How can you plan a funeral without spending much dollars?

Author’s Bio: Roxie is a guest writer for various finance related Communities including CDFA, FCB, OVLG etc. She is a PG degree holder in Marketing and Finance and right now working in a reputed bank as a relationship manager. She is well equipped to write articles on debt consolidation , debt settlement, frugality, savings, economies of states etc.

Funeral planning is perhaps the most emotional event. In spite of grieving, you need to plan the funeral to honor the deceased person. Death of a person can also result into relatively decreased income. So, planning a funeral may be additional burden for the family members and it can even lead to additional debt. So, it is always better to plan for funerals within a budget. 

5 Tips for planning a funeral on a budget 

Here are 5 tips which you can follow to show your respect to the deceased person without spending quite a lot of money. 

1.       Do not buy expensive flowers – You can always cut down the cost of flowers without appearing miserly. Instead of buying costly flowers, you can purchase carnations which are comparatively cheaper.

2.       Think twice before hiring a clergy-person – Do you want to hire a clergy-person who didn’t even know the deceased person? Isn’t it better to ask someone to speak in the funeral who knew the deceased person? He/she will be able to speak better about the deceased person and the funeral can be arranged at a much lower cost.

3.       Buy a relatively cheaper casket – While buying a casket, always remember that it will ultimately be buried in the ground. So, do not spend your dollars in buying an expensive casket. Instead, you can buy a plain pine box casket.

4.       Shop around to get best deals – Many survivors feel that they would disrespect the dead person if they shop around and bargain for better deals. However, you cannot show tribute to the deceased person by getting ripped off in order to plan the funeral. So, quickly shop around and compare the prices so that you get best deals. It is worth showing respect to the deceased person.

5.       Arrange for an informal funeral – One of the best ways to reduce cost is to arrange an informal funeral. Instead of traveling from the funeral home to the cemetery in a costly vehicle, you can avoid the travelling expense by encouraging the people to come at the house afterwards to reminisce. For the funeral, arrange a closed casket service at the cemetery.

The old people sometimes express their wishes regarding how they would like to be buried after they die. If you’re planning funeral for your grandparents who had expressed their wishes beforehand that they want an inexpensive funeral, then make their wishes come true. Do not arrange a large funeral with a choir. Instead, show your respect by planning a simple funeral without any ceremony. 

Many people want to plan their own funeral in advance.  If you want to do so, you can make the necessary arrangements to save your heirs from the financial burden after your death. You can pick your casket, the burial ground along with the service you would want. You can also pay for the prices in advance at today’s cost. If you do so, make sure you leave the copy of the contract and necessary papers with your heirs.

Top 5 New Year Resolutions - to save money

1. Stick to a budget:
• Adjust the budget for recent lifestyle changes.
• Monitor every expense in Excel.
• Prepare a Profit and Loss statement every month.
2. Set an annual savings goal.
• Set a realistic goal.
• Aggressively save to reach the goal before the end of the year.
3. Avoid any type of late fees:
• Renew the library books before they are due.
• Return the rental DVD or game.
4. Increase the total savings rate on gross income:
• Increase 401K contributions by 5%.
• Automatically save any bonus by paying down mortgage.
5. Monitor FICO score more often:
• Sign up for free credit monitoring services.
• Take advantage of free annual credit reports.

Savings tip # 3: Eat home cooked food and 4 ways to avoid the restaurant

We all know that eating outside is a very costly affair, yet we continue to eat at restaurants week after week. In this article I have documented some of the reasons why my family has ended up eating out

1. When we come back from work, we are very tired and so we end up going out to eat.
Solution: Always have a healthy snack ready for you to eat, prepare a cup of tea or coffee and relax with a glass of wine for a few minutes before starting to cook dinner.

2. We do not know what to cook, so even when the fridge is full of produce we end up eating out at restaurants
Solution: Always prepare a weekly menu over the weekend, make sure to purchase all the items needed to prepare your dish. When you have your menu and ingredients at hand it is easy to put something together.

3. We are ready to cook but just do not have the recipe.
Solution: Maintain a folder of all your tried and tested recipes, and keep the book in a specially designated place in the kitchen. By having your recipes readily available you will not have to browse the Internet every time you have to cook something.

