This is about green not green.

Starbucks recently rebranded or relogoed. If that's a  word. They're still very much the same brand.

Anyway, a re-logoing for any company means the added expense of all new logoed materials. For starbucks, I would think (perhaps naively) the brunt of this would come in the form of napkins and cups. I would be really interested to know how they dealt with that. That would be so cool, if they dwindled their inventory before the relaunch.

Speaking of paper cups, I've likely mentioned here before that we make 95% of the coffee I drink at our place and I often have a travel mug in my bag. It bears repeating, some chains give a dime discount when you bring your own cup (akin to certain grocery stores when you bring your own bags). However if you're forgetful, like me, and you think you'll lose your travel mug, as I have before, do NOT fret.

One of our friends bought a sleeve of paper cups and lids because he realized it was cheaper to make at home and take in that disposable cup than to buy a disposable cup at Starbucks.

So in short: If you don't trust yourself to not lose your travel mug but still want to enjoy something of the savings for home brewing, pick up a sleeve of the paper cups with lids. Its still likely cheaper than the coffee shop and you can "pitch in" when you're done. No travel mug to remember or lose.

free samples ...

We'd get little packets of cinnamon cream of wheat, or gum or instant coffee or this or that and my wife would ask where they came from.

They're everywhere and for everything, these free samples. The simplest aggregate listing of daily free samples, or at least my favorite, is posted daily on the gizmodo.com blog. Find "The Best Deal of the Day" entry and scroll to the bottom to find the Hobomodo heading for their list of free sample sites. On the scroll down, also enjoy some pretty sweet deals on home entertainment, electronics, computers, gaming and peripherals.

In short:

Gizmodo.com


and enter "dealzmodo" in the search field for their latest deals OR;

Like the Dealzmodo on the Facebook.

Good night.

Portable and cheap snack.

Don't want to buy a snack in the middle of the day but want something the slightest bit substantive?

Boil an egg. Keep it in the shell. Put it in your bag.

Why?

The shell is strong. The egg is reasonably priced as part of a dozen. The stomach is fed.

Keep a few little salt or pepper packets in the bag for seasoning.

Overdue fees ...

If you rent, borrow, or use something that's not yours, there is potential for you to return it later then you should.

For example, here in the NY Public Library, they have a wide selection of movies but if you keep them beyond their due date, you'll be dinged 3 dollars. So what was once free is now infinitely more expensive.

If you borrow, rent, or use something that is not yours, upon rental, put a reminder in your phone, day planner or email that will notify you in advance of it's due date so that you can enjoy your borrowed goods to their fullest and still return them to their rightful owner.

Late fees add up, don't think they don't.

But if you find yourself the recipient of a late fee, make sure when you pay it, you get a receipt acknowledging closure of that debt. I've heard of people paying their library fines (up to 8 or 10 dollars) not getting a receipt, only to find out payment wasn't recorded. Boo.

In short: Return things on time. But if you don't and you have to pay a fine, get a receipt. Everybody wins. The lending body gets theirs and you get record of your payment.

Fly me to the ... Gateway to the West!

Despite airline baggage increasing in price (very rarely and under certain conditions do you get free baggage; some even charge for carry-on.) people are turning to air travel more and more. Airlines are making profits again and know their services are in demand. So what is a cost concerned customer to do.

The cost of air travel and our current subjective and corporate economic status found us contemplating not flying to see family over Christmas. Tickets were 600-700 on a good day and often more, particularly as the season got close, prohibitively so.

What are a couple of newlyweds trying to be responsible in the face of high flight prices to do?

This instant, found us dabbling with Priceline. You know the ones where Bill Shatner goes to bat for you.

Actually, we had used other discount flight aggregators before but my wife was browsing around Priceline to see what it was about. She found flights for almost half of what they cost on other sites. The only cost, in my mind, was one of convenience. You wouldn't know when you were flying until you booked. Small price to pay to spend Christmas with part of the family.

The key; bid low. If your bid is rejected, they'll tell you and you can bid again. Simple as pie. Is that an expression?

In short: If you're flexible and like taking a chance, Priceline has saved us, and could save you, hundreds of dollars on flights.

Loyalty programs ...

Loyalty is one of my favorite traits. I won't anthropomorphize corporations to suggest they exhibit something resembling human loyalty but they require our patronage and it would be an incredible adjustment to live without some of their services.

A lot of them will reward you (so to speak) for your patronage. I think this is likely because for these financial decisions, economy will often trump loyalty. Can you blame us?

One of those corporations that tries to reward you, I was happy to learn, is my bank.

Bank of America offers free admission to museums across the country. What this means is that if you are a holder of one of their debit or credit account and go to these museums on the first weekend of the month, POW! free.

What kind of perks do your cards and memberships have?

Here's one that was staring me in the desk the whole time ...

I'm not sure of the monetary savings (specifically) involved in this one but it is good for the pocket book and the earth.

At work or at home, it's likely you've begun recycling paper. Very often, that recycled paper only has print on one side. What about that other side? What about it indeed? For the last couple of years, we've been trying to use both sides of the paper, for writing and computer printing. Rather than putting a (half-used) piece of paper directly into the blue bin, begin a pile of the stuff to put that other side to good use.

I would not, however, use recycled paper for documents I need to mail to government or business offices, or for resumes. Maybe that's just me. But in general, you'll get twice as much use from a sheet of paper.

shed a little light . . .

Anything that doesn't need power over night or when you're away from your home, put on an easily accessible power bar and turn it off during those times. Or better yet, unplug it.

This is a pretty small idea but over time it can make a surprisingly big difference. I like how simple it is. I just have to remember to do it. I think we cut our monthly power by 5 or 10 bucks when I'm diligent about it. You never know when 60 or 120 bucks extra a year will come in handy.

