Thrift-o-rama

Well, depressed by my lack of growth in the tiki fund, I decided to put one of my all-time favorite dresses on eBay. It's a red prom dress from the 1950s. I used to wear it out a lot, but now it doesn't fit me anymore . Darn babies! They ruin your figure. Well, or in my case, give you a little too much up top. Ahem

So, on ebay it has gone. I hope it goes to a good home. I also posted a new monster purse on Etsy. He is very cute as well. I always get so attached to them when I make them!

I feel like I've hit a wall with the $20 challenge. I do eBay, sell this and that online, etc.

I need some new ideas on ways to make more money. It doesn't have to be a million dollars at a time, just something to get the tiki fund padded!

How do you all make money for your $20 challenge.

I'm interested in new ideas for NEW income. I choose not to count money I save from coupons, etc. So if you have any ideas, I'm all ears...

I earned half an airfare for our Mexico trip today. It felt nice to work. This is my first project since Baby Bean came along. It was so nice to do brainy adult things rather than baby sit all day. I love Beaner but he wears me out! A change of pace was nice.

The fact that it was a lucrative change of pace that will get me and the hubby one step closer to travel is even better.

I am working tomorrow and Friday as well, which means I will earn about one and a quarter airfares this week. It's fun to think of it like that!

Also, I just finished reading a very helpful book. "How to Raise a Family on less than two incomes."

I read a lot of personal finance books so it takes something good to keep my attention. This one spoke to me because it's for people in my situation. Not full timers, but earning something, just not something steady. It was so helpful I may actually buy a copy for reference.

I wrote a while back about the hubby and I finally moving one of our international dream vacations on to the to do list. I sat down last night to go over some numbers.

For two weeks in Mexico, including a 8 day tour of 10 or so Mayan ruin sites,we'll need about:
$1300 RT airfare for two
$2500 for 8 night 9 day guided tour of Mayan ruins, for two
$1400 for extra week at beachfront cabins at Tulum ( estimating high at $200 a night)
$300 for 1 or 2 nights in a hotel in Cancun, one at the beginning and one at the end.

Total: $5500

Plus unknown:
$$ ? souvenirs
and travel to and from Cancun to Tulum (rumour has it there is a bus for 24 pesos...)
Day trip to Islas Mujeres.
Food and drinks

So far, there is $3862 in the vacation fund. Not too shabby, but still isn't enough. At least $1638 left to save, before spending money.

Here is the plan. I may have two more freelance gigs lined up for this year. The first is a two-day stint this week, which should net enough profit to cover half of the airfare. If the second project works out, it should cover the rest of the tab, and then enough to pay off more on the student loans. But if the second one doesn't work out, I plan to get on the ball and sell enough articles by the end of the year to round out the fund.

I'm also hoping to go on this trip in the off season, which should shave some of the costs off of the airfare, tour and hotels. April 2009 at the earliest.

Life is short. It's time to put fun on equal footing with saving for the future.

Well, I should have known this would happen. I fell off the savings program this month. We were doing so well. But, I had some unexpected expenses this month. I paid for my dad's funeral flowers, had to buy a new dress for the funeral (nothing old fits my post-baby body yet. but that will change!) , had to pay for a sitter, and didn't keep track of what we were spending. Plus, I am getting my hot tub repaired tomorrow. that thing is my own personal money pit, but at this point I'm so deep in it that I'm not giving it up out of principle.

So, I had to take $400 out of savings today and put it in checking to cover misc. I had to subtract it from my goals column, which really made me feel bad. I hope I can get back on track in August.

Well, despite all the stuff in my personal life I did manage to add about $38 to the tiki fund.

It would have been more, but I got soaked on some shipping for an eBay item. I guess that was my amateur mistake. It cost me $22 to ship the lamp when I had budgeted $14. Oh well. Thankfully I didn't lose money on that one.

Next month should be better because I'll have some money coming in from Google Adsense. And I may try to post some more items to sell on Etsy.com.

