems registering for a company event, we reached out to him quickly to resolve the problem. Afterward he tweeted about how much he loved our organization.

Many businesses have teams of employees who monitor mentions of the company on Facebook and Twitter. As John Yates writes for The Chicago Tribune, using social media can get a quick response: “Your online complaint is…immediately visible for anyone on the Internet, a fact that can put pressure on companies to respond. Often, they will resolve the matter quickly in an attempt to mitigate the impact of your post.”

The downside? Sometimes a company will respond quickly to save face, but be less motivated to actually resolve the problem.

And then there are things like reporting the company to the Better Business Bureau or the Federal Trade Commission, which is something I think most people would rather not do.

So, moral of the story, be an effective complainer in order to get results: be polite and clearly state why you are dissatisfied and what you want in return for your dissatisfaction.

What has your experience been with customer service?  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!

While driving home the other day, I heard the Bon Jovi song “Wanted Dead or Alive” on our local classic rock station – which, by the way, makes me sad that music I listened to as a child is now considered classic rock – and somehow became inspired to write a version of the song that would be good for Saving Without A Budget.

On that note (no pun intended) I came up with the following lyrics to “Wanted Debt or Alive,” which is about how many of us over spend using money that isn’t even ours to begin with.  So, because I’m not going to sing it to you, click play on the “Wanted Dead or Alive” video and read the lyrics as you listen to the song.

Enjoy!

It’s all the same
Only the stores will change
Everyday
It seems I’m spendin’ away

Another store
Where the sales are so bold
I shop all night
Because I’m easily sold

I’m a spender
On a Visa I ride
I’m wanted
Debt or alive
Wanted
Debt or alive

Sometimes I’m cheap
Most times it’s not for days
To the cashiers I meet
I’m glad to hand my pay

Sometimes you tell the day
By the bill that’s on the brink
And times when you’re alone
You buy everything but the kitchen sink

I’m a spender
On a Visa I ride
I’m wanted
Debt or alive
Wanted
Debt or alive

I’m a spender
On a Visa I ride
I’m wanted
Debt or alive

When I walk these streets
A loaded AMEX string on my back
I buy for keeps
‘Cause I might have to pay it back

I’ve spent everywhere
Still I’m spendin’ it all
I’ve seen a million offers
And I’ve bought them all

‘Cause I’m a spender
On a Visa I ride
I’m wanted
Debt or alive

I’m a spender
FICO’s not on my side
And I’m wanted
Debt or alive
And I’m wrong
Debt or alive
I still spend
Debt or alive

Debt or alive

What did you think?  Any good?  Worth putting together a YouTube video over?  Leave your comments below.

Without a doubt, the last month has been filled with economic uncertainty. The United States Congress took forever to raise the debt limit, having the new legislature signed into law the very same day the country was due to hit the debt limit. Last week stocks plunged, regained ground, plunged, and came back again.

This was one of the best selling items on Amazon.com last week.

Because of these things, fears of another world wide double-dip recession – and maybe even a depression – are starting to run through people’s minds.

Due to all of this economic and political uncertainty, people quite literally are looking for something to keep them and their cash, jewelry, gold, etc. safe.  And that’s why, according to an article published on CNNMoney entitled “Booming Business of Fear: Sales of Safes Soar,” sales of home safes and vaults climbed dramatically over the past week.

Author Blake Ellis writes:

Amid the market turmoil, sales of security safes and vaults have spiked. While some shoppers sought to protect whatever valuables they had left, others needed a place to stash their newly-acquired safe haven assets such as gold and cash.

Port Charlotte, Fla.-based Value Safes said it sold an average of $13,000 in safes a day in the past week, more than tripling its daily average of $3,500 from the previous week. On Amazon.com, SentrySafe’s $170 1.2-cubic foot combination safe was among the site’s biggest “movers and shakers” Friday, with sales rising 44% over the past 24 hours.

Print Maximum Security, which sells safes for jewelry, coins, guns and other valuables, said it has seen demand climb by more than 30% over the past two weeks.

“People are just plain scared,” said Nancy Bryan, owner of Santa Ana, Calif.-based Maximum Security, who noted that sales started increasing about three years ago at the onset of the recession.

“What is happening to our financial markets is the most recent addition,” she added. “Folks are worried about the decreasing value of the dollar, burglaries on the rise in their neighborhoods … and even the possibility that the unrest we are seeing in other parts of the world slipping over to our country.”

To me, it’s pretty amazing how much the economic outlook has changed over the past few months.  It seems just back in April, economists were calling for rapid economic expansion during the second half of 2011 and in to 2012.  Then as things like the debt-ceiling debacle, lack of job growth, and the European debt crisis began to unfold (or re-unfold as was the case with jobs and Europe) started to reign in those expectations.

