Category Archives: Simplicity

Save money with these little changes (you’ll hardly notice, I promise)

Photo by photo-clips.com

With the holidays fast approaching, everyone is looking for ways to pick up a little extra money. What if I told you that you could save an extra $50-$100 a month with just a few little changes that you’ll hardly notice? You’d be crazy not to try it, right?

Here are the little ways that I save money every month.

Use just a little less.

Toothpaste, laundry detergent, dishwashing soap, shampoo and conditioner. The instructions on all of these items often suggest using more than you actually need. Try cutting the amount you use. You most likely won’t notice a difference except in the amount of time the items last.

Wear it once more.

I wear pants a couple times before I wash them, and I sometimes wear tops twice. We also hang towels to dry in the morning and reuse them throughout the week. If you or your spouse works in a labor-intensive or outdoor job that causes your clothes to get pretty dirty, this probably isn’t for you. But if you work in the home or in an office job, your clothes probably don’t require washing after every single wear.

If you throw them into a basket they’ll get wrinkled and smelly, of course. Rehang them in your closet. When it’s time to rewear an item, I often throw it into the dryer for 5 or 10 minutes on fluff to refresh it a bit. It’s usually good as new.

Eat a little less.

Do you find yourself throwing out leftovers at the end of the week? Are you snacking throughout the day out of boredom rather than hunger? If you cook only what you’ll eat, and eat only when you’re hungry, you’ll reduce your grocery costs and maybe your waistline, too.

Even better: designate one or two nights a week as “leftovers night.” You can clear out your fridge, and you won’t have to buy food to cook that night.

Buy generics.

Most of them are exactly the same as the name brands. I promise.

Stop paying for what you don’t need.

Are you watching all the channels included in your cable package? Do you lose unused cell phone minutes at the end of the month? Are you overinsured? Check into all of these services and policies to make sure your paying for only what you use and only what you need.

Use the library.

We used to waste a ton of money buying books and renting movies. Now we use the local and university library instead for free. Even if they don’t have the book or movie we want, we can usually borrow it from another library with the interlibrary loan program.

What about you? What little changes have you made to save money?

TGIF Link Round Up: Finally Fall Edition

It’s been awhile since I did a round-up! First we were out of town, then celebrating my birthday, and last weekend I was just being lazy. I’ll be hosting next week’s Festival of Frugality (yikes), so I wanted to make sure I was current on my reader and in the loop in the frugal blogosphere!

With the temperature FINALLY cooling off, I’m ready for a weekend of fun fall activities. We’re carving pumpkins, making cider, and celebrating the fact that the air conditioner has finally shut off for good this year. I’m looking forward to seeing our electric bill cut in half for the next few months!

And now on to the round up!

  • Kelly at Almost Frugal shared some great frugal pet tips. This is a topic close to my heart. I think it’s important for people to recognize that a pet is a big financial commitment, but like all other things in life, there’s definitely a frugal way to do it!
  • Kacie at Sense to Save wrote a fun post on varying degrees of frugality. I guess it all depends on how extreme you want to be! I usually find myself somewhere in the middle of the scale.

I hope you all enjoy a beautiful fall weekend! Happy Friday!

Looking on the bright side: Benefits of the economic crisis

The news has been scary lately. Crazy stock market plunges and surges, rising unemployment, and an unstable global economy make this a very scary financial market for average consumers. The news can’t be all bad, though, can it? There has to be a bright side to this craziness, right?

In an effort to stay positive, I’ve come up with five hidden benefits of the economic meltdown. Even the worst rain clouds can have a silver lining.

1. People are healthier in times of economic crisis.

No, really. According to a New York Times article from Oct. 6, people take better care of themselves in a bad economy. Studies suggest that people are more likely to engage in unhealthy, dangerous behaviors like excessive drinking, eating unhealthy food at restaurants, and overworking themselves during times of economic prosperity. People cooking more at home and spending less on things like alcohol during economic crisis, so overall well being improves.

2. Gas prices are lower.

As the stock market falls, so does the price of oil. According to an article at CNNMoney, gas prices have fallen 30% since the summer’s peak price. That means you’re paying less for your daily commute, which equals more money in your pocket for things like groceries.

3. Less travel and consumption is good for the environment.

Despite falling gas prices, consumers are still cutting back on unnecessary driving. Airlines announced yesterday that they’ll be cutting down on flights in the coming holiday months, which means higher ticket prices and less travel. While this may sound like bad news, it’s actually good for the environment. Less driving and traveling means less fossil fuel burned.

Consumers are cutting spending, and less consumption equals less waste. It’s bad for the economy and the retail industry, but good for the environment.

4. Desperate retailers offer better bargains.

Discretionary spending has dropped in the past year, but that means retailers are working harder to get your business. I’ve noticed a lot of great deals and lower prices at many stores in the past few months as they fight to drive more sales. With experts predicting dismal holiday sales, the bargains will probably continue through the Christmas season. Take advantage of the bargain prices, and you could end up saving on your holiday shopping.

5. People are paying closer attention to their finances.

During times of economic prosperity, a lot of people put their finances on autopilot. When you have plenty of money, there’s not as great a need to pay attention to what you’re spending. People are also more likely to spend on things they don’t need when the economy is doing well.

