Finding Your Frugal Groove, Easier Said Than Done

September 24, 2008 · Filed Under · 2 Comments 

I have a new way of looking at living frugally that is really working for me and I wanted to pass it along.

Living frugally is a lot like losing weight, if you can get started on it, you quickly get an enthusiasm for it that feels as good as eating a big ol’ slice of Marie Callender’s chocolate cream pie (my personal favorite). I guess what I am trying to say is that by starting the process of living frugally and beneath your means, use coupons, downsizing, etc., and save your money, it becomes as much fun to look at your savings build up as the rush you get from buying the newest gadget or shiny new car.

But you gotta get into the frugal groove and hopefully get your spouse to buy into as well. Because if one of you is into it and the other is not, it becomes much more difficult to keep your groove on!

The biggest benefit I have gotten from getting my groove on the past several years is the sense of security from buying less than I can afford and pocketing the difference! With all of the financial bailout stuff going on, I am wondering if my idea of frugal living will become a more popular way of living. I hope so.

Thoughts?

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My 5 Most Embarrassing Shopping Moments

September 19, 2008 · Filed Under · 4 Comments 

Time for a little Friday levity! This week has been way too serious for me. It started on Monday with some minor surgery on my 6-year old son (he is fine and back at school BTW), and just never really picked up any momentum after that. Looking forward to a weekend of doing absolutely nothing! So to get the weekend started early with a little levity, I have come up with my 5 most embarrassing shopping moments.  If you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at? Granted some are not exactly “shopping” mishaps per say, but what can I say, I was desperate to finish the list! Drumroll please…..

1- Once when I was a kid I ordered a Whopper at a McDonald’s restaurant. Unlike the picture below, I was completely sober and remember wanting to dig a hole with a spork and bury myself in it.

2- When I was a teenager I decided I didn’t need to pay for some baseball cards. Not a good idea, I am still not allowed back into a certain Kmart in Capitola, CA. The embarrassment alone was enough to teach me a lesson!

3- Once I didn’t realize I had left my wallet at home until I was all the way at the front of the line at a very busy grocery store. To my credit I did come back and reclaim my abandoned shopping cart.

4- Once, in my horizontally challenged days, I split a pair of Old Navy jeans right down the crotch and butt while trying them on. You think I would have realized they didn’t fit when I had to lay on the floor to get them over my legs. :-)

5- And last but not least, a couple years ago I was grocery shopping with 2 of my kids and was so busy keeping them in line that I crashed the cart into a Super Bowl party end-cap display and knocked over countless bags of Frito Lay potato chips, bean dip, and six packs of Pepsi. I still remember all the dirty looks I got from the mess I made and the ZERO help from people stading around……but not to worry, I have a photographic memory. I will find you all some day and exact my revenge!

That was only slightly humiliating. Feel free to add your most embarrassing moment! Don’t worry, I will keep it between us. Have a great weekend!

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Is an Emergency Fund a Moral Issue?

September 16, 2008 · Filed Under · 4 Comments 

I think it is.

I have to quickly get this off my chest. The financial fashion today in America is to spend every flipping cent you make + 15% and get into crazy debt. Yet live like a Rockefeller.  It used to be if you ran your personal finances like this you were considered an idiot. Now it is accepted practice and it is those that depend on you to make ends meet that suffer the consequences of your bad financial decisions. The idea of having or building an emergency fund is so incredibly out of fashion these days. Drives me crazy.

I honestly think that the emergency fund is fundamentally a moral issue. If you think about your kids, your spouse, the people counting on you in your life, it really does come down to a moral issue.  I am talking about a 3 month emergency fund that will allow you to pay bills if you get laid off or have some big unexpected expenses.  It is amazing how much less you worry about things if you have that emergency or a rainy day fund built up. Now, if you are starving right now, I am of course not talking about you. But if you are doing OK, throw some extra money into your savings or retirement account every month and start working on it. If you have kids counting on you to do the right thing, it’s just what you gotta do!

Thoughts?

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Shop and Help Local Schools + Other Cool Musings

September 12, 2008 · Filed Under , · Comment 

I love when I get email from my readers informing me about great deals, giveaways, and other cool musings. So when I got a couple emails this week about some neat stuff going around the Internets I had to take the time to share the goodness with everyone.

First, Heather dropped me an email about a couple neat things.

~ Box Tops For Education - Earn cash for your local schools. My wife has actually been doing this the last couple weeks for our son’s school. Each box top coupon is worth 10¢ for your school. You can clip Box Tops coupons from hundreds of your favorite products. Heather informed me of a way to earn 10 free box tops! Just sign-up for their email newsletters and get 10 bonus tops for your school. Instructions: Find your local school, fill out form, then make sure to click check boxes for both newsletters, you get 5 box tops for each newsletter.

~ Driveway Games.com - Heather also gave me a couple coupons for Driveway Games.com, a really cool company that sells fun family outdoor games. From Heather, “The 50% coupon (Coupon Code: SEPT08HALF)is for their All Weather Corntoss Bean Bags…which means you can get a set of 8 for only $10! I bought a set of their bags last spring at my local Kroger store and they are awesome - super durable,and even their regular price was less expensive at $20 than the $25-$30 we had paid in past years buying them from Internet sites. The bags are actually weather proof being filled with plastic instead of corn but they feel and play the same, my husband convinces everyone he shows our set to, to go out and buy them they are so good. I checked out their website this summer and bought their Plastic Corntoss Game which is just as awesome, water proof, lightweight, etc. I got an email from them today with these coupons, they’re having a end of summer blowout sale and it is the first sale I have ever seen from them and for these type of products from any one period. The 40% coupon (Coupon Code: SEPT08-40) is for a ton of other outdoor games they make that are low priced too, looks like $13-16 after coupon for nice outdoor games! Can’t beat it!” Thanks Heather, I love games that get the kids outside and gets them some exercise.

