frugal green girl

New Blog!

2011-03-11T10:34:00.000-06:00

I'm very excited to announce I will be starting a new blog on my area of expertise, mental health and well-being, at Mental Health for Everyone! I would encourage you to visit if you want to know more about optimal mental health, as well as tricks and tips on keeping in mental shape.

Have no fears, I do not plan on abandoning this blog, however, the posts will likely still be less frequent, as been the case for the past year or so.

Take care!
-Candie
Frugal Green Girl

Student Discounts - YES please!

2011-02-02T12:53:00.000-06:00

Being a student can be a bittersweet experience. You get to learn more about things you are interested in and keep a flexible schedule, of many other things. However, it typically also comes with a price of not making a great income and living poorly, unless you have wealthy parents or a highly paid partner who can support you. Being a graduate student, I hate to think about how much debt I carry, especially during this time of year when all of those end-of-the-year statements come for tax purposes. Ugh. Anyways, one thing that students CAN use to their advantage is having a student ID card. Many businesses provide discounts to students, and its important to always ask/research even if it doesn't explicitly say.

Most commonly, I think students use their student IDs for movie theater tickets, which can give you at least a couple of bucks off of your ticket. These discount tickets can similarly also be found for other types of shows like concerts and plays. Universities and colleges tend to also provide discounts on computers and other essential technology from stores like Apple and Dell, which you can shop online for in addition to a school store. Microsoft Office, for instance, also provides a line of their software specifically for the student budget that can get you through college with the just basics. If you travel a lot, this is another great place to look for student discounts - Amtrak (Train) and Greyhound Bus lines provide student discount programs, and STA Travel and Student Universe provide excellent databases on airfare at a student price. Major cell phone service providers may also provide you a student discount, including AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. I'd recommend googling these for more information, but I want you to know they do exist, and cell phone bills are insanely high, so be sure to check it out if its applicable for you!

The list can go on, so just be sure to look anywhere you go or stores that you frequent to see if they provide discounts for students. My favorite student discount I have found is through Amazon.com. They provide a free 1-year membership of Amazon Prime, which is a great way to get free 2-day shipping on most of the items Amazon.com sells. If you would like to learn more about how to sign up for a free student account, click here. I probably buy 75% of my non-grocery items from Amazon, simply because they have great deals for people on a budget, and fast free shipping only makes things even better! The point here is, NEVER stop looking for student discounts, because there are a lot of sympathetic businesses out there to help you during a financially difficult time in your life!

The Next Groupon

2011-01-19T14:53:00.001-06:00

Hello out there! I know its been quite some time for me, but to recap what has been going on for me the past 6 months, I'll fill you in:

I took and passed my doctoral comprehensive exams in September - yay!
I successfully proposed my dissertation topic and began doing analysis - yay!
I applied for a predoctoral psychology internship (October/November), which are highly competitive, and have been interviewing at various sites in the region for the past month.

Now that my interviews are over, things are settling down and life can slowly get back to normal, at least for a little while. But as you can see, if you ever get a Ph.D., its no small task, and they love to cram in all of your big tasks in the last year. Anyways, onward and upward to the blog!

Well, Groupon has definitely caught on fire the past couple of months, which I wrote about last year, and now similar sites have popped up. Livingsocial.com is one that I stumbled upon today after a friend posted in his status on Facebook. Today's deal: $10 for a $20 Amazon.com giftcard! Great deal for me, since I frequent Amazon for their prices and my current free Prime membership provides free 2 day shipping. LivingSocial also provides an incentive by providing you with a link after you purchase the deal - if you get 3 friends to also purchase the deal, yours is free! Checking other types of sites like these are helpful incase your area might not be covered by Groupon or other sites yet. From what I can tell LivingSocial seems to have a longer list of cities available for deals.

In addition, I and fellow readers of this blog have noticed that local programs have begun to do things in their smaller cities. In my city, for example, the "giveback" program runs via local participating businesses which contribute a certain percentage of your purchase to a selected charity - for me, its the local humane society - and also gives you $10 back to use after you have accumulated a certain amount of purchases with the card. And recently they have added a monthly enewsletter where a "groupon-like" deal is presented. A couple of months ago I got a 30 minute massage from a local therapist for $15 on our giveback deal, a treat I rarely get to have for myself!

Be sure to check out your local area to see if any type of programs like this exist - they are a win-win situation!

Expect to see more posts in the upcoming weeks - I'm hoping to get back on track as one of my New Year's Resolutions!

Get Your Groupon!

2010-06-27T13:39:00.003-05:00

My apologies to those of you who have been looking forward to a new post for a while. While I am amidst studying and writing for my last real year of intense doctoral studies, writing here will be a good break for me :)

On this post I would love to mention a website I recently discovered, thanks to CNN.com, called Groupon. Groupon is a website that offers amazing deals in numerous U.S. cities and other countries. I'm not just talking about $5 off a meal, no, I am talking about SERIOUS deals. Here's how it works: each day a new "deal" is posted for each particular city/ location. You can choose to purchase that deal with a credit card, however, enough people must also purchase that deal in order to "activate" it. Don't worry, if you buy the deal and it doesn't make, your card will not be charged. What they want you to do is to help others also buy that deal, and if you do, you receive $10! (Refer by me at: http://www.groupon.com/r/uu4275448)

Why would a business do this? While they are offering insanely good deals, they are looking to drive in a new customer base, and get more people to come to them by putting up this deal, assuming enough people buy it. Businesses range from restaurants to shopping, to parks and attractions - you just never know what you will see! You can also subscribe to daily emails for a specific location so that you don't need to check the website everyday.

"But wait a minute, my city isn't on here. This probably won't be of use to me." I hear ya. Another great way to use Groupon is for planning vacations. For example, on my last trip to Las Vegas, which is a featured city on Groupon, we did a Red Rock Canyon Tour provided by Scoot City tours. It was one of our more expensive activities at $119 per person. Groupon previously offered a deal with Scoot City Tours for the same tour for two people for half the price! $110 for two people! I couldn't believe it! Be sure to check the fine print of the deal, since most of the deals have an expiration date of at least a couple of months away. There are a ton of cities on Groupon, so I would encourage you to watch for the deals, especially if you are planning a vacation in the future!

Ebay it!

2010-05-03T08:42:00.000-05:00

I'm sure all of you have heard of Ebay, which is an online auction site that has basically been around since the dawn of the internet. I am typically a half.com seller, however, this past week I have decided to try and sell some things on Ebay with the hope of making some extra cash.

My father-in-law visited recently, and brought us to a Kansas City Royals game, where they were having a promotional giveaway of a bobblehead doll of their star pitcher, Zach Greinke. While I enjoy going to baseball games very much, most of the time, I don't really care for the giveaways unless it is clothing or a baseball cap...something I can wear. When we got back to our house, I said to my father-in-law, "What am I going to do with this? Do you want two?". And then he suggested to put it on Ebay, which for some reason had never crossed my mind before. Before I knew it, I had it posted and earning bids, and made a $30 profit off of a free item, which was almost enough to pay for my ticket from the game! With game giveaways especially, since there are a limited number made (usually 20,000) it makes them more desirable to the public, in particular collectors and fans.

I also decided to post my Nintendo DSi, something that I never use anymore. The problem with Ebay, is that for the most part, you want to keep it to a smaller item, since you will have to ship it. However, commission costs are low. Whereas half.com will take a percentage of the commission, Ebay charges a base fee, usually of 50 cents, and charges based on the extra stuff you want to put in your ad. Electronics items cost a bit more, but still incredibly cheap for an auction in my opinion. Plus, I think the site is very user friendly, and has a help area to those who are new, which I found myself using multiple times.

Ebay can be a great alternative to things like a rummage sale, which I also have plans for coming up. With a national audience, you can certainly get more money for your item than you would at a rummage sale, where for the most part, since they are the only buyer, will talk you down from your set price. More on rummage sales for a later entry.

Upon your time spring cleaning, assess some items in the house and their frequency of use. While I like my Nintendo DSi, I just flat out don't use it. I'd rather put the money towards something I can actually use, or, you could be smart and put it into savings (which is not what I do). Anyways, check out Ebay as a seller and see how easy it is to make some extra money decluttering your home. Another man's trash is another man's treasure, right?

Chaos Break

2010-04-17T09:39:00.005-05:00

Yes, every time I thought about my blog for the last two months I could only think about the guilt I felt for not keeping up with it. If you have been reading my blog for a while, its pretty common for me to vanish for a while during this time of year. I will have a hectic summer of studying for my doctoral comprehensive exams, collecting data for my dissertation, and writing my dissertation. It is by no means the end of frugal green girl, but merely a warning that my dropping off the face of the planet is merely temporary.

Anyways, today I would like to start a discussion on credit cards and charge cards. While most people see them as "good" or "bad", I like to encourage you to see them instead as a "tool". When you know what your personal limits are, not what the credit card limit is, that is what is most important. Since the number one rule in personal finance is don't spend more than you bring in, certainly apply that to your use of credit cards and charge cards. Either pay them off each month, or develop a plan that you can pay them off aggressively, since each month will add more money in finance charges. When I say I use them as a "tool", I am referring to the benefits, like reward points and other bonuses you may get from holding either a credit card, charge card, or both. For example, I hold a charge card with Old Navy. It is the only charge card I hold because I basically do all of my clothes shopping either at the Gap or Old Navy, both of which are affiliated stores. Every time I spend $200, something I normally do over time anyways, I earn $10 bucks towards more clothes. In addition, they also have store events where card holders get additional percentage off all items. The important point to note is that I know its something I would do anyways, and I am not getting a charge card for the sake of it, not that I normally shop there.

With credit cards, I would always recommend looking at what your own financial institution has in store for you, because the APR rates are likely to be twice as good as the places where you apply for a credit card to get a "free gift". With the credit card from my financial institution, I earn the "reward points" that you see on many commercials for other cards, and then you can use those points on an online catalog (usually $1 spent = 1 point) with free shipping. I recently got a desperately needed paper shredder, which would normally cost me around $70. Again, if you conserve those points to use on something you really need, and not fun "toys" and things that are not really necessary, you can also save some money.

Also, don't have too many credit cards or charge cards - I only have one of each. The more you have, the easier it is to justify unnecessary purchases and spending. Note as well that each time you apply for a card, a credit check is done, and the more credit checks you have on your record for that time-being, the harder it is to get things, like loans, cars, houses, etc.

When used properly, credit cards and charge cards can work to benefit your finances, keeping in mind the first principle of personal finance: Don't spend more than you bring in.

Finding Cheaper Vacations

2010-03-08T16:38:00.000-06:00

So over the break, my husband informed me that he had gotten my spring break week off, hence we decided that if that could happen we would go on a REAL vacation since our honeymoon in 2006. I booked a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada. Now, my husband and I are not gamblers, and we plan to spend the majority of our time enjoying the strip and going to some fun and even free things!

Whatever place you go to, you can always find free stuff to do. I have been using tripadvisor.com to look for different fun things to do in Las Vegas. TripAdvisor provides an extensive list of things to do (in addition to hotels and flights and everything else associated with a trip somewhere) and also provides users the opportunity to publicly review these establishments. They are ranked and also given written reviews by customers. You can also simply google things like "free things to do in Las Vegas". Many travel sites have these lists for certain cities.

While I could say, "hey lets just do all the top things we can find that we would like to do", thats not efficient at all. Las Vegas is not a cheap city by any means, and I'm sure many of you know that if you have been there. If you're going to a show like the ever popular Cirque Du Soleil, it can cost anywhere from 100 to 200 dollars PER seat. There are certainly ways to cut corners, like going directly to the box office to see if they are undersold that day, and you may get them for cheaper. But certainly don't expect 30 dollars cheap.

In addition, I would really recommend booking online at travel booking sites like orbitz.com or hotwire.com. Personally, I have found that overall, orbitz.com has the cheapest prices for the same packages on other websites. The beauty of these sites is that they allow you to book your hotel and flight together, which usually saves hundreds sometimes thousands of dollars. For example, my flight (for one person), would have cost around $350 dollars round trip. Now, times that by two, and the hotel we will be staying at (a fabulous 5 star hotel on the strip) normally runs without the flight booked together at $230 per night. I instead got this trip for about 500 a person, which saved me about 800-900 dollars.

In addition, use the reviews of attractions, like on Orbitz or TripAdvisor, for example, to find where you can get cheaper prices. Often times, reviewers will say something along the lines of "Great show. Go to the big coke bottle next to the MGM Grand where you can get tickets for $37, rather than paying the full $54." Travelers are always full of good advice to give you, so take advantage! In addition, you may find when you investigate online there are cheaper tickets available simply for buying online, or there are certain dates that are cheaper. In Las Vegas, many popular attractions give 20 to 25% discounts for ordering online. Many websites for other attractions offer printable coupons to save you money.

So before you take a trip, investigate what you can online to find the best deal, you never know what you might find!

Growing Your Own Food!

2010-02-17T20:57:00.000-06:00

After moving into our house this past year, I am excited at the possibility of this growing season. While I don't have an actual "garden" in the backyard, its something I am considering putting in this year, along with plants for one of my favorite foods - tomatoes. Normally, I purchase them from a produce section of a grocery store, however, they never seem very fresh, and if I don't use the tomato right away it may go bad. What I do like is the idea of having something growing on a plant and I can grab it when I need it, without having to worry so much about it going bad. I purchased a cheap "seed starter" kit from a local department store for $12, which included a plastic "greenhouse", and soil pellets to sow seeds with. I also purchased some organic tomato seeds for $2.

I now have 35 little seedling pouches that have sprouted and are growing fast!

I could also see this as a fun thing for children to get to see - how a plant starts out and watching them grow. I know I found it fun to see how they are doing each day. Especially during these winter months, its nice to have some signs of spring in the house - it reminds you it will be here soon.

The kit that I bought says on the front that "start your own seeds and save!" - the idea that growing the seeds yourself would be much cheaper than buying the plants after they have had a lot more time to mature. So far, I would have to agree with this idea, and I will likely be transferring these little guys into bigger pots soon. While I bought the greenhouse, I also bought pots for the plants made out of peat, so you can just plant them right into the ground - no removal or mess.

Think about growing something you may use when you cook a lot - like herbs or vegetables! You can start saving some money while promoting healthy eating (locally grown - in your own backyard!). I also find comfort in growing organic seeds, since there is so much genetic modification in seeds nowadays unfortunately. Anyways, now is the time to grow some seeds, as the planting times for different plants is coming up in a few months. Put on your green thumb!

Getting Organized

2010-02-07T22:44:00.001-06:00

While on my break from school, I took one day to go through my closets and dressers to throw away stuff I just don't wear anymore. Believe it or not, I still have a lot of stuff from high school, which is well over 10 years ago now. Ugh.

I usually make note to do this once or twice a year, simply because I keep more clothes than I actually wear. I think a lot of times we get caught up on the amount of money we spent on a particular item. If we spent more on it, even though we don't wear it, we feel obligated to keep it until its value has worn off. Barry Schwartz in his book "The Paradox of Choice" calls this "psychological worth" or value. I believe the general rule of thumb when rummaging through your closet is that if you haven't worn it in the past two years, you probably won't be wearing it again. Don't be afraid to put it in that recycling bag, remember thats its going to someone who will actually use it.

Going through my closet I came out with a trash bag full of clothes. Luckily, the day that I cleaned out my closet, I went to get my mail to find this in my mailbox.

Its a postcard asking for clothing donations for a local charity, in this case, the epilepsy foundation in my area. You may get these in your mail occasionally, and whats great about them is that they have a date they will come down your street, and all you have to do is put your donations on your curb, and they'll pick them up. Easy as that! Even if you don't have this type of thing going on in your neighborhood, there can always be donations made to Goodwill or the PlanetAid bins that you may have in your area (or something similar).

As you may read from a previous entry, trying to sell your clothes (I tried Plato's Closet) can be quite difficult. I brought almost two full boxes (and I am talking LARGE boxes) and they only took three or four things for fourteen dollars. I also looked into a local consignment shop, only to be slammed with some pretty hefty criteria (for example, having $50 worth of items on their floor, and non-seasonal items). These options make sense if you either have a lot of recent clothes that have been only worn a few times, or you have a larger family that also goes through a lot of clothes. Otherwise, I would recommend simply donating used clothing. There doesn't always have to be "something in it for me".

Anyways, in attempt to better organize my closet, I organized all tops by color, rather than style (somewhat, although for the most part I just put things in random spots). Even though you may not find practicality in it, it certainly makes your closet more rainbow-like with all the colors separated. What I also came to find was it was easier for me to match tops together when they are categorized by color. Supposedly the theory also goes that it is much easier to find a matching top with whatever your bottom is when you have all colors in one area. I'll keep you informed as to if this theory is actually helpful.

If you have some time, go through that closet. I get a great sense of relief by freeing some space in my closet, getting more hangers back, and hence making the choice of what to wear easier in the morning when your fashion sense may be less up to par.

Follow up to "Food, Inc."...

2010-01-17T00:18:00.000-06:00

This past week I wrote a review for "Food, Inc.", and said that I had made a recent switch to buying humanely-raised chicken. Tonight was the first time I had made a whole roast chicken, instead of the usual chicken breasts. I cook whole roast chicken about every other week, and I actually find them easier to make than chicken breasts on the grill. Simply wash the chicken, dry it off, put some salt and pepper on it, and stick it in the oven for an hour and half. If you want the crispy skin like the rotisserie chickens they have at the grocery store deli, simply keep the chicken uncovered in the over for at least 15 minutes after cooking an hour and half.

My husband and I usually cannot eat the whole bird, however, leftover meat from a whole chicken works great in soups like regular old-fashioned chicken noodle, or I like making chicken tortilla soup. After having chicken for supper, the next day I like to make a big batch of soup for my lunches at work throughout the week.

Besides giving you an idea of how to get two meals out of one, I also wanted to point out more of a commentary on the cooking of a humanely-raised chicken in comparison to what I had bought prior. When I go grocery shopping, I usually buy the smallest bird I can find, simply because like I said before, we have more than enough leftovers. Its a waste of food and money to buy anything bigger.

After cooking for an hour and half, and then another 15 minutes uncovered, I was confused to see no layer of chicken grease in the pan after taking it out of the oven. On the Tyson birds I used to buy, I usually would end up with a soup can full chicken grease in the pan. After taking the chicken out of the oven, I then take it out of the baking pan into a piece of stoneware for the table. However, today I found I couldn't even lift the bird out of the pan without it falling apart. The meat was so tender it was falling right off the bone. Plus, I also thought it tasted better than the other type of chicken I buy. I don't know what all of these signs mean, but I like less grease, meat so tender it falls of the bone, and the fact it tastes great.

Let me know about your experiences if you have similarities and differences. Happy cooking!

Movie Review: Food, Inc.

2010-01-13T17:13:00.002-06:00

I came into watching Food, Inc. almost scared that it would make me want to change my entire lifestyle. I thought I would come out of it wanting to only shop at the local Co-op, which I would love to do but really can't afford, however, I gained something different than I thought.

The first and foremost thing that I always seem to gain from these movies is that capitalism is bad. I hope I am not the first person to tell you this either. The film talks in depth about how the seeds that farmers use can be patented, and large corporations now demand to be paid when farmers use these genetically modified seeds, even when they didn't buy them, they just spread through natural pollination.
The second thing I took from this movie is that it is not so much about processed food, but how we treat our food. I have never seen how corporate farming is now, but as an animal-rights activist, I failed to see the connection prior of how these animals are treated inhumanely. While I am by no means a vegetarian, I believe all animals have the right to a healthy and happy life. Not to be stuffed in a dark and hot environment, or to be deprived of something that farm animals should be naturally eating, like grass. I really don't want to eat animals that are treated like that.
The overall message of the film is that the corporations work by YOUR standards. In the film it is said as you as a customer vote every time with the foods you buy as to how they are made and grown. What surprised me the most in this film is that Wal-Mart was not painted as a "villain". In fact, representatives on there were visiting a local farm and asking about their products for one reason - its what their customers are interested in. The fact is Wal-Mart will sell you anything as long as it continues to make money. If you want to buy chickens that come from a humanely raised environment, ask for it, and the company will consider it to keep your business. My local Wal-Mart carries humanely raised chicken, for not much more than the regular Tyson chicken. And after seeing this film I will not buy anything else.

Overall this was a really good film, and I would encourage you to see it! It's now on NetFlix for instant viewing too.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-06T00:43:00.001-06:00

After a much needed rest, I'm back to begin the new year with renewed spirit and innovative posts on the world of frugality and green living.

With the beginning of the new year, many of us make resolutions in hopes of completing them within the new year. I have decided a resolution for myself would be to read 50 books for fun this year. However, like many of you, I am pessimistic about completing this goal, even though I first thought I would make my goal 100 books. Rule number one about goal setting is to make the goal achievable and realistic. You want to challenge yourself, but also make the goal attainable. If it isn't, its easy to get disheartened or feel bad about yourself if you can't complete the goal. Anyways, another way to keep yourself on track for your resolutions is to remind yourself. While google calendar can be programmed to remind you of your tasks, another venue is the site www.futureme.org. Here, you can write an email to yourself that will be emailed to you at a specified date of your choice.

