Frugality

Why Should You Downsize to a Smaller Home

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In tougher times and especially with the issues that face our economy today, families should consider downsizing to a smaller home as an option to deal with a shortage of funds. Many families have been hit hard in this economic downturn, and can’t afford the hidden costs of owning a home. For those who don’t want to move in apartments or condos, downsizing is one way to stay in a house, but cut costs.

If you don’t already own a home now is not the best time to buy, especially if you’re unsure whether the house is a long-term commitment.. Buying a home isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There are many benefits, such as building credit through payments, tax benefits, and no noisy apartment building neighbors. However, there are costs for maintenance of a home and insurance coverage,

Larger homes have more space, but these can be hard to keep clean over time. If you just take into account the cost of energy it takes to heat a larger home the downsides start to become obvious. The cost of gas is only going to rise in the coming years so you should consider this fact before deciding on your next living space. Also consider the other expense like property tax, insurance, and maintenance. These factors can make your living situation economically unbearable.

Once you decide decide to downsize there will be items that you don’t want to throw away. They might be belongings that you don’t want to part with or family heirlooms. If this is a concern, there are options, such as storage facilities that can accommodate any storage needs you may have – from extra bookshelves to the family boat.

Renting is a cheaper way to live, but you’re getting nothing back from your investment. If you still want to own your own home you can still downsize and have all of the investment benefits that come along with ownership. Take a look at the market and see what’s available. It may be a decision for you that has more pros than cons.

Incandescent Bulbs Being Phased Out

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I was surprised to read yesterday that incandescent bulbs are being phased out in the United States.  I was aware that they were being phased out in other countries but somehow missed the news that they were being phased out here.  Under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 signed into law by President Bush most incandescent bulbs will be phased out between 2012 and 2014.  This will leave CFLs as the main lighting option.  The goal of the legislation is to increase energy efficiency.

I like CFLs but I still only have a couple in my apartment.  This is mainly because the apartment I live in supplies most of the bulbs and they aren’t CFLs.  I just use CFLs in a couple of lamps.  When incandescent bulbs are no longer available the conversion to CFLs could be expensive for some people although they will eventually save money in the form of lower electric bills.  Even though I think everyone should use CFLs I’m not sure if I agree with giving people no other choice.  What do you think?

Saving Money in Tough Times

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The following is a guest post from my wife, Carrie, who is launching her own blog titled Online Advice Columns. Her blog is also part of my niche site experiment and I’ll update you later on how that is progressing. To help promote her blog you can get an additional entry to my book and $5 Amazon gift card giveaway by leaving a comment on the latest post at Online Advice Columns. It would also be nice if you leave a comment here but it won’t count as an entry to the book giveaway.

What does the year 2011 have in store for American Families? If you were to ask that question many people would say, “Tougher Times”.

As many families live paycheck to paycheck trying to figure out what bill can wait until the next time, or how they are going to feed their family on what little money they have left and how they can afford to put gas in the car.

Saving money is hard for all types of families, and with the way prices of gas, food and taxes are rising I see it becoming even tougher. So what and how can we as Americans do to help ourselves save money and provide a better life for our kids?

My husband and I are simple people. We do not live above our means, and we don’t just go out and buy things because everyone else has it.

We save money by watching what we buy, looking at store sales and cutting coupons, and not buying everything. People shop everyday for things they don’t HAVE to have. Spending hundreds and thousands of dollars on things that in a few years they will throw away or put in a garage sale.

If you watch store sales, or even go to websites of the grocery stores they offer great deals and sometimes you can even print their coupon off and save even more. Also, don’t buy name brands all the time. Off brands are sometimes just as good, and I am just as careful about brand names as my coupons, because there are some off brands that are just the same as name brands and the name brands will have a coupon so you are saving more.

Driving is becoming more and more of a huge expense than we all know it. In another year, we could be seeing gas prices as high as 5.00 per gallon! When I stop and think about that, it is awful.

This is one area where I believe we can help each other. Carpooling is one way to help save on gas. Take turns riding to work with coworkers and split the gas cost. You can do this with taking children to school as well. If you live in an area where you have to drive your children to school, find a neighbor that is going to the same school and take turns driving the kids. Another idea is plan your driving trips each week. Don’t do extra driving and stay home more.

If you stay home more you are saving money, and you are spending quality time with your family,which is something else that more and more families need to do. Almost everyone can save at least 50.00-100.00 a month if they really try and put the effort into it and stick to a plan.

Times are getting to the point that we are going to end up with more and more homeless people, kids without food and clothing, and businesses shutting down because people can’t afford to drive. We need to stop and think before we drive, go to the store, or purchase that bigger TV, and ask ourselves “Do I really need to do this?”

Turning on the Heat

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It has been an unusually warm fall so far here in southwest Missouri. We turned off our AC in September and haven’t had to turn on our heat yet. We didn’t have to use heat or AC in the month of October and it looks like we won’t have to use either one in November either. Although we have had days with the highs in the 40s it has stayed in the 70s in our apartment. I’m guessing that maybe our downstairs neighbor has her heat cranked up and we are getting the benefit of it. This is probably the longest I have gone in the year without having to turn on the heat.

What is the longest you have gone without turning on the heat?