Shop Around

Prices can vary a lot between insurance companies. When we switched insurance companies several years ago, we ended up getting better coverage at a lower price. Shopping around is as easy as making a few phone calls. Oftentimes insurance companies can give you a quote over the phone.

You should compare at least three insurance companies before making a decision. Checking out three to five companies will give you a good idea of how expensive insuring your car will be. Make your final decision based not only on price, but on the company’s reputation. It’s no good to have car insurance with a company that has a reputation for not coming through when a customer needs it.

Ask About Discounts

Insurance companies offer a wide variety of discounts, so make sure to ask if you qualify for a price break. Typical discounts include the good driver discount, a discount for multiple policies (for instance car insurance and home insurance), good student discounts, low mileage discounts, and car safety discounts.

Discounts may vary by insurance company, making step number 1, shopping around, very important. Make sure you ask about any discounts when you shop around.

Use Your Good Credit

In many states, credit score can be used to help determine insurance premiums. Even companies that don’t use credit scores to determine premiums may offer discounts for customers with good credit. Our insurance company sends us a notice each year, asking us if we want to allow them to use our credit to help lower our premium. Of course we do!

Knowing that insurance companies use credit scores makes it important to stay on top of your credit. If you know you have bad credit, work to improve it. And it’s a good idea to review your credit report frequently. You can get a free annual copy of your credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies at www.annualcreditreport.com.

Raise Your Deductible

Car insurance premiums get lower as your deductible gets higher. If you can afford to take a deductible of $500 or even $1,000, you will save money over a policy with a $250 deductible. Before raising your deductible, however, make sure you have the money in savings to cover it.

Also, if you have an old clunker car, consider dropping collision and comprehensive insurance. There’s no sense paying a monthly insurance premium on a car that isn’t worth the deductible.

If you have any doubt whether or not you’re getting the best value on your car insurance, make a few phone calls. You may find that you’re able to save a pretty penny, just by making a few adjustments!

Do you have any tips to help us save more money on car insurance? Please share!

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Notes from Robert

First I use ice cubes that are really small. You should be able to buy these at local stores like Fred Meyer, Target, etc. This is important because if you use large cubes, you will have a lot more chunks in your drink and you won’t be able to use as much ice as the blender won’t break it up enough. Prior to getting these trays I did it with just 5 regular size ice cubes, as any more really mucked up the blender.

Also, I use an Oster Fusion blender that I bought at Costco for less than $50. It has a setting for iced drinks. You need to have a blender that has a setting like this, as it will give you better results. It actually varies the blend speed at several different times during the blending. Several companies make them. If you have unlimited budget, BlendTec makes world class blenders that are used in Starbucks, etc worldwide. But a “consumer” version will set you back $400, so check out Costco for a much cheaper alternative!

Here are the best sources I have found for the ingredients:

• Caffe D’Amore Mocha Frappe Freeze Coffee Mix – This can be found at MOST Costco’s in a 2.3 lb package for under $9. It yields about 90 servings. It is not available at the Medford Costco, but it is at just about every other one in the state. I load up every time I go north.
• Nescafe Tasters Choice Gourmet Roast Coffee – Target has the best price I have ever seen. About $7 for a large container that 60-70 servings (at least). It is on sale right now for slightly more than $6.
• Torani Chocolate Sauce – While you can buy this at Winco and many other stores, the best price I have found is at United Grocer’s Cash & Carry. 64 oz is about $10. They also have sugar free. This is the same chocolate sauce that Dutch Bros uses. Torani also makes a sugar free version of the same sauce.

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• My Credit Cards are Frozen!
• How to Prevent Frozen Water Pipes

Here are a few tips to save money on your next computer:

1. Know Your Needs

As with any big-ticket item, you need to do your homework before you make a purchase. How much computing power do you really need? If you do nothing but surf the internet and type up a few documents, don’t be tempted by the shiniest new processor with the whiz-bang memory. You’ll pay extra for something you don’t need. Only buy the top of the line if you’ll actually use it.

Also, don’t buy a laptop unless you really need to be able to compute on the go. Desktops are a great deal cheaper and the ability to write at Starbucks is not worth the extra cash.

