Frugal Finds Friday: Knowing When To Spend

For a year now, you’ve heard me talk about saving money in a variety of ways from where to get a cheap will to where to print coupons online to how to make your own gifts. Now, let’s talk about the times you might need to spend a little more in the short-term to save in the long run.

Six examples come to mind immediately:

1) Car Maintenance: Know your warning lights. Listen to your car. You don’t have to be a car whisperer to know when something starts squealing, grinding or knocking in a way it didn’t before. If you get it checked out, you are more likely to have the car much longer. Also, keep up with annual maintenance checks. Small tune-ups catch budding problems that can become something much worse. Know your optimal tire pressure and when tires need to be replaced.

2) Caulk: Check the seams around your entire house. A little caulk around your doors and windows will keep the moisture from seeping in and rotting your frames. Caulking at the edge of your bathtub and kitchen sink will prevent water from running under floors and surfaces. You may prevent major leakage through a second floor ceiling, not to mention mold build-up.

3) Basement flooding prevention: If your basement collects unwanted water, look at the ground around your house. Does it slope away from the house or lead water right back in? You may want to consider having the grading changed. Also, does your drain pipe extend far enough out from the house? And, have you considered a French drain that drains away from the house? Do you have a sump pump installed and is it working properly? Some steps aren’t as simple as others but having a warm dry basement creates valuable living and storage space and will certainly help when you go to resale.

For the next three examples and the rest of this article, head over to DIYFrugal where Sarah is gathering lots of money saving resources just for YOU! (What do you think of the new look? It is still a work in progress but we are cleaning up over there!)

Frugal Finds Friday: Planning for Valentine’s Day

Bring on the chocolate: dark, chewy, crunchy, creamy, sugar-free, you name it. Valentine’s Day is almost here and there are many ways to share your affection without breaking the bank.

In my family, this little day of feasting, candy and flowers falls right about the time the budget and diet are just getting back into shape and the cold winter air chills the plans for an evening out. Given these factors, we started a tradition when my girls were little. One snowy Valentine’s Day when going out wasn’t an option, we pulled out all the china, dressed in our finest, cooked and cleaned and waited for Daddy to come home with flowers for the table. The girls enjoyed it so much that now they have the table set before I even decide what to cook.

Why let a day about love fill you with financial dread? From gifts to dinner, there are multiple options to show love creatively this year without spending a fortune.

Starting with cards, communicate your affection through technology for a quick and easy gesture. The launch of online sites like e-cards.com, bluemountain.com, and hallmark.com let you send a free card via e-mail complete with animation. If you are the tactile type and need to send greetings on paper, your computer offers many options to make and print your own customized cards. If you are feeling extra creative, pull out the old ribbons and lace and make an super-special creation for little expense or effort.

For more of this article on money saving ideas for Valentine’s Day, head over to DIYFrugalwhere Sarah is gathering lots of money saving resources just for YOU!

Frugal Finds Friday: MAX YOUR MENU: January 2010 Edition

January is a great time to use up leftovers, clear the pantry, make soup and look for new ways to max your menu. Here are a couple tips to help you make the most of what you already have:

Inventory your pantry. What do you have hiding in the recesses that only need an ingredient or two to spruce up and serve? Perhaps you have more whole meals than you think.

Inventory your freezer. What meat needs to be thrown away and what needs to be pulled out and thawed and cooked? Use it up if it is still good but watch for freezer burnt items.

Inventory your refrigerator. Usually you store things in your refrigerator that can go bad quickly. Make sure to use up everything before it goes bad each week. If you thaw something, make sure to cook it as soon as it is ready. If one of your new year’s resolutions is to eat healthier, don’t forget to pull out those items at snack time and meal time.

Save those sale flyers and make a list of which grocery store is selling what you need.

Make a goal of reducing your trips to the grocery store. The less you go, the less likely you will pick up the vast number of “want” items rather than “need” items. I love all the pre-made stuffed meats I see lined up at the butcher’s counter but they instantly jack up your grocery bill and calorie content.

For more MAX YOUR MENU tips, head over to DIYFrugal for the rest of this article where we are gathering lots of money saving resources just for YOU. Check out our new look!

Start a Plan of Action Right Now!

A New Year is a great time to dream dreams, set goals and make a plan of action. Begin this year knowing what you want to achieve and setting out to make it happen.

