Is It Just Me?

Okay, so is it just me, or now that it's December 26, are there others out there who are ready to take down their Christmas tree?

Don't get me wrong -- I'm not really Mrs. Grinch. I like Christmas, and I like having the tree up (yesterday's post in shades of purple was from our tree this year), but our tree is very large at the base, taking up much of any room it's in. Two or three weeks of side-stepping and circumnavigating is about all I can handle.

I'm also ready to put away all the holiday knick-knacks and get back to normal. Those ads you see right out after Christmas for storage totes and organizing bins? Those ads are aimed right at me. They tempt me far more than the before-Christmas ads do. Spring cleaning begins the last week of December around here.

You shouldn't get the impression that I'm a neat-freak or a perfectionist, either. It's the holiday clutter that gets to me. There is plenty of dirt, dust and everyday clutter in my home. I just don't feel the need draw any more attention to it with tinsel and lights.

Hamburger Help Me!

A couple of unavoidable errands had us away from home all afternoon and into the evening. After a similar errand last night and a stressful hour or so trying to get supper on the table, we decided to have dinner out tonight. A couple hours later, I'm wishing that we hadn't.

More and more often, I'm finding that eating out doesn't set well on my stomach. Some meals are better than others (Chinese food doesn't bother me much), while some are worse (hamburgers seem to be the worst lately). I don't know if it's the amount of food I'm eating, the fat content, the kind of fats (I'm used to mostly peanut and olive oils at home) or maybe some of the flavor enhancers being used, but in any case, the food sits on my stomach like a brick. When I make the same kinds of foods at home, they don't seem to cause the same feeling. Shane says he often has the same "hamburger hangover" sensation.

For us, this is just one more reason to limit our meals out. We won't eliminate them entirely -- in fact, we have a breakfast outing planned with my in-laws on Christmas Eve morning -- but we'll surely think twice about the whens and wheres of going out to eat in the future.

To make matters worse at dinner tonight, we were seated near a mother who virtually ignored her young daughter and harangued her son throughout the entire meal. We felt so sorry for the kids, and Shane said he finally had to just block the woman out for fear of making a scene himself. She complained that the food her son wanted to order had too many calories for an 8 year-old, yet she let him order it, then insisted that he finish it all, either in the restaurant or at home. She belittled him for holding his burger with two hands, insisting that he rest one hand in his lap and telling him that he needed to learn this skill if he ever expected girls to date him when he was older. She threatened to take away toys his grandma had given him because twice in the last month he'd not picked up after himself. She even harassed him about the amount of time it took him to go to the restroom (all the while I was thinking it was the only place he could go to get a little peace).

I felt so sorry for these kids. Everyone has bad days and impatient moments -- including me -- but it seemed obvious to us that this was business as usual for this mother. Had the food not already given me indigestion, listening to this conversation surely would have.

**********

Here's hoping all of you have peaceful meals and pleasant conversations with your loved ones this season. If I don't get back to the blog before Friday, have a Merry Christmas! I'll see you again before the New Year!

It's Your Decision To Make

Just minutes after I published my post yesterday, I read someone else's post about buying non-feedlot-raised meats and chicken, and buying locally. Whether it was the writer's intention or not, I felt as if she were passing judgment against those who buy food produced outside their local markets or foods that aren't organic.

Ideally, we would buy our food locally from farmers with humane and ecologically sound practices. Unfortunately, we either have trouble finding the locally-raised food (especially meat) or we have trouble affording it when we do find it. The meat we found at the Amish shop was the first affordable and readily available non-feedlot meat we'd been able to find this year. Unfortunately, buying a side of beef was out of our budget, and the shop was unwilling to sell it by the quarter. They would sell individual cuts, but those were MUCH more expensive than the $2.49 per pound sides they were selling.

My point is this: it's never a bad thing to buy locally grown or raised produce and meat. The food is likely of better quality and your money stays in your local economy. BUT...you have to do what you have to do. Sometimes you have to buy what's readily available and sometimes you have to stretch those dollars as far as they will possibly stretch.

If you can afford to eat all organic, all local produce and meat, then buy all means, do so. If you can only afford a few organic or locally grown items each week, then buy those and enjoy them. And if you simply can't work organics into your budget, then don't worry about it and don't feel guilty about it. You can always start working them in later as your situation changes.

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to living frugally and/or living simply. Only you can decide what's right for you. I hope my posts never come across as condescending or as sermons. I hope instead their seen simply as suggestions or tips for those who do want to lead a simpler, more frugal lifestyle.

