EXISTING ECONOMICALLY

Hey fans,

I wont be updating the blog anymore. A lot is going on and it's just too difficult to have 5 blogs at once.

I'm not going to delete the blog, because I might continue to write later on, but I will let you know.

I'm working on a new blog (more conclusive):

Paper Bullets


Thank you all for reading!

I was in Barnes & Nobles the other day and I saw these beautiful leather bound journals for $30.00. I was so tempted to buy them, but then I remembered my birthday is only 26 days away. So I added it to my birthday list.

Do you have a celebration coming up? Birthday, anniversary etc. Just wait & see. If anyone asks what you want, tell them. No one likes to hear "I don't know" when they ask what you want.

My plan to spend $0.00 this week has been going quite well.

This is working for a number of reasons.

1. Tell People.
Ever since I've made it public that I'm trying to save money (instead of feeling embarrassed by it), it has been going much more smoothly. It seems that when my friends know I'm trying not to spend money they don't ask me to go out very often. Also, now that they know I have no money, I don't feel weird telling them I'm broke.

2. Visit Family
If you have great family like mine, visiting is a great way to save money. If you live close, you can go home for weekly family home cooked meals (which are always better than going out) or you can visit for a weekend, like I'm doing now, and spend virtually nothing. Every time I go home my parents buy my dinners and they entertain me so I don't feel the need to go spend money on movies or clothes.

It is 6:21 PM and I have officially spent $0.00 today!

Usually by this time I've spent at least $10.00 on food or groceries. However today I am a frugal girlie! My plan was to stay in all day and catch up on sleep, but that never works.

Today I've planned on going out to restaurants with friends for lunch and dinner.

Save Money at Restaurants
1. Find restaurants that offer free chips. Today, after playing tennis with some friends, I was invited to a local Mexican restaurant. At first I told them I couldn't go because I didn't want to spend any money. However, my friend Heather told me to do what she does: drink water and just eat the free chips. So I did. Total Bill: $0.00

2. Go for the specials. Tonight (Mondays) is $1.00 Taco and $1.00 Beer night at Firebelly's (a local downtown restaurant). I usually can only eat 3 of their tacos and since I'm not 21 yet (37 days to go!) I can't drink the beer. Total Bill: $3.00

I have never been one to clip coupons, but as I mentioned in a previous post (Harris Teeter) I would love to learn how to clip coupons and get money back.

I found a wonderful website that lets you print coupons which is much easier than searching through newspapers and magazines. (Coupon Suzy)

You can search for specific product brands or product types or you can browse a list of all offered coupons.

After spending about 5 minutes browsing all the coupons, I clipped 11 of them from products that I buy frequently.

Total savings: $12.10.

That may not seem like much, but on a triple coupon day at Harris Teeter, with just 11 coupons you could save $36.30.

In the fall I had a decent job working as a waitress for a pizza place. Unfortunately, the management there was not quite up to my standards and I was taking a full load of classes, so I decided to quit.

Recently, after starting my blogs and finishing up some other classes, I decided to figure out how to make money online.

So far I've found two ways.

1. Google Adsense.
This is not for everyone. Adsense so far has been very hard to make money with because I'm not getting enough traffic to all of my blogs. Adsense is a program set up by google. It lets companies and other sites advertise by paying an advertiser for each time a person clicks on their ad. I guess you can see how this would be problematic since most people rarely do that. So far I have made a total of $16.87. This is not much, and google only pays you after you reach $100.00

2. KGB - Text/Answer Program
An even more recent venture of mine is KGB. You might have seen commercials about it. Any one can text a question to KGBKGB (542542) at the cost of $0.99/text. The person responding is the special agent. I recently took the special agent challenge and passed after a few tries. Yesterday I got an email letting me know that I need to go to training, but all the classes are full at the moment. I guess they will get back to me.
KGB pays agents $0.10/answer and $0.05 for an answer that has already been asked and just needs forwarding.


I will keep you updated on both of these methods on online money making.

Let me know how you make money online!

Thanks for reading; If you'd like to read any of my other blogs here they are:

A 3x5 Life
My Roommate Eric
Straight From My Imagination
Website Scrapbook

You know those pretzels you buy for like $4.00 at Pretzel Time or Auntie Anne's? I found a wonderful recipe for the same type of pretzel except homemade from AllRecipes.com.

