Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving and traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year.  It has been noted as the first day of traditional Christmas shopping due to plenty of deals that are advertised. As Black Friday has evolved, stores have begun opening on Thanksgiving day and many of the sales stretch into the following week.

Although 30% of annual retail sales occur between Black Friday and Christmas, that doesn’t mean that Black Friday shopping is for everyone.  While your friends and family are checking out the Black Friday deals, I encourage you to skip Black Friday shopping this year.  Here are 3 reasons you should skip Black Friday shopping:

The latest post is sponsored by PSECU, Pennsylvania Credit Union.  As you know, thoughts are always my own.

The holidays are just around the corner, which means there will be a lot of added expenses.  A few of those expenses include holiday gifts, decorations, and food.

If you are looking for new ways to save money over the next few months, check out this infographic with several money-saving life hacks by PSECU.

These hacks aren’t difficult and they only require small changes to your lifestyle.

Even though it is cold outside, you can still hang clothes on an indoor clothes rack.  Earning points or rewards when purchasing gifts is a great way to save money throughout the holiday season.  There are so many online streaming options today that allow you to cut your cable bill.  Instead of getting a pop or an alcoholic beverage at a restaurant just get water.  While that pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks may be calling your name, there are ways you can make a similar drink at home for a fraction of the cost.

Think of all the wonderful gifts you could buy with the hundreds of dollars you saved through these little changes.

Learn more about other ways to save money this holiday season from these posts:

• How to Enjoy Christmas without Going Broke
• 3 Reasons you Should Skip Black Friday Shopping

 

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This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Cars.com.

Are you in the market for a new car?  If so, then this post is right on time for you.  I purchased my current car almost three years ago.  At that time, that was the biggest purchase I had ever made in my life!  Let me tell you, I was extremely nervous and anxious.  However, I needed a reliable car so I didn’t have a choice.  In fact, a few years prior I went to purchase a car and decided not to because I was so nervious.  In retrospect, I am so glad I waited.  Originally I was compromising on many things that I wanted in a car just to have something newer.  In the end, I ended up following the 5 tips below to ensure I received a great price when car shopping.

Can you believe that the summer is already in full swing?  This year is flying by!  Many schools in my city start school at the end of July!  With a new year, it is also time to get supplies for school. Back to school shopping can get very expensive if you aren’t careful.  We will be reviewing 10+ tips to save money on back to school shopping.

Families with children in grades K-12 plan to spend over $650 on back to school shopping (when taking in consideration apparel, accessories, electronics, shoes and school supplies)!  Therefore, it is important to find ways to save money on back to school shopping however you can.

 

 

I don’t know about you, but saving money isn’t always fun, especially when it is a manual process.  In order to encourage saving and making it more exciting, the app Qapital was born.  Qapital makes it easy for you to automate your saving with weekly or monthly transfers.  In addition, you can also save money simultaneously with your friends.

I heard about Qapital back at the end of 2015 but there has been more and more talk about the app recently.  Qapital gained a lot of steam because of a popular saving app, Digit, started charging a monthly fee!  Digit was a favorite of many personal finance coaches and bloggers like myself because Digit would automatically save money for you each money based on your spending habits.  Normally a money fee wouldn’t be so bad, but Digit raised their fee from free to $2.99 each month.  Although Digit added some additional benefits with the fee, I don’t see the service being worth $36 per year.  So,

Normally a money fee wouldn’t be so bad, but Digit raised their fee from free to $2.99 each month.  Although Digit added some additional benefits with the fee, I don’t see the service being worth $36 per year.  So, Qapital is good if you are looking for an app to start saving automatically but it is also good as an alternative to Digit.

Think you don’t have enough money to put your saving on auto-drive?  An app like Qapital forces you to save.  It is as if the money is out of sight and out of mind.  Unlike putting your money into a saving account that you can see everytime you log online, the money is in a completely separate location.

 

Today we are going to be discussing 25+ free activities to enjoy this summer.  The other day I asked my Twitter followers what they do in the summer to save money?  Some of the answers I received included:  I don’t save money in the summer, I just count the summer as an L, and that I avoid my bank account for the summer.

Although I was saddened by the answers, I am not going to lie.  When it is nice outside, it is tough to stick within your budget.  If you are anything like myself, then you want to enjoy the happy hours, rooftops, and other activities after work as well as on the weekend.  On top of that, there are concert announcements and flight deals every week!  The thing is, you can’t let all of your good financial habits throughout the year go to waste over a few month in the summer.

That is why I decided to come up with this list of 25+ free activities to enjoy this summer.

Can you believe that it is already March?  Time sure is flying this year!  If you are like me, you may have made a vision board or list of goals for 2017.  How is it going so far?  If your goal was to save more money this year, you are in luck because I am going to break down 5 easy steps for you to save more money this year.

There are so many reasons that you might want to save more money this year.  A few of them include:

• Fully funding your emergency fund
• Having more money to travel
• Having additional money to invest
• Saving for a down payment for your first home
• Increasing your net worth

Personally, one of my goals for 2017 is to increase my net worth.  If you aren’t familiar with what net worth means, it is your total assets after subtracting all your liabilities.  For example, add up your saving account, investment account, retirement accounts and other assets (like home/car/etc…).  Then subtract all of your liabilities like any credit card debt, student loan debt,

Saving more money is the number one way that I am going to be able to increase my net worth.  Check out these 6 steps that I am taking to save more money.

Eating out is literally my kryptonite and the hardest habit to kick.  I just love the convenience of eating out but it can really add up.  Think about it: if you go out to lunch every day for a week at a conservative $7 a meal, you will be spending $35 a week and $140 per month!  Let’s be realistic, though, what restaurant can you go to for $7 a meal?  Typically it is more like $8-10 or more if you order a drink and/or dessert.  Therefore, at $10 per meal, you end up spending $50 per work week and $200 just on work days!  It adds up quickly!

That isn’t even including weekends.

Even though eating out is my guilty pleasure, it doesn’t help my wallet (or my waistline).  Slashing eating out from your budget is one of the easiest ways to save money.  However, it doesn’t hurt to treat yourself every once in a while.

That is why I try to find simple ways to save money while eating out.  Check out these 9 simple ways to save money while eating out.

Saving is just like budgeting.  It isn’t the most fun thing to do but it must be done. It is proven that if you automate your saving you will save more money.   Automation makes saving easier and, most importantly, you won’t forget about it.  Check out these 4 awesome apps that help you automate saving so you can reach your goals (and save more money)!

 

Today’s guest post is from Polina.  She is a member of one of the awesome Facebook groups I am in, Blog + Biz Bff’s.  Check out her bio at the end of the post.

 

I recently left my 9-5 job to pursue a career in freelancing and online business.  Although I wanted to leave my full-time job for a while, it took a year of preparation. The most important part of the preparation was saving money.  I wanted to have a financial cushion while I focused on building up my business full-time.

My goal was to save enough money to live for a year as soon as possible.   Although the task seemed extremely difficult, I put a plan into action to save 50% of my income each month.