Earlier this week, we made our final 2008 deposit into my Roth IRA. I had let the money accumulate in a money market all year, in anticipation of buying an ETF once I maxxed out the account (my plan is to buy one ETF per year, in order to minimize the amount I pay in commissions). I had been searching for a clean energy ETF, and have been researching them for some time. I looked up “clean energy etf” and read everything on the first two pages of google. I also referenced this site, which has some good info on mutual funds and exchange traded funds. By no means do I know everything there is to know about clean energy ETFs, but I know more than I did six months ago (that’s your disclaimer – make sure you do your own homework, and find the fund that works for you). I settled on Van Eck’s Market Vectors Global Alternative Energy ETF (GEX). I liked the focus on wind and solar energy, and I liked the level of US vs. foreign holdings (35% US companies – compared with PBW, which holds nearly all US companies, and PBD, which holds mostly foreign companies). So as of the opening bell tomorrow, I’ll own 115 shares of GEX. I love saving, and socking money away for retirement. But picking funds is not my favorite way to spend a day. Good thing I’m a buy and hold investor – I like only having to do this once a year. I also had $1800 sitting in my traditional IRA from contributions I made last year, and I used that money to buy shares in PowerShares Global Clean Energy (PBD). Now I can sit back and let them do their thing. I have no interest in timing the market. The money in my IRAs is there for the long haul, so I’m mostly ignoring the downward spiral that the stock market has been in this week. I figure that the whole landscape will look a lot different 30 years from now anyway. I’m just glad to have made my choices, bought my ETFs, and closed the book on my IRA for 2008.
Archive for » September, 2008 «
Back in January 2007, I wrote about a letter than I got from our home owner’s insurance company telling us that we weren’t getting their best rate because of our credit scores. Last week, our insurance agent did an annual review with us, and I guess that our scores have gone up, because now we’re getting their “credit based insurance discount.” We haven’t seen our credit scores since we were applying for a mortgage six years ago, but I’m guessing they took a bit of a beating during our broke years. We never paid anything late, and we never went over a limit or missed a payment, but we did have a lot of debt for a while. We paid off the last of it in August 2007. So I’m guessing that our credit scores must have improved since the beginning of 2007 when we found out that credit scores are incorporated into home owner’s insurance rates. That feels good. Our policy is costing us $546/year now, which is $8 less than last year, and we have more coverage now, since they increase the limits every year to keep up with inflation.
Yet another benefit to paying off debt and improving your credit scores: lower home owner’s insurance premiums.
Stay informed with credit report monitoring service that alerts you regarding any changes made to your credit report.
I just made my final contribution to my Roth IRA for this year. So far this year, we’ve maxxed out our HSA ($5800) and my Roth ($5000), and my husband’s traditional IRA will be maxxed out by the end of the year (we have an automatic monthly contribution going into it, and it will hit $5000 in mid-December). This is the first time we’ve ever managed to max out all of our retirement savings accounts. It’s been a long journey from 2003 when we stopped putting any money at all into our IRAs (because we barely earned enough money to pay our mortgage). In 2004, we started contributing $100/month to each of our IRAs – and that was a pretty big stretch. But we made saving a priority, and as our income increased, we focused on putting more money aside each month. At the end of 2007, I posted about our financial goals for 2008. Max out the HSA, max out both of our IRAs, and pay off at least $5000 in principal on our HELOC. We have three months left to go in the year, and I’m optimistic that we’ll actually be able to get the HELOC payoff amount to $10,000 by the end of the year. It will take diligence, but we’re very motivated to get rid of the HELOC for good. In addition to meeting our savings goals, we’ve done a lot of home improvement this year. A remodeled kitchen, new floors in our upstairs, a new fence, a hydroponic garden that has been yielding tons of produce already, and new exterior paint. All for about $6000.
