Five Ways to Cut Spending That Have Little to No Impact on Your Life

Every family and every individual know the importance of cutting spending in today’s economy. However, many of these individuals do not realize that cutting spending in little ways can also help in this endeavor.

If you cut spending in many little areas, they will add up to significant amounts and the effect on your daily life can be minimal. The rewards, however, can be maximum.

1. Carpooling

As simple as this sounds, carpooling can save you tons of money, time, and even wear and tear on your car. You may not realize the major impact multiple short trips have on your vehicle. By taking short distance trips frequently, you literally ruin your brakes. Stop and go and neighborhood driving is terrible for your vehicle. By carpooling, you save the wear and tear on your brakes and your tires, as well. Saving gas is an added bonus.

2. Lightening the Load

While on the subject of vehicles, by lightening the load in your car, you can save on gas. The heavier your car is bogged down with junk, the less efficient your gas mileage is. If you have heavy cases of water, tools, or heavy-duty hockey equipment, lightening the load will get you better gas mileage.

3. Pay Cash at the Pump

Pumping your own gas and paying cash are two significant ways to save money. Pumping your own gas saves you on a per-gallon rate. If you are at the pump two to three times per week, like most, then you will save significantly by pumping your own gas. There are extra fees attached to your bill when you have the attendant pump your gas for you.

Paying cash also saves you money on every gallon. There are debit card and credit card fees attached when you use your plastic.

4. Make It a Night In

If you are used to eating out for convenience, get used to cooking and eating in more often. If you incorporate the entire family, it will not seem like such a chore. Have one person set the table, another clear, one cook, and another clean up. For pennies on the dollar, you can have a great meal, save money, eat healthy, and bond with your family. It is a win/win situation all around.

5. Keep the Plastic at Home

As simple as this sounds, keeping your plastic at home when you go out shopping will save you tons of money in impulse spending. Bring exactly enough cash for what you need. If you have spendable income, decide before you leave the house how much of that money you will spend and bring only that amount.

By bringing cash and no plastic, you will buy only what you need and leave the store unscathed. Once you arrive home, you will realize that you did not need that bright aqua silk scarf that would not have matched with anything anyhow.

Less Clutter = Less Stress ^SM     in your home, your business and your life

Organizational Consulting Services

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Tips to Balance Your Money and Your Life

Organization is about more than having an organized living space. It’s about having your life and your finances organized and under control.

One of the biggest stressors for families is that of financial stress. When your financial house is in order, then the rest of your life falls into place much more easily.

If you are like most, financial planning was not a part of high school or college curriculum - much less balancing a checkbook or concentrating on a 401k or emergency expenditures.

Without a balance of financial issues in your life, it is very difficult to have balance in other areas of your life. Unfortunately, money controls much of our thought patterns, time, and worries.

Figure Out Your Spending Habits

Before you can sit with your partner to discuss finances, it is very important to learn about your financial patterns. Whether you are a spendthrift or a frugal financier, it is very important to identify your spending habits and where you can improve before going at it with your financial partner.

The Spendthrift

If you have no regard of where money comes from or how to manage it, you will find that money will manage you. Spending more than you earn is never a good scenario. Sit down with your finances, figure out what is coming in, what goes out, and keep the difference for yourself as spendable income. It is really that simple. Living above your means is something that you do not want to do, ever. Living above your means is never a win/win situation.

The Frugal Financier

If you find that you will not part with a penny, much less a dime, you will have a difficult time relating to anyone financially. There has got to be some wiggle room for playing hard just as much as working hard. No one is going to put up with someone that will not part with one red cent, even for fun.

Get Together with Your Financial Partner

It is very important to get together with your financial partner and put your differences to work for you instead of against you. If you are frugal and your partner is a spendthrift, come up with great and innovative ways to meet somewhere in the middle. Compromise shows up many times in a relationship, and what better way to incorporate that tool than to use it in your financial life.

Organizing your finances will allow you to live a less stressed life.

Less Clutter = Less Stress ^SM     in your home, your business and your life

Organizational Consulting Services

http://www.organizationalconsultingservices.com

Summer is Winding Down - the Kids are Going Back to School

It's that time of year again - the kids are going back to school!

Most parents are jumping with joy!  Kids - not so much.

There are a lot of things to get done before school starts. Besides buying school supplies there are new shoes to buy, new clothes....so many details.

