15 Ways To Save This Season

We all wish it would be our bank accounts that would gain a few pounds this holiday season, but alas, that's usually not the case. Here's a list of 15 ways to keep your wallets a little plumper.

1. Make a list, check it twice

Make a list of all the people to whom you'll give a gift (naughty and nice points optional). Along with gift ideas for each person, jot down a ballpark cost of each present. Then, tally all your costs up and adjust your gift giving accordingly so you don't break the bank (you might end up shooting for gifts $10 cheaper than originally planned, for instance). Seeing the big number on paper could help set your gift giving to budget-friendly levels.

2. Add up other holiday costs

I love all the extra trimmings for Christmas, don't get me wrong, but they do cost a few dollars. Don't forget about added costs like a tree, new clothes for a holiday party, cute gift wrapping, Christmas cards, and extra food and drinks for holiday parties. If you're looking for ways to trim the budget, this area is ripe for slimming. Consider getting a smaller tree or you could look for your new dress on a discount site instead of buying it full-price at Nordstrom. 

3. Buy some generic gifts on sale

When you're shopping around and see a great deal on something cute and general like candles, lotions, notebooks, etc., pick up a couple and store them away for a rainy day (or more likely for a snowy one). I inevitably forget someone or am surprised by a gift and it's nice to have something stress-free and sweet on hand to give in return. If you don't have this problem, these little gadgets make nice hostess gifts as well. 

4. Sign up for your favorite brand's email lists

It's not too late for Cyber Monday gems. Companies are most likely doing deals around this time of the year, and if you're on the email list you'll be the first to know. It's a quick and painless way to get discounts and you can unsubscribe whenever you want.

5. Don't forget about your Thanksgiving takeaways

Thanksgiving comes at an ironic time to the holiday shopping season. Don't forget the simple joys of being with family and all the things you have to be thankful about (and sometimes that new pair of shoes becomes a little less important). 

6. Less is more for holiday decor

If you don't have a lot of decorations, 1. that's totally ok and 2. if you want more holiday decor, you could save a lot of money if you wait to buy it until after Christmas and save it for next year. Instead of buying them full price at the beginning of December, you could try to wing it this year with homemade things (snowflakes! candles!) and then buy decor for next year a few days after Christmas when everything is at a steep discount. 

7. For a gift exchange with friends, try regifting things you already have

This probably won't fly as well with families or for office exchanges, but if you're trading gifts with a group of friends you could try to make it a regifting exchange. Bring a wonderful or horrible present that you already own and trade for something equally wonderful or horrible. The costs are low and the stories are rich.

8. Try to pull in some extra income

Plan on a high spending month. It's Christmas. It just happens. If you have any side gigs or freelancing talents, this is your month. Be a dogwalker, babysit, sell something you made, sell your old clothes on Poshmark, get creative. Any extra income helps offset the added costs of this (wonderful) season.

9. Shop early

The earlier you finish shopping, the less likely you'll be to binge spend in the final hours of gift buying. Give yourself enough leeway to shop around for deals and to buy your gifts in a less stressful environment than the final hours of Christmas Eve. 

10. Buy online

If you haven't discovered the magic of Amazon Prime yet, this is your year. It's the best. You add things to your cart and let them sit while you think on it for a night. You click a button to buy, and it arrives to your doorstep two days later. This saves money from multiple angles: Amazon usually offers great prices, it protects against impulse purchases, and you save time by shopping online and having it delivered (and time is money). Win, win, and win.

11. Give experiences

Two pluses here: 1. Experiences are usually better than gifts. 2. If you're cutting it close, sometimes giving experiences delays you actually purchasing something for the other person (for example, if you're treating your friend to dinner, you might not actually shell out the cash until you and your friend go out, most likely a few weeks after Christmas. This gives you a few extra paychecks of buffer after the Christmas spending hangover).

12. Put Treat Yo' Self on Spending Freeze

Wait until after Christmas to buy yourself presents. You might not be able to resist (I'm very guilty of this), but it is a highly logical way of spending less money this holiday season. Plus, you don't run the risk of buying yourself something that someone else was going to give you.

