Make Your Own: Cereal, Yogurt, Trail Mix

None of this is as hard as it sounds. I started making my own cereal because I found that store bought granola is just too sweet. I stretch it with raw oats and then add nuts and seeds for extra nutrition. I have a collection of glass jars I got out of the trash years ago. I put everything in a jar and shake it up good. My mix lasts twice as long and keeps me full almost the entire day.

I started making yogurt when I found out how easy it is to do. I never bought a yogurt machine either. Waste of money. Don't need it. Just heat up some milk in a big pot. You can dissolve some gelatin in it if you like firmness. Let the pot cool down until the milk doesn't burn your finger when tested. Then stir in a cup of plain yogurt, the kind with live cultures like Dannon. Wrap the pot in towels and place in a warm place. I sometimes put it out on the driveway when it's sunny, or you can set it on top of a radiator or other heating unit. Like bread it needs a little warmth for the bacteria to grow. Once it's cooled down completely put it in the ice box to firm up some more. Add fresh fruit for sweetness and save on money and calories.

Trail mix is another good DYI project. I don't like raisins, they're too sweet for me. I use craisins instead. Most of the time I can buy the ingredients for my trail mix, peanuts, nuts, seeds, chocolate chips and other dried fruits for a lot less than the mix would cost. I pack up small bags and a can for the car. I always have snacks to keep me out of Mickey D's.

Challenge Property Taxes

People make mistakes and things change. When I bought my house, I noticed that the house was described as a three bedroom when it was only a two bedroom. The previous owners had done a major renovation, thank you, and made one bedroom out of two tiny rooms. Most of the houses in my town have three bedrooms: one larger room for the parents and two tiny rooms for kids. We challenged and got a decrease in the valuation, even though the house is better with only two bedrooms. The point is that it sometimes pays to fight City Hall. Maybe your house's original footprint was bigger or an improvement was never made or part of the house burned down. You never know. It pays to check. I know people who always challenged their property taxes and as a result pay significantly less than their neighbors. Also apply for every discount available. Don't be too proud. I once knew a woman who never challenged her taxes in the mistaken belief that she paid more because her property was worth more. When it came time to sell she found out exactly what her property was worth. In the meantime she paid the higher taxes for many years.

Dining Out

I love to eat out and even when I can't really afford it, I still know I can have a good time for less. First of all I look for newer places that don't have a liquor license, they allow you to bring a bottle of wine or a large can of beer. Drinks can run up a tab pretty quickly. I can also have cocktails at home. I'm not a big drinker. I throw in some cheese and crackers so I don't overeat at the restaurant or drink on an empty stomach. I'm a lightweight, two glasses of wine and I need a nap. Sometimes we split the glass of wine at the fancy restaurant since I dilute my portion with water anyway. I also look for places that include a salad with entree, that way I feel like I'm getting an appetizer. Another trick is to have the appetizer as a meal. This saves on money and calories. An appetizer is the perfect dinner size for me. You can also split an entree, I find the entrees in most places overwhelming. I always take home a doggie bag with leftovers for lunch the next day. The portions are just too big at most places these days. We sometimes share an appetizer and order two cheap meals and sample each others food, and take the extra home. My husband eats a lot more than I ever could. Finally I tend to have dessert at home. I started doing this because I had a terrible dessert at a chain restaurant and I vowed never again to have dessert at one of those places. Better to have cookie or a scoop of ice cream than have something stale covered in syrup. And I never have coffee after six pm.

BOYCOTT BLACK FRIDAY

I wasn't going to blog today. I have family over and I was planning to hang out, but then I turned on the news. Somebody in California got shot in the parking lot for his Black Friday Purchases. Somewhere else a woman shot her fellow shoppers with pepper spray. Are we crazy? Nothing you can buy is worth any of that. All over the country Black Friday was eating into Thanksgiving. Let's be clear. Walmart and Best Buy are not giving anything away. If they really wanted to sell more they could raise the wages for their workers and not force them to work overnight. We've been on this union busting spree for 30 years. Where has it got us? Let's bring back the unions. We need unions. Capital had gotten too powerful. We need a counterbalance. The minimum wage should be a living wage of at least $20 an hour. The bosses will scream they can't afford that. The truth is that we can't afford $7 an hour. Let's get back to reality here. There should be something for everybody.

