For good measure, Marv tacks on a few extra money saving in-your-car tips so you can get your maximum dollar value out of your vehicle. With money as tight as it is these days, don’t you think that’s a good idea? Hint: The answer is “yes.”

But there are a few things that can go wrong in your home that, although they might not seem terribly serious, can lead to repairs that will dip too far into your wallet. To prevent this, here is a list of a few essential home repairs and upkeep points that will keep your house solid and as problem free as possible.

1. Electrical issues

Even innocuous things like dead outlets (could indicate a loose wire somewhere that could potentially spark) to too much TV static (could mean your house isn’t grounded properly, which can lead to much bigger issues than a fuzzy picture while watching Glee) can result in major problems that aren’t only costly to repair, but might be downright tragic–most fires in homes are sparked by faulty electrical components, either from the wiring of the house itself to malfunctioning appliances. If you notice anything that’s off, it’s worth shelling out a small fee to get an electrician’s consult.

2. Water, water, everywhere

Water stains are unsightly, but beyond that, they can mean leaks in your pipes that you can’t see. Aside from water leakage driving up your utility bills, it can cause major structural damage, mold growth, and even flooding. If you notice a leak or water stains (especially if they grow or newly appear), call a plumber and figure it out as soon as possible.

3. Mind your gutters

Yes, cleaning out the gutters is no one’s favorite chore. But neglecting to do so once or twice a year can result in more than just ugly leafy gunk build-up–some of that gross stuff, along with water, can actually work its way under the shingles of your roof, or under the siding of your house. When compared with the prospect of undergoing the time, effort and high cost of having to replace either of those things, suddenly a few hours up on a ladder doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

4. Seal your windows

A lot of these essential home repairs seem so simple because they are. It’s often the easiest maintenance that people overlook which leads to much more expensive, and avoidable, repairs. Sealing your windows is another great example. It takes hardly any time and not too much money and can give you year-round cut-backs on your energy bills.

5. A strong foundation

As it true with any part of your life, having a solid foundation is the key to making it all work. If you see any cracks or things that just seem off about your foundation, tend them as soon as possible. Calling in a professional inspector every few years to make sure there’s nothing significantly wrong with the foundation of your home is a good idea. Otherwise, fill the cracks as you see them to prevent water damage, pest problems and mold development.

Do you have any crazy experiences in the wild world of homeownership? What unexpected expenses have you come up against? What do you think are more essential repairs and upkeep points that everyone should attend to?

Now, in 2010, I now do a new type of shopping with coupons called “strategic” couponing. Strategic couponing is when you use coupons on top of sale prices to save more money. Couponing has come a long way since I first started in 2007. More and more companies are coming into the world of online coupons utilizing resources such as Coupons.com and Facebook to put out high value coupons that you can print online and use in stores. People have learned the tricks of couponing, like waiting until an item goes on sale to use the coupon and buy multiples of the same item (called stockpiling) to save the maximum amount of money on an item. Each of these are a big part of strategic couponing.

Some strategic couponers have learned how to do this so well that they have built their own websites, such as my own at www.EasternShoreMom.com, where we do “matchups” or maps to the sale ads to make your shopping with coupons easier. Matchups include each sale item, the coupons available for those items, where to find the coupons, then how much the item will be out of pocket. Why are matchups a big deal? Because now couponers don’t have to do the work of finding the coupons for the items they want, the work is done for them. You can simply type in any search engine your favorite store then the word “matchup” and it will most likely bring up multiple deal blogs that specialize in mapping out the sales ads for that store.

Back in 2007 I was thrilled with my $10-$15 worth of savings each week and unable to shrink my grocery budget any more than that. Now, with my strategic couponing skills under my belt, I spend about $30 a week on groceries and save closer to $80 each time I shop. The effort I put into couponing is the same I did three years ago, however I am shopping smart and stockpiling when a sale rolls around which is maximizing how much I am saving on each item. Our grocery budget is the last of my worries and we have been able to put more than I ever believed into savings just by cutting that one cost, while cutting my coupons.

Overstock.com has several beautiful hammocks to choose from with a great price range. These exotic pieces will grace any patio, verandah, garden, or any living space that has a bit of room.

And Overstock has lots of tips on where to place it, how to hang it and take good care of this excellent gift.