13. Pull out your best clever gifting game

Creative presents usually mean a lot and they often are a cost-effective approach to give giving. Pinterest is a candy store for this kind of clever gifting, but here are a few other ideas to get your thoughts rolling: make a photobook, write your own children's book, make and give freezer meals, write a letter every month to someone, clean someone's house, detail their car, give your time and muscle to help a relative clear out junk or on house projects; come up with you own!

14. Simplify your season

You don't have to do every Christmas thing ever. Really: your Christmas won't be ruined if you miss your cousin's Christmas pageant or if you didn't send out a holiday photo card. Sometimes it's best to slow down and relax. It's usually friendlier on the wallet too. 

15. Give more than you receive

It'll make you rich every time. Don't think of giving only things that cost money. Giving comes in many forms: giving your time, giving your resources, giving your talents. Christmas is best enjoyed when we keep that in perspective and focus on what we can give rather than what we can get.

Happy holidays everyone!

Three Things You Should Know About Your Money Right Now

Life is full of numbers to track of: you probably know your car's gas mileage (I get an efficient 29 mpg), the cost of your favorite drink at Starbucks (a painful $4.40), and how much you saved on a new fall coat ($30—woot). But do you know the numbers that really matter about your money? Take a moment to answer these three big picture questions about your personal finances.

What is your monthly take-home pay?

How chubby are those paychecks when they hit your bank account? Sadly, it's going to be much slimmer than your salary divided by 12 because of things like taxes, health care, and retirement savings. To find your monthly take-home pay, look at your bank account and add up your income for the month. 

Let's use Sarah as an example:

She's a bright-eyed college grad living it the city with a weak spot for twice-baked almond croissants. She makes $45,000 per year as a graphic designer. It's both the richest she's ever been and also the most broke—this is the first time she's had to pay for life on her own.

Sarah gets paid twice monthly, and she ends up with $1,250 per paycheck after taxes, benefits, and retirement savings.

Thus, Sarah's monthly take-home pay is $2,500 per month. 

(An important note: you might have the same salary as Sarah and take home a different amount because tax rates, benefits, and retirement savings vary so widely).

How much money do you spend each month?

Obviously every month will be a little different, but you should have a rough idea of how much money flows out of your bank account. You see where I'm going here? Once you know how much you make and how much you spend, you'll have a solid picture of your finances: if they're heading for sunny skies or dark clouds of doom. 

The easiest way to find your monthly expenses is to take your bank or credit card statements for the last 12 months and find an average amount spent. Don't forget to add in items that might not appear in a statement like student loans or rent. If you don't know that number yet, take a moment to find out...or even schedule time on your calendar to dig in. It's a really good number to know.

Back to Sarah. Let's look at her monthly expenses:

• Student loans: $500
• Car payment: $200
• Rent: $700
• Groceries: $300
• Internet/cell phone: $80
• Twice-baked almond croissants: $20
• Miscellaneous: $300
• Total: $2,100 per month

Now Sarah has two numbers: she makes $2,500 and spends $2,100. She's a savvy money maven and does a great job of spending less than she earns, but geesh, life is expensive! 

How much money do you have right now?

Let's forget about big debts like student loans and mortgages, and disregard money that's tied up in retirement accounts or home equity. This should be purely liquid money that can flow like honey when you need it. Don't forget to subtract out credit card debt if you have any (yikes...get rid of it ASAP. Check out two approaches here). Here's your equation: take your bank account balance (both checking and savings) and subtract your credit card debt to find your liquid money. 

Let's look at Sarah's pockets of money.

She has about $4,500 in the bank and $800 on her credit card. After paying her credit card, she has $3,700. 

Sarah gets some solid points for having a buffer in her bank account. A savvy financial move is to have $1,000 saved as an emergency fund for unexpected expenses. Next month Sarah could get a flat tire. Instead of going into debt to pay for the repair, she can dip into her emergency fund.

Sarah's next money goal is to build up a three-month buffer of living expenses (a cushion for a worst-case scenario like losing a job or injury). Her next money goal is to have $7,300 saved ($1,000 for an emergency fund and three months of living expenses). But first, off she goes to celebrate with a twice-baked almond croissant. Small victories!

