Squash the Collector Bug: It is Time to Break Free!

A short while ago, I helped my friend Jane move her things to a more convenient apartment. I knew she loved chickens and I had noticed a few when I had visited her. Now that we were actually packing up, hens and roosters were everywhere. We began to count late into the game and came up with more than 300 in her tiny house.

She lived on a fixed income, and she said some of them had been given to her as gifts through the years. She was having a hard time letting go of each one. She needed money and some of those chickens could have been sold to supply her needs for medicine and food. Many of them would be valuable to someone.

I, too, have collected. My collection is packed in a box for 10 years waiting for a dust free shelf to be designed with just the right shelving and lighting. Hundreds of dollars of demitasse cups are enshrined in tissue, and I scrape by now trying to meet the challenges of our family. I am holding on so one day I will enjoy them. What I have had to consider is, am I able to let them go?

In some ways, these cups weigh me down. I force my family to tote them around from storage to storage. We rarely enjoy their beauty. One might think, "These are an investment! What investment were Jane's chickens? She held on to these porcelain gods to the very end to see them donated or given away to friends. In a sense, it is pouring our money into a shrine of pieces for gazing each day. In thinking about freedom from this enslavement, I came up with a few ways to help to break free from the collector bug.

First, break free by avoiding the places where get your stuff. You know that you will be drawn into spending, so consciously fill that time with another activity. Sitting and stewing on the couch is not recommended because you may find yourself down at the local flea market or online with sellers due to the thought that you may be missing something really great.

Second, pare down your collection to a few items. Take time to select a certain number of the best pieces and arrange to have them in a display so they are readily noticed by those visiting you. Jane could have kept 10 of her most prized fowls displayed in a manner that was noticed by all who came.

Third, sell the other pieces. Have someone else do the transaction if it is too emotional for you.

Last, enjoy freedom and spend your saved money where it will best benefit you. You will find a simpler life uncluttered may be taking something that was a lead weight and making it into a stepping stone to financial ease. It is just what the collector bug needed to get him out of your life.

Planning a July 4 Party:How to Create Memories on a Budget

Party invitations, decorations, entertainment, and food are all
essential to a traditional Independence Day celebration. While visions
of stationery stores, caterers, and a band come to mind, the sound
ka-ching resonates through them all. Fortunately you can have a great
time with friends and family while spending much less than you imagine.
Here are some ideas to get you started:

Invitations
1. Record yourself and maybe a friend or two, singing an off-key
made-up tune inviting your friends. If you aren't opera star material,
and you don't mind laughing at yourself, this will make the invitation
all the more fun. Send these audio clips out in emails, sort of a
singing telegram in cyberspace.

2. Use your color printer to print the invitation, roll it up with the
print side out, and slide it into a clear water bottle. Size the paper
so it will release and become readable one it's inside. Tighten down
the lid, fix a stick label to the bottle and send it through the mail.
Make a sample and take it to the post office so you can get the proper
postage for these and mail one to yourself so you can see how long it
will take to arrive.

3. Video yourself with a webcam and post the clip to YouTube with a
private setting. Send your friends the YouTube link or Embed the video
into a web page invitation if you are computer savvy.

Decorations:
1. Dig through your Christmas and Valentine's Day decorations for
generic red or white items. Add some blue items from the thrift store
or dollar store and you're there.

2. Check the Dollar Tree. They have seasonal decorations at amazing
prices.

3. Check thrift stores for vases and other items that you can spray
with a $1 can of paint. For example, spray the item white and stick on
stars in red and blue.

Entertainment:
1. A boom box and a stack of your favorite CDs. Or borrow some CDs from
a friend who is a connoisseur.

2. Give a student experience at playing for a live audience. At 15-25,
whether the first chair at a recital or a master's student, students
need places to play and the fee would be minimal compared to a
professional.

3. Barter with a friend who plays. If she'll play for your party and
you'll help set up for hers.

Food
1. Spend time creating a beautiful table arrangement with items you
have or from the list above, then keep the food simple: veggie trays,
cheese and crackers, chips and dip.

2. Ask key people to bring their best dish. "I love your cheesecake,
Aunt Jo. Would you mind bringing one to the party?" Just 2-3 of these
contributions can make all the difference. And Aunt Jo will be
flattered, too.

3. Eliminate alcohol, lightly spike the punch, or make the event BYOB.

4. Watch coupons and sales. Combine the 2 and catch great deals. Begin
in April and save those jars of dip and cans of nuts for your party.

