Spending Archives - Page 3 of 15

Vacation Planning – Better memories are not bought with more dollars!

03.12.2010 by Robert Espe //

Vacation on a Shoe String

“Better memories are not bought with more dollars!” – Robert Espe

Here at DFA we are always looking for new ways to cut back spending and save money. I know that lots of readers will probably go on vacation this year, and because vacations can cost so much, they are a great opportunity to save money. I am in fact, on vacation as I write this, so it seemed appropriate to discuss. This week I will present a strategy focusing on three key areas people should target to save money while still have an enjoyable vacation.

Back when I was younger (and poorer) following this strategy allowed me to plan a honeymoon for $300, and celebrate our first anniversary without breaking the bank. I may have more money now, but I still use this strategy to get the most bang for my buck while vacationing.

Vacation destinations

I know this article is about how to save money while actually ON vacation, but I would like to start by pointing out that the best way to save on vacations is not to go at all. Travel is expensive, and has gotten much more expensive in the last few years. For some people, it may be necessary to acknowledge that they just can not afford to take a vacation this year. However, that is too short for much of an article, and most people WILL plan to take a vacation no matter how hard I try to convince them it is an unnecessary luxury, so here are some thoughts about where you could go.

When choosing a destination, remember that closer is usually cheaper. For some reason, most people unconsciously believe they have to go somewhere else to have a good time. However, the more I travel, the more people I meet who think the places I used to live sound worth visiting. If you live in an area that bases ANY of its economy on seasonal tourism, chances are there is plenty of stuff worth seeing right in your back yard that you have never taken time to visit. This is especially true with some areas more than others… especially if there is a ton of tourism around your home. I have read that the average tourist in Chicago visits more in two weeks than one of its residents get around to seeing in their first year. If you feel you TRULY live in the middle of nowhere and there is absolutely nothing to see, I still think you could find some place new to visit a lot closer than you think. The difference in cost between a 2-3 hour drive to a locale near your home and plane tickets is considerable so give it some thought.

Fortunately, you don’t have to find these spots on your own. Every town that feels it is worth visiting already has an organization dedicated to helping people like you decide to come visit them. Hop on the Internet, and look up the Chamber of Commerce for your own town, and other nearby places you’ve never visited. They do a good job of making your own backyard look like a travel brochure, and may have some ideas on things to do you have never thought of before. Plus they have info on places to stay, eat, and shop while you are there. I did this in my own town, and the local chamber helped me find new things to do and see even after living there for 20 years.

Save on food

We all need to eat.. but eating is much more expensive once you are away from your kitchen, and since it often represents at least half the cost of a trip it is a great place to save.

First I would point out that while eating out is fun, nothing says you are not allowed to visit a grocery store while on vacation. While you may not be able to create the same type of meals you can with a full kitchen, eating simple meals even once a day on your trip could save you some big bucks. This is especially true the longer your trip is, and the more people you have with you. When travelling by car, I always keep a good cooler in the trunk, and I also look for a hotel that has at least a small refrigerator in the rooms. This not only allows me to keep groceries cool, but provides a place to store leftovers from when you do eat out, since most restaurants serve way more food than one person can eat. Speaking of hotels, I always choose one that serves breakfast, and on this trip am staying at a Marriot that serves dinner as well – 4 days a week. Depending on the number of persons you travel with, free meals may offset the more expensive room.

When you do eat out, consider drinking water with your meal. When most of us were growing up, drinks were a cheap part of eating out. These days it seems like a simple soda or lemonade will add $1.50-$3.00 to each persons bill. If that was for fresh, hand-squeezed lemonade, it might be worth it, but as it is usually the same syrup water you can get at the store for pennies on the dollar, I find it easy to pass. If I do buy something to drink, I always order the small size of something with free re-fills.

Be sure not to overlook dollar menus, or splitting entrees. Two dollar menu sandwiches are usually larger than their $4-$5 counterparts and since most entrees are too large for one person two people can split one, find room for desert, and still come out ahead. I also find that on days where I am not very active, say I spend all day driving a car, or sitting in the hotel watching TV, I can skip lunch all together, without getting truly hungry. If I am not thinking about whether I really need to eat, I may spend more just because it is lunch time.

