Egg-cellent at home Facial

Here, is another affordable, at home facial you can do on your own. Its cheap, you probably have the products in your pantry, and will make your skin so smooth. Go on try it out!

Lemon Facial

So, here is an easy, cheap and fun at home facial you can give yourself or go on and have some girlfriends over and do this together!

$5 a day or less organic, tasty meals

These meals focus on tasty & organic meal planning that won’t break the bank.

In fact the book is centered around $5 a day or less – now that’s affordable.

People often pay a lot more for organic produce (vegetables & fruit rarely have coupons so it ends up costing a great portion of their grocery bill). So, my suggestion is plant a small garden for the vegetables & fruit that you regularly eat. Also, make sure to research what plants grow best for your climate zone.

Below are the links for the book

Link 1 on Barnes & Nobles

Link 2 on Amazon

Ways to save on Baby Food

Having a baby is an exciting time in your life, but once your little one starts to eat baby food it can lead to questions of best nutrition possible for baby and what’s in your budget. Here, I included the cost comparison for making your own baby food.

Plus the best part is its not one of those uni-taskers, this machine can be used for making a ton of great recipes for the whole family. Don’t let the initial cost put you off, try finding one online or purchase and keep after all they have a reputation for lasting a good many years.

So, start making your own baby food and save $ for years to come.

Take care,

Mae

What does your family spend on groceries each month?

Well, here is an interesting report by Yahoo for the monthly amount spend on groceries. While, obviously this does not reflect every ones budget, certainly the cost of food continues to rise.

Vote below on how much your bill is each month.

 

Wealth Gap between Young and Old

Just for a minute I would like everyone to take notice that the government needs to make changes for the better and fast, this is not a time to delay implementing real changes (not just talk but actually implementing the changes).  Our congressmen, senators, and white-house staff in general (both parties) are out of touch with what is really happening to the economy and American people, they spend the American tax payer’s money frivolously with NO accountability. After reading this article, there are a few issues that still need addressing:

we need job growth for the working age people, lower taxes on ALL income brackets (we need more $ in every ones pockets so it will keep the economy going),  we need to be more friendly to small business owners & entrepreneurs as they often grow and create new/future jobs. We must get the student loans under control or this will create another burden on younger individuals and could be the next bubble. 

Click here to read my post on ways to make a college education cheaper

Ways to make a college education more affordable

Here are a few suggestions to make a college education more affordable, not all of these will work for every ones unique situation, but I hope maybe it will lend some advice.

1. Don’t borrow more than you have to (a very obvious one but many college students till do this)
2. Scholarship opportunities: make sure to really look hard for these (both online, locally, and contact the university where you plan to attend)
3. Attend a community / county college (these usually award 2 yr Associate degrees & some more recently have had larger 4 yr universities offer classes on their campuses) tuition at these schools is usually significantly cheaper than the four-year university, so if you don’t have a scholarship to a university this will really cut down your per credit tuition bill, then after your associates degree you can transfer as a Junior to a State University or Private 4 yr college.
4. Take some classes while in high school (assuming your high school permits) many high schools have a dual enrollment program with local public & private high schools. Students then go to the college (must have self transportation) and they enroll in & attend a college class. These classes can count toward their associates degree. The student does not pay any college tuition costs and so the out-of-pocket cost is usually associated with costs of books & supplies.
5. Maybe you could graduate high school and take 1 year off live at home with your parents and save your income. This may not sound like a lot of money, but even if you earn $8 – $10 bucks an hour working full-time (40hr weeks) you could save your paycheck and put it toward college expenses for the following year. If you do this the point is to maximize your savings for that 1 yr (spend $ only on things like transportation to & from work, your cell phone (or portion of if your on your parents’ family plan). Depending on your wages you could probably save between $10,000 – $15,000 in that 1 year.
6. Do not have a car payment while going to college, I can not say this one enough, while your making that payment on that new car every month (which is depreciating I might add), you are taking out loans for your school related expenses. I understand not everyone lives in an area with convenient or reliable public transit this is why its important to have a car of your own with no payment, commute with a friend, of borrow a parent’s car if it works with their schedule. 
7. Do not buy your supplies at the college bookstore (paper,pens,etc) without first comparing to your local big chain stores (wal-mart, office max, office depot, staples) back to school promotions often have B1G1 or free promotion that college bookstores don’t offer.
8. When you turn 18 apply for 1 credit card, geared toward students with limited/no credit history. Make sure to use this credit card only for small purchases (like gas in your car, or a textbook) and pay it off at the end of every month you use it. By the time you graduate college (26 is the average age in the USA now because many students don’t go during summers, or 22 if you go straight thru you will have established some credit in your own name). This will help you earn a higher FICO score.