Money Monday- Can't Take it With You

     

     Vix reminded me on Thrifty Thursday that we can't take money with us when we die. True for sure. Like her, I want my money to go where needed and priority now and not always think save, save, save. I thought I'd remind myself where that mix is, while not forgetting we hope to have decades of well planned retirement. Here's a mix of high level categories, beyond the shelter, food, clothing, transportation needs, and monthly fun wants, we spend our money on. This is just us, and no suggestion that any of these are for you or how you should manage your money. Nor am I looking for advice, but always appreciate a bit of good discussion. 

• Maxing our 401 K contributions
• Annual Roth max contribution
• Monthly annuity/whole life insurance plus monthly top off insurance for me
• Annual annuity/whole life on each child, set up when they were born and never changes in cost but benefit  has grown incrementally
• Monthly donation to our church, quarterly  donation that aligns with holiday and event calendar
• Biweekly charitable donation to our local family service, taken out of my pay check
• Quarterly charitable donations-determined to who and how much
• Setting aside $200 per month in unknown potential costs that pop up-a sinking fund of sorts but for the unexpected (we have a different method for sinking funds for the irregularly timed bills such as taxes, home and car insurance)
• Ad hoc donations for family fundraisers-sometimes we do the fund raiser, sometimes we just send some money to help with the cause/cost. We have a annual budget line for this, and I review when the asks come in. I don't donate to everything, as some of the kids are constantly in a fund raising mode for something-you know what I mean! I also sometimes think about the experience for that child and what the fundraiser is for. I'm turned off by fundraisers for for profit business participation such as skating, gymnastics, or dance schools, but I'll pay admission fees to attend such events. It's not that I don't support small businesses, but I don't agree with a business model that has kids hocking crap. I'd rather  help the family member if they need a bit of help covering tuition that month. 
• One more year, two semesters, of college tuition, room, and board

Things I still need set up with more intentionality:

• Separate long term health care account
• Final resting/funeral expenses
• A true vacation account
• A true household project account

     I know I said this but bares repeating. This is my direction for our income, and likely has little to no bearing on your plans. With the exception of college tuition, and who knows, we may have a different education fund set up, and 401K, these spending areas  follow us into retirement. We're not money wizards and don't aspire to hoard money. We just want to keep living a good life with friends and family until our lives come to a close. 

Thrifty Thursday-Can't Pay for Rain Edition

      Still no rain to speak of and the haze from fires in Canada is creeping more south with each day. A colleague who lives way up north had to cancel both an outing on the lake and an elders picnic. Well, they moved the elders picnic inside the tribal community center, but not the same as a picnic. That's just lunch!  I'd like nothing more than to hear a good thunderstorm and the patter of rain, but rain is something not for sale. Finally the city added a lawn watering ban between 11:00 and 6:00. I wish it was more restrictive. I don't get to decide that, but I do get to decide what I can spend my money on, what I do with my time, and how I conserve resources. Here is my summary of the thrifty positives for the week.

Time

•  A good happy hour followed by games at my sisters was a good place to spend my Saturday.
• With DD1's help, we tackled some of the hardest to deal with clutter in her old bedroom and the office is on it's way. 
• I almost bailed on Trivia since so few were able to make it, but then thought it still would be fun. Well, we had the "youngsters" come, and it was fun-and we won!  I bought a round-which was cheap since three of our six couldn't even drink beer or seltzer, lol. 
• I got caught up with a few  graduation and other cards that needed to be mailed for events we were not able to attend. 

Resources  

• DD2 brought yet more produce home yesterday including sweet potatoes, both diced and chunked, a kabob kit, fresh salsa, and veggies and dip. We sure are eating a lot of produce. It amazes me how much  of the items are cut and then packaged and sold in grocery stores like that. I understand some people may have limited time, kitchen space, or decent knives, but how hard is it to peel a  sweet potato, or slice a zucchini, onion, and peppers? The price as it would have been in the store is on the container and  woah! There was a container that looked like it had an onion and perhaps a punnet of mushrooms.It was labeled "steaker toppers", and was priced at $5-plus the plastic container to dispose of. 
• Last Friday she distributed 10 bags of produce to people who would use and saved from waste.
• Daughter and I have been eating the leftovers for lunch. My fridge is overflowing and I fear though there may be potential waste so on my list for tomorrow.
• While many things had to be thrown from the old bedroom, there was a lot of good stuff such as  winter coats and warm jackets, like new jeans plus movies and books to donate. My daughter did that on my behalf as she practically passes a Goodwill on route to work, saving me both time and gas money. We'll have another load this weekend. 
• She had a few finds of items and gifts forgotten about (or were hidden by clutter) that will work well in her house now.

