7 Random Things About Myself

September 30, 2007 · Filed Under · 14 Comments 

I Love Fruity PebblesCool…I Got Tagged! I have been blogging for a couple months and finally got tagged. A blog I always enjoy reading, JuiceFairy, by a girl living on a budget, tagged me on ’7 Random Things About Myself’. A little intimidating because I don’t want to scare off some readers with my quirks but I will give it a try and then tag 7 other blogs that I would like to know more about!

 

  1. I don’t like potlucks. This is a weird one I know, and I take some gruff from my wife, but I like to kn0w who is cooking the food I am eating. Not big on random food.
  2. In college I would cut my own hair. Yep, give me a mirror, some scissors, and some trimmers and I was good to go. Amazing I ever had a date!
  3. I am a HUGE fan of the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers, particularly the football team. My Dad went to school there and we still have a lot of family in Nebraska. Go BIG RED! And yes, I do have a Cornhead, thanks Brendan!
  4. My clothes all hang the same direction. I am a neat freak, especially with my clothes. The hangers all hang the same way and my clothes all get folded a very particular way.
  5. I love The Discovery Channel. Mike Rowe from ‘Dirty Jobs’ is pure entertainment for me. Same with Jaime and Adam from Mythbusters. Shark Week….fo’get about it. I could sit and watch for hours if I could sit and watch for hours, if you know what I mean. Parents out there no what I mean.
  6. I really, really like Fruity Pebbles. I try not to buy them because an entire box will be gone after 2 mornings. I will even eat them at night for dessert. Barney and Fred…you are killing me with these things.
  7. I was really involved in 4-H. I raised market lambs and took them to 3 different county fairs every year. I did this until I was a senior in high school! Nothing pulls the chicks like white jeans, a white dress shirt, and a green tie and hat.

O.K. that was only slightly humiliating. Now to the fun part, here are seven blogs that I read all the time and would love to know more about. Looking forward to reading what you have to say!  Tag, your it:

Share

AOL’s “The Cheapest Person I Know” Contest

September 29, 2007 · Filed Under · Comment 

I had a few laughs when I discovered AOL’s “The Cheapest Person I Know” Contest. Some of these folks are frugal to the point of no return. The folks at AOL.com seem to think they are all just REALLY cheap, what do you think? There are a definetely a few I would consider frugal, not cheap. Here are some highlights with my names for all of them included for free…

Penny Pinching

  • The Cherry Picker. Submitted by Anonymous, “While shopping at a roadside fruit stand, I watched my friend Wally remove the stems from the cherries he was buying. I asked him why and he said they would weigh less at checkout. Wally also only allows his turn signals to flash two times because, according to him, the bulbs will last longer!”
  • The Never Say ‘Yes’ Friend. Submitted by Glendale5, “I know someone who … on the way to your house, stops at a store and will call to see if you need something. If you say yes when she gets to your house she will ask you for gas money.”
  • The Resourceful Lady. Submitted by JRZUB, “I had a cheap friend that when she had a run in her panty hose, she would cut the leg off and wear just the top half, so she would have a pair made from two pairs.”
  • The Nasty Tomato Soup Guy. Submitted by JPHUF, “Back in 1969, one employee in my department would have a totally free lunch every day comprising of: many packets of ketchup, salt & pepper, hot water, several packets of saltine crackers, glass of cold water.”
  • The Resourceful Boss. Submitted by Marylindah, “My ex-boss used to water down the Windex bottle and hang up the paper towels to dry and reuse them on the glass.”
  • The “My Feet Smell Like Pepperoni” Guy. Submitted by The Mrs., “My sweet husband is so cheap — when he wears a hole in the sole of his moccasins, he uses the cardboard from a used pizza box to re-sole them! He makes over $100,000 a year too. That is why I love him — he is humble.”
  • The Knock Before Entering Guy. Submitted by civilguy27, “While growing up, my next door neighbor disconnected the light to his doorbell to save on electricity.”
  • The “I Like My Coffee Sweet” Guy. Submitted by IsprayLiz, “The cheapest I know of was a mailman my brother-in-law worked with. A bunch of mailmen would stop for coffee in the morning and this guy would pocket the extra creamers when they finished.”
  • The “I Can’t Believe You Ever Had A Date” Guy. Submitted by Anonymous, “My ex-husband was so cheap. He bought me candy and flowers for Valentine’s Day. He said I could look at the flowers for about an hour and have one piece of the candy and then he took the candy and the flowers to his mother and his sister for their Valentine’s gifts.”

