Mother’s Day is right around the corner, which means it is time to start thinking about Mother’s Day gifts.  While moms frequently get a meal in bed, dinner out and flowers for Mother’s Day, maybe this year you could give her something different that she will remember for years to come.

Experience gifts are a perfect way to show your mother both how much you love her and how much you know her and her tastes and interests.  (If you don’t know your mother’s tastes and interests, you might want to stick with giving her flowers.)  If you give her the gift of experience, she is likely to remember it for years to come.

For instance, my grandmother always wanted to ride a hot air balloon.  Finally, in her seventies, one of her children arranged for her to go on a hot air balloon ride, and it was an experience she never forgot.  Would she remember the flowers she was given one particular year or the dinner out?  Probably not.  But she never forgot that hot air balloon ride.

An experience gift is the gift that keeps giving.

Make a list of things that your mother has always wanted to do.  Perhaps it is flying a small plane, skydiving, getting a massage or taking a gourmet cooking class.  Come up with the top three experiences you know she would enjoy.

If her experience is something mainstream such as the three listed above, you probably don’t have to pay full price for the experience.  Sign up for all of the social deal sites such as Groupon, Living Social, Mamasource, and Daily Deals, to name a few.  You will be sent an e-mail every day giving the deals for the day.  Chances are good that one of the three you have chosen for your mother will be offered in the next few weeks on one of the sites.

If you can’t find what you need from the daily deal sites, you can look on several other sites including Lifesta, Deals Go Round, CoupRecoup, Dealigee, and City Pockets.  These sites sell deals that others bought but decided that they didn’t want to use.  (By the way, on the off chance that your mother doesn’t want the experience that you bought her, she can change in that skydiving deal voucher for something more tame, like a day at the spa.)  Wealth Informatics wrote a complete post on reselling vouchers that explains the process in more detail.

If your mom is content with flowers and a meal out, you can give her that.  However, she may just want something more.  An experience gift is a gift that she is likely to remember for years to come.  You can take advantage of daily deal sites to make her experience a bit easier on your wallet, and she can always trade in the deal if it turns out to be something she doesn’t want.  Moms do a lot for their kids throughout their life; take the time to thank her this year by doing something to treat her in a unique way.

When you see your friends buying nice things such as a new car or a second home, do you automatically think that they have gone deep into debt for the purchase or do you secretly envy them and think they must have come into some money?  Do you think, some people have all the luck or some people have it so easy?  Maybe rather than feeling sorry for yourself or resentful of others, you should take a hard look at your own spending habits.

Recently, I was watching a rerun of the King of Queens.  In this episode, “Home Cheapo”, Carrie and Doug are envious of their friends, Deacon and Kelly, who have just bought a beautiful vacation home.  Carrie and Doug run through all of the ways Deacon and Kelly must have been able to afford the home including that they suddenly came into money.  Finally, they decide that Deacon and Kelly can afford the home because Carrie and Doug have been paying for Deacon and Kelly’s share whenever they go out together, which isn’t exactly true.

After much feuding between the couples, Deacon and Kelly finally share that they were able to buy the home because they cut their expenses, stopped going out to eat and saved their money for quite awhile.  This leads Carrie and Doug to look at their own spending such as Carrie’s trips to get her nails done and Doug’s beer drinking and food eating habits.  They suddenly begin to see that all of the money they have used to pamper and treat themselves could have been used in a better way, such as Deacon and Kelly have done by buying a vacation home.

In our society where many, many people overspend, it is easy to see someone buy something nice that we would like and just say that they must be deeply in debt.  This might be true.  But it also might be true that they are sacrificing and saving.

There is nothing wrong with buying little treats for yourself throughout the week such as coffee out, lunches out, trips to restaurants, and concert tickets, to name a few.  But, keep in mind, when you make these choices, you may be unconsciously making another choice.  These little treats that you don’t even remember spending the money on a week later may be why you can’t buy a second home (or even a first home) or why you can’t take that trip to Europe that you have always dreamed of or why you can’t reach whatever other big dream you have.

