Adjusting our Budget for an Empty Nest

My husband and I have been married for 21 years and this is one of those years in which our lives will change dramatically. Our youngest goes off to college and we will once again plan our household budget around just the two of us. With two in college we have plenty to cover in our overall budget, but if we are careful and make adjustments we will end each month with savings that can be set aside for our rapidly approaching retirement years.

Here are the areas of our family finances where I think we can save.

Household Budget

Cooling and Heating

For nine months out of the year we will have an entire floor of our home that is uninhabited. We’ve been here for seven years and we plan to stay until it is time to downsize. That doesn’t mean we have to cool, heat and light up those areas of the house we aren’t using.

Whether your empty nest means a couple of rooms become vacant or an entire wing of your home goes empty, here are some tips for taking advantage of energy savings on the unused portions of your home.

• Close blinds and curtains - It will stay hot during the days throughout the month of October in our area. To help keep out the heat the first step is to close the blinds and curtains of the windows facing east, west and especially south. Then switch that up during the cold months and open the blinds of the windows that face south. 
• Close vents - Another step is to close the vents in the rooms that will not be in use. This diverts heat to the common areas that you will want to keep warm. 
• Close doors - This one is obvious and it is something many energy conscious people do already. As much as I like an open house, it saves energy to keep doors closed so we aren’t cooling or heating areas that aren’t in use. 
• Change thermostat - The final step will be to adjust the thermostat upstairs. We don’t want to make the downstairs unit work harder, so the adjustment will be slight, but it will certainly help save money each month. 

Cleaning

This may not seem like much, but along with not heating and cooling the rooms that are no longer in use, we will save time and money by not having to clean those same rooms as often. While I make a lot of my own cleaners, the ingredients still cost money. So does the electricity used to run the vacuum. The actual dollar figure saved may be small each week, but when combined with other savings it makes a difference.

Since I’m self employed, the time I save can be used to produce more income. If you work outside the home, this extra hour or so each week can mean a little more time to relax and unwind after a long day at work.

Laundry

Again, this might seem like a minor savings, but our child heading off to college accounted for more than a third of our laundry expenses this past year because of her very active life. We are already saving a lot with Energy Star high efficiency appliances, but this fall our laundry load will be cut in half. Over time that is a substantial savings.

With both daughters doing their own laundry at school we will save on detergent, water and energy costs. I won’t realize much of a time savings here since the girls have washed their own laundry for some time now.

Gas Budget

As a family we spend very little of our budget on gasoline for our cars. I work from home so don’t drive on a daily basis and while we live in a rural area pretty far from town, we have always organized errands to use as little gas as possible.

Once the kids are on their own and paying for their own gas, most couples will see a reduction in their fuel costs. However, some will fill their empty nests with new activities and may actually get out more. The good thing is that you’re in control of this lifestyle change.

Grocery Budget

Cooking for two may be where many empty nesters can save the most money once the kids move out. Even if you occasionally splurge on expensive foods that you’ve avoided when there were more mouths to feed, careful menu planning can offer serious savings.

No matter how hard you work to keep your food budget low, teens eat a lot and are often the reason many families have snack foods in their pantries. Now is the time to break old habits and revamp your grocery list and the way you buy, prepare and store foods.

• Check your recipes carefully to see how many servings they offer. If it is something that will not freeze or keep in the refrigerator, or if it is something that won’t be good reheated, don’t make more than you and your spouse can eat at one sitting. 
• Plan a menu in advance and base your shopping list on this menu. I use SouthernSavers.com to track store specials and I plan my menu around as many sale items as possible. Find a site that lists specials for stores in your area. 
• Invest in storage containers sized for one or two servings so there is less air in the container. This will help prevent freezer burn. It is also helpful if the container can go from freezer to microwave for defrosting. 
• Keep a list of meals you have stored in your freezer and rotate them so they don’t go stale or get freezer burn. 

