Due to developments that I do not wish to discuss on this blog I am no longer living in my apartment.  If you are a long time reader of this blog you might remember that at one time I dreamed of living in a van down by the river.  So I am looking at my current situation as a chance to actually live that dream.  I might end up not liking it but it should at least be an interesting experience.

it has been harder to find that I like in my price range than I anticipated. In the meantime I am sleeping at various different places.  I have camped out a few nights, slept in my car a couple nights, stayed at a friend’s a couple nights, stayed at my mom’s a few nights, and even slept in my storage unit a couple nights.  These are all a lot better than actually being homeless but they aren’t great. I’m hoping I find a van soon or I’ll probably break down and rent an apartment for a short term. This was going to be a longer post but the admin for this site has been down all day and now the library is about to close. There will be more posts on this topic soon.

Suba at Wealth Informatics recently wrote a post where she describes various different things that end up wasting time during her work day.  The post seemed quite familiar to me.  I end up doing various tasks during the day that make it seem like I’m getting stuff done yet the most important stuff doesn’t get done.  Suba advises using a not to-do list in order to improve productivity.  This seems like a good idea and it would probably work if I got around to implementing it.  I will be hanging out with my best friend who is visiting from Florida for the next three days so it will be at least a few more days until I give it a try.  I’m having two $5 Amazon gift card giveaways at a couple of my other blogs so be sure to visit them.

My Retirement Blog $5 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

Investorz Blog $5 Amazon Gift Card Giveway

Here is a breakdown of my income for April.

As you can see my online income took a big hit.  It will probably be even lower this month.  If I could keep it around the thousand dollar level I’ll be happy.  I did  a fair amount of mystery shopping during the last half of April but I won’t receive that income until later this month.  I got a start on selling stuff last month and I plan to sell a lot more stuff this month.  After this month I probably won’t have much left to sell unless I buy stuff to resell.  I might do that since I’m looking at ways to increase my alternative income and passive income.  I definitely want to have a higher income than this but I can do ok at this income level if necessary.

Here is a breakdown of our expenses for April.

April expenses were lower than March but still a little high.  Most of that was due to various expenses (registration,insurance,tax,maintenance) involved with buying another car.  I also had to start paying my student loan and incurred a one time interest expense.  My expenses for May will be much different.

My blogs have taken a big hit in the past couple of months and now I need to build them back up. In order to keep track of how my various blogs are doing I will now be doing a monthly blog report. It will detail how much traffic my blogs are receiving and whether traffic is increasing or decreasing. I will also thank those that sent me traffic.

For April my blog traffic numbers are:

4,083 visits for Tight Fisted Miser which was a 33.95% drop from the month before.
2,445 visits for MyRetirementBlog.com which was a 26.53% drop from the month before.
2,281 visits for InvestorzBlog.com which was a 18.74% drop from the month before.
1,928 visits for BankBonuses.info which was a 26.91% drop from the month before.

The drop in traffic was mainly due to Google sending me much less search traffic. I can’t make Google start sending me more search traffic again but I will try to write more posts and avoid links they don’t like.

I’m also going to try to get more direct traffic. The plan for that is to participate in more blog carnivals and leave more comments. I also need to contribute articles more often to US News My Money Blog. And be more active in the Yakezie forums as well. If I am consistent in implementing the plan it will work but there is a lot going on this month so I’m not sure how well I will do. We will see when I do next month’s report.

Here are the top 10 referring sites to TFM last month.

1. U.S. News My Money Blog
2. My Money Blog
3. Free Money Finance
4. Swagbucks
5. Early Retirement Extreme
6. My Frugal Freedom
7. Frugal Babe
8. So Over Debt
9. Selbstaendig-im-netz.de 
10. Wisdom Steps 101

Thanks.   If you are wondering about number 9 it is a German site that lists the top earning blogs.  I’ll be falling down on that list now but at least I’ll still be on it. Hope everyone has a great month.

Of course we didn’t buy a brand new car but rather a new to us used car. It is a 2001 Grand Am which is the newest car I’ve ever owned. It looks a lot nicer than the Camry since it hasn’t been crumpled. It also has a keyless entry remote which I know have been around for a while but it is the first time I’ve had a car with that feature. The main negative of the new car is that it doesn’t have air conditioning. We are going to have that looked at next week and are hoping it just needs freon or a simple fix like that.

Buying another car might not be the wisest thing to do since my online income is way down and probably won’t recover soon. We had already planned on purchasing the car before the decline in income though. Since my wife is now traveling a lot more for her business it is getting more difficult to get by with one car. I’ve also been planning to get a part-time job or do some side gigs that would require the use of a car.

We paid cash for the car which has left our cash reserves much lower than I like. In addition to the purchase price we also had to pay for sales tax,registration, and insurance. The sales tax and registration weren’t too bad since the car was relatively inexpensive but the insurance is more than for our Camry. The last time I shopped around for insurance I couldn’t find a better deal than we currently have but now that we have two cars I’m going to check again.

