Some people think in order to save money it has to be some BIG amount. Other people think it’s better to save a little bit here and there. We think it’s BOTH. It’s important to save in a big way like a bonus or a raise and it’s also important to save on the little things—where money just leaks through your fingers.

Here are some ways to keep your money instead of wasting it:

Initiate a fiscal fast. Try not to spend any money for a few days or even a week. Or eliminate certain purchases altogether, such as paper towels and disinfectant wipes. 

Avoid bank fees. Look for a bank that offers free accounts. Don’t overdraft your account. If you overdraft once a month, the average fee of $35 adds up to $420 in a year. Stick to your bank’s ATM instead of wasting two or three dollars per transaction at an out of network ATM.

Make a budget and stick to it. Track where you are spending and what you are spending on. Everyone we know who has done this has found areas where they were wasting money. Avoid places where you know you’ll be tempted to buy things you don’t need.

Save on food by packing a lunch. Meals from the drive-thru are bad for your bank account and probably your health.

According to a Harvard Law and National Resources report, Americans throw away 40 percent of the food they buy because of misleading expiration dates that have nothing to do with food safety. Just because the date comes up does not mean the food is immediately unsafe to eat. Try arranging your pantry according to the expiration date to avoid waste.

Instead of buying prepackaged food, do it yourself. You can easily make your own tomato sauce, jam, dessert toppings and spice mixtures. Avoid the fancy coffee by googling a recipe to make your own.

Comparison shop by creating a spreadsheet of items you buy regularly—weekly or at least monthly. Then check out several local stores and write down the prices.  Monitor the sales brochures at each store and you’ll know what is considered a ‘good’ price versus a really great sale price. After a few months you will also know the rotation of when various items go on sale.

Forage for dinner once a week. Look in the freezer and pantry to use items that will soon expire. You can also have breakfast for dinner. Eggs are an incredibly cheap source of protein, and there’s no reason to restrict them to breakfast.

Drink more water and less soda or juice. Water is a healthier and cheaper alternative to any other drink. Avoid the bottled water—most of it is from a municipal source, which is probably every bit as safe as the water from your tap. And all those plastic bottles are so harmful to our beautiful planet.

Control your entertainment budget by spending cash. Put the amount you have allocated for entertainment in an envelope and spend the cash for entertainment activities. When the envelope is empty, there’s no more entertainment spending.

Proactively search for ways to reduce the costs for kids’ activities.  Split the cost of private swim lessons with a friend. Carpool to soccer games with other families to save on gas. Look for ways to work for organizations in exchange for reduced or free enrollment.

Involve like-minded friends in your money saving efforts. Babysit for your friends and have them return the favor in the future. Learn how to barter. Maybe you sew or can edit resumes in return for some other service for which you’d typically have to shell out money.

Don’t overspend on kid’s clothing. On average, a child only requires three to four nice pairs of pants and five to six shirts. Buy used clothes whenever possible, especially when kids are young and grow out of clothes so quickly. Gratefully accept hand-me-downs or shop at consignment shops or Goodwill.

Buy clothing that is versatile throughout the year. T-shirts can be worn on their own or over long-sleeved shirts. Skirts can be worn on their own or over warm leggings.

Create a clothes swap with your mom’s group at church. Everyone donates professional maternity clothes or baby items when they’re done having kids, and anyone can take from the inventory.  It saves a lot of money, and provides a great outreach to new moms in your parish.

Beware of energy vampires. Home electronics in “standby” mode use energy to power features like clock displays even when they’re turned off. Plug electronics into a power strip. Turn off the strip when not in use to save. Many chargers drain power continuously, even when the device is not plugged in, so unplug the chargers when they are not in use.

Keep your thermostat low in winter and high in summer. Adjust it even more when you are away from home for an extended period.

Use vinegar creatively. The cleaning strength vinegar has a multitude of uses. Use a shallow bowl filled with vinegar to absorb cooking smells in the kitchen. If you need to clean your drains, pour about ½ cup baking soda into the drain, the follow with a cut of HOT vinegar. Let is sit for 15 minutes, then flush with hot water. Use vinegar in the yard as a week killer.  Mix 1 gallon of vinegar with one cup of salt and spray on weeds to kill them safely. Check out VinegarTips.com for 1,001 uses for vinegar.

I hope that some of these tips will be of use to you and if you think of other money savings tips, send them to us Info@compasscatholic.org

Saving money saving is a good way to live by the verse we find in Proverbs 21:20: “Precious treasure remains in the house of the wise, but the fool consumes it.” Use these money saving ideas to KEEP your precious, hard earned money!

The Manage Your Money God’s Way podcast has more money saving ideas.

If you are like most people, it often seems that the money going out each month exceeds the amount of money coming in. Sometimes even the basic necessities appear to be out of reach. Saving for an emergency fund is impossible. And heaven forbid that someone gets sick or hurt and needs medical care.