A freezer stocked with meals ready to thaw and reheat offers flexibility to your food budget and your evenings at home.

When your children leave home, life immediately becomes less expensive, so make a conscious effort to take advantage of all the little ways you can save. Pad your savings account with all that extra money so you won’t feel guilty when the lure of dining out or off-season vacation rentals tempts you to splurge.

Betsy Muse is a staff writer for ConsumerFu where she offers tips to help people find ways to earn more and save more. She is the mother of two college-age daughters and spent much of her early career in the banking and insurance industries.

5 Ways to Decrease The Cost of Sending Your Kids to Pre-School

According to Parents.com advisor Kathleen McCartney, PhD, dean of Harvard Graduate School of Education, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, "There's increasing evidence that children gain a lot from going to preschool." Kathleen continues, "At preschool, they become exposed to numbers, letters, and shapes. And, more important, they learn how to socialize -- get along with other children, share, contribute to circle time."

Studies show that a majority of kids attend at least one year of preschool: According to the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), more than 66% of 4-year-olds and more than 40 percent of 3-year-olds were enrolled in a preschool in 2005. "Children who attend high-quality preschool enter kindergarten with better pre-reading skills, richer vocabularies, and stronger basic math skills than those who do not," says NIEER director W. Steven Barnett, PhD.

While pre-school is very important, it can also be a costly venture. Experts at Payday advance from El Paso TX suggest the following five tips to decrease the cost of your child's pre-school education:

While pre-school is very important, it can also be a costly venture. The following five tips will help decrease the cost of your child's pre-school education:

Compare Different Pre-Schools in Your Area

Comparison shopping will always save you money. Take a look at different pre-schools in your area and what they have to offer in terms of activities for the children, if any food is provided and how long they are open on a daily basis. Some pre-schools offer different services for different amounts of money.

Home-Based Pre-Schools May Be Cheaper

Large pre-schools often carry a lot of overhead expenses, especially with the salaries that are paid to the teachers.

Home-based pre-schools carry less expenses and often times are better for children because of the personal attention they get. Make sure you find a home-based school that you trust and that has excellent references.

Government Subsidies and Other Financial Programs

Every state has financial aid for low income families who can't afford pre-school. You can find out more about this type of aid by asking the pre-school that you plan to send your child to.

If state financial aid is out of the question, many pre-schools offer financial assistance as well. If you can't afford to make the entire payment at once, payment plans are a great option. Normally, these types of plans will require some sort of down payment and monthly payments throughout the year.

Co-Ops

Co-ops are parent-organized pre-schools. These always involve parents taking turns on a daily basis to watch the children. While these types of schools do involve a small fee and a participation requirement, the savings are huge when compared to mainstream pre-schools.

Similar to other home-based pre-schools, make sure the parents you sign up with are trustworthy. The best thing to do is to start a co-op between you and other friends who have children of similar ages.

Research Schools Outside Your Area

Houston, Texas is a large urban area with many suburban cities surrounding it. If you live outside of Houston but commute into the city, consider taking your child with you to a pre-school near your place of employment.

If you live in a high income area, your best bet may be to look outside your city. Many cities are overflowing with pre-schools which makes the competition stiff and the prices lower. 

Why Geography Matters When Buying Car Insurance

You probably don't give it much thought, but where you live plays an important role in your auto insurance premium. The Consumers' Association of Canada recently conducted an extensive study of insurance rates in five major Canadian cities and found that rates were largely driven by factors unique to the geography of those cities. 

Busy Cities vs Rural Areas

In general, busy cities cost more than rural areas. Why? Because There's more traffic. That seems to make sense even without any research, but the fact is that there's more incoming and outgoing traffic in a city. With more cars per minute travelling through a defined area, the risk for an auto accident increases across the board. This includes everything from small "fender benders" to major accidents.