The last one is incredible, no wonder it is her ex-husband. I also like the guy who uses the pizza box to re-sole his shoes, awesome! And as for Wally, I think his ideas would qualify as time-wasters. So what do you think, cheap or frugal?

Share

What My Dad Taught Me About Money

September 28, 2007 · Filed Under · 10 Comments 

Father and SonAs mentioned in any earlier post, my Dad is a pretty frugal guy and while I was growing up he tried to instill in my sister and I certain values when it came to money and finances. Some I listened to and followed, while others I didn’t do until I was a man with a family of my own. Here are a few of his bits of wisdom that really stick out to me:

  1. Earn more than you spend. By spending less than you earn each month you can build real wealth.
  2. Don’t get bored. When you get bored you tend to buy stuff you don’t need. Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.
  3. Put away a little money each month. As a man in his late 20′s my Dad was able to save enough to buy a tri-plex in Los Angeles in the late 1960′s. As his tri-plex increased in value, he kept trading up until he owned a large apartment complex.
  4. Take advantage of credit cards. Not to buy stuff you don’t need, but to help your credit rating. Pay them off every month, and they will greatly help your credit score so you can get better financing.
  5. House first, retirement later. He strongly believes that a young adult out of college should focus on saving for a down payment on a house rather than tying up money in a retirement plan. Once you are into your first home, then start to consider retirement planning.
  6. Keep your money for as long as possible. Don’t pay your bills as you get them, instead pay them a few days before they are due. You might as well earn interest on your money for as long as possible. He always tells me this is especially true with your property taxes.
Share

Dang…Being Frugal Cost Me Money

September 27, 2007 · Filed Under · 4 Comments 

Filling CracksAs a frugal guy in training, yesterday was a setback for me. I have a large circular asphalt driveway at my house that needs to be re-sealed every few years. I noticed early this year that it was probably due to be re-sealed as some parts of the driveway were starting to fade and had some small cracks in it. But my frugal mind said, “Oh, I can get another year out of this driveway, no problem.” Bad decision, the 105 degree weather this summer cooked it really bad. Those small cracks turned into fairly good sized cracks and now instead of a routine re-seal which would have cost around $400, it needs a lot of prep work and crack filling that is going to end up costing me $565. Dang it!

This was a good learning experience, the hard way of course! Trying to stretch extra life out of products like your car, household stuff like your A/C unit and furnace, and your asphalt driveway is often going to cost you more money in the long run if not maintained properly.  I know that people often re-seal their own driveway, after this repair and re-seal I think I may look into doing it myself. Anybody out there ever done it themselves?

Share

Frugal Tips You Can Use Right Now!

September 27, 2007 · Filed Under · 13 Comments 

Drink WaterIn an effort to continue to pass along frugal tips that will help you save money, I have comprised this list of 10 easy things you can institute right now:

  1. Order water only. One of the healthiest things you can do is drink a lot of water. So at restaurants skip the $2 soda and order water only. You can save a lot of money and do something good for your body. I have been doing this for over a year and I also ask for a lemon wedge, I actually prefer this drink now. Very refreshing!
  2. Buy only what you will reasonable use over a 6 month period of time. Just because it is on sale does not mean you should buy 10 of them. If it went on sale once, it will go on sale again.
  3. Use cloth diapers instead of disposables. My wife and I did this with our first child and we saved a ton of money! Believe it or not it is not that much more work. Heck, you will be doing a lot of laundry anyways. Here is a link to make your own diaper wipes as well.
  4. Swap maternity and baby clothing that you don’t need with friends. My wife does this with a couple girlfriends and it is a great way to help each other out.
  5. Call your Electric Company and ask for an inspection. My neighbor did this and had his home inspected, they found his home’s air conditioning ducts had a bunch of leaks in them and they actually fixed them. He had to pay for the repairs up front, but PG&E (our electric company) gave him a big rebate to pay for the fix. Pretty cool, literally!
  6. Use both sides of your computer paper. If you are like me, you print out a lot of blogs and other articles for reading. Don’t recycle the paper when done, instead use the other side for further printing, then recycle it.
  7. Learn to do-it-yourself. A few years ago I picked up the Reader’s Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual and it is great! Easy to follow directions with clear pictures for dummies like me. Covers everything from inside your home to outside stuff. A great reference that can save you a ton of money by not having to call in outside help. You can pick it up slightly used for around $8-10 at Amazon.com.
  8. Buy some things used. Buy sporting goods for you and the kids at places like ‘Play It Again Sports’ and shop yard sales for kids toys and clothing that will outgrow quickly anyways.
  9. Shop without the kids and spouse. When possible, shop alone! You will stay focused on what you are there to buy and will not get distracted. Have the mindset of “Get in and get out”, it is not suppose to be fun! My wife and I do this, and we find that we buy less crap this way.
  10. Go vegetarian a couple days a week. By doing this you will save money on expensive meats. Substitute meats with fresh fruit, vegtebles, salads, and tortilla wraps. I love wraps, here are some yummy recipes that won’t break the bank.

