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February 10, 2011, at 6:01 am If you're new to BFS, please subscribe to my RSS feed. It shows me a vote of support and keeps me motivated to keep your attention. If you have any questions or comments for me, please contact me and I'll get back to you asap. Thanks for visiting! The following is a guest post from Andrew on behalf of Dial to Save.
In today’s economic climate it is prudent that we all take good care of our money, both in a personal and business sense. So the time has come for us to take a long hard look at where we spend our money and ways in which we can economise and make savings.
We live in a very diverse society today, both in family matters and business and a direct result of this is that a large majority of us now spend an awful lot of our money calling friends, family, work colleagues, and of course business partners and associates who are in a different country. So, if you happen to have family or friends, or business associates in foreign lands, you may be looking for ways to make cheap international calls, or even better, free!!
The best option here is to check out all the telecommunications providers, there are quite a few offers on at the moment. If you have a landline, there are special one off monthly payments you can make where you can make cheap calls to Australia, or other listed countries (the telecommunications providers will supply you with a list) and you can dial abroad, stay on the same number for less than one hour and that call is then free for that hour.
With this system you can re-dial the number within the hour stay on again for less than one hour and the call is still free and so on.
There are also some great mobile phone deals that operate in a similar fashion. So if you have the use of a mobile phone such as the new Samsung Galaxy Ace or HTC Gratia, check out your network provider’s policy and deals to see if you can get those cheap calls to Pakistan, or any other foreign country.
The revolutionary way to make your international cheap calls to India and other countries is SKYPE. This is a Voice over Internet Provider service where your internet provider not only allows you to speak over the internet provider’s line but also see your call recipient at the same time and the cost of these calls are minimal, if not free. The only downside to this is obviously the monthly cost of your internet and you will need a laptop for SKYPE service that is set up with an internal camera or external fitted camera. You can get VOIP service via your internet to make voice calls only from your telephone and in the same manner, but the quality of the audio can be a little poor.
Of course, cheap calls abroad may not be the only way you are looking to save money in your budget. On a personal level you may want to save money on car insurance, your weekly shop or a special item. The best way to do this is to get on the internet and access some of the best comparison sites that are around to find the best deals available. It will save you money on shoe leather at least!
Crystal’s Comment: My uncle uses SKYPE from England to call us all here in the U.S. Have you ever used SKYPE?
February 9, 2011, at 6:00 am
Based on my last 10 years of experience (18-28), here are my top 10 tips to save money:
1. Save Automatically.
Setting up automatic contributions is the best way, in my opinion, to save money. It is simply harder to spend money that you can’t see. I’d suggest starting by contributing the minimum to your 401(k) to get the maximum company match. Then take a look at Roth IRA’s. If you don’t qualify, think about saving automatically to an account that you can use to invest in whatever you wish.
2. Prioritize Your Spending.
It’s much easier to say no to a fancy new car if you know that you rather fully fund your Roth IRA. If you know you absolutely adore your smart phone, maybe it will be easier to save elsewhere, like a magazine subscription you barely have time for. Prioritization is key.
3. Give up Expensive Habits.
Smoking comes to mind first simply since I saw a man in front of me at Kroger pay $7 for one pack! OUCH. Drinking, bar hopping, drugs, soda…any regular habit that costs money adds up fast. We’re saving about $250 a year now that we’ve given up our daily soda habit!
4. Find cheap hobbies.
Blogging and board gaming have been awesome for me. Blogging has actually turned into a money making opportunity and board gaming is only as expensive as allowed. We buy about 5 games a year for a total of less than $200 and we are entertained weekly. The trick is to find a hobby that you crave to be a part of that costs way less than the normal ways you spend your time.
5. Change to less expensive activities.
We could save more than a thousand dollars a year if my husband gave up Curling (the ice sport) and his Massage Envy membership, but it is all about prioritization. If we ever needed extra cash, expensive activities would be the first to go.
6. Cook at Home More.
This only saves money if you learn to cook using inexpensive ingredients. My mom is the queen of a yummy one-pot meal. I personally have started jumping into all recipes that use ground beef or turkey as the main ingredient, lol.
7. Make Grocery Lists.
This is a life saver if you actually follow your list. You have control over what goes into your cart…if you keep that in mind, you can save hundreds of dollars every month or two.
8. Compare Prices for Your Different Monthly Services Annually.
I call around for cable, internet, and insurance quotes every year and have kept our bills at the same rates they were 3 years ago. A 10 minute call can really pay off.
9. Make Long-Term Goals.
Goals keep your mind from wandering when a nice but expensive what-not pops up. Our early retirement goal keeps me driving my cruddy Aveo simply so I can continue to save instead of making monthly payments.
10. Re-Evaluate Your Housing Costs.
We were paying $730 for a one-bedroom apartment that was 1000 square feet. We realized that we’d only have to pay a few thousand more a year to own a home and build some equity. We now have a $740 a month mortgage and $2300 a year property taxes. In 6 years, we will only have property taxes. That will free up about a fifth of our take home pay! And we plan on buying a house with cash next time around.
