BrilliantFinances.com

Personal Finance How To

Festival of Frugality #343: The Freedom Edition

Fireworks (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As I’m preparing for another 4th of July celebration this year, I thought about all of my counterparts around the world who simply may not be interested in an American holiday. However, one thing we have in common for sure is Freedom. We have freedom to write our thoughts and opinions. We have freedom which our forefathers fought to give us. Many of us are on our way to becoming debt free or are debt free already. And, we have freedom of choice. So here’s to celebrating FREEDOM!

“They will never take our freedom”

This week for the carnival I tried to look for the submission that captured the theme “freedom” the best (although nobody actually knew what the them was going to be about ahead of time). So although there were some good ones that captured this week’s theme, the editor’s picks came down to submissions that were the most original, the most captivating, most readable and which nailed Frugality the best. After all this is supposed to be a Festival of Frugality.

Here are this week’s Editor’s Picks for the Best of the Best

1. Adam Williams presents Simple step-by-step way to have fun while keeping costs down posted at Rabbit Funds. Andy writes: I have found that sometimes it is difficult coming up with ideas of what to as a family for fun. The danger is that without a source of ideas, you can fall back on costly activities.

2. FMF presents The 52 Best Money Saving Tips, Ideas #45 through #41 posted at Free Money Finance. FMF Writes: Here’s the latest post in my list of the 52 best money saving tips in countdown order. The intent of this series is that these ideas can be applied throughout the year, a week at a time, to help you improve your financial situation and maximize your savings.

3. Penny Thots presents Mum!!! I’m Bored posted at Penny Thots. Penny Thots Writes: I am aware that this is my sons’ “holiday” and we should really do some cool stuff together during summer break.

4. Alex Manson-Smith presents 5 ways to save a fortune as a wedding guest posted at TotallyMoney. Alex Writes: 5 simple tips to help save you money as a wedding guest.

5. Rich presents How to Put the “Fun” in Funeral Planning So it’s Not So Expensive & Overwhelming posted at Money Wise Pastor. Rich Writes: As a pastor who has officiated dozens of funeral services, I know how expensive and overwhelming funerals can be.

6. Mr. Money presents How to Enjoy a Cheaper Road Trip posted at Smart on Money. Mr. Money Writes: A road trip can be a fun way to go on vacation. If you are careful about what you spend your money on, and if you plan ahead, it should be possible to enjoy an inexpensive vacation that helps you create plenty of good memories.

7. Melissa presents Try Freezer Cooking To Preserve the Summer Bounty of Locally Grown, In Season Produce posted at Bargaineering. Melissa Writes: If you would like to capture produce at the peak of ripeness as well as eat locally, in season without terrorizing your wallet, you may want to mimic our ancestors and preserve some of the summer’s bounty for the winter. Yes, you could simply dice up your fresh veggies and freeze them, but if you take the time to cook them in meals now, you not only preserve the food but also save yourself the time you would spend cooking later.

8. Glen Craig presents The Argument For Healthy, Simple Eating posted at Free From Broke . Glen Writes: Getting food based on maximizing coupons isn’t the best for your health. You don’t have to go to extremes to eat healthy. See arguments for simple, healthy eating.

9. Miss Thrifty presents Make Do And Mend: Three Ideas for Upcycling posted at Miss Thrifty. Miss Thrifty Writes: Never throw your clothes away again! This handy video compilation shows how old shirts and night dresses can be transformed into cardigans, dresses, skirts and more…

10. Kevin presents Cut Your Own Hair and Save $240 a Year posted at Thousandaire. Kevin Writes: You can save a bunch of money by cutting your own hair instead of paying someone else to do it.

“We can’t be consumed by our petty differences anymore…and we will be united in our common interests….We will not go quietly into the night”

And here are this Week’s Best of the Rest

Final Note

Please don’t be offended if in my humble opinion I did not select your post as one of the editor’s picks, or if I just didn’t think it cut the mustard at all to include in the festival. I mean nothing personal to you or your blog. I read through over 70 submissions, and yes I did Read Them ALL! At the end of the day I had to come up with some sort of grading system to help me choose the best of the best, and then a cut-off on what to include, and what not to include.