Money

•  I already said above, but our team won $30 in beer money for next week's Trivia. 
• With the cleaning, I found some treasures! In a box of old cars, I found 5 good postage stamps, a $20 Walmart gift card, and a $40 Target gift card. Never just throw cards and envelopes! 
• I did a top off shop and had a few things specifically needed-yogurt and deli meat. I happened on a clearanced refrigerator case and got three packs, 14 oz each of Hillshire Farm turkey at $2, 66% off, and four Oikos Greek Yogurts at   $ .50 each-these sell normally for over a dollar and even  compared to Aldi price it was a deal. I also grabbed some little  snack packs at $ .75 each as good for throwing in a bag  rather than purchasing a snack out and about. They are really small though so maybe not a great find. Lesson learned, clearance is great, if the item are things you will  use and is still a good price for quality/item. It can be easy to get lured into buying because of the discount, but that's still spending money on items not intended. 

     The local sweet corn is starting to come in. A friend posted on Facebook that her parents farm will have their regular corner set up starting tomorrow-it's really delicious! I'm sure they have irrigated so the lack of rain shouldn't hurt the crops, but I do feel bad for the added costs they'll face. How about you? How did you spend your time, use your resources, and spend money wisely this week?

     

Baguette and Croissant Fund

I have a tea biscuit tin, a gift from DD1's English friend, the biscuits inside have long been enjoyed. It seems a great place to throw change in for vacation expenses. If you've been reading my blog, you know I get a huge amount of pleasure on the planning, some might say adnauseum, the little details of my trips. Still, I won't deny myself this pleasure. I like to assign little challenges  with meaning. I've decided to use the tea biscuit change as my source for "free" baguettes and croissants while we are in Paris. Of course they are not really free, but the change being thrown in the can is not missed, so it will feel like we are not even tapping into the vacation budget. As I write this, the exchange rate is 1.23  Dollars = 1 Euro. I have $14.27 in the canister, which converted to 11.34 Euros. Not one to miss a detail, I found this article, 5 Best Croissants in Paris  and each price the delicious pastry at between 1 and 1.2 Euros. My change so far will yield each member of my family two of the flaky treats each.

Not from France, but a French style baguette-from Walmart.

Baguette's might help my canister fund go even farther. Typically, I've researched, a boulangerie will sell a fresh baked baguette for around 1 Euro. Two of these hard crusty loaves, soft and delicious in the inside, will easily do for our family of five, particularly if we have  a jar of jam and a pot of coffee and carafe of orange juice. We'll be set for breakfast for the first five days of our trip. All of us are fresh bread fiends, so I can see us popping in and grabbing a few just as a mid morning snack. I'll give an update once a month and see how many carbs we can guilt free, at least in terms of money, incorporate into our days.

What's Too Frugal? Another Take

Gathering all the loose change at the end of the day and socking it away in a container to cash in yields some respectable savings amounts. Claiming the lost money in the laundry, left in pockets, a soggy mess to dry out, can lead to a tidy stack of air dried bills. No one would dispute these money saving schemes. Picking up money on the ground, perhaps too frugal? Does the value of the money matter?  This was actually a hallway conversation the other day, a colleague wearing the fruits of her ground picked up pennies in the form of a new to her blanket scarf. The I Pick Up Pennies blog name I believe originated from this practice. A recent post  at Kate Wolk-Stanley's blog The Non Consumer Advocate summarized her found change total for 2016 and back several years. 

I know I have picked up the odd silver change or dollar bill in a hallway from time to time. I can't say if I have or haven't in my life picked up change on a side walk or out in public on the ground. I may have in college when I was a completely broke waitress, so already in the habit of  picking up change on a floor that had fallen off tables, and any few pennies seemed like a help. 