The CAC also found that vehicle theft, vandalism, and glass breakage all increase as one gets closer to urban areas. This is, again, due to the increased concentration of vehicles on the road. However, within urban areas, theft rates vary. Public parking lots and apartment garages are notorious for break-ins and vandalism, while residential areas don't see as much action.

In more rural areas, glass breakage seems to increase, but this isn't because of vandalism. Rather, the damage is a result of weather-related activity, mostly ice and storm damage.

Climate

Climate can also drive insurance premiums. Areas more prone to heavy wet weather conditions experience more accidents. Likewise, areas that are prone to more extreme weather in general are also positively correlated with increased accidents.

If you're travelling through an unfamiliar area that is known to have higher incidents of inclement weather (i.e. you're on a holiday), it might be wise to temporarily increase your insurance cover during the trip. If you move to a new location for a job or some other reason, check out the weather trends.

If you get higher than average snowfall, rain, or other weather than the rest of Canada, it might be time to consider more insurance cover to protect yourself and your family. 

Age

Age discrimination is common, according to the CAC. Young people driving in Calgary and Toronto pay more than older drivers, even when the younger drivers have perfect driving records and the older drivers have at least one at-fault crash. Under BC's public auto insurance program, a driver with an at-fault collision is charged more, regardless of his or her age.

This compensates the insurers for the added risk posed by the driver. It also relieves other motorists from having to subsidise risky drivers. However, under the private insurance system that operates in Alberta and Ontario, the CAC found that insurers operated in virtually the opposite manner. 

Gender

The CAC found gender discrimination in cities and areas with open competition. For example, Toronto charges younger male drivers a higher premium than those living in Vancouver. What's more, young males pay more than even young female drivers. This means that the younger drivers are subsidising the older individuals living in these areas.

That's an important consideration if you're thinking of moving. It may benefit you to look to Vancouver, for example, for a job instead of a place like Toronto.

Adam Becker is a serial blogger, writing upon a number of topics from science fiction critique to insurance tips. He eventually finds time away from his writing when prompted by his wife and dog. For information about insurance in Calgary, visit the link.

How to Save Energy on Your Home Air Conditioning

There is a lot you can do in order to ensure that you do not waste energy on your air conditioning. After all, you use your air conditioner the most during the summer. In fact, there may be days when you do not wish to switch it off at all. In hot climates, having an air conditioner is very important. So you need to find out ways, which are the most energy efficient, in helping you to cool your home. This way you will not have to pay any high energy bills. Thankfully, there are many different things you can do in order to use your air conditioner in a more efficient way, spend less money, and avoid wasting energy too.

First, you need a thermostat that is programmable for your air conditioner. This is a device that is temperature sensitive. Once it is programmable, you would be able to control when your air conditioning is switched on. You need to choose from the various programmable thermostat models available in order to find the one that will suit your specific needs. There are models that you can program for the whole week. This will suit those who have varying schedules and routines. So you can program each day depending on when you leave and when you come back.
There are also the five and two day models. These can be programmed for those five weekdays and the two days at the weekend. This is best for those who follow a different schedule during their weekend.

With a programmable thermostat you enjoy a cool house when you leave and be welcomed by a cool house when you return. Your air conditioning will get switched off during the rest of the day. You would be saving on energy this way.

Second, you need to think of solar energy in order to keep your home cool and to save on money too. The solar panels you use will take in energy during the day. You can use this energy in order to power the air conditioning system of your home. This way you would be using the sun in order to keep your home cool. Even though you should not turn towards solar energy for all your heating needs, but this is definitely an efficient way for you to lower your energy bills. Even though the start-up costs for using and installing solar panels may be somewhat expensive, the long-term savings that you would be making will make it worthwhile.

Of course, regular maintenance is important but is often neglected by a lot of people. You need to clean out your system each month. This will help you to get rid of any kind of dust or debris that may be lying around. You must replace the filter, too. Having less dust will ensure that your air conditioning system works more efficiently. You will also save energy this way. 