The great thing about this recipe is they taste just like the ones in the store, but for a lot less.

Almost anyone who has ever baked anything has the majority of these ingredients in their pantry already.

The only things I had to go out and buy were flour (because I was almost out), active dry yeast, and kosher salt.

Total this cost me $6.73.

To make 12 Pretzels I used:
About 1/3 of the flour: 2.59 @ 1/3 = $0.86
About 1/2 of the yeast: 1.79 @ 1/2 = $0.90
About 1/100 of the kosher salt: 2.35 @ 1/100 = $0.02

The overall cost of 12 pretzels is $1.78

That is over half the price of just one pretzel made by Auntie Anne's or Pretzel Time.

With this method, one pretzel costs around 15 cents

Total Savings: About $3.85/pretzel
-------------------------


Ingredients

4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water
1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping


Directions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.

4. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.

Harris Teeter. Oh how I love thee.

I have decided that from now on I am going to buy my groceries at Harris Teeter instead of Walmart.

Why? you ask.

Two reasons:
1. They offer a free 'membership' program (The VIC card) that gives you discounts and coupons for shopping with them.
2. They also offer a 10% student discount.

Today I save $8.00 on a $60.00 purchase just for being a student.

Could I have done that at walmart? NO.

At walmart, on average, each product costs me about $2.50-$3.00. Today I purchased 22 items. At walmart that would have ran me about $66.00, however today I only paid $52.00.



Another wonderful feature of Harris Teeter is, on certain days, they will double or even triple manufacturers coupons. Again, walmart will not do this.

I have not yet gotten into the habbit of clipping, saving, and using coupons but I know a woman who goes to the store, shops for an hour, checks out at the register, and by the end of it (after using every coupon she can) Harris Teeter ends up owing her about $5.00.

I want to be that woman!

Please bear with me while I delay my posts. This is the final week of this semester in college and I am swamped with final exams & papers.

Thank You!!!

Remember how each month I wanted to put whats remaining of the $400.00 into my savings account to build it up?

Well I've decided that it is much easier to save money when you have a purpose for doing so. Today I have decided that my purpose is grad school

How to Save Money for a Purpose:
Step 1: Set a short term goal.
It costs $60.00 to take the GRE and another $160.00 to apply to UNCW's graduate school for English. This $220.00 will be my short term goal, and the first step in getting into grad school.

Step 2: Set a long term goal.
On UNCW's website they list that graduate school for in-state students costs about $18,800 (including: Tuition, Room & Board, Books & Supplies, Transportation, Loan Fee, Misc., & Health Insurance). In about 1 1/2 years, this will probably increase, so I estimate my long term goal to be approximately $20,000.

Step 3: Decide how you will save.
I plan on putting away the rest of my money from my $400.00/month, into my graduate school account. Lets say I put away $100.00/month, by the fall of 2011 I will have saved $1,600. That still leaves $18,400.
Clearly I will have to start working to pay for school too. If I get a job that pays $8.00/hour and work from August to May, I would have to work 2,300 hours to have enough to pay for school, thats 23 hours a month, and about 6 hours a week. However, this does not include taxes, so lets say I will have to work atleast 10 hours a week for 10 months.
As long as I save that money and don't spend it on anything else, I can atleast make a dent in my graduate school payments
The next step would be to get a student loan. (My VERY last resort!)

Step 4: Start saving.
I need to get a job.

Step 5: Constantly remind yourself what you are working towards.
Make a savings calendar to document your progress. This will motivate you while informing you exactly what you have left to do.



Please feel free to leave any comments about grad school. Let me know if you've been, how it was, recommendations, what I should know etc.!

Bars and clubs are a really great place to socialize with friends, but if you're not careful they can be really expensive.

One night I was at my favorite bar with my credit card and decided to start a tab. I ended up getting pretty tipsy and buying shots for all of my friends and some of their friends.
My final tab was $50.00 and because I was very tipsy, I tipped the bartender $20.00.

After spending $70.00 at the bar, I decided to call it quits for a while.

Recently, my boyfriend, roommate and other close friends have been spending our Thursday nights back at my favorite bar. Every Thursday is $2.00 all you can drink beer, where you pay $2.00 to get in, get a cup and drink beer until the kegs run out. (If you want bottle beer or liquor drinks you have to pay separately.)

This got me thinking of ways to save money at bars on other nights, when the specials aren't so great.