This leads me to think of other frugal boundaries people have regarding claiming things. Curb side items with a sign marked "free" or "please take", might be a yes for me if it really was something I could use. I've never have hauled something home, though. Seeing an item in a garbage or set out for pick-up, easily a no for me, and I think that is illegal, right?  I have read that people will go to the persons house and ask if they can  have something they see. I personally would not do that because of my own comfort, but see it could be a smart frugality. Again, maybe back in college or just starting out if I wasn't already the recipients of so many hand me down items from family, I would have been more proactive in asking for other peoples cast offs. I've thought a bit more about cast offs as I brainstorm upcycling opportunities for some missing furniture pieces in my home. 

What are your thoughts on found money or finding freebies? Do I have a stupid squeamishness about  change on the ground? Has anyone had any great curbside finds, either with a note, or by being brave and knocking on the door to ask about said item.

Christmas Savings

Eee gads, a post filled with consumerism. I apologize in advance. I'm plugging away against my Christmas giving, wrapping and cards budget, determined to come in less than my original budget by $200. Some strategies I've used so far include deferring the use of the free Target gift cards  given when a certain number of certain products are bought. Again, I have to be careful not to count the savings twice. I don't count until I use the gift card for a new purchase,. My total sits at $30. I've bundled Kohl's cash and Reward points, layering with a birthday promo, and percent off spending coupons. Kohl's cash/Reward bucks are also at $30. I shouldn't count this, but I will since it's money back to me. I finally returned wrong size t-shirts for DH and DS form last year, and was credited back $27 on my Kohl's card and received $20 in Kohl's cash (what I must have used towards part of cost last year.)

Sunday I took advantage of the 10% of gift cards at Target, and bought a $100 one for $90. Tonight I will use with a $10 of $50 clothing purchase and get a pair of jeans and shirt for DS. The balance I'll use towards donation shopping and Oreo's on sale and in cartwheel, for making truffle candies.I have another $10 off $50 purchases, but hope to bundle with some freebie bonuses and items for donation (a separate budget, but want those to stretch as well.). When done, I will have spent $90 for $120 in purchases, a 25% savings before any other coupon is applied. Yes, another $30 towards the budget. 

Clothing gift certificates at a small business boutique for my girls were a Black Friday week special, so $50, bought $60 for each, for another $20. The remaining $53 in budget reduction I'm working towards though pure deal shopping through price comparison and using store sales. Options like finding Goodie hair items 2 for $1 at the dollar store, using 30% off book coupon on a book for my daughter, and using my other daughters help with her employee discount on a gift.

I found the ham I was hoping to buy at $3.99 per pound, a little over 7 pounds. This will be one of three meats for Christmas eve so should be more than enough, and hope even some leftovers. I might have been able to hold out longer, and found cheaper, but it's in my freezer, and included in my $400 grocery challenge, and that is done. I'm still on the look out for cheap crescent roll dough, but all other baking items were bought Sunday at rock bottom prices with the exception of Oreo;s and cream cheese, on sale at Target. I'm not sure yet what my Christmas day contributions are beyond a couple Stromboli type appetizers, wine, punch ingredients, and treats, but I'm reserving $50 of the budget to prepare, leaving me with an ample $46.33 per week for regular groceries, plus the use of a fairly stocked pantry, fridge, and freezer. The holiday shouldn't be about how much I spent or how cheap I got things, but I'm sharing to maybe give an idea or two to others on how they can stretch their own budgets. It also is a reminder to myself that I can orchestrate a Christmas focused on bringing joy to others without resorting to over spending.

2016 2nd Half Savings Update

October is done and we added $2,600 to the savings target which stands at $6,300. Hey, only $12,200 from the $16,500 goal she says with a mix of sigh and laughter. We should easily reach $10,000, so considering July started us in negative digits, I shouldn't despair too much. We've decided we need to keep fully feeding the Roth as opposed to college fund. There's a probability she'll go to a state college and as long as we have a years worth in cash, we should be able to cash flow the costs. Last resort would be student loans. There may or may not be any education credits by then so not counting on the tax refunds we got with other two, but we both do a hefty tax deferred savings which will greatly lower taxes now that we both can put $24,000 aside. I'll do a final update in January to this challenge with new targets, maybe in a different format. 

