by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

In current times, it is no longer cheaper to eat out than it is to eat at home for the single person. A typical fast food combo can cost as much as eight dollars. Eating at a sit down restaurant can cost as much as $20. Multiply that by five days a week and we have $100 spent simply on eating out.

The trick is learning how to cook quickly and healthy for one. Meats can be purchased in bulk along with a box of ziplock freezer bags. Roasts are between $8.00 and $14.00 a piece. However, if you cut them into two and three ounce portions. you can freeze enough meat for well over a week. The same can be done for chicken. Simply cut the breast in half and freeze them in their own ziplock bags. Vegetables can also be bought frozen for between .99 cents and $2.59 for larger bags. Add in a bag of rice and you have enough meals for eight to ten days for about $35 to $40.

Once you have your meat portioned and frozen, preparing meals in 30 minutes or less is a breeze. To cook, put some water in a pan and take out a freezer bag of meat. Drop it into the water. Boil for 10 minutes or long enough to thaw the meat, then add your vegetables and rice. You should have a healthy and filling meal in about thirty minutes with no leftovers to put in the refrigerator.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Piper Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories

by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

In this modern era, we are forced to spend money to live. We need money for rent, food, gas, etc. Every day we spend money on something even if it's just rent and electricity. So, what do we really need to live?

Rent or a Mortgage

We can't get out of this one unless we have a family member willing to let us stay for free. Since that doesn't happen very often, we're forced to either pay rent or a mortgage. This is a fixed expense. However, we can limit how much we spend on our housing.

I try not to spend more than one week's salary on housing. If the salary is too low to allow for that, I choose the cheapest apartment I can find in a safe area. Typically, that's no more than $550.

Electricity

We need it for running our computers, phones, lights, stoves, coffee makers and a whole host of other appliances. This is also a fixed expense, but the monthly amount often varies. To keep electricity costs at a minimum, open the windows, keep the lights off during the day.

If you work, turn the A/C or heat to a higher or lower setting while you are gone. Typically, I turn my A/C to 80 in the summer and my heat to 65 in the winter. It doesn't matter how cold or hot it is in my apartment if I'm not there.

Phone

We need a phone to take and receive calls and communicate with friends, family, coworkers, and potential employers. Most of us own cell phones that never leave our sides. In 2005, I moved into my first apartment. I had a cell phone. I never activated a land line. It was an expense I couldn't afford and couldn't justify. The only reason I'd ever need a land line is if I had to do a lot of faxes at home.

Internet

We need the internet for a lot of the same reasons we need the phone; to apply for jobs, to communicate with friends and family, to research, and to keep up on current events and happenings in the world. I also use mine to watch TV and movies. I purchased the minimum plan from my internet provider.

Car

The United States doesn't have a good mass transit system in place outside of most major metropolitan areas. This means that we need cars. Cars come with semi-hidden expenses such as gas, insurance and maintenance costs. I purchased a used car in 2001 for $1000.

For the past 10 years I haven't had a car payment and my maintenance and gas per month doesn't equal a car payment. I spend on average a thousand dollars a year in oil changes and car repairs. About every three years that increases to $2000, but it's still not a car payment. Over the last 10 years, I've saved a minimum of $20,000 by not having a car payment.

I try to keep my living expenses at a minimum. I try not to pay more than $550 for an apartment. I try to make sure that my electricity is no more than $100 a month. I don't have a car payment. I don't have a landline phone. I purchase minimum speed internet connections, and I don't change regardless of how much my job pays.

If I'm making more money than I need, I save more or I get more massages and facials, but if I'm at a low paying job, I'm not worried about where my next meal is coming from. The trick is to always be prepared for the worst and to always keep living expenses at an affordable minimum.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories
  

by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

In lean times, it makes sense to reevaluate how we spend our money. The best rule of thumb is to spend no more than 60 percent of your net monthly income which creates a 40 percent buffer. A 40 percent buffer should cover all the unexpected expenses we typically incur during the month without having to dip into credit cards or savings accounts on a regular basis.

Base Income, Gross Income, and Net Income

First we start out with a base income. Let’s say we make $15 an hour and work 40 hours a week. This gives us a gross amount of $2400. We can’t do our calculations on gross income because we don’t physically see all that money. Taxes, medical insurance, and other deductions come out of our pay before we ever see it.

