Is a Spending Feeze anything like a No Gas Day?

I asked Margaret today if the spending freeze is anything like a don't buy gas day. People send out mass emails to encourage people not to buy gas on a certain day to show the gas companies we mean business. Well the reason why that doesn't work is because people just buy gas the day before or the day after.

So back to my question. When you decide to go on a spending freeze do you just stock up on everything the month before? In my case no. I just realize that I have enough of everything that I don't need to buy anything more. Plus I have no more room to put anything else. I need to use up what I have so that there is room to replenish what I need. In Margaret's defense that is the reason she gave me on the phone today as well.

One reason I have always declared January a spending freeze month and sometimes December is because my husband gets laid off around Christmas and doesn't go back to work until the end of January. So in October and November I always stock up on food and other essentials before our income is cut in half.

I plan to go on a spending freeze next month with Margaret. We will see how we do.

So, do you declare next month a spending freeze and then go out and buy more than usual before the month is over just to get it out of your system?

Month in Reflection

This month I attempted to do a voluntary spending freeze, but it didn't work out so well and I ended up spending more than my budget allowed. I know I have a shopping addiction and I get a high from finding a good deal. I have really gotten this problem under control over the past two years, but I fear that I am still not saving enough money and I am not as financially stable as I would like. My real goal is to get at least 8 months of expenses in savings and my car paid off by this time next year. I am on track as of right now, but I want to stop buying unnecessary items until my goal is reached. Two years ago when I did my first spending freeze, I did it because I had to in order to get out of debt. Now when I try to do it again, I fail because it is voluntary. My goal for September is to stick to a spending freeze and to focus more on work, home and family to keep my mind off bargain hunting. I am not in need of anything at this moment (my DH disagrees, he wants to finish our home improvements before winter, but I think they can wait another year). So this is why I am not going to fail at my spending freeze this month:

I am going to guide my focus to other things and keep busy to keep my mind off shopping.

I am going to write out my goals on my white board in my home office so I can look at them whenever I need encouragement to stay away from Target and Wal-Mart.

I am going to stop looking at sale ads unless I am looking for something in particular that I am running low on or cannot live without.

I have a huge stockpile of food, clothes, dog food, cat food, cleaning products, personal hygiene products, and gifts to last for several months (except perishables).

I have my DH to support me and tell me not to shop and he has me to tell him that he doesn't need that new welder or whatever else he thinks he needs.

I will keep track of my spending, as always, and post my progress here on this blog.

Selling Books

Well, I thought that I was going to get rid of a bunch of books from the storage unit and make a little money on the side. That is what I get for thinking.

I posted the books and a couple of CDs on Amazon.com. With in two days I sold 2 books and both CDs that I had. I looked at my account to discover that I owed Amazon over $5.00.

I didn't look at the fine print. They not only charge you a fee per item you sell, but a monthly flat fee of $39.99 for credit card processing and advertising. I am now paying Amazon to get rid of my books. I guess you live and learn. I still haven't learned to read all the fine print.

In a couple of days I will take what didn't sell off of Amazon.com and maybe sell them on Ebay or Half.com (which is owned by Ebay now). I still have plenty of books to sell and may be able to get some money to put in my savings account.

Lessons learned - read all the agreement before signing up. I know this is nothing new to most of you, but I guess that I need to be reminded all the time.

Walgreens Coupon

Click here to print a coupon for $10 off a purchase of $40 or more Friday, August 29th & Saturday, August 30th only at Walgreens.

Getting back to our Grandparents way of life

MSNBC has an article “Pinching pennies like your grandparents”. Not only are people starting to use the cookbooks that have been lying dormant in the kitchen cabinet, but they are choosing lower cost foods.

According to the article, people are switching steaks for hamburger and buying a lot more pasta, beans, and rice. Some are even cutting out beef and going for the less expensive, chicken. More and more people are using coupons and store brand items to stretch every dollar.

As for me, I would love to get back to baking bread and making my own spaghetti sauce and ketchup. Unfortunately I just don’t have the time or resources anymore, that and my husband wouldn’t eat it anyway. He doesn’t like home-made bread, spaghetti sauce, or ketchup. Those items have to be brand name items.

