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The Best of Being Frugal – 2009

Lynnae — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 11:00:22 +0000

I thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of the posts I’ve written over the last year. So I picked a favorite from every month. Tomorrow I’ll give you my analysis of how my year went financially, and on Friday we’ll take a look at what I hope to accomplish in 2010! Enjoy!

January: A Budget Provides Freedom

February: Surviving a Recession – Lessons From Our Ancestors

March: How to Get Out of Debt

April: Our School Decision and How We Got There

May: You Tell Me: Are Newspapers on the Way Out?

June: Frugal Options for TV and Movie Buffs

July: Perhaps the Government Needs to be Educated in the Value of an Emergency Fund.

August: Don’t Get Hacked or Scammed

September: Is Your Escrow Money Safe? Maybe Not!

October: Does a Bad Economy Equal a Sad Christmas for the Kids?

November: Don’t Wait Until January to Think About Budgeting

December: “You Need a Credit Card to Establish Credit”

I’m still amazed that I’ve been writing for two and half years, and I haven’t run out of things to say yet. I’ll have to ponder what that says about me. :)

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Passing Down the Frugal Gene

Lynnae — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:00:46 +0000

It’s almost 2010, and people everywhere are snatching up 2010 calendars in an effort to get organized. Except for my daughter. Oh, she uses a calendar, but she doesn’t buy one. She makes it. By herself. And she’s made her own calendars for the last 3 years.

Stargirl, as we call our daughter, is incredibly creative. She’s also by nature a frugal person, more frugal than I am, in fact. Yes, there are times when my 11 year old daughter reminds me that I am not making the frugal choice.

Anyway, back to Stargirl and her calendar. She could easily buy a tween-friendly calendar for $10 or so. But she loves Webkinz, so she decided to use her creativity to make her own unique Webkinz calendar.

She took pictures of her Webkinz in various scenes, from sitting under an umbrella (April showers) to trick or treating (for October). Then she printed out a blank 2010 calendar, glued on the photos, hole punched the pages, and tied them together neatly.

And now she has one tween-friendly calendar at a tween-friendly price.

There’s a lot to be learned from Stargirl. Too frequently we buy things that we don’t need to buy at all. Perhaps we have something else that could work. Or perhaps we can make something to fit our need. Or borrow something.

And too frequently we settle for store-bought, because it’s what everyone else is doing. Or because it’s easier. Stargirl’s calendar isn’t as polished as one you’d find in a store, and to some that might be a turn-off. But it showcases her personality and it’s unique. One thing that I admire about my daughter is that she has the courage to be different. Even at the tender age of eleven, when being different isn’t easy.

To be frugal, you have to have the courage to be different. You have to manage your money in a way that makes sense for you, even when the rest of the world looks at you funny. Sometimes that means being a bit unconventional, and that’s OK. As Dave Ramsey says, live like no one else today, so tomorrow you can live like no one else (meaning being debt-free).

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I Won an Amazon Kindle!

Lynnae — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:00:18 +0000

This is one of those gadgets that I’ve been coveting for a long time, but am too frugal to buy for myself. On Christmas Eve I saw a link to a giveaway for an Amazon Kindle at Rich Christian, Poor Christian. I decided to enter, and on Christmas Day, I found out I had won! I should be receiving my Kindle in the next couple of weeks.

By the way, if you have never checked out the Rich Christian, Poor Christian blog, you should. The blog is new to me, but I like what I’ve seen so far. So my contest entry was a double win. I won a Kindle, and I found a great blog to follow!

Why I’ve Been Wanting a Kindle

I love the idea of a Kindle. If you have ever been to my house, you know why. I have two bookshelves in the entryway…both full. There are two bookshelves in the dining room…both full. And we have a bookshelf in our bedroom…full. Plus at the moment, there’s a stack of books on my bedroom floor that I moved to make way for Christmas decorations. I love books.

A Kindle Cuts Down Clutter. With a Kindle, you can store up to 1500 books with no book clutter! I know I’m geeky, but I’m thrilled with the idea of having a library that big at my fingertips!

