Sunday, January 3, 2010

Oh Money...You are a Wicked lil thing.


A Penny here, a penny there, pennies are actually everywhere. This is a picture of all the change in my piggie bank for the past couple of months. All the change after I've broken a dollar & all the money I've picked up off the floor. It somehow actually added up to $60 bucks. Too bad it won't get me a pair of Louis Vuittons. But I'm going to save up as much as I can.

January. The new start. Well it has a lot of changes in store for it that I have to prepare myself for in the future. For example, I am now NO LONGER on my parent's health insurance. Plan & simple it fucking sucks. I will now have to get about $120 out of each of my paychecks & my co-payment is now $30 instead of the $10 I used to pay. I think this is why I wasn't so anxious to get out of college because full-time students were still considered "kids" I guess in the health insurance world. I am grateful that my job does offer a health plan & it is less expensive than if I was paying it on my own but now I don't have dental insurance either. I get sick a lot. I'm actually a healthy person but I'm just one of those people who are very susceptible to colds, sinus infections, & other. I've had 3 medical reason surgeries in the past 2 years so I can't afford to not have health insurance. But it's extra money now out of my pocket.

Well now I gotta plan every action. Each month I try to do a "Saving Money" Post where I tell you what I will be doing to save a lil extra. Maybe one of these can help you out too.

Here are some Money Saving Tips:

1.)Semi-Annual Sales: My absolute favorite. I'm addicted to Victoria Secret's body sprays & panties so this is a great deal. $16 buck underwear is now $5.99. That's over 60% off. This sale is going on now til January 18th. Bath & Body Works is now having their Semi-Annual Sale with $3 & $5 bins everywhere of your scent favorites. I will be hitting them up later in the week.

2.)Magazine Subscriptions: You know those annoying pieces of paper that look like an index card that fall out of your magazine the second you open them? Well they can actually save you money. If you buy Cosmopolitian every month or like Marie Clare why not get a subscription & save some money? It's worth a shot. I did this & it's nice to not have to search the stores for the copies of them anymore too.

3.)Check your Credit Card Bills: I actually was doubled charged in Express this past month. I called my cred card company & got it resolved but if I hadn't looked I would have paid an extra $32 this past month. Look for anything that looks weird too.

4.)Salad Bars: I know not every super market has one but if they do check it out. Okay so here's the deal with this. You can go to Panera & spend $7 on a salad when you don't like everything in it. Well you can go to a salad bar & get EXACTLY what you want for about $4.99 per pound. That's a hell a lot cheaper & you'll get more for your money. It's also healthy too.

5.)Save your Pocket Change: A lot of people just throw their change into their purses or jam it into their pockets & don't give it much thought. Saving your change in a jar or putting it into an actual change purse or that lil zipper in your wallet can help you save money or feel like you have more cash. It adds up too. I got an extra $60 bucks from just change.


That's a short list for you. That picture is Katie Holmes from the movie "Mad Money". I usually do a longer list but with Christmas in the shadows of the past few weeks I've spent a good amount of money. Well now it's really time to start buckling down be conscious of it all. Money is a wicked lil thing that really needs a house to be dropped on it, ASAP. =)

Day #2: Smile Project 10': The movie "It's Complicated". I laughed so hard. Meryl Streep is awesome.

Day #3:: I can see my floor in my bedroom again. I cleaned for about 3 hours. I have NO idea where anything is but it looks clean. =)

37 comments:

debra@dustjacket said...

Great tips ... that is terrible about health insurance. We are all covered for free over here by Medicare, it's Government run.

Loved the pic of you in the previous post, sounds like you are getting your fair share of snow!!

All the best for 2010 honey,
xxx

o said...

great post, melanie:D i love that u have a money savings tip every month:D i totally agree with the magazine subscriptions. they do add up if bought at the regular price each month. i love amazon's $5 subscriptions sales:D i usually wait for those :D wow $60 worth of change?? nice!:D

TheOwlsCloset.blogspot.com

Leah said...

Great money saving tips... I plan to hold off shopping for a while. I plan to do it...just need to focus.

angel6033 said...

loved your list so true about magazines I subsctibe since I am an addict lol and I save so much, plus Vicrotias secret sale hell yeah, lol thats when I stock up! and as far as change Bank of america has this thing called keep the cahnge everything you cahrge it puts the change to your savinga account, I easily acumulate about 60 buskc a month in change! again great tips!!

ChinkyGirLMeL said...

My money saving tip would have to be, distinguish the needs from the wants and to spend wisely. Will definitely be adding those tips to my list. Happy New Year sweetie!

Anonymous said...

Melanie, I like to buy my lottery tickets with pennies and other small change. Somehow I feel like I'm not wasting the money this way, I know it's crazy, but it feels better!

Secretia

P said...

Some great tips there, I'll need to take heed of them.I always have a RIDICULOUS amount of change lying on my floor. I don't really know how it even GETS there...

Scientific Housewife said...

I want to see It's Complicated too, it looks great. I have to really work on saving this year so I am going to start by spending less.

Rich Life Revival said...

Haha :) Glad you are saving! Even if it's 10% of your earnings start doing it!

The movie was GREAT I reallllyy liked it too :)

Smile smile smile...indeed!

Bathwater said...

I do save my change but I think my boys come in on the weekend and steal it. I try to keep the thermostat down because I pay the bills but it has be so cold the last few days even I am complaining!

Susan R. Mills said...

I'm a huge fan of saving pocket change. A couple of months ago, I gathered it all together and it was over a hundred dollars. It bought groceries for the week.

Sheri, RN said...

Great tips for saving money. Making your own salad is even cheaper though :)

Also, check into somewhere like bestdealmagazines.com you can get good subscriptions there for about $5 a year. Pretty cool huh?

