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Wednesday, January 26, 2011


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2008 Financial Fitness Challenge

Vote now for your favorite 2008 Financial Fitness Challenge idea. One Grand Prize winner will receive $1,000. You may vote for as many as five ideas a day; you must click on Submit (bottom of page) for your vote/s to register. Excess votes will be discarded. Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. CST Feb. 28, 2009. We have edited some entries for length.

Mileah Lyon
I have an annual schedule of bills broken down to 12 months. Each month is broken down by pay periods. We have one person paid every two weeks and the other paid twice a month and this helped me keep better track of what was due or coming due each pay period. I pay bills more often, but I use my credit union's online bill pay and schedule automatic reminders with auto pays. I perform "maintenance" on it once a month to make sure all expenses are covered and then review on paydays. I created a table using Excel.

Aaron Davis
Build a home inventory list complete with pictures, cost basis, and resale values. You can use Quicken home inventory or even an MS Word document.

Karen Gibbs
Each time you use a credit card for a purchase, write a check to the credit card company and put it in a envelope until the statement arrives. Deduct the check from your balance on the day you write it, even though the statement may not come for a few weeks. When the statement arrives, you are able to pay it in full with the checks written throughout the month. It really makes you stop and think if the purchase is necessary and helps to cut out impulse purchases.

Diane Marshall
Save money-and the earth-by conserving energy and water. Start by contacting your energy utility to perform a free [or available for a low cost in some areas] energy audit. If your utility doesn't offer one, do your own. State and federal environmental offices provide free information on what to look for such as replacing your incandescent light bulbs with the lower-energy compact fluorescent bulbs, turning off the water when you brush your teeth, and keeping your air conditioner and heater filter clean. Follow the recommendations and watch your utility bills go down. Put the money you save each month into your credit union savings account and watch your balance go up.

Carol Bayer
When my children were young and I had the expense of diapers, wipes, formula and the like. I celebrated their becoming potty trained or moving to solid foods by taking the money allocated to those expenses and increasing my payroll deduction to my credit union savings account by the amount I had been spending on the diapers and formula. It was a painless was to increase my savings.

Judy Tomer
I keep a binder in the kitchen that contains warrantees for all of the major and small appliances purchased, sales receipts, and related instruction booklets. That way things can be easily found; there's no wondering where something may have been filed.

Marvin Lyle
Every Sunday one of the first things I do is hunt for the coupon sections of the newspaper. I cut and organize the coupons my family will use for our weekly grocery store visit. I set aside the money I save and deposit it into my interest bearing savings account. You will be surprised how much you save in a year.

Felicia Guilbe
After reading an insert in my electricity bill about energy efficient bulbs, I purchased them for every light in our house, inside and outside. I sat my family of five down and explained that we could either pay a high electricity bill or we could eat. I explained that we were going to turn off all lights when we are not in the room, and turn off the computers and not keep them running through the night. We were going to watch the same program on one television instead of on two televisions in different rooms.

The next month our electricity bill went down to $151 (from $303). The next month it went down to $126. The month after that it went down to $124. Imagine my surprise when we actually received a bill for $102!

Brian O'Connor
A little over two years ago our money was managing us. We started writing a budget each month and started telling our money where it was going to go! We got rid of all of our credit cards and switched to a debit card, and we started paying cash for groceries, household supplies, clothes, and so on. We stopped spending more than we made and got a handle on our debt.

When you spend with a credit card you will spend 18% to 24% more money than if you use cash. We have been debt free except our mortgage since October 2006.

Shasta Bruce
If you usually use your check card to purchase everyday goods-gas, groceries, dining out-use a credit card instead. Log entries in your checking account like you would normally. Then when your statement is ready, send in the complete payment. You won't accrue any interest on your credit card if you pay the entire balance, and you'll continue to accrue more interest on your cash by having more funds in the credit union.

Rob Fox
Instead of clipping coupons and filling out rebate forms I spend my time figuring out how I can get better prices on things like home, auto and health insurance, or better interest rates on my auto and home loans. For example, I took an in-depth look at my home and auto insurance policies, and after asking five companies to give me their best rates I switched companies and I am saving over $1,200.00 per year! That's an extra $100 per month that I can use to combat the rising price of gas, food, and other necessities.

Jamie Reaser
When we pay off a recurring bill such as a car loan, we continue to deduct the same amount of money from our budget each month. We have set ourselves up for payroll deduction in that amount to go into share accounts to save for a new vehicle or pay for unexpected car repairs and insurance.