DYI Manicures and Pedicures

My sister in law spends lots of money on manicures. She feels she deserves. This might be true and I can understand feeling that way. But she has two teenage daughters and I told her maybe they should learn how to do manis and pedis. How hard can it be? I'm blind so for me it would be impossible. Buy really, instead of dropping fifty bucks on a manicure. How about spending that money on supplies that might last you months. Additionally, I told her, if they get good at it, it could become a cottage industry for extra cash during college. Mom is a registered nurse so she could supervise and advise on the health concerns. I'm all for looking good but sometimes it's nice to be able to do it yourself. I always try to gauge the difference between price and value. I like to get the most value for the lowest price, so DYI projects are perfect for me. You can pamper yourself and your wallet. Then take those savings for something really big like a cool vacation, a cruise or a whole month off. That's how I look at my frugality. In the past it bought me summers off. In the future it will get me a place in Florida.

Boycott Black Friday and Shop Small Businesss Saturday.

As part of the 99% I think this Christmas we should all shut our wallets and boycott Black Friday. Personally I have never shopped on Black Friday. The truth is that I shop all year long for Christmas and by the time the holidays roll around I am done. I have shopped and paid everything off, I am free to have fun. I would rather spend my money on my town's Main Street. This year I am also considering sending some edible gifts. I want to cut down on clutter by giving edible Christmas gifts. This way no one gets stuck with something unwanted. It can just be put out for guests to eat and be gone. Every town has a bakery and a candy store. I like chocolate, cookies or even a cake for Christmas morning. The whole commercial Christmas thing is way out of whack. Although I am not in the top one percent, I'm okay and I feel that out of solidarity with the 99% we should get them where it really hurts and close our wallets for Christmas. Don't shop! Do something else instead of shopping. Bake, make music or shop in your own closet for gift giving. We all have great stuff floating around in the closet, which we could give away or sell online and turn around the money to buy back from other small sellers. Let's take Christmas back from the big corporations and make it small again.

Save on Water

Both as an eco-friendly measure and as a frugality measure, it's a good idea to conserve water. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Handle all leaks expeditiously. Never tolerate a leaky faucet. Also in your house invest in the newer efficient toilets and get those low flow shower heads which don't feel any different than the regular ones. You could also think about taking fewer showers. My husband and I have cut down recently. Since he is no longer doing heavy construction and I don't like to shower much once it gets cold, we only shower every other day. This cuts down on water waste considerably as does turning off the water while you brush your teeth. The little savings help. Also in the garden choose drought resistant plants. This year we took the first steps towards eliminating the lawn. The front has been made maintenance free and next year the back will become a vegetable garden to cut down on the food bill. Our town had rules about grey water but a lot of people have it anyway. This summer with Hurricane Irene, a lot of water damage occurred. It's a shame more folks didn't have cisterns to take on the excess water. That's how people do it in other parts of the world. But we're too busy protecting other people's businesses to allow smarter choices to be made.

Pay Off The Mortgage

Nothing in the world feels better than owning your home free and clear. Although you are still responsible for taxes, at least that is a manageable expense in most parts of the country. When I was house hunting, one of the things I thought about was taxes. The condition of the house didn't worry me because you can fix anything but taxes can't be fixed. I saw a house in Westchester County which I crossed off my list because of taxes. Taxes in Westchester are are as much as $25,000 a year. My sister in law in Jersey is paying $14,000 a year. That's crazy. We didn't have kids so we didn't care about Blue Ribbon schools. I bought in a more modest area where I knew my paycheck would suffice to pay the taxes, heat and electric. It actually isn't much more than I was paying for my apartment, so it was doable. We could have bought a bigger and more expensive house, but I was afraid to get in over my head. I have always enjoyed financial peace.

