Update On My ‘Frugal Thoughts’

November 27, 2007 · Filed Under · 2 Comments 

Messy FirewoodAbout a month ago, I asked for some help on a few things around the house. I got a great response, some of which we tried. Here are the results:

  1. Kill The Ants NOW. Several folks recommended putting cinnamon where the ants are coming into the house. I did this and it really seemed to be an effective and safe deterrent. When we went away for a weekend I put out some Terro liquid ant traps and when we came back there were a bunch of dead ants in the trap. We have not had any ants in the house since! But if they come back I am going to break out the cayenne pepper and see if that works as well. Maybe even try the grits idea!
  2. Messy Firewood. This one is still a mystery to me. I think I agree with one of the original commenters who said wood stoves are just messy. I tried the wood carrier idea and stuff still ends up on the floor. 
  3. Clogged Rain Gutters. It has not rained here in northern California in close to a month. So the verdict is still out on this one. Although most of the leaves have fallen and I have cleaned out my gutters. But next Fall I am going to try the plastic mesh like Rachel suggested.
  4. How To Get The Stains Out? I know my wife has been trying the Shout + Biz that Jennifer recommended and she has been impressed with the results. I don’t think she has tried the enzyme cleaner yet.

So there is my update. Please feel free to chime in with any other suggestions!

Ever Hear of Cyber Monday?

November 26, 2007 · Filed Under · 4 Comments 

A bunch of retailers sent me coupons specifically for today, also known as Cyber Monday, which is suppose to be the biggest online shopping day of the year. Not sure if that is the case or not, but I have been given some pretty good coupons for stores like JCPenney.com, Ann Taylor.com, Overstock.com, and quite a few others. If you are doing some holiday shopping today they are worth a look. Here is the link, just click on the graphic below to see all the coupons. I made this with Photoshop, pretty bad…I guess I won’t quit my day job!

Click For Cyber Monday Coupons

Sleep, Eat, Veg Out, Then Eat Again

November 21, 2007 · Filed Under , · 6 Comments 

Save Money!Here are the FIVE ways I am going to save money this Thanksgiving weekend:

  1. Stay in bed on Black Friday. I will not be succumbing to the Black Friday advertisements. As I have already documented, I can’t handle the crowd and the people stampeding for the Plasma TV for $799. I like Clever Dude’s idea of “maybe start saving NOW for something NEXT Black Friday.”
  2. Only buy what you came for. If for some reason, Santa Claus visits me personally and asks me to do some shopping for him on Black Friday, I would have a plan! I would create a list of Christmas gifts that I am shopping for along with a budget for each gift. By doing this, it would really keep me focused on what I came for and I would not buy crap I don’t need. For me, just because it is on sale and seems like a great deal is not a reason to buy.
  3. Keep happiness separate from money spent. Don’t have to spend money to enjoy time with family and friends. I plan on starting a new tradition like a family football game or volunteering to help those less fortunate.

  4. Enjoy TV marathons. Unless you watch QVC or HSN, it is hard to blow cash vegging out for a bit in front of the boob-tube. Have you noticed the many TV marathons going on this long holiday weekend? Here are a few that I will partake in:
    - Discovery Channel has 12 hours of Dirty Jobs episodes.
    - Sci Fi has seven episodes of The Twilight Zone.
    - Spike TV has 13 hours of The Ultimate Fighter.

  5. Can’t spend money when sleeping. And for a slightly unconventional technique, I am going to eat A LOT of leftovers all weekend.  By eating turkey sandwiches, the tryptophan will make me nap all weekend on the couch and avoid spending temptations! :-) (CORRECTION: Actually, I will just be tired all weekend as my kids would never let me get away with a nap on the couch!)

    Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Festival of Frugality #101 – Highway To Frugal Living Edition

November 20, 2007 · Filed Under , · 15 Comments 

Highway 101Growing up in central California, my frugal Dad and Mom would always take my sister and I on summer vacations up and down Highway 101, which stretches 1,540 miles from Olympia, Washington, all the way to the East Los Angeles Freeway Interchange in southern California. Since this is the 101st edition of the Festival of Frugality, I thought it would be fun to tour scenic Highway 101 while I bring you this week’s entries. Thank you to all that submitted, I really had fun going through the entries and checking them out, some great reading here. It continues to amaze me how many great frugal living bloggers are on the Internet. I am very proud to host this week and I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving shared with loved ones and large amounts of gravy!

Editor’s Picks

  • Have the Courage to have the Christmas You Can Afford by Jennifer Derrick @ Saving Advice.com Like Jennifer, I have also heard people say, “I’m so afraid of Christmas. I don’t know how we’re going to afford it.” Jennifer’s advice, “Have the Christmas you can afford.” and stay out of debt because of it!
  • Force Yourself To Save! 15 Painless Ways To Pay Yourself First by Silicon Valley Blogger @ The Digerati Life Some nifty tricks that will force yourself to save money every month. For me, being frugal is all about keeping as much money every month without having to constantly think about how much money I need to save to meet my goals. I don’t have the time or the energy, so I love the automatic savings tips in this post.
  • 8 Holiday Shopping Tips from The Baglady @ The Baglady Some great tips to avoid the credit card debt blues this Christmas. My favorite: ‘Spend Money You Have’, and ‘Research Prices Before You Head Out’, great advice!
  • Is Frugal Living the New Trend? And How Our Paper Missed the Mark by Lynnae @ Being Frugal.net. Lynnae talks about the trend that is picking up steam for those interested in frugal living. I am all for pushing this new trend as well!

  • How To Sell on eBay by Suzanne @ Adventures In Daily Living. As a big ebay seller myself, I think this is one of the more detailed articles on using ebay as a selling tool that I have read. eBay is a great way to add some supplemental income. Well done, Suzanne.

    Tour Stop #1 - Starting at the northern most stretch of Highway 101, the picture below is from the beautiful Olympic National Park just west of Seattle, WA. Highway 101 actually circles the entire outskirts of the park.

olympicpark.jpg

 

Frugal Travel Tips & Advice

oregoncoast-astoria.jpg

 

Enjoy Life Through Frugal Living

trinidad.jpg

 

The Weather Outside is Frightful….

redwood1.jpg

 

Around The House, Closet, and Kitchen

Yummy Food & Drinks….and Not Expensive

  • Entertainment Book Frugal Tip… @ Living Almost Large. When you do eat out of the house, you might as well have a coupon for the restaurant.
  • The Backlash Against Bottled Water by Terry @ Savvy Frugality. People seem to be wising up that bottled water is total rip-off, nice post.
     
    Tour Stop #5 –     Just off Highway 101 in central California is Pismo Beach. My parents would take us camping here a lot when I was little. I always thought it was a cool beach because you could actually drive your car out on the beach. I remember my Dad would go clamming and cook up some of his famous clam chowder!

pismo.jpg

 

Frugal Shopping Tips & Gift Ideas

Ladies and Gentlemen…Rev Your Engines (& Pedals)

Budgeting and Financial Management

Frugality as a Side Effect

Black Friday Temptations….I Am So Weak!

November 19, 2007 · Filed Under · Comment 

Best Buy LineRewind, Thanksgiving 2006, there I was checking out all of the ‘Black Friday’ ads in my local newspaper. I am pretty confident that is not what the Pilgrims and Indians had in mind. But being a major bargain shopper, my curiosity was peeked, and the ads section had been calling my name all morning. Family had arrived, turkey was in the oven, drinks were flowing, football was on TV, and there I was with my nose buried in the Best Buy advertisement. So sad, so true.

