100th Post Spectacular

This is the 100th Post for the site. Kind of a milestone for me since I really didn't have a plan to start. I enjoy writing and I always enjoyed personal finance as well, though you wouldn't know it from mine!

At 100 posts averaging 350 words per (and I think I am higher) post, what does that word count equate too. Interested I looked it up on Fiction Factor and here is what is said for 35,000 words:

Novella 20,000 - 50,000 words. - Although most print publishers will balk at printing a novel this short, this is almost perfect for the electronic publishing market length. The online audience doesn't always have the time or the patience to sit through a 100,000 word novel. Alternatively, this is an acceptable length for a short work of non-fiction.

Cool huh? ..."this is almost perfect for the electronic publishing market"...Hey that's me!...an acceptable length for a short work of non-fiction...Me too!

Given that if this was a TV show they would do some sort of retrospective I thought it would be fun to pick my 5 favorite posts over the last 100 and give a line or two of background on them. I always wonder what influenced someone to write something, maybe you do to. Without further ado:

1. "Personal Finance by Michael Scott of the Office" - This is by far my number one read piece, probably because it got picked up by msn-money. I love The Office, both versions as it was a super UK BBC series first that I started watching on BBC America. This episode introduced the phrase to our house of "Things that no one needs, like back-up magic sets."


2. "The 861 Tax Argument Brought to You By Wesley Snipes" - I wrote this as my second daily post because I was looking up something else and ran across the Snipes story. Fascinated I hit up Wikipedia and looked up the tax argument. This was huge for two weeks with search for me...weird. The ones I think will really run don't, and then this takes off! A side note: He did get off of the Felony charges and was only convicted of three misdemeanors.


3. "Top Personal Finance Necessities" - I think while not earth shattering was probably a favorite of mine because it gave me a chance to show my entire philosophy, at least for those starting out. Never got a comment! You never know what's gonna resonate...


4. "180 Degrees in less than 180 Days" - Great Idea from Simplicity in Kansas (which is an amazing blog BTW). I like it because it gave me warm and fuzzies writing it thinking about how far we've come.


5. "We Saved 33% on our Grocery Bill" - Good solid advice on saving money on a big budget item. Wish I wrote that well more often!

Based on that I have learned posting the first 100 articles, I hope the they continue to be of service, or even lighten you day a bit! Budgeting doesn't have to be hard or painful or a prison sentence! It, with active money management and a good Success Map can lead you to reaching your goals! Can't wait to bring you another 100!

And to the 2,000 guests that have visited, and the next 2,000 to come - THANK YOU!

We Saved 33% on our Grocery Bill

Since we have began our Personal Finance and Budget journey, we knew we needed to get one of our largest bills in line as well, groceries. This was one of the largest "bills" in our budget and it was creeping up. With three growing kids, me (kid four?) and my wife being an amazing Chef, our bill was out of control.

We had a lot of big dinners at the house to entertain family and friends and always insisted on doing everything ourselves. But besides packing on the pounds, we were packing on the bills as well.

So how did we cut our bill by $400+ per month? Here is what we did:

• Set a More Realistic Budget - We looked back to when we were running better in controlling our money and then set a goal that was took into account what was reasonable for a five person family with the Holiday coming.
• Started by Meal Planning - What were we going to have to eat and when? My wife being the chef, didn't want to fall into the Tuesday is Meatloaf night sort of house either. But being 100% flexible was costing us with one-off trips to the store, where we always came back with more then what we needed.
• Went to cash ONLY on Groceries - The best way to not overspend is to make it impossible. Use cash. I get paid every two weeks and when we do we take half the budget and use the envelope system. The potential embarrassment of having the store put things back will keep you paying attention! If we go over, it comes directly out of our Entertainment and Dining Out money. Then out of our small personal allowances! Ouch!
• Put Chef in charge of grocery money! - They make it, and knows what and where they can substitute to save money.
• Take advantage of store loss leaders - Almost all grocery stores print a set of coupons and deals during the week. Here it is Tuesday. These are the stores products that they take short margins, or even a loss to get you in the door. We take 20% of our grocery money for stock-ups of these deals. This can be Costco money as well. BE Warned: Do Not stock-up on non-needs! You do not need to buy a 55 gallon drum of pickles! It isn't a deal if they are never/half used!
• Multi-Store It!- Usually store will have a specialty to try to be different then the other local stores, so it doesn't turn into a blood bath margin-wise every week. So in other words, Albertson's won't make a big push on hamburger when Ralph's does, if possible. Work the food ads and go to separate stores, it will take more time, but I would almost guarantee if you aren't doing this step it is costing you 10%+. Even with gas prices it pays for itself.
• Only go with a list - Then only buy what's on the list. If something else sounds good, you have to cut the other stuff right then. Part of the power of cash! It is such a pain to do, it will be the exception rather than the rule moving forward.
• Incentivize - If you beat the grocery bill have (or some amount, goes Into Entertainment or dining. Your kids will start trying to help cut things if there is something in it for them, like an extra DVD or Video game rental if you beat budget.
• Snack-itis - Limit snack foods or cut them out. They are bad for you and are some of the highest margin items in a grocery store! If you do buy some, make sure everyone knows when they are gone, they are gone. This is the best tip for those of us with teenagers, who eat EVERYTHING!
• Dinner Parties with family and Friends - Make it potluck! In fact, try to have one of these at least a month. It s great to get everyone together and it is cheaper then a hosted Sunday meal.

We aren't perfect by a longshot, but this has been one of our significant savings on our budget. Money that goes right to our debt reduction or savings...Oh yeah, one last thing...don't go to the store hungry either...they are right about that one...unless it is Costco on Saturday; Free sample laden Lunch!