Here's a link that I want to share with everyone. Simple Living Site

This website is a discussion board for the book Your Money or Your Life

It not only includes discussion boards for the book, but discussions on Frugality, Housing, Consumerism, Community and much more.

I visit this site daily and am constantly finding new, useful information.

This is a great place to find people to use as a sounding board and to find inspiration from people who have already been there and done that.

Check it out and let me know what you think!?!

Spyros and I went with 6 other people to an event in Madison called Rhythm and Booms. It's a large fireworks show with a carnival, food, a baseball game and disgusting porta-potties.

We had fun for a very small amount of money. We got there early (about 4:30 pm) so we could park for free in a lot next to the carnival and lots of open, grassy space.

All of us had brought coolers packed with yummy food and folding chairs to lounge on.

We had entertainment by actually conversing with each other, (Amazing that people still can find this fun with television, video games, etc....), playing chess and cards, reading and just people watching.

Then at 9:30 pm we were treated to the fireworks display.

So frugal thought for the day: There are so many free activities just waiting for you to take advantage of them. Be willing to try something new, since you never know if you'll like it. And if it's free, there's not much holding you back!

If you're in the Madison area I would love to hear of any free events that you know of or participate in.

Personal Finance for Dummies by Eric Tyson

I highly recommend everyone to go to the library and check this book out. I really think it would be a great help to anyone just starting to take control of their finances. I also think it is a good review for anyone who is more financially stable. And they may be able to find more information that they never knew about before.

This book is very user friendly, with thoughts, ideas, and facts that are very easy to understand.

I am going to include the Table of Contents so you can see what it covers.

Part I: Why You Can’t Manage Your Finances
Chapter 1: You’re Not Dumb, but You May Be Financially Illiterate
Chapter 2: Measuring Your Financial Health
Chapter 3: Hiring Financial “Help”

Part II: Saving More of What You Earn
Chapter 4: Where Did It Go?
Chapter 5: Getting Out of Debt
Chapter 6: Putting Your Spending on a Diet
Chapter 7: Taxes, Taxes, and More Taxes
Chapter 8: Financial Independence (Retirement)**
Chapter 9: The Mortgage: Debt with a Lot of Zeros Behind It

Part III: Investing What You Save
Chapter 10: Investments Basics
Chapter 11: Mutual Funds
Chapter 12: Investing Money Outside Retirement Accounts
Chapter 13: Investing Money Inside Retirement Accounts
Chapter 14: Investing for Educational Expenses
Chapter 15: Real Estate 101

Part IV: Protecting What You’ve Got
Chapter 16: Insurance Basics
Chapter 17: Insurance on You
Chapter 18: Insurance for Your Assets

Part V: The Part of Tens
Chapter 19: Ten Most Common Financial Mistakes
Chapter 20: Ten Questions to Ask Financial Planners Before you Hire Them
Chapter 21: Ten Costly Financial Planning and Tax Mistakes
Chapter 22: Ten Great Financial Software Packages

**If you want to be Financially Independent before you retire, read Your Money or Your Life. Spryos and I have just started this program and are very excited and can already see positive changes.

The Ten Most Common Financial Mistakes are:
1. Not Planning
2. Overspending
3. Buying on Credit
4. Not saving (early) enough for retirement (and overpaying taxes)
5. Falling prey to financial sales pitches
6. Not doing your homework
7. Making decisions based on emotion
8. Not separating the wheat from the chaff
9. Exposure to catastrophic risk
10. Focusing too much on money

To read more about these mistakes, and to gather more information that will help you with your money and your life; Check this book out (from your library.) And don’t forget to return it on time to save yourself the late charges.

So, I remembered it was my Mother-in-Law's birthday at 4 pm yesterday, but did I fret? No.

I picked up the phone and called her to wish her a Happy Birthday. Then I went to my gift closet and took out the two gifts that I had bought earlier this year. Since we'll be seeing her today, I'll wrap them up (in paper I got for 90% off) and we'll be good to go.

So frugal and simplictic thought for today: Gift Closets (or drawers, or space under your bed, or behind that piece of furniture you have kitty-korner in your living room, or wherever else you can think of.)

Whenever I find something at a really good price that I know someone I exchange gifts with would like (garage sale or after season sale) I pick it up.