With a little imagination you can host a party and hardly feel it in
your pocketbook. After all, the memories comes from the jokes, the
laughs, the fun. And those are all free.

For more than 40 pages of ideas, check out "Summer Party Ideas and Plans Collection" by party experts Phyllis Cambria and Patty Sachs here.

How to Highlight Your Hair for Under $10

An old wive’s tale says when you have undergone anesthesia several times, your hair will turn gray at a younger age. I never believed that one, yet it seemed to happen to me. I kept telling myself I wasn’t ready to look like a grandmother, so coloring became a part of my life for several years.

After entering the helping profession, something within me changed. Gray hair spoke of life experience and brought respect. So, I spent several months growing out the color. During that transition, I had my hair colored to match my natural gray, and each time it faded. Now I had raccoon stripes.

Finally my perseverance paid off, and I made it back to the natural woman I was wanted to be. Unfortunately, I did not like it. I had turned much grayer than I had realized. So, I thought of highlighting. Maybe some strands of blond would freshen my appearance.

Being the penny pincher I am, I wanted to make this change without spending a lot. I looked up the local beauty supply shop and found a highlighting cap was only $1.25 including the instrument to pull the hair through. (Plan to get someone to help you with it. You cannot see well enough to reach the back.)

Next, I searched out a color touch up kit. These do not contain as much solution as a full color treatment and tend to cost significantly less. My color was under $5.00.

I used a shade lighter than my natural shade. My husband helped me with the back. When it was fully dried, I peeked in the mirror. I love it! Best of all, it cost just $6.25.

For those of you who have never attempted to do a home color treatment, venture out. You may surprise yourself at how easy it is to put in a few highlights. Just be sure to follow the instructions on your color package.

You could have a new summer look for under ten dollars!

How High is Your Money Radar?

It’s amazing how your decisions can be shaped by your “money radar”! My radar comes alive when I know that I have a small cushion in my bank account. It could be $50 or $1500 or even $10,000. When I reach my “money radar” limit, I visit the local super store or surf the web for deals.

This “cushion season” is not the time to visit the local home improvement store if you consider yourself handy, or the craft shop if you are feeling creative. For you, it may be lingering too long on the home shopping network or surfing the internet for better deals.

I know my money radar has hit interference when I am headed out the door with a cart load of things I talked myself into purchasing. On the drive home, my cushion is quickly replaced with guilt over all my purchases. (Could this be why the return isle at the local store is so long?)

It’s time to turn up your radar to at least 3 times your monthly budget and leave it alone. If you are blessed with a cushion, protect it. You have worked too hard to see it dwindle away.

When your money radar comes alive and you finding yourself drawn to spend, think about things that will bring true contentment: a walk down in the fresh air, a visit with someone who needs your time, or diving into a (no spend) project you have been meaning to tackle like cleaning out your closet.

Experts say everyone should keep on hand at least 3-6 times their monthly budget in case of illness or job loss. This is especially true today. While low savings account interest rates may have discouraged you in the past, remember the interest income is not the greatest reason for saving. Your family’s security is.

Set your money radar dial at its highest level and stay the course. The airways are filled with the temptations to give away your nest egg, but keep your focus. Building that bank account cushion is the one thing that will lead you on to financial peace and freedom.

Laundry Day Instead of Every Day

In my clearest memory of my grandmother, she was washing laundry was on her back patio in a large tub-like contraption with two rollers at the top. My mother tells me those white monsters washed everything amazingly clean. It was wash, wring, rinse, wring, and rinse and wring again. She heated water on the stove for the whites and scrubbed tub after tub of clothes hour after hour.

She quickly hung the dripping garments out to dry, folded them, and put them away all on the same day. Yes, that was the Dark Ages. But what can we draw from those memories? Actually, I get tired just thinking about the whole process, but I am wondering if there isn’t a lesson in frugality in the midst of that dinosaur technology.

What about the concept of having a fixed laundry day? When the loads are fuller, there will be less loads to wash. The clothes are sorted better with the larger amounts, and the dryer never cools down. Better yet, hanging clothing out to dry on a breezy, summer day could save you up to $.50 per load. That’s not only frugal, that’s green, too.

Get the family involved. Setting a laundry day will bring renewed discipline in how kids dress. If they are involved in sorting, folding, and hanging out they may think twice before donning that second or third outfit of the day. They may also realize that some things can be worn twice before pitching clean clothes into the hamper.

Laundry day…imagine what it could save you!

