Category: Budgeting

Our Complete Guide to Saving Money

Saving money isn’t a one-step process – there are tons of tips and tricks out there to help. We’ve narrowed it down to some of the most practical but impactful changes you can make to maximize your money saving.

Plan Out Your Grocery Trips

Going to the grocery store without a plan can be a dangerous game to play, and most people spend way more than needed at those registers. Start by planning out your meals for the week and only purchasing what you need for those meals. You’ll be doing your wallet and your body a favor!

Cut Down on Those Subscriptions & Memberships

Netflix now has over 150 million people subscribed to their service, so this step most likely applies to almost everyone. Some subscriptions are fine to have, but there are many unnecessary and unused memberships out there. They might seem relatively cheap per month, but once you add up all of the subscriptions and all the months of use, you’d be surprised how much money you could have saved without them.

Set Up Automated Savings

If you haven’t set up your bank account to automatically transfer money to your savings yet, it’s time to start. It might be weird and frustrating at first, but soon enough you won’t even notice the money you’re missing, and your future self will thank you!

Sell What You Don’t Need

Go through everything you own and sell the things you don’t need anymore. The random items you have laying around can add up, and odds are you won’t even notice that they’re gone. This is a great way to invest in your emergency fund, too!

Skip the Restaurants & Coffee Shops

You’d be surprised how much of a difference preparing things at home instead of going out can make. For example, most people spend around $2-$5 at a coffee shop, while making coffee at home only costs about 16 cents per cup. Start skipping overpriced food and drinks and start making some homemade goods!

Save Some Energy

Not only is saving energy good for the environment, but it’s great for someone looking to save money, too. Your electric bill can make a big difference in how much you pay per month. Take a few practical energy-saving steps, like taking shorter showers and shutting off unused lights, to see a big drop in your bill.

Taking some practical and simple steps towards saving money will produce big results. There’s no better time to start saving than now, so open a savings account with us and give these tips a try!

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

Member FDIC

Equal Housing Lender

Renovate Your Home Without Breaking the Budget

Are you ready to mix things up in the design of your home, but not ready to burn through your precious money to do so? We know some tips and tricks that will allow you to revamp the look of your home without going overboard on price. Keep reading to find out how!

Improve the Lighting

The lights in a room can drastically affect a room’s tone. Swapping out those harsh, flickering lights for softer, warmer lights will give your room a more comforting feel. Another lighting trick is to hang mirrors in rooms that need to be brightened up. Mirrors make a room look bigger and increase the light throughout the room.

Removable Wallpaper

Although wallpaper might’ve had a bad reputation in the past, the new, improved and modern versions of removable wallpaper make changing your space affordable and simple. The best part is that it goes on easily and comes off with no damage to the walls, allowing you to change up a room at the snap of your fingers.

New Cabinet Handles or Faucets

Updating the handles on your cabinets or the faucet of your sink can make a world of a difference. New and modern handles have the ability to completely change the look of your kitchen or bathroom, and they aren’t a big investment. Replacing your old kitchen faucet with a sleek, contemporary one can give your kitchen a whole new look.

Rearrange, Don’t Repurchase

You don’t have to buy all new furniture in order to make your living space more attractive. Search the Internet for furniture setups that fit your room, and try rearranging your furniture to match. Sometimes something as simple as changing an item’s location could improve the look of a room.

Paint the Front Door

Upgrade the outside of your home by putting some primer and a few coats of exterior paint on your front door. You could choose a bold color that would catch a passerby’s eye, like red, or go for a modern look like black. It’s also a simple fix to add a door knocker or update the handle. Research suggests that updating your front door can increase a home’s value as much as $8,000!

We hope these money-saving renovation tips will allow you to give your house an upgrade without burning through your wallet. More questions about renovation on a budget? Give us a call and we’d be happy to help.

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

Member FDIC

Equal Housing Lender

Spring Cleaning Your Budget 101

Maybe you’ve started a budget but have found it complicated, time-consuming and not worth it. In the spirit of springtime, consider cleaning up your budget and starting fresh. A new season means a new and improved budget!

Find A Purpose

What’s the reason you started a budget? Maybe you are saving for your wedding, or possibly wanting to reduce your debt. Whatever the purpose is, make it clear and remind yourself of the reason you started. This will give you motivation to continue sticking to your budget!

Establish Your Priorities

What’s your main finance priority right now? Two of the most important concerns should usually be building an emergency fund and repaying debt. Keep these things in mind and be sure to incorporate them into your budget.

Write Everything Down

Sometimes the best way to clearly see the problems in your budget and spending is to put everything on paper. One idea is to keep a pen-and-paper list of every single thing you spend for an entire month. Look over the list at the end of the month, and you’d be surprised at the changes you could make to your budget.