For simplicity's sake, let’s assume that the taxes are 25% and insurance is $70. every two weeks. We have to subtract this from $2400 which gives us a total of $2260. Now we need to multiply this by .75 to get our net monthly income of $1695. This is the figure that we will work our calculations on.

Rent and Mortgage Payments

The largest expense for most of us is our rent or mortgage payments. Typically, realtors allow you to spend up to 33% of your gross income or $733 in this scenario. That’s almost half of the net income we just calculated. A better way to do this is to spend no more than 25% to 28% of your net monthly income. This gives us a housing cost range of $423 to $474.60.

Now, we need to figure out how much 60% of $1695. $1695 * .60 = $1017. Next, subtract the estimated rent amount: $1017 - $474.60 = $542.40. That’s $542 for everything else, groceries, electric, cell phones, car payments, and entertainment.

Utilities and Other Expenses

Let’s take this a step further and assume no car payment, no cable TV, and no landline phone. This leaves a basic set of utilities: cell phone, cable internet, electricity, car insurance, gym membership. A basic cell phone plan runs about $40, gym membership $45, car insurance $60, electricity $100, and the cheapest cable internet about $32. Subtracting all these bills leaves us with $265 for groceries and miscellaneous expenses for the rest of the month.

When done successfully, this plan would leave just about $600 per month extra for unforeseen expenses and saving. By the end of the year, someone following this plan would have a max buffer of $7200.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories

Having someone come in and periodically do all the deep cleaning is awesome. They typically clean everything I haven’t touched in six months or longer like behind the toilet, the blinds, the cabinets, and the hood over the oven. They’re also going to have better cleaning chemicals that remove stains and hard water from sinks and bathtubs. It’s something I really appreciate, but it’s also something I have to budget for. Here’s how I save money on house cleaning services.

Hire Local

I typically hire local. I want to know who’s going to be cleaning my home, and I want to meet with them prior. A lot of time this isn’t possible with a large cleaning service. You’ll meet with the manager and discuss a price. Then, another person will come in and clean. They’re also bound by price limitations. They have to charge so much for each service. A local cleaning service will be more willing to negotiate services and prices.


Do The Light Cleaning

If you’re like me, you want the cleaning service to do the heavy cleaning not the light cleaning. This means that I typically pick up all my things and clear off the counters. The faster they’re able to move through the wipe down and stain removal of the counters and surfaces, the cheaper the price will be. This was a negotiating point with the lady I hired. She was willing to pick up all my dirty clothes, shoes, trash, and do my laundry, but the cost increased by $100 dollars. I told her I’d pick up my own stuff and do all my dishes.

This has a dual goal. By picking up and organizing your own stuff, you know what you’ve got and you can put away any sensitive documents. I found a tax statement and a W-2 while cleaning up a pile of papers. Those are things that I do not want the cleaning lady to have access to.


Ovens, Refrigerators, and Dishwashers

I opted out of having the lady clean the inside of the refrigerator, oven, and dishwasher. I can do those things myself, or I can have her come back at a later date and just do those things. Either way, they weren’t on my must do list for this cleaning session. Also, if you have a self cleaning oven, it’s pointless to pay someone to clean it. They’re just going to twist the knob to clean, let it run, and then wipe out the bottom.

It took me two days to pick up, organize, and take out the trash. My apartment is ready for the cleaning lady to come in and do the deep cleaning. The result was a $200 savings on my cleaning bill which is well worth the time spent cleaning and organizing my own stuff. Plus, she won’t be asking me where things go. It saved me time and effort, and it saves her time and effort.

by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

Cookouts are awesome. I loved grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, potato chips, dip, and everything else that goes along with a cookout. However, cookouts can become an expensive endeavor if you’re not careful. Here’s how I make sure to stay within budget and have my grilled hotdogs.


Have the guests pitch in

Having the guests pitch in doesn’t mean having them spend money. The last cookout I attended, I brought things I already had; including ketchup, an onion, a tomato, and a roll of paper towels. It didn’t cost me a thing, and it saved the hosts about $5.00.

With the advent of facebook and other social media, it’s even easier to announce the event and post the things needed to your potential guests. For the next cookout, we plan to invite all our family and have them each bring a dish. In addition to the social media invitation, we could include a list of things for them to bring such as foil, paper towels, plates, napkins, and plasticware. The guests that have those things on hand would be welcome to bring them, and able to update their offerings via a comment.


