Debt Help Ideas

Woohoo! Remember the post I wrote, Sam’s Club Chicken Saves the Day? As you can tell from that article, I have a high opinion of Sams wholesale club which is well deserved, as shopping there is always one of my favorite ways to save money.

After I wrote that article, I found an interesting post by Paula Ebbin with some great tips to save money at all three of the various Warehouse Clubs – Sams wholesale club, BJs wholesale club, and Costco. 6 Ways To Save Money At Warehouse Clubs had several excellent tips and ideas that were new to me, and I thought you would find them useful as well.

I knew that one of the best ways to save money is to buy in bulk, but did you know that one warehouse club even accepts coupons? Or that each wholesale club marks their price tags in such a way as to let you know if it’s at its lowest price? I didn’t either!

So pop over and read this fascinating article. Then I’d love it if you’d pop back here and let us know which idea you liked best.

Up till now, I’ve mostly focused on ways to save money as we work towards our goal to eliminate debt. Another way to to work towards that goal, however, is to add money to the budget. When my kids were little, I was always on the look out for stay at home jobs. It was never easy, although I did find a few. That was all before the internet though.

Nowadays, thanks to the internet, work from home ideas abound. Some are good, some not so much. I’m going to start a new column, Work From Home Ideas. I’ll be sharing what I’ve done in the past, along with what I’ve been learning over the past few years about whether you can really make easy money online.

I’d love to hear from you as well. Have you succeeded at making money from home? If so, we’d love to hear your comments. If you’ve tried unsuccessfully, that would be good to know as well.

So pull up a chair, grab some coffee and a donut, and join me in this ongoing journey to find ways to save money, including work from home ideas, and together we can have fun as we work to eliminate debt.

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!

Coughs and colds wait for no man, woman, or child. They don’t wait for seasons either! It’s the middle of summer, but according to the treatment nurse my friend talked to today, there’s several irritating viruses going around. Nope, I’m not talking swine flu. Just your normal, garden variety coughs, colds, and other assorted bugs!

I was reminded today, as I picked up some cough syrup for her, of some great ways to save money that we had missed out on. She paid more, but you won’t have to.

1. Always keep a good supply of your favorite cough syrup, pain reliever, and decongestant in the house. Keep a close eye on the stock. If you notice the expiration dates are getting too close, give the medicine away to someone who can use it now. You might even want to set up a trading system with a friend so they do the same. Also, each time you go the grocery store, check your supply to see what needs replenishing. That way, if a bug catches you off guard, you won’t have to drag yourself out feeling miserable, only to grab the first available medicine at the most expensive store, just because you feel so awful. You can purchase the medicines on sale or at your local Target or Walmart and pay less for them.
2. Make sure to clean your vaporizer or humidifier after each cold/virus ends, and store it carefully. If you notice it isn’t working well, and cleaning it doesn’t resolve the problem, it’s time to find a new one. Start watching for sales and pick up just the one you want for a great price BEFORE you need it, instead of being stuck buying whatever is in stock at the store you run to.
3. Keep a good supply of comfort foods on hand. My favorites include Lipton’s Noodle Soup and Chicken Pot Pies. Then, when you don’t feel good, you don’t have to try to make something. You can easily pull those together to feed yourself fairly healthily, in order to help fight off the virus.

These simple pre-preparation steps can save you time, money, and energy when the nasty bug strikes. They are all great ways to save money and that always helps make us feel better, doesn’t it. Not to mention that it also helps us work towards our goal to eliminate debt! 

Do you like to go the movies? We sure do. It makes a fun date. My husband and I always tried to go out on a date once a week. Sometimes we only made it two times a month, but four was the best. We knew it was important for our relationship, which then benefited our children as well. We also liked to take our kids to the movies, sometimes as a one-on-one or two-on-one date. Sometimes all of us went. It was pricey then. Now I’m a widow, going to the movies with my grown-up kids and grandkids. It’s even more expensive now! Fortunately, we’ve found some great ways to save money that do help.

Matinees have always been a money saver help. They’re not as wonderfully priced as they used to be, but they’re still cheaper. They used to run about half the normal ticket, but they traditionally only went til mid-afternoon. Now they are about 2/3 of a ticket price, BUT many theaters do go later in the day. My favorite theater offers matinee prices til 6 pm on weekdays! That’s late enough for an early dinner and movie.

I love popcorn and soda at the theater but my waistline and my pocket book both hate it. For those days when I just can’t resist, two of my favorite theaters do have a money saver help for me. They offer a kid’s snack. For about half (or less) of the normal cost of a small popcorn and small soda, I get a smaller popcorn, smaller soda, and a candy. I usually skip the candy but thoroughly enjoy the rest.