However, I know I’m going to offend some people who might expect their submission to be accepted, but if a submission was inappropriate, contained profanity, had annoying pop ups that prevented me from reading it, was an obvious sponsored post, or disguised as a review as an attempt to get people to click on your affiliate ad it simply did not make the grade in my opinion. But hey that’s part of exercising my freedom in hosting this carnival isn’t it.

Check out the Festival of Frugality for more weekly carnivals like this one.

7 Personal Finance Principles Everyone Must Follow

Finance district (Photo credit: Jo@net)

When it comes to personal finance here are seven easy to follow basic principles:

1. Get your Spending under Control

If you haven’t started tracking what you’re spending then you don’t know where your money is going.

2. Make a Budget

If you don’t have a budget then you don’t have a plan for your spending, and you’ll overspend and under save. If you need a budget template you can get one from Brilliant Finances for free. You might also consider joining Mint.com for free.

3. Get Out of Debt

You have to commit to stop borrowing and pay down your debt to achieve real and lasting financial freedom. Keep in mind it may require some behavior change.

4. Pay Yourself First (After you give your tithe to God)

Before you pay your bills, before you buy groceries, before you do anything else, set aside a portion of you income to save. Don’t forget God gets his first though, so you have to tithe before you pay yourself.

5. Set Specific Financial Goals

If you have no specific financial goals you have no idea how much to save, or how much to put in long-term or short-term investments.

6. Accumulate Emergency Savings

You should have at least 3x your monthly salary saved in emergency funds. This should be in highly liquid assets like cash, money market, checking, or savings. If you’re looking for a good place to open a new account to separate your savings, consider Ally Bank for an online Money Market Account, online Savings Account, or an online Interest Checking Account. Online Money Market and Savings Accounts with Ally Bank have an 0.84% APY, and Interest Bearing Checking Accounts have 0.40% APY for balances less than $15,000 and 0.75% APY for balances of $15,000 or more.

7. Draft a Will

Although you should also have an estate plan that avoids probate, you still need a will. 55% of all adult Americans do not have a will. If you don’t have a will the law of your state governs how your estate is administered and you may not agree with your state probate laws. There may be tax consequences for your heirs as well if you follow your state probate laws. Without an express intention of your final wishes nobody will ever know what your intent was though.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to highlight where some of my other articles that have been featured across the web.

Savings Account vs. Money Market Account(ally.com)
The Common (Financial) Sense of Money Market Accounts(ally.com)
High Interest Savings Accounts 201(ally.com)

Are you Committed to Stop Borrowing

Brilliant Finances Personal Finance Basic Training Primer Number Three

Wipe our Debt (Photo credit: Images_of_Money)

If you’re going to succeed in anything you have to be committed. Part of what the Personal Finance Basic Training series is going to try to teach is how to get out of debt. However, in order to get out of debt you’re going to have to be committed to stop borrowing. When you borrow money you have a tendency to live beyond your means. If you think you need debt to function, you’re wrong. Credit card payments are designed to keep you in debt. Have you taken a look at the new credit card statement disclosures, which show you how long it will take to payoff a credit card by making the minimum payments? Some of them show the total amount paid back as almost five times the balance and 20 years or more of payments by paying only the minimum payment.

Remember getting out of debt it starts with behavior change – you need to have a desire to get out of debt. You’re going to have to draw a line in the sand and say borrowing stops here! I can’t make you have a desire to get your finances under control. To start building wealth you need to start building up some cash, and you won’t be able to do that if you’re always going to be making payments for your debt.

You have to be able to live on less than you make in order to get out of debt and build wealth. But, there is one more thing you need to do before you can get out of debt and succeed in saving money, building wealth, and being able to give more – you need to build a relationship with God. Psalm 37:5 says, “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you” (NLT). By everything, it means our finances too. Have you ever committed your finances to the Lord?