Here are a couple of pointers to start you on your way:

1. Evaluate 2009. What were your goals for last year? How far did you get? What steps did you take? What happened good you want to do again? What happened bad you want to never have happen again? What can you do about it, if anything?

2. Make a list of what needs to happen right now. Clean up from the holidays? Throw out the Christmas tree? Reevaluate your budget? Step on the scales? Send thank you cards? What do you need to get done today? What needs to happen this week?

3. Then, make a list of what needs to happen next. Leave room for steps you are going to take in January, steps that had better be done by March-April and then, what you are going to look at in June to see where you are half way through the year. By continually revisiting important goals, you hold yourself accountable and have a much higher likelihood of success.

4. Under each goal, write what tools you are going to invest in to meet your goals.Do you need a book on personal finance? Do you need an appointment with a finance counselor? Do you need weight advice or a session with a personal trainer? Do you need a professional home organizer to get you on the right path?

For the rest of this article, click over to DIYFrugal and check all the money saving resources Sarah is gathering just for YOU!

Fabulously Yummy Tip from DIY Frugal…

How do you manage your holiday candy stash? Some people cut up chocolate to make cookies and brownies, some freeze their candy, and others sneak as much as possible to the trashcan before kids start crying foul. I’ve even see one recipe for a Kit Kat candy bar smoothie.

When my kids were really little, we participated in the annual Halloween trek around the neighborhood and ended up with more candy than any of us needed; all under the guise of seeing our friends on a warm Fall night when everyone is out and the mood is festive. We would go early and I would actually put half of the collected candy back into our bowl to give out to older teens who arrived later to clean us out. I didn’t want to be left with the temptation to eat it all myself since my kids could barely chew. In later years, we would take whatever was left to Thanksgiving where a much larger group could help us finish it up.

Now, my kids are the older Trick-or-Treaters themselves and they hide their stash in their rooms and only share sparingly with mom, if the dog doesn’t find it first. I bring this up because picking out the best candy to add to brownies and cookies is impossible if I have to get it from my kids. However, with a little planning, if you are going to participate in giving out Halloween or Christmas candy, it is worth thinking through your purchases and only buying items which can be reinvented and repurposed if any leftovers exist. You can also take advantage of after-holiday sales to supplement your baking needs.

Read the rest of this article (which includes how to make peppermint bark) over at DIY Frugal where Sarah is gathering lots of money saving tips just for you!

Frugal Friday Finds: DIY…Holiday Gift Idea

Do you enjoy making your own gifts to share at Christmas? Ever try woodworking? With a little patience, skill and the right tools, you can make keepsake gifts to share with the whole family. Get the kids in on the fun by letting them sand and paint and pound a nail or two.

In recent years, we enjoyed giving the fruits of my husband’s growing woodworking hobby as his skills (and collection of tools) increased with each holiday season. Inspiration for wood projects have come from a variety of sources. One year, my sister needed a new piano bench for a piano they found for free in the classified ads. For that project, Brian went to a piano store and measured professionally made piano benches before making one himself. Another year, Brian created his own measurements for a dollhouse shelf just like the one in the Pottery Barn catalog. Other years, Brian combined leftover wood with new purchases to create smaller projects like a chess board, various cutting boards, keepsake boxes and even toy helicopters.

For more of this article on DIY Woodworking for holiday gifts, click over to DIY Frugal where Sarah is gathering lots of money saving tips just for you!

Frugal Finds Friday: Watching Your Credit Report

Do you know who has been looking at your credit lately? Have you looked? Even more important, did you know that the three national credit bureaus are required by Federal Law to give you a free report once a year?

By going online to http://www.annualcreditreport.com, you can request one free copy annually. Be aware that at AnnualCreditReport.com, you will pay a nominal fee for your credit score which you may not need for a basic overview of your accounts. You can also contact the agencies separately: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. All will offer you other services which you do not need for a basic check. “But, why do I go to this trouble?” you might ask.

Credit reports show who you owe, how much you owe, where you live and how timely your payments have been. By seeing for yourself what everyone else you want to buy from is seeing, you can correct any errors, cancel credit cards you don’t use, and see who else has requested a credit inquiry on you.

For more of this article, head over HERE to DIY Frugal where Sarah is gathering lots of money saving resources just for you!

Frugal Finds Friday: Creative Gift Wrap

“Good things come in small packages” or so the old saying goes. I would venture to change it to “the best things come in homemade gift wrap.”