Just Some Thoughts

Kat and I are home sick today. Both of us are feeling under the weather a bit, but I just wanted to direct your attention to another blog post I read this morning by Karen at Living Well On Less. She writes about finding your own optimal comfort zone when living a frugal lifestyle.

This is something I think about often. In living a frugal lifestyle, Shane and I encounter opposition (for lack of a better word) from two distinct camps: those who "get it" and those who don't.

We know plenty of people who just don't get it. They don't understand why we strive for the best value on everything we buy, or why we deprive ourselves (in their eyes) of things we want because we refuse to put our latest whims on credit. They don't understand our goal to become entirely debt-free by retirement, if not sooner. They don't understand that often, less is more. Many of the men Shane works with fall into this category.

On the other side of the coin, there are those who do get it...in a big way. Sometimes they are even harder to deal with, because frugality suddenly becomes a competition. Nearly everyone in my family is frugal, but unfortunately some have become very competitive about it. To me, the competitive nature cheapens (pun intended) the concept of being frugal.

I guess my point is....there's no wrong way to be frugal. Use coupons or don't. Shop at garage sales or don't. Focus on smaller savings or just the larger ones. It doesn't really matter, as long as you are working toward the goals YOU set for YOUR family and situation, and that you try not to judge others who choose to go a different route.

I think Karen says it better than I can. Check out her post here.

When Is Foreclosure A Good Thing?

When one of your neighbor's is renting his house and refuses to do any maintenance or make any repairs, and therefore can't keep good (if any) tenants in the place.

We found out over the weekend that our neighbor-turned-slum-lord J lost his house in foreclosure. We couldn't be happier. Hopefully someone decent will buy it and move in, or at least an investor will turn it into a good rental property.

Elbow Grease, Anyone?

I've been wondering lately how many things find their way to the landfill for no reason other than the owner didn't want to clean them or otherwise care for them.

When our neighbor moved recently, he put his deep fryer out with the trash. Having seen him use the fryer not long ago, Shane knew the fryer worked, so he asked Zach why he was throwing it out. Zach said he'd spilled some oil down into the compartment where the heating element is, and didn't want to clean it. He said he'd just get a new one instead.

Shane brought it home and cleaned it up. We tried it out a few days later and it worked just fine.

Last week, Shane's foreman Steve bought a new HD television. He wanted one, and that's fine. But his "excuse" was that the picture on their 46" projection screen TV was "getting dark". He thought about selling it, but decided to just give it away instead. Shane said he'd be glad to take off Steve's hands. He brought it home last night and while it worked fine, the picture seemed a little hazy rather than dark. Shane took the back panels off and just as he suspected, the projection bulbs were covered with a thick layer of dust. After cleaning them (and vacuuming out other accessible areas inside the television for good measure) the picture is clear and bright. A projection TV isn't the latest in technology, but it's an upgrade for us; we've been using a mid-90s 28" console TV for about eight years now. And the price was definitely right.

These and countless other examples have been food for thought for me lately. I wonder when we begin equating dirtiness with uselessness. When did we decide that buying a new whatever was easier than tightening a loose screw in the old one? When did we decide that throwing something away makes more sense than taking care of it?

These castoffs turn out to be a good deal for us and others like us who are willing to do a little work to make something useful again. In addition to personal savings, keeping useful things in use not only keeps them out of the landfill, but also reduces the demand that new ones be made. That might make our carbon footprint just a little bit smaller. Unfortunately we can't "rescue" everything. I wish we could, both for our sake and the sake of the environment.

I'm In The Mood For A Swim

So I think I'll be jumping the eBay ship soon.

As of yesterday, eBay sellers will no longer be able to leave negative or neutral feedback for problem buyers. Yet buyers will be able to leave negatives for sellers, even if the buyer is the problem. Even if if the buyer doesn't pay for the item he/she bids on.

I've been selling (and buying occasionally) for about 4-1/2 years. I have a 100% Positive rating on 649 transactions. I'm far from being what eBay calls a PowerSeller. Still, I do my best to give good customer service and I'm proud of my 100% rating.

For the record, I've never left negative feedback for either a buyer or a seller, although there were times when it was probably warranted. I didn't leave negatives because I was afraid of jeopardizing my perfect feedback. Feedback for a buyer is of minimal importance, in my opinion. If they have enough negative feedback to be suspended from eBay, they can just sign up again under a new user name. However, feedback is a seller's very reputation. Just one negative for a low-volume seller like me can drastically change my percentages...and my reputation.

I'm wary of buyers demanding a refund for an item they claim they never received. I fear having a buyer refuse to pay for the item they bid on, then turning around and leaving me negative feedback if I dispute the non-payment. Simply put, as a seller, I now feel that I'm at the mercy of the buyer and run the risk of negative feedback any time I don't go along with the buyer's wishes.