Learn From Your Past

If you’ve tried budgeting before, you probably know a little about what works for you and what doesn’t. For example, let’s say you went way over budget in the month of December because of Christmas. Try adjusting your budget in other months to give yourself more leeway in December. Take what you’ve learned into account and make alterations to your budget based on them.

Plan For The Unexpected

Maybe in the past you stuck to your budget, but out of nowhere, something threw a wrench in your plans. You could lose your job, have car problems, need maintenance on your house… the list goes on. This is where your emergency fund comes in; having a backup plan relieves a lot of stress!

Be Proud of Your Progress

Whether you’ve saved thousands of dollars already or just recently decided to start budgeting, you’ve made important progress. Take a moment to gain motivation by looking at how far you’ve come!

Budgeting can seem scary and complicated at first, but sometimes you just need to take a step back and plan your next steps. This spring is the perfect time to start fresh with your budget! Open up an account with us to store your savings this year.

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

Member FDIC

Equal Housing Lender

Homeowner Costs People Forget About

Are you thinking about taking the big step of becoming a homeowner? Purchasing your first house is a significant and exciting change, but it can be easy to get caught up in the excitement and forget about certain costs. If you want to make sure you have all of your financial bases covered before owning a house, keep reading!

Lawn Upkeep

The cost of maintaining a lawn is one people often underestimate. Whether you hire someone to keep your lawn looking fresh or decide to do it yourself, it will cost some money. Besides needing a lawn mower for cutting your grass, keep in mind things like pest control, weed killer, fertilizer and landscape. Some other equipment needed in lawn upkeep includes a hose, sprinkler, rake, weed wacker, trimmers and much more.

Keeping it Clean

Keeping a house clean is much more challenging and costly than cleaning a small apartment. Many families not only add onto their collection of cleaning supplies, but usually double almost all of the supplies they own. It may sound unnecessary, but once you have to start making trips up and down stairs to clean different levels of the house, you might want to double your supplies, too.

Property Taxes

One of the biggest payment differences between paying rent for an apartment and paying a house mortgage is property tax. It’s important to figure this out beforehand and add it to your estimated monthly payment so you know what to expect. To get a general idea of how much you’d be spending in property taxes, use an online property tax estimator.

Immediate Renovations

After buying a house, it’s normal to want to turn that house into a home. Homeowners are constantly looking for things to improve, like redoing the kitchen cabinets, fixing the deck, changing the wall colors, finding a new floor you love… the list goes on. Keep in mind when house hunting what you’d want to change about the houses you look at and add this to the list when considering your expenses.

Time

This one seems obvious, and although this particular cost won’t be coming out of your pocket, it’s a very important component to consider. Owning a house means doing everything yourself – something you didn’t always have to do while living in an apartment. Keeping up with maintenance, dealing with pest control and tending to the lawn are some of the many time-consuming things that come with being a homeowner.

Now that you’ve considered some of the unexpected costs of owning a house, you’re able to make a more informed decision on if taking this step is the right choice for you right now. We offer mortgages that will help your homeowner journey become a little smoother.

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

Member FDIC

Equal Housing Lender

5 Things to Teach Your Kids About Money

Parenting isn’t easy, and we are here to help you in whatever ways we can. Keep reading to learn about these 5 simple and important things to teach your kids about money!

1. The Importance of Saving

The easiest way to encourage your kids to save money is by getting them a piggy bank. Some kids are fascinated by the piggy banks that automatically count your change, and other kids would enjoy a lovely glass pig to keep their money in. Go to the store and let them pick out a piggy bank they love, and they’ll soon find that keeping their money inside is enjoyable. Encouraging them to put their earnings in their piggy bank will teach them the importance of saving money early on.

2. How to Make Money

Implementing chores as a regular thing is a great way to teach them about earning their money. Start simple and give them a small allowance when they help out with some household tasks. Giving your kids an allowance without having them work for it is giving them the wrong idea about money. Chores are a perfect way to get your housework done quicker, and you’re teaching your kids a valuable lesson while you’re at it!

3. The Danger of Impulse Buying

Kids tend to be very impulsive and often have a hard time thinking through their decisions before making them. Teach them about the danger of impulse buying by not giving them everything they ask for right away. For example, if they see a toy in the store that they’re interested in and immediately ask for, don’t give in. Start saying “no” and explaining why it’s not a smart purchase. Kids learn by observing, so make sure you’re controlling your own impulse buying so they are observing good spending habits.

4. How to Budget

If your middle school or high school child has a part-time job, odds are they don’t have a whole lot to provide for quite yet. Teach them the importance of budgeting while they’re still living under your roof so when they move out, they’ll already know how. There are lots of helpful budgeting apps or plans online to get them started on.

5. Giving Back

Giving back is an important part of being an active community member, and also teaches kids other great qualities like being selfless and considerate. Let them choose a charity, organization or church they are interested in and teach them the importance of giving.