These are simple techniques that can be practiced by all in order to save on energy bills. Click here for more energy saving tips.

Investing Your Money Wisely Before Retirement: 5 Things You Need to Know

Retirement might seem far away, but it is never too early to start saving to give yourself financial security when you leave the workforce. It pays to learn about investing before you blindly take a leap of faith that could crumble your financial stability. Take the following steps to ensure that you know where your money is going and how it will change over time. 

Understand the Investment Market

You aren’t going to have a good return on your investments if you don’t understand them. It is best to have a diversified portfolio, which in simple terms designates how much money you should be putting in stocks or bonds. This process involves looking at the returns and risk of investing in a specific plan. Keep in mind that your retirement portfolio extends over your life, and you will experience some years with better returns than others. 

Make Trade Offs

Making safe investments guarantees that you will get a return but at a lower rate than high-risk investments. A decent retirement portfolio consists of some safe investments, some that are riskier and make income and others that are designed for long-term gains 10 or 15 years down the road. 

Seek Expert Advice

A professional can help you decide where you should and shouldn’t invest your money. Professionals know how the investment market works and can tailor a portfolio that meets your needs without being too conservative or risky for your tastes. It also helps to read books, interview financial advisors or take a class on investing. 

Avoid Making Mistakes

Don’t get greedy or careless with your investments. An investment opportunity with above-average returns should set off red flags that something might not be right, since above-average returns are not possible for long, extended periods of time. Don’t allow yourself to get involved with a fraud or Ponzi scheme that could potentially eliminate your retirement investments and make it difficult to pay on the mortgage you might get from LowVARates.com.

Plan Ahead

Avoid jumping into the first investment opportunity that you see. Investing takes careful time and planning to get the most benefit from it. Focus on how much you will be able to earn on a monthly basis instead of putting all your energy into trying to get the highest return as quick as possible so you can make payments on your bills, such as a mortgage from www.lowvarates.com. The money needs to last for your lifetime, and the importance of retirement income should not be taken lightly.

5 Of The Best Senior-Friendly States To Spend Retirement

When seniors reach retirement, it's often a time to reassess their lifestyle and consider moving to a new location where the weather is warmer and the activities available are plentiful. They may want to reside in communities that have other seniors and in an area that is relaxing with a slower pace of life. Fortunately, there are several states that welcome retirees and offer a picturesque setting for retirement.

1. Arizona

Arizona offers a warm, but comfortable environment for many seniors and even has a lower cost on housing as the average home is $250,000. Between The Grand Canyon and quaint cities that include Prescott and Scottsdale, there's a rich history to the state that is ready to be explored and easy to call home.

2. Florida

There's a reason that Florida is considered the most popular state to find seniors enjoying life and retiring. Florida has plenty of historic communities and beautiful architecture with both coastal living and urban areas. The warm weather makes it comfortable to reside in the state, without taxes on personal income, property, inheritance, and gifts.

3. Utah

With low crime rates and incredible scenery, Utah is home to many seniors for its beautiful weather and plentiful amount of communities for retired adults to be a part of. The weather rarely drops below 60 degrees with over 300 days of sun to enjoy. The different mountains provide a stunning backdrop to the quaint towns and low-key environment. It's also known as a state with plenty of friendly people and plenty of nature to explore.

4. Idaho

For retirees who enjoy the great outdoors without much rain or humidity, Idaho is an ideal state to settle down in. The cost of living varies throughout the state in different communities, but accommodates different lifestyles and is affordable for those on disability retirement. The property and state income taxes are moderate with a six percent sales tax. It also is one of the cheapest states to live in with the median home at $183,000.

5. Virginia

The cost of living is substantially lower in Virginia than its neighboring states, making it an ideal place to settle down for those on a fixed income and living off of savings or social security. The state is attractive for seniors due to its warmer weather and one of the lowest crime rates in the country