Here at iMoneyCoach we practice what we preach. And that includes saving money on projects around the office, like our recent redecoration. The office hadn’t been decorated in nearly 8 years and needed some inexpensive but stylish updating.
One of our fun yet inexpensive projects included making a new whiteboard for one of our conference rooms. We had just used some rich, warm colors to update the office, so to put the stark bright whiteboard up on the wall felt a little sad. So we came across a great idea – it’s not an original idea, so we won’t take credit for that, but we loved it and had to share – to use a decorative frame as a whiteboard instead. That way clients don’t suffer a break in the warm decor, and we don’t have an eyesore against the wall. PLUS, it is cheap to make if you do it right and works great!
So how do you get started? The way I did it was to scour craigslist.org for a couple of days to find just the right picture frame at just the right price. I did check out the local thrift store, but we wanted a frame that was still about 3 feet by 4 feet, and the thrift store pictures were expensive!! We’re talking $70 for the cheapest one, and it really wasn’t a great frame.
Anyways, after a couple of days I came across someone getting rid of an ornate 3 ft. by 4ft. picture for $25. I emailed and ended up on the phone later with the seller who said the glass was in perfect shape and that she’d be home that afternoon for me to pick it up (hint: be sure you make sure to ask about the glass since that’s what you’ll be writing on. I realized a lot of posts had the pictures but were missing the glass because it was broken or there just wasn’t any).
After picking up the picture and cleaning up both frame and glass with my trusty Windex, I headed for the fabric store. I picked out a very light print that matched the room this board would be going in. A big part of the project was getting rid of that bright white in the room, but we still needed something that would not overpower the writing in front of it. I chose a creamy fabric that had light beige flowers and vines on it.
To put it all together: First measure and cut your fabric. You want anywhere from 3-6 inches hanging over the back so you can secure it tightly. Ideally you will be able to staple the fabric to the back of the matteboard in the frame. In my case, there was a foam board that the picture was attached to, and the staples went right through it! So we improvised and used heavy duty tape to pull the fabric taught and then folded down the hooks all around the edges of the frame to hold it in place.
And voila! You have an inexpensive but artistic board to write on! And it erases just as easily. It doesn’t have to cost a lot to update the look of your office or home. But making some small changes without spending too much can make a BIG difference!
Did you know that the #1 New Year’s Resolution for 2012 was to “save money”? Now that we’re a little way into 2012 I have to ask if you have been able to save money so far this year? And have you been saving as much as you had hoped?
Take it from the money saving expert, in order to save money and to save as much as you want to, it is vital that you have a plan. And in the money world we call that plan a budget. For so many a budget is scary or too difficult or something they just never get around to. But the truth is, you need to have a budget, and you need to work on adjusting it periodically so that it actually works.
Creating a budget really isn’t as hard as it sounds. If you went through 2nd grade and learned how to add and subtract (ok, maybe through some of the higher grades so you can add and subtract longer numbers), then you can work a budget. That’s all it really boils down to. You add in whatever money you make, and you subtract out whatever you spend. That’s it.
What you do with the budget is key. When you are tracking your spending and know what is going out and coming in, then you can make adjustments. Maybe you see that you are spending a LOT on groceries and can think of some ways to cut down (clipping coupons, buying in bulk, cooking big meals so you can eat some now and freeze some for later, etc). Or perhaps you see that you need to be putting more money into a savings account if you are going to take that family vacation next year. The budget helps you see where you are so you can get to where you want to be.
To learn how to create a budget that fits your life, including be sure to visit the iMoneyCoach University where you can sign up for the Budgeting course by itself or the full 10-course iMoneyCoach Financial Life Training System that will teach you not only budgeting, but also life balance, a new definition of money, how to rank and prioritize your spending, how to teach kids about money, and much more.
Once you have created your budget, you can focus on finding ways to save money. For starters, here is a link from a saving money expert on 101 Ways to Save Money. And if you’d like emails with quick tips on ways to save money, make money, save time, or reduce your financial risk make sure you sign up to get the iMoneyMinute Emails . We promise to never sell or abuse your email information. We simply want to get some great tips out there to help people with their finances.
Tags: budget, budgeting course, money saving expert, save money
If you do a search on ways to earn money online, you’ll likely come up with all sorts of things. Unfortunately it takes some digging to get through the paid advertisements and scams or pyramid schemes to some real solutions that you can actually use.
