Happy Memorial Day! Here are three posts we enjoyed this past week.
69 Ways to Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half
We all need to eat. Grocery spending represents one of most American’s biggest expenses. Grocery spending is relatively easy to change as it is necessary to continually go to the grocery store. In contrast, bigger expenses, like mortgages, transportation, and health insurance are difficult to change in a short period of time. Therefore your grocery budget represents an area of your budget that is both easy to change and big enough to make an appreciable difference in your spending habits. In this article, Jo from MoreMoneyTips.com shares 69 different ways to slash your grocery budget.
You may not be getting your best deals at supermarkets. These places give you the convenience of a one stop shop but can cost you more in grocery bills. ~MoreMoneyTips.com
We are all looking for the holy grail of reducing grocery spending; that is, can we change just one thing and magically save money? However, Jo lays out 69 small tips, each of which may cut your grocery bill slightly. By combining all of these small savings, you can start to achieve a meaningful reduction in your grocery budget. For instance, Jo recommends not buying your fresh fruits and vegetables at the supermarket as they can often be found cheaper at farmers markets. Likewise, buying fruits and vegetables in season and preserving them can be much cheaper than buying out of season produce. Additional tips involve buying cheaper cuts of meat and cooking them in a slow cooker or pressure cooker to tenderize them. It can also be cheaper to eat vegetarian, so by reducing meat consumption you can save money. For even more tips, check out the article.
Dashboard Confessional: KPIs for Solopreneurs
Are you thinking of starting your own business? Have you just started one and are hoping to grow it the most efficient way possible? Or perhaps you’re a seasoned solopreneur or contractor looking to get an edge. If so, then this article from Shelley at BeyondPennies.com is for you.
In this KPI guide for solopreneurs, we take a closer look at major categories of KPIs, TRAM protocol, and how to build two types of KPI dashboards for solopreneurs. ~BeyondPennies.com
In this article, Shelley describes how to use key performance indicators (or KPIs) to help your business grow. The article begins with a definition of KPIs. For example if you have a website, a KPI for you might be the number of page views or click through rate. Shelley suggests using the TRAM protocol to choose KPIs. The TRAM protocol stands for Timely, Relevant, Actionable, and Measurable. The article goes into much more depth about why each one of these properties are important in selecting KPIs. After presenting the TRAM method, Shelley shares an example of what a KPI dashboard might look like. This template could be customized to your own business plan. If this sounds interesting, check out the article, which includes a downloadable template for your own KPIs.
The -ism We Don’t Talk About, But Should
2020 has seen an unprecedented explosion in unemployment. It’s likely that you know someone who was laid off, or perhaps you were in charge of layoffs at your own firm. Who were the first people let go? Were they young employees with lots of promise and a family to support? Or were the first people let go in their 50s or 60s? In this article, Katie from AlongTheCamelRide discusses her experiences with ageism and layoffs.
We spend an inordinate amount of time arguing about countless -isms: sexism, racism, misogynism, capitalism, socialism, fascism, globalism. Sometimes these terms are misapplied or they’re used to incite anger and to pit people against one another. But it seems we’re ignoring one of the biggest -isms in our culture: ageism. ~AlongTheCamelRide.com
Katie starts the article with an anecdote about an acquaintance who was in his early 60s and recently laid off. He had originally planned on working at least two more years. This acquaintance doesn’t have enough money to fully retire, and it will be difficult for him to find a job at his age. Don’t we all know someone with a similar story? While we can all set a course for a secure retirement, we may be forced to retire much earlier than we had planned. The article is personal, and touches on Katie’s own retirement plans. At the same time, the article really forces us to confront our own biases about aging and retirement. How might we face the loss of a profession before we’re ready to leave? Is age the best way to measure the worth of our coworkers? If you haven’t given much thought to the end of your career, this article is definitely worth a read.