We didn’t take a fancy vacation this year. I’ve bought two thrift-store shirts in the last 5 months. We use cloth diapers and wipes that we made from old t-shirts and flannel sheets. All of the clothes our son has were gifts or hand me downs, with the occasional thrift store find thrown in. Although we’re saving for a new car (for the distant future), we’re still driving our old cars and riding our bikes or walking whenever possible. To be honest, I don’t feel like we’re sacrificing anything at all – we have a great life. But I know that some people would see our old cars and our lack of trips to the mall as a bummer. But if we had new cars and paid $60 for our jeans, we wouldn’t have a college fund for our son. We wouldn’t have been able to max out our retirement funds. We would be living on the edge. So I’d much rather keep wearing the clothes I already have (especially since I have far too many as it is) and be able to feel confident that we’re going to be ok financially.
The stock market sucks right now. (although I’m just about to spend the $5000 I put in my Roth this year on an ETF, so I’m looking at the bright side – now is a probably a pretty good time to be buying stocks). Nobody knows when things will get better for the economy. For us, this provides even more motivation to keep our expenses to a minimum. Growing our own food, making do with what we have, and saving everything we can – it all helps create a feeling of security in an uncertain economic environment. You can’t get that from a pair of pants, no matter how cute they are.
Obviously, I’m an advocate of frugal living. I think an ability to live on a small income will stand you in good stead, regardless of how big (or small) your income eventually becomes. The festival of frugality is up at Living Almost Large, and there are lots of great ideas to kick-start your frugal self:
The Iconoclast Investor has a post about living in tiny houses. If we were buying our house now, I think I’d go for something smaller (our house is about 1300 square feet, we have one child, and both work from home), but not much smaller. Given that we’re already here and love where we live, I doubt we’ll ever move. But I love to get books about tiny houses out of the library. They always inspire me to purge clutter, since the houses in the books are invariably clutter-free.
The Financial Wellness Project has a post about drying clothes outdoors. I dry everything on drying racks that are portable. I put them outdoors if it’s nice outside, and leave them inside if it’s not. The sun bleaches all the stains out of our son’s diapers, which is a huge bonus.
MoneyNing writes about his adventures living on as little as possible for a week. His total? $34.01 (not counting rent). If you’re looking for inspiration, here it is.
The Carnival of All Things Eco is up at Focus Organic. From Organic Makeup And Skin Care comes a great post about myths about organic skin care. I love my simplified, easy, chemical-free hair and skin care routine. I use baking soda to wash my hair and brush my teeth, and plain white vinegar in a spray bottle as a conditioner. I use organic cocoa butter as a lotion, a Burt’s Bees deodorant, and have stopped using makeup all together. My routine is cheap, easy, and it works. I saw a picture of myself at a wedding we went to yesterday, and I honestly think I look better than I used to. At a wedding in my pre-enlightened days, I’d have been wearing makeup, and some sort of goop in my hair. Getting ready yesterday took me about 20 minutes, including showering, eyebrow plucking, and shaving. I spend almost nothing on personal care products these days, and have more time to spend with my son instead of the bathroom mirror. It’s a nice bonus that I actually look better than I did a few years ago, when I was using all sorts of products on my hair and skin.
Growing Groceries has a wonderful post about alternative uses for garden plants. I’ve been picking squash leaves all summer to use in our green smoothies. Good to see lots of other ideas here.
I also really liked the post from Green Thinking Blog about going meatless one day a week. I decided to go vegetarian about three months ago, and I feel great about it. I was vegetarian for a few years in the late 90s, but I feel like my reasons are much more clear this time, and I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything at all. Peter from We Overstep has a post about his raw vegan lifestyle. We eat about 60% raw, and we’re a lot more vegan than we used to be. But wow – that’s a lot of food that Peter eats! I’ve found green smoothies to be an easy way to incorporate huge quantities of produce and sprouts into our diet, but I can’t say I’ve ever eaten 15 bananas in one day.
Sweet Solar Home has a post about pay-as-you-go solar energy. I’m going to show this one to my husband, since we’re saving for solar panels right now.
Thanks for hosting the carnival Stephanie!
Some good stuff from the Frugal Blog Network:
Kelly from Almost Frugal gives detailed instructions, complete with pictures of each step, for making an awesome-looking laptop case. Kelly has some seriously good sewing skills, and I love that she’s sharing her knowledge with her readers (and now with mine!).
