If you're uncomfortable with baby pictures, you could always include an innocuous puppy picture in your wallet instead and boost your return chances up to almost 50%.
Yes, not only your own sense of what the future might bring, but also your life experiences up to that point have to feed into your decision.
The cost, of course, is not just money (in extra interest you have to pay), but also time: The window of vulnerability is longer. But, with extra cash on hand, it's not open as wide.
There simply isn't one right answer for everyone. That's why the question shows up over and over again.
So, I have pictures of my kids in my wallet, I lose it, a pedophile gets it, and now he has my address too? Well, I don't have kids, but if I did, I wouldn't carry their pictures with me in my wallet.
I agree with what has been said. I think the main key is finding some activity that you enjoy and are willing and able to do regularly. For some, walking is great. For others, it will be running or road biking. For me, I go to the gym and do a variety of activities. I like having the time set aside each day after work to go and sweat and listen to whatever I want on my iPod. And now, being a regular at the gym, I've made friends there. We keep an eye on each other, encourage each other, tease each other mercilessly if someone misses a day without a good excuse. Having a variety of equipment and classes available helps me to cross train and not get bored. And, especially since becoming friends with some of the staff and trainers, I can get lots of advice if I have questions and correction if I'm doing something wrong or stupid. The fact that my employeer reimburses me for my membership fees is a nice touch, but I would definitely pay it on my own with absolutely no qualms.
As a former frequent business traveler, a lot of these comments make good sense. One that I didn't see was to let employees make their own travel reservations. With the ability to use the internet to easily book flights, hotels and rental cars, it makes good sense to let employees do that themselves. There's less confusion, employees can figure out the best schedules that work for them, stay in the hotels with the amenities they desire and, overall, it would probably save time, money and frustration.
There's also the question of reimbursing per diem vs reasonable and actual costs. People will argue that one is better than the other, but I think a lot of it depends on the traveler. Some travelers would prefer to eat and stay cheap while pocketing the extra cash. For them, per diem is the way to go. They see it as the bonus for traveling. Others perfer to enjoy their time on the road and not feel guilty about nicer accomodations or having dessert after dinner. For them, reasonable and actual works better. Our system was reasonable and actual for hotel, lodging, car and a few extra incidental expenses (ATM fees, laundry for trips over a certain length, etc) but per diem for food and others. This seemed to be a good compromise for everyone involved.
Again, speaking as a frequent business traveler, there are some things that can be reimbursed by a company, don't cost a lot and are greatly appreciated by the traveler. Reasonable extra airline fees, like checking a bag; providing reimbursement for laundry if the trip is over five or seven days; ATM fees and similar. They're small and, while I understand they do add up for a company, they're an annoyance for the business traveler who is away from home and having to deal with everything that goes along with that. Taking care of those little extras is a nice touch and helps send the message that the company understands that travel can be a physical and emotional drain on employees and that the people are more important than saving a few bucks.
@Philip- we had the combination of having a low (circa $1500)emergency fund while paying off debt and then having a serious loss of income (husband got laid off) happen to us at the beginning of this year. And it was awful having that little, despite the fact that my husband ended up getting another job a few months later. In my opinion, $1000/1 months expenses is simply too low for anyone in this unstable economy, whether they have debt or not.
I would have felt a lot better with twice the amount that we had- in our case, even having just a thousand extra would have made a *world* of difference both financially and to our anxiety levels. And now that my husband has a job again, we're planning to get almost halfway to our eventually emergency fund goal before stopping to aggressively pay down debt. Yes, it's costing us more money in interest rates, but the way I see it we're buying peace of mind. Can't put a price on that.
Great tip Kathryn -- thanks for mentioning to take a buddy. I travel with at least one friend, usually more -- I suppose I have often thought of such trips as social events. And though my photo shows a cyclist with a helmet, I didn't specifically mention having one -- rental places typically will provide a helmet if you don't have your own.
Great ideas and information in this article and the only thing I can add is DON'T GO ALONE and this is not only for "safety in numbers" but also in case of injury.
Our town has a wonderful bike trail but has had problems in the past at different points in time with robbers and a rapist targetting those by themselves. I have also had acquantances that have been injured and there was no cell reception in the area and it would have turned out horribly if they had not had someone there that could go and get help.
