Tag Archives: off topic

Preparing for the storm

Looks like Hurricane Hanna is headed right in our direction. Yikes. Unless it drastically changes course (which could happen) it will probably get here tomorrow night or Saturday morning.

At this point it’s a pretty small storm. They’re not really sure if it will be a category 1 hurricane or a tropical storm. Either way, we’re not talking about massive destruction here. Whew.

But it could mean we’ll be stuck indoors for a day or two due to heavy rain and wind. It could also mean a power outage. We don’t really know what to expect, because we’ve never experienced a hurricane. That’s all the more reason to overprepare, though.

We’re headed out tonight for some provisions. Here’s what we’re picking up:

  • Batteries for the flashlight and radio
  • Ice to pack into the freezer so our meat won’t spoil if we lose power.
  • Foods that don’t require refrigeration or cooking (granola bars, applesauce, cereal, crackers, etc.)
  • A few gallon jugs of water

We may not even need this stuff if the storm is as mild as they’re expected it to be. We feel better being prepared, though, and we should really have a stockpile of water and batteries anyway.

Besides, we might need these provisions and more next week if Hurricane Ike (currently a Category 4) follows its projected path to the Carolina coasts. We’ll be more likely to evacuate than stick it out if that storm comes our way, but the snack foods might come in handy on the road. It’s too early to know for sure where Ike is headed, but my point is that we should be prepared for this storm and future storms now that hurricane season is upon us.

Unfortunately, we hadn’t planned for a mid-week grocery trip to stock up on convenience foods when we set our budget. This could throw things off for us in that department. It’s a bummer, but this is just a reminder of why it’s important to build an extra cushion into your budget. Luckily, I planned for a $400 grocery budget even though I wanted to shoot for $300-$350. So hopefully it won’t throw us off.

I’m hoping it’ll be some rain and wind and that we won’t lose power at all this weekend. I guess we’ll see! I’m just happy we’re going to be prepared.

To all of you who have experienced hurricanes: What else should we do to prepare?!

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TGIF Link Round-up: Clearing Clutter Edition

Inspired by Kacie at Sense to Save who is selling her clutter on eBay and Heather at Freebies 4 Mom who challenged us on Monday to minimize our magazines, I have big plans to spend the weekend clearing some clutter out of my life.

The drawers in my dresser are so stuffed with clothes that I can barely open them anymore. There’s no way I wear all of that. So I’m going through my drawers this weekend and donating everything that’s stuffed into those drawers that I haven’t worn this summer.

As for my magazine stash? Sadly, it’s completely out of control. With 5 different subscriptions between my husband and me, we have stacks of magazines that have built up in every room of the house. They’ve been accumulating for almost a year. Yikes! We also have a stack of paper recycling that’s long overdue for the recycling center, so we’re going to get all of the magazines together along with our paper recycling and get it out of our lives!

Now on to the inspiring posts of the week. Is it just me, or is time going by faster than normal?

  • Emily at Remodeling this Life wrote an inspiring post about her motivation to stay frugal. This is a great reminder of what lies ahead for those of us still working to get out of debt, and a reminder of why it’s important to be frugal even after you’ve paid the debt down.

So now it’s on to the decluttering! Wish me luck! Happy Friday everyone!

Why I wouldn’t sell my engagement ring

This morning Frugal Babe linked to a post she wrote last year about selling her engagement ring to invest the money instead. I’ve spent the whole day thinking about it, and I decided I had to post my thoughts on the topic.

I should start by saying I really admire Frugal Babe’s point of view. It’s practical and honest, and in most cases, I absolutely agree that expensive “stuff” is not a practical use of your money. Because I don’t believe in owning extravagant jewelry, I stopped and thought to myself, “Is this something I would consider doing?” After considering it all day, the answer I’ve come to is, “No, I wouldn’t.” Here’s why:

I agree with Frugal Babe on one aspect; my engagement ring doesn’t serve as an adequate representation of my commitment to my husband. If it was lost, stolen, or even sold tomorrow, it wouldn’t change the fact that I’m committed to him for the rest of my life. The ring has nothing to do with that.

I also agree that extravagant jewelry isn’t a responsible asset. In fact, I already own the only two pieces of jewelry that I plan to own for the rest of my life: my engagement ring and a pearl necklace passed down from my grandmother to my mother then to me on my wedding day. Even my wedding band is just a plain white gold band — no stones or ornamentation whatsoever. I don’t even think we paid $100 it.

To me, my engagement ring and that pearl necklace transcend the value of ordinary jewelry. I can’t imagine selling either of them because I don’t see a dollar value when I look at them. I doubt either the necklace or the ring would be worth much to someone else, but they’re priceless to me.

