This isn’t the only blog that I write. I also write a few other blogs including Real Words which is my blog all about freelance writing and what it’s like being a web writer for a living. I recently added a post over there that’s all about the things that I do as a web writer that ultimately probably end up being a waste of money. For example, I often over-pay postage on things that I’m mailing out so that I don’t have to go to the post office and weigh out my packages.

You may be thinking that it’s not possible that I waste all that much money on extra stamps. You’re right. I don’t mail things out for work all that often and I probably waste less than a dollar each time. But isn’t it these little things that ultimately end up leading to a whole lot of wasted money in our lives?

A great example of small bits of wasted money that add up quickly is the grocery store trip. I often purchase a pack of gum or a bottle of water that I don’t need or a snack for the walk home when I could just wait and actually eat what I went to the store to buy. Again, I’m only spending one or two dollars on these things but I go to the grocery store four or five times a week which means I’m wasting $20 or more on these little things each month which would add up to a nice chunk of change if I saved it all over the course of a year.

And that’s just one area of a bit of wasted money here and there. There are a lot of other little ways in which I waste amounts of money that seem trivial at the time but then they add up. These are the things we need to be aware of if we want to have a savings at the end of the year!

Tags: Frugal Living, kathryn vercillo, money tips, Personal Finance, real words, save money, spend money, spending, waste money

One of the topics that I have been doing a ton of research on lately is the topic of using promotional codes to save money online. It’s something that I do regularly when shopping online at my favorite websites. There are some sites that I just know always have promo codes available (Walgreens which is where I get my photos printed and 1800Flowers which I use to send gifts sometimes).

What I’m learning, though, is that you can basically use online promotional codes for everything. If you know what you’re doing and where to look, you can get discounts on everything from your daily needs (like food) to your ongoing expenses (like car insurance). It seems like it takes some time to research the best places to actually get those discounts but apparently they’re out there.

I’m really just starting to get the hang of figuring out the right use of discount codes. I’ve been doing it for awhile but I’ve found through researching the topic that there is just so much out there to learn. My next step is to really keep up with my RSS feeds from my favorite money saving blogs so that I can get more tips to use in daily life.

Any tips from you readers out there about using online promotional codes or other ways of saving money when doing online shopping?

Tags: Frugal Living, online discount cods, online shopping, promo codes, shopping

Last week I asked the question: how long should you keep your cell phone? As part of a life of frugal living, people should probably try to make their phones last as long as possible so that they aren’t spending more than necessary on new phones and increased phone bills.

Another important question to ask is how much should you pay for your cell phone? What do you think is a reasonable price to pay for a device? And is your decision impacted by the monthly cost of services on that phone?

I did a Nokia N97 review recently which highlighted all of the reasons that a lot of people are really interested in this new phone which is set to come out in the summer. But there are rumors going around that the phone is going to have an outrageous price of $1000. Even if those rumors are incorrect, the price is likely to be at least half that. Is $500 too much to pay for a cell phone?

I come from the school of frugal living as far as phones go. I try to keep both the cost of the phone itself down and also try to limit my monthly spending. However, I do think that it’s sometimes wortwhile to pay for added convenience which is probably why so many people are footing the bill for the advanced smartphones that can do so much more than a basic cell phone can. So it’s a balancing act, I guess.

What is the most that you would pay for a cell phone?

Tags: cell phones, cost of phones, Frugal Living, mobile phones, phones, price of phones, shopping, spending, what to pay for phone, Wireless

I wrote earlier this week about being a smart shopper. I do a lot of my shopping online. There are several reasons for this including that it’s convenient, it makes more sense for some items since I live in a city where I don’t have a car, and I enjoy it more than being amidst crowds of shoppers.

Since I do shop online a lot, I’ve learned a lot of things the hard way about the good and bad of online shopping. I’ve had problems with identity theft because I wasn’t careful enough when shopping online. I’ve lost money because I didn’t understand certain things about online shopping fees. And I’ve just made some mistakes while learning how to do my online shopping without getting burned.

But, eventually, I did learn those lessons and now I would say that I’m a pretty smart chick when it comes to shopping online. There are many different things I could share about being a smart online shopper but let’s start with “the top five things to remember when shopping online“. That covers the basics and will get you started on your way to being a smart Internet shopper as well.

Tags: Frugal Living, money, online shopping, Personal Finance, smart shopper

One of the topics that I write about regularly is personal finance. Specifically, I write often about frugal living and the tips that I have for saving money even though you have to spend on a regular basis. As a freelancer writer who lives in one of the most expensive cities in the country, I regularly have to work at balancing my saving and spending to make sure that I end up without debt at the end of each month.

There are many different things that I do to make sure that this happens including sticking to a personal budget, tracking my own spending and generally just being aware of what’s going on with me and money. I also try to be really careful about shopping. This isn’t to say that I don’t shop but rather that I try to be smart about my purchases and to not spend impulsively.

Among many different things that I do to reduce my spending when I do shop is that I use promotional codes for all online shopping. I do a decent amount of shopping online because it’s convenient. And before I hit that purchase button on anything, I always check if there’s an online promo code. I especially use these when renting cars, ordering photos from Walgreens and buying things on Amazon since these are places I regularly make purchases and there are almost always promo codes for them.

I believe that the current economy is a great time to use promotional codes for a whole slew of different reasons. You can learn about my reasons in this week’s article titled Why Promotional Codes are Great in Today’s Economy.

Tags: Frugal Living, online shopping, Personal Finance, promotional codes, save money, shopping, spending, tips

I am usually really good at sticking to a budget. However, there are always those big expenses that come up that throw me off of my savings plans. The one that always seems to get me is travel. I absolutely love San Francisco but I enjoy getting away now and then to other (sunnier!) places.

I like to go back home to Arizona and to LA and to Ohio, all of which are places where I have family, because I like to get the chance to be around the people that I love. I also like to travel to nearby places within California for short little getaways – last year I went to San Luis Obispo and San Diego on different trips, both of which were wonderfully enjoyable. And I’d like to travel further if money would allow.

But sometimes we have to convince ourselves not to travel because it’s not cheap. So I have a lot of little tricks for curbing the travel bug. I do what I can to make it feel as though I’m traveling in my own city (easy enough in San Francisco but possible anywhere). I work on travel-related projects and enjoy travel-themed parties. And it helps me feel like I’m living an exotic life even when I can’t get away. Those tips can be explored in my weekly financial advice column if you follow the link in this paragraph.

Tags: Frugal Living, frugal travel, Personal Finance, saving money, tips, Travel, travel on a budget, travel tips