Have you ever come across something in the house you completely forgot about until you seen it again? Sure you have, we all have. Well what about money you forgot about? Yeah, that happens too every once in a blue moon. I remember grabbing a winter jacket the following season to find a fiver inside, sweet!

Well, believe it or not people forget about money. Lots of money. In Illinois alone it amounts to $1.7 billion in cash plus contents from safety deposit boxes. That’s crazy! Well, what you may not know is this information and money is turned over to the state after 5 years of inactivity. Awful nice of them, eh? What’s even better is Illinois gives you an easy way to check through a website they’ve established just for unclaimed property. ICash gives you an easy way to check to see if you have anything. It’s a simple search by last name. And don’t forget to check on a loved one who has passed. I found a relative who passed on by searching.

icash

https://icash.illinois.gov/index.asp – Illinois unclaimed site
https://www.unclaimed.org/ – way to search by state

If you do find something on the site, the state makes it easy to claim with an online form. And of course proving you’re entitled to it.

Share

When it comes to shaving, I’ve been down most roads: disposable, electric, hair trimmer (beard days), and DE blades (safety razors). Disposable razors are easy but not cheap when you figure in how much they cost per shave, especially if you use those high end Mach blades. Yikes! Electric does a pretty good job, but I’ve found it irritates your face. And considering the cost of the replacement blades you may be better off buying a new razor. If you have a beard, the hair trimmer (shears) work great and are decent priced.

Last year I discovered safety razors after reading an article over at askmen.com. I decided to give it a try and the Mrs. was nice enough to indulge my Amazon wish list. I didn’t go high end right off the bat. I picked out an inexpensive $6 shaver along with a Van Der Hagen shave set for another $10. I had to start out small just in case I didn’t care for it. After reading the AskMen article, I realized there were countless styles and manufactures of blades. Upon a recommendation, I picked out a sample pack of 100 blades for $25. All in, around $41. Up front a little more than disposables, but this trial wasn’t over.

When I was little I used to watch my dad shave using a safety razor. As I got older, I just figured that was the old fashioned way of shaving. I used to think the same of my moms leftover meatloaf too, but my dad knew different, and now I understand that too. From the first shave with a safety razor, I was hooked. It did take me a little bit of time trying the different blades before I found the right one, but the overall shave experience is worth the effort. Yes, I said “experience”. It takes a little preparation to get a really good shave. Not some wine and candle preparation, but setting up your face for a good shave. Following my online guide suggestions, I was ready. I soaked my brush and razor in hot water while I showered. I cleaned my face really well and made sure to not completely dry my face (you get a much smoother shave if your beard has some moisture). With the right blade (Astra platinum for me), I end up with no red marks and a nice smooth face. Again, well worth the effort.

Now down to brass tacks; I can get 100 of these blades for $9.89. That’s .10 each rounding up. I can shave 3 times before changing to a new one. So I can shave for only 3.3 cents each time. Even with the up front cost, you just can’t beat that. Sure, I could also get a $50 Merkur razor, but the one I have works just fine. Oh, and don’t forget the moisturizer!

Share

I hear printer ink is really expensive, but I don’t have much experience with that because we own a laser printer. Best purchase we ever made! For $200 we can print all the coupons we want (that’s mostly what we use it for) and rarely have to buy toner. In the time we’ve owned the printer, which is going on approximately ten years, we’ve purchased 3 toner cartridges (which cost $30 each). This is no exaggeration and we print stuff daily!

So unless you have a compelling reason to own a “regular” printer, I highly suggest opting for a laser printer instead. Heck, I’d recommend getting one in addition to your fancy color printer and only using the fancy one for printing photos or items that require full-color and use the laser for everything else. It will quickly pay for itself with all the savings on ink.

Share

One way I have found to save money on hair care, particularly coloring, is to do it yourself. I’m not talking about box dye kits, however.

I like buying the developer and color from Sally Beauty Supply. I learned many years ago that you don’t have to sign up to be a member to purchase products from their stores and since then I haven’t touched a boxed dye kit. Not only is my method healthier for your hair, it’s very inexpensive. A bottle of developer will run you $3-$5 and the color is typically $5 a bottle or less. Depending on how long your hair is you might have to buy two bottles of color but your maximum out of pocket expense shouldn’t exceed $15. You can’t get a coloring for that cheap at the salon, that’s for sure! And if you have an awesome husband like I do you won’t even have to do it on your own – he colors my hair for me.

Just an idea if you’re looking to save a little moolah but love to update your look.

Share

Xmarks

Anyone who leans on the OCD side of things such as myself probably has a lot of bookmarks in their web browser. How would you feel if your computer crashed and you lost them all? Personally I would be devastated after cultivating them for years.

Fear not, there’s a solution, and it’s called Xmarks. This free service is tied to your web browser and syncs your bookmarks on demand (and every time you close the browser) to ensure your bookmarks are never lost. You can access them online wherever there’s an internet connection and restore them should you need to reinstall your operating system and/or web browser (or even if you decide to use a new browser and want to easily add your bookmarks to it).

This service has saved me more times than I can count, like the time I somehow inadvertently completely deleted a folder full of bookmarks in Firefox. That’s because Xmarks keeps a history of your bookmarks so you can restore what you’ve removed from the browser itself. I love this service and highly recommend it!

Share

I just love a good deal! And I don’t mean “I love spending money on something I wouldn’t have otherwise bought just because it’s on sale” because that is not saving money, that is spending it. I’m referring, instead, to when there’s something you’re planning on buying anyway (whether you need it or just have wanted it for a long time) and you’re able to get a discount on it.

