Saturday, January 31, 2009

Frugality Tips #13 & 14

We're getting into the double digits now, and now I'm going to be starting a series for a little bit. This is the "Get Healthy!" part of frugality.

Being healthy can save you a lot of money in doctor's bills and dentist bills, which are the things that drain the most money out of your pocket. People who are taking care of their bodies don't go to the hospital, doctor's or dentist's office nearly as often as those who don't care. And surprisingly, a lot of the aspects of being healthy can save you money.

Frugal Tip #13 (Get Healthy!)

Stop eating fast food!

Fast food is so expensive... Especially if you figure that with the $5+ you spent on a meal for just you, you could have made dinner for your family of 4 for the same price. So just don't eat out. It's horrible for your health (however much McDonald's tries to tell you otherwise). And if you're getting salads there, that's a super super waste of money. It's much cheaper to make your own salads. And they'll be less soggy (yuck!). All that fat and those calories will make it more likely for you to be overweight or obese. Obesity brings many expensive problems like diabetes, heart attacks, etc.

Cutting out the fast food can help you lose weight as well as save money now. :) Additionally, you should avoid going to sit-down restaurants. You will eat many more calories than at a fast food restaurant and it will cost you more. If you want to have a nice dinner with your husband (or wife), send the kids elsewhere and make a dinner at home instead. You can get some really good stuff for home consumption with that $40 you were going to spend at the restaurant!

Frugality Tip #14 (Get Healthy!)

Cut refined sugar out of your diet.

And by that I mean, candy, cakes, pies, ice cream, flavored yogurt, etc. Anything that has a sugar or high fructose corn syrup in the top 5 ingredients. Bread is still ok. :)

Confession time!

I used to be a BIG sugar addict. I couldn't go one day without eating candy or something sugary... I couldn't help myself but eat as much sugar as was placed in front of me. I couldn't say no. I guzzled pies at Thanksgiving, ate all the chocolates and candy canes at Christmas.

And then I realized that I was addicted. It took me a while to realize this, despite the obvious, because you don't think of sugar as addicting, like cigarettes and alcohol are. And then I realized that it seems like most people in America are addicted to sugar. Hmm... and I wonder why more than half of the people in the USA are overweight or obese?

Let me tell you though, the other day I went to a women's health class, and at the end of the health class they had rice pudding, because it's supposedly a "healthy" treat. Well, a) it's not really and b) it has a fair amount of sugar in it. So I declined to have any, explaining that I was not eating sugar.

Here is what I heard right after that statement from these women (who were of various sizes big to little):

"Oh, I could never do that."
"My dad tries to stop eating sugar all the time, but he never can."
"I love chocolate too much to stop eating sugar."

The first thing that I thought was, "Well that's really nice and encouraging. Thanks for being so kind." and the second thing I thought was "I have no doubt in my mind now that our society is addicted to sugar. This is sad".

I used to feel that way too though, that I could never stop eating sugar like some people. Until I decided I didn't want any substance controlling my life, tasty or not. When I realized that the average American eats WAY too much sugar and I was an average American.

Seriously, stop eating sugar. It's not good for your health (diabetes anyone?) and it is an expensive habit to maintain. I have been able to kick it in the rear by keeping sugar items out of my house entirely, and then eating a full meal before I go to the store (as well as bringing my hubby along and having him help me not buy it). Eat fruit instead for your daily sugar. After two weeks you won't have cravings any more and it will be much easier to say no to refined sugar. I feel SO much better now. I've come out of a sugar-induced fog. I notice things I didn't notice before. I feel happier (seriously, I had bad mood swings before). My sex life is better (that is a very nice side effect, actually, and is probably TMI as well). :)

Additionally, too much sugar depresses your immune system... so you have potential savings from not having to purchase medicines.

Check this out for more info on kicking the sugar habit.

More info.

How it affects your sex life.

You will save SO much money by not buying candy and cookies all the time to eat. Seriously, we've saved a lot by not purchasing these items any more.

