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December 2008

Are you a woman who has the dream of owning your own home? If you do, you are definitely not alone. While a large number of women already own their own homes, there are even more who are looking to do so. Unfortunately, many women mistakenly believe that they cannot afford the cost of a new home. Yes, there are really some who may be unable to afford the cost of a new home, but, for others, it is actually a lot easier than it appears.

The first step in buying a new home involves examining where you would like to reside. This is important as it gives you an idea as to what the average asking price for homes is. This average asking price can give you an idea as to the amount of money that you would need to have. Since different areas of the United States have different real estate market conditions, this should be one of your very first steps. Once you decide where you would like to live, you can go about finding a home to buy, as well as get financing for that home.

Speaking of financing, there are many individuals who mistakenly believe that they need to have money, upfront, to buy a home. That is not the truth. In fact, in the United States, most women and men, use financing, provided by financial lenders, to afford the cost of a home. If you have yet to consider getting a mortgage for your new home purchase, this is the time to do so.

If you need to obtain financing to purchase a new home, your first thought may be to head on down to your local bank or a local home lending office. While this is more than possible to do, you may want to first request a copy of your credit report. Financial lenders will use your credit report to determine if you are a good candidate for receiving a loan from them. The cleaner your credit report is, the more likely it is that you will be awarded financing for the purchase of your new home. If your credit report is less than perfect, you may want to try paying off some of your old debts before approaching a financial lender.

Although a mortgage or a home loan can help you afford the cost of a new home, there are many financial lenders who first require a down payment. This down payment varies from lender to lender. It is common for mortgage or home loan down payments to be anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000. For many individuals, this is where the problem comes in. If you are wondering how you can go about coming up with the money needed for a down payment, you will want to continue reading on.

One of the easiest ways for you to save money for a new home down payment is by reducing or completely eliminating all of your unnecessary purchases. These unnecessary purchases may include a coffee, soda, or other snacks at work, dining out, a full cable television package, and so forth. Unfortunately, many individuals do not realize the importance of eliminating their unnecessary purchases, when looking to save money to buy a new home. Yes, you may only be able to save $20 or $50 a week, but it is important to remember that money can add up overtime.

Another way that many women work to come up with the down payment often needed to buy a home is by getting a second job or by requesting additional hours at work. While doing so may result in you having less free time with your family, it is a sacrifice that many women are willing to make. With an increased workload at work or a second job, even just a part-time one where you only work ten hours a week, you may be able to quickly come up with the down payment needed to acquire a home loan or a mortgage.

For many women, home ownership is an issue that they deal with in their life. The above mentioned approaches are just a few of the many ways that you can go about getting the home of your dreams.

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If you’ve struggled with debt for any amount of time, you know how it can feel like you’re in a big black hole, you just can’t seem to dig yourself out of. Balances never seem to go down and you need to keep tapping into credit cards just to make ends meet.

There is plenty of debt advice out there and you may have tried things like debt consolidation, making large payments to your debts to try to pay them faster and other methods that just don’t seem to work. Things just keep getting more and more difficult to manage.

But it really doesn’t have to be that way…

If you’ve been able to keep up with your minimum monthly payments until now, there is a solution for you. And it’s remarkably simple if you follow the appropriate steps laid out for you.

I’m talking about the “Pay Debt Quickly Kit” that shows you how to:

- Pay debt off faster without having to make any large payments.

- Get what you want from your creditors to pay off your debt faster and even improve your credit score.

- Make drastic changes in the way you think about and handle money without feeling like you’re deprived in any way.

The kit includes everything you need to get to debt-free faster. From software that helps you quickly and easily calculate your precise debt-free dates to strategies to take control of your finances and even work with your creditors so that you benefit, instead of them – this kit has what you need to eliminate your debt.

Learn more and get debt-free at:
Pay Debt Quickly

Everything is available for instant download and you don’t have to wait for anything to come in the mail. That means you can start sleeping better and stop worrying about your debt, starting RIGHT NOW.

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When it comes to getting organized, you can get there one of two ways – you can buy the most expensive items or you can choose the frugal route. There’s really no need to spend a large amount of money when there are at least ten cheap supplies to help you get organized.

1. Calendars – Calendars are the number one item for keeping family and yourself organized, at least as far as appointments are concerned. You can find calendars at dollar stores and discount stores, often for as little as $1.00. If you have your heart set on a particular calendar, wait a week or so after the new year and you could save as much as fifty percent.

2. Boxes – If you have a watertight location to store items, you may be able to save money organizing by using boxes that you get at grocery stores. There’s really no need to go out and spend money on boxes when you can get them for free.

3. Index cards – There are a number of ways you can use index cards when organizing; here are just a few: Shopping lists, goals, recipes, menu planning, frequently used telephone numbers, and to organize research.

4. Timers – Set your timer for fifteen minutes and spend that time de-cluttering, cleaning, or organizing. You’ll be amazed at how much you can get done in a small amount of time if you work hard during that time.

5. Totes – Totes, or bins, come in all shapes and sizes. They also come in a variety of materials: wood, plastic, fabric, metal, or glass. Some have lids and some don’t. They vary in price, as well, but are great for storing and organizing.

6. Cereal boxes – Another free, or almost free, item. Cut off one corner of the box, cover with contact or wrapping paper, and use them for storing magazines. There’s no need to purchase magazine holders if you’re going to eat cereal anyhow.