Reba Brommer
Log on to your local grocery store's Web site. Some stores offer online only coupons. Print out the weekly online coupons before grocery shopping each week. I saved $71.00 at Festival Foods in 2007 by doing this.

Cathy McKaige
For a real free benefit in your long term return on your retirement savings, always contribute the maximum amount to your 401(k) that is matched by your employer. It is amazing to watch your balances grow with the matching dollars and it's like getting an additional holiday bonus.

Amy Williams
When a cut of meat that I like is on sale, I ask the butcher to cut or grind the meat for me. There is no additional charge. For example, center cut pork chops are often $5 a pound in my area. Pork loin, purchased on sale, generally runs $1.75 to $2.25 per pound. Once sliced into chops, they are the same as the center cut and I can choose the thickness of my chops. Once the items are cut, I take them home and package them for the freezer, putting enough meat for one meal into each package.

Dana Ostrenga
Create a chart for each incoming paycheck and assign which bills that paycheck will go to and an amount designated to go to savings. Then also project an amount that you would spend for gas, groceries, and entertainment. I charge those expenses to a credit card I insist on paying off every month from my budget, then I also earn the miles for flights to help pay to see family.

Tammy Martin
When I write a check, I round up the amount to the nearest $5. If I owe Dish Network $72.47 I log $75 and subtract that amount from the ledger. Every three months I look at my statement bottom line vs. what I have in the ledger and there is usually a nice chunk of money in my account. I transfer that amount over to my savings account and start the process again. Even if you can't afford to round up in $5 increments you can round up to the nearest dollar.

Kris Heidelberger
Visit your local library-if you haven't been there for a while, you'll be surprised, as I was, to see what they have to offer. Aside from current books and magazines, you can get free or very cheap DVD rentals: New releases are only 50 cents! In addition, our county libraries have free museum passes-this gives you no-cost admission to many area museums and attractions. No strings attached. It's a great way to get truly free entertainment.

Justin Manning
When I graduated from college in 2005, my salary was quite good, but I was living paycheck to paycheck; I was saving nothing outside of my 401k.

I found out that I was spending a lot of unnecessary money in many areas. I also discovered that I was more than $80,000 in debt and I was only 23. I cut back on going out, paying for premium movie channels, food, and so on. With that little bit of extra money I was able to put a little in savings to build up an emergency fund as well as send more than minimum payments to my credit cards.

Every single penny that I spent was recorded. I categorized my spending and tracked it over time so I could adjust my budget and plan for upcoming expenses. I could see trends in categories and make predictions depending on what time of the year it was.

When I got raises, I would bump up my 401(k) a bit, but otherwise all of that extra cash went to my credit cards. Now that my credit cards are paid off and I am still on a similar spending plan, I have a lot of extra money to save, send towards higher interest student loans, or even treat myself to something nice-within limits. It took a couple of years to get on track, but it was well worth it to be financially secure at 25.

Cyndee Bruder
Create a monthly budget of income and expenses, then track actual expenses and compare them to the budgeted expense. This is really simple to do in an excel spreadsheet. It can be a real eye opener to show where you are actually spending your money.
If expenses are greater then income, you pretty much have two choices: Reduce expenses or increase income.

Ronnise Handy
I am a single mother with a 16-year-old daughter. My cousin is also a single mom, with a 20-year-old daughter, and my parents are in their late 60s. We buy many items in bulk as a combined family at Sam's or Costco. We take turns having Sunday dinners at each other's homes. We each subscribe to one magazine we all like and share them to receive the benefit of ownership of three magazines.

Alida Drewes
It is a good idea to reward yourself-within your budget. I try to buy one big item every year. This does not affect my budget and gives me something to plan and look forward to getting.

Kari Morrison
My idea is to make 13 mortgage payments a year instead of 12. There are tables that show how quickly you can purchase your home if you do this. The savings are amazing!

Ayesha A. Gaston
My credit union allows an automatic payroll deduction of any dollar amount to go into a Holiday Savings Account. The account accumulates dividends monthly until the funds are automatically transferred into the member's checking account right in time for the holidays. I use that benefit annually to avoid the headache of not having funds available for the holiday season.

Jo Lindstrom
We support our local Goodwill Stores by donating to and purchasing most of our clothing and household items from them. The savings is outstanding, and although it takes time and effort, it's worth the savings we achieve of well over an estimated $6,000 annually for a household of four.

