A co-worker in my department lives 2 blocks from the transit stop I wait at each morning. About 4 months ago, he started pulling over and picking me up on his way to work. I felt guilty about the free rides and my lack of desire to share the expense, so I changed my hours to use public transit again.

A week later, he changed his hours to match mine.

Over the last few weeks, he has started to complain about gas prices. I asked him why he doesn’t use the free public transportation and he responded, ‘Eww. No. I wouldn’t be caught dead on public transit.’ I used this opportunity to tell him that I use the money I save in gas to pay debt. He rolled his eyes.

Yesterday, I told him I was driving to work because I had to meet my sister and needed my car. He snapped, ‘Well, it would be nice if you offered to drive me once in a while.’ I was unsure of what to say so I dumbly said, ‘I’m sorry’ rather than explain myself…again.

I already know changing my hours won’t work. I’ve tried to sneak out of the building and hide at the bus stop but he always finds me and gets offended if I turn down a ride home. He makes my turning down his offer for a ride home to be a personal insult – and then talks about it at work. It appears as though I have to talk to him about it (more clearly than the first time) but I’m not sure what to say or how to bring it up.

Any advice?

I’m a fan of daily fitness so I will be the first to tell you, if having a gym membership is the only way you will exercise, spend the money. The monthly gym fees will be far less expensive than poor health now and in the future.

We were able to temporarily cancel our monthly gym dues when my husband lost his job. Now that six months have passed without a trip to the gym, I’ve discovered something surprising…

I work out more now without a gym membership than I did with one.

I spend a quick 20 minutes running with the dogs or doing a workout video before making dinner each night. I do sit ups while watching TV or I jog in place. Before, if I didn’t have an hour to workout at the gym, I simply wouldn’t workout at all. Now, if I have 10 minutes, I use it!

I have always clung to my gym membership even in the leanest financial times. Looking at the impact of working out at home, I’m not sure why I held on so tight. We decided to make the temporary cancelation permanent. Rather than redirect all the money toward debt reduction, we’ve decided to keep part designated to fitness. The money can go toward new tennis shoes, marathon entrance fees, or exercise equipment. If we get desperate for a group class or a swim, we can sign up at the community center for $30 for a 3 month, two hour, twice weekly class.

Try working out at home this month. It may not work for you – but maybe you’ll be surprised at the results.

**If you do decide to cancel your membership, you may need to cancel several times. These companies (especially large gyms like 24Hour Fitness and LA Fitness ) can be very sneaky and ‘accidentally’ automatically deduct your dues for up to six months. You may need to consult with your bank to stop payments.**

The deadly season of Easter.

It’s not the peeps that make my heart go pitter patter; it’s the tasty chocolate Cadbury Mini Eggs. I can’t resist them no matter how much they cost financially or physically. Sure the $2.50 price tag isn’t terrible but literally, I can’t fit into my pants after eating them. This is likely because I can eat a bag in less than a week and there are 56 grams of fat and 1,330 calories in each bag of yummy goodness.

I had to go to Target to buy a bag of dog food and couldn’t resist the bright sale sign resting on the heavenly purple bag (why don’t they ever put flax seed on sale?). I took the treasured chocolate eggs to work with my lunch and set my carrying bag on the table to pull out my food for the refrigerator. Distracted, I left the chocolate eggs in my carrying bag on the lunch table. 20 minutes later, I realized my mistake and went back to the lunch room to retrieve my food.

My carrying bag was there… the eggs were not.

My heart was broken (but my hips were thankful).

I’ve been hit by overspending Karma. I knew I shouldn’t have wasted the money (or the calories) and it was taken from me. Sure it seems silly to feel guilty for spending $2.50 when I’m planning on heading overseas – but saving for the trip has renewed my penny pinching ways to an unprecedented level. Since I don’t have the willpower necessary to resist the minefield of temptation, my husband will be doing the shopping for the next four weeks. Sorry Cadbury, our love affair is over.

Alas, I will eventually discover which of my co-workers has ‘sticky’ fingers – I’ll simply look for the one who can no longer fit in his or her pants by Friday.

And I’m kidding about Karma… well… kind of.

Target Stores (along with Henry’s, Trader Joe’s, Kroger, and Whole Foods) offer 5 cents off your bill for each bag used. The program started in November but somehow I missed the giant glowing red signs posted at eye level on each check stand until today.

Obviously I’m a very observant person.

The bags don’t have to be Target brand recycled bags but they cannot be regular plastic bags that you happen to be reusing.

If you know of any stores around you offering the same incentive – let me know!

He finally carved out Saturday to build a large portion on the fence. Since it’s not a task he can complete by himself, he called my brothers and his brothers to help.

No one was available.

He looked at me, his last hope (his very last and desperate hope since I’m afraid of sunshine, bees, saw blades, splinters, and manual labor)… and said, ‘Hon, do you think you could help me out this weekend? I need strong helpers but everyone is busy.’

I thought about pulling the ‘I’m recovering from pneumonia’ card but quickly decided I should make an attempt at being a decent human being.

We worked together for a few hours. I drew lines on the beams and things seemed to be going well until he started calling out construction terms when measuring.

‘142 – 3 strong!’ He yelled.

‘Hut hut hike?’ I asked confused. Were we playing football?

Things only went downhill from there. I tripped repeatedly, accidentally broke boards, misfired the nail gun, and inaccurately measured several times.

Fortunately, his brother freed up his afternoon and stopped by to help for a few hours. His brother knows construction terminology and they moved like a set of skilled craftsmen. I was demoted to weed puller and water girl for the afternoon.

Despite the botched morning, the fence is nearly done and it’s beautiful thanks to the hard work of my husband and his brother. It’s times like these that I am thankful for the talented men in my life. Without them, I’d be a mess. Well… more of a mess than I already am.

And in case you were doubting the stability or reliability of our old fence… photos are more valuable than words…

and the last photo – the saw blade start to our new fence.

My husband bought me the Wii Active More Workouts game for Christmas so I figured that would be a good place to start. Users are given the option to choose easy, medium, or hard workouts. Given my current situation, I chose… medium.

The overachiever in me is incapable of choosing any option labeled ‘easy’.

And maybe, this choice would have been fine… had I not exchanged the flimsy resistance band from the package to my ultra strong 3 layer band.

31 minutes later I was sweating, gasping for breath, and wishing I had taught my dog to fetch my inhaler. Just thinking about the ‘hard’ level gives me night terrors.