Today we want to look at several ideas to increase the amount of money available to you.

The starting point is the taxes on your income. Examine your tax return. How much money are you going to get back from the IRS? If you are getting more than a few hundred dollars back, review your W-4 worksheet. You can get one from your HR department or google W4 Worksheet and download a copy. You may be able to claim a few more exemptions to maximize the amount of money in your take home pay with every pay check.

Focus on getting your tax refund or tax due to be as close to $0.00 as possible. Use the examples on the W-4 worksheet and compare them to the exemptions you claimed last year, then modify this year’s exemptions based on what happened last year.

The ultimate goal is to get as much as possible in your pay check without having to pay taxes at tax time next year. Under no circumstances should you be getting $1200 or $2400 or more back. If you are getting $2400 back this year, that means you could have received $200 more each month in your pay check. There is no sense in giving the government a loan and running up credit card debt because you are paying too much in taxes each month.

After examining your income, take a look at your car insurance. For many people, car insurance is a one and done. Once they obtain car insurance they tend to stick with the company, mostly because it’s easy. Let’s face it, shopping for car insurance is a pain, so once you have it you don’t want to go through that process again.

We recently read an article on the Penny Hoarder and they were talking about a service called Gabi, which will do the car insurance shopping for you. All you have to do is link your insurance account and provide your driver’s license number, and Gabi will scan your existing insurance plan, analyze your coverage, compare the major insurer’s rate for the same coverage and help you switch on the spot if you find a better rate.

They are making an apples-to-apples comparison so your coverage won’t decrease with a cheaper rate. They keep your information on file and continue to monitor costs and coverage to save you money in the future. The company claims that they find an average savings of $720 per year, which is about $60 per month savings!

We do not have any personal experience with this company, as we did our comparison shopping prior to finding it, but it sounds like a good idea to investigate further.

Another way to save money is to stay up to date with your Credit Score and Credit Report.

Is the information on your credit report accurate? An estimated 20-40% of credit reports have inaccurate information and if that inaccurate information is bad, your credit score could possibly be lower than it should be. The lower your credit score, the higher interest rates you will receive when you try to purchase anything by getting a loan. Cars, houses, renting an apartment, even your ability to get a new job can be impacted by a bad credit report and a low credit score.

Go to AnnualCreditReport.com to get a free copy of your credit report. If you find inaccurate information, follow the instructions to dispute it and get your information corrected.

Each of the three major nationwide consumer credit reporting companies— Equifax, Experian and TransUnion—are required by Federal law to give you a free credit report every 12 months if you ask for it. We recommend getting a report from one reporting company every four months so you can stay on top of your credit report information.

If you want more information on credit reports and credit scores check out our blog: Credit Scores & Real Life

Life Insurance is another potential place to cut spending. Suggested coverage is 10x your annual salary. The purpose for life insurance is to pay-off your outstanding debt and provide your loved ones with a source of income in the event of your death. Life insurance should not be used as an investment. There is a sound strategy in buying term insurance and creating a savings plan outside of the insurance through a program of mutual funds or other investment vehicles. The primary benefit to term insurance is that you can purchase much more coverage (sometimes as much as ten times more) than insurance with an investment opportunity attached. This is very important for families with children.

Term insurance typically comes in two forms and is the least expensive form of life insurance. In one form of Term insurance the premium increases each year while the benefit amount remains the same. This form normally has the lowest initial cost. The Second form of Term insurance is sometimes called Level Term and is probably the most common form being offered.  In this form, the premium and benefit remain the same for a specific number of years—10 years, 20 years, 30 years—and then the price will increase or the policy will lapse. If at a later date you decide that you need insurance again, you will have to qualify based on your health and your then current age.

Operating everything out of one bank account can make your finances muddy and contribute undue stress to your money management. To simplify, open a second account for a dedicated purpose.  Use an online account where there are no fees and the interest that the bank will pay you is usually much greater than your “brick and mortar“ bank. This is a way to ensure money is set aside for those items which only come up once a year (like Christmas or summer vacation) or each quarter (like car insurance or home owner association dues.)

The Compass Catholic Podcast offers more on this topic.

How many of us have garages so full of stuff that the cars remain in the driveway? How many basements are full of boxes containing who knows what? Or even worse, how many of you are paying money to a storage facility because there is no room in your home for all your stuff?

In the Bible from Luke 12:15-21, we read: “Then he said to the crowd, ‘Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.’” Many of us are caught up in accumulating stuff yet those possessions don’t have any lasting meaning and they clutter up our life.

One of the best ways to eliminate excess clutter is to have a garage sale and use the proceeds to build up the emergency fund or pay down debt. And if you have an emergency fund and no debt, donate the proceeds to charity.

