Category Archives: Frugal Living

8 Money-Saving Tips for Large Families

Budgeting, Frugal Living, Saving Money,

 

A woman and her five kids having fun on a light blue couch

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This post was contributed to Leisure Freak by freelance content writer Charlotte Wyatt.  

Having a large family means constantly working on your spending discipline and finding different ways to save more money. After all, there is no such thing as a never-ending supply of money, and taking care of a large family can get quite expensive. However, even with everything you have to handle financially, there are ways to save extra money. In this article, we’ll let you in on eight money-saving tips for large families that will make your everyday lives that much easier.

Surprisingly simple money-saving tips for large families 

Many people dream of having a large family, but most of them end up quitting this idea due to financial concerns. After all, it’s not a secret that taking care of a big family can be very expensive.

A large family walking across a bridge during a sunset
Even though taking care of a large family is expensive, there are plenty of ways to make it work without having to sacrifice a lot.

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But even with all of that in mind, we often see many large families making it work with smiles on their faces. So, we did our research and found money-saving tips that might make you decide not to give up on your dream of having a large family.

#1 Set a budget and stick to it

The bigger the family, the more important it is to focus on determining your budget. Make sure to write down what money is coming in as well as what money is going out. Even the smallest expense should be on your list as it will help you understand your spending habits. More importantly, it will help you see if there is any more room to save.

By creating a budget, you’ll be doing yourself, as well as your entire family, a huge favor. There’s no better way to save money than rationally and strategically deciding how to spend it.

#2 Live simply

Most people think that having more kids means needing extra space and more things. But many large families do quite the opposite – they downsize their belongings and live a simpler life. This helps them save money and still live comfortably.

Four siblings hugging in the middle of a field and looking at the sunset
Living a simpler life will help your kids learn and nurture strong core values and become good people.

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Thus, you don’t need to wait to downsize after retirement. Your kids can learn to share rooms, and even if you don’t have a backyard, we’re sure there’ll be great parks in the neighborhood. Your holidays will still be magical without spending too much on decor, and your kids will still feel happy and loved.

Living simpler will surely help you save money. But, more importantly, it will help you teach your children the value of togetherness over material things.

#3 Save while shopping

Shopping for a large family is very different from your regular weekly visit to the grocery store. In fact, it usually requires thorough planning and detailed considerations.

Here are just some of the ways large families save money while shopping:

  • Many large families buy in bulk. 
  • Shopping online allows you to stay organized and curb impulse buying.
  • Visiting thrift shops is a great way to find cheap treasures your entire family will love.
  • Research coupon and promotion websites and take advantage of good offers.

#4 Don’t run away from hand-me-downs

Hand-me-downs are not something that’s reserved only for large families. Even in families with two kids, hand-me-downs are entirely common. We completely understand if you want all of your kids to have their own things, but just remember how expensive kids’ clothes can be and how fast they outgrow them, and you’ll realize you can spend that money on something more valuable.

If you want to save even more, consider sharing with other families. This way, you’ll not only save your money, but you’ll also help another family save theirs, too.

#5 Dine-in and prepare meals

Taking a large family out to eat is not just an expensive experience, but it can also be quite stressful and frustrating, especially if younger kids are involved. And even if you choose more affordable restaurants, the bill quickly adds up.

Preparing meals together and eating at home is one of the money-saving tips for large families
Cooking family meals together is a great way to teach your kids responsibilities while strengthening your relationship at the same time.

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This doesn’t mean you can’t make your home dining experience fun and meaningful. For instance, you can have a “make your own pizza” night and watch a family movie together after. You’ll still have a great meal, but you’ll also spend quality time together, and your kids will learn new skills.

#6 Look for free activities

Every kid wants to participate in different activities, join classes, try sports, and similar. However, these things cost money, and these expenses are much bigger when a large family is in question.

Luckily, there are ways to save money by doing a little research. You may find that your town or city is hosting free events for kids, or perhaps the school district offers different classes at reduced rates. You can never know until you start digging and asking around.

#7 Teach your kids to place a higher value on experiences than on things

Take a moment and think about your childhood. We are almost sure that you most remember fun family trips, movie nights, and even family dinners that were enriched with some silly anecdote. We’re also sure that you probably don’t remember most toys you begged for and quickly lost interest in them.

Your kids will likely remember the same things. They’ll cherish precious family moments and always happily reminisce about the quality time you’ve spent together. Sure, there will always be a toy or a gift with a special meaning to them, but we guarantee that, for most people, experiences are much more memorable and meaningful than any material thing. The best part about them is that they’re mostly free!

#8 Remember – there’s always room to save more

Lastly, always keep in mind that no matter the situation, there are always ways to save more money. The trick is in thinking outside the box and looking for creative alternatives for otherwise expensive solutions. And trust us, if you put your mind to it, you’ll be able to get a lot of things done more or less free of charge. 

For instance, let’s say you and your family are moving. Sure there are costs that are unavoidable but saving money when moving is not impossible. A good way to cut costs during the process is by asking family and friends to help you instead of hiring movers or using things you already have at home, such as blankets as moving supplies.

Final thoughts

On top of everything we’ve listed, there are plenty more money-saving tips for large families you can test. Always have in mind that every family is unique and specific in its way. Therefore, it’s always good to think outside the box and come up with creative ways to boost your family’s budget. If you put enough effort, soon you might even be able to start thinking about ways to fund your early retirement.

Much thanks to Charlotte Wyatt for sharing these timely money savings tips when squeezing some discounts out of daily life has never been more needed.
8 Money-Saving Tips for Large FamiliesAuthor bio:

Charlotte Wyatt is a single mom living with her two kids in Washington D.C. She is working as a freelance content writer which gives her flexibility to spend a lot of quality time with her kids. Being that she’s supporting her family on her own, she learned many money-saving tips and she’s always happy to share them in her articles. 

Is Early Retirement Lifestyle Inflation Ever Justified?

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There might be something wrong with me. I was given the green light to spend more money in my early retirement.  So I tried to do it but failed. Lifestyle inflation is a huge risk to avoid when saving for retirement and financial independence. It robs us of potential future investment income when money is spent unnecessarily for wants beyond needs. But once we are happily rat race free and living off of our portfolio, is early retirement lifestyle inflation ever justified? 

Is Early Retirement Lifestyle Inflation Ever Justified?

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Asking The Question: Is Deliberate Early Retirement Lifestyle Inflation Ever Justified?

The reason that I ask this question is due to events that began over a year ago. I was meeting with my CFP and he asks as he always does, what have you been up to and how are things going with cash flow? 

For years I’ve got the impression that he’s perplexed about our budget. We live in an above average cost region in a desirable and fast growing town on what most here would consider a small amount of money. He knows exactly what income I’m getting and living off of in early retirement. I explained everything was going well and that is when he dropped the unexpected: 

According to their analysis, I could increase my cash flow. They recommend upping the monthly distribution amount that I receive from my IRA. 

You’re suggesting that I take more money out of my portfolio to spend? How did this happen?

He presented graphs and analysis based on my portfolio, future Social Security income, tax considerations, and their Monte Carlo calculated results to support increasing my distribution amount. 

I never thought this would happen. I retired early at age 51 with less than a million dollar portfolio. Even so, did I still save too much? Over 10 years into this sweet early retirement ride I sometimes wonder if I could have retired much younger. 

On the other side of my ponder was the effect of my static withdrawal rate for the first 9 years of early retirement. It was in the upper 4% range, nearer 5%. My withdrawal amount never fluctuated with inflation. Inflation that was primarily associated with health insurance. This must have played into the current positive cash flow situation and supports recent talk that 4% withdrawal rate is too low.

This also shows the enormous positive long-term impact of a few short but enjoyable retirement gigs. I lived off of my portfolio 72t distributions and pumped any gig earnings back into my net worth. Simply put, I paid off my $100K mortgage and added a bit to the portfolio by taking advantage of 401K opportunities. Those unexpected and unplanned moves while simply living on budget allowed my eliminated mortgage payment to counter health insurance budget increases and added an offset to some of the portfolio withdrawals for a couple of years. 

At first I hesitated and even said no thanks, but then….

I started thinking that maybe he was right and we should cut loose a little more. YOLO, that great seducer came to mind while sitting there in his office and I agreed to the recommendation. With that my monthly distribution increased $800. A monthly raise anyone would love to get. I knew it could go to good use. It was certain that our health insurance premium would jump at the end of the year as it always does and I had some new expensive medication I had to now take. There are other things that we ditched long ago in our smart frugal budget and lifestyle that we can maybe look at again. 

I began to think that because this is a deliberate increase in spending based on financial data and complex calculations, it probably shouldn’t be considered early retirement lifestyle inflation. It’s easy to rationalize. A little too easy. However, a year later things have played out differently. 

There was a problem, there wasn’t anything I wanted to spend more money on.

I had created a sustainable and enjoyable smart frugal lifestyle. It seems when given the opportunity to open up spending there wasn’t anything wanted or needed above what our budget already allowed for. When it came down to it, there was nothing I felt deprived of having. We simply do everything that we want to do. We buy what we want and need to buy. 

Here’s what I think happens. FIRE minded folks think differently than most people. The desire to wastfully own wants and expand needs significantly decreases over time when we are FIRE aware. In my case it wasn’t reversible even with there being more money available to spend. Good financial and simpler living habits die hard too.  

What ended up happening with the increased income.

The extra monthly income easily covers my added medical expenses and the rest gets diverted to my bank savings and CDs. I’ve worked it into my increased retirement cash holdings strategy. Aside from that, it’s nice knowing that if I did have an unplanned expense or if something special came up that I have the cash to handle it. 

I did splurge and bought a long-time bucket list auto several months ago. Something that caused questions about my financial standing among friends and acquaintances. That social pop blew over quickly and I am really happy that I scratched that itch.

The extra cash has allowed us to assist our children during the pandemic as their income has decreased, causing them budget challenges. 

If the portfolio takes a dump it’s comforting to know I can use saved cash and easily reduce portfolio distributions.

The Takeaway

As hard as it is to initially set and keep to a budget, when done correctly it produces positive lifelong personal finance habits.

Creating a sustainable and enjoyable retirement lifestyle is the reward, not getting more money. Which is a reason why my retirement gigs ended as they did. Everyone is different, but we have landed in a lifestyle without feeling deprived and all our needs, even wants are met. Increasing our spending would feel forced and unnecessary. 

Even when retiring early without a million dollar portfolio, having a portfolio aligned budget and lifestyle can result in still having long-term financial security. 

Early spending discipline can result in better than expected long-term portfolio performance. That and simply keeping our eyes open to rewarding opportunities of interest and passions. FIRE naysayers are wrong, retiring early to a life of austerity is not a given. We can use our youth, energy, and health to our advantage in early retirement. 

The fear that the retirement calculator results could be wrong was unfounded. I constantly ran my numbers before ditching the rat race and they ended up right. At least to this point over a decade into this early retirement adventure. I am going to feel good about trusting the numbers my CFP is seeing now too.

 

Is early retirement lifestyle inflation ever justified? It certainly can be allowed from a numbers perspective if the portfolio has performed well enough and we age beyond any long-term tipping point. The issue is whether we are happy with our lifestyle and whether spending more will make any difference, either good or bad. With all the hellish news we hear today, hopefully this personal revelation brings a little thought provoking sunshine to anyone’s doubts when considering their retirement. 

Healthline Articles Of Interest To First Responders 

Healthline recognizes Seniors face a complex Medicare system. To help first responders have one less thing to worry about during this difficult time, Healthline experts created an easy to read guide outlining Medicare eligibility. They discuss the different parts of Medicare and what to do if you retire before 65.

Medicare for First Responders
Medicare Part C

Can A Frugal Retirement Be Enjoyable? Mine is

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My choosing a frugal retirement is an enjoyable personal success. When you can’t ever see earning a 6 figure salary or having a million dollar portfolio you have to create a unique retirement solution. I chose to strategically make smart balanced adjustments and decrease our lifestyle cost which means less is needed in the bank to retire. Getting our lifestyle cost aligned with our portfolio amount where the retirement calculator said the numbers work became the goal. I’ve seen some frugal retirement naysayers, mostly from people who have never tried it. Now as I’ve already cleared a decade of early retirement I can say that my flavor of a frugal retirement lifestyle has exceeded expectations. 

Can A Frugal Retirement Be Enjoyable? Mine is

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Choosing A Frugal Retirement, What’s Not To Enjoy?

Why I looked for a workable employment liberation answer –

Retirement is constrained by how much money we have. All the talk about being able to replace 80% of our pre-retirement salary for a comfortable retirement is a tall task and I think I’ve proven that notion wrong. For many households including ours, it’s really tough to save a million dollars or more for retirement. With all I had experienced in my tech career that required a relocation, endless cycles of layoffs, reorganizations, etc., my having to survive working into my 60s or later was something I couldn’t stomach as acceptable or even viable. In 1998 at age 40 I decided that I wanted to explore early retirement options and began my 10 year early retirement plan. 

We didn’t let the million dollar portfolio barrier deter us from early retirement. That’s when frugality became the solution. But it had to be done right or not at all. If it was a joyless existence of austerity it wouldn’t be worth it. While some choose extreme frugal practices, ours was uniquely measured to fit us. 

The Fun Stuff – 

I want to clear the air up front and get past notions of a frugal retirement as sitting in a small apartment or RV with a TV as the only entertainment. While some may call that heaven, that isn’t at all close to our retirement lifestyle. We stayed in our 2 story home close to our daughter’s families and have what we call a frugal budget. It not only covers all of our living expenses, but includes our hobbies, entertainment, and much more.

Travel- 

We travel as much as we want to. Other than a Hawaiian vacation bought through Costco Travel a couple of years ago, we usually prefer budget friendly road trips. We have our go-to destinations of the Black Hills SD and southern California where we hunt for and lock-in great lodging deals ahead of time. We also travel yearly to places where we enjoy visiting and staying with extended family. All on a yearly travel budget of $3,500. If we over do something and go over one season we adjust down the next, make other budgeted adjustments, or accept any slight overrun for the year.  

Holidays-

We enjoy making the holidays merry just like anyone else. With grandkids there’s always something going on from Halloween to New Years. We have a $1,500 holiday budget that covers family outings, celebrations, and gifts. 

Dining Out-

We dine out on occasion but we aren’t hooked on going out to eat a lot. In fact, by the time we return from a vacation we get pretty tired of restaurant dining. We do dine out for special occasions and typically try to use a promotional discount or coupon of some kind. I happily admit to useing our advancing age to our advantage and get senior discounts when available. Dining out comes out of my misc budget which also covers other random household, automotive, unplanned but expected non-fixed monthly spending. 

Activities-

When you look you find all kinds of free activities and events. The only cost is getting there and what you spend once you are there. Food trucks and beer vendors are always around. We go with a $40 cash budget in mind for events and it comes out of my misc budget. It’s always easy to stick to. We typically go to events to enjoy the venue, not load up on expensive food or drink. We have a habit of going with a beverage in hand to start things off and have already eaten a meal. I do love a good draft beer and that is always a budget challenger while attending events. 

Coffee Shop-

Every frugal person goes on about ditching the lattes. I do enjoy a good cup of drip coffee or an Americano and frequent an independent coffee shop in my town. It also serves as my daily social outlet. I have gotten to know many people in my town there and have been able to greatly expand my social circle beyond what had only included work peers before retirement. I have a $40 a week petty cash, aka pocket money allowance in the budget that covers this and everything else that’s a small random purchase during the week. 

Movies and TV Entertainment-

We cut the cord years ago and not sending that bill in every month still puts a grin on my face. I installed an attic type antena and used the existing coax cables running through the house to hook up our TVs on every floor that had cable before. Between over the air and online streaming with a Roku or Chromecast dongle we get all the programming we want. For movies we checkout free DVDs from our local library or use a standard $13 a month Netflix.  

Hobbies-

We do have hobbies in retirement. My biggest is an automotive hobby. Although that can be expensive if buying cars, my oldie has been with me since 1993. The hobby cost comes from the events I attend. Like other events, I set a cash budget. Any out of town events are aligned with planned vacations. Car maintenance comes out of my monthly misc budget. I did have a 21 year old Corvette that I gave up this year for a fun but rationally more practical all-season any weather or road condition convertible Wrangler. The difference between the two in the purchase amount was outside our 2020 budget and will be listed as a one time charge off. I had just survived a serious health scare and was ready for a change. It was also about a 45 year bucket list item I wanted to scratch off and it only happened because we had the extra funds to do it. Our frugal retirement allows for the occasional splurge.

Cell Service-

I see people spending way too much for their cell plans. I still use an old $100 a year pay as you go flip phone plan that I never use up all my prepaid account balance. One that brings a laugh from people around me every time I take a call. My wife uses an iPhone on a $10 low cost cell and data plan. We can live frugally and still stay connected to the world as much as we want to. 

Day to Day Lifestyle Cost and Spending-

What we did was push against our frugality threshold. When we went too far we backed off. The idea was to cut costs that didn’t have real happiness values and do so without feeling deprived. As opportunities to improve our frugality came we took them. There are many frugal living decisions we can make. There are just as many frugal living tips to put into practice. We embrace purposeful spending. Seldom is anything bought on whim without thinking first about whether we really need it, getting it will add something positive to our lifestyle, or if we decide to get it, getting it for a better price. We also won’t just settle for cheap. A needed quality product that may cost a little more but will last and do what it is supposed to do is what we target. 

Our 2020 Retirement Budget Numbers

We do not live in a low cost area of the US and live in the house we raised our 3 kids in. The last report I found of the median household income where I live is $121,000 and it’s most likely higher than that today. As almost everywhere else, based on the cars I see in the driveways and the cost of some of the housing around here, most people are living paycheck to paycheck. Here’s a peek at our retirement lifestyle budget figures for 2020. It’s based on the previous year and adjusted when necessary like once we see actual property tax assessments, insurance increases, etc. This should give an idea of what our definition of a frugal retirement that’s sustainable, enjoyable, and that works for us: 

  • Utilities: Water/Sewer/Power/Natural Gas/DSL/Cell/Netflix – $3,500
  • Insurance: HomeOwners/Umbrella/Autos – $4,400
  • Home Property Tax – $2,800
  • Healthcare Insurance: Medical/Dental –  $15,990
  • Out of Pocket Healthcare/Predeductible) – $4,000 max
  • Petty/Pocket Cash – $1,960
  • Misc: Repairs/Maintenance/Dining/Purchases/Gas/etc. – $9,000
  • Grocery/Toiletries/Cleaning Supplies/etc.- $10,400
  • Travel – $3,500
  • Holidays/Christmas – $1,500
  • Federal/State Income Taxes – $3,500

Total yearly budget $60,550

Will we be on budget for 2020? 

We will come in under budget this year. We are not traveling during the pandemic nor having family celebrations as normal. Events have all been a no go. Some things at the grocery store cost more but other expenses have all but disappeared. Just because we have a budget doesn’t mean we have to push against it. Hoping 2021 is a little closer to normal.

Are you thinking that our retirement budget isn’t very frugal?

There are plenty of frugal living stories of those living an enjoyable life spending less than we do. I love reading about what other people do and get great ideas but I don’t compete in frugality games. Here’s why I feel confident about considering our retirement lifestyle as frugal.

  • Our retirement lifestyle budget is just under 50% of our town’s median household income. We get to live here and enjoy all that it offers at a discounted price.
  • That 2020 budget figure comes in at 42% of our actual, not inflation adjusted 2009 household joint tax return AGI. That AGI was eleven years ago when I retired. Sure beats that 80% pre-retirement salary recommendation some experts throw around. 
  • Our yearly budget is the equivalent of us both earning $15 an hour at a full time job. An amount recommended as a dignified minimum wage.
  • When looking at the budget breakdown, our living expenses are fairly low at nearly $40K if it weren’t for ridiculously high healthcare costs. Health insurance and its associated out of pocket represents a full third of the total budget. In 3 years we will see a big part of that cost decrease when we are Medicare eligible. That along with my eventual Social Security that will also reduce our IRA withdrawals, lowering our taxable income for less income taxes.

Frugality Is Personal, Make Sure You Can Enjoy Yourself

We have been more frugal in the past when we needed to be and we still make adjustments to stay in our frugal living sweet spot. Our frugality isn’t defined by anyone else’s definition of frugal living. It’s based on what makes sense to us while still meeting our financial sustainability goals. All of this became the model for our frugal retirement lifestyle. What’s not to enjoy about that? 

I won’t nor can tell anyone what they should cut to live a sustainable and enjoyable frugal lifestyle. That has to be figured out by each individual and their unique circumstances. Everyone’s frugality threshold is different. Living a life feeling deprived is not an enjoyable way to live if you can do something about it. 

I want to give a shout out and a thanks to Feedspot’s top 10 frugal retirement sites that rated Leisure Freak at number five for 2020. Check out their list if you want to find sites that can provide ideas for successfully living your own frugal retirement lifestyle. 

Ditch The FIRE Movement? If Dissatisfied Then You’re Doing It Wrong

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It’s one thing to be a conforming consumer. Blind to the trappings of debt and undisciplined spending. Least forget the unending cycle of unrewarding work needed to support it. But it’s another thing when folks walk away from FIRE dissatisfied after they’ve been awakened to the possibilities of financial independence and maybe even an early retirement. If you’re dissatisfied and have decided to ditch the FIRE movement, then maybe you’re doing it wrong. 

Ditch The FIRE Movement? If Dissatisfied Then You’re Doing It Wrong

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There’s a lot of impressive FIRE stories to be found. 

The FIRE pitch is seductive. A glorious freedom lifestyle awaits all who dare challenge society’s consumption, employment, and retirement norms. We can be inspired by other’s FIRE success. There are some amazing people who are in their 20s, 30s, and 40s saving as much as 70% of their incomes to build a portfolio that’s at least 25 times their annual lifestyle expenses. 

They hit their numbers and retire early to live off their chosen safe withdrawal rate doing whatever their passions direct them to do. Many even taking on side hustles or other paid opportunities aligned with their interests. After all, a FIRE Retirement is the absence of needing to work, not the absence of working. It’s easy to fall in love with matching their success formula. 

Stop Keeping Up With The Jones’s and FIRE’s Most Famous

FIRE walkers fully accept the concept of not wasting time and money trying to keep up with the Jones’s. But sometimes that concept is ignored when it comes to creating a FIRE strategy. Especially if trying to reach the common FIRE before age 50 goal. 

The problem is that not everyone can match what some of FIRE’s most famous have done in a long-term sustainable manner. Either because of income or frugality. It’s clear that a plan that goes too soft will mean little seen as financial progress. But pursuing an aggressive FIRE plan based solely on the success of our FIRE superheroes can be a recipe for disillusionment. Go too far for too long and feelings of a living a deprived life creep in. The thought of living that way for the rest of one’s life can be daunting. 

Don’t Ditch The FIRE Movement. If you don’t like the taste, just change your recipe

There are no FIRE rules but you can still be approaching FIRE the wrong way. Not wrong as far as anyone else is concerned, there are no FIRE police. Just wrong as far as how your approach to FIRE impacts you. I came across a post by Ben Le Fort that lists the Ten Commandments of FIRE. Personally I prefer to use Tenets over Commandments but it captures in detail the following for anyone who wants FIRE:

The 10 Commandments of FIRE
  1. Thou Shalt Calculate your Savings Rate
  2. Thou Shalt Track thy Expenses & Create a Budget.
  3. Thou Shalt live a Frugal Life
  4. Maximize your Income
  5. Thou Shalt Not fall Victim to Lifestyle Inflation
  6. Clear your Debts
  7. Thou Shalt max out your tax-Sheltered Accounts
  8. Minimize your Investment Fees
  9. Thou Shalt not try to time the Market
  10. Talk About Money

There’s nothing pushing FIRE walkers to unsustainable extremes other than themselves

These FIRE tenets are not extreme unsustainable principles. But it’s easy to push too hard when being fueled by not only what we see others have done, but also the intoxicating thrill of watching the snowball effect destroy debt and grow wealth. However, we must logically define what we can realistically support and want for the long-term. Our limits in income and frugality need to be leveraged to our full advantage. But that must also come with the goal of living a happy life. 

From the stories I read of folks who decide to ditch the FIRE movement, I see in their complaints that everything they did was concentrated on numbers. They lamented cutting and living without things that brought them joy. Their plan left out that very personal component of a happy and enjoyable life of which only we can test and measure.

Create a plan that allows you to still enjoy the ride

Forget about having a take no prisoners plan. 

FIRE includes making lifestyle choices to optimize our savings rate. We decide what brings value to our life and cut the waste. Figuring that out isn’t always clear. We should push hard against our frugal thresholds without overly breaking them because it leads to feeling like we are living a deprived life. 

I know from experience that I won’t always know what that frugal threshold is until I break it. Then it’s time to adjust and back off a little until the real threshold is revealed. 

The idea is to create a sustainable lifestyle for the long-term that we want to live with now and after we ditch the rat race. Some of us aren’t happy or ready for a life where we never go to a coffee shop, out for a meal, attend a concert, or hit a movie. We should have a plan that allows for the little things we enjoy doing, but done in a thought out balanced way. Constantly test your frugality thresholds. 

FIRE and career can be worked on at the same time.

