Four of us will be sharing our stories today at the SaveUp 2011 conference. Well, parts of our stories – we’re limited to 12 minutes apiece.
Our fellow DealPros voted the four of us having the tales they most wanted to hear. We’ll be talking via live stream, and you’re invited: If you RSVP and then “attend,” your name will be entered into a drawing for an iPad 2.
Getting older is not for whiners. Since my late 40s, midlife health concerns have included thyroid imbalance, elevated blood pressure and creeping weight gain. A couple of mammograms looked iffy but turned out to be OK. The asthma could be better.
Mostly I’ve handled these issues with equanimity. But that was before the doctor ordered me to spread my own poo on a chemically treated card.
“Getting out of debt fast is the most important financial move you can make in today’s economy,” according to author/PF guru David Bach.
He wrote the book on it, so to speak. This week I’m giving that book away.
When I was about to leave for my house-sitting/visiting trip to Alaska in mid-May, I had part of a carton of eggs in the fridge. Since I would be gone for two months, I decided to try something I’d only read about: freezing eggs.
Today I sampled the results.
While house-sitting here in Anchorage I took my friend’s recyclables over to the transfer station. It’s a small way for me to help her out.
Turns out it’s a good way to shop, too.
It takes me forever to use up a roll of paper towels. I wish I’d written the date inside the cardboard tube of the roll currently in my kitchen. It’s been there at least a couple of years. Even though I’ve been traveling a lot, that’s still a long time for one roll to have been operating – and to be only about 50% reduced.
It’s not that I’m particularly neat. It’s that I see no reason to use paper towels when I have plenty of rags.
Sure, paper towels are convenient. But they’re expensive, too. Why use and toss wads of paper when I can use a piece of cloth, launder it and use it again? And if you’re just draining salad greens or wiping up spilled water, you don’t even need to wash the cloth – just hang it up to dry.
Call that eco-friendly if you like. I prefer to think of it as common sense.
One of the two couples I interviewed in my latest MSN Money column has an adjusted gross income of $30,000 — and is raising kids and paying for a home on that sum.
The other couple is doing the same thing on an AGI of $36,000.
Could you?
Earlier this month the National Foundation for Credit Counseling shared the results of a new study. Apparently a whole bunch of U.S. residents are tired of budgeting.
“Majority of Americans have frugal fatigue,” the press release trumpeted. “Significant minority found lifestyle changes to be positive.”
That’s my new favorite oxymoron – “significant minority.” I know what it’s supposed to mean: That 21% rather than 2% of the respondents found frugal lifestyle changes to be a good thing. That is significant. But I still think it sounds funny.
About that significant majority: Sixty-six percent of those surveyed are feeling the strain of having to watch their dollars. Wait…Americans are unhappy that they can no longer spend like sailors on shore leave? There’s news.
Recently a friend contacted me in a panic. She needed $586 immediately or her vehicle would be repossessed.
When I called, she also noted that she needed something to get her family through until payday. Could I loan her as much as $800?
I hesitated for a moment. Then I stopped what I was doing, moved some money from one account to the other and got myself over to Western Union (which thoughtfully tacked on a $44 wire fee).
Before you call me a sucker, hear me out. Then call me a sucker.
Let’s make this clear: I don’t read romance novels. But a woman I know does. No. Seriously! It’s not me!
Check out her post, “What you should be reading for Christmas,” either as an occasion for hilarity or a chance to make a reading list. Romances aren’t my cup of (overly sweetened) tea, but they might be yours.
And yeah, Christmas has come and gone – but Valentine’s Day awaits.
Julia over at Bargain Babe is giving away 11 prizes, including a $250 Macy’s gift card, to celebrate the site’s second anniversary. Click here to learn more and to enter. Do it quickly, since the deadline for the Macy’s card is 11:59 p.m. Monday.