Only buy what you need

The biggest issue I see at cookouts involves bringing and having too much food. That’s wasted money and wasted food. If you’re inviting 20 guests, 40 hotdogs, 20 hamburgers, and two packs of bratwursts should do it for the meat. Add two bags of chips, some baked beans, and potato salad and your set. Anything else can be brought by the guests. I know I always bring my own drinks and a dessert. No one in my family drinks Diet Coke, and I’m a real grump if there’s no cake.


Shop the grocery store ads the week prior

Grocery stores generally have meat, coke, on sale during any given week. The trick is to shop all the ads for all the local grocery stores and figure out where you can get hotdogs, hamburgers, potato salad, Coke, and ice for the least amount of money. Doing this can save $10 to $20 dollars on cookout essentials.

In short, a tiny bit of preplanning for every cookout could save you a tremendous amount of cash. It’s fun to get together and eat grilled hotdogs and socialize with the family. But, if you’re like me, you don’t want to break the bank doing it.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories

by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

I love vacations. I love them because I can get away and destress and detox from my busy work-life. However, I’m not in the habit of spending a lot of money during my vacations. I want to have fun, but I also want to get the best price possible.


Packages

I am a big fan of vacation packages. In 2008, I took a Halloween vacation to Kings Mill Resort. It was a three day vacation over Halloween weekend and included tickets to Busch Gardens for each day I was there. The weekend package was $400 dollars. I have since signed up for emails from Kings Mill Resort, and every holiday, they have an inexpensive weekend holiday package. They even price the packages according to how many people are visiting. Because I was the only one visiting, I received a $100 discount on the package price.


Driving

The question of how to get somewhere is always controversial: fly or drive. I will almost always choose to drive. It’s almost always cheaper to drive, especially on short notice. I have found that it doesn’t take that much more time to drive than fly when I add in the layovers, arriving two hours early, delays, and car rental. Plus, I can bring as much luggage as I want if I drive my car. There’s no shopping for throw-away clothes once I get to my destination. Driving instead of flying typically saves me $200.


Travel Sites

If I have to fly, I always visit one of the many travel sites. My favorite is Priceline. I have also gone with Expedia and Travelocity. Right now, I could fly round trip from Indianapolis to Houston for $250 if I book the flight on Priceline. If I go to the airline’s website, I’m going to pay $350 or more which is a savings of at least $100, and if I book a flight and hotel package, I save even more money.


Lodging

It’s always cheaper to stay with family or friends than it is to stay in a hotel, so if I’m traveling to a city where I have family and friends, I try to make plans to stay with them. It saves me between $50 and $100 dollars a night. If I can’t stay with a family member or a friend, then I book a flight and hotel package.


Food

Instead of eating out, once I get to my destination, I check into the hotel room and assess what it has to offer. If it only offers a microwave and a coffee maker, than I take that into consideration. If it has a full kitchen, then I take that into consideration. Either way, one of my first stops is a grocery store. Eating out can cost $10 or more per meal, and I can cook my own food for less than $10 dollars a day.

I regularly save between $500 and $1000 per vacation by using these tips. The saved money means I can buy more souvenirs or save the money for my next vacation.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories
  

by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

I drive an eight cylinder 1991 Caprice Classic. It’s the type of car that the government had in mind when they started “cash for clunkers.” That is, except my car was rated at 19 miles per gallon, which made it ineligible for the deal. That didn’t bother me. I didn’t want to get rid of my car back then, and I don’t want to get rid of it now. What I want to do is be smart about my gas usage.


Gas Price Websites

Places like gasbuddy.com and gaspricewatch.com are good places to start. GasBuddy even has a phone app. Both websites tell me that gas is currently $2.65 a gallon everywhere in Plainfield, Indiana. From that information, I know that I need to go to the Murphy gas station and buy a Walmart gift card to save 10 cents a gallon.


Filling The Tank

Once I find the cheapest gas in the area, I fill my tank. Gas prices have been extremely volatile for the last several years and most of the time, the price of gas goes up not down. Filling my tank assures me that I am getting the best price at the time, and I am not subject to the daily price fluctuations. A tank of gas typically lasts me between seven and nine days.