I thought I’d put together a few ways I’ve made money online. Some I’ve just tested to see if they work and others I have seriously put some effort into and have seen results worth sharing:
eBay – I know, I hear a lot of people talking about eBay as a way to make money. But what happens when you run out of your old stuff to sell? Have you ever considered selling items for other people? When you sign up for eBay you can have 50 free listings per month. When an item sells, eBay takes a 9% cut (of the total cost, including shipping fees). But that leaves you with 90%. If you were selling items for someone else, you could take another cut and they’d still be left with a decent amount of money, especially if they are trying to clear out their storage closet or get rid of things they don’t need any more. It’s a pretty simple process to get signed up and start selling on eBay. While it does take some time, if you were to set up some good systems for organization you could manage multiple listings for multiple people and start earning some extra cash.
craigslist – It may take a little time, but you can make some extra money by finding things on craigslist.org that are maybe priced low or even free, then fixing them up and selling them again. While this takes work in finding the items, arranging to pick them up, and fixing them up, it could be worth it in the end if you are selective in what you buy and sell.
oDesk.com – This site is a great way to earn some money as a contractor. There are a variety of jobs that range from part-time to full-time and are paid either hourly or per job. This type of work is best for those who have skills in things like proofreading, creating eBooks, writing blog articles, designing webpages, making calls, creating graphics, etc. It is mostly work you can do on the computer, but you can do it from home. This makes it nice if you already have a job during the day and need to pick up some extra money in the evenings. And you can decide to apply for jobs that fit your schedule. If you just want a little extra cash, you might only apply for jobs that will take 10 hours or fewer. Or if you need a little more money, you could apply for full-time work there. The setup process is a little lengthy, and you need to work a few jobs to build a reputation as a good worker, but if you put in the time and effort it does pay off.
Online Surveys – A few years ago I was able to order several gift cards to give as Christmas gifts (that was what pretty much everyone in the family wanted, otherwise I would have used the cards to go buy the gifts) using reward points I had earned completing surveys online. I had originally signed up with about 10 different companies to do surveys, but as time went on I began to realize which ones gave good rewards and which ones were not worth the time and effort. I whittled it down to about 4 or 5 good companies, and each week I set aside some time to check my email (yes, I created a separate email address for all of the survey invitations so they didn’t clog up my regular email box!) and do some surveys. You can save up your reward points and then cash them all out later for things like Christmas gifts or a special shopping treat for your family.
Facilitate Online Courses – What is your expertise? Did you when you were little always say you were going to be a teacher but then ended up with a Psychology degree and working in a career that had to do with neither teaching nor psychology? You could still put your skills and knowledge to use by talking with nearby schools or online schools to see if they have some classes that you can facilitate. This is especially handy when the courses are already created, and you can grade and offer up your comments and knowledge to help the students learn. It is good to always be building your skills and knowledge base, and doing that so while you are helping students learn is great! Depending on the number of courses and students you have, you might just spend a little time each evening grading or answering questions. This is something that does not take a ton of time, and you are not on a super-tight schedule.
It’s never a bad idea to be looking out for ways you can earn some extra income, either to supplement your income, help you be able to stay home with the kids, to be able to pay off debt, or to work towards reaching your financial dreams. At iMoneyCoach we’re always looking for ways to help you do these things.
I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about how much financial coaching is similar to personal training. And this similarity shows up in both good and bad ways. Both are things that are very useful for people and can make their lives much better. A financial coach can help you straighten out your finances so that you can not only pay your bills, but do things like reach your goals and live a life you love. A personal trainer can help get you in shape so that you can enjoy the benefits of having good health and looking great.
But both of these roles require someone realizing they need the help. It could be that a person would be much happier after losing 20 pounds and getting in shape, but he doesn’t ever really do anything about it and ends up gaining more weight and becoming more unhealthy. And another person may be doing OK financially and thinks that, sure, it would be great to be completely out of debt and saving up more for retirement, but that person just doesn’t do anything to change.
So how do you convince someone that they need the help? How do you share with them that life really can be better, that it’s not just a “someday” dream? How do you encourage them to start making changes NOW? That’s something I’ve struggled with. At iMoneyCoach we have such a great program to help people not only get out of debt and learn to budget, but to really become successful with their finances. We have helped so many people completely change their lives, and it’s incredibly rewarding. So naturally I want to share that with as many people as possible. But what I’ve found is that it’s not always easy to convince people that they need what we offer.
I think the best place to start is by explaining why the iMoneyCoach philosophy works. You see, we look at the entire picture, not just the money aspect. At iMoneyCoach we believe that all the different parts of our lives are interconnected. They are also interdependent, meaning that if one area is out of whack, then the other areas are not going to do well. But if you create balance and strive for success in each area, then they can all work. This is the key to making sure you can be successful with your finances. You can budget and clip coupons and save all you want, but if you are not actively focused on making sure all the other areas of your life are working, then your finances will suffer.