Personal Finance Basic training is not going to be easy. It’s going to take commitment to succeed. If this is the first article you’ve read about Personal Finance Basic Training, I encourage you to look under the category Basic Training Primer on this site and you will find more articles getting you prepared for Basic Training. You may also want to look at the post “And the Winner Is” Including some Site Highlights and Updates to read about the announcement of a personal finance training series coming to this site soon.

If you haven’t subscribed to this website already, I encourage you to subscribe by filling out the “free subscription” box on the upper right hand side of this website. By subscribing you will get whatever I post here delivered to your email inbox. Subscribers won’t miss any of the basic training primers, where I will discuss Dave Ramsey’s teachings and other things to get you prepared for personal finance basic training. You won’t miss the start of personal finance basic training. And, you will also get all of my money saving tips, advanced personal finance and investment strategies, and more.

We Set Up a Fun Budget(20sfinances.com)

One Father's Day Idea Your Husband or Dad Will Love You For

With Father’s day just a couple of days away I thought I would share one idea that I know many father’s would enjoy. I know, because as a father I personally would love it if my wife or kids bought me something from Auto Parts Warehouse. I was just notified that they have a special father’s day sale going on right now and it’s valid until June 23, 2012. Right now they are giving 10% off on purchases of $199 or more and free shipping. So go on over to Auto Parts Warehouse and order something for your dad or husband. You may not get the parts shipped before father’s day, but you can still tell your loved one that you ordered something from Auto Parts Warehouse and they will love you for it. I’ve used Auto Parts Warehouse on numerous occasions. I’ve bought brake pads, body parts, and all kinds of other auto parts. They carry many top brands, good quality auto parts, and they are reliable. On top of all of that you can save a ton of money when you buy auto parts from them. That’s why I recommend them.

150291_AutoPartsWarehouse Father's Day. 10% OFF $199 + FREE SHIPPING.

Disclaimer: I’m an affiliate with Auto Parts Warehouse and I may recive compensation from them.

“Top Ten” Budget Vacation Ideas

San Francisco Bay Panorama (Photo credit: Kevin)

Going on vacation can be very expensive. I’ve always been sort of frugal with vacations, but not everyone is. I’ve only spent over $1,000 on vacations on a couple of occasions and even then I still really looked around for a good deal before I decided to plunk down my hard earned money. Times have changed for a lot of people and we’re still trying to get by in this new economy. One of the ways people are looking to save money is on budget vacations. I thought I would explore some budget vacation ideas in this article to help not only my readers, but to help myself stay within our budget in this new economy. Whether you’re looking for a budget vacation, a staycation, or just some new ideas, in the fashion of the David Letterman Top Ten, here are 10 budget vacation ideas.

The Category Tonight is Budget Vacation Ideas

Number 10 (drum roll): Take a Ferry Instead of a Cruise.

English: The BC Ferries vessel M/V Queen of Nanaimo, coming into Vancouver (Tsawwassen), British Columbia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ferries don’t cost that much and taking one can be a fun experience. I’ve taken them before and if you have kids this can actually be pretty exciting for them. Usually wherever ferries go, you can become a local tourist as well and visit local shops, have some ice cream, coffee or whatever. BC Ferries actually offers Summer Getaways from $134. Travel one-way starts from $39.95 from BC Ferries . Here’s some Ferry Operators I thought might be cool to check out.

Anderson Ferry (Cincinnati, Ohio) – goes across the Ohio River to allow Ohio residents quick access to Kentucky and vice versa.

BC Ferries (British Columbia, Canada)

Black Ball Transport (Olympic Peninsula to Vancouver Island)

Casco Bay Lines (Service between Portland, Maine and the Islands of Casco Bay)

Washington State Ferries (northwest US)

Cape May-Lewes Ferry (Service between Cape May County, New Jersey and Lewes, Delaware across the Delaware Bay)

Golden Gate Transit ferries in the San Francisco Bay Area

Lake Champlain Transportation Company (on Lake Champlain in the United States)

The Steamship Authority (Nantucket Sound, Massachusetts)

Lake Express (on Lake Michigan)

See Wikipedia List of Ferry Operators for more.