I can't help to be annoyed on how insensitive some chinese people can be to others in regards to money. The golden rule does not apply to this culture, What happened to "The do unto others as you would like done unto you". I apologize to those Chinese persons that are clearly not a part of this behavior. I realize the importance and the value of being frugal and the respect for money but why is it that the other person always has to give them the deal and not the other way around or why can it not be a win win scenario. This is my week for anti chinese money behavior. My son goes to a private high school where we have to purchase him his books. I asked him to ask an older classe mate for his last years books and he was offered someone's upperclassman's books. The older classmate apparently, only gave him three of the cheap books and kept the expensive hard back cover books and when we though we were getting the package and he charged him for double the market value of the three books. My son being a bit naive and trusting did not question it, I happened to notice this when I was checking the value of these books online. I could not help to ask what ethnicity this nice upperclassman happened to be and I am sad to say that this kid happened to be chinese american. It made me ill to my stomach that this behavior is passed on to the new generations. I was so upset that I called the parent of this student and complained that his son grossly overcharged my son for his books and he didn't seem apologetic at all. It was a lesson learned for my son on beeing keen on what you are purchasing and on not being so trusting, but it is unfortunate, nonetheless, in a religous school to boot. I have other examples of poor over the top obsessive money behavior from my own business experiences where I had to fire these clients but I will end with just this example and hope someone will shed me some light on this and prove me wrong. I want to respect Chinese people on this subject. Help me out!
Well I don't know how the hell you live on that. I have student loans, rent, car payment, entertainment, electric, cable, cell phone, and it's really hard for a single person making $60,000 to live on that.
One simple way to reuse a box is to "cut" it down to the size you need. Put your stuff in the box. Slice the four corners down to the "top" of your stuff. Fold in flaps (cut shorter if needed). Makes for a smaller box, less padding (as long as it's not needed) & less weight.
I agree that a sudden increase in mass frugality will hurt the economy. I think that it did happen and that is one reason the recession continues to worsen. I think that politicians did scare Americans into consuming less which in turn hurts the stock market and businesses. The politicians specifically scared Americans during the presidential election campaign by Barack Obama and others calling this recession an economic CRISIS not seen since the Great Depression. Even after Barack Obama got elected, he continued to scare Americans about the economy.
I think that Obama’s lies about his stimulus plan working and about the economy’s improvement will just hurt him in the long run by ruining even more Americans’ trust in him. This is, in my opinion, a good thing since I’m not fond of Obama’s excessive spending of money we don’t have and his other policies and hopefully he will not be reelected.
I agree that frugality is better for America as a whole if it is the norm. I agree that when a recession hits it would not be as bad if people had money saved and lived within their means. But, if you are wealthy, please spend, spend, spend —it will help the economy to spend and consume within your means.
Wow, since most of the items are on your wish list are on mine, I'd already done a bit of legwork on this...
If you're looking to get a basic handle on a new language, the BBC actually has free lessons in the fundamentals of quite a few over on their site: BBC Language Site.
If you're looking to learn a programming language, such as HTML, look no further than W3Schools for learning everything about programming for the web. If you're looking to learn a full-on language, I would recommend Python; it's a very straightforward language, with extensive development and a huge community for support. Not to mention completely free! The creators of the language actually keep an updated (last updated 7/13/09!) 'beginner's guide' right on the site: Python Tutorial.
Microsoft makes free lessons available for all of their Office products on the Microsoft Office website
I've found that many schools with 'community education'-type programs will teach defensive driving in the summer in conjunction with drivers' education. Results may vary with this one, but check with your state's department of motor vehicles.
As for anything else under the sun, I'll recommend the best site ever: The OpenCourseWare Consortium. Colleges and universities around the country have released the full context of hundreds of courses under 'Open Courseware,' meaning anyone can log in, find a course they'd like, and go through the materials just like one of their students. Don't expect any college credit or acknowlegement you've taken the course at all, though. It's just for your own edification.
Whew! That about covers it for now. Hope it helps!
It's the chlorine in the water that makes clothes fade so you need to neutralize the chlorine in the washing machine. You can use an Aquarium Dechlorinator, used for fish, or you can use a product like "Bleach Stop" that you can get at Dharma Trading Company.
Great one, Julie! This a great piece with frugal entertainment and fitness ideas, along with tips and strategies for starting any of them from scratch. Great job.
It's not so much the heat, but the friction from tumbling that breaks down clothes and puts all the lint in the lintcatcher.
save money by NOT even using dryer sheets or fabric conditioner. What a scam.
@Huh?:
If you're uncomfortable with baby pictures, you could always include an innocuous puppy picture in your wallet instead and boost your return chances up to almost 50%.
is probably the only thing I don't keep in my wallet. It isn't written on anything.
@Andrea:
Yes, not only your own sense of what the future might bring, but also your life experiences up to that point have to feed into your decision.
The cost, of course, is not just money (in extra interest you have to pay), but also time: The window of vulnerability is longer. But, with extra cash on hand, it's not open as wide.
There simply isn't one right answer for everyone. That's why the question shows up over and over again.
So, I have pictures of my kids in my wallet, I lose it, a pedophile gets it, and now he has my address too? Well, I don't have kids, but if I did, I wouldn't carry their pictures with me in my wallet.
I agree with what has been said. I think the main key is finding some activity that you enjoy and are willing and able to do regularly. For some, walking is great. For others, it will be running or road biking. For me, I go to the gym and do a variety of activities. I like having the time set aside each day after work to go and sweat and listen to whatever I want on my iPod. And now, being a regular at the gym, I've made friends there. We keep an eye on each other, encourage each other, tease each other mercilessly if someone misses a day without a good excuse. Having a variety of equipment and classes available helps me to cross train and not get bored. And, especially since becoming friends with some of the staff and trainers, I can get lots of advice if I have questions and correction if I'm doing something wrong or stupid. The fact that my employeer reimburses me for my membership fees is a nice touch, but I would definitely pay it on my own with absolutely no qualms.
As a former frequent business traveler, a lot of these comments make good sense. One that I didn't see was to let employees make their own travel reservations. With the ability to use the internet to easily book flights, hotels and rental cars, it makes good sense to let employees do that themselves. There's less confusion, employees can figure out the best schedules that work for them, stay in the hotels with the amenities they desire and, overall, it would probably save time, money and frustration.
There's also the question of reimbursing per diem vs reasonable and actual costs. People will argue that one is better than the other, but I think a lot of it depends on the traveler. Some travelers would prefer to eat and stay cheap while pocketing the extra cash. For them, per diem is the way to go. They see it as the bonus for traveling. Others perfer to enjoy their time on the road and not feel guilty about nicer accomodations or having dessert after dinner. For them, reasonable and actual works better. Our system was reasonable and actual for hotel, lodging, car and a few extra incidental expenses (ATM fees, laundry for trips over a certain length, etc) but per diem for food and others. This seemed to be a good compromise for everyone involved.
Again, speaking as a frequent business traveler, there are some things that can be reimbursed by a company, don't cost a lot and are greatly appreciated by the traveler. Reasonable extra airline fees, like checking a bag; providing reimbursement for laundry if the trip is over five or seven days; ATM fees and similar. They're small and, while I understand they do add up for a company, they're an annoyance for the business traveler who is away from home and having to deal with everything that goes along with that. Taking care of those little extras is a nice touch and helps send the message that the company understands that travel can be a physical and emotional drain on employees and that the people are more important than saving a few bucks.
@Philip- we had the combination of having a low (circa $1500)emergency fund while paying off debt and then having a serious loss of income (husband got laid off) happen to us at the beginning of this year. And it was awful having that little, despite the fact that my husband ended up getting another job a few months later. In my opinion, $1000/1 months expenses is simply too low for anyone in this unstable economy, whether they have debt or not.
I would have felt a lot better with twice the amount that we had- in our case, even having just a thousand extra would have made a *world* of difference both financially and to our anxiety levels. And now that my husband has a job again, we're planning to get almost halfway to our eventually emergency fund goal before stopping to aggressively pay down debt. Yes, it's costing us more money in interest rates, but the way I see it we're buying peace of mind. Can't put a price on that.
Great tip Kathryn -- thanks for mentioning to take a buddy. I travel with at least one friend, usually more -- I suppose I have often thought of such trips as social events. And though my photo shows a cyclist with a helmet, I didn't specifically mention having one -- rental places typically will provide a helmet if you don't have your own.
Great ideas and information in this article and the only thing I can add is DON'T GO ALONE and this is not only for "safety in numbers" but also in case of injury.
Our town has a wonderful bike trail but has had problems in the past at different points in time with robbers and a rapist targetting those by themselves. I have also had acquantances that have been injured and there was no cell reception in the area and it would have turned out horribly if they had not had someone there that could go and get help.
Good things! Really will be very helpful to save some money atleast from the stores!
got 15k sittin infront of me at the age of 17 now i no what to do with it hha
I can't help to be annoyed on how insensitive some chinese people can be to others in regards to money. The golden rule does not apply to this culture, What happened to "The do unto others as you would like done unto you". I apologize to those Chinese persons that are clearly not a part of this behavior. I realize the importance and the value of being frugal and the respect for money but why is it that the other person always has to give them the deal and not the other way around or why can it not be a win win scenario. This is my week for anti chinese money behavior. My son goes to a private high school where we have to purchase him his books. I asked him to ask an older classe mate for his last years books and he was offered someone's upperclassman's books. The older classmate apparently, only gave him three of the cheap books and kept the expensive hard back cover books and when we though we were getting the package and he charged him for double the market value of the three books. My son being a bit naive and trusting did not question it, I happened to notice this when I was checking the value of these books online. I could not help to ask what ethnicity this nice upperclassman happened to be and I am sad to say that this kid happened to be chinese american. It made me ill to my stomach that this behavior is passed on to the new generations. I was so upset that I called the parent of this student and complained that his son grossly overcharged my son for his books and he didn't seem apologetic at all. It was a lesson learned for my son on beeing keen on what you are purchasing and on not being so trusting, but it is unfortunate, nonetheless, in a religous school to boot. I have other examples of poor over the top obsessive money behavior from my own business experiences where I had to fire these clients but I will end with just this example and hope someone will shed me some light on this and prove me wrong. I want to respect Chinese people on this subject. Help me out!
Well I don't know how the hell you live on that. I have student loans, rent, car payment, entertainment, electric, cable, cell phone, and it's really hard for a single person making $60,000 to live on that.
That's a shame, because I would assume that taking a plastic spoon to school to eat a more natural yogurt would be preferrable to eating a Gogurt.
Rideshare is also pretty strong in Europe (especially Germany) - it can be cheaper than the train and you get to meet locals :-)
- http://www.cooreea.com
- http://www.mitfahrzentrale.de
One simple way to reuse a box is to "cut" it down to the size you need. Put your stuff in the box. Slice the four corners down to the "top" of your stuff. Fold in flaps (cut shorter if needed). Makes for a smaller box, less padding (as long as it's not needed) & less weight.
Oddly enough, I have also heard that spraying listerine around the area where you are going to be will keep mosquitos away!
I agree that a sudden increase in mass frugality will hurt the economy. I think that it did happen and that is one reason the recession continues to worsen. I think that politicians did scare Americans into consuming less which in turn hurts the stock market and businesses. The politicians specifically scared Americans during the presidential election campaign by Barack Obama and others calling this recession an economic CRISIS not seen since the Great Depression. Even after Barack Obama got elected, he continued to scare Americans about the economy.
I think that Obama’s lies about his stimulus plan working and about the economy’s improvement will just hurt him in the long run by ruining even more Americans’ trust in him. This is, in my opinion, a good thing since I’m not fond of Obama’s excessive spending of money we don’t have and his other policies and hopefully he will not be reelected.
I agree that frugality is better for America as a whole if it is the norm. I agree that when a recession hits it would not be as bad if people had money saved and lived within their means. But, if you are wealthy, please spend, spend, spend —it will help the economy to spend and consume within your means.
Wow, since most of the items are on your wish list are on mine, I'd already done a bit of legwork on this...
If you're looking to get a basic handle on a new language, the BBC actually has free lessons in the fundamentals of quite a few over on their site: BBC Language Site.
If you're looking to learn a programming language, such as HTML, look no further than W3Schools for learning everything about programming for the web. If you're looking to learn a full-on language, I would recommend Python; it's a very straightforward language, with extensive development and a huge community for support. Not to mention completely free! The creators of the language actually keep an updated (last updated 7/13/09!) 'beginner's guide' right on the site: Python Tutorial.
Microsoft makes free lessons available for all of their Office products on the Microsoft Office website
I've found that many schools with 'community education'-type programs will teach defensive driving in the summer in conjunction with drivers' education. Results may vary with this one, but check with your state's department of motor vehicles.
As for anything else under the sun, I'll recommend the best site ever: The OpenCourseWare Consortium. Colleges and universities around the country have released the full context of hundreds of courses under 'Open Courseware,' meaning anyone can log in, find a course they'd like, and go through the materials just like one of their students. Don't expect any college credit or acknowlegement you've taken the course at all, though. It's just for your own edification.
Whew! That about covers it for now. Hope it helps!
It's the chlorine in the water that makes clothes fade so you need to neutralize the chlorine in the washing machine. You can use an Aquarium Dechlorinator, used for fish, or you can use a product like "Bleach Stop" that you can get at Dharma Trading Company.
Just made up your recipe.
Yummy, Yummy, yummy1
What a WINNER thankyou!
(Even with the extra FLUORIDE they have just added to our water supply - GRRRRR)
Little House on the Prairie books were my absolute favourites when growing up!
(Must read them again - it's been about a year)
GREAT ARTICLE
Just made up a batch of Ginger Water!
YUMMO!
I'm addicted, thankyou!
Great one, Julie! This a great piece with frugal entertainment and fitness ideas, along with tips and strategies for starting any of them from scratch. Great job.
Check out my various projects and services at Itinerant Tightwad. I also have a monthly education newsletter.