How'd you do? Whether you aced it or need to go hunt down some numbers, hats off to you in taking a big step in wrangling your personal finances. Now go forth and be wise with your money!

The True Cost of Lola the Dog: Month One

Upon moving to Michigan and obtaining a backyard, the first thing on my list of priorities was to get a dog. Despite my pursuit of all things financially wise and frugal, this may be my achilles heel. 

As my dear car guy husband commented, “as much as you want your dog to be cheap, she never will be.” It’s true. I put together a rundown of the actual cost for the first month of ownership. These are the sticker prices of every doggie item purchased, for your future reference.

Note from me:
Yes, I am plagued with intense guilt about how it could’ve been invested wisely. In the name of truth, transparency, and education, I give you the true cost of Lola the dog.

• Invisible fence: $145
• Extra fence wire (because our neighbor is awesome and let us extend our fence into his yard): $25
• Lawn edger rental (to dig invisible fence): $26
• Extra Petsafe batteries for invisible fence: $14
• Dog bowls: $7
• Crate: $63
• License: $32
• ID tag: $16.50
• Register microchip (she already had one in): $20
• Heartworm pills for one year: $100
• Vet checkup: $42
• Kong toy: $7
• Two plastic frisbees (that were quickly destroyed): $6
• Kong frisbee (here’s hoping for longevity): $11
• Dog shampoo: $6
• Brush mitt: $9
• Poop bags for life (seriously...900 bags): $15
• Milkbones (also for life. The Amazon picture was surprisingly deceiving): $9
• Gourmet dog food (recommended by breeder and costs $50 for a full-sized bag): $14
• Costco dog food (which she will be eating from now on because you have to draw the line somewhere): $30/bag
• Lola the dog: $800

Total: $1,397.50

Gasp. I know. 

I’d like to interrupt this expense chart to talk about the price of Lola herself. We looked at both shelter animals and purebred Vizslas, and shelter animals are quite a bit cheaper ($150-$300) with many of the additional vaccinations already included. We decided to pay a higher initial sticker price because she was exactly what we were looking for  and were willing to pay more upfront for a temperament history, breeder reputation, and a good breed fit for us as a couple (and for reference, if we bought her as a Vizsla puppy instead of her being four years old, she would’ve been twice that). I am in total favor of rescuing animals and totally believe that mutts can be the best dogs. We opted to go a different route because it was my car guy husband's first dog and I wanted it to be as seamless as possible.

That said, even if your dog is a rescue (good job), you're still looking at $500-$1000 in initial doggie expenses!

Oh, and it keeps going.

Additional costs

• Coming up: obedience class: $200
• Coming up: yearly shots: $50ish (actually no idea. I'll find out in a few weeks)
• Coming up: doggie day care (only if it’s a last resort): $25/day
• Risk of a possible surgery (did you know dogs can’t digest corn cobs? Yeah, she ate a piece of one the first day we had her): $1,500-$2,000

Costs paid by her previous owner

(they left a very informative vet record)

• Spayed: $567
• Allergic reaction to bee sting (vet visit and meds): $177
• Microchip (original implant): $40ish
• Leash and collar: $25

---

When you're debating a new pet, make sure you take into account the real cost of having a fuzzy friend. They're wonderful, but just make sure you're capable and ready before taking the plunge. Once you dive in, it's real hard to turn back.

Moneybags Magoo: Parents Visiting and Salary Questions

Dear Moneybags Magoo,

My parents are coming to visit, and I’m finally at the age where I actually bring in a paycheck. They’ve always paid for me, but now that I’m making money, should I pay when we go out? How do I handle that transition?

Yours truly,

Flying-outta-the-nest-with-dolla-dolla-billz-y’all

Dear Flying-outta-the-nest-with-dolla-dolla-billz-y’all,

What a considerate question-asker you are! Never expect them to, but always be thankful if they do. If you have the means, buy for them every once in a while. If a dinner tab is too hefty, try taking the family out to ice cream or have them over for dinner at your place.

Dear Moneybags Magoo,

 What money topics are off-limits or rude to talk about with friends or family? What if I need money advice?

Email Address

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Subscribe to Sage & Mint here for updates straight to your inbox.

Thank you!