My engagement ring isn’t a frivolous accessory that I wear to show off. I wear it as a reminder of all of the days I spent with my husband before our wedding day. It doesn’t represent our commitment, but in a way it does represent our history because it was given to me the day he proposed. Though we paid much less for my plain wedding band, the two rings are equally meaningful to me. My wedding band represents the days we’ll spend together after the wedding.

The engagement ring is a diamond, and I won’t lie — I wanted the traditional “engagement ring.” It was exactly what I pictured; a simple, small solitaire. I was thrilled when my husband gave it to me. But I would have married him with or without the diamond. If I found out tomorrow the ring I’ve been wearing is a cubic zirconia, it wouldn’t mean any less to me. It wouldn’t have meant less to me if I had known it then. However, to sell this ring and replace it with another WOULD change its meaning, only because the new ring wouldn’t be a part of that history.

It’s not the diamond or its intrinsic value that matters to me. To be honest, if something happened to my engagement ring, I doubt I would replace it at all. I would probably just wear a plain wedding band, because to me, there’s no point in trying to recreate that history.

The same thing is true for my pearl necklace. I have no idea what its resale value is, nor do I care to find out. There isn’t a dollar amount you could offer me that would make me consider giving it up. If something happened to it, I wouldn’t replace it. Its value isn’t in what I could get from it if I sold it; it comes from the way it makes me feel to own something that once belonged to the women I admire most.

I never had any interest in owning a pearl necklace, because I’m just not that into jewelry. My wedding and engagement rings are the only pieces of jewelry I ever wear, even on special occasions. But when my mother told me after the wedding that the pearl necklace that had once belonged to my grandmother was mine to keep, it became my most treasured possession because of its history.

I like to think that my engagement ring will be that valuable one day. I’ll wear it every day for the next 60 years, and hopefully I’ll be able to pass it on to a granddaughter before I die. When I think of the joy that it will continue to bring to me or someone close to me for years to come, the money that we spent on it seems less important.

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Just say no to the birthday lunch

It’s lunch time, and I’m sitting at my desk eating last night’s leftovers alone. Don’t feel sorry for me, though. The hardest part is over.

You see, I’m a faithful brown bagger. The majority of my colleagues go out to lunch every day, but there’s usually one of two fellow brown baggers who stay behind. It’s someone different every day, but I usually have someone to eat with me. But today is someone’s birthday, so I’m eating alone.

Saying no to the birthday lunch is no easy feat. In addition to the email reminders I’ve received for the past few days, about 10 people stopped by my desk this morning to remind me. “It’s Susan’s birthday today! I know you normally bring a lunch, but you’re coming today, right?” I politely declined. “You’re not coming? Oh, come on, you can eat leftovers any day! It’s Susan’s birthday!” Through all the pressure, I stood my ground. Not easy considering the fact that birthday lunch pressure is even greater than the everyday pressure to go out to eat.

Many people just cannot fathom why I wouldn’t want to join them. They think that if they ask me several times with varying degrees of insistence, I might change my mind. Some people get downright pushy. While I appreciate the invitations, enough is enough.

Now before you label me an evil antisocial birthday hater, hear me out. I love birthdays. I’m usually the first in line to offer well wishes and sign cards. I even used to make an exception to my brown bagging rule and join my co-workers on birthdays.

Then I started noticing how much those little exceptions were costing me. It’s not just birthday lunches. It’s all the little things that aren’t a part of the budget, but you tell yourself, “Oh, just this once can’t hurt.” Then it’s the end of the month, and you’ve blown a hundred dollars on “just this once” exceptions.

Birthday lunches used to be one of those little exceptions for me. The last office birthday was two weeks ago. There is another birthday today, and another in three weeks. I know, it sounds like I’m overreacting. Surely with all the penny pinching we do, I can afford to go out to lunch to celebrate a colleague’s birthday once a month. After all, don’t I believe in making extra room in the budget for the little luxuries? But I just can’t justify spending $10 on a lunch out when I have leftovers from last night that will be wasted if I don’t eat them today. To me, that’s not a luxury; it’s just wasteful.

Going out to lunch isn’t just a waste of the $10 I would spend at the restaurant. It’s also a waste of the delicious chicken Alfredo that my husband made last night … enough to feed a family of four, and just the two of us to eat it.

It’s hard to say no, especially when people act dumbstruck. They have a point. Who doesn’t enjoy getting out of the office to enjoy a nice lunch? I know I do. But I’ve made a commitment to save money, and unnecessary restaurant meals were the first thing to go. We have plenty to eat at home, and it costs a fraction of what I would pay at a restaurant. If I don’t draw the line at this birthday, then when will I? If we don’t set limits and stick to them, then what’s the point of setting limits?