I've been thinking a lot about net worth. Not counting the house, the retirement calculators say we should be more than fine in ten years assuming we keep at our current actions of maxing Roth and 401K. We need more liquid savings though and that will be part of the 2017 goal setting, aiming for a three year cash savings to bridge between DH' s retirement year target and age 67. I want to draw done as little as possible to keep the tax burden low. The Roth won't be taxed as it was funded with after tax money but the 401K's, my pension, and my work sponsored health savings plan will be. My brain gets fuddled thinking all this, but it's necessary. 

Any feedback on my savings goals? Would anyone do things differently in my shoes? What's your biggest financial worry and how are you trying to handle it?

What My Blog Salary Buys-2

For 18 months I was averaging a blog salary per day that bought we one bargain brownie per month. I decided to start fresh in June, and keep a monthly progress report. This is where watching pennies and dimes really becomes interesting for me. In June, I earned the grand sum of $3.04, just over $o.10 per day average. Woo Hoo, that's a 33% increase over my past average. Looking at it as part of a business, though one could argue chocolate brownies as a business expense, I earned enough to cover the domain costs for SamandCoffee.com and SamandCoffee.net for the month of June, with $1.04 left over. Not that I've added content yet there, but things are building up in the back ground, and it feels good to actually own a domain name. Sam and Coffee really does exist! 

I just have a siple google domain and $12 per year for each suffix. As much as I appreiate the free blogger site, I woudllike to migrate content there that is more research, article based, and keep this for conversation and community. I'm not sure how to link the two, and had menat when both DD2 and DS were here at Christmas, they could help me, but never found the opportunity. 

With the remaining $1.04, I will start a little business kitty. I'll apply that kitty to things like SD cards, for when the elusive camera is in my possession, notepads and good writing pens to keep handy for ideas, and maybe even business cards for the blog, ready for the Mn Blogger's Conference in October. I put the link becasue the slides and presentations are posted and there was some quality offerings. Oh, the kitty could go towards the conference fee too. 

My blogging expenses, at some point should include for the year:
Domain addresses $24
MN Blogger's Conference $20 (last year continental breakfast, lunch, snacks, and a first beer and appetizers for after conference party was all included, so it was as much entertainment as an investment)
Business cards-$20
Pens, notepads-$2 (I've been using my school supply stash, and will add a few things when target goes super low)
Computer Depreciation-agian computer used for lots of things, but at some point, I should have one for this work so should put aside $200 year, to replace every three years.
Camera  $175 (though I'll use for lots of things)-hoping to get with gift cards, and multi year use, but will put $40 a year for depreciation over 5 years to buy a new one.
SD Card- lowest I've seen, and adequate could be $5.00, and multi-year use

Grand total, this hobby/business costs about $309.00.

I'm pretty pumped about that, becasue even if I never earn a penny blogging, how many hobbies do people have that cost less than $30 a month?

My Expensive Frugal Lifestyle

I was chatting with a coworker a about out of work activities, mine, DH, and DD2's. This was the same day the final approval of our contract including our raises was announced as approved, plus some resources for increasing our own contribution to our retirement accounts, and reminder of the maximum and catch up option if over age 50. "Wow," she said abruptly after we were talking a while, "I guess you're not at risk of maxing out your accounts!" I could see from her perspective that it might seem like that. Roughly we all make in the same general salary range-some  a bit more, other less depending on specific position and tenure.  We make decent salaries, but not overwhelming. I didn't really think about our activities as being luxuries-they just are part of our spending priorities. 

Every family and individual has to divide their earnings and conquer the must haves and then decide what to do with what is left over. For a really long time, I've been trying to contain costs on the must haves, an absolute necessity when we were starting our family. The must haves pretty much ate most of the income. Since then, we try and make conscientious decisions of what must haves in other family budgets are simply "not very often's" for us. We  have a hefty list of expenses that many families do not have, but also spend little to nothing on items that are second nature to others. And yes, we are maxing out the official tax deferred, and after tax Roth opportunities, but know we could, maybe should, save more in just straight cash asset's. We are probably just adequately protected for life insurance, but one is also whole life, and say what you will about it, while it sucked up a lot of cash flow when we were young, because we left it alone, we have recouped and then some in cash value what we put into it, plus have increased our coverage.