Shopping

Most people love to shop. I am blessed with a wife who is not a big shopper, but when we go on vacation, we still like to go out to stores and see what is out there. This is one area where the tourist industry can be a negative, because it seems like the more “touristy” an area is, the less likely it is to actually have anything worth buying. Regardless, it is still fun to browse through shops that are not available where you live, and for me, that is usually as far as it needs to go. Window shopping can be a great saver, you get the enjoyment of the shopping experience, and a day of walking around… without the expense. Now if you are thinking that you can’t go shopping without spending, here are some tricks to help.

First, and this applies to when you are at home as well, separate shopping from buying. When you are out browsing, decide in advance that no matter what you find in a store, you will not buy… at least not right then. Simply go into the store, look around, enjoy yourself, try things on, make a note of anything you want to buy, then leave. Do this at all the stores you visit. At the end of the day, have a look at the list you made, and decide if there is anything on it worth going back to that store to buy. This eliminates impulse buying, and can save you bundles when you are surrounded by $26 T-shirts and other expensive nick-knacks you know you don’t need. Even if you decide to buy something, you will have had a chance to find the best deal.

Final Thoughts

The most important thing about any vacation are the memories of good times with family and friends, and better memories are not bought with more dollars. So pack the camera, and enjoy the time for what it is, a time to refresh and relax. You will be even more relaxed if you know that you will still have money in the bank when you return home. We would love to hear about any places you have visited that were off the beaten path, or any other creative ways you have found to save money while on vacation.

photo by epSos.de

Huge Food Recall – Are You Tired of Contaminated Food?

03.08.2010 by Matt Jabs //

Personal finance isn’t my only passion…

In case you were unaware, I’m a big proponent of healthy and sustainable food production and supporting local economy. Local farms that seek to produce food enough for local communities – without the use of chemical pesticides, growth hormones, or other questionable practices – makes plain sense on many levels. I don’t write more about this topic because Debt Free Adventure is about personal finance… not organic and sustainable food production. That said, I am very passionate about these issues and like to touch on it occasionally here at DFA.

Note: If you are interested in learning more about this topic, I highly recommend you watch the movie Food, Inc. (also on blu-ray)

Recall products containing hydrolyzed vegetable protein

Thanks to Wisebread for tipping me off to this recall.

Today the FDA announced yet another food recall… this time it includes nearly 100 different products containing hydrolyzed vegetable protein. The list is growing and will be updated as more contaminated products are found. Here is a snippet from the FDA page:

This list includes products subject to recall in the United States since February 2010 related to hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) paste and powder distributed by Basic Food Flavors, Inc. This list will be updated with publicly available information as received. The information is current as of the date indicated. Once included, recalls will remain listed. If we learn that any information is not accurate, we will revise the list as soon as possible. When available, this database also includes photos of recalled products that have been voluntarily submitted by recalling firms to the FDA to assist the public in identifying those products that are subject to recall.

Keep an eye on this FDA recall page for any future updates.

International corporate farms

Today’s FDA announcement does not surprise me, in fact… this sort of thing is one of the main reasons we try to limit our consumption to unprocessed foods from local suppliers.

The contamination driving the recalls is a result of unsustainable farming practices that permeate enormous corporate farms. I won’t get into details… but wanted to let DFA readers know about the recall, and encourage everyone to eat well and support local growers above huge international food industry conglomerates.

Support local economy and eat healthy

My wife and I are very passionate about healthy eating, self-reliance, and local economy. Cooking from scratch with local organic ingredients help us voice our preference for the foods we want grown.

Every time you shop you vote for what type of food you want. Every time you cook you vote for what type of food you want. Every time you eat you vote for what type of food you want. What type of food do you want? Do your shopping, cooking, and eating habits support those wants? It is never to late to make a change.

When it comes to our choice for public office we can vote once every couple of years. When it comes to our choice for food we can vote three times a day… or more! That is exciting to me… what about you?

How do you feel about the food recalls?

Have you been wanting to change your consumption habits to reflect more of a local and healthy approach to food and economy? How do you plan to get started?