Two of the three theaters in our area offer customer rewards cards. Just like with a grocery store customer rewards card, you show this for each purchase and you get rewarded periodically with special discount days, free snacks (like popcorn ), and even free movie tickets. We don’t go that often, so it does take awhile for the free tickets, but the free popcorn seems to pop up fairly often, which is one of the fun ways to save money. You can find these by checking online at your movie theater website, or call your local theater to see if they do offer these.

While you’re on the phone, call each of the theaters in the area. Many areas have at least one discount theater, where the price is half the cost of the main movie theaters, and where they are showing good movies, just not quite as soon. And of course, if you still have a drive-in in your area, those can save a ton with all the grandkids. Mine just went with their folks to their first drive-in and loved it! They got to play outside, sit in chairs on a lawn, and even get up a move a bit if they wanted to. It was great.

Well, there you have it, my four best tips to save money at the movies. It’s great to be able to have a special date with the special people in our lives, save money, and keep working towards our goal to eliminate debt.

Father’s Day is coming up and we’re all busy trying to figure out a great gift for that special dad or grandpa that they will love but that won’t add to our unsecured debt load (translation – racking up charges on the credit card )

When we have a guy who loves his Harley Davidson motorcycle, that makes him pretty easy to shop for. We can use a great money saver tip by only going to one store – whichever of the Harley Davidson stores is closest to us.

Once there, I like to do my pocketbook a favor and start with the sales table. I can’t tell you how many goodies I’ve found there for a fraction of the cost. I’ve found cute Harley Davidson T-Shirts (ummm, for Father’s Day, guess I’d better say studly!), great looking belt buckles, and even Harley Davidson decals for the motorcycle or “the other vehicle.” So first I check that out and see if there are any great deals that will keep us within our budget and be something our special guy will like.

In case we didn’t succeed there, or not enough, now it’s time to check out the rest of the store. Some of the less expensive items I always like for gifts include:

• Harley Davidson T-Shirts – my all-time favorite, and my husband’s as well 
• Harley Davidson hats and caps
• Harley Davidson gloves – we use those year round and are always losing them. It gets cold at night in some areas!
• Cups with the Harley Davidson logos
• For that matter, anything usable and in the budget with the Harley Davidson logos 

Of course, as we continue on our path towards our goal to eliminate debt, our bills will eventually start getting smaller. Credit cards will get paid off, the home loan will go down, and things will get easier. As that happens, we can adjust our gift budgets a bit. We don’t want to go overboard, but a little splurge once in a while is nice. If that’s where the budget is now, a couple of other nice ideas would include a Harley Davidson watch (very practical, as they are generally very high quality) or maybe even a new Harley Davidson helmet. It never hurts to have a spare one for company and it’s always nice to have a change. And while I’m on the subject, remember that motorcycle helmets are an excellent money saver. In the event of an accident they can save on hospital bills up the wazoo!

Well, it’s been fun shopping with you. Have fun with the final decisions and Happy Harley Davidson Father’s Day to you and your family. 

The housing market is down, the cost of food is up. Recession, depression, high debt – unsecured debt, credit card debt, tax debt, you-name-it-debt – is up, jobs are gone! Listening to the news can definitely be depressing these days! I make sure I balance it with a healthy dose of God’s Good News, complete with His promises of provision!

Over the years, I’ve learned that provision can come in many forms , depending on our particular needs at the moment. One means of provision that is readily available is all the great money saver websites and newsletters available to help us get the most bang for our bucks, save as much as possible, which then lets us have a bit more to apply to our loan payments. Of course, that then brings us one step closer to our goal to eliminate debt!

If you spend $3 on a dozen eggs and I spend $1 on a dozen eggs because I checked for sales that day, I’ve made an excellent “return on investment” (ROI), wouldn’t you say? The best part, I don’t have to pay any taxes on that $3 because it’s savings! 

Here are four of my favorite sites to learn creative tips to save money on everything including eggs  :

Cheapskate Monthly – lots of valuable information plus she has written several great books including ones to use for teaching your kids how to be frugal.

Clark Howard – great resource in a wide variety of areas. He also has a radio show which you can listen to online.

Living on a Dime – I love her cookbooks. They have yummy money saver recipes for tiny budgets. Right now, if you sign up for a free subscription, she has a great free e-book for you as well

Refund Cents – This is my favorite, I must admit. There is a subscription cost for this one but I’ve always saved way more than the cost making it well worth it! They offer a print magazine OR an online-only option which is what I use. It’s well organized, well-run, and great! I’ve been a member for years. Sometimes I use it a lot, sometimes a little, but it’s always a big help! Talk about excellent money saving ideas, it’s got thousands. It offers a list of all the coupons every week, and ways to match those coupons to sales at Walgreen’s, Rite-Aid, etc. to make even bigger savings. Plus they do offer a free email newsletter for anyone, even non-subscribers

Well, time to go. I’ll find more for a future article, but these are great sites to get started on! Between them we can find plenty of great money saver tips, pay off all that unsecured debt, and keep working towards our goal to live debt free!

