Fwd: Frugal for Life Month in Review

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Dawn C <frugalforlife

cyndikrall

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 8:02 pm

Frugal for Life Month in Review

 

 

Good Evening Frugalistas!

Over the past month I've taken inventory on the stuff I have and have been slowly reducing the clutter in my life, working towards a healthier, cheaper and simpler life. The nicest part is seeing my roomie take the initiative of some things and be supportive of other ‘crazy' ideas I have had.

This means that the posts over the last month are a peak into what I'm thinking about and what I'm doing.

oooOOOooo

Preparing for Worst Case Scenario -This information is good, but too much of a good thing makes me an obsessive girl and I don't need any help in that area.

 

Links Catching my Eye - Just as the title says, ideas that are useful, depressing or inspiring to me.

 

Do You Own Your Stuff=2

0or Does it Own You? - An update to an old post that I wrote early in my blogging days. After writing this, I decided not to move, but still go through my stuff like I was.

 

The Wall-E Attitude - Did you see Wall-e? I really enjoyed it and I got a clear message from it.

 

Living Cheaply - links to Simpleliving.net's newest newsletter, a link to an interview done with myself and a great cartoon.

 

Recycling the Laughter - Since it had been a hard week at work and home (sorting through stuff) ... I needed a good laugh... this is what I found.

 

The Value of Items - I'm having a bit of frustration when it comes to selling my larger items on craigslist.

 

Tidbits of Frugality - My day to day operation of living frugally is a very slow process but it still continues as best as I can work=2

0my brain around it.

 

Price Per Unit - The foundation to a good food shopping trip, in my opinion, is about the unit price.

 

Have yourself a wonderful July and stay cool... as I know you all are already very cool people! J

~Dawn C.

 

 

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Dawn C <frugalforlife

cyndikrall

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 8:57 am

Frugal for Life Month in Review

 

 

 

Hello Frugalistas,

Well back to the Frugal for Life review, thanks for sticking around. This month I'm going to do things a bit different- You are able to read the entire post here on the newsletter and then go to the site if you want to post or read comments. This will keep things to a minimum and that is good sometimes.

Next week at this time I will be heading off to the east coast via car, I'm excited about the 4000+ miles round trip and look forward to getting pictures uploaded and sharing my experience with you. I'll let you all know it goes.

In this newsletter: Free Items Must Have Value, Water Everywhere, Frugal Things to do in the Denver Metro, How would you inspire another? (a small drawing), Links Catching my Eye 2

Have yourself a wonderful summer and fall

~Dawn C.

Free Items Must Have Value (comments)

When I first started to get myself into a more frugal attitude, I immediately picked up on the benefits of getting free items; from samples to subscriptions to t-shirts. It was the idea that I could get something for free by filling out a form or survey and save my money for something else more important.

However, I have found that I am up to my eyeballs in subscriptions, samples and coupons I don't really use. I sign up for things that sound good at the time, but when I get them I have no interest.

This requires an additional bit of time to decide who the item should go to so it doesn't go to waste from my greediness.

For magazine subscriptions, I have cancelled the ones that I don't read at all and can't pass on to anyone else that I know of - I just call the phone number on the inside of the magazine content area, and if they don't have my name on file they usually have an alternative number for me to call. For those magazines I do flip through and can pass on, I will make sure I have a stack that I take to work every week so other can enjoy or take home with them. Eventually the free subscription will run out and I will cancel the renewal.

For free samples and coupons that I realize I won't be using, I am usually able to find someone who will take them off my hands. But I make a mental note to cut back on the samples and coupons I apply sign up for.

 

There are some questions that I ask myself before I to sign up for the free item:

 

Is this something I really need or that I want?

Is this something I will use quickly or be able to stock up on - thus cutting down on my grocery bill?

Is this item something I really want to be seen with? Example: A picture on a t-shirt

Do I really, really need it? - It is good to ask this question a couple of times

After asking these questions to myself I find that of the freebie items that are available to me, I have cut down on what I sign up for by about 75%. This cut back has saved my sanity by keeping the process simple.

Now when I sign up for a free item, I know exactly what I will be doing with it when I receive because (a) I need it, (b) I would have bought it anyway and it will save me money not having to buy it later, © It is something that I know I will enjoy using or that I know someone else will enjoy using.

Here are a few of the places I go to find those free (almost free) items:

Fat Wallet Free forums

Freebeez and Dealz

Free Samples Direct

Free Stuff Times

Hey! It's free!

 

Water Everywhere (comments)

So what do you do when you run out of dish-washing liquid but have already filled up the dishwasher with the dirty dishes? Normally people would either go buy some more or take the dishes out and do them by hand, but if you are me, you would grab the handy Dawn dish-soap and fill up the dishwasher as usual. This is in my mind at the time the most efficient thing to do, I didn't say smart.

I filled up the dishwasher with the soap and let her wonderful cleaning magic do it's thing while I went off to clean the bathroom. A few minutes later I walked out to the kitchen and low and behold Dawn had worked her magic, all the way up my dishwasher and onto the counter-top. For the next hour I worked on getting the suds to go down after reading some tips online. First I tried salt and vinegar, but I was able to clean up the suds faster with a towel.. however it seemed the vegetable oil worked the best, but then again maybe I poured so much salt, vinegar and vegetable oil into the dishwasher that it was too much for the Dawn suds. Either way, the minor catastrophe was finally over.

However, I took some pictures just for you to laugh at with me... now that it is over. After talking about this with others about this mistake, it appears many people have either considered doing or have already done this same thing.

The moral to this story is that being frugal isn't about being cheap but being a smart tighwad. Also remember to read the directions and do extra work if necessary for the best results.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

In order to beat the heat and not use the air conditioning as much... I have tried the following ways to beat the heat with water

^Spraying down my hair with water - since mom always said that I lose heat out of my head, I thought it would be a good idea to keep that head as cool as possible.

