New Year's Day may seem distant, but don't let that stop you from making a resolution today to start saving. Your personal wealth is always an important thing to keep striving for. With so many resources, it's easy to find effective ways to save. Find out just how much your assets are worth with our personal wealth estimator, learn about savings and investments, and take control of your debit and credit. Learn how to save for auto purchases, emergencies, or a home.
Tips for Saving:
Save your loose change. Putting aside fifty cents a day over the course of a year will allow you to save nearly $200.
Take the amount the item costs and divide it into your hourly wage. If it’s a $50 pair of shoes and you make $10 an hour, ask yourself, are those shoes really worth five long hours of work?
Shop for food with a list and stick to it. People who do food shopping with a list, and buy little else, spend much less money.
Learn about the four types of savings recommended by financial advisors on our Virginia Saves Blog- Four Golden Rings: The Four Types of Saving
Become a Virginia Saver! Enroll now and take your first steps to building long-term personal wealth
Holiday Decorating on a Budget
A lot of extra money is wasted over the holiday season. Conveniences such as professional gift wrapping and novelty attachments can really add up. By creating your own holiday spending plan, you can organize your inventory of items for each person on your list. Also, it becomes easy to see how much you are actually spending versus the estimated cost. For more information visit: Decking the Halls: Decorating on a Budget
When Decorating For the Holidays:
1. Decorate with holiday ribbon. The ribbon can be tied to curtains, banisters, windows, and placed on mantles with a few unlit candles.
2. Bring the outdoors indoors. Don't be afraid to use pine cones and needles for decorations. The cones can also be painted or dipped in glitter for unique ornaments
3. Want a unique table runner? Use an old holiday scarf instead!
4. Wrap your doors in Christmas wrapping paper and attach large bows make from fabric or purchased at your local craft store.
5. Use a holiday pop-up book as a centerpiece. Just open the book up to a desirable picture and place the open book in the center of your table.
6. Trim door frames, window frames and the edges of mirrors with Christmas garland.
7. For convincing "snow" on your tree, lay lengths of rolled cotton, available at drugstores, on the branches.
8. Stuffing potpourri into bowls or baskets is another great idea to make a beautiful centerpiece.
9. Tie cinnamon sticks with ribbons and hang them from the mantle, Christmas tree, etc.
10. Make your own garlands with the help of popcorn, buttons, beads, cranberries, charms, candies, etc. Use these garlands for decorating the house.
11. Consider inexpensive decorating strategies, such as children's artwork and crafts
12. Inspect and inventory holiday decorations and only purchase items to enhance current decorations
13. Check light strands for cracked or broken bulbs and replace bulbs. The bulbs are less expensive.
Staying organized with the things you have on hand will save you both time and money at Christmas. Christmas Decorating Chart: Document where Christmas Decorations are stored and the year they were added to your collection.
When Decorating For the Holidays:
1. Decorate with holiday ribbon. The ribbon can be tied to curtains, banisters, windows, and placed on mantles with a few unlit candles.
2. Bring the outdoors indoors. Don't be afraid to use pine cones and needles for decorations. The cones can also be painted or dipped in glitter for unique ornaments
3. Want a unique table runner? Use an old holiday scarf instead!
4. Wrap your doors in Christmas wrapping paper and attach large bows make from fabric or purchased at your local craft store.
5. Use a holiday pop-up book as a centerpiece. Just open the book up to a desirable picture and place the open book in the center of your table.
6. Trim door frames, window frames and the edges of mirrors with Christmas garland.
7. For convincing "snow" on your tree, lay lengths of rolled cotton, available at drugstores, on the branches.
8. Stuffing potpourri into bowls or baskets is another great idea to make a beautiful centerpiece.
9. Tie cinnamon sticks with ribbons and hang them from the mantle, Christmas tree, etc.
10. Make your own garlands with the help of popcorn, buttons, beads, cranberries, charms, candies, etc. Use these garlands for decorating the house.
11. Consider inexpensive decorating strategies, such as children's artwork and crafts
12. Inspect and inventory holiday decorations and only purchase items to enhance current decorations
13. Check light strands for cracked or broken bulbs and replace bulbs. The bulbs are less expensive.
Staying organized with the things you have on hand will save you both time and money at Christmas. Christmas Decorating Chart: Document where Christmas Decorations are stored and the year they were added to your collection.
Are you Saving Enough for Retirement?
You can know how much you need to be saving by using a free calculator called the Ball Park Estimate from the American Savings Education Council. You can find it by clicking on this link. Just fill in a few simple questions and the calculator will tell you exactly what you should be saving.
The Social Security Administration has issued announcements that people who are working should work closely with their financial planner to assure their needs are met in retirement. You can get personal financial planning advice by attending the Virginia Beach Financial Planning Days on October 22nd. Just visit www.financialplanningdays.org/virginiabeach to register. See you there!
Financial Planning Day
We’ve all heard that there’s no free lunch, but in these challenging economic times, Hampton Roads-area residents will be able to get free financial planning advice and guidance from professional financial planners at Virginia Beach Financial Planning Day. The event will be held on October 22nd at Virginia Beach Convention Center and will feature experts from the Financial Planning Association® and highly qualified Certified Financial Planner™ professionals, all volunteering their time and expertise to work with local residents one-on-one to address important financial issues.
Financial planners will be set up at their own tables to meet one-on-one with attendees to answer questions on budgeting, getting out of debt, income taxes, dealing with mortgage foreclosures, paying for college, estate planning and insurance, among many other topics. The advice will be offered on a “no strings attached” basis and planners will not give out business cards or sell financial products or services.
Betsy Duke, governor of the Federal Reserve Board will be the keynote speaker for the event.
The event will also feature a series of classroom-style educational workshops addressing key personal finance topics, including: Virginia Beach Financial Planning Day is organized by City of Virginia Beach in partnership with the Financial Planning Association of Hampton Roads as part of a national Financial Planning Days initiative created by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Financial Planning Association, Foundation for Financial Planning and the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The collaboration is a first-of-its kind effort involving city governments and thousands of financial planners nationwide united in an effort to provide free financial education and programming to communities throughout the U.S.
- Managing Money in Hard Times: Financially Surviving a Job Loss
- Financial Firedrill
- Accomplishing Your Financial Mission
- Financial Planning for a Home of Your Own
- Real World Retirement Planning
- Taking Control: A Financial Planning Starter Kit
- Estate Planning: What Everyone Needs to Know
- Planning for Higher Education
TO PARTICIPATE: Virginia Beach Financial Planning Day is free and open to the public. Members of the news media are invited to attend the event and interview the organizers. The event will be held on Saturday, October 22nd at Virginia Beach Convention Center. Events will begin at 9:00 am and will run until 3:00 pm.
Free online registration for the Virginia Beacch Financial Planning Day is available at www.financialplanningdays.org/virginiabeach, or by calling 877-861-7826. Walk-ins are also welcome.
Lowering College Costs—To Live at Home or Not To Live at Home?
That is the question if your child is considering staying on campus during college, and if you will have to pay for them to do so. Certainly, living on campus would be a great experience for your child—but really think about if you can afford it. Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary revisits how to lower college costs and urges parents to reconsider what costs are truly necessary. The decision to attend college is a major one that affects not just your child’s life, but yours as well—emotionally and financially.
What are your thoughts on the on-campus versus off-campus experience? Is it worth the price? Let us know—we’d love to hear from you!
And don’t forget, if you are a parent it’s never too early to start saving for college. Join Virginia Saves today!
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