Becoming Lower Maintenance

I've done it before and I'm doing it again, giving myself haircuts.

I've given my husband every haircut he's had during the last 21 years. And sometimes I cut my own hair.

Well today, with my husband's help, I cut my hair and it looks fine, a medium length bob.

So I just saved $50 and once every 6 weeks multiplied by 8, let's say, I will save $400. If I lived in an area with a higher cost of living, I would have saved more. How much has my husband saved over 21 years?

Why are we doing this? We are realigning our priorities and our expenses just like everyone else in America because "The times they are a'changing."

Don't laugh. It will happen to you. If you don't do haircuts, you may cut out restaurants, fast food, extra pairs of shoes, driving around just for fun, some things that you used to spend money on that are just not worth it now.

The only way to have more money is to make more or spend less than you make. There is no other magic about it.

When you think of creative ways to save, please share them. We all need to be inspired.

Labels Matter and Then They Don't

Are you a label snob? Sometimes I am and sometimes I'm not.

I am buying an expensive outfit, pants and a jacket from a high end designer because it is timeless, fits well and I'll wear it for years. When I'm 85, it will still look good.

I'm not buying the casual top that goes with it because I don't like the way it fits and it's too expensive. Go figure!

I went to GoodWill Industries and found the perfect coral turtleneck to go with it, brand new and the right color and the right neckline and the fit is great.

My husband thinks I have more chutzpah than anyone else because, having no cash on me, I used a credit card and asked for the senior discount. So the top cost $4.00 and with the discount and tax, I paid $3.65 for it. The cashier said they would process a sale of  20 cents with a credit card!

So I'm inconsistently consistent. That's me, your Queen of Bargains, shopping to tell you all about it.

Sample Sales

This tip is from a stealth "Queen of Bargains" in London.

Go to www.dailycandy.com and register for the city nearest you. You will get notices of real sample sales where you can snag bargains on major designers.

This is an invitation from other stealth queens. Send  me your tips and I'll pass them along.

Thank you, very much! 

Business Cards

I can't keep a good thing to myself. That's why I blog about deals as I find them.

Allergic to overhead, I have resisted getting business cards for my various ventures. Until now.

I have designed, ordered and received new business cards for 2 ventures: my healthy eating blog: http://dontswallowthat.blogspot.com  and my acting. The product is excellent and the cost is more than reasonable, let's say very inexpensive. In both cases, I ordered the slow ship method to save money and received them both in less than a week of ordering.

I found that I could use all their tools on line to design a quality product and I am very happy.

What's the source? You've seen them advertised everywhere: Vista Print. Go to: www.vistaprint.com
and stop procrastinating like I have done for the last 5 years.  I will reuse them for additional products because the quality and service are that good.

Luxury Defined

Rereading The Shell Seekers by Rosamund Pilcher on a flight home from Nashua, NH to Florida, I found the perfect definition of luxury. On page 377 she says, "Luxury, I think, is the total fulfillment of all five senses at once."

For me, if I could be sailing on the intercoastal waterway eating a takeout meal from Present Moment Cafe in St. Augustine, listening to Mozart or Nina Simone or Michael Boublee, smelling the clean salty air, watching other boats drift by, sitting with my husband, holding hands and cuddling, that would be luxury defined.

The cost for this experience. Probably $16 for the food and perhaps up to $40 for the sail, a total of $56. Once or twice a season is enough for me. I can live off of the memories the rest of the time.

A less expensive version would be bringing the food I make at home on a picnic at the ocean, say at unpopulated Flagler Beach, sitting on our ergonomic chairs that we bring from home, for an early morning breakfast to watch the sunrise, with just a few other intrepid early birds that walk along the ocean's edge. Cost to me? Whatever the food cost, less than $10.

What is it for you? Please share.

The Decline of People: Spending is "It"

It has occurred to me that one reason people spend money, think about spending money and then reflect on spending money is because people have become less important.

What do I mean by this? If you spent most of your time helping people, interacting with people, praying for people, being with people, there would be less time for this money thing. Isn't that what people used to do way back, let's say in the mid 1950's?

Just speculating on how and why people think they must keep up the shop/spend cycle has me wondering what it would be like if we  made room for more interactions with people in our lives than we do now.

One more thing. Thinking used to be a valued activity. Now, the speed of electronic communication has given us a handicap. I think it's not possible to live, process our lives and have quality relationships with people because that all takes time. We want what we want with the click of a mouse or the touch of an icon. Our minds don't work that fast. 

This weekend, take a few hours to "think." I like to go into a "deep think" to process what I am doing, what I should be doing, what I should not do, what I like, what gets in my way, and my relationship with others. I'll be so busy that I won't shop. What about you?

Please send feedback.

Save Money When Traveling

Here's a tip from Anabel. When traveling, save money on meals by not eating in restaurants. Go to grocery stores with eat in facilities, like Whole Foods. Everyone can get what they want; compared to a restaurant, prices are lower and there is no tip to pay.

Or take a tip from frugal consultants who stay in hotels with the evening "Manager's Specials". If you eat whatever is put in front of you, you will be satisfied with the meals and the free drinks from 5-7 PM. That way you can eat and pocket the per diem.

If you are fussy about what you eat, go the the grocery store or get take out from local restaurants and eat in your hotel room, to at least save the tips.

Always eat the breakfast provided because even the fussiest eater can have fruit and oatmeal. Look for the whole grain muffins or bagels and take one with the small package of peanut butter, to have for lunch. You've now given yourself a raise. If the per diem is, say $75 per day, and you eat all your meals in food that is provided, you've just added to your take home pay, because per diems are not taxed.

Now this requires discipline, but take the per diem and stow it in a special savings account, along with any bonuses you receive and other unexpected income. Now you have savings that will build.

Extra money is extra money. If you put it in your regular checking or savings account, it will be swallowed up with the other money you have and you will feel like you can never get ahead.

On travel, if you can use the corporate credit card, you won't affect your cash flow, if your reimbursement doesn't come on time. If you can cover expenses before you receive your reimbursements, take advantage of your frequent flier credit card and earn points on everything you buy. Free trips for miles earned this way make great free vacations. 

If you think this money is peanuts, think again. Little money adds up to big money. Twenty per diems at the $75 rate equal $1500. If I were to give you a check for $1500 next year, would you take it? Of course you would. This savings tip just has you give the check to yourself. Say thank you all the way to the bank and start saving for bigger dreams.