^ Drinking water - This cools down my core, even if temporarily

^Wetting a towel and wearing it around my neck - keeping my neck and spine cool helps keep me cool around the house

^Wearing a wet shirt around the house - this is nice when I have the fans going

And my favorite way to cool down is to go to the local reservoir and go swimming during the hottest part of the day and then go home when it cools down and collapse.

 

Frugal Things to do in the Denver Metro (comments)

The Money Life Network has a ongoing group project that I enjoyed and thought I would add my own from living here in the Denver area for the last 11 years. The below suggestions are all within a decent drive, at most 1.5 hours.

Denver Mint

320 West Colfax Avenue

Denver, Colorado 80204-2693

 

The Denver Mint tours are free of charge but do require a reservation, walk-ups are first come, first serve. Guided tours start on the hour and are available from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and you can call the 24-hour tour information line at (303) 405-4761 to determine if any last minute changes have been made to the tour schedule.

My parents and I went on this tour and it was pretty good, it's not up close and personal like an episode of "How It's Made" (vid), but it was still nice to see in person and understand the history of money and where the US Mint is going in the future.

MillerCoors Brewery

1221 Ford Street and 13th

Golden, CO 80401

 

The biggest pull for this free tour are the 3 free beers you get after the tour is over. Of course if you are not a beer drinker there are wine coolers, soft drinks and fruit drinks for the kids as well. Golden, CO is a good 30 minutes drive, but some would say it is worth it. The tour is no longer guided live but self-guided with an audio device. The tour process is well organized, but don't go on a Saturday if you can help it. Very crowded. And don't forget your ID if you want to drink, they WILL decline you if you don't have ID.

The tour is about 45-60 minutes and even if you are not a beer drinker, MillerCoors does make other drinks and the process is still interesting, even for kids.

Garden of the Gods

1805 N 30th Street (at Gateway Rd.)

Colorado Springs, CO 80904

 

I love going out to the Garden of the Gods, it's hard to take any bad pictures here. The majesty of it all is amazing and it's fun to watch the rock climbers when you get tired from walking. It is all self-paced with information posts spready out throughout the park about it's history. If you are looking to get some good exercise this will keep you busy for awhile.

They also have a theater and a couple of shops you can spend money in, but who wants to shop when it's so beautiful outside.

Mt. Evans

The World's Highest Paved Road

 

It's not free but for $10 a car it is well worth the trip up the 14 thousand feet. I'm afraid of heights and even I liked it, although you want to bring your winter coat with you as it is easily 40-50 degrees colder and WINDIER! They had a restaurant up there from 1940- 1980,but alas it burned down; however you can use the foundation as an observation deck and the old walls as a wind barrier.

"All 14 miles of the road from the entrance station to the Mount Evans summit parking area (14,130) are paved. From there, you can hike the last 130 feet (about 1/4 mile walk) to the top at 14,264 feet. After you have made this climb, you can tell all your friends: "I climbed a 14,000 foot mountain in Colorado on my vacation!""

Pearl Street Mall

Downtown Boulder, CO

 

Pearl Street Mall is a fun place to go and watch the street performers and go in and out of the alternative books stores. If you love Crocs, they had their start here in Boulder and you can pick up every variety and color of shoe you desire here at the pearl street shops that adorn the walkway. But for myself, I enjoy listening to the street musicians and watching the street performers. (Tipping is always a good idea, 10 $1 bills should get you from one side to the other.)

Air Force Academy

U.S. Air Force Academy

USAFA, CO 80840

 

This is a neat place to visit, whether you have family that went here or want to go here, it is nice to walk around the campus and watch people. It is fun if you go with someone who has been at the academy, they seem to remember a lot of stories as you walk around and it makes it more interesting.

Denver Zoo

2300 Steele Street

Denver, CO 80205

 

The Denver Zoo isn't free unless you can come to Denver during the off season, they do have a few free days, the ones left are:

Tuesday, October 7

Saturday, October 18

Sunday, November 2

Sunday, November 9

Otherwise, cost is between $9-12 for adults and $5-7 for kids, depending on what month you go. The Denver Zoo is where Klondike and Snow were raised before going to SeaWorld for a life of fame and fortune.

Other places to go:

Red Rocks

Lookout Mountain

Colorado State Parks - for fishing, swimming, walking and biking

Hope this gives you some ideas of major places to check out that are free or almost free as you travel through the Denver Metro area and Beyond.

 

How would you inspire another? (comments)

It is amazing that this site has hit 1 million visitors about a month ago and I thought it might be nice to do something about it. I don't have much to offer up but I thought I would give away a few of my own thing that I have accumulated for the contest. This involves a lot of reader participation so I look forward to those of you that take the time to get involved.

In the comments below offer up your inspiring thoughts on reducing debt, what would you say to a friend or what would you say to yourself to get your thoughts in the right mindset for debt reduction?

From the comments/answers below I will enter you in the drawing that will be drawn on Monday 8/18 for the following items:

1. $5 Starbucks card

2. Book- Garage Sale America

3. A special edition of Life magazine from 1962 that is all about money.

So here is the question to answer:

What would you say to someone who needs inspiration to get their debts paid down?

 

Links Catching my Eye 2 (comments)

X Buying the right commuting bike - I recently bought a 1960's Sears Huffy bike and this is a good start for me.

X RepairPal - Find out what your repair should cost (or at least an approximate idea of the cost and if you are getting ripped off)

X Gas Prices Map of the United States - I am watching this closely for my travel to the east coast. The neat use for this is that I can also zoom in closer along the router I will be taking.

 

 

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