What other everyday tips do you have for us?
February 8, 2011, at 6:00 am
Blog Prices
According to Price of Web, Budgeting in the Fun Stuff is worth $28,278. NICE! I likey!
Of course, they also think I get 3,988 visits a day, 12,085 daily page views, and $36.26 in daily ad revenue (HAHAHA…not yet). As you can see on my blog stats and income updates, their site is a bit off.
BUT, if I sold BFS today, the offer would have to be above $30,000 since that is what I am aiming to make in the next year or so. So I guess Price Of Web isn’t completely in left field.
They also think that Dog’s Life For Me is worth $6,236. If any of you are willing to pay that, I will sell it to you here and now. But you can’t have Crystal Clear Thoughts for $1,170 – that is slightly insulting since it gets more readers than Dog’s life For Me, lol.
Mistakes
I haven’t given real thought to selling any of my sites before since this all started as a hobby. But, now that I am thinking about it, I would love to sell my sites for big lumps of money. Then I’d just turn around and start a new site. It would give me the chance to avoid the same mistakes again.
For example, my next hypothetical personal finance site would have a MUCH shorter name. I honestly don’t know why I picked something that takes so long to type in. It’s a classic case of “it sounded good at the time”.
My fake new site would also be with WordPress from the beginning and hosted by someone with way better reviews that Host Monster (they stink). I’ve only been with Host Gator for a month or two and I already like it better. No outages is a weird feeling though, lol.
Lastly, I’d pay attention to SEO basics, like linking to my own posts, more from the beginning. Nothing is more frustrating than spending a whole weekend doing something that would have taken a few minutes here and there while writing a post.
Buy Me Out?
Anyone want to buy me out? I could work up a group deal, all 3 of my blogs, for $40,000. 
What is your site worth? Or, if you don’t have a blog, what is your favorite site worth? If you sold out, would you start another blog? What mistakes would you avoid?
February 7, 2011, at 6:00 pm
The following is a post on behalf of Voucher Seeker.
Finding the right cell phone for your mobile calling, texting, and Internet browsing needs can be a real headache. There are so many companies to choose from and different cell phones on the market. The most important consideration for most people when buying a phone is price.
Some cell phone manufacturers charge exorbitant rates for their cellular devices. I just paid $225 for my Samsung Epic from Sprint. You may want to consider a new up and coming company in the mobile space. Vodaphone.
The company has a number of discount vouchers available that will save you money on its great selection of mobile devices. Whether you are a busy professional on the go or just looking for a phone to keep you connected to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter; Vodaphone has a phone to fit those needs.
The company offers the following models:
- The Vodaphone 455 is great for budget conscious consumers. It is one of the most affordable touch screen phones on the market today. The phone is attractive, lightweight, and great for performing multiple functions.
- Vodaphone has the 351 phone for the practical user that is looking for a durable phone to perform the most basic of operations. It’s not flashy but it definitely works.
- The Vodaphone 252 is an advanced cell phone that features a beautiful design and advanced functions like money transferring capabilities.
As you can see, Vodafone may have a mobile device to suit your needs. Although the pricing may already be fair, you are eligible to save even more. You can save money on your Vodafone purchase by using a special Vodafone promotional code. You can also visit the website and enter the Dixons discount code.
I have not personally tried Vodaphone yet. Let me know what you think if you ever try them out.
February 7, 2011, at 6:00 am
A few weeks ago, Mike from Renting Out Rooms contacted me after looking around on my site a bit to ask if I ever leveraged my credit in order to travel for cheap. After a couple of more emails back and forth, it was clear he was asking if I used our great credit rating to get travel rewards credit cards.
I explained that we used cash back credit cards instead since they were more flexible for me and we don’t travel all that much. I even sent him the link to the post I wrote about which credit cards we actually use. His reply was so thorough that I want to include it here as an alternate resource to the post I wrote before:
Hi Crystal,
That’s a nice little post on how you use your credit card. I can see that you really like the cash back cards. My thoughts are a little different.
For me, I use the American Express Starwoord Preferred Guest Card. It’s a hotel credit card that you can use to book hotel and flights with no black out dates. There is a $65 annual fee, but I can easily justify the cost by the excellent customer service and consumer protection it provides.
My value proposition for using this card is that 10,000 points can get me a free night(completely free, no hidden fees or taxes) at a hotel in NYC, which has a retail value of say $250 per night. If I spend $30,000 a year on this amex card, that means, I’ll have 3 free nights worth about $750. To get $750 in cash back to spend on the same hotels, I would have to spend $75k on a 1% cash back card or $15k worth of gas on a 5% cash back gas card.
Spending $30k a year for me is much easier to attain than $75k, through normal purchases and travel expenses that I get reimbursed through my company. Therefore it’s easier to get a better redemption on this hotel credit card.
On the other hand, if you don’t like to travel, then the Amex card is not appealing and obviously not for you. Choosing a rewards credit cards really depends on what you value and what works for you. Everyone is different so one card may work for someone, but not for someone else.