I then write it on my master gift list and who it is for. This way I don't have to dig around in the closet looking for gifts, I just check my sheet.

This has saved us lots of money and loads of time with not having to run all over town looking for a last minute gift.

Another thing that I do is, throughout the year whenever someone mentions something that they would like, I write it down on my gift suggestions list.

People are constantly saying what great gift givers we are. I just smile to myself and think: Anyone could be great gift givers if they just actually listen to what people say and pay attention to what they like and what their hobbies are.

This really does save you lots of time and money. Even if you have small living quarters you can still find a place (or places) to store your gifts. Just be creative.

And don't forget to make a master sheet of what gifts you have, who they go to, and where you put them (if you have more than one gift spot).

The van isn't too bad. The front bumper and left light are pretty well smashed. Spyros will need to pull some of the body out, reshape it as best he can and attach a new light somehow.

Linda (MIL) and the other person are fine. His vehicle just has a little scratch/ding on the bumper.

Linda got a $84 ticket for inattentive driving.

So frugal thought for the day. For the love of God pay attention when you're driving.

Nothing is that important that you need to talk on your cell phone. If you really do need to (perhaps someone is in the hospital, etc...), pull over and talk. Or if there is someone else riding with you, have them talk.

And for the love of whatever else you believe in, don't drive drunk, drugged, or in a distressed state. Find someone else to drive for you. Or stay where you are until you can drive.

And finally, use your damn blinkers. Communication people!!! Communication is the building block in everything. If I was a cop I would be stopping anyone who did not use their turn signal.

Okay enough of my rant! But seriously please drive safely and pay attention. You'll save money on tickets, higher insurance costs, and more.

Just a quick post, don't want you to think I've forgot about you.

Computer didn't work yesterday, Mother in Law got into a car accident with our vehicle today.

So frugal thought; Make sure your insurance is up to date!!!

Wish me luck, and send positive thoughts our way.

Thanks to Kat the subject I will be talking about (or actually sending you to a couple of websites that wrap up the information perfectly) is The Price Book.

This is a valuable tool for anyone on a budget. It is generally used for food, but can easily be adapted for anything else you buy.

I read about the Price Book over and over again when reading various information of frugality, but kept putting off starting one.

When I finally did, I could have kicked myself! It's so easy to find the best bargains with this tool.

I've found that after using the Price Book for awhile that I started to slip and not add information as much. So advice to all you long-timers: If you've been neglecting your Price Book give it a good going over and use that powerful tool again.

For those of you who have never heard of, or haven't started one yet, here are two great sites that will help you get started.

Of course if you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear them.

PriceBookSite

When you get to the site, click on explore our site and go to Time and Money. Then click on Price Book Guide.

SecondPriceBookSite

My Dear Husband finished Your Money or Your Life today. We will begin the program tomorrow.

The first step is to figure out all the money that you've made so far. It's not as difficult as it may seem, since you can go to the Social Security website and request this information.

Of course it doesn't include any money you didn't report, such as; Baby-sitting, Yard Work, Cash, etc...

We've already got our Social Security statements and will be racking our brain for other income.

You must also add up all your assets. Cars, Furniture, Jewlery, etc....

And the last part of Step One is to add up all your debt. Car Payments, Student Loans, Mortgage, etc....

Should be an eye opening experience that we're eager to do.

So the frugal thought for today: Go through all your items and do a household inventory. After doing this check your insurance rates to see if you have too much insurance or not enough.

You may be able to lower your insurance payments if you have too much.

Went to some garage sales and did some other errands yesterday in the Jeep with the top off. The breeze, the wonderful smells, the sunburn!!!

The best thing for sunburn is to put sun block on and keep reapplying it.

But if you enjoy the Rudolph look and the chance of cancer. Then after you bake, I've found aloe vera to work the best.

Keep a plant at your house and break a piece off when needed. This looks pretty, adds oxygen to your house and works wonders.

Keeping it short, so I can go outside and enjoy. Hope you do too!!!

A book review for you on this gorgeous Friday morn. One of the best things for you (in my humble opinion) is to read. You can't wait for the time, you have to make the time.

Even if it's 15 minutes before you go to bed. You're exercising your mind, which helps your soul. And we all can use a little help in that department.