Get This Week’s Gift Idea!

That said, those extra dollars can add up. While you can’t completely eliminate the extra utility hit that many people suffer around these stifling months, there are things you can do to make the damage as minimal as possible.

1. If you’re gone, the AC goes off

Maybe this is a no-brainer to a lot of you but I’m guessing I’m not alone in my desire to leave the air conditioning kicking while I’m out, just so I can have that glorious moment of arriving home from the sweltering summer outdoors to my arctic apartment. But don’t do it. It’s really one of the best ways to cut down your bills. You can handle 20 minutes of tepid temperatures when you get home while you wait for the cold air to bring you back to bliss.

2. Seal your doors and windows

Remember when your mom used to yell at you for standing with the door open and telling you not to “air condition the whole neighborhood”? Well, she was onto something. Making sure your abode is airtight is important. When you’re paying so much to keep cool, it’s only smart to keep every crispy bit of that expensive air all to yourself.

3. Close the curtains

As a big fan of natural sunlight, I’m never a fan of keeping my curtains closed. But that lovely light can raise a room’s temperature by as much as 10-15%…that’s serious! On the other hand, using natural light means not turning on as many lights in the house, which also saves energy. Still, if your primary objective is to keep cool on the cheap, close those curtains.

4. Clean your filters regularly

Having clean air filters is good all around; it means that you are breathing the cleanest air possible, which is vital to having good health, but it also means that your air conditioning unit isn’t having to work nearly as hard to pump air into your home. The easier it is for the AC to do its job, the less energy it’s expending–which means savings for you.

5. Make sure you have the right size

If you have an AC unit that’s too small, it’s going to be working overtime to try and keep the space as cool as you want it to. Alternately, if you have an unit that’s much bigger than you need for your home, then you’re simply using up more energy than you need to.

What do you think?

With energy prices so high, have you come up with any clever tricks for saving on your AC bills? Or keeping the heat at bay without turning the thermostat to “blizzard”?

Let’s talk about what you can expect so you can start planning now to save as much as possible — and know what your options are.

Insurance

If you’re pregnant, or planning to become pregnant in the near future, now is the time to look at your insurance policy…what kind of accomodations do they have for pregnancy and child birth? Depending on your plan, your insurance in this department could be comfortably comprehensive…or lacking entirely. Chances are, you might not have even paid attention to that when you signed on with your current policy. Check out your options — if the coverage you have doesn’t measure up to what you need, try to jump ship before you get pregnant, if possible. Switching insurance carriers while currently with child can sometimes be complicated.

Also, this might go without saying, but if you don’t have insurance and are pregnant, this is the time to do it. If you can’t afford coverage on your own, most pregnant women are eligible for Medicare or state-sponsored reduced price programs.

Birthing plans

It used to be that you got pregnant, went to one doctor the whole time, did what he said, went to the hospital, had the baby and bam! Done. These days, women are presented with so many options when it comes to how and where to deliver — and they all come with differing price points.

While most women still choose the traditional OB/GYN hospital delivery route, there are an increasing number of women who want a more natural experience and thus turn to midwives. The cost of hiring a midwife instead of a doctor can range from $3000 to $10,000 depending on if you choose to have a home birth or deliver at a birthing center. Fees typically include check ups, standard lab work, delivery, blood work and post-delivery visits. The can so do a range of other birth-related things that would typically be covered by insurance, such as sonograms and circumcisions. One important point to consider: almost no insurance policies currently cover home births with midwives. However, there are now a great number of midwives affiliated with hospitals who work out of birthing centers who do accept most insurance. As with all of this, just do your homework and find out the specifics for the plan you want to go with.

Hospital stays

Without insurance, a healthy complication free pregnancy and birth costs between $30,000-$40,000. This includes regular doctor visits, tests, delivery and hospital fees. Now you see why you want to have insurance! Even still, check the details of your policy–many insurance companies will charge you extra for things like certain medications, epidurals and C-sections.

Take care of yourself!

Throughout your pregnancy, one of the best things you can do to cut down on unexpected expenses, both pre-natal and in the birthing process, is to really take care of yourself. Your body and bank account are under enough stress as it is–make sure to take it easy, keep getting exercise and eat as healthy as possible. When you’re healthy, you keep your baby healthy–and keeping both of you healthy means spending as little as possible during what can already be quite an expensive undertaking.

