30 Financial Tasks to Do In April

I like check off lists. They help me get organized and ensure that I complete everything that needs to get done (my memory isn't what it used to be!). Here's a daily financial task list for the month of April...

1. Check your credit report at http://www.annualcreditreport.com/.
2. Open a (free) separate savings account for a major goal (like a family vacation).
3. Have a garage sale.
4. Have a no spend day (don't spend a single cent today).
5. Call all of your creditors/utilities/other bills and find a way to reduce each bill (ie: reduce the interest rate on your credit card, choose a cheaper cable package, etc).
6. Do one week's worth of grocery shopping buying only loss leaders and sale items.
7. Review all of your insurance policies and make sure they still fit your needs.
8. Sell something on eBay or Craigslist.
9. Eat all meals at home/from home for the next week.
10. Cut up all of your credit cards and cancel them.
11. Earn some extra money to put towards a debt (check Craigslist Gigs, sell blood, etc).
12. Make sure your Will, Living Will, and Medical Power of Attorney are all up to date.
13. Cancel something (a gym membership, the newspaper, a web hosting contract that you don't need, etc).
14. Check your last bank statement. If your bank charges you a fee to have your account, find a bank that offers free checking/savings accounts and switch.
15. Mail your tax return.
16. Devise a low cost/no cost side business you can start to earn extra cash (even if it is just a blog with some Adsense ads on it).
17. Watch a Dave Ramsey show on Fox Business channel or listen to his streaming radio show at his website.
18. Check your emergency fund. Is it at a minimum of $1,000? If not, get the money to fill it up ASAP.
19. Spend an hour or two reading good financial blogs such as Dollar Stretcher, Enemy of Debt, Man vs Debt, Frugal for Life, or Lazy Man and Money.
20. Entertain the family at home. Watch movies, play board games, build a fort in the yard, etc.
21. Enjoy free offerings in your community (the library, the park, free night at the museum, concerts on the pier, etc).
22. Clean the house from top to bottom. Minimize your stuff. And put the stuff you no longer/want need in a box to get ready for next month's garage sale or next week's clothing swap.
23. Go out and exercise for free. Walk around the neighborhood, do a day hike in a nearby forest, etc.
24. Organize a clothing swap with friends/neighbors who are similar in size to you and your kids.
25. Volunteer with the family at a soup kitchen, nursing home, etc.
26. Plan this summer's vacation with the family (also plan ways to make this a cash-only event).
27. Check around for free stuff for your home (fire departments sometimes provide free smoke alarms, utility companies sometimes offer free shower heads, the health district sometimes offers free safety items for your home, etc).
28. Get or give something on Freecycle.
29. Find someone to be your debt-free partner and help each other to get out of debt by planning together, offering encouragement to each other, etc.
30. Treat yourself and your family with a special dessert night (bake from scratch or have a homemade banana split blow out).

100 Free Resources

With the economy in the tank and people needing as much help as possible (or for those of us who are just plain frugal), here are 100 free resources to meet your needs...


HEALTH/MEDICAL

1. Did you know that hospital ERs must treat you in the US, even if you can't afford to pay?
2. Free prescription medication can be found at your doctor's office (free samples) and through these sites: PPARX, RXAssist, and the Free Medicine Program.
3. Free community clinics (usually found in large cities) are a good place to get free basic medical care.
4. Free health and wellness fairs (check your local newspaper, health department website, and local hospital websites) usually offer basic medical tests and medical information.
5. Health departments usually offer a range of free services (often depending on income). Our local health district offers free birth control, free mammograms and pap smears for women over 40, and free healthy baby/healthy mother programs.
6. Check out state medicare and medicaid programs and see if you qualify. Depending on your age and/or income, you may qualify for these state medical insurance programs.
7. Free health and wellness info can be found online at Web MD, and other medical info websites (Google 'medical information').
8. Walking--it's free exercise which will keep you healthy and help you lose weight.
9. Check out your local fire department and community hospital for free stuff: smoke alarms, blood pressure checks, CPR classes, etc.
10. Free blood pressure check machines are popping up all over--malls, grocery stores, etc--stick your arm in one and see what your numbers are.

SOCIAL SERVICES

1. Check your local community social service provider for free help with housing, job training, food programs, school supplies for the kids, etc.
2. The local YWCA often offers free legal assistance for domestic violence victims, sometimes job training classes, and our local YWCA even offers a job interview clothes closet for women who cannot afford to buy a new outfit for job interviews.
3. Free legal aid can be found at legal aid clinics (usually in large cities). In our area, free specialty lawyers are available at NWJP and NWIRP.
4. State welfare programs can provide free housing, free money (for expenses), free medical service, food stamps, etc. based on your income (or lack thereof).
5. If you have served any time in the military at all, check out your local VA Service Center and find out what benefits you are entitled to (everything from free housing to job training programs to widow's benefits to a wide range of other benefits are available to Vets).
6. Contact your local 211 service (call 211 from your phone or check out http://www.211.org/), explain your need for services, and these wonderful people will connect you with free social services that are available in your community.
7. Another great link for free social services no matter where you live in the US is http://www.socialwelfareservices.org/.
8. Many large cities often have social service agencies based on certain qualification such as the Chinese Service Center, Latino/Hispanic Service Center, Jewish Service Center, etc.
9. Churches are one of the main providers of free community social services; see what services your local churches offer.
10. Thrift stores are often run by social service organizations (St Vincent De Paul, Salvation Army, Cancer Society) in order to provide free assistance (housing, meals, etc) to those in need--check out your local thrift store and see what other services they offer.