You never know what you will learn or where you can travel. So head down to your library and grab whatever catches your fancy. Just remember to return it on time, so you don't get any late fees!

Cheapskate in the Kitchen: Mary Hunt

Good for someone who is new to cooking, but also has some good frugal recipes, ideas, and in season fruit/veggie chart that could be useful for those with some experience. I found the season chart very helpful since we’ve been eating and cooking with more fruits and veggies, and its helpful to know what are good bargains and when.

Starts off with kitchen equipment and pantry items that you will need to cook from scratch. Its good how she breaks down the kitchen equipment. Like her, I believe everything in the first list is a must have, but there are many items in the following lists that I don’t think are needed.

Hunt then goes on to tell the different meanings behind the various cooking terms. Useful, but any good cookbook, such as: Complete Betty Crocker or Joy of Cooking would be able to tell you this.

For herbs the best place that Hunt says to buy is from a Health Food Store, then Grocery Store, then Schilling or McCormick. But if you can grow herbs yourself, all the better.

Here's a great recipe from the book. We've been trying to eat less meat and more beans, so I'm always on the lookout for a good, easy recipe.

Simply Elegant Black Bean Soup
Nancy Guth
8 Servings

2 16 oz cans of black beans
1 16 oz can Mexican style stewed tomatoes
1 12 oz can shoepeg corn

Open cans, don’t drain. Put everything into large pot and heat thoroughly. Serve with dollop of sour cream and cilantro. Make Mexican Cornbread for a side dish. Jiffy has a cheap and good cornbread mix.

The last part of the book has ideas on entertaining with some recipes, etiquette, etc... thrown in.

Defiantly worth checking out from the library if you are new to frugal living or cooking from scratch. There may be some recipes you want to copy down. And you will probably find some of the tips very helpful.

One tip that I found was to put oil into a spray bottle instead of using the aerosol cans. Better for the environment and works just as well.

Also go to your library and browse through their cookbook section. This is a great way to get recipes. (Or if you know exactly what you"re looking for, go on the internet.) I recommend getting either The Joy of Cooking or a Complete Betty Crocker Cookbook. And my favorite cookbook is More With Less by Doris Longacre.

What a great feeling it is to give. Especially items that you no longer use and are cluttering up your home.

My Father-in-Law, Nick, bought a house on Monday. (I may have mentioned this, but I don't remember.)

We have a desk in the laundry room that we don't use, so I asked him if he wanted it.

Not only does this produce goodwill from him, but helps us out since we were going to put a free ad in the paper.

So give, give, and give.

Invite some friends/family over and go through your stuff. Their company will keep you motivated. (And there's usually one in every group who will keep you on task. I admit I'm the one!) Plus when you're done, who knows what treasures your helpers will go away with.

Everytime they use the items they got from you, they will be thinking of you. And unknowingly or not, they will be sending warm thoughts and thanks your way.

So my darling husband comes home and tells me that there is a couch and love seat frame, made of wood and very sturdy, sitting outside waiting for the garbage men to pick up.

In our city the garbage men do not pick up furniture, you must take it to the dump or destroy it and put it out a little at a time.

So I asked Spyros to pick them up when he went out to deliver mail. He did, and now I'm the proud owner of two wood frames.

After we get/make some cushions for them we're going to use the love seat as a bench in the back hallway to help with shoe removal.

The couch is going to be used as a bench/couch for our dining room table.

I've been on the lookout for a bench by the shoe area, and 2 benches by the dining table. I would have to say this is a wonderful start.

Frugal thought: Don't be afraid to grab that item next to a dumpster or on your neighbor's lawn.

If you don't think it's up for grabs, knock on the door and ask. Or if you know it's free, but still feel weird, wait until dark to pick it up.

By taking free items you're doing the environment a great favor by saving it from more garbage being dumped into it. And you're doing your wallet an even greater favor.

We've gotten many very good items by finding them on the side of the road or next to a dumpster.

I'll have more dumpster diving tips later this week, or next.

Until then, hope you have a frugal day!!!

Be very cafeful when purchasing anything, to ask yourself if you really need it.

How much upkeep and repairs will it take, and is it worth it.

Can you find something else that you already have that will work in it's place.

Ask this about everything you buy. Even that value meal at a restuarant. Can you go home or to the grocery store and buy something better.

