Getting enough sleep works for me. I used to think less sleep equals high productivity so I can't begin work without a latte. Somehow this has been a counterproductive way for me to increase my work output. Since I work at home, I'd usually drive a total of 30 minutes a day and get myself a grande latte at Starbucks. I was never a fan of brewed coffee so I always get mine at the store.
There are many countries where it's perfectly normal to carry large amounts of cash for day to day use even when credit cards are widely accepted. Japan is a country with high cash usage and low crime rate. Also, if your brain is wired correctly, every time your wallet is separated from cash, the pain receptors should go off in your head. With plastic (credit or debit), there isn't the same feeling and in some cases the reward mechanism goes off. It's easy to spend $500 on plastic. Taking out 25 $20 bills will make you hesistate.
Good point. Networking and acquiring mentors (formal and informal) are among the most important things to do at school. I think Philip Brewer talked about this in one of his posts. The real value of a name-brand education is the network of people it exposes you to. Priceless.
(And your last point about befriending the secretaries is true anywhere. Befriend the secretaries and the custodians: they are the people you want on your side when things break at inconvenient times, when you need to meet a deadline, etc.)
It's great to DIY if you're strong and healthy, but I just paid someone to dig my car out of the Chicago blizzard remains, and I feel good about it. In the current crummy economy, it's nice to have a source of day labor for people who need it, and at bargain rates. It saved me *so* much time and aggravation compared to doing it myself!
Have you tried henna? It's natural and actually makes your hair feel healthier after using it. However, it's for people who want to be redheads because that's the only color you get. I've been using it for a while and love the way it makes my hair feel and look. I learned a lot about it from hennaforhair.com.
Jiva, the "rattle" of a tactile subwoofer does sound like a weird idea but in fact it can be really relaxing if you also hook it up to a music device. I recommend listening to some Fiona Apple with it--it is like a little massage with your music! For folks who like action movies and stuff it also gives you some of the explosion feeling without the neighbor-disturbing noise. I would probably not be prone to buying one myself but my boyfriend is an audio engineer and so I get to experience the pricey "toys" he has saved up for over the past 15 years. It sounds like your guy is also knowledgeable and careful about his money--the sound effects just happen to be a special priority for him, and speakers can actually last a really long time if he buys good quality ones. So you are probably both good influences on each other!
Distilling booze will kill you. Explosions, fire, poisoning, prison time. Leave it to the experts and enjoy some Jack Daniels. It would be imposible to recreate anything that would come close to store bought booze.
Not eating out, is definitely one of my goal downfalls. Having kids and being constantly on-the-go from school to activities makes it very difficult not to stop at fast food joints much too frequently. I keep telling myself to pack a cooler, or at least a bag with some snacks, but the kids want something more than carrot sticks and crackers when they are between school and dance lessons.
What temp setting is best for a hotplate or electric stove? should i turn it on full and it will distill faster? or should i heat it up to 174 F and turn it down to keep it consistent? or should i leave it on a medium temp setting and leave it?
@Daisy - Agreed: it's all in the execution. But sometimes we don't need to know exactly how to achieve something; instead we need to start by setting our intentions. The world works in mysterious ways; here's one way I managed to make this exercise work for me without any initial conception of how I'd accomplish what I wanted to do: http://www.wisebread.com/vision-boards-dream-big-play-with-pictures-and-...
When I was just 6 years old I got kidney stones because of a bad eating habit and they said coke was a big factor. Now I never drink coke and only drink water for my health.
I typically only splurge on food. We don't buy gourmet stuff, but there are certain items that wouldn't be considered frugal, that we either just gotta have or we like to indulge in from time to time.
Not trying to take you away from the discussion here on Wisebread, but there are detailed answers to a lot of your questions on this post.
We welcome all thoughts and criticisms of what we do and how we do it - every single one helps us get better and make a bigger difference.
Plus, we like a little chaos too. :)
Nate
p.s. We're not worried about not having the do-gooder street cred, either. Both of us have many years of good standing in our respective fields, and anyone who does any kind of research will easily see that.
Aw, well, I can certainly think of worse ways to spend money than on books! In fact, I probably made worse purchases in the past five minutes. Thanks for sharing!