You Have 2 Options:
1. You can pay with cash.
-The problem with paying in cash is you have to, or you should, tip the bartender every time you get a drink. This can add up if you're doing some serious drinking.

-The good thing about paying with cash is if you're on a budget (or you do not want to drink too much) you can limit yourself. If you only want to spend $20.00 that night, then you can only bring a $20.00 to the bar.

2. You can start a tab.
-The problem with starting a tab is most bars have a minimum. Usually $10.00. Which means, if you buy three beers that cost $2.00 each, you will be forced to buy more drinks than you want, spend more money than you want, and feel guilty to tip more than you want.

-Another problem with starting a tab is you're probably going to drink more than you wanted to. When you're not physically watching the cash dwindling down, it is harder to keep track of how much you've spent and how much you've had to drink.

-The good thing about starting a tab is if you're planning on drinking heavily, you don't have to tip the bartender everytime you get a drink which usually costs less in the end.


Conclusion: If you are looking for a crazy, alcohol filled night out, planning to drink a ton, and not remember what happened the night before, then starting a tab is for you.
However, if you just want to have a few beers with friends and not go over the limit, then paying with cash (and only bringing a specific amount) is the way to go.

When I moved in with my new roommate, we decided that we wanted to cook almost every night. Until the beginning of this week, we hadn't cooked too much...just grabbed a pizza on the way home from class, or some taco bell on the way home from the library.

This week, we have successfully managed to (so far) cook dinner every night. [Note: by we, I mean me...and I've cooked for the roommate and the boyfriend, which I'm pretty proud about because I'm a horrible cook].

Monday Night: Baked breaded chicken with a honey lemon glaze and carrots.
Total Estimated Cost: $3.00/person
Estimated Cost at a Restaurant: $9.00/person

Tuesday Night: Crock-pot mexican chicken with beans and rice
Total Estimated Cost: $3.00/person
Estimated Cost at a Restaurant: $6.00/person

Wednesday Night: Spaghetti with roasted garlic mashed potatoes
Total Estimated Cost: $3.00/person
Estimated Cost at a Restaurant: $8.00/person

For Thursday night, I'm planning on cooking breakfast for dinner & Friday I'm not sure what I'm going to cook yet (feel free to leave suggestions!).

Total Estimated Cost at a Restaurant: $23.00/person (for three days)
Total Estimated Cost at home: $9.00/person (for three days)
Total Estimated Savings: $14.00/person (for three days)

This may not seem like much, but if you change your habbits from eating out 7 days a week to eating out 4 days a week, in one month you can save roughly $56. That is $2,912/year.

Just something to think about :)

After my too high credit card statements, my parents decided to put $400.00 in my account on the first of each month.

If this sounds familiar, reading this post might be extremely helpful.

If you get an 'allowance' each month, the best thing to do first is calculate exactly how much money you are making per day.

For example, I make $13.33/day. (400/30=13.3333)

Today is the 12th of April. (This is the 1st month I have been given the $400.00) I have $55.70 left in my bank account (plus a $50 Easter check that I still have to deposit). Coming out to approximately $105 for the next 18 days. So $5.83/day for the rest of the month.

At the end of each month, I put what is left of my $400.00 into my savings account in order to build it up again.

I think this is a great way to manage money especially if you are on a budget.

The next few posts will be about budgeting and setting goals so keep an eye out for them.

If you're like me, shopping at Wal-mart is the easiest thing. They have virtually everything I need all packed in one store.

During the week I write a list of what I need grocery & bathroom wise and bring it with me to Wal-mart.

This Week On My List:
$. Bananas
$. Trash Can
$. Old Spice Deodorant
$. Dog Food

What I Ended Up Buying
$. Coffee Creamer - Hazelnut
$. Coffee Creamer - French Vanilla
$. Old Spice 3 Value Pack
$. Doritos
$. Bananas
$. Chocolate Chip Breakfast Muffins
$. Banana Hanger
$. Dog Food
$. Trash Can
$. Trash Bags
$. Lindt Chocolate Truffles

My list had 4 items, my receipt had 11.

Total Grocery Bill: $52.42
Original Grocery List: $22.43
What I Would Have Saved: $29.99

I could have saved almost $30.00 if I would have stuck to my list!

Currently, we are paying about $94.00 for Time Warner Cable TV & Internet. I have a friend, who pays $80.00 for the same deal.

