In this world that we live in today that is dominated by technology and the concept of “keeping up with the Joneses” we are constantly bombarded with the apparent need for upgrades and accessories.  Advertisers everywhere are always telling us that it’s time for a new computer, a bigger flat screen TV, and the need to “accessorize” our personal appearance.  For those of us trying to live frugally or trying to get out of debt, this can be a very slippery slope.

The first thing you need to understand (when trying to live frugally or get out of debt) is that you march to the beat of your own drummer.  What am trying to say is that you and you alone should determine when you  upgrade one of your technology products, or which personal accessories you really need in life.

What I found during my journey out of debt is that these are two areas that can really make or break you financially.  If you follow the lead of the world of advertising, you would constantly be upgrading your cell phone, your personal computer or any of the other personal accessories that you choose to have.

One thing that sped up the pace of my journey out of debt is eliminating (or at least postponing) these upgrades and simply eliminating a lot of the personal accessories that I chose to have.

A lot of this is a matter of personal choice, but if you can eliminate a lot of these things, you’ll find that you’ll have that much more money to put towards the goal that should be more important to you: getting out of debt.

In the area of personal accessories, let me tell you what my current choices (or non-choices) are:

• I do not wear a watch
• I do not wear any jewelry whatsoever
• My clothes wardrobe is “bare-bones” minimum  (I rarely buy new clothes)

The only thing that I can tell you here is that if you choose to use (or wear) any of the above accessories, I would stick with what you have until you are where you want to be financially.  Unless of course it is a gift to yourself of some sort for reaching one of your financial goals.

Technologically speaking, I have these facts to offer you:

• The laptop we have was purchased two years ago.
• The PC we have was purchased three years ago.
• The flat screen TV we have purchased four years ago
• We do not have any of the following: IPods, blue tooths, Blackberries, etc.

When deciding to buy one of these items for the first time, the biggest question you need to answer for your self is this:

Do you really need this item?

When considering an upgrade, these are my thoughts.  Whenever we buy a technology product for the first time, we usually go with about the latest, most advanced model that we can find at the time, at the very best price we can find, and we stick with it till it is no longer useful for us. Do not succumb to all the advertising out there that will tell you that you need a new laptop or flat screen every year or so.  It simply isn’t true.

One of the biggest steps out of debt for me personally was to eliminate all unnecessary spending.  Well, considering the hole that I was in, it didn’t take long to figure out that all accessories and upgrades, to me, were unnecessary.  This didn’t mean that I had to give them up altogether, just until I was out of debt.

A hard review of your purchasing choices, I would imagine, would bear out close to the same conclusion.

As always, you feedback is appreciated below.

As you know, I am all about finding the best deals that are out there for just about everything you buy.  Recently, I have come to fully understand the true power of EBay when it comes to my purchases.  Obviously, I m not referring to things like groceries and so forth, what I am referring to is just about everything else.

 I am not here to promote EBay.  What I am trying to do is to explain to you that you can save a lot of money by checking out EBay before buying a lot of the things that you buy.

Before we continue, I want to let you know that quite some time ago, I was very leery of buying anything from EBay.  They had quite a few problems in the past (a lot of them valid) and had gotten a lot of bad press and had really developed  quite a BAD reputation.  As far as I can tell, most of these issues have been solved.

The  biggest concerns I previously had regarding EBay were as follows:

Buying on EBay is not safe.  Actually, it seems to me that it couldn’t be safer now.  Any purchase done thru PayPal is fully protected and EBay itself offers buyer protection.

You cannot trust sellers on EBay.  I have bought numerous items on EBay over the past several months.  By numerous, I mean hundreds.  During that time, I had a total of ONE problem with a seller, and had I checked his feedback more closely before buying, I would have known better.  This problem was fixed almost immediately by PayPal.

PayPal is too difficult to set up.  In all honesty, a PayPal account can be set up in about 5 minutes.

EBay is best used whenever you are buying anything that cannot be found just about anywhere.  It is difficult to explain, but most of your out of the ordinary things that you need can usually be found at a cheaper price on EBay.  Especially specialty items.

Once I started researching different things, I came to find out a lot of things about EBay:

They have almost EVERYTHING for sale there.  Type in just about anything, and I’ll be you can find it.

They have things you never would have thought they would have.

Their prices are almost shockingly less expensive.

I think your chances of finding something for a cheaper price on EBay goes up depending on the availability of the item in mainstream retail outlets.