I'm not saying that all buyers are out to scam sellers, or all sellers are above reproach. I'm simply saying that the new feedback policy adds a dynamic to the eBay scene that isn't setting well with me at all.

In addition, fee schedules for eBay recently changed and it seems that wherever there was a decrease in fees, there was an equal or greater increase in other fees. While price increases are the way of the world these days, eBay costs are beginning to hurt those of us who sell.

Craigslist works well for me for some items, but it's not ideal for everything. Small items seem to be overlooked a lot; I assume that rising fuel prices have a lot to do with it.

Anyone else in the same boat, trying to decide whether to sink in the eBay waters or swim somewhere else? If so, what alternatives are you considering?

Good Ol' ROI

ROI, or Return On Investment, is a term typically used when talking about money earned on investments such as stocks, bonds, and money market accounts.

But ROI can also mean a return on money invested in a material item that is sold later.

For example, we bought the chair in the picture in 2005. At that time, we had blue furniture in our living room and the chair matched perfectly. It was a very gently used Ethan Allen recliner that the owner didn't like. We picked it up at a garage sale for $50. It was very comfortable and we enjoyed it until we decided to change our living room furniture last summer. We sold it this week on craigslist for $100.

Our return on that investment was 200%. Granted, it's not a steady rate of return over a period of months or years, but it's a huge return in relation to the money we invested.

Instead of a monetary return, ROI can also mean a return on time invested in a project or activity. If I spend time cooking and freezing meals in advance, I'll save as much or more time later when I don't have as much of it to spare. If I take a few minutes each week to track where our money is going, I may be able to recognize and remedy a problematic spending trend, thereby saving us money. We all know that a penny saved is a penny earned.

Not all ROIs can be easily measured; some returns on investment are more intrinsic in nature. In the case of the chair we sold, we not only made money on the investment, but also enjoyed using the chair for a couple of years. Sewing, gardening, making home improvements and cooking can all save money, but they're also seen as an enjoyable hobbies by the people who do them.

Before deciding that an investment or a frugal activity is not worth the time or money, take a closer look at the ROI it could yield, both monetarily and intrinsically. You might be surprised that it's worth your time after all.

The Kitchen Is The Heart Of The Home. And The Brain.

Here it is...Operations Central.

These four lists are posted on my fridge 24/7: my monthly menu plan, my daily chores (divided into morning, afternoon and evening), my weekly chores (divided by day of the week) and a list of other chores that I've decided need to be done once every couple of months.

I've become so dependent on them that I don't think our household would function without them! I used to keep them somewhat out of sight in a household notebook but "went public" with them few months ago when I was doing temp work away from home. That way Shane can take a quick look and know what still needs to be done (he helps a lot, with the evening chores especially).

The lists are based largely on the FlyLady system*, but I've adapted it to fit our household needs better. It works well for me whether I'm working or staying home.

My house isn't spotless, and it isn't always as organized as I'd like, but my lists help me keep things "under control". Sometimes that's the most you can ask for.


*There are a lot of homemaking "systems" to try, but I like the FlyLady because the system is direct, effective, secular and doesn't allow for excuses. Some think it's too "in your face", but it really works. Then once good habits have become routine, it can be adapted to better fit your own style.

A Small Step In The Right Direction

I rarely buy any of our groceries at Wal-Mart, but picked up a handful of things when we were there yesterday for another reason. I noticed something pretty cool. Their glass-door freezer section is now equipped with motion sensor lighting. The coolers are dark until someone approaches, then they darken again once the shopper has moved on.

This probably isn't news for some of you, but it was to me. I don't believe our store is one of their "environmentally sustainable" stores, so I was surprised to see this feature.

No doubt that Wal-Mart will benefit monetarily from this step, but think of the resources that could be saved if all Wal-Mart stores do this (as well as some of the other steps they are taking to save energy). Further, think of the energy that could be saved if other stores follow their lead and adopt similar habits?

I'm not in the habit of praising Wal-Mart, but I think in this case, they've made a step in the right direction.

The Grand Illusion

I'm showing my age here, but I'm sure there are some of you out there who remember The Grand Illusion by Styx. The album's theme was the struggle to overcome self-deluding superficiality in order to affirm one's genuine value.

I listened to that album countless times as a teenager, but I don't suppose I ever paid close attention to the title song until recently.

Welcome to the grand illusion
Come on in and see whats happening
Pay the price, get your tickets for the show
The stage is set, the band starts playing
Suddenly your heart is pounding
Wishing secretly you were a star.