INTERNET/TECH

1. Free blogging platforms (I like Blogger) let you host your blog for free (throw some Adsense in and you can even make money off of your blog).
2. Free website hosts (I like Webhero) allow you to host your websites for free (ditto the Adsense comment above).
3. Free wifi can be found in cities, hotels, libraries, etc. Go here to find free local wifi in your area.
4. MySpace, Face Book, Multiply, Ning, and other social networking sites give you your own free page so you can set up your own free social network.
5. Free software is available online at http://www.download.com/.
6. Free use of computers can be found at libraries, schools, and at social service centers.
7. Free new tech stuff (info, software, widgets, etc) can be found online at Lifehacker, CNet, and AllTop Tech, among other sites.
8. Communicate for free online through Skype, Chikka, Twitter, email programs such as Yahoo mail, GMail, or Hotmail, and a wide range of instant messaging programs.
9. Not only is Adsense free, but this service will actually make you money by allowing you to put ads on your blog/website/social networking site.
10. Free tech classes (internet, computer, web design) courses are occasionally offered at local senior centers, libraries, and schools.

ENTERTAINMENT

1. Check out your local newspaper or Craigslist for free community events such as art walks, concerts, outdoor movies, etc.
2. Bookstores and libraries offer free story times for children, guest lectures by authors, etc.
3. Many museums, zoos, art galleries, etc. offer free entrance once a month.
4. Go to your local park or playground for free exercise and entertainment for the whole family.
5. Colleges and universities sometimes offer free lectures, concert, and other events which are open to the public.
6. Swim for free at local lakes, rivers, or ocean beaches.
7. Community parades, festivals, and fairs are usually free and wonderful entertainment.
8. There are a myriad of free online games to keep you entertained (I like Sudoku).
9. Volunteering not only lets you give back to your community but you also get the free benefits of helping people, often free snacks, and other free activities.
10. Stay home and play card games, board games, hide and seek, or other entertaining activities with the family.

FOOD

1. Free meals are often served on a weekly basis by churches and community organizations such as homeless programs.
2. Check out local food banks for days and hours of service (Google food bank and the name of your community).
3. Dumpster diving is an art form which can score you some wonderful free food.
4. Gleaning farmer's fields can be done at the end of harvest season (ask for permission first) .
5. The Salvation Army (locations in most major cities) provide free meals and free food boxes daily.
6. Meetings are a good place to score free food (check you local newspaper for community meetings then show up to listen to the speakers and nosh on free snacks which are usually provided).
7. Costco and other stores offer free food samples (at our local Costco I swear people don't feed their kids the day before then turn them loose at the store to eat as much as they possibly can).
8. Apply for food stamps. Most states have lowered income requirements so that many more people will qualify to receive this free benefit.
9. Some restaurants offer free food on your birthday. Check out this list to see what kind of birthday deals are offered by your local restaurants.
10. Many restaurants have a "kids eat free" promotion which provides free meals for kids who come in with their parents.

SHELTER

1. Couchsurfing is a great way to find free shelter (meant for travellers, not the homeless).
2. The other kind of couchsurfing, living temporarily with friends and family, is another option.
3. Warmshowers is similar to couchsurfing but meant for bicyclists.
4. Camping is as simple as throwing up a tent in an out of the way place.
5. Homeless shelters are offered in most cities. Call 211 for local info.
6. Squatting has been an (illegal) option for putting a roof over your head for decades.
7. House sitting gigs can be found on Craigslist, through friends, and in areas with significant snowbird/vacation home populations.
8. Caretaking (similar to house sitting but often for campgrounds, estate, etc) is another free option for shelter (you may need to do a little work though).
9. Living in foreclosed homes is a new option (however you need to be ready to move at a moment's notice).
10. People often live in their cars, and one enterprising college student even lived in the library of his university for a semester.

EDUCATION

1. There are a handful of colleges and universities that offer free tuition. Check out the list here.
2. Scholarships and/or fellowships can provide everything from a free semester at college to a full four-year scholarship that covers everything; apply for any and all that you qualify for.
3. There are an increasing number of free online university courses which, while they don't provide a degree, they do provide an education.
4. For those who didn't graduate from high school, GED courses are often offered free at colleges and literacy organizations.
5. For those who speak no or limited English, community colleges and literacy organizations often offer free English as a Second Language (ESL) courses.
6. Libraries are a wonderful place to educate yourself for free on a wide range of topics--everything from how to train your puppy to how to wire or sheet rock a house can be found in books.
7. The internet offers some wonderful "how to" sites to learn new skills. Check out EHow and Instructables for informative DIY instructions.
8. Our local Goodwill offers a free comprehensive job training program. Ditto for WorkSource which is attached to the state unemployment office.
9. Online educational games are a better way for your kids to spend their free time rather than watching cartoons.
10. Apprenticing with those who are more knowledgeable than yourself is an age-old way of getting a free education.

TRAVEL

1. Use Mapquest for free before you head out instead of buying a GPS.
2. Exchange student/teacher sabbatical programs are available--some at no charge to the student/teacher if they have stellar qualifications.
3. Be sure to Google 'free tourist attractions' for your destination city when you travel.
4. Free bus passes for the local city bus can often be had through community social service organizations, depending on your income.
5. Air miles add up quickly if you fly often. Be sure to get the air miles you are entitled to and fly for free when you rack up enough miles.
6. Consider a house swap for your next vacation--get free accommodations by providing the same to another traveler.
7. See above under "shelter" for links to Couchsurfing and Warmshowers which provide free accommodations to travelers. Servas is another organization that provides free shelter for travelers.
8. Skip paying airfare and travel under your own power. These people have literally walked across the US.
9. Hobos have traveled for free for decades, hopping freight trains, panhandling, and enjoying the kindness of strangers.
10. Free transportation can be had by driving cars from point A to B for people who don't want to transport their car themself when they move or by offering to be a driver in a ride share gig found on Craigslist.