A Kindle is a Great Travel Companion. Over the last year I’ve done a fair amount of traveling. I love to pack reading material, but I never know what I’m going to be in the mood to read. A Kindle allows you to pack a ton of books, without wasting precious carryon space. And if you need a new book while you’re waiting in the airport, you can just order one up on Amazon and get it before you board the plane!

I actually used the Kindle iPhone app a lot while traveling this year, but the iPhone screen is way too small for my aging eyes. I think I’m going to enjoy the bigger Kindle screen.

A Kindle Allows You to Adjust the Font Size. Like I said in the paragraph above, my eyes are getting older. I had to get my first pair of reading glasses this year. I like the idea that I can adjust the font size on my Kindle to make reading easier. You can’t do that with a regular book.

A Kindle Saves Paper. I’m not extremely green or anything, but I do like to be a good steward of the earth God has given us. Books use a lot of paper. A Kindle doesn’t.

Why I Haven’t Bought a Kindle

I know you’re wondering why I haven’t bought a Kindle before now, if I’m in love with the idea so much. Well, there are a few drawbacks to a Kindle.

You Can’t Borrow E-Books From the Library (unless you have a very hip library). I love to use the library. I have a stack of borrowed books sitting on my table right now, in fact. Yes, there are free books for the Kindle, mostly classics that are now in the public domain. But you can’t read the latest releases on the Kindle, unless you buy them. And I’m a pretty frugal person, so you can see how this doesn’t sit really well with me.

I Like the Smell of Traditional Books. Call me weird, but I love walking into a bookstore, because of the smell. There’s nothing like a brand new, freshly opened book. I’m sure a Kindle won’t give me that fresh book smell.

I Like Seeing How Much I’ve Read. When I pick up a traditional book with a bookmark marking my place, I can see how much of the book I’ve read and how much I have left. If the Kindle is anything like the iPhone app, it’s hard to gauge how much I’ve read.

I Like Sharing My Books. Have you ever heard a friend mention a book she’d like to read and realize that you own the book? And then the natural thing to do is to say, “Oh, I have that book! Would you like to borrow it?” That doesn’t work really well on a Kindle. You’d have to let your friend borrow your Kindle, which would pretty much involve letting her borrow your whole library.

That’s the gist of my feelings about the Kindle. Yes, I’m thrilled I won, and I’m looking forward to holding that Kindle in my hot little hands. And I know I’m going to enjoy it a lot. A LOT!!! Just ask my brother, who was on the phone with me when I read the email that I had won. I think I screamed!

But if I had not won, I wouldn’t rush out to buy one. There are just too many cons to justify the expense right now, especially for a frugal person like me.

What do you think of the Kindle and other electronic book readers? Are they worth the expense? If you have one, have you used it a lot?

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Christmas Reflections

Lynnae — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 02:28:20 +0000

I’m writing this on Christmas evening. The kids are contentedly watching a new Tom & Jerry DVD, my husband is in the den on the computer, and I have a few free moments. I wasn’t going to write tonight, but I’m feeling kind of sad that Christmas is coming to an end.

I don’t usually feel that way after Christmas. I love Christmas, but by the time the day is over, I’m usually ready to look forward to the New Year. But this year Christmas just seemed extra special, so I had to ask myself why. And I’ve come up with a few reasons.

The bad news. I’ve heard a lot of bad news in the last month or so. Deaths. Cancer. Financial trouble. None of it hit so close to home that it devastated me, but it was close enough that I spent a lot of time on my knees praying for people. And all the bad news made me extremely grateful for the blessings we have. Health, family, my husband’s job. We are very blessed, even in a lean year like this one.

Thoughtfulness. We didn’t have the funds for expensive Christmas gifts this year. I wasn’t too sad about it, but I wondered how the kids would react after receiving a Wii last year. I thought they’d be OK, but I didn’t know.

They were thrilled with their presents! They both got Webkinz, some clothes, and each got a new DVD. To judge from their reactions, they had the best Christmas ever. And as usual, the kids picked out gifts for us, too. It’s always fun to see what they pick and how well they know us. I received chocolate from my daughter and a Dale Earnhardt Jr. biography from my 7 year old son. He knows Dale Jr. is my favorite NASCAR driver, and he knows I like to read, so this was a logical gift, in his mind.