Warmest Regards,

Not Emily Post

Dear Not Emily Post,

Well, you sure know how to ask tricky questions! It really does depend on your relationship with a person. For things like rent and house prices, it’s a little easier to talk about, because that information is generally public (hello Zillow!). However, it can often come across as rude and invasive to ask questions about salary, car cost, any inheritance questions, and how much a person makes. For the most culturally acceptable manners, in general don’t ask money questions of someone unless the other person brings it up (Moneybags Magoo excluded, of course: learning purposes, you know?).

However, if you are just finding your way into personal finance, do find someone you trust deeply and someone who is good with money to aid you in your decisions (I talk to my wise old tortoise father. He always knows and it is so helpful to get his perspective). Don’t necessarily ask pointed questions about their money, but inform them as much as you feel comfortable to get their wise sage advice.

Dear Moneybags Magoo,

What should I say when a friend asks me how much I make? What about when a recruiter asks me in a job interview?

Sincerely,

Cat has eaten my tongue

Dear Cat has eaten my tongue,

If it is a potential employer, avoid giving a number. List the industry average or a range (this benefits you in the salary discussion if they give a number first). If it is a friend asking, be vague or come up with a roundabout answer. A few options if they ask how much you make:

For the snarky:

“Not as much as I wish!”

“Not enough to quit my job and ride on a yacht for the rest of my life.”

“10,000 golden dubloons. The exchange rate is top secret. Sorry.”

For the sincere:

“I’m very thankful for what I make.”

“My salary is decent enough.”

For the direct:

“I’m not comfortable sharing that.”

For the passive:

“How about this weather we’re having?!”

Good luck. Always an awkward turtle, that one.

Send me your money questions! I'm ready for the asking.

Message

*

Dear Moneybags Magoo,

Name

*

Name

Real or fake. I'll never know.

First Name

Last Name

Thank you!

As always, thanks to team savvy for your splendid answers to my invasive money question asking (haha, following my own advice, I see).

The Talk

There comes a time in every young man and woman's life when it's time for..."the talk." ...the money talk, duh! This is the talk with your significant other because you are combining finances. KABOOM.

Now for all my single ladies, you don't need to worry about this one quite yet. You can read and store this knowledge bomb, or just go find some funny kangaroo gifs and send them my way.

For the folks who are shacked up and sharing bank accounts with their favorite person in the world, this one's for you.

Car guy husband and I just had the talk. We've been married for almost two years, and this is probably our second talk, or maybe our third. It's good stuff - and I'm not just saying that because I geek out about finance. It's legitimately good for our marriage, and we fight less about money as a result. We have the talk when our situation changes - for us, I had come out of a stretch of unemployment (which I'll delve into for a later post in case you ever find yourself in the same unfortunate situation) and was bringing home a paycheck again. We had the talk when I got laid off a few months prior. We had the talk when we first got married. Lots of opportunities for the talk.

We made it fun. It was set up on the calendar in advance. Monday night: money talk. We grabbed a picnic lunch (plus a choice cider for yours truly to take the edge off...it can be a little stressful). We went to a park on a bright and sunny evening, brought our computers, and delved into the world of joint bank accounts.

Make your money talk your own version of fun. It helps! Now for the nitty gritty:

Ten questions for the money talk:

With excerpts from our own

1. How much money do we bring home after taxes each month?

A bajillion dollars.

2. How much money are we spending each month?

Half a bajillion dollars, plus a golden doubloon.

3. Are there any areas where we can spend less?

Clothes, gas, fast food, and utilities because it's almost summer!

4. Are there any areas where we can spend more?

Up the ante for retirement accounts, savings accounts, and definitely more money on restaurants (Ha! It doesn't always have to be fuddy duddy practical).

5. Do we want to give more money away?

Well, we have more money, we could probably give more money away.

Or

Well, we have less money, we should give less money away.

6. How is our credit situation?

Let's hop on credit karma. Cool. Our credit score went up. Let's consider a better credit card because our current one is meh.

7. What are our financial priorities?

Car Guy Husband: Retirement and house. Both number one (ahem, clearly, we're still working on the definition of "priorities").

Sage & Mint: Financial security, retirement, living in the moment (and this is why we have money fights).