FINANCIAL STUFF

1. If you are paying a monthly fee to your bank, you are paying too much. Check out your local banks and find one that offers a free checking/savings account.
2. Everyone should check their credit report at least annually. Go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com/ to get your free credit report.
3. Make money with Adsense ads on your blog/website.
4. One of the best financial educations you can get for free? Check out Dave Ramsey and listen to his free streaming radio show.
5. Free tax preparation services are often provided in the spring in many communities. VISTA volunteers, the library, and other community social service organizations often have a list of free tax prep providers.
6. If you have a consumer issues, get Consumerist, the online resource for free consumer advocacy information.
7. Kelly Blue Book is a free online resource to make sure you are getting a good deal for the car you are buying or selling.
8. Free financial counseling is often offered by churches and other community social service providers (beware of organizations that will help you for a fee).
9. If your credit card charges an annual fee, find one that doesn't.
10. Check out promotions for Orange and ING online savings accounts. Often they will give you a free cash incentive to open a free account where you actually earn a higher interest rate than at a brick and mortar bank.

MISCELLANEOUS

1. Freecycle is an excellent online resource for a wide range of free stuff.
2. Craigslist has a listing for free stuff in their "For Sale" section.
3. The Red Cross offers everything from free disaster training to free CPR classes to free shelter in the event that you are the victim of a disaster.
4. FEMA offers free disaster recovery assistance if you live in an area that has been declared a disaster area.
5. There are hundreds and hundreds of free websites that offer free coupons for all manner of consumer goods.
6. Free samples are often advertised on TV and online for new products.
7. Simply Googling 'free stuff' will get you lots of...um...free stuff.
8. Free craft items such as shells, leaves, and rocks can be found by simply walking through your local natural area.
9. Free lessons (piano, language, etc) can be found online by simply Googling 'free piano lessons' or searching for similar information on YouTube.
10. Free money can be had by simply writing a sign and standing by the side of freeway off ramps (this is quite common where we live). I wouldn't recommend this, however I have heard that people who do do this can make $40+ per hour!

Check Out Your Next Credit Card Statement

Here's a photo of hubby's most recent credit card statement. Beginning last month, a change to the credit card laws made it a requirement that credit card companies put information on consumer's statements telling them how long it will take to pay off their debt if they only make the minimum payment. Enter the comedy of the absurd (although I am still hoping it will make people pay off their credit card debt faster instead of throwing up their hands in despair). According to this statement...

• If he only pays the minimum payment each month (about $150, one dollar a month more that what is charged for interest) it will take him 2126 years to pay off the debt and he will have paid a total of $1,718,807.00. Um, yeah...if that doesn't make you want to never touch another credit card I don't know what will.


• If he pays $377 per month it will only take him three years to pay off this debt with a total payment of $13,573.00 which, the bill helpfully points out, will save him $1,705,235.00 over just paying the minimum amount...ayayay.

Which is why we are throwing every available cent at this debt and we hope to have it paid off by the end of the year. I hate credit cards!!!!

Death By A Thousand Payments

Hubby has a credit card that just won't die. He doesn't use it any more but with a high interest rate and low payments and a relatively high balance, it seems like we keep paying and paying on it but it never goes away. Enter my theory based on the "death by a thousand cuts" idea. So instead of the thousand cuts, I figure we will kill this credit card with a thousand payments. After making the usual payment at the beginning of the month, I was able to make four more payments on the bill this month simply because any time I had extra money (a $50 rebate check, a surprise payment for a freelance article, etc.) I would go online and make additional payments. I understand that some creditors have a limit on the number of payments they will accept each month, but I figure that by paying extra each week I will #1, not reach the limit on the number of payments I can make, and #2, pay off this bill a whole lot faster by throwing any and all additional money at it.

A Cool Debt Free Story...With Tips On How You Can Do The Same

I just saw this story on Consumerist about how a lady was able to pay off $14,000+ debt in 20 months. Along with her story are some great ways that you too can make simple changes in your life and get out of debt. These kinds of stories rock!

Bill Reduction 101

One way to have more cash to spend as you like is to have less bills to pay. This means both a lesser number of bills that you need to pay each month and a lesser amount per bill that you need to pay. Each year, usually around January, I review our bill list and see what bills I can reduce and what bills I can get rid of all together. Here's how this looks:

