Debt Help Ideas

I had been out on errands and babysitting all day. Headed home, I was tired and hungry! Original fried chicken from one of my favorite fast food restaurants, KFC, was calling my name. I pulled in and was delighted to see only one person in line in the drive through.

Pulling right up to the microphone, I ordered my usual, three pieces of chicken – dark, mashed potatos and gravy, corn, biscuits and honey, and an extra side of coleslaw. I have to admit, I choked a bit at the price – over $9! But my starving stomach told me to keep going, so I did.

The truck ahead of me left and I drove up. The cashier apologized profusely and explained that they had run out of the original chicken and there would be a 15 minute wait. Thinking of all the work waiting for me at home, I turned down her offer of a different type of chicken (Original flavor is the only one I like), and sadly headed home.

Walking in the door I headed straight for my fridge. I pulled out some yummy Sam’s Club chicken. One of my tastier ways to save money and time is to buy a roasted chicken at Sams wholesale club, cut it and bag it into four or five servings and pop them all in the freezer. Perfect for moments like this and it’s only about $1 – $1.25 per serving!

Next I popped a russet potato into the microwave (15 cents per serving). While it cooked, I pulled out a can of Bush’s Baked Beans (45 cents per serving) and a can of kernel corn (40 cents per serving).

In lieu of the carb and calorie-laden biscuit, I had some tangy cranberry sauce (50 cents per serving). I finished it all off with a refreshing Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper (25 cents per serving).

Within 15 minutes I had a delicious dinner that was probably lower in calories, sodium and fat and only cost about $3! WOW! $6 cheaper AND probably healthier to boot! Fast too!

Now I’m not going to lie and tell you I’ll never eat at KFC again! Of course I will. I love their chicken. BUT it definitely needs to be a once in a while treat. In the meantime, mostly home-cooked meals like this are definitely great examples of yummy ways to save money, save time, and keep heading towards the goal to eliminate debt!

Twenty years ago, my next-door neighbors had a Pit Bull, which they had raised from a pup. They were always telling me how sweet he was, how gentle, and how much they loved him. I was a bit leery because I’d heard a tale or two about Pit Bulls. Then again, I loved the English Bull dog another neighbor used to have, so I just ignored the occasional growls that sometimes came my way.

One day, they asked if I could come over to help them with their computer. Of course I said yes, and we headed into their house – my neighbor, her husband, their sweet dog, and me. Since they kept the computer in their bedroom, they gave me the chair, while the two of them and the pooch plopped onto the bed to watch me. All was fairly quiet for five minutes as I worked on the computer. I kept explaining what I was doing, and they’d ask questions, and that was about it. Then, out of the blue, with NOTHING having changed, their sweet dog turned into a terrifying dog, barking at me like he hated my guts and trying to lunge at me, as the owners held him back. They escorted him out of the room, as he kept barking furiously. They came back in, apologized profusely, and again told me what a sweet dog he was. I’ve read of dog attacks before but never come so close to experiencing one!All I could do was pray hard silently for the new little grandbaby that was due any day and who would be over often.

You may wonder what all this has to do with ways to save money and our goal to eliminate debt. Some of you who love Pit Bulls may have decided to never read my blog again. I understand, but I encourage you to please finish reading before you quit, for your own sake.

I learned, through researching information for a rental I owned, that many insurance companies specifically exclude certain breeds of dogs, including Pit Bulls. If we don’t ask, they might not mention it. It might be in one of the huge, long documents they send us after we get our insurance. I’m sure you read that cover to cover, right? Yup, same here.  Whether we knew it or not, though, we are still going to be in for a rude shock if we own one of the excluded breed of dogs and they hurt someone! Whether that someone is a meter reader, a next-door neighbor, or even our own child, if our dog is excluded, they will not pay for the damages, nor for any lawsuit awards!

I can’t begin to imagine spending years working to eliminate debt, putting into practice all the ways to save money we can find, and then having our dog bite someone! Then to think about that someone suing us and winning a large settlement! Not only will we not be able to eliminate debt any time soon, we could actually be paying off that judgment for the rest of our life!

Now that I’ve gloomed and doomed us, and scared us to pieces, what can we do? I would start by calling our insurance company ASAP and ask what their specific policy is. If our dog is excluded, we’ll need to find out what our options are. We also would need to find a third party insurance company that can cover us and our dog. From what I’ve seen, there is dog insurance for all breeds available, though I doubt it is the cheapest pet insurance! If we haven’t yet bought a dog, it would be best to call our insurance company and find out what are excluded breeds. My company has a list of about 5-6. Then we could go look for a dog we liked that wasn’t on that list.

In addition, one of the best tips to save money in this situation may be to spend money by shoring up the fencing. We can make sure it is solid, and that a dog can’t get over it, under it, or through it. We can also check to be sure the gates are locked so that someone can’t inadvertently let our dog out. We can also talk to the utility company about options if the meter is inside the yard. They should be able to give us a schedule of visits so we can keep our dog inside on those days.

My grandparents had the sweetest German Shepherd. He really was sweet! When I had to stay with my aging grandma, while my parents went out of town, my mom warned me to put the dog in the house if the meter reader came. I laughed, thinking George would never hurt a fly. Let me tell you, a week later I heard massive barking coming from a dog I barely recognized. George, along with my neighbor’s Pit Bull, took his job of protecting his owners so seriously, he didn’t want to let anyone but family into the yard. I took my parents’ dog advice more seriously after that!

