Get a stimulus check every year
Posted
Jul 22 2008, 10:25 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
With presidential hopeful Barack Obama mentioning a potential second economic-stimulus check, many folks are clamoring to know more. Unfortunately, there's not much else to say about it other than that he'd push for one in the short term.
I, however, offer a different solution. In order to find an additional $600, you need only cut $50 in spending a month. In reality, that comes out to only $11.54 a week. Reduce your spending by $11.54 a week and you will have created your own stimulus check. That's it.
Can you do it? I'm betting that you can, and here are some recommendations for what you might want to trim.
Subscriptions. Make a list of all the subscriptions you have and take a long hard look at what you really use. Do you have a $50-a-month (or more) gym membership that you don't use? Do you have a $15-a-month Netflix membership but have had the same DVDs for the last three months? Do you get a copy of Good Housekeeping every month, yet you never do anything with it except leave it on the coffee table? Trim it.
Consider:
There are plenty more.
Food and fuel. These are among the largest expenses for most families, so it makes sense that we turn to these two categories to find further savings, after trimming those that we can live without. (What doesn't make sense is why they're not included in the core Consumer Price Index. Oh, wait. I remember. It's so the number seems better.)
First, let's tackle food.
Every Thursday there's a farmers market within walking distance of my home where fresh produce is sold at very low prices. I can get yellow squash for $1 a pound, versus $1.49 a pound at the local Giant Food supermarket. That's a 33% discount and, while we don't eat a ton of yellow squash, savings are savings.
Another recommendation I've heard -- and one I am trying to follow -- is to eat more vegetables and less meat. Vegetables are healthier for you and far cheaper. Chicken breasts, at their very cheapest, are $1.69 a pound, and usually $2.99. Beef? Forget it. You're talking the north side of $4 a pound and sometimes much higher, depending on the cut, grade and whatever sale is going on.
Lastly, be sure to review the circulars. You can see what's on sale for the week ahead and plan your menu accordingly. We know that the front page of the Giant Food supermarket circular has the sales, and we structure our meals based on what's on sale. This week we had some shish kebobs, and we'll prepare some "crumby chicken" (chicken breasts coated with crumbled Ritz crackers) tonight. Chicken is on sale. (Oh, and a leftover calendar helps reduce spoilage. It's still going strong with nothing going bad yet.)
Now, on to fuel.
I'm a huge proponent of car pooling, as it has the potential for the greatest savings. A second best option is to employ some techniques of realistic hypermiling. Don't tailgate trucks, but consider easing off the gas if you see a red light, and not slamming it when it turns green.
Everyone can tell you to carpool or hypermile. How about something no one else has said before? Go to Google Maps or MSN Maps and plot out your daily commute. Investigate alternative routes to see if they reduce your total mileage. While some factors are not illustrated on the maps (rush-hour zones, traffic lights, etc.), it will give you an accurate count of the miles traveled. You will have to decide for yourself whether the tradeoffs are worth it.
I plotted my former commute on Google Maps and was able to reduce the trip from 16.1 miles to 15.5 miles. The shorter commute had three more traffic lights and used smaller roads, but missed a stretch of two highways that are usually clogged during rush hour. The shorter distance may seem inconsequential, but it's actually worth $40 a year. With $4-a-gallon gas and a car getting 30 miles per gallon, shaving off 0.6 of a mile is worth 8 cents. If I make the trip twice a day for 250 days, the typical work year, I save $40 by cutting out the 0.6.
So, plot your trip and any frequent trips you make (grocery store, doctor, dentist, etc.) to see if you can squeeze any efficiencies out of it.
There you go -- some darn good suggestions on how to get an extra stimulus check each year.
Other articles of interest at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity:
Four ways you're unknowingly cheating on taxes
HSBC Direct review
Predicting Federal Reserve rate changes