In either case(cash back or hotels/flights), credit card rewards points are only good for what you can redeem them for, so you have to choose what you value and go from there.
What are your thoughts on my point of view? I just wanted to provide a different point of view from on credit cards rewards versus cash back.
Mike
I personally think he is getting the most bang for his buck since he can and will use the travel rewards he earns. Mr. BFS and I use our rewards for so many different things that I think cash back still is our best way to approach it. But, if you travel a lot, maybe the American Express Starwoord Preferred Guest Card is the right card for you…
Remember, neither one of us is advocating the use of credit cards unless you can and will pay the balance off in full EVERY month. If you spend more using plastic than you would using cash, avoid credit cards completely since no amount of rewards can make up for extra spending.
That said, if you won’t spend more, why not take advantage? What do you think? Do you take advantage of credit card rewards programs or are you strictly cash only?
On a side note, the Totally Money Blog Carnival is being hosted at Live Real, Now today, so feel free to check it out!
February 6, 2011, at 6:00 am
During the Yakezie Alexa Ranking Challenge, you helped BFS soar from an Alexa ranking of more than 8 million in March 2010 to 49,852 on October 31, 2010. Thank you!!!
Then, after seeing all the interest for my blog stats and income updates, I created a new challenge to complete by January 1st, 2011. You helped me get an Alexa ranking of 43,055, 28,687 total visits, 239 RSS Subscribers, and 228 Twitter Followers!!! WOOT!
Since I do plan on blogging full time by 2012, this is the year for a HUGE push. I have come up with new goals to keep us on the right track!
BEFORE WE START THIS WEEK:
When I first installed Google Analytics in March 2010, I apparently screwed up and only installed it on my homepage. This means that all of my traffic data has been wrong FOREVER. Oops. On the bright side, I feel like my traffic has doubled overnight. That’s a pretty happy feeling, lol. Anyway, that means I blew my goals out of the water and will need to make better ones. Sorry I was so wrong for so long.
Here are my Goals for July 4th, 2011:
Here is what we are shooting for by the Fourth of July – July 4th, 2011:
Alexa – Maintain a Ranking at or around 37,500
Visits – 60,000 total visits (I started BFS on February 20th, 2010)
Feedburner Subscribers – 500
Twitter Followers – 500
MozRank – 5.5
Today’s Update
Alexa – 37,982 (THANK YOU!!!)
Visits – 33,204 (26,796 to go…we can do it!)
Feedburner Subscribers – 297 (203 to go)
Twitter Followers – 294 (206 to go)
MozRank – 5.02 (0.48 to go)
As always, thank you so much for being my supporters! Obviously, I could not do any of this without you and I never forget that!!!
The Saved Quarter Challenge Update
I joined The Saved Quarter Challenge this year and am aiming to save at least $21,000 by the end of 2011! That would be a tiny bit more than 25% of our GROSS pay from our two full time jobs.
Here’s how I’ve done this week for the Saved Quarter Challenge ($21,000 Goal):
I have better updates after the 13th of every month since that is when our billing periods end, but here is where we funnelled away money this past week:
- We got paid last week, so I automatically socked away $80 into my 401(k).
Total This Week: $80
Total to date: $1900 guaranteed, $19,100 to go.
Additonal Info
I will continue posting monthly and yearly blog statistics and income updates from here on out, so stay tuned at the beginning of every month!
In case you didn’t know, Alexa traffic rankings are determined by the numbers of hits a site gets by people with the Alexa toolbar. If you want to be part of this ranking community, you can download the Alexa toolbar here.
If you don’t already, you can follow me via RSS or Twitter by following those links.
To learn more about the Yakezie, check out my Yakezie page! Feel free to email me if you are a Yakezie member or challenger and don’t see yourself on the list!
If you are interested in seeing how I went from an 8 million plus Alexa rank to about 50,000 in less than 8 months, you can see My Blogging Schedule, which breaks down everything I do related to blogging.
THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING THE BEST READERS EVER!!!
February 6, 2011, at 5:59 am
The following is a guest post on behalf of efile.
2011 is the best year yet to prepare your taxes online and to efile your tax return. Did you know that during the 2010 Tax Season almost 70% of all U.S. individual taxpayers either efiled their taxes themselves or efiled through a tax professional? That’s almost 100 million people! What do they know about IRS-efile that paper filers don’t? Read on and find out what makes efile such a smart choice…
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- You do not claim tax credits other than the Earned Income Credit and Making Work Pay Credit
- You have not received any Advance Earned Income Credit payments
- If married filing jointly, both you and your spouse are under 65 and not blind
- You do not owe any Household Employment taxes (on wages paid to a household employee)
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DISCLAIMER I am not a professional or a financial advisor. BFS posts are informational opinions only. Please make your own financial decisions based on personal research or see a financial advisor.
Also, there are paid links on this site. There is no obligation on your part to purchase any products advertised on this website.
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