The Western Digital 250GB External Hard Drive for $69.99 at Best Buy immediately caught my eye. A year ago they typically sold for around $150. This was a great deal! I “needed” one to back up files, pictures, music, etc. So I decided that I would wake up before the rooster and head on down at 5am to see if I could get my hands on one. I show up a little after 5am and the line is all the way around the Best Buy building and down the alley behind the store. At that second, I remember feeling like such a tool that I was so naive to think I could just show up at 5 and meander on into the store and get my hard drive and be back in bed by 5:30am. I also wondered what time the people at the front of the line had gotten there, although their pillows and sleeping bags should have given me a clue. I considered getting in line for a few seconds, but instead made the smart choice and headed home hoping the blankets were still warm.

CAUTION – Black Friday Shopping Tip Ahead

So the weekend after Black Friday I was messing around on ebay, and stumbled across a bunch of my 250GB Western Digital Hard Drives for sale. It then hit me like a ton of bricks, those “fools” in the front of the line at Best Buy were quite the entrepreneurs! They buy a crap load of stuff then turn around and sell it for a profit on ebay. I was able to get my hard drive for $80 due to the increase in supply. I sniped the auction and got a great deal, sorry Susan. Give this technique a shot this year, you may be surprised by the deals you can score on ebay after Black Friday.

Big Coupons Only, Little Ones Go Home

November 17, 2007 · Filed Under · 1 Comment 

coupon_scissors.gifTalking about coupons bores me to tears. But I blog about them from time to time when I have some that are really good and have the potential to save you quite a bit of money. So, with that said, here are some online coupons with savings worth mentioning:

Fashion Bug.com
Save 40% OFF your ENTIRE order thru this LINK
Coupon Code: None Needed
Expiration: 11/19/07

Ann Taylor.com
Save 25% OFF your ENTIRE order for 3 Days
Coupon Code: 10701080
Expiration: 11/18/07

Illuminations.com
Save 25% OFF your ENTIRE order
Coupon Code: 999201331
Expiration: 11/18/07

Disney Store.com
Save 25% OFF your ENTIRE order
Coupon Code: OURGIFT
Expiration: 11/18/07

American Eagle Outfitters.com
Save 20% OFF your ENTIRE order
Coupon Code: 77148643
Expiration: 11/20/07

Roamans.com
Save 30% OFF your ENTIRE order
Coupon Code: RD10028
Expiration: 11/19/07

Old Navy.com
Save $10 OFF your $50+ order
Coupon Code: TAKE10
Expiration: 11/21/07

A Tip To Rebuild Good Credit

November 16, 2007 · Filed Under · 3 Comments 

Secured Credit CardAs I mentioned in an earlier post, a few years ago I was able to come out from under a huge amount of credit card debt. But my credit was shot, I was 120 days late on a couple cards and did a one-time ”payoff” payment on a couple others for less than the original balance. All of which shot my credit score to pieces. So when I started to try and rebuild my credit and change my spending habits I discovered something called a Secured Credit Card through my bank, Bank of America. It was just what the doctor ordered. For those of you unfamiliar with these types of credit cards, let me explain what they are and how they helped me. To get my Secured Credit Card I deposited money into a new savings account at BofA. Typically, the minimum deposit required ranges from $250 to $500. I deposited $500, and the money was locked in my new savings account for a one year period and the bank gave me a credit card with a credit limit of $500. The bank then used the $500 if I failed to meet my card obligations. The cool thing is that I earned interest on the $500 like a normal savings account. Once the 1 year period expired, my card became a regular unsecured credit card and I was free to do whatever I wished with the $500.

Benefits:

  • Even though the card is secured, it still shows as a regular credit card on your credit report and helps to rebuild your credit history.
  • The small credit limit helped to control any overspending and frivolous purchases.

Things To Look Out For:

  • Always pay at least the minimum on your secured credit card. Any missed payment or bounced payment check will really set you back on the road to rebuilding your credit history.
  • Find an issuer that reports often to one of the major credit reporting agencies.
  • Look for an issuer with a small annual fee. BofA charged me a $29 annual fee.