It’s OK to enjoy and even love what you do for income. Our jobs are key to reaching FIRE. Make decisions that best leverages your personal finances, career moves, and your life’s happiness when pursuing FIRE. We should be driven to improve our career prospects but don’t let numbers alone drive you. Watching a growing portfolio will not make you happy if you hate your budget and/or job.

Stop comparing and trying to keep up with FIRE’s most famous

Sometimes it seems like there’s a race to see who can retire the youngest or spend the least. Extreme stories are amazing and inspirational. But those stories aren’t going to be a one size fits all FIRE solution. Instead they should inspire ideas that can be used in a sustainable way for your own plan. 

We all have unique parameters to work around from income and frugal thresholds to the cost of where we live and family size. You can’t buy back years of regret, for either going too soft or too hard in your FIRE plan. Find your own sweet spot.

Create a FIRE Optimized Lifestyle You Look Forward to Living

I’m no certified expert, just someone who retired early at age 51 nearly a decade ago with an ordinary FIRE story. We did use frugal living to boost our savings rate. Over my 10 year early retirement plan we cut waste and tweaked our budget. We kept the things we valued that added to our happiness. In some cases we found that some things we cut was actually worth paying for and brought them back. Through it all we created a smart frugal and balanced lifestyle that got us the increased savings rate to retire early while still living the lifestyle we wanted to live. Both during the FIRE journey and now in early retirement. 

If in your FIRE journey you have apprehension and concern of forever living a deprived life by pursuing FIRE, then you’re just doing it wrong. Instead of deciding to ditch the FIRE movement, make necessary tweaks when feelings of austerity and deprivation hit. Always make sure that any tweaks are well thought out so that they don’t overly undercut your savings rate. For most of my tweaks it was just a matter of using sometimes instead of never or always to find the right balance. 

FIRE Is A Worthy Goal 

Even if you can’t win a race for the earliest FIRE age, doing the best possible for you is always financially better than doing nothing. Your Future You will certainly appreciate it.

Frugal Not Cheap: 3 Important Differences

Frugal Living,

There are many differences between being cheap and being frugal. Someone who is cheap does not want to spend money on anything, regardless of its value. Someone who is frugal understands the value of things but wants to cut costs when possible. It is important to understand these differences in the following situations.

Frugal Not Cheap: 3 Important Differences

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Short-Term Versus Long-Term Savings

Initially, it might seem like a good idea to brew your own coffee at home to cut costs. Cutting short-term costs such as coffee, fast food, or groceries is always a good start. It can save you a few dollars here and there, of which can add up if sustained. But it’s unlikely to affect your financial situation significantly on its own. Much of these kinds of costs are a great target for disciplined reduction. But since they can play a role in your social life, may cause reason for the cheap label. That’s why the frugal minded will also consider long-term savings.

Many people focus on cutting short-term costs but fail to price-shop for things like auto loans, mortgage rates, and all of the different insurance policies that we need. Price-shopping can be a hassle. But being frugal means considering the long-term and finding ways to reduce their insurance premiums, interest payments, and repayment fees. 

Another long-term savings target are the services you use. Phone, internet, and cable or satellite TV are areas where price shopping can provide long-term savings. Also consider only buying the service level you really need. Frugal thinking asks why pay for unlimited when it’s not needed or is it even needed at all. 

The amount of money you will save by price-shopping on larger purchases and other monthly services is incomparable to what you will save when just cutting a few dollars here and there.

Risk Versus Reward

Financial risk is sometimes necessary to see a profitable gain. People who are cheap might hold onto their dollars so tightly that they fail to take any necessary risks. Frugality is about considering the bigger financial picture. Consider your plan for retirement. One of the most common ways to increase your retirement account funds is to place them into well-researched low-risk investment accounts that follow the market. There are different degrees of risk, but someone who is cheap is likely to avoid these types of investments altogether. 

Although having ready cash available in an emergency fund and for short-term needs, investing the savings generated from disciplined cost cutting is a hallmark of frugal living. Frugality has a strategic mindset where you aren’t just holding onto your money, it is put to work for you. 

It includes investing for a better future. It requires having an open mind and learning about all of the ways to add value to your life and savings. There’s a lot to learn, from passive low-fee ETF investing and dividend investing, to active real estate investing and using technical analysis to make informed trade decisions with swing trading. But if you are being cheap with a closed mind and never advancing your knowledge about what’s available, how would you even know about them? Being frugal means doing the research and making informed investment decisions.

Frugality has you looking for ways to not only cut spending costs, but also how to best leverage your savings for the highest returns within your investment risk tolerance. Being cheap and avoiding taking risks entirely will make it difficult or impossible to increase your profits or to save the funds you require to retire comfortably.

Quality Over Quantity

Someone who is cheap will only consider price whereas someone who is frugal will also consider value. Someone who is cheap might choose to purchase clothing items from a discounted retailer. While your initial purchase might cost less, keep in mind that quantity usually does not indicate quality. The clothing items you purchase from a low-end retailer are going to fall apart much faster than something made with better materials.

Frugality, in this case, would mean finding ways to save on higher-quality items instead. This might mean buying secondhand goods or using discount cards. Otherwise, when you add up the cost of purchased items, you might find you’re paying more over the long-term for the items of lower quality.

Cheap and frugal are often used synonymously to describe the same type of person when they are actually very different things. 

While cheap people tend to focus on the price of something, frugal people look at the bigger picture and cut costs to afford more important things. Important things that include becoming debt free, having financial freedom, and saving for retirement. Understanding the difference between the two is key when preparing for your financial future.

Do Your Retirement Plans Include A Passion For Gardening? Retirement Gardening Tips

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While I was a working stiff one of our hobbies was working in the yard and gardening. It was a welcome escape from a Tech job of sitting in front of a computer and talking on endless conference calls. It was something my wife and I would do together on weekends chatting and pulling weeds or picking the literal fruits of our labor. We both looked forward to spending our increased available time in retirement to feed our passion for gardening and living a healthy lifestyle. But over the years of our retirement we have learned a few things. Here’s some retirement gardening tips and our observations for anyone planning to retire and spending more time in their yard and garden.

Do Your Retirement Plans Include A Passion For Gardening? Retirement Gardening Tips

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Retirement Gardening Tips to Save Money

Having a lush green lawn and a large garden can be costly in both time and money. Many working people have weekly lawn care to trim and mow, raking leaves, trimming bushes. Then there are services for fertilizing the lawn, aerating, spraying and/or pruning fruit trees, and spraying around the house for invasive pests like spiders and beetles. Some of these may have an ongoing contract where they just show up, do it, then send you the bill. When all added up this can run into a lot of money spent to save you time. Time that may be available once you have retired.