I am feeling a profound sense of loss at the loss of my dad this month. So profound, it almost as if I can't even process it. But, I am coping. Here is how.

1. Knowing he is still with me. Your dad is always with you, even after he is gone. I know it's true every time I see an asparagus.

Dad's love of asparagus was bested only by his ability to spot a 4-inch tall asparagus growing against a fence post 100 yards away. Even when he was driving 60 miles an hour. Many Sundays on our way home from church, dad would spot one, bring the car to a screeching halt, and make my sister and I wade through a field full of ticks and weeds in our church clothes to go get it for him. Later that night, before I'd even managed to get all the burrs out of my hair, he had drowned that sad little pile of a half dozen asparagus in cream sauce and was eating them for dinner. I'll think of him every time I see one.

2. His entrepreneurial spirit.
I inherited it from him. He owned businesses my entire life. He treated his employees like gold. many times we went without a paycheck so his employees wouldn't have to do without. And when times were good, he took all of his workers on vacation with us. I will honor his memory by running my own businesses and doing the same for the people who work for me.

3. My son. I am sad that dad didn't get more time with his grandson, but I am happy they did meet. Dad went into the hospital in Feb, when I was 7 months pregnant. He told me he knew he was dying. ( we didn't get the cancer diagnosis until June) I made him promise to hold on until he could meet the bean, and he did. I am forever grateful for that. Plus, the baby has really helped my mom get through this. He has really cheered her up and given her something to look forward to. He arrived just in time.

4. My mother. She is an inspiration. She has lost the love of her life, but is trying her best to keep living. I know she is sad, but she has always had a quiet strength. She reminds me that you have to keep on living even after you have lost someone you truly love. It's the only way to truly honor their memory.

5. Dad wouldn't want me to cry for him. Even after he found out he was dying, he had no concern for himself. When he got the news, he only said "Are you OK?" to my mother. He never complained, said "why me?" or anything. He only wanted us to be OK, to the very end.

6. I am my father. Some say you live on through your children. With me and dad it couldn't be more true. I look like him, I think like him. I am him, only younger and a girl. So in a way, he's not really gone at all.

7. The little things, too. Today, my hubby wore one of my dad's Hawaiian shirts to work. He didn't remember it was my dads, but I do. I was there when he bought it. It makes me happy to know that the things that made my dad happy are still out there every day being used. Not that stuff matters, but it does remind me of him in my everyday life. He will not be forgotten.

8. Dad's life is a reminder that life needs to be lived, to the fullest. This ordeal has been a reminder that life is short. You don't have forever with your spouse. That dream vacation can't wait another year. Your excuses for not doing things on your dream list are lame. The time is now.

For instance. My dad was a race car driver, played the accordian, owned bars and muffler shops, took us camping or someplace exotic on a vacation every year rain or shine. He played in a rockabilly band in the 1950s. My point: No excuses. Pursue all of your interests. It not only makes you happy, it makes you a more interesting person.

because of this, I've decided to stick around for another season of Roller Derby, sign up for a jewelry making class, and the hubby and I are finally committing to taking that two-week trip to Mexico we've been talking about for 6 years!

9. My dad loved his family. It makes it easier to know my mom and dad were in love until the very end, without regrets. 39 years together. They laughed a lot. It reminds me that I take after him, and that my marriage is similar to my parents, and I can learn from it. We laugh a lot too.

My dad, who as you know just died last week, always owned his own businesses and often told me that working for yourself is the only way to work. Those messages stuck. I inherited his entrepreneurial spirit.

He even at one time owned a bar. I used to roller skate on the dance floor when the bands were setting up.

I found this photo in my mom's albums. It's dad, in the office of one of his muffler shops. It was taken around 1974.

I pinned it up above my computer, as a motivator and a reminder that I too have what it takes to run my own business.

When I open my tiki bar, I will hang it above my desk in my office.

Of course, I should also thank dad for the tiki influence. He is the one who took me to Hawaii twice when I was little!