Saving for important, memorable things such as a house or a trip is hard.  You have to constantly delay gratification, and let’s face it, humans aren’t good at that.  It is much easier to treat yourself with little purchases throughout the day and week.  Just know that you are then sacrificing bigger dreams.  You are living like Carrie and Doug, who were jealous and bitter in this episode, rather than Deacon and Kelly who were willing to sacrifice short-term to get something they wanted long-term.

It’s no secret that the rising cost of petrol is putting increased pressure on motorists at the moment, with many of them looking for ways to reduce their monthly fuel bill. There are various methods of cutting the cost of petrol, even if the government has so far refused to reduce fuel duty to help the public keep control of their finances more effectively.

Recent predictions from the Ernst & Young ITEM Club suggest that the cost of a tank of petrol could top 100 pounds by 2015, leaving families to foot an even greater bill during these tough times. Downsize your vehicle: There are many benefits to driving a smaller vehicle, not least because they tend to be much more efficient than their gas-guzzling counterparts. A British Car Auctions (BCA) survey recently found that 27 per cent of motorists will be in search of better fuel economy from their next vehicle, which may see a surge in demand for smaller cars. Tim Naylor from the BCA commented: We are already seeing demand for these cars outstrip supply, which means rising prices for low mileage, good quality stock.

Other benefits to running a smaller vehicle include reductions in car insurance costs, as companies often look favourably on those with more efficient cars. Scrap the second car, it is not uncommon for families to have two or more vehicles at their disposal – but is more than one really necessary? Families could benefit from weighing up whether the second or third vehicle is essential, which can severely reduce outgoings month after month. One party may be able to use public transport to get to and from work, which is something worth considering by those who are really struggling to make ends meet.

The BCA’s Tim Naylor reveals that the number of two-car households has declined by five per cent over the past 12 months alone – a trend that is likely to continue. Update to a newer model Motorists who do have the cash to upgrade their existing car to a newer model could find it saves them cash in the long run. This, however, is only likely to be beneficial for particularly old cars. Manufacturers are constantly providing new technology to cut their customers emissions, while reducing their petrol usage at the same time. Car showrooms are required to demonstrate how fuel efficient each new car is with an A to G rating. A indicates the most economical car, while G is the worst. Aside from saving money on petrol, drivers of downsized vehicles will also find their road tax is cut, which in itself can reduce outgoings year on year.

Consider alternative fuels, an increasing number of vehicles are now reaching the market that run off a range of more efficient fuels. Biofuels and LPG are used to power some cars, while others run off electricity. It is likely to be the case that these become more mainstream over the coming years, as both manufacturers and consumers alike recognise the need for vehicles to reduce their impact on the environment. Petrol or diesel? Many drivers will have a preference for either petrol or diesel vehicles, which could affect how much they spend on fuel in an average month. Petrol engines are generally less fuel efficient than their diesel counterparts and produce more CO2. Diesel engines, on the other hand, give off more air pollutants that contribute to poor air quality in towns and cities. In some cases, diesel cars will be fitted with a diesel particulate filter that helps to eradicate some of these pollutants.

**Photo by micah.d**

Guest Post comes from Financial Money Tips. Written by co-founder Kolton Green. Be sure you follow them on Twitter or like them on Facebook.

No doubt you have heard that you should never mix money and family. With that in mind you can imagine some of the warnings we were given when we decided to go into business together as brothers. And after our first two business ventures had failed, these warning messages seemed to be just pointing and laughing at us.

It was one thing to try to go into business as brothers and have it fail, but to give it another shot at running a business that dealt with finance was more than some people could comprehend. Thankfully we didn’t listen to those naysayers. Those people are the ones that don’t have faith or any positive thoughts on achieving business success. Our background helped us to learn to never give up and so even in the face of failure we jumped in and did just that and found success. What started out as a blog to help others find their way financially, ended up changing our lives.

Finding Success

We never expected things to take of like they did or for us to learn so much along the way. We are by no means an ultimate authority on financial topics, but we have watched where the pitfalls are; often only after falling into them ourselves. We work really hard to help other people avoid those same mistakes before they fall into them.