8. How can we compromise on both of our money goals AT THE SAME TIME?

Sage & Mint+Car Guy Husband: We shall save xx% for retirement because that's important to both of us. We'll increase our fun budgets because Sage & Mint loves going out to eat in the city. And the rest we'll save up for a down payment on a house. Compromise reached. All parties content.

9. How can we make money more fun?

Ok, so this isn't really one you'll find in the books, but really: make it fun. I love massages so we created an incentive plan. If I reach the goal, I can take money out to get a massage. Car Guy Husband really likes trucks. We set a goal for him and when he reaches it, he gets a chunk of money to buy a truck. It's fun. Fo realz.

10. What are the next steps?

Car Guy Husband: Go here and here, switch money here, shazam katchow, all done.

Sage & Mint: Adjust the budget here, transfer money there, find a new credit card. Shazam, katchow all done.

#8 Set Up an Emergency Fund

You get a flat tire. Your bike gets stolen. Your dentist discovers 11 cavities in your mouth. Everybody has a bad day once and awhile.

For those inevitable bad days, this tip will be a salve to life's financial bruises.

Start an emergency fund

Dave Ramsey is a huge proponent of emergency funds, and this little secret gives you a pretty useful pot of money sitting around.

How much money goes into an emergency fund?

A thousand buckaroos.

Where do I keep my emergency fund?

Separate is key. You need to convince yourself it's an emergency fund. Some ideas: stash it in a piggybank that you actually have to break. Store it in an online bank. It needs to be easily accessible but inconvenient to use (so as not to tempt you). Our "emergency fund" is my old bank savings account from growing up, so it's separate from our checking account but still easy to use with my old checkbook.

Why do I need an emergency fund?

Emergencies, duh. The stuff you don't plan for: illness, layoffs, accidents, and all those other very unfortunate events. Bad days can end up costing a lot of money outside of your monthly budget, and it's crucial to have a safety net. Bad days happen to everyone, it's just a matter of when (Debbie downer...over and out).

What if I have debt?

Even if you have debt, you should still stockpile a little egg. Think a robin's egg rather than an ostrich egg. Pay installments to your emergency fund of $25-$50 a month if you can't afford the upfront costs due to other debt. It's important to pay your loans, but an emergency fund is definitely a more pressing expense after basic living costs. This prevents you from going further into debt ("Or even bankrupt" says Debbie downer) when times get rocky.

How should I use my emergency fund?

Finance folks will give you different answers, as this is a bit of a "gray area," but at this point in life, use it for unforeseen expenses outside of your monthly bills for rent/mortgage, food, internet, and clothing. My list includes:

• Surprise health expenses (cavities? x-rays? a stockpile of airborne?)
• Car costs (accidents and issues, not gas or insurance!)
• House issues (plumbing work, a tree falls on your garage, the basement floods, blah de blah blah blah)

There you have it. Set up an emergency fund pronto! Shoot for a thousand dollars at this point in your life, and when you have paid off debt try to save a bigger chunk down the road. Store it in a place you won't dip into for non-emergencies. Good luck!

#3 Track Your Day-to-Day Spending

While the budgeteers of yesteryear kept track of their daily spending by doling out cash in envelopes and keeping receipts to manually enter in excel spreadsheets, you my friend, are living in the modern age. Enter: Mint.com.

Let me introduce you to Mint, a wonderful app of technology and actually totally unrelated name-wise to my blog. Heck, they're not even paying me. It's that handy dandy.

But first, why must we be so anal in our accounting practices? Well, dear friend, this post should probably be written by my hunky man husband, rather than myself. He actually did have an excel spreadsheet before he learned of Mint from another type-A husband.

Transparency moment: I'm not very good, nor do I enjoy, keeping track of my daily (or weekly, or monthly) spending. I would rather floss than monitor spending, and I do not like flossing.

But anyhoo, if you want to be rich someday, you need some oversight and personal accountability in your bank account. Mint will do that, and it doesn't even have a nagging tone of voice. It's simply cold, heartless, and helpful.

How does it do it? Mint is backed by Intuit, a well-known financial software company. To use the helpful budget tracking of Mint, you'll be entering your information through their secure system. To ease your worry, know that Mint stores your data with the same high-level security as a bank. Read more here if you want to learn more about the safety of your information.