The great thing about iMoneyCoach is that now we’ve made it easier for people to say “yes, I want to change!” or “yes, I want to fix my finances!” We have developed a curriculum and put it into online courses in an effort to make it more convenient, more affordable, more private, and easier to fix your finances and become successful with your money and in the rest of your life. The iMoneyCoach Financial Life Training System consists of 10 courses that take an average of about an hour to complete. This includes the time you will spend creating a budget that fits YOUR lifestyle (not somebody else’s idea of how you should be living). There are quizzes and worksheets that will help you understand your thoughts and beliefs about money so that you can see how they affect your finances and which direction you should take to find success.
Perhaps it is always going to be a little tough to help people realize they need help or to get them to take the first step, but it is a challenge that we here at iMoneyCoach will always be up for. It is important to us to help people step out of a mediocre life and into a life that they enjoy and one where they can leave a legacy for generations to come.
If you are interested in our online courses, please see How to Start the iMoneyCoach Financial Life Training System to learn how to enroll and get started today.
You may have figured out your budget and have it working pretty well. You may have paid off your debt and be able to save money each month. But things can happen to completely change your world. Will you be able to survive financially?
When I was 8 months pregnant with my first child, I was working from home and planning on being able to take care of my daughter and still have a full-time income. But one day I received dreadful news – the owners decided to shut down the company. It was a mortgage company and this was in early 2009, right in the midst of the mortgage crisis. So I found myself without a job and about to have a baby.
Fortunately the owners of iMoneyCoach interviewed me (yes, waddling into the office and looking like I was ready to burst) and had a part-time job waiting for me after I spent 2 months at home with the baby. Although it was great to have some income, this was a huge blow to our plans and our income.
Not only did we now make about ⅓ of my original income, but we had the added expense of diapers, baby clothes, and everything else baby (who knew one little person could cost so much!). We struggled for a while, but as I worked at iMoneyCoach I began to learn so much about budgeting and being able to stay on top of our finances. I learned that it wasn’t easy, but that we could make it. After a few months of tracking and adjusting our budget, we were able to pay off all our remaining debt (including the last portion of our 2 car loans and my student loans) and start saving money.
Over the past nearly 3 years our budget has continued to change. As my daughter grows she needs new clothes and different toys, and we want to provide fun and educational experiences for her. While I continue to be a thrifty shopper and watch out for great deals like FREE days at the zoo and museums, I continue to learn new ways to save money and still be able to enjoy life. We have now added a son to our family, so some days it can seem like a real challenge to work on our finances, but we do it not only for ourselves, but to leave a legacy and help our kids learn to handle their money well.
Here are some of those ways to keep up with your budget when you have kids:
- Garage sales are your friend – We have found a number of great toys and clothes at garage sales that we would have paid a fortune for elsewhere. This includes a really nice Radio Flyer purple tricycle for only $2 (savings of roughly $43).
- Neighbors are your friends too – Across the street there is a couple with a daughter about 1 year older than mine. They are done having children, so every time she moves up a clothes size they bring over bags with all her old clothes. This has saved us TONS of money. So talk to people you know. They may be looking to get rid of their old clothes and might be happy to share them with you. Always be sure to be grateful. And it wouldn’t hurt to give them a gift card for a night out or bake cookies for them once in a while to show your appreciation.
- Boxes and strings make great toys – It can be so hard to resist buying all the latest and greatest toys for your child. But remember that it is OK to let them play with the simple things. Building a fort out of boxes inspires imagination and creativity.
- Make meals you can freeze – I was shocked at how much our grocery bill went up when our daughter started eating meals with us. This was because we were trying to eat healthier, meaning more veggies and less pre-packaged food. I found that a good way to control that grocery bill is to cook a lot of a meal at one time so we can have it for dinner right away and freeze some for a later meal. This works especially well with casserole-type meals.
- Head to the library – My husband and I are avid readers. This has rubbed off on our daughter. For a while there we thought we were going to go crazy reading the same books 500 times. We joke that we’ll never forget the words to Each Peach Pear Plum or The Belly Button Book. But we realized quickly that to keep up with her, we needed to start heading to the library. Now we check out roughly 12-15 books a week and read them several times – then we get to take them back and pick out something new. And it’s all FREE! We’ve checked out nearly 550 books in one year of trips to the library alone. Great money saver!
So I’d like to take a second here and encourage you in your parenting and finances. Having children is a huge blessing. It’s also a huge responsibility and can threaten to blow your finances out of the water. But you can make it! And you can find financial success.
If you have some more ideas on saving money when you have kids, please share them!
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