Practice Making Payments

If you think you want to have car payments for a new car or something, take a year and practice doing it. Open a special account or get a jar and pretend you are making those payments on time every month. After a while you might reconsider the idea of having those payments. That would be a good outcome. Another good outcome would be that you build up a nice little bundle after a year and then pay cash for a used car that is only a few years old with low miles. I gave this advice to my students who wanted to get their own places. I would tell them to pretend to pay rent for a year. If they wanted privacy to have a boy over, I advised them to go to a hotel. A couple of nights at an hotel is much cheaper than renting an apartment. In the meantime if they stayed home they could save up and buy their first place and be on the road to financial freedom. I've never had to rent a place. I bought and paid maintenance. I don't like the idea of paying rent except in certain circumstances for the short term. I'm pretty stable and don't like to move. Buying works better for me.

Paying Down Debt

There are lots of plans out there for paying down debt. Actually, I don't have the best advice because I've never been in big debt. My view is in order to never worry about paying down debt, the best thing is not to get into debt in the first place. Having said that there are some smart things you should do when paying off debt. If you have five credit cards with debt on them. First thing make out a budget and start shopping only with cash. Put the credit cards out of reach. Some people freeze them in a block of ice. The point to using only cash is to stop creating more debt. Then start paying off the smallest card. Pay that off and then move on to the next smallest card. By paying off one card you get a feeling of accomplishment that can help you move forward. Try to negotiate a lower interest rate or see about an unsecured consumer loan to pay off all your cards. You could also try a balance transfer, but I wouldn't because I don't trust the credit card companies. Miss a payment and they jack up your rate. The important thing is to stop using the cards until you're all paid off. Food diets don't work. Neither do credit diets. This has to be a lifestyle change. Don't buy anything you can't pay off at the end of the month. Save up for stuff instead. Believe me, it feels good to buy something you've saved up for.

Men's Clothing

When I first met my husband, I could tell he didn't have much money by his clothes. After a while I told him to bring all his stuff to my apartment, he didn't have much. I sorted through everything and created a discard pile and a very small keeper pile. As I sorted, I asked him to try things on. I got rid of most of his clothes. He cried, but in a matter of weeks I rebuilt his wardrobe. In fact he was planing a little trip to New Mexico and by the time he left, he had a lovely wardrobe. He said he had never dressed so well. The trick was to have stuff he actually needed and would wear. Most people, including me, have closet clutter. Lots of clothes but nothing to wear. I started making outfits for my husband, then boyfriend. This goes with that, etc. The system works really well. Most men need three pairs of slacks, three pairs of shorts, one suit and a variety of coordinating shirts. He was done in no time. He had less clothing but more outfits and was better dressed. My husband is casual. He got his one suit at J.C. Penney's and it works well for him. He wears it rarely and he looks good. Get rid of closet clutter. Sell or give away the stuff that no longer looks good on you,doesn't fit, doesn't get worn, is out of date or just doesn't go with anything. Get rid of yesterday's clothes and don't buy tomorrow clothes (things that will fit after the diet works).

Never pay for Storage

Renting a storage unit is generally a bad idea. It is almost always better to re-think storage at home for a variety of reasons. First of all, out of sight is out of mind. Second of all, it's just another bill. Do the math on this. Is anything you're putting in storage really worth it? You can't store anything of real value in a storage facility because it might get stolen. It's really not worth while storing clutter. If your house is too packed, have a garage sale or check eBay for values. Maybe you can make a little money on your stuff. Sure beats having another bill. The only time storage makes sense is if you're moving and need a place to keep your stuff for the short term. There is more than one show on cable that shows people making tons of money off storage lockers that have gone into default for non-payment. I say, beat them to it. Make money off your own stuff. Also create more storage in your own home. Take a look around the house for under utilized spaces. I like kitchen under cabinets storage. They are sturdy and can be finished to look like furniture. Also there are some very nice Ikea closets available very cheaply that can help with storage. There are plenty of storage solutions on the market. The only problem is if you're not using the stuff, then why are you hanging on to it. The rule is if it is not used in one year chuck it. Let it go so that something better can come into your life. Use everything you have.