I’m cancelling my gym membership.

How much is the hike for us?

$50 a month.

I stared at my already lean budget and tried to find a line item to reduce. I’m already dancing with danger in my necessity line items. My ‘check engine’ light came on again but unless I can fix it for the $37 I have in my car repair fund, it won’t happen. I sadly looked at the non-necessity line items, pulled out my ugly red pen, and started scratching off our once monthly dinner out, my Saturday morning bike ride icy lemonade stop, and stretched the distance between haircuts to 14 weeks.

Thank you California.

I think lawmakers are hoping residents will forget about the painful tax hike 10 months from now when they are up for re-election but I have this to say…

My ratty split ends will remind me.

I’m off to send good vibes to my car. Maybe if I wash it lovingly and talk to it sweetly, it will fix itself.

This year, our taxes have simplified a bit and I think we may be able to prepare them using tax software. I’ve never done this before and I’m a bit concerned about my abilities. Heck, I hardly trust myself to calculate the proper tip at a restaurant – and miscalculations of tips don’t generally result in jail time or huge fines.

But I’m motivated by one thing…

$6.65

Doesn’t seem like much… until I realized that is how much we pay our accountant per MINUTE to prepare our taxes. It adds up very quickly.

Suddenly, TurboTax for $53 on Amazon or $49 at Costco seems like a steal.

How do you prepare your taxes? Have you somehow managed to prepare them yourself without a Masters in Accounting?

What do we generally report? Mortgage/taxes, student loan interest, student books and fees, car registration, etc.

My top four:

1. Replenish savings. Our bank accounts turned to rubble after the job loss and I find myself uncomfortable without a safety net. We do still have cash – but a trip to Taco Bell for two 89 cent burritos may cause an overdraft.

2. Pay off at least $19,000 in debt. We paid down over $17,000 this year and I think we may have a chance at $19,000 if we are able to keep our jobs.

3. Continue to find ways to live below my means. To start the new year off in the right direction, I registered for classes at our nearby community center rather than at a community college. I won’t get college credit (I don’t need it since I already have a degree) but I’ll save around $300 a year without having to give up my love for learning.

4. Take another budget vacation. Tent? Cheap motel? Roadtrip? Become a train hobo? Whatever we decide, it will be an adventure.

Do you have your goals planned for the year?

We’re still working our way through those 37 meals hidden in our pantry and freezer and it’s likely to get a whole lot worse from here but I’m ready for the challenge.

Before you express concern for our health, we are still purchasing perishable items like greens and dairy products and my parents having been sharing the fruit from their apple and orange trees.

So here’s the question…

These are desperate financial times, what is your cheapest (and somehow still healthy) dinner?

We had been looking forward to becoming debt free in about 12 months, but our schedule has been delayed due to the bout of unemployment. I could tell you that I’m not disappointed… and I could also tell you I was excited to see my check engine light pop on this morning – but I’d be lying.

Setbacks and adjustment are just a part of the journey.

How are we dealing we ours?

Rather than jump straight into reducing debt, we are going to rally up our depleted savings. Depending on my husband’s actual start date, we should be back up in about 2 months. After we have a stable amount, we’re going to jump right back into the fight against our debt.

The good news? My husband will start working at construction prevailing wage rates in February or March. Prevailing wage rates are higher than he is currently earning and should help us get back on track faster.

Let me make something clear, I am a very tidy person. Bleach and Windex are more pleasing to my nose than fine perfume. I actually get physically uncomfortable in disorderly places but…

The back of my pantry hasn’t seen the light of day since about 2007.

I figured I’d throw it all away… until I discovered loads of canned goods and boxed foods that weren’t set to expire for a few more years. In my bottom of my box freezer, I discovered frozen chicken and ground beef only a few months old.

I created a spreadsheet of foods and categorized them by meal type and location. Want to know how many meals we have stashed in the backs of cabinets and the bottom of the freezer?

37.

Yes, some of them are a stretch to be called a meal (example: the combination of boxed noodles and canned black beans I pretend to be soup or the egg flower soup with no eggs – which I guess is just technically broth) but we can survive the next 37 meals for free.

I know what you’re thinking – ‘I can’t possibly have 37 meals stashed around my house’. Clean out that pantry and freezer before you laugh at me. See if you can beat our 37 meal score. You’ll save some money this season by shopping in your pantry.

My best advice to the recently unemployed, be ready for a long ride. Prepare your finances immediately and don’t assume a check is coming anytime soon.

Our finances took a hit since we were carrying our mortgage and bills on my paycheck and savings alone but we’ve been able to level out a bit since the checks arrived. Whew!

Looks like I can finally buy some splurge items – and by splurge, I mean an occasional sale priced ground beef instead of a cart full of Ramen alone.

Trouble has started to present itself on the hydration front. There are no water sources on the trails or in the parks.

Unfortunately, I’m limited on how much I can carry. Once I mix in my necessities (granola bar, house keys, and shimmer lip gloss), my hands are full. I’d carry a backpack but I get quickly overheated – and if you’ve ever run with a backpack, you know how awful it feels.

Instead, I hike or run a little, walk back to my house, drink water, and head out again. I figured it was something I’d have to live with. But then, while out on a trail, a girl ran past me with a water bottle belt with tiny little pockets for necessities.

I never dreamed I’d be ogling a glorified fanny pack.

I went to the sports store and found one just like it… for $19.99. It’s not a life changing amount – unless you’re dealing with unemployment. That $19.99 would look better as four meals than an optional piece of sports equipment.

I debated with myself for a good half hour then finally, the accountant in me won the battle and I left empty handed. As I kissed my runners fanny pack goodbye, I promised I’d be back as soon as my husband was gainfully employed.

In the mean time, I will stick close to home or… duct tape a water bottle to my arm.

When my husband and I married, I participated in his family gift exchange as well (turns out, his family of 10 was interested in saving money too). It was a great way to feel a part of the family.

Now that the economy has tanked, everyone wants to do a gift exchange rather than a mass gifting. Aunt May, Grandma Joy, and co-worker Suzie want to exchange gifts this holiday. While it’s easy to bow out of work related exchanges (‘My husband is unemployed’ is always a fabulous and acceptable reason), it’s difficult to get out of extended family exchanges. Family members say “it’s only $20 or $30!” but I can’t afford toothpaste much less a $20 Sham Wow. $20 or $30 multiplied by ten or so exchanges just isn’t happening this year.