I'll give you a good price ...

Some people are just down right dishonest in their attempt to take you money.

It was autumn 2004 and I had just moved here from Toronto. In the interest of convenience, I packed and travelled relatively light. I had my discman and earphones but no speakers. So one night, I was wandering around the area by the building where I worked and I walked into one of these no name or generically named camera, luggage, souvenir, electronics stores, kind of looking for a small set of speakers.

I'm browsing beneath the glass of the display cases and the man behind the counter strikes up a conversation with me about the upcoming election asking me who I would vote for. I explain I am not from here and, thus, cannot vote. So he asks, if I had to, who would I vote for. Maybe he was wondering, but I think he was just trying to put me into a comfort zone. He asked what I was looking for and I told him, a small set of speakers for my discman. He shows me this one set. I'd never heard of the brand before. He told me the price. I believe it was pushing 70 bucks but he said he'd give it to me for 40. Now that's a steal of a deal.

Well, after paying for them and taking them home I did a little online research. Those telescoping bass boosting speakers had a suggested retail price 12 dollars. Cue slide trombone.

Don't buy from these places, buy from stores, chains even, that you trust.

fin

take care, brush your hair ...

Here's one of the best parts with the way hair styles go these days. You just have to own it. And hairstyles are not as conservative or fastidious as they once were. So there should be a through line or some rhyme or reason to it but there's also a little more elbow room for creativity.

"Where's he going with this," you're probably asking yourself. You'd be right to ask that.

All this means is that if you're really looking for more ways to cut overhead expenses, save money and you think you're running out of options, try cutting your own hair.

My wife cuts both hers and mine. And she's getting better at it too. I was hesitant at first, I don't know that she's received professional training (though she does have math degree) so I reluctantly said, "what the hay?" And to be honest, it's good.

If this is something you want to do, here's a "training wheel" tip. Get a haircut at your regular place and just practice keeping it trimmed to get used to the idea and better at the actual cutting.

Buy our estimate, we can easily save between 1000 and 1500 dollars a year by doing this. Your savings may be more or less depending on hair length and city of residence but you get my drift.

"cut it out"

Hello, hello, hellooooooo..............

Brad's wife here - I decided to step in when I read his original post.  I'm the one who teaches finance classes around the city and teaches get out of debt workshops - so I want to address something here.  This suggestion is NOT something I teach or talk about when I'm giving workshops.  This is one of those EXTREME money saving tips - this is something I would share with friends and people who are DESPERATELY trying to find a way to have some extra cash and just cannot find any way to cut and snip any more than they already have.  Think of this tip as coming out of the Get of Debt Master Class.  It's one of the crazier, last suggestions I would give.  Here's why - It's difficult, it will mean experimenting for a while (unless you already know how to professionally cut hair)  It means watching those awesome youtube videos on style and haircut to get some tips.  It is not for the faint of heart.  I have definitely messed up both my and my husband's hair on MANY occasions.  And luckily, we sort of just laugh at it and then wait for it to grow back.  If it's important to you - your hair, your appearance - I would probably not embark on this journey.

But Brad's right - we do save quite a bit.  Not so much on his hair as we do on mine.  I've spent everywhere from $40 to $250 on haircuts.  And spending anything from $40 to $100 has always left me unpleased with my hair stylist and his/her happy scissors.  And this is not without me trying.  If you know me at all, you know my persistence.  I had spent the last 6 years trying to find a hair stylist I could be loyal to.  I found only 1 who could do my hair well, but unfortunately, she charges $250 for a cut.  So my options - spend upwards of $1500 on my hair a year, or learn to do it myself.  I obviously chose the latter.

As for my husband, I'll admit, it began as a fun little game on a Friday night.   'Let's cut your hair!'  and that first hair cut was pretty darn good.  Then a few cuts in, I lost my touch and left him with a not so good cut.  So he went to go get a professional cut - which he hadn't had to do in 5 years because he was consistently working a hosting job that had a stylist on site every month to touch up his hair (hard life for him, right?)  So off he went, spent $45 and came home with this.  

Yikes.  We let it grow out and then I recut it to look like this.

It's not perfect, but I'll keep working at it.

-VR

***** Phone Shot: self
----- Headshot: Peter Hurley peterhurley.com

I get around ...

sometimes for the sake of convenience (which almost always means more money) and time (which if the saying is correct is also money) you find yourself needing to get somewhere faster than public transportation can get you there. Bus and subway aren't going to cut the muster and you need the good old fashioned taxi cab.

Well, if you're using a taxi for speed, it's likely unbearably early in the morning or the same at night when your thoughts are most likely preoccupied with getting to wherever you're going and getting some shut eye. At least, that's my experience.

If the situation and destination is a normal conundrum for you, may I suggest this little chestnut. Know about the route you are likely to travel and/or the quickest way there. On accident or purpose of the driver, my wife and I have been in cabs that did not take the 'crow flies' route as it were and were able to suggest a preferable route for our driver.

If you are travelling on a route with which you are unfamiliar and your phone has GPS or a searchable map program, consider mapping it out. This way, you can bring any concerns about route to your driver and find out if there is reason or not to their navigating.

In short: when taking a cab, know the route you prefer to take by heart (or GPS) and if the route is avoided, politely ask why you're being taken for this ride. There may be a good reason (construction or reports of severe traffic) or there may not. It's simply good to be aware.

The price on the box ...

Something is wrong in the state of shopping, said Marcellus to Horatio, or something like that.

I have shopped at convenience stores, bodegas, those drug/convenience/groceries that a lot of places are changing into, and regular supermarkets. I have, in each of these styles of stores, experienced one thing that TOTALLY rankles me.