But don't be fooled by the radio
The TV or the magazines
They show you photographs of how your life should be
But they're just someone else's fantasy

So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because you never win the game
Just remember that its a grand illusion
And deep inside were all the same.
Were all the same...

So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because your neighbors got it made
Just remember that its a grand illusion
And deep inside were all the same.
Were all the same...

America spells competition, join us in our blind ambition
Get yourself a brand new motor car
Someday soon well stop to ponder what on earths this spell were under
We made the grade and still we wonder who the hell we are.

It reminds me of the sentiment that inspired this blog: That maybe it's time to stop competing to have all, be all and do all in order to impress others (or ourselves). I imagine, at the end of the day, none of it will matter, and we'll find that deep inside, we really are all the same.

*****

A Little Thing To Save Money and Time: Distance yourself from advertising. Mute the TV commercials, throw away the catalogs and cancel your subscriptions to the glossy ad-laden magazines. Be who you really are and not who Madison Avenue says you should be.

Don't Just Do Something; Sit There!

Sometimes the best pro-active approach is an inactive one, especially when it comes to saving money and/or leading a life of simplicity.

It seems we've been trained by the media and our culture, here in the U.S. anyway, to always be on the go. Go shopping. Go to the movies. Go out to dinner.

Or we're expected to do. Take a look at magazine ads and billboards and you'll see that most of them center around a verbal command -- they literally command us to do something. Try this new restaurant. Experience that new shopping center. Fly ABC airline or drive XYZ car.

I think it's time we slow down a little. Instead of going out to a movie, why not stay home and play cards? Instead of checking out the new shopping center, why not check out a library book? Instead of trying the new restaurant, why not ... oh, who am I kidding? I'm all for trying a new restaurant.

But my point is this: Go and do when it's a true need or desire, but don't fall into the trap of always looking outside your home, or yourself, to make your life more fulfilling, more exciting, more interesting or more anything. Learn to enjoy the pleasure of just sitting around "doing nothin'".

*****

A Little Thing To Save Money: Actually the inspiration for today's post, I knew I'd have about 35 minutes between dropping Kat off at daycare and my appointment to have the van inspected. I wouldn't have time to go home, and the first thought that crossed my mind was that I could go shopping for a short while. Then it hit me: shopping to kill time would be a waste of time and quite possibly, a waste of money. I grabbed a book and spent my free minutes reading.

A Little Thing To Simplify Our Lives: Try taking the evening off. Forget Christmas shopping, say no to the kids' activities, and forgo doing any extra chores. Relax and enjoy yourself for a few hours; the hustle and bustle will still be there tomorrow.

What Will They Think Of Next?

I ran across this today when I was looking for some gentle lotion for Kat's eczema. Can someone explain to me why you would ever spend money on "Baby Cologne"? I love the smell of Johnson's or any brand of baby products, but this seems like something a person might use if they were too lazy to just go ahead and give the baby a bath.

Cost: A very wasteful $3-$5.

Addressing the Subject of Donations

My mother-in-law's mom, before she passed, used to receive a host of solicitations in the mail asking for her small contribution to their cause. Most of these solicitations included complimentary address labels, and feeling guilty about receiving them for free, Grammy would invariable send in a donation.

So far this week (just in time to send some cash and still be able to deduct it from our 2007 taxes), I've received two sets of mailing labels and a kitchen notepad. I'm not sending a donation for any of them.

I'm all for charitable donations and works. I'm doing a little something for Salvation Army this season, and I always make sure to donate to Harvester's, our local food pantry. But I firmly believe that Shane's and my money should be spent the way we decide, even for charitable donations.

When you receive something in the mail, clearly addressed to you, but that you didn't order or agree to purchase, then my understanding is the item is yours to keep. Items such as address labels, notepads, and magnets that come along with a solicitation fall into this category. Take time to decide if the cause is one you want to support monetarily. If not, keep the labels if you like and recycle the rest.

I Sleep Just Fine

In my previous post, I gave quick reviews of a couple of CDs that came out just this week. I'm sure at least one or two of you are wondering if I actually went out and dropped 30 or so bucks on music. After all, this is a frugality blog, right?

Truth is, I didn't. Most of my music, in MP3 format, came from CDs that I actually bought in the past, both new and used. But when I want music I don't have, I use a Peer-To-Peer (P2P) network, aka free file sharing. Two common P2P sites for music file sharing are Limewire and Soulseek. I'm sure there are others, just as there are sites for sharing video, software and other files.