Some, well most, of our expensive budget items follow DD#2, as they followed her siblings when they were home.  DD#1 was by far the bargain child! (If she reads this, she will 100% back me as the truth) For DD#2 we have violin lessons, show choir, traveling soccer, and her school trips. For us, we have a newer car, wine club, and annual vacation. We love movie theaters and treating ourselves to popcorn, and I've already shared my habit for eating out and buying books. We give to our church and charities as a priority.

But my frugality kicks in to help defray the cost of these luxuries. I or DH always do our volunteer commitment and work fundraisers that help keep the activity fees down. We've restructured  violin lessons and now DD takes duo lessons, for 45 minutes instead of 30, but for a 25% fee reduction than her solo ones were. More time, plus savings. My car also promotes DH's business, wine club doubles as a night out and gifts for family and friends. While we eat out more than I would like to admit, simple but delicious home cooking and baking keeps our overall food expenses down, and I'll use coupons or take advantage of gift card and points. My Keurig was a luxury, but wit the old coffee maker (really only about 6 years old), leaking, it's the hardest working appliance next to the refrigerator. I'm trying to curb my desire for a Nespresso machine, but it is on my wish list after the camera. 

Clothing is where I save the most compared to what I think might be typical working woman budgets, because trends and high fashion are not important to me. I like comfortable, neat and classic pieces. (OK-maybe I look a bit  frumpy, but I doubt a new closet would change my appearance drastically.) Vacations are a challenge for me to see how I can plan a budget with a balance of splurge and save in different areas, then try and come in under my set budget, but not compromising. As for charitable donations, not giving back when we've been blessed with so much just doesn't seem right for me, but we plan where and when, and do take advantage of the tax deduction. 

Frugal Trenches does a series called How We Spend Our Money. the posts are well worth the read. I'm fascinated that 100 families will spend money 100 different ways and there is always something  new to learn. While I'm not intending to teach anyone anything, I sure like learning how others stretch their budget, but also when they just simply say "no" to spending, or "yes" to a splurge. Sure, I wish theoretically I didn't feel a need to count the dollars and cents, but yet, there is something rewarding about knowing you could spend something on a luxury, and making the decision to just forgo. Now if the Nespresso ads would stop jumping into my Facebook feed, I would have better will power.

Call it Risotto for $17.95 a Serving

I used to love D'Amico and Son's for a fresh lunch.  They have delicious salads and  light sandwiches in the summer, and hearty pasta, risotto, and panini's in the cold weather. It used to be a rare lunch treat to meet a colleague for lunch at the one on Grand Ave in St Paul, though now there are franchises in several locations.  It's lost it's appeal though now that their salads and wraps are in every Target deli counter, and in the airport pit stops. Still the tastes are nice, and better than a lot of deli fair.  And it should be.These are not inexpensive  meals, hence why it was a very rare treat. I had a work meeting at one near my office quite a ways back.  Two of us got a trio of salads, scoops of our choice of the many in the case. One ordered an asparagus,  mushroom and Asiago cheese risotto. It smelled delicious, and looked very appealing.  We all had ice tea as well.  While the sald trio and tea come to around $15, way more than my PB and J would cost, we all stopped when my colleague 's lunch was rang up. $22.61, for rice! 

I remembered that lunch tonight as I was thowing together dinner.  At the end of the week is our cabin weekend, so I am trying to take ocntrol of the budget, eat from the fridge,freezer, and pantry, and use up bits.  I pulled together a creamy  dish made with long grain rice cooked long and slow with a little chicken broth and diced carrots. I found an already cooked  package of hamburger in the freezer, knowing it would come in handy some meal. I used a can of cream of chicken soup and a can of skim milk, heavily seasoned with garlic and pepper, as a binder. After mixing it all together, it seemed to need something more.  I remembered a bag of spinach greens past their salad prime, and heated them up until wilted in a 1/4 cup of water.  The wilted greens along with the water went into the dish as well.  I sprayed a pan, put it all in there and topped with a light grating of the last of the cheddar cheese I had in the bin. When DD saw it she said, "Fancy!"

So here is my tally of cost;
hamburger $2.25
Rice           $ .47
soup           $ .79
milk            $ .17
carrots        $ .25
Spinach      $1.79 *(and would have been tossed if not cooked)
broth           $ .16
butter          $  .13
Assorted seasoning let's just say included in my rounding up. Grand total $6.01, 6 large portions at $1.00 a serving. I even had ice tea at $.05 a glass, with sweetener. There's had asparagus, mushrooms, and Asiago while mine spinach, carrots, beef, and cheddar-pretty tasty as well. If not spending resulted in earning money, my meal would have earned me $129.36  in profit above cost.  How's that for competing with the big guys.  

