by Carrie on August 11, 2009
Welcome to the August 11, 2009 edition of the Festival of Frugality. This week we have a wonderful assortment of tips on how to be more frugal in a variety of areas of your life.
Editor’s Pick
Modern Gal presents Do Certain Personality Types Save More? posted at Modern Gal. This is kind of crazy because I apparently perfectly fit the stereotype for people who have success in shifting to a simpler, more sustainable life-style. Do you fit?
Budgeting
Cleaning
Cooking
Couponing
Crafting
Going Green
Investing
Meal Planning
Shopping
Traveling
Next Issue
You can submit your article for next week’s carnival at the Festival of Frugality blog carnival page.
by Carrie on August 4, 2009
Here’s how my July numbers look. I spent 94.8% of my allotted budget (the budget is set to have my spend 75% of my take home pay from my day job paychecks only, any income on the side is always considered extra). That means I saved an extra 5.2% in July.
As usual since I’m viewing my budget monthly but spending some money on quarterly, semi annual, or annual expenses I’m over in some areas and under in others but the important thing for me is to be at or under budget on the whole. It’d be fabulous if mint.com had the option to view your budget yearly as well but they don’t have that feature yet.
July Budget
Getting enrolled in my company’s 401k ended up being a bit of a nightmare. Just as I got all my paperwork filled out at the beginning of July, our 401k provider announced that they were going out of business and they had “blacked out” any changes to any plans. We switched over to a new provider and I could finally be enrolled on July 29th. I missed one month of possible contributions but it’s not the end of the world. One month’s worth of company matches probably wouldn’t have even been worth the hassle of rolling that account into my Rollover IRA. Now I’m set to contribute the minimum required to receive my full company match via my 401k and I will be continuing to max out my Roth IRA.
Disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links.
by Carrie on May 21, 2009
I’m trying to get my portfolio balanced by using only new money I’m putting in rather than selling anything at this time.
Here’s where it was at in April:
In April I was doing okay on cash investments but much too high on large cap and too low on small cap and international. In April I contributed $416.66 in new money (1/12 of my annual $5000 Roth IRA contribution). I also received some funds from my parents that had been scheduled to transfer to me when I turned 25.
After allocating that new money to small cap and international assets, here’s what my portfolio looks like:
Schwab’s portfolio analysis tool now gives me a green OK on my asset allocation rather than the yellow warning symbol I had before. At this point I’ll be allocating my new Roth IRA investments every two weeks as necessary to try to maintain a balance and I’ll rebalance every three months if any asset classes get significantly out of balance.
by Carrie on May 14, 2009
This is a guest post from Trisha Wagner.
There is no doubt that “going green” and exercising a bit of frugality are all the rage in the current economic and social conditions. As a society we have for years been guilty of consummate consumption with little concern how our actions impacted the environment or our financial future. Sadly it has taken the current state of the economy to open some people’s eyes to the fact that we must change the way we live and how we spend our money. Of course not all people have been racking up debt, neglecting their savings and forgetting the fact that future generations must live on this planet. Whether you have been practicing financial and environmentally responsible efforts for years or are just now awakening to the need to change your ways, we can all benefit from the following tips that could help your money grow and save the planet.
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For long term investments look into alternative energy companies. The price of fuel is has been slowly creeping up and no one will quickly forget how high it can go after paying $5 or more for a gallon of gas in the not so recent past. Investing in companies that are working on alternative energy sources will likely not pay off in the short term but may prove profitable within the next ten years.
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If you want your money to work toward your environmental goals invest in green stocks. You may be interested in specific renewable energy industries, sustainable companies or clean technology. By investing in a cause you believe in you show your are supporting companies that are acting in environmentally friendly ways.
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Support green start up companies. As previously stated everyone is going green and many new businesses have jumped on the bandwagon to provide products or services that will have a positive (or at least less negative) impact on the environment. As will all investments you will have to carefully research start up companies to determine the level of risk associated with these investments.
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Consider investing in various alternative transportation options. Again, as consumers worry over the price of gasoline and diesel fuels in addition to concerns with air pollution, many companies that provide alternative transportation may increase in value.
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Socially responsible investing should not limit your ability to make your money grow. If you are unsure where to invest your money, consider seeking professional guidance from an investment advisor. An experienced advisor can help you implement an investment strategy that will not only match your social responsibility but also maximize your financial return.
These are just a few tips that can help you do your part for the environment and secure your financial future. Keep in mind that returns may not be as large as mainstream investments however knowing that you are investing for the greater good can provide personal satisfaction.
Trisha Wagner is a freelance writer for DepositAccounts.com, where you can compare rates of checking accounts from dozens of banks in one place. Trisha writes regularly on the topics of personal finance and savings accounts.