And my husband, sneaky man that he is, made a mental note of a book title I wrote down after it was mentioned in church a couple of weeks ago. He then tracked down the book on Amazon and ordered it. I’m a really tough person to buy for, because I have everything I want and need. I never know what to ask for, so the fact that he took notice and got a book that I was going to hunt down meant a lot to me.

Gifts don’t have to be expensive to mean a lot. If the recipient can see the thoughtfulness that goes into a gift, it will be priceless, no matter how small the price tag.

Keeping Our Eyes on Jesus. This year we made a big effort to keep meaning in the Christmas season. In our homeschool, the kids learned about Nazareth, Bethlehem, and Shepherd’s Field. We imagined what Mary and Joseph’s journey must have been like. We looked at pictures of mangers on the internet.

Perhaps the best thing we did was read the advent story Jotham’s Journey. It’s fictional, but it takes place around the time of Jesus’ birth, and it was a gripping story with lots to think about. The kids really got into it, and we finished reading it this morning, before we opened presents.

When I look back and remember this Christmas, I’m going to remember gathering together on our bed this morning to read. I’ll remember the kids playing together with their Webkinz. I’ll remember a slow and relaxing day with the people I love most, celebrating our Savior’s birth.

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Merry Christmas!

Lynnae — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 11:00:14 +0000

We hope you have a very blessed day! Merry Christmas from the Being Frugal Family!

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Do It Yourself Frugality

Lynnae — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:10:13 +0000

There’s a reason I haven’t posted more this week. For the last couple of days, I’ve been moving my websites over to a new host. There wasn’t really anything wrong with my old host, but it was more hosting than I need right now.

So as of now, Media Temple is my new webhost. What does that have to do with Do It Yourself Frugality, you ask? Let me tell you.

I don’t have a background in technology. Everything I’ve learned about managing a blog has come from asking a lot of questions and doing a lot of Google searches. So the thought of moving Being Frugal.net and Bump-Drafts.com (my husband’s blog) scared me. I almost decided to pay somebody else to move my site for me.

The more I thought about it, though, the more I didn’t want to pay someone. First of all, I’m frugal. Second, I wanted my sites moved soon, and there was no way anyone could do it for me before the holidays. I didn’t even want to ask. That would have been pretty unreasonable of me. So I decided to give it a try myself, figuring if I screwed up, I could pay someone to fix it.

So, I found some tutorials on the internet and got to work. When I hit a glitch, my friends were wonderful about giving advice and encouragement. (Thanks, Mrs. Micah, Larry, Mike, Patrick & Pete!) And Media Temple’s tech support was really helpful, too.

To make a long story short, I was able to get my sites moved. It probably took me at least twice as long as someone who knows what they’re doing, but I learned a lot in the process. I’m not scared of ssh anymore, and I know more about DNS than I ever wanted to.

The bottom line is, often it’s good to try things yourself, even if you aren’t sure you’re up to the task. It might take you longer than a professional, but you’ll save money and learn a lot along the way.

Have you ever tried to do something yourself, when you weren’t sure you’d be able to? How did it work out for you?

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12 Days of Christmas – Revisited

Lynnae — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:00:48 +0000

With this being Christmas week and my schedule being busy, I’m not sure how much time I’ll have for original posts. So I thought I’d bring out some of my favorites from years past.

Two years ago a bunch of bloggers got together to bring you the 12 Days of Christmas – Personal Finance Style. There’s a lot of good information here. Have fun perusing the 12 Days.

On the first day of Christmas, the bloggers brought to me….The Best Way to Manage Money! And what is that, you ask?

Spend less than you earn. If you master that principle, you will be well on your way to financial freedom. Begin by making a list of all your expenses.

First think about your fixed expenses, the things that don’t change from month to month. Include things like

Housing (rent or mortgage)
Car Payments
Insurance Payments
Prescription medications that you take on a regular basis

Basically include everything you pay a fixed amount for. Don’t forget irregular payments like your auto insurance policy that you renew every six months.

Then make a list of other necessary expenses, the things you need to buy every month, but are a bit more variable in nature. Include

Food
Entertainment
Gas for your car
Birthdays and Christmas

Double check your list to make sure you’ve included every possible expense. For the items, like insurance, that you only pay every six months, divide the number into 12 equal monthly payments. For irregular expenses like Christmas, figure out what you typically spend and then divide that number by 12 months. At this point you should have a pretty good idea of what you need to spend every month.

