The Chronic Consumer

Okay, even dedicated chronic consumers like me have issues with holiday shopping. Namely, the malls are so congested and there’s so much traffic everywhere that shopping becomes a chore rather than an enjoyable activity.

Fortunately, there’s always the Internet. Thanks to modern technology, few of us actually have to venture outside our homes for holiday shopping. Instead, we can just sit at our computers, browse through products at any time of the day or night, and order whatever we see fit. There are also sites that offer coupons to help add to the savings and keep costs under control.

As an example, I know my brother wants a big tool chest this year. I don’t know much about tools, but I know Craftsman is supposed to be good. So I’ve been keeping an eye out for sears coupons at DropDownDeals.com that I can use when I’m finally ready to make my purchase. Right now there’s a coupon that will get me an additional $70 off the Tools Deal of the Day, which I think is a pretty amazing number. It would be awesome if I actually got to use that coupon!

Electronic coupons really make online shopping worthwhile. They allow you to save even more money on prices that are typically already lower than retail, and that’s something that really matters in today’s economy.

Anyway, remember that you don’t have to let holiday shopping bring you down by adding to your stress levels. Just shop online, use electronic coupons, and leave the hassles and headaches to everyone else!

My mom has been retired for almost two years now, which means she’s on a fixed income. Unfortunately, most of her savings is in various stocks and mutual funds, and her portfolio has taken an utter beating thanks to the terrible economy. So I’m going over her finances to help her look for ways to save more money while getting by on a lot less than expected.

My first task is shopping for a new insurance policy. Her premiums seem pretty high to me, and I’m relatively certain we can find better deals by looking around. Several companies out there claim to have the best term life insurance for seniors, so it’s really just a matter of doing some quick online comparisons.

After that, I’m going to go through her utilities and various service contracts, such as her cell phone, cable, and Internet. I’m sure I can save her a few hundred a month by switching providers or whatever. That money will be a welcome cushion considering the economic climate.

Now that I’m almost finished with my Master’s degree, I am beginning to scour online job boards for potential openings in my field. I don’t even care if the jobs are within my own state at this point; I just want to submit a few resumes and sit through a few interviews to get my bearings again. I haven’t been on a job search in a long time, so my skills have gotten a bit rusty.

Anyway, as I was checking through a list of columbus jobs, I came across a link that led me to an article about resources for people considering moving to a different state. One of the articles was about how you need to carefully calculate potential living expenses because there is sometimes a huge difference between what you pay in your current state and what it would cost in the state you’re moving to.

As an example, the article linked to a blog post on CBS MoneyWatch about which states have the highest auto insurance. Here’s the list writer Jerry Edgerton came up with:

1. Michigan, $2,541
2. Louisiana, $2,453
3. Oklahoma, $2,197
4. Montana, $2,190
5. Washington, D.C., $2,146
6. California, $1,991
7. Mississippi, $1,896
8. New Mexico, $1,896
9. Arkansas, $1,836
10. Maryland, $1,807
11. North Dakota, $1,794
12. Connecticut, $1,786
13. Rhode Island, $1,747
14. Wyoming, $1,714
15. Hawaii, $1,707
16. South Dakota, $1,707
17. Georgia, $1,670
18. New Jersey, $1,663
19. West Virginia, $1,633
20. Kentucky, $1,629
21. New York, $1,627
22. Minnesota, $1,614
23. Washington, $1,584
24. Missouri, $1,563
25. Indiana, $1,518
26. Colorado, $1,508
27. Texas, $1,492
28. Delaware, $1,489
29. Florida, $1,476
30. Nebraska, $1,470
31. Pennsylvania, $1,468
32. Kansas, $1,461
33. Alaska, $1,454
34. New Hampshire, $1,334
35. Massachusetts, $1,328
36. Idaho, $1,325
37. Alabama, $1,306
38. Oregon, $1,306
39. Nevada, $1,300
40. Illinois, $1,290
41. Arizona, $1,280
42. Utah, $1,272
43. Virginia, $1,237
44. Iowa, $1,179
45. North Carolina, $1,154
46. Ohio, $1,152
47. Tennessee, $1,146
48. Wisconsin, $1,128
49. Maine, $1,126
50. South Carolina, $1,095
51. Vermont, $995

A $1,500+ difference between Michigan and Vermont is pretty significant, don’t you think? Obviously no one would move to a state based on insurance rates alone, but it is definitely something to think about when it comes to your household budget.