Well, it happened. dad died this morning. We only found out he had cancer a week before father's day. I am officially 33 years old, missing a dad, and have a three month old baby, his only grandchild. I am so sad, but holding together for the sake of my mom, who is putting up a brave front but finally cried a little bit for the first time today.

I'm an eco geek. I admit it. I am redoing an 1957 ranch house and am trying to make it substantially more green. So far, I've had luck. I've put in a geothermal furnace that also heats my hot water for free in the summer. I have rain barrels, compost bins and laundry lines. I bought new energy star windows.

Now, on to the roof. My dream roof is made form recycled aluminum. But, it's $22,800. I was expecting about $15,000. The installed tried to sell me on the idea of using my budget AND taking out financing for the rest. And get this, the financing is a GM credit card with an 18 percent interest rate.

I said no to this several times, but he kept insisting. Uh, I don't think so.

Isn't this how we got into this housing mess? Oh, use your savings and then when that's gone, go ahead and take on debt. Then, you'll not only be broke, you'll owe more!

So, I just got the quote for the normal 30-year asphalt shingle roof-- $7,900.

With that much difference, it doesn't appear to pay to go green on this project.

Put the vibe out into the universe and it's returned to you!

I made an unexpected $19 profit in Web sales from my adopt-a-monster.com Web site this morning. This will be over and on top of what I earn from my two eBay auctions this week.

Then, I got a $10.74 refund check from State Farm for our car insurance. We apparently overpaid a bit. That's going to the tiki account because it's unexpected cash.

I feel sooo much better about the tiki challenge, after I earned NOTHING in June and it looked like July would be the same way.

Yay! I can almost taste the Mai Tai now.

When the market tanks, I like to think of stocks as being on sale. Most of our money is in Vanguard funds, but we do have some money we use to buy individual stocks.

So, since they were so cheap, I bought 100 shares each of Huntington Bancshares (pd $4.50/share) and National City (pd $3.50/share). I am very familiar with the operations of both of these banks, thanks to my job.

For very little cash outlay, I picked up 100 shares of each. I figure at these prices, I won't lose too much if they go down more, and if (when) they go up, I could stand to make quite a bit. The key is to sit tight and let the market work out the kinks.

Since my contributions to the tiki fund have been so pathetic, I put up my second eBay auction for the month, a pair of tiki shoes.

How appropriate-- tiki shoes going to the tiki bar fund. Good use of shoes, I suppose. They were a gift and they don't fit, so it's better than letting them sit in the basement!

(

FINALLY! The check for my last big freelance project arrived, the IRA is maxed out, and it's time to stop being so responsible all the time and start doing some of that traveling the hubby and I have talked about since we got married.

With the last freelance check in hand, and after the IRA maxed out, the exotic adventure budget stands at $3,856. Hubby wants the trip to be part brainless beach vacation, and part adventure. We also want to go somewhere where the exchange rate doesn't kill us. He also said "he doesn't want to have to think" on this trip, meaning he wants it to be easy because life has been challenging since the baby came.

Our three top picks have been Mayan ruins in Mexico, Argentina including the cruise to Antarctica, and Prague and Budapest.

Thanks to the weak dollar, Prague and Budapest is out this time. We want to go to Argentina when we have enough for the arctic cruise, so I'm not sure this budget will cover it.

So... after some homework, it looks like we can take an 8 night 9 day whirlwind tour of about 10 Mayan sites for $2400, then tack on a week at an oceanfront cabin in Tulum for another $1,000. Two weeks in Mexico: $3400. Sounds ideal.

We have been so responsible since we've been married: working on our careers, saving for retirement, buying houses, etc.
We both miss the freedom and traveling we did when young and single. And have often wondered what went wrong. Why, when we have more money than ever are we traveling as little as ever?

Before we were married, I had backpacked through Turkey, spent a month in Greece, and seen another 10 countries. He had been to Europe and Costa Rica, and even studied Kung Fu in a monastary in China. But we haven't done anything that exciting together.

