Reboot...

So it's been awhile, two years to be exact since my last post.  And what a two years it has been; life has been tough; suffering a job lost, separation from my husband, loss of my mother and subsequent loss of my husband.   It really seems like life has thrown some curve balls my way-but with all of it, I am blessed.  I have my faith, I have two beautiful, smart, kind daughters,  I have wonderful family that supports me and my girls in all ways possible and I am in a good financial position because I was the primary bread winner in the family.  So through the rough seas of the past, I can see the rays of hope peaking through; I am truly blessed.

I have decided to start blogging again; through this difficult time, the thought of how fortunate I am not to have the added burden of financial strife.  I hope through this blog, I can give advice to help through life's tough moments.

More to come...

Going from a DINK to DUNK

I was having a conversation the other day with one of my colleagues.  He and his wife are expecting twins in the next couple of weeks and she will be staying home after the babies are born.   We were talking about the challenges of going from being DINK's (double income no kids); to being dunked under water (financially speaking).  When my oldest daughter was six months old, my husband and I made the decision for him to become a stay at home parent; and we went from being DINK's to becoming dunked under water.

We have been a one income household for 11 years now.  During this time, there have been many financial downs; I can say we were not prepared to go to one income.  During the early years, we tried to maintain the same lifestyle we had enjoyed on two incomes.  Although we had what I thought was adequate savings,  it only lasted a couple of years.  We did this through the use of credit cards.  We ran up way to much debt.  During this time, I was also going to graduate school, and managed to run up more debt through student loans.   It took a few years to settle down, but we finally got it. 

The reward for having my husband stay home with the kids is immeasurable, and if this is a decision you make for your family-my advice would be to prepare as much as you can and to save as much as you can.  Before becoming a one income family, I would say to start living on one income and to put your second income in a savings account.  If you can, pay off as much, if not all of your debt.   Reduce your expenses as much as you can and save save save for all of the unexpected expenses.

How to Save Money on a Tight Budget

I had a question this week asking how to save money on a tight budget.   The way to save money on a tight budget, or any budget for that matter, is to pay yourself first.   On a tight budget, it may only be five, ten, or twenty dollars a week.  Whatever it is, you must pay yourself first, and then your bills.  The easiest way to pay yourself first is to have an amount from your paycheck go into a savings account or to have an automatic transfer set up.  If neither of these are options, before you pay anything else, take the cash and put into an envelope and than forget it.  Each paycheck, put in your set amount, it will quickly add up.

If you find that you do not have enough money to pay yourself and your bills, you have to find a way to increase your bottom line.   The two ways to increase your bottom line are to either increase your income or decrease your expenses.  In the short term, cutting your expenses can be the quickest way to increase your bottom line.  For the long term, increasing your income will prove to be more sustainable. 

When you look to cut expenses; look at all of your expenses not essential to survival, and cut what you can.  Look at your grocery bill; start shopping the sales and using coupons.  With these tools, you should be able to cut somewhere between five and ten dollars a week.  Start cooking at home; make extra to have for lunch the next day, rather than eating out.  Look to reduce your cable bills-with services like Netflix, Hulu and even Amazon Prime, you may find you can watch all of your shows without having to pay the large cable bill.

The other side of the equation is to increase your income.  The increases in income can be on a short term basis (selling items on eBay, freelancing) or long term.  If you find yourself consistently not making enough money, one of the options you may look to do is change jobs and/or careers.  The job/career change may mean going back to school.  The biggest return on an investment is education.  The money you spend on education will be returned many times over. 

This week's giveaway-$20 Starbuck's Gift Card.

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Negotiate, Negotiate, Negotiate

I consider myself a fairly good negotiator, that may come across as arrogant, but let me explain. I don't necessarily get the best deal ever, but I almost always get a fair deal.     One of the things I learned from a very young age,  don't be afraid to ask.  As my wonderful husband can attest to, I will negotiate just about anything.  He has learned over the years that on just about any purchase, I will ask "Is there any wiggle room in the price?" , "Do you have any discounts available that I can use?"  , "Do you price match?"  Generally speaking, I will end up paying less than if I didn't ask.

My goal when negotiating is not to get the deal of the century, but to get a fair deal.  Companies are in business to make money, they can not give away the farm.  However, there is always wiggle room, especially if they think there will be repeat business.   If a company gives you a great deal on the front end, they will make it up on the back end.  If you get a fair deal during the entire transaction you end up ahead.  You also set yourself up for a long term relationship, that over time can net better benefits than a short term "deal of century".

Anytime you negotiate, negotiate from strength.  Always, always, be willing to walk away, no matter how desperate you think your situation is.  If you are negotiating from weakness, the other party will know and you will not get a fair deal.  The cliche-when you are a car dealership and trying to get a better price, you have to be willing to walk out; if you are negotiating a salary, you have to argue what you bring to the table and you have to be able to look elsewhere.

Do you all have any examples of real life negotiations-if so, how did they go?  What would you all have done differently?

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Emergencies...

I'm sitting at home today waiting for the impending store to hit.   I realize how blessed I am, we have food, water, and fire wood.  If we are stuck for a few days, we will be okay.   I even have cash on hand-in the event the power should go out and we are unable to use either ATM's or our debit cards.  When you live paycheck to paycheck, it is almost impossible to respond to the unexpected.  I have seen the stress on the faces of people who know they will have to juggle bills to pay for the unexpected costs.  It can break your heart.  

There is a sense of calm, when you know that you have the means to get through the unexpected.
Mother nature is no different than any other unexpected costs-a snow storm or a blown tire; all unexpected events that can create havoc if you are not prepared.   If you have an emergency fund, you have the means to get through the unexpected .   The reason I advocate a savings account with a $1000 before paying off credit cards, the sense of calm and the confidence it brings knowing you can get through most anything.

I hope everyone stays safe and warm during these upcoming storms that are hitting the country at the moment.