Convenience seems to be the name of the game lately. Buy it and pay more to save time. But many things we buy to save time don't take that much time at all and can save us some big money in the long run. We sat down and looked at things we ate or used on a regular basis to see where would save some money. We started making the following 7 things at home like homemade french fries. It doesn't take much more time than normal to cook, and our version taste better are healthier, cost less or clean better!
So the first 2 items we started making are non-food items. We started making some of our own cleaners when my son had a BAD reaction to we believe our new laundry soap.
First we started making our own homemadeLaundry Soap. I made a post a few weeks back with the recipe we use. I had been meaning to try making my own soap since I saw the idea on the Duggars show (yes THAT long ago!) but hadn't done it until my son broke out in hives when we switch laundry soaps.
The second item we started making our DIYwindow cleaner. This formula cleans better than Windex has for me in the past! It's great for mirrors too as well as Car windows which seem to get the dirtiest for me!
The next 5 items are food items that have saved us about $40 or more a month on our grocery bills.
The first thing we started making on our own was Jams. Grape jelly is the cheapest and we really aren't grape jelly people (unless I'm preggo and craving peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches). We like strawberry jam or apple pie jams. The first jam I ever made was strawberry freezer jam. I then branched out to the freezer blueberry Jam and then canning jams! I like to get the fruit for these jams when they are in season so I can get the fruit at it's cheapest! (PS I love these jar for canning my jams!)
Once I got the hang of canning we got my mom's family pasta sauce recipe and started making it and canning it. We use this sauce on pasta, on pizza, on sandwiches, lasagna and more. It also makes a great dipping sauce. We make 13 LARGE jars at a time with makes 26 meals for us. The pasta sauce cooks all day, takes just a few minutes to toss together it cooks all day and for dinner we will have easy spaghetti with fresh sauce then it takes us an hour to can and process the jars and we are done for 3-4 months!
Next we started making handmadepizza crust. I bought a pound ofYeastfor under $10 and since we buy flour and sugar and all in bulk to make other items we have it on hand so we had what we needed. Even the crust packs you buy at the store have to rise so it isn't costing you any any more time.
Next we tackled homemadegarlic bread. We were paying $3 or more for a pack of garlic bread that feed us for one meal! we take a loaf of white bread we can get for under $1 and melt a stick of butter which on sale will cost us about 25¢ or less and add in some garlic salt and for around $1.25 we have homemade garlic bread and more of it then you buy in a box!
Most recently we started making homemade french fries. We bought a potato cutter and have been cutting our own fries now. We can 10lb of potatoes for between $3 -$4. We can get around 10 meals out of it. I love that with homemade french fries we can season fries any way we want, or we can dice potatoes and dow breakfast potatoes. I do still buy tater tots because I haven't mastered those yet!
The future is unpredictable, and financial emergencies can crop up anytime. Saving money allows you to create a safety net for your future expenses as well as unplanned financial needs. The more you save, the more peace of mind you have, as you are better prepared for anything life throws at you.
It's our simple guideline for saving and spending: Aim to allocate no more than 50% of take-home pay to essential expenses, save 15% of pretax income for retirement savings, and keep 5% of take-home pay for short-term savings.
For many people, the 50/30/20 rule is a great way to split up monthly income. This budgeting rule states that you should allocate 50 percent of your monthly income for essentials (such as housing, groceries and gas), 30 percent for wants and 20 percent for savings.
Saving too much money can cause your younger self to make sacrifices that your future self doesn't need and didn't ask for. Instead of extreme frugality and early retirement, most people might be happier just doing work they enjoy.
Over the same period of time, that one dollar a day will earn $6690 in interest over 30 years and you'll end up with $17,492. If you manage to secure a 5% interest rate, your 30 years of adding one dollar a day will earn you $14,186 in interest, with the end result tallying $24,989.
Saving $1,000 per month can be a good sign, as it means you're setting aside money for emergencies and long-term goals. However, if you're ignoring high-interest debt to meet your savings goals, you might want to switch gears and focus on paying off debt first.
For savings, aim to keep three to six months' worth of expenses in a high-yield savings account, but note that any amount can be beneficial in a financial emergency.
In his free webinar last week, Market Briefs CEO Jaspreet Singh alerted me to a variation: the popular 75-15-10 rule. Singh called it leading your money. This iteration calls for you to put 75% of after-tax income to daily expenses, 15% to investing and 10% to savings.
The 4% rule limits annual withdrawals from your retirement accounts to 4% of the total balance in your first year of retirement. That means if you retire with $1 million saved, you'd take out $40,000. According to the rule, this amount is safe enough that you won't risk running out of money during a 30-year retirement.
Saving is generally seen as preferable for investors with short-term financial goals, a low risk tolerance, or those in need of an emergency fund. Investing may be the best option for people who already have a rainy-day fund and are focused on longer-term financial goals or those who have a higher risk tolerance.
I think they are both equally important. Money only has value if you use it to buy what you need and want. But of course, you must ensure that you will always have enough to buy what you need and want, and therefore you need to save. We're at a point in our life where we need to make sure we don't run out of money.
At least 20% of your income should go towards savings. Meanwhile, another 50% (maximum) should go toward necessities, while 30% goes toward discretionary items. This is called the 50/30/20 rule of thumb, and it provides a quick and easy way for you to budget your money.
And one crucial detail to note: Millionaire status doesn't equal a sky-high salary. “Only 31% averaged $100,000 a year over the course of their career,” the study found, “and one-third never made six figures in any single working year of their career.”
Introduction: My name is Corie Satterfield, I am a fancy, perfect, spotless, quaint, fantastic, funny, lucky person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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