Ignorance might be bliss in this situation but it would eventually be a costly joy. You see, in each of these styles of stores, I have picked items off the shelves, mindful of their posted shelf price, went to the counter to purchase said items, only to find out when they are rung up by the cashier, they are "conveniently" more expensive.

Now if you don't notice, and they don't say anything, and you compound that .25 on your one item by the hundreds of other customers who will buy a little or a lot, well . . . the store is making a tidy little profit.

I am always hesitant to cast motives on other people's (or in this case, businesses') actions but it happens so often where we live that you really have to wonder if these are intentional decisions to price an item lower on the shelf and higher in the register.

That aside, I think it's not an unreasonable desire to want to pay the cashier the price on the shelf.

In short:

-keep in mind shelf prices (write them down if you're really worried) especially if part of your intent to buy was based on the lure of a low price.
-pay attention at the cash register, particularly to those items that show 'sale' shelf prices.
-hopefully, keep that money . . . for other things.

Dismissed.

More on vehicle rental ...

Again, I can't ascribe motivation but I'm pretty sure there's an accepted gain on the company's behalf when it comes to their vehicle's gas tank upon the vehicle's return.

There are the obvious ones, which you can't knock because they are there in print on your agreement. If you return a vehicle with less gas than you picked it up, they will charge you, it seems, upwards of 175% of the price of a gallon to refuel it. And that is sometimes on top of a service fee. One vehicle rental place starts with a $30 service fee when you don't return the vehicle with the same amount of gas. That's before their severely marked-up price of gas comes into play. It doesn't mean it's not ridiculous. But they tell you that. So? House rules, I guess.

Then there's the art of gas gauge literacy. Does an employee check it and note it before you take the car? Does the gauge read the same level as is noted on the rental agreement?

That wasn't our most recent experience. We agreed to refuel a vehicle ourselves before we returned it and the agreement printed up and given to us at the counter read "8/8 tank" meaning the tank was full upon release and should be returned as such.

We got in the vehicle and, to our surprise, it was only 3/4 full meaning if we had not noticed this, we'd be on the hook for that 1/4 tank, putting us out 12 or 13 bucks for their oversight. We had to bring this up with the lot attendant and get them to vouch with their signature.

And when we returned it, refueled, we were still issued a refueling charge which they admitted was incorrect and refunded. But it still means an unnecessary hold on my credit card.

On gas in rental cars:

-check to see the recorded level of fuel agrees with what you see on your gauge.
-read your receipt upon return to prevent unnecessary charges that you did nothing to incur.
-READ THE FINE PRINT.

Good night everybody.

Rentals

I'm not going to project an attitude or motivation on them but one way that vehicle rental companies take advantage of, intentionally or unwittingly, your carelessness or haste or lack of attention is by not doing the walk around with you (I've seen this more with cars. They still do this with rental moving trucks in my experience). If they and you do not do this, you can return the car (incident and accident free) and find yourself with a damage claim on your hands.

Insist they do and if they won't but you are stuck renting there, insist on a means to agree on existing damage ... because there will likely be exisiting dings or scratches. We ended up writing on a car rental agreement and having it signed by the lot attendant. Get their signature and printed name (first and last). If they don't stand behind their product with their name, complain and/or go somewhere else.

Anyway, I think most people are trying to cover their bumper, so you have to cover yours.

It's like free money . . .

which as we all know does not exist.

However, it's possible that you have some unclaimed money somewhere as a result of oversight on yours or your employer's part.

Look up in the hypertext! It's a link, it's a bookmark . . . it's . . . it's missingmoney.com.

You might have money in :
-Common types of unclaimed property include:
-Bank accounts and safe deposit box contents
-Stocks, mutual funds, bonds, and dividends
-Uncashed checks and wages
-Insurance policies, CD's, trust funds
-Utility deposits, escrow accounts
-A government sock drawer

(the first six are cribbed from missingmoney.com but you never know about the sock drawer.)

Just enter your name and state or province to find out if there's some money of yours somewhere that needs to be returned to it's rightful owner. Or join for free and it will search it's vast provincial and state databases on your behalf and save your search profile to simplify future repeated searches.

I knew that money was hiding here somewhere.

Shelf life

Anything that has an expiry date will eventually have to come off the shelf of the grocery store. And when it gets close to the date, just like a 'going out of business'sale, everything must go.

My wife and I have benefited from close to date meats, picked them up for 30-40% off. I know bread comes down drastically in price when it's approaching the date.

Keep your eyes peeled for expiry dates and ask your local grocer if they mark down on near date items.

If you don't plan to consume immediately, and it's appropriate, put it in the freezer.

The grocery store still moves product, you walk away with a discount. I think everyone might win.

Those tacks aren't just holding up the map.

As long as I have lived in New York, and in Toronto before that, I've lived in relatively central apartments, very often for convenience's sake. The biggest advantage was convenience. The biggest disadvantage, of course, was the high cost of rent. Gosh. Big money, no whammies rent.

Now, of course, you can split rent by having roommates but if you want to compound the savings even more, you might want to look at the outer edges of the map. I hope you're sitting down, that means you got on early enough in the route. In Winnipeg, we called it Transit Tom, in Toronto, it was the Rocket, actually not that one this one, and in New York, it's the MTA. I think you see where I'm going with this. I'm asking you to consider neighborhoods in the outer limits or boroughs of you city.

There are express routes that take you, likely, further than you've ever been before. But out there, there's more for less. Or the same for less. And you might get a patch of grass, or a balcony, or parking. And with monthly transit passes and departures from near the beginning/end of a particular route, you can definitely find a seat and listen to those podcasts I was telling you about.

You can put the money you save in a high interest online savings account.

Here's your homework. Visit a neighborhood somewhere "out there". Who knows? You might like it.

Just something to consider.