We maintain our clothes in good repair, so when they no longer fit or are wanted/needed, we turn around and sell them at our local consignment store and receive 60% of the selling price if they sell. If they do not sell, we donate them back to Goodwill or the shelter for the homeless here in Charlotte.

Charla McMillan
I save a lot of money by setting aside one day a week to run all of my errands instead of running a few every day. I group errands geographically and map out a course to make a loop around town and backtrack as little as possible. With my list of groceries and other errands made ahead of time, placed in order so I will not drive back and forth, my car already in town after work, and having planned to make an evening of it, I save gas, money, time, and energy.

Charles M. Poskas
I am paid an hourly rate. Every dime is allocated for spending on bills, savings, or our Christmas Club account. There are occasions where I am able to earn overtime or receive compensation for driving my car for business trips. This "bonus" money goes into a special account. My household uses this money for fun weekend trips. This allows for our monthly budget to be used for "grownup" things like planning for home repairs and living. Anything extra from overtime is a bonus and is used as a reward to the entire family.

Lynn Glazewski
Twice a year, one of my girlfriends and I go on a "money diet." We forego shopping unless to the Salvation Army store, wait for first run movies to come to the dollar theater, and "shop" our freezers and pantries. We make and bag up individual servings of trail mix, cookies, popcorn to carry instead of raiding the vending machine at work.

Michael Dilley
My wife and I have decided that it would be best for our family to have me stay home with our son. I am a mechanic, and with the cost of gas (about $300 a month) and daycare ($900 a month), we actually save money.

Timothy Pawlowski
As a full time student (part time worker) who has to deal with a house full of roommates and make sure the bills are paid on time, I realize that a little forethought can go a long way. I start by asking all the housemates if they want to split essentials (examples: toilet paper, paper towel, pasta). I go to Wal-Mart or Sam's Club and buy in bulk. I purchase all my favorite fresh breads, meats, and cheeses and make sure that the bread goes in the freezer and cheese and meats are properly sealed.

Donna Fitzgerald
I established credit union savings accounts when our children were born. I have automatic payroll deductions taken out each paycheck and placed in a special account earmarked for each child. This account comes in very handy when there's a special event or opportunity. For example, we paid for the cost of a school band trip to Chicago out of this account. Another situation, the senior year of high school is very expensive: senior pictures, cap and gown, graduation party. I didn't have to be concerned about where is the money coming from or how will I rearrange the budget to cover this cost.

Melissa Plourde
With a growing family of five active members, and with a father who is a health teacher and passionate about teaching his kids healthy eating habits, our grocery bill has doubled in the past year and a half. We had little experience with growing a garden, but found that the $100 dollars we invested to create a raised boxed garden (built it, filled with organic compost, and bought seedlings) in our back yard was a great investment. We had a blast watching it grow, gathering our crop and saving the money we saved on our grocery bill. In the prime eight weeks of our growing season we saved $150 dollars on "organic" vegetables and were able to freeze vegetables for months after.

Ben Pollen
When I was 32 years old I started saving at least one half of the net result of each raise I got and put it into a savings account. The one rule I followed was to never use it before I retired. Over the years it moved into CDs (some at very high interest rates), and eventually tax-deferred IRAs and insurance annuities. I never invested in the stock market. At 62 years old I am retired and have no debt. My savings is more than enough to last the rest of my life.

Margaret M. Isler
Use electronic bill pay. This saves money in stamps, ensures that regular payments, like mortgage, rent, or insurance are always on time (which will improve your credit score and credit rating), and it provides an easily accessible record of payments.

David VanMiddendorp
A few years ago, I decided to take a portion of my annual raise and send it straight to my retirement account before I ever saw an increase in my take-home paycheck. My pay still went up and so did my retirement investment. After a few years of this, my retirement savings is beginning to add up.

Ann Hannam
For the past two years, to help us reach our goal of saving for a down payment to buy a house: Every Sunday, I take $400 cash from our checking account for my family to spend for the week. We use the cash for groceries, dining out, and gas-basically everything except paying bills. Once the cash is gone, we are not allowed to purchase anything else until the following week.

You would be amazed how frugal you become when you have to hand over your cash for payment. Each month, this has saved us about $500 and our savings account is now up to $12,000.

Edward Blyden
My wife and I [ladder] credit union share certificates of deposit to boost our savings. We open up one 12-month CD every month, and we have done this for two years now. So now, we have a CD maturing each month for the next year. In this downturn in the economy, this process helps us safeguard against a job loss but we can earn a higher rate than having the money in our savings account. In good times, we renew the CDs for another year and keep the streak going.