So I could call it risotto and pretend it was served in a cute bistro by a handsome young man sporting a two day growth and man bun. Or, I could just stay true to my Minnesota roots and call it a rice hot dish.  You decide. 

Served on a salad, not dinner plate, but still very large portion. 

Christmas Fund-Money, Perks, and Other Contributions

I'm getting inspired by the savings plans of others that starts early and leads to a Christmas season that does not break the budget. First, let me start with the fact that I am trying to tone down Christmas on the gift front overall, and have been doing this the last few years with some success. While I love a good old fashion decorated house, specials treats, and all the trimmings, I've not strained the budget for these. I have loads of decorations that I use year to year and plan the special foods around  what seems to be good buys, as I think the specialness come from the preparation and presentation more from the cost anyway. We've decreased whom we buy gifts for, and incorporate some "needs" into the gift giving for our immediate family. Still, I like to shop for special gifts that are just right, and needed, and spending a bit less, or getting more for my money will be appreciated. As DD#2 has another school trip, part of her gifts will be in trip form. 

My plan will be two fold. One, I'll continue to keep my eyes out for quality gifts and items that enhance the holiday year round. I am quite behind in that right now, and have nothing squirreled away. Wait, I just found an almost 1/2 price curling wand for DD#2 that she was saying she wanted during show choir season. One gift-check. Second, I will put little perks, refunds, and gift cards earned towards shopping later. This account has been started with a Target gift card earned, though not yet in hand. I'd love to accumulate $200 by December 1, or roughly 20% of what I am budgeting this year for all Christmas related spending. One point though, I need to be aware to not double count the savings and earnings. For example, Target is great at having buy X number of something, get a $5 gift card. I can count that $5.00 either as part of the initial savings on the household budget, or towards the Christmas fund-not both or it is artificial. 

There are some times when I'll need to do both, for example, I have $10 Kohl's cash to use now, when DD#1 used my card to purchase some needed work clothes so I could get the rewards, and she could get my discount, but it has short time window. I'll put it towards a few clearance items for the girls like socks or tights. I generally set a budget per person, but depending on how I am able to shop, like the Kohl's cash, I may spend less on one than another and just don't worry about being equal financially, but rather focus on the quality of the gift and if it is right for the recipient.  

I've decreased my budget for $1,200,as on paper we put $100 per month away for Christmas, to $1,000, and hope to have $200 of that in alternative cash. If successful, the $400 can either stay in regular savings, or be applied towards another goal area such as travel or home improvement.  Any secret's out there for building your Christmas fund? 

No Spend and Empty the Cupboard-Two Strategies

There are lots of posts on folks doing no spend months for January.  I've also seen challenges for limiting spending to a certain amount, usually $10-$20 for the week. Sluggy over at Don't Read This, It's Boring posted a thoughtful reflection Why I Don't Do Spending Fasts. I equate her philosophy to a crash diet-all or nothing, usually resulting in no long term change of behavior. I've watched Penny Golightly empty her pantry, eliminating a lot of waste, her challenge to herself. She recapped her experience in a post from October, Empty the Store Cupboard Challenge-The Roundup, and links to the starting spot.

As in most things, I find balance works for me, with no absolutes or rules.I couldn't deny myself from spending for a certain amount of time, whether that is a week, a month, or as some are trying to do, a year, without feeling stressed and off kilter. My life just is not that orderly. Even if as Sluggy suggests people with no spend months often do, I just stockpile and spend the month preceding, resulting in no real savings, I would run out of some essential that I didn't plan well enough for, or misplace it in a long forgotten storage space. What could work for me, at least I feel determined in 2016 to make it work for me, is to modify little by little how I shop, spend, and consume, eliminating as much waste in food, clothing, utilities as I can.