Try to be creative! This doesn't have to be a list of tasks, this can be an actual narrative letter you will write to your future self. Imagine what the conversation would be like. I did this with myself a couple of years ago, and I was surprised at my sense of humor, but also how well I knew myself (in terms of my bad habits, especially). Once you get that email, check the status of your goals, and congratulate yourself where congratulations are due. As human beings we are quick to point to our faults (i.e. goals we may not have completed) before our strengths (goals we have completed). If goals need to be reassessed, than do so, because clearly something wasn't working. Good luck with your resolutions for this year, and happy new year!

Updates Galore!

2009-12-07T22:09:00.003-06:00

Well, it is now December, and I am finally feeling some relief from finals time at my university.

Today is the first day in a long time I have managed to not drink any soda - I drank just water all day. My strategy has been to think about how I will feel later, usually disgusting, and that helps me. I was excited to tell my husband, and he then suggested we possibly try quitting together. I was shocked by this, but I have come to realize after quitting McDonald's that when you live with someone else you tend to embrace a similar lifestyle - voluntarily or involuntarily. I noticed John commented on my earlier post on quitting soda that he is having trouble quitting coffee or caffeine. I have managed to quit caffeine myself, to the dismay of my fellow colleagues, and really it should be a process that should be weaned down gradually. Caffeine is a drug (more specifically, a stimulant), and like any drug, you shouldn't just be quitting cold turkey, otherwise you will experience withdrawal symptoms. I've had friends who have experienced some bad headaches for withdrawing from caffeine, so my advice is to be sure to do it gradually, until a point where you can go without it.

I also think though drinks like coffee can be a "morning routine" type of thing. Sometimes its also helpful to find a substitution like non-caffeinated coffee or tea. I know a strategy suggested to me, but I haven't tried it yet for quitting soda, is to drink carbonated water. Speaking as someone in the field of psychology, it will probably benefit your mind to have that substitution as well. Good luck John!

Onwards and upwards, I have been finding myself spending less and less on groceries every week! I used to spend $120 a week on groceries for two people, prior to having a meal schedule and shopping list, and this past week I spent less that $60. I'm finding it to be a fun competition with myself, since I have been spending less and less it seems each week for the past couple of months. The shopping list is the KEY to saving money. Stick to your list, avoid all the temptations in your supermarket, and you cannot go wrong.

In addition, finding good staples in a weekly menu can save a lot of money. For example, every other week, I cook a roast chicken. It may sound complex, but really all I do is take it out of the packaging, rinse it off, put it my baking pan, and sprinkle some pepper and salt over it. It goes in the oven for an hour and half, and its ready to eat. Afterwords, since my husband and I usually can't eat a whole chicken, I then take the remaining meat off to use in a soup to prepare the following day. I also make a large batch of soup, and put them in Gladware or Rubbermaid serving containers, and then I have my lunches prepared for the week. Talk about getting your money's worth!

Thanksgiving Feast Deal

2009-11-15T16:34:00.006-06:00

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (Nov. 4, 2009) – Dedicated to helping American families save money on both holiday traditions and gift items, Walmart (NYSE: WMT) announced today significant price reductions* on Thanksgiving dinner favorites, TVs and other popular electronics. In addition to seeking savings on gifts under the Christmas tree, recent research shows more than 50 percent of consumers plan to shop price discounts in the coming weeks on non-gift purchases for themselves or family.**
Starting Saturday, Walmart stores will begin their first one-week electronics savings event with special buys and Rollbacks, including a new $298 HP notebook computer. In addition, as shoppers evaluate the impact of tight budgets on holiday meal planning, beginning today Walmart will feature select 12-pound turkeys for less than $5, helping families serve a complete Thanksgiving meal for eight this year as low as $20.*
“We’re proving that we’re committed to helping moms afford the holidays in these tough economic times,” said Jack Sinclair, executive vice president, groceries, Walmart. “That’s why we’re offering incredible pricing on the turkey and all the fixings.”
A turkey dinner for eight as low as $20
According to a survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation, last year’s average cost of a turkey was roughly $1.19 per pound. Beginning today, select Grade A turkeys are available for 40 cents per pound at Walmart.* These gobblers are part of Walmart’s $20 Thanksgiving menu guaranteeing family favorites will be on the dinner table this holiday season. Walmart’s $20 Thanksgiving feast includes:
One 12-pound Grade A turkey*
Three 11 to 15.5-ounce cans Green Giant vegetables
Two 14-ounce cans Ocean Spray cranberry sauce
Three 6-ounce boxes of Stove Top stuffing
One 5-pound bag of red potatoes
One 12-count package of Sara Lee dinner rolls
One 22-ounce pumpkin roll cake

For the full press release, click on the title of this post above. Just another way to save for the holidays. Also, be sure to check out your grocers in the area, as I have heard ALDI is running a similar deal for $30 and Super Target has also put out a deluxe Thanksgiving meal for $45 and $60, depending on what you want included. Look at your retailer's weekly flyers!

Here's to the start of the holiday season!

Quitting the Addiction

2009-11-11T16:55:00.002-06:00

Probably at the worst time of the semester (the few weeks prior to final papers being due), I am trying to give up my addiction on soda. After successfully given up caffeine, I am slowly weaning off of soda, getting down to one a day right now.

I've been finding that when I drink soda, thinking about its actual taste, its quite disgusting. Its just a very sugary taste, as appropriate being most of the soda is composed of such. I teach an undergraduate class three days a week, to which I usually drink my one Sprite during, and this week a student asked me "how can you drink non-caffeinated soda?" While I cite health reasons, I did ponder the question. What is the point of drinking soda if there is no caffeine in it? What is the purpose? I believe sugar is an equal addiction, and this "friend" in my entire life has never been a friend at all. When I was in 7th grade, I was hospitalized after consuming around 7-8 cans of soda a day, for dehydration. I trying to realize that soda does me no favors, and its time to let it go, just like any other drug. This is also the thought that has kept me away from drugs my whole life - what is the benefit of it?

But water? I hear so many people say how much the taste of water is so bland and boring. While I can understand, it is water's purity that makes me feel better during the day. Another thing I commonly put together with supper is a pitcher of Crystal Light, which is essentially water with some low-calorie flavoring added to it. In addition, thinking about the money we spend on soda, it can be quite draining. After adding a filter to my refrigerator, I find the taste of the water to be great, and I just fill up my reusable bottle every morning with water and ice. Water is much cheaper on the wallet than soda. In addition thinking about the resources consumed to make soda, and its containers, water is much better for the earth.

The other thing I come to find, is when you take up healthy habits, or give up bad habits, those around you will also take notice. For example, in 2001, when "Super Size Me", the documentary regarding fast food came out, I pledged to never eat McDonald's again. To which, I have still kept this promise to myself. However, over the course of the years, since I didn't go to eat there, that meant my husband would go by himself. It became less and less of an occurance for him, until it got to a point where he didn't find the food appetizing anymore. You CAN influence other people, particularly the ones you care about most. I'm hoping what I have said here may influence you as well, to start a new healthy habit for the havoc of the holidays is here.

The 100th Post!

2009-10-21T17:25:00.003-05:00

I have recently decided to begin a (home) career in cooking, in order to save some money. I have been making things that I would normally buy pre-made, from scratch. This past week, I bought 2 loaves of french bread, a can of pizza sauce, and a bag of mozzarella cheese. I normally buy Red Baron's French Bread Pizzas, which at their cheapest, cost $3 for 2 french bread pizzas (Wal-Mart). I buy these for the reason that they are a one serving, easy to make meal. So either for lunch, or a night when one of us is in class, there is an easy "dinner for one".

Anyways, I purchased these things at my local grocery store:
French Bread Pizza (2 Smaller loaves) - $2.19
Can of Pizza Sauce - $1.66
Bag of Mozzarella cheese (4 cups) - $2.68 (on sale)
Total: $6.53

As you can probably already, tell, its going to be a much cheaper route to buy these items individually and then to buy the pre-made ones. With the bread I purchased, I managed to make up 8 servings of french bread pizza. That's 82 cents per serving. In addition, I had enough pizza sauce and cheese left to make more after I purchase more french bread, so really its less than that, my guess would be around 50 cents per serving in the long run, since the bread doesn't require a lot of sauce or cheese to be covered. I also cover the bread with some olive oil before putting the sauce on.

I made these this past Monday while making my soup (lunches for the week) and some seasonal pumpkin bread. They don't take long to make once the bread is sliced, simply wrap in saran wrap and put in the freezer, eat as needed! Bake at 375 degrees for 18 minutes.

This is just one example of how you can save money by making things at home, and possibly from your local area. The pizza sauce I purchased was made by a local distributor. Also, you can make pizza sauce even cheaper by simply making it from tomato sauce. The Simple Dollar has instructions on how to do this, but all it really is is adding some spices to the tomato sauce (basil, cilantro, etc.).

Think about some things that you may buy pre-made, and could possibly freeze as well!

New Use for Junk Mail

2009-10-15T14:17:00.003-05:00

Yesterday my husband asked me if we could put a shopping list somewhere in the kitchen so I knew when he was out of items only he used. I had a very old clipboard on the fridge which was actually from a high school locker kit I bought probably about 10 years ago. A couple of months ago it finally ran out of the original paper that came with it. "Now what?" I thought. I doubted I would be able to find a pad of paper to fit the size without being to heavy. Looking at the pile of junk mail on the counter, I took all of the sheets of paper I would have normally thrown in the recycling and cut them up into fourths. It didn't take too long and I had all the paper I would need for probably some time. I simply use the back side of the paper that is blank, and you have a new pad of paper.

I know probably a lot of you out there already do this, but it is a great way to reuse another piece of paper before having it recycled! Plus I save money by not going out and buying more pads of paper.

Saving Money: The Plan

2009-10-13T08:19:00.003-05:00

Well, unfortunately it has been a while. I'm getting closer and closer to the whole dissertation process, so that ends up eating a lot of my time. Anyways, a great deal has happened over the past month or so, in terms of my (probably one of many) breaking points with money.

Basically, one of our cars needed a transmission replaced. Yeah. I was ready to panic when they told me. For those who don't know, to replace a transmission of a car it can cost upwards of $3500. Luckily, the repair shop we used also provided used transmissions (which is always a good thing to ask about should you ever be in that situation). However, I spent a lot of that day looking at potential new cars. The car we have is a 1998 Nissan Maxima, so it is definitely a good car, but we have no idea how long it will last, and I wasn't sure the investment was worth it if it would break again in a few months or years.

But going through this, I had a very huge sense of failure. Much of our savings were depleted after the move to our new house, as well as myself adjusting to a lower paying job and having a higher living expense every month. For some reason, I had not glanced at our budget for quite some time. After my father gave me that "you need to be saving money" talk (to which I also got quite defensive) I took out the excel spreadsheet and listed our income versus the amount of bills we have each month. I then examined the remaining money, and what should be going into savings accordingly. Additionally, I felt overwhelmed by my car insurance bills this month, and decided I instead would save $20 each week to put towards the car insurance bill, rather than trying to find 200-300 for two months in a row. Since I had to put the car repair on our credit card, I also outlined a strategy of how this would be paid back each paycheck.

With credit cards, the sooner you pay, the better! Even if it is in small amounts, all of your recent payments show up on a credit report, which can show your good faith in paying off your credit card, rather than waiting for some big amount.

I was surprised by the time I had finished how sophisticated it looked. It was a map for our money, where everyone had their appropriate place. Another rule I am beginning to use is a page from Dave Ramsey's books - pay for things in cash. Each week I take out a certain amount for food, in cash. This is all the money we are allowed for the week, and what I am already coming to find is we don't need as much money for food for another part of the plan: planned meals.

First, I wrote down a full menu of all the meals I can make, with a column for lunch meals and dinner meals. I then sat down after printing out a blank Google calendar, and wrote down what meal I will cook each day, and lunches for weekends. Next, I wrote a shopping list of all of the ingredients I would need to make these meals, and any other food items like snacks we may like to have over the week. I keep this calendar on the side of the fridge, and I have already found that my husband will get excited over certain upcoming meals and tell me earlier in the week. If your family doesn't like what you serve, then ask them to be on the meal-planning committee!

After going to the store, I could not believe how simple it was. I buy things accordingly, and feel I nearly cut my grocery bill in half, because I don't buy things I don't need or wont use. So many times I would go through the grocery store just buying things that sounded good to eat or thought I would make for that week, and I would end up with a lot of expired food. I'll admit, buying only what you need is still difficult, because you do see sales and things you didn't think of, but as long as you limit yourself to that one snack, rather than 2 or 3, its a start!

So my plan of action has only been in place for a week, but so far I am coming out under budget. If you are looking for more ways to see where your money goes every month, there is a great free version of Quicken called MoneyStrands, located at www.moneystrands.com

Happy saving!

New and Upcoming!

2009-09-20T21:28:00.003-05:00

Well, it has been a while. School has taken over my life again, as usual. However, I am making plans for an upcoming series of posts entitled "Adventures with Borax". Borax is a cleaning agent that has been around since the 1800s, now sold in stores for a cheap price (at my grocery store it was $2.99), that has multiple, wonderful, helpful uses around the house.

In the meantime, I have gained interest in a new snack - Wheat Thins "Toasted" Great Plains Multigrain chips. One day, while enjoying my chips, I was looking at the side of the bag, mentioning a recycling program, called TerraCycle (www.terracycle.net). TerraCycle essentially pays you (although its not much) for your garbage, and then makes practical items like grocery bags, backpacks, and pencil cases from them. There are tons of different products that are collected, like Capri Sun pouches, Cliff Bar wrappers, Malt-o-Meal bags, and more! You can search your area for a "brigade" that works to collect certain kinds of garbage. Similar to the BoxTops for Education program, there are also instances where you can donate your "garbage" for profits for your schools.

Not thrilled about the idea of shipping these things? Don't worry! Manufacturers and retailers pay for the cost by sending pre-paid envelopes that you usually drop off at your local UPS. What are you waiting for?! Go to www.terracycle.net and join a brigade (or start a new one) today!

Someone is about to become very rich

2009-08-27T15:30:00.005-05:00

Hopefully you have heard along the way that the appliances that we keep plugged into power outlets are still sucking power, even when we don't have them turned on. They have also been referred to as "vampire power", since they "suck away your power" and it turns up on your electric bill. Around 10% of our electric bills represent electronics that are what we think are off and really they are not. To solve this issue, power strips have been a common solution since you can turn the whole strip off by flipping the on-off button. What about for the lazy person in us? I am expected to do this every TIME I leave the room?

Have no fear, you have no excuses now, because Monster Cable has come up with a "green" power strip, that automatically turns off power to electronic items that are on offline or stand-by mode. This works for computers, TVs, computer modems, and other electronic energy sucking items. When you need them back on, the power center recognizes this and gives the power back when you need it. While they are a bit pricey (ranging from $70-$130), they are an investment for sure. You get the quality surge protection for electronics, and you'll save a big chunk of change on your electric bill. I also don't have to mention you are doing something great for the environment by CONSERVING ENERGY. :)

I know what will go on my Christmas List this year!

Pandora: Radio of the Future?

2009-08-22T10:23:00.004-05:00

So either I found out I must not be around my friends enough (which could be true), or I am behind the times, because I have finally discovered Pandora Internet Radio (www.pandora.com)! Now that I am back at school, I find myself sitting in offices for long periods of time, and Pandora has been helpful in making life less dull. At Pandora, you can create your own internet radio station, and you can rate songs as you like (and they will look for similar ones in the future) or you can say you don't like it and they will take the song out. Commercials are minimal, however, you can even pay for a membership if you want all the benefits, including no commercials.

Radio stations are created by you entering the song title or an artist you like. If you create a profile, you can save all of the radio stations you have created. There are also "shared stations" which run different genres or decades of music.

I am big into music, so this has been a really refreshing experience for me. Its great to hear new songs, or ones that you haven't heard in a while. Nowadays, you don't have to own every piece of music you like to hear it, you can just make your own radio station! I am pretty convinced this is the future of music as we know it, in terms of radio. Pandora even has compatible devices so you do not have to listen on a computer, but your own home stereo, table-top radios, or other products, like the iPhone. If you're stuck at a computer a lot, like myself, consider giving Pandora a try, its free awesomeness!

Winners of Book Giveaway!

2009-08-15T10:25:00.002-05:00

Through a drawing of random numbers, readers Marie and Kim will be receiving their free copies of "The Penny Pincher's Club" by Sarah Strohmeyer. Thanks to all of you who entered the drawing.

Well, I know it has been a while for me, I was on vacation for a while, and still try to settle into our new house. In the meantime, there have been a couple of new websites that I have found helpful, and I would encourage you to check them out.

Mr. Rebates - This is a great website where you can find cash-back rebates at many popular online stores. If you shop online, you probably go to these stores already. Right now, there are also some popular back to school specials. You can also sign up to receive emails (which they are giving $5 bonus for right now), which will provide you with weekly announcements regarding the great deals for this week.

Another great website, FortePromo.com, which distributes bulk gift items (which logos or images can also be put on) has some great environmentally-friendly products out there. If you are in charge of getting a small gift for a massive amount of people, Fortepromo.com is a great provider for items that can be biodegradable, sustainable, or recycled. You can get bamboo covered flash drives for your group rather than getting ones covered in plastic. Even if you are considering something small like office pens with a company logo, they even have biodegradable pens! No kidding! I had never heard of such a thing before either. You can see a list of their eco-friendly products here.

Love books? If you are like me, and cannot stop collecting books, you know they can be a big hit to your wallet. On Frugal Green Girl and numerous other experts in frugal living, advocate for buying used first, and always if possible. If the same books keep showing up in your local used books stores, try looking at Booksalemanager.com. Libraries have book sales all the time, and with this website you can find out about book sales in your area. Support your local library and buy a couple (usually ungodly cheap) books!

Vacation Time

2009-08-05T22:04:00.003-05:00

I am currently in my home state of Wisconsin right now, on a 2 week vacation before classes and jobs begin once more.

First off, I want to say only 2 people have entered in the drawing for a copy of "The Penny Pincher's Club", so please enter with your email address to frugalgreengirl@gmail.com, otherwise there will be no drawing, simply a giveaway to the two people who replied.

We have finally gotten all moved into our new home, which still remains mostly unpacked because we are out somewhere else for a while. During our first week in our new house, we decided to begin leaving our dog out of his kennel, as planned. However, the second time we left him out, he decided to have a massive diarrhea spell all over our dining room (which is carpeted). After scrubbing as much as I could, however, there was still a couple of stains which I know have simply been rubbed into the carpet, I went to the store and ended up leaving with the Bissell Pet Spot Bot. I was debating between that and the Bissell Little Green Cleaner, which was similar but the Spot Bot had a mechanism where you could put the machine over a section of carpet and would wash out fresh or set-in stain within a 6 minute time frame. Just set it over the spot and leave it work its magic. Needless to say, the stains came out wonderfully! While the product was a bit expensive, however, I think that if you have a dog or a child, or a husband for that matter, you are bound to use this again and again, whether its mud, food, or even feces.

Be back in a little while, but in the meantime, keep the entries for "The Penny Pincher's Club" coming!

More on Books...

2009-07-24T21:48:00.002-05:00

So this has clearly been a coincidental week of books for me, but I was thrilled about my recent savings on textbooks for the next upcoming school year. Both my husband and I are students, he is part-time while I am full-time, and his school comes out with textbook lists much earlier than mine fortunately for the one of us.

After gathering his list for 3 classes, the books would cost roughly $375 with taxes. After searching on Amazon.com (which you probably would think I am working for by now, but no), I began to shop using the feature where you could buy the books new from other sellers. You could also buy used from other sellers for even cheaper, but with used books you never know what you'll get until you see them, so we went for new. From this method I got all of his books for $227. Since these items are not taxed, it also makes it much easier for the wallet. So for the same quality of books delivered to my door, I got them for $150 cheaper, which is something that even Amazon.com as a retailer could not beat.

There are many great textbook sites out there, half.com is another one of my favorites. The issue is, you have to have your list of books ready a great deal ahead of time, otherwise, you won't be able to get them on time. With half.com, all books are generally shipped through Media Mail, which can take up to 3 weeks to get to you. Buying books from independent sellers may also prove a similar route, with standard shipping ranging up to 15 business days.

Keep sending your entries for a free copy of "The Penny Pincher's Club" to frugalgreengirl@gmail.com!

Book Giveaway

2009-07-22T14:09:00.008-05:00

After my entry on the Amazon Kindle below, I also realized I have an offer for my loyal readers at Frugal Green Girl!