I know what you’ll say, “Hey, it’s family. They’ll understand.”

Um. Hello?

It’s family. The very definition of people who are allowed to make fun of you and feel no guilt.

Wait. Maybe that’s just my family.

Whatever.

Since I don’t particularly want to say, “Yes, I bought you the Sham Wow but I can’t afford to buy deodorant until February”, I’m going to hold off on gifts entirely this season.

Whew. I said it. No gifts.

For the most part, this isn’t a problem. If we run out of food, we invite ourselves over to dinner at our parents…er.. um… I mean, we visit our parents because we love them and the free food is just an added benefit.

This week presented a new problem…

We ran out of toothpaste and mouthwash.

Determined to stay on our budget, I robbed my luggage of two travel size tubes of toothpaste. We’re running low but we have enough to last until Friday when our new budget begins.

I dug through our closets but failed to find any mouthwash – travel size or otherwise. I went into the kitchen to see if I could find anything there. Soap? Comet? Dishwashing liquid? And then I stumbled upon a bottle of vodka.

“Sweetie?” I called to my husband in the living room “Do you think I could use vodka as a mouthwash? They’re both essentially alcohol right? Either way, the results will be positive. It will work or it won’t and I won’t care that we don’t have mouthwash anymore.”

My husband laughed as if I were making a joke.

I wasn’t.

I put the vodka back in the cabinet and figured that regular brushing and flossing will have to do until tomorrow.

But this morning, I searched my hypothesis and…

http://www.ehow.com/how_4524768_use-vodka-as-antibacterial-agent.html

So if you ever run out of mouthwash, you can make your own – and yes, you use vodka.

And just in case my mother reads this, let me clarify – you don’t actually have to drink the vodka.

“I have good news!” he said with delight.

Did he get a job? Did he find a thousand dollars in change while cleaning the couch cushions? I thought.

“The neighbor rented an industrial size rototiller and if I help him at his house, he’ll bring it over here and we can use it! We can dig up the backyard!” he said.

It has become painfully obvious that my husband and I have differing meanings of ‘good news’.

In his defense, we have wanted to tear apart our backyard for months but we haven’t had the time or the money for a giant rototiller.

I don’t know how you spent your weekend but my hours passed painfully. I followed my husband with a shovel and a water hose while he smiled with glee pushing the manliest piece of machinery our yard has seen. The layer of dust is so thick on my scalp, I’m on wash number two and I can still do a good impression of Pig Pen from Charlie Brown. I may have ‘accidentally’ sprayed my husband’s face with water a few times out of sheer spite but it failed to wipe off his giddy look.

Next weekend our neighbor is renting a cement mixer… and has made the same offer. My husband said, “Sweetheart! We can finally widen our driveway – for FREE!! All it will take is a little bit of elbow grease!”

How is it that in less than a week, the Swine Flu is suddenly looking like a good way to spend Thanksgiving weekend?

No seriously. Stop laughing.

It IS cold to us thin skinned folks. The temperatures have been dipping down to the low 40’s at night. Last night it hovered at 60 degrees… inside our living room.

Yes, I could turn on the heater but since we’re trying to stretch our cash, we simply do without. We had two blankets on the bed but I was still chilled. I tried to snuggle with my husband to stay warm but his coughing kept shaking me awake. And no, I will not admit his cough is from the frosty internal temperature – well, not to his face anyway.

Our dogs have a heated floor in their dog house so they stay more toasty warm than we do. Please don’t tell my husband – he may ask to join them.

I added two more blankets last night and slept well. When my alarm goes off in the morning, I dress myself in three sweaters, a pair of sweatpants, and slippers. Sometimes, while putting on my make-up, I catch a glimpse of my Michelin Man appearance in the mirror and start to giggle.

Sometimes the circumstances of life are just funny.

I’m trying to beat my all time record internal house temperature of 56. Based on our new standard of living and the fact that the coldest month is still yet to come… I think I may just have a chance.

I hope you’re staying warm!

Perhaps it’s because my husband is blaring Amy Grant’s ‘Tender Tennessee Christmas’ in the other room.

No. I’m not joking.

His happy-go-lucky Pollyanna ‘I love the earth and all holidays’ attitude is for the most part a wonderful thing…

But thoughts of Christmas in October simply make me (and anyone within 50 yards of his subwoofer) suicidal.

I have to give him credit… it is an important reminder that we have to start thinking about Christmas gifts now. Since I’m broke and can’t spend 50 bucks on the last remaining blockbuster gift card in the Vons checkout on December 24th, I’ve got to make my plan of action. I’ve got to start taking left over change from payphones, digging through the neighbor’s garbage for recyclables, or compiling leftover foil for a life sized foil ball. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 29 years on this earth, it’s the fact that everyone needs a foil ball the size of a Honda.

No?

Hmm. Well, what was the best low (or preferably) no cost gift you ever received?

Last year my siblings and I compiled letters from us to our parents telling them how much we appreciated and loved them and had them printed and bound at Shutterfly.com (Walmart.com also provides the same photo type books we used). But I’m out of ideas! Help!

First, we cut our dental and vision insurance. This is something that can easily be re-instated but the $25 a month can help me now.

Second, I cancelled all my appointments health related or otherwise. None of my appointments were an emergency and I requested that my doctor renew my prescriptions without the annual check-up since the last 6 years have been clear of any problems. These appointments and tests run in the neighborhood of $500.

Third, I called my cable company to cancel our cable, reduce our internet speed, and reduce our phone service. I explained our situation and was surprised when they offered reduced internet costs, reduced phone costs, and added free services and free channels for a 12 month period. I would tell you how much I’m paying – but I’m afraid they’ll figure out they made a huge mistake and ‘correct’ the discount… or fire the guy who gave it to me. I would have cut out the internet and phone entirely but my husband needs internet for school purposes and job searching late at night when he gets home (free internet at the library is closed) and I’m uncomfortable without a home phone for emergencies.

Fourth, I contacted my student loan company for a deferment.

Fifth, my husband and I contacted friends and family and let them know we’d be available for odd jobs. Since unemployment doesn’t start for nearly a month after a job loss, my husband has done everything from pulling weeds to insulating walls. I have been helping a company with paperwork at night after work. We use this money for groceries and for the important bills like electric and water. At no time should you feel you are ‘too good’ for any type of job.

