Jana Says

Living life from cover to cover

Car trouble? No problem!

by Jana 8 Comments

While driving on the New Jersey Turnpike last week, a rock struck my windshield leaving a small crack. I knew it was going to have to be taken care of but no more so than today when I walked out to my car and saw how the crack had somehow, magically, spread overnight. But you know what? It’s OK. Why? Because I have a car maintenance/emergency fund.

After the debacle with the free car and the thousands of dollars of maintenance that went into keeping our 1994 Honda Accord on life support, my husband came up with the idea of having a separate emergency fund just for our cars. We were both tired of our regular EF being drained for car purposes and this seemed like the perfect solution. We agreed that $1000 seemed like a good amount and we’ve been contributing $100 per month to the fund. We’re currently around $600. This would be higher but some things have come up, like routine maintenance, brake replacement, and now, the crack in my windshield. And his windshield (let’s not go there). None of this things make me break into a a sweat because the money is there to fix them. Without the help of credit or having to compromise our budget.

This wasn’t always the case. There were times that a simple oil change induced anxiety attacks and frantic budget rearranging. Not anymore! Now, we can take a step back and breathe because we know the money is there. As our cars are later models (his is a 2007, mine is 2010), the problems that come with older cars aren’t necessarily present and the money lasts a lot longer. This is a great side effect because, just like with our regular emergency fund, when money gets taken out we have to make sure it gets replaced as soon as possible.

There have been many days in my life when I’ve wished I could go car-free. I find that cars are too expensive and generally a pain the ass. Unfortunately, I live in the suburbs with poor public transportation so I have to suck it up. Having the car fund has given me a little peace of mind with regard to all the upkeep, maintenance and problems that come with a car. If only I could just find a way to get it to clean itself…

Do you have an area in your life where you’ve created a separate maintenance and/or emergency fund? How much do you routinely keep in that fund?

Sometimes it’s OK to splurge

by Jana 11 Comments

Today was payday in my house. Actually, it was one of the 2 “extra” paychecks we get each fiscal year. No bills get paid out of these paychecks. We use 24 out of our 26 paychecks, plus the majority of our second income, to pay bills and pay off debt. We’ve decided, together, that for these 2 “extra” paychecks, we let ourselves have a little breathing room. For these paychecks, we spend the money on the absolute necessities like gas, food, savings, and daycare but also use it to give ourselves a little bonus.

For instance, we each get a small allowance out of every paycheck ($20 every 2 weeks). From our extra paychecks, we bump that up to $100. We will usually treat ourselves to a nice dinner. We may each buy one special item and then we kind of let the rest sit. But this summer’s extra paycheck bonus is filled with all kinds of good stuff:

  • $300 for our vacation (accommodations are free and food is separate. This is just for activities)
  • $100 to take our daughter to see the Laurie Berkner Band (of the children’s performers, she is probably the most tolerable)
  • around $300 for my plane ticket to the Financial Blogger conference
  • $150 for my husband’s yearly fishing trip

I will also be using some money to buy this:



It’s nice to have some extra income every once and awhile to spend on fun stuff rather than bills and debt. While we do a pretty good job budgeting money for smaller ticket fun stuff items, buying the bigger things guilt free is a good feeling.

Do you ever use extra income to splurge? What do you like to buy?

Saving money on books OR why I love the library

by Jana 4 Comments

As you can probably tell, I love to read. It has always been one of my favorite hobbies and will most likely continue to be one of my favorite hobbies. Unfortunately, books are expensive. With the way I like to read, I’d be spending a small fortune in books each year. That’s not exactly a wise use of money when you’re trying to pay off a home equity loan and a car.

That’s why I use my library. I love the library for so many reasons. I often have an extensive list of books on reserve. That list is culled from a master list I keep in a notebook of books I want to read (I’m also a huge dork and write down all of the books I have read). Since I live in a small state, I have access to every library in the state; this greatly expands the amount of books available to me. There are some books with only 1 or 2 copies available in the state. By being able to access the whole state’s library system, I have access to copies that may be housed downstate only.. We can also buy a membership to our state’s major university’s library for approximately $20/year. I haven’t done this yet. I just can’t see the benefit.