Janet Homann
Avoid soft drinks. Choose water instead. This may not only save a family hundreds of dollars a year, but will be so much healthier-potentially saving future medical expenses. And it will keep disposable containers out of our landfills, which also saves everyone by limiting overuse of our landfills.

Andrea Smolen
When I was saving for my first house I needed to halt my excess spending. So I made lists for each shopping trip (i.e., grocery, mall, or Target), but I always went with only enough time to get what was on my list. I would shop on my way to work or right before the store was closing; being hurried, I only got what was on my list and I dealt more in cash, keeping my purchases in line. I still shop only with a list and it keeps my spending in check.

Kim Stewart
Most people do not think about getting a power of attorney (POA) and medical power of attorney to help someone take care of their finances when/if they become incapacitated. No one can pay bills for them without the POA and your credit can be ruined. Another group who needs these items is the children of the baby boomer generation, because the responsibility to take care of parents will be their job. You do not want to go through the guardianship process if you can avoid it.

Ben Pollen
I changed my home owners insurance to a high deductible, which resulted in a huge savings. I put the difference between what I was paying and the new premium in a savings account. The savings account is a reserve for insurance losses. It's like being partially self insured, but I'm still covered for major losses.

Patricia A. Holland
With budgets tight, and fashion always changing, I have found a way to be within my budget. I select one or two good basic pieces of clothing, preferably on sale, for example a good fitting simple dress or suit or something like a good pair of attractive shoes. Then I take the item with me to resale, discount, or even thrift stores, for "change up" articles that change the look of the new item. Spending $2 to $6 for a blouse to go with a suit or a jumper allows for more than one blouse; jewelry for 50 cents to $4 means several changes of the "look" for much less than buying accessories at a department store.

La Tanya Pointer
Every week I would spend $80 to $100 on groceries for two people. I never took the time to make a grocery list. I got married after a year of marriage we became pregnant and had a baby boy. We started to realize how much more expensive things got once we started to buy milk, baby food, and other items for the house. We realized that we buy a lot of unnecessary things at the grocery store.

I started by making a list, but that still did not save money. That's when I got the idea to sit down and make a weekly menu and set an amount of $60 to spend at the grocery store. Not only have I made life easier by deciding what I was going to cook, but by the end of the year I will have saved anywhere from $960 to $1,920. I use coupons and always remember to trust the list.

Carlton Beasley
I use an Excel cash flow calendar spreadsheet as described by Mileah in the November challenge column. In conjunction with that tool, I build a buffer in my checking account to smooth out some of the timing bumps ... by not crediting my account when I receive any type of windfall. Another thing to do is round up those few cents on checks you write to a whole dollar amount. You have to live by your check register's pseudo-balance. The actual balance is the balance that I access online.

Donnell Hayes Jr.
Start by saving at least 5% of each paycheck. As your salary increases, don't increase your spending but increase your investing. I started investing 7% of my pay four years ago into a Thrift Savings Plan. Two years ago I began investing 10% of my pay and in less than five years my Thrift Savings Plan has over $20,000.00 accumulated. And the beauty of it all is that I don't miss the money.

Just remember this quote that an old army friend told me years ago. "Spend less than what you make, invest the difference, and watch the magical power of compound interest."

Beth Kayser
When we get unexpected money from a bonus or tax return, we pay down debt. Doesn't always have the bling that we look for, but it sure does help through the year when those monthly credit card bills don't come in.

John O'Connor
If you have debt problems you need to change your way of thinking. I'm talking about getting tough with yourself and saying enough is enough. Little things like make your own coffee in the morning, bring in your lunch, [use] basic cable TV, and so on. Whenever you have change, put it in a jar; every month when that credit card bill comes in put that change towards the bill. It took you some time to get where you are and it may take some time to get out of it-but it can happen if you want it to.

Bridget Randall
I've learned that an item on sale is not necessarily a bargain. My husband and I are learning to curb the urge to purchase. We see something on sale, and know it is a "great" deal, but we rethink it. Do we need it? Would we actually use it, or is it going to sit in its box? Do we have something similar at home? We are still working on it, but thinking about my purchases has helped me lower my non-necessity spending. It has also helped us work on unflattering our home.

