Home Composting: Preparing for an eco-frugal spring

This year we maintained a relatively small garden. We were quite busy throughout the later spring and summer, but we managed to muddle through with it. The results weren't as nice as I was expecting, but we pulled a fairly decent crop of cucumbers, strawberries, butter crunch lettuce, hot peppers, green onions and various types of tomatoes. Our mini water melons and radishes were a complete bust, however.

In the end I'd say it wasn't cost effective. The produce was completely organic and home grown, but we would have spent less if we had simply gone to the grocery store. So in the end I had trouble justifying the experience. I'm not a big fan of mucking about out doors getting my hands dirty.

The biggest deal breaker was the cost of soil. We went through a surprising amount considering our total harvest this year. I'd say this expense surpassed even seedlings. We used a variety of store bought soil, limestone, manure (bagged, not home produced) and local soil mixed thoroughly. This gave us pretty good results. But costs dictate that next year we'll have to be a bit more frugal when it comes to our gardening expenses, if only to justify the experience in my mind.

As such we've saved all of the soil from this year and started a small compost bin. If our math works out correctly we'll have more than enough to work with in the spring. It turned out to be surprisingly easy.

• Select an area and method: There are two ways you can compost. You can either utilize the container model or an open pit design. We don't exactly need the amount an open pit compost pile would provide and we don't really have the space. So we utilized an old, disused plastic trash can. We perforated the bottom and sides to provide some (but not too much) drainage.
  
  We could have bought a special composting bin, but that would have instantly broken our budget for next year. They get upwards of $100 for a couple of dozen gallons. At that point I might as well buy new soil.
  
  Since even the best kept compost bin will likely start to smell significantly at some point we put it where we put smelly things, next to the trash cans.
  
  
• Get the right mix: Composting is by definition decomposition and is a process by which living organisms break down organic matter. As such some chemistry is required.
  
  
  • Carbon: This should make up most of the material in your compost bin. Some pretty handy sources are leaves, fallen branches (broken up), disused mulch, cardboard and newspaper. All of these are very easy to come by in your average suburban yard, especially in the fall.
    
    
  • Nitrogen: You should have a fair bit of nitrogen producing material in your compost bin, but not too much. Some great sources are manure (bagged and sold at your local supply store, not home made), dead plants (such as your tomato plants after the frost) and yard trimmings (grass, shrub leaves).
    
    
• Layer: Layer your compost material with moist soil but don't pack it down too tightly. This will prevent oxygen flow, which is crucial to the process.
  
  
• Water: Air flow, heat and the composting process will consume water. If the pile becomes too dry the process will slow. On the flip side if the bin is not covered and becomes too wet (and lacks adequate drainage) you'll find yourself with a lovely smelling soup.
  
  So make sure the bin remains moist, but not too moist. Treat it like you would a house plant.
  
  
• Turning: Turning a compost pile helps distribute water and oxygen, ingredients that are crucial to the process. So use a shovel to turn the mixture up every week or so. It doesn't have to be perfect, but you'll help the decomposition process.
  
  
• Mixing: When things begin to fall apart and intermingle significantly with layered soil your compost is ready. For best results mix it with used potting soil from previous seasons. You'll be conserving energy, money and resources.
  
  
• Stay away: There are a couple of things you should shy away from when composting. These materials can ruin all of your hard work or at the very least delay your final results.
  
  
  • Home "grown" manure: Unless you know what you're doing stay away from manure produced in your own home. This includes human and pet feces. In all likelihood this material will contain harmful pathogens. It'll also increase the smell factor by ten.
    
    
  • Some kitchen scraps: Egg shells and potato skins are great for compost piles. Chicken bones, wing tips, fat from your t-bone and fish heads are not so great. Not only will this increase the smell of your compost bin, but you may also find yourself a favorite hot spot for local wild life looking for an easy meal.
    
    
  • Some paper: While it may be tempting to throw that latest political mailer into a trash can full of rotting leaves and produce, steel yourself. Glossy paper and heavily dyed card stock will only poison your efforts. Newspaper is okay in small amounts, though.
    
    
  • Tainted plants: Did your crop of cucumbers die from a mysterious illness or blight? Don't put them into your compost bin or you'll be in for a terrible surprise come time to utilize your compost. Like wise shy away from plants that have been treated with pesticides. You want bugs and bacteria now, introducing pesticides into the mix will only prolong the process.

Is this the final word? Absolutely not. There are a wide array of composting methods available to you. I found that this works best in a suburban environment where space and time are more or less at a premium. You can certainly scale this up to six or seven garbage disused garbage cans or dig yourself a shallow pit in your back yard if you were so inclined. You can even build an elaborate cinder block bin if you had the materials and desire for A LOT of soil.

But so long as you turn it once in awhile and don't accidentally drag it down to the curb on garbage day you'll have a superior source of soil come next planting season.

Cheap fast food. The best, the worst.

I fully admit that over the summer I may have indulged a little more than I should have regarding eating out, specifically fast food. I know there are health and quality concerns that need to be considered, but I consider it one of my precious few luxuries. Even while indulging, I tried my very best to stick to a reasonable budget. When I was with the missus this was difficult, as when we eat out we tend to make it a full meal. But after a number of hard mornings at the office I became quite adept at satisfying my hunger with minimal damage to my budget.

There are certain places to eat for certain things and while sometimes you have a craving you just can't shake, most often than not you can have a filling lunch for two dollars or so, if you pick your poison wisely.

Some places are better to eat at than others when it comes to a limited budget, as I'll explain below.

• Subway: This popular chain has released a new ad campaign, selling $5 foot long subs. This seems fairly reasonable at first glance and it is in the end of things. But in comparison to a lot of other fast food franchises, it isn't terribly great. You're restricted to a set number of sandwiches, and Subway isn't known for piling on the ingredients. After tax you are probably ringing up a fair bit above the advertised $5, especially if you buy a bag of chips and a fountain drink.
  
  Healthier than most other fast food chains, but by far not the cheapest.
  
  
• Dunkin Donuts: Dunkin's has entered the realm of fast food not terribly long ago with their flat bread sandwiches and personal pizzas. But in comparison to other chains they're neither cheap or filling per dollar spent. Delicious? Perhaps. Worth it? Not really.
  
  Money is best spent here with a Munchkin, Small Coffee Combo. Stay far, far away from the budget breaking Coolattas.
  
  
• McDonalds: The double cheese burger reigns king at McDonalds when you're looking for the cheapest, best thing on the menu. Typically selling for $1 it's a pretty good deal. Before you unwrap it and sink your teeth into it's greasy, condiment flavored interior. Any given bite of this baby will either taste like beef-like-substance bread or ketchup.
  
  The four piece nugget is quite delicious, but for a $1 you'll need two or three just to satisfy mild hunger.
  
  
• Burger King: In my opinion Burger King is superior to McDonalds in all ways. This includes their value menu. The best item for your dollar? Undisputedly the Whopper Jr, of course. This tiny version of the whopper actually contains more than condiments, with the full lettuce, pickle, onion and tomato you'd expect on a cheese burger.
  
  Besides that the value menu is pretty lacking. You have the standard chicken sandwich, fries and onion rings, but they're neither substantial or worth the money in a tight lunch budget.
  
  
• Wendy's: Wendy's brings a lot to the table for the cheap grease seeker. It is typically my cheap meal ticket of choice in most situations. Wendy's bread and butter value menu product is the Junior Bacon Cheese Burger. While relatively small, two easily make a filling meal for just over $2.
  
  Several new items to the value menu include a double cheese burger that is fairly decent in comparison to McDonalds and a Crispy Chicken sandwich that is best not discussed.
  
  A small chili without cheese is likely the best value, ringing in at around $1.20.
  