"The Penny Pincher's Club" by Sarah Strohmeyer, a new chick lit type book was released earlier this month, and I have two copies to give away to readers of Frugal Green Girl. Like "Confessions of a Shopaholic", it follows the story of a woman going through a financial strain and is forced to give up her material possessions to get her life back in order. Along they way, you'll learn some tips yourself on how to save money. I'm happy to trade one of my boring personal finance books for an adventure, and I hope to post more information on this book in the future as I find opportunities for it.

In the mean time, I will give readers until August 15th at midnight (Central time) to enter in the drawing for a copy of "The Penny Pincher's Club". Email me your name and a way to contact you (email address is fine) to frugalgreengirl@gmail.com. Join along with us, even if you don't get a free copy, and share the tips you find helpful.

Paper is so last year

2009-07-21T19:09:00.003-05:00

For my husband's birthday this year, I decided to get him a not-so-frugal, but what I would consider a very "green" gift - an Amazon Kindle. They have recently dropped in price, but are still at a quite outrageous $299.

My big thing with gifts is that I want them to be practical. While this gift costs a lot of money, I think it will pay itself off in the long run. I spend a lot of time researching more expensive purchases and finding customer reviews, which is something I would advise to anyone. At first, I didnt think buying a Kindle would be worth it, but after learning more about it, I saw how practical and useful it could be for him. My husband really loves to read classic novels, ones written quite a long time ago. For a while, he was collecting the anthology books by famous classic authors from Barnes & Noble, which tend to take up a lot of space in our apartment (soon-to-be house this weekend). The great part about these books is that the copyright has expired on them for quite some time, and now you can get all of these books for free on an electronic book, like the Kindle. This is also the reason why they are so cheap in stores, you are merely paying for the paper and ink the book was printed with. There are also websites like freekindlebooks.org that have lists and lists of free books to read. So far, he has only really purchased one book (Eragon, for $6.99), which costs half price than buying a hard copy since you aren't paying for the components of the hard copy version of the book.

Additionally, this device provides a form of "free internet". By that, I mean you can search the Amazon.com Kindle store at anytime, anywhere. It utilizes Verizon wireless's "whispernet", but there is no data plan to pay. My husband was out with his parents this weekend driving in a large city and looking for a local store. He pulled out the Kindle to find what they were looking for. Be warned, this is a version of the internet that would look like what you would get on your mobile phone. Basically, it can do the job you are looking for, but is not a computer. You can search google or wikipedia, but don't look for YouTube videos on there.

Plus, and my favorite part, you are saving paper and saving space in your home! The Kindle can hold roughly 1,500 books, which I would think is very hard to fill (But I wouldn't put it past my husband). It also can give you your subscriptions to newspapers or magazines too. Another thing we loved is one of the newest features of the lastest version of the Amazon Kindle, it's text-to-speech function, which will read your newspaper, magazine, or book to you. While it is a somewhat creepy electronic voice, it does its job quite nicely. Publishers are also given the choice to not offer the text-to-speech feature, since this would likely hurt the audiobook sales.

There are other versions of "electronic books" available at other book stores, like Borders sells a version from Sony, however, I don't know if the features would even come close to the Kindle. Amazon.com also carries such great deals on books, that I don't know where you would get a better price.

If you have a special someone in your life who loves to read, a Kindle or similar product might be a more practical purchase than you think, and convenient! Books download to your Kindle in 60 seconds!

My adventure at Plato's Closet

2009-07-11T18:47:00.004-05:00

First off, my apologies for being a while since my last post. Life has gotten chaotic recently and my internet connection has been bipolar lately.

Anyways, with our upcoming move into our new home in two weeks, I began going through all of my old clothes and deciding what I could get rid of. While I know we all like to hoard clothes, a good rule of thumb is, if you have not worn it in the past two years, you probably can get along without it. I ended up with a very large box of clothes to take over to Plato's Closet, a store that specializes in buying and selling used clothes for the young crowd. You may have something similar near you as well, that will pay you for your used clothing.

After giving them all of my items and doing some looking myself for about 30 minutes, they had my offer for me. They showed me the basket of clothes they wanted to buy, which out of the 30-35 items I probably had in there, they only took about 5-7 I would say. I'm not going to lie, they are pretty picky since the trends change so quickly. They told me they will typically not buy anything more than a year old, and do not take higher than a size 15 (for women). However, it was something that I was expecting to hear. They aren't going to buy things from you they cannot sell. I was happy to get whatever money out of this that I could, since they likely would give me as much at a rummage sale or from donations to Goodwill. I ended up getting about $15 from what they wanted, and I used some of it towards some clearance tank tops they had for $2 each. I got one American Eagle Outfitters top, one from Hollister, and another top I could use for my work, all for $6. Can't beat that!

Although it is tough to sell stuff to them, I think they offer a lot of good deals in stores like this. It was a weird experience for me because you are used to seeing racks with the same item in different sizes. Here, everything is categorized by size, then color. I remember last year wanting to find a specific color of blouse to go with a pair of pants I had, and going to a place like this would have been a lot easier than searching a typical store. If you have clothes that you should get rid of, or you haven't gone through your closet in a while, consider minimalizing your wardrobe and get some money for it.

Recent Struggles Update

2009-06-30T23:44:00.002-05:00

Well, my husband and I are officially homeowners! We are still renting our house to our seller, due to the fact we also need to complete our lease at the end of July. We were completely thrilled that everything worked out okay and our closing went, well, as smooth as it could have gone.

Anyways, I'd also like to take this time to tell you about a recent struggle with consumerism that has been a problem with getting a new house. I have such an awful compulsion to fill it with new furniture. For some reason, since this is our first home, I find myself wanting it to look like a "real house". While I bought the previous piece of furniture in the last post on Craig's list, this has been one of my most difficult battles with consumerism in a while. Additionally, while I switched my major 7 times in undergrad, one of them was interior architecture, also known as interior design. When you know about all the colors, gadgets, and furniture that you have been staring at and learning about for years it is so hard to not think about putting it in your own place. I don't know how interior designers keep any money in the bank! I am artistic by nature, and enjoy projects like this where I am suddenly given the freedom to paint walls and exercise the other freedoms that come with being a new home-owner.

As I have likely said in a previous post, its so much better to replace items in the house one at a time, then they are more affordable, and I am using this post mainly to reaffirm that to myself. I keep telling myself our savings needs to stay put. Even when looking at used items, like I was considering a sewing machine so I could make throw pillows and curtains rather than to pay a high price for them, however, I haven't used a sewing machine since the 7th grade. I would really want to take a refresher class, which is an additional expense. I would like to think skills with a sewing machine would pay off in the long run as an investment, however, I am still debating about whether the class and sewing machine would be worth it or just wait to afford the appropriate home accents and decor.

It's that time of the season

2009-06-23T23:16:00.001-05:00

We have a strange tradition in my family, its been there as long as I can remember. My parents are incredibly frugal, and they have done so via the yard sale. We have both run them each year, and a frequent shoppers of them. When they come to visit me, it also seems to be a tradition, in addition to a game of who can find the best deal. Sometimes we try to find the goofiest things as well.

My husband and I just closed on our first house this past Monday (hence why my posts have been behind), and now we are amidst looking for some new pieces for our new home. Craigslist, which in my opinion, can be comparable to a rummage sale, has been a new haven for me to search. I just got this year old lounger for only $150 (after talking them down from $175 of course). Especially when we are moving into a new place, its tempting to fill it with new furniture we can't always afford. Here are some good tips to follow when we find ourselves in this situation:

If looking for new pieces, fill your home slowly by replacing pieces one by one as you can afford them. A few months ago I posted on creating an account that puts a small amount of money in it every pay check. Before you know it, you'll have some money for a new piece.
Rummage sales can be your best friend in this scenario. The best times to hit, especially when you live in a college town like myself, is during May and July when the summer is providing great weather and college students' apartment leases are close to being up. Many live on another side of the country and won't be able to take some of their things with them. If they are selling a lot of their items (mine was trying to get rid of everything in the house), there is a good chance you can probably get a better deal by talking them down in price. If you can't, don't be afraid to walk away - they are likely more despirate than you to get rid of their furniture since they will be charged if it still in their apartment after their lease is up.
Craiglist can also be resourceful for links to both furniture, rummage sales in the area, or anything, as you may know.
I have also been finding websites like overstock.com to be helpful in the search for new furniture at decent prices. If any of you know of other great websites, please let me know or share them in the comments!

Its amazing to find the big deals, plus there is even a greater sense of satisfaction when you know how much money you saved - brag to your friends!

My friend over at Green & Cheap has also just recently written on this subject, so be sure to check it out as well.

Hair Cuts for Cheap

2009-06-17T13:06:00.003-05:00

When I was a kid, my mother or grandmother always cut my hair. In fact, my mom did, and still does, cut many of my cousins' hair. However, both of them were also licensed cosmetologists. But for many families you don't have to be one to give haircuts. There are always commercials on for the next set of clippers to use on the men in the family. But what can women do?

I'm lucky to find that local beauty academies are great ways to save money on haircuts. Today I got my haircut for $7. When I go to my normal salon, I pay $25. If you are willing to sacrifice cutting the ties with your current salon or stylist, and perhaps not having a usual one either, consider going to get your hair cut by students. I've also read that if you are willing to get whatever style they choose, to be a model, you could get a hair cut for free.

Another issue for me is that I keep my hair very short. I struggle with it because to keep it at the desired length it has to be cut almost every 2 months, if not sooner. Shelling out $25 each time that frequently pained me a lot, but now, I can get them as often as I need, and I can keep the short hair that I love.

Honeymoons

2009-06-06T12:06:00.007-05:00

This post is a part of a weekly section for the month of June on how to save money for weddings.

This is what I believe many people think of when the word "honeymoon" comes up. It is a conventional, prescribed way of seeing things, given to us by the many vacationing commercials from places like Sandals, etc. In fact, this is a photograph from my honeymoon, in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico. I thought this was what I wanted, but in fact, I often say the wedding was for me and the honeymoon was for my husband. I found out I was not so fond of the excessive heat and humidity (especially in one of the worst months, August), and I was also stung by a jellyfish while swimming in the ocean off of the shore of our all-inclusive resort.

The recommendation of the all-inclusive resort came from my parents, who come to a place like this every year during the winter. While you can get your money's worth, if you aren't into drinking a lot, or eating a lot, you might want to reconsider your options. However, where we DID save money was the fact we did take this honeymoon in the off-season. We also took a package deal through Apple Vacations to save some money, which I don't know if I would recommend again, but technology keeps expanding every year and we now have great websites like Priceline.com, and Orbitz.com, that can offer stellar deals. I have been actually watching cruise line deals with Priceline for a while now, and last week there was a deal for a 4 day cruise to the Caribbean for $199 a person!

Booking through a travel agent you will come across extra fees, booking fees, etc., so I would recommend booking a trip for yourself if at all possible. The real deals will be online if you know the right places.

The other thing to note, as I was saying earlier, is make sure to find a place that both of you can have some fun. The tropics are just one place where people go. My parents went to Yellowstone Park, and my husband's parents went to Niagara Falls and Cooperstown, NY (My Father-in-law is a big baseball fanatic). If I could do it all over again, I would have considered a cruise. While they are all-inclusive too, I found myself bored sitting at a resort all day. I am someone who needs an adventure everyday, while my husband was content just reading a book on the beach. Find what is fun for the both of you! And while my parents recommended this to us, be sure its what YOU want.

Also, honeymoons do not have to be an extravagant expense, it is another thing pushed onto us by society. A couple of years ago my friends did a road trip of the state, another one of my friend's getting married next month is staying at a cabin for their honeymoon. Weddings are so much about prioritizing, because it is likely that everything you want will not be there. If you can live without a fancy honeymoon, than go without it. The important part is that you have fun and enjoy the special time to bond with your new spouse.

Free Redbox Rental

2009-05-31T00:44:00.002-05:00

Looking to rent a movie for the weekend?

Sign up for emails from Red Box and you'll be offered a promotional code good for one free rental.

After using my free rental code from Red Box, I got an additional free rental for signing up for emails. So, you might get two free rentals from Red Box when signing up for promotional emails.

Weddings Galore!

2009-05-26T12:10:00.005-05:00

Its getting to be that time of the year...June (and the rest of the summer for that matter), the most common month to be getting hitched. This next month (and this week) features an additional weekly post on ways to save on wedding expenses.

I was married not too long ago, in August it will be 3 years. I grew up with very "frugal" or "thrifty" parents, and since weddings are no friend to anyone's wallet (except maybe the bride and groom if its very traditional) we were stuck with finding ways to cut back on wedding expenses. There were some actually good solutions in my opinion, and one I took up again recently after being asked to stand up in a wedding.

The dress can be by far one of the most expensive parts of the wedding. After watching shows like "Say Yes to the Dress" on TLC, women are willing to spend thousands, sometimes tens of thousands, on that one special dress that will make them feel like the beautiful woman that they are. I recall my dress shopping trip with my mom to a nice bridal shop in a nearby town. As I walked upstairs to where all of their bridal dresses were, it was there, on a mannequin. It was the first dress I saw. My mom was not so pleased by the $800 price tag, but I actually thought it was not so bad. Later that night, I started exploring on the internet, determined to find my dress for a price my mom could not refuse. And it was on ebay that I found the same dress for $630. I know it sounds crazy, but if you know the style and size of the dress you want (and tried it on in the store), look for it on auction sites like ebay. Sometimes, the savings are quite astonishing.

Women who are standing up in weddings can also follow suit. I am standing up in a wedding this summer as a "groomswoman", which was nice because I was given the freedom to choose my own dress as long as it was black and floor-length. Again, I went to ebay and found a Jim Hjelm dress, selling from $250-$355, for $47. Brand new. As with any ebay purchase, look through the seller's feedback and check what the fitting sizes of the designer are. Bridal wear is such a tricky business because for some reason they all seem to run small. Typically, whatever size you are in jeans, you need to up it by one or two sizes. Strange, I know, but since you aren't buying it from a shop, either check your measurements or try on a dress made by that designer in a store if you can't get the actual one. I would also say your best bets are the ones selling from New York, which is where both of my dresses came from. With all of their shops and being the high-fashion city they are, they always seem to have plenty to give to the rest of us.

Additionally, after getting my dress in the mail, my mom had a friend who was a seamstress. As any bridal magazine doing an article on budget-savers will tell you, having friends who can provide services for you will save you big time. My aunt did most of the flowers, a family friend made our wedding cake, a family friend (with a professional camera) did our wedding photos, my bridesmaids and I put together wedding favors and service programs...I could go on. But if you're on a budget, these are some of the best ways to save money.

Remembering Life Before...A Commentary

2009-05-24T23:55:00.006-05:00

Recently, a new Wal-Mart opened in our town. We already have a "supercenter" version on one side of town, and after a long battle between citizens and the city, the second Wal-Mart was built and opened this past month. I'm not about to get into the politics of shopping at Wal-Mart - I know many people who refuse to shop there due to personal reasons, so putting these beliefs aside, just follow me on this. Anyways, I went to this new Wal-Mart, and I was shocked to walk in to see how small it was. Its less than half the size of the typical supercenter version, but yet, I stood remembering back to the time when all Wal-Marts were this size. Now, I cannot think of one Wal-Mart in my life that did not upsize or start off as the Supercenter. At this new Wal-Mart, I could see both the back/front and both sides of the store from where ever I was. It still had a small grocery store section on one side as well. And you know what the funny part was? I didn't miss anything. I had an assortment of odds and ends that I needed (including food), and found them all, and faster since the store is so much smaller. So what is taking up all of the space in these gigantic Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Target Supercenters? I can only fathom that the variety of the same product might be it. However, this experience has helped me realize that the point of these large stores is to make money, raise consumerism, and have you realize you can't live without it. But the point is, there was a time before Supercenter stores and we did live without them, just fine in fact.

This is a postcard that was just posted on this week's Postsecret blog. If you haven't yet seen the blog or books on Postsecret, I highly recommend them. A couple of weeks ago I left for school without my cell phone, and realized it once I got there. I suddenly had feelings of confusion and loss...what if someone calls me?! Note, I probably only receive 1-2 calls a day, but for some reason I think today may be an exception. My supervisor at my job, as understanding as she is, lets me go home to go get my phone (approximately a 3 minute drive). She understood because she knew she couldn't live without her phone either. Cell phones were not really a part of my life until I was 16 years old, and even at times in between then and when I got married, I didn't have a cell phone...and some how I got along without one. What are we so afraid of in leaving our cell phone behind? Sure, we have families and times of emergency, it certainly makes sense, but what does this promote? If we disconnect ourselves from the world, will that benefit us? I think many of us would say "yes", and others who might say "no" or "possibly". Either way, I am amazed at the feelings of panic or stress that we get from leaving electronic items like cell phones at home, and we don't know how to cope. Its like an addiction.

That being said, I would encourage you to think about what your life was like before luxury items like cell phones were a "want" and not a "need". Some how, we all survived.

Frugal Green Girl Returns!

2009-05-18T00:33:00.003-05:00

Well, its 12:33am, and I have finally finished my last paper for the semester, yay!

Now, its graduation time for many, and I was happy to order some "recycled" gifts for some people I know who are graduating. I know its hard to believe there are any things that are worthwhile in ordering, rather than just giving plain old money, which I am sure most graduate would enjoy. However a lot of the gifts out there are very unique, artistic, and can be more personal. Plus, most college graduates, or even high school graduates, are looking to move out into their own place, why not look for something that could be a cool conversational piece, or something that just has a "more-expensive-than-college-dorm-posters" look. You'll be amazed at what is out there!

Eco-Artware.com is a great place to get some ideas and have some really cool items and designs. There are also many ideas that you can make yourself, from ReadyMade magazine to plenty of videos on YouTube. Nothing is greater than when you can say you made it yourself (then they'll HAVE to keep it). If you are looking for something in particular, try googling the item along with "recycled". You may find either instructions or a place to buy, or both!

Happy hunting and congratulations to all the graduates this month!

That time of the semester again...

2009-05-06T16:10:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

My apologies again on the lack of posts these past two weeks...it is finals time and my weekends have been spent doing the kind of writing I don't like to do - writing papers. Anyways, I will be back after this weekend.

Stay Green!
-Frugal Green Girl

Happy Earth Day!

2009-04-22T14:39:00.007-05:00

Happy Earth Day everyone! Luckily I have a beautiful day outside to watch from my office window to observe (I'm trying to be positive here).

Although I know its a little late in the day, there have been some awesome giveaways today that I thought I would share with you in case you still have some time. Reusable totebags seem to the popular giveaway, and I think you will find them quite useful. This information has been gathered from other websites, like inqusitr.com, and ehow.com.

All Disney Stores are handing out free Mickey Mouse totebags today. Bring in three plastic bottles to any location to get yours.
Head here to get a mail-in rebate form for Reynolds Wrap’s recycled foil wrap. Then, you can go buy a roll of it and get your money back (up to $3.99).
Walgreen’s is giving out free recyclable tote bags today. All you have to do is print out the coupon here and buy anything in the store to get yours. The coupon will also give you 15 percent off most items in the store.
You can get a free reusable tote bag from The Body Shop, too. No coupon needed — you just have to spend at least $30 and they’ll give it to you. The store will also donate $2 from all purchases today to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Target stores are offering $2 coupons for GE Energy Smart compact fluorescent light bulbs for the first 1 million guests to check out in each store. They’ll also hand out free reusable tote bags.
Check with your local Subaru dealer or Whole Foods store, but the two have been putting on a "eco-tour" for Earth day, where if you test drive a Suburu, you will receive a $20 gift certificate to Whole Foods, and a potential tote bag.
Earthbound Farms is also giving away a free tote bag if you are the first 10,000 people every week in the month of April to request for it. You just have to read and do a little pledge.
For our Canadian friends, Starbucks in Canada is offering free coffee on April 22, 2009 if you bring in a travel mug. They will fill it up with a complimentary brewed Pike Place Roast!
Not to vote for more consumerism, however, Old Navy is one of my favorite places to shop due to moderately low prices and nicer clothes. They are currently running a special when you buy a $1 tote you will receive 10% off your purchase and may find more on ways to save (i.e. coupons) on their website.

There are more awesome deals for you out there, so be sure to look around at what is in your area!

Enjoying the Great Outdoors...

2009-04-13T22:50:00.006-05:00

My apologies for the tardiness of this post...its getting to be that point of the semester when many large papers are due, so the next month may be more sparse for new posts. I'll let you blame my teachers too.

A couple of months ago I created a post on checkin g out gyms before buying membership. Well, here would be the first place to go - outdoors! Not only is it free, its also a great way to utilize nature's (or your city's) beautiful scenery. The money that can be spent on a year gym membership can be quite extravagant, and the machines also use a lot of energy to help you do something people can do out in the real world - walk, run, or bicycling. Now I understand gyms have many other uses, like strength training and other valuable equipment, but many people do go to gyms to simply use the treadmill or exercise bike. I personally found myself at gyms for a few reasons: a) cold weather/time of day, b) the ability to control pace and distance with a machine, and c) the personal safety of a gym. For me, a and b have been resolved, but the security of a gym environment in comparison to running outdoors can be a challenge, especially for women. I think the key is to be smart about it - Don't run in the dark, stay on routes with heavier "traffic" (i.e. more publicly used areas), and don't run the same route all of the time. [However, as a side note, I also think this is an illusion that can be created in our mind. A gym can be just as a dangerous place as running routes in your city or town, don't be fooled.]