At this point in our careers we still plan to create many more assets for ourselves. The ultimate goal is to get involved with other investments, business, and real estate ventures. The goal is to create many more passive income streams and get to a point where we can just sit back and let the money do all of the work for us. I mean, that is the ultimate goal for most people, right?

So that is what we do. We offer a platform for people to see, discover, and share the best steps to take in their own lives, which will lead them towards reaching their goals. And it has been an amazing process to see it happen over and over again.

Part of the success has been related to the fact that our blog is so open. We want people to comment on postings. We want to start conversations (and even heated debates) about personal finance. If there is one thing we have learned it’s that there isn’t just one right way to do things. The more reader input our blog receives, the more we know that we are helping people find a way to their own financial goals.

How It Started

At the ages of 21 and 24 we started Financial Money Tips. We come from a Mormon family in Colorado and much of our upbringing is what inspired us to do this work and start this blog. We both have a drive and desire to help others. We were both involved with competitive sports and being athletes set a competitive standard in our lives. We both learned to never give up on our goals and that you are going to fail some of the time, there is no way to avoid it. Without that foundation we would never have been able to get involved in investing and business like we have.

Financial Money Tips wasn’t where we started in business. After taking a few college courses in business and finance we figured our time was better spent starting our own business and being entrepreneurs, rather than students. First we created a baseball bat company, which failed. Then we started a mobile waterless car wash, which failed.

These business failures were important. They taught us the value of research, planning, and finding answers before jumping in. They taught us how to lose money and recover from that loss. They taught us how to do things right. These failures have given us a confidence in our skills because we have learned from our mistakes and it had made us better business owners.

Moving Forward From Failure

Moving forward from those failures, we realized that there were probably thousands of other people making the same mistakes, asking the same questions, and wondering exactly how to best proceed in their own financial searches. And so, we found ourselves creating a blog to help show others the way, never expecting that it would help us to find the way at the same time.

Our website describes us as “regular joes” and that is what makes our platform so powerful. We are “regular joes” and what we have gone through helps others avoid the mistakes that we have made.

The theme of our business has always been “Self-education will make you a fortune” and that is truly what makes our blog so powerful. It is a system to help people increase their knowledge on financial issues, business planning, investing, and entrepreneurship. Not all of the information comes from us, not remotely! In fact, if it wasn’t for our readers and the people willing to share their own successes and failures, our site wouldn’t be nearly as powerful.

One of the struggles of small businesses is trying to make your business appear as professional as the large businesses you potentially compete against.

Without breaking the marketing bank, there are a lot of strategies you can use to make your small business look more professional, and help you gain credibility with your customers.

Get a Website and Email

First, your small business needs a website that matches the brand of your business and can be a place that potential customers go to research more about you.  Second, you should get an email address attached to this site to give more professionalism.  Think of how Sam@gmail.com looks, versus Sam@smallbusinessxyz.com looks.  Customers do pick up on these small things, so be aware and deliver a brand appearance from start to finish.

Get a Dedicated Phone Number

Many potential customers still prefer calling someone to just emailing back and forth.  As such, you need to have a number that works for customers.  Getting an 800 number can help with this, since it is toll free for your customers, and it adds a look of professionalism you can get with having a local area code number.

Anyone can buy an 800 number.  You can buy 0800 numbers at 08 Direct, or other places online pretty easily.

Get Branded Business Cards

How do you plan on getting your customers to remember you after you meet them?  You need business cards.  Make sure that your business cards have your name, your website and email, and your 800 number so that your client can get in touch with you in a number of ways.  Also, make sure that they match the theme of your website.  You want to present a brand image across all media platforms.

Get a PO Box

Finally, you may want to consider getting a PO Box, especially if you run a home based business.  This not only gives a professional look to your business, but it can provide a little bit more security for documents being sent through the mail.

**Photo by mioi**

Ahh, tax day.  If you are getting a refund, you have probably already filed, but if you will owe money come tax day, you may have procrastinated and not filed until as close to the deadline as possible.  Well, guess what?  Time is up.  If you don’t want to face extensions and late fees, Tuesday night at midnight is as long as you can procrastinate.