I do believe that it’s important to make room in your budget for extra luxuries that are really important to you, but lunches out just aren’t a priority for me. I’d rather use my entertainment budget to enjoy a meal out with my husband once a month or a Sunday matinee. It may sound selfish, but if you don’t make those choices and stand by them, then you’re no longer making “little exceptions”; you’re just overspending.

I don’t want to blow my budget with a hundred little exceptions this month. So I’m just saying no.

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What I Learned on “The Suze Orman Show” last night

Suze Orman is my financial hero. I love her philosophies on money management because she focuses not only on money, but on the emotions surrounding our money. Too many financial advisers ignore the fact that money is one of the most emotional topics in our lives.

Suze believes that in order to make real progress in your finances and bring about real change, it’s important to address the fear, shame, and anger associated with your past financial decisions. Only then can you move on and start fresh. Otherwise, your financial demons will continue to haunt you.

If you’ve never seen her show or read one of her books, I recommend tuning in Saturday nights on CNBC or check out “The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom” or “The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke” from your library.

I learn a lot from every episode. Here’s a round up of the best tips from last night’s show for those of you who aren’t dorky enough to watch it faithfully every week. Happy Sunday!

• When interest rates are low, like now, do not lock in interest rates for long-term accounts. It’s better to keep even large amounts of money liquid in savings and money market accounts for now. When the market rebounds and interest rates start to rise again, then is the time to commit to long-term investments like CDs and bonds.

It seems like common sense, but I would probably be tempted to lock in a large amount of money at 5% instead of my 3% interest rate savings account to get the additional 2% interest. However, I’d be kicking myself 3 years later when rates rose to 7% or 8% and I was locked into a 5% CD for 10 years.

• When a spouse or partner is going behind your back and racking up thousands of dollars in credit card debt, your biggest problem isn’t the debt; it’s the deceit. If you don’t sort out the issues behind the overspending and deceit then it won’t matter if you pay off the debt because your partner is likely to rack up more.

As Suze says, in this day and age it’s often not, “Til death do you part; it’s til debt do you part.” I agree. Solid relationships are built on trust, and your finances are an essential part of that trust. Making sure you’re on the same financial page as your partner is one of the most important steps you can take to ensure the long-term success of your relationship.

• FDIC insurance only covers $100,000 per depositor per financial institution, so if you’re holding more than that in a traditional bank, split it up into different financial institutions to ensure that you’re protected.

• When it comes to investing, “It’s better to do nothing with your money than to do something you don’t understand.” Do your research before you do anything. Enough said

• When Suze denies or approves someone on the “Can I Afford it?” segment, she hits a pedal under her desk to control whether the “Approved” or “Denied” graphic comes up on the screen. Who knew?

• Suze would rather you invest the $60 a month you’re paying to watch her show on cable into your savings or retirement accounts. Really, she said that.

• Private student loans are evil. The lenders can set the interest rates as high as they want, and you can never get out of it. Not even if you file for bankruptcy. Do NOT take out private student loan debt. Not for you, not for your kids. Period. I have personal experience with this one. I wish someone had told the young, naïve 18-year-old me to stick with federal loans if any.

Welcome to the new and improved Living Well on Less!

I spent hours agonizing and stayed up way past my bedtime last night, but here’s the new and improved site! I registered a domain name, designed a logo, and moved everything over. I’m happy with the WordPress blog, but I did made a few mistakes along the way.

After researching prices for web hosting with the major sites, I decided I just wasn’t comfortable dropping $100-$200 to register a domain and host a site. I discovered that WordPress offers a domain registration option for only $15 for a year. No monthly hosting fees. It seemed to be the best option for someone like me with little experience managing a blog. So I decided to go for it.

It was only AFTER I started building my site that I realized that I have no control over the template with a WordPress blog, and there are strict limits on what I can add to my sidebars. For instance, no ads, which is fine with me because I’m nowhere near ready for a step like that. Unfortunately, though, I can’t really add any HTML whatsoever, so no Entrecard, which I did want to add. Bummer.

I’ll be able to switch to another host in 60 days, so that’ll give me some time to get the hang of managing a blog before I take full control. By that point, I’ll probably feel better about committing to a hosting service. In the end it’s probably for the best. But I’m still kicking myself for jumping in without doing all the research. Oops.

My next step was designing a logo. I really wanted something personalized, but I didn’t have any design software. Photoshop, which is my absolute favorite, costs about $650. Um, no thanks. However, Adobe offers a free 30-day trial of Photoshop. Perfect! So I downloaded it, designed my logo, and saved it as a jpg file. For free. I’m pretty excited about that. I’m also pretty proud of my first logo design. What do you think?

I’ve never done anything like this before, so I was bound to make some mistakes. Hopefully I won’t make too many more before I finally get the hang of it.

I hope you like the new layout! I’d love for you to leave me a comment and let me know you’re reading. :)

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