Anyways, about a month ago, I was planning to start doing some marathon training outside, but I was left very frustrated with methods of measuring the distance of runs. I didn't have the money to afford a fancy GPS running watch, which can track your routes, and I was finding difficulty calibrating my iPod Touch with Nike+ program (i.e. a type of accelerometer mechanism). After much time spent on the internet scoping out potential tools to help me figure out the distance of my runs, I came across a website that utilizes Google Maps to help you figure out your mileage. All you have to do is click points that follow your route on the map to start. Using the satellite view, I was even able to calculate off road routes, like my local dog park. Its available at Run.com, and its been an absolute god-send for me to keep me running outside. If you are looking for a better way to document your routes rather than just driving them with your car to use the odometer first, please give this website a try, a great resource to getting more runners outside. You can also see routes people have documented doing in your area!

Even if you aren't into the whole exercise thing - now is the time to start getting outside to absorb some vitamin D from the sun! Enjoy what the outdoors can bring to you or your family.

Recyclable Style

2009-04-04T00:00:00.002-05:00

My mother-in-law is very much into Diet Coke. She has the shirts, memorabilia, but first and foremost, keeps gallons of it at her house. Over this past Christmas I had really wanted to make her a very cool hand-made project by using Diet Coke wrappers, in particular, a purse. She had loved the afghan I crocheted for her during the previous year, and lets face it, its much cheaper (and more personal) than buying a gift. However, I failed to realize that collecting these wrappers can take a long time. I have been meaning to try to collect these over the year, but I thought it would be cool to share this project's instructions with you, in case you might know of someone who would like this as a gift.

I found instructions for this project from another blog, on the candy wrapper purse blog by Mylinda Agler. Once you learn this folding technique, you can pretty much use any type of wrappers, from potato chip bags to candy wrappers. The colors, the style of the bag, the material, and any other editions provide you with an awesome amount of creativity to work with.

If you aren't into the arts and crafts scene but would still like to get one of these bags for you or someone you know, check out Ecoist bags. With over 50 styles of bags in tons of colors, they provide a great eye catching bag while saving the Earth. Even if you know you wouldn't buy any of these, they can be a great source of ideas on what kind of bag you might like to make.

Finally, if you are more of a visual learner, there are a couple of good videos on You Tube showing the methods of candy wrapper folding. Some of the better ones (in my opinion) can be found here or here.

Who would have thought you could make an awesome gift out of garbage?

Economically Efficient Ways of Buying Soda

2009-03-17T13:10:00.009-05:00

While I cannot claim that soda is at all a green or healthy lifestyle choice, I'll be the first to admit my addiction to it and I won't quitting anytime soon. Now that we're being realistic, I've been thinking about the most efficient way to purchase soda. As you know, soda can be bought in many forms, from 12 ounce cans to 2 liter bottles, to a 24 pack of cans. But which way gives you the most bang for your buck?

Obviously, going generic would be an easy way to make buying soda more efficient, which usually is half the price of name-brand soda. In this case, I will examine what happens when we look at name-brand soda since it will be the most expensive and generally carry the same price across the board. Generic sodas can range in price, so be sure to check out what your grocery store offers.

If we look at the name-brand, 24 pack of soda, with no sale price, this usually goes for about $7.99, not including tax. When we break that down, that comes down to about 33 cents per 12 ounces of soda (which is the general form of measurement I will be using here as a standard). A 12 pack of can soda will typically come about the same price or even more, since it usually is priced at $4.50. At $4.50 its about 37 cents a can. If we look at the 2 liter bottle of soda, at the name-brand price, its usually $1.29, again with no sale price. Translated into ounces, 2 liters is equal to approximately 67.6 ounces. This is equal to about 5 and a half cans of soda, which then levels out to about 23 cents per 12 ounces of soda! We save approximately 10 cents per 12 ounces of soda when we buy 2 liter bottles of soda.

(I am not aware of the price of the 6 pack bottles of soda, just because I usually can't drink that much at a time, but I have left my equation for calculating these numbers at the bottom for you. Next time I go I will check out the price and add it here as well.) After checking at my local grocery store, for a 6 pack of 20 ounce bottles goes for about $4.29. At this rate, you are paying 42 cents per 12 ounces of soda. Again, this assuming there is not a sale, and this is a price of a name-brand soda.

Our other ways of buying soda, like 20 ounce bottles up by the check out counter, are clearly over-priced and used as a type of impulse buy for you. These are also priced at about $1.29 a bottle. At that rate, you are spending 77 cents per 12 ounces of soda! Thats a huge difference, so next time you are waiting in line at the store, look away from those displays, because their purpose is to rip you off and satisfy your need for whatever you like to drink.

Pepsi and Coke have also been selling these "half-cans" of soda, which I hope you can already predict these are a rip off as well. Aluminum is an expensive material right now, so you will be paying for it. If you cannot drink a whole can of soda at once, again, consider the wallet-friendly 2 liter bottles of soda. You only have to pour as much as you can drink.

In addition to saving on buying 2 liter bottles, watch for sales! This week my grocery store had a sale for 88 cents on name brand soda. That brings me down to 16 cents per can of soda, or basically half the price of canned soda! Again, with generic soda, you're likely to see similar savings, so if you can bear with it, give generic soda a chance, and consider just buying name-brand soda when its on sale.

Now, if you are drinking SO much soda, it might be possible to profit back from such, by turning your aluminum cans in for some pocket change. In our area, a large 20 gallon garbage bag of non-crushed cans gave us about $1.50 back, so its up to you whether this is something to pursue. However, I would encourage you to recycle these containers, plastic or aluminum, to keep our Earth clean. You can also make a lot of cool things out of 2 liter bottles, and there is a list of awesome ideas here. I remember when I was in 3rd grade we made miniature green houses out of them, and watched a plant grow a little bit everyday in our bottle. I use one now to work with my dog's water dish (like a water cooler works) so I dont have to fill his dish as often. In addition, since using 2 liter bottles requires you to use your own glasses, this can also be a more eco-friendly way to serving (assuming you are not using disposable cups). Since you wash and reuse these glasses, you are not filling our landfills further.

To use this equation in figuring out what you are paying per can of soda at your grocery store, I used to following:
(With 12 or 24 packs of soda:) Price divided by number of cans.
(With 2 liters of soda:) Number of total ounces divided by 12, then the price divided by the number you got from the first part of the equation.

Damn those math teachers in school, I really am using math in real life!

Frugal Green Girl buys a house!

2009-03-15T22:19:00.004-05:00

Well, over the past couple of months, my husband and I had been in limbo about to continue renting or to consider buying a home. Both can have advantages and disadvantages. Not really acting on our thoughts about buying, we happened to stumble on our dream starter home, with a pretty dreamy price. After discussing things with our potential seller, we applied for and received pre-approval on a loan. And after negotiating happened over a day, we settled on an offer. Right now we are amidst of a home inspection and final loan approval this week. While I know all of you are not looking to buy a home right now, I plan on featuring a couple of posts on the home-buying process since there are many opportunities to afford homes at reasonable costs - especially in the buyer's market that exists right now.

While being a graduate student does not supply a great income to our dual income, we found we were still able to afford a reasonably low down payment with an FHA loan. FHA loans are loans that are insured by the government (specifically the Federal Housing Administration), that are provided to lenders to let people, who may typically not be eligible for a loan due to a small down payment or low income, afford a home. These are very common with first-time home buyers who generally cannot afford a hefty 20% down payment, and FHA loans allow down payments at 5% or even less. These types of loans are also good for people with credit problems or bankruptcies, and provide a great way to rebuild credit. In addition, much of the down payment can be gifts from relatives (which some lenders may not traditionally allow). However, these loans are not just for first-time home buyers or people with bad credit - anyone can qualify and there are no income limits. More information on the potential benefits of FHA loans are available in home buying books, on numerous websites, and specifically the FHA's website.

While this sounds like a good deal, there obviously can be catches to something that seems to good to be true. In many ways, FHA loans can be more expensive than a traditional loan, because of the fact of the low down payment and the insurance you have to pay for supplying such a small down payment, so be sure to do your homework before considering FHA loans as an option for you.

More to come on first time home buying for sure, as this is proving to be quite a journey and learning experience in the world of personal finance. :)

From your fellow readers

2009-03-09T15:44:00.005-05:00

Hello everyone,

This week, especially due to mid-term exams before spring break, I would love to take this opportunity to turn this post to you guys, the readers!

Jamie, a fellow reader, told me about TerraCab, a new business that has recently launched that provides fleets of emission-free pedicabs. Plus, they are sponsored by other companies so they are absolutely FREE to riders. These cabs will start becoming available on Earth Day, April 22nd, in Seattle, Washington, but they do plan to expand nationally. The vehicle works via petal-power by a trained driver, which contains a rechargable battery to work the headlights and signal lights, and to assist on hills. Plus, the companies that also sponsor these vehicles give free coupons to riders. So a free ride, and an emission-free vehicle to get where you need to be, where do I sign up? For more information, check out their website (http://www.terracab.com) or call 1-877-7FREERIDE. Hopefully they will be expanding nationally very soon!

Naomi, another fellow reader, told me about Beatmyprice.com, a new price comparison website that will search the web to make sure consumers are getting the very best deal. This site works a little differently from most in that the more you search, the more the website will continue to grow! Be sure to keep an eye out for coupons as well to save even more, which can be found at RetailMeNot.com.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to mention Frugal Focus, of which this blog is a feature of. Not only will you see posts from my blog on here, but you can also find posts from blogs very similar to mine, especially with ways to save money. Its a great chance to see more ideas in one spot, explore the other great blogs out there, and as always, hearing what Frugal Green Girl has to say this week!

Just as I posted reader submitted ideas here today, I always want to hear of the new things you have discovered in your frugal/green quests as well. If you have a good idea, feel free to email me at frugalgreengirl@gmail.com.

Also, just as an FYI, I will likely not post until mid-week next week- a very cruel professor decided to make our essay mid-term due in the middle of our spring break week. :(

Energy Saving Search

2009-03-01T12:32:00.002-06:00

The power of our computers can be a huge, energy-consuming matter. While I love my computer dearly for all it helps me with in life, its not always a friend to the environment. There are lots of great computers out there that allow for an "energy saving mode", or carry the energy star compliancy sticker. So what if a new computer is not in your future right now or you don't have an energy saving computer? Well, believe it or not there are even more ways to save energy than just buying an energy star compliant computer, or turning on the energy-saving mode on your computer.

The colors used on your display screen can be an energy waster by the brightness of the color used. For example, Google is a prime example of a absolute white screen, that takes more energy to produce than, say, black. While I know not all of us can have the advantage of choosing a black over a white backdrop, its something to think about when putting a picture on your desktop, or keeping some windows down on the scroll bar, rather than keeping them up on your screen if you aren't using them.

Treehugger.com also wrote an article regarding this phenomenon:

"Take a look at Google, for instance, who gets about 200 million queries a day. Let's assume each query is displayed for about 10 seconds; that means Google is running for about 550,000 hours every day on some desktop. Assuming that users run Google in full screen mode, the shift to a black background will save a total of 15 (74-59) watts. Now take into account that about 25 percent of the monitors in the world are CRTs, and at 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, that's about $75,000/year, a goodly amount of energy and dollars for changing a few color codes."

Also, many people have created "black" versions of Google's popular search engine:

While I know it seems using these search engines may be only a small drop in the bucket, every little bit helps! If we all adopt this strategy, it will begin to add up. You'll also save slightly on your electric bills for conserving energy, so its a win for our environment and your pocketbook!

Try Before You Buy: Gym Membership

2009-02-22T22:09:00.008-06:00

Over the past month I have started training to run a half-marathon in April. I was very excited at the prospect, and I knew training for the event would be my biggest challenge. Staying committed to any type of program that requires discipline can be hard for anyone. Due to the cold weather that occurs during this time of year, I thought it would be too harsh for me to run outdoors having no real experience in running. Normally, I use our student recreation center, which provides free gym membership for all current students. However, on weekday nights, I found this place to be quite on my nerves. There are no fans on to ventilate the place properly, and it was incredibly crowded, which left me sometimes waiting in line to use a treadmill. In addition, I also have a minor phobia about crowded places, which got me to think of turning to a new place to continue training.

Looking at gyms for membership can be an overwhelming process, with a lot of information to consider. Now, obviously the most environmentally friendly route for exercise is to be out in mother nature herself, not on energy consuming exercise machines. Always consider that option first. In my case, I decided to take on gyms that would allow a one month membership, instead of committing myself to a year membership. Gym memberships can be so expensive, and they are hidden with loads of fees, even for just enrolling as a member. In addition, these rates can also increase every year. Although paying for membership on a per month basis will likely be more expensive than as an enrolled member, you are not committed to something that you risk not using every month. Hence, I enrolled for a month until the weather gets warm enough to run outside.

If you are thinking about enrolling in a gym membership, consider many options for information:

Talk to friends, family, or co-workers about where they go. What do they think? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a member at their gym? Sometimes referrals from other members can also get you discounts.
Check out online resources like insiderpages.com that provide reviews on local businesses in your area.
By all means, take a tour! Take tours of multiple prospective gyms, especially if you are looking to train in a specific area. Do they have the equipment or the services you are looking for? Do not be afraid to ask questions about their gym, this is a big portion of your money that is going to them.
Many gyms will offer a trial membership, take advantage! Some are for a week, some a day, but either way it will give you an opportunity to feel what things are like in this environment. Often these trial memberships will be posted on the gym's website or a sign on the in or outside.
Beware of clauses in your membership contract. Someone I know enrolled in a gym for a specific group fitness class, which was later canceled after she had enrolled. She was not allowed for a refund or to cancel or transfer her membership.
BE SURE this is something that can fit into your monthly budget and will be worth the use! Gym membership is not getting any cheaper these days, so be sure it is worth the money up front.
If you are looking to use a single piece of equipment the entire time during your membership, like in my case, a treadmill, consider the advantages of purchasing this item. Generally the use of this item over its lifespan will be paid off much sooner than your gym membership, and you will still have something tangible after all is said and done.

Starting an Emergency Fund

2009-02-15T17:52:00.003-06:00

Over the past couple months, I have decided to take up my mother's advice, and start a type of semi-emergency fund. I'm not talking about the emergency funds that the big boys in personal finance talk about, which apparently should be anywhere from 3-6 months of your salary in case the worst happens, I'm talking about a smaller version that we all can live with. The premise for this account is simple - open another account at your bank or credit union (I just call mine "extra") and set the account to take out a small amount, like $10-$20 per paycheck, out of your savings or checking account (where ever you put your paycheck).

Because it is such a small amount of money, you hardly even notice its gone. Over time, this amount will build up, not to a staggering amount by any means, but something to aid you in case your washer breaks, or the car needs repairs. The blow seems less detrimental to your budget when you already have an account set up for that sort of thing. I have had no real need to use this account yet, but now that I have saved up a decent amount, I would feel sort of sad if I had to take from it, which is a new experience in comparison to my normal bad spending habits.

The Advent of Stainless Steel Waterbottles

2009-02-08T22:38:00.004-06:00

Due to a time crunch last week, I was unable to post for that week, in turn you will receive two posts from me this week. So be sure to read the following entry after this one to get your fix. :)

Last month I was contacted by the owner of Cynergreen, a company that manufactures and sells various types of stainless steel water bottles in order to promote less waste and earth friendly products (They also do some other great stuff, but I leave it to you to visit the website if you want to know more). I had been noticing over the past couple of months that more and more of the stainless steel type of water bottle appearing around my place of work, and I was wondering if these would feel better and work better than my plastic Rubbermaid water bottle I had been using since the beginning of my going green days. Anyway, they gladly sent me one to give it a trial run. To say up front, these bottles are BPA free, which you may know from a previous entry here on Frugal Green Girl, is something to look out for. I would suspect that since stainless steel is generally treated the same, that most stainless steel water bottles, regardless of manufacturer, are BPA-free as well.

This is the water bottle that I received, which is just the right color for me and this blog. I tested this out for the following week, and came to the following list of pros and cons about using this type of bottle:
Pros:

The stainless steel does a good job at keeping water cooler than my plastic Rubbermaid bottle, or in my mind it felt cooler at least.
This bottle also had a convenient carabiner for easier carrying.
Despite its wide mouth opening, spilling was rare for me (and that's something you don't want people to see at the office).
Holds a good amount of fluid (20 oz). However, stainless steel bottles come in all shapes and sizes. My boss has a gigantor bottle that holds 48 oz.

Cons:

Something about metal in my mouth that I don't like...I don't know how other people feel about this, but metal on my teeth sometimes gives me a goosebump-like feeling.
I really didn't like the twist-off top. I would spend a lot of time trying to either get it off, or trying to put it back on correctly so it fit in the alignment of the lines in the metal to hold it on. This seems to be a common theme among all stainless steel water bottles, so if it doesn't matter to you as much, then there is little here to worry about.

Truthfully, I still use my plastic Rubbermaid one over the stainless steel bottle, but I will still use the stainless steel water bottle occasionally. The point is, if you aren't using a form of reusable water bottle by now, you should take its value seriously. Not only are you saving the planet by reusing materials, but you are also saving money by not purchasing bottled water and using water from either the tap or a Brita/Pur pitcher.

Making your own Bread!

2009-02-08T11:15:00.007-06:00

If you can't tell by my blogroll, I am a huge fan of The Simple Dollar. If I could do blogging as a full time job, I would like to think this blog would be modeled similar to Trent's. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out! While his blog is mostly about personal finance issues, going green can often be a product of saving money. Anyways, one of his most popular entries is the value of homemade bread and how to make it. While I wasn't sure about this at first, since bread at the store typically costs a little more than a dollar (or 79 cents at Aldi stores), I wasn't sure if this could be a good timesaver. However, Trent talks about the amount of preservatives in bread in order to maximize shelf life, and what effect this has on the actual taste of the bread and your health for that matter. I remember when I was a kid during the 90s and popularity of the bread-baking machine, and tasting not only the goodness of homemade bread, but also the warmth from the oven. Its a really good taste, which is likely why I eat so much of it in nicer restaurants that make their own bread. So anyway, after reading Trent's entry I thought this would be worth a try, especially because I would like to be learning more about how to cook. I have pretty much never done any type of bread making in my life, but followed the instructions and some common sense logic, and turned out a beautiful and delicious loaf of bread. It was actually a fairly easy thing to do on a Sunday as well, which for me is like a chore day and a lounging day around the house, so adding in bread making wasn't all too much of an inconvenience. Plus, you get to punch the dough for a good ten minutes, which can be a great stress reliever! Nothing like hitting two birds with one stone on this one.

This was my end product for my first try at baking homemade bread, and it was quite scrumptious! The ingredients are a simple mixture, no real rocket science here, and getting in the appropriate amount of flour. All you need is a packet of yeast, milk, butter, sugar, salt, and flour. Again, for more detailed instructions (with great pictures) check out Trent's entry at The Simple Dollar. Even through industrial bread only costs a little over a dollar, the cost of the ingredients are likely to be less, especially if you buy them in bulk, and its flat out better for your health without all the preservatives of industrial bread. You could even use organic ingredients and make this even more healthy! Your local co-op is a great source for these ingredients, and many grocery stores are now adapting a "natural foods" section where organic foods are more available and affordable.

Consider giving this one a try, you might even enjoy it (the punching especially)!

The Value of Customer Reviews

2009-01-25T19:50:00.009-06:00

For those of you with larger dogs, I find trips to pet stores a challenge in terms of finding effective dog toys that aren't destroyed in seconds. I will spend a great deal of time standing in aisles, contemplating whether this toy will withstand my dog's chewing ability. After numerous attempts at trying to find "good" dog toys for my young lab at my local PetCo store, I decided to take up on Amazon.com's 4-for-3 deal on pet toys. I was on the hunt for the "indestructable" dog toy, hoping to find more than one. While the descriptions are helpful, the one thing I find myself looking to more commonly is the customer reviews. DO NOT underestimate the power of this information. I cannot tell you (nor do I want to think about) the amount of money I have spent on dog toys that have been destroyed in a matter of minutes.

This review is one that I read for the "Busy-Buddy Tug-a-Jug", one of the many toys that involves a puzzle with treats or food. I'm happy to say that after 4 days, it is still in tact and looks like it will be with us for a while. I was happy to find reviews written my dog owners with a similar problem - the power chewer. I plan to continue buying dog toys on-line solely for the customer reviews I can read after finding 4 good quality dog toys. While some are more expensive, I would rather spend the money on something that will last a year or two, rather than something that will be shredded to pieces within a few days. In addition, online retailers like Amazon generally have cheaper prices than pet stores, will have good deals like the buy 3 get one free, and have a greater variety of toys than any store. These reviews are on many retailer websites, like Walmart or Target in addition to Amazon, so be sure to look for them and take advantage of the information they have to offer.