The best example I can give you is that a friend of mine recently was trying to purchase some waterproof seat covers for his SUV.  If I were buying those, my first thought would be the only place to go to find them would be a car dealership.  My friend priced those at the dealership and a set of four would cost him a little less than $400.

He was able to find the same set of four on EBay for right around $50.

In the past, I have used EBay to find great deals on almost all computer accessories (laptop chargers, mouses, etc).  In addition, books can usually be found at very reasonable prices too.

And honestly, just about everything else.

I could go on forever with this post, but let’s leave it at this.  When you are buying just about anything in your daily life that is not groceries, I would at least check out EBay.  What can it take—2 minutes?  You will probably be very surprised at what you find.

As always, your comments and feedback are greatly appreciated.

For those of you that have followed my blog at all over the recent past, I am sure you are quite aware of the book that I wrote.  You must be because you can see it every time you check out my blog.

I have not spent too much time trying to promote this book, and I have opted for that strategy for several reasons.

One, I have never wanted to come off as someone who is “hawking” their product and nothing more.

Two, though I am in this venture to make money, it is not my single solitary goal.

Third, I am looking at this entire venture in the long-term, and not out to just try to make a few quick bucks selling my book.

And finally, it was my very first effort.  I have had a lot to learn along the way.

However, in a very non-pushy manner, I just wanted to let you know of a reader/subscriber/visitor special that I am currently running concerning my book.

For a very limited time, you can get a copy of Don’t Be a Mule for the giveaway price of $2.99 by clicking right here.  Look for the first listing (Little Bit O’ This, Little Bit O’ That).  That’s me.  Yep, that’s right; $3 gets you a copy of my book.  Actually, I think after shipping it will be $7, but that’s about 70% off the cover price.

Consider it appreciation for your support over the past several months; consider it an opportunity to get some real good advice about you and your money, at a really cheap price.

Buy my book here, don’t buy my book-I still appreciate each and every one of you that are reading my words right now, and I will always.

Take care and have a great weekend

One of the ways to save money on groceries that I am a firm believer of is that when you find an item that is on sale, that you use all the time, then you should stock up on it.

Of course, this is only when you are at the point that you can afford to do so and whatnot, but taking extra advantage of these things has quite a few benefits.  There is the obvious financial savings, and there is also the benefit of having a “stocked” pantry with your favorite items.

A person that I know that takes full advantage of this technique is my mother.  Man, a trip to her house and one look inside the pantry or even the freezer, and you’d think she has an army to feed.  She has canned foods to no end, frozen chicken and so forth falling out of the freezer and lots of other items as well.

She really almost takes it to an extreme.  It is close to the point to where I think she is buying stuff just because it’s on sale, not because of any necessary need for it.  But hey, she is the source of a great deal of my money-saving mindsets and outlooks, so who am I to judge?

So, I had been practicing this “stocking up” thing for quite some time until it seemed that my house (actually, my pantry, freezer and cupboards) was simply getting too full.  After a few looks around in these areas, I thought to myself “Geez, I wonder for how long my grocery bills would be cheaper if I quit this stocking up thing temporality and start emptying out?”

So that’s what I did.  For about three weeks now, I have not done any “stocking up” and have simply focused on emptying out.  The items that I use all the time, I haven’t purchased in a few weeks.  The items that I bought for a great price because of some recipe I told myself I would make….well, I’m now making that recipe.

The results?  You really wouldn’t believe it.  I’ve had several weeks now with a cheaper weekly grocery bill.  The savings really are fairly significant, and I’m now seeing the back walls in of my cupboards for the first time in a long time.

Pretty soon, I’ll go back to stocking up again.  I think that the whole concept of “stocking up” is a great idea.

But I also think that “emptying out” from time to time is a good one too.  Otherwise, it doesn’t seem as though you realize the full benefit of the “stocking up” part.

If you have comments or feedback, feel free to join the conversation below.

I am a big fan of de-cluttering.  If you are unfamiliar with the term, it basically means getting rid of all the unused crap that is lying around your house.

We do a good job is my household of not letting the clutter level get too high, but about every 4-5 months, we still go through every closet and storage area in the house.  If it hasn’t been used in a normal amount of time (usually 3-6 months, depending on the item) then we decide that it’s time for it to go.

However, when doing this, it is important to know your options.  If you had previously been throwing all of this stuff away, you are missing out on some good financial opportunities.  If you have been donating it all, the same applies.

I thought I would go through the short and quick thought process that I use when dealing with my unwanted items.