Papa Smurf always says; or New Style Book Learning for the listening watching busy crowd

Isn't that how Brainy would open most of his pontifications? Now if the Smurfs were introduced in 1958 and almost all of them were 100 years old, that would make Brainy around 153-ish. If they're like most animated characters and maintain their age without getting older or younger, dude's still 100 and has been for a long time. You have to believe there was (and continues to be) some serious learning in that mushroom house of his. Either the print was really small, he used the local branch of the SPL, or they also eventually got the internet.

At any rate, there are plenty of health benefits to formal and informal learning. It, along with sleep, exercise, a good diet, and manageable stress levels can contribute to stave off the mental effects of aging, dementia, and alzheimer's.

Can't make it to the library, or your favorite book on hold for someone else? Do you have a long commute or like to listen to something while you're working? Don't have the time and money to audit or take classes at a local school? Maybe, just maybe, iTunesU could be for you. You can learn from over 350,000 lectures spread over countless museums, schools, faculties, focii, and learning levels. If you can't find something that peaks your interest, you aren't trying. Yeah, I said it. It hurts a little, doesn't it? To feel like you're not trying.

I used to live in Banff. They have a world-renowned Arts Centre there. We spell it 'centre'. Don't get weirded out. I'm going to go listen to a discussion on Hope and Imagination with an artist of whom I am a fan, and I'm doing this, wait for it, from the comfort of our old office chair.

Just in case you don't have iTunes.

Now go build some synaptic bridges.

Oh, you're from Vegetaria?

Our pastor was making an illustration today about love and asked what people "love about thanksgiving?" I don't know if people were trying to be hotshots or we're just a bunch of weirdos but it was a good minute before we'd gotten through everything else (including Black Friday, family, and sweet potato casserole) and came up with turkey. To which she responded, "if you loved turkey, you wouldn't kill it and eat it." Touche . . . touche. The point was about the nature of love more than turkeys but it was cause to think.

It's true. If you loved turkey, or chicken, or cows, you would not eat them. I still eat them. I like how they taste cooked. I have the occasional brief philosophical dialogue in my head about it from time to time but, I guess, not enough to give it up cold . . . vegetable.

Here's the strange thing. I know you'll be shocked (not). It's cheaper to not eat meat. I will go so far as to say without exception, it is cheaper to not eat meat. My wife tries it sometimes. I'm thinking about giving it a shot. Perhaps do a little more reading. Review my findings, that sort of thing. And whatever my wife tells me of her own experience with that, I'll pass it on to you.

Some of my friends do a great job of cutting out the meat from their diet.

What's one easy way to see the savings? When you eat out, order vegetarian.

Just something to think about.

Talk and talk and talk and talk ...

It's a small world and a global village and the continent ain't as big as it used to be and people like to keep in touch.

I moved to New York back in twenty-ought-four and most of the people I wanted to keep in touch with (if they weren't where I live) were back in Canada. I didn't have a landline but I had a decent cell phone deal with amazing long distance rates to north of the 49th parallel, so sweet that when the provider realized it's sweetness and the work-arounds some people from Canada were attempting, they shipped that package ... well, it wasn't long for this world.

So what kind of deal is there to be had if you live in the US and want to call Canada or any other part of the US for free and other parts of the world for cheap?

Google Voice sets you up with a custom number, and free texting and voicemail to other parts of the US and Canada. You can access it from your Gmail or Google account on your computer but if you don't want to sit in front of your computer to make free calls, plenty of mobile phones allow you to download the app and take it with you.

All you need is a data plan and with so many flat rate data packages for phones and so many areas with free wifi, you don't have to be held to the long distance minutes of your mobile plan. Simply, through the app on your data network or wifi it turns calls from the US to other parts of the US and Canada into local calls.

But maybe they put it better.

Restaurant.com

Even in the midst of making and saving a living, I don't always want to go home and dig into my 20 lb bag of rice.

Sometimes me and the missus want to get out of the house and go for a nice dinner. Prices at restaurants are coming down but we have a way to take even more advantage of restaurant prices.


Restaurant.com

For the time being you can get $25 food coupons for $10. Do the math. That's a 60% savings. Nose around the website, you can even more. You can get a restaurant.com gift card or e-gift card, worth $100, for only $40.

Was just given the heads up about this by my wife and a friend.

You read it correctly. Those of us with restaurant.com profiles can enjoy $25 gift certs for only $2. Go and set up an account, so you can be privy to these kinds of deals.

I mean, c'mon. You can be frugal but still enjoy.

Now . . . enjoy . . . NOW!

You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man.

I think I've been using my razor blade since last July (barring the week we were in Winnipeg where I used my dad's). What's this about? Follow the bread crumbs!

Sooo, a couple of things. I was pleasantly surprised at how funny Gingy (the gingerbread man) was in the Shrek movies. Very funny. Very satisfying. Couldn't ever justify seeing any of that franchise in the theaters. Seeing Shrek the Third (in the theatre), in fact, was the subject of animated discussion between my wife and I prior to our subsequent courtship. I'm certain it was my adamant refusal that planted the seeds of love. So principled.

Anyway, my topic, and I do have one, is running.

My wife and I are non-competitive distance runners. So we do the miles but we ain't breaking any records. We still want to squeeze every last mile out our shoes.

Two ways to save over the long haul with running shoes.

1) Don't be fooled by mild wear on the sole. Just because you see some wear does not mean you have to replace the shoe. Not a big deal. If it's really rainy or icy out, you probably shouldn't be going too quickly anywhere . . . which brings to mind one of my personal chestnuts, "If you're going too fast to control yourself, you're probably going too fast." I think it's true walking, running, driving, or in relationships.

-Sole wear is natural and you don't need to replace your shoes at the first sign of it.