There is much debate over the ethics of file sharing. If you're interested in the arguments, just Google "ethics of file sharing". Personally, I don't have a problem with it, because I know that I'm not going to be making a profit from anything I download. I download only for my own personal use and enjoyment.

Share your similar or differing opinions if you like, but keep in mind that this post isn't an invitation to debate. There are better forums for that. I'm just making file-sharing known as a frugal resource for anyone who isn't bothered by the questions surrounding it.

Something Different

I'm drifting off topic here a bit, but there were two CDs released this week that really caught my ear.

If you are into diverse music, you should give a listen to the new collaboration by Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin fame) and Alison Krauss. The album is called Raising Sand, and it is "three steps beyond some cosmic collision of early urban blues, spacious West Texas country, and the untapped potential of the folk-rock revolution." It's a great mix of upbeat and mellow tunes, and in my opinion, both singers have amazing and unique voices.

I'm not surprised at the collaboration. Allison and her brother Viktor Krauss did an amazing job covering Plant's song "Big Log" on her brother's album Far From Enough.

Also new this week is Neil Young's Chrome Dreams II. I'm a long-time fan and I'm always excited when he releases something new. This album is classic Neil Young; I think it's more reminiscent of his Harvest days than anything he's done recently. Here's another opinion on the album.

Change Is Good

Today I stopped for gasoline and when stepped out of the van I thought I heard change falling. When I looked down, I saw a bunch of pennies. Hell yeah, I bent over and picked them up. All 24 of them.

Now, why would someone toss them out intentionally? Just because they were pennies and practically "worthless"? I wonder if they'd have thrown a quarter away as carelessly.

And if not intentionally, how could they not notice they'd accidentally dropped them? That many pennies make a bit of noise when they hit the ground. Did they just not care to take the time to pick them back up? Could they have lost a couple of bills along with change? I didn't find any, but maybe someone else did.

So, somebody lost some change. You might be thinking that it's no big deal. But I think it is. Tossing coins around carelessly or shoving wadded up bills into whatever pocket is handy shows a deep disrespect for money. Those who treat their money this way obviously don't care how much money they have or where it goes. It's likely they handle their bank accounts and credit accounts with the same apathetic attitude.

Have a compartment in your billfold for paper money, and another one for coins. If you can't abide carrying change around, toss it in the (hopefully clean) ashtray of your car. Then every chance you get, dump your coins into a larger container at home. When it gets full, deposit the change into either your regular bank account or a special one set up just for coin deposits. You'll be surprised how quickly your change adds up, even when it's mostly pennies.

Be sure to check with your bank before showing up with a sack load of coins, though. Some banks require you roll them first, while others won't take them if they are rolled. My own bank will only take up to $30 in unrolled coins without charging a percentage to "spin" them for me. Another bank here will spin as much as I have for free, although I don't even have an account with them. If all else fails, check your local grocery store. Some have coin counting machines. For a small percentage, you can pour your coins into the machine, have them counted and take the resulting receipt to the customer service department to receive your cash.

Money, like anything else in your possession, deserves good stewardship. When you have a place designated for your change and folding money, chances are you're keeping close track of ALL of your assets, not just those in your wallet.

From Huck Finn To Harry Potter

Now that it's almost over, I finally have time to post about Banned Book Week, Sept. 29 through October 6, 2007.

Growing up I was allowed to read anything I wanted, and I raised Jean the same way. I feel the simple act of reading is paramount, followed closely by variety in reading. Much can be learned from the classics, but the same can be said for modern pop fiction. Nothing was/is off limits in our home. I feel that we have the right to read whatever we like, and in fact, should desire to read controversial literature.

During the course of history, some of the least likely of titles have been considered controversial and many books have been banned or challenged. Some later gained acceptance, only to be banned or challenged again at a later time.

According to ALA, at least 42 of the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century have been the target of ban attempts. Of the novels on their list, I have read a total of 37, the large majority of which were the challenged books (I wish I could say I've read more of the books on this list, but undoubtedly, I was busy reading other controversial books).

Or take a look at this list of 100 books banned from 1990 to 2000. Most of these are novels for young adults. I remember reading many of them when I was in school (many years ago). Most amazing to me is that the picture-search book "Where's Waldo" was banned because of a set of tiny cartoon breasts, and that factual book about human reproduction and puberty were banned for any reason.

So, what do you think? Do you read banned books yourself? Do you let your children read them? How do you decide what is age appropriate for kids and when they are ready to move on to something more "advanced"?

The rule of thumb in our house was that if you needed to ask more than three questions about content (controversial concepts or not), then the book might be too advanced. But it was always alright to read with a dictionary along side.