Chances are you already have the mower, line trimmer and other tools already sitting in your garage. Buying a couple of tank sprayers, one for weeds and one for insects, and a fertilizer spreader is not very expensive. There are multiple sources online to provide advice on what types of things to use in your area. Not only do you save a considerable amount of money but you also have knowledge and control over what is sprayed in your environment.

If plants get sugar aphids, professional companies would spray chemical insecticide. The problem is it would also kill any ladybugs that may be feeding on them. The aphids can be easily killed if you want to take the time by spraying them off the leaves with high pressure water from the hose. Try to use natural ways to remove pests and lessen the introduction of harmful chemicals to yourself and beneficial insects like bees and ladybugs when you can.

Retirement Gardening Tips to Save Time

Once I retired our lifestyle gradually evolved and we chose to spend much of the summer in our 5th wheel on our lake property. That has pretty much doubled the yard work but cut our time in half to do it.

As for saving time there are things you can consider. As most people, we have automated home sprinklers. That alone still required hand watering certain areas of the yard and garden based on watering needs. So a few years before I retired  I expanded my old system. I had extra zones on the controller box so I separated zones for flower beds, garden and lawns because of their vastly different water requirements. That way I can water my flower beds and garden twice a day for just a few minutes. My lawn is set for longer but only every 3 or 4 days.

This not only conserves water and saves money but also saves time. No more dragging a hose to water-starved plants. Through experimentation I know in the hottest part of the summer just how much water to give my lawn so that it stays green and yet only grows enough that it needs mowing only every 10 to 14 days. I have gladly given up a weekly lawn mowing routine.

Retirement Gardening Tips For Travelers

If your retirement plans include summer travel you might want to consider planting bushes and perennials that bloom at different times and let them become established. They can keep color in your yard year round with minimal care and to the casual observer it will appear you are home. Adding bark mulch around can keep the soil moist. It then requires less water and slows the weeds, or at least make it easier to pull them. Our city has organic mulch and wood chips available at the landfill at very reasonable prices. We have found that between metered watering of our lawn for slower growth, use of mulch to reduce if not eliminate weeds, and strategic planting of flowering bushes, automatic porch light sensors, and light timers within the home, that our home looks occupied for our extended travels spent at the lake.

Planning Your Garden For Your Evolving Retirement Lifestyle

In the past we grew a large garden with many varieties of vegetables. Coming back from the lake to find 20 giant zucchini too big to eat was irritating. Instead of being happy with a bountiful harvest filling the kitchen it just looked like a huge amount of work. We now only plant as much as we plan on eating with the exception of tomatoes. We harvest and either blanch, peel and freeze for use throughout the year, or we can (jar) salsa, chili and pasta sauce.

When planning your garden, check for vegetables that are cheap at the local farmer’s markets or grocery stores. Let them grow it for you instead of wasting your time, money, and garden space. We love homemade pickles. We used to plant pickling cukes and have them mature 5 or 6 at a time and sit in the fridge until we get enough to can. Now when we see them on sale we buy enough to make a dozen quarts of pickles.

We have a small patch of our garden area dedicated to herbs, garlic, green onions, chives and leeks that will grow almost anywhere. We have parsley, sage, rosemary, and yes thyme, as well as oregano and arugula. In the summer we can get a big pot of basil that we harvest 3 or 4 times and use it fresh or freeze it.

Spending Less On Fruit

Another patch in a less visible spot that used to be garden we planted some raspberry and blackberry bushes. They aren’t especially pretty but they provide a steady supply of berries. We have a small peach tree and a dwarf plum. Neither of which require spraying in our area and only have to be pruned once a year. We enjoy the fresh fruit and also make jam with it.

We enjoy many other types of fresh fruit without having to grow them ourselves. That’s because we have neighbors that have apples and pears and we exchange fruit with them. Look around your neighborhood. Ask your friends and family about setting up a fruit exchange and optimize your fruit variety without increasing your spent time and money.

 

We have found that we can still enjoy our yard and get a bountiful harvest while spending a minimal amount of money on it and only as much time as we would like. These are but a few money and time-saving ideas to consider in your retirement gardening plans. Once retired and your retirement lifestyle becomes more clear, find ways to evolve your gardening passion to align with it.

This article of retirement gardening ideas and tips was written by friend and Leisure Freak reader Ralph Arnold who retired early 8 years ago while in his 40s.

Regardless of your age, there’s nothing better than getting outside, digging in the dirt, and working in the garden. For more gardening info see Gardening Resources for Seniors.

How To Improve Your Financial Situation Today For A Better Future

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Money is something that not everyone is comfortable talking about. Either you’re doing well and you don’t overly want to go into your situation or seem like your boasting, or you’re not doing so well and you don’t want to have to think about it. Despite which option applies most to you, you may find that you just don’t want to have to think too much about money. But if you want to be able to let your finances really flourish, you just have to. You have to be okay with thinking about money, coming up with ideas, and planning what you’re going to do for a better financial future. There’s no way around it. Because if you are going to enjoy a healthy financial future, you have to start putting the wheels in motion today. And this is something that not everybody realizes.

So, you want to enjoy your retirement or have a more comfortable standard of living in ten years time? Well, that all starts today. Today is the day that you really need to be okay with making changes to your current circumstances, habits, and actions. When you can work on making improvements now, you will find that you really turn things around. Even if you’re not struggling and you have your sights set on being in an incredible situation. If you want that to happen, you need to get real about it all today. If you’re not sure where to start, let’s take a look at some steps that can help you to do it.

How To Improve Your Financial Situation Today For A Better FutureImage source

 

1- Be Real About Your Financial Situation

 

When you’re looking to make any kind of change in life, the first thing you need to do is access where you are. So think about your current situation. Whether it’s negative or positive, you need to understand what position you’re in now, so that you can work out what it will take for the better future you want. From living frugally to investing in yourself more, there are so many solutions to consider. But first, you have to really get to grips with where you are.

 

2-Deal With Debts

 

One thing you absolutely have to address is any debts that you have. If you are debt-free, then move on to point three. But if you do have debts, no matter how big or small they may be, you’ll want to work on paying them off as soon as possible. So speak to your providers and see if you can work out a repayment plan that is going to be as favorable to you as possible – no matter how long it takes.

