The Tax Man Cameth

I know it was my money already, but that doesn't make the day I receive my tax refund check any less exciting. Due to decent planning, my check was only a few hundred dollars. You may ask why that's a good thing, but it means that I didn't loan the government much interest free money.

My first stop was to make a 2nd payment on a Visa card. The second stop was to a department store to pay off a card. Yes, I agree that store cards are high interest, but this one is a rewards card and I pay it off quickly if not monthly. Felt good!

I did the shift this weekend, but didn't work as many hours as I hoped. At least I was able to put $5 towards my emergency fund and fill up the tank of my car. Tomorrow I have a taste test that will bring in another $20 for my emergency fund.

Lastly, I received an email from a local college asking me if I was still interested in participating in a mock jury. If I fit the criteria I will earn $100 for 5 hours of work. That will be a nice addition to the pot.

No Spend Days Update

The first full week of the "Reduce A Bill Challenge" is over and we are 11 days in. I'm happy to say that I have 3 No Spend Days down and 7 more to go. I had three meals out that I paid for, but all of them cam in at less than $15 each including tip. With $10 going to my emergency fund for every No Spend Day, that's $30 to deposit.

To check out how others are doing on the Reduce A Bill Challenge, Working For Financial Freedom has set up a page dedicated to the challenge. Want to challenge yourself? There is still time to make the commitment.

YEAH! ~ My first No Spend Day!

Thanks to the inspirations of Being Frugal, Working For Financial Freedom, and Not Keeping Up With the Joneses I am officially on my way on the Reduce a Bill Challenge. This was my first official No Spend Day.

It all started with Being Frugal writing a post about her efforts to lower the monthly grocery bill. Mom of 3 at Working For Financial Freedom was inspired to reduce one of her own bills by going an month line drying clothing saving money on her electricity bill. Heather at Not Keeping Up With The Joneses came up with the idea of having 10 No Spend Days for the month of October. Talk about the power of the blogging community... I decided to join Heather in the quest for 10 No Spend Days. While getting off to a rocky start because of bad planning, I can now record my first day. Tomorrow will be another and if I'm to meet my goal, I'm going to need to step it up a bit.

The benefit of this exercise? No, its not Ben and Jerry's Cookie Dough Ice Cream. It will be an additional $10 towards the emergency fund per day. That's what I would have spent for lunch, which is my downfall when it comes to sticking to my budget.

Are you ready for the Reduce a Bill Challenge?

Taking Advantage of Opportunities

Are you taking advantage of every opportunity that is available to you? I ask this because as someone that works very closely with the benefits department of the company I work for, I'm amazed at how many employees are not taking full advantage of benefits. Most people think of benefits as paid time off, health insurance (medical/dental/vision), and 401k which they are, but don't undervalue other benefits as well.

Tomorrow I have the opportunity to attend a industry trade show were they bring in speakers from all over. Kendra Todd from HGTV's My House Is Worth What? and author of "Risk and Grow Rich: How to Make Millions in Real Estate," will be the keynote speaker. I'll have the opportunity to network with other professionals and make connections with vendors that I can do business with. Another perk worth mentioning is the free breakfast and lunch, year supply of free pens, and other goodies. If I'm really lucky I may even win one of the free prizes they will be giving out tomorrow. Many of our employees choose not to go because they think its boring. Personally, I don't think they are looking at the big picture.

My challenge to you is to make the effort to take advantage of every benefit your employer has to offer. If you don't understand what it is, ask questions. 99% of the new employees at my company do not take advantage of the Flexible Spending Account because it sounds too difficult and they may loose money if they don't budget carefully. That a 14-34% savings depending on the tax bracket that they are missing out on.

Not sure what to look for? Here's a list of benefits to start with:

• 401k - Many companies offer a company match, make sure you are contributing the maximum match amount
• Flexible Spending Account - A medical savings account that takes money out of your paycheck pre-tax dollars and saves it in a separate account. As you incur medical expenses, you submit receipts for reimbursement.
• Company Match on Charitable Donations - Maximize your donations to your favorite charity by finding out if your company matches it.
• Education Reimbursement - Many companies don't even require you to take courses in your field of work. Keep your computer skills up to date. Learn new marketing skills. Take a class that will help with your personal life as well as your professional life.
• Public Transportation Reimbursement - Does your company pay you to take the bus/train? Save money by not paying for parking, gas, tolls, etc.
• Mileage / Expense Reimbursement - Don't put off turning in expense and mileage reports. Make that money work for you by snow flaking it towards your debt or emergency fund.

Boggled by Budgets - How do you fit a square peg into a round hole?

Nothing stresses a person out like trying to put together a budget. A friend of mine has her heart set on a cute little condo. I helped her to put together some preliminary numbers in a budget which came up to a shortfall. It is always interesting to go through each category and decide what is important and where there is space for adjustments. My challenge personally has always been in trying to work it too tightly. I feel like if I just give up a bit more, I can pay that debt off quicker. The problem is I don’t give myself that buffer and it ends up creating more problems. In looking over her numbers I could see that she was lacking in an emergency fund as well. One of my goals is to establish $1000 for an emergency fund. (Anyone who is a fan of Dave Ramsey will recognize that as an important first step.) Key Bank has been running a special that if you do two electronic deposits of at least $100 each they will give you a free ipod nano. My problem up to now with using my savings account is that it is linked with my checking account, which makes it too easy to dip into.

While running her numbers, I kept working on fitting the Expenses into the Income. There is a significant difference if she purchases this condo. I think she does have the ability to do it, but she will have to make some lifestyle changes. She is already restricting her meals out and she had decided to give up her Dish and high speed internet access. My question is when do we get to the place where we have to stop trimming. I mean, lets be realistic. You can’t budget out food or shelter, but just how low can you go. This is where the frugal game gets played.

Day 4 Of 33 Days And 33 Ways To Save Money And Reduce Debt : Extra Payments Extra Deposits

No Credit Needed is posting a series on 33 Days and 33 Ways to Save Money and Reduce Debt. Day 4's topic is on making extra payments and extra deposits. The idea is to make extra payments because creditors calculate debt on a daily basis. I am a big supporter of this method, but it can also proove difficult if you do not already have an emergency fund in place. (Big red flag... this has been one of my greatest downfalls in my efforts to repay debt, but I'll get into that in later postings.)

I find that creditors are very supportive of receiving those extra payments, but I may have to explain what it is. Oddly, its my brokerage that seems to scoff at deposits that they don't deem as worthy. These brokers, who seem fresh out of school, must be able to make large deposits if they don't wish to be bothered by my attempts at saving. I on the other hand am quite happy when I can deposit an extra $25. One of these days, I will bring them a copy of "The Millionaire Next Door" by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko to read. Until then, I just smile when they roll their eyes.

Some ways I've found extra money to make additional payments include housesitting/pet sitting, recycling cans for deposits, FSA reimbursements, mileage reimbursements from work, and e-bay sales. I am always looking for new ways to increase income.