Do you have trouble remembering when your bills are due? I know some people like to use “AutoPay” agreements that allow your credit card company or cable company to automatically deduct your monthly bill from your bank account. I think that sounds convenient for folks that always have plenty of funds in their account, but can be dangerous for those of us without much of a buffer. So what I do instead is set up Google calendar alerts to email me when my bills are due. I set these up as soon as I get the bill in the mail or email. I check the due dates, input the alerts in Google and am ready to go. Since I pay online, I don’t need a three-day buffer for snail mail. I pay the day before to make sure the transaction posts properly and that’s that!

I periodically go through my medicine chest to take stock of what’s in there and toss out expired products. Doing this gives me an idea of what my family is wasting money on and allows me to adjust our spending habits (via the budget) accordingly.

Yesterday I ended up tossing out expired ibuprofen, dried-out deodorant sticks, crumbly makeup, and acne treatment that I no longer need. I’m always surprised at what we accumulate in there. A lot of these products are expensive (relatively speaking), and shouldn’t be wasted like this.

I’ve been reading a lot of articles lately about the skyrocketing costs of college tuition. Some articles recommend saving early (and often) for your child’s future education — but really, how many of us could save $100,000 in 18 years? That’s “only” about $5500 per year, but I don’t know too many families that could take that amount out of their budgets and not feel the pinch. Plus, that’s the amount needed if you have only one child. Obviously, you’d need to double or triple your savings if you have more kids.

As far as I’m concerned, though, there are lots of ways of getting an affordable college education. The one I chose for myself was a combination of community colleges and online degree programs. I took classes at the local community college for a year or two, then finished my Bachelor’s degree online. Many fully accredited schools now offer these options, so there’s no worry about your credentials being questioned by graduate programs or future employers.

I know a large part of “college” is the experience of moving away from home for the first time and being somewhat independent. That might not be possible if students enroll in one of the many online degree programs out there, but perhaps with the money parents would save on tuition, they could rent a small, off-campus apartment for their kids in a college town. All I know is there’s always more than one way to skin a cat, so I’ll never feel as though I have to spend six figures on my son’s college education.

Well, it’s that time of year where I start to examine our household budget very carefully and look for places to cut and save. I check all of our insurance policies, credit cards, and non-essential expenses to see how much we’re currently paying (and for which features), then I painstakingly comparison-shop for a week or two to find out what the best deals are. For instance, I know I can go to cheapestautoinsurance.net for some quick quotes, and have a few other sites to compare credit card rates. I just wish it was easier to ditch our cell phone plans and cable company, because that would certainly add up to a lot of savings.

Anyway, this kind of thing is a major pain in the butt, but I usually manage to shave anywhere from $20 to $50 per month off our expenditures. Not bad!

I hate to admit it, but my family wastes a lot of food. This usually happens because we are too tired/lazy to cook dinner after a long day of work and school, so we end up eating at restaurants a lot. Then the groceries we purchased at the beginning of the week end up going bad, which means we have to toss them out, and the cycle goes on and on.

To combat this a little bit, I’m going to try following food storage guidelines more closely. I was just reading this page from Virginia Tech and was surprised to learn that even just putting something like a loaf of bread in the refrigerator can extend its shelf life by a week or more. Call me clueless, but I thought only the freezer yielded those benefits! Now that I know better, I can start doing things the right way and hopefully save more money in the process.