Then take a look at your income. What do you bring in every month? If it’s more than your expenses, you’re in good shape, and you’re already spending less than you earn.

If your income is less than your expenses, you need to cut some things out of your budget. Perhaps you can trim the grocery bill. Maybe it’s time to get rid of cable T.V. Do whatever you have to do to bring the amount of your expenses below your income.

If there’s no way you can bring your expenses below your income, it’s time to look at raising your income. Can you sell some stuff on eBay to pay off the credit cards? Do a little freelance work to make the budget stretch? Get creative. I know it’s not easy, and I’ve definitely been there. I am there now, actually.

In the last few months, since my husband lost his job as an advertising sales manager, he’s done janitorial work at night, freelance copywriting, board operation for a radio station, and work at a call center for Harry & David. It hasn’t been a lot of fun at times, but we’ve managed to avoid touching what’s left of our savings.

If you put your mind to it, most of the time you can find a way to spend less than you earn. And if you honestly can’t, then it’s time to accept some help until you can get back on your feet.

For more 12 Days of Christmas, visit:

Day 2 – Two Guaranteed Ways to Financial Freedom – Credit Withdrawal
Day 3 – Three Paid Credit Cards -DebtFREE-Revolution
Day 4 – 4 Calling Tips – Plonkee Money
Day 5 – 5 Golden Rules of Snowflaking – I’ve Paid for This Twice Already…
Day 6 – 6 Streams of Income – Moolanomy
Day 7 – 7 Tips When You’re Swimming (in debt) – Working for Financial Freedom
Day 8 – 8 Maids a Milking – rocket finance
Day 9 – 9 Financial Lessons – Cash Money Life
Day 10 – 10 Creative Ways to Cut Up Your Credit Card -Gather Little by Little
Day 11 – 11 Ways to Get paid (…for Pipers…) – Mrs. Micah
Day 12 – 12 Frugal Things You Can Do This Week – Being Frugal.net

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“You Need a Credit Card to Establish Credit”

Lynnae — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:00:21 +0000

I was watching Dr. Phil yesterday afternoon, when he interviewed a young couple. They had become engaged, but the young lady hadn’t yet told her mother. But that’s not what jumped out at me.

During the course of the conversation with Dr. Phil, it came out that one of the young lady’s concerns about her fiance was that he didn’t have a credit card to establish credit.

While I agree that having a credit card can help establish credit, too often that’s the end of the advice. As a young person, I was told that I needed a credit card to establish credit. But the advice right behind that statement needs to be “Pay off your credit card in full every month, and don’t go into debt.” Unfortunately that bit of advice isn’t often talked about.

What Dr. Phil thankfully pointed out was that although the young man didn’t have any credit, he also didn’t have any debt. The young woman? Oh, she had plenty of credit….and $10,000 worth of credit card debt to go along with it.

Personally, I’d rather be in the young man’s position.

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You Tell Me: Teacher Gifts…Yay or Nay?

Lynnae — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:00:26 +0000

Tomorrow afternoon, students all over the country will be heading home for Christmas break. This week teachers are madly wrapping up lessons and dealing with squirrely children, who are anxious for school to let out. Which leads to the question…what are parents doing for teacher gifts this year?

And for the first time in six years, I don’t have to think about teacher gifts, because I am the teacher! But in past years, this was an issue I always struggled with. First, there’s the question of whether to get a gift for the teacher at all. And then, if you do get a gift, who gets gifts? The teacher, of course. But what about aides? Speech therapists? Bus drivers?

In the past, I’ve done everything from “only the teacher gets a gift” to “everyone gets a gift” to “my kid will make a card, because we can’t afford gifts.” And really, I think all of those approaches are acceptable. I think most teachers wouldn’t want parents to stress themselves financially by getting gifts. A card from the student or a note of appreciation speaks volumes.

I believe the most important issue isn’t whether or not a teacher receives a Christmas gift from each parent. The important issue is that teachers feel supported and appreciated for the difficult and important jobs they do. So whether or not you get your child’s teacher a gift this year, please take the time to say “Thank you” when you have the chance.

