This is not a fancy word for “Donna is too lazy to write anything today.” It’s just a place to put some odds and ends that aren’t strong enough to carry posts on their own.
Now that I’ve underwhelmed you, let’s have us some miscellany.
frugal hacks
Never buy prefab iced tea.
I’m working in my underpants. Sorry if that’s way too vivid an image for you. But it’s in the mid-90s, my apartment has tall south- and west-facing windows, and I have no air conditioning.
Those of you who aren’t screaming and pouring Clorox directly into your eyes should read on for tips on staying cool.
The blackberry gavotte.
You can’t win a wrestling match against a Himalayan blackberry vine. Some of the creepers are as thick as my finger, with spines the shape of shark’s teeth. If they want you, they’ll get you – and they’ll hold on.
The only way out is to dance.
How to go to the movies for free.
Here’s today’s word, and it’s a funny one: gofobo. (Try saying it five times, fast.) This movie-mad site offers access to free screenings, contests and events.
I’d been planning to write about free movies but my daughter beat me to it. Well, at least she got me off my dime. Which, of course, means saving you some dimes. Lots of them. I’ve paid as much as $10.25 for a matinee ticket in Seattle.
As Abby notes in the blog post linked above, gofobo is chronically last-minute; you might have 24 hours or less to respond.
“Still, what’s the worst that happens? You get an offer on a movie you can’t go to,” she writes. “I’d say that’s one of the smaller tragedies in life.”
About that $10.25 ticket: It was a business expense. Otherwise I would have used a freebie. Here are some other ways to get them.
Things you shouldn’t pay for.
J. Money from Budgets Are Sexy shared a frugal tip from a reader who needed $1 to get something notarized. The place accepted only cash and the reader had zero money, “not even change in my cupholders.” Paying a $3 ATM fee for a $1 errand was just too irritating to contemplate.
The solution: Hit the drugstore for an 89-cent soda and a $20 cashback.
This is how I get all my walking-around money. I don’t like waiting in bank lines. I like ATMs even less, because I’m paranoid about muggers or card skimmers.
A big meal plus leftovers for less than a buck.
A former coworker hosted a potluck for me on Saturday. Among the goodies we enjoyed: Alaska salmon in a ginger-based marinade, burgers (meat or veggie), dilled potato salad, baked beans made from scratch in a slow cooker, a mesclun salad with chicken and grilled sweet potatoes, rosemary bread, eggplant pate, olives, grape tomatoes, melon and several desserts, including a Ukrainian rhubarb torte that was much classier than the rhubarb cake that I made recently.
I was the guest of honor but gently urged the hostess to tell me what I might contribute. It wound up being deviled eggs and two 12-packs of Diet Coke.
Someone suggested that potlucks would be a good subject for a frugality column. I laughed. Then I realized that she’s right. If I were unemployed or underemployed, I’d be attending or hosting potlucks as often as I could get away with it.
Consider that:
Blog roundup: The stinkin’ hot edition.
It’s hot just about everywhere but here, apparently. At my nephew’s Little League game yesterday it was in the low 50s and so super-windy that I was actually cold.
Not to rub it in, or anything.
Everywhere else, it’s hot. Too hot to play sports. Too hot to watch sports. Too hot to lie by the pool (the sun’s out there, remember?).
Filthy lucre.
The most-read piece I ever wrote for the Smart Spending blog was an essay called “See a penny? Pick it up!” Before MSN Money switched blog platforms, the article had received more than 1.6 million hits.
The comments were also numerous, and about evenly split: People who also happily gleaned change and people who thought the idea was unbelievably disgusting. Pick up dirty, germy, dog-peed-upon coins? Eeeeewwww.
I’m fully aware that found money isn’t clean. But it’s not as though I carry it home in my mouth.
Besides: I hate to break it to those folks, but the bills and specie they get from banks and stores are probably just as revolting.
Don’t hate the payer, hate the game.
I’m the grocery store customer who challenges the scanner. Yes, it slows things up a little. But I’m not going to pay $2.89 a pound just because someone forgot to tell the computer that hams are on sale this week.
That’s me. And you? You might be the person behind me, grinding her teeth in frustration because I won’t accept anything other than the advertised price.
My apologies if your checkout is delayed by 60 seconds. But that $1.90-per-pound savings times eight pounds represents almost $16. My budget won’t let me back down.
14 insanely cheap ways to have fun this summer.
So the economy’s not so great. That’s no reason to give up recreation.
The best things in life are free. Some of the other things are cheap — say, a dollar or less.
Just off the top of my head:
Wash your car. Use an environmentally friendly soap. It’s a good excuse to squirt each other with the hose on a sticky day.
Hit the dollar store. Buy sidewalk chalk, a kite, some bubble-blowing stuff or a generic Frisbee. Then take it to the park. OK, so you may have to add a few cents in sales tax. You’re still spending a dollar, but being charged tax. (Not to split hairs.)
Create your own “drive-in.” Weather permitting, set up a TV in your driveway and screen movies outdoors. Kids are especially delighted by anything out of the ordinary. But don’t be surprised if grown-up neighbors also walk over to see what’s on.