 

3- Ensure You Have The Funding Available For Now

 

From here, you will want to make sure that you have all the funds you need to live today. This means that you will need to know that you can pay your bills and afford food for the time being. If you are in a short-term financial bind you can consider borrowing money. This is easily done if your credit is decent. But, you can get a small loan for bad credit too.  Just something to consider as help to cover a short-term gap. By working out a rough budget that you can stick to for now, you should be able to cut back on things that aren’t necessary, so that you are always living within your means going forward.

Improve Your Financial Situation Today For A Better FutureImage Source

 

4- Increase Your Income

 

Now, you need to work on increasing the money you earn. These ideas to drastically increase your income are always worth considering. Yes, this is going to take work. But if you want to improve your future, it will always be worth it.

 

5- Get A Side Hustle

 

Another option is to get yourself a lucrative side hustle, as seen in that post. Sometimes, you won’t always be able to earn the money that you want from your job. But doing something on the side will allow you to get the extra income you need.

 

6- Save Today To Benefit Tomorrow

 

Now, you may struggle to cut back today, because you think you need all of those things in your life to live comfortably. But if you really want to be able to enjoy your future, you will want to make sure that you’re living frugally today, so that you can enjoy more tomorrow. This may be something you need to do for a few months or a few years, but if you’re serious about your future, this will always pay off.

 

7- Start A Savings Plan

 

To help you do exactly that, you’re going to want to come up with a savings plan. Think about the amount of money you have free to pay towards your goals for the future (more on this in point ten). When you create a plan, you should find it much easier to start putting money away automatically, rather than seeing it as difficult to part with the cash.

 

8- Think About Your Retirement

 

Now, a huge part of your future will be retirement. You’re likely here because you want to retire early. But how early are you talking? Do you know what age you’d like to retire and how you’re going to do that? Maybe it’s time to sit down and really plan out what you need to do with your career to make this happen.

 

9- Watch Your Money More Closely

 

To really help you to make this work, you have to keep an incredibly close eye on your financials at all times. Check in with your accounts daily, assess your spending daily, and make judgments going forward to help you to keep things in line.

 

10- Set Financial Goals

 

Lastly, you should find that it really helps you if you can set yourself some financial goals. Now, they don’t have to be huge, but you should ensure that you have some kind of guide in your mind about what you want to do with your money. This could be to save a set amount of money to go on a vacation or it could be to commit to a certain payment each month to a 401k. As long as you have goals in place, you should find that you can really improve things for the future.

Create A Bright And Colorful Garden On A Budget

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Do you dream of spending lazy afternoons in a beautiful, fresh and inviting garden now that you’ve retired early? Americans are spending more time than ever in their gardens, with 1 in 3 households now growing their own vegetables in their outside space. Spending time in the garden is a relaxing, peaceful and enjoyable pastime for many retirees and it’s a pure luxury to be able to put your feet up and enjoy your surroundings on a warm summer day. Entertaining family and friends in the confines of your garden is a perfect frugal activity for retirees, therefore creating a bright and atmospheric space while sticking to a budget is essential.

Create A Bright And Colorful Garden On A Budget

Photo by Marie-Sophie Tékian on Unsplash

Open up the garden

A simple tidy up and trim of the bushes can be all it takes to turn the garden from a cluttered, overgrown, unappealing mess to a spacious and attractive part of the home that you want to spend bundles of time in, and it doesn’t cost anything to have a bit of a spring clean. During the autumn, crisp leaves which have fallen to the ground will soon become a damp, soggy annoyance. Cleaning these up with a leaf blower will instantly make the garden appear bigger and, while it may be a bit of an investment, there are numerous alternative uses for a leaf blower which make them a good multi-functional tool worthy of the initial outlay.

Inject color

Colorful gardens are fun and bring a smile to your face when you step outside. Fences, planters and wooden pieces of furniture can be painted in an array of colors to instantly brighten the area. Opting for plants and shrubs in different colors, purchased from discount retailers, creates a lively atmosphere which anyone will enjoy relaxing in. While scattering pretty cushions on benches and chairs will make them comfortable and stylish. You can recycle old tin cans by painting and decorating them and filling them with beautiful low-cost plants, too. Or, get the grand-kids to transform the rocks at the bottom of the garden into animals and dot these around the lawn.

Bring the garden to life

Invite friends and family round for a get together and ask they all pitch in to spruce up the garden at the same time. This is a great cost saving method and way to get jobs completed swiftly, while enjoying time together. Someone can mow the lawn, while others trim the bushes and pot some new plants and all you’ll need to do is dish out some ice-cold drinks and pop a few burgers on the barbecue to keep everyone happy. It’s also worth asking your loved ones if they’ve got any old pieces of garden furniture in their sheds that they no longer want, or packets of seeds stashed away that they’re not going to use which you could recycle and put to good use in your own garden.

There is no need to spend a fortune on doing up the garden when there are so many ways to brighten and liven the space up for very little expense.

 

This timely spring-season related article is a contribution to Leisure Freak from freelance writer Jackie Edwards. Thanks Jackie!

Now working as a full-time freelance writer, Jackie Edwards is also a busy mum of two small children. In any free time she has (which isn’t much) she likes to volunteer and do charity work and take the family greyhound Bertie for long walks.

Money Worries When It Comes To Retirement? Essential Steps To Ease The Stress

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For many, the dream of an early retirement is what keeps us getting through the daily grind and the routine of work. When an end is in sight, it can make things seem much easier to deal with while still enduring the rat race. But when on the long road toward retirement for an unknown amount of time, it can be a long process and each day can drag on. If you are reaching a certain age then you’re likely to be checking out your pension and/or retirement savings pot to see when you might be able to retire. This can cause money worries when it comes to retirement.

If your dream is retiring and enjoying plenty of vacations on cruise ships and other travels, then you’ll want to retire with a good amount of money in the pot. But if that all seems a little far off because you haven’t seriously started to prepare financially and you won’t be able to retire for a while, let alone on any cruise ships, then don’t stress and despair. With some good planning, it can still happen. Making your personal finances and eventual retirement a priority in your life will help make a big difference in your retirement stress level.

Money Worries When It Comes To Retirement

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Easing Stress About Money Worries When It Comes To Retirement – What To Do

Use Your Employer To Save

It isn’t surprising to hear that those that enjoy their retirement and have less money worries, are those that have earned a good pension and/or contributed to retirement accounts with their employers. So if you are already contributing to your employer’s pension scheme, then that is a really good way to go. When they match what you are paying in, then it can make a big difference, much like the fed retirement scheme that government employees pay into.