My library lets  me reserve and renew books online and is also kind enough to send me email reminders when I have books available to pick up and when they’re due. This is perfect for someone like me. I have a terrible tendency to forget to renew my books (yes, even though I can do it online) and the email reminders have greatly decreased the amount I pay in late fees. Even saving that $.25 or $1 adds up.

My library also now offers ebooks. For free. Since I’m still undecided as to whether or not to get an e-reader, this is a great way to try out some ebooks for free, as well as see what kind of selection is available. There are also eAudiobooks, which I can play through my iPod (or something like that. They still confuse me a bit). I plan to start using this feature as soon as possible.

There are times when I can’t get a book through the library. These times make me sad. It is on these rare occasions that I buy the book; even then, I’ll wait until it’s in paperback or if paperback is not possible, I’ll buy it used from Amazon. But the one source for books I have not tried is online book swap sites.  They make me a little nervous. They shouldn’t because a)they’re free; b)have lots of books; and c)I know plenty of people, whom I trust, who sing their praises. I just can’t get there yet.

Have you used these sites? If so, which ones? Would you recommend them?

The $20 emergency fund

by Jana 10 Comments

The following is a repost of an entry first posted on my  other (and original) blog, The Empty Kitchen. I thought it was relevant here as well:

All financial experts agree on one point: an emergency fund is a must.  It’s crucial to have cash on hand in the event of an emergency such as an unplanned doctor visit, a flat tire, a service call on an appliance (if you own your home) or you simply need food or milk. However, the recommendations for the amount of money in the emergency fund vary from $500 to $1000 to 3-6 months of expenses. For people just starting out, living on a strict budget, or living paycheck to paycheck, that amount of money seems impossible to achieve. So for those of us in that situation, I propose another amount for an emergency fund: $20.

$20 does not seem like a large amount of money. I contend that it is. $20 can cover a co-pay for a doctor visit or an over the counter medication. $20 can buy several days worth of food. $20 can put gas in your car to get to work or buy a bus pass. $20 can buy many loads of laundry at a laundromat, including some detergent and dryer sheets. It can even buy you a cooler and ice if your refrigerator breaks.

But what if several of these things happen at once? After all, Murphy likes to not only knock at the door, he likes to come in, prop his feet up and have a snack. My best suggestion for that scenario is this: prioritize. Figure out what is the most important and spend the money on that. If you can take that $20 and spread it out over a few, then do that, too. For instance, if you suddenly find yourself with a vicious cold, a broken fridge and no clean clothes or undies, $20 can cover one load of wash (use a drying rack to save money on the dryer if you can), some OTC cold medicine and tissues and a few bags of ice.

So how do you start the $20 emergency fund? There are a few ways. One way would be to, on your next payday, rearrange your budget to allow for $20 to come out (if you have to, take $20 out of your grocery budget and eat from your pantry for a few days or find some free entertainment and take $20 from your entertainment budget). Another way would be to cash in your change jar, if you have one, and use that money to start your emergency fund (caution: do not use the machines in supermarkets. They take out an 8.5% fee. Try to find a bank instead). A third way would be to save the $20 over a few paychecks. For instance, take $5 or $10 from each of your next few paychecks and stash it away until you get to $20. And yet another way: see if you can find a babysitting, dog walking or some other odd-job type gig, even if it’s just for one day, and use whatever you earn from that to start your $20 emergency fund.

Once you have your $20, stash it somewhere, whether it’s in an envelope marked “Break only in case of emergency” or a compartment in your wallet or your jewelry box. Just make sure that you keep it somewhere you remember! It’s also extremely important that you do not use this $20 for something frivolous with the promise to yourself that you’ll pay it back. The one thing that I’ve found is when you make a promise like that, it’s hard to keep it. And I’ve also learned that when you need the money the most is exactly when you don’t have it.