Frugal Zeitgeist has a post about the virtues of living in a small home. Our house is about 1300 square feet, and I definitely wouldn’t want anything bigger. We have three bedrooms, one of which is a guest room/scrapbook room/office, so it does some multi-tasking. Our son’s room is just used to store his stuff, change his diapers, and for his afternoon naps, since he spends all day with us, and all night in our room. We could manage with less space if we had to. Our plan is to stay where we are, in our first house, forever. So we won’t be downsizing, but we also won’t be upsizing, even if we have another child someday.
Not Made Of Money has some great ideas for fall family fun that doesn’t cost a fortune. With kids back in school, weekends become a great opportunity to spend time together – but that doesn’t mean you have to spend money to do it. Go for a bike ride, go to a pumpkin patch or a corn maze, go hiking to look at the fall colors – show your kids all the great ways to have fun that don’t have anything to do with malls.
Andy from Tight Fisted Miser writes about his plan to retire at 50. He points out that his past retirement goals have come and gone, because he wasn’t as focused on saving as he is now. I have a feeling he’ll make it this time. One of the most interesting parts of his plan is that he’s budgeting $1000/month to live on after retirement. I think a lot of people would see this number as too low, but if you really look at only what you need, most of us could probably manage on a lot less than we think. We should have our home paid off in the next ten years or so, which will make our retirement income needs much lower than our current expenses. Health insurance is one area that is tough for early retirees. My family currently pays $430/month for two adults in our early 30s and one child. And we have a $3000 deductible, with only a small amount of preventive care covered before the deductible. For people in their 50s, the coverage is much more expensive. Bridging the gap between retirement and age 65 (when Medicare kicks in) can be a pricey venture. If your employer offers early retirement with health insurance benefits, you’ll be way ahead of the game. Otherwise, plan to pay for your own insurance for the years before you turn 65, and plan to spend some serious money to do so. Get the highest deductible you can, and make sure you have the money saved to meet the deductible should you need to. And my best advice on this subject is to keep yourself as healthy as possible. That way, you’ll be able to qualify for health insurance, and you won’t have to spend as much money on health care. And if you smoke, find a way to quit! Smokers in their 50s pay a lot more for their health insurance than non-smokers.
I love it when I tweak a recipe and it turns out great. Yesterday, we had a picnic with the people I work with at the library, and I decided to bake blueberry muffins to take along. I had all the ingredients on hand except eggs. The recipe called for one egg, and we had zero. So I decided to mash a banana and see if that would work. The muffins turned out great, and disappeared quickly.
Today, we had a family gathering in preparation for my husband’s cousin’s wedding tomorrow. The blueberry muffins yesterday had been such a hit that I decided to bake another batch to take along today. I started getting out the various ingredients, and discovered that not only did we still not have any eggs, we were also out of bananas. So I dug through the fruit bowl and found a large ripe plum. Into the blender it went, and I added pureed plum to my muffin batter. I have to say, they were even better than the batch I made with the banana.
So if you’re making muffins and you are out of eggs or eating vegan, add some sort of mashed fruit and it will probably turn out great. Applesauce would have worked, but we didn’t have any, and were also out of apples (can you tell I need to go to the store?). I experiment with recipes all the time, and I rarely have all the ingredients on hand. But with baking, it’s a little tougher, since the wet/dry ratio is pretty important. I’ve found that I can always use less sugar than a recipe calls for and have it turn out fine (not a huge amount less, but if it calls for 3/4 cup, I’ll just use 1/2, etc.), and now I know that muffins without eggs are fine too.
I’ve found that trips to the store for just one thing usually end up being more expensive than I planned, because I invariably see other things while I’m there. So if I can eliminate a trip to the store just to pick up eggs or whatever recipe item I’m missing, I figure I’m ahead of the game. Using up something I already have on hand is faster, easier, and cheaper. And those muffins were darn good.
My husband is building a greenhouse. Our hydroponic garden is doing so well that he was inspired to increase our growing capacity by making our outdoor garden a year-round venture. We got a book called Solar Gardening from the library, and he used it as a guide for the small greenhouse he’s building over our existing garden. It’s a very simple structure, and although I haven’t added up all the Home Depot receipts yet, I doubt it’s cost more than $200.