Number 9 (drum roll): Take the Beach to Your Backyard.

Sandbox with toys (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You can go to the local Home Depot or Lowes and buy some 50 lb. sand bags for about $5 each and make a sand box in your back yard. Turn your new sandbox into a beach. One sand bag will cover about .5 cubic feet so do your math when figuring out how many sand bags you’ll need. For example if you are building a 4’x4’x1’ sand box you would need 16 cubic feet of sand. That would be about 32 bags of sand. A frame for a sandbox would run about $40 on up. So for about $200 you have a new sandbox that doubles into a beach. You could can get some pretty nice metal frame above ground pools 10’ x 30” from Walmart for $100 on up. Or you could go cheaper and get a $16 latex blow up pool.

Number 8 (drum roll): Visit a National Park Instead of a Theme Park.

Cliff Palace of Mesa Verde, in Arizona, United States, created by the Ancient Pueblo Peoples. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here’s some cool National Parks I thought sounded inviting, and plus if they’re local it wouldn’t cost you much to visit one of them.

River of dreams Paso Robles

Discover how citizens worked together to secure greater public access to the Salinas River.

Green oasis in the heart of San Francisco San Francisco

San Francisco honors the “grandfather of Golden Gate Park” with a 312-acre park offering playfields, meadows, wetlands, and hiking trails.

A glimpse of New York’s past Bay Terrace, Queens

Explore the old stone corridors of this Civil War fort or go for a swim in the park’s nearby pool.

A “top 10″ beach Southern portion of Key Biscayne

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park attracts more than 760,000 visitors per year.

Manicured fantasy Miami, Florida

James Deering created a beach house like no other on the shores of Biscayne Bay.

Convened for a hike Jackson, Wyoming

Wyoming youth explore their state’s natural and cultural resources by participating in the Wyoming Youth Congress.

A showman in the Wild West Sheridan, Wyoming

Visitors to Wyoming will once again be able to get a Wild West experience as Buffalo Bill’s hotel reopens.

Rolling along the river Clear Creek County, Colorado

Clear Creek Greenway opens a scenic path through the mountains.

To preserve the works of man Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

Mesa Verde National Park was the first national park designed specifically to preserve a cultural landscape.

Hill Country ranch offers respite Buda, Texas

Conservation easement provides public access to 384 acres of scenic Hill Country.

You can find more places to visit from the National Park Service.

Number 7 (drum roll): Take a Red Eye Flight.

English: A320-232 Jet Blue, N768JB (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Check with Travelocity, Orbitz or Expedia and select a flight that leaves after 9 p.m. and arrives before 5 a.m. the next day for all the advantages of a red-eye flight.

jetBlue Shut-eye Service™ offers complimentary Snooze Kit and Eye-Opener service.

Number 6 (drum roll): Be a Local Tourist.

English: The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles California. The building was designed by Frank Gehry and opened on 23 October 2003. It is the fourth music hall of the Los Angeles Music Center. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I went to tripadvisor and here’s what I found in Los Angeles none of these would cost that much to visit, and they’re all certainly worth visiting.

The Getty Center

Spectacular museum boasts a most impressive collection by such luminaries as Van Gogh, Monet and Cezanne and more.

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, this concert hall is designed to be one of the most acoustically sophisticated

IRIS by Cirque du Soleil

IRIS A Journey through the World of Cinema(™)

Griffith Observatory

A non-profit space observatory located in Griffith Park whose purpose is to provide the public with information on astronomy

Number 5 (drum roll): Go Camping.

Family camping (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I like Reserve America, according to their website - they’re the largest provider of campsite reservations in North America.

Number 4 (drum roll): Swap Houses with a Friend.

