frugal hacks

No-spend February, Week 1: How’s it going?

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Last week I proposed a no-spend February. The idea appealed to some readers, for very different reasons

First – and worst! – was Yvonne Wilder’s situation. “We just went through a no-spend month in January, with the government shutdown,” she says.

All discretionary spending was cut, to the dismay of the three children in the household. (Not that what it was much fun for the adults, either.)

However, the stressful situation wound up becoming a teachable moment: “We talked quite a lot about the shutdown and budgets and they were definitely on board.”

Although the family is generally thrifty, Yvonne thinks they could stand to step up their game. January’s crash course “made us all aware of spending on wants instead of needs.”

Which of course is the point of the no-spend February: not that you can’t spend money, but rather that you become super-mindful about how and why you spend.

 

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Join us for a no-spend February.

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Is your budget suffering a holiday hangover? Were you caught in the government shutdown? Or are you just interested in getting control of your cash? A no-spend month could be the right first step to take, and NerdWallet is sponsoring one for February.

To be clear: That doesn’t mean no more fresh fruit until March, or having to shine on a prescription refill. A no-spend month is actually more like a “spend-super-intentionally month.”

On the NerdWallet “Community” message board, my former MSN Money colleague (and now NerdWallet columnist) Liz Weston describes the event as a month where you try to avoid any non-essential spending. Each participant gets to define what is and isn’t essential.

Having done a no-spend month before, Weston describes it as “kind of magical.” Specifically:

“Not only do we save money, but we get creative finding no-spend workarounds when unexpected situations pop up.

“We get clearer what’s a necessity and what isn’t, which can really help us get a grip on our spending going forward.

“We appreciate that having any discretionary spending is a blessing. For many, every month is a no-spend month because they don’t have any extra money beyond what it takes to survive (and sometimes not even that).” 

Sound good?

 

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Adventures in the clearance section.

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Yesterday I was the most reluctant of errand-runners. I’d slept poorly the night before. I’d gotten a late start on the day. I’d needed to deal with a retirement planning thingy that required visits to two different financial institutions.

At that point all I wanted was to go home. But the bag of emptied printer cartridges was rattling on the floor. For ages I’d been meaning to drop them off for recycling.

Grumpily, I forced myself to drive to Office Max. Once I’d handed over the cartridges at the front desk I was ready to bolt for home.

However, I have an ironclad policy: Always check the clearance section.

I headed for the rear of the place. And boy, did I score.

 

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Found money, food money.

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All year long, I find money: on the sidewalk, on the floor in the checkout lane, in the Coinstar return bin. And every year I count it, round it up and donate it to the food bank.

This year’s take is $10.25: a dollar bill, 12 quarters, 45 dimes, seven nickels and 140 pennies. This adds up to $10.25.

Picking up found coins is one of the tactics I suggest in the “Challenge Yourself to Save” chapter* of my first book. The reason? It works. Despite my not walking nearly as much in Alaska as I did in Seattle, and despite my mostly staying out of the stores, I still managed to glean a little over 10 bucks.

 

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Getting ready for Black Friday.

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DF and I have a hot date early in the morning of Nov. 23: We’re heading to Fred Meyer for Black Friday. The store opens at 5 a.m. and the first 100 customers will get gift cards – and all customers will get free juice, coffee and doughnuts.

When I mentioned that I’d be going, he startled me by suggesting that he’d like to go, too. Apparently he’s never been out on a Black Friday. Or maybe it was the free coffee and doughnuts that got his motor running.

Black Friday isn’t as nutty as it once was, given how many people shop online. Still, every year we hear about some pushy-shovey behavior that results in screaming fights or physical injury. Anchorage seems to have escaped that level of consumer madness.

Me, I’m mostly looking for socks because they always get discounted at Fred’s on Black Friday. But tomorrow the two of us will pore over the ads in the fattest newspaper of the year – not for gifts, but to look for any screamin’ deals on things we need. For example, the off/on button on our toaster oven is balkier by the day.

That’s a tactic I suggest in a recent piece I did for The Simple Dollar. “Seven Ways Black Friday Can Save You Money All Year Long” notes that BF deals can be a great way to boost the budget beyond Hannukah, Christmas or Kwanzaa.

 

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The dollar-an-hour rule.

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One of my blogging buddies, J. Money, recently published a post that bounced off a comment from yet another post.

(Blogging: Sometimes it’s a Ponzi scheme.)

That comment was from a guy who believes that entertainment should never cost more than a dollar an hour.

For example, a video game that costs $70 (!) needs to be played for at least 70 hours. A $60-a-month cable bill should mean your household watches a total of 60 hours of TV per month. And so on.

In “The ‘buck an hour’ rule,” J. Money noted that $1 was “a bit arbitrary and perhaps simplistic.” Just for fun, he took at look at some of his own ongoing expenses (only some of which were actual entertainment).

“It wasn’t pretty,” he admitted cheerfully.

Netflix yes, local newspaper no. Cellphone good, coffee not so much. Gasoline nope, currency collection nyet, historical society donation nein.

You never know when some “random thought” could affect a habit, J. Money concluded. So I decided to examine some of my own entertainment costs.

 

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Frugal Phoenix fashion.

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Before I begin, let me pat my own back for successfully resisting the headline “Phrugal Phoenix Phashion.” You’re welcome.

The thrift stores down here are much better than the ones in Anchorage. No surprises there, since more than a million people live in the Phoenix metro area. This means a lot of donations.

Specifically, a lot of donations of warm-weather clothing, the kind that doesn’t exactly crowd the racks in Anchorage thrift stores.

Since I’m due to attend (and speak at) the in Orlando, one of my goals was to find a couple of new shirts and maybe a pair of pants. My daughter and I spent some pleasant times treasure-seeking in Savers (called Value Village in Anchorage) and Goodwill.

I scored four shirts and a pair of cotton-linen slacks for less than $22. Abby found a bunch of tops for even less – and in the process triggered her thrift-store FOMO. That’s one of the down sides of thrifting. Fortunately my trying-on tolerance is fairly low, so I tended to find a couple of things and then just wait with the cart while she test-drove shirt after shirt.

The best part about Savers: the 50-percent-off sale that takes place every Monday. This allowed me to get good prices on clothes and also a hat to keep the punishing summer sun off the top of my head.

 

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Giveaway: “Frugality For Depressives.”

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Greetings from sunny Phoenix! I’m visiting my daughter and meeting some deadlines. While I do have to finish the paying work, I also wanted to put up a new post. Yet why come this far south and spend my non-work hours writing?

The solution came to me this morning: Do a giveaway post! Haven’t done one in a while, after all.

And why not make the prize a copy of Abby’s book? That’s a hostess gift she can really appreciate. #virtualetiquette

One lucky reader will get either a paperback or Kindle copy of “Frugality For Depressives: Money-Saving Tips For Those Who Find Life A Little Harder.”

Of course a mother would think her kid’s book is awesome. But I’m not the only one who thinks the book can help depressives and the chronically ill (and maybe others — more on that below).

 

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Living “poor” and loving it.

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Happy Throwback Thursday! This is the original version of my second article for MSN Money. Given the popularity of the reboot of my first-ever MSN piece – the one about surviving and thriving on $12,000 a year – I’ve decided to post its successor.

Some of its sentiments about the Us-vs.-Them mentality are still relevant. (Unfortunately.)

Incidentally: I didn’t write the headlines; they were thrust upon me. My own suggestion was “How to be poor,” but the editor liked his version better. I’m leaving in the original because I’m masochistic like that.

 

I don’t consider myself deprived, although I can see why some people might think so. I don’t own a laptop computer, television, DVD player, stereo, iPod, video-game system or  many of the other things marketed as necessities.

But I have food, shelter, family, friends, a radio, a bus pass, a library card and the chance to attend a respected university. How could I consider myself “poor” when so many people have nothing to eat, nowhere to sleep and no chance to improve their situations?

Yet there is another reason I hesitate to call myself poor: the cultural baggage associated with the word. Poor people are lazy, stupid, immoral, shameless and incapable of making smart decisions. Poor people are losers; our country loves winners. We want poor people to trade their rags for riches. We want them to embody the American dream.

 

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