A great example is when we feel the urge to go to the Sub shop, we'll go to the grocery store instead and get some French bread, sandwich fixings and a bag of chips on sale. Not only do we have a meal comprable to the Sub shop, but we always have left-overs for a few more meals. And it's usually cheaper than buying the sandwiches at the Sub shop.

We constantly do this, but like everyone mess up from time to time.

If you need to, put a list of these questions and any others that you may ask, in your wallet or purse. And pull them out everytime you're buying something, until it becomes automatic to ask these questions.

Best of luck! And I hope you spend frugally and with good results.

So we get our Home Owner's Insurance bill, and it's about $200 more than last year. No way, am I paying for this much of an increase. I flat out refuse.

My husband called on Friday and we didn't get a call back. I called about 5 minutes ago and left a message.

It is one of my biggest pet peeves when people do not return phone calls, especially when it's in regards to me paying them money.

So I will be informing our agent (who my husband's been with for about 10 years, and we've been with for 5), that if he doesn't do much better, I will be going elsewhere.

I don't care how much I like someone, I will not pay any more than I feel is proper.

So frugal thought: Shop around for better prices on insurance. It may take time and be frustrating, but I like the money better in my account than theirs.

And if more people actually did shop around instead of just letting it be, prices would drop.

Remember they are working for you, so get your money's worth.

We put the air conditioner in our room today. Spyros sleeps during the day, so it's necessary if he ever wants to fall asleep.

I personally do not like a/c. The air smells so stale to me, and I don't just feel cool, I feel chilled to the bone.

So my frugal thing with a/c is to not use it in the rest of the house. I will keep the blinds drawn, the lights off, and clothing to a minimal.

If I do get too warm, I'll go into the basement and read, throw darts, or do something else down there.

So next time you go to crank up the air, think of our ancestors who survived just fine without it. Instead of using it everyday, use it only when it is so hot you see the smoke coming off your skin!!! You may be saving only a little energy by not using it everyday, but every little bit helps.

We went to some garage sales yesterday, and bought a very sturdy, very nicely taken care of entertainment center for $40.

In exchange for letting my father-in-law keep his entertainment center at our house, we've been using it. Well he's closing on a house this Monday so he will be needing it back.

We've been looking for entertainment centers for awhile now, but we either didn't like them or they were too much. Even if we hadn't found one yesterday, we would have just put the TV on a table or something, until we did.

So today's frugal idea: Let people store things at your house (as long as you get use out of them, and of course, have the room).

You get free use, and they get free storage. Everyone wins, and you never know when you may need a favor from them.

I had a dentist appointment today.

The strange person that I am, I actually would rather go to the dentist than the doctor any day. I think it has something to do with the fact that when I need blood drawn at the doctor's office, they normally stick me 4-6 times before getting any. And the last time I went they couldn't get any after 20 minutes, (and many pokes) so I had to come back the next day. (It only took 3 pokes that time!)

And the dentist has never drawn blood. Or if he has I never realized it because I was numb.

Anyway, the frugal part for this is: Brush those teeth at least twice a day, and FLOSS. I hate flossing, (and brushing my teeth for that matter, I would rather be doing something else.), but it costs a lot less to brush and floss than to get cavities filled, root canals done, etc...

You can always do leg lifts (to get some exercise in) or read a magazine article while brushing to pass the time.

Another good idea is to brush the length of an entire song that's on the radio (or your CD player) to make sure you brush long enough.

Or invest in an electric toothbrush. I can't give mine enough praise. And when I went to the dentst, they didn't make any comments about flossing better (I attribute this to the use of the electric toothbrush).

An electric toothbrush can be pricey. (Look for sales or ask for one as a gift) But I think the investment is worth it, since not only have I not had any cavities and the dentist didn't nag on me about flossing, but I've also noticed that my teeth look much whiter since using it. No Creststrips for me!!!

Lately it seems like every time laundry day (Tuesday and Friday) rolls around, it's raining outside. And since I hang clothes outside to dry, this is really a pain!

One of the easiest ways to save money is to hang your clothes to dry. Some people don't even have a dryer, since they hang everything.

We do have a dryer, that is rarely used in the spring, summer and fall. In the winter I use it for underwear, sheets, and towels, but hang up all of our pants and shirts.