2. Do It Yourself

From installing your own software to building your own machine, it is possible to save a great deal of money by becoming a computer DIY-er. If you are generally computer savvy, this could be a path to substantial savings. Newegg.com is an excellent website to buy the component parts for a computer you build yourself. If that’s a little too daunting, even just doing your own software installation can help. Not only are you saving the money you’d pay the retailer, you can also forego the latest version of a program (or even get the free version, like Open Office instead of Microsoft Office) and save some cash.

3. Save Your Peripherals

Just because you can no longer use the computer tower does not mean you need a new monitor, keyboard, mouse or printer. Similarly, if you can install your old software in your new computer, there is no need to buy new. You do need to double-check your software licensing to be sure your software can be used on multiple computers, however.

4. Buy Refurbished

This is a particularly attractive option if you are committed to buying a particular brand, like Dell or Apple, as it can save you up to 25%. Refurbished models were returned to the manufacturer or failed a quality control check, and were subsequently rebuilt to the same specifications of a new unit. Only purchase a refurbished model from the manufacturer, and be sure that a warranty is included.

5. Remember that Timing is Important

Computers go on sale in August for back to school and December for holiday shoppers. If you can wait, buying with a sale can net you savings, a rebate, or sometimes a free peripheral or upgrades. Even if you have to buy your computer during one of the other 10 months of the year, knowing your brand’s product cycle can still help you save. Buy the last product cycle’s model just as the newest system is debuting, and you can often benefit from a heavy discount.

6. Use Coupons and Discounts

Once you have decided on the right computer for you, do an internet search for a coupon. Techbargains.com provides daily updates on computer coupons, deals and bargains. In addition, students, teachers and employees of certain organizations are eligible for discounts. Ask if you qualify!

Please be sure to check these additional tips to save money on your next computer.

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• How to Save Money on Groceries

No! Don’t reach for that credit card! Don’t open a line of credit at Sears! Try these things first.

• Ask yourself if you can do without the dryer while you save the money to get it fixed or buy a new one. Is it possible for you to line dry your clothes? If you don’t have a lot of laundry and live in a mild climate, that might work. If you have 6 kids, a small house, and it’s the middle of the rainy season, it probably won’t. So…
• See if you can barter with a friend to help you out. Do you know someone who can repair a dryer? Do you have a skill you could offer in return? If so, talk to your friend to find out if bartering is an option. In the past, my husband has traded guitar lessons for car repairs. You never know what kind of a creative trade you might be able to work out.
• Check Freecycle. You wouldn’t believe the kind of stuff people give away! You might not get the latest and greatest dryer this way, but you could probably find something that does the job. And it won’t cost you a dime.
• Check Craigslist. You could probably find an inexpensive dryer on Craigslist. Though not completely free, it costs a lot less to buy a dryer off Craigslist than it does to buy a brand new dryer from Sears.

There are other places you could check for a solution, like your local paper, eBay, or even an auction house. The point is that it’s important to carefully think through your options when you have an emergency. Too often when something breaks, we have the urge to run out to the store immediately and charge the purchase on our credit card. After all, it’s an emergency. Something broke, and we can’t live without it.

But often we can live without it, at least temporarily while we save money to replace it. So the next time you have an emergency, don’t automatically reach for your credit card. Think through your options, and choose the most frugal one. And build up your emergency fund as quickly as you can, so you aren’t tempted to use your credit cards in the first place.

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1. Camp out in a tent in the back yard.
2. Read to your children under a tree.
3. Take a nature walk around the neighborhood. See how many different kinds of flowers, bugs, and animals you can find.
4. Play an old fashioned game of Hide ‘n’ Go Seek.
5. Go to the park.
6. Ride bikes, scooters, or roller skate.
7. If it’s hot enough, turn on the sprinklers and let the kids run through them.

And for the adults…

Sit out on the deck with a good cup of coffee or a glass of wine and just talk to your spouse. It’s like a mini-date after the kids are in bed. Just make sure you break out the citronella candles! I’m paying for my mini-date with mosquito bites up and down my legs.

What are your favorite things to do when the weather warms up?

Photo by Nicholas_T.