Note: If you are interested in learning more about this topic, I highly recommend you watch the movie Food, Inc. (also on blu-ray)

Saving Money – An American Virtue Reborn

03.05.2010 by Robert Espe //

Saving money is trendy again

I recently read a magazine article talking about how the recession has brought saving money back into style as people found themselves short on disposable income and easy credit. The article went on to explain that part of the “new” saving trend was buying more expensive clothes that don’t wear out quickly, and I agree in principle, but would steer clear of “name brands” found in many magazines advertising sport watches in excess of $300. While the article had some great info, it felt like they were mostly trying to sell overpriced goods and convince customers they deserved a pat on the back for “saving money.”

What really captured my attention was the article’s focus on how this saving trend was “new”, “fresh”, “exciting”, and not “cheap” like saving money has been viewed in the past. Apparently people believe that for any idea to be good, it has to be new. Saving money has never meant “cheap,” and there is nothing wrong with saving… however one may view it.

Saving money is virtuous and logical

Saving is a synonym of the word frugal which comes from the Latin root frugalis and is closely related to the words for both fruit and enjoyment. Nothing cheap about those terms! Saving money was actually one of the old Roman Virtues, and in times past was also an American virtue. Somehow, over time, the modern American virtue regarding money has been closer to irresponsible spending than saving. For many years in America it seemed anyone who paused to think before spending was quickly characterized as a penny-pinching cheapskate. Thankfully, that trend has reversed again due mostly to the recent financial crisis.

While not buying stuff you cannot afford is part of of what it means to be a saver, it is only half the meaning.

Webster tells us that saving money is about economy and the use of one’s resources. A mindset of saving will often lead you to avoid spending even if you have the money saved, perhaps because you are saving for something else or you just feel the purchase would not be worth your life energy. The essence of saving is simply spending less than is necessary to get what you want, which is hard to do if we are unaware of exactly what we want. As strange as that may sound, most people never set savings goals for themselves. Have you set savings goals for yourself? What are they?

Saving money for specific goals helps you avoid pitfalls

What do you really want in exchange for your life energy? I’m not referring to the general stuff like food, a roof, some wheels, and a few vacations… I’m more interested in the specifics. Where exactly do you want to live and in what type of home? What toys do you want most? What is most important to you in a vehicle? Where do you want to go on vacation and when? Do you want to retire and at what standard of living? No one can have everything, so we all must decide which things we want most. If you never ask yourself such questions, there are a couple of financial pitfalls we tend to run into.

First, without focus on what we really want we tend to buy whatever we see… simply because buying new stuff is fun. We might even buy good stuff, but if it is not what we really wanted, it runs the risk of sitting unused and the life energy we spent to attain the stuff gets wasted. Without specific savings goals our resources may get unnecessarily consumed, and we eventually miss out on something we would have enjoyed more. That is not very wise, but most of us have done it more than once… myself included! 🙂

Another common pitfall… not saving as much as we could have had we set specific savings goals. Without specific financial goals we become comfortable with the status quo. If our bills are paid and we have some savings… we may never think to save more. Absent any definitive goals (and the sacrifice necessary to reach them) it is much easier for careless spending to rob us of the things we actually wanted the most but never took the time to define. The difference between deprivation and sacrifice has been described as the presence of the goal which a sacrifice is made to attain. Visualizing the purpose of your sacrifice will give you the strength to see it through, to save for it, and is likely to make others wonder how you are able to accomplish so much with the amount of money you earn.

I’m bringing saving back

Finance writer Joe Dominguez looked forward to a time when we would speak of savers with awe and respect (hey, he was writing in the 70’s.) I think now is the perfect time to bring back the saving trend, but without the $300 watches the magazines are pushing! 🙂 People focused on saving money are typically willing to make sacrifices to meet specific goals. I set a high goal to save $22,000 towards a house this year. For me it is attainable, but requires having to say no to some of the fun things we like to do. My wife and I stick with it knowing that every penny we save brings us that much closer to the house we both want.

Are you bringing saving back?

Have you made a list of which things you want most, and thought about what things might be getting in the way? Where could you save more and what sacrifices could you make for the things that matter most to you and the things that will help you meet your savings goals without feeling deprived? We would love to hear about any goals you have set for yourself, or that you have recently achieved.