Keeping Up With The Bulls

A personal finance blog focused on making more money, saving money and smart spending.

  • Start Here
    • Start Here Latest Posts
    • Personal Finance Terms to Know
    • Money in Your 20s
    • Saving Money Tips
  • Career
    • Career Latest Posts
    • Advance Your Career
    • Corporate Benefits
  • Investing
    • Invest Latest Posts
    • Passive investing
    • Invest in startups
    • Retirement
  • Smart Spending
    • Smart Spending Latest Posts
    • Saving Money Tips
    • Housing
    • Food
    • Holidays
    • Wedding Guest
    • Wedding
  • Tools
    • Tools and Resources Latest Posts
  • Contact

10 Ways to Save On Cheap Halloween Costumes For Kids

09.29.2022 by admin // Leave a Comment

cheap halloween costume tips, save money on kids halloween costumes

Halloween is coming up soon and after not being able to celebrate properly the last few years we’re all excited to get dressed up again. Like everything else, prices are up and cheap Halloween costumes aren’t as easy to find anymore. But, a great Halloween costume doesn’t have to cost money. It’s easy to overspend and spend beyond your means, especially with prices up and multiple Halloween parties. Here are 10 cheap Halloween costume tips for kids to help you save money this year.

Plan and Create a Budget for Halloween Costumes

First, start by planning. Planning helps avoid impulse buys, and also avoids multiple trips. What’s your budget? Halloween costumes can add up quickly, some even run up to $100! Do you need to buy multiple costumes? Kids get invited to a lot of Halloween parties and buying one costume verse buying one costume for every party will save money. Do you need accessories to add on to the costume? Do you and your partner need to match your child? Rewearing your old costumes instead of having matching family costumes will save money too. Planning and setting a budget will ensure you don’t over spend.

Use Coupons And Look For Deals When You Buy Your Halloween Costume

When you’re looking to buy a Halloween costume look for in store promotion or leverage promotions you’ve used in the past. For example, Target usually has a discount on Target gift cards around the holidays. You can buy a gift card for yourself, and then use the gift card later to buy a Halloween costume.

DIY Halloween Costume

The easiest way to save money on kids Halloween costumes is to make their Halloween costume. Look at Pinterest for inspiration on different DIY kids Halloween costumes or search a particular costume you want to make yourself. Pinterest has a lot of great ideas for kids Halloween costumes.

Shop Outside Of The Halloween Aisle

Not crafty? Look for a cheap Halloween costume in another isle. For example, Old Navy has kids skeleton pajamas. A cat costume can be made wearing all black and buying cat ears headband. Sometimes toy isles also have dress up clothes that can double as costumes. A Disney princess dress up in the toy isle may be cheaper than a Disney princess Halloween costume in the Halloween isle.

Buy Pre-Owned Halloween Costumes

Buying pre-owned Halloween costumes will help you save money. Sometimes you’ll even be able to find the Halloween costume you want for over a 50% discount.

You can look for pre-owned Halloween costumes on Poshmark, at thrift stores and local consignment shops. Costumes may also be listed on sites like Facebook Marketplace, Offer Up and Craigs List.

Join a Buy Nothing Group

Does your community have a buy nothing group on Facebook? Ask on that forum if anyone has Halloween costumes they are giving away. You may be surprised and get your kid a Halloween costume for free!

Swap Costumes With Another Family

Does your child insist on wearing different costumes to different parties? Swap costumes with friends so you only have to buy one costume.

Buy Your Halloween Costume For Next Year Right After Halloween

Stores are looking to get rid of any left over inventory right after Halloween has passed. Some Halloween stores are pop-up only and really need to get rid of all of their inventory. The selection is smaller, but you’re able to find some of the best discounts for new Halloween costumes right after the holiday has passed.

Buy Your Halloween Costume Early

The cheapest versions of a costume are likely to be sold out the quickest. If you’re really set on a costume idea, buy it early. Otherwise, it may sell out and only the more expensive options will be available.