If we all do our part to teach our children about money, we’ll be bettering the next generation. Open a savings account for your child with us!

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

Member FDIC

Equal Housing Lender

Financial Planning Basics

If you’re thinking about revamping the way you handle your finances, the first step is to plan. If you lay the details out and write things down, you’ll be much more likely to follow through and be financially wise. We’ve gathered some of the basic and practical tips when it comes to financial planning!

Start an Emergency Fund

You don’t realize how fast your money can disappear until an emergency happens and you have no choice but to spend your hard-earned money. Planning and implementing an emergency fund into your finances is so helpful and gives you a sense of peace knowing you have a backup. This emergency fund can start small and build over time, but having some sort of cushion in case of emergencies is better than nothing.

Live Within Your Means

This is a hard concept for many people to grasp. The mistake of living beyond your means for a temporary period of time is commonly made and always regretted. Remember the stage of life you’re in, then think about the unnecessary items you’ve been spending money on. Living within your means is easier said than done, but your future self will be thankful.

Review Last Year’s Spending

A great way to plan ahead financially is to look back on previous years’ expenses. If you’re hoping to save more money this year, reflect on your purchase regrets or unnecessary spending from the year before. What did you spend money on last year that you really didn’t need? Now start cutting back on those things in the future.

Contribute to Your Retirement Plan

Studies show that millennials are waiting longer and longer to start saving for their retirement. With things like student loans, housing, cars, etc. it’s not easy to save for so far in the future. It might seem far away now, but it will come sooner than you think and it’s much better to be prepared. Start small if needed and work your way up, but start nonetheless.

Save, Save and Save!

Start factoring savings into your expenses. If you put it on the backburner while trying to meet all of the other expenses first, you won’t be able to build up a healthy savings account. Set aside a certain percentage of your salary before paying all of the bills, or to make it even easier, just have it automatically deducted into a savings account.

These are just some of the many factors that go into smart financial planning. It’s always nice to be reminded of the basics, because sometimes those are what make the biggest difference! Start planning your finances wisely today by opening an account with us!

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

Member FDIC

Equal Housing Lender

How To Save On Your Taxes

Are you kicking yourself for how you handled last year’s taxes? You can feel better about next year by learning a little bit about tax savings now.

Consider Donations

Not only is donating to charity a great way to give back to the community, but it is also a smart way to have a tax write-off. It needs to be a charity that is recognized by the IRS in order to do this. This will require some organization on your part over the course of a year. You will be required to have written records. It should say the date of the contribution, the amount you gave and to who. If the amount is over $250 and you don’t have a receipt, the IRS may reject it.

Increase Contributions to Your Retirement

If you contribute to a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, you can reduce your income tax. You would need to increase the amount that is withheld from your paycheck automatically.

Start Saving for Your Child’s College Tuition

It’s never too early to start saving for your child’s education. A 529 is a college savings plan similar to an IRA except it’s for college. The contributions grow tax-free, and withdrawals are not taxed for a college education. You can either use this for your children or for yourself to take a fun college course in retirement.

Review Tax Credits for Children

Having children is incredibly expensive. Double-check that you’re getting all the tax credits you qualify for. You can itemize medical and dental expenses. As we all know, these costs don’t come cheap. Whatever you are paying out of pocket for these costs may be itemized along with the child tax credit.

Begin a Health Savings Account

To help decrease some of the common stress of medical bills, consider starting a health savings account. Contributions made to an HSA are pre-tax dollars that can be applied to medical expenses. If you contribute the maximum amount, you can potentially save thousands on your taxes this year.

It is possible to pay less in taxes next year; you just need to put the work into finding some ways that you qualify for exemptions. For more ways to save, contact us at Peoples Bank & Trust.

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

Member FDIC

Equal Housing Lender

How Do I Pay Off My Debt?

Extreme amounts of debt can weigh heavy on your shoulders. It has been found that extreme amounts of debt are linked to higher rates of suicide and depression. This is why it’s so important to have an understanding of good debt vs. bad debt and how you can go about paying back your debt efficiently.

Don’t Let it Define Your Life

You, of course, want to have your debt paid off as soon as possible. However, letting it define the value of your life is counterintuitive to being able to pay off the debt. You can enjoy your life while simultaneously paying off debt. A common saying about paying off debt is to think of it as a marathon and not a sprint. You aren’t going to have all of the debt paid off at once, but consistent payments will help get you there instead of burning out from sprinting.

Be Careful Who You Surround Yourself With

It’s hard to stick to a budget when you’re surrounding yourself with friends who want you to spend money with them. It’s difficult to say no to socializing because of the money. At the same time, you should be surrounding yourself with people who understand your financial priorities and support you in those goals. Spend time meeting with financial experts to help guide you in your investments and debt management.