Frugal Living: Define your Wants and Needs to Balance Your Budget

We’ve heard it all our lives: there’s a difference between what you need and what you want. Have you stopped to think about the real-life difference between wants and needs for you today?

Let’s think about that need-want equation in different facets of our lives:

1. Food. Everyone knows food is a necessity. However, within that category you have a lot of leeway. Yes, you need 3 meals per day, and you need good nutrition. But does that mean grilling steaks instead of hamburgers or noshing on elegant chips and gourmet dip in front of the TV? What do you really need to be satisfied and healthy?

2. Clothing. Are you shopping because your last pair of jeans are coming apart at the seams or because you’d love to have a new top for the weekend—even if you have a coupon?

3. Utilities. We all need electric, water, and (some of us) gas. Do we truly need as much energy as we use?

4. Telephone. Communication is essential today. Our kids need cell phones with them at all times in case some crazy at school or the mall causes a crisis. Or they could have a car break down on a lonely street in a seedy part of town. But if everyone in the family has a cell phone, do you really need a landline phone? Many people are eliminating their landline and saving hundreds of dollars in phone charges, long distance carriers, and taxes.

5. Cars. How many do you truly need? And do you need the latest model or can you trade that newer car in for an older model and eliminate a payment plus lower your insurance premium?

6. TV. With all the free movie and TV series sites on the web today, do you really need that cable or satellite service? Yes, you’d have to change your habits but what would you really lose? You’d have to give up a lot of commercials, that’s for sure. Why pay $50-$100 each month for something you can see for free?

7. Internet service. Do you have more download/upload power than you truly need? If you are in business, sure you need to be online in a big way, but what if you’re not? Or maybe you can cancel the $75
satellite bill in favor of a $30 DSL connection. That makes sense. But having both? Maybe not.

8. Grooming Products. If you have allergies, you may need a $5 bar of soap or $7 bottle of body wash. But what if you’re not allergic? And how many bottles of lotion does it take to keep your skin soft? Generally a single bottle from the dollar store lasts about 6 months—for $1. Total up the cost of the body products in
your bathroom and compare. Which of those do you really need?

9. Eating out. Do you need to go out every weekend? Or call for take-out on a regular basis? Instead, how about inviting friends over with everyone bringing food along? The cost would be the same as eating
at home but you get to share and have fun too.

10. Toys. Do we need to say more? If you want to replace the basketball hoop so you can shoot baskets with your 10 year old, great. But a $60 video game?

Does Your Debit Card Affect Your Budget?

Debit cards are a common facet of American life. They are so convenient and preferred by retailers over checks. Many people never carry cash because their debit card is readily available. But how much is that tiny piece of plastic actually costing you?

Banking institutions earn at least 20% of their non-interest earnings from debit card charges. Using the card at an ATM can cost up to $2.50 per transaction. Some banks charge a quarter per transaction at the register as well. That seems like a small thing but even $5.00 in charges per month becomes $60 per year. How many tanks of gas are going to your bank instead of in your tank?

Pulling out plastic offers you a disconnection from parting with your hard-earned cash. That makes it easier for you to spend more when you’re paying via debit card. Try it sometime. Pay with your debit card then make a second purchase soon afterwards with cash. You’ll notice a much deeper feeling when those greenbacks leave your hand.

It’s a known banking statistic that debit cardholder are ideal “cross-sales” candidates, especially for loans. So, holding a debit card opens you up to more telemarketers and more junk mail. Each contact by these sales people ups your chances of falling for an offer that you really don’t need.

Debit card purchases open you up for overdrafts and can cost you hundreds of dollars in a single month. Paying with cash eliminates any danger of overdrafts, so when the bank account is low, hand over the bills instead of swiping the card.

Withdrawing cash for your food and gas budget can save you hundreds per month.

Your Financial Thermometer: What's in Your Wallet?

How you carry your cash is a great indicator of your attitude toward money. If you want to change your financial picture, a good place to start is your core relationship to the paper you carry around with you. Logically, you may think, "I want to be affluent and enjoy the finer things of life," while inside something may be whispering, "Money is bad. It causes trouble," or "You don't deserve it." How you treat your cash can reveal your true core feelings toward money.

Which of these are you?

Diane Disarray: Be careful when you look into Diane's purse. You might think C-4 had exploded. She's the one we get impatient with at the cash register. When it is time to pay, she digs around in her "bottomless pit" pulling out wads of paper, laughing and telling the clerk she hopes she has enough cash because she does not want to write a check.