Sell Your Halloween Costumes Quickly

Kids are invited to a ton of Halloween parties. If you have a party before Halloween and your kid has a different costume planned for Halloween list the first costume for sale quickly on a resale site. If it’s a popular Halloween costume that’s sold out, you may even be able to sell it for more than you bought it for.

Cheap Halloween Costumes for Kids

Categories // Smart Spending Tags // Holidays

Short on Cash? Bootstrap Your Budget With These Simple Steps

07.24.2022 by admin // Leave a Comment

short on cash? bootstrap your budget. How to save cash quickly

Inflation is back and we are all feeling it to varying degrees. Many of the investments we’ve used to generate additional cash like stock market gains, crypto gains and margins from side hustles are also down. The economic uncertainty also makes many of us want to beef up our emergency funds just in case.

How can you make more money and increase your net worth in this environment? It’s time to get back to the basics with cash. While I am always the biggest proponent of focusing on generating income over focusing on cutting costs, it’s time for a quick checkup on spending, cash and personal cash flow while you work mid to long term on increasing your income.

Track Your Spending And Keep Your Budget Updated

Got a little lax on tracking your spending and sticking to a budget? If you’re short on cash, immediately stop spending money on wants and look for ways to reduce spending on needs as you recalibrate.

Then, go back and figure out where you’v been spending your money and what your cash flow looks like relative to your spending. A lot of credit cards have dashboards now that show you what categories you’re spending your money on every month. Checking accounts also have dashboards that show you your cash flow month over month. Start here.

Next, either update your budget or build your budget. Are there categories you can cut back on? Remember, spending cuts don’t have to be forever. Build a plan for the rest of the year. Define your needs verse your wants, and which wants are most important to you. Know that some of your needs are significantly more expensive than they were at the beginning of this year and budget accordingly.

The first part of increasing the amount of cash you have is to reduce the amount of cash you’re spending in the first place.

Unsubscribe from Emails And Get Off Social Media

Short on cash? Remove the temptation to spend cash by unsubscribing from emails and getting off social media. So many ideas of how you can spend your money are right in your face because companies and social media have gotten incredibly good at advertising things you like. They know what you’ve purchased before, or other posts you’ve looked at. Unsubscribe from emails and get off social media so you never see the deals, outfit ideas or dream vacation ideas. And trust me, there will be deals coming, because lots of retailers over ordered and they are going to need to clear inventory in the second half. Remove the temptation before it begins and when you truly need something search for the deals at that time.

Get Reimbursed For Medical / Health / FSA Expenses

Have you already spent money that you should be able to get reimbursed? This is an easy way to get back some cash quickly. For me, the first place I look are my medical / health/ wellness expenses because I have a FSA and my company offers a generous wellness benefit. This is a chore I loathe and always put off submitting my receipts until the end of the year so I can do it one time. But, I collected all my receipts a few weeks ago and submitted everything so far and got almost $400 back from just at home covid test reimbursements and figuring out the FSA eligible items I could submit.

At Home Covid Tests

At home covid tests bought after January 15, 2022 in the United States can be reimbursed through your insurance! Requesting reimbursement for at home covid tests through Caremark was an easy process for me and a few weeks later I received a check in the mail.

FSA Eligible Items

Some programs offer automatic reimbursements for prescriptions and doctors payments. Set that up once and it makes this process so much easier! But, there are other items that qualify for FSA reimbursements too. Did you know tampons and sunscreen are FSA eligible? So are many other items. If you have a FSA, it’s not just for prescriptions. See if anything else you’ve spent money on qualifies this year.

Wellness Program Reimbursements

My company offers a wellness benefit where we can get gym memberships, boutique classes, gym equipment and more reimbursed up to a certain amount! I took a few spin classes while I was out of town and submitted those for reimbursement. Check what is covered under these plans because you may be surprised how many wellness items you can submit for reimbursement. For example, I was surprised to learn recently that fitness trackers were eligible.

Use Your Gift Cards

You don’t have to cut back your lifestyle at first if you’re short on cash. Look for gift cards you already have to stores, restaurants and services you use and use those up first. Double up with deals or coupons to have the gift cards last even longer.

