Your ATM card is a tool, just like a credit card — or a hammer. The powers of all three can be used for good, or they can land you (or maybe just your thumb, sometimes) in a world of hurt.
spending
14 frugal uses for an income tax refund.
I’m getting an income tax refund this year. Well, let me rephrase that. I would be getting a refund, except that I’m applying it toward the quarterly taxes I pay as a freelancer. Whee!
What are you going to do with your refund, if any? My former MSN Money colleague Liz Weston suggests spending 10% of any windfall on something non-essential. So go ahead: Treat yourself.
But don’t let the rest of the money trickle away. Invest it in something, or several somethings, that will benefit you for the rest of the year – or even for the rest of your life.
Weighing in on ‘Extreme Couponing.’
A lot of people have strong feelings about the TLC reality series “Extreme Couponing.” My own impression of the show is secondhand, since I don’t own a television.
Technically I could see the next two episodes because the TLC publicist kindly gave me online access. Ultimately I decided not to watch. Based on what I’ve read and also on what my daughter told me and wrote about the show, I would just wind up depressed.
Frugal sniffles.
Last summer I did a guest post over at Bargaineering called “Sick happens: How to prepare for an illness or injury.” For the past week I’ve been in the grip of la grippe and practicing what I preached.
It’s not actually la grippe, but rather some other kind of virus: sore throat, headache, malaise and a cough that snaps me forward like a willow tree in a high wind. I’m acutely aware that my Aunt Elna was alleged to have broken ribs while coughing.
At least I was ready for it.
I have “Frugal Fatigue” fatigue.
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.
I’m not a payday lender. But I play one on TV.
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.
Do you scrape burned toast?
While making breakfast I scorched the toast. Automatically I scraped off the Cajun part before smearing on some butter and homemade jam. Then I started to wonder: How many people would have just thrown it in the trash and started over?
I grew up scraping toast. My family would have considered it wasteful to toss charred chow, given how simple it is to fix.
Recently a thread started up on Not MSN Money, a community formed by so-called “refugees” from MSN Money’s now-defunct message boards. The thread, “What do you do with the heels from bread?,” asked readers whether they use them or toss them.
Guess what the answers were.
Saturday short takes: Another way to get Amazon.com cards.
If you don’t already read the Consumerism Commentary personal finance blog, get yourself over there and register. You earn points each time you read an article and leave a comment, or share articles via social media. The points can be exchanged for FABULOUS PRIZES!
Myself, I’m skipping the personal finance books and saving up for the Amazon gift cards:
- 500 points = $20 card
- 1,000 points = $50 card
- 1,750 points = $100 card
Top deals at post-holiday clearance sales.
Online or in person, the after-Christmas sales can be worth the trip – and not just for extra wrapping paper. This is your chance to replenish the gift closet and to find good deals on items for your home or yourself.
We wish you a debt-free Christmas.
An old friend of mine – call him “Frugalbert Humperdinck” – once riffed on the song “Lonely is a man without love.” Unfamiliar with that late 1960s hit? Sit patiently through this video of Engelbert Humperdinck singing the first verse, in order to get to the chorus that’s about to be parodied:
Christmas bills are scare-ful,
But one can be careful.
Lovely is a man without loans.
Celebrate the season,
Keeping things in reason.
Lovely is a man without loans.
Go in debt, you peasants,
Buying toddlers presents.
Lovely is a man without loans.
Why impugn your credit
When they’ll soon forget it?
Lovely is a man without loans.
(Half-step up for the big finale)
Ere to shops I dart off,
First I pay the card off.
Lovely is a man without loans.
I’ll assuage my cravings
With January savings.
Lovely is a maaaan without loans.