Our outdoor garden is about four feet wide and 14 feet long. Our greenhouse is just an A-frame structure made of 2x4s held together with metal brackets, screws, and gorilla glue. Each end has a triangle-shaped wall made from plywood that we found for a few dollars in Home Depot’s cull bin, and lined with foam insulation. The best part of the whole thing is the glass. We paid $100 for four double paned glass doors at our local Habitat for Humanity thrift store. The wooden structure for the greenhouse is nearly finished. Once it’s in place, the doors will simply rest on the beams of the structure, with two doors lying end-to-end on each side of the center “roof” beam (picture a child’s tent made of a sheet hung over a clothesline – the 2x4s are the clothesline and A-frame, and the doors are the sheet). I love buying stuff from Habitat, because the money goes to a worthy cause, while allowing us to get super-cheap building materials. In this case, $100 wouldn’t have gone far if we’d been buying brand new double-paned glass and framing materials. The doors came with built in frames, and even have handles that will allow us to easily swing them down to get at the plants inside the greenhouse.
We started some cold-tolerant plants in our hydroponic sprouting container a few days ago, and we’ll be transplanting them into the outdoor garden once they’re big enough (our hydroponic garden is filled to capacity at the moment, and we’re harvesting from it every day). We’re excited to see if we can keep both gardens producing all winter, and be able to grow a good chunk of our own produce at home. We’ll keep buying inexpensive things like carrots and onions, and things that grow on trees like apples and avocados. But we should be able to grow all of our own greens (and we go through a ton of greens), tomatoes, peppers, peas, herbs, etc. Usually by this time of year I’m feeling a bit sad that the garden season is coming to a close. But this year, we’re just getting started. Bring it on, winter!
It’s been a good long while since I hosted the Festival of Frugality, so I’m thrilled to be doing it again. There were a lot of quality submissions, and I’ve had fun reading through them. Happy reading, and may you be inspired to new frugal heights.
SOME OF MY FAVORITE POSTS:
Jennifer from Saving Advice has a list of ten things that money can’t buy. And they’re all things that most of us want, if we’re really honest with ourselves. I’d rather have a happy, well adjusted kid than one who owns the latest video games and gets dropped off at soccer practice in a Lexus. In Jennifer’s words “We talk a lot about money: How to get it, how to spend it, where to spend it, and how to save it. For all the time we devote to talking about, worrying about, and dealing with money, you’d think it was the most important thing in the world. If the time spent obsessing about money truly equated to its worth, then there would be nothing that you couldn’t do or have without money. Money would be the only thing that mattered. But is money really as valuable as our obsession level leads us to believe? ”
Grey from Frugal Fu is challenging us to pay it forward. We’ve all been on the receiving end of kindness. And while it’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of life, this post is a great reminder that money is not what matters most.
Jacob from Early Retirement Extreme is moving into an RV, which will drastically cut monthly expenses. He and his wife will be saving 85% of their after-tax pay. Inspiration for anyone looking to make changes to a simpler, less expensive life.
Jaime from Cheap Healthy Good has a great post about easy, inexpensive meals for one. I love the idea of checking with beet sellers at a farmers market to see if they have beet greens that other shoppers didn’t want. (Beet greens often find their way into our green smoothies, and free is always good). It sounds like Jamie cooks like I do – few recipes, no measuring, lots of throwing together whatever is in season/in the kitchen.
Miss Thrifty has a post – complete with pictures – about her Thriftymobile. To me, this is the epitome of frugality. If you have something that’s working just fine, make it last. And from the looks of that odometer, the thriftymobile should keep on trucking for a good long while.
Colin from The Truth About Credit Cards tells how you can stop getting credit card offers in the mail. I’m slowly reducing the amount of junk mail we get, including credit card offers and those annoying “convenience checks.” I’ve taken some of the steps Colin describes, but I still have a long way to go. Especially when it comes to business-related offers that we get. We made our home office paperless a year or so ago, but every day when I pick up the mail, I’m inundated with another stack of paper. It’s frustrating, but every time I get something switched to email, or removed all together, I feel good. Must persevere.