Use Your Credit Card and Reward Points

Did you rack up a bunch of credit card points in 2020 and 2021? Now is the time to use those. To make your credit card points go the farthest, know the cash value of your points. My credit card points are worth the most when used for travel, about 1.5 cents each. So, I always use the points on that credit card for travel. In a pinch, I’ll redeem for cash back and store gift cards.

The same goes for reward points. After staying at home for so long, of course many of us have the travel itch! Airline and hotel prices are at multi year highs now, use your hotel and airline points instead of booking for cash. If you can be flexible on dates, look for dates that require less points or set alerts on Google flights if you must use cash.

Save Money on Food

It seems like every time we go to the grocery store we feel the pinch of inflation more and more. It’s no longer a few dollars here or there. A trip to the grocery store that used to be $70 is now over $100. Use these tips to reduce the amount you’re spending on food.

Reduce Food Waste Through Closet Clean Out, Meal Planning and Grocery Lists

The first step we took to save money on food is reducing food waste. Go through your cabinets and find what’s expiring soon, and what ingredients you have. Plan meals that use these ingredients or find recipes that only require 1-2 more ingredients to buy. Write down everything you need to buy and don’t buy anything else not on that list.

As a household of two, many items we buy have way more product than we need. To make cheeseburgers we’ll buy a pound of hamburger meat and then the bag of buns will have 6 or 8. We’ve tried to get better with meal planning and now the week we make cheeseburgers we’ll also make BBQ chicken sliders. We’ll buy frozen fruit instead of fresh fruit, or freeze fresh fruit if we haven’t used it yet.

Instead of trying a new recipe that calls for a bunch of ingredients we’ll probably never use again, we’re also sticking to recipes that have less than 5 ingredients. We also are now walking to the grocery store, which is a great deterrent to buying anything we don’t need. Much harder to carry extra home than to drive it home!

Look for Deals on Food

We usually shop at Trader Joe’s but more recently we’ve gone back to the traditional grocery store. This grocery store now has all of their coupons online and with a quick 5 min search we can digitally clip coupons. Waiting to buy staples until they are on sale and buying and bulk are additional ways to save on food costs.

Personally, we don’t shop at Costco since we’re a small household and there are few things we need to buy in bulk. Even if something is cheaper per oz to buy in bulk if you end up throwing most of it away you’ve spent more than you would have if you bought the smaller size. A deal is not a deal if it’s something you wouldn’t have purchased in the first place.

Cut Out the Junk Food

I love junk food, and especially living in the city and walking around it’s so nice to get a refreshing juice or ice cream on a hot day to treat myself. Before, it’d be like $3, maybe $5. But now, with inflation plus the iPad tips these treats are costing closer to $10 each time. When I shop at Trader Joe’s I always end up with a couple of their almond butter cups and mint chocolates. These small purchases can add up and combined with everything else at some point you can’t afford everything like you used to. When you’re bootstrapping your budget, you need to decide what is most important.

Save Money on Transportation

There are no shortage of news headlines about how bad gas prices are these days, and advice to save money on gas by carpooling, doing several errands all at once and checking your tire pressure. Are there ways you can skip driving all together by biking or walking somewhere? It also may be cheaper to buy something online or get it delivered depending on the shipping and delivery prices.

If you live in a city, there are so many options available to save money. Get a membership for a bike or scooter rental company. Take public transportation. Walk when you can.

Identify Substitutes for Purchases and Celebrations

Some purchases you can’t delay, or don’t want to delay, so how do you use less cash to buy them when prices are soaring? Look for substitutes. If you need a dress to wear to a wedding, look on Amazon or on second hand sites like Poshmark. Keep in mind resale price too as Amazon you likely won’t be able to resell but a quality brand on Poshmark you can likely sell after.

If you’ve recently moved and need to furnish your house shop estate sales, buy nothing groups and these other money saving tips.