So what’s your opinion? Are teacher gifts necessary? What do you do for your children’s teachers? I’d love to hear the teachers’ perspectives, too!

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My Christmas Movie Top 10

Lynnae — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:00:11 +0000

‘Tis the season of bad weather and time to stay indoors. My family loves to watch movies, and the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is prime Christmas movie time.

The thing about watching movies is that it’s not too expensive. If you have a Redbox account, DVDs cost a buck a night. We have a Netflix account, because we watch a lot of movies for school. And even if you don’t rent DVDs, if you have cable or satellite TV, Christmas movies abound on many stations right now.

In no particular order, here are my family’s favorite movies of the season. If I found a TV listing, I listed the day and channel, in case you’d like to watch. I didn’t list times, because I had a hard time finding which time zone the listings were for. Check your local listings for times.

My Family’s Favorite Christmas Movies

1. The Polar Express. Possibly my son’s favorite movie of all times. Based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg, The Polar Express recounts the adventure of a boy who travels to the North Pole on Christmas Eve by train. We own this one and watch it several times every year. Watch on ABC Family on December 23.

2. Elf. If The Polar Express is my son’s favorite holiday movie, Elf is my daughter’s. Will Ferrell plays a man, who was adopted by elves as a baby. Now grown up, he returns to the U.S. to find his father. We’re not Will Ferrell fans, most of the time, but he’s pretty good in this movie. Watch December 18 on USA.

3. The Nativity Story. The kids and I actually watched this one for the first time yesterday. It’s not a lighthearted movie, by any means, and there are some scenes that aren’t suitable for young children. It really makes you reflect on what Mary and Joseph must have gone through in the time leading up to Christ’s birth, though. It’s not completely Biblically accurate, but the relationship between Mary and Joseph is worth watching.

4. The Christmas Shoes. This one is for the sappy movie lovers out there. I cry every time I watch it. Based on a country music song, The Christmas Shoes tells the story of two families. Workaholic Robert Layton works so much, he misses out on his wonderful family. Meanwhile, in another family, mother Maggie Andrews is dying, and her son just wants to buy her a pair of red dancing shoes for Christmas, before she dies. The lives of the two families cross, and you are left with a real tear-jerker. Watch December 24 on Lifetime Movie Network.

5. Miracle on 34th Street. I love the remade version of the classic movie. Mara Wilson is perfect as the little girl, who doesn’t believe in Santa, and Elizabeth Perkins is great as her all-too-practical mother. On ABC Family December 23.

6. It’s a Wonderful Life. Is there anyone who hasn’t seen this classic? It’s the story of George Bailey, who has so many problems, he wants to end his life at Christmas time. An angel comes to earth to show him what life would have been like, had he never been born. You will most certainly find this one on network TV as Christmas approaches. On NBC December 24 at 8:00 p.m.

7. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. What’s not to like about the Griswolds? OK, there’s a lot not to like, but they sure are funny! Watching a disaster-prone dad trying to put the perfect Christmas celebration together makes the little things that go wrong in my Christmas season look pretty minor. This movie is a great diversion.

8. The Santa Clause. Tim Allen plays a workaholic, who accidentally agrees to take over as Santa Claus. As he grows (in more ways than one) into his new role, his relationship with his son improves. But his ex-wife and her new husband have their concerns about Allen’s new role in life, and seek to protect son, Charlie, from dad’s influence.

9. Home Alone. I first saw this movie in the theater as a college student, and it’s been on my holiday favorite list ever since. Home Alone is the tale of 8 year old Kevin, who is accidentally left at home by his parents, when they travel to France for Christmas. While waiting for his parents to come home, Kevin must defend his home from would-be burglars. Macaulay Culkin is perfect in the role of Kevin.

10. A Christmas Story. Possibly my husband’s favorite flick. It’s the story of Ralphie, a boy who is on a mission to convince his parents to get him the perfect Christmas present: a Red Ryder BB gun. I had actually never watched this movie until a few years ago. You have to be in a silly mood to “get” this movie, but if you’re in the right mood, it’s hysterical! Our family jokes about portions of this movie all year long. 24 hour marathon begins on Christmas Eve on TBS.

Now that you know my favorite holiday movies, what are yours?

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