My secured credit card really worked great for my situation. I paid it off every month, and I still have the original account and it is my main credit card. One thing I don’t like is they keep raising my credit limit, it is now at $5000. I will never need a credit limit that high.

eBay Users….Stop Sniping For a Second and Listen Up

November 15, 2007 · Filed Under · 16 Comments 

eBayI wrote an article awhile back that was published by The Dollar Stretcher that talked about, among other things, eBay bargain secrets.  In it, I discussed how I often will wait until the last 30 seconds of an eBay auction before I bid, which almost always guarantees that I will not be outbid and get the best deal possible. Apparently this technique, known as ‘Sniping’, is heavily frowned upon by many online auction users. This was brought to my attention by Susan, a reader of The Dollar Stretcher, who wrote me an email that went like this:

DEAR KYLE,
PERHAPS YOU ARE NOT AWARE, BUT PUTTING IN BIDS ON ITEMS ON EBAY IN THE LAST FEW SECONDS IS CALLED ‘SNIPING’ AND IT IS HEAVILY FROWNED UPON BY EBAY AND MOST OF ITS USERS. OBVIOUSLY, IF YOU DO A SEARCH, AND ONLY FIND AN ITEM RIGHT BEFORE IT EXPIRES, THAT HAPPENS, AND IS ACCEPTABLE, BUT WAITING UNTIL THE LAST FEW SECONDS TO MAKE YOUR ONLY BID IS NOT. PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS SNEAKY PRACTICE, AND IF YOU MUST, PLEASE DO NOT TELL OTHERS TO BE AS UNDERHANDED AS YOU ARE.
RESPECTFULLY,
SUSAN

My response: (Looking back, I over reacted)

Hi Susan,
Thanks for the note. I have never heard of this term ’sniping’, nor did I know it was as issue that people frowned upon. If this is such an issue, eBay could easily take care of it by automatically extending the auction time if a last-second bid is placed. Case closed. As you do not know me, or anything about me, I do not appreciate you calling me “underhanded”. I was simply passing along what I thought at the time was a technique that I thought was helpful. You failed in your note to point out why this is a bad technique or how it harms anyone.
Cordially,
Kyle James

Susan’s response:

Mr. James,
I only refer to you as ‘underhanded’ if you continue to use the practice after being notified that it is frowned upon. The reason it is frowned upon is that it does not give people time to respond to up their bids if they are the winning bidder at the time of the sniping. For instance. someone has their bid at 10.01 and are the high bidder, and the current bid is 7.50. A sniper, can go in, and up bid, until they reach over the 10.01 limit. At that time, the person with the 10.01 bid would be sent an automatic email, if their account is so set up, to let them know they have been outbid. If the sniper has done this with less than one minute left, it is unlikely that the former high bidder will receive their email in time to make a higher bid. I realize that one might think, ‘if they really wanted it, they should have been watching the page’, but even that doesn’t work because you have to constantly refresh and sometimes computers slow down, etc and prevent the previous high bidder from making another bid in time. Frequent users of ebay try to avoid this practice in the sense of fair play. As I said, if you just find something at the last minute, then it cannot be helped, but to set out to intentionally snip something away from other bidders is underhanded. If it were an in person auction, everyone who was bidding would have an equal chance to change their bids with response to others in the room and time would not be an issue, but because it is online, time is an issue, especially under one minute and the time it takes to login, bid, and get the bid accepted after being notified of being outbid, even if the original bid was higher than the current bid. Anyone who wants any item will probably be willing to pay 50 cents higher than their high bid, or even a dollar or two on occasion, but sniping does not allow them to, and that is why it is frowned upon. Extending the auction time would probably not be feasible for ebay, and the sellers would probably object, although perhaps they can look into a five minute extension, or something like that. I don’t know how, or if that would be acceptable to those parties, but it can’t hurt to ask. If this doesn’t fully answer your questions, please ask again. I know most people do not know everything, and we learn from experience, so anything I can do to help, I am glad to do. On the other hand, keep up the good work with the articles – more people need to know about more ways to save too!
Sincerely,
Susan

I then thanked Susan for the detailed description of ‘Sniping’ and asked her if I could create a post about this to let others know about the issue. Plus, it would let others weigh in with their opinion. She gave her full consent and so here we are! What do you think about sniping? Do you think there is anything wrong with doing it? Should practices be put in place to keep it from happening? Looking forward to what you have to say.