Right now we don’t have room for a garden. If we are still living in the same house next spring I am going to try box gardening or I may go in with my parents and help with their garden to get some fresh veggies and some fruit and cut my grocery budget. I would love to make some of my own jelly again.

Are you making more home-made cookies instead of buying them at the store? Let me know what you are now making at home.

Money, Happiness, and Freedom

Will having more money make you happy or just wanting more? Get Rich Slowly published an article about “The Psychology of Happiness”. I don’t think money will make me happy, but I do think it will give me more choices.

To me the freedom of choice is what makes me happy. The choice of being able to be a stay-at-home mom or work at a full time job. The choice of what kind of neighborhood that I want to live in or what kind of house I can buy. How big of a storage warehouse we can build to store all my husband’s things.

I know that for me paying off bills and having more money in savings has released a bunch of stress and gave me a feeling of more freedom. The freedom and less stress increases my feeling of happiness. My goal is to have more freedom to not worry if I get laid off of work, not worry if I need to take some time off to be with my family, not worry if my car breaks down, not to worry….

According to JD’s article, once you reach your goal of riches, you only want more. So you work harder at a job you hate that stresses you out so badly that it causes physical harm to your body. Your kids grow up not knowing who you are. It’s “Cats in the Cradle” all over again. Don’t get me wrong, balancing working at a job and spending time with family is a very delicate thing that always needs to be evaluated and hard to keep in balance.

Will you ever be happy with what you have or will you always want a bigger house, more exotic car, travel to more exotic places? If you won the lottery, would you still want more? What if you won enough money to pay off all your bills, would you be happy to have more freedom?

45 Instructions for Life

1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully
2. Memorize your favorite poem.
3. Don't believe all your hear, spend all you have, or sleep all you want.
4. When you say, "I love you" mean it.
5. When you say, "I'm sorry, look the person in the eye.
6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
7. Believe in love at first sight.
8. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name-calling.
11. Don't judge people by their relatives.
12. Talk slowly but think quickly.
13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
15. Call your mom.
16. Say, "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
17. When you lose, don't love the lesson.
18. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.
19. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
20. When you you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
21. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
22. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
23. Spend some time alone.
24. Open your arms to change but don't let go of your values.
25. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
26. Read more books and watch less TV.
27. Live a good, honorable life. Then, when you get older and think back, you'll get to enjoy it a second time.
28. Trust in God but lock your car.
29. A loving atmosphere in your home is so important. Do all you can to create a tranquil harmonious home.
30. In disagreements with loved ones, deal with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
31. Read between the lines.
32. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
33. Be gentle with the earth.
34. Pray. There's immeasurable power in it.
35. Never interrupt when you are being flattered.
36. mind your own business.
37. Don't trust a man/woman who doesn't close his/her eyes when you kiss.
38. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
39. If you make a lot of money, put it to use helping others while you are living. That is wealth's greatest satisfaction.
40. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of luck.
41. Learn the rules; then break some.
42. Remember that the best relationship is one where you love for each other is greater than your need for each other.
43. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
44. Remember that your character is your destiny.
45. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

Shopping Spree

Yesterday, I posted that I was going to go to several places today to do some shopping and that I would be hard pressed to stick to my budget. Well, I was right. We started off at Lowe's to get paint. We found an orange in the mis-tints, but we couldn't find a green, so we had to pay full price. Total at Lowes: $14.97. Then we went to Target, total: $10.56 for 4 12 packs of soda, 3 bags of goldfish crackers, some allergy medicine, and some spiderman flash cards. Then to Sears for DH's work boots: $92.28 (That was with 50% off and I had a $5 giftcard. Hopefully those will last a while). Then I went to CVS and I got 2 Glade air freshners, a box of facial tissue, 3 toothbrushes, 2 cans of coffee, and 2 tubs of wipes, total: $5.29. After that we went to the grocery store and spent $45.45, but I had $15.39 in coupons. Not too bad of a shopping spree I guess, but I had hoped to stop at Payless Shoes and Borders, however we got to the mall too early and they weren't open yet. One good thing, we went to JC Penny because they are having a great sale and I had a 15% off coupon, but I didn't buy anything. Well, if anything, I am stocked up enough to do an actual spending freeze for September. Anybody up to do a Spending Freeze challenge for September? Let me know.

