Hello Lovely Savers! I hope everyone is enjoying these first few days of Summer and the heat wave some of us have been experiencing in the Northland. June starts TOMORROW and for many that means the end of the school year is days away. Some families will be celebrating their brand new High School or College Graduate, and that means parties. And that means everyone they’ve ever maybe possibly met being invited, and that means a ton of invites for you to try to wrestle through, and decide what on earth you will give these kids you maybe possibly sort of know.

Never fear. I have a list for you.

Gift Guide for Graduates

    1. Cash. This one is super easy, requires absolutely no knowledge of the student or what their future ambitions may be, and is always greatly appreciated. You buy a card, put a $20 inside (etiquette, their parents are going to give your kid the same thing eventually) and they get to pay for .05% of one single text book or a pizza for a late night study session!

   2. Books. This gift is probably my favorite. When I graduated High School, one of my favorite teachers gave me a copy of A Little Princess and wrote me a note inside that I will cherish forever. Thanks Mrs. J! You can do a fiction novel, like that, for fun and sentiment, OR here are a few of my recommendations for a bit more practicality:

Of course I need to plug my own book, If I’m an Adult… Where is my Money?
This is my quick guide to money for aspiring adults. I cover all the basics of handling money as you enter into adulthood and walk you through starting a budget! You can purchase my kindle book here.

Adulting is one of MY FAVORITE BOOKS I’ve ever read, it is charming and funny and literally FULL of great tips, you can read my review and my top lessons learned from this book here. Dave Ramsey is one of my personal finance heroes, his daughter, Rachel Cruze is another and their team put together a guide to getting through college. One of the best things that ever happened to me at college was when I volunteered to man an information booth at some event and in return was gifted the Strengths Finder quiz where I learned what my top 5 strengths are (Thank you Stacy!)! This book is the guide to those strengths and how you can best utilize them through life and leadership. Realizing my strengths was life changing. Click on the pics above to order a copy for your grad on Amazon!*

3.  A Care/Dorm Package. My sister is the actual best. She’s not even my real sister, but I will fight anyone who says she’s not my sister. For my graduation gift she put together a funny care package for me, complete with pedialyte and aspirin for the hangovers I never actually had. She gave me snacks and posters for my dorm, and put everything into a small pink garbage can for my new room. My mom then did a similar package for my little brother and it served him quite well! What does your grad need? Gift cards to Dominos? An extra large coffee mug for late night cram sessions? Or a super loud and annoying alarm clock, guaranteed to get them to those 8am classes! (Seriously though, why were all the most boring lectures at 8am?)

All of these gifts can be done in cost effective ways, which is great for everyone and every budget, but is especially good for those who have a half a million grad parties coming up in the next two months. What was your favorite gift you received for graduating? Comment below!

Don’t forget to sign up to my email list to get reminders when I post new ways to save you money! Also, I am now booking clients over on my Facebook page or else you can email me here at sugarandsavings@gmail.com. Work with me personally to get yourself on a budget that WORKS!

Until next time, wishing you all Sugar and Savings,

Taylor

* This post contains affiliate links. This just means that I may receive a small commission (at no cost to you) if you purchase something through the links above. You will never see me post a link to a product or service that I haven’t used myself and love! Thank you for supporting Sugar and Savings!

Hello Lovely Savers!

A week or two ago, I put out a poll to see what you all wanted to learn more about. Far and wide, the winner was “How I afford my boutique gym membership while on a budget”. This post is so very dear to my heart because my gym membership is more than just fitness, and more than just fun, it really is an outlet for me- especially when my depression is at it’s worst. Here are my tips for how you can add your membership to your budget.

You’ve all seen the Facebook posts- videos of your friend from high school going on a fancy yoga retreat, photos of your old coworkers bouldering somewhere in the mountains, ads for the newest fitness craze with fit models making everything look effortless. I am here to tell you these experiences are not out of your reach! A year and a half ago I was going to an open gym for $10 every couple of months and trying to teach myself circus moves on the silks, last March I performed my own routine with a bunch of friends I’ve made at my “boutique” gym!

1. Free Week Trials– Not sure what your favorite way to exercise is? I wasn’t either! Many specialty gyms, especially when they are just starting out, offer free weeks to new clients! You can try out their classes for free and see if it is a good fit for your new fitness journey.
2. Groupon- Can you guys tell I like Groupon yet? My first introduction to the aerial arts was actually through a Groupon for a trial pack. It was like 3 classes for $25, and from my first class I was wishing I could take classes all the time!
3. Find a Package that Suits you- Many gyms offer unlimited memberships for a intimidating sum, but sometimes they offer smaller size class packages. Usually, the larger the package you get, the cheaper each individual class becomes. However, if you are not actually going to be able to go more than 3 times a week, do you really NEED that unlimited number or would the 12 class/month work better for you? I personally know that if I had an unlimited package, it would be a lot easier for me to talk myself out of going when I am feeling down, so a finite number of classes really helps me stick to my goals.
4. Trade Services- Have a friend who is a personal trainer? Or maybe the gym you like needs someone to come in a wipe down the equipment every couple of days? Some gyms/trainers are willing to trade their services/use of their facilities if you have something to offer! Get creative and make an offer, the worst they could say is no!
5. Prioritize- This sounds like a no-brainer, but honestly, how many of you have used the excuse “I would love to do (blank) but I can’t afford a membership!”? Hey, I get it, I used to say the same thing. But if I didn’t spend the money on my membership each month, would I REALLY save it every month? Would I put it toward my debt? Probably not! I would probably find something else to spend it on! Do I need more money in my shopping category in my budget? Or my category for eating take out? Nope! I prioritize my gym because it’s fun, but also it helps with my mental health, way better than my retail therapy sessions ever did!

I hope these tips can help you try something new or give you a reason to go for some fitness goals! Are there any fun fitness trends you’ve been looking forward to trying out? Let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, wishing you all Sugar and Savings,

Taylor

Hello Lovely Savers!
Easter is right around the corner, this year on my birthday! Whether you celebrate the holiday or just need some inexpensive ideas for Spring, this post is for you! Here are my top 5 suggestions for saving money this Easter:

1. Thrift those Easter Outfits! Shopping at places like Goodwill or other local thrift stores is a great way to save on the nice outfits you’ll want your family in this Easter. Let’s be honest, kids outgrow clothes faster than you can tie their shoelaces, so saving some money on some recycled clothing is totally acceptable. Especially clothing they will wear literally one time. That onesie that says “1st Easter” only works once and definitely would not fit them again even if you tried. I found a beautiful spring dress at my local Goodwill for $4.99 and I am so excited to wear it on my birthday! Check out my Youtube channel this Monday, for the first episode of “Dress to Impress- For Less!” for more tips on saving while shopping!
2. Coloring Eggs to Serve Multiple Purposes. Growing up my mom would boil tons of eggs and my brothers and I would sit around the kitchen table and fight over who could color which eggs blue (for the record, my little brother was a total blue hog). Then the “Easter Bunny” would hide our works of art around the house and in the morning we would run around the house trying to collect the most (for another record, I always won). THEN we helped peel said beautiful colored eggs and my mom would make a giant plate of deviled eggs for the party later. Three activities, one purchase of eggs and a dye kit for $1.99 at Target. To save even more money, skip the sticker kits and use a white crayon to draw fun designs on the eggs before you dye them.
3. Community Eggs Hunts. Many local churches and community centers will host free egg hunt events. Kids are divided into age groups and then race around an open yard to find a ton of plastic eggs with little candies or trinkets inside. You won’t have to buy your own, and it will be fun for the whole family!
4. Buy Candy after Valentine’s Day. Buying candy after holidays is great because it’s all really inexpensive the day after. No one will notice if your jelly beans are red and pink instead of orange and green, and no one will care. If you really care, you could buy the Easter candy after Easter the year before and save it. I mean candy lasts awhile… who hasn’t eaten a piece of Halloween candy from some unknown previous year? #guilty
5. Easter Coloring Pages. Coloring pages are really easy to print out at home, some libraries and grocery stores even send out themed coloring pages in the weekly newspaper. Check it out to see if there are some coloring page contests going on near you!

There you are, my top 5 ways to save on Easter fun! Subscribe to my Youtube channel to get notified when I post the first episode of “Dress to Impress- For Less!”.

Until next week, wishing you all Sugar and Savings,

Taylor

Spring is almost here, you may be planning for a spring break trip and want to be beach ready, or maybe you are just interested in cleaning up your eating habits. Whatever the reason, you probably have stumbled onto the Whole30 food craze and now you are motivated to try it.

In principle, the change should be easy, there are only a few rules: No dairy, grains, legumes, soy, alcohol, and definitely NO SUGAR. Ok, maybe not so easy…

There are tons of recipes online, and a thousand and one articles about how to succeed in this 30 day challenge. However, no one mentions the cost! Unless you are a wiz in the kitchen and can spiral-ize your own noodles out of a carrot, you will probably have to resort to store bought varieties and they do NOT come cheap.

Here are my tips for keeping the costs reasonable:

1. Buy in Bulk- You may be afraid of produce going bad before you get to it, but if it’s all you’ll be eating for a month, you will likely eat more of it faster than you realize. Eggs are allowed during Whole30, as are potatoes, which last quite awhile (and can be bought in bulk) and those will be STAPLES of your Whole30.
2. Spices are your Friend- While making each of those million recipes SOUNDS like a great idea (most of them sound delicious!) you are NOT going to want to make a different entree for each and every meal each and every day. Not only would that drive your costs way up, but you will not feel like it! Keep some easy recipes on hand and add different spices to keep yourself from getting bored.
3. Do Not Buy Prepackaged Fruits and Veggies- you can buy a pint of cut cantaloupe for $4.99 or you can buy a whole cantaloupe for $2.99 and get way more fruit out of it. Same with lettuce or broccoli. A bag of salad lettuce is usually around $2.59, and it goes bad in like two days. A head of lettuce is $0.99 and because you just rip off what you want, it lasts much longer!
4. Potatoes- Potatoes are so cheap. And you can make so many things with them. So many delicious, easy, and yummy things. I love me some tatoes.
5. Rewards Programs- most grocery stores have their own rewards cards, some of those stores allow you to get coupon deals (without cutting coupons!) just for having this magical card. Not only can those save you some money, but those same cards filled with sorcery can also have other perks like saving money at certain gas stations.

There you have it! Good luck with your Whole30 Challenge, you may need luck to keep away from the sweets, but now you will not need it to stick to your budget while you do!

Have you tried the Whole30 diet? Let us know in the comments below!

Until next time, wishing you all sugar and savings,

Taylor

When working with people and their budgets, the first thing they notice is how much they spend eating out. “Oh my gosh,” they say, “I need to stop going out with my friends!”

Well yes. And no! In this post I will go over how to be social even when you are sticking to a budget!

First, I’ve said it before and I will say it again, setting a budget doesn’t mean you cut out a bunch of spending. Having a budget sets goals and boundaries, and gives you PERMISSION to spend on certain areas that YOU’VE already decided. Second, if you set unreasonable goals (like never eating out when you are accustomed to ALWAYS eating out) then you will mess up and likely mess up hard. Go ahead and eat out with friends, go see the newest Marvel Movie (seriously, do!), just make sure you keep control of the spending while you do.

Dinner Out

Handsome Man and I love to go out to new restaurants, it is silly, but it is one of my favorite things to do for a date night. I plan ahead and make sure to save money while we do. You can cut coupons, go during happy hours, drink water or soda instead of booze, join email lists to get deals, or grab a coupon off of Groupon! There are lots of ways to save while eating out. I also know that while I try to pack my own lunch for work, sometimes I am running late and don’t get to it. I give myself $45 a month in my budget for eating take out while working.

And speaking of eating when working…

Getting Food with Coworkers

This one is hard! Especially if, like me, you work right next to a bunch of great food places. You don’t want to always turn a coworkers invitation down, eventually they’ll stop asking! I’ll dig more into how to bow out gracefully later. I include anything I order with coworkers in my $45/month budgeting. Most days I bring my own lunch, but sometimes my buddy Kev is like “Want Noodles?” and the answer is Yes. I ALWAYS want Noodles (RIP, Bangkok Curry).

Friends with Expensive Tastes

Having a lot of friends is wonderful, it can also be expensive. Especially with all the burdens of Adult Life, and not being able to see them very much, when you DO get to see them you want to do something fun and special! This can mean movies (~$20/ ticket alone, ~$12 for popcorn and a small drink), dinners out (~$20/meal if you only have a soda), amusement parks (~$40/entrance fee, $10+ for parking), clubs (~$5 cover charge, plus any drinks), concerts (don’t even ask.). These times out on the town are so fun! And add up soooooo quickly! I would NEVER suggest that you stop doing them, or suggest you stay in like a hermit all the time. But definitely plan ahead, budget for these events, and when possible invite friends over instead! Cook a meal together, or spend the night with a Red box movie, I am sure there was one you meant to see in theaters and it got away from you.

Gifts

You’ve been invited out for a friend’s birthday, you planned ahead and budgeted for the meal and now you realize you should get them a gift! There are several ways you can take, first, the DIY route- coupons (“Dinner on Me”, “Night of Watching their Kids”, etc.), a painting or drawing if you are so artistically inclined, or a piece of jewelry if you are so talented enough to make something like that. Assuming you are less artistically inclined, a bottle of wine or whiskey could run you a $20 dollar bill maybe less if you are skilled at choosing a great beverage with a great price tag. OR! You could go in on a gift with someone else! I’ve also used this for bridal or baby showers, getting something larger for less money than if you’d bought it yourself is a great way to treat your friend without breaking your budget.

How to Say No

As I said earlier, you don’t want to constantly be turning your friends and family away. Not only could you offend them, or miss out on great bonding experiences, but they will also eventually stop asking. When I turn someone down if they ask if I want to grab a bite with them, or do something else that is out of my budget is this:

“I brought lunch today, but let me know next time you guys want to order in!”

“Aw thanks for asking, I can’t this time, but maybe later!”

“Dinner sounds great! Do you want to come over sometime? I’ll cook!”

or just be honest.

“I already used my budget for movies this month, but maybe next month we can see a different one?”

I always offer an alternative and make sure it’s clear that I am grateful for the invitation.

Going out and enjoying meals together are very important bonding occasions. There is no reason to cut them out of your life! Plan ahead, budget for the fun times, and then feel better when you get to enjoy them!

I hope this post helps you enjoy your next night out!

Until next time, wishing you all sugar and savings,

Taylor

Holidays are wonderful, fun and great excuses to spend a little extra time telling someone how much they mean to you. Particularly, Valentine’s Day! While Valentine’s day can be a lovely day for lovely love birds who are in love, it has come to be a biiittttt of a money suck. Here are some last minute ideas about how to spend your Valentine’s Day while sticking to your budget:

• Handmade cards are way better than store bought. While those cards may be beautiful and do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to what to write inside, they are EXPENSIVE. $7.99 for a card? Nah, bra. I like to make all of my cards by hand, and they don’t have to be fancy! If you are stuck trying to think of what to write or draw Pinterest has a plethora of ideas and no one will know if you borrow one.
• Cook something new! Cooking in may sound boring, especially if you do so most nights. Handsome Man and I eat our meals at home because we like to cook and it definitely saves money. But that doesn’t mean you have to cook the same old boring thing for Valentine’s! Spruce up the night by making a new or exotic recipe together!
• Victoria’s Secret is that she is way overpriced. Kohl’s, JCPenny, and TJ Maxx are some of my favorite places to shop for cute… “adult time” wear. They have a limited selection but what they do have is still attractive and costs way less than over at Vicky’s.
• Gifts. This part doesn’t have to hurt the wallet. I can think of a million gifts for under $15.00. Flowers, their favorite candy, homemade love coupons (again, Pinterest has you covered on ideas). Or you can even make the gift an experience instead! Go to a museum, an art gallery, watch a new comedy special on Netflix, or go to a book store to pick out a new read!
• Groupon it! Groupon has amazing deals on classes; try your hand at something new, pottery, paint nights, a cooking class, the list is endless. Groupon also has great deals on restaurants, so if you aren’t much of a cook you could still save yourself some cash by looking up a coupon on here!
• Kid’s class Valentine’s. Have a little one in school? I don’t know if it is still as popular as it was when I was little, but passing out Valentine’s was awesome! You can end up spending a pretty penny on those licensed character Valentine’s kits they sell at the grocery store. A large bag of candy, a funny pun written on construction paper, tape a piece of that candy on and you’re in business.

How will you and your loved one be spending the day?! Share in the comments below!

Until next time, wishing you all Sugar and Savings and a happy Valentine’s Day,

Taylor