Scott, my friend who pays less for cable & internet, is the type of guy who will rent a 2 bedroom apartment with 3 people living there and sleep on the couch to save money. Needless to say, he has a way of saving money on everything!

As far as cable & internet goes, all Scott needed to say was “Direct TV.” Those two little magic words will make Time Warner crazy. They will go digging around for any type of discount they can find. If you mention that you think you could get a better rate by switching to Direct TV, the lady on the other end of the phone will mysteriously find a discount for Friday callers wearing red t-shirts by the name of Jane.

So, don’t be afraid to get a little dirty with the cable company, even if you aren’t thinking of switching to Direct TV it can’t hurt to mention it.

Sorry for the absense :(
I just moved and do not have any internet until thursday night. I will post all my blogs then :)

My roommate-to-be has a motto that he likes to throw around a lot: "Talk is cheap, Supply exceeds demand."

Usually, when he says this, I laugh and shrug it off. When I think about it, however, he is right.

Take the internet for example, there are so many websites out there that offer free information. Think about the times when the internet did not exist. What were some major purchases or money spenders out there?

Buying A House:
I have never personally purchased a home, but I was always extra attentive when watching my parents buy their house after moving from Florida to NC.
Before the internet and all of its free information, homebuyers who wanted to purchase a house that fit their needs had to hire a realtor to show them around and pay their commission.

Today there are plenty of sites that offer homes, specific to your desires. In a matter of seconds, I found a website that offered pictures, floor plans, details and free brochures on various homes around my area.

Doctor Visits
WebMD offers information about all types of illnesses including what it is, what the symptoms are, medication options, and even where to seek medical help.


How To Books
Barnes & Nobles, Books-a-Million and other great bookstores always offer hundreds of 'How-To books.' However, almost all of this information can be found online and for free. eHow.com offers users written directions and videos to guide their creative projects or questions with everything from 'How to Develop an April Fools Day Prank' to 'How to Minimize the Risks of Cosmetic Surgery.'


Everything you could ever want to know is out there. Do not forget about that when you are about to purchase some sort of service or aid. Always ask yourself, is the purchase of this necessary? Can I find this for free?

[Note: be extra careful with medical advice. websites offering medical advice should never be used in place of doctors visits, they are simply there to help a person identify what could be wrong. if it's more than just the common cold, ask a professional!]

Rule #267 is one that I am going to try and utilize more often. Stephen and I have been dating for almost 6 months (even though it feels like I have known him forever)! When we first started dating, I bought a lot of our dinners because Stephen was watching his spending in order to over come some small school-related debt. In January I quit my job to focus more one school, he took care of a lot of his debt and started working more. Now he pays for almost all of the meals.

I have decided to take Hamm's advice and plan a romantic date all for free.

Picnic on the Beach
Lucky for us, we live about 10 minutes from Wrightsville Beach, NC. After 6PM parking along the beach is free. So here is what I have planned.

5:00PM - pack a picnic basket with chips, drinks, fruit cups and sandwiches.
6:00PM - drive to Wrightsville Beach. (my favorite side is the south side, so we will head down there)
6:20PM - have dinner on the beach and watch the sunset. (sit up in the lifeguards chair if we are lucky; I've always wanted to do that)
7:30PM - go home & watch a movie (either a horror movie or a romantic comedy)
10:00PM - sleep :)

For five hours we can be doing something that does not cost a thing (unless you take into account that I had to pay for the gas that got me there, and the food and drinks that I already have in my house.)

Total Cost Of A Normal Romantic Dinner & Movie For Two: $48.00
Total Cost of A Free Romantic Dinner & Movie For Two: $0.00
Total Savings: $48.00

As I continue to learn the ways of being frugal, I have stumbled upon the first 'master of saving's' (Trent Hamm - writer of 365 Ways to Live Cheap) blog titled The Simple Dollar. He is a great writer and clearly has tons of excellent advice and probably a pretty big heart to be giving it out for free.

Yesterday I skipped all of my college classes and took a personal day in order to continue my research in all things blog and money related. I have stumbled upon many websites and tips that tell readers to get rid of old books before buying new ones. Being an English Literature major I can not see myself getting rid of old books. I have many bookshelves filled with old books and new ones. There are books I've only read once and will probably never read again, but they are still books right?