• Mortgage payment. At the end of last year we refinanced our mortgage and knocked off both the number of years of payments (from 18 years left on a 20 year contract to 15) and knocked down the interest rate (to 4.5%!). This resulted in our mortgage payments, even with the reduced number of years, being about $100 less per month than we were paying before. Also, just this month, I called my car insurance company and asked about their rates for house insurance; turns out that by switching our mortgage insurance to bundle it with our car insurance, we are now saving over $200 per year.
• Car payments. This was a biggie--the lease payments for my car were huge so at the end of the lease a couple of years ago, I turned the car in, got a bus pass, decided to share our one paid off car with the hubby...and ended up saving nearly $1000 per month!
• Credit card bills. Since we do not use credit cards anymore, we simply pay the minimum on all of the credit card bills then choose the one credit card bill with the lowest balance and hammer away at it until it is gone. This has reduced the number of credit card bills from eight to three over the past couple of years. Soon the remaining three should be paid off. On a side note, if you are still paying off credit card debt, be sure to call the card companies and ask for a reduction in the interest rate you are paying, this can save you a significant amount of money each month.
• Utilities. You need electricity, water, sewer, garbage, and natural gas but you can still reduce your rates on these bills by conserving. We have put low flow shower heads on all of our showers, we turn off lights and other electrical appliances when they are not needed, and we take other steps to conserve both water and electricity. We also did a bit of research and found that we could switch from weekly garbage pick up to every other week service and save money that way as well.
• Cable TV. While cable TV isn't a requirement, most people can't imagine living without it. Each year we look at this bill and then call the cable company and see if they have a better deal. Often times this works--they will give us a promotional rate, say a $10 discount on the package that we have, for a year, at which time we call again and see what deals they have available.
• Phone. We have done various things over the years to cut the cost of phone service. In some locations we have had great cell reception so we cut out home phone service all together. More recently we found that we do need a home phone (mostly for business purposes) so we researched the cost for regular phone company phone service vs. internet phone service and found that by bundling phone service with our internet we save about $20 per month. Other people have decided to use Skype in lieu of phone service, or switched to using cell phones only.
• Cell phones. It always pays to review the various cell phone service plans frequently as they change often. You need to be aware of any pre-term cancellation fees you may be under before switching over, but it does pay to keep an eye on both the cell service packages that are available and also check to make sure that you are paying for the most cost-efficient service level (ie: if you only use 500 minutes a month, why would you want to be in a 1500 minute per month plan?).
• Car insurance. We try to make sure that our car insurance plan meets our needs, both in terms of the rate we are paying as compared to the rates offered by other companies, and in the type of insurance we are paying for (ie: when the value of the car drops below a certain amount, we will take off comprehensive insurance and just go with liability).
• Variable expenses. This category, which includes food, gas, clothing, entertainment, etc., has the most room in which to make a dent in the amount that you spend. In these areas, we tend to spend like misers (in a good sort of way). Food is bought on sale, we conserve gas by organizing our trips in the most efficient manner, clothing is bought at 50% off or more clearance sales, and entertainment is often a movie at home or a walk around the park. We realize that by living frugally in these easy-to-be-frugal categories, we have more cash on hand to spend on the things that are most important to us (like traveling to visit the family).
• Extraneous expenses. We have cut out many expenses over the last few years that simply lopped these categories right out of our budget (and resulted in fewer bills to pay each month). These include cancelling the yard guy, the housekeeper, the gym membership, subscriptions to newspapers and magazines, etc.

By simply reviewing your bill list each year and considering your options, you can literally save hundreds of dollars per month (which can be better spent to pay down debt, bulk up your emergency fund, or pay for your CASH ONLY vacation).

20 Things Completed This Weekend (That Were Free And/Or Made Us Money)

It is a beautiful sunny weekend here. Warmth and sun make me want to get active. Unlike a few years back, when a warm sunny day would send me on a recreational shopping binge, I now do things differently. Usually these things are both productive and cost little money. Here's what we did this weekend:

1. Went for a walk around the neighborhood. Actually it's the first time this year I have seen many of our neighbors out in their yards. Usually people around here hibernate from November to March and you rarely ever see them unless they are running to their cars.


2. Took some photos and listed some of the bigger stuff that is taking up space in the garage on Craigslist.


3. Semi-organized the garage so that all of the excess stuff we have collected over the winter will be easy to set out at the garage sale we plan to have next month.


4. Caught up on cooking and baking. Among the simple home-made items I usually make every couple of weeks: yogurt (super simple), granola (ditto), cookies (chocolate chip), chili, soup from the leftover chicken which we ate for dinner on Sunday (now in the freezer), and fried rice (for dinner and the leftovers are packaged for lunch for the next couple of days).


5. Cleaned out the junk drawer. I thought we were out of batteries but hubby cleaned out the junk drawer and found an extra package in there...saves us money to not have to run out and buy a package of batteries that we didn't need.


6. Cleaned out our closets. Clothes and shoes that we no longer wear were separated for the garage sale and donation to a local charity.


7. Mowed the yard. Myself. Even though the temptation to hire it done was there, I figured I could use the exercise and the extra money I would save by doing it myself.


8. Washed the car. Hubby did this. Usually we spend the $10 it takes to run it through the local car wash, but again, we NEED the exercise, we have the time, it is a nice sunny day, and we have all of the stuff to wash the car so we figured we might as well do it ourself.


9. Watched the news. The health care thing is all that is on the news this weekend. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.


10. Shopped virtually. I do this each Sunday when the store ads come out. I used to go to the store, pick up the advertisement, then shop. Unfortunately, by doing this, I usually ended up buying stuff--much of which I didn't need but couldn't pass up because it was "on sale." Now on Sunday mornings, I sit down at my computer and check out each local store's advertisement. This is a great way to curb impulse shopping and there has to be something that I both really need, and at a really good price, to make me leave my home and go buy it.


11. Watched a movie on my computer. We do have basic cable but we haven't rented movies or actually gone out to the movies in ages. I was Googling a movie I heard about (the movie is Tim from the 1970s with a very young--and quite hot--Mel Gibson). I saw that someone had posted the movie, in its entirety, on YouTube so I watched it online for free. How cool!


12. Passed up the opportunity to go to the symphony. A friend called with an extra set of tickets for the symphony--for free. I was so tired from the past week that I thanked her but declined. Now I am kicking myself--what a great, FREE, opportunity. Note to self, always say YES to opportunities.


13. Cleaned out the fridge. I do this every couple of weeks and it occurred to me that one of my future challenges will be to see how long we can go with eating only what food we have at home and not eating out or restocking at the grocery store. Judging by the amount of stuff I saw in the fridge and the cabinets, we could be eating at home for months!


14. Pondered the new "cash for clunker appliances" offer. Our state recently started offering a $100 rebate for buying new appliances (refrigerators and washing machines). While buying these items in on our "to do" list, we are putting this off until after we have the garage sale and thus, the cash to pay for the appliances we want.


15. Did our taxes. Actually I did my taxes, my nephews taxes, and my sister in law's taxes. The more you make, the more you pay. Bummer.