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Checklist for a Campout

• 1 Tent (improvise with sheets and a tree, if you have to)
• Sleeping Bags
• Pillows
• Air mattress (optional, but recommended, if you have bad knees)
• Flashlight
• Fire (use the barbecue, if you don’t have a fire pit)
• Ingredients for S’mores (graham crackers, chocolate bars, marshmallows)
• Wire or clean stick

How to Set Up Your Camp

Have the kids help you set up the tent. Make sure you scope out a nice flat spot in the yard. If you don’t have a tent, improvise! When I was a kid, my friends and I tied a couple of blankets together and draped them over a tree branch.

Inflate your air mattress, if you’re using one, and place the mattress, sleeping bags, and pillows in the tent, along with the flashlight.

If you want, roast hot dogs on the grill and have dinner outside, to make this an authentic camping experience. When the sun sets, roast marshmallows over the fire (or barbecue).

Before it’s time to turn in for the night, gather ‘round the fire (or around the flashlight in the tent) and sing songs, tell scary stories or try to find the Big Dipper in the sky. Make sure you spend some time talking. Time in the dark, away from the television and computer, is a great time to find out what’s on your child’s mind.

In the morning cook up some flapjacks, in the kitchen, of course. The benefit of backyard camping is the modern conveniences in the house a few feet away!

Photo by makelessnoise.

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Fast forward many years, and now I do 6-8 loads of wash per week (depending on what sports the kids are playing that season), and thankfully, I’m using my own machines. Laundry costs are still substantial. Here’s how most similar-sized households can save up to $1500 per year in laundry costs.

Laundry Detergent/Products

I’ve made my own detergents for years, using a similar recipe to Lyannae’s How to Make Your Own Homemade Laundry Detergent. I use castile soap instead of bath soap o Fels-Namptha because I want a detergent-free laundry. I pre-treat stains with Dawn, and also use white vinegar as a rise aid (when it is necessary). Laundry detergent savings $198 year.

Laundry Lines/Racks

To save energy on drying, I rack-dry when the weather is warm. Outside line-drying isn’t an option for me since I live in a townhouse. Savings about $28 over the dry months.

Need a quick free drying rack? If you’ve got one of those wooden drop-side cribs that has recently been recalled—grab a side and position it over your tub/shower (mine has a ledge, making it a perfect place to hold a rack like this).

Reduce Drying Time

Adding “laundry balls” to the dryer helps to prevent static, reduce wrinkles and speed drying time, which has eliminated the use of dryer sheets and bars. Laundry balls are just heavy felted soft-ball sized balls. They’re all natural, and their weight gets them bouncing around in the dryer a lot, without adding noise. All of this extra movement in the dryer dries garments much faster. I got my laundry balls (pictured here) from Shayna’s treats http://shaynastreats.com/. I can’t tell exactly what this is saving, but I did notice that when we started using the laundry balls, it seemed to offset the use of our portable air conditioner, so I’m guessing it is a savings of $84 per year.

Need to Replace a Machine?

If you’re using an inefficient machine, or have a machine that may be near failure, it may be time to replace—but don’t buy new! If you don’t have to have the top-of-the-line machine, you can definitely benefit from those who do. Recycled and second-hand building supply stores get lots of washers and dryers. Often, they are the brand-new base models from a new home or condo that was immediately replaced with a designer model by the new owner. Many areas have a used building materials store, we are fortunate to have three of them near us. One can easily find a working high-efficiency, front loading washing machine for $250 or less, compared to a new machine at $600-700. Total savings: At least $350.

Ditch the Dry Cleaning

Dry cleaning not only exposes you to potentially hazardous chemicals, but is expensive! Furthermore, it’s not always necessary. Dry clean typically just means that your garment shouldn’t go through a machine with an agitating system, or would be harmed by traditional detergent or extreme water temperatures.

You can scale back or eliminate your dry cleaning bills by hand-washing your garments with mild soaps (detergent free, such as a pure castile soap). Rodale provides some excellent instructions here.