I also used these reviews when making large purchases, like the recent laser printer I bought a few weeks ago. With 52 customer reviews and an overall star rating of 4.5 out of 5, this gave me confidence this printer would work well. The reviews also give you an opportunity to find out about minor faults or things that you wouldn't know about until you have actually purchased. The common complaint with my printer was the paper would curl easily, however, I considered it minor when deciding to purchase, and I do not have that problem after using it.

This practice is also very similar to Consumer Reports, which is something I subscribed to over the past year to purchase 2 vehicles and new cell phone service provider. Consumer Reports provides information on cars, electronics, appliances, insurance, child and baby items, and more. To date (our cars were purchased in February and April of last year), the cars that we have bought have had no problems, and neither has our new cell phone provider. You can receive all the information over the internet for only $5.95 on a per month basis, and cancel when you don't need it anymore.

Consider the power of customer reviews next time you are making a purchase that involves consideration of the variety of products available, it can save you a good deal of money when you buy right the first time around.

Reducing What You Print

2009-01-18T14:28:00.005-06:00

Being a graduate student, I have a lot of crap to print. Professors always want us to read extra outside articles in addition to whatever textbook readings there are. Plus, I want to save a lot of these for my doctoral comprehensive exams in a few years for studying purposes. When I first moved here, I was fascinated by the fact that Kansas seems to lack an environmental awareness, and the amount of printing seems to only add to it. My undergraduate university had double-sided printers everywhere, which saved students A LOT of paper. Imagine the difference of only using 15 pages of paper rather than 30.

I know many of you are probably thinking, "Why don't you just read them on your computer? That is a much more ecofriendly way of reading papers for classes." I know. And I agree with you. However, I care about my vision, I'm not someone who can read 30 pages of pdf files for hours without getting a headache. Plus, I am also someone who likes to take notes on the paper and highlight certain ideas. Its much more generative for my thinking.

Anyway, so yesterday my husband was having issues with one of our older printers. He was trying to print homework for his classes and the printer just kept saying the paper was out when it clearly was not. We ended up printing from my printer (I seem to accumulate free ones when I buy new computers, and I have another in my office). But overall, I cannot express how much I hate inkjet printers. If one drop of water touches the paper, the ink goes everywhere, and I find myself conserving the ink as much as possible because it seems to run out so quickly, thus costing me another $30 to $35 for more ink cartridges. While I am sure there are ways to save in this department (refilling cartridges rather than buying new ones, primarily), I have decided to purchase a laser printer with double sided printing. When you actually look at the money you save buy going with a laser printer, in addition to the double-sided printing, its quite amazing.

With a laser printer cartridge (i.e. toner), I bought a $70 "high-yield" cartridge that prints approximately 7,000 pages. That's 1 cent per page. Comparing to ink jet cartridges, which can differ in price, but if you just say $35, which is what I paid on average for an ink cartridge for my Canon printer, averages about anywhere from 200 to 450 pages at 5% coverage. If you are at a higher capacity, (the 450 page mark) that's about 8 cents a page, and at lower capacity (200 pages) it costs around 18 cents a page. That's a huge difference!

With my husband now returning to school and needing to read outside articles, I could only see benefit in purchasing a laser printer. "But aren't those expensive? They are usually a very big and complex machine." I hear you thinking. True, but its a key to know of where are the right places to look. Amazon.com, for example offers excellent deals on laser printers, rather than paying full or expensive prices at your local Office Max or Best Buy. I purchased the Brother HL-5250DN REFURBISHED printer. For a new one of these printers, it would be $190 on Amazon.com, or $250 at a store. A refurbished printer cost $160. New or refurbished, I don't think this printer is very expensive in comparison to other laser printers, especially ones with all the bells and whistles. But when I buy refurbished, I save $90! You can always save money by purchasing a company refurbished product, which also typically comes with a warranty to ease your mind.

Add this all up with the amount of paper you save by using a double sided printer (which you can always turn off if you have a paper to turn in that cannot be double sided), the savings are colossal. If you have a lot to print, consider looking at what else is out these. Laser printers are more affordable nowadays than you think.

The debate of "Doggy Daycare"

2009-01-14T18:22:00.003-06:00

I'm sure you have seen them around your town or a nearby city... doggy daycare businesses. They take care of your dog during the day while you're at work, and will typically board your dog while your out of town as well. When I first saw these places, I thought "boy, people need to know the line that they have crossed when they can't even take care of their own dogs", but now, I have become one of them.

As you may or may not know, I have an active, year-old yellow lab in my house, whose energy is usually bogging down my ability to get my work done at night (Those familiar with my situation may sympathize). On most days, I would come home for lunch to let him out, and then return to work/school, while he is spending around 8 hours a day in a crate. This semester I was not as fortunate to have an hour to come home every day at lunch, and have been forced to bring my dog to one of these places.

While I am frustrated about the cost of these places, I find myself feeling better that my dog is tired at the end of the day, sleeping happily on the couch with me in the evenings, rather than being worried about how to entertain or distract him while I am trying to work on homework. The place that I bring my dog charges about $13 a day when you buy a package deal of 20 days. Additionally, today I had an incident with the daycare place where my dog was bit on the ear after startling another dog. I, knowing my dog's personality, did not think much of it, while the owner of the business apologized many times to me and cleaned his wound numerous times throughout the day. I could tell he felt deeply sorry and guilty about the situation, even though I have no idea how he felt it could have been prevented. Either way, he also offered me 5 free days of dog care due to the hole left in my dog's ear.

While this story does not have much of a point of being green or saving money (besides having my dog bit in the ear that gave me some free days), I was thankful to find my dog under the care of such nice, friendly, and caring people, and an important awareness to have in the world of today's franchises and falling economy is regarding the local businesses in our small towns or big cities that provide a presence in the community like no other. I have no problem giving more money to businesses that give back to the community, are an active member of the community, and provide a level of customer service that you may not get anywhere else. Not too long ago the corporate business did not exist, and all stores were the "mom & pop" type. Consider giving hometown and local businesses a shot at serving you, you may be pleasantly surprised, and helping out your local economy. In a way, its very similar to the idea of "organic" products - only with the business in mind.

Green Landscaping and Care

2009-01-03T21:44:00.005-06:00

While I do not have the opportunity to take upon this myself, I'd like to encourage you to think about landscaping your property - "green" style. The best way to go about this is to plant native species in your yard. "Native" refers to a plant or tree indigenous to your particular area. The major plus side of planting native species, the best part is that they take care of themselves! You dont need to plant any special type of soil, or water obsessively (i.e. waste water). Native plants will thrive in the soil you plant them in, as well as the work well with weather conditions for that region of the country. In other words, planting native species in your yard will save you time and save you money with the decreased water expense. Plus, native plants also work with and enhance local ecosystems.

Not only am I talking about plants, but also about the grass that covers your yard. Many people plant the common blue Kentucky grass, which, unless you live in that native region, requires a lot of watering during those hotter months. This amount usually ranges around 3 inches of water (again, depending on your area) to keep your grass looking good. That's a lot of water!

For information on native trees, shrubs, perennials, ferns, and grasses, check out plantnative.org

Also, if you have a nice big backyard, consider creating your own composting bin. This website offers numerous plans for different types of composting bins, but keep in mind that they do not have to be a complex item that requires a construction crew to build. It can be as simple as taking some steel fence wire, looping it around and attaching it to make a circle, and then adding your compost. All that would be needed for tools is a wire cutter. You can build more than one to create a "compost fence" or a cool fort for your kids!

In addition, if you have a canine friend living with you, there are ways to compost your pup's waste to save space in landfills. City Farmer has a lovely website on how to create these bins, step-by-step, and other ways to dispose of your friend's fecal matter in an environmental friendly way.

I'm anxious for the day I will have a yard! :)

Welcome to the New Year!

2009-01-01T22:46:00.002-06:00

Hi Everyone,

My apologies in taking much longer than expected to write a new post, I have been busy organizing a preparing for the new semester, ready and refreshed to update you on my recent findings in the world of green and frugal living.

Have you made any new resolutions for 2009? Among my few, is to keep up my blog here with you as well as continue using products, services, and ideas I have advocated for on this blog previously. With that in mind, I'd like to take this time to tell you about what I have chosen to keep up with over the past 6 months since the birth of this blog. Some ideas have worked out really well, while others, seemed like a good idea at first but may have not fit me personally. These ideas go in order of blog entries by date, with the first one being the first blog entry on money saving and green ideas. So if you are looking for more information on one of these topics, go to "older posts" at the bottom.

I still type in Coca-Cola rewards points to save up for products, but have only gotten the magazine I told you about in the post, Ready-Made. I haven't considered getting anything else with the points yet, with how much soda we consume I was thinking of getting something big after saving a while.
Selling on half.com has been at a halt for me, since it seems all of my good stuff is bought and I am left with stuff people aren't really interested in, however, its still up there waiting to be sold.
Unfortunately, at this point I do not bring food with me to ball games anymore, as when I tried I forgot the essence and addiction of hot dogs at baseball games. Without them, it feels strange, plus you are surrounded by them with other fans. I think this would be a better option to consider with children.
I have stopped making jewelry at this point, and have had little time to crochet (But look forward to getting back to it in the summer hopefully). Recently, a new door in cake-decorating has opened for me and has given me the chance to make money there. My crafty side always finds a way!
I have not taken advantage of PetCo's pet food program, but it looks like due to my recent vet visit I will be soon due to my dog's change in diet. He will be changing to an all-natural (organic) food diet, which is only available at places like PetCo or your Veterinarian. Remember, its buy 10 bags, get the 11th free!
I have not tried out Couch Surfing yet, but I know it will come up soon in the future :)
I still use my reusable grocery bags religiously. When I do forget them, I am immediately filled with ecological guilt.
All of my water bottles are BPA-free, and I will be reviewing a stainless steel BPA-free bottle soon :)
I do not have a wish list at this point, which might be something to add to my Resolution to-do list.
I have a holiday account, which is programmed to do reoccurring withdrawals every week in small amounts. That way, you hardly notice when its gone!
I do shop certain used stores, particularly Half-Price Books and Hastings. I have yet to go to consignments shops.
I watch Planet Green occasionally, but to be frank, I don't have much time to watch TV at this point, which I regard as a good thing.
I do subscribe to emails to some of my favorite stores, however, the constant emails from stores like Kohl's are starting to get obnoxious. Better emails have been from Michael's (craft store) and Best Buy.
I have gone paperless for my cell phone bills, and appreciate the option very much, since I can save or access my bills at any point (I'm with AT&T).
As for the whole issue with coupons, I have pretty much given up at this point. To me, you are either a coupon person or not, and at this point, coupons just don't work well with my lifestyle. I can see these being more useful with a larger family that buying 2 or more of a particular item makes sense.
I do go to my local Co-op, but not for major groceries, usually just for small things I cannot find anywhere else. Co-ops are difficult for me since they can be particularly expensive. Many items in a Co-op you can find in regular groceries stores due to the growing need and awareness of organic and natural options, and they bring cheaper prices with them.
I just recently purchased a AAA membership before my long 600 mile car ride home for Christmas, just in case something were to happen on the way. The security and peace of mind go a long way.
I still shop religiously at ALDI, and have brought friends there who may be looking for ways to save money.
Me and cooking is still a very foreign idea here, but I have been making attempts recently. I have been going through Cooking for Two magazine to find suitable recipes, however I am cursed with a picky eater. I wish there were just basic cooking classes around, it would help me a lot.
I have not taken AMTRAK or use megabus.com, but next Christmas might be a possibility.
I have tried drying clothes outside in the summer, but I have been having trouble with clothes getting very stiff and rough feeling. Does anyone have a good solution? I am guessing a clothes line would work better than a clothes rack at this point.
I have not created any cleaning products from natural ingredients, but I hope to do so soon. I think the problem is I don't really run out of cleaning supplies quickly and then will forget to do it when the time comes.
I do not keep a price journal...I know I should, but I think this will fall under the "should, but never will category".
For a couple of months, I did keep a journal keeping track of every cent that went in and out of the bank account, and I found this was useful to keep track of for a few months to see where everything is going, and to evaluate where you can cutback. I ended up purchasing Quicken, a home accounting software program, but no longer use either method after seeing where cuts in spending needed to be made. Plus, I know my husband felt like he was being watched after every time he spent money, and no one should have to feel like that all the time.
I am currently on the freecycle email digest, but have not contributed or taken anything in a very long time.
I have decreased the amount of hair products I use, and use the generic brands as well.
I still use the Diva Cup, and I have changed my birth control method to every 3 months, which has not changed anything about my periods besides the time in between each.
I have a pile of pants to bring to a tailor to get them fit better, most are slightly to big for me, and one pair I would like the zipper changed to a button fly. One thing I still want to do soon is to go through my dresser and throw out clothes I know I wont be wearing anymore.
ThethingsIwant.com was an unbelievable lifesaver this Christmas. I left home with awesome stuff that I actually wanted and could use, and no repeats and dissatisfied family members. I plan to continue using this website for years to come.
I have finally kept on a regular daily vitamin supplement and calcium supplement, which I am happy I have been able to keep up with and motivated to continue taking.
I have joined upromise.com to save for my endless college loans, and have been using them frequently at my grocery store trips.

Whew...so there you have it, what I have been keeping up with, what I have left to try, and what has most likely left me for at least a while. Have you tried any of these ideas? I would love to hear your thoughts on what has been working for you or if you have discovered a new idea. Here's to a new year!

After crunch time...

2008-12-08T19:47:00.002-06:00

Hi Everyone,

My apologies for not posting in a while, I hope you will sympathize with my weekends now being drowned by papers and assignments to fulfill in the upcoming weeks. As soon as I am done for the semester, which should be mid-week next week, expect a post from me on what I have been keeping up on in my quest for frugal, green life.

Take care until then!
-Frugal Green Girl

Giving Thanks

2008-11-12T18:37:00.004-06:00

Hi Everyone,
My apologies for not posting in a while, being a graduate student leaves hectic times in the middle to end of a school semester, so I hope you will be forgiving ;) Over the course of the next month my posts may be a little less frequent due to the crunch time of finals.

Anyways, I'd like to take this time, with it being so close to Thanksgiving, to think about gratitude. "Gratitude?" I hear you say, "What the heck does that have to deal with saving money or going green?" Well, more than you would think.

In counseling, therapists will many times implement the use of something called a gratitude journal, where each day (usually right before you go to bed), you write down 3 things you are thankful for that day. This many times will decrease depressive symptoms, according to research, as well as my own personal experience. Now, I know likely most of you reading do not suffer from depressive symptoms, however, this can also be a protective factor in addition to increasing happiness.

"I still don't get it, what does it have to deal with money or green-ness?" In especially American society, our culture defines happiness by how many things one attains, whether its material possessions or the titles we earn, etc. A gratitude journal reinforces the idea to be grateful for what we have, and that things could be much, much worse. Many times we think we would be happier if we had x amount more money, or had that pair of designer pants, or that new flat screen TV. But research shows that isn't the case, and in some cases, it could be the opposite. Lottery winners after a year are no happier than where they were before they won, and sometimes they may even lose their friends over this "wonderful" happening. Especially when the holidays come around, I'm happy just to have a loving family that I yearn to see at Christmas, rather than worrying and thinking about all the gifts I will receive. Because I live so far away from my family, I am thankful when I do get to see them, and it puts unneccessary ideas and thoughts out of my mind, leaving whats most important, the people in our lives. Just as they say "absence makes the heart grow fonder", when we are deprived of luxury we will then appreciate it when we can experience it.

Another idea is called a "Thanksgiving Jar" where families, or it could just be yourself, will write down on a slip of paper when they are thankful about something good that happened recently, and you place it in the jar. By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, there should be a decent amount of things to be thankful for, and they are read by members of the family.

Either way, when Thanksgiving comes around, be thankful for those things that are most important to you, and even consider trying one of the ideas listed here. You will be amazed at the positive feelings they give you, and what you may give to other people as well.

Free Learning!

2008-10-29T23:13:00.004-05:00

I recently have been taking on a great free treat, podcasts. I am a mac user, but those of you with windows can also use iTunes to get a vast directory with every topic under the sun in podcast topics. Take an astronomy class from UC-Berkley, learn daily Spanish, or subscribe to podcasts on learning how to be more "green". If you are into talk radio, this is another great outlet as well, since topics can be specific to your own interests. Also, I know in the case of my husband, he has a particularily long commute to work every day, so there is always room to take advantage during the daily drive to play podcasts on American civil war history (yuck!). There are also video podcasts available too, if you like to watch your speaker. I like to load up on a podcast before a long trip on an airplane or by car on our journey back home, it makes things much more enjoyable and time go a little faster.

You don't need an actual iPod to use "podcasts" either, any mp3 player can work just fine! Depending on the length of the podcast, you may also be able to burn them on to CDs, if you do not have a type of mp3 player transmitter to your car radio. Grow your interests with podcasts, its knowledge at your disposable, with entertainment on the side. The list of podcasts on iTunes is growing every week too, so check back every once in a while!

Great Article on Saving Money for Families

2008-10-24T09:42:00.001-05:00

Check out this great article from parenting.com on 101 money-saving tips for families

Upromise, for the future or today!

2008-10-17T20:16:00.003-05:00

Upromise is an awesome program that you can sign up for online, in which participating retailers will donate to a college fund for you (if you are under age 25) or your child (or future children) when you buy their products.

You can participate in the program through many mediums:
a) Getting the Upromise Citi Credit Card. With the credit card, 1% of all purchases go towards a college fund, and 10% of purchases at selected restaurants and grocery store/drug store items.
b) Shopping online at selected retailers with your registered credit or debit card. Savings range from 1-25%.
c) Dining with participating restaurants. When you register with the Upromise website, you will be provided a list of local restaurants in your area that are a part of the Upromise program, and you can receive up to 8% in college savings.
d) Using your grocery store and drug store "club cards" - when you enroll there is a place to provide the numbers of your grocery store and CVS store card numbers. Different products will offer different amounts of college savings, and the Upromise website also offers e-coupons on other select products.
e) In addition there are also ways to save money for college on travel by booking with many popular online companies like Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity (also rental cars and vacations); ordering from select retail catalogs; and other random services. For example, if you have a wireless line with Sprint, you can earn $50 per line.

If you have a child, considering having a child, or are in college yourself, consider registering with Upromise. In addition, family members and friends can donate to your fund with same registration process online. You receive the amount you get back from your purchases either via check, having it deposited into a 529 fund, or you can already put it towards a student loan already taken out. Every little bit helps!

Free...therapy?

2008-10-12T09:18:00.005-05:00

As someone who is training for and working in the field of mental health, we are all taught how hard it can be to find someone to help with problems or issues in our lives. There is an inevitable stigma that follows the idea of "therapy". For those of you unfamiliar with the experience of therapy, let me advise you, a) we do not have you lie on a couch to talk about yourself, thats a personal choice for you; b) not every therapist will ask you in-depth questions about your childhood, believing that's where you problem is (although there are still some out there that do); c) by going to therapy does not mean you are crazy, everyone has problems, and this is one of the many common ways to resolve personal problems; d) its important that you feel comfortable with and trust your therapist. I've had bad experiences myself, so if that person creeps you out or is not connecting with you, find another therapist.

In addition to feeling comfortable with the idea of going to therapy, there another issue of finding a way to pay for it. The hourly rate can be pretty ridiculus! I've been looking around at possible sources to receive free or close to free therapy, besides private practice, which is typically far from free, and here is what I know of or have discovered.

Students - If you attend a college or university, it is likely your school has a counseling center which will serve you for a smaller rate if not free. I've seen universities where you will be charged after the first session (for very cheaply in comparison to private practice rates), or sometimes it costs nothing at all, all you have to do is make the appointment.
Health and Human Services-type-organizations run in your local county - Often times your local county will have therapists and psychologists on board that are working for free to earn hours toward licensure, and fees are assessed on a sliding scale, meaning they assess fees to you for services based on your income, family size, and other financial obligations. You may have to do some searching on the internet for these services, like checking out your county's website, or typing in "[your county] mental health center" on google. In addition, many private practices to incorporate a sliding scale fee, but you won't know until you ask around. To look for services in your area, check your phonebook or type in "mental health in [your city]" on google to get a list of practices with their websites that might provide this information.
Check your insurance policy! I was shocked to find that my insurance company, pending authorization, lets me see therapists in private practice for only $20 co-pay per session. (Not to say $20 isn't a lot, but it is much cheaper than the normal cost). However, the risks with using your insurance is that diagnoses are released to them. If your comfortable with that, go for it. If your insurance still has a crappy co-pay rate, check on it occasionally in the upcoming year. With the recent approval of the bailout bill, there was also a "mental health parity" bill approved, which means that insurance companies must be fair in assessing fees for mental health treatment - meaning they have to cost the same rates as it would be to treat a physical condition.
Group Therapy/Support Groups - Group therapy is a commonly used method due to the fact its cheaper since only one or two therapists are needed to serve a large amount of people in a group at one time. In addition, people learn greatly from their peers as well as with guidence from their therapist, so a lot of times its a win-win situation. Good places to look for these are health and human services type organizations from the county, non-profit mental health organizations, and hospitals. Again, type in "mental health in [your city]" on google to look at websites of practices that offer these services. Looking at my local hospital's website, there are numerous support groups for free, however, due to the fact its a hospital their support groups are more aimed towards those with physical conditions.
Online therapy/support groups - Due to my personal circumstances, I use these and find them to be helpful. Its also nice if you do not feel like going to actual group therapy, however, I don't believe you will get as much out of doing this online. It's a very different experience. One of my favorites is Dailystrength.org, which provides support groups for all different types of medical conditions, as well as other life circumstances that can cause a potentially great amount of stress. In addition, its also like facebook or myspace where you have a profile page and can journal and set goals for yourself. You're also likely to find support groups in places like Yahoo Groups or Google Groups, all you have to do is search for it. If you can't find what you are looking for, consider starting one! I'm actually liking this a lot, so give it a try if you think it would be useful to you.
Student Training Centers - If you are close to a university that offers graduate programs in counseling or clinical psychology, then you might be in luck! Often times these programs will have clinics set up in university buildings which offer therapy for relatively cheap due to the fact that it is a training facility for students who are supervised by professionals.

If you are having some personal struggles in your life that you think you would like to open up about, but not your wallet, consider trying some of these options. If you have any questions for me, please feel free to comment or email frugalgreengirl@gmail.com

Good luck!

Nutrition and Your Body

2008-10-05T00:06:00.004-05:00

I don't think you need me to tell you that good nutrition habits will help keep the doctor away, as well as any medical bills or even money for cold or flu medicine. There are awesome ways to plan out your diet on 5aday.gov and of course, books galore on the subject. I often found myself discouraged with eating right because I didn't have the time or the money to do so. "That means making meals I don't know how to make and spending a lot of money at the Co-op for organic foods" I would tell myself. Not necessarily true. I know most of my meals are "on the go" types. Rarely do I get time to actually sit at the dinner table to eat (and then again, I do not have children to feed either). A good strategy for preparing on-the-go lunch types are one word: leftovers. On Sunday night, when I actually have time to prepare a meal, I make it larger than usual, and then use the remaining leftovers as my lunch for the rest of the week. Easy, microwavable, and likely to be healthier than fast food or a bag of potato chips. In addition, good lunches can consist of some excellent sides that come in bulk, like buying a large bag of pretzels, and putting them in a sandwich bag and then a REUSABLE lunch sack everyday. I also buy a large sack of string cheese or yogurt, and possibly some canned fruit into a small tupperware container. This is also where your reusable water bottle comes in handy. Lunches like this can generally cost (depending on ingredients) less than 50 cents!

Not everything has to be organic to be "green" or healthier. I always thought you would have to shop at the Co-op to be eating healthier, and I have often strayed away because their prices are generally very expensive. I wish I could afford to be a regular patron, but being a student does me no favors here. There are many items in your grocery store that already offer organic options, and you might not even know it. Even making switches from white rice to brown rice, white bread to wheat bread are going to be steps in the right direction. After eating healthier foods for a while, I notice that I can't go back due to the awful taste. Lays Baked Chip options have already turned me away from most regular fried potato chips...they just taste different now. Your produce section by far will be your healthiest, and likely provide more organic options. Kashi, usually found in the cereal aisle, offers some great granola bars that I have almost everyday for a mid morning snack. They offer a lot of great (and tasty, I might add) options for high dietary fiber intake. Kashi is one of many companies known for its organic nature, and natural gravity towards wellness. Right now they are offering coupons for a free cookie, one of their new products. I have also been noticing grocery stores are now adding separate "Natural Food" or "Organic" sections to the store. It will all be coming together before we know it, as grocery stores are now seeing the value of providing customers with healthier choices.

Beyond this information, if you have not seen documentary films like Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me, or Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation, I would highly recommend either. They examine so much of what is going on in the food industry with corporations, and you can see the physical and psychological effects of bad eating habits, and the effects of this lifestyle on the environment, in Super Size Me. Consider either my "green recommendation for the month". BBC America also has a show, You Are What You Eat, which each show examines a generally overweight, British citizen every show, and shows them how their diet is effecting their behavior and life, and how to make positive changes in the right direction, which includes basic recipes as well as exercise routines. Think of eating healthy as a long term investment in your health.

I'd also like to invite you to take part in Vegetarian Awareness Month. Give it a try for a day if you aren't a vegetarian already. Many studies have shown that vegetarians are generally healthier and live longer than the rest of us meat eaters. Although I am not a vegetarian, I do appreciate vegetarian options and their lifestyle, and do occationally take part.

Christmas is coming sooner than you think...

2008-09-25T23:50:00.003-05:00

As a graduate student, I think its almost a prerequisite that you live a great distance from home during your studies, I'm currently holding a 600 mile buffer-zone myself. Anyways, Christmas has always been a stressful time for myself, not because of finals or worrying about gifts to give...its those people who want to buy me gifts I have had the problem with. I had trouble communicating with both families, people got upset with me and other people because they had bought me both the same thing. Not only that, that also meant returning stuff, which is every person's dream right after Christmas. Talk about a waste of time, money, and energy mending the wounds of Christmas chaos.

This year, I have taken a new approach with the help of thethingsIwant.com At this website, it allows you to create a universal registry of items for any occasion (or none at all), including Christmas. You can even get a button added to your browser tool bar so that any time you are browsing a webpage and see something you would like, just click on it and a small window will pop up where you can edit the title, price, add any notes (like, "Won't be released until Dec. 12"; "Would prefer in white"; etc.), and designate the priority of the item. The viewable list will also provide a picture and link to the page you took the item from.

Then, when you are ready to share your list with all of those people who wish to shower you with gifts, you can share with them through email available. You can put a password on the list or make it entirely private if you are worried that too many people would buy you things ;) Anyways, so now your mom can look at your list, and can make the choice to buy an item from the site you provided, or choose the "Offline Reservation" button, which means they are going to either buy it in person or somewhere else online. Either way, it will let other people know the item has been bought.

"It will take away the surprise!" I hear you say. Have no fear, simply modify the list and click the option that says "Suprise me!" and you won't be able to know who has bought you something or what has been bought, just like Amazon's wishlists. In addition, having these lists are always helpful because you are asking for things you would actually like, want, or need. Theres nothing like faking that smile and bringing your item back or perhaps throwing it in the closet. I have especially made a point this year to not just put fun things on my list, but also more practical items like an electric toothbrush or a blender.

I'm excited to try this one out, and I am hoping this will reduce the conflict and stress of previous years. If you know what I am talking about, give it a look if you have technologically connected relatives. Heres to the start of the Christmas season!

Verdict: The Diva Cup - Two Green Thumbs up!

2008-09-25T23:13:00.003-05:00

After spending the past few days with my little silicone cup, I found that I have come to like it a lot! I was incredibly skeptical, just because I think all women have issues down there, and we're all different. I wasn't sure if this would work with my weird body. It does take a few days to get the hang of using, and it will seem a little strange to use at first, but it has been VERY effective in its purpose. I desperately want to tell people how great this invention is because I feel that much better about producing less waste for the environment! Anyways, here are some of the pluses and minuses experiences I have had this past week with the Diva Cup.

Plus: No, absolutely no, leaks. Not even a little bit. I'll have the confidence to possibly ditch the pantyliners next time around. Hands down though, I've never seen anything like this before, and its friggin' awesome!

Minus: I'm still finding a bit of difficulty with removal, but again, I think that's something that takes time to get the hang of. It usually doesn't take me longer than a minute to remove after using it only a few days.

Plus: The cup can stay in place for 12 HOURS! Which means that if you are in a place where you don't have access to a private bathroom and sink, you likely won't need to remove it until you get home. However, the Diva Cup comes with a full set of instructions on cleaning and changing your cup in places other than your own bathroom, don't worry!

Minus: If you sleep with it in, it might take a few hours in the morning for gravity to pull it down, which can be a little scary, so I would recommend trying the cup out first during the day time hours rather than at night. With experience, you'll learn how it will work with your body.

Other pluses: Talk about less waste! This cup provides all of the benefits of tampons without the waste or TSS risks. Every year, an estimated 12 billion sanitary pads and 7 billion tampons go into our landfills, furthermore poluting with some of the toxic ingredients used to make these products. Think of the difference you and a few of the friends you tell (and the few friends they tell) would make a difference by not contributing to that waste. You don't need to get a hybrid car to make an impact on the environment. In addition, we are also talking about great money savings too! Women spend on average $150 - $200 a year on disposable feminine hygene products. I payed $30 for my Diva Cup and will expect to see a savings of $50+, and the following year will see even more because the Diva Cup can be reused again and again!

I want to thank the fellow reader again who suggested this idea, it is such a wonderful alternative and it has been a great inspiration for my blog these past few weeks. I hope this will encourage fellow female readers to look for healthy alternatives for feminine hygene products for the environment. Check a couple of posts down if you missed it!

Shopping Smart for Clothes

2008-09-22T20:27:00.004-05:00

One thing that I have been trying a lot recently when I purchase clothes, shoes, anything I wear, I will first and foremost try it on in the store. Although trying things on in the store is often times a pain in the butt, it will prevent you from buying a lot of things that are impractical or don't fit. Dressing appropriately is difficult to discover when you are looking at an item on a hanger. Its about body shape, color, fabric, fit, etc., and it will be impossible to see these things without trying on your own body. In addition, if the clothes don't fit, always always ALWAYS return them. Commonly, when I buy new pairs of shoes that end up giving me blisters, I just throw them in the closet and forget about them, which is basically like throwing money away. Barry Schwartz talks about in his book, The Paradox of Choice, that we will often hold on to things that we don't use until the "psychological value" has worn off. We feel this need to keep these items, because we spent money on them, but we don't use them. The main reason to try things on in the store is to prevent you from bringing an item home so that it won't end up in your closet for the rest of its life.

A common suggestion from the folks at What Not To Wear on TLC is to bring clothes that may need a more appropriate fitting to a tailor. And if it makes the difference between wearing or not wearing clothes, or even being more satisfied with how a piece of clothing fits, consider having the items alternated for your own body. We're all different and don't fit the designer's size!

When you shop for clothes, shop as smart as possible and make sure these clothes fit you personally! You will get more wear out of your clothes, and spend less on the ones you never wear!

Follow Up to Friday

2008-09-14T17:24:00.005-05:00

For those of you who read Friday's post and was left curious, I decided to investigate further for more green feminine hygiene products at my local co-op today. While I left the store with a Diva cup, which I am excited to try out, there are a couple of other products out there for "greener" periods. First, there are washable pads. You would likely have to buy a decent store of them, and at my co-op they were about $10 each, however, you will have to see them as an investment, just like those who use cloth diapers, which I also hope to write on eventually as well. If the idea of washing them grosses you out, a lot of times there are services out there that can do the dirty work for you, like places that clean cloth diapers. For an online directory, check out this website. Next, there are pads and tampons that are "chlorine-free" and organic cotton pads. Obviously these are an option, however, they will cost you some chunk change every month, since most organic products cost more than their regular counterparts. Since I am all about saving money and the environment at the same time, I opted for the Diva Cup since it fits the bill.

When I actually get to try out the Diva Cup, I will leave a product review here, for all of you who might be contemplating the switch as well. Thanks for all of your feedback and ideas!

For Ladies Only...

2008-09-12T23:08:00.005-05:00

So ladies, I know you have all seen commercials on TV for "shorter, lighter periods" with oral contraceptives, and there are also birth control pills like Seasonique that only give you periods every 3-4 months rather than every month. I have always been super-conscious about doing this, I figured, "Hey, this is going up against what the body natural does, and since it sounds like one of those ideas that is too good to be true, it probably isn't healthy. I bet when you do get periods, they are for like two weeks, too." However, I recently had the annual exam with my nurse practitioner, and I decided to ask her about them. She told me not only is it okay idea, but your period is typically lighter when you do have it.

So now I want you to think about how much you spend on those lovely "feminine care" items every month. I consider myself an over-user, since I am paranoid about the smell, leakage, TSS, etc. I would say I spend at least $5 monthly on those items. Times that by 12, that's roughly $60/year. Also, if you buy wipes or any other accessory-like items, add those in too. Now times that amount by 4, instead of 12. That's roughly $20 rather than $60. I know you're probably thinking, big deal, $40, but that can be used for a lot of things, including a savings account with interest!

If thats not enough to make you think about finding a way to have less periods, consider how much waste goes into the environment every time you have a period. Applicators, tampons, pads, wrappers, plastic bags, wipes, the list can go on. All of these go into a landfill like any other garbage, unless you are one of the rare, super-environmental conscious women that uses washable forms of feminine care products. Imagine the amount of waste you use for periods goes down by two-thirds. For me, thats close to 4 garbage bags. Think about what you might be using.

Not to sound like a drug commercial, but check with your doctor if you think one of these options might be right for you.

I know this choice is not for everyone, and I hope no one is offended by my mentioning of oral contraceptives here. While I am liberal, I understand not every one is, or agrees with the use of birth control. Due to the nature of my blog, I am always looking for ways to save money, and save the Earth, in ways not thought of by most. This posting in no way advocates for particular sexual lifestyles.

Fellow reader Melisma, posted a comment regarding another form of feminine protection...

"I'm a HUGE fan of the Diva Cup - check it out here: http://www.divacup.com/. (Think of it like switching from plastic to canvas bags!) It's a little silicone cup that you tuck up there and empty a few times a day during your period. Surprisingly little mess, and super easy. It lasts for many years. It takes some getting used to, but it eliminates virtually all that garbage created by tampons and pads. Anyone can use it - it doesn't have any hormones and I can't imagine a way it could conflict with moral beliefs."

What a great way to go green! I'm definitely looking into it, thanks Melisma!

Bill is Back!

2008-09-10T22:24:00.003-05:00

I was incredibly excited this past weekend to see Bill Nye is back on TV, (and I sit and remeniss about the good ol' days of kids programming on PBS), only now he has a new series on Planet Green called "Stuff Happens". It looks at how things are made, and how they effect the environment. Also, some green tips are slipped in too, of course. Its almost like his original show, only minus the annoying kids, the narrator dude, and the lame-o music video at the end. So mostly pluses. Anyways, check it out or DVR it, I learned a lot about bathroom products during the last episode.

Tips for this week

2008-09-07T10:22:00.005-05:00

I have been thinking about some things I have been telling people to do over these past few weeks, and forgetting about my lovely readers here at Frugal Green Girl! Anyways, here is a summary of some tips for saving some money from my experiences over the past few weeks:

If your a woman (or a high maintenance man), hair products can cost a load of money every month, especially wearing top brands like Paul Mitchell. If you are looking for a cheaper way to get these same products without the ungodly price, check out your local Sally's Beauty Supply. They offer a whole section of "generic value products" (come in black and white bottles) that will even say on them "Compare to: Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum". There is literally a whole wall of these products and I would recommend to give them a look especially if you have a daily assortment of expensive product.
Podcasts. If you haven't been around this area on iTunes yet, give it a look. There is a podcast out there for everybody, and the majority of them are absolutely free. I had a friend who didn't have a radio with him at the gym but liked to listen to NPR while he exercised. They had NPR podcasts, problem solved! You can take Spanish lessons, catch up on shows you missed, or find out ways to be more green! Ask for a subscription and it will automatically download new podcasts everytime you open iTunes, or ones you don't have yet. If you ever wanted to take a class in your spare time, podcasts are a great place to find what you are looking for without the price.
I've also been disturbed lately by the high amounts of dog crap I see around my apartment complex, which allows dogs. For some reason people believe that since it's waste matter that it will decompose on its own and be okay just leaving it, since its done in nature too with wild animals. Well, those animals do not eat processed foods or human food for that matter, and it will not decompose properly. So be sure to pick up after your animal with biodegradable bags, they make them quite handy these days. For more ways to green your pet, check out this article at Planet Green. A lot of these tips are easier than you think, like adopting from a shelter, spaying or neutering your pet, keeping your dog on a leash or the cat inside, or simply putting ID tags on your pet are many ways to be green.

Hope your weekend has been treating all of you well, and I hope to post again sometime this week.

Measure your ecological footprint!

2008-09-02T14:11:00.004-05:00

There are tons of places online where you can measure your "ecological footprint", I happened to try this one from Conservation International. Helps you think of and learn about more ways you can help the environment in the process. Thankfully, I scored a 50, which shows great progress for me! Give it a try and see where you fall...

Happy Labor Day!

2008-09-01T14:51:00.005-05:00

Hello everyone, my apologies for fleeing off this week, but it has been a crazy week. Right now I am currently studying for my Master's degree examination, which is on the 19th, in addition to starting new classes and jobs, so my future apologies for my less frequent entries on here, they will likely be once or twice a week. It comes with the craziness of a new school year.

Anyways, here are a couple of things I have been trying/doing lately to help the environment and/or save money:

Cutting down on appliances used to do my hair. On weekends, since I don't have to look so amazingly beautiful, I don't dry my hair with a blow dryer or use my straightening iron. I know not all of us can get away with it, but I have actually had people tell me they like my hair better without all the product and finesse. It takes less of my time to work with too!
Spending less time in the shower. I do this by either cutting back on shampooing (not everyday) or just trying to do things quickly. Shampooing everyday can actually harm your hair since it is removing the natural oils that make your hair smooth and pretty.
Take a look at what your city provides in terms of recreation facilities. My husband and I just took advantage of using the local indoor aquatic center, and found it to be a great facility where kids can be separated from adult swim, and we can work on all of those strokes to be the next Michael Phelps. And the great part is, because it is run by the city, it won't cost you an arm and a leg to go every time.
In addition to facilities, our city also runs adult sports leagues, which are also quite cheap. We are looking to play some old-school dodge ball this year, and they also offer kickball, softball and other fun sports that you can enjoy. Its a great way to meet and socialize with friends without spending a lot of money to go out.
Devising recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes. I have put together a potential recipe for Pizza Hut's Meaty Marinara Tuscani pasta, and that will save me some money since I love to eat it so much! I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out!
Michael's craft stores have teamed up with Wilton cake decorating to provide classes at a very cheap price. During September, tuition is 50%, from the usual $36 4-week class. I consider this an investment, especially for what cakes today cost. You can make your own amazing cake for a made-from-scratch price. Plus, the compliments are always great to boost your self-esteem. The only disadvantage is it makes me want to quit school and open a cake shop. They should have offered that in home ec.
Catch stuff at the end of the consumer season. I have wanted patio furniture for a long time now, but I didnt want anything big since we will be moving in a year. Going to the local department stores, I found some nice $7 lawn chairs on clearance with it being the end of the summer season. Now I can sit outside with out being uncomfortable in the grass from bug bites.

Well, that's most of what I have been discovering lately! You should be covered for a little while ;) Happy Labor Day everyone!

Down time...

2008-08-26T20:58:00.002-05:00

I apologize, with a new school year starting, I am still getting adjusted to my new hectic schedule... I will be taking a break until the weekend. Green on!

With the Upcoming Election Season...

2008-08-24T17:46:00.004-05:00

Now, as you know this blog is not about politics, however, with the upcoming election and the environmental issues associated with it, I thought this entry could deem appropriate. Our candidates have very different proposals regarding laws and proposals on the environment, oil-drilling in the Arctic, use of renewable energy sources, etc., and it is definitely something worth paying attention to. I'm not going to tell you to vote for McCain or Obama (or anyone else, for the matter), but what I am going to tell you is to make sure you are educated about the issues at stake here, and how it is a reflection of your personal values. These people will effect the beautiful world you live in, and its future.

My husband ran across a stellar website, politifact.com, which is designed to be a non-partisan source that evaluates speeches and statements of presidential candidates and other politicians regarding their opponents or their own stance on issues. Please give it a look when you have the time, before you get sick of seeing all of those political ads! ;) It's truly a good resource for those already caught up in the he-said, she-said business.

Reader's Digest Article

2008-08-23T18:28:00.003-05:00

Reader's Digest has recently published a good article on 10 ways to save some money here and there, so give it a read if you have a chance.

Some of my favorite tips include:

Using Skype to communicate with long-distance family and friends. I use it frequently to video chat with my mother 600 miles away for free. You can also make "normal" phone calls with it, or the regular computer IM/chat. If you don't have free long-distance, consider downloading Skype.
Meetup.com - I had never heard of this website before, and it's quite an interesting concept. You know all of those extra-curricular activities you did in high school? Well now you can get back into the swing of things with these listings of interest groups in your local area that meet and have some fun (listed as an alternative to going to the movies or other activities that might cost you). Everything under the sun from poker players to language speaking groups, to political and sport groups is available to you.
If you are disatisfied with your current cell phone, or plan, and can't get out of it, consider listing it on celltradeusa.com and transfer your contract to someone who is looking to get out of activation fees and less than a 24 month contract.

Another satisfied Freecycle customer!

2008-08-22T17:55:00.003-05:00

Today I decided to finally get rid of all the odds and ends in my house that I have been meaning to get to Goodwill, only I thought to try out Freecycle.org for giving away stuff. I listed about 5 items and within in an hour already had interested individuals. By 5pm, I had gotten rid of half of it. I felt so good getting rid of stuff, I am a minimalist at heart, especially when this stuff has been sitting around all summer. Getting rid of stuff always makes me feel lighter and less stressed, (coincidentally, my husband is a pack rat, which produces at least one fight every 3-5 months).

When the person came to pick up some items, I never realized the sense of gratitude I would receive from a total stranger. I was just happy to get rid of these items, but this person was truely grateful. He gave me some coupons to his place of work, and thanked me for the items. Freecycle.org is truely unique, you aren't going to get the same experience from Goodwill, or donating to faceless individual. Makes me want to clean more often!

For your other journal...

2008-08-21T22:01:00.003-05:00

So yesterday's post talked about keeping a diary of what things typically cost you so that you know when they are on sale, or when to take advantage of a sale. While you're out buying a journal for that purpose, grab another one for this entry too.

I strongly recommend using another journal (or notebook, find them on sale in school supplies this time of year) to record EVERY cent that goes in and out of your hands. I'm not kidding when I say EVERY cent of every item you buy, or any income you take in. I have been reading Your Money or Your Life, a popular read in personal finance, which makes this ultimate suggestion to begin with. At the end of the month (or throughout it, actually) I highlight items that are not necessities, and you will come to see where all that extra money you should have is going. This exercise makes you INCREDIBLY aware of what you are spending, and it may even seem like a chore to spend money knowing you have to write it down in a book (and possibly feel guilty about it later). The only things I do not itemize specifically are food purchases. Although this would likely also help me become more aware of overspending on food, I don't keep a bible-sized journal with me to write it all down. If you ever look at your bank statements and wonder where your money is going, this is a great habit to start since it is all there in your little book. And if you are good at updating it daily, it really isn't a chore, 5 minutes at the most. I have been keeping up since the beginning of the month and it has been helping me tremendously in managing spending habits.

I keep a column on one of the pages for "eating out", which also serves as a reminder for me the last time we went out to eat, therefore I am less likely to spend money on eating out realizing we just did a few days ago. It is a great self-monitoring tool, especially for those with busy lifestyles.

Again, I would also like to recommend reading Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, its been out forever, and you are likely to find it at your local used book store (as I did). They offer great tips and perspectives on how to change your outlook on money, and it is a great read for anyone looking to change their personal spending habits. Most blogs I have seen on saving money make it a top book on their list.

What does this cost?

2008-08-20T17:16:00.004-05:00

Many of the tips I have been reading regarding saving money suggest keeping the infamous "price journal". I know when I started trying to save money, trips to the grocery store were different, mostly because I had no idea what was a "normal" price for a typical item. I had no idea what was expensive and what was a good deal. Especially when you come into trying to start saving money out of the blue and/or do not have a lot of experience cooking, this is good habit to keep up with. The premise of the idea is to basically keep a journal where you record what things cost that you buy on a consistent basis. Be sure to be very specific when recording these items, like the brand and size of the product. That way, when things go on sale at the grocery store, you will know a) how much you are saving, b) if the sale is worth taking up on, and c) how much to stock up on.

Keeping a journal like this will also likely make you more aware of what things cost in general. The experience of writing down what prices of things actually cost bring a bigger realization of where your money is going, and if it is really worth it. A journal is incredibly cheap to pick up, especially with school supply sales going on right now, it can be anything that fits your lifestyle, which is important to note since it should be traveling with you for grocery trips. Borders and other book stores typically sell cheap $2 journals as well, if you would like something more fancy, go for it.

Reflection of my Trip

2008-08-19T14:26:00.008-05:00

Greetings from Boston! I am happy to say my trip was successful, and it left me tired after my jam-packed days (and watching Michael Phelps win all of those metals!). Anyways, for those of you who don't know, I am a graduate student in psychology, and this trip to Boston was to attend the American Psychological Association 's National Convention. And although I didn't spend a ton of time at the convention (I'd rather be sight-seeing), USA Today wrote an excellent article on what psychologists believe is means to "be green" based on studies presented at the convention. It was addressed in the article that psychologists find that the idea of "going green" may seem overwhelming or confusing to most people. When we think of going green, some people may believe that it requires a HUGE lifestyle change, when in fact, it doesn't always have to be that way. When starting this journey at first, I thought myself that this can be a lot of work to help the planet, but it is really worth it. I have come to find this experiment as well as blogging on here has taught me the value of energy and money. People may get a tendency to feel helpless among a sea of people who do not contribute or live similarly. Everybody thinks they need to go out and buy a hybrid car to save the planet, when there are little things (as with the purpose of this blog) that can help save the Earth one step at a time. People may also feel no guidance when approaching a green lifestyle, and find it overwhelming in itself. As we all know, there are no real instructions to going green, its all up to you, and how far you want to go with it. I generally agree with these insights, and believe it is a major reason to the barriers of more people going green, the lack of education, awareness, and resources to such a lifestyle.

For more information, USA Today also has a great bunch of articles and tips on green lifestyles, as well as testing your knowledge about what helps the environment. I actually didn't score so high on their Environmental IQ quiz, and learned something. Another interesting article talked about feeling the "green guilt" (adapting to green lifestyle habits out of feelings of guilt), which according to USA Today, 20% of Americans feel.

Beyond my reflections from above, I also wanted to mention things from the trip I have learned regarding travel, as a previous entry on the subject seemed useful to readers. Tips that I learned from my travels are as follows:

If a city has a subway system, USE IT! This is by far one of the cheapest methods of transportation, and fairly quick. Get a map either before you go or as soon as you arrive so that you can find transit locations in the city. I only wish I had one where I lived and I wouldn't need a car.
I actually ended up packing food in a large suitcase. I travel light, and I used half of my checked bag for food to eat when needing that snack for the morning at the convention so I wouldn't have to pay for expensive food there, or even from the hotel cafe. I even packed some zip-loc bags to put cereal in for the morning.
Again, look for the free activities in the city. Boston's Freedom Trail was a big hit for us, not only because it was free and took up the majority of an afternoon, but it also let us to small admission priced to free historic attractions.
In addition to packing food, we also looked carefully for the local OSCO drug store to buy things like milk or soda that we couldn't pack in our bag, its much cheaper to buy a 6 or 12 pack of soda then to buy an individual drink every place you go. Bringing a water bottle may also not be a bad idea.
Look for alternatives. We wanted to see Fenway Park, but instead of going to a game (which can be quite pricey for Boston - around $50-$80 a seat, and not including their $4.50 hot dogs), we took a $12 tour instead. That way we also saved time by only being there for an hour instead of 3-4 hours.
Students - bring your college IDs with you, they will get you discounts everywhere!

I am still getting settled here (catch-up at work), and school starts in a few days, so I hope my entries will still be daily, but I can't make any promises. Busy-busy as I am sure you are as well. Have a great week!

The Compact Pact

2008-08-13T21:24:00.003-05:00

This will be my last post until next week...Cheers from Boston!

A recent environmental movement has come about from San Francisco. I had heard of similar strategies from my college "Environmental Ethics" class, but this is the first time I have seen it in the mainstream (recently discussed on CNN). The Compact is a group of individuals who agree to voluntary simplicity, more specifically, they agree to not buy anything new for at least one year, with exceptions to things like health and food items, toliet paper, car fluid, underwear, etc. Members are only to shop at consignment shops or used good stores. They are also allowed to purchase services, like admission to movies or museums, haircuts, music downloads, etc.

So what is there big difference from living normally, besides agreeing to not buy anything new? Through this experience as well as their past, members of the Compact know the difference between "want" and "need". I have mentioned it multiple times on this blog how I struggle with this concept, as I am sure many of you do as well. Our culture produces an endless need for things we truly only "want". In turn, our children grow up to do the same. One of the advantages to members, as discussed in the CNN article, is that children benefit more and see the value of the dollar through this experience. Sure, they might not have the hippest clothes for school or have the latest electronic item, but in the long term, they will understand the value of money and spend it wisely.

One member called the Compact "a very low level of activism". Its amazing, because I certainly do not believe this to be the case. This is a MAJOR fight against corporate America. The Compact in San Francisco runs the "Really Really Free Market" where Compact members meet to exchange or give away items they not longer need. The Compact is also a big advocate of freecycle.org when getting rid of items to make sure it does not go to waste. These Americans are not different from you and I, they have hit turning points in their lives as well, and found out what really matters in life. This is not a tree-hugging, hippie family that you might imagine, and perhaps you may consider taking on a more simplistic lifestyle yourself. They are saving money by helping our planet, which is not so hard to do as I have come to find. For more information on the Compact, or to find a chapter in your area, check their blog.

The nitty gritty details of health insurance

2008-08-12T13:39:00.004-05:00

I absolutely hate health insurance, for two main reasons: 1) Too many people die each year at the hands of this for-profit industry, and 2) its frickin' impossible to understand anything regarding your health insurance plan when you sign up for it. I don't know anyone who says "Yes, I know what my insurance covers and what I will be paying for."

I had to get an eye exam this past week so I could get my contact lens prescription renewed, however, I had chosen not to elect a vision plan when I signed up for health insurance earlier this year. So I figure, "crap, I am going to end up paying $100 for an eye exam so I can buy expensive contact lenses." For the hell of it, I decided to check my health plan online. I am currently with United Health Care, and although I pretty much hate all health insurance companies, United does an extremely good job at providing information regarding your personal health care plan online, which is much easier to understand then the paper work you sign from the beginning. So come to find out, even though I did not elect a vision plan, my plan still allows a yearly eye exam, saving me $70. I still had to pay for a contact lens fitting, but the savings are well worth the look into the plan. You pay A LOT of money for health care, so be sure you know what your plan offers you.

Another great aspect of my health insurance's website is they offer a cost estimator - what you would be paying out of pocket - for certain conditions or like having a baby, as well as a lookup of doctors and hospitals that are participating in-network providers, which also can save you money and numerous phone calls. Be sure to check out if your health insurance website for guidelines on who to see and planning accordingly. For all of my readers who do not live in America, my envy is with you :)

Travel Planning

2008-08-10T21:21:00.003-05:00

In the upcoming days I shall be quite busy, so my apologies for less frequent entries should that be the case.

Right now I am in the midst of planning an upcoming trip to Boston. Planning for a vacation or a trip can be essential when you are trying to save some money, and here are some tips I plan to offer as guidance:

If you are going to a big city, like Boston, check out the museums online ahead of time, in particular, look for their free days. For example, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts has a free admission period from 4-9pm on Wednesday evenings.
Pack as light as you can. If you have a plane leaving past your hotel check out time, and you aren't going directly to the airport, you may have to pay to check baggage at the hotel. Right now my plan is one duffle bag and one carry-on.
Check out what restaurants and grocery stores are around your hotel. These can save you BIG on money. Some times on business trips I am reimbursed for meals per diem, and I will end up getting extra money back since I went to Jimmy John's every day or stopped by CVS for some things to eat. In addition, consider packing any small food that may fit. I know I have a friend who survives most of her trips on protein bars.
Big cities like Boston have various ticket or pass deals that allow you into numerous attractions for one low price. The Go Card and City Pass are examples of programs that run in multiple major cities and can provide a lot of value for your dollar. However, be aware of what you want to see and do in your time limit so that you do get your money's worth, especially with the Go Card which can be around $55 for a one day pass.
Forget about cabs unless they are an absolute necessity. Cities like San Francisco and Boston offer great transportation on their subway system, which is usually a great money saver, or public bus services.
Along with using the subway or bus systems, consider looking for hotel on the outskirts of downtown. Hotels in the center of downtown will likely be the most expensive (and also the most luxurious :( ) I found a much cheaper hotel that can shuttle you into the city or is very close to a subway station.
If you are open to options of where to stay, I have done a previous entry (July 11) on the Couch Surfing Project. Stay with a local for free instead of paying out the wazoo for a hotel room. Stay with friends or relatives if you have the opportunity to do so as well.

Those are my top tips for now, and you will probably hear some more as I pack this week. Happy traveling!

For the book lovers out there...

2008-08-08T22:11:00.008-05:00

Thanks to Tom who commented on this article about using swaptree.com, which does not involve a point/credit system, and you can trade pretty much any media (books, DVDs, CDs, and video games). I tried it and I loved it, my first book is on the way!

I can't help it. I love books. I would like to say I finish (or have even started) all of the books I currently own, however, that is far from the case. Every trip to the bookstore is very exciting, a new learning opportunity on the horizon. Unfortunately, these trips are quite expensive, and leave me with a load of half-read books on the shelf. What's a frugal girl to do? Obviously, there is a great path I have taken with half.com, but another way which will also leave you just as satisfied, and maybe even more such, is an online book exchange.

I have been trying out Paperbackswap.com, and have also glanced at bookmooch.com, both are venues to search and swap books with others. Both work on a point/credit system, and both are a little bit different in the distribution. Basically, the more books you list to swap, the more points you will get to earn books from others. In otherwords, this is not another place where you can accumulate more crap! If you start an account with paperbookswap.com, after you list 10 books, you will get 2 credits for books (limit one offer per household). Obviously, you would also earn points/credits by the books you give to others, and lose some when you get books from others. Postage is not something you are paid for since someone will return the favor for you when you get a new book. You can also buy credits if you have nothing to give, but I doubt that is a reality for anyone :)

If books aren't your fancy, there is also swapadvd.com and swapacd.com, where you can swap DVDs and CDs you don't use anymore. Don't buy more, swap whats sitting on your bookshelf or closet!

Also, if you try out paperbackswap.com, note that it is not limited to just paperbacks, they have hardcover books available too. :)

Safe cleaning supplies

2008-08-07T23:29:00.004-05:00

Have you ever been cleaning your shower with bathroom cleaner and inhaled way too many chemical fumes and begin coughing? With the chemicals that go into anything nowadays, household cleaners are ones to watch for, especially when considering the health of your family. Ever think of making your own household cleaners? Remember, there were days without Windex, Draino, and Clorox, and I am sure your grandmother can attest to it. As you'll see from below, most homemade cleaning supplies involve water, vinegar, and baking soda. Anyways, here are some stellar recipes for common household cleaners, only they will keep your home a more natural place to live.

"Windex"

1/2 teaspoon liquid soap (vegetable-oil based soap recommended)
3 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice
2 cups of water

Mix ingredients together and pour into a spray bottle.

"Draino"

Pour one half cup of baking soda and one cup vinegar down the drain, plugging the drain immediately until the foaming stops. Then rinse with hot water.

I always see the ladies from "How Clean is Your House?" on BBC America use this to clear up everything. Its that basic science fair volcano only this time its your drain!

"Febreeze"

In a 32 ounce clean spray bottle, place 4 tablespoons of liquid fabric softener (you can chose the scent you like best, or use liquid fabric softener you already own.) Then fill the spray bottle with water, leaving about an inch from the top. Gently shake, then use just as you would use Febreeze.

"Scrubbing Bubbles"

1 cup water
1/3 cup rubbing alcohol

Combine and pour into a spray bottle. Simply spray the shower when you get out, no rinsing is required!

Toliet Bowl Cleaner

Mix a solution of water and vinegar. Recommended proportions vary from three tablespoons vinegar in one quart water, to three tablespoons vinegar in two cups water, to a 1 to 1 mixture. Some recipes add a drop of detergent.

The Simple Dollar also has a great recipe for laundry detergent.

There are tons of great recipes out there where you can look these up, which is where I got most of these (Thanks to Moms Budget and Creative Home Making).

If mixing things together is something you are into, check out your cleaning products aisle to find Green Works products, which are made by the people who make Windex, Clorox, etc., and have developed the same products, only they are made of 99 percent natural ingredients. The 1 percent is merely preservatives and dyes, which the company is currently working on to make it 100 percent natural. Green Works currently makes all-purpose cleaner, glass and surface cleaner, toliet bowl cleaner, bathroom cleaner, dilutable cleaner (pine-sol like product) and liquid dish cleaner. And if you checked your Sunday coupon section, there were a few coupons in there for Green Works products.

There are also products made by Seventh Generation, which include a wide variety of cleaners and detergents that are free of dyes and fragrances, as well as being all natural. Check out their website for coupons. In addition to cleaners, they also make chlorine-free products for baby, and feminine care.

So either way, provide your home with healthy chemicals that won't pollute the environment, or more closely, your own environment.

Making that list of free activities

2008-08-07T16:55:00.001-05:00

A great way to start some preventative ways of saving money is to have a list of activities to do in your area that are free. That way, when you feel like doing something, you have your list of things to do right there, and you know you don't have to spend money to have a good time. Most free things to do are maybe so obvious you have over looked them. Here are a few from my own area, and maybe they can inspire some for yours:

Take the dog to the dog park and enjoy nature!
Play at the Frisbee golf course
Go to your local library and rent some movies or get some books to read
Watch for "free days" at local museums
Make a postcard for PostSecret
Learn a craft or art you have been meaning to take up
Read a book on your shelf that you havent read yet
Walk downtown (but NO shopping)
Start/write entry in blog!

So there you go, start your own list so that some day when you are bored, you can remember to enjoy the things in life that are free.

That weird, cheaper gas station down the street

2008-08-05T20:58:00.006-05:00

A couple of months ago, the first bio-diesel/flex-fuel station in town opened a few blocks from where I live, offering alternative fuel options to cars with the option. What the hell is flex-fuel? Is it any good for the environment, in addition to being about $1 cheaper per gallon (2.99)?

According to CNN Money, Flex-fuel vehicles running on E85 fuel will do the following:

Gives less fuel efficiency (in comparison to gasoline)
Even while the fuel cost is cheaper, it will still cost you more each year with less fuel efficiency than running with gasoline.
Give small increase in peak horsepower
Burns more cleanly than gasoline in terms of air pollution, however, since they must burn more, it makes things close to even in comparison to regular gasoline.

If your car is a flex-fuel vehicle it should indicate it somewhere either on the car itself or in the manual. Flex-fuel vehicles have been made since around 1991, so it isn't completely unheard of. Flex-fuel stations are hard to find outside of the Midwest (I wouldn't know, though), due to the fact that corn is the heavily involved ingredient in flex-fuel, however, it can take many other forms. New forms of fuel, like cellulostic ethanol (made from plant parts), are in the making which may replace petroleum based parts of fuel.

So if you are thinking of investing in a new or used eco-friendly vehicle, you'd be better going with the Prius, or maybe just a more fuel efficient car (I am proud to say my Pontiac Vibe makes the Kelley's Blue Book List of most fuel efficient cars). You dont have to have a great car so help the Earth either, many parts of a car are recyclable as time takes its toll, so be sure if a car part needs to be replaced, whether its the oil to tires to batteries, the old part may be recycled. Better, greener cars are on their way too. For those of you who watched "Who Killed the Electric Car?" Saturn is now in the process of developing the Saturn Flextreme, a 100% electric car with zero emissions, and very sleek as well. Rock on Saturn!

For more information on Fuel-Flex vehicles, here are a couple of resources:
Kelley Blue Book Article
CNN Money

I'm becoming one of those people...

2008-08-05T20:32:00.002-05:00

Just a brief observation I would like to share with you that I have noticed about myself in the past month...I am really starting to care about what other people are or are not doing for the environment. I cringed when I saw how many plastic bottles of soda my in-laws brought with them, and even more when they did not throw the caps away... no one seems to know that plastic bottles need the caps removed to be recycled. I see plastic bottles of water and I want to tell people to get reusable ones, and if they are using reusable ones, I want to check it's number on the bottom. Good thing or not, I am becoming much more aware of how wasteful and unaware other people (as well as myself) are to the world around us.

But in other news, I got back from heading to the recycling center, mostly to recycle massive amounts of cardboard and aluminum cans. I still hate how this community does not recycle collectively, you have to take things to a recycling center and not get anything in return except the comfort of knowing you did what you could for the Earth in your own mind. Does anyone know of ways to start a program in their community?

Home Drying

2008-08-03T20:17:00.004-05:00

Today on my journey out, I decided to purchase a clothing dryer rack. Primitive, I know, but I am slowly realizing that going green is a lot of going back to the way things were before there were modern conveniences, like dryers. I remember many times as a kid when my mom would hang laundry to dry out on the line, and how wonderful it smelled, especially bed sheets. Mmmmm... Nothing beats the smell of sun dried laundry, I don't know what it is about it that brings out the wonderful clean smell. So anyways, our dryer is so inefficient as is, (typically taking around 90 minutes to dry one freakin' load) I thought this could be an awesome venue to try. Putting clothes on a drying rack is not limited to someone with a house either, anyone living in a space no matter how small can work this into their life due to the drying rack's collapsability. Getting a drying rack is also a very wise and cheap choice for two big reasons: 1) you wont be paying as high of electric bill, and b) you being green by are conserving energy.