Purchase old fashioned toasted oats and flavor it with fruit, instead of eating sugary breakfast cereal (Even the HEALTHY cereals like special k, etc, have TONS of sugar in them). Old-fashioned oats fill me up more, so with less, I feel more full. It's super cheap, $1 for a big thing of it and it will feed you for just as long as a $4 or $5 bag of Malt-O-Meal. And it's super healthy, as it's whole grain oats with nothing added and unprocessed. Fiber and protein galore! Other ideas for breakfast are PLAIN yogurt with fruit in it and no-sugar-added fruit smoothies. Eggs (which are not very cheap, but still an idea) and toast work too!

So anyway, I hope I have impressed upon you the money saving benefits of not eating sugar!

A) You will save money by not buying sugary items.
B) You will be much healthier! (less doctor visits! less purchasing of medicines!)
C) You will eat less.

So Get Healthy!! You can do it, and you'll save money doing it too!

Friday, January 30, 2009

Frugality Tips #11 & #12

Here are Friday's tips! Sorry they're late again, I was out all day with my fantastic hubby and adorable daughter and didn't get to it. :)

Frugal Tip #11

Turn out the lights.

You probably already know this one, but here's a refresher for you. Make sure you keep your lights turned off if you're not in the room (and especially if you're not home). This is hard if you have children that don't understand that concept (work on teaching them it), but by leaving the lights on in rooms you're not in, you're wasting a lot of electricity. And don't turn the lights on during the day unless you really really have to. I keep my lights out even on days when it's cloudy outside. Unless it's thunderstorming during the day, there will usually enough ambient light in your home to be able to see and read just fine. Even when I lived in a basement apartment, I was able to do that.

Frugal Tip #12

Get rid of your newspaper.

There are a lot of people (usually of the slightly older generation) who insist on subscribing to the newspaper. My parents still do, even though they have a tv and internet access, but I think it's a big waste of money. If you have the internet, you can easily access your local newspaper online, for free. You can search the classifieds there and everything. Even if you don't have tv or internet, you can go to your library and usually they have it. Or you can get online at the library for free and read it there. My point is, get rid of your newspaper.

Along the same lines, get rid of your magazine subscriptions (or stop buying them at the store). It's a waste of paper and money; you can access a vast majority of them online for free. Even Reader's Digest is online now.

With love from the
Hot Frugal Momma!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Frugality Tips #9 & #10

Here are your Thursday tips! Sorry they are a bit late. I was trying to work on taxes!

Frugal Tip #9

Ditch the landline and get cheaper cellphone service.

Do you have a cellphone (or two) and a landline?

Landlines will be obsolete in a few years, so why not just ditch yours now? Either people will be using VOIP or their cellphones. If you must have a landline, consider switching to VOIP (voice over IP), which is basically hooking up your landline phone to your desktop computer and using your internet to make calls. And yes you can still use the internet while you talk to people on the phone. Voip is only $20 a month compared to $30 a month for a lot of landlines and it works just as well. (There are several VOIP services out there, so do a search on google to compare).

Let me tell you though, ditching the landline for just your cellphone if you already have one is a good idea. It will save you $30 a month and you'll be just fine without it. If you're on a plan that has a minute restriction on it (and you're afraid you'll use all your minutes and it costs more than $30 to upgrade to a higher minute allowance), switch over to Cricket, which is a prepaid, unlimited cellphone service, that costs as little as $30 a month. It also has no contracts, as it is prepaid. Or, alternatively, you can ask your parents and/or siblings if they'd like to be on a family plan with you, which will save all of you money, as long as you split the bill. :)

Do it! All the college-age couples are doing it!

As a bonus, you will no longer get those annoying telemarketing calls. Nice, eh?

Frugal Tip #10

Budget!

Ok, so this one I don't do. I really stink at budgeting things on paper. I can do it in my head, but writing it out? Not so much. But if you're one of those people who can handle writing things like that, set up a budget. I love reading about.com for help with stuff, and they have a lot of info on being successful at budgeting.

Keeping track of your budget is a great way to figure out what areas you're spending too much money in, and helping you keep from spending your money on uneccessary items.

Keep on saving those dollars!

-Hot Frugal Momma

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Frugality Tips #7 & #8

Alright, here are Wednesdays tips!

Frugal Tip #7

Join Freecycle.


Freecycle is a nifty place where people give away things for free so that they don't get thrown away instead. It's not a charity and they
do expect you to offer things for free before you receive or ask for things. But if you have a lot of things lying around your house that aren't really worth anything if you were to sell them, join up and offer, then receive things as well!