English: Owen Coachman House on NRHP since September 9, 2005. At 1019 Batts Ln. in Lower Township, Cape May County, New Jersey. The house on the right has a NRHP plaque, the one on the left looks nearly identical, so not sure if they are a NRHP pair (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you have a friend who lives in another city, you might ask to swap houses for a week. It would be like staying in a luxury resort except with no lodging fees. Hopefully, your friend has a nice place you could call a luxury resort.

Number 3 (drum roll): Visit a Local Winery or Brewery.

Starling Lane Winery, greenhouse; British Columbia, Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You can have a lot of fun at a winery. You can squash grapes with your feet like they used to for the wine presses, wine tasting, and more. One of the local wineries near my house has a ranch that you can explore. You have to become a member to enjoy the exploration privileges though, which meant agreeing to a monthly shipment of wine selections. We enjoyed the scenery of the winery all day, and all it cost was gas for the car, some wine tasting fees, the first month of shipment of wine selections. We cancelled after the first month because we just don’t drink that much wine, but for those who do, it would be worth the monthly shipment program because they were discounted.

Breweries can be cool to tour also, even if you don’t drink beer or alcoholic beverages. Some breweries even let you brew your own beer.

Number 2 (drum roll): Make Arts and Crafts with the Kids.

One of the things you do on vacation is look for things the kids can do. Sometimes you go off exploring while the kids do some sort of arts and crafts. Why not do it with them this time instead of bounding off on an adventure? Build a bird house. Paint the fence, or whatever. The kids will like that you’re spending time with them. It won’t cost much and you’ll probably have fun with it too.

Number 1 (drum roll): Take a Road Trip to Visit Landmarks.

English: Cliff geyser and Firehole river at Black Sand Basin in Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park Français : Firehole river et Cliff geyser dans le Parc national de Yellowstone (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are just so many places to see. I remember growing up in the 70’s, a road trip was what vacation meant to us back then. Why did people stop going on road trips and trade it in for over-priced resorts. Here are some places I thought would be cool to visit on a road trip. Of course Alcatraz is going to involve more than just a road trip, but you get the idea.

Yellowstone Park (Wyoming, Montana, Idaho)

Grand Canyon (Arizona.)

Redwood National Park (California)

The Freedom Trial (Massachusetts)

Niagra Falls (New York)

Alcatraz Island (California)

Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve (Idaho)

San Diego Zoo (California)

American Museum of Natural History (New York)

Kennedy Space Center (Florida)

What budget vacations have you gone on lately? Feel free to share your ideas.

BrilliantFinances.com

Web Hosting

Tags

Festival of Frugality #343: The Freedom Edition

Here are this week’s Editor’s Picks for the Best of the Best

And here are this Week’s Best of the Rest

Behavior Change

Banking

Budget Vacations

Budgeting

Business

Credit

Debt (or Getting Out of Debt)

Education

Financial Education

Financial Management/Financial Planning

Frugal Living

Giving

Insurance

Investing

Making Money

Motivational

Real Estate

Other

Final Note

7 Personal Finance Principles Everyone Must Follow

Related articles

Are you Committed to Stop Borrowing

Brilliant Finances Personal Finance Basic Training Primer Number Three

Related articles

One Father's Day Idea Your Husband or Dad Will Love You For

“Top Ten” Budget Vacation Ideas

The Category Tonight is Budget Vacation Ideas

Number 10 (drum roll): Take a Ferry Instead of a Cruise.

Number 9 (drum roll): Take the Beach to Your Backyard.

Number 8 (drum roll): Visit a National Park Instead of a Theme Park.

Number 7 (drum roll): Take a Red Eye Flight.

Number 6 (drum roll): Be a Local Tourist.

Number 5 (drum roll): Go Camping.

Number 4 (drum roll): Swap Houses with a Friend.

Number 3 (drum roll): Visit a Local Winery or Brewery.

Number 2 (drum roll): Make Arts and Crafts with the Kids.

Number 1 (drum roll): Take a Road Trip to Visit Landmarks.

Tax Preparation

Free Subscription

Recent Posts

Your Money

Categories

Banking

Investing

Archives

Stocks News and Information on Yahoo! Finance

Recommended

What a Great Community