2012
| Living Off Of Holiday Leftovers |
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By Melissa Tosetti Our refrigerator is bursting with the remains of multiple holiday meals! There's half of a baked brie from Christmas Eve at Paul's dad's house, not to mention half of the Meat Pie Paul made for Christmas Day dinner. The food is all delicious, but very, very rich. I don't want it to go to waste, but I also don't want it to go to my waist. To ensure we use and enjoy the leftovers, I started serving them in smaller portions alongside various salad dishes. This way, we stay financially savvy by using what we have on hand and we also stay physically savvy by adding plenty of fresh vegetables to the meal. Although Paul and Dante are still munching away on Santa's leftover Gingerbread Men, I finally had to convert to eating Mandarin Oranges for dessert. I always enjoy having my favorite treats during the holidays, but I do look forward to getting back to my normal eating habits.
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| Post-Holiday Sales |
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From now until the end of the year, you can take advantage of amazing sales as retailers drop prices to get rid of surplus items. Before you head out the door, take a few minutes to research the best deals which will save you even more money, time and gas! The following articles detail some of this year's best sales:
Remember to stay sane! No matter how great the deal, if you don't need it or love it, leave it out the store. Otherwise it immediately becomes clutter. Happy shopping! |
| Happy Holidays! |
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Wishing you and your family the happiest of holidays!
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| This Savvy Life - A Success Story |
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By Melissa Tosetti
A few weeks ago I received an email from Nathalie, author of the blog This Savvy Life, telling me about the changes she had made in her own life since reading Living The Savvy Life. I asked her if I could share her email here and she was kind enough to give me permission:
Melissa,
I bought your book in January 2012... ever since you have inspired me so much!!! I made several changes to my life... I have seriously decluttered my place, I downsized to a smaller apartment... I was eating out less... and looking at each penny spent (most of the time anyway)... those are the main ones...
Unfortunately (or is is not fortunate in the end?), on October 3rd my car broke down and since the car was really just worth $3,000 and the repairs were most likely more than that, my husband and I decided to sell the car and buy bus passes... and we have been without a car ever since...
In my last blogpost, I talk about the influence you had on me... How my car broking down actually help me (or rather forced me) to apply more principles in your book and as a result help me attack the last debt I have... and cut up the credit card... and even opened a savings account!!!
p.s. by the way, over the last month... since the car broke down I only bought perishable food... the rest I have been using what I have in my pantry!!! Here's the address to my blog in case you are interested... http://thissavvylife.blogspot.ca/ I want to thank you for changing my life or pushing me to turn my life around I should say!!! I will be forever grateful for that!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Nathalie Thank you Nathalie for sharing your story! |
| Sunday Morning Money Saving Ritual |
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By Melissa Tosetti
I just wrapped up one of my favorite time and money saving habits. Every Sunday morning I savor a fresh cup of coffee while perusing the weekly sales ads. As I go through the ads, I compare what’s on sale to what I have listed in my Spending Book.
A Spending Book is a small notebook I keep with me at all times. In it, I list the items I want to purchase that are outside of our normal household spending like groceries. Some of the items I have listed in my spending book right now are a mirror for my bathroom wall, OPI Clear Fingernail Polish and a new watch.
I also use my Spending Book to list the books I want to read, the movies I want to see and the restaurants I want to visit.
The idea of the Spending Book is to use it as a tool to focus your discretionary income on what you truly want. By adding an item to the book, you are creating an intention. You have decided that item is important enough to spend your money on.
By using my Spending Book and timing my purchases to coincide with store’s sales, I systematically save 20% - 50% on just about every purchase I make – and I have fun in the process!
In addition to saving both time and money, the ultimate benefit of this particular habit is that it helps me to live a more purposeful life – picking and choosing what I purchase or how I spend my time rather than mindlessly consuming. It’s Savvy Living at its best!
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| Holiday Shopping - Keep It Simple |
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By Melissa Tosetti
Even without the frenzy of marketing and media coverage, it's easy to get swept away by the spirit of the holiday season.
Also, as human beings, we have a tendency to make things as complicated as possible. A few years ago my husband and I decided to buy his aunt and uncle the movie Bottle Shock which is based on the true story of a California winery who famously, trumped French wines in what has become known as The Judgment of Paris. Paul and I then decided that it would be cool to also include a bottle of wine from the winery in the movie. That added an additional $40 to the gift. We then decided that it would look so much better if we put the gifts together in a basket rather than in a gift bag, adding another $10 to the gift. When all was said and done, the $12 movie, that his aunt and uncle would have loved on its own, turned into a $60 gift and the stress of running around trying to find everything we needed at three separate stores. Before walking into a single store, make sure you have a complete list of all the gifts you want to purchase. Stay focused and if you find yourself starting to get really elaborate ask yourself how much time and money your new gift ideas will cost and then ask yourself, is it worth it? As in many things in life, by keeping it simple you will enjoy the holidays so much more! |
| Happy Thanksgiving |
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Wishing you and your family the happiest of Thanksgiving holidays! |
| Savvy Holidays - Radio Tour |
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By Melissa Tosetti
I've been getting a lot of requests for Savvy Holiday Tips. So, starting tomorrow, I'll begin posting a Savvy Holiday Article Series to help you save both time and money this season on everything from gift giving to entertaining and more.
Also, I am very excited to announce that tomorrow, I'll be doing a one day radio tour on the following stations:
I'll be doing interviews for these sations as well, but the interviews are taped so unfortunately, I don’t know exactly when they will air.
Between the radio interviews and the Savvy Holiday Article Series, you'll have all the information you need to make this a relaxing and enjoyable holiday season!
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| Veteran's Day |
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We would like to thank the men and women who serve and who have served in the armed forces. We would also like to thank your families for the sacrifices they have made to allow you to protect our country. - All of us at The Savvy Life
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| Affordable Emergency Kit |
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By Melissa Tosetti On Saturday, my friend Lisa posted a note on Facebook that she was scrambling to get supplies before Sandy hit and that Costco had already ran out of water before she got there.
I’m happy to say that she and her family are safe, but her note has been haunting me.
Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, we are constantly reminded to have an emergency kit ready to go. In fact, just this week, I received a letter from Dante’s school asking us to prepare an emergency kit of clothes and food for three days just in case a disaster strikes while he is there. While it’s something that I don’t want to even think about, I’m grateful to his school district for working to keep him safe.
The suffering we’re seeing on the East Coast is a painful reminder that, like it or not, things can happen and it’s possible that you will have to take care of yourself for days or even weeks.
I confess that I have a semblance of an emergency kit put together, but it is far from complete. I believe that most of us have procrastinated on this project for several reasons. We don’t want to think about a disaster actually happening. The process of putting together an emergency kit all at once can be overwhelming and it can get expensive. But, that is no excuse for us not to do it.
So, I challenge all of us to make it a goal to have an emergency kit fully prepared by the end of this year. That gives us eight weeks which will help spread out the cost and effort of putting it together.
The Red Cross, who are experts at this, have an Emergency Preparedness Checklist. After reading through it, make a list of the items you need to do and to purchase and start getting it done!
Based on the experience our East Coast friends are going through, I strongly recommend putting together at least two weeks’ worth of provisions.
I hope none of us ever have to use our emergency kits, but we will feel a lot better for having them.
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