Fifty Five MPH Saves Gas And Lives

The only places I see speed limit signs for 55mph are on the highways in rural areas. I have one such highway near me, and the 55mph speed limit is only good for about two miles. Accelerating my car from zero to 55 eats up the gas I might be saving for those two miles.

What I do instead, is pay attention to old yellow and new red lights. If the light is an old yellow or red, I let off the accelerator 300 to 400 feet out. Chances are I was already going three to five miles over the speed limit so no one behind me is going to care if I go from 48mph to 43mph in 400 feet. They’re slowing down, too. The difference is that I don’t apply my brakes to slow down. I simply let off the accelerator and let my car coast for 200 feet. Then, I apply the brakes. It means less gas usage and less wear and tear on my brakes.


Multiple Stops During One Trip

I go to the gym almost every day of the week. Near my gym there is a Walmart, an Aldi's, Minshu’s threaded eyebrows, and numerous places to eat. Just because I’m going to the gym and getting all stinky and sweaty doesn’t mean I go home to shower before doing my shopping. I do it all in one trip and save myself 18 miles in extra and unneeded travel. This adds up to a save five gallons a week.

The bottom line on saving on gas: Plan ahead. Pay attention to the areas you drive through and look at the gas station pricing signs, keep an eye on the gas price websites, and fill your tank. These simple steps can save you between five and ten gallons of gas a week.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories

by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

My first job out of college was working as an overnight stocker at Walmart. Even with a college degree, I only made $8.10 an hour. After taxes, my checks were $498.96 every two weeks. That didn’t leave me much wiggle room in the budget and my rent was $474 dollars. That left with me $523.92 for the rest of the month.

Being single and female with no kids also meant that I wasn’t eligible for food stamps or rent assistance. I would have had to have been earning less than $800 dollars a month to qualify for government assistance. So, I made due with what I earned.

Student Loans

I immediately put my student loans into forbearance. At $210 a month, there was no way I could pay them and eat or pay my electric bill. It wasn’t something I wanted to do. I had planned to pay off my student loans as fast as possible, but with the barely over minimum wage job, I couldn’t afford to do that.

Car Insurance

I scaled back my car insurance from full coverage to limited liability. It cut the bill from $80 a month to $50 a month. It was a car insurance risk I didn’t want to take. If I got into a car accident and it was deemed my fault, I wouldn’t be able to repair my car. Thankfully, I didn’t get into any car wrecks while I was making $8.10 an hour, but I was extra careful when driving. I knew a wreck could mean a financial catastrophe.

Car Repairs

I found a mechanic shop that listened to me, and I explained to them that I was poor. I also made sure that they were the only car repair shop I patroned. This meant that they didn’t try to sell me anything extra. When the heater core went out, they were willing to bypass it. I spent an entire winter with no heat in my car because I couldn’t afford a $600 heater core, but that was better than having no car.

Holiday Pay / Triple Paycheck Months

We received Holiday pay for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Memorial Day, and Labor Day. During those weeks, I made sure to work my 40 hours to spite my employer's insistence that I take an extra day off. The extra eight hours on my check meant a lot more to me than the extra time off. It meant I could eat and save a little back for emergencies.

I did the same thing on triple paycheck months. Typically, those months were in December and June, and I would save most of the money on those extra checks to help with expenses during the next six months. It typically worked out very well. I’d use part of the Christmas money to buy new plates for my car.

Rent

Rent wasn’t due until the fifth of every month. Sometimes I could stall and pay rent on the second or third with my first check for the next month instead of trying to pay it on the 26th or 27th of the prior month. It depended on how the pay weeks fell, but it was always better for me to pay using the first check of the month rather than the last. My electric and cell phone bills were also due at the end of the month.

I survived on $8.10 an hour, but it wasn’t easy. I spent a lot of weeks eating .88 cent frozen meals, kielbasa, and pork and beans, but I made it. The only extra debt I incurred was from the interest on my student loans.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories

My biggest issue with grocery shopping and eating at home is spoiled food. I don’t like leftovers, and I can’t eat a pound of meat by myself. The same goes for vegetables. Carrots, celery, onions, and green peppers all go bad in my fridge. I can’t eat them fast enough. Of course, if I buy one or two onions or the smallest batch of carrots I run out long before the week is over. Both issues leave me irritated at the loss of food and the wasted money. However, I have found some solutions.