In the past few months, there’s been a surge in interest for good personal finance habits. People are paying closer attention to where their money is going by budgeting and tracking expenses. They’re also looking for ways to cut spending with frugal habits like couponing, shopping at thrift stores, using the library, and making fewer unnecessary purchases. It’s a shame that it takes a worldwide economic crisis to get people to pay closer attention to this stuff, but I’m glad to see it happen.

What other benefits have you seen from the economic slump?

Photo by reubeningber

Slightly off topic odds and ends

First things first: Tony and I finally buckled down and completed our fall cleaning list today. We were a little late (our original goal was to finish by the end of September), but better late than never, right? I also dug all my fall and winter clothes out of storage and boxed up my summer clothes until next year.

Now I just have to stop procrastinating and finally get around to selling the CDs and books we’re getting rid of on eBay or Amazon. Sigh. One goal at a time.

After our intense marathon cleaning session, we celebrated with a matinee. We always see the last matinee of the afternoon because it’s discounted an additional 50 cents. Only $5.25 a ticket!

Now that our apartment is nice and tidy and the fall candles are burning, I’m ready for the cool weather. Anytime now. Here in North Carolina, it’s still about 80 degrees every day. We tried to turn off the air conditioning last week. I wanted so badly to just open the windows. No go. The temperature climbed to a humid 90s degrees in our third floor apartment. Sigh. Another two weeks of air conditioning for us it seems.

Finally, on a blog-related note, I’m planning to switch from WordPress hosting to another service so I can have more control over my template. I want to make the switch over Thanksgiving weekend so I’ll have a big block of time to devote to making the switch and ironing out the kinks.

Right now I’m doing some research and looking for a good deal on a reliable hosting service. Anybody have any recommendations for me? I just need basic but reliable hosting, WordPress ready, and I’m hoping to pay about $5 a month. Am I dreaming?

Now I’m off to enjoy turkey meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Yum! My apologies for this rambling, all over the place post. It’s just been one of those days.

Overloaded with free samples or drugstore deals? Donate them for a good cause!

I just came across a great idea for donating unused drugstore deals or free samples, and I wanted to pass it along.

I know a lot of frugal folks collect tons of free samples or stockpile toiletries with the drugstore deals. Lately, I’ve been reading posts from a lot of you about how your stashes have gotten out of control. If you fall into this category and you’ve collected way more free samples or drugstore deals than you can reasonably use, consider donating them to a homeless or domestic violence shelter.

I stumbled across this MySpace page that shares the idea, and I think it’s a great concept.

This website from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development offers resources about homeless shelters in your area. Find one near you, and see if they participate in a program like this.

You can also contact local domestic violence shelters to see if they’re interested in donations.

If you find a participating organization, not only will you be donating to a good cause, but you’ll clear some clutter from your home. It’s win-win!

Has anybody had any success with this? Please let me know!

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Clean out the refrigerator before you put away your groceries

Have you ever found leftovers shoved in the back of the refrigerator and forgotten for weeks? Um, me neither. OK, so I have. But not for a very long time, because we have a simple system for clearing out the old stuff these days.

Every week before we go to the grocery store, we clean out the refrigerator. We check all expiration dates, get rid of uneaten leftovers from the week before, and make room for the new groceries.

Not only does this ensure the removal of dated food, it also eases the process of putting groceries away when we return from the grocery store. Because we’ve already shifted and organized everything, it’s easy to fit all of the week’s groceries. It’s also a good opportunity to take stock of your freezer and condiment inventory and make additions to the grocery list if necessary.

Putting away groceries is a lot less stressful when we’re not trying to make space in the refrigerator at the same time.

Looking for more kitchen organization ideas? Check out this week’s Works for Me Wednesday carnival at Rocks in my Dryer.

TGIF Link Round Up: Getting out of the house edition

Tony and I are homebodies for the most part. The good news is staying home doesn’t cost much. The bad news? It can make things pretty ho-hum. We’ve been spending too many weekends working around the house and running errands.

It’s absolutely beautiful outside tonight, so we’re heading downtown for a stroll.

But first, a round up!

My favorite posts from the personal finance blogosphere this week:

  • Tiffanie at We Like Money wrote about how she’s saving money on college textbooks. It’s rarely necessary to pay the full sticker price for these expensive books. Luckily, my husband is studying creative writing, so most of his books are novels and short story collections. He’s only had to buy a handful of books so far … he checks most of them out from the library.

And now I’m off to start my weekend by enjoying this beautiful weather. You should, too! Happy Friday! :)

A productive weekend in the fight against clutter

For once, I actually stuck to my vow for a productive weekend.

Yesterday, I bought a cheap coupon organizer from the bargain bin at Target for $1. I categorized all of my coupons in a system that works for me.

I’ve struggled with coupon organization in the past, so I’m hoping that getting organized will make the process easier for me. For the first time, I was excited to go through the Sunday paper this week instead of dreading it. Unfortunately, the coupons in this Sunday’s paper kind of stunk. :(

Last night, Tony and I emptied the plastic drawers in which we had crammed all kinds of miscellaneous junk and important documents. We threw away a lot of junk. Our birth certificates were jumbled in the same mess as credit card statements that we don’t even have a reason to keep.