Since I have to travel fairly often, I am always on the lookout for helpful travel solutions, especially when they offer ways to save money. Here’s four that have helped me:

If you are flying my favorite airline, Southwest, and want to have a snack on the plane but don’t care for peanuts, or worse yet, are allergic to them, just ask the flight attendant. They almost always have pretzels available as well, even if they don’t mention them. I would ask for them right away though, as they do occasionally run out of them, especially on long flights.

And by the way, if you are allergic to peanuts, I would strongly encourage you to bring your own snack. I read the small print on each of the six different snacks I got from them and three out of six of the packages mentioned they had been packaged in the same plant as peanuts. The other three didn’t have any comment either way. If it was me, I wouldn’t want to take any chances! Even though it definitely saves money to use their snacks, it’s not worth it if it could cause a health problem!

If you are trying vainly to open any kind of package on the plane – pretzels, peanuts, etc. – try using your pen. Just carefully stab it into the top corner, then use the hole it makes to successfully open that irritating yet tasty little treat.

If I am flying for several hours, I always sit in an aisle seat in the back so I have easy access to the restrooms. If I am on a short hop or have to make a connector flight with not much time to get to it, I try to sit in an aisle seat close to the front. For those trips, I make sure my carryon is small enough to fit under the seat in front of me. If I have to get it from the top luggage bins, I’ve found it slows me down and makes me feel totally awkward as well due to all the other travelers who are in a rush and not always patient at waiting for me. That definitely makes for a more frustrating flying experience. By having my carryon in front of me, it’s much easier to just pull it out and plop it in the aisle all ready for me to hop out and head out the plane to the airport. By sitting close to the front, I ensure that I make my connections on time which probably makes it one of the best ways to save money in the long run!

Blog Carnival FUN! Debt Help Ideas is participating in its very first blog carnival – The Festival of Frugality! What a lot of fun for me, and what a lot of great tips to save money for you. The Festival of Frugality Blog Carnival is being hosted by Always the Planner , a kindred spirit who is also seeking to save money along life’s journey and share the process with her readers. I hope you’ll check it out and would love it if you’d come back and share your favorite tip with us when you’re done

Two articles I especially enjoyed reading:

Ginger Beat has a delicious recipe for a yummy salad along with a great way to prepare it so you can make it in the morning and take it to work with you. And it’ll stay fresh all day! Great idea and great way to save money!

Improve the Quality has an interesting article about saving money and NOT ending eating out. Being one who has to eat out a lot due to outside needs, I appreciated the good tips and think you will too. Be sure to read the comments as well as you’ll find some good tips there too.

Last, but hopefully not least , there’s an article about saving money with green frugal gift wrap from Debt Help Ideas .  

What to do with all the money we’ll save from all these great ideas? Apply it to our lowest balance loan and keep on heading towards our goal to eliminate debt, of course! How fun!

Here’s some tips to save money that are also green friendly. The next time we have to give a gift, whether it’s Mother’s Day, a birthday, or even Christmas, we can wrap it uniquely in a reusable shopping bag. Whether we pick a favorite store or just go by whichever bag we think is cutest (I like Trader Joe’s bags), our recipient will end up with a sturdy reusable bag. Not only that, we will usually only have to spend 50 cents – 99 cents which is cheaper than most of the dollar stores around.

To dress it up, we can use white or colored shades of crumpled tissue paper. After they’ve “opened” their gift, we can carefully fold the tissue paper to re-use it for the next gift giving project. It will fold nicely and doesn’t take much space. Another fun idea is to save the kids’ colored construction paper after they finish a project that they did NOT want to save. Run the paper thru a paper shredder, then stuff it on top of the present in the bag. This could get a little messy though, so we’ll have to be sure to have the kids help clean it up after the present is opened.

This works for all holidays including Christmas. Target’s red bags are especially good for that holiday. I’ve also seen green bags that would work nicely. Kids birthdays are another great occasion to put to good use these ways to save money. They always love having cute bags to carry all their prized possessions in. A sturdy reusable bag would be right up their alley!

The really fun part will be tallying up all the money we save by not buying  bags, ribbons, paper, and bows. I know I’ve spent as much as $5 on gift wrap before. Applying the savings from these tips to save money towards our lowest bill’s next payment will take us a step closer towards our goal to eliminate debt AND we get the satisfaction of knowing we did it in a fun, frugal, and green way!