Hoarding Harry: Harry's wallet is arranged by amount, newness of bill, and year printed. He carries large amounts of cash for emergencies, but in actuality he won't turn loose of any of it. You would think he is the penny pinching dream, but he has forgotten that money is just a tool. If you are counting on Harry to donate to a family who just lost their home to a fire, don't hold your breath!

Carefree Carl: His cash is peeking out from all sides of his wallet. He's never sure how much he has. He only knows that today he has to spend some somewhere. Perhaps a lotto ticket would be just the thing or a tool he can throw into his stash. Sure, he has to buy gas for the week. For now, he just wants to live for the moment because this cold hard cash feels hot in his pocket!

Balanced Bette: Bette has her coins and cash separated. She knows the amount of money on hand and keeps it for weekly needs. She knows that expenses often come up or that she may need something extra special for dinner tonight. When a situation arises, her first thought is how that will affect her budget. She knows that life can change on a dime and she needs to be ready to weigh the cost with the benefit. She does have an envelope in her sock drawer where she sets aside money to go crazy on vacation. That at least gives her the illusion of spontaneity.

Go ahead. Open your wallet and take a look. Would your spouse be happy if you treated him or her the way you're treating your cash? Take a moment to smooth out the bills, organize them by amount and count your change. Remember, money is a tool. Any craftsman knows, you need to treat your tools with respect if you want them to work for you.

How Much is Your Job Costing You?

When we thing about working, we generally focus on the hours we work per week and the total paycheck. While it's true that getting the most pay for your hard work is critical, there are other aspects to consider when thinking about the value of your job.

While employment brings you income, but it costs you as well. If you are on track with living a simpler, healthier, greener lifestyle, you need to consider all drains on your budget including this one.

Here are 5 ways your job may be costing you:

1. Commute expenses.

A. How much gas are you when you travel to work? Figure out your average gas mileage:

1) The day before your work week begins, fill your car with gas and jot down the mileage reading on your odometer.

2) Get the accurate distance of your drive, not your estimate but the mileage from your odometer. Jot down the mileage when you leave home and the mileage when you park in the lot then subtract them. Or use your vacation mileage counter, if you have one.

3) When the tank is low, fill the tank again. Note down the number of gallons you've used and the miles you've driven.

4) Divide the miles by the number of gallons. For example, if you have driven 355 miles and used 10 gallons of gas, you would divide 355 by 10. Your miles per gallon would be 35.5.

5) Take your distance to work from #3, multiply by 2 to get the to-and-from amount. Then multiply by the number of days you work per month. For example, if you drive 5 miles to work, then your to-and-from distance is 10 miles per day. If you work 20 days per month, you drive a total of 200 miles per month.

6) Multiply the miles per month by your gas mileage. In this case 200 miles times 35.5 miles per gallon equals 5.63 gallons per month.

7) With gas at $2.00 per gallon, your total gas allowance for your job is $11.26 per month.

B. Do you own your car because of this job? If so, add your car payments, insurance, and maintenance costs per month. Even stops at the car wash should be included. The average older car costs about $1200 per year in repairs, so add $100 per month for repairs as well, if your car is more than 5 years old.

2. Does your closet contain clothes you consider your work clothes? If so, how much does it cost to maintain your wardrobe. For example, bank tellers and clerks at upscale clothing stores are expected to look classy on a very un-classy paycheck. How much is your work wardrobe worth? And how much does it take to maintain it?

3. Do you pay for daycare or after-school care? Be sure to add those expenses to your list along with special food, diapers, or other materials these services require.

4. What about the fatigue factor? Do you stop for fast food or call out for pizza because you are so tired you can't face the kitchen routine? Mark those charges on your kitchen calendar (Ordered Pizza, $25) and add them up at the end of the month. Add 75% of the total to your monthly work expense list since you would still pay about 25% of the cost when you cook a meal.

Once you have your 4 amounts, think about how you could cut costs in each category. By shopping for consignment items? Paying a student for after-school care instead of a childcare service? Trading in for a more fuel-efficient car?

Don't rule out the possibility of finding a job closer to home or a job with flexible hours so you could avoid childcare expenses. Working at home eliminates the car, wardrobe, and childcare altogether. Even at a greatly reduced income, you may still come out ahead. Is that an option for you?

No matter how large your paycheck seems, what really matters is how much you get to keep.

