If your house is anything like mine, the changes in the seasons can be a very exciting time.
The kids go back to school, my wife (a teacher) goes back to work, most of our children’s sports activities start again, and life goes into extreme overdrive!
But with that sudden burst of excitement and lack of spare time, it can be easy to break your household budget and fall off the wagon.
So rather than ignoring your financial plan, here are a few simple steps we can take to make sure they stay on track.
Clothes, Books, and Accessories:
The back-to-school time and Fall season are littered with tons of great deals on clothes and accessories. This is usually the transition from when summer items go out and winter items come in. Not only are most new items discounted to entice shoppers, most relatively new items will still be on the clearance rack and slashed from 50 to 80% off. It never hurts to stock up for next year!
Your online retailers can help out a lot with your household budget too. The Internet versions of the stores you know like Old Navy, Macy’s, and Target can be a big help. You can also skip going to book Stores for text books because a lot of them can be ordered from affordable places on the Internet as well.
More Things You’ll Need Around the House:
Clothing stores aren’t the only places to holding mega sales around the back-to-school and Fall time. Lots of handy tools, grills, accessories like furnace filters, and even outdoor appliances such as lawnmowers or weed whackers can suddenly be discounted or placed on clearance. What would have cost you full price in the Spring and Summer time can now be $100 to $200 off the regular price. Definitely comb through your weekly ads and keep an eye out for some great deals if you were considering one of these types of items for the upcoming Spring season.
Pimp Your Ride:
Although anytime is a good time get on top of your automotive maintenance, the Fall and following cold season is particularly important. You don’t want to get stranded in the Winter! Check your tires, change your fluids, and get a tune-up. While you’re at it, don’t be afraid to shop around for a better price on car insurance or search online loan providers for better refinancing options. Your household budget will thank you for prevention of problems that comes from a smoothly running car and good insurance plan.
Trimming the Household Budget:
One of the biggest breaks in our expenses comes with the cold season and the fact that we’re not at home as much. As sad as we are to see the Summer go, the cold can help trim things off our household budget that we no longer need or use:
• If you have a programmable thermostat, you can eliminate the need to run air conditioning as the temperature outside decreases.
• If you own a sprinkler system, you can shut it down and conserve on water costs.
• If you own a pool, you can close it for the Winter and save on chemical / operating costs.
• Keep electronics off that you’re not using during the day such as lights, cable boxes, and computers.
Featured image courtesy of Flickr – Joe The Goat Farmer
[…] First of all, you need to calculate how much money will be sufficient for you to live your life happily after your retirement. You can consider your everyday expenses, monthly expenses as well as other expenses to calculate your total expense as well as savings. You can consider car expenses such as car maintenance cost, car insurance, and other repairs that you need to do with your car. You can also consider household expenses such as house repair expense, house refurbishment expense as well as other maintenance expenses. You can add up these expenses to your personal expense to calculate the amount that you would need to have with you after your retirement. These calculations will provide you with approximate figures; you will actually need a little bit of more for your retirement plans. […]