16. Hosted friends for dinner. Some friends came into town on Friday and invited us out to dinner (cost to them $100+). On Saturday, we invited them IN for dinner. A few years ago we would have felt that their invitation required that we take them out at an even more expensive restaurant than they took us to. No more keeping up with the Joneses. Hubby is a wonderful cook and everyone had some great food (cost to us about $25), some great conversation, and some great memories (from the after dinner poker game we set up).


17. Researched some vacation packages online. Some family members are holding a mini-reunion in Las Vegas in June. We told them we would be there, with a couple of caveats. First, we need to have the cash to pay for the airline tickets, hotel, and spending money. Second, we have to get a "good deal" on these items. Round trip airline tickets from our location to Vegas were at $255 each as of this weekend which is more than I want to pay. Either the price will come down or we won't go. We like to vacation but only when the price is right.


18. Got some work done. This is more for psychological peace than financial peace. I have a lot of leeway when it comes to completing work. Often times I put off work that I don't want to do until the last minute which causes undue stress. This morning was quiet with nothing pressing to do so I sat down at my desk and forced myself to write two big reports I was putting off (and surprisingly it went much more easily than I though it would). Now my upcoming week will be very quiet and relaxing.


19. Arranged to car pool. A few years back it was nothing to hop in my car and go to meetings which were hours away. I put a massive amount of miles on my (leased) car. Dumb. On Friday afternoon, I asked around to see who was going to a meeting on Monday and another on Thursday, and was able to get rides with other people to both meetings.


20. Found out my sister got engaged. Actually she sent me a picture of her finger. It was a blurry picture and from a phone number I didn't know so I figured someone accidentally sent me a picture of their finger. Odd. But after we chatted and I found out she was getting married--thus the picture of a ring on her finger--and I started rattling off all of the ways we could give her a great wedding at really minimal cost (unlike her huge and expensive first wedding which she was still paying off after the divorce decree had been issued). Surprisingly she was very agreeable and it looks like I will have a great topic for a blog post ('Wonderful weddings for next to nothing') in about eight months.

Overall a wonderful weekend, very productive, and, happily, very inexpensive.

A "Know Your Prices" Reminder

A few weeks ago, a major store in our area announced that it was closing. I went in the next day and they seemed to have some pretty good prices (their ads for that week were still in affect plus they had a 20% off "store closing" discount). I bought a few things then figured I would go back in a couple of weeks when we got back from vacation to see if anything was left and to see if even deeper discounts were being offered.
Yesterday I went back to the store and couldn't believe what I was seeing. There were big "STORE CLOSING 30%-50% OFF" signs all over the place but when I looked at some of the toiletries that I was interested in buying, I noted that someone had taken a price gun and marked every single bottle of shampoo, package of soap, tubes of toothpaste, etc. with new HIGHER prices. Of course I didn't buy anything--even with the "discount", the higher prices meant I would be paying about the same as I would pay for the items at other stores in the area.
This was an excellent reminder of how important it is to have a price book, or similar way to remember what the average prices are that you pay for the most common items that you buy. People who don't pay attention to prices may come into this store and look at the signs and think they are getting a good deal when in reality they are getting ripped off!

A Rave: Reaching Your Goals, Step By Step

Last week I ranted about some friends that we visited when we were on vacation. Today I want to rave about another couple of friends that we also visited while we were on vacation.

This couple seems to be doing everything right, financially speaking. Not only do they both work and earn good incomes, they live below their means, bank some (which has allowed them to go on some amazing vacations at the drop of a hat, because they had the cash to do it), and spend the rest, step by step, to reach their goals.

One of their main goals is to have a beautiful home and share it with friends and family. The way they have accomplished this is by taking small steps, which over the course of 25+ years, has resulted in an amazing home, a wonderful family, and friends that tend to "just show up" from all over the world to enjoy (even temporarily) a part of their dream. Here's how this came about:

They bought a small ranch house that was built in the '50s about 25 years ago. The house was not much to look at but it was in a good location, on a nice piece of land, and they could easily afford the payments. Since that day so long ago, they have set about turning their humble, little house into a showplace. As their kids will attest, the "family project" has been an ongoing renovation of this home that is still going on 25 years later (at the dinner party they invited us to, the topic of conversation was getting everyone's input on wallpaper for the downstairs office which opened up a spirited and lively discussion). Their house is, hands down, the most amazing place I have ever seen. I wanted to take pictures but there was people everywhere so I couldn't get any photos of the home without people in them. They have literally redone every part of their house. A once hand-dug basement is now completely finished with beautiful wood floors, a family game room, an office, and walk-out guest quarters. The back yard has been turned into a beautiful Japanese garden complete with rock gardens, waterfalls, an amazing deck, and quaint foot bridges. The kitchen is a work of art with marble counter tops, top of the line appliances, and cabinets that are to-die-for. Then there is the huge master bedroom that is an oasis of tranquility with a huge master bath (the stone shower rocks!), and a walk in closet that you could get lost in.

As impressed as I am with the "wow" factor of their home, I am even more impressed with the way they accomplished this goal. They made a plan (to renovate the house) then approached the plan with a cash-only outlook. As they had the cash, they would buy the paint for a room, the stones for the floor, the lumber for the deck. They didn't take out loans to speed up the project and they didn't spend more money than they had. If they wanted a higher quality product (imported marble) they would work on a more labor intensive project (the garden) while they saved up for the purchase of the marble. The result is that they have created a wonderful, welcoming home that is always filled with family and friends, and best of all, they are able to thoroughly enjoy themselves with the people they want to fill their life with because they are not stressed out about money, they aren't in debt or living beyond their means, they take genuine pride in their hard work and accomplishments, and people can actually feel the positive energy of this family as they, step by step, reach their goals.

