I’ve written before about the Financial Blogger Conference, a four-day event that brings together beginner and veteran personal finance writers. This year’s event takes place in downtown St. Louis from Oct. 17 to 20.
And if you buy today or tomorrow, you can take advantage of a splendid sale price.
While preparing to write “Craziest ways to save a buck,” today’s post over at my day job, I was by turns amused and a little disturbed by what young people consider “crazy” frugality.
The post was based on a contest offered by DoSomething.org. Students 25 and under are invited to send in their wildest money-saving tips. The prize is a $4,000 scholarship, so send any students you know over there to enter.
But is getting books and CDs from the library now considered nutty behavior? What about locking up a debit card, using coupons, carrying a water bottle, eating leftovers or doing laundry at a relative’s house – any of those sound wacky to you?
Worse than that, though, were the false economies. For example, more than a few students said they brought home condiment packets and napkins from restaurants to save money. But if you’re broke, what are you doing in restaurants? How much did you spend in order to get a few cents’ worth of free taco sauce?
Or how about some of these:
As in, my relatives are never cold. Specifically, my great-nephews are never cold. I was visiting them on a 10-below-zero night when a friend called to say that Jupiter was quite visible in the night sky.
The boys stampeded out the front door – in their PJs – and stayed out there for at least five minutes, looking. At least they put on their boots.
I used to be that kind of badass. But I find I’ve lost my happy thoughts after 11 years Outside – which is how Alaskans describe Everyplace That Isn’t Alaska. (It gets the upper-case even in the newspapers.)
Yesterday we went to the Metropolitan Opera’s live movie theater broadcast of Richard Wagner’s “Parsifal.” It was a semi-frugal experience: The discounted movie tickets that I bought through MyPoints reduced the $22-per-head cost, and I used my giant $3-per-refill cup.
In another year DF will be old enough for a senior discount, which will shave another $2 off his ticket. But what’s an extra $2 when you get more than five hours of scorched-earth opera?
By that I don’t mean that the music takes no prisoners, but rather that the set is a post-apocalyptic expanse of cracked clay – except for Act II, in which the principals spend most of their time standing in 1,200 gallons of blood. You learn the most interesting things during the intermission interviews.
Had enough of winter? Maybe it’s time to go somewhere — and this week’s giveaway is a great travel companion.
The prize is another bag of travel-sized toiletries because (a) spring break is almost here and (b) it’s always a popular giveaway. Maybe that’s because you, like me, resent the hell out of paying $1.44 an ounce for toothpaste.
“Sized right for flight,” my left hind foot: It’s another way to gouge the consumer because manufacturers know how many of us want to go carry-on only.
What’s in the bag? So glad you asked.
I’m a little late totaling up my 2012 found money. Okay, I’m several months late; normally I count the money around Thanksgiving.
Even though the money’s been counted, it’s still at my friend Linda’s house along with some other things I haven’t moved to my new place. Also still at Linda’s is the old vase in which I keep my finds, a gift from my daughter when she was very young. Abby found it in the “free” box at a yard sale. (That’s my girl!)
I’ve been using an old plastic container for all the coins I’ve picked up since Jan. 1. It doesn’t have the soul of that vase, which is actually pretty ghastly: fthe color of a Pepto Bismol tablet left out in the sun, embellished with gilt and bearing a painting of what looks like a 17th-century dude courting a 17th-century dame. But it was a gift from my kid, and I treasure it. Perhaps my descendants will take it to “Antiques Roadshow” and find out it’s worth a million bucks.
Last year’s final tally:
I also found a single Canadian dime, which I’ll add to my stash. Who knows? I may drive the Al-Can again some day.
Interested in the stock market? Have I got some light reading for you.
When cleaning out a jammed-full junk drawer recently, my new roommate found several dozen pairs of chopsticks. His immediate thought wasn’t stir-fry, but rather “kindling.”
This evening’s fire was started with newspaper and plain wood eating implements. They worked quite well, and got me to thinking about their disposable nature. If you think plastic forks and spoons are awful, take a look at these chopstick stats, courtesy of The New York Times.
Wondering how much you can afford to spend on your loved one this Feb. 14, or whether you can afford to spend anything at all?
Join me and some three dozen other personal finance bloggers as we address that very topic.
What’s in it for you, besides our ideas? A shot at a $500 cash prize, that’s what.
The giveaway schedule is all bollixed up lately, due to circumstances (mostly) beyond my control. Hope to get back on track soon.
Not this week, though. I’m choosing to put it up on a Monday and to draw on a Friday afternoon in honor of Valentine’s Day, in support of the local economy and with a tip of the hat to flavors of the Last Frontier.
Specifically: This batch of handmade sweets from Modern Dwellers Chocolate Lounge:
Yes, fish. Get out of your comfort zone, already. Or offer the fishy ones to people you want to shock.