Save Your Next Pay Raise and Live Below Your Means

This s a pretty easy trick for setting money aside. When you get your next pay raise automatically have it sent to savings. Continue to live at your old rate of pay and save the extra. This way you start living below your means. Living below your means is the best way to get rich. The point of living below your means is to be able to do other things with your life and save for the future whether it's getting together that down payment on a house or better yet buying a house cash. Paying off a mortgage is not a bad thing but it is better to buy cash because you are better able to weather the storms of real estate fluctuations. I bought my first apartment cash. I had low maintenance that included my electric bill. I had it easy. But at one point the value of my apartment was cut in half. It didn't worry me much because I knew that I couldn't live anywhere else for the price of my maintenance. I was happy in my apartment. The fact that I didn't have a mortgage to pay made my calculations a lot easier. I could wait it out. The same is true of my house. It may soon be worth less than I paid for it. But that doesn't really matter because right now I'm renting it out and it's putting money in my pocket. Also paying a mortgage doubles the price of a house with interest charges. But it's not easy to buy a house cash. You have to consider what really matters, lower expectations and live below your means.

Automate Savings and Payments

Computers have changed banking in many ways. Lots of banks offer automatic saving services. Once a week the computer moves money out of the checking into the savings account. Most of the time these services are free. It's pretty painless and helps to enforce savings. The more saving you can do without thinking about it the better. The beauty of the system is that before you know it, you have saved a ton of money without effort. You want your saving plan to be as painless and unconscious as possible.

Also while you're at it, automate payments. I haven't written a check in years and I like it like that. The first account I had, I bought some pretty checks with flowers and a sunset. I thought I was so cute. But who was I impressing with pretty checks, the machine that rips open the envelopes. It was silly. Now I have already run out of checks and I don't care. I set up the online account and now I just point and click and pay the bills. I don't have to buy checks or stamps. This is bad news for the post office but I give them plenty of other business with eBay.

Save money and do stuff online. This also helps with budgeting because it's easy to see where the money is going as it goes out. Also never be late on a credit card payment because you can set up autopay and send the minimum every month on time. I don't do this because I barely use my credit card and when I do I zero it out at the end of the month.

Trade Time for Money

If you choose to live frugally, it is possible to get out of the rat race sooner than later. I always had to be careful because of my health. Never being physically strong enough to do eight hours a day and the commute I could work a ten hour day and take the next two days off. I arranged my life and supported myself under those circumstances. I played the cards dealt and never had to beg anyone for money. I kept a roof over my head and food on the table. It was a hard thing to do but was possible. The trick is to know what is truly important and really necessary. I know that I need a bed, a table and chair, a place to cook and a workable bathroom. Everything else is superfluous. I have lived with as little as that and with so much more. More isn't always better. Time is more important to me. I like to have the time to be a human being, just hanging out not doing much of anything. Life is for living not just for working and commuting. It is a delicate balance. How much is enough? Don't wait until you have enough, start having fun now and enjoy the ride. Use your sick time and vacation days. Take a mental health day. Start by taking a mini vacation in a 3.5 stars hotel with a spa tub will work wonders, even if it is only an overnight.
For me the definition of having enough is having a cheap, clean place to live with plenty of good food on the table with a half a glass of red wine. Once I can pay for that, I don't care about anything else. I traded time for money and got my life back. You could too!

VOTE PLEASE VOTE

It's election day and your vote does matter. The only thing that can reign in the abuses of big business and their lobbyists is the vote. It's no accident that a slew of states are trying to suppress the vote of certain groups. They are afraid of the power of the electorate. They should be afraid because if we ever decided to stop playing their capitalist game, they would suddenly know what it means to be in trouble. I wish the Occupy Wall Street people all the best but I sure hope they vote. I remember last year during the midterm elections, I stopped in at the bank before going to vote. I chatted up the teller, who had a job, but probably didn't make much money. She wasn't sure she was going have time to vote. I tried to tell her how important voting is. But she was young and didn't listen. Many young people did not vote the last time around and unfortunately we got the congress we deserved. Even this year when we are voting mostly for local stuff, the vote is very important. Vote for the people who will do the right thing for your community, to keep services and community organizations like libraries running. Don't vote for the slash and burn politicians who want to pit voters against each other and "say" they'll lower taxes but end up just giving you an uglier and more restrictive community.