What is your story?

When it comes to having babies, everyone’s experience is different. What was your plan with you had a child? How did you go about saving money…or what do you wish you had known that might have prevented you from spending unnecessarily?

This week on GauchoTV, Marv takes a look at Consumer Reports “Dirty Dozen.” 12 “health” supplements that could actually be hazardous to your health. Since Marv has been on a health kick lately, he’s been supplementing his diet with products to help him lose weight, have better workouts, etc. Are those supplements dangerous? Well, everything is dangerous if applied correctly, but tune in to find out the exciting answer. (Actually, the answer is no. But watch it anyway.)

Also you’ll learn where Marv buys his supplements online – for less (of course), and get a blenders-eye-view of a protein shake. Will it blend? Yes. Yes it will.

One of those issues, of course, is money. When you merge lives, you also merge varying degrees of financial entanglement. While this could possibly be fraught with stress, it doesn’t have to be. While your love is still booming and your slates are still clean, take a post-nuptial break to talk about these money matters with your beloved.

Basic financial feelings and values

Knowing how you’re going to tackle the financial issues that arise in your life together will be made much easier by knowing where you each stand on basic issues. Things like, whether your kids go to private or public school, how soon you want to purchase a home, major savings goals, how to save for retirement, etc. It’s important at this point to be very honest with one another about where your money priorities lie so you are both on the same page.

Credit scores

Ouch. Most people don’t even like to think about their credit score, let alone talk about it with someone else. But this is crucial step for newly married couples. Finding out exactly what your individual credit situations are like will be immeasurably useful when trying to strategically figure out how to maximize what you’re working with. You’re no longer on your own–when it comes to future purchases, like taking out a joint loan for a mortgage, both of your credit scores will matter. It’s better to address any problems and take advantage of any positive credit early.

Lay it all out there

If you haven’t crossed this bridge already, it’s time. Hold on, kids–it’s time to talk numbers. Get real with your partner about exactly what your financial picture looks like, from income to debt to investments, etc. Bottom lines need to be laid out on the table. This isn’t always comfortable for some people, but think about it like this: not only will this financial honesty help build a foundation for a strong fiscal future for your budding family, but it will also force you to take just one more step in getting closer to your new spouse! Who knew that old student loan debt could be so romantic?

Make a budget

Clear and simple. Prioritize. Look at what you have to work with. Set goals and limits and make sure you both feel comfortable with the plan–and then work as a team to make sure you stay within that budget, especially in the first few years when you’re working on major purchases like homes, building a nest egg, and starting a retirement account.

What belongs to whom?

I know that no one likes to even think about divorce when they’ve practically still got rice in their hair, but figuring out what property belongs to what party is important. It can stave off potential future fights even if you don’t get divorced. And making a clear, careful list of “what’s mine and what’s yours” is important and practical–you guys are too smart to ignore a 50% national divorce rate, right? That said, I’m sure you’ll never need this list. But just in case.

What do you think?

What money issues did you tackle when you got married? Engaged? What financial concerns do you have leading up to the big day?

I’ve been dealing with this issue for a long time now. I work primarily in the art, mostly for non-profits. If you like money, this is not the career for you. But I do have to say, I’d much rather enjoy myself for the 40 or so hours a week that I work, than be sitting behind a desk mindlessly working for people I have no emotional investment in.
However, this does of course mean that I am poor. I’m not destitute, I have a roof over my head, food in the pantry, and water to shower with, but I’m not flush with cash by any stretch of the imagination. I don’t go on lots of vacations, or buy lots of clothes. I don’t eat in expensive restaurants and I don’t buy swanky cars.

So the question here is, how do I stay on a low budget, but avoid getting cranky over everything I can’t have? Here are the three main ways in which I swallow my pride and go cheaper without sacrificing happiness.

Thrift Stores

I go clothes shopping every couple of months. My budget when I go is $50 and I usually don’t spend that. I did a little research and found a thrift store not too far from me that must be where all of the suburban moms take everything they couldn’t be bothered to take the tag off of. Thrift stores are actually pretty picky about what they will sell. I find almost completely new or totally new clothing all the time. The selection is huge and varied. I usually end up spending about $38 and come away with six or seven items. My last trip, I bought a dress and six tops for $38. The time before that was a pair of jeans, two skirts, and five shirts, also for $38. I come home with new clothes and I haven’t blown my budget in any way. When I’m done with these items, I take them to a local consignment store and usually make most of my money back.

