Think Outside The Piggy Bank

gone fishing!

No, just taking a week off. A mini-vacation if you like. Except that I'll still be working, cleaning, cooking, shopping, running errands, looking after kitty, going to the laundromat, paying bills, and undertaking all those other chores that still need doing. Hmmm, doesn't actually sound like much of a vacation anymore, does it? Snort. Okay, I'll try to at least spend less time on the computer for a change.

Plan to be back early August!

think outside the blog

Well, not really, LOL, but as I don't have a specific financial topic in mind and am busy getting ready to go back into work mode tomorrow, I thought I'd talk about foot lotion instead. Why? (My foot lotion, by the way, is Avon's 8-hour overnight treatment called Foot Works.) Because as I was putting some on last night the following questions floated through my head:

• if I were to sleep longer (10 hours for example), would this lotion know that it's supposed to work for only the first eight?
• would it actually stop after eight?
• if so, how?
• what if I were to decide to wear it during the day instead?
• would that throw its use before bedtime instructions right off?
• how would it even know whether it's night or day?
• it recommends covering with socks for extra hydration, but wouldn't my greedy socks just steal the lotion right from my feet?
• and what if I was to rebel altogether and decide to put it on my hands instead?

Well folks, that was a quick peek into one blogger's sleepy late-night mind. Scary, huh?

the price of air

I'm going someplace really expensive this summer. The gas station. --MAXINE

As mentioned in a previous post on gas, I don't drive anymore, so am not feeling the pinch like auto drivers are, but what does annoy me is the price of air. Yes, air! Once upon a time, and not even that long ago, you were able to fill up bike or car tires for free. Because you know, it's not like air costs a lot to manufacture. Now however you have to shell out two quarters (which I try to save for the laundromat), and it sort of pisses me off because air should be free for Pete's sake. I suppose I shouldn't complain, as I can't compare the cost of biking with driving (bike sales have gone way up, by the way), but still. What are they going to charge for next? Parking the bike?

think outside the date

I should not have been able to write this post. In fact, maybe I (and definitely my yogourt) should have expired by Friday, July 11, as the container ominously warned me the other day. I looked at the date, said HA! and ate it anyway because frankly, I think those dates are a bunch of hooey. A great big ol' marketing ploy to get us to buy more. And apparently I'm not alone in this belief. My good friend Krissa (thanks Krissa!) sent me this amusing (although with some startling statistics) article a while back and although I wouldn't go as far as the author does (moldy bread, no way), I agree with his point of view.

Okay, I HAVE gotten food poisoning once from eating stuff gone bad, but that was entirely avoidable had I listened to my kitty. He didn't want the fish offered him, so I should have known better than to eat it myself. Still, I lived, and have eaten more "expired" things since that time than I can remember. Obviously you have to use your eyes, nose and common sense (or listen better to smarter animal companions), but for the most part I think you can be a pretty good judge yourself without having to pay attention to arbitrary dates, and without wasting both food and money.

Um, in honour of its title and intention, today's post was mostly written last Wednesday. Because you know, dates are meant to be ignored. Snort.

give and let go

I really liked Donna Freedman's article Why I gave a guy a dollar on Smart Spending the other day, and regardless of whether you give directly to the person asking, or choose to contribute to agencies that help indirectly, I think it's important to give. What I think may be even more important though in the case of people on the street asking for money is to at least acknowledge their presence. As far as I'm concerned they have the right to ask, we have the (equal) right to say no, but we don't have the right to just walk by and pretend they don't exist. I have to admit that whether I give money on any given day will depend on how much I've got, what I still need to do with it, my mood, and my reaction to that particular person. What I do try to do though if I decide not to give is to at least look them in the eye, smile, and say "I'm sorry, not today." I have yet to get an angry response and will often get a smile back, or a "Thanks anyway."

Giving, in my opinion, is important for any number of reasons: to show gratitude for what you already have, to show kinship with your fellow human beings (or other living creatures), to acknowledge the fact that any one of us could end up in a similar situation, and simply because it's the right thing to do. I also think it's important to give no matter what your financial situation, because there will always be someone worse off than you. And while I personally like the idea of tithing (giving away 10%), I don't believe the actual percentage matters as much as your intention. If fiscally you can only afford to give away 1%, then in my opinion that is better than giving 10% when you can easily give away 30%. Giving is also easier when it's automatic and you have it deducted from your account at a predetermined time. That also ensures that giving becomes a priority, rather than something you may or may not do depending on how much is left. Of course if money is so tight that you absolutely can't give any of it away, then give of your time instead as time is money as well.

Finally, if you're going to give, then just give. Sure, do your homework if donating to specific agencies and try to find out how much of the money actually goes to the population it's supposed to help (if too much of a percentage is earmarked for administrative purposes then donate elsewhere), but if you're handing over cash to someone on the street, then just give. It's up to them now how they're going to spend it as you've fulfilled your side of the equation by giving.

computers, cockroaches, cash

Soooo, had a couple of scares last week. Had seen this large brown insect in the house (the third in as many days), and while I had originally assumed it was a beetle, all of a sudden it occurred to me that it might be a cockroach! Was horrified at the thought, and never having actually seen a dreaded roach before, figured I'd better Google. It sure looked like a cockroach, but when I took it downstairs for my landlord to inspect, he assured me it wasn't a roach, but a cricket. Hmmm, Googled that as well, and still thought it looked more like a cockroach (funny how I wasn't bothered when I thought it was just a beetle), but I took the landlord's word for it. He said that a cockroach wouldn't have let me catch it so easily. (I had scooped it up in this little plastic container and released it into the "wild" after inspection.)

Then a bug got into my computer! A Windows Update bug to be exact. Except I didn't know that until later. All I knew was that it wouldn't let me send or receive email, or go to any Internet pages. Including this blog. Amazing though how not being connected to your server can make you feel like you're not connected with the world. I do practically everything on my computer (pay bills, sell on eBay, write, upload photos, stay in touch with friends, check my library holds, see what jobs are out there, well, you get the picture), so to say that I felt a bit of panic is an understatement. Called my computer tech (a.k.a. brother--hey, if you're reading this, thanks!) and thankfully soon all was right with my world once more.

The cash part? Not a bug, but my quarterly GST (Goods and Services Tax) credit automatically deposited into my bank account. Although, it does bug me a little that anyone with an income of up to nearly $39,000 (not exactly what I would call low) gets it as well. Personally I think a sliding scale of sorts would be better.

lawn chairs in the living room

And what does that have to do with the personal finance principle I mentioned in my last post? Well, everything. You see, back in the early 70's when my family had just moved to Canada, my mom made the decision to get central air conditioning. Now central air wasn't as common back then, and it was definitely a big ticket item what with money being so tight. But mom had to work to help make ends meet for a family with five growing kids, and the humidity that she wasn't used to prevented her from getting a restful sleep. Which made it harder to work. The problem though was that there wasn't enough money for both air conditioning AND furniture for the living room. Any furniture, never mind the fancy stuff. But mom thought about the options, thought about what was for her a "want" and a "need", and made her decision accordingly.

Now I was very young at the time (and apologize to any family members reading this if I got the details slightly wrong), and didn't think too much about it, but in later years realized just how valuable a lesson this had been. Without my being aware of it at the time, mom was actually showing me that:

You can have anything you want, just not everything. At least, not all at once.

Over the years when I had to make choices as to what my own priorities were, I often found myself saying, "Well, I can always make do with lawn chairs if I have to." And while I never did end up with lawn chairs in my own living room, I certainly did reflect on what I was willing to give up in order to make room for the things that were important to me, namely, being able to work part-time so that I could pursue other creative activities. What I've also just realized, apart from how much I love the "lawn chairs in the living room" image (and possible metaphor?), is that my mom was thinking outside the box without my ever having given her credit for doing so, so hey mom, kudos to you!

p.s. I don't think those chairs from the backyard were in our living room for all that long, but I'm planning to find out.

how to keep cool

Well, I'm not the best authority on this (to quote Maxine: "To me, summer is just one long hot flash."), but MSN has been featuring an article on 25 cheap ways to keep your house cooler that you might want to check out. I'm fortunate in that I finally bought myself a small window unit last month (yes, from Canadian Tire!) so that I can at least get a good night's sleep, but some of the strategies I used last summer included the following:

• keep sun out by drawing blinds down
• keep windows closed during the day (unless there's enough of a breeze)
• restrict outdoor physical activity to early mornings or evenings
• use ceiling and portable fans
• wear as little clothing as possible (indoors that is!)
• drink cold water
• run my hands under it
• soak my feet in it

Unfortunately what I really wanted to talk about in this post is one of the personal finance principles that I learned from my mom (yes, it sort of involves cooling as well), but I'm too hot now, so will just have to do it next time. ;)

darn(ing) socks

As some of you know (having complained about this on Flickr), these socks were ruined the first time I wore them. The problem is, I don't know what to do with them. Right now they're curled up in despair in my closet, but it pains me to throw them out. Once upon a time the darn socks would have been darned of course, but I'll be darned if I know how! (Sorry, couldn't resist.) Even my mom doesn't darn anymore, although I have vague memories of her doing so a long time ago. But to throw away perfectly good socks after only one use? And it got me to wondering if there are people out there who still do darn their socks. In a way it might make sense given our current economic climate, and even more so, greater environmental awareness. Repair, reuse, recycle -- isn't that how it goes?

Could darning someday make a comeback? Or even become trendy like knitting did a few years ago? Somehow I doubt it, but I'm still left with these damn socks. Should I phone my mom and ask for instructions on how to darn? Figure out how else to use them? Or just toss 'em? What would you do?

Um, hang on a second while I do some Googling.

Well I'll be darned, snort. There's over 18,000 hits on darning socks, all kinds of tutorials, and even how-to videos on YouTube! Seems like this lost art may not be quite so lost after all. Still, do I want to make time for this?

5 tips for managing your bills

The best system that I've come up with over the years in managing my bills consists of:

1. Have as many bills as possible paid automatically through pre-authorized payments.
2. Pay as many of the others online.
3. Open up bills that come through the mail right away and put them in a designated spot. This could be a file folder, a corner of your desk, or any place that you come to associate with bills. And make sure to check that they're accurate!
4. Before putting them away, write on a wall calendar (in red) on the date you're planning to pay (if paying online make sure you leave enough time for processing), the name of the institution you're paying, and the amount. This way you can see in a glance everything that needs to get paid. I also write down when books or DVDs are due so that I don't end up having to pay late fees. And even though some bills are paid automatically, I still write them on the calendar just so that I know the complete outflow of money for that particular month.
5. Whenever I make a transaction of any kind from my chequing account or make use of debit or credit cards, I write it down in the little transaction register (banks will usually give them to you if you ask) kept in my wallet, so that at any given moment I also know exactly how much money I have left to work with.

This easy system becomes routine and takes very little time to implement, but it can save you a lot of grief. And a bit of money too.