Now, the expectations are so dire for some that they are purchasing safes to protect their cash and other valuables in case everything goes haywire.

That’s a really big change in sentiment for just a few months time!

Hopefully things don’t get so bad that the safes are necessary, but for only $170, it might not be a bad investment to make, especially if you don’t already have one for important documents like birth certificates, passports, titles to your home and cars, etc.

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.

Penny wise and pound foolish sounds like a funny saying, but it’s actually a pretty important concept when it comes to living a frugal life.

For those of you who don’t know what the phrase means, it more or less means you sweat the small costs so much that you either end up incurring a larger expense down the road or miss an opportunity make a ton of money.

Make good decisions with your money. Aim to be frugal, not cheap.

Or, to use another idiom, it’s not being able to see the forest for the trees.

If this still doesn’t make sense, here are some real world examples. Let me know if you’re guilty of any of these:

Buying the cheapest product at the expense of quality. For example, your refrigerator breaks, so you run out to the store and replace it with the cheapest model at $500 for the sake of minimizing the expense.

Seems to make sense right? Not necessarily.

If you would have just done a little bit of research you would have found that the cheapest model lasts only five years on average, and that the $650 model – just slightly more expensive – last for eight years on average, and is more energy efficient.

So, instead of saving $150 up front, you actually end up losing at least $350 after five years when you end up replacing the cheaper fridge instead of having another three years with the slightly more expensive model.

Skipping out on doctor’s appointments to avoid having to pay a co-pay. As a 30 year old man, this is one of the penny wise and pound foolish things I deal with all the time. I know I should go to the doctor to get my aches and pains checked out, but I don’t feel like spending $20 to be told everything is fine.

Well, what if everything isn’t fine?

Instead of possibly getting something serious taken care of early, minimizing the expense and increasing the chance for full recovery, I risk letting something serious drag on, which could lead to much higher medical costs and maybe even worse stuff (i.e. death).

Now, I’m not advocating running to the doctor’s every time you sneeze, but, at the very least, make sure you’re getting an annual checkup!

Opening up a store credit card to save 10% on that day’s purchase, only to make minimum payments. I’ve never understood why people bought into the whole “open a card with us and save 10% on your purchase” thing. Unless you’re buying $5,000 worth of stuff – which I really hope you’re not – you’re likely only saving $10 to $25 on your purchase.

Save money by shopping sales, not by opening up store credit cards.

Then the problem is compounded when you pay off the new bill by making only minimum payments, which end up costing you ten times the initial savings in interest charges! So, instead of saving $25 you end up losing $225 due to incurred interest expenses ($250 in interest – $25 in initial savings).

Eat from the dollar menu at fast food restaurants because it’s slightly cheaper than a healthier home cooked meal. If you’ve made your three daily meals consist of nothing but fast food dollar menu items as a means of saving money, you’re likely setting yourself up for a lot of health related expenses down the road.

Eating nothing but junk is a great way to increase your chances of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and various cancers, none of which are particularly inexpensive to treat.

Plus, if you actually plan out your meals around sales at the grocery store, you can make much healthier home-cooked meals for very little money. For example, you can have a bowl of whole-grain spaghetti in marinara sauce with a side-salad for probably less than $4. Sounds a lot better, healthier, and cost effective than a quarter-pounder, fries, and a soda.

You don’t contribute to a retirement account because you want the money now.  While it’s certainly a good idea to have an emergency fund, and nice to have money on hand to pay your bills or splurge every once in a while, you really shouldn’t build up these funds at the sake of your retirement accounts.  Or, to use another idiom (I’m action-packed full of them today), don’t rob Peter to pay Paul.

Sure, it’s nice to have an extra $100 to play with every month, but, thanks to the power of compounding interest, that $100 today could add up to thousands of dollars years down the road.  And, if you fail to contribute to a taxable account, you’d be missing out on today’s tax benefits, too.

(That being said, I always recommend to my friends that they contribute to a Roth IRA first.  Sure, you don’t get the tax benefit but that money grows tax free.  It’s the greatest investment vehicle for your retirement accounts!  I love Roths!  Anyway…)

Obviously, the list of ways you can be penny wise and pound foolish is much longer than the examples above, but I think you get the point.

For me, being penny wise and pound foolish is the litmus test I use when I’m trying to figure out if I’m being frugal or if I’m being cheap. If I find I’m being cheap – which I almost was when I had a real life refrigerator emergency – I have to take a step back and realize that sometimes it’s okay to spend a little more up-front because I know in the long-run it’ll be a lot more cost effective to do so.

So, make sure in going forward, you’re being both penny wise and pound wise.  That is the definition of being frugal!

Are you penny wise and pound foolish?  Leave a comment below!  Also, as always, please share this post using the social bookmarking buttons below – especially Facebook and Twitter!