First, can I sell it?  If it is unused and still in the box (basically, a gift that I never used) selling it is probably your best bet.  It is amazingly simple to open an account at either EBay or Amazon to sell your items.  This, to me, is the most profitable choice because the item will generate cash for you.

Second, does a family member want it?  If it is unsellable, maybe someone else in my family might want it.

Third, does a friend or neighbor want it?  Same principle, I just usually like to give my family members first dibs.

Fourth, can it be donated?  Donations to qualifying charitable organizations (Goodwill, Salvation Army, churches, etc) are tax deductible.  While this does not generate cash for you, it does generate a tax deduction. Some might say that this should come before giving it away to a friend or relative, I’ll let you be the judge.

And finally, if none of the above applies then I usually throw it away. This generates nothing financial for you, because it does keep your house from filling up like a junkyard.

De-cluttering is a very therapeutic process for me. I cannot stand living in a house that has closets full of unused items, and psychologically, I feel much better after my scheduled de-cluttering.

And additionally, as you can see, there are some good financial benefits to it as well, depending on what you can do with your unwanted items.

Your comments and feedback on de-cluttering are always welcome.

If you’re like me, you try to save money in as many easy ways as possible. You also try to save money on some of the more expensive items that you purchase in your life. I think when it comes to buying printer paper and ink for home computer use, both of these principles apply.

Therefore, I want to go over with you some of the ways that I try to save money in these areas in the hopes that maybe I can save you a buck or two in the future.

Printer Paper

It seems to me that a great percentage of the things that I print at home are really not that important. Sure these are some receipts that I print out that I need to save, but most of the time, the paper that comes out of my printer is almost wasted. It could be the four extra pages that come out when you really only need the first page of something (which I’ll address in a minute), or it’s something that I just need to read and not keep, or there could be a lot of other reasons.

Maybe this concept has already dawned on you, but what about using the other side of the paper? Whenever I print out all of these things that really don’t need to be printed, I usually just flip the paper over and pop it right back into my printer. If you think about it that should really cut your printer paper costs right about in half.

Now, let’s get to those four extra pages of crap that come out whenever you really only need the first page. Without sounding like a conspiracy theorist, it is my firm belief that all of these pages and/or receipts and/or anything else that people need to print are purposely set up to use just the tiniest bit of the next page.

Who is behind this? The people that sell printer paper so they can sell that much more of it. Why else would 90% of the stuff that I print use up one page, plus about one more line? If anyone can give me a reasonable answer, I will come off of my conspiracy theory. Until then, you should utilize the “selection” function when printing.

It’s simple. Whenever printing a receipt or a page that has just a small amount of information that you really need, simply highlight it and then click on print. When that box comes up that always does when you print something, look in the bottom left hand corner and click on the button that says “selection”. This will allow you to print only and exactly what you need, and should eliminate those extra three pages of garbage that comes out after the page you really need.
Finally, if you have any kind of significant printing needs at all, consider buying your paper a case at a time.

Ink/Toner

Doesn’t it just turn your stomach when you have to buy new ink? Isn’t the cost of it absolutely insane? Well, I’ve come up with a few ways to hopefully save you a little in this area.

First, always buy the two-pack when it’s available. This usually gives you somewhat of a discount. Second, always buy the store brand over the manufacturer’s brand. Third, see if you can find a place that will still re-fill your cartridges. Most retailers stopped doing this, but if you can find one, this can save you a bunch. Fourth, always turn in your empty cartridges for a discount. You used to be able to get a free pack of printer paper for each cartridge. Again, a lot of retailers have backed off of this, but they are still worth turning in for whatever you can get for them. Fourth, always look for coupons for the store where you purchase your ink. Even if it’s only 10%, every little bit helps.

I probably print just about as much as the average Joe. Since black ink costs about $30 a pop, color about $50, and a pack of printer paper about $4-$5, my annual expenses are right around $500 for these two items. That’s more than I spend on electricity for my house. If there are ways out there to impact these expenses, I think they’re well worth looking into.

As always, your comments and feedback are greatly appreciated.

In my quest to always become more financially prudent, I have uncovered some of the more un-traditional places that you can do some of your shopping to save yourself some money.  Some of them you may have heard of, some not.  Hope you find this to be helpful.

Here is my list of some of the “off the beaten path” type places that I have picked up items from.