~ Also, Marcy at Stretching A Buck sent me an email and asked that I let y’all know about her give-away on her blog. I love a good give-away or contest. Marcy is giving away an assortment of Kiss My Face Kids Products. They are all earth friendly and chemical free baby/kids products. All you have to do is leave a comment on her blog post and you are entered to win. Easy! Worth a look.

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Good Buys In September And a Free Joke!

September 10, 2008 · Filed Under , · Comment 

I was surfing around AOL Shopping looking for some deals and coupons to add to my website when I stumbled and hit my head on this article, Best Things To Buy In September. While the bump on my head may have clouded my judgement, I thought the article had some interesting points that I wanted to share. According to the article, there are 7 things that you can score a great deal on in September. Here they are followed by some commentary by yours truly!

~ Big Appliances

New models come out in September and October. Since retailers don’t want to stack refrigerators on top of each other, they will put older models on sale.

~ Housewares

I was never sure what housewares actually meant. What can I say, if it does not belong in my tool shed or the back of my truck, I am pretty much lost! Come to find out housewares are things like utensils, plates, cups, bowls, and plastic sporks. If you are eating out of the palms of your hands or with a free pair of chopsticks, September would be a good time to buy some stuff as summer merchandise is now on sale because houseware companies are launching their fall line. Or just go to Ross or TJ Maxx because their housewares are always on sale.

~ BBQ’s

Only 3 Americans will actually pay full price for a new grill this time of year. Don’t be one of them!

~ Small Electronics

Did your Sony Walkman finally konk out on you? Could be your lucky month as Apple is set to release their new version of the iPod. Do you know what that means? Correct, you can probably score a great deal on a new cassette player.

~ Trees and Perennials

Apparently nurseries don’t want to hold on to plants and trees through the winter so they will be slashing prices. Now if they would only come to my house and dig the holes in this sorry excuse for dirt on my property. My soil is so bad that I actually have to start digging with a pick rather than a shovel!

~ Bicycles

Bike shops and sporting good retailers see sales drop significantly in early September and put a lot of bikes on sale in order to clear out inventory and get ready for the 2009 models. Makes sense. This reminds me of the one and only bike joke that I know: A tandem rider is stopped by a police car.

“What have I done, officer?” asks the rider.

“Perhaps you didn’t notice sir, but your wife fell off your bike half a mile back . . .”

“Oh, thank God for that,” says the rider - “I thought I’d gone deaf!”

~ Wine

As a well documented beer guzzler, this is new to me, but apparently vineyards will release bottles from last years harvest and keep the prices fairly low in order to move supply quickly. Does this mean Two Buck Chuck will go for $1.85?

So have you had any success buying these things during this fine month? I look forward to your comments.

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Frugality In Practice: Car Maintenance Sucks!

September 8, 2008 · Filed Under · 3 Comments 

So my wife’s 2002 minivan is about to pass the elusive 100,000 miles and with that comes the BIG ONE! As a fella who believes that routine car maintenance is a good frugal move and will actually save you money in the long run, I was still dreading and procrastinating the BIG ONE. OK, I will cut the suspense, the BIG ONE is the 90,000 mile service.

This is the BIG ONE because it includes the following:

~ Timing Belt ($$$$) Apparently, the grand daddy of routine car maintenance.
~ Replace Spark Plugs ($$$) Apparently they are like hidden behind 312 other parts and take forever and a day to get to.
~ Replace Automatic Transmission Fluid ($$)
~ Flush the sucker! ($$) Replace power steering fluid, fuel injection fluid, brake fluid, etc., and of course all the sticky fluids in our 6 cup holders.
~ A bunch of other smaller things that are fairly inexpensive and completely boring to repeat here. (Run for the hills if your estimate ever has that sentence in it!)

But here is the reason for this post: I hate this entire process! Mr. Goodwrench I am not, so I often feel like I may be getting ripped off. How do we really know if we need all of these things done to the vehicle? We plan on driving the van for a long time so I find myself using that to justify all of this work.  Plus, I want a safe car for my wife and kids.

So here are my questions that I think could benefit many readers:

  1. How do you pick your mechanic?
  2. Do you ever take your car to the dealer for maintenance for peace-of-mind reasons?
  3. What criteria do you use when deciding what maintenance to have done on your car?
  4. Have you ever taught yourself how to do some of this stuff yourself?
  5. If so, do you have any websites or books that you recommend for the DIY’s?
  6. How do you find mechanics that offer free doughnuts in their waiting room?

Thanks, and as always, I look forward to your responses and knowledge!

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New Blog Design!

September 5, 2008 · Filed Under · 5 Comments 

Excuse the sawdust around here as I get my new blog design set up how I want it. I think I am going to like it! Thanks to Ashlyn at Sashwhy’s Studio for doing the design for me. Any thoughts on the new design?

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