  
• Taco Bell: My holy grail for fast, greasy food on the go. The only reason why I'm not constantly shoveling this down my gullet is the lack of establishments in my area. The food is delicious, dirt cheap (likely because the contents are items that are essentially the cheapest on the planet) and quickly prepared.
  
  The undisputed king of Taco Bell's value menu is the simple taco. Soft flour or crunchy corn you're not spending a cent more than $0.89 for this simple cheap meal. The Taco Bell menu is highly modular, so coupling a single taco with say, the $1.00 double beef burrito is quite easy.
  
  That being said it's quite easy to be side tracked into purchasing one of the more expensive items, such as a Crunchwrap (up to $3) or a Gordita (up to $2.50).

Are there regional favorites like Jack in the Box, Sonic, Chipotle Grill, Checkers and their ilk? Absolutely. But I really can't offer an opinion on many others, despite their regional existence and lack of nearby locations.

Of course I'm in no way suggesting you eat at any of these establishments frequently. I typically limit myself to one excursion a week. Usually to Taco Bell. Used in conjunction with adequate exercise and a bit of self control the value menu at any of these establishments can be a welcome treat to the financially challenged individual.

Avoid Getting Ripped Off: Buying High Ticket Items

I married my long time love interest on August 2nd. We've been through a lot together and in a lot of ways we're already like an old couple. While we just got married we had been living together for years and before that we were in a relationship pretty much since early 2000. The word marriage wasn't so much important to us as the benefits of being married. We're both very nonreligious people, but the legal system is designed to protect those who share a union. Since she is now a federal employee and receives significantly better health coverage than yesteryears and I'm technically an independent contractor it was the only logical decision. So we had a tiny super cheap wedding.

The one thing that we decided to spend an appreciable amount of money on were our wedding rings. Being a salesman in a former life and having dealt first hand with a number of overly pushy commission based retailers, we weren't exactly looking forward to shopping. Picking them out, yes. We loved that part. But we loathed dealing with the phony in your face sales sharks who simply saw dollar signs.

We went into the situation with a mindset that we were not going to be ripped off. Believe it or not, we actually drew up a list beforehand to help us in our shopping excursion. These tips should work for any high ticket item, be it a computer, car or wedding ring.

• Don't deal with sales people (at first): Yes, they're there to help you. But they also have their own bills to pay and their own agenda. Any advice they give you might be tainted with their own best interests in mind instead of yours. So research the field you're looking to buy into. Utilize the internet to narrow your selection and needs down to a general price range that you find acceptable.
  
  
• Command respect: Don't let them do all of the talking. When you are finally ready to engage a sales person, do just that. Engage them in conversation. Ask intelligent questions as to the nature of the product you're thinking about buying. Make them explain themselves if they're not entirely clear. If you appear docile and meek you might just find yourself in the hands of something who thinks you're an easy paycheck.
  
  
• Dress right: And by this I do not mean "dress for success." If you look like you're capable of dropping a lot of dough, you're likely going to give the sales clerk that image as a first impression.
  
  So leave your expensive inherited gold watch, Coach purse, fancy leather jacket and other assorted bling at home. If you have one, put your wedding ring in your pocket. These are all things sales people immediately key in on.
  
  Dress decent, but over all pretty casual. Like you were going to a movie with a couple of friends.
  
  
• Bring a partner: Whether you bring your significant other or a friend, two heads are better than one. You'll have someone not directly invested in the purchase to bounce logical ideas off of. You'll also have someone to remain an outsider in case you start to be drawn into a sale that you may regret later.
  
  
• Don't talk to your partner (too much): Whether you're shopping with your boyfriend, wife or best friend don't talk to them too much while the sales associate is hovering around you. Make sure you're both crystal clear on this subject. The last thing you want is your wife saying "You should get it, you know you want it." in front of an already pushy commission shark. You'll find yourself pressured from two sides, instead of just one.
  
  Instead politely excuse yourselves to discuss the issue at a nice distance.
  
  
• Be wary of expiring offers: Be careful associates informing you that "this bracelet is the last one we have.." or that "this sale is for this afternoon only." It's a common tactic to introduce time limits on things. It encourages impulse buys. Which is not what you want to do with a high ticket item. Take advantage of them, but don't do so simply because of the fact.
  
  
• Don't be scared to walk away: Arguably the most powerful tool in your arsenal. Competition breeds low prices. We all know that a monopoly (the economic situation, not the board game) is a bad thing. Regardless of the item, you can probably find it elsewhere cheaper. The only thing that differs is the effort put into the search.
  
  So if a sales person is pressuring you to make a decision before you've had time to logically think out the pros and the cons of the price, politely thank them and go catch a cup of coffee. The sales associate will know you're capable of walking out on an offer and you'll have time to logically think out the situation on your own terms. If you decide to go back both parties will be aware of just how far the other is capable of going.
  

This is not a catch all, but instead a general outline with a couple of things that can keep you protected. So long as you remain smart and don't allow yourself to be manipulated you'll be able to get your high ticket item at a fair price well within your budget.

Beat the heat without breaking the bank

Record high temperatures have slammed into the north eastern United States with a fury. My weatherman is flirting with 100 degree afternoons now and it's not even technically summer quite yet. Right now sweat is pouring down my forehead and I'm armed with a personal fan and an enormous glass of ice cold cranberry juice.

And yet I dread laying down on sticky sheets trying to catch a couple of hours of sleep in this stifling, oppressive humidity. Less than a month ago I was shutting up all of the windows at night and turning on the heater just to keep the temperature of the house at a pretty chilly 60 degrees.

Needless to say because of the equally oppressive New England winters and the cost of running such behemoths many homes don't exactly home standard with central air. While it's true my household has a small air conditioner it's best suited for a single small room at best. And even then it causes our electricity bill to spike dangerously high. Something we clearly cannot quite afford yet.

So, whenever we possibly can we have been attempting to flee our home for cooler pastures. But it's been very difficult to stick to our winter budget in our quest to stay cool. We've gone through a little brainstorming session and we think we've come up with a couple of ways to keep our dollars safely nestled in our bank account and our heads from over heating.

In this post I'll detail frugal beach survival.

• Food. Bring your own: We recently paid a visit to Lake Sunapee on a quest to see how badly we could burn our nearly translucent hides. (I'll give you a hint: Very badly.) The day was crystal clear and in the 90s. The beach was lovely and relatively sparsely populated. And considering the lake was covered with ice in April, the water was fairly warm. (55 F)
  
  But it cost us $8 to park the car and $10 in gas to get up there. We expected these misfortunes, grinned and bore them. To cut costs we made our own sandwiches from scratch, filled water bottles with tap water and loaded up our cooler with ice packs. We knew it would be tempting to go for a slice of pizza or a hot dog from a beach side vendor, but it'd absolutely crush our budget just to fill our bellies.
  
  So we steeled ourselves and committed to our sandwiches and tap water. With the money we saved in food costs we'll be able to pay a second visit much sooner than we otherwise would have been able to.
  
  
• Commuting. Take some friends, share the burden: Gasoline prices are sky rocketing. So why not plan an outing to the beach with a couple of friends instead of just the mister or missus? If you have a fair drive to the local swimming hole, river, lake, pond or ocean and you know you'll be paying an arm and a leg for parking go ahead and stuff as many people in your car as possible.
  
  Most beach goers go in twos. Double it and split up the costs accordingly. And hey, if you don't want to hang out with the people you shared a car with just go your separate ways.
  
  
• Consider going somewhere more local: As a rule of thumb the ocean is almost always a busier and more costly spot to pay a visit. So why not stick closer to home and pay a visit to a local pond, lake or river so long as local regulations and conditions are permitting? You won't have to worry about crowds, the high cost of parking or getting all that sticky salt out of your hair at the end of the night.
  
  
• Go for the long haul: My logic has always been if you're going to enjoy yourself really enjoy yourself. If you're paying an arm and a leg for gasoline, parking and food just to get a little bit of much needed sun, sand and relaxation make the absolute best of it.
  
  Get there early in the morning, stake out a good spot and set up shop. Bring a book and a stocked cooler. Stay for awhile. Maybe even until the beach shuts down. Squeeze every penny of value from your trip.
  
  If you feel tired of the surf, just take a nap.
  
  
• Bring the right things: Ideally every beach trip should be prepared in advanced, preferably the night prior. To maximize your comfort level a couple of things are pretty much standard. Many substitutions can be made of the fly, however.
  
  
  • Beach Blanket: Can be replaced with an old, clean bed sheet.
  • Beach Towel: Easily replaced by irregular bath sheets.
    
  • Shade: If the beach is open with little to no shade, consider buying a small sun shelter. If you don't have that kind of cash you can always nap under a light cotton over shirt and a baseball cap.
    
  • Cooler: A must if you're planning on spending any appreciable amount of time on the sand. If you've recently lost yours to a tragic party accident a covered 5 gallon bucket with ice packs and a some manner of cover will suffice just fine.
    
  • Sunscreen: Required. Skin cancer goes poorly in a country lacking universal health care with a weak currency. Pick yours up at your friendly local mega-mart or discount big box store (Sam's Club, BJs). Never buy your sunblock at a beach side store or a gas station. Your wallet will thank you.
    
    

So long as you keep your budget in the front of your mind and do a little thought before hand you can escape the brutal summer heat and have a little fun in the process, whether it's at your local pond or an expansive beach.

Do you have some tips for summer beach survival for the frugal fellow? Post them in the comments along with a link to your blog and I'll link back to it in my next post!

How to successfully raid a farmer's market

Spring is here and now we find ourselves flirting with the gorgeous girl that summer is, however fleeting she may be. Eerily pale New Englanders are beginning to stumble into the daylight, only to discover their chalky white skin will offer absolutely no protection against the growing day light. Floridians are slathering on the SPF 9,000 and Californians are now switching from red to white wines and from blue tinted sun glasses to the more stylish green.

I can say from first hand experience that last winter was hard and brutal. I thought I'd lose my mind on the fourth or fifth midnight furnace watch when the mercury started to dip below -15 F and our kerosene tank started to freeze. But if one thing kept be going through the long, hard winter it was the promise of one thing and one thing only.

Food.

In the frozen wasteland that is New Hampshire during the deep freeze of winter everything is either canned, frozen or imported from third world countries below the equator. Which is fine. I like being able to eat, even if it has to either taste like salty mush or come from Brazil with a price tag that'd put hard liquor to shame. But summer offers something different.

Summer offers a taste of local foods. Corn that hasn't traveled more than two zip codes and peaches that you might be able to see growing from the roof of your house. The recent Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial kick off for summer.

So when it's time to honor our veterans farmer's markets and fruit stands begin to set up shop. But this year is different. This year we're finding prices a bit higher than the previous. And with it some yankee traders may attempt to take advantage of fresh food starved, over zealous folk looking to sink their teeth into an affordable habanero pepper.

Some "local" farmers markets may very well be hocking the exact same imported wares that your mega mart was pushing on you during the winter months. Some may provide you with honest locally grown fruits and vegetables, but will put even the most conservative grocer to shame with crazy mark up and substandard quality.

Which is not to say that you should steer clear of the enigmatic farmer's market or roadside fruit stand. You should absolutely support locally owned businesses and reap the benefits of the fleeting summer months, so long as you follow a couple of guidelines.

• Make sure you know what's in season: There's a reason why apples are dirt cheap in fall. That's when they're harvested in most areas, the market is flooded. The same goes for spring. Spring apples are imported from all over the world, so you may very well be paying more on shipping costs (and spent cargo plane fuel) than the actual fruit itself.
  
  So do yourself a favor and look for items that are in peak season and stick to them. Do you desperately want an ear of corn in North Dakota, but it's only June 2nd? Chances are your product was flown it from Florida a month prior. Will it be edible? Sure. Will it be cheap? Not a chance.
  
  
• Examine your surroundings: Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. Are you shopping from a single lonely stand on the highway? Or are you shopping from a group of merchants set up in an empty lot, packed with customers? If business seems steady, the place seems clean and there are multiple vendors to choose from you've almost always found a winning market.
  
  
• Stay away from heavily processed foods: I'm hardly a freegan. But there seems to be something wrong with buying a meat pie from the back of some guy's truck. Plus, buying processed foods takes the point away from the whole concept of shopping at a local market. Who's to say the potatoes and carrots in it weren't canned? Isn't it kind of self defeating?
  
  That being said there's nothing wrong with buying some maple syrup candy for the kids or a couple of simple bread loaves, so long as they are not outrageously priced. Just remember, the more heavily an item is processed the higher price tag it's going to have.
  
  
• Remember your normal budget: How much would you think a pound of peaches goes for at your local mega mart? Is it comparable to the price at your local fruit stand? If yes, it may very well be the same product that's been imported from who knows where.
  
  
• Talk to those selling you your dinner: It'll do wonders. The Farmer's Market is supposed to be a friendly, casual atmosphere usually held out doors. More often than not the people manning the stands are the same people who grew the plum tomatoes you're looking to stuff.
  
  Ask questions. What would they take home today? Where did this head of lettuce come from? How has the harvest been so far? You might make a couple of friends. And as a great man once said, "Friend's don't let friend's buy junk."
  
  
• Come prepared: You're not exactly dealing with a Wal-Mart super center and the stand you're shopping from may not even have an electrical outlet to proces your fancy and likely unnecessary American Express card. So bring a fair amount of cash in small denominations.
  
  And don't forget something to haul away all of your loot. Reusable canvas bags, backpacks and coolers with ice packs are all excellent items to bring to a farmer's market. Always bring more than you think you're going to need, you may very well find a great deal.
  
  
• Steel yourself against things you might not really want: Just because you bring more storage space than you need does not mean you have to leave with sixteen pounds of ruby red grapefruit and four dozen years of corn. If the food is fresh and you find yourself wanting to overbuy, take a break. Buy a small quantity, have a snack and see if it's really worth it. You might find that you were a bit greedy. Or not greedy enough.
  

Just remember to make it an experience worth remembering. Make the trip an enjoyable experience with friends and family. Try not to quibble too much over price. You only live once, and winter is right around the corner. So get your fill while you can.

Sales: Likely garbage

Often a slave to the retail industry since I first stumbled into the adult world, I've come to the frank and sudden realization that sales and rebates are almost always bad things. While hardly ever bad for the retailer, the consumer is all too often lulled into a false sense of self satisfaction before being clubbed in the back of the head with hidden fees, costs and other money grubbing garbage. While it's to be expected that retailers should try to improve their bottom line at all costs in order to remain in business, all too often is the consumer's ignorance preyed upon.

Let's examine a fictional chain of businesses. We'll call this national franchise Bob's Appliances. Bob, the owner of this franchise doesn't actually produce anything. He doesn't need to. The service his corporation provides is customer service, product knowledge and the convenience of having sixty blenders under a single roof for you, the consumer to gawk at and wonder which will produce the best milkshake.

So Bob purchases all of his wares directly from the manufacturer in large quantities. The manufacturer, knowing that Bob will sell through his stock quickly and place another order will provide him their merchandise at a fixed cost. Bob will then mark up the sales price so that when he sells a blender he'll be able to pay for things like shipping costs, rent and his vacation to Greece.

Which is understandable. Bob needs to do this in order to stay in business and pay his employees. But let's say Bob gets some competition. Larry opens up a rival appliance warehouse down the street and starts offering his blenders at a cheaper rate than Bob. He does this because he's a prudent business man.

He does, after all want to make a living. He needs to put his kids through college and pay for his wife's new rose bushes. Bob, worried about his own savings account starts dropping the prices of his blenders to compete with Larry's.

This all sounds great for the lucky sod who wants a cheap blender. But it's not terribly good for Bob and Larry. Soon they're selling blenders for pennies above the prices they originally paid for them. The manufacturer, worried that Bob and Larry are going to drive one another to the poor house and leave them with no middle man to peddle their blenders is left with only one recourse. They set certain guidelines their merchandise can be sold with. They politely inform Bob and Larry that unless certain conditions are met, they're going to stop selling to them.

This is where the manufacturer's "suggested retail" comes in. Suggested retail is, simply put the lowest any given item can be sold under normal circumstances and most major manufacturers practice this sort of behavior. Cusinart, All Clad, T-Fal, Krups, Euro-Pro, Kitchen Aid, Yankee Candle, et cetera.

This provides a boundary for Bob in the future. He knows that his competition can only go so far with its prices, which were kindly set by the manufacturer to assure that even at the minimum sales price some profit was to be had.

This balances things out a bit. But it opens up a whole other world of pain. Just how far should Bob set his prices above the "suggested retail" given to him? Twenty percent or five? Well, nine times out of ten it'll depend on what exactly Larry the devious competitor is up to. Which is probably a sale.

Sales do not break all the rules. They simply create the illusion of such. There are still price guidelines in place you just don't see how little retailers pay for the items they are reselling for you.

Imagine seeing a blender that's usually sold at Bob's for $100. But this week it's only $30. How can Bob possibly profit from this? Simple. He bought it for $5 and jacked up the price to make it seem like he's taking a loss by "practically giving" the blender to you. The suggested retail? Oddly enough, it's $20.

The biggest question I get asked is "When will this item be on sale?" The retailer I work for is thankfully somewhat sane, so my answer is always "Never. We have 'every day' low prices." Which sounds corny and makes people think they're being ripped off, but it couldn't be further from the truth. Sales create an atmosphere of misinformation about the actual value of a product. You shock the person with a borderline crazy high price and slap a sticker on it saying you're going to be a real swell person this president's day weekend and sell it for a quarter of that.

Not only is this manipulative, but in my opinion outright despicable. Especially when retailers go into overdrive and make it their business to have sales. They'll simply hold a sale every month and jack up their prices astronomically high the rest of the time. A prime example of this is Macy's and Kohl's. Not only does this make it impossible to shop when a sale isn't around, it also makes it impossible to shop when there is, simply due to the fact that it herds customers like cattle through the front door all at the same time.

The only exception to this it honest clearance sales after big, time sensitive events. Retailers are still making a profit on every sale, but they're genuinely motivated to move the product so they can make room for higher ticket items. This is why buying Christmas decorations on December 27th is smarter than December 1st. Or purchasing a humidifier in the middle of April is probably wiser than January 5th.

I'm not saying that one should forsake materialism because of asinine markup habits, but I am saying to be reasonable about it. Because in the end of things the amount you "saved" might not really be an appreciable amount at all when you think about it.

Hobbies for the frugal

Everyone has at least one hobby. Something they really enjoy doing that doesn't really have a practical and every day purpose. I've met people who like collecting retro video games, people who make beautiful music and people who love putting together elaborate model trains and villages.

The problem is, when money gets a bit tight the hobbies are usually the very first things to go, even before free time and food. Which is a shame. Hobbies define who we are. It adds a little bit of character and color into our lives. Which is exactly what most people need when they find themselves strapped for cash.

But hobbies don't necessarily have to be costly. Sure, a lot of the good ones are. But there are many things that you can do to occupy you body and mind other than mindless toiling under the gun of making an extra dollar.

Here are a couple of small suggestions. But this mind is by all means not a tell all list. There's an infinite number of things you can do to occupy yourself. You just need to be a little creative.

• Read
  So long as you're not married to any given series of books or costly periodical reading remains one of the cheapest pay for hobbies imaginable. You can find any given book type under the sun at your local library. And if they don't have it, they can order it for you.
  
  If you must permanently possess a piece of literature you can try any number of used book stores, thrift stores or book sales. Many of these places also carry older magazines. While the pop culture periodicals are probably pretty worthless you can always find those that cannot be made obsolete with time, such as National Geographic.
  
  
• Paint
  Acrylic paint, brushes and unfinished wooden doohickeys are surprisingly cheap at general craft stores. Despite my manly prowess, I've found myself on occasion painting pretty pink jewelry boxes with bumble bees and hearts. You can find a surprising amount of unfinished items, too. Everything from boxes to coat racks to chairs and wooden toys.
  
  
• Gardening / Yard improvement
  When I hear the word "yard work" I cringe. But I have to admit that after I quit my complaining I actually really enjoy getting outside and scotching my pasty white skin beneath the blazing New England sun. After spending a whole winter couped up in a tiny house with debris gathering on the yard it's good to clear some leaves and brush sometimes.
  
  
• Hiking
  If you don't live in the very center of a heavily urbanized area, chances are there's some mighty fine hiking within a half an hour of your home. So long as you have a good pair of boots, a rucksack and a water bottle you're more than capable of getting outside and enjoying some fresh air.
  
  If you need a little help in finding some local trails, try TrailFinder which is maintained by the American Hiking Society. The resource even provides locations for additional outdoor activities, such as dog hiking, biking, fishing and camping. If you're willing to shell out a hundred bucks or so on a GPS, you can always try Geocaching, too. After the original investment in the GPS device there's no direct cost involved.
  
  
• Bird watching
  Whether you're lazy and prefer to do it on your back porch with a glass of ice tea and a bird feeder or a bit more proactive with a pair of binoculars and hiking boots bird watching won't cost you a time if you're frugal about it.
  
  And if you're looking for something a bit more elaborate than stale bread in the backyard, unfinished bird feeders are pretty cheap. As are mixed seeds and hummingbird nectar.
  
  
  
  
• Some sports
  Hockey is a bad hobby for the frugal fiend because of all the equipment involved to do it safely. Not to mention the cost of using a skating rink. But basketball, soccer, baseball, softball and touch football all just pretty much require a ball and maybe a bat.
  
  
• Stargazing
  In my driveway on a clear night it's hard to make out much in the sky. A couple of the better known constellations, maybe Mars of Venus. There's a fair bit of light pollution, so stargazing is pretty difficult.
  
  But if I drive 15 minutes down the road to a cemetery in my local state park all of that fades away and suddenly I can see more stars than I ever could have imagined. I did this with the last lunar eclipse. Stargazing itself is always free. It's even better if you can find a pair of binoculars from another era and blow off the dust.
  

Regardless of what you'd like to do it's always important to keep a hobby while in financial straights. It'll serve as a release valve for all the stress that's sure to come with living on a paycheck to paycheck lifestyle.

The Sewing Kit: Your best friend

Let's face it. When our clothes get a little worn out and torn the vast majority of us create a new oil rag, chew toy for the dog or contribute to our daily landfill allowance. Clothes in this era are mass produced by industrial machines and foreign labor. They are relatively cheap and not exactly designed to last forever. But when you're on a fixed income and paying off your heating bill looks a little better than buying a new pair of work slacks, it's time to bust out the best friend and frugal fiend can favor, their sewing kit.

I learned to sew probably like most everyone else. In high school home economics, with a grumpy woman who looked older than the White House. And while I did forget a substantial amount of what the woman taught me, such as how to make a simple budget, I somehow retained the ability to possibly sew. Granted, I'm not going to be busting out designer jeans anytime soon. But you'll sure as heck bet that I'm going to keep that polo shirt that's missing a button or a jacket that has a torn pocket.

You can by sewing kits from any number of department stores. A lot of them are pretty good, too. They tend to be small and compact with a good and secure place for every bit of thread and needle. Which is a must, considering you can't exactly use it if you're missing half the pieces. But any good sewing kit can be made at home. And if you have all the material to pull one together, why bother to buy one?

Any half decent sewing kit will contain:

1. A sturdy and secure case, box or tin (To keep everything together.)
   
2. 2 pairs of scissors (Cheap-o paper scissors and fabric shears.)
3. 5 - 10 sewing needles (You don't need special fancy needles. Medium sized are all you're going to need for general repair.)
4. 10 - 15 straight pins
5. 1 seam ripper (For fixing mistakes, removing labels, patches, et cetera.)
6. Several spools of sewing thread (While it'd be ideal to have every color under the sun you only need to stick to some basic colors. White, black, gray, red and blue. Most small repairs will be in relatively hard to spot locations anyway.)
   
7. A pin jacket, cushion or book (So you don't stick yourself accidentally.)
8. An assortment of buttons (For replacing lost ones. Most clothes with buttons keep a spare sewn into a hem, use the seam ripper to tear them out.)

If you want to go nuts you can include lots of fancy tools like a hand held sewing machine, measuring tape, marking pencils and special types of fabric shears. But those are the basics that you're probably going to need on any given day.

Low impact, woodland home and community

A couple of weeks ago I produced perhaps my most popular piece of writing on - the minus sign blues to date. In it I provided a little bit of a cross section on eco-frugal homes and how one can feasibly live within reasonable comfort without laying waste to 3+ acres and constructing some elaborate McMansion with central heating and sky high energy demands.

Since the date I published it I've received nearly 3,500 hits specifically to that article from various sources that range from Google searches to indie architecture blogs. In fact I've gathered a number of readers specifically from this article. Several of whom have rather politely asked me to post a bit more frequently about the subject that drove them to my little niche in the eco-frugal blogosphere.

Oh yes. Even I use trendy terms sometimes, however much as I like to appear to go against the grain.

So a couple of days ago when I found these little gems on a low impact, woodland home in Wales, I was instantly interested. While this very economical style of home wasn't elaborated on very much in my original post, it is more or less an earth shelter style of home with a touch of strawbale construction thrown in for good measure. Even if it's gone off a bit into the deep end and become a bit greener than it's more conventional counterparts the spirit is more or less the same.

While most of my economically and environmentally friendly homes are just that, they all pale in comparison to this home's simplicity and staggering ability to keep it local, cheap and beautiful. A lot of others still maintain a fair bit of third party contractor work and good old fashioned cement, brick and bolts. Not this one.

It was constructed over a four month period by a man and several friends, none of whom had any training in architecture, construction or masonry. And better yet, they were able to do it with mostly all local materials. The material they did have to purchase only came with a price tag of a mere £3000. If my calculations are correct, that comes out to a little over six thousand U.S. dollars.

Which by the way, is less than half of the suggested cash down payment on most single family homes over here in the states.

While this is probably a little bit more rugged than I'd be comfortable living in at the moment with its compost toilet, ground cooled fridge and total dependence on solar power, it's a neat concept and it just goes to show you how really frugal you can be when it comes to your place of residence and still be supremely comfortable.

But what really piqued my interested was what I found while exploring their website. They are involved in a rather brilliant project in South West Wales that goes by the enigmatic title of "Lammas." Which is not a single eco-frugal home, but instead a whole community dedicated to this unique, low impact life style. Think of it like a condo development for the greenest frugal folk you can imagine. Situated on about 70 acres the association will include several homes, a community center and a campsite for those interested in being looky-loos for the not so rich and not famous.

Even a small mini-series has been produced that details the ins and outs of starting, maintaining and finishing such a novel project. It's really worth a second look if you're interested in this sort of thing. Even if you're not, maybe you will become so.

The dreaded homelunch

There was a time when I used to work in an office environment for nine hours a day, five days a week, fifty one weeks a year. It was a pretty grueling experience to say in the least. My days were made up of high pressure deadlines, keyboarding and a fair amount of incompetent technophobes yelling at me because they couldn't exactly wrap their heads around the whole purpose of having secure passwords and anti-virus software.

Needless to say the best part of my day was almost always the lunch hour. Sixty sweet minutes of peace and quiet to do with what I please and enjoy a nice meal. And with the missus in the next office over we could take a leisurely break together. And maybe vent at one another as to why, exactly our boss felt the need to be such an arrogant waste of skin.

Because it was a busy office environment in an area populated by office buildings, real estate brokerages and banks there was a dangerous temptation. It was called "the strip" and it was glorious. A mere sixth of a mile down the busy seven lane artery that could have passed for a major highway were more places to eat than stars in the sky. Everything from the usual fast food garbage to upscale twenty dollar sandwiches. If you felt like anything at all on any particular day of the week, you could find it, order it and consume it in less than an hour.

And man, oh man. Would that seven lane motorway clog like a low flow toilet at 11:55 every weekday, without fail.

I'm pretty ashamed to admit that we'd waste a good $60 every week on lunch. That's more than half of our current food budget for two full weeks, breakfast lunch and dinner included. We did this for more than half of a year. Our rough estimates put this at around $1,500 of pure excess. Sure, the food was marvelous and the stress relief was great. But not only were we wasting an extraordinary amount of money, our waistlines were also exponentially increasing. I gained 30 pounds at that job, due to eating out and sitting on my ass all day, typing.

Now that I work from home for the vast majority of my work week I have full access to every household appliance in my home in addition to my fridge and pantry. Lunch is no longer a problem. There's no temptation to go out, as I live in the boonies.

But I did start to get serious about being frugal before I left the office grind. While there was still a little bit of excess involved, it was far more manageable. Here are some of the tips and tricks I experimented with.

• Don't change your life style all of a sudden
  If you're used to eating out, you're going to get withdrawals it you all of a sudden stop and switch to the loathed Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwich at your desk. Going out for Thai with your work buddies is far more appealing.
  
  So continue to do it, but work on scaling yourself down. Form a rough budget and evaluate your performance on a week to week basis. But don't get depressed if you go over budget once in awhile.
  
  Start bringing your lunch on your less stressful days and enjoy a nice time out on the more head grinding days. Eventually over time whittle it down so you only go out one or two days a week.
  
  
• Remove temptation
  It's depressing to see a group of your coworkers go out to your favorite lunch canteen. It's downright torture to see (and smell) them get delivery. Curb your potential torture by taking your lunch break earlier than most of your peers, if possible. Leaving the building altogether works well if you don't mind being a little antisocial. I used to bring a good book to my car and read in the spring and summer months.
  
  
• Snack
  Okay. Not all of us can be antisocial nerds and read under a tree when the clock strikes 12. Let's say you need to go out on a daily basis, if only to chat with your friends and coworkers and get a little bit of socializing in.
  
  Have a snack about an hour before lunch time and order something relatively small when you do go out. Since you won't be famished, you'll be less likely to order something off the menu that could feed a cow.
  
  
• Don't drink soda
  Soft drinks like Pepsi and Mountain Dew are mostly carbonated water. Which is essentially tap water with a bit of gas dissolved into it. I once knew a woman who managed a restaurant for a number of years. She informed me that soft drinks have an enormous third party markup. It costs the average restaurant about $0.03 to provide you with a frosty cold Pepsi. Which is why most establishments tend to offer free refills. Likely because they're charging you about $2.00 for something that costs them three cents. The same is more or less true for coffee.
  
  So if you find yourself as a fast food joint or elsewhere, simply drink water. You'll be cutting down on empty calories and saving yourself a bit of money.
  
  
• Utilize the microwave
  Microwaves are more common than toilets nowadays. There was a time when I lived off of Hot Pockets. Granted, they were still incredibly unhealthy and still cost me $2.50 a box, but that sure as heck beat going to McDonalds and buying a $6.50 double quarter pounder.
  
  You don't even have to buy microwavable convenience meals. Microwaves in the work place allow you to bring pretty much anything you can fancy for lunch, be it left overs from the night before or something you whipped up that morning.
  
  
• Utilize icepacks
  Say you're on the run more often than not and a microwave is not always an option. There's nothing chaining you down to just sandwiches. So long as you have a lunch bag and an icepack there are a number of things you can eat cold and on the run.
  
  Some ideas include:
  
  
  • Pasta Salad
    
  • Chicken Salad (Maybe with left over chicken from the night before?)
    
  • Gazpacho
  • Waldorf
  • Veggie Wraps
  • Fruit Salad
  • Left over pizza (I prefer it cold, honestly.)
  • Left over fried chicken (Fried chicken is excellent cold, that's way it makes excellent picnic fodder.)
  • Potato Salad
  • Tortilla chips and salsa (or Spinach dip)
    
  
  So long as you can dice it and shove it inside of a tortilla or a tupperware container, you can bring it and eat it cold.
  
  
• Set aside dinner portions
  Regardless of what I'm having for dinner on any given night I try to put an extra portion into a piece of tupperware before I sit down to eat. This could be anything from mashed potatoes of taco filling. This stops us from eating it and it gives me something to work with for the next day's lunch.
  
  There's no rule saying you have the have an exact duplicate of your previous night's dinner. Roast chicken can be diced up and put into a salad. Taco filling can be mixed with rice and corn. Roast beef can be sliced thinly and placed into a wrap. Mashed potatoes can be mixed with cheese and sour cream, et cetera.
  
  
• Don't underestimate the power of carbs
  I love carbohydrates. They're tasty and extremely filling. Whenever I work outside of my home for a long period of time, I always bring some seasonal fruit and a slice of breakfast bread with me. The breakfast bread will keep me filled for a long time while I bust my hump. The same is true for any complex carb, be it pasta, potatoes or a big hunk of pumpernickel.
  

So long as you make an honest effort to try to curb your unhealthy and wasteful lunch habits you'll succeed, if only a little bit at first. But it's not incredibly difficult.

Spring is coming: DIY Countertop Greenhouse

March is right around the corner and the days are getting warmer and warmer. And while even as I speak snow is falling outside my home office window, I know that soon all of this dreary white weather is going the way of falling leaves and foliage. People who are serious about gardening in my neighborhood typically gear up this time of year, starting their seedlings in front of sunny windowsills and cleaning out the potting sheds.

I've had some conversations with my neighbors. We're all more or less in the same boat of being financially strapped. I've heard time and time again that they're planning on really getting serious with a garden this year to reduce their bills.

A lot of frugal folk like to promote the idea that growing a lot of your own food can help reduce your over all grocery bill at the end of the month. I don't exactly subscribe to this ideal quite yet, but I think it's an interesting premise. The main problem I see with it is I believe a lot of people see the costs of seeds, the cost of produce at the mega-mart and draw the obvious cost connections in their heads. A single seed packet may cost $1.00 and contain enough for 50 tomato plants!

But I think far too many people neglect to take into consideration the other costs of growing your own produce. A short list includes:

• Tools (spades, hoes, rakes, watering cans, et cetera)
  
• Water (especially if you live in a drought prone region)
• Soil and nutrients (especially if you live in less than ideal growing conditions such as the middle of Arizona or northern New England)
• Pestic
  
• Potting accessories (Pots, seedling pots, trellises, et cetera)
  
• Time (time is money, after all)
• Seeds / Seedlings
  

At this moment in time I think that growing your own produce costs pound for pound the equivalent of buying it at your local produce stand or mega-mart. Which is not to say that I'm against home gardening to shore up one's food budget. I'm just saying that one has to enter the situation realistically without expectations of a greatly reduced grocery bill.

If you're planning on gardening this coming spring, I don't think frugality should be at the front of your mind. I think the gardener should be more concerned with the experience and the ability to control the quality of the food than anything. Not to mention that you're decreasing your carbon footprint a considerable amount if you're not buying as many food stuffs that come in via gas guzzling tractor trailers.

Plus, if you're one of those organic nuts you can assure yourself that your tomato, even if it might not look terribly pretty, was grown with as little impact on your garden space as possible.

The growing season is tricky, however. Especially in the northern United States, the time when you should have seedlings ready to go into the ground, there's still a couple of inches of snow covering the ground. So what I've found it that a lot of people set their future meals in front of drafty window sills and hope for the best. Which gives them a head start on the season, sure. But not nearly as much as they should be given.

Which is why I began to research small, compact greenhouses. I'm not talking about the variety that I'll construct in the backyard with lumber and sheets of very expensive glass, but small, self contained units that would only hold one or two plants. Something that I can easily carry out onto my deck on sunny, warmer days and take in at night. Or put in front of a sunny windowsill on especially cold days. And since a greenhouse is by definition an enclosed space, I won't have to worry about my cats getting a little hungry.

My logic is it'll be far more economical to construct several of these versus one large unit. And since it won't be exposed to the elements, I won't have to worry about weather proofing it. Which would add a hefty price tag to just about anything. Sealant is expensive. Once the fear of frost has completely left the picture, a small unit can be easily stored for next year and the plants transplanted to a proper garden.

In my travels I found this lovely little creation. Made out of a small amount of lumber, some Plexiglas and a couple of screws it hardly disrupts a tight budget at all, costing less than $20 to construct from start to finish. And if you're the type of household who typically has stuff from excessive years laying around, you might not need anything at all. Off the top of my head I can confirm that the only thing I likely need to construct one of these beauties this instant is a couple of sheets of Plexiglas and maybe a couple of hours to myself to get started.

Maybe some heavy duty band aids for when I invariably injure myself. And apology flowers to the neighbors, for the loud swearing that would likely ensue immediately afterward. Which can be grown in the thing that caused the swearing in the first place. See? It's a lovely cycle.

So will I be growing things this year? Yes. Our garden already has a large number of bulbs, chives, strawberries and flat leaf parsley ready to resprout. And I will be growing some one shot stuff like tomatoes and peppers. But I'm not expecting miracle yields to put me on the fast track to easy street. I'd be happy if I break even. I think that's good enough.

In Soviet NH, cold beats heater.

I don't typically blog about myself and my adventures in frugality here at - the minus sign blues. I'm not entirely certain as to why. It may be because I'm more concerned about teaching others to not repeat my mistakes. Or it may be because I feel like any personal details of my life I may divulge may seem like a half hearted attempt at whining and sympathy fishing.

Regardless, this is not the case with this post. If it seems like it is, I apologize. I'm only recently recuperating from the ordeal. The subject matter is on topic of a debt laden situation and frugality, I assure you.

For the ill informed, I'm currently living in a "luxury" trailer park. The parents of my finance own the trailer itself and up until three or four years ago, lived here. They've since constructed their own home out of state and left their daughter in charge of the household.

The trailer park is decent. There's a lot of space in between lots, and it's quite clean and crime free. The people are typically quiet and reserved. It's not your standard image of a trailer park in Alabama or West Virginia. But the rent is the only reason why we stay here. In our debt laden situation we cannot simply afford not to. We spend $450 a month, including water. That's half the price of the worst apartments in the area. Which by odd happenstance, disallow pets. It's simply unacceptable. So we've opted to keep our pets and throw that extra $400+ a month that we have toward our debts.

But we occasionally run into problems with the trailer. Especially in the winter. As some of you may have read a couple of weeks ago, our water heater died.

It started Wednesday night. New Hampshire threw a whole mess of cold weather at us quite recently and Wednesday night is dipped to a mind numbing -10 F. Our furnace runs on kerosene and we recently filled it (to the tune of $550..). So we thought we'd be fine.

When the sun set and the cold began to really settle in, I noticed the furnace was having a hard time staying on. It'd power up, blow hot air through our ventilation system, gutter and then die. It eventually just refused to work altogether, causing it to drop 2 degrees in the trailer every fifteen minutes.