Bonnie Garrett
Ask your credit union if you are eligible for a small line of credit to be tied to your checking account. If you ever accidentally overspend your checking account it will pull the balance from your line of credit. Instead of paying hefty non-sufficient fund fees, you'll pay a small amount of interest-and you won't have to worry about your savings being depleted by automatic overdraft transfers.

Cynthia Bales
Delete your long distance service from your land line. My bill was around $36 a month for just the long distance portion. I spoke with others who use their cell phone for long distance and are still charged $16 a month on their land line.

If you prefer to call long distance on your land line, Costco has a 700 minute card for $19.99. Most people will not use that many minutes in a year. If you do the math for just a year on the minimum charge of $16 a month you would save $172.01 (192 minus 19.99) and you haven't lost a thing; you can still call out with your calling card.

Kawana Williams
One tip that seems to work for me was shared by a mentor: "Get Ahead of Your Bills." Instead of waiting until large bills are due, pay half when you get your paycheck. I am paid biweekly which makes this work even better for me when paying my rent. By deducting half the amount of my rent from my checkbook ledger, I'm getting ahead of the expense and it's never late.

Alice Keys
The key to financial security is to always pay yourself first. I set up automatic savings at the beginning of each month. I started with an amount that I figured could work, $25 dollars to go straight into a special savings account. Not for a trip or a new car. Just for me. After three months, the amount became invisible. I didn't notice it was gone. I have gradually inched up this amount. I added any "extra" money. Extra work pay. Tax refunds. I now have six months of living expenses set aside. I am surprised by how much better I sleep at night.

Tonya Basnight
When you receive your paycheck, whether direct deposited or otherwise, take out the cash you need for things such as groceries, gas, and miscellaneous, per your budget. This cash should be budgeted to last until your next paycheck. When you are out of cash, you are out of cash. You should not go into your credit union account to withdraw any more funds. This teaches you two things:
1) How much you are spending on things outside of bills; and
2) Whether you are overspending.

Steve Barrymore
Every year we start saving for our next vacation as soon as we return from one. Each month we have a fixed amount transferred out of checking into a money market "vacation account" that receives dividends. My wife and I also agree to deposit any money we receive from Christmas, birthdays, rebate checks, and so on into this account. We keep a couple of little piggy banks. Periodically when we are carrying a little extra cash we will put a $5, $10, or $20 bill into these banks; every couple of months we deposit the money into our vacation account. We also place all extra change into a jar and every few months deposit it into our vacation account.

To get an even higher yield, as savings build in our vacation account we transfer money out and buy six-month certificates. Often we will have CDs maturing almost every month that we redeposit into our money market vacation account as the date for vacation draws nearer. We look forward to vacation every year and, since it is completely paid for before we ever start, it is even more enjoyable.

Jennifer Baker
My husband and I found that we were paying for some things that we wanted, but not necessarily needing. We concluded that we could cut services on our land line, Internet, cell phone plan, and cable. By cutting the services that weren't "needed", we are saving over $130 per month! We try to put what we save towards extra payments on outstanding loans or put it away for our next vacation.

Sarah Dunn
My goal was to have $3,000 in savings by the end of the year. I set up automatic distributions to come from every paycheck and be deposited into my share savings account. As my savings increased, I created certificates of deposit to help add even more, which will go back into savings. When the certificates mature and everything is in savings I will move it all to a money market share account, which makes twice as much dividends as the regular savings.

Chris Demianew
I purchased an energy cost analyzer that gives me real-time analysis of my electricity usage in kwh and in dollars. Since I installed the monitor my energy use has dropped dramatically and my energy bill has dropped by 30%. The $30 power monitor [cost subsidized by the local utility] paid for itself in the first month.

Tiffany Janssen
The way I mainly manage my money is only buying what I really want, not everyday splurges such as $5 coffees and lunches out. I brown bag my lunch and save that money every week. I calculate that by bringing lunch from home and not succumbing to every craving while on the go, I save at least $25 every week. I go on a two week vacation abroad next spring completely paid for in cash.

Sheila Yancey-Bicknell
I get an investment check each month and immediately put it in my credit union savings account. Until I need to spend it for bills and other expenses, I leave it to draw the most interest possible. Then I can transfer only what I need into my checking account to make my payments.

Lancie Dilley
Believe it or not, I am actually managing our money by purchasing a house. We have been paying $900 per month in rent for the past four years, which totals $36,000. Recently, my husband and I looked into buying our first house and realized that we would save $1,200 per year if we owned our own home. We have finally decided to make this huge commitment and close in two weeks.

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