PS. For those of us in the St. Louis Metro area, Shop N Save is have their $10 off a purchase of $50 or more this Thursday, August 28th.

Welcome Readers of Gather Little by Little

I want to welcome readers of Gather Little by Little who featured our article 'The Fall Wedding Season'.

We hope that you find our articles interesting and helpful. Please feel free to subscribe to our RSS feed and leave comments on our articles.

Spending Freeze Update

As I posted on July 31st, I am trying another spending freeze this month. It is not going exactly how I wanted, but I haven't completely blown it yet. I have stuck to my budget, but due to unexpected occurrences this month, I have not been able to put a freeze on my spending. There have been so many good sales this month it has been hard to determine whether I am buying things that are necessary or if I am buying them just because they are a good deal. Today for instance, I had to go run some errands in town. So after I took some recycling to the drop off and took my DH to daycare I went into town.

First, I washed my car because there was some very nasty goo on it, then I went to Wal-Mart. Evil place. I had a list of things that I needed like cat food, dog food, smoke detector, air/furnace filter, light bulbs, curtain fabric and chocolate milk mix. I ended up spending about $112. Sometimes I have the willpower to only get the things on my list, but since neither my DH or my DS were with me, I had the opportunity to shop around. So I ended up getting several things that were not on my list like 2 toothbrushes, 2 packs of pens, juice, 2 boxes of fruit snacks, and 2 boxes of ziploc bags. Then I went to Walgreens to use my $5 off coupon. I got a ton of stuff for $30 and I used my gift card so I didn't spend any cash. I had to take some stuff to the Salvation Army Thrift store and then I got an oil change in my car. I then went to a few yardsales and I found 3 shirts, 2 pajama sets and a pair of Levi jeans for my DH and I only spent $8. I don't really feel guilty about my purchases today because I multi-tasked my trip to town and I didn't really buy anything that wasn't on sale.

However, tomorrow I may not do so well. I have to go to Lowe's to buy some more paint to finish up a redecorating project for my DS's bedroom. I also want to go to a couple yardsales, Target, CVS, Borders, Sears, Payless, JC Penny and Walgreens. I don't plan on spending too much money, but I will be buying a new pair of work boots for my DH. That may be a budget breaker. Although, Sears has their Die Hard brand boots 50% off and I have a gift card to use there too. I will post how I do tomorrow.

$5 off a $20 purchase at Walgreens

Click here to print a coupon for $5 off a purchase of $20 or more at Walgreens today and tomorrow only.

What can I do to make some extra money?

Since I am trying to figure out what is going to happen with my job, I have been thinking of ways that I could make some extra money while looking for a new job. Maybe even make enough money that I can just stay home and work.

What have I come up with?

1. Participate in surveys that Margaret has recommended.m
2. Crocheting baby blankets to sell on eBay or Craigslist.
3. Increasing business for my Web Design and DJ Business.
4. Increase activity on this blog and my other blogs.
5. Promote that my DH and I convert reel-to-reels, cassette tape, and records into digital format. We can also convert VHS to DVD. We just now have the ability to convert 35mm slides into digital format.
6. ChaCha - which I just found on Money Saving Mom.

I have already started working on the afghans and finally made time to work on some web sites that I already had on the books. This week I plan to work more on the blogs. I won’t be able to get to the surveys until next week.

What are some of the things you do to make extra money?

Goals

Ok, I have been slacking in all areas of my life in the last few weeks. I have been spending more money than usual. Eating out more and spending more on gas than I have in over a year. It is time to get back on track.

It is time that I pull out my index cards with my goals for the year along with my yellow note pad to go over my notes.

My goals for the rest of this month are:

1. To ride the bus and metro everyday (except one because I have a meeting after work ).
2. Eat breakfast at home or take it to work.
3. Working on home projects like web sites and afghans – which will keep me busy so that I don’t go out and spend money.
4. Put books on eBay, Half.com, or Amazon.com for sale to generate some extra money.
5. Take a page from Margaret and slow down when I do drive so I don’t get any more tickets ( another $100.00 down the drain ).
6. Write an article a day for this blog.
7. Start an IVF Blog.