2)Secondly, think about the way you run. Are you a heel striker? Are you a fore foot striker? There are schools of thought that suggest modern running shoe technology has not been good for the mechanics of running. I'm inclined to agree. Instead of running on the balls of our feet, as we're inclined in bare feet or in the shoes you see in old marathon pictures, we have these cushiony heels. These are great for walking but not as necessary or useful for running. If you think of your knee and your ankle as shock absorbers they diffuse the shock of the impact that runs up your leg with each foot strike. If you land on the heel, the impact has one less joint to diffuse through. However, if you land and take off from the forefoot, you're using both the ankle and the knee to absorb shock thereby taking some of the load off of the shoe, which is why you bought the expensive cushioning show in the first place. Anyway, don't answer now, just think about it.

-If you let your body cushion your stride when running, you don't have to spend so much extra money doing it artificially.

If you're thinking of changing anything about the way you run, do it slowly.

Run to the hills.

Everybody neat and pretty? Then on with the show! (with regards to the original Mickey Mouse Club)

Want to save money in the shaving department.

Here are a couple of tips.

Shave every day. Wha? Shouldn't that shorten the life of your razor? My personal experience is that it is easier to remove a day's growth, then multiple days (or, of course, weeks).

Use less shaving cream. Ration. Whether cream or gel, be diligent about spreading the dab on your hands all over your face. When you think you need to put more in your hands, STOP! Try to spread the existing lather over that beautiful canvas of yours.

Home sharpening. I've seen many suggestions on extending the life of your razor. What works for me, in addition to rationing shaving gel and regular shaving, is sharpening the current blade in my safety razor on my arm. If you've used a straight razor or seen one used, you'll see they sharpen those bad boys on a leather strap. Much akin to this, when my blade is dull, I run the razor backwards up my arm (if it's removing your arm hair, YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY). About a dozen firm strokes should dislodge any hair in the blades and do a decent job of cleaning and sharpening them. I've used the same blade for months.

And I guess if you don't have to (LUCKY), don't shave. That'll work too.

Toodle-oo and cheers

Google Shopperson; the Shoppingest Guy in Shoptown

There are so many tasks where using the internet or computer (or BBS!?) used to seem like such a strange idea. We can all think of things we never thought we'd use a computer for that we use it for now.

Shopping online?

It had been the stuff of speculation for decades. Heck, Amazon has been online since 1995. Now it's, well, it's pretty dang common. Which sorting and aggregating option do we like when it comes to online shopping?

Would you believe it's a google tool. Type in your item at Google Shopping and you can sort by price, stipulate if you want to go to the brick and mortar building with "in stock nearby", if you want the search to only return results with free shipping, price range, and more.

Here's a recent search I made where you can tool around and get an idea of your search options.

Handle with care.

on getting fit ...

When you are trying to develop a habit, I have heard and read relentlessly, the most important thing you can do is make the time to do it. The word is it takes 3 weeks of consistent practice to incorporate a new habit into your life. Everybody has varying degrees of free time or some amount upon which they might be able to piggy back things.

So once you've carved out the time, what do you do?

Keep it simple, stupid.

You have enough on your plate without having to become an expert on fitness. You are likely an expert on something (I hope it is useful and it pays well) and there are already plenty of fitness experts.

We wanted something we could do, that we didn't have to design or join something for and, believe it or not, our answer came in an 8 dollar fitness cd.

We've done it 4 or 5 times since we got it two weeks ago. There are 3 different levels of exertion (I'm confident in focusing on the lowest for a few more weeks) and each is only 20 minutes. I really used to think this kind of thing was lame, but I also used to play outside a lot more.

But, most of all get out there. It brings to mind a story my wife told me. She said a friend of hers challenged her to do one complete pushup, all the way down and all the way up. If you don't know how that story ends, try doing one complete pushup. Bet you did two. Because, I mean, since you're down there.

So how about this. Walk 5 minutes from your house and then walk back. The CBC World Report is 10 minutes long. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? I bet you might even walk for 11 minutes. If you want me to find a podcast for you, msg me in the comments.

Do you have any Grey Groupon AKA clipping for the modern age

With the popularization of the internet over the last fifteen years a lot of the different ideas and tools we use in meatspace have had to make their digital transition. The biggest of the last couple of days is this guy.

We all remember our folks clipping and using coupons for different things at the store. And coupons were just one more thing subject to the transitions of this new medium.

I can recall different emails offering savings before but one of the most interesting trends in coupon-like savings have been those deal-of-the-day sites. And the easiest to recall, to my mind is Groupon.

Here's how it works. You set up an account indicating your city (at the very least), you'll be sent an email and once you click the associated link, your account is active. Each day you are sent an email with a deal for your area. The deal is available if enough people buy it, otherwise you are charged nothing. I can't remember a deal not 'tipping' (meaning one that didn't activate on account of not enough interest). Like I said, when you fancy one of the daily deals, buy it, print a copy (or use a compatible mobile device) and take it to the business in questions to receive your deal.

We've had our teeth cleaned, got massages, went to the Ripley's museum ... all for way less than retail.

See if there's a Groupon in your area ... NOW

Oil, you startled me. Man, those floors are shiny. What's your secret?

Looks who's here. It's vegetable oil! Wow, I didn't know you were coming over.

Besides being a crucial ingredient in my grandmother's amazing rice casserole (nostalgia and loyalty aside; hands down the best rice casserole I've ever had the chance to enjoy. perhaps I will share it here one day), vegetable oil can also be used as a cheap natural hardwood floor polish.

As an aside, isn't it strange that hardwood floors took a little break from being in vogue. Well, they're BACK! With a vengeance. Anyone see Bruce Willis in Red? I digress.

All you have to do is mix it in a 1:1 ratio with vinegar, put it in a spray bottle and voila! That's french.