Whether you are getting a refund and want to celebrate or owe money and want to console yourself, many companies want to take the pain out of tax day with tax day freebies.  Here are some places to reap the rewards:

Maggie Moo’s
Get a free scoop of ice cream from 4 to 7 p.m. on April 17^th at participating locations.   Make sure to first print a coupon from their Facebook page (click the coupon tab).

Cinnabon
Get two free “bites” on April 17^th from 6 to 8 p.m. at participating locations.

Boston Market
Bring a friend to share the freebies at Boston Market.  They are offering a buy one, get one free meal on April 17^th when you use this coupon.

Sonic
Enjoy ½ off drinks and slushies all day on April 17th.

P.F. Chang’s
Get 15% off your online order when you use this coupon on April 17^th.

White Castle
You can’t take advantage of all of the freebies on tax day, so White Castle allows you to take advantage of their freebie, a buy one, get one free chicken sandwich with this coupon, through April 28^th.

Panda Express
Like Panda Express on Facebook and print a coupon for a free Shanghai Angus steak on Tax Day.

Seattle’s Best Coffee
Get a free sample of coffee (reportedly it makes up to a 10 cup pot) from Seattle’s Best Coffee when you like them on Facebook or if you go to the store on April 17^th, get a free small coffee.

Chili’s
Chili’s is offering a free appetizer or dessert to their Twitter followers, Facebook fans and e-mail club members valid between April 16^th and 18^th.

Arby’s
“Like” Arby’s on Facebook and print a coupon for free curly fries.

Chevy’s Fresh Mex

Get two margaritas for $10.40 on April 17th.  And, during tax day, Chevy’s will pay your sales tax.

Marble Slab Creamery
Get a free scoop of their new yogurt at participating stores from 4 to 7 p.m. on April 17^th

Breuggers
From April 13^th to 17^th, Breuggers is offering a baker’s dozen of bagels and two tubs of cream cheese for just $10.40 (a savings of $5).  Like them on Facebook and print the coupon to get yours.

McCormick and Schmicks
Enjoy an extended Happy Hour from 3:30 to 11 p.m (instead of the usual 7 p.m.)

Looking for more freebies?  Check out these sites that may offer a list of more freebies:  ABC News, Fox News, Kiplinger’s.

Now, go file your taxes, and take advantage of the many freebies offered today.  After all, there aren’t many days of the year when restaurants and retailers offer their food and goods for free!

*Photo by 401K on Flickr*

We spend a lot on beverages.  Take a typical Saturday–you may grab some coffee in the morning and spend anywhere from $2 to $6, depending on the drink you buy.  Later, you may go out for lunch and pay over $2 for a soda, then go out to the bar in the evening and spend $12 on two mixed drinks.  

Instead of spending upwards of $20 in ONE DAY on drinks, consider these drinks you can make at home and save a bundle:

1.  Soda–With the advent of machines like SodaStream, spend $80 to $100 to buy the machine, and then supplement with the soda flavor of your choice and the carbonation can, which lasts for 60 litres of sparkling water.  According to Daily Finance, you can make the equivalent of one can of soda for 25 cents using a SodaStream.  In addition, the soda you make at home is healthier.  Daily Finance explains, “SodaStream flavors contain about a third of the sugar, calories, carbohydrates, and sodium in the national brands. SodaStream mixes also stay away from high-fructose corn syrup.”  Not only do you save money, but you are consuming a healthier drink.

2.  Coffee drinks.  Yes, coffee you make at home may not taste exactly like Starbuck’s brew.  However, for the amount of money you save, getting used to the taste difference may be well worth it.  If your tastes go beyond drinking coffee straight, you may want to invest in a espresso maker.  You can find these used on Craigslist for $25 to $50.  If you spend $5 on Starbuck’s, even when you try to save money there, an espresso machine would pay for itself by the tenth drink you make at home.