We have a clothes pole in the laundry room and a six row clothesline in the backyard. When we lived in a duplex, we hung a five row clothesline in the basement.

A very smart thing that I remember reading (I think on a chat board) was to put a chain on the end of your clothes line pole (or whereever else you can) and put your clothes on hangers, then hang the hangers on the chain. You save space because you are hanging the items vertically instead of horizontally.

For those of you who say you hate the stiffness of the clothes after being on the line, throw them in the dryer for 5 minutes or so to soften them up. You may only have to do this with underwear and towels, since shirts and pants quickly soften up after you begin to wear them.

Get creative when you are looking for places to hang clothes. It's amazing what you can do when you just think about it.

Yesterday Spryos decided to fix some rotten siding on the back of our house. (Most of the house is vinyl, but for some reason the back and garage never got done.)

He did a wonderful job, this being the first time he's done it. And I was I great helper (if I do say so); getting tools, holding stuff, and offering unsolicated advice;)

But the job took about 2 1/2 hours longer than expected. So Spyros was very late at laying down to sleep. (He works 3rd shift and lays down around 2pm.)

Plus we didn't have enough of the proper nails, so we had to run to town.

So my advice when doing a project:

1. Have enough time so you're not rushed or late for an appointment.
2. Make sure to gather all your materials before you begin, so you don't waste time or money.
3. Don't let your fingers get in the way of the hammer, because the hammer will win!

Now for the frugality part.

We had extra siding in the garage that was saved when the vinyl siding was put on. And we keep all useable scrap pieces of wood. So we were able to do the project without having to buy any wood.

Some people can get over zealous and save and save. If there are items that you plan on saving, make sure that you really will use them. And if it's something that you can easily get more of, only keep a couple and replenish as needed.

We had a garage sale in the beginning of May with 3 other couples. I knew in the winter that we were going to have a sale, so I went through the house about 6 different times looking for items to get rid of.

Our guest bedroom was piled with boxes of what-not. Then a day before the sale, I went through the house again, and found a few more items.

So what's this all leading too???

Well, Easter Seals had sent out postcards saying they would be in the neighborhood today to pick up "Your unwanted items". So I went through the house again, expecting to find only a few things.

Five boxes later, my couple of things are waiting for pick-up.

I went through my clothes closet again, and said screw-it to all the clothes I've been hanging onto for when I loose some weight. I figure when I actually loose the weight, I would rather go to some garage sales (or end of season sales when the prices are 90% off) and get all "new" items to celebrate the weight loss. That was 2 boxes full.

Then I decided to go through my gift/decorations closet. I ended up with 3 boxes of decorations and gifts. Most of the decorations were hand-me-downs that I had gratefully received when I just started out on my own. But I decided now was the time to get rid of any of the ones that were only so-so.

As for the gifts, they were items that were free or that I had around the house that I thought people would like. But I figured since, I hadn't given them away by now, I probably wouldn't any time soon.

So the lesson for today is when your on the Simple Living path, one of the easiest ways to begin is to declutter your home. And after you do that, declutter it again, and again. And when you think you're done, do it two more times!!!

Check out my other site on cleaning and organizing various rooms. It's an older site that I haven't done much work on lately, but the information is still good. And I will be getting back to it soon. By the end of the month at the latest!

MyFrugalWebsite

We may need to get a new water heater soon.

Spyros was in the basement and noticed quite a bit of water around the heater. This could be because it got more use these past few days. (Had house guests) or that it's 10 years old and wants to be replaced.

A few things that you can do to help promote the life of your water heater.

1. Open up the release valve every 6 months and let the water out. Make sure to wear shoes, have a container to catch the water (not too much should come out), and be Very Careful since this is Very Hot water.

2. Drain about 5 gallons out of the tank every year to help with the sediment deposits.

3. Replace your anodes. An anode is a magnesium or aluminum rod that is inside your water tank that corrodes before the tank does, to help prolong the life of the water heater. (A new one costs between $15 - $30 or so.) The anodes must be replaced before they are too far corroded to be of any help in prolonging the life of the heater.

All 3 of these things are very easy to do. Consult your manual, go to a hardware store and have them show you, or check out this site.