Goodwill/Salvation Army:  I have found these stores particularly helpful when I am buying work clothes and household appliances.  I mention work clothes because I am require to dress professionally, but I run through work clothes so fast that there is no point in me spending a lot of money on them.  I can find perfectly good button-down dress shirt for just a few dollars and also perfectly suitable ties for just a few dollars as well.

Also, whenever I need some of the smaller household appliances (blender, mixer, etc), I can usually find it for nothing at one of their stores.

Craig’s List-if you don’t need new, you can find just about anything on Craig’s List. Sometimes, it’s even new too. And it’s usually for pennies on the dollar.  They also have many items listed for free.  Check this site out for odd items as well.  And you can consider using it for selling your unwanted items too.

Freecycle-I was just recently turned onto Freecycle, and man, what a great place.  You can find lots of stuff absolutely free.  Definitely worth checking out.

Pawn Shops-  Yes, believe it or not, it is OK to shop at a pawn shop.  Of course, I’d never actually pawn anything there because you’re just throwing your money away, but there are a lot of things that you can but there at great, low prices.  Just about any kind of tool you should be able to find at a pawn shop (and for usually about half of retail).  They also usually have a great selection of jewelry (although mind you, it is used).  You can also get great prices on used DVDs and a variety of other things.  Most of their stuff is used, but for example, when you’re buying tools, is there any real need in paying full price for it?  Watch out for any guarantees (or lack thereof), and read the fine print and ask questions before you finalize your purchase.

Dollar stores-I know I know.  You walk in there and it looks like kids have terrorized the place.  Floors a mess, shelves a mess, etc.  Still, you can get great deals on items like household cleaners, greeting cards, and little children’s toys.  Word of caution though.  Do your homework. Just because everything’s a dollar, does not mean you can’t buy it at a regular outlet (your grocer, for example) for less than a dollar.  You’ve got to know what a good deal is and what isn’t.

There you go!  Just a short list of some places that are worth checking out if you haven’t already.  Your comments and feedback below are greatly appreciated, and Happy Hunting!!

I recently had quite an interesting experience with my son at our local toy store. From time to time, when he behaves well, or does something particularly well, we make the trek down to the toy store where he can pick out a new toy for himself.

During this most recent trip, we made our way up and down each aisle. We past the Transformers stuff that cost an arm and a leg, and we past all the other latest and greatest fads in toy world. Sure, he liked to play with this stuff, but it never really interested him.

After much deciding and testing and grabbing and so forth, he finally looked at me and said, “Daddy, I want a kite.”

A kite? Wow, I hadn’t really thought of that before. Took a look around the store some more, found a few kites, and he picked himself out a brand new Spiderman kite for the grand total of $2.99.

We then made our way to the local park. It actually took me a few minutes to remember exactly what to do, as it had been somewhere around 25 years since I had flown one. Anyways, we got it put together and got it up in the air. For the next few hours, my son and I probably had more fun with that kite than we had had together the last few months. He was so proud of himself once we were able to sustain it in the air. He was controlling it with the concentration of an Air Force pilot. It was a sight to see.

When we got home, we walked past the tool bench I spent $42 on for Christmas, which is really just collecting dust in the corner by now.

We almost stepped on the toy laptop I bought for him that cost about the same. After that, I tried to forget all the other toys we had bought for him that were in the pricier range.

My point is this: it seems that we as parents have some sort of false visions of grandeur when it comes to purchasing toys and gifts for our children. We somehow feel that the more we spend, the more enjoyment our child will receive. Maybe I am not in the majority no this mindset. If not, please let me know.

But my son is living proof that he gets much more enjoyment out of the $2 and $3 toys than he does the ones that cost ten times more. After all, he obviously doesn’t know how much these more expensive toys cost, and even if he did, probably still wouldn’t care.

Take a step back and consider some of the more traditional, less expensive toys. You could probably save yourself a bundle and your children may reap more benefits as well.

One thing that any parent should know is that around any holiday, whether it be your child’s birthday, Christmas, or any other gift-giving holiday, that a good supply of batteries is always a necessity.

Nothing is worse than a child tearing open a new gift, and wanting awfully to play with it, only to be told that he/she needs to wait because there are no batteries.

On top of that, batteries are not cheap.  By any stretch of the imagination.

Therefore, I want to share with you a recent experience that I had with batteries, and then give you some general pointers on purchasing them.