Garage sales should not be done on a moment’s notice. Like everything else, they’ll run better with planning and organization.

The most popular days are Friday and Saturday mornings, but you can add Thursday if your schedule allows. You’ll get a larger crowd if you start early because people won’t have to interrupt their day to attend your sale. Late Spring, early summer or fall are the best times to have a sale. Check the local calendar and avoid special weekends in your area—such as a local festival or college football games.

Once you have a date, check with your local city government to see if a permit is required. Talk to your neighbors to let them know you are planning on having a sale and invite them to participate.

Decide how to advertise your sale—newspaper, fliers, and social media. Take advantage of local advertising such as the homeowner’s association newsletter, or a community events page in your local newspaper. Be sure your ads include your address as well as the dates and times for your sale. The most popular garage sale items include furniture, kids’ toys, and collectibles, so highlight those in your ads.

Gather your sale items well ahead of time by going through each room, the garage and the basement. Pick up anything you don’t want or haven’t used in months and put it in a staging area.

Don’t underestimate the value of what you find either; people will buy anything from old CDs to unwanted bottles of perfume. After all, the worst case scenario is that something doesn’t sell.

Before pricing your items, visit other garage sales in your area to check the going price for certain items. Price your items individually rather than grouping them into a box with one price sign. As the garage sale progresses, people will get the boxes mixed up and you’ll have a hard time keeping up with prices. Make sure the price is clearly marked on each item. Don’t set prices that are too high, thinking that people like to haggle on the price, as you may lose some customers.

Plan ahead for markdowns. Whether it’s for an individual item or an end-of-day sale, be prepared to reduce prices at some point, especially on items that are not selling.

Set up (as much as possible) the day before the sale. It will make the first hour less hectic. Remove all non-sale items from the area. Have an extension cord handy for testing electronic equipment.

Make your sale easy to find. Create signs with directions to the sale. Large bold black letters on a white background with very few words are best for visibility. What looks large when you have it on the table can be hard to read from a car. Make sure your sign says “Garage Sale” and include your address or an arrow pointing towards your house.

Make your stuff easy to find and easy to see. Keep like stuff together—all the clothes, garden equipment, toys, or tools should be displayed together. Tables are a great way to make items visible. Set up the tables so there is not so much stuff that the table is a mess as soon as the first customer looks through it.

Use the sturdiest tables for the breakable items, and keep those breakable items off to the side and up against the house or a fence to keep people from knocking that table over.

If at all possible, have clothing on hangers. It is easier to look through items on hangers. You can use a garment rack or a clothes line. Most shoppers don’t enjoy digging through piles or boxes. Create a dressing room using a shower curtain or sheet in the corner of the garage.

Make sure you have plenty of cash on hand to make change, otherwise you may lose a sale. Decide how you’ll manage the money. A carpenter’s apron gives you lots of room for money, notes and your cell phone. Or you may want to set up a check out table where you take the money and hand out change. Either way, keep your money safe.

Grab a comfortable chair and put it in a visible location. Greet people as they walk up, but don’t hover over them as they shop. In an ideal world, a garage sale would work like a mall. People would come in, peruse what’s available, grab what they wanted, pay, and leave. However, garage sales are as much a social event as a shopping event. People are going to ask questions, and they’re going to pick through everything. Let them shop at leisure and don’t act pushy.

Have a supply of old newspapers and grocery sacks to wrap and bag customers’ purchases.

Set up a 10-cent table for children to look through. They may have brought their allowance and want to spend it. Plus, it keeps them busy while mom or dad are shopping. If your children are willing to sell some of their toys, games or clothes, have each one of them label their items with different colored stickers.

Have a free table for broken items or things with missing parts. Remember one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Post signs in strategic locations that say “Everything is sold as is” and “all sales are final.”

No matter how successful your garage sale is, you’ll probably have leftover stuff. Before the sale, investigate charities where you can donate leftovers that are usable and in good condition. Don’t drag leftovers back into the house. Before you go to the charity, be sure to list everything you are donating and ask for a receipt. File the receipt and use it for a charitable tax deduction on your income taxes.

Garage sales are a lot of work, especially if you’re not used to holding them. You’ll probably spend several hours organizing and pricing items, writing ads, and getting your supplies, plus more hours on the day of the sale.

But after it’s over, you’ll hopefully have extra cash instead of piles of unused stuff. And you can free yourself from putting too much importance in all the stuff you have accumulated. Remember, Jesus said “Your life does not consist of your possessions” so be aggressive in clearing the clutter!

Join us on the Compass Catholic podcast for more ideas about having a successful garage sale.

One of the things people often do not appreciate about saving is how fast the savings grow when you save small amount for a long time on a regular basis. Don’t wait till some arbitrary time in the future when you feel like you have enough money to save. It’s important to start now, even if it’s just a small amount, because small regular amounts really add up.