We tried everything. Restarting the thermostat, bleeding the line, cleaning the air filter, making certain we really did receive our fuel delivery. Everything failed. The cold wouldn't be just an inconvenience. It could be a serious disaster, if not for us for our pets.

We eventually came upon the terrible truth. Because it was so cold the fuel line from our external tank froze.

As my best friend brilliantly put it:
"In Soviet New Hampshire, cold beats heater!"

At this point it was nearly 11:30 PM. We were cold, frustrated and tired. We could have called an HVAC Technician to the tune of $350 and an hour wait, just to get him out here to look at the problem. We knew the lines were frozen, it was simple logic to figure out what we had to do. We had to warm them up.

So I donned my make shift astronaut suit. I was clad in:

• Three layers of pants (pajamas, khakis, jeans)
• Four layers of shirts (t-shirt, sweater, hoodie and jacket)
• Two pairs of socks
• Earmuffs
• Gloves
• A Hello Kitty hat (as my own remained elusive)
• A scarf

I ventured out into the dead cold night with my tiny flashlight, super long extension cord and Hello Kitty Hair Dryer. I trudged through my backyard, which was quite pitch black and covered in four feet of snow.

With the wind whipping , my eyes watering and my asthma seizing up my lungs I dug out the fuel tank, unfastened the fuel line box and witnessed my enemy. A two foot long piece of copper tubing, laden with frost.

So I laid down in the snow, busted out my hair dryer and set it from "Good hair day" to "Bad hair day."

I nestled up against the tank for 45 minutes, running the hair dryer on its hottest setting. In desperation I took off my gloves and laid my hands directly on the tubing itself, hoping to impact some sort of additional heat into it. Just imagine it. A full grown man, coddling a piece of copper tubing with a Hello Kitty hair dryer and matching hat at one o'clock in the morning.

Slowly, eventually my finance in the house bled the fuel line, hit the restart button on the furnace and it roared into life.

So, unable to feel most body parts, covered in snow from head to toe and wheezing quite severely I went inside, took a blistering hot shower (it was actually luke warm, but it felt as if I was being boiled alive) and went to bed at 1:45 AM.

The next day was even colder, but the furnace seemed fine. I took another shower, got ready for work and left the house. In my infinite wisdom I forgot to leave the water running on a trickle.

Needless to say the pipes, in blazing sunlight (yet somehow still hovering at 2 F) seized up and froze solid. Since our water pressure sucks there weren't any burst pipes, we were just without running water.

Fast forward 12 hours, it's night again and dipping even lower than it did the previous night. The furnace is struggling again. It eventually gutters and dies. At 10:30 PM the exact same scenario plays out, complete with Hello Kitty. This time I bring a towel to lay on.

The missus goes to bed, but I stay up for a little while longer. You know, just in case it decides to freeze up again.

At the stroke of midnight it gutters and fails again, defying my internal attempts at restarting it. So I venture out once more and spend another 45 minutes in the middle of the night, at -10 F temperatures with the wind whipping snow at my cutesy hair dryer, mocking it.

After 45 minutes of willing in to life, I go inside and restart the furnace. It works swimmingly.

But it keeps faltering. Not outright dying, but you can hear it struggle. So, I find myself in a dilema.

Do I go to bed and risk the furnace shutting down at 3 in the morning? Or do I He-Man it through the night?

Needless to say the decision was hard, but in the end I chose to stay up. Good thing, too. It failed again at 2:30 AM.

I caught up on a lot of paperwork. About an hour before I had to get up for work I passed out on the couch. I awoke to find the cat smelling my face.

Apparently all that time outside laying in frozen dirt and snow imparted some scent that the cat found intriguing.

At this point it was Friday morning and time for my post. So, needless to say that didn't happen. So, I struggled to make it through the past several days. But I saved myself $600+ in emergency HVAC Tech calls, as he would have done exactly the same thing. I slept in something fierce today, so I'm pretty recharged.

It's supposed to be freakishly warm the next week, so hopefully I'll be able to save on fuel costs and manage to sleep at night.

The water came back this morning, too. Good thing, the cat won't leave me alone.

Reducing bathroom costs

Bathroom expenses tend to go unnoticed because they lie between the realms of required for survival (i.e. rent) and luxury (i.e. bacon cheese burgers). It's a tiny crack in your budget that if properly filled in, it could save you a surprising amount of cash.

Toiletries encompass a wide range of products and together produce a multi billion dollar a year industry. Sure, a lot of products are essential for your physical and professional well being, but at what point does one draw the line? Are all soaps created equal? Is saving $1.50 on shampoo really going to help you get out of the hole?

While I'm not going to suggest you forgo grooming for the remainder of your debt issues, I am going to mention a couple of ways you can reduce your costs in the bathroom and remain (or become) nicely scented and groomed.

1. Keep the season in mind: Depending on your geographic location you may find yourself in either very humid or very dry situations. By U.S. law every restroom (including those within dwellings) must contain either a window which is capable of being opened easily, or some sort of ventilation system. Use this to your advantage. How?
   
   Hot and humid: If it's summertime and you're running the air conditioner, close the door to the bathroom and turn on the ventilation system. Why? Adding hot, humid air will make your air conditioner and/or dehumidifier work harder and thus expend more energy. There's a reason why your electricity bill spikes in the dead of summer.
   
   Cold and dry: If it's wintertime and you're running the heater or humidifier, open the door to the bathroom after you're done showering. Why? Humid air holds heat more efficiently than dry air does. You're losing all that warm, humid air the second you turn on the vent. That's going to make your humidifier and heater work that much harder.
   
   
2. Wash clothes efficiently: Each time you wash your clothes you are adding to three distinct bills. Your water bill (for the water), your electricity bill (for heating the water) and your grocery bill (for detergent and fabric softener.) How do you cut costs here? Easy.
   
   If the clothes being washed do not expressly say "warm wash only" set the machine to wash and rinse with only cold water. This will cut down your energy consumption. Unless you have really, really filthy clothes, you can probably stand to use 1/3 less detergent than you are now too. The same is true for your fabric softener. Do you have an especially tough, specific spot stain, from say, that meatball sub you had for lunch? (I hope you made it yourself!) Well, that's fine. Instead of using more detergent, place a little blob of it on the stain and rub it in.
   
   What about loading? Use medium loads. Small loads waste space and resources. Large loads make the machine work harder for less work done. The average person is typically going to do a medium sized load. This is what washing machine companies optimize their machines for.
   
   
3. Air dry clothes: Especially in the winter. Your heater is working hard to keep your house warm. String a line indoors during the winter near your baseboard / central air vents. Not only will it add humidity to your home in the winter, but it'll save you the cost of running your dryer.
   
   Couple it with the dryer if you have more clothes than space. Air drying just one load will still save you. If it's summer, or if you live in a warmer locale, string up a line outside between two trees.
   
   
4. Reclaim heat: There are devices out there which hook up to your dryer hose and redirect the hot exhaust air back into your home. If you're going to spend the money to run the dryer, you may as well use that energy twice. You can buy kits, complete with instructions for less than $15 at your local hardware store.
   
   On the flip side, consider running your dryer in a room isolated from the air conditioner. Even if it's dumping all that hot, wet air outside the dryer itself is still going to radiate a lot of heat.
   
   
5. Shampoo less: Were you aware it's actually healthier for your hair if you shampoo and condition your hair every other day instead of once or twice a day? Shampooing strips essential oils from your scalp. Your body, looking to prevent dry skin will actually begin producing more oils if you frequently shampoo your hair. Not only will you have healthier, damage free hair, but you'll be saving money in the process.
   
   Furthermore, most shampoo manufacturers suggest you use a dime size deposit for each shampoo. You likely use much more than necessary.
   
   
6. Turn down the heat: It's your first reaction on a chilly winter morning to hop into a scalding hot shower. Your water heater eats an enormous amount of electricity. Taking shorter showers, or cooler showers (luke warm or warm is acceptable, it doesn't need to be hot) will cut your energy consumption down by a lot.
   
   
7. Stop buying things you don't need: What toiletries can you live without? Hair dye and their associated conditioners, leg wax (a razor works just fine, confused men and ladies), bubble bath, bath salts, elaborate perfumes and colognes, etcetera.
   
   
8. Paper products: Okay. Sure. Allow yourself the luxury of extra soft toilet paper. But do you regularly use makeup removal wipes? What about paper towels to dry you hands after washing? A clean washcloth is a perfectly acceptable alternative. Not only are you living cheaper, but it's promoting a greener life style.
   
   
9. Wasting water: Lack a low flow toilet? Consult a plumber (meaning research instead of suing me), but if you remove the reservoir lid, you'll likely find an inflated ball on a thin metal shaft.
   
   This tells your toilet when the reservoir is full, so it doesn't over flow. The inflated ball floats on the water and when it reaches a certain height, it'll turn off the auto fill mechanism. Bend it slightly at a downward angle. This will cause you to use less water each flush. Sure, bend it too far downward and there's a point at which you start leaving presents for the next user, but you can likely stand to use less water than you are now without any ill effects. You can always bend it back if it doesn't work out. You'll notice a drop on your next water bill.
   
   
10. Soap Saver: Have a bunch of little soap slivers that you're not getting any use out of? Ever take a piece of wisdom from the Simpsons and attempt to make a conglomerate soap out of all those tiny bits, only to have it fall apart on you?
    
    Me too. Use a soap saver.
    

These are just a couple of ideas I've come up with so far in my travels. Have more ideas? Post them in the comments portion of this blog and I'll link back to yours in my next post!

Your local library: Better than you think

About a week ago I went into vague detail about how someone with debt issues can manage their free time, have fun and do it on the cheap while they're at it. I briefly touched upon the subject of how much of a wealth local libraries can be, but I don't think I did the subject nearly enough justice.

As such local libraries will be getting their own special post, as they rightly deserve.

In today's fast paced, mile a minute world a lot of people simply don't have time for their local library. This is an absolute shame. Besides all the generic, G.I. Joe tinged "Knowledge is power!" junk, a library is really an extraordinary resource for a number of subjects, not just stuffy, ancient books.

It's almost crucial for someone who is experiencing money issues. It provides a wide variety of free entertainment, crucial knowledge one can use to escape the clutches of debt and hey, if you're lonely, it's better than sitting at home trolling through match.com for a sugar daddy/momma.

Meaning you're not going to find an attractive, single millionaire who won't mind paying off your liberal arts student loans. Sorry.

I will try to touch on as many points as I can, but I could very well be missing out on something really cool that I've yet to experience. The only way to be sure? Call your library and ask. Or go visit. It's probably even within walking distance.

Afraid your local library is too small to accommodate your needs? You're going to be welcome at any library, so long as you either work or attend school in the town or city in question. Simply bring a pay stub of a report card with you and you're all set.

Without further ado:

1. Read books: Sure. It's generic. I've mentioned it a thousand times in this blog. But it is obviously the most important service any library can offer. It is after all the whole point as to why they were all constructed in the first place. But were you aware you can likely find any book through your librarian? Including weird, specialized texts concerning say, ancient dentistry. Or turn of the century under garment care.
   
   Libraries ship books between branches all the time and your local staff would love to help you. The best part about it? They typically ship through services like FedEx and UPS, so it's going to arrive in tact and fairly quickly. Oh, and since they're already funded by your tax dollars, it's free. If they don't have it in a nearby branch (which is doubtful), chances are they'd be willing to buy it. Again, the tax payer thing.
   
   Not into fiction, cookbooks, or biographies? Well, there are a ton of financial help books out there. Get a little research done. Maybe you'll learn something I can't teach you.
   
   Concerned about late fees? Don't be. Many libraries offer automated email and phone alerts to remind you of your nearly over due material.
   
   
2. Read magazines: I know, I know. I'll get away from the reading stuff in a moment. But it's worth mention that you can very likely get your hands on the latest release of any weekly, monthly, bi monthly, yearly, etcetera publication. If your library does not currently have a subscription, chances are they will get one, just for little ole' you.
   
   
3. Audio books and CDs: Audio books are not just for the blind and lazy. They are offered just like any print book or publication, for free should you choose to check them out. This is a great way to way to spend your commute to work, instead of listening to Shock Jocks and tampon commercials.
   
   And sure, they likely won't keep Marilyn Manson's latest album, but chances are you can borrow a huge range of music CDs for personal use.
   
   
4. Borrow DVDs: DVDs are small, easy to store and a rather excellent way to catalog data. I touched on this in my earlier post, but it deserves repeating. You'd be amazed at how few people know this. Libraries around the country keep very respectable DVD collections alongside every other publication open for check out. This is not limited to documentaries, but includes newer movies you could find just down the street at Blockbuster for ten bucks a night. This is for free.
   
   And guess what? They can likely get it for you if you don't have it.
   
   
5. Browse the internet: It's a certainty that your local library is going to have public use computers with broadband connections. So if you had to cut the DSL connection in favor of rent, this is an excellent way to do everything from checking your web mail, to reading this blog.
   
   Have a laptop with a WiFi card? Unlike a lot of coffee shops, hotels and bookstores, many libraries have completely free, open WiFi networks. There's nothing else better than curling up in a nice warm corner, putting on some headphones and playing Age of Mythology behind the nonfiction category.
   
   
6. Visit a museum: Here's another gem you probably didn't know. Many historical sites, museums, art galleries and planetariums offer free tickets to patrons of local libraries. Sure, the tickets are likely not infinite (i.e. you probably can't bring the whole extended family), but they're completely free.
   
   
7. Join a club: It's a public place, paid for by tax payer dollars, with heat, air conditioning and a lot of reference material. Libraries are practically designed to encourage clubs. Whether you enjoy Dungeons and Dragons, knitting, auto repair, or environmental activism you can probably find a club to suit your interests. Can't find one that suits you? Pfft. Make one. No one is going to charge you a dime.
   
   
8. Attend a lecture, workshop or open meeting: Here's a small list of what my local library is offering for the next two weeks: Featured film night, teen thanksgiving party, stand up comedy, knitting circle, book discussions, professional gift wrapping lessons and a Christmas swap.
   
   Don't want to get committed to a club? That's cool. You'll likely be able to find one shot things to enjoy scheduled weeks in advance, whether it be a lecture on evolutionary progress, or a local stand up comic trying out his newest material.
   
   
9. Attend a family activity: Have kids? You poor, poor bastard. Depending on their age you can likely find an activity that will either distract the younguns' while you find some peace and quiet for yourself. Many libraries offer daily story time, art activities and get togethers.
   
   
10. Attend a bake sale/community yard sale: If your library is big enough it'll likely throw some sort of fund raiser (typically in the early to mid fall.) A lot of people don't realize that left over space is often cheaply sold to families who'd like to sell off some of their junk or bake a couple of cookies for community consumption. Here's one that you can actually turn a profit off of!
    
    
11. Display/Sell your art: A lot of libraries have a lot of bare walls and they'd be glad to accept works of art to liven up the atmosphere. Sometimes they'll even allow a small price tag and contact information to be placed alongside, should anyone develop a fancy to your portrait of Elvis made entirely out of used bubble gum wrappers.
    
    
12. Utilize the internet at home to further your library experience: Need to keep that copy of "Ouch! That Hurts!: Your guide to enslaving your spouse" for another week? It's very likely your library offers online renewal. Many also offer free eBook and audio book downloads off of their respective websites. How cool is that, being able to check something out without having to even put on some pants?

Of course I'm likely missing a couple of important subjects. But your eyes are likely sore as it is. Did I miss something? Say so in the comments and I'll link back to your blog in my next post!