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• 9 Essential Frugal Cleaning Supplies and Ingredients
• 6 Simple Tricks to Save $1000 On Coffee Per Year

Sure, furniture isn’t what it used to be. My great-great-uncle built our kitchen table shortly after he married his wife who arrived by wagon train in Oregon (not exaggerating!). It looks nearly new, still. But my modern mid-range furniture and kids’ beds are starting to show their age already. I guess they don’t make things like they used to. But admittedly, much of my “mid-grade” furniture was packed flat and assembled with hex wrenches.

But there is good news. There are ways to fix cosmetic damages and wear to your “in-between” furniture. (All that furniture that came after pizza boxes, bricks and boards, and before the furniture you hope to will to your children or grandchildren).

A Few Tips for Repairing Minor Furniture Flaws

Scrapes in Faux Leather

My cat like to ride “co-pilot” on the back of my faux leather chair. But every now and then he surprises me, and I give him cause for alarm. And he gives me small holes in the back of my chair. But to my wonderment, the brown Sharpie pen matches the material perfectly, and obscures the little snags. For larger tears and snags you can buy a leather repair kit that creates a patch.

Real Leather

For small cat scratches and snags on real leather, you may be able to find a shoe polish that matches. If you can, take a needle, and very carefully push the snags back into place. Next, smooth a light coat of the matching shoe polish over the area, and heat it with a hair dryer. Repeat the process several times until the snags are concealed. (Be sure to test your shoe polish on a hidden section of leather to ensure it is a good match first!)

Upholstery

Red wine, dark chocolate, blood, cat vomit, melted crayon, and ice cream: All things I’ve successfully removed from my pale beige sofa!

The melted crayon—it was bright orange, and fully melted. A small child left it in the sunshine on my patio, and brought it in positively dripping with moist wax. He came to show it to me and dragged it across the back of my chaise at the same time! It left a .5” orange gash across the back of my sofa. After contacting Crayola, we discovered that WD-40 would remove molten crayon from the sofa. Sure enough, it did. WD-40, followed by a wash with dish soap to remove the residual oils, and there was no stain left at all. (We raced outside and cleaned the green crayon from the back seat of our car next!)

For other stains, we try to follow the old fashioned chemistry rule of “like dissolves like.” We usually pre-treat with dish soap, and then follow up with a soft scrub brush (even an old toothbrush) and some oxygen bleach. We’ve never had an issue of bleaching, and nothing has ever stained. It helps that we own a steamer. Sometimes, after scrubbing, we put an oxygen bleach or vinegar solution in the steamer and run that over the affected area.

For cat snags, if you’re handy, you may be able to use a needle around the affected areas, and pull individual threads to weave the spot back in. If that doesn’t work, get some clear nail polish, clip the snag and nail polish it in place (be careful to use only a tiny bit, or it will be obvious). The idea is just to provide enough texture that the thread can’t slip back and create a run.

Bashes/Scrapes on Wood

I have a lovely dark walnut colored desk. It sits in my little corner of my living room and serves as my “office.” The downside is that this really is a “discount” desk, and is made of rubberwood. While it’s heavy and stable structurally, if you even lean on it wrong, you leave a ding that goes through he finish and it looks like heck.

For low-frequency injuries, I cover it with a product called Old English Scratch Cover for Dark Woods. It is an oil base, and soaks right into the wood, and it looks beautiful. But for high-damage areas, like the front of the desk, where my chair rubs on the edges, I once again rely on my trusty Sharpie pen. There are also wood and floor markers designed for this sort of thing, but my sharpie is on my desk already, and it was cheap.

Deep Scratches, Nail Holes and Kid Carvings

Yes, kids are ever so cruel to furniture. Our church has recently had an epidemic of kids “carving” things into the walnut pews. You may think that this damage will require a full sand-down, but there’s a pretty good repair available. Minwax makes a wood-toned soft wax fill, that blends beautifully. You smash it into the scrape or gouge, smooth it off, and put a coat of furniture polish over it. Contractors use this to cover nails used to apply finishes like beadboard, and mop boards.If the surface is painted, it’s a good idea to keep a little bit of touch-up paint on hand in matching colors. Most hardware stores can mix small sizes from a sample (even part of the furniture!)