It is also extremely important that if you have to use your emergency fund for something necessary, or any portion of it, that you pay it back as soon as possible. The $20 is there to act as peace of mind in case Murphy makes himself as home. There is nothing more unsettling as knowing you’re not armed for his visit.
I also suggest that, when possible, keep $20 as a house/personal emergency fund and a separate $20 for a transportation emergency fund. If it’s not possible at first, don’t worry. Just start with one general $20 fund and work your way up. This also will serve as the baseline for building a bigger emergency fund later on.

This $20 is not intended to be your entire emergency fund. I wholeheartedly agree with Dave Ramsey’s suggestion for $1000 baby emergency fund and eventually 3-6 months of living expenses. My family is working on our 3-6 months right now and it is hard and it took us a while to get to the $1000. But the $20 is a good place to start. It gives you a small cash cushion to handle many minor emergencies. And that peace of mind is priceless.

(Full disclosure: This idea is not entirely mine. Special thanks to Wendy K. for suggesting this!)

Memberships make sense (if you use them)

by Jana 3 Comments

When most people are looking for budget assistance, one of the first suggestions made is to eliminate memberships and subscriptions: diet programs like Weight Watchers, gyms, Netflix, magazines, etc. While that is an excellent suggestion, there’s this to remember–what if you actually use those memberships? What if those memberships actually enhance your life?

Take the gym, for instance. I will agree that gym memberships can be expensive and if you’re on a very tight budget, it may not make sense to keep it. But what if you go to the gym every day? What if you use it not only for the health benefits but for a social outlet or a networking mechanism? You never know who you might run into while you’re on the treadmill or in a Zumba class! You might be a social worker in dire need of a job who just happens to strike up a friendship with the HR rep for a local counseling agency. You might be a high school graduate in need of some income who happens to run into a family who’s looking for a weekly babysitter. Not only that, but you might find out that your gym has an opening in one of its departments (this mainly applies if you belong to a YMCA-type place); that job might then come with a free or reduced cost membership. Let’s not forget the classes, programs and facilities that most gyms offer. Seems to me that the perks are worth the money, even on a very tight budget.

Netflix is another membership that, to me, is worth the money. The streaming feature alone will make you forget that you no longer pay one of the greedy cable companies. If you’re low on funds, movies and old TV shows may provide one of your only sources of indoor entertainment (board games and cards can get old if you’re playing with the wrong people), especially for date nights. In addition to movies and TV shows, there are also educational documentaries and exercise videos available. It’s a comprehensive source of entertainment that serves as the pepper to the salt of free TV through Hulu or streaming through the network channels.

Magazines are a tricky one for me. I used to buy my husband a magazine subscription every year for Christmas and he would do the same for me. But the magazines wouldn’t come regularly, we would get bothersome phone calls from a company selling one of the subscriptions, they would automatically renew the subscription even though we never selected that option, and most of the content is online anyway. Not worth the headache or the money. This year, though, my in-laws bought us subscriptions and I’m quite enjoying them (probably because it’s on someone else’s dime). I get a monthly subscription to Southern Living and I am in love with the recipes! I have a pile of recipes that I’m dying to try. My husband gets Money, Maxim and Conde Nast Traveler–nothing like an ecclectic mix of magazines with expensive tastes to give someone a case of the “I wants” (for the record, I don’t care that he reads Maxim. The pictures don’t bother me and some of the articles are really good. And funny. I was as surprised as you.) I can’t say that I would purchase a subscription for myself, but I can see why if you’re in a niche industry or have a very specific hobby why a subscription would be worth it.

Obviously, it does not pay to keep memberships if you don’t regularly use them. They become a drain on your budget and a waste of services. If you’re not getting anything out of the memberships–educationally, socially, physically–then dump them, stat! But if you do find value in any memberships that you do have, I would look to see other places to cut before getting rid of those. If it’s important to you, find the money for it. I promise not to judge your priorities.

What memberships do you have that are worth the money?

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