We gave our son one of those work bench type things for Christmas.  He really loved it!  It came with a battery operated drill, all the screwdrivers you could ask for, a variety of other tools, and a few battery operated saws.  I had batteries on hand for the entire set up except for a little flashlight that came with the set.  It called for some button cell batteries (I think the model number was AG13). 

I was unaware of this, so we had to put off getting the flashlight to work.  It was no big tragedy, because the rest of the workbench was fully functional.  I had never even heard of this type of battery before, so later on in the day, I went off to the drugstore to pick some up.  To my shock and surprise, these tiny little batteries came in packs of three at the store I went to for the wonderful price of almost $10!  For three little batteries.

Well, right away I decided that we could wait a little while longer before getting batteries to the flashlight.  This price just sounded a little too ridiculous.  I zipped back home, did a two minute search on the internet, and lo and behold, what did I find?   A pack of 10 for $2.88 shipped.  No lie….

I think the moral of the story is obvious.  Here, in a nutshell, are my thoughts on purchasing batteries.

—Always, always buy them on sale.  They’re on sale just about all the time, plus you can usually find coupons for them too.  It one of those fairly pricey things that you should always at least be able to find some kind of discount on.

—Always, always buy in bulk.  Again, if you’re a parent you are going g to need lots of these for a long time coming.  I would never get less than a 24 pack or so of the AAs or the AAAs-the savings will definitely add up over time.

–There are two sides to the “buy generic” or “buy quality” issue.  I won’t get into if there is a difference in quality or not, because I honestly have no idea.  Here is what I have come up with.  I usually tend to buy a combination of the two.  I buy the discount ones for my childrens’ toys.  I buy the high quality ones for emergency type uses—flashlights, battery operated radio, smoke alarms, etc. Because if the cheapies don’t last as long, it’s less stressful if a toy stops working rather than a flashlight in a thunderstorm.  Plus, if your kids tend to leave their toys on all the time like mine do, you’ll be draining away less expensive batteries.

Batteries.  A small issue in the grand scheme of things, but if you decide to change your mindset and adopt this new buying attitude, you’ll save yourself a good bit of money in the long run and it takes up no extra time from your daily life.

Got a comment on my words??  Please share!  I love feedback.

I have a young son at home who has a birthday that is very close to Christmas Day.  It doesn’t really bother us, his parents, or him too much yet that it is so close to Christmas, I just thought I’d mention that because  we just finished celebrating his birthday a few days ago.

We probably didn’t go as “all out” as some parents may have, but we more than likely spent a little more money than we needed to.  I really don’t know why.  I am one of the most financially prudent individuals that I know, but whenever my son is involved, I have this overpowering urge to forget my common sense and just spend money.  I guess it’s because I want so much for everything to be extra special to him.

So, as goes most days like this, I really didn’t get to spend a lot of one-on-one time with him.  On days like his birthday, or Christmas, or a vacation where we go to see his relatives, it’s quite a departure for him compared to a normal day when his Daddy doesn’t have to go to work.  On those “normal” days, we are basically together from the time he wakes up till the time he goes to bed, except for his nap time.

So his birthday had just about past and the festivities were pretty much over with.  Most of the company had gone home, and he and I were enjoying a few last minutes of goofing around before it was bath and bed time.

It was then that my son made a very telling remark to me.  Of course, you have to take it in its proper perspective, as he is known for exaggerating slightly.

He looked at me and said, “Daddy, this is the first time we got to play together in a loooonnngg, loooonnnggg time….”

Of course he was embellishing the long long time part because we had just spent the day together two days previous.

However, this really hit home with me.  He had just turned three, but had already come to realize that out of all the presents and gifts and balloons and cake and ice cream and everything else that we had so painstakingly prepared, the most important gift to him still was my time.

Sure, he loved all his presents and I’m sure he’ll enjoy playing with him, but what matters most to him is the quality time he gets to spend with me.

This is a lesson for the ages, for the young and old alike.  And if we think back to our own childhood memories, I am sure we can validate it.   When you do think back, what is it that stands out?  Is it some special toy that you got, or do you better remember the good times with your father, your mother, or whoever?  I would venture to say it is the good times rather than the toys.

I am going to try to remember this as we go through the Christmas season this year.  Of course, my Christmas shopping is already done, and yes we probably spent a little too much on our son.  But what I am going to try to remember for this holiday season and for holiday seasons to come is this:

You don’t need to budget your finances more effectively in order to give your children a better Christmas.  Better to budget your free time more effectively to give your children memories that will last a lifetime.

Tell me what you think!  Is it more about the toys, or the memories??