Saving money by knowing what you have in your pantry

Well up until I had surgery a few weeks ago I am usually not home until late, so I have not looked through my pantry or refrigerator for a while. Usually my mom, who stays home with the kids, tells me what we need or goes grocery shopping with me. Well since I was wanting to be productive, and can only use one hand, I decided to go through everything and I was surprised.

I went through the pantry, which I through a lot of stuff away. We also had multiples of items that there is no way we will use before it expires. Some of the items that I purchased on my last shopping trip was not really needed. The refrigerator was the same way. So this is how I can save more money by knowing what I have.

Save Money by knowing what you have in your pantry!

 The pantry is somewhere you keep most of your food, and food is something that a lot of people waste the most money on because of not using it. If you are stocking the pantry improperly you may be losing money. Stocking your pantry properly and knowing what you have can save you a lot of food, and money.

You should begin by cleaning out your pantry completely. Take everything out, clean your shelves, and throw anything that has expired away. This will give you a good idea of what you have, and what you waste.

Now you can put everything back into the pantry. Group items together so you can keep track of what you have. You should always put items in order of expiration date. The items that will expire soon should be used first.

Take regular inventory of what you have in your pantry before you go grocery shopping. You do not want to purchase items that you have a large quantity of that you will not make use of.

Stock up on items that are on sale but be sure you will use them before they expire. You can also use coupons and other money saving tips that can help you purchase in bulk and save money.

Put newly purchased items behind other like items. This will help you use items before they expire. You can use the same process that grocers should use FIFO (First in First Out).

Mark the food items that will expire in the next month, so you will make sure to put them in your monthly meals. There are quite a few people in that throw money away each month by not stocking there pantry properly. Using this method will help you make use of every food item that you have and save money.

 

Organize the clutter in your home

Organizing clutter in your home can seem overwhelming once it has taken over. Clutter does not mean that your home is dirty, but it may feel like it is taking over your life. Going into different rooms and seeing things everywhere can make you feel as if your things are taking over, but there is a way to fix the clutter problem in your home. I will not say that is will be easy to do, and it will take time and effort, but it will be worth the effort.

Begin by making a plan of action to organize clutter your home. I recommend making a small map of your home with all of the rooms marked in order of least cluttered to worse, or first room that you want to work on to the last. Beginning with the least cluttered room first may help you get motivated and help you to not get the feeling of defeat.

Next, gather four boxes and place them on the outside of the first room. Use a box (or a bag) for trash, sell, keep, and things that belong in other areas of the home. These boxes will save you time and prevent you from running around your home putting things away. You may need additional boxes as you go, but four is a good start. The only box I recommend emptying when it is full would be the one that has things that belong in other rooms. This could save you some time in the end.

Now, begin at the left side of the room and work around. Go through everything including drawers, cabinets, and closets. To truly organize the clutter in the rooms you need to do a thorough job of getting things together or getting rid of it.

Continue with each step until you have organized the clutter in each room of your home. Remember to include all hall closets, linen closets, basement and attic.

Once you organize the clutter in your home plan a yard sale. You can sell things that you no longer needed to make money for your time that you spent on organizing the clutter in your home.

As a mom, clutter is one thing I struggle with quite a bit. I have used this method many times and it does work. You can adjust this plan to your personal preferences as you go through all of your things in your home but take this as a beginning step to organize your life. Getting your home organized can help you calm yourself and be more productive, or so I have read. I am still trying to master keeping my home organized.

Inboxdollar to Make Money Online

I have been using Inboxdollars since 2005. I am fairly sure I was one of the first people to join the site, and believe me I would not put so much effort into a site if they did not pay their members. I have not gotten rich on the site, but I use the money for gifts and things, but this year I have made more than usual and I see a lot more potential on the site.

Sign up for Inboxdollars and fill out all of the information and do all of the surveys to help get things that interest you. It is easy to sign up, the fist time usually takes a little while because they do want to make sure the videos, emails, etc is things that will actually interest you and keep you involved.

Look around the site and read the How to's. This is the best advice for any site that you join. Reading all of the information will give you insight on what is involved in earning money, and it will maximize your potential earnings.

Start earning money by signing up for offers, doing web searches, clipping coupons, shopping, watching videos, reading emails, and even earn money for going into certain locations if you have your smart phones location service set up for the site. There are a lot of ways to earn money on Inboxdollars.

Inboxdollars is a site that will pay you money. It has been around for quite a long time, and has never had issues paying out. Through the years of looking for ways to earn money online, I cannot say that about many sites. Most shut down within a couple of years, and own everyone a lot of money when they do. Do not let the payout threshold get to you. Yes you have to reach $30, but yes you can reach that several times a year if you maximize your earnings on the site.