Participating in your employer’s retirement scheme is the easiest way to save a large amount of money for your retirement. I can speak from experience because that is exactly the way I was able to retire early. If you are yet to pay into an employer’s pension, 401K, or other retirement scheme, then it is certainly something that is worth looking into and the sooner you do the better. It is never too late to start. That’s because doing it is always going to be better than doing nothing no matter how late you start. If you are already participating in your employer’s retirement scheme, then try to do whatever you can to increase the amount you contribute. Utilizing your employer’s retirement scheme is a great way to save and plan for YOUR future.

Non-Employer Associated Retirement Savings

Not every employer offers a retirement scheme for their employees. Seeking other ways to save for retirement is very important. Even if your employer does offer a retirement scheme, it is still a good idea to also save money for your retirement in non-employer based retirement accounts. It can start by setting money aside in an interest paying savings account. Then strategically use your savings to invest in low-cost funds. Consider using any of the low fee brokerages like Ally, Ameritrade, Vanguard and Fidelity. Use tax-preferential retirement accounts like IRA and Roth IRAs. Once again, saving anything is better than saving nothing for YOUR retirement.

Budget Well

Setting and living on a smart budget packs a one-two punch. The less you spend in your lifestyle will free up more income to put away for retirement. But budgeting doesn’t end once reaching retirement. It also must be part of your retirement planning. The lower your smart budget lifestyle is, the less you will need saved to pay for your retirement. Budgeting-well makes your target retirement savings amount easier to hit.

If you’re nearing retirement, it can be a good idea to look at what income you will have coming in. Think about how it is going to be spread out over your years in retirement. To start with, you are likely to have higher spending needs earlier on. Things like trips, vacations, and family gatherings will likely feature quite high. But as you get older in your retirement, you’re less likely to be spending as much doing those kinds of things. You’ll still be fairly active, but most likely living differently. As you age, money spending activities will most likely decrease. Other areas may remain flat or increase as in the case of health care. So look at what you’ll have and plan accordingly in your long-view retirement budget.

Ease into Retirement

From being someone who has worked for almost all of your life, going from being busy to suddenly not working can be a big step financially, socially, and emotionally. So for many people, it can be a good idea to ease into retirement. Working part-time with your current employer, or even looking for a more relaxed part-time role can be a good way to still be getting paid, staying socially connected, and getting you used to a little more enjoyable leisure time in your life. This kind of phased retirement approach will reduce pressure on your retirement savings and help lessen financial stress.  

Downsize Your Home

If worries about mortgage or renting are going to be bothering you, then why not consider moving to a cheaper property or even to a cheaper part of the country or world? When you don’t have to be stressing about paying a mortgage or high rent, then it can both ease your retirement financial stress and make your money go much further through your retirement.

Tap Your Home Equity

There’s another way to relieve retirement financial stress if you’re at least age 62, have built equity in your home, and are really happy with and to want to stay in your home. That is by putting your equity to work for you by taking out a reverse mortgage on your home. A reverse loan works differently from a traditional mortgage. With a reverse mortgage you will receive money regularly, rather than receiving regular mortgage bills. With no monthly repayment requirements, you also do not have to worry about being evicted for missing payments when the unexpected occurs. However, you cannot borrow the full value of your home. A reverse loan application calculator will use a special formula to determine the percentage to which you are entitled.

The borrowed amount will accrue interest until you leave the home, at which point you must pay the loan balance. Otherwise, the lender will recover some or all the money by having the home sold. Be sure to carefully review and understand the reverse mortgage terms. If married, make certain that terms allow for a spouse to stay in the home and your retirement payments continue if something should happen to one of you.

 

Everyone eventually retires, on their terms or not. A little retirement planning ahead of that time and taking positive action will help reduce retirement worries and stress. Anything you do to improve your retirement finances is a win!

Holiday Season Hacks: Christmas Can Be Thrifty

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When the holiday season gets into full swing; it can be a challenge to reign-in your finances and keep track of your spending. There will be travel costs, gifts, food, and decorations to invest in, and these can end up spiraling, causing you to head into the new year feeling out-of-pocket and strapped for cash. By the time you get to January; you’ll know that you overspent, but you might not be sure what you’ve bought, and why everything cost so much. Therefore, it’s worth putting some time and effort into your frugal living over the holidays, and focusing on saving money where you can. A little planning and savvy preparation can go a long way.

It’s not about becoming the Grinch of the family over the festive season; however, there’s nothing wrong with making wise financial decisions regarding what and where you spend. If you do it right; nobody in your family will even notice that you’ve made an effort to cut back and pocket the savings, but your wallet, retirement fund, and bank balance will be extremely grateful.

The following are some tips, ideas, and advice for those who want to save their money over the holidays, but still want to enjoy the time with their loved-ones and have a very happy Christmas.

 

Holiday Season Hacks: Christmas Can Be Thrifty

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Holiday Season Hacks

Plan Your Gift Giving

 

The cost of Christmas gifts is probably one of your biggest extra-expenses over the holiday season. Therefore, it’s worth working out a set budget for each person, and really sticking to it. Better yet, paying less than expected and saving the excess. Sites like DontPayFull.com are the perfect place to start, as you can pick up some discounts and special offers that you wouldn’t find in the retail shops, so check them out and do your research to price compare.

Wrapping paper and cards can also add up to a large sum; if you haven’t already, utilize the January sales to stock up on greetings cards, bows, ribbons, and paper so that you never pay full price. Check the attic or your home’s storage closet for anything left over from last year that could be used. Don’t overspend on things that you may already have. You may be surprised at how many things you can find and put to purpose that would later be destined for the recycling bin if unused.

 

A Homemade And Recycled Approach

 

Decorations, food, and drink will be next on the list of things you’ll be forking out for over the holidays. Therefore, it’s worth putting some time into using what you already have, or investing in some affordable elements, to create things yourself at home.

Homemade decorations will always look festive and unique and you can get the whole family involved. It’s amazing what you can create with a hot glue gun, some ingenuity, and re-purposed decorations that may have been unused for years. Check out sites like Pinterest.com for some inspiration.

The same goes for food and drinks. It can be so expensive buying ready-made edible items. Try and make as much as possible using ingredients in your cupboards and get baking from scratch. The homemade approach will always go down well will friends and family, and perhaps if you’re feeling crafty; homemade gifts is something you can consider too.

 

Christmas can still be festive and fun, and saving cash during the holidays could even add to the experience. Don’t overspend and instead head into the new year having saved money where you can.