Frugal tips for July

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Living On A Dime Newsletter - July 14, 2009

Good morning!

We are glad that the Basics of Tossing article last week inspired
so many of you to start cleaning out all of your extra stuff! I'd
like note that when we say "toss" or "get rid of", we do not
necessarily mean throw it in the trash. After receiving a number of
e-mail messages telling us that we should recycle things, we wanted
to make sure you know that we do think it's good to recycle when
possible, although we believe that reusing is even better. Please
feel free to give your unwanted stuff to Goodwill, friends, family,
someone on Freecycle or craigslist or anyone else who can make good
use of it. Keep in mind, though that if you are overwhelmed with
stuff, it is better to throw it away than to keep it piled in your
house.

For some ideas to help you use some of the summer produce from your
gardens, check out Stretch Those Garden Leftovers at
http://www.livingonadime.com/articles/gardenleftover.htm
and A Zillion Zucchini at
http://www.livingonadime.com/articles/zucchini.htm
Unfortunately, WE won't be using these this year because our recent
45 minute hailstorm created the "Mount St. Helen's" effect in our
garden and all we have left are bare sticks! If you want to read
more about it, check out the blog at
http://www.livingonadime.com/blog

In two weeks, it will be the 10th anniversary of Living On A Dime.
Start making your lists now, because we will be offering a huge
10th anniversary sale to celebrate (and to pay for the baby ;-) )!

Have a great week!

-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com



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If Time is Money, Then Money is Time, Too!

When people ask me about getting out of debt, they often ask
"Doesn't it take quite a bit more time to be frugal?" Of course,
doing work yourself does mean you spend more time doing certain
things, but it also means that you will spend a lot less time and
money working to pay someone else to do it. Many people work more
hours to pay someone else to do a job than it would take them to do
it themselves. Of course, if you make a million dollars a year and
have no manual dexterity, this article is not for you.

Here are some examples based on my own experience with a family of
5. Because your household income is probably not the same as mine,
some things that make sense for me will not make sense for you. I
suggest that you read my examples and consider your actual costs.

Example #1: Buying clothes- One great way to save on clothes is to
go to garage sales. This seems very time consuming to many people,
but it really isnÕt. In the summer, I usually spend 3-4 hours every
2 weeks (May - September) going to garage sales. That may seem like
a lot, but if you compare that to how much time the average person
spends shopping at the mall, it really isnÕt any longer.

Example #2: Meals- I usually average an hour and a half each day
preparing and cleaning up from meals. Compare that to going out to
eat: It takes the typical person 20 minutes to drive to the
restaurant and 20 minutes to return home. That is 40 minutes. Then
you spend 15-20 minutes ordering and waiting for your order. You
are now up to one hour. If you plan an hour for eating, you are up
to two hours total. Don't forget the 2-3 hours you had to work to
pay for it! This assumes an income of $30,000 per year and a $40
family meal.

If you go to fast food restaurants instead, you could cut your time
down to 40-50 minutes and 1-2 hours working to pay for it.

If you stay home and cook, it will cost you 15-30 minutes preparing
the meal and less than $5 paying for it. IÕm not saying that you
should never eat out but, that if you do it regularly, it will cost
you a lot more (in time and money). Is it really worth it?

Example #3: Buying a car- If you buy a new car with $500 a month
payments for 5 years, you pay $30,000. LetÕs say you earn $30,000
per year at your job. If you assume 25% income tax, you must earn
$40,000 to pay for your $30,000 car. This means that you have to
work 1 year and 4 months for no other reason but to pay for that
car. Is it really worth working over one year just to pay for a new
car? If you decided to buy a $7500 car instead, you could afford to
take a vacation from work for a year. HavenÕt you been saying you
need more free time? (If you didnÕt get that, get out your
calculator and do the math. This is important.)

Always consider the hidden costs, too. Would you feel more inclined
to buy a security system for that $30,000 car? How much will that
cost? Are the parts more expensive for the $30,000 car when it
breaks down? Trust me, your new car will still break down almost as
much as a used car. Ask my brother...

Be very careful when you start saying things like "Doesn't it take
too much time to be frugal?" or "I can't seem to find time to be
with my husband or children" or "I don't know where to start
saving." Often, those are excuses that you have created to ease
your guilt. If you think about it and do the math, living simply
will give you more free time. If you'd rather not, you can always
keep spending money and wishing you had more family time. It's your
choice! But take heart- if you have read this far then you get and
A+ for taking the first step and trying!


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Is your shopping list bigger than your wallet? Are you overwhelmed
with debt and don't know what to do?

Learn to get more out of your money! In the Penny Pinchin' Mama
e-book, Jill Cooper, who raised two teenagers alone while making
only $500 per month, shares practical hints and strategies she used
to make the most out of every dollar.

"I was wondering how I was going to make it on our reduced
income... Well, now I know I can do it and how to do it-- Your book
has inspired me!"

-Cynthia

Learn more at
http://www.livingonadime.com/ebooks/penny-pinchin-mama-ebook.html


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Snacks On The Go

Donna writes: I am faced with getting two boys to soccer and
baseball practices in the evenings. I am hoping to pack drinks and
a hearty snack to get them through practice. I leave work at five
and practice is often at 5:30. What can I feed the kids that fits
the following criteria?

* Can be eaten in the car on the way to practice

* Can be made in the morning and either kept in the car or at
my desk

* Will be hearty enough to get them through practice and home
again for dinner

Jill: You can adapt most snack foods to take in the car. You can
even bring things that need to be refrigerated. Just use a small
cooler or lunch box. Even a brown paper sack keeps things nicely
insulated. You can buy small ice packs to pack with the food. (You
should be able to find them by the coolers and thermoses at your
store.) Another good idea is to freeze water, lemonade or some
other drink in a plastic bottle. When you pack it in with food, it
works as an ice pack and as something cold to drink for the kids.
If it is going to be an extra long day, I sometimes use both the
ice pack and the frozen drink.

If you can, pack the boys their own individual snack boxes using
either small shoe boxes or lunch boxes. They can then hold these on
their laps to catch the crumbs and when they're done, the boxes are
a great way to "pack out the trash" so you will not have quite as
big a mess in the car!

Keep things as easy as possible. For example: if you are taking
oranges, have them peeled and broken into segments for them. This
will make it easier for them and reduce the mess in the car.

Keep a running list of the snacks you take each day for a couple of
weeks. At the end of that time you will have a list of about 20 to
30 snack items to refer to when you can't think of what to take.

Without knowing your food preferences, it is hard to tell you
specifically what to take but here are some general ideas. Some may
be a little messy in the car depending on the age of the children
and some may need to be kept cooled (use my ideas above for keeping
these cool). To expand the variety, give them different variations
of my suggestions. For example, with fruit, give them an apple one
day, an orange the next and so on.

Try starting with these:

* Sandwiches (to prevent them from becoming soggy take packets
of ketchup,mustard etc. to be put on right before they eat
them) - peanut butter, cheese, turkey, roast beef, ham or
chicken

* Crackers with cheese

* Popcorn or Popcorn balls

* Sandwich bags filled with cereal

* Granola

* Banana bread

* Dried fruit

* Nuts

* Muffins

* Fruit

* Veggies

* Pudding

* Yogurt with fruit

* Hard boiled eggs

* Burritos

* Cheese

* Chips

If your kids don't mind leftovers, bring that leftover piece of
chicken or small container of leftover fruit salad for them too.



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From A Reader:

"I just received Penny Pinchin' Mama and I have to say thank you
for such an excellent book!"

"I recently quit a well paying but inflexible job to stay home and
care for my 4 children. I was wondering how I was going to make it
on our reduced income and if I had made the right decision. Well,
now I know I can do it and how to do it-your book has inspired me!"

-Cynthia

Learn more about Penny Pinchin' Mama at:
http://www.livingonadime.com/ebooks/penny-pinchin-mama-ebook.html


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PO Box 844, Andover, KS 67002