Refuse to stop traveling after being stuck at home for a few years? Pair up with a friend that lives somewhere fun and stay with them for a few days and invite them to spend a weekend at your place in return. Instead of the more expensive hotel, pick a cheaper hotel or cheaper room within the hotel. Celebrate a birthday in a backyard with a BBQ instead of going to an expensive dinner. Always look for the cheaper options and determine if the more expensive option is really worth it right now.

Cancel Subscriptions

Do you have a few streaming services? Multiple gym memberships? Amazon Prime? Consider cutting back on the amount of subscriptions and memberships you have. It’s not “just $10/month” it’s $120 per year and if you have multiple it adds up quickly. If there is a show you want to watch you can always buy the service for a month and then cancel. I also cancelled my Amazon Prime account a few years ago haven’t missed it.

Negotiate Expenses

When was the last time you negotiated expenses? Or, shopped around when your renewal is due? By negotiating your bills, like your monthly cable bill or shopping around for another cell phone bill you can save hundreds or thousands a year. This goes for car insurance and house insurance too. I saved several hundred dollars a year by switching pet insurance carriers this past year.

Once you’ve completed these steps, start working on generating cash with these simple steps.

Categories // Smart Spending Tags // Saving Money Tips

Is Amazon Prime Really Worth $119? For Me, Not Anymore

06.19.2021 by admin // Leave a Comment

Amazon Prime Not Worth It Anymore, is amazon prime worth it anymore

I cancelled Amazon Prime a year ago and haven’t missed it. After being a loyal Amazon Prime shopper for over 6 years why’d I do it? $119 per year isn’t that much money to pay for convenience. But, it’s still money that can be saved or spent on other things. Like many people I was stuck at home for months starting in March of 2020. I moved most of my shopping including groceries to online. And, while scouring every corner of the internet for masks and Lysol wipes I realized Amazon wasn’t the only player in town anymore. No company could deliver in 2 days anymore given the circumstances. I was just happy to receive what I ordered even if it took two weeks. I decided to cancel Amazon Prime but always figured I’d rejoin. A year later and I’m still off Amazon Prime. Is Amazon Prime worth it anymore and how am I surviving without a service once deemed inelastic?

My Amazon Prime Financials

When I first joined Amazon Prime I was a student (so I had a student discount). It cost $39 / year. How much does Amazon Prime cost in 2021? $119 if you aren’t a student, which was a huge price increase for me. In March of 2020 I looked over my expenses and started thinking about if I should cancel Amazon Prime. I started reviewing how many times I used Amazon Prime in 2019. In 2019 it turned out that I ordered from Amazon Prime 30 times. 9 of these orders were over $35 so I would have received free shipping anyways.

I never used any of the other Amazon Prime features so that was worth $0 to me. I also don’t shop at Whole Foods so those added discounts didn’t do anything for me either.

At the end of the day I paid $4 each order to get the 2 day shipping. Or, if I didn’t need the 2 day shipping I paid $5.66 each order to get the “free” shipping for the times I didn’t hit the threshold. Sometimes I ordered from Amazon to avoid paying $5 shipping at other places. Yet, here I was actually paying over $5 for shipping from Amazon. I just didn’t realize it because I was paying $119 flat once a year.

What is Amazon Prime really costing you? Look over all of your purchases in the past year and the times you’ve used other Prime features like watching a video for free. Deduct all the times you spent more than $35 from the total number of purchases and add in the number of times you used other Prime benefits. Then, take the $119 and divide by that total count. That’s how much you paid for Prime every time you used a benefit.

My Buying Needs Changed

When I first joined Amazon Prime I was moving into my first condo while also working full time and going to school at night. Living in the city without a car I had to ship things most people could drive and pickup themselves. I didn’t need everything in 2 days, but I did have items that cost less than $35. And, there were certain things around the house I realized I did need pretty immediately. Starting from scratch, my condo was pretty empty. When I went to make a new recipe I would find out I didn’t have the kitchen items I needed to actually make the recipe. I couldn’t wait until I had enough to put me over a $35 threshold for free shipping and being in school I couldn’t afford to buy things well in advance to get over the $35.