“Ruined” Pots and Pans

Unless you’ve melted a pot or pan to your range, it is likely salvageable. (Note: don’t use scratched, flaking non-stick products, it’s not believed to be safe!) For bad burns, broiled-on-food or the remnants of a stovetop popcorn fire, try some warm water and a product called “water softener.” You can usually find water softener at the hardware store, or a pool/spa store. A couple of tablespoons of it, plus some warm water and soaking time, and you will be able to scrub off almost any messy cookware.

Let me hear it — what was your best home fix?

The home fix I feel most victorious about is still the crayon on the sofa. The sofa was brand-new and the giant swath of molten crayon was so shocking to see, I was sure it could never be salvaged.

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It can’t be denied — cooking for one is a tricky thing. It seems like a lot of work for only a single meal. Dishes made, serving sizes to be determined, and usually too many leftovers. Besides, after all that cooking, you don’t typically have someone else to wash dishes.

I spoke with DebtKid (who prefers to use this alias for privacy reasons, but you can read his story at www.debtkid.com). We compared our single-days experiences. We both seem to remember regular standby meals. For DebtKid, it was Hamburger Helper. For me, frozen taquitos. We’re both pretending that we supplemented this nutritional catastrophe with fresh fruit and vegetables…

In later years, I widened my repertoire with a handy (and also) broke neighbor. As newlyweds, we both cooked for one plus the fridge and traded ideas. Sometimes we even traded entire meals—we’d both made our dinners only to discover we were tired of them, so we simply swapped. My husband worked shifts rarely allowing for a meal together, and her husband was deployed at the time.

Libby (and all of our single-dwelling friends), there is hope! A key technique is to have a bit of a food routine, but not so much routine that you go trading your dinners with the neighbors.

Automate one or two meals a day if you can, leveraging some staple foods.

Here Are Some Things to Always Have On-Hand

Go-to-Meals

Mason jar salads. This site has a number of clever salads made in Mason Jars. The jars keep the greens fresh—just put your dressing in first, and shake it right before serving!

Potatoes. You can bake a whole bunch of them in the oven or a crock pot. (For crock pot, scrub the potatoes, and poke holes in them with a fork, then coat in butter or wrap in foil and place in the crock pot for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high). Leftover baked potatoes should live in the refrigerator. They can be topped with chili and cottage cheese, bacon and cheese, cheese and broccoli, salsa, or even this clever recipe for egg/bacon potato breakfast boats. (I’m trying this tomorrow!)

Eggs: Fried, scrambled, poached, boiled, or baked inside a potato (as above). You can top some canned black beans, rice and avocado with a fried egg for a quick juevos rancheros. Egg in a basket is a quick and easy dish for one (or more) simply cut a hole in a piece of bread with a glass or cookie cutter. Grease a frying pan, and put the toast in on a medium temperature. After a few seconds, add an egg into the hole. And let it cook, then flip it over and cook the other side.

Chicken: Now with a family, I seldom buy a whole prepared chicken. We typically buy two raw ones, and roast them at once. But in a one-or-two person household, I’d do this in an instant! Many supermarkets offer a whole fryer chicken pre-seasoned and cooked (often available in several seasonings). Buy one per week, and split the meat between salads, main meals, and then make a stock from the bones, adding leftover vegetables, or potatoes and leeks and freeze in individual portions for later use or lunches for work.

Produce: Buy spinach instead of lettuce. It does double-duty in the fridge and freezer. If it’s in danger of spoiling—keep a big zipper bag in the freezer and add your fresh spinach to it. For avocados, use �, and leave the seed in the remaining half and spritz with lemon or vinegar before refrigerating to use the next day. Buy apples and oranges in the amount that you can use. Apples, pears, squashes, zucchini and the like all freeze well if you can’t use them all. You can puree or shred into ice cube trays and use in baking (especially bran muffins!) Many foods can be chopped, frozen on trays, and then put into bags. (I do this during the summer with bell peppers, and use them year-round from the freezer). Fresh ginger can be kept in the freezer—just use a cheese grater and grate the amount you want into your cooking. Cook hearty greens that freeze well. Collards are great when boiled with ginger and garlic or bacon and brown sugar. Leftovers freeze and store well.