Watching my father die from cancer now, I realize life is short. You are only young once, and you don't have forever with your spouse, so the time for adventure is now.

From now on, we're going to take a two of us adventure every year. I'm excited.

Well, June was a very disappointing month for the tiki challenge: I added a whole $2, all from bank interest. Despite the challenges in my personal life right now, I have to get back on track. I listed a cool lamp ( I like it but the hubby hates it, so on ebay it goes) on ebay. I might make a dollar after fees and shipping, but hey, I'm greasing the wheels! (

I try to shop at Wal-Mart as little as possible. yes, I'm one of THOSE people. I really think your money is your vote, one way you help decide what kind of world you want. In Ohio, I usually shop at another grocery because they pay higher wages and I am pretty sure they are unionized. So, I shop at Wal-Mart maybe once every two months and only when I need things like shampoo, which is soooo much cheaper at Wal-Mart that I can't rationalize shopping anywhere else.

That said, I was shocked that a bag of lentils was only 72 cents at Wal-Mart but $1.32 at the other grocery. Made me think twice. Usually the price differential on most of the things I buy isn't the great.

What to do? I heart saving money. So do I got to Wal-Mart more often and sell out the other store, which actually pays workers benefits and a living wage? Or do I just decide to pay more than I really have to for groceries?

I just renewed my AAA membership. I have used the card for towing and to get an occasional hotel discount. I just flipped through the benefit book that came with the card. I had no idea I could get discounts at so many other places, like Target, Payless, and Barnes and Noble. And, even better, on FTD flowers. I send flowers a couple of times a year, and now they can be 20 percent cheaper.

That's what I get for not paying attention. I could be saving even more money!!

Do any of you use these auxillary discounts? Am I crazy that I haven't noticed these before?

One of my freelance clients finally paid, so that's another $776 to the IRA. $25 left to go.

I am expecting payment soon for work I did in March for another company. (yes, they are way late, but that's the joy of freelancing...) That will shore up the last $25 I need to max out my IRA for the year.

Not sure what to do with the rest of that check. I may pay down the student loan, finish funding the 529 plan for the year, or put it toward a new roof. I may even be frivolous and put it in an exotic vacation fund. The honey and I are planning to go somewhere that requires a passport next year, and I don't mean Canada.

I do wish the limits on an IRA were higher than $5,000. I could more, but I just don't want to mess with a solo 401k this year. Too much else to worry about with the new baby Bean and all.

Yes, I own a pair of $400 roller skates. Did I mention that I play roller derby with the Ohio Roller Girls? Hence, the skates.

I'm normally pretty frugal with the cash. Sure, we buy what we want. The trick is we don't want much.

I was thinking about the skates today, because I really haven't used them as much as I would have liked. I played one game in them, then got pregnant and couldn't play anymore. I have skated maybe 30 or so speed skating practices in them. I just found out today that our league is restructuring and in such a way that a player like me, who has been on maternity leave for 10 months, will have a hard time getting any playing time on game day. My heart is a bit broken.

And, of course, I want to get my money's worth on those skates.

So what do I do? Do I stick it out, go to practices, etc. and risk not getting to play? Or do I leave the league?

I just don't know.

Things are still challenging.
The bean is three months old and still doesn't sleep through the night. dad is dying rapidly of pancreatic cancer.

I have managed to carve out some (very little) time for me, despite it all. Last week,I actually went shopping for fun. Not normally my style, but hey, when in a pinch.

Our savings plan is still moving along nicely. Although, June was expensive. We had to pay $648 to have our storm damaged trees saved and to have some damaged shrubs removed. It's been storming here almost every day for two weeks, and three of those nights were brutal, with tornado sirens blaring to 3 or 4 am.

We also are paying another $300 to have our hot tub fixed. Normally, I am very frugal and conservative, But last summer we bought a hot tub, used of course. It's been a more expensive project than I ever imagined. But we play a lot of sports, and sitting in a whirly hot bath when you have a knee injury or a pulled whatzit is really worth paying for.