Many dogs have the capacity to be very sweet, yet too protective of their families. That’s a wonderful thing if a burglar is trying to break in. That can be a very expensive thing if our dog thinks a neighbor is the burglar. Simple and wise precautions are some of the best ways to save money. We just need to plan ahead, do our homework, make sure we have good dog insurance and good fencing, and then we can keep working towards our goal to eliminate debt and still enjoy our family pet.

As a full-fledged member of the Baby Boomer Generation, my metabolism has changed dramatically from 30 years ago. Remember the ultra-slim model from the 60s, Twiggy? Back in my 20s, I could have shared her nickname. Now, not so much! I have to eat carefully and watch my calories a bit. Even so, I tend to go up and down the scale about 10 pounds in any given month, thanks to water weight gain and other fun things. Menopause probably doesn’t help either. Then again, many of my younger friends say they experience the same thing, even though they are in their 20s and 30s.

Does make it tricky with pants, doesn’t it? Even for someone like me who lives in her blue jeans. (Just call me the Blue Jean Boomer!) For awhile, I tried having two sets of pant sizes. But one size was always too big or too small. Not to mention the fact of that being a bit pricey even if I do only buy my pants on great sales! Then I discovered one of my favorite little tips to save money on clothes. Did you know that you can go to a fabric store, like Joanne’s Fabrics, and buy buttons for jeans? Not only that, for this non-sewing grandma, they DON’T require sewing. HOORAY!

All you need is a hammer and a firm surface. Take the jeans (or any other pair of pants), follow the directions, and bang your stress away. I wouldn’t recommend doing it when people are sleeping, especially in an apartment.   Play around a bit to see what works. Then just button which ever one that feels the most comfy on any given day. Some days I get to exult when it’s the tightest. Other days I breath a sigh of relief when it’s the loosest. And the best part, they only cost a couple of dollars. These buttons are definitely easy ways to save money! And if this keeps you from buying another pair or two of pants, why not take that money, pay off your lowest loan, and give yourself a high five for being that much closer to your goal to eliminate debt.

Do you love to give and receive flowers? I know I do! Especially roses. They aren’t cheap though, are they? A great frugal investment we can make is to purchase and plant rose bushes and other perennial flowers around our house. Granted, there is an up-front cost involved, but in the long run this is definitely one of those multi-tasking tips to save money.

One thing I learned to do after buying a house that left me cash poor was to watch for sales at places like Rite Aid and Walgreens. They often get a big batch of plants in for spring, then put them on sale in mid-summer once most of them are gone.

Depending on the area we might even be safe buying plants looking a bit wilted. When I lived in Northern California I bought many roses for a fraction of their original cost because they looked like they were almost dead – wilted leaves, no flowers. With some careful pruning and great compost, they perked up wonderfully. The East Coast has not been as kind to me, but I’ve also had less time to try.

If we are able to do this, we can buy these plants for pennies on the dollar and then enjoy many years of gorgeous, wonderfully scented flowers in our homes as well as use some as gifts for others. I love ways to save money that smell good! Not only that, they add value to our homes, so when we go to sell them, we might actually get a higher price because of all the flowers growing! Now you know what I meant when I told you this was one of those multi-tasking tips to save money

In addition, I love applying the money I saved to my loan with the lowest balance as we march on together towards our goal to eliminate debt!

Always being on the lookout for ways to save money is a great tool to help you eliminate debt.

One of the best ways to save money is to look at your car servicing habits. Here are four tips that may help you:

• Make sure you get the oil changed regularly. Taking good care of your car will save you money in the long run.
• Don’t, however, service it more often than you have to. For awhile, I kept reading recommendations that people should change their oil every 3000 miles. Car experts have discovered, however, that this is more often than necessary. 5000 miles is a better rule of thumb according to various sources, including my own car dealership. (Of course, you need to double-check this with your own car repair site as different models do vary.)
• Before taking your car into a dealer or other business for servicing, check their website. You may discover, as I did, that they offer coupons online for various services. These can save you anywhere from $5 – $100 or more depending on what you need to have done.
• Ask your repair business if they offer coupons via email. One dealership I went to regularly started doing that. It was so handy to have great ways to save money arrive in my inbox. Not only that, they’re a lot easier to find than in the piles on my desk.

Taking good care of our cars while keeping our eyes open for new ways to save money is definitely a great way to work towards our goal to get debt free! We need to make sure we take the money we save and add it to our lowest bill’s payment each month. Eventually we will succeed at our goal to eliminate debt!

Eyeglasses can be so expensive. Here are two ways to save money and still be able to see.

1. Most stores selling glasses will do minor tweaks such as tightening and replacing screws and adjusting frames, all at no cost. This is often true, even if you didn’t buy the glasses there.
2. If your budget is ultra tight right now, but your eyeglass prescription has gotten worse, you can request that your new lenses be put into your old frames. If you do that, there are two things to watch out for:
   • Have them check the frames to ensure they are in good shape. If they break, you probably won’t be covered by any warranty!
   • Not only that, they may not provide a warranty on the new lenses either, because you are using your own frames!

These ways to save money on eyeglasses are both practical and easy. And how fun when we can apply what we’ve saved to our payments on our debts.. That will help bring us a step closer to our goal to eliminate debt!