I'll buy two new pairs of tights that are needed, second pair at half price so I can look presentable at work, and stay warm, but I won't buy six pairs. I'll take better care of the two new pairs, hand washing with the other items I hand wash, rather than lazily throwing in the washing machine. I'll more intentionally plan leftovers as part of the next night or two's meal, rather than treat them as an afterthought that may or may not get eaten.This is my biggest angst in the money and consumerism area-food waste is still too high in my house. I'll concentrate on the little things, the short game, in both reducing my spending on things of little to no value, and  use up and take better care of what I already have. I'll intentionally leave my money safely tucked in my wallet or better yet, at home when I go somewhere with no need to purchase anything, discouraging impulse spending, resulting in no spend days naturally. When I do spend, I'll work to stick to an overall budget over time, not passing up a good buy for a need, or to stock up reasonably. At least, this is my strategy in 2016. Where do you land on the no spend-stock-up strategies?

Free Lance

Freelance:A person who pursues a profession independently, and not as the employee

 of an organization. Definition from The Collaborative International Dictionary

I love the term freelance.  The idea of being able to market  a talent or a skill, and then be able to select which job offers best meet your interest, time, and financial needs. Had I not made the change to my current job, I was on the verge of calling it quits anyway, and strike it on my own. Needing decent health insurance and  kid number three to put through college made the idea impractical and frightening, but not any more than continuing to work in an atmosphere of stress and pressure. My son, is a freelancer, though more because he is trying to establish his career, rather than having the luxury of picking and choosing what jobs he takes.

Even though I enjoy my job and the increased time it has allowed me, I want to develop a five year plan, that makes the option of self employment viable. In five years, I maximize all the long term benefits this job had to offer, things that impact my short term cash flow, but have massive long term features, so to jump before then would be short sighted. We have a savings goal of having all the tuition and room and board for DD#2 secured by or within her first year, of college. This is an essential part of the five year plan. There is the unknown of what college she picks and how much tuition inflates, but we're basing the goal on the cost to send our other two, with inflation. The big change in cash flow makes this an overwhelming task, but not impossible, since we have contributed something since she was born, just not enough.

Exploring what to '"freelance in, is part of my challenge. I have done a fair amount of project development and launch. There could be some gigs in that, particular in the fledgling non-profit sector where funding for start up and pilot programs are plenty, but sustainability funding is tough. There is a need for people that can hit the ground running, develop systems and operating procedures, and then exit, having helped the organization incorporate the work with existing personnel or funding streams. Essentially this is what my current position is, though the expectation is this will be a growing program with not just sustaining but increased investment. There is also the fund and resource development arm, territory I also have a back ground, though would not be apparent on my resume, through job titles. I'm helping a friend right by doing the leg work and grant writing for a program component for a very small charitable organization that she has started. I've done volunteer efforts like this in the past with success.

The charm right now is that I can explore possibilities, while feeling like I have a safety net under me. Nothing is a given though, so exploring and envisioning a freelance career is a safety net in and of itself. There is no such thing as a secure position and anyone can be made redundant at any time. Keeping the door open for self employment, freelancing, would help me know I have a back-up plan should one be needed. For those of you that made the decision to be self employed, what was the biggest challenge in making the change?  What keeps you awake at night?  If others are like me, exploring but not yet ready to strike out on  your own what is holding you back?  

picture from dreamstime.com

 

No Spend Day

I would have like to have started Penny Golightly's tenner week, but with needing to stock my desk drawers with office fast lunch items, and hitting Target while DD#2 was at basketball, and two scheduled nights out already, this would have been an epic fail by Monday night.  Instead, I am trying to keep the remaining 4 days of the week, No Spend Days.  Success today-not a penny escaped my purse. I have been trying for a couple years now to follow along with the tenner weeks.  I almost made it once. Because I knew this week was a bust, I will start one on Sunday and see how I can fare.  I'm going to give myself other challenges this week in the spirit of tenner week like seeing if I can use up leftovers (though this will also be part of day one for tenner, so might need to rethink this), and completely stay out of the grocery store, mend at least one item of clothing, and make at least one house "fix".  I'll touch base later in the week to share how I did.

Supper was... a Sad State

New Year's resolve-cut down on food waste and eat better, while saving money at the same time.  In the spirit of waste not, want not, I'm tackling the woe begotten items in the pantry.  There are quite a few things that probably should not have been purchased, but I can't justify purging now.  We got a nuisance snow today.  Enough wet snow and freeing drizzle to make the roads slick and dicey, but not a huge cumulative effect on the roads (but seems like we got more here at home).  That meant a slow commute home, but evening events all running as scheduled.  Dinner needed to be quick. 