3.  Smoothies.  Is there anything better than a fresh, store bought smoothie?  Yes–a smoothie made at home.  Invest in a variety of fruits and some juice or the milk of your choice, and you can make your own smoothies for less than half price of the $5 drinks you can buy, plus, like soda, the smoothies you make at home are probably better for you with fewer additives.  Best of all, smoothies don’t require special equipment to make at home like soda and coffee do.  If you have a blender, you are ready to make smoothies at home.

4.  Mixed drinks.  Alcoholic beverages are much cheaper when prepared at home rather than bought at a restaurant or bar.  Of course, not everyone wants to make alcholic drinks at home because they enjoy the social aspect of going out to a bar or restaurant with friends and having a few drinks.  However, if you prefer to have a small party at home, serving drinks there will save you the most money over any of the other drinks you can make at home.

Often times we buy coffee or soda when we are out because we don’t think we can make it at home.  However, spend some money buying the right equipment, and you can make your own soda and coffee at home and save a bundle.  Smoothies are nutritional drinks that you can easily make from home.  Of course, making mixed drinks at home can save you quite a bit of money, but if you prefer to go out for those, make your soda, coffee and smoothies at home, and you will be able to use the difference to go out for alcoholic drinks once in a while, if you prefer.  Or, use the money you save for debt repayment or as a way to find extra money in your budget.

**Photo by Praveen on Flickr**

Congratulations!   Perhaps you have just received the happy news that you are expecting or you are planning to soon expand your family.  Preparing for the arrival of a new baby is a joyous time full of excitement, but it should also be a time of careful planning.  

If you have no children now, you will find that your lifestyle changes drastically with the arrival of a newborn.  For awhile, there is very little free time or sleep.  In addition to personal lifestyle changes, you will also face many financial changes.  Careful planning during pregnancy can help you adjust financially to the arrival of a new baby.

To Work or Not to Work

One of the most important decisions is whether or not one parent will stay home with the child.  Often times both parents return to work because they both love their careers or because two incomes are an economic necessity.  However, frequently a mother plans to return to work but changes her mind after the baby is born or when she cannot find suitable daycare.  Arranging your finances with the plan that one partner will stay home is the most conservative plan and so that you’re ready for whatever decision you end up making.

How Your Mortgage May be Affected

If you make a plan based on the notion that one parent will stay home, you will want to first consider if you should refinance your mortgage before the baby arrives.  Every time we think mortgage interest rates have hit their lowest point, it seems that they then fall further.   Using a mortgage calculator can help you determine how much your mortgage payment can change if you refinance at a lower rate.  It may make sense to refinance while both partners are still employed so you can get the best rate possible.  However, another alternative is to change your fixed rate loan to an adjustable rate mortgage.  You may have as many as five years before the interest rate on your ARM changes, giving the stay-at-home parent plenty of time to return to work when the child is older.  Either way, if one partner does quit, your mortgage is already set at the lowest interest rate currently possible, and you may have smaller payments, which will be more affordable on one salary.

Also, consider if you will qualify for parental payments.  If you are able to reduce your expenses to live on one income before the child is born, those parental payments can be considered “extra” money.  You could use that money to create a larger emergency fund or to invest in your home if you refinance to a flexible mortgage.  You could put the money on the mortgage now, when you have extra money, and may be able to access the extra in the future when money may be tighter.

Planning for a baby is an exciting time.  If you take the proper steps before the baby is born, you can also reduce the financial stress you may feel after the child arrives, even if one parent stays home.

**Photo by paparutzi**

The average college student graduates with $25,000 in student loan debt.  Many more students have higher balances than this.