Portion and freeze

This takes a lot of plastic baggies so I make sure to always have a box or two on hand after I go shopping. I cut up pounds of hamburger into four squares. Then I shape those squares into patties and freeze each one in its own baggie. For bacon, I buy thick sliced and place four slices into a baggie. For chicken, I place each breast into its own baggie and freeze it. Basically, I make sure that each baggie is one meal. This way I can just dump the contents of the baggie into the skillet and cook it. There are no leftovers and no waste.

I do the same thing for onions and green peppers. Except, since I chop the vegetables, I can fill the bags and then break off the amount I want when I want it. This assures me that my green peppers and onions stay fresh for as long as I have them.


Pre-cook meals

Precooking and freezing meals takes a little more planning. I have to make sure that I have enough plastic storage containers with dividers for individual items before I start cooking. Once I have all my containers gathered, I can cook large meals such as roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and carrots, and then portion out the food into the containers as meals. Once the food is no longer steaming, I put the containers in the freezer. In this way, I can simply take out my pre-cooked and frozen meal, microwave it and eat.

Breakfasts can also be done this way. Eggs and fried potatoes taste just the same frozen and reheated as they did the day they were made. Just remember that in order to freeze potatoes, you have to cook them first. Otherwise, they turn brown just like they would sitting cut up on your counter.

These two options have saved me hundreds of dollars on wasted food and several hours in cook time during the week. It is very easy to pull out a pre-cooked meal and microwave or toss the contents of a baggie in the skillet and cook. Spices can also be added to the meats and foods so that they are pre-spiced and ready to go. It’s no hassle and no waste cooking.

I hate cleaning. However, it is a necessary evil for those of us who don’t wish to live in filth. Since I like a clean apartment, I know I need to clean it, and I need to buy cleaning supplies. However, I don’t want to spend a small fortune on those supplies. I have found some interesting ways to save money on cleaning supplies without digging through the Sunday paper for coupons.

Make Your Own

There are several recipes online for making various types of soaps. My favorite soap to make is powdered laundry soap. It’s also the easiest with three ingredients: washing powder, borax, and Ivory bar soap. The initial cost of the supplies is about $15. With a half a box of borax, 12 bars of ivory soap, and a box of washing powder, I can make enough laundry soap to last two years. Each load takes two tablespoons of powder. I save about $120 a year by making my own laundry soap.

Vinegar

I can buy a gallon bottle of vinegar for about $2, and it takes the place of almost every all purpose cleaner on the market. Vinegar sterilizes and cleans and it’s environmentally friendly. The only other all purpose cleaner I need is bleach, and that’s only to get tough stains out from my counters and floors. I save about $200 a year by simply buying Vinegar and Bleach. To save even more money, I water both down to 75% concentration.

Shower and Toilet Cleaners

I can use vinegar and bleach on my shower and toilet, but I don’t prefer to. I prefer to use chemicals specifically designed to clean showers and toilets. My favorite two bathroom cleaners are Oxiclean and Works toilet bowl cleaner, and I can get both of those at the Dollar Store. I also buy my dish soap at the dollar store. This saves me roughly $100 a year on bathroom cleaners and dish soap.

Trash Bags

I don’t worry too much about the cost of a package of trash bags. What I am more interested in is the size of the trash bag. I can go through a 13 gallon trash bag in a day, so instead of buying 13 gallon trash bags, I buy 30 gallon trash bags. They cost a little more, but I use one 30 gallon trash bag a week verses five to seven 13 gallon trash bags. It saves me about $15 a month on trash bags.

All in all I save about $420 a year on cleaning chemicals by making my own, and shopping at the dollar store. This decreases my cleaning budget substantially allowing me more cash for other items such as food and gas for my car.

by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

With the sudden advent of Kleenex hand towels, another way to waste money on paper products has been invented. Unless you have frequent company or a guest bathroom that you never use and never walk into, you don’t need paper hand towels. Think about how many times a day you wash your hands. That’s a paper towel or two every time. Now think about how many of those boxes you’d go through a day, week, month year. It’s money you don’t need to be spending when a regular washable hand towel will do just fine.

With that being said, there are some household paper products that you do need.


Toilet Paper

This is a no brainer. We all need toilet paper. Otherwise, we’d be wiping our tail ends on wash cloths or hand towels and then putting them in the washer. While that might save money, I wouldn’t put butt-dirty towels into my washing machine.