Meats: Don’t be afraid to ask the butcher to downsize your order. Order 1-2 salmon steaks instead of the whole fish (or order the whole fish, have them cut it in steaks and freeze it separately—when packed properly, salmon freezes well!). You can often find pre-packaged individual steaks in the freezer section. Canned salmon and tuna are great for sandwiches and salads, and the trusty whole-roasted chicken from the deli. Some groceries cater to smaller family sizes and pack accordingly. The Trader Joe’s near me does a great job of packing single-serving size foods. Don’t forget the seafood. You get to do what those of us with larger families only dream of doing…. buy scallops and oysters! Maybe it’s just a Northwestern thing, but I’d need a second mortgage around here to share oysters and scallops with the whole crew. (The kids and I are getting fishing licenses this year though, so we can go crabbing and clamming).

Avoid: Beware of the packed-in-a-cardboard-box convenience foods. They typically aren’t very healthy, and aren’t a good value. If you really love the convenience of a hamburger-noodle casserole in a box, investigate a home-made alternative (this site offers some great home-hacked alternatives). Avoid the takeout every-day routine. Avoid the “I can’t buy anything fresh because I can’t use it all” mindset. Yes, you can use it. With the right techniques for utilizing and preserving, you can use your entire purchase.

Must Haves

Own a toaster oven. You can cook so many things, so much faster, and using less energy. I still have my toaster oven from my single days. Only one button still works, but it’s just what I want when I want to whip up a midnight snack. You can even get “single-sized” bread pans, muffin tins, and cooking pans to make little lasagna, or casserole, without getting a great big dish dirty. It’s perfect for 1-2 servings, and easy to clean up after if you have a tiny kitchen.

Ok readers, time to chime in! Without using a meal-in-a box, how can our single readers eat frugally, and nutritionally?

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For many of us, this kind of annual pressure doesn’t fit our budget, but also, doesn’t fit our lifestyles. You may prefer to focus on the real meaning of Christmas, without feeling like a “party pooper” or wrecking your annual budget.

When my husband and I adopted our daughters, we knew two things—they don’t have the expectation of mountains of presents under the tree, and most importantly, they simply need us—our presence, not our cash. We do very low-key Christmas gifts. Each child gets a Christmas stocking with a few items, usually a movie, mittens, a couple of candies, hair beads, and a small toy or accessory to a toy they already have. This reduces our stress, and prevents them from being overwhelmed. We also make a point to spend a lot of quality time together, talking about the real meaning of the holiday season.

To control your holiday budget, try implementing some of the following ideas:

1. Manage expectations. Nobody needs piles of presents. Trust that “less is more.” It’s more time, more relief, and much less holiday anxiety.
2. Make an effort to spend quality time. See a show (many churches offer free productions of classics like A Christmas Carol), my family especially loves to go see Langston Hughes “The Black Nativity” at a local theatre company. (My kids say it is a lot more fun than the Nutcracker)
3. Be frank with extended family about expectations for travel, entertaining and gifts. Suggest family gifts or a gift exchange in lieu of piles of individual presents. (More on gift exchange ideas later this week). Our parents love to shower gifts on our children, but rather than stuff, they get experiences–we have been gifted tickets to live performances, and memberships to zoos, etc, which provides a year of fun and learning, rather than batteries and “some assembly required,” and for that out-of-town family that we just can’t afford to travel to visit, they are welcome to visit us here, but plane tickets aren’t in the budget–we try to do our out-of-state traveling in lower-cost months like March and September.
4. Nix the office gift exchange and party if you can, or work to downsize it. Who really enjoys those anyhow? One company I worked for that used to throw a gigantic black-tie holiday party downtown and changed up plans with the economic downtown. After a few years of big holiday parties, they held an office party with goofy contests (ugliest holiday sweater) and we had a “regift” exchange, rather than a regular gift. It was a big laugh—quality relaxed time with colleagues without the dozens of uncomfortable spouses or the need to hire a babysitter.
5. Make your own cards. If you haven’t tried Pinterest yet, there’s piles of great ideas for creative holiday cards.
6. Give home-made gifts, practical, or charity gifts. (Start here for home made gift ideas.)

What does the holiday season look like at your house? How do you hope to change your family’s approach this year or in the future?

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