Spray on floor and wipe with a damp cloth. Leave to sit for a short time if floor is particularly scuffed.

We've found vinegar for 1.69 here.

And vegetable oil is probably cheaper there than the $7.99/gallon I saw at Meijer.

Even with those prices, to make a pint of wood polish in a spray bottle:

1 cup of vinegar - .11
1 cup of vegetable oil - .50

That's 61 cents.

You're welcome.

Keep fit and have fun ...

Now, if you're Canadian and reading this, you probably remember the title expression from Canadian fitness stalwarts Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod and their BodyBreak series of tv interstitials beckoning us north of 49ers to get physical even as far back as the eighties. Interestingly, they're still going strong. I'd put a lot of the blame on their health and fitness regimen.

The late great Jack Lalanne said, "Fitness is king, nutrition is queen, put them together and you have a kingdom." Good advice, sir.

If you've never instituted a habit of exercise, it is never too late to start. Anything is more than nothing . . . even a walk around the block. But the important thing is consistency.

Do you need a place to go to solely exercise? Sometimes helps. Live in a small apartment? I'd put money on that if you're in NY.

For those of us in NY who want a place to go exercise, swim, play pick up sports, I can think of no better place than the NYC system of recreation centers.

For adults, it only costs $75 a year to work out and enjoy any city rec center in the 5 boros.

If you're thinking of joining a gym, consider that your gym might cost $75/month (not uncommon in this city) so you'd be alright to pay the year's fee at the rec center and try it out for a month to see if it fits your schedule. If that's not enough, the rec centers are free on the first Monday of every month and they won't bat an eyelash if you want to look around your local one.

Classes more your style? Shape Up NYC offers free classes throughout the city.

NYCe work, my city!!!

No excuse folks. Dismissed. Be careful out there.

Oooh ooh ooh ... the latter day barter system

Here's something I've known about for some time but only recently tried out. Wait, where's the preamble?

Usually when you know someone who is giving something away, you don't need it and vice versa. How do you make sure the working/gently used items/appliances/clothing you no longer need gets passed along to someone who can definitely use it/them, saving you a trip to the thrift store and doing your part in limiting consumption and promoting responsible material stewardship.

DRUM ROLL

freecycle.org

It's the parent site where you can find the listing for your local version and message board but basically it works like this; you join the message board and determine your notice settings. Some places get lots of postings so you may not want them all coming to your inbox, however that is up to you. You can check postings that will be headed WANTED (when you are looking for something specific), OFFER (when you have something specific you want to get rid of) and TAKEN (once the item is off the table).

I accidentally broke our larger coffee pot a few months ago and a complete full size coffee maker showed up on our city's freecycle page. You better believe I contacted them right quick. Now if 10 of you come to our place and want one cup of coffee each, WE ... ARE ... SET.

There are also other bartering and free type alternative economy sites. I know Craigslist has FREE listings and if your town, through freecycle or criagslist, doesn't have this type of site, there's nothing to setting up an online message board yourself.

Here's our local freecycle for you to have a browse.

Eat more vegetables.

What do you think? Tell us in the comments. What do others think? Share us with the buttons below.

Shampoo(p)

Here's my brief bull on toiletries (I think). We are mostly sold a bill of goods when it comes to what we need to clean or put on or in our body and hair and it's up to us as consumers to research most claims and speak with our wallets.

The bottom line for today is that most of what I write here is about the bottom line. Caveat being ... I would not recommend something I wouldn't do myself.

Want cleaner hair for cheaper but you don't want added chemicals or animal testing. Our favorite grocery store, Trader Joe's has great sulfate free, animal test free shampoo and conditioner for 2 or 3 dollars per litre/quart. Buuuuutttt, if you can't get to one of those and you don't want to break the bank. It's two steps. Step one: Baking soda and water paste. Step two: Vinegar and water solution.

Sooo ...

My wife uses about a table spoon of baking soda and water and forms it into paste to wash her hair. And then she rinses with vinegar. I could probably get away with a teaspoon. Note: I will adopt this habit but I'm still using the leftovers of a bottle of shampoo from last spring despite what I've learned from cursory reading. It's true though, you really only need a dime sized dollop.

Then she mixes a one-to-one ratio of apple cider vinegar to water and pours that in.

My wife's hair smells fine and feels clean and soft. Seriously, since everything beyond the root is not actually alive, what else can you ask for?

The basic math. Baking soda's about a dollar a pound.
I could stretch it to 3 months.
She likely 1 month.

4 litres or 1 gallon of white vinegar is $1 and change to $4-ish.
The same of apple cider vinegar is between $8 and $15.

If you use 1/8 cup vinegar and 1/8 cup water, you could stretch it to about 4 months. That's 2 months if you're making a 1/2 cup solution.

I've heard of some people premixing an amount to use over the week. And others who have bypassed the water and just mixed the baking soda and vinegar. Now that's a spicy science fair volcano meatball. But the tingling means it's working.

Plus you avoid chemical additives like propylene glycol found in deodorant and antifreeze, sodium lauryl sulfate (found in engine degreasers) and sodium laureth sulfate which, "has been shown to produce eye or skin irritation in experimental animals and in some human test subjects. Some products containing SLES have been found to contain low levels of the carcinogen 1,4-dioxane, with the recommendation from the FDA that these levels be monitored"

I mean, as you might have read, or already know, the skin is the body's largest organ and whatever you put on it, including your scalp, can and will leach into your system.

And you create less waste, because you did not end up with thick (likely) plastic bottles that end up in the recycling bin or the garbage.

Others experience dictates it will take some time to get used to this method (up to a couple of weeks) but it is worth it.

