Today is the last day to enter the ‘$15 for your best grocery money saving tip’ contest.  If you have a great tip on how to save money on groceries, please share!  The winner will receive $15 in their PayPal account!

Don’t forget to leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you if you are the winner.  Thanks for all the great tips submitted already! 

I was following up on a money saving tip from Aurelia (see my ‘$15 for your best grocery money saving tips’ contest), and I ran across a really cool feature…

One of the grocery stores I shop at is Price Chopper.  You can find the weekly ad at their website.  That’s not so unusual, many stores allow you to view the weekly ad online.

But what was unusual was the ability to check items listed in the weekly ad and add them to a printable shopping list!  The shopping list is sorted by department, and has the description and price of the item.

Don’t forget to submit your best grocery money saving tip for a chance to win $15! 

See Contest Details for more information.  Contest ends Friday 9/21.

Marie at Mommy Community wrote a great article about ‘Simple Ways to Help You Cut Your Monthly Expenses in Half’.  She had so many good tips, I just had to share…

Simple Ways to Help You Cut Your Monthly Expenses in Half
by Marie @ Mommy Community

It’s probably the same in most families … at least once a month, you
sit down and figure out your monthly expenses. Looking through the
bills, you are probably wondering … “How the heck are we able to spend
this much?! What are we spending our money on?” Well, if you pay
attention to your monthly expenses, most likely, you will be able to
see where you can actually cut down on. Read on …

I’m on a mission to cut our grocery bill. I may be a financial planner, but I’m not the most frugal or patient person in the world. Which means I’m not the best shopper in the world.

We spend way too much money on groceries! I’ve been doing better - watching store ads, noticing which stores have the best prices on my favorite items - but I still have a long way to go, and I’m serious about cutting the grocery bill.

So… I’m giving away $15 for the best grocery money saving tip.

You’ve probably heard that you should have an emergency fund.  This is one of the first steps you should take in your journey to financial freedom. 

Most people don’t understand why they need an emergency fund, or how much they should have in one. 

There are several reasons why you should have an emergency fund, including:

* to meet unexpected expenses, such as medical bills, car or house repairs, etc., without having to resort to using credit cards or taking on any other debt

* to cover living expenses during a short-term unemployment period due to layoff, disability or other unusual circumstances

Bankrate.com issued a 7-day money challenge recently which caught my eye.

Here are the basics of the challenge:

Step 1: Figure out how much cash you need to cover a week’s worth of gas, groceries, entertainment, dinner on the town, breakfast at McDonald’s, books, music CDs, cosmetics, gifts — the whole gamut of casual expenses.

Step 2: Be honest. Don’t deliberately overestimate so that you’re sure to have enough cash to get through the week.

Step 3: Set the anticipated amount aside and don’t use debit or credit cards.

My baby, Bosco, had to have surgery this week.  And while there was no question that she would get the treatment she needed, I decided to do some homework to see if I can cut the vet costs in the future.  Here’s what I learned…

1.  Plan ahead.  Don’t wait for an emergency to have a vet, and know your vet’s emergency hour policies.  - I have a vet already (have had the same vet for the last 12 years), and am pretty good about keeping annual checkup appointments, but I don’t know his emergency policy.  I’ll be sure to ask at our next appointment, which is about 3 weeks away.

There’s some debate among financial planners as to the best way to pay down debt. Some say paying the highest interest rate debt first is the best way; others say paying the smallest balance first is the best way.

Both methods have advantages and disadvantages, so we’ll take a look at both, and help you decide which method is best for you.

Method #1 - Highest Interest Rate

In this method, you focus on paying off your highest interest rate debts first. The basic steps in this method include: