Frugal Simplicity

One clear result of the economic downturn, as made evident by declining retail sales, is that consumers are keeping their wallets shut. As the holiday season approaches, consumers will be faced with the hard choice of scaling back or finding creative ways to pay for gifts. Here are five easy ways for people to earn cash in their spare time – all without leaving the comfort of home:

Cash in Unwanted Electronics – Gazelle (www.gazelle.com) offers a fast, safe, practical way for people to get cash for selling back their used consumer electronics such as laptops, cell phones and MP3 players. With the average household containing about 24 unused gadgets, consumers can earn $122 on average for getting rid of their unwanted items via Gazelle.

Crafting for Cash – With the right skills, crafting hobbies such as knitting, woodworking and jewelry making can become a serious cash cow. Sites such as Etsy (www.etsy.com), Big Cartel (www.bigcartel.com) and RedBubble (www.redbubble.com) make it easy for people to start their own online shop.

Ventures in Pet Care – Consider pet sitting for friends or neighbors while they are on vacation. With average pet care services ranging from $50-$75 a day, taking care of Fido can be big business.

Share Your Knowledge – For credential teachers or college grads with a four year degree, online tutoring is another money maker. Sites like Tutor.com (www.tutor.com) and Universal Class (www.universalclass.com) enable eligible people to sign up as paid online teachers and tutors. Some programs offer $20/hr.

Look in the Closet – Instead of holding on to those dated designer duds and accessories, consider selling them online with the help of Fashion Spaces (www.fashionspace.com) and Our Threads (www.ourthreads.com).

With the current state of the economy and the holiday’s right around the corner, money is a concern for almost everybody right now. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, the average consumer still plans to spend $1,437 on everything from gifts to food to decorations this year. No matter the reason, there’s no better time than now for cash-strapped consumers to find simple solutions for earning extra money.

By Deborah Taylor-Hough

Approximately 40% of winter home energy bills involves heating. Here are some simple tips for cutting back on your home energy costs this winter:

Heating:
–Change furnace air filters regularly (once a month or according to manufacturer’s recommendations).
–Schedule a cleaning/maintenance call each year for your furnace.
–Install a programmable thermostat.
–Turn down the heat one degree during the day. Lower the heat by ten degrees at night.
–Make sure your furniture and carpets don’t cover or block vents or air ducts.

Insulating:
–Add weather-stripping around doors and windows.
–Install thermo-pane windows in your home.
–Insulate your top floor ceilings and attic.
–Replace window screens with storm windows.
–Close the damper on the chimney flue when not in use.
–Cover your windows with insulated blinds or curtains. Or make window quilts for the winter months.
–Insulate yourself! Wear a sweater and insulated slippers in the house. Buy a down comforter for your bed.

Lighting:
–Use compact florescent lights, especially in outside lighting like porch lights that are left on for long periods of time.
–Use photo-cells or motion sensors for outdoor lights.
–Open drapes when the sun is shining in your windows (helps to provide both light and passive heat), and be sure to remember to close the drapes at night to keep the heat in.
–Turn off lights when you leave a room.

Appliances:
–Insulate your older water heater.
–General rule of thumb: If you aren’t using it, turn it off!
–Unplug electronics and electric appliances when not in use (battery chargers, hair appliances, computers).
–Use a power strip as a central turn off point for electronics, videos games, and computers when not in use..
–Use the right size pot on the stovetop.

Cleaning:
–Always run full loads of both laundry and dishes.
–If you have a newer model dishwasher, don’t rinse dishes prior to putting them in the dishwasher.
–Install an energy efficient showerhead which will not only save on water usage, but also save money on water heating.
–Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible. Hot water heating uses 90% of the electricity used to run your washing machine.
–Use the correct water level when washing clothes.
–Don’t over-dry your clothes. Hang to dry — or to finish drying — whenever possible.
–Empty your lint trap before each load.

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One of THE most fun things I like to do is to get freebies. And even though I absolutely love getting just about any kind of free product sample, from snacks to household items to clothes to pet care to home business supplies, the free samples of products I most love to get are the big ones!

I’m talking the good stuff here, not just samples of tampons and shampoo and coffee, but things I wouldn’t normally buy for myself often, if at all… like a $169 value Sonicare electric toothbrush system, more bestselling books than I can even count, a brand new FAST desktop computer, software, and more.

How do I get these things? I offer to do reviews on the products, giving my honest opinion of the product and/or service. I let others know exactly what I think (isn’t that fun LOL) and I keep whatever is sent to me. Sometimes I choose what I want, sometimes I get whatever is sent to me. It’s always fun though and almost always something I can use.

So, while getting the usual freebies ad free offers of product samples is always awesome, it’s an even more awesome day when the BIG goodies show up at your home, free for you to keep, just for doing a review or survey on what you honestly think about the product.

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Holidays and birthdays come around whether you are living a frugal life or not. You don’t have to break your budget in order to give a gift that will not only be loved by its recipient but also used often.

Gift boxes or baskets make wonderful, thoughtful gifts for everyone and are only limited by your imagination. Once you start making these up, you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of it sooner. They are fun to make and give, can be worked into nearly every budget and can be tailored for the pickiest on your list. Below are a few ideas to get you started.

Frugal Food Basket
Mix up some master baking mix, pancake mix, cookie mix, or muffin mix. Pick and choose or give them all in tightly sealed containers or jars and attach recipes for using and the mix recipe.

Specialty rice and rice mixes, bean mixes, bean and rice mixes, oatmeal, and the like can be put in mason jars and decorated appealing. Don’t forget instructions on how to use the mixes.

A gift basket of herb seeds or starter plants for indoor herb gardening makes a great gift basket idea for those that love to garden.

Treat Gift Basket
Now this one is great frugal gift basket to give the frugal person: food items that his or her budget, or frugal mind, just won’t allow. Everyone has favorite gourmet items that they love but rarely treat themselves to. If you don’t know exactly what the person likes most, it won’t take much investigating to find out.

Coffee or Tea Gift Basket
Pack this gift basket with several different brands of gourmet or specialty coffee or a lot of the one brand you know she or he loves. Include a permanent coffee filter to fit the brand of coffeemaker she uses to show you haven’t forgotten her practical side! You can easily adapt the contents to fit the tea lover instead. Top it off with a nice coffee cup.

Samples and More Samples
Do you get loads of freebies and free product samples but don’t use some of them and just don’t know what to do with the freebies? Make frugal gift baskets and give as holiday gifts, birthday gifts, baby shower gifts, etc.

The ideas are endless for making frugal gift baskets as gifts. Just use your imagination and create!

Just because there aren’t thousands of dollars available for decorating doesn’t mean that a bath can’t be unique, dramatic and thoroughly satisfying. Here are a half dozen frugal ways to spice up any bathroom.

1. Collections of inexpensive mirrors add both light and space to any bathroom. They reflect colors, faces and other decorations and add character and interest. Mirrors are much more effective when grouped together rather than being a scattered mass simply hanging on a wall.

2. Pictures or prints can be massed on a wall. For maximum impact hang them closely together rather than separated. Pictures can be striking if they have a ‘theme’, such as:
The frames or photos have a uniqueness in common - oval shapes, women only, pets
This decorating tactic works best in a powder room, rather than a full bathroom, because of the high moisture.

3. Needlework makes a striking wall accent. For instance, sampler patterns from Colonial America are easily available and a few samplers grouped on a wall create a totally unique bathroom.

4. For color and charm, throw a rug on the floor. In a dull or drab bathroom, a rag rug or oriental carpet will add charm and beauty. Just be certain to use a non-skid pad underneath, especially if anyone will be stepping out of a tub or shower.

5. Collections can spark interest and admiration. Pottery is an unusual accent piece for any bathroom. Or you might consider old bottles, perfume atomizers, shaving mugs or other flea market collectibles.

6. Color is the quickest, cheapest and easiest ways to change any bathroom. Unusual colors on a bathroom wall, like melon, chocolate brown or peach, will add drama. Accents like brightly colored towels in a monochromatic bathroom will provide an outstanding accent. Add living color with plants or freshly cut flowers.

Frugality is simply the practice of living within your means, looking for the less expensive alternatives. Frugality doesn’t have to mean being a scrooge or living without comfort. Is it really worth the time and effort you put into things like homemade cleaners and clipping coupons?

Search the Sunday paper for coupons and clip them out. Make a list of things on sale that you can stock up on in order to get your average cost down. Plan and run a route of four stores in order to get everything where it is the cheapest. Total extra time spent: three hours. Now, save sixty dollars. This translates into twenty dollars an hour-a pretty good deal, don’t you think?

Sometimes the small stuff is the big stuff, especially when it is repeated over and over. This is why it makes sense to save money on groceries. They are something you buy every week. Saving sixty dollars every week or two adds up over time. How you do it makes a difference though.

For example, suppose you don’t want to clip coupons or spend time looking at sales flyers. Why not invest just an hour or two to figure out which store is cheapest for the things you buy? Then shop only there, and buy more of the things you use and like when they are on sale. You might still save $20 per week, with no additional investment of time. That’s a $1,000 per year!

You need to sit down and decide how much time you have to spend on your efforts. If you do this and then figure out what your yearly savings can be, you will have a much clearer idea of how you want to proceed. It will also give you encouragement on those days when it feels you are missing out on something.

A frugal shopper has skills that help him or her gain benefit of the money saving opportunities in life. Below I have listed several traits found in frugal shoppers. By incorporating these into your life, you too can become a frugal shopper.

1. A frugal shopper studies other people. There are probably people near you living a good life on half of what you make. Learn how others do things, so you’ll know your options.

2. Frugality requires knowledge of values. It’s hard to get a huge deal on a car if you don’t recognize what a big deal is. Start enlightening yourself on prices, especially before you’re ready to buy anything that costs a lot.

3. Frugal shoppers pay cash. Things are cheaper when paid for in cash instead of credit. Want that new patio set? The cost divided by the number of weeks you can wait to get it equals how much you need to set aside each week. You’ll not only save on interest when you pay cash, but you’ll often get a better price.

4. A frugal shopper looks for alternatives. Maybe you’d have just as much fun taking that discounted trip to the Bahamas as you would going to Jamaica. If you happen to enjoy pizza just as much - or more, skip the expensive restaurant and call Dominoes.

5. Frugal shoppers tell people what they need. Just mention it in conversation. Do you know how many people get free or cheap things, just because they talk?

6. Do the math. You didn’t really save $400 on that car if it costs you $500 more in gas each year. Also, be aware that some stores are cashing in on shopper’s assumptions that larger is cheaper. Yes, the gallon of pickles might actually cost more than four quart jars. Be ready to do the math if you want to be a frugal shopper.