Having another car and the associated expenses will give me more motivation to make more money. I’m hoping that the car will help pay for itself.

This post isn’t too timely since it has been almost a month since I returned from my hike.  But I need to write something since I’ve been neglecting the blog and this is what I have been wanting to write about so here it is.

My hike lasted two weeks and I ended up hiking about 130 miles.  The trip was quite a bit more expensive than I planned on it being and although I enjoyed the trip I now wish I would have just hiked on local trails to keep costs down rather than traveling to the Appalachian Trail.

My main mode of transportation to and from the trail was Amtrak.  Last year was the first time I ever rode a train and now that I have tried it I am a fan of train travel.  One of the main advantages of taking the train for this trip was that the train stopped in the town I was starting my hike at.  If I had flown I would have had to taken a bus or taxi from the airport to the train station and then taken the train to my final destination.  Logistics were much easier just taking the train.  The other advantage was that the train was cheaper.  The main drawback to the train is that it takes a lot longer but that wasn’t a problem for me.

On the way back there was a large gap between when the train arrived in Chicago and when the next train left for St.  Louis.  Rather than wait around in the train station all day I decided to try the Megabus.  It was only $14 for the Chicago to St. Louis trip.  That was about half the price of the train and much cheaper than flying or driving.  The bus was full and the seats are much smaller than on the train.  Combine that with the fact that they had the heat cranked up way too hot and I was quite uncomfortable for the beginning of the trip.  Once the bus was on the highway they finally turned the heat down a little and I got used to the close quarters the trip was reasonably comfortable.   The bus only had one scheduled stop plus a rest stop for the trip which was enough stops for me.  The trip took about six hours and that is about as long a trip I’m willing to take on the bus.  I’d take the bus again if the time and money savings were enough but I think it is definitely worth paying some extra money for the train.

The biggest cost of my trip was staying in hotels.  I didn’t plan on staying in hotels so much when I was planning the trip but I ended up staying in a hotel several nights.  I’m not as good at roughing it as I used to be.  I suppose that is a combination of being out of shape and getting older.  I’m hoping it is mostly due to being out of shape because I can get back in shape but I can’t get any younger.  On my previous hiking trips I didn’t stay in hotels nearly as much.  In addition to being younger and in better shape I couldn’t afford to stay in hotels then.  That is probably the other reason I’m not as good at roughing it as I used to be.

I’ve always enjoyed the hiking part more than the camping part but I do enjoy the camping for a few days.  On this trip I tried my new Eureka! Solitaire Tent and was quite pleased with it.  I camped all night in the rain and it managed to keep the moisture out which is better than any of my previous tents have done.  This gives me more confidence in passing up the shelters and just stopping wherever I want for the day.  My next gear purchase needs to be an air sleeping pad since my thin camping pad is no longer comfortable.  With that combination it should be easier to pass up the hotels.

I hiked from Harpers Ferry to the southern end of Shenandoah National Park.  There was beautiful scenery and the hiking was mostly nice.  There were a couple of days that it was uncomfortably hot but otherwise it was pretty good hiking weather.  I thought by hiking in March I could avoid the bugs but they were already out.  On the uncomfortably warm days they were swarming me.  They were still around but not bothersome on the other days.  I did get a couple of tick bites even though I took precautions against them.  I have felt more fatigued than usual since returning from my hike and will be seeing a doctor to make sure I don’t have Lyme disease.

One benefit of the hike was that I was able to get my weight under 220 pounds for the first time in a year or so.  Walking ten miles a day with thirty pounds on your back and only eating the food you carry does help with weight loss. I have been staying at about the same weight since I’ve been back from the hike but that won’t last since I’m no longer exercising and have returned to my normal eating habits.  I have to start exercising again and eating better so I can get back to losing weight.

Hiking is a cheap recreational activity if you do it right. On the days I didn’t stay in a hotel or go to town my only cost was the about $2 a day of food I ate.  On a longer trip I’d probably be eating more food but in the short term hiking kills my appetite.  If one can manage to keep the hotel and restaurant visits to a minimum it would be possible to hike for less than $5 a day.  That is easier said than but I do dream of trying it some day.

For now I plan on doing more local hikes and getting my hiking fix that way.

Here is a breakdown of my online income for March 2012.  This is going to be the last report breaking down my online income for a while.

Google Adsense – $295.91

Affiliate Income – $367.75

Brokered Ads – $62.63

Direct Ads-$2670.81

Total – $3397.10

My online income for March was actually quite good.  Unfortunately since Google has greatly reduced the amount of traffic they are sending me and hit me with Page Rank reductions I won’t likely be back to this level for a long time.  I’ll be lucky if I can keep my income to the thousand dollars a month level. I’m going to be looking at ways to increase my passive income and alternative income which won’t necessarily be online.  Since Google doesn’t like the advertisements I was placing on this site I will no longer be taking those kinds of advertisements and looking for other ways to make money.  Once I have the site revamped I’ll ask Google to reconsider their penalty but it will be some time before I can do that since I can’t remove  advertisements until my contracts run out.   I won’t be doing online income report posts because there won’t be much to report.  You will still be able to see the amount of my online income by looking at my monthly income posts.