That's all, except that I'm ashamed that I haven't made any money for the tiki challenge for a whole month. I guess I can forgive myself, considering.

Two weeks ago I found out my dad is dying of pancreatic cancer. I'm overwhelmed and haven't sorted out my feelings, so I will keep it brief. We don't have much time. Maybe another 1 to 6 weeks.

I just lost both of my grandparents. Grandma in July 2006 and Grandpa in July 2007. Now this. I wonder how much more I can bear.

Whew.

Life is really hectic.

baby bean, at 10 weeks, still sleeps no longer than 3 hours in a stretch. I'm starting to wonder how long I can keep this up! Add in that all day long he wants to be carried around the house-- if I put him down, he screams- and I am one tired lady.

That said, I am trying to get in the habit of cooking, because we can't just eat take out forever. Well, we could, but..

So, I bought a crock pot, which has allowed me to throw random ingredients in, turn it on when beaner finally passes out at midnight, and then have at least something inexpensive and reasonably healthy to eat in the morning.

Note: I am looking for good crock pot cookbooks if you have any suggestions

So far this week: I've made one pot roast and tonight I am making a lentil bean/ Okra stew that my hubby is excited about.(I didn't tell him it was a mainstay of my diet as a 20 year old broke waitress.)

Also, the $6 strawberry patch I planted has yielded at least 12 quarts of berries so far, and I still have more to pick. You can't beat the ROI for homegrown organic fruit!

That said, I have done absolutely nothing for the tiki challenge this month.And, well, nothing in my actual freelance career lately. It seems that until that kid sleeps through the night, all bets are off!

I planted a 1 foot by 3 foot strawberry patch last summer and it has finally paid off. We've collected about 5 quarts from this very small plot so far, and I'm sure there will be plenty more in the coming days. I froze about 2 quarts and we ate the other 3. The hubby said they were the best strawberries he has ever had. I tend to agree.

So, for about $6 in plants, we've had several days of fresh, organic strawberries. Money well spent.

is collecting the checks! I love freelancing. I get to write different stories, I get to work in my pajamas, make my own schedule, and most important I can say "No" to projects I don't want to do. My last boss didn't afford me that option.

But the worst part is tracking down the cash once the project is done. Most companies pay Net 30, so you get your check 30 days after the end of the month in which you finished it. I have no beef with that.

However, a lot of times there's a hitch-- the editor loses my invoice or forgets to turn it in on time and I have to send the dreaded reminder email. The "could you please check the status of my invoice?" email.

I hate doing it. But, it happens a lot. Today, I had to send two reminders for March invoices totalling $4600 and change.
They checks should have arrived in May, but alas, May is almost over and no checks. so the emails go out. Then waiting another 30 days or so to get paid.

Boo. This is why I keep a pad in my checking account. So I'm not too dependent on any one check, because you never know when they are going to arrive!

That said... What to do with the $4,600 when it does arrive. I have toyed with the idea of opening a self directed 401k which would allow me to stash a lot more for retirement than an IRA. But, I may skip that this and put the money toward our last home improvement project-- a new roof. It's the last big cash outlay for a necessity for the house . Looks like I have a month to think about what to do with the cash!

May was an OK month for the tiki fund challenge. I guess I should be happy considering I didn't put any energy into it. Having a baby takes all of your energy the first few months, as I have discovered.

So, in May I managed to add $96.61 to the tiki fund, thanks to 3 sales on my Web site and a decent chunk of change from Google Adsense. (all of this comes from my Web magazine, PussycatMagazine.com).

I would like to reach my 2008 goal of $1500 by the end of summer.

I may take a page from another blogger here who concentrated on making $500 of extra money in one month, through various means. But, I think I'll wait until baby bean is sleeping through the night first...

My hubby and I actually had a day where neither of us drove. Add one to the No Drive Day tally. I am only counting days where neither of us drive, because we are already a one-car family and I usually don't drive on weekdays.

This also reminds me that it's time to start saving money for a new car. Our one car is a 1997 Honda civic hatchback. It's a great car, never breaks down (knock on wood), gets great gas mileage, etc. But it isn't going to last forever.

I've already picked out our next car: A Honda Fit. I think they are so cute.

I also just read yesterday that they are going to make a hybrid Fit, which is REALLY the car of my dreams. It'll be out after the next model change. (Sometime between 2009 and 2015). I hope our current car can make it that long.

But, since we know we will need it, I've decided to put a little bit away for a car every month, on top of other savings. I'm going to start with $35 a month to the ING direct account, which has about $300 in it.

It isn't much, but it's something to get me thinking ahead.

Plus any bonus or referral money that ends up in the ING account will automatically go to the car fund.

Just putting this out there. With fuel prices where they are would anyone like to join me in tracking No Drive Days? Kind of like No Spend Days, but obviously, driving instead?

The rules: Count only the days where you do not drive. You can walk, take the bus/transit, bike, etc. But no driving your car!

I think it would be a fun exercise and might lead to some savings. I know I would think more about maximizing each trip I do take if I were trying to reach a no drive day goal...

Beanie is officially 6 weeks old. Boy has it been exhausting! He's still not sleeping through the night. But I digress...

Before I had him I had a lot of anxiety about how much having a baby was really going to cost us.

So far, the answer is $385 a month. Of course this will change, but it's the first concrete figure I have.

It is as follows:
$200 to 529 college savings act
$60 in extra insurance premiums
$15 pediatrician copay for monthly visit
$50 in diapers and misc., but that is estimating high.
$60 for breast pump rental

It's not as bad as I had expected.

I suspect it is so low as well because he still eats 90 to 95 percent breast milk every day. we are supplementing with formula so I can get some sleep, but we received so many free samples that we could use the free stuff for months before having to buy any.

The diapers are hit or miss.I have reusable cloth diapers but we don't use them exclusively because in many situations, they leak. The last thing I need is to have him wake up too many times at night because his clothes are soaked through, so it's worth it to use some disposables. We pay probably $13 every 10 days or less for disposables. I also included odds and ends, like special baby laundry detergent in this total.

Not too shabby.

Wow. Mother's day. It's weird that this year I too am actually a mom. I'm so used to being the kid doing things for my mom on Mother's Day.

The bean is six weeks old. It certainly has been rough. I knew it would be hard but not this hard! I thought he might at least be sleeping through the night by now, but no...

I haven't had more than 2 hours of sleep in a stretch for 6 weeks now, and frankly, it's starting to wear on me.

Having a life and working? Pretty much feels impossible right now. I was excited today because the hubby watched the bean so I could go to the grocery store. It felt nice to have 2 hours alone!

Boy, funny how life changes, isn't it?

A while back, I read the Automatic Millionaire and it inspired me to put my savings on auto pilot. It is a simple idea, but it's been working out great for us.

I was worried that the checking account would dip or we somehow wouldn't be able to keep up with the aggressive saving strategy I had set up for us, but so far it is working well.

I originally earmarked:
$500 a month to online savings act.
$175 a month to 529 plan
$360 a month to brokerage act
$325 a month to hubby's Roth

I recently upped it to
$600 a month to online savings
$200 a month to 529 plan

and added an additional $100 a month to my student loan payment. (On top of the $293 I already pay).

I've also managed to put more into the savings account than I had originally intended each month, so it seems that $600 has become the minimum saved, rather than the total.

If you had told me 6 months ago that I'd be able to put this much away a month, I would have told you you were crazy. Especially since I gave up my full-time income for freelance and we have since become a one and a half income family.

It's amazing what you can do if you just take the plunge and stop talking yourself out of it.

The end result of all this is that we are more than halfway to meeting our 2008 savings goals, and it's only (almost) May.

We have put $10,685 into various savings and investments. Our goal for 2008 was to sock away $18,600. So less than $8,000 to go.

This really makes me wonder what we were spending all of our money on before!