I would be a fool to not mention one more frugal tip, using online coupons when buying anything! Here are a few good ones on Rather-Be-Shopping.com right now:

  • Office Depot.com – Free shipping on your $50+ online order – View My Office Depot coupons Here.
  • Barnes and Noble.com – Free shipping on your $25+ online order – View My Barnes & Noble coupons Here.
  • Oneida.com – Save 10% OFF your ENTIRE order – View My Oneida coupons Here.
Share

Tips To Avoid Falling Prey To Impulse Buying

September 26, 2007 · Filed Under , · 7 Comments 

Checkout LaneDoes that Snickers bar call your name while you are waiting in line at your local grocery store? Turns out grocery shopping when you are hungry can not only be expensive, but can make you fat. Not exactly a surprise, but the actual calorie intake numbers are quite remarkable. According to a study by IHL Consulting Group, “The average woman in the study claimed to purchase and consume over 14,300 calories from calorie impulse items over the period of a year.” Calorie impulse items are defined as “chocolate candies, chips, and soda” found in the checkout line. At 3,500 calories per pound, that adds up to 4.1 lbs of extra weight every year! For men, the number was a little less at 11,100 calories consumed per year which translates into 3.2 pounds.

What Does 14,300 Calories Look Like?

  • 52 Snickers Bars = 14,300 Calories
  • 95 Cans of Pepsi (12 oz) = 14,300 Calories
  • 102 Bags of Doritos (Small Bag) = 14,300 Calories
  • 53 Butterfinger Bars = 14,300 Calories
  • 65 Almond Joy Bars = 14,300 Calories
  • 68 Nestle Crunch Bars = 14,300 Calories
  • 7,526 Tic Tacs = 14,300 Calories

At first I thought no way, that is way too many calories to possibly be true. But when I broke it down, it would only take approximately one candy bar per week to add up to 14,300 calories for the entire year. Then I could see that maybe this study was not a crock. Candy bars cost what, around .75 cents each, so that is around $40 bucks a year, obviously more for soft drinks. So if you could cut out the impulse buying you could save some money but it seems the health benefits would outweigh the dollars saved.

Healthy and Cheaper Alternatives

  • If your grocery store has ‘Self-Checkout’, use it! They always have less candy and soda on those aisles. Avoid the temptation if at all possible.
  • Shop on a full stomach. This is pretty obvious but needs to be mentioned. For example, try to shop right after lunch instead of on your way home from school with the kids. When everybody wants a snack!
  • Take a snack with you. I have seen people do this, they bring in a piece of fruit or crackers and munch on them while they do their shopping.
  • Move to the middle of Montana and live off the land! :-)

Any other tips? I would love to hear them, please leave a comment!

Share

Stuart Smalley Says, “Pay Yourself First!”

September 25, 2007 · Filed Under · 1 Comment 

Stuart SmalleyTo coin Stuart Smalley, pay yourself first because your good enough, your smart enough, and doggone it, you deserve it. Before I had kids, I quickly racked up major credit card debt doing some pretty dumb things that mainly revolved around buying “stuff” that I thought I needed to be happy. Later, as I became responsible for somebody other than myself, I learned that true happiness came from not only providing for my family but insuring a financial future without debt and the worries that come along with it.