It’s been a long day. You’re headed home, and you’re exhausted. A lighted sign casts a warm glow across the highway — the Golden Arches or Subway’s green/yellow sign. Yum – but you’re on a budget. Should you stop?

The happy truth is that healthy, affordable fast food can indeed be an enjoyable part of your life. Given, that is, you’re willing to keep it within limits.

How often can you afford to go? Figure it out. Set aside a specific amount that you know you can afford to use — it can be slotted as ‘entertainment’ or ‘food.’ Keep that amount in cash — or put it on a gift card for your favorite spot. When the money’s gone, it’s gone, until the next paycheck. Go home and have a peanut-butter sandwich.

Stretch your ‘go-to’ money. Coupons, especially BOGOs, will let you go twice as often. Choose the sale items: Subway’s monthly specials often let you choose a foot-long sub for $5 — or less! Many restaurants, including McDonalds, Wendy’s, Burger King, Taco Bell and even Kentucky Fried Chicken, offer a ‘dollar menu.’ Most of those items are now more than a buck — but not much more.

Investopedia’s collected the five best value meal deals;  Money Talks News has their take on the same subject. (Interestingly, most of the restaurants mentioned are the same.)

Choose carefully — and share.  Order large fries for the family, instead of a small packet per person. Or set half your meal aside for tomorrow’s lunch. (Put it in a box, out of sight.) Two kids’ meals can feed 3 or 4 children. A large sandwich can feed two adults. Drink water — and you save not only on calories, but price. (You’ll find eight fast food meals under 500 calories here.)

Healthy fast food is out there! Do what Helpguide.org calls “undressing” your food: skip the mayo or sour cream (substitute mustard, salsa or ketchup), or eat your sandwich open-face. Taco Bell offers a ‘fresco’ menu that automatically gives you healthier choices, as part of their “drive-thru diet.”

Choose whole-grain bread, lower-calorie cheeses like Swiss or mozzarella, and load your pizza or sub with veggies, to ramp up the food value even more. Look for the words “grilled” instead of “fried;” skip “breaded” and “super–.” And don’t assume a salad means low-calorie, unless you’re willing to minimize ingredients like bacon or fatty salad dressing. Kids’ meals have gotten healthier, too. Burger King now offers apple juice, fat-free milk and apple slices on its children’s menu…and other chains have followed suit.

Go less, dine more elegantly. Prices for fast food restaurants have gone up — meal deals at many places, including drink, fries and sandwich, cost from $5.95 – 7.95. That’s close to a budget entree at a sit-down restaurant! Would you rather wait, and make it more of an occasion next time?

Don’t waste a thing. Extra napkins come in handy tucked in the glove compartment, along with that ‘spork’ you didn’t use. Add some zip to chicken noodle soup with a couple of salsa packets, or use your dipping sauce as a marinade for chicken or pork. (They’re great in stir-fries, too.) In their book The Phony Gourmet, Pam Young and Peggy Jones wrap leftover burgers in pastry, and serve these ‘pot pies,’ crunchy and bubbling, with special sauce!

Add to your profits by checking your receipt on the way out — many restaurants have a short survey. A few minutes of your time earns free food for the next visit, or a chance to win prizes or cash.

We all have our favorites. Our oldest daughter loves Subway’s chicken and bacon ranch melt; her sister would rather have KFC’s bowls any day. (KFC’s Aussie-style chicken potpie is only $3, at the time of this writing.) Husband is partial to Little Caesar’s pizza or a hot stick of Crazy bread, and I could go for Wendy’s chili or a Chargrilled Chicken Club from Chick-Fil-A. Maybe we’ll just wait for Colorado’s Rockies or Nuggets sports teams to win — then Taco Bell offers 4 tacos for a buck, as long as we get a drink, too. Make your choices wisely, and fast food can be a guilt-free item on your menu, too.

This post is by staff writer Cindy Brick.  You can visit her blog at CindyBrick.com or visit her personal blog.

Here is a breakdown of my income for March.

My income from March was actually quite good despite the Google penalties that happened in March.  That is because the effects of those won’t be reflected in my earnings until this month.  It will probably be a long time before I see a $3000 online income in a month again.  I probably won’t even make $1000 online this month.

I’ve discussed ramping up other areas of income if my online income went down and now we’ll see if I’m actually able to do it. I need to increase income from my alternative income and passive income sources.  It shouldn’t be too difficult to increase my income from selling stuff and mystery shopping.  I’m also looking at a few different independent contractor positions.  If I land one of them it will be a big step towards keeping my income at its current level.