4. We are in a hurry to leave for work, and forget to bag the lunch.
Solution: Bag your lunch the night before.

Savings tip #2: never pay more than 50% at mall

I am just like ever other Joe (six pack), I love to shop at the mall for everyone in my family, everyone At home wears name brand clothes like GAP, banana republic, INC, American eagle outfitters, the limited, express, gymboree. I love the mall but I love saving even more, in the last ten years we have never ever paid more than 50% at any one of the above stores. We do this my using the following techniques
1. Always buy clothes when they are on sale
2. Use the store specific credit card, they typically have added discounts
3. After you purchase something from the mall, just check back again after a week or so, if the price has fallen further then do a price adjustment. Most of the mall stores just need the sales receipt for doing a price adjustment, so always carry your receipt with you.
4. Some stores like GAP have additional discounts in the middle of the week
5. Limited stores give card holders additional discounts on your birthday
6. Do not be shy about asking the sales clerk if they have any coupons
7. Go to the retailers website and sign up for their coupons

If you do all the steps listed above, I assure you that you will save at least 50%-60% on your next mall purchase.

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Leave me.a comment if you found this article useful
Happy mall shopping. Savalistically

Savings tip # 1: make a wish list and start saving for it

Create a list of things that you wish to purchase for yourself or your family members, and start accumulating money to meet this wish list. When you have accumulated enough money to buy the items in cash, think again, ask yourself if you still need the item. You may discover that you no longer need it after all.

Save the money you did not spend, and very soon you will start getting addicted to savings! Yes, it is indeed a good addiction to have.

Let me know if this savings tip was helpful.

8 Tips to Reduce Home Heating Bills This Winter

In winter we often get slammed with a high heating bill in the $100 to $300 range, in our house we use a few simple strategies to minimize the winter heating bill shock, these strategies are listed below.
1. Use a Programmable Thermostat – we use the programmable thermostat to reduce the indoor temperature to about 55° F, and program it for 64° F when we are supposed to be back home, buy using the programmable thermostat we are not simply heating the home when there is nobody inside. The picture of the thermostat that is installed in my home is show below.

2. NEVER use Electric Room Heaters – the typical electric room heater has a high resistance conducting coil that heats up when electricity passes through the coil, this heat around this coil is then bowed by a fan that sits behind the coil, eventually heating up a small space. This all seems like a very nice idea, the only downside is that the electricity required for heating room will burn a bigger hole than using natural gas for heating the house. I have tried using electric space heaters and the electric bill was not at all a nice sight.
3. Use Sweaters Indoors – this seems like a no-brainer, but I have been to people’s homes and find them dressed in summer clothing during the peak winter season. By using sweaters indoors you can reduce the indoor temperature and still remain as warm as before
4. Use Socks to keep feet warm – typically hot air rises to the upper levels in a room and cold air (being more heavier) falls to the bottom of the room, thus your feet will tend to feel colder even though your upper body feels warm. By wearing socks you can overcome cold airy feeling near you feet.
5. Check your door for insulation – the builder forgot to add insulation around the foot of the door, and I could feel the cool air coming inside. The best way to insulate you door is to buy a door insulator from Walmart, costs approximately $10.
6. Reduce the heat at night to 60° F – use a warm blanket to reduce the nighttime temperature to 60° F, there is no use heating up the entire space while you are in bed, instead use a warm blanket( or two blankets) to stay warm at night.
7. May use radiant heat dishes to heat a small space because the dish uses radiation for heating objects and does not have any electric coil, the one that I have tested and found to be quite decent is available in Costco and is called Presto HeatDish Parabolic Heater. I do not believe that this is an absolute ncecessity and so kept this right at the bottom of the list

Hope you find these tips useful. Stay warm :)

The $1,800 Haircut

Today I would like to thank my wife for the $1,800 haircut she gave me, not literally, but over a period of over 10 years my wife has been cutting my hair every single month. I think she does a job way better than Supercuts. This post is just to say thank you to my wifeee for a "job well done".

#	Item Description
1	Men's haircut at Supercuts + tip	$15.00
	x 12 months x 10 years	120
	Total Saved	$1,800.00

* image sourced from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

Justifying Costco's Membership Fee

It is that time of the year again, where we have to justify the value of Costco's membership. The least expensive Costco membership is$50 per year. I came up with a list of staple items that we always purchase from Costco and compared that items with what it costs at some other retail store.

#	Item Description	Costco	Competitor	Savings
1	Olay Total Effects 32 oz	$29.99	$39.99	$10.00
2	Blue Ribbon White Rice 20lbs	$7.00	$14.00	$7.00
3	Boneless skinless chicken thighs $1.7/lb,  30lbs/year	$51.00	$60.00	$9.00
4	Quinoa, Farro or other speciality grain	$8.00	$16.00	$8.00
5	Quaker Oats (big box) 6 boxes per year	$42.00	$72.00	$30.00
6	Uncle Ben's brown rice	$8.00	$10.00	$2.00
	Minimum Annual Savings			$66.00

We do save on other items as well, but this is the absolute minimum that we will save per year, and then there is always the free snacks and their great return policy on electronic items.