Dinner consisted of microwaving some potatoes, and cooking a noodle side dish to round off the plates. I actually thought I was making a rice side dish, until I opened the packet to pour in with the boiling water and milk and saw noodles and not rice.  The dish had very little taste, and I suspect the rice wouldn't have had much more so it was irrelevant what came out of the pot. I did accomplish less food waste, and money savings-probably under $2.00 for the noodles and the five small russets.  I managed to scour the sides of a tub of sour cream for the remaining amounts clinging to the plastic so the potatoes were nice. DD#2 and I ate one each, a bit bigger than the others, and saved these three little ones for DH when he comes home.  It's a 50-50 guess if he'll eat the noodles.

The job change is a reality now, but there have been little elements of drama involved with submitting my official resignation that I will save for when I am really done.  I can honestly say that the last two days have given me ample medicine to suppress any qualms I've had about resigning.  I've done taxi run number one of the night and managed to get 80% of the driveway shoveled. I need to move my car to finish, so I'll just park behind the other car after picking DD up and save the gas needed to move it now.  Every penny helps!

Looking Ahead 2015

Last Saturday DH and I had a frugal evening out at a local pizza and pasta chain. I frequent this place with a group of friends several times a year, and it is also a gift card vendor of choice for a couple organizations I volunteer with.  I've previously signed up for the rewards program, and received a e-coupon for a free pizza last week.  This, combined with using one of three gift cards I had stockpiled, provided dinner with beer and an appetizer for just the $10 tip.  I'm never sure if you are supposed to use gift cards for tips or not, so we just left the $10, or 20% of the full bill without coupon. DD#2 rarely likes to go out for supper, and she was still basking in the glory of having received seven new books for Christmas and was in full marathon reading mode.  The restaurant was busy, but not crowded so we could take the rare opportunity to linger and really discuss priorities for the coming year. 

He is as equally tired of the clutter and backlog of procrastinated projects as I am.  My health issue, on top of the scare we had three years ago with him, nudged us both to the reality that health and wellness has to be out on the top of the priority list. Knowing we are now in the final 4 years of having a child at home means jump starting savings to be earmarked for college again must be high as well.  These are the practical, responsible things that we agree need to focused on.  Then there are the more ethereal priorities-the ones that make the day to day special, meaningful, and help put the bad days into a new frame of reference as only being a minor blip.

Many of the barriers to truly living meaningful in the day to day are a direct result of the concrete and tangible being some what mucked up.  Having friends drop in, sitting back with a bottle of wine, is not stress free when all you see are unfinished projects and messy clutter if not down right signs of poor housekeeping habits everywhere. Taking a long walk, a morning swim, or a game of tennis is difficult without the stamina, resulting in being wiped out as opposed to feeling invigorated. Fretting over any expense now, because of nagging fear of future tuition, induces guilt, robbing us of satisfaction.

These priorities will not be resolutions, but hopefully the result of my new resolves. I've decided that for my resolution for 2015, I will make efforts to develop better skills in the art of compromise and alternative choices or solutions. In terms of clutter control, there are hundreds of tips and strategies on the web, in magazine, on television and the newspaper.  I don't have to master all-I just need to come up with a few compromises and  options that work for me.  I don't have to cook from scratch every night, but I do need to get the processed and overly chemicalized garbage out of my kitchen. The 10 for $10 side dishes are filling, but not nourishing, and they have to go. This will mean very basic meals on the busy nights, and probably quite a few pieces of toast and a banana eaten quickly before rushing out the door, but the reduction in salt, fat, and preservatives will be worth it. I don't need to run three miles before work each day, but I can actually take my lunch break as opposed to eating at my desk, and using 10-15 minutes of it for a brisk walk outdoors. We don't need to say no to plans and evenings out, but we can spend 1/3 as much and invite friends over for drinks and snacks as an alternative once in a while. Our $60 pizza and beer night is evidence of that.

With that, I'm kicking off 2015.  It will be a year of new beginnings, as all new years are. I hit the mid century mark this year, and exciting and challenging events are on the horizon for friends and family.  Those momentous events will sure to be etched in my memories for years to come.  However, next year I want to look back and see more blurred lines between the calendar dates.  I want every day to be meaningful in its own right.  I think that is possible.