The post was originally published on The Centsible Life.

With the holidays approaching and winter right around the corner, I’ve been letting my imagination run away from me. The idea of taking a vacation, or at least leaving my living room, is making me drool over each and every sunset-on-the-beach photo I come across. Yet, traveling on a budget calls for creativity, research, and gumption. Lately I’ve been scoping out the best modes of transportation for quick weekend get-aways, longer holidays, and family vacations that are frugal and can fit within any budget.

Quick Weekend Get-Aways….on the rail

A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to travel to a nearby city on Amtrak. It was my first experience on a train and I absolutely loved it. The roomy seats, the ability to walk around the cars, and the experience as a whole was incredibly comfortable compared to driving the short distance in a car. I decided from that point on that I would travel by train to cities within a couple hundred miles of me, as long as there was a direct Amtrak route.

Here is a breakdown of some sample excursions for west coast, mid-west, and east coast residents including prices via Amtrak:

• Los Angeles (Union Station) to Santa Barbara – Pacific Surfliner: $24 each way, travel time 2 hours and 48 minutes. Santa Barbara is known for its temperate, coastal climate, charming State Street, and expensive properties. It’s a beautiful beach-side city to visit for the day.

• Milwaukee to Chicago (Union Station) – Hiawatha: $22 each way, travel time 1 hour and 42 minutes. I’ve never spent time in Chicago, but would like to some day. Their waterfront and downtown area look like a fun and exciting city to visit for the day or weekend (summer, preferably for me!)

• New Haven, CT to New York (Penn Station) – Acela Express: starts at $35 each way, travel time 1 hour and 32 minutes. Ahhh! New York, it’s my town! There’s so much to do that one day won’t cut it. From Time Square to Central Park, Manhattan is a great place to visit.

Finding Great Last Minute Airfares

Depending on if my travel plans are flexible, there are some terrific last minute deals to grab from sites such as Expedia and Travelocity. I’ll use Travelocity as an example; they have a Last Minute Packages feature that allows me to select trips for about $250 including flight and hotel. (Wow!) One of their current deals includes a trip to Washington D.C. as a destination. Departing from Los Angeles and traveling to Washington, the trip averages about $375 per person for 3 days including airfare and hotel. East coast departure cities come closer to the $250 price tag. Not too shabby!

Another method I use when searching for the best airfare deals online is Kayak.com. Kayak searches multiple online travel engines simultaneously, saving me time searching each of them myself. Multiple browser windows pop-up and I can effortlessly compare their airfare deals side-by-side.

Once I’ve found the best flight price, I check to see if they are part of the MyPoints.com program. Purchasing through a My Points vendor builds up my points, which I then use towards gas and gift cards. I have to admit that I don’t fly often enough to rack up enough frequent flyer points on any one particular airline, so the My Points program allows me to earn points through various vendors. It’s a great alternative for me.

Making traveling by car comfortable

Sometimes, the least expensive travel option is driving to your destination, especially for families of three or more. Though driving to your vacation spot can be trying, verging on grueling, there are some ways to make it more comfortable and pleasant.

One of the best ways I’ve found, relieving the intensity of driving long distances, is to break up the drive time. Plan to stop along the way, whether it’s a 30-minute rest stop or spending the night at an inexpensive motel, stretching out my legs and getting out of the car helps alleviate the discomfort of sitting for hours on end.

Another option to make driving comfortable is to bring along a neck rest or pillows. Of course, this only comforts the passengers of the vehicle, not the driver him/herself. As a child on family road trips, I remember crashing in the back of the conversion van and sleeping for hours while my parents drove across state. (This was during the days of no seatbelts. I don’t recommend this!)

Bringing along my own fresh snacks also helps during the scheduled, frequent stops. It saves time and money by not having to eat at a restaurant every few hours, and it’s healthier than most fast food options, a standard on almost every road trip.

And finally, to help restless kids pass the time (without staring at a monitor the entire trip) there are a few good, old-fashioned travel games you can play to keep them engaged and entertained. Here is a short list:

• The traditional I-Spy game is always fun (for about 10 minutes, that is).

• Scavenger Hunt: before your trip, print out a list of items you might see while traveling. Then try to predict who might win the game first. Each kid and adult can scratch off their list as they view their item.

• License Plate Game: See who can find all 50 state plates first. Print out a list of the states before you go, give each person a list.

• Portable travel games: There are many portable, printable games available, like bingo and scrabble. A great site I came across that has printable versions of many of these games is www.momsminivan.com. A great resource for activities.

• Card Games: Some games I remember enjoying as a kid were Uno, Go Fish, and War. All you need is a deck of cards.

As the cooler weather trickles in, I’m itching to hop on the rail and zip up to Santa Barbara with my bike. With the convenience and low cost of Amtrak, and their luggage cars that store my bike throughout the trip, I might just have to take an excursion this weekend!

This post was originally published on Budgeting in the Fun Stuff as a guest contributor.

Growing up in a frugal family that saved a small fortune on a conservative fireman’s salary, one would think I’d follow in these similar footsteps and end up the ultimate uber-saver. Not so; as life would present too many tantalizing baubles and opportunities to spend my hard-earned money on. I could blame my deprived childhood, due to extreme frugality, on my poor savings habits and psycho-analyze my behavior as trying to make up for things I missed out on as a child. But let me be realistic and honest; I let spur of the moment opportunities seize my usually money-conscious brain and talk myself into freak lapses of budget-blowing insanity. Instead of sticking to my guns and meeting my saving goals, at the end of year I look at the paltry amount I’ve accumulated, and vow to do better.

This year I’ve come up with a plan to meet those goals through some extreme, at least for me, strategies. Some of these ideas I’ve gleaned from reading personal finance blogs, others I’m making up as I go and I’ll review their effectiveness at the end of the year based on if they saved me money or just wasted my time.

Savings “Bins”

I currently have 3 different savings accounts with small amounts in each and think this is because I haven’t really labeled most of them for specific purposes.  Although the one I’ve labeled, “sister’s wedding fund”, I’ve  found that I’ve been quite diligent in sticking a set amount every month in that savings account and keeping my grubby little paws off of it since it has a particular purpose. Obviously, this method is working for me. Now all I have to do is label the other two accounts and set a specific monthly savings amount.

I’ve decided that the one I can get to most easily needs to be my slush fund/emergency account. My goal for this account is to continually keep at least one month’s total amount of bills.  However, the hurdle with this account is because my income fluctuates from month to month, I sometimes need to dip into the slush to pay for upcoming bills. I’ll have to review this account over a quarterly period instead of month to month.

The online savings account that is a little more difficult to touch will be my long term savings account, or “house” account. Since one of my big goals is to own a house within the next 3-5 years, I need to devote as much money as I can to this account if I ever want my dream to materialize. A realistic goal is to set aside double what I’m already depositing. This will be the tricky part as I find myself coming up short of this past year’s savings amount.

To meet these savings goals, I’ll have to really reign in my budget and find out where it’s “leaking.”

Status: Having 3 accounts for specific purposes has been working out quite well. I haven’t been meeting the monetary goal I had originally set for each account, but it’s a start.

Finite Gift Cards

A few of the “leaks” I’ve noticed include over-spending on our daily habits. These habits appear to be budget-breakers, so to help me reduce over spending, I’ve decided to use a couple of strategies:

1. A pre-determined and limited gift card
2. A Starbucks card

My Starbucks Gold card can be loaded at the beginning of the month with a set amount on it. Instead of loading it whenever it runs out, I will load it on the first of the month and when it’s gone, then it’s time to make my own drinks from home. Setting a pre-spending limit will keep that part of my budget intact.

The next part of the budget that needs some work is my husband’s habits. Instead of letting him swipe his debit card whenever he needs a pack of cigars, he’s going to be given a finite gift card that I’ll load on the first of the month. He’ll have to make that baby stretch for the entire 30-day period.

Another great idea for using gift cards for everyday purchases, is finding discounted gift cards for sale at store I regularly visit. If I can purchase a $40 gift card to a store for $35, that’s a savings of five bucks.

Setting finite amounts at the beginning of the month should plug up the holes I’m finding and allow me to save enough for my “house” fund.

Status: I never started the gift card strategy, but I’ve been really good about putting a predetermined amount on my Starbucks gold card. I’m spending quite a bit less at Starbucks this year because of this strategy.

Go, Cash, Go

Another leak I’ve noticed is the amount of money we spend eating out, even at fast-food places. A few dollars here and there never seems like a lot at any one time, but those dollars begin to add up and all of a sudden it amounts to a large portion that could have been stuck into my emergency fund.

To fix this leaky sieve, meals out will have to be cash-only. Since I’ve already budgeted a portion of my monthly income towards meals, this amount will be set aside in my Mason jar at the beginning of every month. When the cash runs dry, bye-bye McDonald’s cheeseburgers.

Status: A total and utter failure. I’ve realized I’m just not good with cash. Not only do I hardly ever have any on hand, when I do I have no clue where it goes. On a side note, loose change does end up in my Mason jar and we used that amount this year for our Sequoia camping trip.

Overflow Buckets

Since I use Quickbooks to track my spending and income, I noticed that I made a few thousand dollars more than what I had originally budgeted for the year. But darned if I can’t find that extra amount I made! Where, oh, where did that extra cash go? It seems to have evaporated into the abyss of  the colorful pie charts that track my expenses and income.

This coming year, with a few safe-guards in place (finite gift cards, cash, and purposeful savings accounts) this overflow of income should end up in my emergency fund at the end of a fruitful month. Since the “house” account, “sister’s wedding” account, and the “ER fund” account will already be set aside at the beginning of each month, any extra savings at the end will be moved to the ER fund. That way the overflow of cash will be saved and not spent.

Status: I’ve been really good about putting extra money into the overflow account and sometimes transferring any left over to the ER fund. Not as frequently as I would have liked, but again, it’s a start.

Group Support

Finally, without anyone keeping tabs on me, I might quickly revert back to my old-self. Posting monthly or quarterly updates on my progress for each of these tactics will help keep me following my own advice. Hopefully by mid-year I’ll notice a huge improvement in my savings accounts.

Status: I found a little tracking widget that I use and update each quarter. So far it’s been moving in a positive direction. However, not working this last quarter of the year (finishing school instead) will probably mean little to no progress over the next 3 months.

Would these tactics work for everyone? It depends on how budget-conscious one is and if one is willing to keep track of their income and expenses diligently. Will these strategies work for me? I’ll let you know by mid-year.

Status: These have definitely worked for me, but I  know I can still do better. Next year, I’ll definitely continue with most of these strategies (minus the cash and gift card one) and continue to make progress.

How have your annual goals been going?

This is a 3-part series about creating a budget. Part one covered the basics of creating a budget and part two looked at ways to reduce expenses to make a budget more flexible. Today I’ll be examining ways to increase income to help pad a budget, giving a person more money to work with.

Since I use Quickbooks, I can easily use my annual reports to see if my income is increasing, decreasing, or staying consistent from year to year. A couple of years ago, I saw an increase in my income and I was thrilled. However, the following year my income decreased and has stayed consistent for the most part. Yet, because I am a fairly flexible and resourceful person when it comes to working and creating income sources, I decided to share some tips on increasing income.

Tip 1 – Community Work

As a teacher, I often am requested for tutoring services. Because I am not currently contracted with a district, I’m able to provide tutoring for a fee without getting reprimanded from my employer. This past year, I’ve been able to increase my monthly income through tutoring. But there are plenty of other community options out there that could generate a little extra income.

• Gardening – Does you neighbor need help mowing their lawn? Could you start a weekend lawn maintenance service? For a minimal starting cost, you could help bring in a few dollars on the weekends and get benefit from the exercise. Or, if you have a green thumb, you could sell produce at a local farmer’s market.
• Driving – Are there elderly people in your neighborhood who need help picking up groceries? Offer to be their driver for a fee.
• Tutoring or mentoring – Are or were you a good student? Could  you pass your knowledge on to others? Most name-brand tutoring services charge a minimum of $50 an hour. If you can cut that price by $5 or $10 per hour, you could potentially make some spare change by tutoring a couple of students a few hours a week.
• Handyman – I’ll admit that I can’t fix anything. However, my husband is quite handy. If we ever needed extra money, I’m pretty sure I’d pawn him out for a fee. But for those who are lacking a handy-spouse, I’d bet they’d be willing to pay someone to hang their shelves and fix their fans.

Tip 2 – Don’t Leave Your House

It’s nice to make money without ever leaving home. I’ve found a couple of sources of income that give me this flexibility.

• Start a blog -I’ll admit that blogging isn’t as lucrative as a newbie thinks it is. In the beginning, it’s all work and no pay. But, if you can stick with it for at least 6 months, write decent posts on a generalized or broad topic, and grow your readership, you’ll find there are opportunities to make a little side income. Heck, some people make a job out of it!
• Take surveys – Some online surveys pay in cash, some pay in rewards points that can convert to gift cards. Surveys usually don’t pay very much, but they also don’t take very long either and can be done from the comfort of your home.
• Begin a daycare – To start a daycare you need a license, a safe home and patience, of course. Oh, and you really should like kids. With a little bit of word-of-mouth advertising, your daycare could grow quickly.
• Sell your stuff - Selling non-used items on eBay and Craig’s List can bring in some fast cash.
  

Tip 3 – Become a Night Owl

Many years ago, I averaged two to three jobs at a time to make ends meet. Thankfully, I don’t have to …..oh wait a minute what am I saying, I still work 3 jobs! Yes, yes, I have my traditional day job, my blog, I tutor, and I still help my husband. Hello, that’s four jobs. (And I go to school at night. No wonder I’m a little tired and can’t catch up!)

• Get a night job - There are plenty of night jobs available; anything from Starbucks to pizza delivery to office cleaning.
• Late afternoons work too – If you must get up early for your day job, finding a late afternoon job can work as well. Some companies are flexible and need mid- to late-day help.

No matter what extra income you bring in on the side, it can help pad a budget making your financial picture a bit brighter.

Do you have side income coming in? Have you taken on part-time work to add a little extra to your budget?

I was so excited when I first received my water and trash bill for my new apartment because it was such a small bill, $11.99 to be exact. This was a huge difference from what I was paying at our rental house each month. Of course,  a few months have now gone by and our water bill has gone up a little, so the elation has faded a bit. However, I received our first electric bill a couple of weeks ago hoping to be just as pleasantly surprised since apartment utilities are usually less than house utilities. Yet that was not the case. Our electric bill actually seemed a bit higher. To remedy and reduce this cost, I’ve become much more diligent in turning off fans at night, shutting down unnecessary appliances, and trying out the different power saver options on our computers.

What I’ve found through trial and error is that one of the largest energy hogs in our apartment is our laser printer. Apparently it “spools” itself every few minutes causing huge power surges. Since we don’t use the printer every minute of the day, we’ve decided to keep that energy sucker off until we need it. Hopefully we’ll see a significant reduction in our next electric bill, especially since I’ve been much better at completely turning off my computer at night as well. I really want my utility bills to be as low as possible!

Now for a little round-up around the web:

• The 2nd Yakezie Writing Contest is in full swing. This time around we had over 1,000 applicants and we whittled it down to 60. Be sure to check out the essays that are sure to inspire.
• Well Heeled Blog wrote a post about finances in marriage in Yours, Mine, Ours: Money in Marriage. I have to say that in my case it’s always been an “ours” scenario, but that’s probably because we started off by owning a business together.
• With tax season in full swing, Smart on Money posts about What Are My Options If I Can’t Pay My Taxes? The post offers alternatives and options on how to file tax extensions to paying in installments. However, being prepared is always the best plan.
• Over at Moms Plans Melissa is posting her Saved Quarter Challenge Updates. I signed up for this challenge a month ago, but I haven’t been very good at updating my progress. I think I’m more of a once a month or quarterly updater. I just can’t get organized enough to update every Monday. Way to go Melissa!
• Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance has some great investing advice with IS IT TIME TO SELL? I also like that she was able to throw in the word “deleterious.” I used that word once in a paper describing alleles. But that was eons ago.
• Invest it Wisely with How Important is Financial Balance to You? Kevin makes some good points about finding balance in finances just as in relationships.
• Early Retirement Extreme with Children and Early Retirement. I don’t have kids yet either, but Jacob makes some good points that children can be fully satisfied and happy without the designer clothes and iPhones, at least until they begin comparing what they have to what their friends’ have.

The other day I posted about the importance of creating a budget, especially after a major financial melt down. I organized the methods to do so and included worksheets to help a person get started. The next logical step after forming a budget is to figure out how to reduce some of your expenses and/or increase your income.

Most often when I hear someone complaining about not having enough money, they immediately blame their income for their financial woes. Usually they say something to the effect of, “If only I made X amount more, things would be easier.” But most people can live on their income comfortably, they just need to make some adjustments to their expenses.

Ways to Reduce Your Expenses

The first thing to look at in a budget is your fixed expenses, such as rent or mortgage payments, utilities, insurance, and groceries. Is there any way to reduce those? I’ve listed some strategies below which may or not be effective depending on your current carriers and where you live, but it’s a good place to start:

• Land line telephones - Do you still have a land line? Do you need one? If you find you do need a land land for business purposes or your cell phone reception isn’t great, call your phone company and ask them if they have any special rates they can apply to your current plan. I do this a couple of times a year and save about $10 – $20 monthly on my bill.
• Utilities (gas/water/electricity) – Minimize your utility bill by reducing your usage, it’s as simple as that. Some people like to use Kill a Watt to figure out how many watts they’re using and then reduce as needed. I currently have a battery back-up connected to my computers and printer and recently found out my laser printer is an energy hog. Now, I keep the printer off until I need to print.
• Insurance – Can you increase your deductible comfortably to reduce your premium? If you have a savings account that could cover the deductible, you might save enough money by increasing your deductible on your auto insurance or home owners insurance and save hundreds of dollars annually. I was able to save $150 annually on my auto insurance by increasing my deductible to $1,000 and by switching carriers.
• Groceries – Coupons aren’t what they used to be, you don’t need to clip and cut as much as your mom used to. Today,  you can print out coupons for items you need. Penny from the Saved Quarter also just wrote a fantastic post over at Money Cone about how to Never Pay Full Price.  Also, by just purchasing items when they’re on sale, you can save 10% or more off your grocery bill.
• Rent/Mortgage – It never hurts to ask your landlord if they could reduce your rent. If this doesn’t work, you could always begin looking into less expensive areas or cheaper neighborhoods. Another option for both renters and homeowners is to rent out a spare room or an area of your home (however, be aware that subletting is usually not allowed in a rental agreement.) As for mortgage expenses, there are many refinancing options out there. Refinancing isn’t an entirely free option, but it may work for you if you intend on living in your home for a while.

Once you’ve given your “fixed” expense the once over, it’s time to tackle all of the other, more flexible expenses. Flexible expenses can be anything from eating out and everyday habits to cable television and vacations.

• Eating Out – This is a category that is easily reduced. Depending on how much money you need to reign in, you can reduce your take-out expenses as easily as just ordering water at a meal (saving anywhere between $3 – $15 or more) to sharing a dinner with your spouse or significant other. This year I’ve limited my budget to a fixed amount which allows me to still enjoy eating out occasionally.
• Everyday Habits – Habits can add up quickly, especially if they are highly addictive. Obviously the best advice is to quit a highly addictive habit. But if you just aren’t ready yet, find the cheapest items possible in your neighborhood. Another option is to set a limit. I’ve recently given myself a $50 monthly budget for my Starbucks habit. Once that money runs out, I have to wait until the next month.
• Cable Television – Many people say that this is a luxury item and I’d have to agree. But if you must have cable, sign up for a bundled package, which is usually offered at a lower price, or reduce your subscription. Of course if your budget just can’t afford this luxury, then ditch it.
• Vacations – Everyone needs some time off and some adventure. Vacations offer this escape, but not at the expense of going into debt. Some alternatives include staying closer to home, reducing the amount of time from a week or more down to a few days or a weekend, camping or choosing a less expensive option, or planning a vacation far enough in advance allowing you to save for that trip.

These are some possible options for living comfortably within a budget. Next, I’ll cover increasing your income to pad your budget.

Have you reduced your expenses this year? Which expenses do you find easiest to reduce?