What I do instead is look for coupons or store sales on my favorite brands of toilet paper. In truth, there are only two brands of toilet paper I buy: Scott and Charmin Basic, and I can find coupons in most Sunday papers that save me anywhere from .50 cents to a dollar per pack.


Facial Tissues

The cheapest box of facial tissues will do. I can find them for .84 cents a box, and when I can’t, I can find them for a dollar a box. Unless you have a cold or severe allergies, you don’t need the softest facial tissue out there. Also, don’t waste them by using them as paper towels and napkins. Facial tissues are not designed for that. You’ll end up using half a box a meal. That’s wasted money.


Paper Towels

Paper towels are very versatile. They can be used to wipe up spills, dry your hands, clean a counter, as napkins, and as nose wipes. I recommend using them for draining the grease from foods only. Hands can be dried on a conventional towel. Counters can be cleaned with wash cloths. Facial tissues can be used to blow your nose, and cloth napkins work just as well as any paper product.

By using your paper towels for draining grease off food only, you are saving yourself countless dollars on paper towels because you aren’t running through a roll every three days. A three pack of paper towels can last me a month or longer.


Napkins

I don’t buy napkins unless I’m going camping or on a picnic. For hand wiping needs during meals, I use cloth napkins. Cloth napkins can be washed with the regular laundry and reused, thus, saving me lots of money in paper napkin costs.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories

by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

When it comes to eating, I often fight between saving money and saving time. To spite the numerous 30 minute dinner articles, I’ve never found a dinner that took 30 minutes. Usually, it’s more like an hour to an hour and a half, not including cleanup. I don’t have that kind of time. Chances are if I’m cooking, I also need to be doing something else. Tonight was no different. I needed to eat, go to the gym, and write.

One solution was to put on my gym clothes, run to subway, buy a $5 sub, go to the gym, and skip the writing, or try to write after the gym in the hour that I’d have before bed.

The five dollar sub saves time, but it costs money. I have frozen chicken patties in the freezer and frozen Rallys French fries. Both take 20 minutes to bake, and I can write while the food cooks. Since I had already eaten out twice today (breakfast and lunch), I decided no matter how healthy Subway is, I didn’t need to spend $15 on food for the day.

I opted to save money versus saving time.

Now, let’s say I really wanted that sub, but I didn’t want to go to Subway for it. Buying a sub kit can cost anywhere from $8 to $13, but that also means that I need to drive to the store, buy the sub kit, drive home, assemble it, and eat. I’m not saving money, and I’m not saving time.

The third solution involves everything separately during my normal weekly shopping run: ham, turkey, lettuce, tomato, onion, jalapeños, mayo and a package of sub rolls. A half pound of ham and a half pound of turkey will run me somewhere between $7 and $8. Shredded lettuce is $1.50 to $2. Tomatoes run $1.50 a pound. Mayo I can pick up for $2 and jalapeños run about $1.80. The pack of sub rolls could cost me anywhere from $1.50 to $4. The out of pocket cost is around $20. I know I can make at least four subs taking my per sub cost down to $5.00, and I can use the leftovers for other things. However, if I don’t feel like making and eating four subs in a week, the food rots which translates into wasted money.

For the single person, it’s the eternal catch-22. Do I potentially save money and risk wasted food, or do I save time and spend more? It depends on the day. However, for the sub example, I’ll almost always eat out. It’s cheaper, faster, and I don’t have to worry about rotting food in my refrigerator.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories

by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

If you’re like me, having $10 to go out to eat at the end of the week is a good week. You don’t buy $5 lattes every morning. Your at home coffee is Master Blend in a Folgers container which you then put in your free plastic reusable Dunkin doughnuts mug because you don’t want your coworkers to know you drink generic coffee and had toast and peanut butter for breakfast.

So, how do you get ahead when you can’t make ends meet in the first place?


Plan ahead.

By plan ahead, I mean budget for everything. This includes food, gas and miscellaneous expenses. I always start my shopping with a dollar amount and a meal plan. My dollar amount is typically $50 a week for everything including toiletries, soap, paper towels, Kleenex and food. On bad weeks that means that most of my shopping trip is paper products and not food. I’m not above wiping my tail with a wash cloth, but I’d rather not.

