The Tightwad

Have you ever taken part in a blog carnival before?  Basically a blog carnival is a group of blogs that are listed together under a common theme every so often (usually once a week or once a month) and the event is hosted at another blog each time.  I really enjoy blog carnivals because they are a great way to find blogs that focus on subjects that you are interested in, you can meet new people and if you join in, you can bring new traffic to your blog.  Well, one of the blog carnivals that I have found just recently (even though it’s been around for awhile) is Festival of Frugality.  Needless to say with being a tightwad, Festival of Frugality is right down my alley!!!  This weeks Festival of Frugality is being hosted at: http://www.greenpandatreehouse.com/2009/03/festival-of-frugality-167/   To find out where the Festival of Frugality is held each week, then go to this website: http://www.festivaloffrugality.com/past-hosts-future-hosts-schedule

I know this is not necessary a tightwad subject, but I think it is an important money matter.  Hopefully no one that is reading my blog is facing this problem, but if you are there may be a sliver of hope.  One thing they are finding is many banks are having trouble producing the mortgage note and you can file paperwork with the courts demanding them to “produce the note”.  This is a stall tactic and will many times delay the foreclosure and could give you time to get back on your feet.  You can find out more about a movement encouraging people to try to hold on to their homes and force mortgage companies to “produce the note” at: http://www.consumerwarningnetwork.com/2008/06/19/produce-the-note-how-to/And you can also watch this short video to learn more about this. 

Want great tasting coffee, but do not want to pay a fortune for it?  Well, Consumer Reports came out with their study today on both the best tasting coffee and the best coffee maker and while both may be high end on taste, neither are high end at cost.  For best coffee, Consumer Reports chose 8 O’Clock Coffee which sells for about $6.00 per pound.  As for coffee makers, Consumer Reports rated The Michael Graves 12-cup coffee maker to be number one.  This coffee maker retails for around $40.00 and can be bought at places such as Target and Amazon.  It can save a lot of money by brewing your own coffee at home and if you’re a real coffee connoisseur, then you may want to check out these products.

Sorry I haven’t written in a few days, I’ve been really busy!!!  Here is my tip for today:

I have to admit, at times, I am really unorganized and I have found that it sometimes costs me a lot of money!!!  One of the pitfalls of being unorganized is sometimes having to re-buy what you have lost.  The most frustrating part is when you find the item you re-bought a month later!!!  Wouldn’t it have been cheaper to just not have lost the item in the first place???  It may be difficult for some to get organized (the really organizationally challenged like me) but it will help you save some dough.  I would suggest taking one area at a time and de-clutter and get it really organized and then move on to a new area.  To save money on organizational tools, reuse things you have like baskets and bins to store things in.  I use cute little pails to put my pens and pencils in.  I’ve even seen people use cereal boxes and make magazine holders out of them.  Use what you have and get yourself organized and you will probably save money in the long run. 

Should you always be frugal?  My answer is yes and no.  You should always try to get the best deal for your money, such as use coupons, search out sales, and comparison shop, but I don’t think you should always trade quality (unless it really doesn’t matter) and you should NEVER trade safety. An example of this is I use artificial sweetener in my coffee.  I had been buying the name brand stuff and decided I really needed to save money, so I switched to store brand.  Well, the store brand was gritty. YUCK!!! I really don’t want to drink grit with my coffee.  So I switched back to the name brand stuff, but of course I try to use coupons and sales whenever I can to help offset the cost.  Another example is on safety.  When buying a mini van we could have saved some money by going with another maker, but the one we choose had a MUCH higher safety rating and we felt the extra money was worth it.  But of course that shouldn’t stop you from trying to get a good deal on it.  We still went to a couple of dealerships and negotiated with them to get a better price.  This is one of the benefits of being frugal, if you try hard to save money where you can, you will have the money for the times when it is important to pay more.

The first thing you need to do when considering a goal, is decide whether it is realistic or not.  Such as, if you really wanted a $400,000 car, and you only make $50,000 a year, it probably will not happen.  It may be a dream, but it’s not really a realistic goal at least not in the near future.  But say you make $50,000 a year and you really want a large screen television.  Now, that can be a realistic goal.  The first thing to decide is if you are in a financial position to save for it.  Are all your bills paid off and do you have a little extra left over each month after you take care of your needs?  If you are in a lot of debt, you need to take care of that first before you consider spending on a want.  Once you are ready to start saving, you need to be patient.  Don’t rush out and buy the first television you see and put it on your credit card.  This way of thinking will not get you ahead financially.  Do your research, find out what type of television you want.  There are a lot of different types of televisions with many different types of features.  Research to find out what you want.  Compare prices.  There is a wide range of prices on televisions, try to find the best bargain for your money.  Keep track of the prices.  At different times of the year, the prices can be considerably different with the results saving you hundreds of dollars.  Only buy your television after you have done your research and after you have saved your money, so you don’t have to use your credit cards.

Homeschooling is near and dear to my heart.  I have been homeschooling for over 6 six years now and do not regret it at all.  The only problem is, if you aren’t careful it can get pretty darn expensive.  There are some simple ways to help save money while homeschooling.

1)      Use the library often!!!  This is probably my biggest money saver.

2)      Buy materials used.  If you have to buy them, it’s better to buy them cheap!

3)      Search the internet for worksheets, information, lapbooks , and notebooking pages.  There are so many things you can get free from the internet.

4)      Use literature, unit studies, lapbooking and notebooking for a large chunk of your schooling.  By getting books out of the library and either lapbooking them, notebooking them, or doing a unit study, you can save a lot of money over complete curriculum packages and your child will probably enjoy it more.

These are just a few ways that you can save a lot of money with homeschooling.

Using recycled material (aka: junk) to create art work for your home and for your crafts is a great way to not only save money, but to also do something good for the Earth.  There are many things you can do with recycled materials.  I have seen cereal boxes turned into magazine holders, cans turned into pencil holders, paper bags turned into scrapbooks , CDs turned into coasters, calendar pictures hung as pictures after the calendar has been used and old books turned into works of art (altered books).  A coat of paint can spruce up almost anything.  Here is an article on making paper bag scrapbooks: How to Make a Paper Bag Scrapbook and here is a article about Recycled Crafts: How to Think Like a Crafty Recycler .

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Saving money is about choices and deciding what are your priorities.  There are some really simple ways to save money.

1. Buy used when it does not really matter, then you are more likely to have the money for something new when it does matter to you.  Example:  Our boys are needing new beds.  I do not really feel comfortable using used mattresses from another household, but new beds are expensive.  So to save money, our youngest son will be using the bed frame and mattress (that had been new for our older boy), so we only have to buy a box spring for our little guy because his older brother’s box spring is tore up.  Our oldest son is going to get a bed frame from his cousins’ and so we only have to buy a mattress and box spring for him.  Because we are saving by using free bed frames, we can swing the money for the mattresses.
2. Instead of going to a first run movie theater, go when it gets to a cheap theater, or even better yet, wait until the movie comes out on video.  It is a lot cheaper for a family to sit down in front of a video and pop your own popcorn, than it is to go to the theater.
3. Do not go to coffee shops (unless it is a real special treat), learn to make your own gourmet coffee.
4. Avoid going out to eat often, it is a lot cheaper to eat at home.
5. Use the library instead of buying a book.

Sometimes it’s simple changes like these that can make a big impact in your budget.

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A hobby of mine is scrapbooking, but scrapbooking can get quite expensive.  I have learned some ways to save money, so I can enjoy this fun hobby.  Mainly, I buy most of my supplies in bulk.  Take for instance patterned paper, normally one sheet costs $.60.  I usually wait until a pad of 180 pieces of patterned paper is on sale for $9.99, which makes each piece only $.06. I get my cardstock this way also.  Some companies have started bundling stickers, die cuts and other embellishments and selling them in bulk.  I get these sometimes from Jo-Ann Fabrics and use their 40% coupon with it, to get an even better price.  I buy my tools for scrapbooking from Jo-Ann Fabrics, Michaels, or Hobby Lobby and either wait until they are on a 40% or 50% sale or I use one of their 40% coupons.  I almost never buy them for regular price.