I’m a big fan on stocking up on everyday items when they go on sale but I like to stick to non-perishables like toilet paper, laundry soap, garbage bags, etc. as nothing irks me more than to waste food. So when it comes to food, unless it’s canned items that have a shelf life of over a year, I am careful not to stock up too much. But with other stuff I really go whole hog. For instance, last year Target had our preferred toilet paper on sale. In addition to the sale they were giving out $5 gift cards for every two packages of toilet paper sold and there was a “save $2 now” coupon attached to each package. In all we saved approximately $7 per package of toilet paper and we’re still working through our supply of it well over six months later. Sure, we spent a lot of money at once to acquire it but that’s an expense we’re not going to see again for quite awhile. These are my favorite type of savings because they are on things I would have bought anyway so it’s a win-win.

For things that one wants, such as a new TV, it’s not as exciting because it’s still money out the door that could easily have stayed in your pocket. For those such instances you need to weigh whether you can truly afford it (hint: if you’re buying it with a credit card that doesn’t get paid off in full at the end of each month then you shouldn’t get it), how long it will last, and how much enjoyment you’ll get out of it. Certain items can be considered an investment, such as a new suit to wear on interviews and/or special events, whereas others are pure enjoyment – that new smart TV you’ve been drooling over. There’s nothing wrong with buying stuff you want (and really don’t need) as long as you’re realistic and smart about it; just do your research! Amazon.com is fantastic for reviews even if you decide to buy it elsewhere. Camelcamelcamel.com tracks items sold at Amazon, Best Buy and NewEgg and provides a price history as well as allow you to set a price threshold and get notified by email when it has been reached. You can read more about CamelCamelCamel here.

I also highly recommend the wait and see approach. Many times when someone wants something they want it right away and thus end up spending more money than if they had been patient for awhile and waited for it to go down in price via a sale or temporary price cut. The added bonus here is that the anticipation sweetens the feeling when the item is eventually acquired.

In addition, try practicing feeling grateful for the things you already own. Just because you don’t have the latest, greatest device doesn’t mean it’s worthless. Too often people take their possessions for granted which results in them constantly wanting to acquire new ones to get that happy feeling again. But that initial feeling is fleeting, so if you train yourself to appreciate the things you have you’ll find yourself enjoying them more and spending less money at the same time. Before you know it you’ll have accumulated extra money in your savings account which gives you a peace of mind that trumps that high you get when you buy something new.

Try it, and feel free to share your strategies in the comments.

Share

Without fail, at the beginning of each year, the office buzz is about 401ks and Roth IRAs. The reason here is simple – it’s performance review/bonus time. The conversations are always interesting. I’m all too happy to give my opinion, but what interests me even more is I get insight into how others prioritize their savings. I hear a little bit of everything – “I saw what happened to Enron, it’s not going to happen to me!” or “I put my money into my online savings before my 401k”. There is a lot of discussion around where to put your money first, so you may not share my opinion. I try to look at this as objectively as I can.

My company’s 401k provides a 100% company match up to 3%, so I prioritize my savings with that 3% first. There’s no place around you can get that kind of return on your investment. Anything more I can come up with to save gets funneled into my Roth IRA. My thinking is that the Roth IRA provides tax free growth, no required minimum distributions, and if you’re in a real bind, you can take out the money you originally contributed without penalty.

This is also the time of year where most companies hand out performance reviews, and if you’re lucky, a raise. It’s the perfect time to increase your 401k contributions. If you receive a 3% raise you can drop an extra 1% into your 401k and still see an increase in your paycheck. It’s a great way to build up your 401k contribution level. Before you know it you’ll be with the company for 10 years and have a nice nest egg building in your 401k. And don’t forget to look at it once in a year to determine if you need to re-balance your investments, but that’s a whole other post.

Share

Taxes

Are you the type who stresses over taxes or one who enjoys the annual task? Whichever type you are, you can benefit from the options these days we all have for filing our returns. Remember the days where e-filing and tax software seemed to cost a pretty penny? Well, depending on your income and some basic math, you can file without the need for expensive software or tax prepares. The Federal and State websites have a wealth of good info about completing your taxes. After all, they want their money!

Free Filing
If your income is $57k or less, there are a number of tax software companies who make their software available for use, for free! Some even support State returns.

If you’re comfortable completing the forms yourself, you can complete and submit for free regardless of your income. This way assumes you kind of know what you’re doing so there’s only filling in numbers and basic calculations are done. No State returns here though, just Federal.

Cheap Filing
This is the route we go. I like the H&R Block Basic Tax Prep Software. We usually end up paying $14.99. Sure, I’ve done this enough over the years that I feel pretty comfortable doing my own taxes. But the way I look at it is for $14.99 it buys me the comfort of knowing I didn’t miss anything. For this price, you can file multiple Federal returns and even long forms. It’s fast too – I can import my info from the previous year and then just enter some data from my W2.

State Returns
And my .02$ on State returns. Whatever method you’ve used to knock out the the Federal return, the majority of the work for the State return is done.

I’ll be honest, I always do the State the old fashioned way on paper and mail it. Once I have my Federal return done, the State form is as easy as filling out some information using the info from the Federal return.

For Illinois, using the MyTax website, after registering you can print, complete, and e-file your return according to their website. Maybe this year, I’ll give this way a go.

Of course since we live where we do, the State info is for Illinois. If you live in another state, simply Google-ize (yes, I made that up and have been using it for years) search your State along with the words “Department of Revenue”, and you’ll find your info.

Refunds
By now everyone knows you can get your money back pretty quickly when you e-file by having it electronically deposited into a checking/savings account. Take advantage of getting your money quicker!

Share