Creating Tempting Leftovers for “Free” Meals

The greatest saving strategy you can have is to use every scrap of food that comes into your home. The trick is to disguise leftovers as a completely new meal. Here are some ideas for putting leftovers to good use. And while you are at it, consider the advantages of planned leftovers.

1. After each dinner, add leftover vegetables with their juices to one large freezer container. Add any leftover gravy or cooking juices as well. When the container is filled, use it as the foundation for nutritious and tasty vegetable soup...practically free.

2. Leftover mashed potatoes can be used in Shepherd's Pie, Canadian Meat Pie, or in Beef Patties.

3. Leftover gravy can be used in Shepherd's Pie or over Supper Pancakes.

4. Freeze bread heels and stale bread in a bag or freezer container. Blend the frozen bread to use it as bread crumbs or cube the bread for stuffing or bread pudding.

5. Rejuvenate leftover muffins by scooping out the center, filling the cavity with butter or jam and baking at 350° until warmed and the butter is melted. Or cover the warmed muffins with creamed eggs for a breakfast treat.

6. Use leftover oatmeal in Oatmeal Cake or Oatmeal Muffins.

7. Marinate leftover vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower, or even green beans, in Italian dressing and use them as a flavor accent for your salads.

8. Thick stews can be used as filling for pot pies. If your stew isn't thick, add a few potatoes and simmer until it thickens.

9. Add white sauce to any leftover vegetables and heat thoroughly. Add cheese, for more protein.

10. Cook twice as much broccoli, cauliflower, or spinach as you need for a meal. Set aside half the vegetables to appear again in 2 days in a casserole with cheese and crumb topping or in quiche.

11. Leftover pasta or rice can become the crust for quiche or meat pie.

12. Grind leftover ham in a food processor or meat grinder to mix with a small amount of mayonnaise and use as a sandwich spread.

13. Meatloaf is often left over but seldom used. Place ¾" thick slices of meatloaf on a broiler pan. Spread with ketchup and broil for 3-5 minutes. Top with cheese and returned to the broiler until melted.

14. Use leftover coleslaw in soups and stews. Simply place coleslaw in a colander and rinse it under a faucet, then dump the coleslaw into the soup pot.

15. Biscuits can be split, buttered, and toasted under a broiler for 2 minutes. Use these biscuits as a substitute for rice, potatoes, or cornbread in recipes such as Creamed Chicken or Curried Chicken. Or sprinkle on cinnamon sugar for a tasty breakfast.

16. Use leftover pasta or rice in casserole recipes. This would be an excellent way to save time as well.

17. Besides banana bread and other baked goods, brown bananas have many uses: banana milkshake, banana-peanut butter sandwiches, Banana French toast (add mashed banana to milk and egg dip).

18. Leftover cake can be used in many ways. Use your imagination. If you have leftover chocolate cake, make a trifle with chocolate pudding with cherry pie filling for a delicious Black Forest trifle. How about yellow cake and vanilla pudding with peach pie filling and raspberry jam for a Peach Melba flavor?

19. Sour milk should never be poured down the drain. Instead, use it to make baked goods that call for buttermilk such as pancakes, waffles, gingerbread, or cornbread.

These were taken from the chapter "Tempting Leftovers" in the Penny Pinching Meals cookbook.

No Spend Wednesday--A New Trend

What if you refused to spend a penny one day each week? That would mean 4 spend-free days per month. Four iced coffee savings, four fast-food meals saved, four movie tickets saved... Think of your normal spending habits on a given Wednesday, add them up and multiply by 4 weeks in the month. Then multiply that by 12 months in the year. You could save hundreds.

But more than the actual savings you'll enjoy on NoSpend Wednesday, you'll begin to feel the creative juices flow at the challenge of refusing to spend a penny and still meet your family's needs. You'll break some spending habits you didn't know you had. This is the first step to conscious spending and financial freedom for you.

So join us. If you are on twitter, follow us at http://twitter.com/frugalfamilies1 and tweet your NoSpend achievements with hashtag #NoSpendWed We'll connect there. Not on twitter yet? Take the plunge and get your free account. Then click the link above and click Follow.

It doesn't seem so hard to cut your spending just one day per week. Are you in? Put your comments below and tell us how you are managing on No Spend Wednesday.

2009: The Gift of a Healthier, Happier Lifestyle

by Rosey Dow

To the vast majority, the definition of recession is hardship and self-denial. No more impromptu stops for fast food on the way home from work, canceled vacations, and cutbacks on allowances. When we think about those things, it's easy to become depressed.

But let's take a closer look.