Frugal Travel Tips From My Dad!

November 14, 2007 · Filed Under , · 2 Comments 

Frugal CampingAs many of you know, and as I have documented on this blog, my Dad is a pretty frugal guy! In early October, he flew from San Jose, CA to Portland, Maine and spent 23 days with a good friend touring New England, Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington D.C. His total bill for this great vacation was just under $1300! That comes out to approximately $56 per day, that includes airfare, rental car, food, admission fees, EVERYTHING! I love it! So I had to ask him how he did it, and he agreed to reveal his frugal travel secrets to all of us. So with no further-ado, straight from the horses mouth, I am proud to present, once again, my Dad:

  1. Airfare Bargains. The key to getting a good rate on air travel is to book online as you can find some great deals. Try Cheap Tickets.com, Orbitz.com, and Priceline.com. I spent $290 round-trip from San Jose, CA, to Portland, Maine. In addition to booking online it helped to take a red eye out and to put up with a 3 hour lay-over on the return.
  2. Go When Everyone Else Can’t. Going off season is a big help! I know this is not an option for everyone, but you can save a lot of money by doing this.
  3. Set Up Camp! My friend and I enjoy tent camping which is obviously much cheaper than hotels. Because it was off-season, two of the camps we stayed at closed for the season at noon and we left at 10am that very same day. Close call! Camping also provided the opportunity to talk with fellow travelers which hotels cannot match.
  4. Prepare Your Own Food. The camping allowed us to prepare our own meals which not only saved money but allowed us to get an idea of the diversity of foods in the Northeast versus California cuisine. One break was when buying groceries at Shaw’s food stores we got 15 cents per gallon off at a particular gas station. There were many of these stations on the highways and they saved us a lot of money at the pump.
  5. Use ALL Resources Available. It is an excellent strategy to ask for AAA, AARP, and senior discounts for any tours, cruises, or other activities. For those senior citizens who may not be aware of the Golden Eagle pass, it allows you free admission to national parks, national seashores, and 50% off purchases or tours in the parks.

Thanks Dad, great tips. As for #4, I had no idea Spam in New England tasted different than the stuff we get on the west coast. ;-) Please feel free to leave a comment with additional frugal travel tips!

A Caffeinated Update

November 13, 2007 · Filed Under · 4 Comments 

**PUBLIC DECLARATION UPDATE**  About 6 days into my quest to remove my dependency to caffeine. As stated in my original post, along with using smaller coffee mugs, I am using a 25% decaf, 75% caffeine coffee blend to start. What can I say, the idea of going cold turkey gives me the shivers. Here are a couple benefits I have noticed so far:

  1. Less Jittery. I have actually noticed the last couple days that I am a little less amped and not so jittery. I still am very energized but without the over the top rush that I was getting.
  2. Less Potty Breaks. I know…TMI, but I am drinking less coffee overall so this makes sense.
  3. No Headaches or Grouchiness. Yeah!

In a couple days I am going to increase the decaf and decrease the caffeinated. I am thinking 1/3 decaf, 2/3’s regular. What a rebel! Stay tuned.

Peppermint Creamer

By the way, have you ever tried this Coffee Mate Peppermint Mocha creamer? Holy crap, my wife picked some up the other day and it is just divine. Adds to my calorie count, but it turns a normal cup of coffee into a special Holiday treat!

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