Sixth, we cut off all our subscriptions and memberships. If you’re like us, you may not even remember you have some of them since they are automatically billed to your credit card and you may not look at each item on your online statement. Some examples: gym memberships, club memberships, magazine and newspaper subscriptions (some automatically renew unless you cancel). Savings – $50 a month.

Seventh, we’ve been using more public transportation. It takes twice as long to get somewhere, it’s uncomfortable, and it’s far from fun, but it saves $50-$75 a month.

It’s not a lot, but each item buys us a little more time.

A 7 pm bachelorette dinner time that coincided with a 7 pm baseball game start and the 7 pm Saturday night party crowd shot parking rates and traffic to a premium. Unable to find an overnight parking place, I parked in an hourly rate spot (a spot that makes more per hour than I do). All throughout dinner, I checked my watch thinking, ‘Tick tock goes the meter – and my $50 allowance.’

I ordered the cheapest item on the menu, a $9 greek wrap, and had 2 – $2 beers. I dropped in $20 to cover my meal.

$30 left in my wallet.

We went to a club where I used $6 from my ash tray to have a Corona with the girls. As I sat nursing my beer with ‘Bridesmaid’ bedazzled across the chest of my pink tank top, guy came up to me and asked me to dance, he mentioned it was his 21st birthday… which had me thinking, ‘What is the official definition of a Cougar? And dear Lord… I’m not one right?!?’

A few more hours passed and I realized that I could not afford $35 for the hotel. Parking costs had chewed threw my money. When I pulled out of the garage, the kind and generous parking man gave me a discount from $54 to $30. Maybe he saw the shock register on my face – or maybe it was because I had my car loaded with bridesmaids in the same pink tank tops giving him Colgate smiles while winking flirtatiously.

I survived the weekend on $56.

And… it wasn’t so bad.

Well, I didn’t want to take an empty can of sunblock back to the store so I wrote an e-mail to Target. It was friendly and praising of their other products but asked for them to consider dropping or changing this particular product.

I didn’t expect to hear anything…

But I did.

Target wrote me an incredibly friendly e-mail and promised to look into my complaint. Two short days later, I received a full refund and yet another friendly letter in the mail.

I have always been a HUGE Target fan. They donate to local charities, have impressive customer service, and they save my budget every month. Add this surprisingly friendly response and…

Target, you have my lifetime stamp of approval.

A special thanks to Fern who let me know that, yes, it’s OK to complain sometimes.

The size four dress arrived for wedding number one and it fits perfectly… which of course means…

I’m in trouble. Sure, I can get the size two dress on, but it presents the very ‘minor’ problem of the inability to breathe.

So I have two options. Lose weight OR pay a small fortune to alter the dress for wedding number two. In light of my financial situation, I thought it best to lose some weight.

I have dieted exactly one time in my life and the diet lasted 4 hours before I broke down and ate a large order of carne asada fries. And it’s not that I haven’t needed to diet. I gained 20 pounds in college and kept the weight on for three years. But… self control isn’t my strong suit.

I’ve been using the Lose It! program I recommended in an earlier post and have been carefully monitoring my caloric intake. By dinner time, I’m left with a dismal 300 calories and my debate is usually a toss up between a green salad with goat cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing or two glasses of wine. It’s not a tough guess as to which one regularly wins.

It’s been a week and all I can think about is food.

But I’m sticking with it…. at least for another four hours.

Here are some things that really stuck out to me this week:

PICKS:
Lose It! by FitNow, Inc.
Unfortunately this iTunes application is limited for use on iPhones or iTouch iPods but the good news is… its’ FREE. This application/program is great at helping you monitor portions and nutritional content of nearly everything you eat. It has a huge reference library of restaurant nutritional information and of everyday items from the grocery store. Users simply enter their height/weight information, the types of nutritional content they want to monitor, and their weight loss goals. While I don’t need to lose weight, this program is valuable to me since I want to monitor my fat, protein, and fiber intake for my marathon training. Diabetics can also benefit since this program monitors carbohydrates and sugars. I am now more aware of what I’m eating and how I can make small changes to my eating habits to make a healthier me.

PANS:
Sun Block by Target
I’m a HUGE fan of Target brand products. I like them just as much, if not more, than the name brands. Plus, the cost savings helps stretch my miniscule budget. Unfortunately, I was less than impressed with their sun block. We took this sun block with us on our beach camping vacation and quickly discovered it was a waste of money. Our first clue should have been its label ‘water resistant’ and not ‘waterproof’ like the other sun block products. It washed off at the slightest sweat and did not hold up at all to a quick dip in the ocean. If you plan on not swimming or sweating, it’s great. I don’t know about you, but when I wear sun block… I’m in the sun. And, the sun is hot. In heat, I sweat… er… ‘glow’. I’m fairly certain that’s normal. Sorry Target, head back to the drawing board.

What are your picks and pans this week?

Camping allowed us the opportunity to cook our own food. We met up with friends before leaving and shopped for food together. We purchased only what we needed and divided the tab by 6. Each meal? Around $2-$3. We didn’t count this as an added expense since we used the money from our grocery budget – and actually spent less than we would have had we cooked for just the two of us at home. We brought a few bottle of wine and jugs of water from home. We did go out to dinner one night – to Carl’s Jr. – and we counted that in the $38 total spent.

Showers were 25 cents for 2 ½ minutes. I was more than willing to pay for warm water but my frugal husband showered in the cold shower by the beach for free. I’m not going to lie, it looked a little odd when he washed off his Irish Spring soap while surfers waited to rinse their boards.

When we booked the campsite 6 months ago, my husband cut some hefty branches off our trees. He stacked them along a shady side of our house for the last few months and we used them to fuel our campfire each night. People asked us why we were storing firewood when we don’t have a fireplace and we got more than one weird expression when we told them it was for our camping trip… in six months. But we saved a fortune by using a little elbow grease and cutting our own firewood. We didn’t have to buy any!

When it came to camping supplies, we didn’t have much. We own a tent and a portable grill but that’s about it. My brothers fiancé’s family is an experienced group of campers. Rather than purchase new items, we borrowed their shade tents, pots, pans, cups, games, and portable tables. One rule about borrowing – make sure you return the items cleaner than when you first received them and if you borrow something that requires any sort of fuel, fill it up before returning it. Also, return the item within a day or two after you come home.