But - before you go out and buy those new clothes - make your kids try on everything in their closet. YES - every thing. Because some kids - believe it or not - can outgrow their clothes every few weeks when they are in a growing spurt. Don't let them tell you that they "fit" when they tried them on a few weeks ago. They are probably too small now!

Make room in their closet and dressers BEFORE you go shopping. That way you will also know what they need. Again - they'll tell you they don't need new underwear or socks - but come the morning - they won't be able to find any.

Get the kids mentally prepared for the "school time routine". Start adjusting their bedtime. Get them used to getting up at the same time every morning.

Also - by having them get prepared the night before school (their clothes, lunches, backpacks...) - there will be less drama in the mornings.

Be sure to have a family calendar to mark all of the important school functions (days off, sports practices, conferences, doctors appointments....). 

Don't wait until school starts to get them used to the idea of "routine". The more prepared they are  - the less whining from them and the less stress you will have.



For more School Organizing Tips - Read:    School is About to Start - Get Organized

Enjoy the last last few days of summer vacation!

 

Less Clutter = Less Stress ^SM     in your home, your business and your life

Organizational Consulting Services

http://www.organizationalconsultingservices.com

Surprising Time Management Secrets

One certainty in life is that time is limited. While no one is sure how many years they’ll be given to finish doing what they want to do, everything is equal for each day you are given. Everyone has the same 24-hour day to dream, determine goals, and complete tasks that will help them meet those goals. But doesn’t it seem like some people are just better at time management than others?

Surprisingly, there are some time management secrets that make you feel like you have hours more in your day.

* Set Priorities - There are really only four choices:

1. Most important

2. Most urgent

3. Least important

4. Least urgent

When you identify tasks and set your priorities carefully by what is important over not important, as well as avoid having issues of urgency each day, you can get a handle on your time in ways that you never thought possible.

* Learn the Power of No – Saying no is probably one of the most important things you’ll ever learn to say. The problem is our parents disciplined the word “no” from our vocabulary. It’s time to learn how to say no again. If something is not right for you, is too “urgent”, causes you stress, or you just do not want to do it and it doesn’t fit in with meeting your goals, say no. Saying no will free up untold amounts of time to focus on your priorities.

* Disconnect from Technology – Unplug the phone, turn off email notifications, and for goodness sakes get off Facebook. If you’ve not completed the most important tasks on your daily list, you have no business messing around with technology. The idea of multitasking is overrated, so unplug and tune in to the tasks at hand. You’ll work faster, smarter, and gain the time you need for other things.

* Schedule Everything – Your priorities need to be added to your calendar. Everything from the 15 minutes you need to use social media for marketing purposes, to the one hour you take your kids to the park, needs to be put into your calendar. If you have a project due in a week, you should have five days of scheduled time to work on the project prior to the due date. This helps avoid those urgencies mentioned earlier.

* Ignore Interruptions – Unless the house is on fire or a child is bleeding, the telephone ringing and the knocks on your office door are not important. They are interruptions. Check your email at scheduled times during the day, explain to your children, spouse and family when you are working, and otherwise ignore the door bell ringing. If you didn’t schedule it, you don’t need it.

* Outsource – Whether it’s the housework, cooking, or customer service, it’s important to outsource what you can afford to outsource. There are huge payoffs to outsourcing the things that are simply time suckers from your day. If you can’t afford to outsource, your kitchen will not explode if a few dishes pile up, and everyone can do with eating a salad for dinner. And, you can automate a lot of customer service issues if you work from home.

* Once and You're Done – Multitasking is not really a bastion of efficiency. Instead, seek to touch each task only once and finish it. For example, when you check the mail immediately throw out the trash, schedule bills to be paid, and deal with any issues that came up with a letter - right then. Of course, your mail time should be scheduled as well so that you can stay on track.

* Check Your Schedule – At least twice a day, set out the time to check your schedule. Usually the morning is good and at the end of the day is good. Ensure that you have your priorities in order, add anything new to your schedule that needs to be added, and remind yourself of what is expected the next day. Checking your schedule helps you feel accomplished at the end of the day, and reminds you of what’s coming up tomorrow.

Finally, it’s important to be very serious about following your schedule and calendar. Use technology to help such as Google Calendar or Outlook, synced to your smartphone to help you remember what it is that you should be doing now, and next. It may seem geeky to be so serious about a schedule, but it’s this one factor that makes these surprising time management tips work.

 

Less Clutter = Less Stress ^SM     in your home, your business and your life

Organizational Consulting Services

http://www.organizationalconsultingservices.com