Divulging more deeply I learned about a book swap:
http://bookmooch.com/
http://paperbackswap.com/index.php
http://www.bookins.com/

Those are just a few examples of the many sites out there that let you ship away books you have read and pick new books to read. Most of the time there are no membership fees only shipping costs and you must register to join.

How it works:
You begin by registering. Once you have registered, you list books you do not mind giving up for trade. Each book you register and swap earns you credits. You can not request a book from another member unless you have the credits needed. This I'm guessing is to make sure everyone is actively participating and it increases the various books available for swap.

Once you have mailed a book out for swap, you no longer reserve the right to ownership. Therefore, unless you find another listing for that book, you probably won't see it again. Just something to keep in mind before swapping your favorite read.


I decided to join Paper Back Swap and immediately set up a free account to see what it was all about.

After reading the terms and services over slightly I got to thinking. An author can post his or her book on a site swap (published or not) in order to gain recognition. However, when reading deeper into the T.O.S. it stated that any property swapped becomes property of National Book Swap for five years. After those five years you may publish your book. This just does not seem like a good idea, so i reccommend saving your unpublished material for your editors eyes only.

Does anyone else use a book swap service? How has it worked for you?

Total Cost For A New Book: $5.00-$25.00/book
Total Cost For A Book Swap: $2.17/lb
Total Savings: $2.83-$$22.83

Under this topic Hamm writes "unused objects and items merely saved for 'someday' or for faint nostalgic reasons not only make your home or office appear cluttered ... but also contain within them value that you're not using elsewhere."

A few weeks ago my boyfriend and I drove to Greensboro to visit my parents for my sisters birthday & while I was there I gave them some things I never use: a large plastic box filled with things I've forgotten about, a pink chair, and old teddy bears. With the nagging help of my future roommate (who said I wasn't allowed to move in without getting rid of it) I threw away a 'broken-but-repaired' wavy CD rack, but I still have a lot of things that are not worth anything execpt maybe worth getting rid of. Lets make a list:

Items To Let Go Of
$. Cosmopolitan Magazine Collection
$. Glass Jar full of Shells
$. Candle Collection
$. Koozie Collection
$. Blow Up Dice
$. Scrapbooking Bag & Goodies
$. Holiday Decorations
$. Art Supplies
$. Used Envelopes
$. Bag full of Random Office Supplies
$. Shoeboxes/Storage Bins (unused)
$. Old School Books
$. Old Bookbags/Purses
$. Computer Speakers
$. DVD Burner
$. My PJ's
$. Cute Used Gift Bag Collection

After I move out I will update everyone on what I was actually able to get rid of.

I think that pack-rat runs in my genes. I need help. Does anyone have any advice for letting go?

The first piece of advice provided by Trent Hamm in 365 Ways to Live Cheap is "Take Little Steps, Not Big Ones."

In this recommendation, Hamm relates saving money to dieting. He tells us that in the same way extreme crash diets don't work, extreme saving 'diets' also do not work. Eventually everyone is going to give in and overspend in order to fulfill a craving that has been lingering in their minds for days/weeks/months...it's only a matter of time.

Hamm wrote "find one tactic in this book and focus on just that tactic for a few weeks, incorporateing it into your life." So here is my new direction. There are 20 sections in this book that give advice on specific categories (shopping, health, electronics etc.) and I have decided to focus on the clutter section.

Currently I live in a one bedroom apartment. My boyfriend, who has his own place, stays at my apartment with his dog every night. Don't get me wrong, I love them both and want them here all the time. With this said, it gets extremely cluttered.

In one week I am moving into a two bedroom apartment with one of my really close friends. This will be the perfect week to start focusing on Hamm's Rule #99: Realize that clutter itself is a giant money sink.

Hello to everyone out there who has to live on a budget. My name is Lisa and I am currently a 20 year old junior at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. I am double majoring in Human Resource Management and English Literature.

This blog is about my encounters with various lists and books that offer advice and tips on ways to save money and live cheap.

Inspiration:
$. My $1,200 monthly credit card bill and $700 rent + utilities bill (did i mention i do not have a job?)
$. The movie Julie & Julia
$. 365 Ways to Live Cheap by Trent Hamm - the first book/list i will be following

My goal is to begin the book, which is a list of ways to save your money, and follow every rule (within reason/accessibility/ease etc.) and document my findings, feelings, average savings, and advice.

Leave comments, advice, lists & I will follow them too!