The campsite was over an hour from our home. I wasn’t prepared for an added gas expense and was surprised when I realized… I didn’t have to be! We brought our bikes and traveled solely by ‘pedal power’ after we arrived. The truck stayed parked at the campsite and my car stayed home the entire week. With both of our cars parked, we saved money on gas!

So what did we spend the $38 on?

$18 on a game of golf at a beautiful municipal course.
$10 at Carl’s Jr. (I ordered a kids meal and he had a sandwich).
$10 on a t-shirt from an outlet store.

Sure, camping isn’t my vacation of choice, but I had a great time and spent far less money than I have ever spent on a weeklong vacation by the beach.

Our previous vacation trips were fun but the nasty ‘debt hangover’ when we came home always sucked (excuse my language, but I’m being dreadfully honest).

When we arrived home from beach camping, I flipped on my computer and closed my eyes after typing my password for online banking.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Why is it when you are broke and running the risk of overdrafts, the bank websites turn to sludge? It’s as if they get a sick satisfaction in making your pain last longer.

The screen finally popped up and… I screamed.

We only spent $38 for the week (I’ll update you later on how we shamelessly saved money in ridiculous ways).

I’m fairly certain we spend more than that when we aren’t on vacation.

Cheers to my first ‘debt hangover’ free vacation!

OK, truth be told? I’m probably wrapped in sun protecting blankets under the pop up tent whining about how the sun is too bright, the showers are too cold, and the sand is too hot.

But I WILL have a margarita.

My husband I are in love with Sam the Cooking Guy (previously on Cox Cable channel 4, but now he has his own show on Discovery Health called ‘Just Cook This with Sam the Cooking Guy’)

Frankly, if I can make this meal (I’m what some call ‘culinary challenged’)… YOU can make it.

Oh, and watch Sam the Cooking Guy. He gives great tips on how to cook fast, easy, and inexpensive meals. So while I’m out, here’s a cheap dinner to enjoy.

Thai Curried Chicken

Ingredients
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
One 14 ounce can light coconut milk
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 tablespoons Asian chili paste (I used Asian chili sauce and it worked just as well)
Zest of one lime plus the juice (no zester? no worry – just use the juice)
Cilantro, chopped fine for garnish
Cooked rice for serving

Trim chicken of any extra fat. In a large bowl, combine coconut milk, cumin, curry, chili paste, lime zest and juice, mix well.

Reserve about 1/3 of the sauce for after, but add the chicken to the rest. Mix well, cover and marinate—anywhere from 15 minutes to overnight.

Heat bbq or grill pan and cook chicken on both side until cooked though—those cool grill marks are perfect here. While the chicken cooks, simmer the extra sauce in a small pot to thicken.

Slice into strips, serve on top of rice with a little extra sauce and a sprinkle of cilantro.

Serves 6.

Visit his website for more info:
http://health.discovery.com/fansites/sam-zien/sam-zien.html

When my brothers (John & Mike) and I were 13 and 15, one of my dad’s oh so responsible employees showed us how to build a potato gun – because everyone knows the combination of pipe, potatoes, a bottle of WD-40, and a flame tool are landmark in safety and you should share them with teenagers.

We spent our afternoons launching the potatoes into targets… *cough* the pool deck… *cough* the new trees… *cough* the house siding… (sorry ‘bout those dents dad)

On a particularly hot day, John filled the chamber up with a combination of Rave hairspray and WD-40. The fumes filled the air as he quickly spun the cap on and pulled out the matches. He touched the flame to the side and a loud BOOM exploded into our ears. Mike and I looked down to see John on his back, his shoes smoldering, and the lawn burst into flames.

He hadn’t spun the cap on tightly and instead of launching the potato, the force rocketed the cap and the flame onto John’s shoed feet.

Responsibly… Mike and I laughed hysterically at John.

We laughed so hard, we overlooked the fact that the lawn was still on fire. About 60 seconds of laughing at John’s smoldering blackened shoes went by before we suddenly became aware that the fire was growing. If mom saw the fire, she’d never let us shoot another potato again (though I’m not sure she ever truly ‘approved’ it in the first place).

Mike ran for the hose while John stomped out what he could.

Fortunately they got the fire out (hence the reason they are such good firefighters… they started young) but there was still a huge problem…

There was a black spot of charred lawn directly in front of the screen door that mom surely wouldn’t miss. We couldn’t think of a believable story for the burn spot and we certainly weren’t going to tell the truth sooooo…

We dug out the lawn, tossed it across the fence, threw on some fresh dirt, then went inside and told mom the dogs had dug a patch of the lawn.

As for John’s shoes? ‘Pssshhh. Mom, that’s a fashion statement. Don’t you know style?!?!’

My best summer vacation memories were never about where we stayed or what kind of expensive things my parents bought, they were always about the fun times with my family.

Sure, we aren’t going somewhere nice this year, but we’re going together – and that’s the best part.

These are the times when I hate the fact that I’m finally living below my means – even though it’s good for me.

But, that didn’t stop us from booking a great place just steps from the Pacific Ocean. The gentle sea breeze and the sounds of the ocean will caress us as we drift off to sleep.

How did we fit this into our budget?

Hello beach camping.

Sure I’ll have sand in my ears and hair for a week straight but… I’ll be soaking up the sunshine, grilling 97 cent chicken while spending $90 for the weeklong campsite.

As San Diegans/Californians, we are fortunate to have beach camping sites within a few hours of home. With very careful planning (6 months in advance through ReserveAmerica.com), a great California vacation can be very inexpensive. Didn’t reserve 6 months in advance? A lot of these campsites have last minute cancelations. Sometimes you can get an unclaimed campsite for the same day.

I know California isn’t the only place with good, inexpensive campsites.

Name your state and share the best cheap vacation spot. America is a BEAUTIFUL place. Let me know what your neighborhood has to offer. I want to know where to go next year!

Looking for a good California beach site? You can’t go wrong with Carlsbad State Beach, San Clemente State Beach, and Doheny State Beach. All three will put you steps from the ocean and run about $35 a night. You can put multiple tents on each site and can split the cost like we did. You can (and need to) book the sites 6 months in advance. Sign on to the Reserve America website at 7:55 am on the 1st day of the month. Example: We booked a site for a week in July on February 1st a 7:55 am. Happy camping!