Pay Yourself First

I hear this advice all the time but it rarely has solid advice behind it. It typically sounds like Stuart Smalley, “Pay yourself first every month because you are neato, so doggone it, bury some cash in the backyard.”  OK, maybe that is a stretch, but you get my point. Instead, I would strongly suggest that you pay yourself a dollar amount every month that you are comfortable with. Pay yourself every month before you pay any other bill! For example, let’s say you decide to do $50 a month, commit to that amount for at least 1 year at the start. Invest that money in a savings account, open a mutual fund account at Vanguard, or a retirement account. Perhaps your employer has a 401k plan that they match. Just Do IT!

Think this is to hard to do, join the club. If after the first couple months you are having trouble paying yourself the $50, take a closer look at your lifestyle. Look at ways to reduce your monthly spending, $50 can be easily freed up if you avoid Starbucks, bring your lunch to work, avoid vending machines, or cancel that gym membership you rarely use and start jogging around your neighborhood. Be honest with yourself, and take a thorough look at your lifestyle, your financial future depends on it.

Let’s say you are 30 years old and are sincerely dedicated to paying yourself $50 a month. If you do this religiously every month until you are 55 years of age, your $15,000 will grow into a nest egg worth over $47,000 growing at a fairly conservative 8%. Just think if you could increase your payments to yourself as you scale back your spending and increase your salary. Doggone it, you deserve it!

Share

Lose Your Debt, Not Your Sanity

September 24, 2007 · Filed Under · 4 Comments 

Climb Out Of DebtProud to have my article 10 Tips For Debt Reduction included at My Two Dollars in the 106th Carnival of Debt Reduction. Well done David, some great reading for those interested in getting out of debt and living a life of financial freedom. Go check it out. Here are some highlights, with a little comic relief for free. ;-)

  • Matt over at One Million and Beyond has a very interesting post titled Think Small – The Pieces Add Up. Essentially, consider all your small purchases because they really add up over the course of the month. Talking to you lady with red dress at Starbuck’s this morning ordering the Venti Mocha, 2 lemon scones, and $17.99 CD. Um…or so I heard.
  • Gather Little By Little discusses techniques on making the hard choices to avoid a life of debt in Financial Peer Pressure, Stop The Influence! He makes some great points on how to avoid the pitfalls of trying to “keep up with the Joneses” and overspending. This is why I enjoy my walled compound in the mountains of Montana.
  • Dong at AskDong.com writes about Mary Ann’s Money Makeover: Tackling Some Credit Card Debt, interesting post about how he helped a friend better understand how to get out of debt with some solid techniques. Excellent advice. Personally, my friends only ask me for advice on how I travel with 3 kids without going crazy.

Go check out the carnival for more!

Share

How Long To Keep Financial Documents

September 24, 2007 · Filed Under · 2 Comments 

Stuffed Filing CabinetMy wife and I are always having a “friendly” discussion about how long we need to keep financial records. You know credit card statements, tax returns, bank statements, medical billing documents, propane bill, electric bill, and so forth. This conversation typically happens when our office filing cabinets start to resemble the garage of the crazy cat lady down the street. So I did some research and found some great rules of thumb from both Bankrate.com and straight from the horses mouth at IRS.gov.

Tax Stuff

  • 7 Years. Keep tax returns, cancelled checks and receipts for seven years.
  • IRS has 3 years from when you filed to audit you if they suspect you “goofed” but it was in good faith.
  • This number goes up to 6 years if they suspect you underreported your income by $25k or more.

General Bills

  • 1 Year.
  • Bankrate suggests going through your bills once a year and if the cancelled check for that bill has come through introduce Mr. Bill to Mr. Shredder.
  • Another good tip is to keep bills/receipts for big ticket items in an insurance file in the event of fire or hurricane.

Bank Statements

  • 1 Year seems to be the concensus.
  • Remember to go through your cancelled checks and save any that have tax implications. Things like business expenses, mortgage payments, home repair, etc.

Credit Card Statements/Receipts

  • 45 Days if it is non-tax related. Essentially, keep receipts until you can match them up with your monthly statement. Then introduce them to Mr. Shredder.
  • 7 Years if it is a tax related expenses. Ouch!