Now that over 6 years have passed I have most of the stuff I need. I’m not in situations where I want to cook something like salmon and realize I don’t own a baking sheet. And, if there are things such as a frosting set I’m in a better financial place than I was as a student. I know at some point I’ll have to order k-cups so if I’ll add those to the order to get free shipping.

I Became Better At Planning Purchases In Advance

When I was in school and working full time I was often focused on surviving all the things due that week. I didn’t have enough time or energy to remember in 2 weeks a birthday was coming up. If there was a holiday coming up, it was something I’d start thinking about a few days before. This led to needing 2 day shipping for gifts and other items to arrive in time.

Looking back at what I ordered in 2019 below $35 sometimes the order was as simple as k-cups or another grocery item. We ordered these on Amazon for price reasons and there was no reason to not plan ahead. I don’t have to wait until we’re out to place the order.

Amazon Competitors Like Target and Walmart Have Come Out With Good Alternatives to Amazon Prime

In years past, only Amazon Prime offered free shipping and the ability to get most orders in 2 days. Several companies had been building up their capabilities and by Summer 2020 everyone living in the United States has other reliable companies that offer 2 day shipping for free.

Walmart.com offers free 2 day shipping on orders over $35. If you want to avoid the $35 minimum and/or get free shipping next day you do need to sign up for Walmart+.

Target offers free shipping on orders over $35 as well. But, if it’s less than $35 or if you need it same day you can order same day delivery through Shipt or pick up curbside. Not only is curbside free sometimes you’re even offered extra discounts on items if you select curbside pickup. It’s not a surprise that Target sales jumped 23% in their fiscal first quarter.

Target and Walmart Prices Are Similar to Amazon Prime

There are times when Amazon is cheaper by a lot and I will continue buying those items on Amazon and wait for 5-7 days to receive it. However, after consistently looking at Walmart, Target and Amazon when buying stuff online I’ve learned that the price is either the same or only $1-2 difference for most items I buy. This is cheaper than the $4-5 per order I ended up paying for Amazon Prime.

Recently our Keurig started breaking. A replacement was $169 at Target and we could pickup curbside within 2 hours or shipped free. Amazon was $129 and free 5-7 day shipping. Walmart.com was $129 and free 2 day shipping. Plus, Walmart.com had extra credit card points from shopping through our credit card portal. We went with Walmart.

What About Amazon Prime Day? Turns Out That’s Taken Care of Too

What if you like the deals on Amazon Prime Day? First, ask yourself do you really need those items. Secondly, Walmart and Target have that taken care of too. This year both Walmart and Target are launching June sales events coinciding with Prime Day. Target All Deals Day purchases qualify for same day delivery, curbside and in store pickup. You can actually get your purchases faster than you can ordering on Amazon Prime.

Summary

I thought I would never be able to live without Amazon Prime and here I am about a year later not missing it at all. After consistently looking at Walmart, Target and Amazon when buying stuff online I’ve learned that the price may be slightly cheaper on Amazon ($1-2) but it now takes 5-7 days to get it without Amazon Prime. I never used all of the other Prime offers, so I only paid the subscription fee for the free and expedited shipping.

$119 doesn’t seem like much for the extra convenience when Amazon was the only option in town. Now that you have other options from Walmart.com, Target.com and Target same day pickup among others do the quick math to see if it’s still worth paying for Prime. Especially if you only use it for the free shipping it may not be worth it anymore. Do the quick math, ask yourself is Amazon Prime worth it and possibly save yourself $119 / year.

Categories // Smart Spending Tags // Shopping

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 12
  • Next Page »

Search Blog Posts

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Posts

  • Unlock Your Coding Potential: Where You Can Learn How To Code March 21, 2023
  • Evaluating Equity Comp: Are Stock Options or RSUs Better? March 14, 2023
  • How to Open a Custodial Account at Charles Schwab March 7, 2023
  • Why a Custodial Account Is a Smart Choice for Your Child’s Financial Security February 28, 2023
  • Employee Stock Options: A Complete Guide to Understanding Your Benefits February 21, 2023

Follow Us

  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Copyright © 2023 · Modern Studio Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in