Now that you have information from someone that has earned quite a bit of money through the years on the site, join and see for yourself what all of the talk is about Inboxdollars.   If you are truly wanting to earn money online, this is a great place to start.

Stash Investing

Stash Investing has become one of my biggest investment platforms. I signed up for the app a little over a year ago, and I am very pleased with the direction my investments have gone. Then recently there has been a few changes to the site, that I absolutely love. In my opinion the site is gearing for the direction for the users, and that is what I want in a app or site that I choose to put my money into.

When I began investing with Stash Investing it was very easy to set up. They asked me some simple financial questions and set up a portfolio mix of sorts. I did change some of the investments that it recommended, but in all I stuck with what was given to me. I do know a little about stocks and investing, but not enough to go it alone when it comes to investing.

A couple of months ago I noticed that Stash Investing was offering a retirement account on the app. I was a little unsure about this product, but I put a little money in, and have it set up to auto invest $5 a month out f my checking account. I have actually made a few dollars in the retirement account and it has made a great addition to my investing. I am not 100% clear on how this will affect my taxes at the first of the year, but I will be doing more research into that as well.

Last week I received a message introducing a new plan they have. It is $9 a month and it has a few perks, but my biggest excitement came when reading about the custodial accounts. I have two kids and this account includes two kids with the monthly charge. So now I am going to set up accounts for my kids.

 In all I have been doing fairly well using this app. I take about $100 out of my account each month to go into my Stash Investing account. Now for those of you who do not know, I have been a single mom on a shoestring budget for a while. Just recently have I gotten into a relationship and started getting a little help. I wanted to share that so you know that anyone can start investing with Stash. Even $5 a week invested in a good stock, can start adding up before you know it. $5 a week adds up to $260 without any form of return. So If I just put $5 in investing, $5 in retirement, and $5 in each kids investment account, that would be  over $1000 a year that I am putting away to watch grow.

Now do not get me wrong, there is a chance of losing money when investing in anything. I do have one investment that has lost a little bit of money over the last few months, but with everything I am still quite a bit in the positive, and I see my financial portfolio growing more than I ever have before.

Disclaimer:

Before investing in any site or stock be sure to read all of the information provided to you. I do have a business degree and research finances a lot, but I am not a financial advisor. I am sharing my positive experiences with everyone so that hopefully I can help at least one person start advancing in their financial future.

Live on less Money than what you Earn

As a single mom I tend to be looking everywhere for financial advice, money saving tips, and other money saving advice. I have learned that one of the biggest mistakes that people make with their personal finances is spending more than you earn. Even before I was a single mom, I did the same thing. I have learned that one of the biggest mistakes that people make with their finances is spending more money than they earn. Some people are trying to keep up with their friends and others just think that they can't stop spending. I have even noticed some parents spending more than they earn because they do not want to let their children down, believe me the kids will understand when they are put in the same situation.

The first step in spending less than you earn is to know exactly what you are earning. Calculate everything that you have coming in; your income, your spouse’s income, investments, and any other miscellaneous earnings that you may have. Be sure to include all your earnings so that you are knowledgeable about what money you have.

Calculate your monthly spending. This calculation should include everything from housing to your everyday drinks. You need to know what you are spending every month so that you can determine what you need to do to spend less than you earn.

Now find out what you can do to cut back on your expenses every month. This may be cutting back on your bills like cable, phone, finding ways to save on utilities, or other ways to cut back on your bills. I have found that the biggest amount that I was spending was on things like sodas, food, and other small items that I honestly did not think about until I figured out I was spending more than $50 a month. Even the smallest cut in your spending can make the difference between spending more than you earn or less than you earn.

Stop using the lines of credit. Most people spend more than they earn because of credit cards. Stop using the credit cards and pay the balance down. Just because the minimum balance is only $200-$300, if you are adding more than that each month you are defeating the purpose. Leave the cards at home so that you will not be tempted to use them. Credit cards are good in cases of emergency, but that is it?

Once you have begun to spend less than you earn you should start a savings account. Put a small amount it this savings account each month. This money can be used during months when bills may be higher, or you just end up spending more than you earn. Things always come up; this can help you be prepared.

Simple tips for spending less than you earn Quit trying to impress others. Stop being concerned about what others think Don't worry about your children being disappointed, explain to them the situation. Find ways to save on everything from paper products to bill payments. Keep up with your spending. Continue to work on spending less than you earn, you will continue to do better every month.