Paycheck & Job Related

  • 1 Year.  Keep your pay stubs for one year and once your W-2 arrives, make sure they match, if they do, shred those pay stubs. I also use my financial statements when I start a fire in the fireplace all winter. Good way to get rid of unwanted documents.
  • If your W-2 does not match your pay stubs, ask for an amended one called a W-2c.

IRA and Retirement Stuff

  • Keep your quarterly statements until you receive your annual statement and shred your quarterly stuff if it aligns with your annual statement.
  • Keep your annual statements until you retire or cancel the account.

Medical Insurance Stuff

  • 3 Years. Keep your medical bills and medical insurance statements for 3 years in case of insurance disputes.

I hope these tips help to de-clutter your life a little bit. I know they have mine!

Share

Wal-Mart Won’t Take My Money!

September 22, 2007 · Filed Under , · 9 Comments 

WalmartEmployees at the world’s largest retailer had to be cajoled into taking my money! Start storing up canned goods and gallons of drinking water in your basement, the world may be coming to an end. Let me give you some details, and my Wal-Mart haters, you may be a little disappointed as this story speaks more to changes in our society than with the big W.

As I mentioned earlier, my 5 year old son started Kindergarten and is doing great. My wife and I ask him every night what he wants in his lunch and the conversation always ends with him saying “peanut butter & jelly”. Every single night. Apparently he is a creature of habit. Although one day he did ask for ‘strawberry’ jelly rather than his old stand-by ‘grape’. I almost fell off my chair. So my wife’s really good friend, who also has a Kindergartner, gave us the suggestion of buying one of these Hot/Cold Thermos Thingies that you can store soup, taquitos, whatever, and send them to school for lunch. Our son was really excited about it so we decided to pick one up. Our friend was going to buy one for her son and offered to pick one up for us at Wal-Mart. Excellent.

Thermos In Question

(SIDEBAR: Now this is the point in the story where I should mention that our friend, and her husband, not only have a Kindergartner but also 1 year old triplets and amazingly neither of them drool or walk funny. I think God only gives multiples to people that can handle it. They are very organized and you can tell they really have a handle on spreading the love equally to all their children. Truly remarkable people.)

OK, back to the story, so our friend is in Wal-Mart, with the triplets, picking up some other stuff along with the 2 Hot/Cold Thermos Thingies (from now on TT’s for short). She finds the TT’s and has a great idea of separating them in the cart so she can pay for them individually in case we don’t like it for some reason and want to return it. Very thoughtful. Well, she finally reaches checkout with the triplets, pays, goes out to her minivan, loads up the kids, empties the cart, says an ’Alleluia’ because she is done, and realizes she walked out of the store with the 2nd TT and completely forgot to pay for it. Now, if you have ever had triplets, you know that loading and unloading them should be considered an Olympic event, so she wisely decides she will just pay for it next time she has to shop at Wal-Mart.

So my wife catches wind of this and offers to take it back into Wal-Mart and pay for it. She figures it is the least she can do at this point. My wife enters Wal-Mart with our 2 girls and heads to ‘Customer Service’ with said TT and the conversation goes like this:

My Wife: My girlfriend accidentally walked out of the store a few days ago with this TT and forgot to pay for it.
Employee: {looking at my wife dumbfounded} O.K.
My Wife: So I want to pay for it.
Employee: {looking at my wife dumbfounded} Are you sure she did not pay for it, did she check her receipt?
My Wife: Yes, it was definitely not purchased.
Employee: Um…O.K. {starts to ring up the TT} says to another employee, “Wow, this lady forgot to pay for this and she actually came back to pay for it.”
Other Employee: {looking at my wife dumbfounded} She did what?
Wife: Well, I believe in Karma, so I am just trying to do the right thing.

My wife left the store feeling like a weirdo for wanting to come in and pay for it. She was just trying to do the right thing, and in doing so, set an example for her children. Instead of recognizing that, the Wal-Mart employee basically says “are you crazy?’, “why are you doing this? I am not blaming the employee, the underlying problem goes way beyond her. When did ‘doing the right thing’ become the exception rather than the rule in today’s society? As parents, we have opportunities every day to set a good role model for our children. Seize those opportunities and the next generation will be much better than our own. OK, I will jump off my soapbox now.

Share

Next Page »

Bad Behavior has blocked 132 access attempts in the last 7 days.