WaterHeaterRescue

Check out the Water Heater 101 on the site, and there's a section called Know How that tells you about replacing anodes. I found the whole site very informative, and suggest you take a look at it all.

We are also looking into getting a Tankless Water Heater. They are a bit more expensive, but have the potential to last a very long time. Plus they are made of mostly environment friendly materials, so the landfills will be better off.

Tankless Water Heaters have been around for about 75 years or so in other countries, but unfortunately the United States is not up to speed with items that are environment friendly.

Check out this site to learn more about Tankless Water Heaters.

ClickHere

Grab your favorite beverage and get comfy, because this may be a long read regarding our adventures with selling on eBay.

First off, if you are new to selling on eBay, you may want to check these books out from your library. Since I will be going on the assumption that you have already sold some on eBay.

eBay for Dummies and Starting an eBay Business for Dummies by Marsha Collier
or
The Official eBay Bible by Jim Griffith

For the longest time, I thought if I didn’t see a certain book at the library I was out of luck. But then I was told that most libraries have numerous libraries in the system. And if your library doesn’t have a book, but another one in the system does, they can order it for you and you can pick it up at the library you frequent.

Ask your librarian if your library does this. We also have a site on the internet called LinkCat where we can go and request the books ourselves. You may also want to ask your librarian for a tour, since you never know what useful things you will come across.

Now back to eBay....

One of the very important aspects of selling items, is being able to ship items at a very cost effective method for yourself. Although eBayers pay for shipping, you still have to get the supplies somewhere.

This is where your United States Post Office comes in handy. You can order Priority mailing supplies directly from their website and have them delivered to you for free.

The site is United States Postal Service

Envelopes: great for a single DVD or VHS, books and other small hard to break items.
Flat Rate Envelopes: Whatever you can fit inside (no matter what the weight) will be shipped for $3.85
Boxes of different size
Priority mailing tape to close the boxes
Priority address labels

Although Priority mailing is more expensive in most cases than Media Mail or Parcel Post, if something is sent Priority and it can’t be delivered for whatever reason, it will be returned to you. But if you send it Media or Post and it can’t be delivered, it will be destroyed.

This is something that you could put in your auction description, as one of the reasons why you use Priority Mail.

If you are worried that the shipping could get to be hectic because you don’t have a lot of free time to go to the Post Office, then you can put directly in your auction what day or days that you ship items on. I have seen this on numerous auction listings.

Now onto what we tried to do and it didn’t work too well....

We started out selling Baby Clothes since they are plentiful at sales, but after doing this for awhile we found this to not make us that much of a profit, especially with the work we put into it.

A lot of the clothes had to be soaked in the Stain Mixture from the Tightwad Gazette, and then they had to be washed and dried (on the clothesline in most cases). So this took time and the use of the washing machine, and sometimes dryer.

And although most of the clothes we bought were no more than $1, we just weren’t making enough of a profit when we sold them in lots of 7-10 pieces or outfits.

So if you have been doing this, and you are making a nice profit, I would love to hear what you are doing!!!

As for the items that we do pick up...

Old Gaming Systems: Atari, Coleco, Original Nintendo Gameboys, Colored Gameboys, and games for all the systems.

We found an Atari with 2 controllers and 7 games for $5. (We figure it will go for about $50 or more.)
We also found a Coleco system with 70 games, and about 6-7 different controllers (including driving wheel, roller ball, etc...) for $95, but Spyros asked if she would take $50, and she said Yes!
This will sell for a nice profit. We saw a single game going between $5 and $10.

Witchcraft Books - especially Starhawk, Raymond Buckland, Silver Ravenwolf, Scott Cummings

Craft Books - Wire Working, Candle making, Pottery, etc...

Older Craft Books for Afghans

Bone and Bamboo Knitting Needles

Hull or California Pottery - If you see a pottery that has the nice 60-70s colors (avocado green, oranges, browns, etc...) pick it up and check the bottom. If it says California or Hull, you’re good to go.

Old Pyrex dishes: There’s nesting sets of 4 with the bowls being red, blue, green and yellow. Even if you just have 1, 2, or 3 of the bowls they still sell.
Also casserole dishes with the nice 60-70's colored patterns.

Old games that are not the norm like Monopoly or Scrabble. We found a game called Twixt from 1976 and an All*Star Baseball Game from 1968 that sold well.
Just make sure to check all the pieces very carefully. With the baseball game we didn’t and ended up selling it with the wrong cards. We offered back the money, and fixed our mistake, but just check to be certain.

Lots (10 to 12 or so) of Maxim, Stuff, FHM, Penthouse Letters and Penthouse. Lots of Playboy do not sell as well.

Lots of Quick Cooking, Light and Tasty, and Taste of Home (Reiman Magazine Publications)

Vintage Cookbooks, Church Cookbooks (in lots or 2-5), Diabetic Cookbooks, Southern Living Annual Cookbooks (especially the older ones), Weight Watchers Cookbooks

These are the things that we look for, but if something catches our eye and the price is good, we’ll buy it. Spyros has a wonderful knack for this.

As with any business, buy as low as you can. At Garage Sales don’t be afraid to offer less. Just don’t be insulting! Chances are people just want to get rid of it, and will except your offer. If they don’t you can always move on.

Another thing to do is offer to clean your parents or grandparents basement, attic, or garage. You never know what treasures you will find. Plus you get to spend time with them and help them out.

We start most of our auctions for Books, Games, and Magazines at $1.

For the Gaming Systems, Hull, California and Pyrex we may start it higher. But usually not higher than $9.99. If you go to $10, your listing fee jumps from 30 cents to 55 cents.

If you have any questions, thoughts or comments, I would like to hear them. Just leave a comment on the blog.

Happy Shopping!!!!

Oh the joy of sinuses. My head has been floating all day long, but I did finish a book.

I just finished "Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties" by Beth Kobliner.

This book was very good at explaining information that you will need in investing, buying a house, setting up savings, paying off debt, insurance, saving for retirement and taxes. Especially if you are new to any of these areas.

So even if you're over thirty (but new to these money matters), and have questions on various money related items, I would recommend checking this book out from the library.

If you are more versed in these areas, you may want to skip past this book in your library and go for something a bit more complex.

Happy Reading!!!

Our Thursday and Friday (and sometimes Saturday) ritual: Going to Garage Sales.

Here's a few sites to go to if you buy Children's items (Cribs, Toys, Clothes, etc...), or any other items that you may have questions regarding if they have been recalled.

www.dannyfoundation.org
www.safetyalerts.com

And if any of the items have stains, check out this site:

www.fabriclink.com/fabricstains

Or if you have Baby Food stains, this recipe from Tightwad Gazette works like a miracle:

1/2 cup Clorox II
1/2 cup Cascade
Mix this with 3 Gallons of the hottest water that comes out of your faucet.
(I use a cleaned out Cat Litter Bucket to put the mixture in.)
Then put the clothes in and let them sit over night. Wash and wear.

As with any clothes that have stains, once you put it in the dryer it is very hard to get the stain out. So if you notice there are still stains after washing or using the mixture, try a spot remover or the mixture again, before drying the item.

Most brands of Baby Clothes can be soaked, but I have found that Baby B'Gosh (Oshkosh) with red or pink accents on a light colored outfit, can not be soaked or the color will run. It will tell you directly on the tag if the item can not be soaked, so make sure to read each tag very carefully for the washing instructions.
And if you still question if it should be soaked, follow your instinct, since you're probably right.

Just a quick post for all you Moms out there (or soon to be Moms).

Sign up at the following formula websites and you will receive information along with Money Saving Coupons.

If you find that you're baby doesn't like a certain kind, you can always trade these coupons for the kind that they do eat on various parenting boards.

One site that has a lot of parenting boards is
www.ivillage.com

And now for the formula sites.

www.enfamil.com
www.similac.com
www.verybestbaby.com

I do realize that for you long time frugalites, some or all of this information you have heard before. But not only is this blog for those new to the frugal/simple life, it is for you also.
I view simple/frugal websites regularly as a reminder and motivational tool. And I hope you long-timers do the same with this blog and my other website.

www.geocities.com/heniadistoo

Now onto today's topic: Combining errands to save gas and time.

For Spyros and I, we write a lists of various things that we have to do when we go into town. We have 2 different lists. One for the town that is about 2 minutes away, where we visit the library, pharmacy, bank, some eat-out places, the grocery store, etc....

And the other list is for when we go into Madison. Where we do some basic staple food shopping at Aldi's, toilietries at Shopko, etc...