Off hand, I know that 24 rolls of toilet paper are going to cost me $11, and I use roughly one roll a day. I’m a girl, I can’t help that, so I budget for it. Twenty four rolls is 24 days, and I try to do that the week after rent is due. Rent is always a tight week for me.

I also know that every week I need at least five 2 liters of Coke. That’s between $5 and $6.25. Bread is $1.00. Sometimes I can find it for .75 cents. I also run through a large container of coffee twice a month. I budget for $6.00 twice a month for coffee. Generally, the first week of the month and the third week of the month. I can’t afford bottled water so I buy one 24 ounce plastic bottle and refill it until I lose it. Generally, one bottle costs me $1.50 and I use it for 10 to 14 days.

I run through about three boxes of Kleenex a week. I tend to use for napkins more than anything else. I can buy generic Kleenex for .84 cents a box. I can buy Suave for .87 cents a bottle. A bottle of Shampoo and Conditioner tends to last me between two and three weeks. I also keep my hair short in order to use less of both. Paper towels I can find in three packs for $2.85. I generally need one 3-pack a month.

The things I have listed so far total $32.61 before tax. This means that I have roughly $15 dollars to spend on food. What do I buy? Bananas, soy milk, cereal, eggs, butter, potatoes and ketchup. That’s it. I know that’s what I’ll eat. I know those foods will last me a week until I can spend another $50 dollars on mostly food instead of mostly paper products and coffee.

Notice that I didn’t say I clip coupons. I don’t. I buy generic, and as a general rule, there are no coupons for generic products. When I do have coupons, I always look at the coupon, subtract it from the price of the brand name good and then look at the generic equivalent. It is very rare that a coupon will bring the price down below the cost of the generic. With that being said, I only buy Colgate Total toothpaste, and there are coupons for that. When I find one I grab it and use it, but that’s the exception and not the rule.

I also don’t tend to buy in bulk. Bulk costs more up front and with a $50 a week limit on my grocery and paper products bill, a 48 ounce container of handsoap at $5.00 is typically out of the question. Plus a small .98 cent container will last me at least a week, and I wash my hands about 20 times a day. A dollar bottle of dishsoap also lasts me about a month.

Planning and budgeting is really about knowing what you need and how much of it you need to meet your needs. I have a pretty good handle on the things I use regularly, and I have a good handle on how much I eat every week. It makes a huge difference when I go shopping, and I tend not to overbuy.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories

by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

Starting a new job is exciting especially if it comes with a significant pay increase from your last job. In five years, I tripled my income. What I didn’t do was increase my standard of living, and it was tempting. One job added $5000 a year to my income. I figured out that I could buy a new Cadillac and a house, but I held off. As exciting as the pay increase was, I didn’t want to jump into more debt and bills than I could handle. Plus, if the job didn’t work out, I’d be financially screwed.

Here are the things you shouldn’t buy for the first three months after starting a new job.


New Clothes

When I’m looking for a new job, I typically buy new clothes for the interviews. I want to look fresh and presentable at each interview. Plus, if the company requires multiple interviews, I’m not stuck wearing the same outfit for each interview.

The interview shopping sprees typically mean that I’ve already increased my professional wardrobe. I shouldn’t need to buy new clothes for the job itself, and I don’t want to. If the job doesn’t work out, then I’m stuck with hundreds of dollars worth of new clothes that I don’t particularly need, and can no longer afford.


Lifestyle Upgrades

It’s tempting to take the new job and pay increase to the store or the car lot, or to the real estate agent’s office. Hold off. I’ve had a lot of friends and family take their $2000 a year raise and spend $2000 in the first week on new computers, cars, home upgrades, and even new houses only to have the job not work out. In the worst case scenario, they’ve had to file for bankruptcy.


Items For The Office

Upon entering a job, I always want to make the space comfortable. This could mean buying a new office chair, bringing in my own coffee and coffee maker, buying pens, pencils, paper, notepads, and phone upgrades. Don’t do it. Aside from your new company not liking your changes, it’s money you don’t need to be spending straight out of the box, and items you may not be able to recover if they let you go.

The reason to hold off buying any new and/or expensive items is to make sure the job is the right fit for you and the company. Waiting three months also gets you past the initial evaluation stage. After that you can feel comfortable in your new position and newly increased budget.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories