March Money Madness: Save Your Pennies!

Hope you are all enjoying your Monday.

While i am away, i will complete the March Money Madness series 

because that's what a good blogger would do:-)

I wanted to share something Team Pancakes does 

and i am sure many of you already do as well because it is a useful practice 

in terms of counting and saving your pennies!

Let me ask you a question: 

What do you do with all the pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters 

you accumulate at the end of your day?

Some people use it to buy gum or candy at the store.

Other's may go into your purse (most of it doesn't though because 

we hate our purses bulging out because of those dreaded coins)

Other's  may use their coins for parking meters (myself sometimes)

Other's loose their coins only to find them in between the couch cushions.

You get the idea...there are many things we can do with our coins at the end of the day.

What Team Pancakes does is put all the coins we have 

accumulated throughout the day into what we call:

Team Pancakes Family Fund!

Initially, the coins do not look like much however

 day after day and month after month of accumulation,we noticed the money adds up.  

One year, we were able to roll up over a $1000.00 of coins 

so Mr. Pancakes could get emergency dental work.

After that incident, i was hooked on saving my pennies in the Team Pancakes Family Fund.

Of course this jar DOESN'T replace your regular emergency/savings funds 

BUT it can act as a supplement.

Some couples/ families use their JAR as a way to save their pennies for vacations,

 toys like a big screen TV, laptop, iPad...however you use the money in the jar,

 the most important thing is that you made 

a conscience effort to save extra money that you might have otherwise used frivolously.

Lately, we have been adding some bills too because sometimes at the end of the month, 

we have extra money left over that could go to the family fund 

instead of purchasing lunch, magazines or something that i really don't need.  

The best part of adding the bills is that it increases the family fun rapidly.

As the jar gets fuller, Mr. Pancakes will remove most or all the pennies 

so that we only have silver coins.  

We then begin another jar with just the pennies.  

This is motivating in a way because it makes you only 

want to save more silver coins because they add up faster. 

The name of one of my favorite blogs is My Pretty Pennies 

and you know what our pennies are pretty, we work hard for our pennies 

and why wouldn't we want to save them?

I encourage you today to start Saving Your Pretty Pennies!

Question of the Day:

Do you have a money jar/family fund?

How do you use the money in your jar...for vacations, buying toys?

March Money Madness: Rules for Lending Money!

Good Monday Morning Friends!!

I hope you've been enjoying your March Madness basketball games...
i know there have been tons of game watching in my house.
But i wanted to keep the March Money Madness going!!

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Suze Orman is another financial person that Team Pancakes listens to.

Every Saturday, we make it a date and watch Suze.

We are such nerds BUT we love her and her fiesty-ness when it comes to finances

 and we love her segment: Can I Afford This?

We've become really good at approving and denying people ourselves.

We saw an episode of Suze on 3/10/2012 which i thought was important to speak about during March Money Madness because it's been a topic of conversation in our marriage.

Suze's points are practical and helpful and i hope they help you too!

Source: SuzeOrman.com

The Rules of Lending and Giving Money

Suze is NOT a big prominent of lending and giving money
with the expectation of getting money back because in the long run,
most people lend money but NEVER get it back!

According to Suze, you should NOT give money if:

1. If you have credit  card debt 

(if you have credit card then YOU NEED MONEY)

2. Have at least an 8 month emergency fund

(most people will ask for money when they don't have an emergency fund)

3. You must fully fund your retirement 

(It will generate money for you later in life so it's important to fund it)

4. You can easily make your mortgage or rent

5. Your job is secure

(if you are self-employed, generate enough money)

6. you must have insurance

 (car, home, medical, term life,)

7. You're funding children's 529 funds

The Biggest Mistake in loaning someone money is expecting the money back.   

If the person you are lending money to needs money today, they will need money tomorrow.

If they don't have money today, they will not have the money to give it you tomorrow
(The red light goes off for me....DING! DING! DING!).

According to Suze Orman, the best thing to do is:

Don't loan money,
Give money
 (only if you meet the 7 criteria)
(you don't feel bad if the person doesn't return it, there is no hard feelings)

Here are what she reminds us about loaning money:

1. If you loan money, loan an amount you can afford
 (especially if you are ok NOT getting the money back)

2. Create a promissory note (amount, interest, date to be repaid)

(If you use a promissory note and they don't pay you back, because it's a loan,
 you can write it off on your income tax and it can be taxable to them)

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These are the keys to loaning and giving money!
I found this information very helpful because while in college, i lent a friend $100.00
and always wondered when i will get it back.
At this point, i don't hold any hard feelings but i alway wonder,
"did she ever plan to give it back to me?"
I guess the answer is "NO!"

Enjoy your Monday ladies!!

March Money Madness: The Baby Steps

Good day ladies...i thought i would continue the March Money Madness.

Since Dave Ramsey has been pretty influential in my financial peace walk, 

i wanted to share his Seven Baby Steps.  

The steps are basically a way to help you:

use your own money to build wealth,

 get out of debt, 

save money, 

and give back as much as you can.

I have only read the book but never taken his Financial Peace classes.  

All this information can be found at Dave Ramsey's book 

and website if you need more information.

Baby Step 1: $1,000 Emergency Fund

An emergency fund is for those unexpected events in life that you can’t plan for: 
the loss of a job, an unexpected pregnancy, a faulty car transmission, and the list goes on. 
It’s not a matter of if these events will happen; it’s simply a matter of when they will happen. 

If a real emergency happens, you can handle it with your emergency fund. No more borrowing. It’s time to break the cycle of debt!

Baby Step 2: Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball

List your debts, excluding the house, in order. 
The smallest balance should be your number one priority. 
Don’t worry about interest rates unless two debts have similar payoffs.
 If that’s the case, then list the higher interest rate debt first. 

The point of the debt snowball is simply this: 

You need some quick wins in order to stay pumped up about getting out of debt!

 Paying off debt is not always about math. It’s about motivation. 

Personal finance is 20% head knowledge and 80% behavior. 

When you start knocking off the easier debts, 

you will see results and you will stay motivated to dump your debt.

(Seriously, this can take FOREVER if there is no focus!!)

Baby Step 3: 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings.  

Ask yourself, "What would it take for to live for three to six months if i lost my income?"  Use this money for emergencies only: incidents that would have a major impact on you and your family.  Keep these savings in a money market account.  Remember, this stash of money is not an investment; it is insurance you're paying to yourself, a buffer between you and life. 

Baby Step 4: Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement

When you reach this step, you’ll have no payments—except the house—and a fully funded emergency fund. Now it’s time to get serious about building wealth. 

Dave suggests investing 15% of your household income 
into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement plans. 
Don’t invest more than that because the extra money 
will help you complete the next two steps: 
college savings and paying off your home early. 

Why shouldn’t you invest less than 15%?  
Some people choose to invest a small amount, if anything, because they want to get a child through school or pay off the home in a hurry. 
But the kids’ degrees won’t feed you at retirement, and if you throw all your money into your mortgage at this point, you’ll end up having to sell the house.

Baby Step 5: College funding for children

By this point, you should have already started Baby Step 4

—investing 15% of your income—

before saving for college. 

Whether you are saving for you or your child to go to college, you need to start now.

In order to have enough money saved for college, you need to have a goal. 

Determine how much per month you should be 

saving at 12% interest in order to have enough for college. 

If you save at 12% and inflation is at 4%, 

then you are moving ahead of inflation at a net of 8% per year!

Never save for college using:

Insurance

Savings bonds (only 5-6% growth)

Zero-coupon bonds. (only 6-8% growth)

Pre-paid college tuition (only 7% inflation rate)

Baby Step 6: Pay off your house early

Now it’s time to begin chunking all of your extra money toward the mortgage. 

You are getting closer to realizing the dream of a life with no house payments.

As you attack this last debt, you will gain momentum much 

like you did back in the second step of the debt snowball. 

Remember, having absolutely no payments is totally within your reach!

Baby Step 7: Build wealth and give!

It’s time to build wealth and give like never before. 

Leave an inheritance for future generations, and bless others now with your excess.

 It's really the only way to live!

Golda Meir says, “You can’t shake hands with a clenched fist.” 

Vow to never hold your money so tightly that you never give any away. 

Hoarding money is not the way to wealth. Save for yourself, save for your family’s future, 

and be gracious enough to bless others. 

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Honestly, the Baby Steps are long term money plans, 

so no worries if you are far away from the first baby step.  

Mr. Pancakes and i are in between Baby Steps 2 and 3 because he wants to pay his student loans on his own so hopefully by the end of the year, we will be at Baby Step 3.

I can't wait. 
 It's all about focus, 
determination 
and  remaining motivated to the goal!!

March Money Madness: Hitting the Jackpot??!!

Happy Monday Friends!

I used the picture above because many of us will NOT make our money playing the slots, lottery 

and or have the man showing up from the Publisher's Clearing House.

It truly makes me sad when i see people buying lottery tickets at the gas stations.

When i think of the probability of winning the lottery (which is like 1/1000,000) 

or being struck by lightening before winning the lottery, 

you bet Team Pancakes is not spending it's hard earned money on the lottery.

And in the end, the lottery companies end up making the money 

and the idea of giving someone FREE money so they can get richer doesn't bode well with me.

I am NOT preaching just stating my opinions.

So knowing i will NOT win money from the slots, lottery and or PCH, 

the primary thing i can do is to make money and KEEP as much of it as possible!

After all, we all hear of individuals who hit the lottery and end up going broke.

I have a family member who would diligently study the numbers trying to hit the jackpot.

And she hit a few big ones here and there BUT in the end, 

she probably spent more money buying the lottery tickets than getting winnings from the tickets.

In the end, i have learned it's NOT a good idea to make money just to gamble it away.

That's the number lesson for this week.

Original source: Creditstock via http://photo-dictionary.com/phrase/930/gamble.html#b

Question of the Day:

What's the number one lesson you've learned about money?

March Money Madness

Hello March?

Hello Friends!

What are some of your goals for March?

One of my goals is definitely to go visit my sister, her hubby and the most beautiful baby in the world.

I know for Mr. Pancakes, he cannot wait for March Madness (NCAA Basketball)!

And i thought i would jump on the bandwagon 

and do a weekly series about money hence the Team Pancakes version of:

March Money Madness.

There are plenty of things you can do with money including: 

save, give & spend 

and i want to share how I've been doing all three! 

The last few years, I have grown a lot in the area of money 

and i am looking forward to sharing all the information 

i have found useful in my life as a single person and now as a married woman. 

Money & Marriage, 

Marriage & Money, 

however you put it are definitely two areas that can clash 

negatively and or positively depending on your perspective.  

And it's been one area Team Pancakes has been very clear about in our marriage.

Hope you can join in the fun of March Money Madness 

so we can learn from each other this month.

Who says only NCAA Basketball can have a March Madness!!

Will definitely EXPLAIN the picture in another post!

Question of the Day:

What are your personal goals for March?

What are your blog goals for March?