If you are repaying your student loans, there are several strategies you can utilize to pay less in student loan interest.  Consider the following:

1. Automate your payments.  If you have direct student loans, automate your payment to come from your checking account for a set amount on a set date, and you will get .25% off your interest rate.
2. Pay as quickly as you can.  Direct loans offer many different payment plans.  The one that will get you out of debt most quickly with the least amount of interest paid out of pocket is the standard repayment plan that allows you to pay off your loans within 10 years.  The other repayment plans can stretch your payments over 20 to 25 years.  Yes, that makes payments more affordable, but you also pay a great deal more in interest, sometimes almost as much as the principal itself.
3. Consolidate your loans.  If you have a high interest rate student loan, consider consolidating all of your loans.  If you take this option, you must be careful because you are only allowed to consolidate once.  Consolidation will give you one payment a month instead of several, if you have several different student loans.  Your overall payment may also be lower than you were paying before you consolidated.  Usually, consolidation is the smart option, but if you have low interest student loans and consolidating would cause you to have a higher interest rate, you may want to avoid it.
4. Transfer some of your balance to a zero APR credit card.  Admittedly, this is a risky move, but if you have a zero percent APR credit card, you may want to transfer some of your student loan balance to the card.  Keep in mind that most credit cards have 0% APR for a limited time, often 12 months, so don’t transfer more than you can reasonably pay off in 12 months.  Also, be aware of the risks—if you lose your job or experience some other type of hardship, you can always defer your student loans, but you cannot defer your credit card payments.  You must make your minimum credit card payment every month or risk affecting your credit score.  In addition, if you misjudge and are unable to pay off the credit card balance before the 0% APR expires, you will have to pay at the higher interest rate, which is often over 12%.
5. Pay the interest on unsubsidized loans while still in college.  Subsidized loans pay the interest for you while you are in college; however, if you have an unsubsidized loan, interest will accrue while you are in school.  When you graduate and begin repayment, you may have accrued from several hundred to several thousand dollars in interest depending on the size of your loans.  Your payment and interest will then be based on the total amount of your loan including principal and accrued interest.  If you instead pay the interest in school, you can save yourself paying more interest throughout the life of the loan.

More and more students are relying on student loans to get through college, and the payments can put a serious financial strain on your budget.  With careful planning, you may be able to save some money on the interest you pay, which will save you money overall.

**Photo by watchingfrogsboil**

In the United States, 11% of people under the age of 30 live alone (U.S. News).  I lived alone for two years when I was in graduate school, and I loved the experience.  However, living alone, especially in an urban area, can be expensive.  If your budget is tight, there are ways to live alone and stretch your money.  One of the best strategies is to find ways to share services with other people who are living alone.

Consider the following techniques:

Don’t buy more house or apartment than you need.  It is tempting to want to live in a bigger place, but try to buy or rent only the space you actually need when living on your own.  This will save you not only on monthly rent or mortgage payments, but also on utilities including heat and air conditioning, which can be very expensive.  You will also save on the furniture you need to buy to fill the space.

Share services.  Chances are, if you live alone, you don’t generate enough garbage to fill a disposal container on your own; consider sharing with your neighbor.   You can each shave your garbage disposal cost in half.

Share subscriptions.  Likewise, if you get subscriptions such as the newspaper or magazines, share them with a friend or neighbor.  Once again you save half, and you each get to read the latest from your favorite magazines.

Share food bought in bulk.  If you take advantage of a service such as a CSA (Community Shared Agriculture), you may find that you receive too much fresh produce for one person.  Instead, split the cost with a single friend, and you each will get fresh, organic fruits and vegetables for half the price.  (Be sure to see more food saving tips for singles.)

Share rides.  If you cannot take public transportation, consider car pooling.  Just sharing a ride with one other person can save you gas money, which is particularly important as the cost of gas continues to rise.  Share a ride with more than one other person, and your savings increase.  However, the headaches can also increase.  Before you enter this type of arrangement, make sure you carefully consider the terms.  Whose car will you use?  How will you split the gas expense?  How will you handle irregular schedules?

Examine your auto insurance.  Some insurance companies will charge you more if you are the sole policy holder, especially if you are in your twenties.  You may want to see if adding one of your parents to your policy would lower the rate.  (Of course, this is assuming your parent has a clean driving record and lives nearby.)  Sometimes having an older person on the policy with you reduces the premium.

While living on your own offers you a chance to grow personally as well as offers you privacy and peace and quiet you may not experience when living with others, it can be expensive.  If you find a trusted neighbor, coworker or friend, you could share several services and slash your living expenses.

If you are living alone, what do you like to do to save on living expenses?