7. File folders and labels – What organized person doesn’t need an effective filing system for wayward papers? You don’t have to have a large filing system for it to work for you; plan on having just enough files to store and be able to locate important papers for finances, insurances, health, utilities, credit cards, warranties, or anything else you can think of.

8. Baskets – These are wonderful holders for so many objects. Crafts that you’re working on, wash cloths or towels in a bathroom, fruit, or any other number of things can be kept in baskets to help keep things neat and organized.

9. 3-Ring Binders – The 3-ring binder comes in a variety of widths to be able to hold different amounts of paper. If you don’t want to keep a filing cabinet in your home, you could have 3-ring binders for each category and store everything on a shelf instead. You can find great deals on these around back-to-school time.

10. Clipboards – These are an organizing powerhouse. You can use them for keeping up with to-do lists, shopping lists, and any number of other things requiring paper. They help corral papers, can hang on a wall, and yet are out in the open rather than tucked away in a filing cabinet.

You don’t have to spend a great deal of money to get organized. These ten cheap supplies will help you get organized and won’t break your budget. If you think about it, there are probably other items around your home that you can repurpose for organizing. Look around – you may be surprised at what you find.




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Christmas dinner is a tradition in many countries. Families and friends get together to share a meal and have some fun. This year, with these tightwad times, if you are hosting the Christmas dinner try a new approach to the meal. Turn it into a frugal potluck Christmas dinner.

Potluck is an old term dating back a few centuries. It is a meal brought to a gathering to be shared with others. This is exactly what you will be doing with a Christmas tightwad potluck dinner. In centuries past, potluck meals used whatever was available, but here we want a bit fancier fare for our dinner menu.

First, the guests can come together to decide what type of frugal dinner menu you are looking to serve. Don’t worry if schedules are too tight for a family meeting. Use email, text messaging, and good old Ma Bell to straighten out the Christmas dinner menu.

Setting a tightwad potluck dinner menu in advance avoids everyone bringing a dessert and no side dishes for the Christmas dinner meal. A true potluck would involve everyone bringing something of their choice, but for variety’s sake, make a list first. As each household chimes in on what they will bring, add it to a list and send it out. We want to avoid duplicates if we can.

The main course of turkey or ham or what have you can be cooked at the host home. It proves easier to have the turkey already on site as opposed to transporting him all around town. Another family member can purchase the turkey and come over to cook it at the host home for the Christmas dinner.

You’ll need a place to set up the Christmas dinner choices. Most frugal potluck meals are served buffet style so everyone gets exactly what they want to eat. Depending on the number of Christmas dinner guests, you may need a table or two set up for the holiday menu items.

Place cards next to each dish explaining what it is. Most will be self explanatory but the place cards do help for kids and non-traditional meals. Label the desserts as well.

The dining room table can be set as usual for a potluck Christmas dinner. After the blessing, everyone can form a line to get their food. Ask the dish maker to bring their own utensils for serving so you don’t have to use all of yours. Afterwards, everyone takes their own dish home to wash.

A tightwad and frugal potluck Christmas dinner saves time and money. Each dinner guest is responsible for a portion of the meal so no one has to do all of the preparation.




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Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day, but lunch is what gets you through until dinner time. The price of public school lunches rises each year and it is hard for some parents to keep up. This is besides the fact that many lunch menus, not just in schools either, are not as nutritious as they could be. Here are some tightwad money saving lunch ideas for frugal families.

1. Take your lunch. This goes for parents as well as kids. We are tempted to eat out with the group everyday, too. That adds up after a while. Those cute insulated lunch bags are not only frugal, they also make it easier to carry hot and cold items. We can throw even throw out the brown bags in favor of reusable options which are more environmentally friendly. When you pack your own lunch, you know what is in it so it is easier to avoid a lot of unhealthy fats and junk food.

2. Make a sandwich. I’m not talking about just any sandwich. This can be a wrap, pita, crust less bread, or bun sandwich. Varying the bread each day will help you decide what ingredients to put on it. You may want turkey with alfalfa sprouts, tomato, and onion on a pita or chicken strips with barbecue sauce, lettuce, and shredded cheese in a tortilla wrap. Many kids like bread without crust for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. This makes lunch frugal fun and your kids are more likely to eat it if they have a creative variety. Invest in tiny storage bowls rather than single packs of condiments. They can be used in lunches as opposed to putting them on the sandwich and saturating the bread before lunchtime rolls around.

3. Bottled water and drink crystals. Water has never been the same since they came out with those handy packs of flavorings. You can find them everywhere. Best of all they have five calories or less. You can turn a bottle of water into a yummy frugal drink that is better than soda. Kids love them too.

4. Dessert, courtesy of home. Stop! Put down that candy bar and walk away from the vending machine. Instead, choose a better option. Homemade granola can be shaped into bars and used as a yummy after lunch snack. How about dried fruit pieces? They are sweeter than candy bars and won’t spike your blood sugar. It’s okay to have a naughty treat every now and then, but even at those times you can choose a healthier and more frugal option than chips or candy. Make a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies and pack a few in your lunch.

5. Ice packs. These nifty items will keep lunch from spoiling. The perfect complement to an insulated bag, they allow you to take yogurt or a sandwich with meat and not have to worry about it getting warm before it’s time to eat.

6. Veggie sticks. Eat them with your sandwich and add some ranch dressing for dipping.

Lunch doesn’t have to come from the school cafeteria or the fast food joint around the corner to be good. Coming from home, it can be healthier, taste better and cost less. Now that’s a combination you can’t beat.




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