After a long wait, I finally received a letter in the mail approving my appeal. We will be receiving a check for our over payment in the amount of…

$1,100

AND, we will be paying less next year, saving nearly $100 a month.

Check into whether or not your city has the option of property tax assessed value appeals. Don’t pay a company to do it for you! You can do it yourself!

It’s worth it!!

As we started working through the details, I couldn’t help but wonder… maybe rednecks have it right. Here is how we have prepared so far and the current expenses:

I threw together an online invitation for our friends (free):

It’s time to round up yer cousin and yer sister from their mobile home… we’re havin’ our first annual REDNECK PARTY!!

So, hop in your 1987 Toyota Tercel and git over here!

We borrowed some used hubcaps from the local tire store to play games with and use for decorations (free).
We are wearing our own clothes (circa 1980 – also free).
We borrowed a wheel barrow from our neighbor for wheelbarrow races (free).
We pulled an old rope from the garage for the lasso competition (free).
We are borrowing new toilet seats from my husband’s plumbing company to play redneck horseshoes (free).
We rented country CD classics like Gretchen Wilson, Confederate Railroad, Kris Kristopherson, and Merle Haggard from the library (free).

So far, our expenses are zero! Perhaps we should rename the party ‘Working toward our debt free goal and having fun at the same time’. I’ll be sure to toss some pictures up here next Monday after the party.

Any ideas on cheap gatherings? How about additional games for our redneck party?

For the sake of the plants, I keep my distance.

He started early in the season and used a mix of seeds and small plants rather than buying large overpriced ones. He carefully chose the healthiest plants and worked hard to care for them. He used a thick mulch as a weed barrier and water saver (Sunset Magazine reccommends using gray water for gardening but I’m still on the fence about it).

Not wanting to be left out of the joy of growing greenery, I planted one single flower.

Here is my flower now…

I killed it with too much water.

Here is my husband’s garden….

Perfectly controlled and growing beautifully.

Is it worth it? Yes. He loves that garden and enjoys spending summer evenings puttering around the big green leaves. But are we going to harvest the value of the plants in their fruit? I’m not sure. I guess we’ll see in a few months. I’m going to keep a tab on our expenses (including the higher water costs) and see if we break even.

For the experts out there… is it worth it?

I hate our couches and I think they are ugly.

This week, my husband did what good husbands do – he attempted to solve my dilemma of ‘seating space’. He came home with a behemoth of a recliner and said, ‘Look honey! More seats!! Can you believe someone was going to throw this away?!’

I bit my tongue before a ‘Yes’ slipped out. Instead, I said ‘Wow hon, it’s… wow.’

‘And they have TWO! I’m picking the other one up tomorrow. How awesome is that?! Seats!!’

He happily jumped in the chair and reclined, a big grin spreading across his face.

How could I be mad or ungrateful? He solved my ‘seating dilemma’. Sure I have an ugly blue giant in my living room (err… soon to be two), but I’ve learned to take his efforts for what they are. That ugly chair is a monument to the fact that my husband listens to me and he’s doing his best to make my life easier… without spending a dime.

I’m going to stop whining about the sofas for a while. Who cares about sofas when I have a man like that?

My husband loves this system. He turns on the hose for a few minutes while he eats breakfast and turns it off before he leaves for work.

Or should I say… he lovED this system.

I came home from work on Thursday and heard water running. Confused, I headed to the backyard and was greeted with a mass of water and a geyser like spray erupting from our hose bibb.

Turns out, hubby darling forgot to turn the system off and the pressure built until the backflow device exploded. This water mistake will likely add $150 to our water bill.

To make matters worse, my ever so annoying dogs like to kill every living thing in their territory. The new lake in my backyard caused dead, tailless, lizard and mice carcasses to float to the surface. I guess I can be grateful my dogs aren’t bigger. I don’t think I could have held my gag reflex quite so well at the sight of bucktoothed bloated squirrels.

To the state of California – I am sorry for wasting our precious resource. I have decided to make amends and cut my already short 5 minute showers to 3 minutes. So, when you see me… and I stink… remember, I had a choice to assault your nose or assault my wallet. In these desperate economic times, I chose your nose. Please forgive me.

And yes, we learned from this. Thanks to a $30 timer, this won’t happen again.

What was your biggest home accident?

Realizing my planting skills barely rivaled a 4th grader, I sought planter packs designed for small children. I spent $10 on supplies, read the directions (twice), and gently planted the seeds.

According to the seed packets, sprouts would appear in 10 days.

2 weeks passed and there was no green in sight.

After another long week, I finally gave in after day 24 and threw the sproutless pots into the green recycle bin.

A few days ago, while trimming some hedges, I opened the bin, tossed the branches, and noticed something funny…

Every single pot I had angrily thrown away was sprouting with life in my recycle bin. Plants are safer in my trashcan than they are with me.

I can’t afford a landscaper… but my husband is hereby the official garden keeper in this house. I’m sticking to what I’m good at – cleaning!

Stupid Plants.

Um.

I hate to disagree with a professional financial advisor but…

He’s dead wrong (and is obviously invested in Starbucks).

At least when it comes to me anyway.

I don’t buy big items. I bought my dining room set for $75 off Craigslist five years ago. My couches are ten years old. My bed is a hand me down from my sister. How do I spend my money?

According to my online banking… I spend it in tidy $20 increments over… and over… and over again. My money doesn’t flood out, it trickles. The article recommended taking 24 hours to consider every purchase over $100. Good advice, but the last purchase I made over $100 was months ago. It’s not the $100 purchases that are killing me!

I feel like the article should have simply said, ‘Watch where the bulk of your money is going and try to find ways to save from there.’

My goal this month is to watch my ‘trickle’ problem. I’ve gotten to the point that I have to seriously consider every item I purchase AND if I wait long enough, will it go on sale? will the newspaper run a coupon?… or will I forget I even wanted it in the first place?

Is your problem a trickle? Or a flood?

I excitedly went to our local nursery and realized the 15 bucks I budgeted for landscaping each month would allow me to complete my dream backyard sometime in 2037.

Um. Someone forgot to tell me how expensive plants are.

Disappointed, I went to work and lamented to a co-worker about my landscaping situation. She sweetly offered me some cuttings of her plants – several of which were on the list from the landscape architect. While we were talking, another one of my co-workers walked by and joined the conversation. He suggested I contact local garden clubs including water saving cactus clubs. He happened to be moving and offered to bring in several of his plants that matched my list. Let’s just not tell these generous co-workers about my history of plant killing OK?

Inspired, I can home and did some research and thought I’d share it with you.

I found several garden clubs – some of which offer spring plant sales.

Our local college offers a degree program in Ornamental Horticulture. Students grow plants and sell them for less than half of what they retail for at nurseries.

Our local dump (should I be politically correct and call it a ‘Solid Waste Disposal Site’?) offers high quality mulch in several different colors and sizes. If you are willing to load it yourself, you can save a fortune.

And perhaps the most odd place to find plants… our local 99 cent store!

Any ideas I missed? Where do you get your plants?

During my childhood, my parent’s water source was a well (actually, it still is. They’ve lived in the same house for 30 years). They never worried about water rates rising. They never had a water meter on their house. They simply had to worry about…

Their water source drying up.

Try selling a house with the very minor problem of no water.

Conservation was always a big deal in our house.

City living has spoiled me. I learned that showers longer than 2 minutes are a gift from God.

But our latest water crunch and water hikes have reminded me that conservation, in resources and in money, is my responsibility. I have conformed to the water company’s request that I take shorter showers (sometimes I skip all together… this has NOTHING to do with the fact that I usually skip a shower when I wake up late for work) and stop watering at least 20% of my lawn (since we don’t have a lawn, it’s fairly easy to stop watering it) but we’ve gone a step further – we rerouted our washer.

For $15, we bought some pipe and fittings to connect to our washer. All water now drains to our trees and roses.

We water our landscaping for free.

Those living in the southwest should consider this. Not only are you doing good for the environment, you’re saving money on your water bill.

(Just don’t forget to make sure your detergent is biodegradable)

It features a man dressed as a pirate in a restaurant singing a silly tune about getting his identity stolen. The commercial implies that having your identity stolen will ruin your life and somehow force you to lose your job. The only way to prevent the tragedy, according to the commercial of course, is to pay a small fortune for monthly credit monitoring services.

I’m not saying that losing your identity is easy.

I had my purse stolen a few years ago and I was terrified every time I ran my report. I was simply waiting for that ticking time bomb to explode.

Can I tell you what DIDN’T happen? I didn’t lose my job. Crazy enough, I still had the ability to work and my brain still functioned – unlike what the commercial portrays.

Losing your good name will not force you to sing as a pirate in a restaurant and preying on people who fear this is over the line. In fact, I believe these credit monitoring agencies are a complete rip-off.

You have the right to obtain your credit report FOR FREE on a yearly basis from each of the three major credit reporting agencies (go to annualcreditreport.com). If you’d like a copy of your credit score, it’s an additional $5 – $7.

You can also put a fraud alert on your credit if you feel your information may be at risk. I put a fraud alert on my credit immediately after I financed our home. I knew my social security number was floating around several financial institutions and I didn’t want to take the risk. The fraud alerts last 3 months and can easily be renewed if you feel you need a little extra time.

But here’s the kicker….

You are still at risk – even if you use a credit monitoring company. I was silly enough to hire one of these agencies AND I had a fraud alert on my credit and I was still able to finance $1,500 worth of dental work without a hitch. They didn’t even call to alert me that someone was taking out a loan.

What am I trying to say?

The only person who can RELIABLY monitor your credit is Y-O-U.

You can obtain your report online. You have no excuse.

I check my credit twice a year. You should too.

Stay informed. Know your score. Know what’s on your report.

I bought one of those ‘earth friendly’ metal water bottles – though I question the ‘friendliness’ of metal. Sure I’ll be using less plastic but how biodegradable is metal anyway?!?

Regardless, I was concerned about the financial impact of purchasing and carting plastic water bottles to work on a daily basis so I thought I’d give the world of reusable’s a try.

I carefully filled the bottle, took a sip……

And I have one thing to say.

I have standards and this… is way below them.

And… my standards aren’t that high to begin with. My city uses reclaimed sewer water that tastes like a cross between Dial soap and dirty socks and I can somehow drink that – but this? My bottle makes water taste like a welders refuse pile.

And trust me… I KNOW what metal tastes like. Twenty-four months of my life were spent with railroad tracks of braces glued to my teeth.

Needless to say, I won’t be re-using the metal bottle again. Maybe I’ll throw it in with the aluminum cans for recycling?

But, I wasn’t going to be deterred! My new job stocks bright red mugs with ‘Company X’ blazed across the front and stores them in the kitchen for community use. Sure there was a risk that I’d come down with communicable diseases from improperly washed dishware but at least my water would be drinkable.

…Unfortunately, as I was washing the mug, I noticed the tiny print on the bottom that read, ‘The colors used to tint this mug contain lead. Do not use if pregnant or nursing.’

Great. Like I need that to worry about. I’m not pregnant but now I’ll always worry about having a child with a mild deformation because ‘mommy wanted to save a buck’.

Thankfully, a co-worker noticed me struggling to bleach a mug and gave me a brand new Nalgene bottle.

Good thing he wasn’t there to witness my interesting way of drinking to avoid touching any colored areas on the mug.

Always looking to save. ; )

Here’s a link to the show page on Oprah.com.

I probably won’t get a chance to watch it, so I am hoping they offer the 50 easy recipes they mention for download. I could use some easy recipes!

Thanks Beverly for the tip!

I have been with Qwest for my home line for over six years and my internet for the last eleven months. My contract price for my internet is about to expire, so I started doing my homework. Well, I checked into Charter and they were able to quote me $29.99 a month with no contract. I called Qwest and told them the deal that Charter offered me. They put me on hold for about 8 minutes. (I hung on, b/c it has to be good, right?). Finally, Rhonda from the Loyalty Department comes on and asks me what I need. She said to hold on a little longer…… Five minutes later, she comes on the line and says, “Erin, we really appreciate your business and want to keep you as a customer. We are going to offer you 6 MONTHS of FREE internet as long as you keep you basic landline for the next 6 months.” I said, “What’s the catch, really it’s free as in NO CHARGE free?” She said, “Yep, it is a special gift we’re offering b/c of your loyalty.” Of course, I said, “SIGN ME UP!” The 6 months of free internet will save me $270 in internet charges. I am so excited I just had to share it with you. You can feel free to share this story with your readers, too.

I have to thank Tabitha for sharing her story. I have tried a few times to call our phone/internet carrier to see if they have any deals we qualify for. I’d be on hold for about 10 minutes and then something would pull me away so I never got an operator. This success story is motivating me to lock myself in my room to finally get through to someone and wheel and deal. I’ll also have handy a flyer for phone/internet deals from another company

Anyone else have success stories like this to share?

I’m tempted to get a subscription to Popular Mechanics for our son. His gift subscription to Highlights magazine recently expired and he enjoyed getting mail like that. He didn’t enjoy the content that much, except for Goofus and Gallant and anything science related. He may be too young for Popular Mechanics, though. I’ll have to think about it some more.

If you are interested in checking out the deal, here is a link. I’m not sure how long this sale lasts – they are promoting it as a Valentine’s Day Sale so it probably won’t last long.

Thanks Beverly for the tip!

On Friday, the government reported Americans’ savings rate, as a percentage of after-tax incomes, rose to 2.9 percent in the last three months of 2008. That’s up sharply from 1.2 percent in the third quarter and less than 1 percent a year ago.

[Via Yahoo.com]

The article notes that paying off debt is considered savings and incurring debt is negative savings. We may even begin to rival the penny-pinching of those in the Depression-era. I think that is a possibility since it appears that being frugal isn’t looked down upon as it once was.

I can’t help but wonder if the change would stick if the economy rebounded. Would Americans go back to spending again?

It’s nicely organized by the amount of money you can save ($50 to $500) so you can start there or read the entire article.

One that we currently do is #3 – we close closet doors. Both get really cold since they are along exterior walls. Sure, our clothes are a little chilly, but they warm up quickly once you put them on and it helps wake you up in the morning

You can read the full article here. Thanks Dawn for the tip!

I may be getting back into using coupons for groceries. So I found this article interesting. Danielle tallied her deals at Kroger. She saved quite a bit.

Beverly sends me some of the greatest links. She didn’t disappoint with the following one. I haven’t tried the recipes yet (I’m still working on switching gears with our meal changes so I’m slow at trying new things right now). But I have this one bookmarked: 5 Dollar Dinners.

I LOVE salads, but lettuce and I do not get along. Our lettuce goes bad by mid-week. Now that we only go to the grocery store weekly I only buy enough for a few days so none goes to waste. Jeremy at Generation X Finance is my new best friend. He wrote a post about preparing lettuce to last all week and I am so pumped to give it a try this weekend!

Since I want to get the best deal possible on quality products, I developed a plan that has been successful so far (although I am always looking for ways to improve it!).

My first stop for shopping is always Amazon.com. It’s a great starting point to look at different brands and read the reviews. They have so many products. Once I find a product that is within our price point and of good quality, I note the make and model.

I enter that information into Google and look at other stores that are selling the same item. I compare the prices and note the shipping costs. Note: If you find the product on Amazon and it is being shipped by a third party company – also look at that company’s website. Sometimes the price is cheaper!

I don’t stop there, though. I take some of the best prices that I find and one at a time plug the company names into Google and add the word “coupons” after it. If you haven’t done that before, you will be amazed at how many coupon sites there are. I look through quite a few of the sites for the best coupon code deals. All coupon sites are not created equal.

The end result is hopefully some substantial savings. Of course, my way of internet shopping may not be the best way, so if you have a system that works and you want to share – feel free to do so!

SmartSource.com – browse the listed coupons and select ones to print from your printer (although you need to download their coupon printer).

Shortcuts.com – browse the listed coupons and select ones to have connected to your grocery card (at stores like Kroger, Ralphs and QFC).

I’ve looked at SmartSource.com before, but dismissed it since we purchase so many generic brands and I wasn’t organized enough to shop name brand sales with coupons (although, we are getting more organized to be able to do this with our grocery price book!). With Shortcuts.com, I don’t have any of the participating stores near me so I can’t try that one.

Do any of you have comments about the above sites? Do you have suggestions for other online grocery coupon sites? If you are a blogger who has written a review about the above sites, please feel free to link to your post in the comments.

The reader thanks you in advance!

When it comes to groceries, I have been fortunate thanks to my past experience working at a grocery store. Hours of pricing and scanning things left me with a thorough mental price book. So I never created a physical copy. While we were at the grocery store today I realized that the years have taken their toll on grocery prices and my mental book was now greatly outdated. My buying price points were way out of whack. It was time to start a new grocery price book. This time, it won’t be in my head.

I fired up a spreadsheet and listed everything in our cupboards and fridge. There are columns for item and price, as well as quantity, total, ounces and price per ounce. To help aid our grocery shopping, our price book is going to double as a shopping list. Before we go shopping, I can print out the list and look around the house to see what we need. I can also choose to add quantities on the list right on the computer and get an idea of the cost of our trip since I included a total column as well. Here’s a pic:

I thought it would take days to complete, but it didn’t take that much time at all. We really don’t have too many different things that we buy now, since we have been making more and more from scratch. Because this price book is also serving as a grocery list, I included non food items as well on it.

The end result for a few hours of my time is something that will save us money. It will also save us time since I won’t have to write a new grocery list every time (or skip the grocery list all together and end up buying things we didn’t need yet). It will keep us focused on getting the best value on our groceries.

It will probably be a month or more before we’ll need to do some major grocery shopping again. I’ll report back on how well it worked and if it indeed helped us save money.

First Example – hanging laundry to dry versus using our electric dryer. We had a system going and even installed a place to hang wet laundry in our bathroom. After a while, we didn’t hang our clothes as often. Gradually we stopped doing it altogether. Well, it’s back and we’ve already saved the electricity from two loads of laundry.

Second Example – using paper towels versus a kitchen towel. For a while there, we had weaned ourselves from heavy paper towel use. We were using kitchen towels for drying our hands, etc. Somewhere along the line, the kitchen towels went into hiding and we used paper towel after paper towel. “We’re out of paper towels again!” was a common comment. Well, they are now in a very non-convenient place in the cupboard to discourage use. Thanks to some after Christmas deals we have some more kitchen towels to use and our kitchen looks festive.

There are other things we stopped doing, but these are the ones we have agreed to bring back so far. At this point, since we need time for other things we are weighing the cost/benefit of each thing to see if it is worth it right now. Since we have an electric dryer, the laundry was a big one. And since we were buying paper towels often, they were another one. A side benefit of all this is that we are reducing our waste and conserving energy.