Reorganize and Simplify

Every once in a while it's a good idea to pull everything out and have a good clean out. I find that since my stroke, I lose track of stuff more easily. I need to be reminded periodically of what I have. As I go through my things I can decide what to keep and what to sell or give away. It's important to be organized and know where things are to keep from re-purchasing items you already have. If you need a thing and can actually get your hands on it when you need it, you won't end up with double purchases. Most of the time simplicity is best. When I was broke and could only afford one metal nail file, I always knew where it was. Now I have three of them and I can never find one. Sometimes it's better to have less. When I got my first place, I had a grand total of three pots. I could always find them. Now I have lost count of what I have and I waste lots of time finding the one I really want to use. This is a problem of affluence akin to having 100 channels of cable and nothing to watch. When I was a kid, we had about seven or eight free channels on the TV and I never had a problem finding something to watch. Sometimes more is less.

Buying a Home Part II: Finish in a Starter Home

It was very popular in the last decade to trade up with houses and keep getting bigger and better. This sort of thinking was never for me. I always bought real estate that I could imagine being in for the rest of my life. I bought my first apartment with that goal and if I hadn't married, I would probably still be there. My mother has made a lot of money in real estate by swapping. She buys a house and a few years later she sells and buys something comparable for less money. She trades down. She has done this a couple of times and it has worked out pretty well for her. I don't think I will be doing that sort of thing. My only other real estate purchase will be a house for retirement. It won't be a downsize in space: it will be a downsize in maintenance costs. I want something with lower property taxes and heating costs. I know I won't be able to afford those things in the future. But essentially the next place will be as big as a stater home or as big as the home I own right now. Also if you only have one kid then a two bedroom starter home is enough. You can always spend the savings of not having a big house on other thing like travel.

Consider Having Fewer Children

The truth is that kids are very expensive. Each child needs a private room. You can get away with two kids per room when they're little but as time goes on they will each need their own space particularly if they are not the same sex. The more kids, the more expensive that gets as the house gets bigger as does the mortgage. Then there is the question of education. Personally, I believe in home schooling but eventually kids go to college and these days that costs as much as a decent house. If you have only one child then you can devote extensive resources to that child. Buying clothes, taking trips, acquiring gadgets all become easier when it's only for one child. Expenses for only one child are manageable. Thinking globally, do we really need more people on the planet? Maybe one child is enough. I was lucky that my husband already had children. It was our job to do the best we could for them. We couldn't afford to have our own and it wasn't all that important to me. Also, we have less to worry about now. If we had our own children we would be in the middle of the whole high school nonsense. Being childless we also can pick up and leave whenever we want without disrupting someone's life.

How To Buy a Home Part I

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
A home Should be Convenient.
Buy a Home with public transportation nearby. Ideally you should be able to walk or bike to work, but if that's not possible at least don't force yourself to drive. Get a place that has transport available for getting you to work.
Buy in a place that has a real neighborhood. I am partial to working class neighborhoods in transition. Don't live in the sticks. You want to be able to at least buy a quart of milk when you need it. Ideally a decent supermarket should be on your must have list for a neighborhood. A library and a post office are also good to have nearby.
Buy the smallest house possible. For two people two bedrooms is enough. If you're in the northeast, try to get a house with baseboard heat. Forced air is the worst heating system.
Rent if you have the kind of job that makes you move periodically. If your job moves you a lot and you still want to get into real estate buy a condo which you are sure you can rent out. Home ownership is for people who are staying for the long haul. You can make a ton of money in houses but it takes on average 20 years.

Barter and Swap

My little sister has one child and a lot of friends with little girls the same age as her daughter. They regularly get together and swap clothes. This makes it easier on all the mothers involved. They can take something their child is tired of and trade it for something else. Don't think of it as hand me downs but as "new to me." The rules are simple. Someone provides the place for the swap. The clothes must be clean and mended. Take only as many things as you brought in. Draw lots for first dibs and trading is allowed. This seems to work out for these ladies. My sister also swaps babysitting for favors like shopping trips. Since she doesn't have a car in exchange for baby sitting she gets rides back from the big supermarket. Sure beats paying for a cab. Another great source for stuff is freecycle.org. Here people list stuff that is no longer wanted. They list it on this site in order to keep it out of the landfill. I still have a gorgeous bed frame I got years ago. Craigslist is good too for finding unwanted stuff. I also use it for finding tag sales also. I may never buy new furniture again.