When you wrap a gift with creativity and ingenuity, you can save money while adding your own personal touch to the gift. I tapped my Twitter microblogging network to bring you ideas for creating your own wrapping. Combining their ideas with my own, here’s what we came up with:

• Tin Foil — Emboss flowers and words in your tin foil wrap with a ball point pen.
• Tissue Paper — You can stamp, draw on, fold, fluff and crinkle to make many fun wrappings with tissue paper, white or colored. With a little clever folding and tying in the middle, you can add colorful tissue flowers to the top.
• Brown Paper Bags — Same as tissue, just brown. Color, stamp, or draw on. Tie with raffia, straw, or twine for a fun organic look. Brown paper bags also look nice painted with stripes or dots.
• Pool/Tote Bag — Use part of the gift as the wrap itself.
• Basket — Group items and tie with a ribbon. This method works well with food gifts.
• Kitchen Towel — Wrap towel around kitchen tools and tie with ribbon or string. The revival of the flour towel provides the perfect weight for dual use as gift wrap.
• Receiving Blanket — Tie a thin blanket around baby items for a cozy baby gift.
• Garage Sale Wrapping Paper — Pick up fun papers at garage sales. People are always clearing out their old stock. Head to the stationery aisles of stores going out of business. Cards and gift wrap always seem to be plentiful on the sale racks.
• Cloth — Wrap present in pretty printed cloth and tie with ribbon. Even a new pillowcase might make a fun covering for a larger gift.
• Comics/Newspaper — And, then there is the old standby: newspaper or comics with a colorful bow.

To read the rest of this article, head over HERE to DIY Frugal where Sarah is gathering lots of money saving resources just for you!

Frugal Finds Friday: Dental Savings Tips

Some lessons are more painful to learn than others. After several return visits to the dentist this last month, I finally asked my dentist how I could avoid so many trips to come see him. Some answers I knew and hung my head in dental shame but some surprised me.

“I wish I could quantify how a minute a day flossing would help people save a lot of money in dental care,” says Dr. Dan Thomas of Springford Family Dental. He reminded me that the cost of dental floss is significantly less than the amount people spend annually on the repercussions of allowing food to sit in between their teeth and rot the enamel. Chewy candy is especially harmful since it sticks to the teeth in hard to reach places.

Leaving food between the teeth by not flossing can also cause periodontal (or gum) disease and gingivitis, not to mention bad breath. Periodontitis has even been linked to rheumatoid arthritis in studies (according to Jerry A. Molitor, MD, PhD, an associate professor in the division of rheumatology and autoimmune disease at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis).

For more of this article, head over HERE to DIY Frugal where Sarah has gathered lots of money saving resources just for you!

Frugal Finds Friday: Reasons for Recycling

People start recycling for a variety of reasons. Some people want to stop landfills from overflowing so new ones won’t end up in their backyard. Some people are simply addicted to sorting and organizing and categorizing. Some people just hate waste. I started recycling because I was running out of trash bags.

I realized that if I pulled out the milk jugs, soda cans, glass jars and cereal boxes, I didn’t have to empty the trash as often. What I didn’t realize is that when you start to recycle you become aware of the decision-making process about waste and reusable goods at a very intimate level. Everything leaving the kitchen or closets or storage spaces starts going through a process of mental evaluation: do I toss it, can I save it or can anyone use it in any form?

A commitment to recycling changes one’s whole perspective. Despite being a sentimental packrat, I realized that once you get into the habit of assessing usefulness around the home, you make smarter decisions on everything. Instead of stockpiling more, I found that I stashed less because I realized that if I was not using something in a reasonable time, someone else could be and that I needed to let it go. For example, I found many old games and toys that my children grew out of years ago sitting dusty on our basement shelves just in case a younger child stopped by. I boxed them up and took them to Goodwill where someone else could immediately benefit from their educational value.

In Shel Horowitz’s e-book, “The Penny Pinching Hedonist: How to Live Like Royalty with a Peasant’s Pocketbook,”he states “Recycling is a popular idea these days — and for good reason. It’s good for the budget, the environment, and the society as a whole. But if you think of recycling only in terms of melting down plastic and metal or dissolving paper and making a new batch, think again.

For more of this article, click HERE to go to DIYFrugal.com where Sarah is gathering lots of money saving resources just for YOU!