Five Things I Love About Mint

The Big Picture View

After you set up Mint, you'll be able to see your total cash available, total credit debt, monthly budget, and spending breakdown all in one place. Awesome blossom. It's like a tip-top-treehouse view of your neighborhood. This is a particularly helpful view, especially if you're toting around multiple credit cards and have multiple bank accounts.

A Visual Budget Tracker

You'll set certain budgets for the month (gas money, phone bill, utilities, restaurants, groceries, coffee shops, everything else, and so on). As the month goes on, Mint tracks your spending (remember, it's tied to your bank accounts and credit cards) and the budget bars will turn colors like a traffic light: Green, yellow, then red as you hit your month's budget limit.

It's Easy

I check Mint every few days, but it doesn't require me to do much work. Every time you swipe a card, Mint sorts the purchase into your budgets automatically, so a $4.50 Starbucks purchase drops into my coffee budget (set at $20-a-month, now down to $15.50 remaining). Some of the purchase drops need a little tweaking, especially if you're just starting Mint, but they're easy to sort and the app "remembers" any resorting for future reference.

It's Nonjudgmental

If I go over my budget, Mint doesn't ring alarm bells or send push notifications to my iPhone. It just goes over, there's no hard stop. It doesn't give me gold stars for saving or seven lashes for spending too much on restaurants (again, oh-so-guilty). It just keeps track silently and meticulously. Sure, there's an advice section, but I choose to read it and it's not too pushy. Thanks Mint, you can hang out with me anytime.

It's Empowering

You will know where your money goes. No more arriving at the end of the month with empty pockets, scratching your head and trying to recount the resting place of your hard-earned dollars. Plus, it's great for decision making. Should you go out to eat tonight? Check Mint. You've only spend $20 on restaurants this month and it's the 27th? Go for it.

Ok, and one more, just for kicks and giggles. It makes the beginning of the month way more fun. Every first day of the month, it's a blank slate all over again!

Now go and sign up for Mint. Once you see your finances, you'll be able to control them with a Midas touch.

#1: Don't Spend More Than You Earn

Don't spend more than you earn.

This is the number one rule for personal finance. It's oozing so much with wisdom it'll explode like Gushers in your mouth.

So why are we even going over this? Isn't it obvious that we shouldn't spend more than we earn? Well, yes...but that's where credit cards come in.

Credit card companies will loan you money for everyday expenses, just like a good 'ol pal, knowing you'll pay your debts like a true Lannister (Game of Thrones, anyone? Anyone?). Ok well - don't use that pretty little shiny bit unless you actually have the money in your account to cover it. No trips to Mexico unless you got the cash up front. Same for buying a new puppy, moving to a new place, buying a car, and your weekly coffee habit. Just say no. To drugs. And to spending money you don't have.

Let's divvy up your expenses. Here's an oft-quoted and nicely divided rule if you need a jumping point for your budget. It's called the 50/20/30 rule (I agree, it's not the most memorable of rules). But let's be honest, you don't need to remember it frequently, just when you initially start budgeting.

50% You should spend no more than half of your take-home pay (that's after taxes) on essentials (food, housing, utilities, and transportation). 20% Save, save, save! This healthy chunk of pie goes to responsible decisions. Pay off your debt, save for retirement, and stash away like a squirrel preparing for winter. 30% Fun budget/life budget. Use 30% of your pay for things like clothes, eating out, phone bill, internet, charity, child care, gym dues, pets, etc. etc. etc.

These percentages aren't hard rules, just guidelines. I'm more in favor of upping the ante on saving if you can. My ideal percentages are heavier on saving a little lighter on essentials (just pay less for your house/apartment/car!).

One of the biggest perpetrators can be a rent payment (or a mortgage). Rent can be expensive, especially if you're a gal living in the city. Try really hard not to spend more than 30% of your income in rent -- especially because this money is pretty much just vanishing at the end of the month (unlike paying a house mortgage, where you get to sell the actual house at the end). Here's a great chart (hat tip nakedapartments.com) to figure out how much you can afford in rent. *For total income, if you're married or sharing expenses with a partner, include their salary too.