This is an excellent example of how anyone can take their goal, break it down, then move forward with little steps (and with cash only) to create amazing things in their life.

10 Ways to Learn from Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey is my favorite financial guru, bar none. Lots of financial writers can fill up a book with a whole bunch of words and lots of financial writers have carved out niches which get them a lot of publicity via books, TV, and the internet. Not so many writers, actually none except Dave, give you simple, step by step instructions on how to get out of debt an become rich.

While other financial gurus are preaching about 401ks and flipping houses, Dave starts at the very beginning for those of us who are slow (or those of us who don't really want to hear the truth because it my be painful)...step 1, get a $1000 emergency fund NOW!, step 2, cut up ALL of your credit cards, get a second or third job, stop spending, and pay off all of your debt. See--painful. But effective. I can honestly say that Dave is the only person in MY ENTIRE LIFE who said "you are an idiot because you are spending yourself into massive debt. Don't be stupid." And for some of us, that's what we need to hear because we can come up with all kinds of excuses to justify how bad we are with money. But after you get with the program, much like running a marathon, you hit the wall of pain and pass it because you become so blissed out with your progress that your whole mindset changes.

Now I (and apparently millions of others) are no longer victims of our poor choices and of the media/financial/Joneses that we are keeping up with, and we are making significant progress in our financial lives (and overall in our personal lives too) so now I want to evangelize Dave to the world! Here are ten ways to learn how to get out of debt and become wealthy from Dave Ramsey:

1. Check out his website.


2. Listen to his radio program online.


3. Listen to his radio program in your car or at home.


4. Catch him on TV.


5. Download a podcast.


6. Attend a live event.


7. Read his books.


8. Follow him on Twitter.


9. Attend Financial Peace University.


10. Join the Dave community.

A Rant...Just Me Being Judgemental

In the interest of politeness, I thought I would rant here instead of, like, to the people I am ranting about. With the disclaimer that I am a born-again frugalista who has probably done everything on the list that I am about to rant about...
That being said, we are on vacation this week visiting friends and family. One family we visited spends like maniacs and all I can do is sit in awe of their financial stupidity. Other than that, they are wonderfully nice, super intelligent people, but when you look at the financial mess they are in, you seriously wonder how well educated (one is a PhD) people with a stellar income (around $250,000 annually) could make so many financial mistakes. They are hiding from bill collector calls, are in massive debt, and buy stuff continually. As Dave Ramsey says, you can't out earn stupid and he is definitely right. Here's what I have observed during my stay here:

• They eat out nearly every day, often breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the whole family. Yes they are busy but they could rearrange their schedule to fit in simple meal making.
• They bribe their kids with stuff. The kids have a ton of stuff...every Wii game made, racks of DVD movies, expensive electronics, a massive amount of toys that they don't even have time to play with, etc.
• They use credit for paying for everything from gas to food to clothes to...everything else.
• There is only two drivers in the family yet they have three expensive cars (with loans) sitting in the drive way.
• They have debt collectors calling them EVERY day to the point that they are afraid to answer the phone.
• They have a couple of great vacations planned.
• They rave about how great their time share is.
• They classify one of their businesses as a real business yet it never breaks even or makes a profit and is a constant financial drain (in other words, it is a very expensive hobby).
• They feel justified buying anything they want because they work hard for their "great" income. Actually they are working themselves to death to buy a whole lot of junk.
• They don't know how much money they have. Literally when you ask about certain expenses they will say it is "about" x amount, or that they don't know because they have someone else take care of that stuff that they don't understand, etc.
• They keep up appearances by having the things that other people in their profession/social class have...big house, nice pool, very expensive cars, etc.

Anyway, those are the most annoying things. Like I said, I have probably done all of the above at one time or another in my life but after changing my financial life, looking at other people making these sort of mistakes is practically painful. You can't really lecture adults who don't want to hear what you are saying and trying to lead by example seems to fall on deaf ears (I mentioned that I got rid of ALL of my credit cards and now pay cash for purchases large and small and they both said "we can't do that because..." followed by a half dozen excuses that, yes, I myself had given in the past).

If I could help them, here's what I would do:

• Sell everything in their house. Then sell the house and put them into a small house with a small house payment.
• Get rid of the cars and have them each buy a $5000 car with cash.
• Insist that they eat every meal at home (or taken from home), even if it means picking one day a month and doing some production cooking for the freezer.
• Take away all of their credit cards/checks/debit cards and give them a daily allowance. This is the fastest way to learn to live on cash only.
• Pay off their debts so fast it would make their heads spin. Unlike many Americans who would need to take on second and third jobs in order to pay their debts, these people have a huge income. They could ratchet back to living on $50,000 per year and throw $200,000 per year at their debts!
• Ditch the time share, the vacations, the expensive cable packet which gives them every cable channel offered, etc.
• Put an end to bribing kids (or spouses for that matter) with money or things. If you want the kids to do something, you explain what you want and give them consequences if they don't do it instead of pleading with them to do something then giving them a reward every time they make a half-assed effort to do it. Ditto for spouses (sometimes it is easier to give a spouse something to make them happy or compliant instead of creating an environment of good communication).

I think that's all. I'll hop off my soapbox now, stop being so bitchy, and enjoy the rest of my (cash only) vacation.