Press Pause on Credit Cards

While credit cards are a great tool when used correctly, they can be a hindrance to paying off debt. Do your best to refrain from using them until you have your debt under control.

Utilize Extra Income

If you receive a bonus or a pay increase, place all or a portion of those funds towards your debt. You won’t notice the difference, besides seeing the decrease in your debt to income ratio!

Start a Payment Plan

In order to keep the momentum going, you should start paying off your most expensive debts first. This typically means the highest interest. Establish a set amount that you will pay each month and work it into your budget. Your amount should be more than the minimum payment due.

Don’t let your debt take over your life. Get control of your dues today!

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

Member FDIC

Equal Housing Lender

How to Boost Your Retirement Savings

Maybe you are already off to a good start when it comes to saving for retirement, but there may be some ways in which you can amp it up. If you could boost your retirement savings even by a little now, it can pay off big time later! Here’s how:

Step Up the 401(k)

Most companies offer a matching contribution of up to three percent to your 401(k). If you aren’t taking advantage of this now, make sure you do so immediately. Once you have established this for a year, consider ramping up your percentage by 1 percent. Every other year or so, increase the percentage. Because you are increasing it at a slow rate, it’s unlikely that you will really notice it month to month, but you’ll love seeing your account grow.

Don’t Cash Out

When switching to a new job, many people cash out their retirement policies. However, this can be damaging to your retirement portfolio and leave you with much less money. Consider rolling over these funds into an IRA or if possible, directly rolled over into your next employer’s plan.

Play Catch Up

If you are age 50 or more, you can participate in what is called “catch up contributions.” As of 2018, the government allowed an additional $6,000 contribution to 401(k) and 403(b) plans. IRAs were allotted an additional $1,000. Even though you are over the age of 50, these contributions still earn interest and can make a significant difference.

Don’t Spend Bonuses

It’s tempting to go and celebrate a big bonus or raise with a big purchase. However, the smart thing to do is to pretend that it never happened, and pour it into your retirement account. Whatever you want to use that money for now, you’ll be able to do even more with it later. The practice of delayed gratification is tough but worth it.

Cut Something Out

Think of a luxury item that you use every day. Maybe it’s something small that you don’t think twice about. Consider cutting it out and using the money you’ve been putting towards it for something better, like your golden years.

You can reach your retirement goals by staying focused throughout your earning lifetime. For more advice on your savings plans, you can count on us at Peoples Bank & Trust.

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

Member FDIC

Equal Housing Lender

8 Simple, Smarter Ways to Save

Do you feel like you’re always trying to save but never reach your savings goals? Sometimes, we can make it too complicated or have too rigid a plan that causes us to give up on it altogether. You can make 2020 the year of savings by following these bare-bones tips.

1. Start a Pantry Night

It’s all too easy to spend money dining out or grabbing a burger at the drive-through for the whole family. Stay ahead of the curve by allowing one night each week as a free for all in the pantry. You won’t have to worry about what to cook that night for the whole family. Everyone can find something simple for themselves to eat whether it’s cereal or leftovers. Some weeks it may take more creativity to come up with a meal, but use what you already have in stock.

2. Separate Need and Wants

We are constantly exposed to advertisements in a way like never before. Ads are perfectly crafted to peak your exact interest based on your internet search history. This can make the temptation to buy even stronger. Don’t buy anything instinctively, wait and decide if this item is truly something that will meet an unmet need in your life.

3. Make a Decision on Entertainment

How many streaming services are you subscribed to? Although you may think you are saving money, you can quickly rack up your monthly costs by subscribing to too many services. Rotate your services so you can still have access to your favorite shows and songs, but on a rotating basis.

4. Feed the Freezer

Food can be one of your most expensive monthly costs. Plan ahead by taking advantage of sales on things that can be frozen. Meat is one item that freezes well. Keeping your freezer full of these low-cost foods can make a big difference to your bottom line.

5. Go Generic for Everything

It’s true that more often than not, you are paying for the brand than the actual product. Going generic won’t impact anything but your wallet.

6. Treat Your Belongings Well

Invest in quality items that you love and treat well. Practice good habits like taking your car routinely for oil changes and staying on top of home upkeep. Broken cars and homeowner woes can be costly.

7. Test Out the Tried and True Envelope System

Just because your great grandmother may have done it, doesn’t mean it’s not still relevant. Make a monthly budget, and place each amount in a separate envelope. When it’s gone, it’s gone!

8. Consolidate Debt

If you have debt in a lot of places, you may want to consider consolidating your debt into one place with a lower interest rate.

For more advice on ways to make savings simple or how to start a savings account, reach out to us at Peoples Bank & Trust.

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

Member FDIC

Equal Housing Lender

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