I love the statement, men cannot watch television without a subwoofer attached to it. So true, so true. My guy is a maniac about that sort of stuff. Now he is saving up to buy some sort of device that attaches to the couch to rattle it appropriately from whatever sound is coming from the program. Nuts I say. But I guess it makes him happy and he does save up, research, and shop carefully. I still think it's crazy though!
Leigh hit it right on the head -- as our memberships grow, we hope to lower the % of operations until it's barely noticeable. Even at 30% we still rely heavily on monthly partnerships from businesses to help spread out the cost of everything. We'd love nothing more than to give every penny received back out again to the families we're helping, but unfortunately we'd go in debt and then we wouldn't be able to help anyone :( It's a balance that we'll always be tweaking. In our books, 50% of thousands of dollars can better impact a family's life than $0.00. We're not in this for the money - we're in it to do some good.
Hi Leigh! Awesome seeing you here :) Thanks so much for spreading the love and always participating! It's refreshing. And from now on you are answering all of the questions about Love Drop - haha...
This is all true Justin, charities are awesome organizations! Unfortunately the people we're helping don't get any support from these charities ;) What we love about our org is that you can literally watch your money being handed over to the family we're helping within 1-4 weeks of us receiving it. It's very direct, and it's all on camera. We also plan on following up with our families to keep our members up to date on what how they're doing since we last shared their stories. Again though, Love Drop is just another way anyone can give back. If you believe in certain charities over our group that's totally cool and you should continue rockin' it.
Wow, thanks for the brutal honesty. It's so refreshing. The one that jumps to mind immediately for me is that I promised I would quit my book club after I used up the bonus points they gave me for my prior purchases. Well, it turns out that they just keep sprinkling you with bonus points, so there is no way to use them up, so I never quit. Probably costs me $300-400 a year or so.
-Heidi
Getting enough sleep works for me. I used to think less sleep equals high productivity so I can't begin work without a latte. Somehow this has been a counterproductive way for me to increase my work output. Since I work at home, I'd usually drive a total of 30 minutes a day and get myself a grande latte at Starbucks. I was never a fan of brewed coffee so I always get mine at the store.
There are many countries where it's perfectly normal to carry large amounts of cash for day to day use even when credit cards are widely accepted. Japan is a country with high cash usage and low crime rate. Also, if your brain is wired correctly, every time your wallet is separated from cash, the pain receptors should go off in your head. With plastic (credit or debit), there isn't the same feeling and in some cases the reward mechanism goes off. It's easy to spend $500 on plastic. Taking out 25 $20 bills will make you hesistate.
Good point. Networking and acquiring mentors (formal and informal) are among the most important things to do at school. I think Philip Brewer talked about this in one of his posts. The real value of a name-brand education is the network of people it exposes you to. Priceless.
(And your last point about befriending the secretaries is true anywhere. Befriend the secretaries and the custodians: they are the people you want on your side when things break at inconvenient times, when you need to meet a deadline, etc.)
It's great to DIY if you're strong and healthy, but I just paid someone to dig my car out of the Chicago blizzard remains, and I feel good about it. In the current crummy economy, it's nice to have a source of day labor for people who need it, and at bargain rates. It saved me *so* much time and aggravation compared to doing it myself!
Have you tried henna? It's natural and actually makes your hair feel healthier after using it. However, it's for people who want to be redheads because that's the only color you get. I've been using it for a while and love the way it makes my hair feel and look. I learned a lot about it from hennaforhair.com.
Jiva, the "rattle" of a tactile subwoofer does sound like a weird idea but in fact it can be really relaxing if you also hook it up to a music device. I recommend listening to some Fiona Apple with it--it is like a little massage with your music! For folks who like action movies and stuff it also gives you some of the explosion feeling without the neighbor-disturbing noise. I would probably not be prone to buying one myself but my boyfriend is an audio engineer and so I get to experience the pricey "toys" he has saved up for over the past 15 years. It sounds like your guy is also knowledgeable and careful about his money--the sound effects just happen to be a special priority for him, and speakers can actually last a really long time if he buys good quality ones. So you are probably both good influences on each other!
Distilling booze will kill you. Explosions, fire, poisoning, prison time. Leave it to the experts and enjoy some Jack Daniels. It would be imposible to recreate anything that would come close to store bought booze.
You are welcome! It's a great article!
How/where do you deduct 50% of your self-employment tax? That doesn't make sense. Love the idea, but I don't get it.
Thanks for including me, there are a lot of great posts in this list.
That one would be so tough! I don't even HAVE kids, and I have trouble getting myself to eat at home.
Not eating out, is definitely one of my goal downfalls. Having kids and being constantly on-the-go from school to activities makes it very difficult not to stop at fast food joints much too frequently. I keep telling myself to pack a cooler, or at least a bag with some snacks, but the kids want something more than carrot sticks and crackers when they are between school and dance lessons.
What temp setting is best for a hotplate or electric stove? should i turn it on full and it will distill faster? or should i heat it up to 174 F and turn it down to keep it consistent? or should i leave it on a medium temp setting and leave it?
@Daisy - Agreed: it's all in the execution. But sometimes we don't need to know exactly how to achieve something; instead we need to start by setting our intentions. The world works in mysterious ways; here's one way I managed to make this exercise work for me without any initial conception of how I'd accomplish what I wanted to do: http://www.wisebread.com/vision-boards-dream-big-play-with-pictures-and-...
When I was just 6 years old I got kidney stones because of a bad eating habit and they said coke was a big factor. Now I never drink coke and only drink water for my health.
I typically only splurge on food. We don't buy gourmet stuff, but there are certain items that wouldn't be considered frugal, that we either just gotta have or we like to indulge in from time to time.
Not purposefully, but my splurges tend to be shoes! And lately, travel.
Hey guys, this is Nate St. Pierre, one of the co-founders of Love Drop. I wrote a guest post on the Spin Sucks blog here today: http://www.spinsucks.com/entrepreneur/love-drop-making-money-by-giving-i...
Not trying to take you away from the discussion here on Wisebread, but there are detailed answers to a lot of your questions on this post.
We welcome all thoughts and criticisms of what we do and how we do it - every single one helps us get better and make a bigger difference.
Plus, we like a little chaos too. :)
Nate
p.s. We're not worried about not having the do-gooder street cred, either. Both of us have many years of good standing in our respective fields, and anyone who does any kind of research will easily see that.
Aw, well, I can certainly think of worse ways to spend money than on books! In fact, I probably made worse purchases in the past five minutes. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Sam :) Love what you guys are doing too - keep it up!
I love the statement, men cannot watch television without a subwoofer attached to it. So true, so true. My guy is a maniac about that sort of stuff. Now he is saving up to buy some sort of device that attaches to the couch to rattle it appropriately from whatever sound is coming from the program. Nuts I say. But I guess it makes him happy and he does save up, research, and shop carefully. I still think it's crazy though!
Leigh hit it right on the head -- as our memberships grow, we hope to lower the % of operations until it's barely noticeable. Even at 30% we still rely heavily on monthly partnerships from businesses to help spread out the cost of everything. We'd love nothing more than to give every penny received back out again to the families we're helping, but unfortunately we'd go in debt and then we wouldn't be able to help anyone :( It's a balance that we'll always be tweaking. In our books, 50% of thousands of dollars can better impact a family's life than $0.00. We're not in this for the money - we're in it to do some good.
Hi Leigh! Awesome seeing you here :) Thanks so much for spreading the love and always participating! It's refreshing. And from now on you are answering all of the questions about Love Drop - haha...
This is all true Justin, charities are awesome organizations! Unfortunately the people we're helping don't get any support from these charities ;) What we love about our org is that you can literally watch your money being handed over to the family we're helping within 1-4 weeks of us receiving it. It's very direct, and it's all on camera. We also plan on following up with our families to keep our members up to date on what how they're doing since we last shared their stories. Again though, Love Drop is just another way anyone can give back. If you believe in certain charities over our group that's totally cool and you should continue rockin' it.
Wow, thanks for the brutal honesty. It's so refreshing. The one that jumps to mind immediately for me is that I promised I would quit my book club after I used up the bonus points they gave me for my prior purchases. Well, it turns out that they just keep sprinkling you with bonus points, so there is no way to use them up, so I never quit. Probably costs me $300-400 a year or so.
-Heidi