I think that will be enough to the next week and a half. That will get me back into the swing of things. I was going to try to make this month a spending freeze month, but that didn’t work. Why when try to stop doing something it becomes harder than usual? I may just declare September a spending freeze month. Mostly because I will find out if I will still have a job or not and I will need as much money in the savings account as possible.

Identity Theft

A couple of weeks ago I had to get my drivers license renewed. Along with my drivers license I also received a couple of fliers on identity theft. I thought that I would share some interesting tidbits.

How to guard against identity theft:

• Obtain a free credit report and look for any inaccurate information. You can go to www.annualcreditreport.com or call 877-322-8228to receive a free credit report.
• Do not give out your social security number, mother's maiden name, or account numbers to strangers who contact you, especially by phone, internet, or mail. Legitimate financial or government organizations that do business with you already have this information and will not ask for it by calling you.
• Make sure your full credit card number or expiration date does not appear on receipts.
• Don't leave outgoing mail in your mailbox. Take it to a collection box or your local post office.
• Tear or shred charge receipts, copies of credit applications, insurance forms, physician statements, bank checks, and statements, expired charge cards and credit offers you get in the mail.
• Minimize the amount of personal financial information you carry. memorize passwords and PIN numbers instead of carrying them with you.

For credit reports you can call Equifax at 800-525-6285, Experian at 1-888-937-3742, or TransUnion at 1-800-680-7289. I think they charge you $12.00 for credit report and an extra cost for your credit score.

The Fall Wedding Season

It seems that there are now two wedding seasons in a year, Spring and Fall. The fall wedding season is fast approaching and I have some tips for a smoother and less stressful reception.

In the last year a candy bar has become the fad instead of appetizers. A buffet table or tall round tables decorated with the latest chocolates and hard candies for everyone to enjoy while watching a slide show of the Bride and Groom on a 24” TV (or larger).

One tip that everyone seems to forget is having a corner for the younger children. Have a child table with child size chairs in a corner covered in white paper so that the children can draw or color. Encourage the parents to bring the child’s toys and have something set up to keep them entertained. This helps keep the screaming running child from knocking over the beautiful and expensive wedding cake to the floor.

If there are going to be children at the reception, consider having child safe tables with electric tea candles instead of real ones. You really don’t want to evacuate the building and have the sprinklers go off on your beautiful decorations.

You may want to suggest that the parents stop by McDonalds on the way to the reception hall or have special children meal made by the caterer. Another way to keep the child from throwing food, that they refuse to eat, at the snooty Aunt or Grandmother that complains loudly about unruly children and of course the drunk brother-in-law thinking that someone has started a food fight and joins in.

Coordinate with the DJ or Band and the venue to set a time to set up and to stop the music to have enough time to tear down so that you are not charged extra for keeping the manager of the venue longer than scheduled. Get the schedule in writing for your own protection. My husband and I are DJs and have run into a problem where one person said that we could take as long as we wanted to tear down, but when it came to the evening we were yelled because we were there an hour after the manager was suppose to have locked the doors. The manager threatened to charge the couple extra money for her time.

Consider putting a responsible person in charge of walking through the venue after most people have left to gather all the forgotten items. This will give one central person for lost and found calls the next day.

These are just a few tips that I have gathered through my experience as a DJ and working at a number of weddings and parties. Click on the comments to leave your great tips for those getting ready to walk down the aisle.

Survival Kit For Everyday Life

Toothpick - to remind you to pick out the good qualities in others

Rubber Band - to remind you to be flexible, things might not always to the way you want, but it will work out

Pencil - to remind you to list you blessings everyday

Eraser - To Remind you that everyone makes mistakes, and it's OK.

Chewing gum - to remind you to stick with it and you can accomplish anything

Mint - To remind you that you are worth a mint

Candy Kiss - to remind you that everyone needs a kiss or a hug everyday

Tea Bag - to remind you to relax daily and go over that list of blessings.

Useful Websites

My Aunt sent me an email with links to some really good web sites and I thought that I would share. Thanks Paula!

http://www.letmeplay.com

this website is for getting rid of your old sneakers. They recycle them into rubber play surfaces.

Save the rain forest for every cell phone donated this website helps save 75 feet of rain forest http://www.redjellyfish.org/cellphonerecycling.html they will send you a form to fill out and a mailing label.

