frugal hacks

Always getting ready.

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It was 20 degrees this morning. About time, too: This has been a weirdly warm fall, with temperatures in the low 50s as recently as the past weekend. Not that I like shivering when I get up, mind you, but it seems appropriate to the season.

Yet while putting the yard to bed today DF harvested the last of the green and red leaf lettuce. Planted right next to the house, it escaped the freeze. We ate some of the leaves on our suppertime hamburgers.

 

“The last of the outdoor harvest,” he noted. “Eating lettuce from the yard on October 16…Most years you think you’re lucky to be eating it on September 16.”

As I said: weirdly warm. Yet I felt a pang even as I snapped the crisp lettuce ribs between my teeth. Delicious – and the last. We’ll be blessed if we eat fresh salad again in June.

 

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‘The secrets of super savers,’ revealed.

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Think coupons aren’t worth it? Not if you’re doing them right – and it doesn’t have to eat up hours of your life. A new book from the authors of the Living On The Cheap website shows why.

“The Ultimate Guide to Coupons: How to Save More Money in Less Time and Get The Best Deals” shares what authors Teresa Mears and Laura Daily call the “secrets of super savers.”

Specifically, “the smart way to use coupons, investing just minutes to save dollars.” They’ve produced a book that stays true to the LOTC mission: to help people live their best lives without breaking the bank.

 

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Coupon ethics.

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A couple of young women in Williston, North Dakota were recently busted for fraud after running a coupon scam in the Albertson’s supermarket where they both worked.

They managed to get at least $21,000 in “overage,” or money owed to them for having coupons that were worth more than the on-sale product (in this case, Tide detergent).

These chumps give couponing a bad name.

Worse, when people indulge in fraudulent behavior it winds up costing all of us.

So tempting to think, “Giant Corporation makes billions a year – it’ll never be noticed.” Don’t think that way, unless you’d also be fine with taking money out of a store’s cash register when the clerk’s back was turned. Coupon fraud steals from the retailers (which may not be reimbursed for fake Qs) and from the manufacturers (if they pay out unwittingly).

The money that retailers and maunfacturers lose translates to price increases for consumers. Everybody loses, except the cheaters – and they might, too, if they get caught.

For those who are new to the Q, I’m offering a coupon ethics primer on how to do it right – and also how not to mess it up for everyone else.

 

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The painful truth about your emergency fund.

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Last year I fully intended to promote my book and also my daughter’s book at the Financial Blogger Conference. What happened instead is that Abby became seriously ill and we both missed most of the programs.

No networking for us!

Not only did we not have the chance to promote our work, the experience wound up costing us. She had to take extra time off work, and as a contractor, she doesn’t get sick days as such. She just doesn’t get paid.

I wound up spending about an extra $1,000 on extended hotel and rental car costs plus the change fee for my plane ticket. Wheeee!

Did any of that matter? No. And yes.

That’s the subject of my post today on The Simple Dollar, a piece called “The Painful Truth About Your Emergency Fund.” Obviously I would have done anything to help my daughter recover. Yet I learned something from the experience: that using your EF is really irritating.

 

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Back to school without breaking the bank.

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Fun fact: According to the National Retail Federation, families in the U.S. will spend $10.2 billion on back to school shopping this year.

That fact may not be fun to parents on tight budgets. It’s not much fun to me, either, since I’ve long believed this kind of shopping has gotten out of hand.

Understand: I’m not saying your kids should get on the bus wearing clothes that are ill-fitting or in tatters, or that they shouldn’t have the tools they need for education. But to judge from the ads, our kids need all-new everything.

Hint: They probably don’t.

Obviously if a kid has outgrown his shoes (and they will do that!) then you’ll need to replace the footwear. Ditto jeans that are high-watery or a jacket whose sleeves stop a few inches short of the wrist. But it’s easy to fall down the rabbit-hole of overbuying.

 

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The quinoa whisperer.

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Our garden is coming along more slowly than last year, probably because the soil was cold. We got something close to normal snowfall this year, for a change.

Within the past week the sugar snap peas have started to take off but the green beans are puzzlingly slow. So are several kinds of squash (spaghetti, blue Hubbard, pink banana), which aren’t anywhere close to dead but have somehow failed to launch.

Gardening is a series of trials and errors. But there’s still time.

Strawberries and raspberries look glorious, albeit still really green; we hope to be picking within two weeks. Carrots, beets, leaf and romaine lettuces, two kinds of Asian greens, potatoes and rhubarb look healthy. The spinach is pretty much spawned-out, so what’s left will probably go into the boiling bag.

The real stars this year? Quinoa.

 

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Wise Bread Tweetchat = $100 in Amazon cards.

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The smart-money website is also giving away two Kindle copies of “Your Playbook For Tough Times, Vol. 2: Needs And Wants Edition.” That’s because I’m the guest of honor, so to speak, at this week’s Tweetchat.

The theme: “Building The Life You Want With The Money You Have.” From the Wise Bread website:

Learn about what a frugalist is, having a winning attitude during financial turns, ways to cut costs on food, and more. Tell us if you have a “freedom fund” and let us know one thing you could do today to start living a more frugalist lifestyle.

Sound like anyone you know?

Come share your own wisdom, whether it’s instinctive or hard-won, and you may be rewarded: Wise Bread is giving away four prizes.

 

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‘Your Playbook For Tough Times, Vol. 2’ is here!

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Self-publishing is something like childbirth: Toward the end of the process you’re swearing you will never, EVER do this again. You’re also looking for someone to punch in the mouth for not being supportive enough* (anyone who’s ever been in the transition phase of labor will likely back me up on that).

I felt that way toward the finishing-up portion of “Your Playbook For Tough Times: Living Large On Small Change, For The Short Term Or The Long Haul.” When I wasn’t gnashing my teeth and rending my garments I was thinking Lord please get me through it…I swear I’ll be a good girl and stay away from JPEGs after this.

Just as with childbirth, I forgot the pain almost immediately and decided to do it again. This time around the damn thing was practically breech, a self-publishing project that came out feet-first and sideways. For the past 10 days or so I’ve been whirling and howling with regard to final edits, formatting and cover design. On Tuesday night I was absolutely unhinged with cumulative rage and frustration as another formatting snafu erupted.

But you know what? I’m sort of forgetting how that felt, now that “Your Playbook For Tough Times, Vol. 2: Needs And Wants Edition” has made it into the world.

 

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Here’s my Swagbucks story.

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(I’m taking part in the “Tell Your Swagbucks Story” promotion at the Swagbucks rewards program site.)

When my daughter first told me about Swagbucks, I figured it was just another frugal hack, i.e., a way to earn a few rewards cards and boost my budget.

It was. But it’s become so much more.

Over the years, the Swagbucks rewards program has become a way for me to eat better, slash my gift-giving costs, travel more affordably, send items to people in need and enjoy fresh tomatoes in Alaska – frugally.

Here’s how.

 

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A hot (and short-lived) incentive to try Hulu.

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If you’ve been on the fence about Hulu, this might be the time to do it: This weekend, Swagbucks is offering a $28 incentive to try the $7.99-per-month television service.

Specifically: When you sign up for Hulu you’ll get 2,800 SB points, which translates to $28 worth of gift cards (or PayPal, if you prefer the cash). You could think of this as making $20, or that Swagbucks is paying for your first three-plus months of the cable TV alternative.

But wait, there’s more: If you sign up this weekend you’ll get another 300 SB in your account in May. The total, then, is $31 worth of gift card (or PayPal) power.

So how do you get a piece of the action? Two easy steps (with occasional gusts to three):

 

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