If you want to save $1,000 this year, you need to save $2.74 each day. In 40 years, at 10% interest, you’ll have over $486,000.  If you delay saving $2.74 a day for just one year, you’ll have $45,000 less in 40 years.

Groceries may be one of the areas most ripe for savings. Wandering around a grocery store (especially if you are hungry) often leads to overspending. Plan your meal(s) before you shop and stick with your list. That should mean you won’t have to run back to the grocery store multiple times during the week.

Watch for Bogos and plan your menus around what is least expensive that week. Most grocery stores run specials on a regular rotation. If you know when chicken or pork is on sale, you can plan your meals around those sales.

Unless you know there is an issue with your local water supply, drink tap water, and don’t buy bottled water.  You’ll save money and help the environment. If you look closely at the bottled water label, you’ll find that most of it comes from a public supply, so in reality, you are simply buying tap water from a different location.

Analyze your transportation options to save some cash. If your destination is nearby, walk or jump on your bike to get there instead of wasting expensive gas. Or consider carpooling or taking public transportation.

Google “Comparison shop” and there are lots of websites which you can use to compare prices from different sources on the same product. When you type in what you’re looking for, you’ll get a list of prices and stores that carry your item so you can easily find the best deal. You have to be careful and be familiar with the product to compare size and packaging because it can be confusing!

Put aside all the items you don’t use and give them to charity. Make sure to document everything you gave away and always get a receipt form the charity to attach to your donation list. Google “How much is my stuff worth” and determine the value of the items you gave away for a deduction on your tax return next year.

Analyze the benefits of refinancing your home loan. You may be shelling out extra dollars for your monthly home loan payment. Call your trusted mortgage broker to find out if you can reduce your mortgage rate and payment by refinancing. Be careful that the cost of refinancing doesn’t eat up any potential savings.

Another way to save on your housing costs is to keep track of how much equity you have. When you reach 20% equity you may be able to discontinue the PMI (private mortgage insurance).

When you use a credit card, be sure the money is in your budget for the item you purchased. Then pay the bill in full at the end of each billing cycle. Do some research and find out if you can earn points with your credit card. Then, use those points to buy things you’d have to buy anyway, like gifts for teachers, new electronics or school shopping.

Do it yourself is always a good way to save. Homemade gifts are the most thoughtful gifts you can give. Use sentimental items like pictures and souvenirs to put together a memorable present for a friend or family member.

With all the home improvement shows out there, the “I don’t know how” excuse no longer works. Google it, look it up on DIY or HGTV, or ask the folks at the hardware or home improvement store, and get to work. Tackle ONLY the jobs you know you can handle. Otherwise, you may increase your costs if you botch it up and have to hire a professional to fix your mistakes

Change your buying habits to buy out of season. Buy Christmas decorations and cards in January. Buy air conditioners in December. Buy winter clothes in January. August is the best time to buy beachwear. Off season buys save money.

You know what they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Take advantage of gently used items. Get a bunch of friends together, have everyone bring clothes, toys or household goods that they’re not interested in, and go to town! Whether it’s clothing, books or electronics, buying used and refurbished items can save you a pretty penny off the sticker price. Used items are especially good for children who grow so fast they often can’t make it through a whole season wearing the same size. At the same time, you may be able to earn some money by selling your gently used items to a consignment store.

Stay home with friends and family. Going out to eat and for entertainment with friends almost always costs more than staying in. Resist the urge to splurge and instead, invite friends over for a potluck, board games or a movie.

Another takeoff on sharing is vacations. If you have family or friends in an area where you want to vacation, you may be able to stay with them for a few nights—as long as you don’t wear out your welcome. Or share a vacation rental. If your extended family likes to take a week’s vacation at the beach each year, think about splitting the cost of a home large enough for everyone.

Even going to the least expensive fast food restaurant means spending $5 for lunch every day. You could easily spend $1,300 a year just on lunches, so pack your lunch instead. You’ll save money, the food will likely be more nutritious and you’ll put your leftovers to good use.

A great way to involve kids in the saving process is to pick a fun family item that you all want—maybe a new TV, an Xbox or a trip to the amusement park—and have the family work together to save what’s needed to make it happen. Create one of those thermometers to track the total amount saved each week against your goal and have it be a family affair. You can save spare change. Or have the kids contribute a percentage of what they earn. Have the kids cut coupons for your weekly shopping trip, and add the money saved to the family fun fund. It’s a good lesson in saving for what you want and working together as a team.

If you are careful with your spending, and creative in your ideas and prayerful with your intentions to manage your money wisely. You can grow your savings, get out of debt and prepare for the future.

No matter how much you have saved, keep in mind the following verse from 1 Timothy 6:17: “Tell the rich in the present age not to be proud and not to rely on so uncertain a thing as wealth but rather on God, who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment.”