Using a larger organizer (also purchased from the Target bargain bin for $1), I filed our most important documents, including our birth certificates, insurance information, credit and student loan documents, and tax information. The rest of the stuff in the drawers was categorized and organized.

This jumble of miscellaneous junk:

Became this organized drawer of office supplies:

And this organizer filled with important documents:

The photos above only represent one drawer. We went through six “organization bins” that have mainly become vessels for a jumble of quilting materials, office supplies, miscellaneous junk, and important documents.

Our important documents are now filed in the organizer and kept in a safe location. Our six drawers are now separated and organized: two drawers for office supplies, two for quilting materials, one for electronics, and one for owner’s manuals and warranties for our electronics. I’m feeling pretty good about the fact that everything is finally organized in a functional way. Now I can get to the batteries when I need them! We’ll see how long it lasts.

I wasn’t thrilled with our closet organization efforts. The result was a small donation bag for Goodwill and a little less clutter. We still have a few weeks before we can switch out our summer clothes for our winter wardrobes. Overall, the difference is negligible. I’m telling myself it’s because our seasonal closet purge has been effective in keeping clutter to a minimum.

Our biggest project for the weekend was purging our CD collections. For two years, our obsolete CD collection has been cramping our style. Though we mainly listen to music electronically on our iPods and computers and only use CDs in the car, we’ve been hesitant to clear the CDs and jewel cases out of our apartment. Over 100 empty jewel cases have been taking up valuable closet real estate for the past two years, and stacks of loose CDs were in our way in every room. Today, I was finally motivated to get rid of them once and for all.

We collected all of the loose CDs from around the apartment. Then we matched the CDs to their jewel cases. We sorted them into three piles: already burned, not yet burned, and don’t want to burn. Many of them I didn’t even want. I spent the afternoon burning the music that I wanted to keep on to my hard drive and reorganizing my iTunes library.

Then I searched for each of the CDs on Amazon to see what used copies are worth. Most of them were only selling for a penny. I found some good selling prices for about 25 of them, including a Bob Dylan box set that’s currently priced at $40. We’ll be listing the ones that are worth $2 or more on Amazon for a little lower than the current lowest selling price to see if we can make a little money.

We decided that the CDs worth under $2 aren’t worth the hassle of selling on Amazon. We’ll keep the ones we might listen to in the car, and we’ll try to sell the rest at a local used music shop. If no one’s interested in buying, then we’ll just donate them to Goodwill or the library.

Two years ago I wasn’t ready to part with my CD collection. Now, after letting them collect dust and take up space for so long, I’m finally ready to let them go. Sometimes all it takes to comfortably let go of clutter is a little time.

It feels really good to cross this stuff off my fall clutter clearing list!

What about you? Do you still have CDs that you don’t use or other clutter lying around the house? Why not get rid of it?

TGIF Link Roundup: Another birthday lunch edition

Another birthday lunch in the office, which means I’m eating solo today. But it also means I have time to write a post while enjoying delicious leftover stuffed manicotti courtesy of my husband the master chef. Yum!

I participated in three carnivals this week:

I have lots of things to share from the personal finance blogosphere this week! All of you have had such great topics lately. Here are the posts I found most inspiring (though I have to tell you, it was rough to pick just a few this week):

  • Everybody’s been blogging about Amy at MotherLoad‘s list of 35 ways to save on groceries. It really is full of fabulous tips, so check it out if you haven’t already!
  • Mercedes at Common Sense with Money wrote about the recent trend of smaller packages without a price drop on certain products. Ugh, I hate this! It’s just so sneaky. Our dog food recently dropped from 20 pounds to 18 pounds a bag, but the price stayed the same. That’s two days worth of meals. I think I’d rather pay a little higher price. I’d rather they were upfront about it.
  • Penelope Pince at Our Fourpence Worth wrote about the benefits of switching to paperless statements. I don’t receive any paper statements anymore, and I love online bill pay. It really does streamline the process of paying the bills, and I can access the statements online for most of my bills anyway. That’s way easier than filing them myself! Safer, too, because it doesn’t leave a paper trail for identity thieves.
  • Mrs. Micah shared her online couponing method. Great tips here for people like me who can’t get the hang of paper coupons!

This weekend I’m committed to making a dent, even if it’s a small one, in my clutter clearing mission. I haven’t decided where to start yet, but my plan is to spend Saturday or Sunday morning every weekend cleaning and organizing until it’s done. I’ll be sure to update on my progress by the end of the weekend.

I’m also looking forward to more hand quilting this weekend. I’m happy to report that I LOVE it a lot more than machine quilting. I hated being stuck behind a sewing machine. Hand quilting isn’t as hard as I expected, and I love that I can do it while relaxing on the couch with my hubby.

Hope you’re all enjoying some nice fall weather this weekend! Forecast says 90 degrees here through next week. Yuck. I don’t know if I can handle another 6 weeks of summer.

Happy Friday!