Every woman's kind of club
In case you missed it, last week Sears announced its new vacations offering, SearsVacations.com where you can select your vacation, put 10 percent down upon booking and then pay incrementally until you leave. According to this CNN article, you can put your vacation on layaway, allowing you to pay for it, in full, before you leave.
Savers, what are your thoughts? Would you rather buy your trip on layaway or do you have a separate savings account dedicated to vacations?
Tara here.
Now that March’s no-restaurant challenge is over, I am both relieved and appalled.
Relieved that I can go back to dining at will; appalled that apparently I have no willl. My urges to eat out are much stronger and more prevalent than I previously thought.
While the month wasn’t completely restaurant free (see exceptions to the rule), eating out was cut significantly back, saving who knows how many calories and more than $500 in restaurant spend. $500! At least! [Read more...]
According to a new article in the Journal of Consumer Research, the authors found that consumers will buy a lesser product when using cash, a higher-quality product when using a credit card.
Do you do this? If so, why? Do you not think about the costs associated when using a card and therefore purchase the better quality product? When using cash, do you consider the savings or tend to purchase a lower quality product?
I came across this wonderful post today at The Simple Dollar. It’s about thinking about the products you buy and why. Do you want to be more attractive, don’t buy a product, go for a walk. Do you want to fill your hours with joy? Don’t buy a product but DO what you love.
I love this because it’s important to always think through the “why” behind the buy. Head on over and check out his post.
Why is it that when I was working an entry-level job and had, oh, $100 a month spending money, I managed to survive with most everything I could want?
Yet now that I’m making the (relative) big bucks (haha), and have a few hundred more dollars a month, I can’t seem to stay within my budget?
What’s wrong with me?!? Help me, oh fellow Women’s Saving Club members…
Props to the Huffington Post for welcoming a new writer to focus on money AND happiness. Why? Becauseyou can have both! She shares her thinking about money and happiness and finding that happiness comes with knowing what you value, saving with intent and flourishing in life. Agree!
Being interested in personal finance, I usually read about 5 blog posts each day from other bloggers. Today, I came across one that I loved, from DINKS Finance. DINKS are considered dual-income, no kids and this blog typically covers topics that are of interest to these folks.
But today’s post applies to everyone and since our women’s saving club loves challenges and goals, I wanted to share DINKS’ post from today – Financial Truth or Dare.
Truth:
Dare:
Thanks DINKS Finance for the great post today. I’ve been walking to work a few days each week and leaving my car at home which saves me $6 in parking each day I walk.
We got a comment on the site the other day about Groupon/LivingSocial resale sites. They do exist! You may have heard of PlasticJungle which is a gift card resale site (and awesome if you’re looking for specific gift cards). Similar to PlasticJungle is LifeSta, a daily deal (Groupon, LivingSocial) resale site.
All you do it upload your groupon, post your price and get paid when it sells. You will have to pay a small fee to LifeSta to post your groupon ($0.99) You also pay LifeSta a percentage of the sale of the groupon.
There are some other sites as well: CoupRecoup and DealsGoRound.
But if you’re feeling badly about the clown classes you purchased, check out these sites. Get your money back and get back to saving.
Can you imagine going from $10 million a year to bankruptcy? It’s a Women’s Saving Club nightmare. Maybe these guys need to start an Athlete’s Saving Club. Jeez.
I’m off to Europe for the first time in my life! These trips are hard to plan for however since I don’t know how much we should set aside for trains, food, water, souvenirs. Before leaving, I made a sample budget for the trip, estimating flight costs, hotel costs, food costs.
But how do you figure out the incidentals? Cab costs, trains, cover charges, a random hot spring that you must visit? Do you set aside a set amount and hope you don’t use it all? Do you just use your credit card (hope not!)?
How do you save for vacation? Do you have a separate savings account just for vacation and how do you contribute to it?
Imagine the feel of a girls' night, toss in 10 incredibly smart ladies and add in a little money-conscious twist for...a Women's Saving Club! The Women's Saving Club was created as an outlet for us and our friends to support each other, inspire each other and hold each other accountable in … [Read More...]