Eating Out

I do eat out with my friends here and there, but as a general rule, I order the least expensive item on the menu. I limit myself to one drink, and I almost never order dessert. Ordering appetizers is a great way to keep the price down and not feel left out. Because most appetizers are designed to be shared, you’ll find that in most places the portion size rivals that of a main course.
If I bought a drink, no dessert for me for sure. That’s my specific rule. Usually if I get dessert, I try and split it with someone else. This makes sense both in calories and in cost.

Used Cars

My car gets me from A to B. I drive a 1996 Toyota Corolla and it never breaks down. I bought it for $1300 cash more than two years ago. There isn’t really a secret here other than a lack of pride. It also costs me much less to insure my paid off older car. For me, I understand that I don’t spend that much time in my car as a whole, so I just make do with the cheaper one. My significant others 2005 Ford Focus seems to break down often, and I don’t envy his car payment. If you are lucky and you look carefully, you can save yourself a lot of money by toning down your transportation.

How about you? What have you toned down in order to cut costs, but not give up happiness?

Here’s a quick and easy run-down of what to serve at your summer cook-out to make sure everyone has a good time – and you don’t break the bank in the process.

What to grill

Burgers and chicken. Can’t go wrong. And they’re both usually really cheap. A good idea is to buy a few more pieces than you have guests (someone is going to want seconds or drop theirs in the pool!) Try this chicken recipe:

Rinse in cold water, pat dry with paper towels, and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Rub with a little olive oil. Heat your grill to medium high and put the chicken on, skin side down. Cook for a half hour, turning a few times, until the skin is golden and the meat is cooked. Check that your meat is cooked by cutting into a thick piece and making sure that the juices run clear. Wait about 20 minutes before brushing on barbecue sauce. For a vegetarian option, grill veggies like portabella mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, and zucchini. Coat with a little olive oil and spices, and then toss onto the grill.

Cost: About $15

Drink and be merry

When it comes to what to drink at a barbecue, keep it simply and summery, or in a word: lemonade. You don’t get any more seasonal than that! You can make your own lemony concoction pretty easily: Make simple syrup by heating two cups of water and two cups of sugar in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely. While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract two cups of lemon juice. Add the juice and sugar water to a pitcher. Add eight cups of cold water to taste. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving over ice.

Or you can cheat and just buy the cartons.

Cost: About $7

A little side action: Macaroni Salad

Cook, rinse, and drain four cups of macaroni pasta. Mince and soak ½ cup red onion in cold water for five minutes before use. In a large bowl, combine pasta, 2/3 cup celery, onion, and one cup diced tomato. In a small bowl, whisk one cup mayonnaise, 1 ½ teaspoons mustard, three teaspoons sugar, three tablespoons vinegar, six tablespoons sour cream, and one teaspoon salt. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir. Salt and pepper to taste.

Cost: About $12

More to munch!

The more you can put out for people to eat, the better. Fortunately, a lot of tasty side items come cheap and will be a big hit. At barbecues, guests like to see old comfort foods – they aren’t looking for the newest, hottest thing. Old comfort? Corn muffins? Tomato salad? Sounds about right to me!

Slice remaining tomatoes and sprinkle with minced parsley, salt, and pepper to serve.

Cost: About $3

Prepare corn muffin mix according to box directions. Serve drizzled with honey.

Cost: About $5

Dessert…obviously.

Why serve anything other than watermelon as the food finale at your cook-out? One big melon should be enough to serve everyone, but even if you need two, at least they’re inexpensive. Ripeness can be determined by looking for a hollow sound when you knock on it, and light rather stark stripes. The bottom should be yellow, not green, which would indicate that it’s probably not ripe.

Cost: About $6

(If you want to go for the old college insta-drunk stand-by, have a regular watermelon and then a “grown up” melon – just pour a bottle of vodka into the watermelon for a refeshing, intoxicating treat. Just make sure to keep the kids away!)

How do you like to cook-out?

What are some of your summer grilling traditions and recipes? How do you entertain guests on a budget?