101 Free Activities

When you are in debt or trying desperately to get out of debt, you simply don't want to/can't spend money on "frivolous" things, like activities to keep yourself and the family amused and entertained. Unfortunately, without some sort of regular diversion, you may go stir crazy or get depressed because life looks like a big, bleak slog instead of a fun, interesting adventure. Here's 101 free activities to consider that are free (just be sure to bring a lunch and beverages from home) and entertaining:

1. Rent free DVD and VCR movies from the library.
2. Borrow books from the library.
3. Take the family to story time and other community activities at the library or local book store.
4. Go on a nature walk/hike close to home.
5. Walk with the Volksmarchers (free if you aren't a member; non-members are welcome to participate).
6. Check online to see when your local museum/zoo/other attraction offers free entrance (often the first Tuesday or Thursday of the month).
7. Volunteer to help out at an event (fair, community event, play) in exchange for a free entrance pass for you and the family.
8. Bake cookies or create other dishes at home.
9. Make a fort inside or outside with the kids (only requires blankets and a way to hang them up).
10. Take photos around your community with your digital camera.
11. Check out local activities at your local school (elementary, junior high, high school, or college). Obviously you won't get into a Pac 10 football game for free but watching kids just starting out playing an instrument or acting in a play can be fun!
12. Host a contest with all of the kids in the neighborhood (jump roping, tall tale telling, etc).
13. Play games with the kids (board games, play tag, etc).
14. Blow bubbles with the kids (only requires dish soap and a homemade wand).
15. Let your kids have a slumber party (or have a slumber party with a group of your best friends if you are a grown up). Popcorn and pranks optional.
16. Check out the community events section of your city's newspaper (free outdoor movies, concerts in the park, and other free events are a great source of entertainment).
17. Google for coupons for local vendors (occasionally you will be able to find free passes for the local skating rink, etc).
18. Make a snowman, or if you are more industrious, an igloo, after a heavy snowfall.
19. Make your own toys (like kites, boats, cars) with items you have laying around and see if your work will fly, float, or go.
20. Do craft projects with items you can find for free (everything from toilet paper rolls to rocks and leaves).
21. Set up a scavenger hunt for the kids by hiding clues and trinkets then making a map for them to follow.
22. Have a garage sale, not only will you make money but the kids can set up a lemonade or hot dog stand and make their own cash.
23. Volunteer (everything from the soup kitchen to the zoo to the local hospital love to have volunteers help out).
24. Go dumpster diving (radical but fun!).
25. Learn and practice some outdoor skills (as kids we spent hours building forts, sleeping outside, creating snares to catch rabbits, making bows and arrows, etc).
26. Have a small bonfire and roast marshmallows.
27. Watch a scary movie on TV then tell ghost stories afterwards (not for the faint of heart).
28. People watch then make up stories about them (ie: the lady in blue is really a princess from a foreign country and she is hiding out in our town, etc).
29. Enter a contest. Everything from novel writing contests to kids art contests, to "guess how many jelly beans are in the jar" can be fun and keep everyone busy for a while).
30. Sing together (a capella if you don't have/play instruments).
31. Get a book/video from the library and use it to learn something new (how to speak Spanish, etc).
32. Put together a neighborhood soccer/baseball/stick ball game.
33. Glean free food (pick wild mushrooms if you know which ones are safe, pick berries that grow along the roadside, pick apples from trees--legally of course, etc).
34. Go fishing (many counties/states offer a free day of fishing when you don't need a license) even if you have to make your own pole.
35. Barter. Find something you want then decide what you have that you could barter with to get it.
36. Start a family blog/website/Facebook page.
37. Feed the homeless. Use the food that you have at home to create simple meals (like sandwiches) then head out where the homeless gather to distribute them.
38. Have a "talent night" with everyone in the neighborhood.
39. Have a movie marathon day by watching four or five free movies on TV in a row.
40. Hold a family/neighborhood potluck.
41. Go swimming at the local lake or river (where it is both free and relatively safe).
42. Write an anonymous letter to someone with all positive comments about them then secretly hang it on their door.
43. Pierce your ears at home (not for the squeamish).
44. Camp out in the backyard over night.
45. Surprise an elderly relative or neighbor with a "work party" at their home to clean up their yard, make simple repairs, etc.
46. Pick wildflowers for your home or to surprise someone with.
47. Start a blog and monetize it (use a free platform like Blogger).
48. Dance, either in the living room or invite the whole neighborhood and hold it outside.
49. Interview the oldest family member you have and learn about history from them.
50. Write down your family's genealogy for as far back as possible, use the library to research if needed.
51. Choose some interesting science experiments from books and perform them at home.
52. Visit a different church from the one you regularly attend.
53. Write up your life "bucket list" then get busy on making it happen.
54. Research "free stuff" online or at the library then send away for a dozen items.
55. See if you can sit in on a local band's rehearsal practice.
56. Check out the offerings at your local university--everything from lectures to free dental care to mini-classes may be offered for free.
57. Check out free offerings at your local fire department (like first aid and CPR classes) your local hospital (free nutrition classes) and your local utility department (they sometimes offer free water saver shower heads or free light bulbs).
58. Get a book about astronomy at the library then go outside at night and try to identify the constellations.
59. Find out about any free factory tours that are available in your area then attend them.
60. Have a picnic in the park.
61. Collect bugs.
62. Find a discarded item by the side of the road, fix it up, and sell it on CraigsList.
63. Dress in costume then go out on the town (or just to the local mall).
64. Plan your future, and set goals you will need to meet to get there.
65. Take digital photos of friends and family then make a memory book (attach photos on card stock or paper then document the date/person/other info about the people in the photos). Bonus points for having the person in the photograph write in your book.
66. Exercise together--do calisthenics, try parkour, follow along with the morning aerobics or yoga show on TV.
67. Write an article for the local newspaper.
68. Do something out of the ordinary--sit in on a city council meeting, visit the Chamber of Commerce, etc.
69. Participate in a community health fair--get your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels checked for free and pick up lots of freebie handouts as well.
70. Host a neighborhood dog/cat show.
71. Teach your dog some new tricks.
72. Make a fire escape plan and hold a fire drill.
73. Play with your food--eat an entire meal with your hands, host a midnight dinner buffet, create a dinner in which all of the items are green, make pancakes for dinner, eat dinner for breakfast, etc.
74. Turn off all the electricity in the house (except for maybe the freezer) and find out what it was like to live in the "olden days" without electricity.
75. Build something unusual from items on hand--a wading pool dug into the ground, a brick oven to bake a pizza in, etc.
76. Put on a parade for the neighborhood to participate in.
77. Teach everyone in the neighborhood how to prepare for a disaster (the local Department of Emergency Management may even send someone to speak at your gathering for no charge).
78. Get some books on local birds at the library then go birdwatching; record your findings.
79. Redecorate the house with only items you have (switch comforters with someone else, move the furniture around, hang homemade paper mobiles, get free posters to use as decoration from the local movie theater, etc).
80. Write a fan letter to someone famous and see if they write back.
81. Create a family tradition around a holiday.
82. Try couch surfing in your local area for a change of scenery.
83. Write a letter (not anonymous) telling someone how they have positively impacted your life.
84. Complete a crossword puzzle or actual puzzle as a family.
85. Make a vision board (ask dental and doctor's offices for their old magazines).
86. Minimize your possessions (consider taking the 100 item challenge).
87. Make an item from scratch that you would usually buy (ice cream, yogurt, granola, bread, etc).
88. Invite a friend over who is from another country and have them teach you some of their language or how to cook foods from their country.
89. Host an "all homemade" party in which everything--from the food to the decorations to the party favors to the gifts--are homemade.
90. Build your own entertainment in your back yard--everything from mini golf to a slip n slide to shuffle board to hopscotch can be created at home to entertain the family and neighborhood kids.
91. Play with trees. Go to a grove of trees and hug a tree, climb a tree, play hide and seek behind the trees, etc.
92. Climb to the highest point (or building) in your area and enjoy the view.
93. Play outside in the sprinkler, have a water balloon fight, or make homemade items to spray/soak your friends.
94. Offer to be a human billboard for a local company for a few hours (they may even give you a free pizza/t shirt/etc in exchange for your work).
95. Write a letter to your mayor/senator/congressman/governor seeking to change something that bothers you.
96. Walk through a graveyard at night--extra points if it is done on Halloween or during a full moon.
97. Have a home beauty night--try a different hairstyle, put your make-up on differently, give yourself a manicure/pedicure/facial or haircut (if you are brave).
98. Visit someone in a hospital or nursing home and cheer them up.
99. Join a march or protest to support a cause you favor.
100. Put together a family challenge (such as earning $500 in a weekend through a variety of tasks such as holding a garage sale, mowing yards, etc; or challenging the family not to eat any junk food for an entire month).
101. Plan a family vacation (that you will use the money from #99 to pay for). Research everything--airfare, driving times, cost for gasoline, hotel rates, attractions, etc. so that you will inspire the entire family to work hard towards achieving such a goal.

