Free Holiday Spending Budget Worksheet
Written by Kristine McKinley · November 4, 2008
In my “I’m Putting Christmas on a Budget” post, I talked about the importance of creating a budget to help you save money this holiday season. In addition to gifts, you need to figure out how much you want to spend on decorations, food, and supplies as well.
To help you plan your holiday spending budget, I’ve created a free worksheet, which you can download here.
Planning who you want to buy for, what you want to buy and how much you want to spend will help you save money by allowing you to shop around and get the best deals on gifts this year.
I hope you enjoy the holiday spending worksheet. Happy shopping!
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I’m Putting Christmas on a Budget This Year!
Written by Kristine McKinley · November 4, 2008
I’m doing something that is very out of character for me… I’m thinking about holiday shopping in the first week of November. Normally, I’m one of those last minute, barely get it there on time Christmas shoppers, so this is very unusual for me.
But like a lot of people, I want to save money this holiday season, and one of the best ways to do that is to start my Christmas shopping early.
For all of you who want to join me and put Christmas on a budget this year, here are some tips to get you started:
Start early - Perhaps the best tip this year will be to start early. It is expected that retailers will be offering deals far earlier this year than in previous years, and starting early will help you plan better and scope out those deals.
Make a list - Make a list of items you plan on buying this year, whether it’s gifts, decorations or food for the holiday entertaining. Having a list will allow you to snag items as they go on sale, and it will keep you from procrastinating til the last minute.
Set a budget - It’s easy to get excited and go overboard on gifts, especially if you don’t have a budget in place. Write down everyone you want to buy for this year, and set a specific dollar amount for each person. You’ll be surprised at how much this will help reduce your overall holiday spending!
Continue Reading I’m Putting Christmas on a Budget This Year!
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It’s Not ALL Bad News…
Written by Kristine McKinley · October 22, 2008
You’d never guess there was any good news in the economy based on the gloomy headlines and the lack of consumer confidence. The economy is definitely in turmoil right now, but I’ve always felt that the media focused on the negative news and buried any good news.
So I was thrilled to see ‘10 Things That Are Going Right’ on Kiplinger.com today.
According to the guys at Kiplinger, there are a few reasons to be optimistic about after all:
1. Oil prices have dropped 50% in the last three months. I have definitely noticed this at the gas pumps as gas prices have dropped from over $4 per gallon to $2.33 per gall earlier this week. This will definitely help the old pocket book each time we fill up.
2. Deals on new cars are abundant as carmakers have suffered double digit decline in sales. This is good news for consumers in the market for a new car. In addition, carmakers have finally started developing hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles which should have long-lasting benefits.
3. Interest rates are low and are expected to go lower. So again, consumers in the market for a new car or house should benefit.
4. Home prices are down significantly, which is good news for first time home buyers who were previously priced out of the market.
Continue Reading It’s Not ALL Bad News…
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Bailout Plan Includes Tax Breaks Too
Written by Kristine McKinley · October 22, 2008
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about the $700 billion bailout plan that was passed recently in an attempt to rescue the housing market. What you may not know is that there were several tax relief provisions included in this bill.
Included in the bill were some new tax credits, and some other tax bills that were set to expire were extended.
Here’s a quick summary of the tax breaks found in the bailout bill:
Mortgage debt forgiveness - under previous tax law, if you had any debt forgiven, the cancelled debt was taxable income to you. The new law temporarily stops homeowners from owing tax on cancelled debt up to $2 million. The debt has to be related to your primary residence. This is actually an extension on a law that was set to expire; the new law will extend this provision until 2012.
Lower property taxes - homeowners who don’t itemize their deductions will be able to deduct up to $500 ($1,000 for joint taxpayers) of personal property taxes in addition to the standard deduction. This is effective for 2008 and 2009.
Continue Reading Bailout Plan Includes Tax Breaks Too
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How to Save Money with Meal Planning
Written by Kristine McKinley · October 17, 2008
Here are some more articles on how to save money with meal planning:
Quick Ways To Save and Be Frugal With Meals - Make a list. Always keep a list on hand for what you need and what’s on sale. This will also help with your meal planning. Plan your meals around sales. If pork is on sale that week add it to your menu for the week. …
7 ways to save money at the grocery store - Fresh, frozen or dried, fruit makes a satisfying, sweet end to any meal. It will add vitamins, minerals and fiber that aren’t found in cakes or candy. Working some small changes into your grocery shopping habits will not only save money …
Tightening my belt… - In fact, two of the blogs that I subscribe to (both totally unrelated) are launching a “save money” challenge for themselves this month and have invited others. Check them out at Kath Eats Real Food and I Will Teach You to be Rich. …
That’s our list and we’re sticking to it - Being further away has also forced us to plan our meals a little better as well. Again, before we just ran to the grocery store before dinner to get whatever was needed for our meal, now we can’t. My wife has been pretty much planing …
Healthy Eating on a Budget - Menu Plan. Having a menu plan for the week allows you to save money, time and brain power. 2. Coupons. Clip, clip, clip from your local paper. Print, print, print from money saving websites like Freebies 4 Mom, Money Saving Mom, …
Recommended Resources:
Dine Without Whine - A meal planning service for busy families. If you understand the benefits of meal planning, but need help implementing it, this is a great service to have. Get menu plans, grocery lists, recipes and more to help you save money and time!
Meal Planning on a Budget - Tips on how to get started with meal planning and how to slash your grocery budget with meal planning.
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