TAXES
Andy from Saving To Invest has a guest post from a professional tax advisor about tax deductions you might not know about. As always, consult your own professional if in doubt, but you can get some good ideas here, and tax deductions are always a good thing.
Robert from Wandering Tax Pro writes about the demutualization of insurance companies, and how it impacts your taxes (and of course it involves another tax form).
RECESSION
The Upside Trader writes about how the bail out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is likely to impact the stock market.
Uncommon Advice shares an article about how repossessions are not just for the subprime borrowers in the UK. Looks like even those with solid credit are feeling the pinch.
Money Ning writes about the new unemployment figures (6.1% – gulp!) and how to prepare yourself for the possibility of unemeployment (hint: that ever-present emergency fund is part of the strategy), while also working to protect your job.
FOOD
Aryn from Sound Money Matters writes about planning ahead for Thanksgiving travel and party plans. It’s pretty much a given that if you wait until the last minute, you’ll pay more for airfare, and probably feel more stressed out about the whole thing. If you’re hosting the party, planning ahead allows you to shop and prepare early, so that you get to enjoy the holiday season rather than feel frazzled. Did I seriously just write “holiday season” – and it’s only the second week of September?
Cash Money Life writes about ways to save money in the kitchen. Lots of good ideas here – and they’ll also keep you healthier than hitting the drive thru every night.
NtJS from Not the Jet Set writes about how he makes a pb&j every day at work, and brings some leftovers to round out his meal. A coworker invited him to go out for $6 lunches daily, but he noted that it would cost $120/month. Money that could be used to go out to lunch every day, or to sent the baby to college someday. I’m squarely in NtJS’s camp here.
Be This Way from Are You Going To Be This Way The Rest Of The Time I Know You? has a heartwarming post about imperfect pancakes. They may not look like something from a Martha Stewart cookbook, but they tasted great, and that’s really all that matters (and they were a lot cheaper than breakfast at IHOP)
Kate from A Simple Walk writes about how sticking to a master menu keeps food frugal, simple, and stress-free.
Value For Your Life has some wonderful-sounding meal ideas that you can whip up instead of going out to eat. Cooking at home gives you more control over what’s in your food, costs less, and is a great opportunity to get the family together in the kitchen. Now I think I’m going to have to go get some nachos so that I can make a big tray of baked nachos…
Megan from Counting My Pennies shares some of her grocery tactics. She was over budget for the month, so she just skipped the grocery store. And she’s not going to starve. She’s just going to make do with what she already has.
Dave from Cheapo Groovo has a post about cheapo food. Lots of tips on how to reduce your grocery bill and get more bang for your buck.
The Happy Rock is going to be only buying ingredients this month. Nothing prepared, nothing processed. Just whole ingredients to cook at home into from-scratch meals. This is an idea that I could really get behind. I imagine there will be lots of wonderful meals around the happy rock household this month.
The Smarter Wallet writes about how you can eat out and not spend a fortune. Since we frugalites tend to be all about cooking at home, it’s good to get a reminder that eating out doesn’t have to break the bank. You just have to do it right.
STUDENT LIFE
Richard from Student Scrooge shares some ideas about travel discounts for students. If you’re a student and you want or need to travel, you’ll find some good stuff here.
At Mrs. Nespy’s Frugal World, get some ideas for how to live on a shoestring as a college student. I still have the sticker on my cruiser bike that I got in the fall of 1994 when I registered it at my college. That was the only college-mobile I had, and it sure was cheaper than a car.
Broke Grad Student provides a ‘what not to do’ list with stupid ways college students waste money. And a lot of these things still apply even after you have that diploma in hand.
SHOPPING
VH from Funny About Money writes about the ins and outs of Ikea. I’ve never been to an Ikea – I’m not sure if there are any around here; I’ve never seen one if there is. I gotta vote for used when it comes to furniture. Pretty much everything we have is used, and our house still manages to look pretty good (it doesn’t resemble a college apartment, so I suppose we’re on the right track). We do have one couch that we got at a big box furniture store when we moved into our house in 2003. It’s microfiber, and I love how easy it is to clean. Red wine, baby spit up, dog slobber – they all wipe right off. We paid $450 for it, and it still looks almost new – I expect it will still be in our living room ten years from now.