Anonymous said...

To really get in financial shape check out Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. http://www.daveramsey.com/. It really does work and we have a constant group at our church that learns about it and people have saved and paid off so much. You can even find a group near you on his website. Totally worth it, wish they taught this stuff in high school!

I see someone already mentioned it but I was going to tell you about watching out for the amazon $5 magazine sales. I got Southern Living for a year for $5! So cheap!

And I totally agree with what someone mentioned above, look at your needs and wants. Something I have learned alot about this past year!! And bringing your lunch saves lots of $$ too! :) Good luck in 2010!

Little Ms Blogger said...

Most people don't recognize the importance of health insurance until they have 1 surgery. You know the importance so you it won't be as painful to you.

Hey, if you liked It's Complicated (which I loved) you'll love this article my sister sent to me...http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/movies_without_pity/its_complicated_alec_baldwins.php

Michelle Schraudner said...

This was great! My goal for 2010 is to be debt free, so I'm definitely working on saving money in every way possible.

PinkBow said...

very good tips. i always forget in the us that you need to pay your own insurances :(

Rachael said...

Great post yet again - my own money saving tip is to make your own lunch for work/school. You can save so much just by making your own sandwiches!

Sierra said...

Thanks for the great tips - me and money are not friends right now, we are frienemies...soon be resolved if I take your tips to heart. ;)

LenoreNeverM♡re said...

Love these tips~
especially the salad bar, so true!
I'm planning to make my own lunch more often~
xo

courtney said...

Health insurance sucks...such an annoying thing to think of. When I was in college I had no idea what it was going to be like to have to worry about that. Fourtunatly I got a job with good insurance but now that I am planning on going back to school it's going to be coming out of my pocket again.

Barry said...

I almost always dump my change at the end of each day. Sometime I dip back into it, but it usually adds up quite a bit.

So...do you think you'll be able to keep your room tidier for longer than it took you to clean it? :)

Anonymous said...

pennys from heaven..


*winks*

Shauna said...

Great tips, god knows I need them.
I can't wait to see "It's Complicated!"

StuddedLilly said...

cute blog!
hope this year i can save as much as i can :)

xo

Aquiles Damiron-Alcantara said...

Melanie,

Happy New Year!!!

January must be the most economically frustrating month of the year. You see, I think people do not mind spending money in December, but it hurts once January comes. But it is definitely worth it if we made our loved ones happy by buying them great Christmas gists...

On the other hand, as a college student, I do not worried about health insurance (although I should). Like you said, our parents or the school got us. When I get sick I just go to Student Health. What is going to happen after graduation, when student Health becomes the busy emergency room of a city hospital? :/

I wanted to thank you so much for making me a part of your blogging world in 2009. I hope we continue to see each other around in 2010.

Buenos deseos,
Aquiles

minutebyminute09.blogspot.com
thecoffeecup22.blogspot.com

bananas. said...

wow. i'm impressed.

you should change your blog name to melanie's finances. my fav one is the salad bar mention. touche :)

Audrey Allure said...

haha i just hate using change while purchasing something so i have a huge jar filled with coins lol

Nitin said...

haha.. i do that too. but in my case its a locked tin can. and its over 6 kilos now :).. hehe.. i dont even have a clue how much money is that. what i do to save money is i put a major share of cash into a secret compartment that i dont use much. so i would only use that cash in absolutely dire situation. and whenever i look into my wallet i only see a lil of cash and so i would have to make mental adjustments with what i have to do and how do i go about it. i stopped using credit cards altogether for a really long time. cause i got soo screwed the other time when i used it. all credit card companies will only look for ways to make more money. i only try to spend from cash that i keep. kinda forces me to minimise expense. i didnt know there were underwear discounts?? i never really ever paid attention to any clothes shop discounts in my entire life. i think i'll start looking out for these from now on. cause i know my mom does keep an eye out for stuff like this. but then shopping with mom takes soo much time.. i really need to figure out something smart and fast :).. 2010 is money year i hope :)..

Melissa Blake said...

I love those money-saving tips!!

Jennifer Fabulous said...

Great money-saving tips! I appreciated the one about saving your change. I'm kind of a change horder. Haha. But it helps SO much! After all, that change does add up to dollars. :)
Oooh and I loved It's Complicated! It was adorable. I love Meryl Streep. Have you seen Up in the Air yet? It's also great, but a little more serious.

I'm sorry about your health insurance woes. That does sound awful. You're very lucky your work has health insurance at least. Rian's doesn't and because of his deviated septum, he has been rejected by every single insurance company he has approached. So he is screwed in that department. :( It really, really sucks.

Anyway, on a happier note, I hope you're having a lovely week! xoxo

carissajade said...

Great post!!! I loved your money saving ideas. Especially ordering magazines. I spend a good twenty dollars a week on magazines at the grocery store.. I don't know why I haven't just ordered them!!

nando.gino said...

I don't know, but somehow I agree with your last tips. Most people always put small concern to the pocket change, including me maybe. Thats why, from now on, I'll start learn to keep and save the change, no matter how small the nominal.

Anyway, Happy b'lated New Year ^^

Toothfairy said...

not on topic... at all, but I just saw that you're reading lovely bones! How do you like it so far? I'm thinking of getting it after finishing time travelers wife.

see... totally off topic..sorry

loves

angel6033 said...

you have an award waiting for you on my blog!!

drollgirl said...

oof. paying for medical stuff sucks, but at least you don't have to pay the full premium.

i don't have dental insurance and i HATE paying for that stuff. it is a fortune! and i just get the basics (TOUCH WOOD!)!

Teach.Workout.Love said...

ugh i hate money. it causes & solves problems. and i dont get how that happens!

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

I saved SO much money by subscribing to magazines! It's scary. Ah ha ha

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails