“Ways I Save Money” Archive

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Health and Finances…

A reader posed the question, ‘What does health and exercise have to do with finances?’

In short? A lot!

A few benefits of exercising (tip of the iceburg)?
Reduced blood pressure
Reduced feelings of depression and anxiety
Helps to control weight
Helps to build and maintain healthy joints, muscles, and bones
Reduced risk of diabetes

What do these have to do with finances?
Have you had to pay for doctors and medication recently?!? Ouch!! Also, exercise helps you sleep, puts you in a better mood, helps your self confidence, and gives you energy – all very important things in the work world where your paycheck comes from! Plus, people with a BMI of less than 22 get sick less often and miss less work.

I’ve been fortunate to have been physically active and healthy for most of my life. Running a marathon is just another way to push myself and stay active. Sure my sore legged walk makes Frankenstein look like a graceful ballerina but it’s important to encourage you to gain control in your finances AND in your health – they are closely connected.

Tomorrow is Saturday, take a walk with your dog, play with your kids, or ride your bike. Take a break from staring at that checkbook and balancing numbers to get some fresh air.

It’s good for you.

Some free sites to help you out?

www.Mapmyride.com
I use this site to calculate mileage and read elevation changes on my bike rides/runs.

www.Mypyramid.gov
This free site helps to guide you on better eating habits.

I’m warning you… these sites can be ADDICTIVE!!

What is your favorite FREE health related site?

Posted by Beks on June 26, 2009 at 5:00 AM in About Me, Free Stuff, General Debt, Good Info, Life Experiences, Spending Money, Ways I Save Money | 2 Comments »
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Landscaping Help

The beautiful spring weather has inspired me to spend more time outdoors in my yard. I’m working with the plans drawn by the landscape architect at the free garden show to create an inviting space.

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?

Posted by Beks on May 5, 2009 at 5:00 AM in Good Info, Home Ownership, Life Experiences, Misc, Saving Money, Spending Money, Ways I Save Money | 15 Comments »
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Ways I Save Money – More About Being Resourceful (with pics this time!)

Back in December of 2006, I mentioned that one of the ways that I save money is to be resourceful. I described a swing that I made for our son.

I don’t have enough pics on here, so I decided to show you how I am resourceful. Prepare yourself – I love using duct tape!!

First of all, the problem that needed to be solved…

We are fortunate to have cherry trees in our yard. We were also fortunate to have been left a decent ladder by those we purchased our house from. With that ladder, we can pick a lot of cherries. The problem lies with the last 1/4 of the tree. We cannot get to those cherries. The birds eat some, but as soon as the cherries get dark purple, they seem to stop by less often and if we don’t pick them they go bad.

The dark ones are the real juicy and sweet ones. It’s hard to see them go to waste. Sure, we could buy a higher ladder or a fancy gadget that could help us pick the high ones. We could even buy a cherry picker truck (which would thrill our son), but there’s no way we should be spending money right now. Money is tight.

What’s left? Making something new from things we already have.

I sat down the other night and started brainstorming ideas of how to make our very own cherry picker. While I won’t be rushing to patent this idea (it definitely has its flaws), it is working as I had hoped and my son cannot quit talking about how neat it is. He wants to use it every chance he can get.

Here it is (you can click on the smaller pics to see the full picture).

Here’s what I used to make it:

The handle from a Swiffer Sweeper (which can be put back after cherry season)
Cardboard to make the box
One rubber band
Two shoelaces (which also can be put back after cherry season)
And the best thing of all…duct tape

How does it work?

The rubber band on the back of the cherry picker keeps the lid semi-open. I find a cherry, get it inside the box, then pull the shoelace to close the lid. Pulling on the entire picker causes the cherry to come off the stem and stay in the box. The box is lowered to an anxious hand and a lovely cherry rolls out.

I totally impressed my son, we didn’t spend any money, I stretched my imagination a little and we have more cherries to eat this year. It may not be the prettiest cherry picker, but it works

Posted by Tricia on July 24, 2008 at 11:30 PM in Ways I Save Money | 17 Comments »
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My Top Frugal Posts of 2006

While looking through my archives to write a recap of 2006, I thought about something…

There is always room for improvement, but for the most part we are frugal people

Here are my top frugal posts of 2006:

Ways I Save Money – Skip the Professional Haircuts – I’m gettting so good at cutting mine that my husband didn’t even need to straighten it for me the last time I cut it

Twelve Frugal Wedding Tips from my Wedding – In all, our wedding cost $2,000 with $1,000 going towards my dress and ring.

The Best Things in Life are on the Side of the Road with a “Free” Sign – Another person’s trash is another person’s treasure. We ended up getting a couch that we definitely could use.

A Few Cheap Ideas to Spruce up the Look of an Old Home – Our home was stuck in the 50s in terms of the decor. We didn’t have much money when we moved in, but we did a few cheap things that made a HUGE difference.

Saving Gas and It’s Good For You Too – We purchased a reel mower and we love it!

Tips for Finding Clearanced Items – I love getting things I need on clearance. Here’s what I’ve learned.

A Frugal Tip for Broken Eyeglasses – My glasses broke, but the replacement didn’t cost much money at all.

Six Money Saving Tips for the Grocery Store – I used to work at a grocery store, so here’s some insider tips on how to save money while shopping.

There are more frugal related posts in my archives, but these are ones that I thought were more helpful. I hope you enjoy!

Posted by Tricia on December 31, 2006 at 9:59 AM in Saving Money, Ways I Save Money | 5 Comments »
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Ways I Save Money: I’m Getting Ready for the After-Christmas Sales

I love giving gifts to those who make a difference in my son’s life. The teacher(s), bus drivers, etc. It can be expensive, but there’s something that I have been doing for the past two years that has saved me money and enabled me to give a nice gift.

A few days after Christmas, I go to the local department store. They always have holiday items at half off. I browse what they have left, and take a good look at what’s there. I may purchase a few things that I feel may sell out, like cute teacher ornaments. But for the most part, I’m just scoping out their inventory.

I go back every few days and watch and wait. I know they will be marking the holiday inventory to 75% soon. When they do, I purchase more things. I wait, though, to purchase anything that they have a lot of because it gets better.

A little while later, they mark things to 90% off. BINGO! That’s my cue to start buying like crazy. Sure, these are things that may have been less desired this year, but who knows? They could be in high demand next year

When I get home, I put everything in a box and put it in a safe and dry spot. It sits there till next Christmas.

I spent $40 last year for at least $120 worth of items. I was able to make 6 gift bags (which I bought those on clearance too) filled with ornaments, stuffed animals and candles. Just a nice gift that doesn’t break the bank.

Posted by Tricia on December 23, 2006 at 8:14 PM in Saving Money, Ways I Save Money | 2 Comments »
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Ways I Save Money: Be Resourceful

As a kid, my favorite show of all time was MacGyver. Besides the fact that the lead actor (Richard Dean Anderson) was a hunk, I did watch the show for inspiration.

The main theme of MacGyver, if you are unfamiliar with it, is that the main character, MacGyver, is very resourceful. He is out battling bad guys and he can make almost anything using the things around him. As kids, we would actually play a game called MacGyver where we would have a pile of odds-and-ends and try to make something useful from it. Sure, our creations weren’t that pretty but for the most part they did somewhat work.

As an adult, I do find myself trying to think like MacGyver when there is something that I need or want but I don’t want to go out and buy it already made. This past summer, my son really wanted a swing.

We found some rope in our garage and then used an old floor mat from our car for the seat. The end result was something he has had a lot of fun with. Oh yeah, I can’t forget that duct tape was an ingredient as well There are a million uses for duct tape LOL.

I find that when I create things like that, I feel good about it. I like to be resourceful and making new things out of old things. It’s fun, and it saves us money.

Posted by Tricia on December 4, 2006 at 1:59 PM in Ways I Save Money | 4 Comments »
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Ways I Save Money: I Reduced the Garage Saling This Year

Oh boy, I can hear everyone ready to pounce all over me for saying this one LOL. But for me, it’s true! I’ve only been to a few garage sales this year and I am saving money.

Let me explain…

I am a bargain shopper. If I see a good deal, I am temporarily blinded the fact that maybe I do not need that item. Perhaps I think I can use it – but really it’s probably going to sit around the house and never be used. Bargains only really work if you need to purchase something regardless.

When I have “bargain blindness” at the department store, I can return things. At a garage sale, if I have buyer’s remorse when I get home I am stuck with an item unless I try to sell it myself.

I think overall I went to about three garage sales and one estate sale this year. The estate sale was one that I just went to last month, so I will talk about it because it’s still fresh in my memory. Many things there caught my eyes. An endtable here ($10.00), old records there ($make an offer), books all over the place ($0.25 each for the bigger ones), pretty pictures on the wall ($5.00)…but I just said no. I didn’t really NEED any of those things.

I did walk out with one thing, though. It was a little clipboard that has a compartment underneath it where you can store extra paper and supplies. I bought it for a quarter and my son absolutely loves it.

I think going to that estate sale helped show that I am getting better with things. I am not being so blinded by bargains. I can walk away, knowing that even though it may be a great bargain, I do not necessarily need it.

I’ve said it a few times before, but I’ll mention it again. Even though my main journey is to eliminate debt – there are many little “side-journeys” I have to work on as well. I’m glad to see changes in myself, because I know they will be beneficial long after the debt is gone.

Posted by Tricia on November 9, 2006 at 3:18 PM in Ways I Save Money | 1 Comment »
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