Air is Free (most of the time)

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I love the Fall.  As a matter of fact, Autumn is my favorite season.  I love the crisp cool air and the way the flowers are at their peak... especially the Impatiens.  I also have always loved the start of a new school year... yes, contrary to many kids, I adored school.  And today, even though I am only living vicariously through my son, I still feel the anticipation of a great and wonderful school year each September.
As much as others dislike Autumn because it heralds the start of cold, grey winter, I take it for what it's worth... a season where my hair won't frizz! It's also a time for delicious apples, harvest moons, brilliant fall foliage, and, a time for celebrating my birthday.  However, in this season of living with less money, I'm loving the Fall even more because the air in my home is free.  I don't have to "condition" it to make it cool, I don't have to heat it to make it warm, and I can open our windows to refresh everything that is closed up for most of the year. 
This year I will see how long I can go without turning on the heat.  I know I can do it, but the troops are not happy wearing sweaters and such in the house.  But right now I am enjoying the sound of silence... that is no a/c compressor starting and no furnace pumping up the steam.  The air is truly free.

How low can you go? (generically speaking)

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I've never been a real fan of generic brand anything... I don't know why, but somehow I feel that I'm always getting an inferior product.  For instance, when I buy a drug, I want Zithromax... not generic azithromycin.  When I buy stuffing mix I want Stovetop Stuffing, not America's choice, and when I buy shampoo, I want Paul Mitchell, not CVS brand.   Well, lately I'm starting to change my ways... the price difference is just too steep to ignore. Unfortunately, my mouth is a tough critic and some generic brands just don't taste right.  I tried ShopRite Vitamin water and it couldn't compare to THE Glaceau Vitamin Water.  It tasted more like cool-aid..ugh.  Well I'll just have to wait until the real stuff  goes on sale and then print out some coupons.
The shampoo thing is another issue.  I've been told for years by my hairdresser that inferior shampoos will damage my hair, so I've been spending upwards of 12.00 for a smallish bottle of high end shampoo. 
Shampoo has come a long way since my grandparents were using bar soap to wash their hair. And, when I was a kid, the Breck girl was then envy of every teenage girl. How I longed for the things that Breck shampoo could do for me.
Luckily, I now know that my shampoo won't give me popularity or anything else other than clean hair, so just for kicks I decided to use the shampoo that my son and husband use.   I'm actually embarrassed to use the name of it (no it's not Suave) as it normally sells for .99 a bottle.  What a far cry from my Paul Mitchell.
Even crazier is the fact that my husband came in from one of his shopping adventures and was very excited that "his" shampoo was on sale for .88 a bottle.  Wow... that's almost free!  So, against all better judgement, I tried the 88 cents shampoo.  Incredulously, my hair never looked shinier!  No, I'm not going to try the bar soap next.

Crazy for Coupons

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I have never been a coupon clipper.  As a matter of fact, I  would always get extremely annoyed when the person in front of me on the check out line had a million coupons for the checker to scan. I would think "Geez lady, don't you know this is the EXPRESS line"?  "You bought 15 items and you have 15 coupons! Oh  pa-leeeze?"
Well today I decided to try out what all those annoying people were doing with their myriad of coupons.  I went online and visited several coupons sites and downloaded and printed about 20 coupons.  I then went to my store's weekly flyer and made a list of things that I needed that were on sale.  (OK, so I didn't NEED the Mallomars but they were a steal.)  At the end of my shopping excursion I left the store dazed and confused but happy.  I think even my check out person was stunned. My total shopping bill was $116.37 and I paid $50.02...less than half.  My priceplus card saved me 18.60 BUT, I had $47.75 in manufacturer's coupons deducted from my bill.  HOLY COW!  From now on just call me crazy... crazy for coupons that is... and Mallomars too!