In Summary:
You need: Baking soda, apple cider vinegar, water
You get: sulfate free, chemical free, animal friendly, clean hair for pennies a usage.
You don't miss: the additional plastic bottles shampoo is sold in.
Now that's a deal!


On your way, then.

A person's gotta eat right?

Pre-pared is always more expensive and often worse for you than home cooked. That said cooking at home can be time consuming if you're only cooking one meal for one or two people.

At our place, we often cook and put in the fridge. The risk there is that it goes bad. I threw out some cooked cauliflower (after eating some of it; how else could I tell it was done for) last night.

We have been most successful buying large amounts of non-perishables (grains; rice, quinoa, millet), medium amounts of meat or items one can freeze and then a few days worth of fruit and vegetables.

Where can you go as far as the staples, specifically grains and meats, since we recommend the farmers' market for your fruits and vegetables.

We highly recommend two places. And I bet there are places like them wherever you are.

Western Beef is one. Follow the link to see what's on sale this week if you live in the NY area.

And think about going in with friends. Often there are specials available if you spend a certain amount of money. We purchased a 20lb bag of rice for $5, stipulation being we spent $50 in addition. But even if that sale isn't on, they sell a 20lb bag for $8.99 regularly. I literally took months to finish off that sack. At about 2 1/2 cups of uncooked rice per pound, that's 50 cups of uncooked rice. That is a lot of rice. And like many grains, it can be served savoury or sweet. But I digress. Deals-a-poppin' at Western Beef. They give rain checks and ours is open 7A-10P (6:30AM from Friday-Sunday) so you can pick up before or after work.

TRADER JOE'S

The other is Trader Joe's. With locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, Trader Joe's is one of our favorites for extremely reasonable prices on good and, if you want, organic products. Large jars of pasta sauce and peanut butter (my favorite! ingredient list: peanuts) are less than $2. There are always food samples (hot or cold depending on the time of day) and coffee samples. And they're the originator of 2 buck Chuck, a wine by Charles Shaw made famous by it's price. It's pretty good. My wife and I had a white not too long ago. You can cross the threshold of this particular merchant from 9A-10P daily.

So shop at places like these, and cook at home. It still overwhelms me sometimes but, oh, the money we save.

Call your mother.

High Interest Online (Savings) Accounts

Yes sir or madam. I'll say it again. High Interest Online Accounts.

The gist is this. They don't have a brick-and-mortar building in 'meatspace'. They're not faced with the overhead cost of that presence and they insist on certain conditions to which you must adhere to benefit from their high level of interest. But believe you me, it's worth it.

Sure, a couple of years ago, you might be able to get a percent interest in your local bank savings account and anywhere from 4-7% online. These are not those times. Don't fret. The fact is, it is still a really simple way to have your money work for you. As I said, there are conditions and there aren't too many risks. For our American readers, your money is FDIC insured up to about $250,000. And if you're socking away more than that, you probably aren't reading this blog right now.

So you're looking for one of these accounts . . . and you definitely should . . . here are some questions for which you need answers.

-Is there a minimum balance?
-Do you need a minimum or require amount of transfers or transactions?
-What is the rate of interest?
-Does it apply to your entire deposit?

As an example, we've been looking at this online credit union account:

As you'll see if you click through, there are stipulations to benefit from their current interest rate of 3.25% but if you can make it happen, it's worth it. But the simple math is you'll receive $3.25 annually for every $100 you have in the account for the year.

An explanation of Annual Percentage Yield.

Some thoughts and suggestions for this years better interest bearing accounts.

Simple ways like this help your money to work for you. It could keep the lights on another month.

Happy hunting!

More than just a blog ... AKA introduction redux

My wife facilitates personal finance, get-out-of and remain-out-of debt workshops. Following these, people will often ask her if there's a way to continue the conversation, ask questions, or follow up on the concepts as they go into practice. She's also a working actress and a career counselor at an acting school and we are also relatively newlywed (August of last year) so that leaves her time pretty consumed. Since questions of finance are something we all face, I decided I would start a blog that would talk about the things she shares and the ways in which we manage, utilize, and save our own money. The blog entries you will find here are and will be merely our suggestions and ideas/principles that help, and work for, us.

But much like those workshops, we want this to be a place for dialogue. If you have tips or ways that you've found useful in keeping more of your money or you have questions about what we suggest, we encourage you to post. It's through this (con)textual conversation that we can better foster this community, a fiscally responsible (as we define it) attitude, and a prepared collective outlook to continue to weather the currently volatile and always fragile financial climate.

Your questions and comments on this blog are encouraged and necessary.

Have a good sleep.

There's cheap and then there's free.

I'm beginning to believe that it pays (in many ways) to travel light. Use what is needed, leave the rest. Lighten your load. The part of your load about which I speak this day is your media.

We all read, and watch, and listen to books, and movies, and music. We do this for many reasons. Self improvement, relaxation, education, inspiration, escape. Whatever your reason, it's easy to let the costs of these hobbies get away from you. Renting adds up (for movies). Buying adds up even faster (for any sort of media).

I've got some great news.

I know a place where you can get free movies, free music, and free books. All you need is a proof of address, identification, and an awareness and ability to respect due dates. Seriously. The New York Public Library.

They have a huge and constantly updated supply of books, music, and media right up to completely new and a lot of the Criterion Collection of movies. If what you want is not immediately available, just add it to your hold list and when it is, they will send it to the library of your choice and notify you by email or phone.

Particularly with the DVDs, you have to watch the due date. They charge $3 per day if you are late in returning, however if your movie is not on hold, you can simply renew it in your online account without even casting a shadow on the door of your local branch.

Right now I'm having a couple of trade paperbacks (comics) for subway reading and my wife and I are watching "I Love Lucy" season two.

Get your passport to an adventure of the mind. It's a link to get a Library Card, just in case I was too vague.

All the best.

Did you hear the one about the ... olive oil? with ADDENDUM

It's your largest organ, unless you're Macy's Center City in Philly and you'd do well to take care of it. So many factors play into it's health and upkeep. There's weather, diet, sleep, liquid intake, moisturizing. We'll talk about moisturizing today. I am speaking, of course, about your epidermis. That's right! Your skin. And until we live in a post snowpocalyptic weather-perfect bubble where we eat properly, stay hydrated, sleep and exercise appropriately, entries like this one will help and help save money.
How can you cheap on moisturizer and avoid preservatives like paraben? How about Olive Oil? How can you cheap on moisturizer and avoid pesticides and production related chemicals? How about Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Olive Oil? By spritzing it on during or post shower, you can naturally soften and moisturize skin with a product whose origin is delicious olives and not a cosmetic moisturizer with chemicals whose names might as well be an alien language for all they tell us of their genesis. And you kind of feel like you're basting yourself . . . which I suppose you are.
If the smell of the olive oil is not to your liking, consider a couple drops of an essential oil like peppermint, or lemon oil whose use also serves an aromatherapeutic benefit.

ADDENDUM: My wife was doing some research and she discovered that edible oils are also recommended for babies as a moisturizer. The principle behind this being that infants are putting every available appendage in their mouth and, with an edible oil like vegetable or olive, they won't be ingesting the additives or impurities not meant for the digestive system but found in moisturizers and baby oils. So ... vegetable or extra virgin olive oil (cold pressed), preferably organic, for baby, and extra virgin olive oil (organic/cold pressed) for you.

Don't forget, a little goes a long way.

Summary:
Olive Oil as a low cost moisturizer. Essential oil as an aromatherapy. Knowing exactly what you're putting on your body. All good things.

Click here to see how low you can go.

Water, water, everywhere.

My wife and I were talking about how to save money with water and having a hard time deciding if we should deliver these types of goods this early in the game. Let's just say . . . I hope you've got fresh elastic in your socks.

In my opinion, buying bottled water is a huge, wasteful, unnecessary expense. I have done it though. Cards on the table and all. But here's the thing, at least here in the town so nice they named it twice (New York, New York), the tap water is quite delish.

Here are a couple ways to save with tap water, postcluding (new word) the initial overhead you might incur.

You need a bottle. Should it be bpa free? Yes, ideally. My favorite reason to support this assertion, as quoted from the Wikipedia entry for BPA:

"A 2009 study on Chinese workers in BPA factories found that workers were four times more likely to report erectile dysfunction, reduced sexual desire and overall dissatisfaction with their sex life than workers with no heightened BPA exposure. BPA workers were also seven times more likely to have ejaculation difficulties. They were also more likely to report reduced sexual function within one year of beginning employment at the factory, and the higher the exposure, the more likely they were to have sexual difficulties."

Boo.

There are also studies that suggest it's presence in your body is linked to different health problems like heart disease, diabetes and other health issues.

Now, you can go with the stainless steel bottles or the BPA free plastic bottles. The neat thing about the plastic bottles is that some of them are collapsible (http://www.amazon.com/Collapsible-Reusable-BPA-free-Drink-Bottle/dp/B0039M9KMK) and thus space saving as well as long-term money saving.

If you travel on a plane for work or pleasure, you well know that airport beverages are crazy expensive. Well, at least for now, there are still water fountains past security.

If you tire of water's flavorlessness there are these amazing powdered drink packets you can buy in packs of ten, each for a bottle of water, for like a buck at your grocer. It's the difference between 10 cents and 2 dollars likely. And it all adds up.

Spend less on coffee

There's a bank print ad right now that says the client doesn't want bank fees because their coffee is already a big enough expense. Man, that ad makes me angry.
One habit I miss as a result of trying to save money is buying coffee. I used to occasionally go to coffee shops and enjoy their wares. They could brew a good cup of coffee. The people were nice, it was a relaxing environment if I had time to sit but the coffee was expensive. I guess you were paying for the environment, the staff and the coffee.
House blend: 1.90ish

After that I started buying from a local bodega (what you might call a convenience store outside of the northeast US). It immediately cut that expense by more than half. BANG! I knew the counter guys and they knew how I liked my coffee.
Bodega coffee: 0.75

The tighter money got, the more EVERYTHING became up for review, including bodega coffee. How do you cut that expense even more? Make it at home. Near as I can tell, it doesn't go bad. It's one of those things you can buy in bulk and, if you really want, you can keep it in freezer. How cheap? Well, our local farmer's market sells it for $5 a pound including flavored and decaf flavored.
Stiles Farmer's Market 352 W 52nd St, Theater District
Even Dunkin' Donuts was doing $5 a pound recently if you bought 4.
Other places sell coffee for even cheaper.
In town, drug stores often have door crasher sales on coffee. At RiteAid, we bought a 2 pound tin for 5 or 6 dollars. That's $2.50 or $3 a pound.

Summary: Make your own coffee. Save at the farmer's market or through door crasher sales. Go in with friends if there's a minimum and you can't afford it. If you think you need coffee, there are cheaper ways. Good luck.

Let's get started

They say the recession is over. It might be. It doesn’t look like it from here. It’s a balancing act really. Be aware of greater economic trends and waves but also monitor your own financial expenses and investments. 

What does that mean? It means, what is important to you? What do you want how you spend your money to say about you? For some people, even this is a luxury right now. For some people, the most important thing is covering day-to-day expenses. There are so many ways to look at y(our) finances and so many places to start but at the end of the day, ideally, you want to have more than you began with, or at least feel like you are more ahead than behind. That is something like what this blog will be about. We will refine its financial focus and, at the very least, offer practical, hopefully simple ways to use your money wisely. One foot in front of the other …