Poor? It's Not Always You. You need to vote!

In America, we have a long tradition of blaming poor people for being poor.  Some of it is justified.  If you don't have a strong work ethic or you messed up in school, a lot of that is on you.  It's something that you can change and improve.

However, you didn't make the choice to outsource manufacturing, technical, and call center jobs to India.  You didn't make the choice to lower tariffs on imported goods and allow them to undercut American-made products.  You didn't make the choice for our nation to have insecure borders and allow hordes of desperately poor people from less developed countries to flood our labor markets.  You also didn't make the choice to allow companies to import massive numbers of H1B workers so that they could take good middle class jobs and do them for less in a manner that erodes the pillars of the American middle class.

But, you do have a choice to change all of that.  Both political parties have fueled the problem.  But, if you are flat broke now, you need to make sure you contact your political leaders and you need to make sure that you vote in every election!

Saving Money at McDonalds

Even though value menu items are creeping up in price, it is still very easy to save money at McDonalds.  It's not everyday fare for us.  However, on a recent stop at a McDonalds in the Atlanta suburbs, my wife and I bought -

2 McDoubles
2 Cheese Burgers
1 Hamburger
2 Large Iced Teas
1 Cup of Ice Water

Our entire total was just less than $9.  Our dog ate the meat from the hamburger.  That little meal held all of us pretty well for over 4 hours.  If you want to save money, don't mindlessly order a Big Mac combo.  Change it up some and explore the world of the Dollar Menu-aire!

A McDonald's Restaurant - by Bidgee (Own work) [GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

ELF Cosmetics at Target

This tip is for the ladies.  My wife is very excited about a new line of cosmetics.  E.L.F. stands for Eyes, Lips, Face.  As a brand it brings high quality make up brushes and cosmetics to women at affordable prices.

On a recent Target shopping trip, my wife was able to find very nice E.L.F. cosmetics brushes for only a dollar each.  Slightly better premium brushes may cost about $3 apiece.  Despite the low prices, the entire E.L.F. line is displayed in a very uplifting and upscale way.  The brand is a definite win or women of the struggling middle class.

ELF Cosmetics at Target

 

If you are on a tight budget, but want to look like a million bucks, you should definitely check them out.  To get more familiar with the line, Amazon also has a complete selection of e.l.f. cosmetics

Broke? Hungry? Try Aldi Grocery Stores

Whenever our budget gets tight, we find ourselves shopping at Aldi.  It's a remarkable international chain of small grocery stores.  They manage to beat almost every other grocery store and big box chain on food prices while offering some excellent selections.

Aldi Sign photo by Julian Budke [CC BY-SA 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)]

Radio consumer advisor, Clark Howard has noted the similarity between the business models of Trader Joes and Aldi on his radio show.  Both stores offer a wide variety of house brands and few, if any, well-known national brands.  However, I've observed that while Trader Joes tends to offer a perceived health-food oriented selection of groceries, Aldi concentrates on basic food that every hoisehold needs.

So far, Aldi has proven great for bacon, premium chocolate bars, frozen pizzas, and ice cream.  In other words, for the basic food groups.  I've found their produce to be just acceptable.  But, if you are looking for ripe avocados they are a better bet than conventional grocery stores.

Before you go remember to bring a quarter for a cart deposit and your own bags.  They are a no frills store.

Money Saving Tips for Football Season.

Football season is a great season for saving money.  While lots of businesses try to convince you to spend more money during football season, my money-saving technique for the season is actually very simple.  Are you ready?  Here it comes.  During football season, you should simply sit on your ass and watch football.

If you want to eat during football season, McDonalds has a box meal with 2 Big Macs, 4 small fries, and 20 McNuggets for only $10.99.  You don't want to eat like that every day, but it is a great deal.  In Atlanta, it is marketed as a Falcons box.  We tried it and it was good eating.

Need Extra Money: You've Got To Hustle For Your Dreams

My favorite line in the great chick flick, Pretty Woman, is uttered by a happy homeless man at the end of the movie.

"Welcome to Hollywood! What's your dream? Everybody comes here; this is Hollywood, land of dreams. Some dreams come true, some don't; but keep on dreamin' - this is Hollywood. Always time to dream, so keep on dreamin'."

IMDB Pretty Woman Quotes

The dream is crucial.  As a guy who lived on the poor side of town once told me, "Every body has to have a hustle."  The hustle isn't necessarily illegal, it's just something people do on the side to pick up a few extra bucks.  For example. Some folks were into shoes and would buy and sell them. 

Now, with the advent of the internet, it's become easier for everyone to hustle up a few extra bucks through ebay, etsy, craigslist, writing sites, or affiliate programs.  Sometimes a hustle will turn into a full-fledged business or a viral hit that brings in big bucks.  

It doesn't take a lot of money to get started.  In fact, Chris Guillebeau has shown us the way in his book:  The $100 Startup:  Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future. So keep on dreaming and keep on trying to make your dreams come true!

How to Postpone Buying Gas

There is nothing quite like needing to buy gas at the end of the pay period.  If you need to maximize the little amount of gas that you have left, there are a few things you can do.

1.  Drive Gently.  Fast starts and heavy acceleration drinks gas quickly.  Instead, accelerately slowly and steadily.  Strive not to use the brakes.  Coast to stops whenever rather than braking heavily.

2.  Minimize Stops.  It's better to travel continuously than it is to stop.  You don't want to sit at traffic lights so take the highway.  Choose travel times when the highway is less congested so that you don't get caugt in stop and go traffic.

3.  Minimize the Number of Trips.  If you are traveling somewhere, it is better to stop along the way and get things you need instead of making a separate trip later.

4.  Don't Buy More Gas Than You Need.  If you know you need to make a 20 mile round-trip commute two more times during a pay period and that you ger 20 miles per gallon, you only need a little over 2 gallons.  Depending on the price of gas, that's probably only $7 or $8. So buy $10 worth of gas instead of $20 or $30.

5. Buy Gas With Cash. If you are low on funds, the automated card reader on the pump might not authorize you to purchase an indeterminate amount of gas.  If you plunk a $10 bill down inside and pay cah for gas, you won't have that issue.

With these tips, you should be able to make it through til the end of the pay period.  But, don't drive on fumes that may leave you stranded in a dangerous area.  When you get paid again, buy the gas you need.