We use to just try to remember what we had to do, but often we would get home and realize we had forgotten to do something.
So now we have an ongoing list of not only what we run out of around the house, but where we need to go to pick these items up.

I was looking around the office in our house, and decided some stuff needs to be put away. It is over-flowing with items that we sell on eBay. Items that we find at garage sales or that our friends/family no longer want.

But when we began selling on eBay, it was all items that we had around the house that we no longer wanted. This may be a wonderful idea for you also. Clean and Organize your house And make money!

It's not very hard to start an account and begin selling. (If you can figure out how to start a blog, chances are you can do eBay.)

The once piece of advice that I will give: Start your auctions as low as you can, if you are selling items that you already own. We started most of ours at $1.

Perhaps later this week, I will go into more detail as to what we sell, how we determine if we should pick it up at garage sales, etc...

So stay tuned! You never know what useful information you just may pick up.

Making a large purchase can be a time consuming and sometimes, scary process. I will talk about car, house, etc... purchases in the future, but right now I want to talk about pool tables.

Pool Tables?? What about being frugal and living simply?

Each person's definition of frugal and simple living will vary. For me, I am not one to completely deprive myself of things that I will get much use and enjoyment out of. One way people get into debt with this way of thinking is to purchase items on credit (and not being able to pay it off completely by the end of the month) or to buy something when they have other bills, debts, essential living items to purchase, but can't because they spent money on a non-essential item.

We are frugal in certain areas so we can spend more in other areas. We have a debt, savings and budget plan that we stick to so we can purchase other non-essential items (always paying for it with cash).

Spyros and I (along with most of our friends and family) enjoy playing pool, darts and other games you may find in a bar setting. So we have been thinking about buying a pool table for awhile now.

Last night we went out with some friends and played some pool and darts. We ended up spending $2.75. (And our friends had also spent money.) But if we had a table, that would not have been the case.

Now granted $2.75 is not a lot, but if we were to go out every weekend and spend $10 (inculding an occasional drink or food) we could buy a good used table in a couple of years.

So look closely at something you enjoy doing often, and pay for everytime you do it. (Could be bar games, horseshoes, canoeing, etc...) To find out if it is more beneficial for you to purchase the item instead paying for it's use each time;

1. Add up how much it costs you each time you pay to use the item (including travel costs, drinks, cigarettes, food, etc...)
2. Figure out how often you use it each year.
3. Multipy 1. and 2. together.
4. Comparison shop for the item (Either used in good condition or new)
5. Divide the purchase price by how often you use it each year
6. If the cost that you put into paying to use the item every year is close (1-3 years or so) to the purchase price, it may be more beneficial to buy the item.

(And even if it takes you 5 or 6 years to recoup the costs of purchasing the item, it still may be worth it to buy it if you will be using it for 20 or more years.) **Example below.

But for the best way for this to work is:

You have to be content with that model, so buy one that you really like. If you update it in a few years, you really won't be saving anything. You have to be willing to use it for a long time. So think about what features will be important to you and if the model has the features.

You have to also take into consideration, if this is something you really like doing, or if it's just a passing phase. And another thing to think about is if you have the space for it.

If you don't have the space, perhaps a friend or family member would not mind storing it. They could either use it when you were not, or you could trade a service (mowing their lawn, babysitting once a month, etc...) to "pay" for the storage space.

It's human nature to want things. And to want things that are non-essential. But there are ways to get those things without going into debt. All you need is patience. (To save up the cash and to do your research).

Ask my husband anytime about my patience. He would say, it's really lacking. So surround yourself with support and do whatever you need to in order to become more patient. It will be worth the prize in the end!!!

**Example
1. Cost for us to play pool and darts (including travel, and the occasional drink or food item) averaged out is $10 an outing.
2. We play on the average once a week, so that would be 52 times a year.
3. 10 X 52 = $520
4. A good used pool table with balls, a couple sticks, etc... = $1000
5. $1,000 divided by 52 = $19.23 (Chances are we would use it even more if it was at our house.)
6. So looking at the figure that it costs $10 an outing, and if we bought it, it would be $19.23 an outing, it would take us about 2 years to pay for the cost of ownership. (But once again, chances are we would play many more games if we owned it.)