Money Beagle shares about some great deals at the outlet mall.
Ryan from Uncommon Cents has sorted through the Costco coupon book and found the best deals. I love Costco, but unfortunately the stuff we buy there is rarely in their coupon book. But I always look, just in case.
Four Pillars writes about how quality is sometimes an illusion. Yes, it pays to buy quality stuff, but just because something is more expensive doesn’t mean that it’s always better quality.
Living Almost Large writes about how a sale isn’t always a deal. I agree completely. Junk food is a great example – it may be on sale, but it’s still bad for you. And if you buy something just because it’s on sale, but you don’t need it or wouldn’t have bought it if it were full price, it’s not a deal.
SAVING THE EARTH (AND YOUR BUDGET)
David from My Two Dollars shares an email from a reader about how unplugging stuff when you’re not using it really does make a huge difference in electricity usage. I’m amazed by the savings his reader experienced – I’ve been making a big effort to unplug stuff when I’m not using it, but I’m going to work even harder at it now.
Daily Money Hack also writes about how to avoid paying for phantom electricity usage, and includes tips on how to tell if a device is drawing power even when it’s turned off. If it is – unplug it!
INVESTING, BANKING, & MORTGAGES
Retire Happy from My Retirement Blog writes about finding the cheapest effective funds. The key? – look for index funds and low fees.
Jim from Blueprint For Financial Prosperity gives some advice on how to prepare for online bank access failures. A 21st century twist on the idea of not putting all your eggs in one basket. We have online accounts with ING, but we also have money at a bank about a 20 minute bike ride from our house. The online funds are for mid-range savings goals (things we’ll need in two – five years) and the emergency fund. For the money we need on a day-to-day basis, we use an old-school bank.
Tracy from The Fraud Files Blog writes about how United First Financial isn’t worth the $3500 it costs. This post rang very true for me. Six years ago, my husband and I shelled out $2500 for a similar program from another company (I think it was called Smart Save). We took forever to sign up, and the mortgage guy kept lowering the points on our mortgage to entice us, so in the end it didn’t cost us that much. But as we’ve gotten older and wiser, we’ve often laughed about what a crock it was. We pay extra on our mortgage every month, and we don’t need a high-priced “plan” to tell us how to do it. You live and learn.
Greg from Blood Hound Blog writes about real estate agent commissions only benefit the agent, and about how we can raise awareness and bring about reform in the real estate industry. If you’re looking at buying or selling a house, don’t miss this one.
HOUSING
FIRE Finance explains how you can live rent free as a caretaker, including information about where you can find caretaker jobs. I’ve known people who retired and took their motor homes around the country, working as campground hosts in exchange for a free campground spot. Some of the hosting jobs involved little more than greeting new arrivals to the campground, while others included a Cinderella-style chore list of bathroom maintenance and litter removal.
Squawkfox has a convenient first apartment checklist. Great for students, and anyone who’s moving out on their own for the first time. Could also be a useful guide for someone looking to downsize and get rid of a bunch of superfluous junk.
Christine from Chicago Cheapsite has some insider tips on how to move to Chicago.
CARS
Silicon Valley Blogger from The Digerati Life writes about the sweet deal they just got on a new-to-them Volvo sports wagon.
Steve from Super Gas Saver writes about brewing your own biodiesel, and says “Here’s the ultimate way to save on your fuel bill; brew your own. Biodiesel, that is! You can cook up your own biodiesel for less than $1.00 a gallon, if you’re of a mind to. Only the intrepid few should probably take this route to fuel savings however. Are you one of them?” Pretty sweet – especially if you’re driving a gas-guzzler.
The Sojourner writes about how renting a car saves her family money. She’s done the math, and a fuel-efficient rental is less expensive than driving her own van on long trips. Plus, she gets a more reliable car for the weekend.
Kevin from No Debt Plan shares about the changes he made to his auto insurance policy. I think this is a great idea. More overall coverage, higher deductible, lower premium. Makes sense to me. We’re in the process of adding a liability umbrella to our home and auto insurance, and we currently have the highest deductible we can get on our home insurance. I’m all about high deductibles and high coverage limits.
