She's a saver.

If you know me, you know I am cheap, I am a saver, I clip coupons and have them organized. Since moving into our house I've been trying to figure out ways to save and make sure things do not get out of hand. With a from an apartment to a house comes bigger electric bills, more to clean, and more ways to figure out how to save. I came across a few articles, that I thought were helpful, and I thought I'd pass them along:

10 Ways to Cut Monthly Bills


13 Tips from Financial Planners





Before I got married I had some debt, (a lot, actually) It was my goal to pay it all off before we got married, I didn't want to bring any debt into our marriage that was ultimately a result of my irresponsibility, I didn't want that in my new life with my husband. I set some real goals, and made a plan to get all my debt paid off. It took time, planning, and a lot of hard work that wasn't easy. But in the end, I paid it all of 4 months before we got married.
More and more I am seeing young people today throw their money away, or make silly decisions with their money because of lack of education on the subject. Debt at any age is serious, but when you are a young twenty something graduating from college is enough debt to carry. You shouldn't make it any worse by making silly decision that will effect you and your credit for years to come.

I learned this lesson the hard way, and I am grateful for it. Even though it wasn't fun at all, I learned a lot about myself, my spending habits, and the ways to correct it all. I am no expert by any means, I just know what I've been through and how I did it. And I know now that with lots of hard work and determination everyone can have the life they have dreamed of without going into dept. I don't mean to rant, but I really believe that if more and more people cared and were educated more about money matters we would see less debt in America.

Here's some tips that I learned:
- figure out how much you make, and then how much all your bills are.
- make a budget.
- figure out what items in your life you can live with out/or cut down (eating out, shopping trips, lower your monthly cell plan, etc.)
- make a list of credit card debt, if any. pay the lowest one off first, and then keep working from there till they are all payed off.
- open a savings account. If you don't have one already. Even if you just save $20 every pay check it will add up to a lot over time.

Some resources:
http://www.jeanchatzky.com/
8 Simple Ways to get out of Credit Card Debt
Money Moves for 2008

Happy Saving!
xoxo-