Frugal Living

Just found out from WSJ Blog that Google Docs has beefed up their resources for personal finance spreadsheets, allowing users to edit them from their cellphones and other mobile devices.

The Web-based tools can help users keep track of variety of expenses, ranging from household and personal budgets to shared costs between co-workers and roommates to weddings. Other worksheets can help users figure out how long it will take to pay off their mortgage or credit-card bills. The templates are Excel-like spreadsheets that users can customize and access from any computer. Now, users can also edit those spreadsheets, sort by column, and filter by terms on from a variety of mobile devices. Users can also share their spreadsheets with anyone, so multiple people can work on a budget together. For example, parents with college-age kids can work on a shared budget at the same time from different locations; others may want to share their spreadsheets with their financial planners or accountants. Users can decide to keep their budgets private or invite others to view them.

Ofcourse, you will have to manually enter your data, which is saved automatically. According to Andrew Chang of Google Docs, the spreadsheets are lightweight and appropriate for do-it-yourselfers who don’t want to connect with other services and prefer to run quick calculations of their finances.

Here are direct links to those templates:

• Family Budget Planner
• Personal Budget Tracker
• Monthly Budget Planner
• Annual Personal Budget Spreadsheet
• Savings Calculator
• Bank Account Ledger
• Credit Card Payment Calculator
• Statement of Net Worth
• Auto Expense Report
• Road Trip
• Mortgage Payment Calculator
• Wedding Budget Manager
• Wedding Vendor Payment List

If you have removed gym membership from your budget with the goal of saving more this year, here are a few tips on how to stay fit–on a budget.

• Walk more. If you are one of those people who drives to work or commutes to work, you might want to ditch the car for awhile and walk or sprint from the parking lot to your office. While sprinting might race your heart rate like brosk walking, you might want to change or wear appropriate shoes and be wary of potholes lest you injure yourself.
• Instead of riding the elevators or escalators, use the stairs instead.
• Eat healthy. Increase your vegetable intake and lower your carbohydrates from your diet.
• Keep tabs with your health by having an annual check-up.
• Instead of snacking during break times, eat a fruit or two instead.
• Ditch the softdrinks, coffee and alcohol. Opt for more healthier beverages like some fresh fruit drink or better yet, increase your water intake!
• Stop smoking. Not only are you helping yourself, you are also helping to protect your immediate family who could suffer from passive smoking.

Do you have other smart tips in staying fit on a budget? Make your comments below or email them to me at frugal.pinoy@gmail.com. Interesting tips will get free cellphone loads from me.

How do you usually prepare for the celebration of any of your family members?

I know this is a hasty generalization, but most Pinoy tends to break the bank in order to celebrate their birthdays. But with this strained economic time, lavish birthday parties is simply out. So how does a frugal mom plan and celebrate their children’s birthdays?

Honestly, not counting my children, I do not celebrate my own birthday with food anymore. Since children are still enamored with birthdays and cakes, I plan and celebrate my children’s birthday to the tee and ofcourse, breaking the bank is not an option.

Plan ahead.

Like any event of the year, I allocate funds for birthday celebrations 3 or so months before it happens. Since my children are still young, their social circle is smaller and the number of guests are minimal. And since it is my children’s birthday, I do not control the invitation list. Meaning, the guest list only contains my children’s close friends. No extra acquaintances. This is your children’s birthday– not yours. You will save more this way because I promise, if you have your own set of friends and your husband’s set of friends in your children’s party, the number of mouths to feed will increase not to mention the booze. A children’s party should remain a children’s party.

Make a Realistic Spending Plan.

Create a menu and allocate for them, then base your future birthday plan on the menu.

Example: (DAUGHTER’s BDAY)- estimated guests- 20 children

Allocate Funds and Stick with It.

Since you have a spending budget for the birthdays, you can allocate funds for it 3 or so months prior. Since the budget is P2,670 or P3,000 for the food, you might want to allocate and save for P3,000 per birthday. In my case, I have 4 children, so I have to allocate for P12,000 a year for birthdays.

I have opened a savings account for celebrations like these. Since P12,000 is alot, I pledged and allocate P1,000 each month for the birthday funds. To make things easier also, I have automated my contributions, and I have authorized my bank to deduct P1,000 every 7th day of the month from my main account to the events fund. This makes everything hardly noticeable. You can make the same plan for Christmas noche buena celebration and other celebrations for the year. Darn, if I can do this, anyone can…

Do you have other spending and saving tips? Share them with me at frugal.pinoy@gmail.com

One of the key in having a successful budget spending plan is having a weekly menu and following it to the tee. So, how can you effectively make a weekly menu? In my case, I only shop once a month, so instead of a weekly menu, I make a one month flexible menu. Flexible meaning I am amenable to inter-changing the menus since I have 4 children to feed and sometimes I heed to their requests once in a while.

To avoid protests during meal time, include your children with the menu planning. Make the menu planning a family affair. Give each of your children a chance to suggest their special dish. Not only that, you can include a kitchen helper schedule in the menu. You might also want to include your children’s favorite dish once or twice a week. Just make sure they know that you have the last say on this. And to be able to accomodate your children’s wishes, make sure you make your meal combinations wisely to avoid overspending.

The advanatge of menu planning is simply staggering. Having a plan not only removes the stress of not knowing what to cook for dinner, but it will also help you from not eating out or ordering dinner over the phone. Not eating out will obviously help you maintian a healthier and leaner budget. Menu planning will also make shopping easier, not to mention, time saving and yes, cheaper since you will only buy what you will need for the duration of your menu. Having control with your day to day consumption will free you from the stress of meal preparation daily. Not to mention that when you have a shopping list to follow, the risk of impluse buying can be avoided.

If you are busy mother, one of the advantages of meal planning is that you can cook some meals ahead of time and save time doing so. You can prepare your stock in the freezer. Or in my case, I marinate my daing na bangus and keep it in the fridge ready for frying. Doing so will save me spices and seasoning. Not to mention that hey, the bangus cooked this way will guarantee clean plates and tons of rice…

Grocery shopping is actually one of the easiest way to save money. When one is shopping, you always have a variety of choices to choose from. Products have become more competitive and cheaper brands does not necessarily mean ineffective products.

Here goes:

1. Do your shopping once a month. Small trips are expensive. Less trips to the store means you save on transportation and gas.

2. Make a shopping list. And since household shopping is indispensible, I bet my savings that you have a flexible grocery list already and can run along the aisles of the grocery store even with your eyes covered. Make sure to write down the estimated price (base it on previous month’s purchase) and tally everything so you would know more or less how much everything would cost you.

3. Double check bar codes and prices as declared on the shelf. This is important. Its known that the bar code system in the shops are convenient for the stores and not necessary for you. Double check the bar code at the back of your items against the code and price on the aisle.

4. Try store brands. Many store brand items actually come from the same factories as named brand items. They are just packaged differently. Store brand items can save you 20 to 30%.

5. Stock up. Buy and stock up items you know your family consistently consume like eggs, rice, milk, noodles, oil and diapers if you have babies.

6. In season items. When it comes to fruits, buy fruits that are in season and shy away from imported fruits and vegetables. Like I say, buy local.

If you have other frugal shopping ideas, please email me at : frugal.pinoy@gmail.com