In my area during this time of year, it is usually around 96 degrees everyday. I washed a blanket before my in-laws came last week and it dried in a little over an hour hanging it over my back patio fence. Drying outside is especially great for the summer, since it is so hot out and the sun does all the work. In the winter, you can dry inside, it will just obviously take longer without a sun.

But then my clothes will take forever to dry, you say? Drying clothes inside will typically take about 24 hours, and if you are running into a "clothes emergency" that frequently, then you need to plan better :)

Anyways, go check out the laundry section of your local department store and pick up one of these bad boys, they are fairly cheap, and will save you loads of money on electricity in the long run, and by the by, helping conserve energy.

Transportation across the country

2008-08-02T21:54:00.004-05:00

As a tip I have been giving away to friends and family lately (since I live so far from them), there are 2 other forms of transportation that I am aware of for long road trips that do not involve flying (expensive) and driving yourself (tiring).

First, consider taking the train! Amtrak is a system that provides transportation to many major U.S. cities at about half of the cost of flying. See the sights, or just relax while you travel. Traveling by train, I have looked, typically takes about as much time as it would if you were driving yourself. The delays come from making stops along the route.

Secondly, there is also megabus.com. Megabus provides a bus system with extremely cheap fares ($5-30), however, there are some limitations here. A) It only goes to MAJOR U.S. cities. So if you don't live close to a major metropolitan area, this could be a problem. B) Since you are going by bus, can take much longer than it would than driving yourself or by the Amtrak system. If time is of the essence, this might not be the best option.

If you are taking an upcoming trip, or would like to but do not have the money to fly and/or can't drive, there are some other options out there. If any readers have some additional travel shortcuts, send them my way or post them in the comment section!

Cook that food with great web recipes

2008-08-01T22:44:00.003-05:00

I have been slowly trying to make myself cook and bake more, especially since its (a) healthier, (b) saves money, and (c) can be partially, if not wholly, organic.

I would really like to recommend allrecipes.com if you are looking for a great recipe exchange website. Whats even better, is that users are allowed to post reviews of recipes, that way you know which ones are better than others. I found an amazing recipe for pumpkin bread on there, and I am continuing to look for things that I or my husband could eat.

They even have recipes for people with special diets, like I, for example, am always looking for foods and meals with high fiber due to a gastro-intestinal condition, where there are recipes as well as tips on how to incorporate fiber into a meal without even noticing it.

Give allrecipes.com a look and see what good stuff you can find!

My Favorite Store...ALDIs!

2008-07-31T17:30:00.005-05:00

Yes you know that weird looking store with the orange and blue logo that has very limited store hours in comparison to most grocery stores? Why is that you ask? Killer deals!

I have to admit, the first time I entered an ALDIs, it was with my parents, and I thought we must be poor or something. There are no shelves for groceries, they are merely stacked upon pallets like a warehouse, only much much smaller. ALDIs does not have "luxury items" in their grocery store, this is basically the essentials in terms of food. Whatever you find here is what most human beings eat, and at a very good generic price. If you are into cooking, this could be your dream to save money. 79 cents for a loaf of bread? 99 cents for a box of generic nutri-grain bars? 39 cents for hot dogs? The deals keep coming, for many reasons. If you have ever seen the Duggar family on Discovery Health channel, or maybe TLC, they feed a family of 19 for less than $2,000 a month on food from here.

First, you will notice this is a smaller than average store...less to run, less to cool, less to heat, and less employees you will need. Second, they hold their shopping carts hostage. Thats right, if you want one, you'll need a quarter. The reason they do this however is to keep the store needing less employees. When people put their carts back, you do not need another employee to run out and get carts like at your local Wal-mart, whose sole job it is. Third, there are also no employees to bag your groceries, or bags to use to put your groceries in for that matter. ALDIs does not provide customers with bags, although you might be able to steal some boxes from pallets of food in the store. You can also purchase bags at the store, but hopefully you have your own by now! Fourth, since the store has such limited hours they do not need to have extra employees around to work the check-outs. In addition, cashiers at ALDIs make good money, I believe, in the $10 an hour range.

Perks with this store chain are consistent. The produce you will find here is typically incredibly fresh. While I would still recommend your local farmer's market first, this would be my second choice. Every so often there is some interesting deal in the "non-food section", some thing that you have either been looking for but haven't found the right price (enter ALDIs) or an item that looks like something you could use. Most also have a small Health and Beauty section so if there is a need for a random item you wont need to run across the street (or town) to get it.

If you are at a loss of what to cook from the items available at ALDIs, The Aldi Queen can help you find great recipes made entirely from foods from ALDIs.

So if you haven't given ALDIs a try, look for one. I grab everything in that store I even remotely want and can't leave spending more than $28. Me and my reusable grocery bags, finding deals!

Renovate and save!

2008-07-30T00:15:00.002-05:00

Habitat for Humanity not only builds houses for needy families, but they also run Habitat Restore stores in many communities. Since all the materials to build Habitat homes are donated, a lot of times they will have excess stuff that they do not need for the homes they are building, and many corporations will donate to the store as well. Habitat Restore will sell these items to you for a VERY minimal cost. If you are big into DYI jobs, Habitat Restore can be a frugal person's dream, saving you hundreds to thousands of dollars depending on the size of the job. In addition, by putting your money towards Habitat Restore you are putting money back into building more homes for the needy and the community.

To find a Habitat Restore near you, click here.

"Green" film of the month

2008-07-29T10:49:00.005-05:00

My apologies for absent posts, things have been chaotic lately, the in-laws have been visiting :)

Anyways, today I would like to recommend a film for you, rent it on Netflix or Blockbuster or you can get it from Best Buy. I am a huge fan of documentaries and loved Netflix for the fact they had as many documentaries as I wanted to see. The sad part about documentaries is that they are hardly available at local video rental places and other types of video stores. So for this weekend, give "Who killed the Electric Car?" (2006) a try, as my "green" film of the month. This film documents the coming (and unfortunate going) of the EV1, a vehicle made by GM and was serviced by Saturn dealerships.

The film provides humor, but is also very educational regarding how recent cars like the "hydrogen fuel cell" car actually works. The director goes through each prospective new "greener" car, if its any good, and also who is to blame for the loss of the electric car (EV1). You'll also run into some interesting people throughout the show, like Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson, and Ralph Nader, if you are into famous people. It is also narrated by Martin Sheen.

If you haven't been a big goer of documentaries before, the point is to educate you, but in the end to make up your own mind.

Getting a AAA Membership

2008-07-26T13:53:00.006-05:00

If you own a car, or travel with someone frequently in their car, consider getting a AAA membership. Although they provide many forms of insurance, their membership program provides 24-hour roadside assistance at very reasonable prices. Basic membership dues start at $53 a year. Plus, you save by using your AAA membership EVERYWHERE. Hotels, restaurants, entertainment, you name it, you will likely get a discount of some kind (The AAA website provides a list of discounts for your area when a zip code is entered.)

I can advocate that AAA can be a real lifesaver when those inconvenient, and sometimes huge car emergencies come up. My Grandmother still has a membership and anytime I was having an issue with the car, like one time I got locked out of the car, she called AAA, they dispatched an associated AAA towing/auto service, and they came and unlocked my car, free of charge. All you have to do is have the AAA member present. Just this past winter I was in another car conundrum on the road (on the way to the airport, just our luck), and I wished we would have had a AAA membership (We have since moved out of my Grandma's area :( ) it would have saved a lot of worry and money, since towing a car in it self is usually around $100-$150 dollars. (Depending on the level of membership, AAA will agree to tow your car x-amount of miles.)

For the discounts and personal reassurance a AAA membership can provide, I believe it is worth the small cost. Check out what they can offer you at http://www.aaa.com

My first trip to the Co-op

2008-07-25T13:56:00.005-05:00

Since starting my green/organic venture, and since I moved here about a year ago, I took my first trip to my local Co-op today pick up some things for lunch. I was overwhelmed by its size, I have only been to one other co-op in my life and in comparison this is much bigger. For a city of 100,000, I guess I had to expect something bigger ;) Anyways, I was looking for some organic romaine hearts, so I picked up some of those for $3.99, I also bought some fair-trade organic dark chocolate ($3.49), and some Cinnamon Swirl bread ($3.49). There was also a great deli area that provided a salad bar, fresh pizza, and other items to eat on the spot in their restaurant area. One thing I do plan on picking up in the future is milk, which comes in the nostalgic glass bottles, and from my own area. The glass is reused, which means less waster for the environment, in addition to less gas wasted traveling the products from far away. While in the check out lane, I picked up an issue of a magazine dedicated to living green in my own local area. Awesome! In addition to getting a discount for using my reusable bags, you can also get a discount for becoming a share-holder of the store. As a part of being a co-owner, my local Co-op also provides coupon books, cooking classes, and you can even share in the Co-op's profit through patronage refunds. I think I might take up this tempting offer soon.

I would encourage you to check out your local Co-op or Natural Foods Store, even if you don't get anything. I remember being amazed the first time I went into a co-op and found out just how many things that are good for the Earth (like detergents and other cleaning products) or how many things that can be organic. There is even organic soda! So check it out sometime, you'll be surprised. Don't know where your local co-op is? Check out the Co-op directory service

In addition, I also mentioned I purchased fair-trade chocolate. What exactly is fair-trade?

"Fair trade is a system of exchange that seeks to create greater equity and partnership in international trading system by

Paying fair wages in local context;
Supporting participatory workplaces;
Ensuring environmental sustainability;
Supplying financial and technical support;
Offering public accountability.
Respecting cultural identity;
Building direct and long-term relationships; and,
Educating consumers."

(As quoted from fairtradefederation.org) Basically, when we import things from other countries for "cheaper", fair-trade items provide the producer in that country with a more fair amount if not equal to what is paid for it by the merchandiser in the United States. Fair-trade items are marked throughout the store.

Spend some time at Ecobunga

2008-07-23T21:09:00.003-05:00

Looking for great deals on organic and green products? Ecobunga.com provides great coupons, sales, rebates, and news regarding green and organic products you may find in your area or online. The founders of Ecobunga provide incentive for you to go green if you don't think it will save you money, and from what I have found from the beginning of this mission, is that being green means saving money most of the time anyways. Their goal is to provide you with all the resources to go green without being a major inconvenience for you or to make it a more expensive choice. But, as Kate Gosslin says (Jon & Kate Plus Eight on TLC), even if it is more expensive, I hope you see going organic as an investment in your health.

So anyways, if you are looking for some good deals on organic products, check out Ecobunga. If you check my blog often, there is an Ecobunga feed along the side bar if you want to see what recent deals have been posted. Go green! :)

Go Paperless

2008-07-23T09:16:00.003-05:00

I know most cell phone companies offer this option of paperless billing, and perhaps some of your other local cable and utilities companies offer it as well. I just joined AT&T last month, and I see it as a good option to take. Most wireless bills are pages upon pages long due to your cell phone log and detailed list of everything on your plan and its charge. When you sign up for your account online, you have access to everything, and on AT&T I can even change my rate plan and features of my plan that I want to add or get rid of, so it saves that annoying trip to the store. To go paperless, typically all you have to do is sign up for an account online, and select the option to go paperless. Usually you will get an email when there is a new bill for the month.

In addition to going to paperless billing, also consider paying your bills online. I know it might be a scary thought about giving bank or credit card information, but usually even financial institutions have some sort of bill pay system, and they already have your information, so try that first if you are scared about giving away personal information. It will save you money on writing checks, and the stamps you use to mail those bills. Another way of saving on stamps is to bring your bill to a local bill pay center. Where I live, the majority of bills can be paid at your local grocery store service desk, which I am at the grocery store frequently anyways, as I am sure you are too. See what are options where you live, most companies will post online where you can pay their bills without using stamps.

Etsy that

2008-07-22T14:54:00.003-05:00

So a couple of weeks ago I posted about making your own gifts, crocheting, jewelry-making, etc. as potential gifts for the holidays and other occasions. However, if you are an avid craft maker who has a lot of spare time, I suggest giving a look at Etsy.com to sell your items and make some cash! Etsy is a great website where you can create your own "shop" and sell your handmade items. Or, if you like handmade stuff, check it out yourself and get an original piece of art. There are thousands of beautiful items for sale that can make great gifts or treats for yourself. This site is a lot of fun to browse with the unbelievable amount of things you never knew could exist. If you are looking to buy or sell some lovely handmade items, give etsy.com a try!

Subscribe to your favorite stores!

2008-07-21T13:33:00.005-05:00

After investigating some of the websites I have posted for stores mentioned in this blog, I have come to find there is a great value (most of the time) in subscribing (via mail or email) to your favorite stores. As I discussed in the used store post, Half Price Books offers a wonderful coupon subscription service. They gave me a $5 off a $20 purchase coupon to start with, and it seems there will be more good deals coming my way via email or mail. I some how got on Kohl's list as well so I receive emails for their promotions. Be sure to watch out for the email overload if you subscribe to too many stores, I know some people who have an email account just for that purpose. Other big stores, like Best Buy and Borders, run great rewards programs through their stores for free...you can only be benefited from this service! All you have to do is ask to sign up at the check out. After my husband and I bought our new TV we received $15 in gift cards from Best Buy. In addition, sometimes I use the coupons from subscribing to a local craft store to treat myself, so try to look for stores that you might stay away from because its not a "need". If there is a great local store in your town that you love, see if they have a website for promotions and such. There is nothing like giving to your local economy.

However, it is important to note the difference in how these coupons are used. I do not go into Half Price Books to buy a $5 book I need and then look for $15 more of books so I can use to coupon "to get a deal". This is how people sometimes end up hoarding things, because it was a "great deal". Its important to maintain the big picture when using coupons and rewards programs...make sure its something you would have bought without it.

On a separate note, I know I should not personally subscribe to clothing store ads or coupons simply due to the fact I still spend money on clothes like there is no tomorrow. Remember, if it isn't a "need"... (thats about how far I get when I am looking at that swim suit and think how cute it would look on me, and I never hear it again). Basically, as a shopper, know your weaknesses, know thyself! :) I bring my husband along sometimes because I know he will rush me through the store so I don't buy things I don't need.

USA Weekend Insert

2008-07-20T14:16:00.005-05:00

Did you get your Sunday paper today? Check out the USA Weekend Insert that has a huge article on "how to save on nearly anything". If you save paper (or money) by reading articles and news on the internet, its also available onlin e.

Just a couple of highlights...

To elaborate further on Saturday's entry on used stores and consignment shops, USA Weekend has some helpful links to find places in your area: You can find local thrift stores here, or consignment shops at this website. The article also mentions outlet stores, which I forgot to, and there is a website you can look up those as well. I did not find the consignment shop website all of that useful since there were none listed in my area, but the thrift store website was much more helpful. Happy clothes shopping!

When dining out, try to budget out ahead of time what you would like so you do not overspend. You can view menus to thousands of restaurants online at opentable.com or menupages.com. At opentable.com, you can even make reservations and earn points.

Looking to compare grocery store prices for those competitor coupons? Try groceryguide.com to compare prices at your local stores without driving all around town. After trying it out, this site is really helpful with finding coupons and ads for your own local area. You don't even need to buy the paper to get ads from Smart Source or Red Plum anymore! You can print the coupons on their website (Mac Users need to be using Safari to do so, FYI). Beyond that, I wasn't even aware of how many places technically sell groceries (Family Dollar, for instance) in my town!

The article also highlights how to save money on gas, haircuts, travel, entertainment, garden/lawn care, and furniture. Check it out and see how you can start saving more!

Planet Green - Watch it!

2008-07-20T10:08:00.002-05:00

If you like television, might I suggest giving Planet Green a look, if you have it. Recently I have been turning it on when I can find nothing else, and I still have yet to find I show on the network I do not like. We also have most of the shows available On Demand since the channel is so new. One of my favorites, Renovation Nation, is a great show that looks at what people do to either make their home more green, or to build a home entirely green. I used to be in interior design in college, so I find green design particularly interesting. I never knew you could collect rain water off of your roof to run the toilets in your house! Some day...
Anyways, there is also another great show, Emeril Green, which is basically Emeril, but on this show he finds someone with a tough cooking situation, like having a vegetarian daughter and another meat loving daughter, and takes them through the local natural foods market or co-op, and shows them how to buy and cook the food. I'm learning a lot so far (plus I am not really much of a cook yet anyways), and I am definitely going to try the sweet potato french fries! All the recipes are available on the Planet Green website.
There are a ton of other great shows that can teach you a lot about how to be more green, or make you feel a little more at home if you are trying it yourself. Its nice to see so many people concerned about the environment and keeping our Earth a beautiful place!

Used Stores Galore!

2008-07-19T12:35:00.005-05:00

In my area, there are tons of ways to find gently used books, music, DVDs, and clothing at great prices. Besides recommending finding what you need online and scavenging rummage sales, here are some of the stores and websites that offer you more quality for less.

Plato's Closet is a used clothing store for young women. They usually keep high quality popular brand names in store, like American Eagle, Gap, Old Navy, Aeropostale, etc., and are also willing to pay you top dollar for the clothes you don't wear anymore. Remember, a good rule of thumb is if you haven't worn something in 2 years, you likely won't wear it again. So you can get some cash or use the cash you get to get some new clothes.

There are many other types of consignment shops, especially for children and maternity clothes that can offer you a lot for less. In addition, if you live near a large metropolitan area, check out Freepeats.org which offers free baby and maternity items for free! There are consignment shops for regular clothes too! Give a look around your area to see what is available.

Half Price Books and Hastings are two stores that offer great prices on books and other media. You can also sell your used items to these stores. If you are looking for even cheaper books on a budget, I highly recommend your public library! Its not just a place to go when you are a kid!

In addition to these, there is also your basic Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. Every town and city is different, like the Goodwill here I know basically looks like my Grandmother's basement, which is unfortunate, so we go to other stores and options in our area. So check out what is in your area, and take advantage of what your local used, consignment, and thrift stores have to offer.

Gina, a fellow reader, reminded me about freecycle, which I sometimes forget about since I think everybody knows about it, which isn't at all true! Anyways, if you are looking for free stuff in your community that someone is also looking to get rid of, check out freecycle.org. Thanks Gina!

Creating a Holiday Account

2008-07-17T09:01:00.003-05:00

Today I did something that I would guess most people already do, but to me this is a more foreign concept, so I will mention it here. After going through a yearly budget yesterday, and looking at the "gifts" category, it hit me that Christmas season will be here soon and the money we have been so preciously saving will dry up from the Savings account like water in a hot desert, and I will be stuck feeling like an idiot (I do the bills) because we won't have any money left, just like in previous years. So, today I created a Christmas account at my credit union. Christmas accounts are great for several reasons:

1. Saving over the course of the year is small. Imagine only missing $5 from every paycheck over the course of the year. It adds up fast and you wont even notice it.

2. You can't touch the money until a certain point of the year, so you don't have to worry about caving. Most financial institutions I believe is around the beginning of October.

3. This puts a limit on your spending (or at least in some ways it would). If you draw from your savings to buy Christmas gifts it is easy to spend away when it seems like what you have is a huge amount. When in reality, most of that huge amount needs to go to keeping you afloat every month. This way, the amount you see is what you get, period.

I am finding that even the idea that this account has been created is giving me a piece of mind, not having to worry about how to afford Christmas when you are trying to create a decent amount in your savings account. So if you haven't thought about saving for Christmas, think about what it has been like for you in previous years. If you always end up close to breaking even or a little under, think about trying a Christmas or Holiday account at your local financial institution.

Make a Wishlist

2008-07-16T08:46:00.003-05:00

Here is my latest tip from "The Everything Budgeting Book", and so far I have found it very useful. The author advises to make a wish list of everything you want, from things that are high on the need list to even expensive, impossible "want" things like a Honda Element (However, I just put reasonably affordable "want things" on my list). Then, write down the price, and the urgency of getting this item. Periodically update the list. The idea is that when you make a wish list, it feels like you actually have the items, since they are all stored in a place. As Americans we have this idea that we like to "own" things...that feeling we get when the bag is handed to us after a purchase, even though we can just as easily take that item and throw it in the closet for a year and not even think about it. I have to say, this wish list does work for me. Also, by making a wish list, I realized that there just aren't many things that I actually want to buy (Seriously, I have like 4 things). I like buying clothes, but I do that on the spot, which explains why I can spend so much money on them (I don't make a list of clothes I want). When you have a list of things you wish to buy, you can track how much they cost, and you even could make them like a reward item after reaching a saving goal. That way, when you do buy your item, it feels that much sweeter and worth the purchase...its something you have really thought about. Or, I am actually saving much of this list as Christmas ideas for my family, since I have a hard enough time thinking of items 3 months before Christmas. So, if you are struggling with buying your "wants" rather than your "needs", give the wish list a try, the feelings are very similar to actually having them.