Donate your old computer to a school http://www.cristina.org or to a family who can not afford a computer http://www.theonitfoundation.org

to donate your old prescription glasses or sunglasses to a developing country drop off at any sears optical, lenscrafters, pearle vision, target optical or go to http://www.givethegiftofsight.com

to get rid of old prescription medicine mail to Flying Doctors. They fly them to Mexico and central America to treat folks in undeveloped countries. http://www.flyingdocs.org

Help support a single mom and her family by donating your old dress clothes. So they have something nice to wear (which they can not afford) to job interviews. First impressions could make the difference in getting a job. Go to http://www.dressforsuccess.org

win 20 years of free gasoline go to http://www.autovantage.com for your chance to win$1750.00 of gas for every year for the next 20 years.

Win a queen size Verdi square pillow top mattress set from Sealy. Go to http://www.1800Mattress.com/ww

Win an interactive doll house has more than 400 activities, songs, words and sounds, plus spacious rooms and secret passageways. Go to http://www.learningcurve.com/ww

I got all of these out of the Womans World magazine. A very informative magazine.

Frustrating Family Members

Get Rich Slowly has an article that made me think of some of my family members who struggle with money. They just can't seem to be able to put money in the bank and leave it there.

Yes, like any kind of addiction, buying things fills the emotional gap that has never been filled by loved ones. For some people it is hard to turn away from that short lived high of buying a new outfit, electronic gadget, or the newly release book and put the money into a savings account or toward a credit card bill.

Why can some people leave a store without anything and others leave the store with $100 worth of items they didn't intend to buy? They are trying to fill that gap of love, self-esteem, self-respect, fill in the blank.

Until these people realize that things do not make them feel loved, they don't give them respect, and things do not help you believe in yourself, they will never have money. You can not force them to feel better about themselves. You can try to encourage them, but they are the ones that have to have an a ha moment or some kind of life changing event to help them change their thinking and lives.

How do I handle money moochers in my family?

Yes, I realize they have a lot of emotional problems, but that doesn't mean I have to enable their addictions and make things worse for them in the long run. I never give them money. If I feel that they actually need help for the children's sake, I buy the groceries and deliver them to their home. I go with them to pay a bill and give the money directly to the company. If they need gas, I will take their car to the gas station and put the gas in the car. I found that I don't get very many people asking me for money, because what they say they want the money for, really is not what they actually spend the money on.

It is hard to watch people struggle in life. But you can't live their life for them. They have to learn from their own mistakes and if they don't then they have to deal with the consequences. For me this means that I have to love people from a distance. I limit my contact with them and I don't bring up finances. I only give advise when asked and it is up to them if they use that advise or not.

How do you deal with financially struggling family members?

Learning to Trade Stock without Spending Money

Wall Street Survivor is a web site that you can pretend to buy and trade stock. This is a great teaching tool. You can see how well you would do without using any of your own money. You can win real cash prizes by trading stocks if you are one of the top 10 traders you can win money. Good Luck!

Should you wait to have a baby until you are financially secure?

Frugal Dad has an article about paying off credit card debt before having a baby. I agree with him, don’t wait! There will never be a perfect time to have a child or two.

Just from my own experience, unless you are unable to pay for your own essential needs, don’t wait. I am currently going through a second round of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments to have a child. It isn’t easy.

Yes having a child will eventually add expenses to your budget. But if you stick with buying items from yard sales and second hand stores, the joy of having a child will outweigh any extra money going out the door.

Here are some things that my husband and I have already decided upon to save a few extra dollars when a child comes into our lives:

· Breast feeding instead of formula
· Cloth diapers
· Buying clothes from yard sales and second hand stores
· We already have some furniture given to us from friends and family

Babies grow too fast to buy everything new and they are too young to be influenced by commercialism so why spend the extra money on new clothes and toys.

I was planning to start an IVF blog, but I have been feeling so crappy from the shots and from a sinus headache that won't go away. I just don’t have the energy to keep up with another blog. This is the reason the articles have been so sporadic the last few weeks. Most of the bad shots should be done with in another week, and I should be able to get back on track.

If you are planning to have children, don’t wait. Do what you need to do to get your finances in order and your home ready while trying to conceive. Then enjoy the process.