HEALTH
Ryan from Debt Reduction Formula writes about how frugality can kill if you take it to an extreme with food. I agree wholeheartedly (and whole-grain-edly… sorry). I shop only at thrift stores, ride my bike everywhere, haven’t been to the movies in at least three years… I’m pretty darn frugal. But food is my one exception. I always look for bargains and sales, but only on whole, organic foods that are as close to the way they came out of the ground as possible.
Nickel from Five Cent Nickel gives some great tips for saving money on prescription drugs. With ever-increasing copays and prescription prices, it pays to put in some effort here.
Randy from Fiscal Zen writes about how you can save hundreds on your next pair of glasses. A little DIY spirit and some shopping around online can get you some pretty deep discounts on specs. I should probably look into this, since I haven’t been to the eye doc since 2001… (I hardly ever wear my glasses, but still, seven years might be time for a checkup)
Greener Pastures also has a post about buying eyeglasses online. Seems like this is the bargain-hunter’s trick for glasses.
Joy from Happy To Be At Home writes about how her family has dropped their traditional health insurance and joined Samaritan Ministries.
CREDIT CARDS
Michael from Debt Smackdown explains why you should think twice before you cancel a credit card. Cut it up, yes. But you might want to keep the account open for credit score purposes.
Sandy from Future Nest Egg writes about credit card tricks. It pays to understand exactly how credit cards work (including how they suck people in), in order to be able to beat them at their own game.
Shadox from Money and Such writes about rewards cards, and whether cash back or airline miles is a better option. I’m a fan of cash back, although our loot doesn’t even come close to $853 in a year (wow!)
Hank from MiB Smarter Money has figured out how to get around Costco’s restriction on using credit cards. Buy Costco gift cards online, then cash them out at the store. Sounds crazy, but apparently it’s working. Seems that the gift cards can be bought with your rewards card. and of course I hear about this now, after we finally got the Costco AmEx card…
KIDS
Thursday Bram from Wise Bread shares some frugal tips for the start of another school year. Brown bag lunches, volunteering instead of coughing up money, and sharing child-care with other parents will all help make the school year less of a budget buster.
Free Money Finance gives lots of good ideas about how to save money on your kids sports. Sheesh – $2000/year on sports-related expenses? No wonder the parents are stressed out at their kids’ games!
FRUGAL LIVING
Pinyo from Moolanomy has a post about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and frugality, and makes the observation that “by overspending money on “wants” and not addressing your physiological and safety needs, you could jeopardize the fulfillment of love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization needs.”
Redd from Distilled Rose Personal Finance has a list of frugal tips to get you headed in the right direction.
Mother Hen is taking the challenge to not spend money for 30 days. If you’re looking for motivation to curb the spending bug, join her in the challenge.
Retired At 47 shares how Quicken can make you frugal. I was still keeping track of our finances, both personal and business, with a pen and paper until about two years ago. But I’m reformed now.
How To Me has a great post about making drawstring storage sacks from old pillowcases. When I was a kid, we called these “ditty bags” and used them to hold our little plastic army men and Lincoln Logs. I envision a lot of them in my future as our little guy gets older…
At Debtopedia, you’ll find an article about how to build habits that will create the discipline you need to spend less, and get out of debt (or keep from going into debt in the first place).
GLBL Guy from Gather Little By Little writes about creating personal budget categories. If you sit down with your spending reports to make categories, and end up with $1500 in the “misc” category, this post is for you.
Cathryn from Money To Spare does the math to figure out what your time is worth, and whether a frugal endeavor is worth it or not. A lot of “convenience” items end up costing dramatically more and only saving a small amount of time. So before you reach for the pre-chopped onions or pre-washed salad mix, check and see what the unchopped and unwashed versions cost. You might be able to save a lot of money by spending a few extra minutes.
Amy from the Q family adventure has 13 painless ways to save $100. I’m impressed that they saved $1000 by reapplying for life insurance. That’s huge!
Glowing Face Man writes about avoiding the trap of justifying excess spending after a windfall. Better to budget a little splurge and then forget about the windfall and carry on as you were.
Monroe On A Budget has a post about condolences on a budget. Very thoughtful – if there was ever a situation when it really is the thought that counts, it’s a funeral. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to show you care. And Paula, I’m so sorry for your losses.
J. Money from Budgets Are Sexy has a post about standing up for yourself, and how you never know when money will just show up. He and his wife helped his mom stand up to a nursing home to the tune of $75 grand!
OTHER STUFF
Destiny from Freebeez and Dealz writes about how to get free make-up samples. If you like make-up and free things, check it out.
Free Wi-fi is getting to be more and more common these days. Hustler Money shares a pretty good list of places that have free wi-fi access. My husband and I occasionally take the laptop with us when we’re going to be out for the day, and then hit a lunch spot with wi-fi to catch up on work.
KC Lau has written a post about writing an ebook – the hows and whys. And you can get an ebook that tells you how to go about writing your own ebook, for the bargain price of $2.95. All you writers out there, take heed.
Love Lust & Life shares her financial history in Bad Credit Blues, including the mistakes she made along the way and what she’s learned about money.
Wenchypoo writes about preparing for an emergency without breaking the bank. Originally posted in 2005, but still pertinent today.
Karen from Living Well On Less has an article about how to protect your frozen assets in a power outage. Our freezer is jam-packed with frozen berries from Costco – it would be a red and purple mess if we lost power for a long time!
AND FROM THE FRUGAL BLOG NETWORK
Andy from Tight Fisted Miser ponders the question of how much you should save for retirement. His time frame is shorter than most (he’s 41 and wants to retire by 50), but his savings percentage is pretty impressive.
Not Made Of Money reminds us that it’s not too early to start saving for Christmas. A little planning ahead helps to make the holidays merry rather than stressful. And it’s nice to have the money in the bank ahead of time, rather than getting a bunch of bills in the mail in January.
Kelly from Almost Frugal gives step-by-step directions for cutting a little boy’s hair (and uses her super-cute little boy as a model). I’m quite impressed with the result. I cut my husband’s hair, but I use an electric clippers and buzz his whole head very short, and then do it again a few weeks later. Not quite as skillful…
Frugal Zeitgeist writes about some of the things that really do make sense to buy in bulk, and stock up on when they’re on sale (things that won’t expire in your cupboard and end up getting tossed).
Have a wonderful week, and be sure to check out Living Almost Large next week for the 143rd Festival.
We’re thinking about adding an umbrella liability policy to our homeowners/auto insurance policy. I talked with our agent about it, and it would cost $216/year to add a $1 million umbrella to our coverage. We’ve talked about it for ages, but keep forgetting to do anything about it. I emailed our agent with a few questions, but I think we’re going to go ahead and do it when he gets back to us. We’re currently paying a total of $1297 a year for our homeowners policy and our car insurance for both vehicles. I feel like $216/year is a good deal for the amount of coverage we would be getting, although I know that the chances of ever needing that sort of coverage are slim (our homeowners policy already has $300,000 in liability coverage). But then again, lawsuits are not pretty things, and I’d much rather have an insurance company taking care of the mess if there should ever be one.
Any thoughts? Do you pay extra for a liability umbrella on your insurance policy? For those who do, does $216/year sound like a good price for a $1 million policy?
A patron at our library gave me the idea to mix watermelon and tomatoes in a salad. Sounds odd, but tastes fantastic. I added a few other ingredients, and we loved how it turned out, so I thought I’d share. And if your garden has tomatoes, basil, and watermelon, this will be a very inexpensive salad. It only takes a few minutes to come together. Just mix everything together and enjoy:
- equal parts tomatoes and watermelon, chopped
- fresh basil, chopped (I used 7 leaves for a salad to feed two people – use as much as you like)
- a small amount of goat cheese, feta, or soft mozzarella
- a few drops of balsamic vinegarette
If you’re eating vegan, just leave out the cheese – the other flavors will still be great together. I used basil from our hydroponic garden, and tomatoes from our outdoor garden. This salad is perfect for those end of summer days when the weather is still warm, and the garden is producing all sorts of wonderful things.