 

Addicted to Bottled Water

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I am a bottled water aholic... there I've said it.  The only way to beat an addiction is to acknowledge the addiction. (You've all heard the AA stories.)  I am so angry at the companies' ads that have pictured mountain streams and pristine lakes on their water bottles when the water is actually dredged from the Hudson River and filtered!  Well, I'm not sure it's the Hudson but there are many exposes` that let us know the water is not from a wonderful freshwater spring in the Rockies!
I am very fortunate that in my home town there are two deep wells where residents are able to fill up their water jugs.  My problem is that a nice bottle of Poland Spring is like a security blanket for me... gotta have it with me at all times. And now, I am so addicted to the feel of the bottle on my lips that I can hardly drink water out of a glass... even if I poured the Poland Spring into it.  You see how CONDITIONED I am.  Those marketing gurus should be very proud of themselves.  So this is my plan... I am going to my town well, and getting my free fresh spring water and filling up my Poland Spring bottles until I can tear myself away from the packaging... oh how I love how that bottle fits so nicely in my hand.. good grief!! I need help.
Have you noticed lately that when soda goes on sale it's actually cheaper than bottled water... Now that's pathetic. Research shows that we pay 2000 times more for bottled water than we do for tap water?!  Is there any other product that we would be willing to spend 2000 times more for?  Think about it...  It's time to stop the maddness.

Spending Nothing - More than a game.

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It's only 10 days into this challenge of the  "spend nothing game"  (see link below) and  I am finding that changing one's spending habits can be quite difficult.  For me, it has now become more of a necessity rather than a game... but I like to think of it as a game so as not to feel "deprived".  It has also caused me to stop and re-evaluate what is a "need" and what is a "want".   When I had so much disposable income, I truly didn't bother to think about what I purchased, and, I purchased oh so much more than I needed.  Things just snowballed from the first Tahari suit to my first luxury car to a cruise line suite to the best hotels and ski in ski out lodging.
When my husband I were first married we would stay in the Days Inn or some other 19.00 per night hotel.  The Days Inn became the Radisson and then the Marriott or Hilton and then the Ritz Carlton until it was 5 star hotels all the way.   It was up and up and up... and spend and spend and spend.
Once you go UP it is quite difficult to go DOWN.  But realistically we all need to hold on to our money a little tighter... because who knows what tomorrow will bring.  The current state of the economy has caught me off guard.. and now I need to circle up the wagons.  I feel bad that I'm not pumping up the economy as I used to... sorry Uncle Sam.

http://whowritesforyou.com/2010/02/15/the-spend-nothing-game-–-how-long-can-you-go-without-pending-any-money/

Spending Nothing - A Freebie!

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So my husband's cell phone finally gave out. It's been on the fritz for months and now it was time to make the "upgrade". Of course, this was not a good time for a phone breakdown as I am trying to adhere to the rules of the "spend nothing game" this month.  I went online and looked at some phones - several of which had the word "free" in the cost column.  Free????  Now why would they give the phones away for free... along with free overnight shipping.??  So I went to the Verizon store only to find out that free phones were promotions that were listed online only and were not available in the stores.  Still not able to grasp the word FREE, I went back home and ordered the most expensive "free" phone that was available. I figured I'd get more "free" if the orginal list price was higher than others.  It was a basic phone and did not require an expensive monthly data fee, but still had a few capabilities.  I was so excited that I didn't have to spend anything to get the new phone! Hope it's worth it.

Spending negative nothing - a crabby story

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Today I consider myself a spender of negative nothing.  Sounds strange, I know, but this is my reasoning.  Today I made crab cakes for dinner.  Usually I buy a can of lump crab meat and make them using my world famous recipe that brings friends and family begging for my crab cakes. (Sorry for bragging but it's true!) I usually make them 2 or 3 times a summer because of the expense... over 20.00 for that can of crab meat is bothersome to me.  If I have to feed more than 4 people I end up buying two cans or three ergo spending over 40.00-60.00...almost the cost of filet mignon! That's why only the most avid of crab cake lovers will be the recipients of my endeavors.  Every once in a while I go out to dinner and order crab cakes and they range from 20.00-25.00 an entree of 2 cakes.  So if my family goes out to dinner and we all get crab cakes that would be about 75.00 plus and they're not half as good as home made.   But today I reverted back to a time when man had to hunt and kill his food for dinner.  I spent part of the week-end crabbing in the bay and caught a good number of crabs.  Together my husband and I ripped their shells off and then cleaned and steamed the little buggers.  I methodically removed all of the meat from the shells and had a nice amount to make a crab cake dinner!  It was quite a process but quite delicious.   Since I made the dinner without buying anything I consider it a less than spending anything adventure!  Wonder what else I can find in the wild to eat.

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Spending Nothing Through a Holiday Week-end.

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Spending nothing on a holiday week-end has it's challenges...especially when those around you are using the week-ends to shop and dine out. (What recession???)
Luckily, I got to enjoy the beach for 3 days without spending anything.
http://lessbutmoreaj.blogspot.com/2010/07/vacationing-at-my-vacation-home.html

Unfortunately, I had to travel 200 miles on the Autobahn -AKA the GSP- in order to get to the beach.
I did, however, try to save on my gas usage by a) attempting to NOT step on the brake for the entire trip and  b) drive at a reasonable speed. LOL, LOL.
For those not familiar with the driving regulations in the great Garden State, let me just give a quick review on the speed limit.  The speed limit signs are not to be taken seriously.. they are just a "suggestion" and not the law. Driving in the slow lane requires that you go 10 mph over the speed limit.  The center lane is for those driving 15-20mph over the speed limit and the "fast" lane is for the Autobahn drivers whom, in any other state, would get their license revoked for reckless driving.  NJ state police typically ignore anything less than 20mph over the speed limit... so when you see them- lights flashing, pulling someone over- you KNOW there was some REAL speed involved.  In any event, I put my car on cruise at 10mph over the speed limit and actually managed to brake only once.   Of course, I left at an ungodly hour, when most drivers were still sleeping and the roads were only half full.  (Stating "no traffic" on NJ roads is an oxymoron.)
My reward was getting 28 mpg with my large V8 automobile and making the round trip without buying gas.
That, along with the stellar beach weather made me quite happy. :)

http://whowritesforyou.com/2010/02/15/the-spend-nothing-game-–-how-long-can-you-go-without-pending-any-money/

Spending Nothing - Day 2

OK, I actually spent nothing today... no, sorry, that's bending the truth a bit.  But you see,  I had a major appliance problem and it just wouldn't go away.  My dishwasher has been on the fritz for weeks and despite all of the fixes I found online -white vinegar- special Walmart products, adding additional hot water - nothing worked.  My dishwasher is, after all, 12 years old and the internal walls are buckling up and the racks are pretty much rusted through... so, I NEED a new one.  Funny thing is after visiting store number one in the "inner city" and the salesperson said to me..."for that price, I'd wash my dishes by hand", I began to evaluate my NEED.  Needless to say, he did not make the sale. (Don't you just wonder why people say things)

Instead I went to Sears and jumped through a few hoops (opened up a Sears credit card) and that coupled with the holiday week-end sales brought me a very nice discount for the dishwasher. Anyway, I don't have to pay for the thing until next month, so I guess that forgives my spending sin.  And besides, I have to save money by cooking at home and I can't possibly be washing all those dishes BY HAND.  

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Spending nothing.. Day 1.

Damn this is hard!  I walked into two stores today and kept saying "no, I can't", "no I must not spend" "no, no, no I don't need that".  I think it best to just stay out of the stores altogether.
So here is how day one went.. Just so you know that we're not starving... We had our usual coffee and juice for breakfast (we're not big on eating early in the am).  I made the family french toast for brunch and homemade vegetable soup for dinner with left over chicken cutlets and a salad... all ingredients were on hand... didn't even have to buy food...today. We have a veritable ice cream shop in the freezer (due to a great sale) which should sustain our dessert needs for quite some time. Our nightly bowl of ice cream won't be compromised this month.

Now in keeping with my intent to spend nothing I had to rummage through the house for some time today. A flood light had  burned out so I needed a new bulb. My husband usually stockpiles things, but often he is not very particular as to where he keeps those stashes.  "It could be here or there, if not there then maybe there or there".   Eventually I tracked them down in the barn and was so relieved that I didn't have to spend 5 or 6 dollars for a new one. You know, it is reeeaaallly difficult to spend nothing! I would have just gone to

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one of my favorite haunts, and bought the darn bulb if I wasn't on this new challenge.  Unfortunately, I spent about the same amount of time looking for the bulb as I would have spent driving back and forth to the store BUT I saved the expense.

Now I have to buy birthday cards... luckily I have some Hallmark rewards money.
 I still have to cross that forbidden line and walk into a store. Let's see how much self control I have. :(

Spending Nothing.

Today I've decided that I will embark on a new adventure... spending nothing for one month.  It's going to be tough but I will post how the day went.  That doesn't mean that I won't pay my bills nor starve to death, but I will not go shopping for anything other than bare necessities.   I have enough food in the house to live on for a month - with the exception of milk, bread and cold cuts. (But, brown baggin it is the only way to go).
So let the games begin... anyone want to join?

http://whowritesforyou.com/2010/02/15/the-spend-nothing-game-%E2%80%93-how-long-can-you-go-without-pending-any-money/