wesabe

Money Matters is something I’m hoping to include weekly with news you can use to save, and pertinent advice to help you keep more green in your wallet.

PASSPORT PRICE INCREASES

Passport rates increase on July 13th so if you are headed out of the country anytime soon it’s worth purchasing your passport now.

Passport cards

Passport cards are good for travel over land (think Canada). Adult passport cards are jumping $10 from $45 to $55*, while kids passport cards are going up from $35 to $45.*

Passports

Passport book prices for adults are going from $100 to $135* ($35 increase) and are good for 10 years. If your passport is expired the rate to renew will also increase to $110.

Children’s passports are going up from $80 to $100.* ($20 increase) With 4 kids, if we were considering traveling out of the country soon I would definitely apply now-that’s a $80 savings for us! Kid’s passports are good for 5 years.

Additional passport pages are now going to cost $82, where before they were free.
*(These prices include a $25 execution fee)

For more info see the the government site which addresses all fee increases.

WESABE CLOSING

Wesabe, an online personal finance management tool recently announced they are shutting down on July 31st, 2010. I was a fan of their site for about a year, but there were issues addressing problems with their user interface, and it seems it was too much for the small startup to do and not enough funds. I’m sad to see them close down, but glad to see they are handling everything as they always do with the customers in mind.

If you are a Wesabe user, read up on the closing. All your data will be deleted, and Wesabe will remain a website with content on Groups where you can ask and answer questions about money.

Alternatives to Wesabe can be found via this Wisebread article.

Alternatives to Wesabe:

Mint: I personally use Mint.com. I love their iPhone app for checking my money on the go.
Pocketsmith: Pocketsmith offers forecasting-it’s like looking into the future of your money. It’s a straightforward to use, can be used outside the US, and gives you incentive to stick to your budget to see your net worth increase.
Pen and paper: A pen and paper budget is another alternative. When I’ve done this in the past I’ve had a special notebook, and carried it with me everywhere to keep track of every penny. If you prefer to go high tech-you can always create a spreadsheet.

Do you have any money news to share?

Kelly

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Our No Spend Month was previously featured on Wesabe’s blog, including 7 tips from the experts.

The Dec 10th post includes 5 lessons I learned from our No Spend Month.

Here they are:
1. Competition breeds success. 
It was fun to try to spend less than my husband on unnecessary expenses. It made the challenge exciting. If you don’t have a spouse or partner get a friend or family member involved. And for the record he won.

2. We usually spend when we are unsatisfied or unhappy.  
Normally we spend on take-out, coffee, and snacks/treats for the family when we are feeling like we need time off or a break. By forcing ourselves to deal with any situation head-on we are happily exhausted by the end of the day, and the desire to spend is usually gone. When we did need a break we found ways to get that time, and we did spend some money on our time off, but knowing it was our only time off made it so much more memorable.

3. Not spending gives us freedom.
 By not focusing on going out to run errands or pick up this, that or the other thing; we found ourselves with a lot more time on our hands. We used it to keep the house cleaner, play more with our kids, and fix up the house.

4. The time spent on buying and maintaining more stuff can be spent getting rid of stuff, and you can earn money!
 When I had to go to the store I was in with a list in my hand and out with only everything on it, and in record time! The time I saved I used to purge things we weren’t using, giving some away on Freecycle and others to friends and family members. I sold a few items (mostly toys) and netted about $45 for the month.

5. If at first you don’t succeed try, try again. 
If your No Spend Month doesn’t work out, or even if it does, do it again! We have plans to do another No Spend Month in February, with hope that we’ll spend even less!

A big thanks to Allese, Marc, and everyone at Wesabe! I appreciate your support.

Kelly