I really like freecycle. I've given away a few things already and received a smoothie maker. Things aren't always in the best condition, but hey, it's free! I've seen everything from sectionals to VHS movies to clothes there. There are at least 5 posts a dayfor the freecycle in my area. Of course, I live in a tiny town in Utah, so that's probably on the low side of things.

So check it out! Make sure you read the rules first, because they want you to abide by them or you'll be outta there. Definitely a good way to save money on various items!

Frugal Tip #8

Vacuum the cooling coils behind/under your refrigerator once a year (twice a year if you have pets).

Pretty simple, eh? Yet it will really cut down on the energy your refrigerator uses. Even if you have an older fridge, this will cut the cost of using it by quite a bit as it increases its efficiency. When the coils are covered in dust and fluff, the fridge has a harder time cooling and so it has to use more electricity to work.

My refrigerator is from the late '80s or so; probably as old as I am, but it's nice and clean behind and it uses very little energy for something so old. I have a $17 a month electricity bill despite having an aging fridge.

This can save you $5 - $10 a month on your utility bill. Certainly worthwhile and very east! :) Also increases the life of your refrigerator.

Have fun!
-Hot Frugal Momma



Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Frugality Tips #5 & #6

Welcome back! Here are your tips for today:

Frugal Tip #5

Cut down on your entertainment costs by using free (and legal) services!

Do you rent movies? Do you watch TV?
If you answer
ed "Yes" to these questions, read on.

Chances are you're paying $4+ dollars for a weeklong rental if you're renting movies. And how many times did you watch that movie? Probably once. So stop renting at Blockbuster and start using Redbox, Hulu and your library!

You can get free rentals with Redbox as long as you return the movie the day after you borrow it. Go here to get some Redbox codes for free rentals, or sign up for their newsletter to receive them exclusively from Redbox.

Hulu has movies you can watch on your computer for free. They're supported by the ad breaks that show up every once in a while and are perfectly legal. If you're at all handy with a computer, you can hook your computer up to your TV and watch the movies just like you normally would.

Your library probably has movies that you can rent there as well! Lots of libraries rent them for free, some, like the one that I used to live by, charge a dollar for a week's rental. And they use that dollar to buy the newest movies out! (Yes, even movies like The Dark Knight and whatnot! Wow!) Either way, it's much cheaper than renting from Blockbuster or Hollywood or the like, and you can keep yourself entertained.

As far as TV watching goes, if you're paying $30 or $40 a month to have 100+ channels to watch, chances are you only watch a couple of shows out of those 100 channels and if you're watching more than that, you should probably cut down on your usage anyway.

Use Hulu instead! Hulu has up to 5 of the latest episodes of most TV shows on their website and you can watch them for free! And there is much less commercial interruption (three 30 second breaks instead of three loooong breaks). If you use the TV for the news, most TV stations have their shows on their websites, and you can pick and choose which segments you want to read or watch. Why pay for TV service and an internet connection when you really only need one? This is a big big money saver, in my opinion. I watch all my TV shows, whenever I want, without an expensive DVR and without paying for cable/dish and internet too. That saves me $30 a month.


Frugal Tip #6

Go open source.

You probably have no idea what I mean by "Open Source", so I'll explain it to you! I must explain now, that I'm a bit of a geek. Yes, I know, geeky women are weird. But I promise, I am not! I don't even play World of Warcraft!

So anyway, open source refers to software for your computer where the "source" or development code of the software is open to anyone to look at, edit, or help to develop. Microsoft is not "open source". They guard their secrets jealously and charge you big bucks to use it. Open source software is generally free, though the developers do ask for donations if you have the means.

Open source is very open to suggestions and criticism from the public, and the public is often the beta testers on the software. What I mean by that is, if you told Microsoft "You know, Vista is really slow, can you speed it up a little?". They would ignore you. If you told an open source developer that about their operating system, they'd say "Oh, ok, let me look at that." and they'd try and fix it. Or they'd say "Here, try this to make it faster!". Or something. People in the open source community are very nice. They also release changes to their products more often than microsoft, so you get the latest technology every few months, rather than ever 3 years.

Here are some examples of open source software that are awesome and free:

OpenOffice - Does the same things as Microsoft Office, but is totally free (savings of about $120). Saves documents in MSOffice format and will read MSOffice documents. Much more sophisticated than MSWorks too.

Firefox - The equivalent of Internet Explorer, but -much- faster (IE 7 is SO SLOW!!!) and much more customizable. I have the weather on the bottom of my firefox and several tools to help me build websites. You can also change the skin to make it look nice, as well as add on pretty much any sort of widget you want without having five hundred toolbars up top. Doesn't really save you money, but still more awesome than IE. (Use Adblock to get rid of the nasty ads on all websites too!)

Linux Ubuntu - An operating system, just like Microsoft Windows, but free! Takes a little getting used to and you might need help at first, but once I made the switch I was amazed. Ubuntu is very customizable and takes up a lot less space than Vista. If you were to get a free old computer from someone that had a very old version of Windows on it, you could uninstall it and put Ubuntu on it instead. You'd have all the functionality of Vista, but it would work on a much older computer and run just fine. And it would be free free free. And you don't need antivirus software for it either; it doesn't get viruses, so free free free!

The GIMP - If you need a picture editor, this is the free equivalent of photoshop. I don't like it much, but a lot of people do! :D And it's free! It doesn't hurt to try it at least, because free is free!

There are a lot of programs like this. If you are possibly having to purchase software for your computer, look for an open source version first. There are even open source antivirus programs that work well and are less annoying than Norton. There are open source ecommerce solutions (ZenCart, Magento), etc. It's a wide, free world out there in open source!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Frugality Tips #3 & #4

Another day, another two hot frugal momma tips! Come back for more tomorrow. Today's tips:

Frugal Tip #3

Join a credit union.

There is a common myth that floats around alluding to the idea that credit unions are 'not safe'. Nothing could be further from the truth. Credit unions are very safe; they are federally insured just like banks (for up to $250,000). There are so many benefits to belonging to a credit union to, that I don't understand how they only hold 6% of the market share out there. Here are the main reasons that I love credit unions:

1) They are free to join (though some might require a minimum deposit - usually less than a bank does though). CUs cater to either a specific area or a specific demographic, so you'll have to research the ones near you to find one that you are qualified to be a member for. Once you join though, they don't have monthly fees, they're very forgiving of overdrafts and they don't charge you $40 when you overdraft either. Some will even refund ATM fees (like mine). My CU also has a 5.01% interest rate on my checking account... totally free (yay for free money!). My old bank (B of A) never offered me anything like that.

2) They don't do risky mortgage loans (which is the reason some of the banks have failed). CUs are not-for-profit; the extra money they make doesn't go into the pockets of CEOs or loan officers. The money goes back into the credit union, so loan officers don't feel pressured to "make the big sale" and push loans you can't really afford. Additionally, they have some of the lowest closing costs out there. Banks and private loan officers will charge you an extra $1000 - $2000 for your closing costs that goes straight into their pockets (I compared when I purchased my house). None of that with CUs, so you can use that extra cash to put down a little more towards your principal or to buy new furniture. CUs can also get just as good of an interest rate as well, if not better, than most banks.

3) If you join a credit union that's part of the CU service centers network, you can bank at any other CU that's part of that network as well (and there are no fees for doing so, unless you want a money order, then it's like $5 if you're not a member). So if you move away, you don't have to join a new CU or pay $50 to bank elsewhere. - This seems to be the biggest reason why people don't join credit unions. They're afraid if they move or go out of town, then they can't access their money. Not so! Many CUs are part of the service network and have online banking available as well. Banks will not do this. When I moved from Oregon to Utah, I was with B of A and there are no B of A's in Utah. I would have had to pay a fee to bank elsewhere and keep my account with B of A. That's when I discovered Deseret First Credit Union and I've been with them ever since.

4) They're very friendly and mostly not busy. People at all the credit unions I've been to have always been very personal, kind and helpful, and there are hardly ever long lines to stand in. It's so nice. One time, I dropped off a check and didn't realize it hadn't been signed by the person who'd written me the check and the teller didn't notice either. I got a call that evening from the teller. He told me the situation, explained he could try and send it through but it would probably be returned and would cost $5 or something for the returned check fee. He held it for me for 2 days so I could pick it up and get it signed. How thoughtful! Most banks I know wouldn't have noticed or bothered to call me and I would have had a $25 fee. It certainly wouldn't have reflected on the teller at all. :)

So join a credit union, especially if you're looking at buying a house. It will definitely save you money.

To learn more about credit unions, take a look at this wikipedia article.

Frugal Tip #4

Wash your clothes in cold water.

You may be used to washing certain colors of clothes in warm or hot water, but I bet if you looked at the labels of most of your outfits that they'd tell you to wash them in cold. Even if you don't, most clothes that tell you to wash in warm or hot water will not shrink if you do wash them in cold; as long as you dry them properly. If you have a sweater that might shrink if you wash it in cold water and then dry it in hot air, either hang it up to dry or dry it without the heat on. And it will clean them just as well.

This won't save you a whole ton of money, but it does help a little. Wash all your colors together in cold, instead of splitting them into hot/warm/cold and you'll also cut down on your water usage.

See you tomorrow!
-Hot Frugal Momma

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Frugality Tips #1 & #2

I'm going to start with the "free" tips that I have. The ones that don't cost you any money at all. So here are two free frugality tips for you!

Frugal Tip #1:

Lower your thermostat.

I know, it's winter, it's cold, it's hard to put on a sweater, socks and/or sweats, but do you really want to save money or not? You will not get hypothermia if you drop your thermostat down a few degrees.

For example, I have kept my house at 62 degrees consistently this winter. I have a small child, a husband and myself and none of us has frozen to death. Additionally, our home was built in 1916 and is not adequately insulated, so it's probably colder than your house would be if you set your thermostat at 62. I'm living proof that it will work just fine. And no, that's not a picture of my real thermostat. Mine's one of those ancient dial ones. Much less sophisticated.

Along these same lines, if you are gone for part of the day and you don't have living animals that rely on heat in your home while you're gone, drop your thermostat down to 50 before you leave, or program it to drop down to 50 on its own and then to come back up just before you get home. That way you don't have to waste heat on an empty house. Same thing if you go out of town. We go visit my parents every once in a while, and we just drop the thermostat for the hours we're gone so we're not wasting energy.

This -will- save you quite a bit of money, especially if your gas/electric bill has been high lately because of the rising energy costs. I promise you'll get used to it too. Eventually.

Anyway, on to -

Frugal Tip #2:

Drop your water heater temperature.

Go over to your water heater. If you have an older one, it probably has a dial on it indicating the temperature. If it's on the 'highest' mark, drop it down one or two notches. You will not notice the difference and your poor water heater doesn't have to waste lots of gas or electricity trying to keep your water warmer. Even if you have a well insulated water heater, this will still help drop your gas/electricity bill a little. Enough that it's worth it to do. And as a bonus, you are much less likely to scald yourself or your children now! Isn't that exciting? I am not sure how the newer water heaters work, but if they're digital, I'm sure you can figure out how to drop the water temperature yourself. It will make a small dent in your energy costs and is something you won't even notice!

Well, there's your unsolicited free frugal advice for the day. Come by tomorrow for some more!

- Hot Frugal Momma

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Oh, hi there.

Ok, Ok, so maybe I'm not the hottest momma around. But I am frugal and I am a momma and two outta three ain't bad. Despite having grown up in a household where my parents had a good amount of moolah, I somehow managed to get some pretty frugal genes. And I'm glad I did, because now I'm a fairly poor 22-year-old married momma. My husband is still finishing up his BA in English and has a job as tech support making about $31,000 a year. I am a stay at home mom, loving my nine-month-old baby girl.

My husband and I have been married just over 2 years now, and we do not have a lot of money. However, we have managed to afford to have a baby and purchase a home of our own, and I would attribute that to being frugal. We also have no credit card debt. Though we do have school debts that we need to pay off now.

So that's what this blog is about; being frugal. And we're talking good stuff here, stuff you probably haven't seen before. I've got grand ideas. We may not be the most trendy of people, but we get along just fine and we're not really struggling in the ailing economy. I know a lot of you may be now, having lost some money in the stock market or lost your job. I hope my tips will help you.

Good luck!
 
- Hot Frugal Momma -