Buying to Meet Your Needs

One way to save a whole bunch of money is to buy in a way that meets your needs instead of buying the "absolute best" that is available. Here's some examples:

• When I buy a computer, I buy my favorite brand (HP) but I never buy a top of the line computer. Because I don't do any gaming on my computer or crunch PhD level numbers, I get by just fine with what equates to a bargain basement computer which has everything I need to do the (mostly writing) stuff that I do. I know "tech envy" can drive people to think they need every possible bell and whistle on their computer, thus leaving them with a $2,000 machine that will be obsolete practically before they get the thing unwrapped. Don't let this happen to you. Know what you need before you shop for an expensive item and stay true to your list instead of having your head turned by a convincing salesperson and the shiny new models that are on display.
• Vacations can cost as much or as little as you want to spend. I know very wise people who spend like maniacs on and for their vacation. One friend has to have an entire new wardrobe when she goes on vacation. She totally doesn't get that the people who see her on vacation have never seen her before and will never see her again and therefore they wouldn't even know that the clothes she was wearing were worn for a month instead of bought the day before she got on the airplane. If she were buying to meet her needs--to have fashionable clothes to wear on vacation--she would actually end up buying nothing because all of her regular clothes are just fine for vacation. Ditto for places to stay (a multi-thousand dollar time share is most often overkill when compared to the cost of a basic hotel), places to eat (most cities have great ethnic areas where food is awesome and cheap; the five star restaurant is definitely a "want" and not a need). and modes of transportation (first class and coach passengers tend to arrive at their destination at the same time, even though one set of passengers has spent a whole lot more money for their seat).
• Food is a huge area where money can be spent to meet your actual needs and not the fictitious needs generated by the advertising companies, thus saving you $$$. For example, you need to feed your kids breakfast. An egg and toast or oatmeal are wonderfully nutritious and cheap breakfasts. Frosty-fruity-look at the toy in the box cereals are not only hugely expensive compared to oatmeal or eggs but they are much less nutritious. Ditto for the steak you can buy on sale compared to the steak you spend and arm and leg for at a five-star restaurant.
• Consumer items are infinitely flexible when it comes to price vs. needs. The last season jeans which are cheaper, and look just like, this season's jeans are a bargain. Finding them barely used at the thrift store is an even better bargain. And the two year old Mercedes as opposed to the brand new Mercedes that drops a quarter of its value as soon as you drive it off the lot can be a bargain if you absolutely need a Mercedes (otherwise go for the highly rated, used generic car that will serve the purpose of getting you where you need to go).

The bottom line is that if you spend your money to meet your actual needs as opposed to the needs you see expressed on TV that are meant to separate you from your hard earned cash, you will not only have met your needs but also have some money left over.