Blabbedy blah blah

From the vault of my long and adventurous experience with Money:

I have a few easy tips on being comfortably frugal, coming from my own learned and sometimes painful lessons and some I have gathered.

Some of these are new, some are rehashed. If you recognized a rehashed item from previous posts, just think of them smothered with cheese and mushrooms and enjoy once again.

1. Groupon is not your friend. It is a "frenemy". It looks nice, dresses cute, comes with a friendly message, but is not well meaning. (i know people just like that!).
I have always deleted every Groupon inbox message I recieve. I know people mean well, but in the end, just because a kickboxing studio an hour away is going to lower it's 3 week training session by $5 to ONLY $60 doesn't mean I should do it. So...you're still spending $55 on something you may have taken the time to reconsider if this "friendly" Groupon hadn't placed itself on your virtual doormat. Say goodbye to Groupon, kiss it's grave and move on to buying things when you can, with real money you have.

2. Dilute the juice. Juice, especially for kids, is full of sugar, binders, and other weirdness. try to go natural, and do half and half- I give my kids glasses with half juice, mixed with half fresh water. Saves money, saves the hyperness, makes the item last at least one more week. another tip - I only do one "juice" item per day. Fresh fruits are the best "fruit" juice product, and fresh water and milk or soy milk adds for variety.

3. Fruit is your best "juice". A glass of orange juice for adults, is almost twice the calories and sugars of the real thing (oranges, apples, pineapples, etc). Four bags of fresh fruits is cheaper by bulk than many cartons of $4 or more fancy juices. Obviously I have a bias against juice you might say- no, it's just more expensive, processed and full of more "stuff". Ok so yes, I do.

4. Coupons are not always money savers and are usually not for healthy foods. You all know this I am sure. The coupons in the wednesday and Sunday papers are put out by specific brands (Proctor and Gamble, Johnson and Johnson, Kellog's etc) with only one intention- to move their inventory and get you hooked on spending money on them so they can further enjoy their family jets. Seriously, I started couponing and found that most coupons were for frozen, processed and packaged goods. Do I buy crackers and corn chips, sure I do! Do we buy some frozen items- sure for certain recipes. But I have completely cut out any prefrozen "meals" and also baking goods like Pilsbury. I'd rather do more from scratch. The point is, alot of the coupon items are not for whole foods like beef, vegetables, fruit, seafood or any other fresh whole items. They are for high salt, high fat stuff. Buy fresh bulk items, and only use the coupons for what I call bathroom items- toothpaste, shampoos, soaps, etc. if at all.

5. Use cash. I know everyone says this. But it works. Allot a certain amount of cash for your household twice a month, to be used for entertainment, extras and random items. When it's done, it's done.

6. Use your local college campuses- they don't care! We have lived in many cities with great universities- Nashville and this one being two of the best. Many campuses have Olympic lap pools (some for your use for under $40 per semester for non students!), tracks, open playing fields to use with your kids for soccer or just running around. Also, we have loved attending the local news/radio studios when they have live music tapings of great performances. Don't forget, many have great libraries and art galleries on site that are free to use. Take advantage and supporting them monetarily is still cheaper than A) installing your own pool B) installing your own Olympic sized pool or C) installing your own music studio for public broadcasting. Right?

7. Find the deals around town and fill up your calendar! I recently attended a wonderful ballet performance for only $20 per seat including a complimentary drink, great historic venue and classy crowd. Also, when buying music festival tickets, buy the early bird specials and don't wait for prices to go up. We have attended many many shows and it always pays to buy early, plan ahead, and enjoy the show at half the cost of most attendees.

8. Ditch the soda now. I know you are thinking how clever Miss, keep talking about health when you're supposed to be thrifty..but this is about money. I cut out soda about 5 years ago. Drinks like sodas add alot to your grocery bill and to your waist. But who cares about your waist- this is about your money! Seriously, when my husband cut out buying 12 pack diet sodas, he lost pounds instantly and it's one less thing that adds $$ to your list of food items to get.

9. Treat yourself, but think about WHY you think you deserve it. In other words, i hear alot of people (mostly women) who feel like they deserve something. Is this a generational thing? Life is work, life is finding happiness, and life sometimes sucks. Getting a $45 manicure doesn't solve your problems, and may only get you more in debt. Walking in a beautiful city park is free, as is walking on the beach. Or enjoying an old dvd with friends. "Treating" ourselves has become a big industry that alot of people buy into...and it shows on their credit cards. You don't "deserve" anything. You are blessed just by being alive to enjoy things that don't cost you later grief.

10. Don't listen to me, what do I know? For real, I have learned alot. At one point in time, I lived in a shack behind a house with my husband, with a power line buried in the yard. My parents could have helped during that time, but we would never have asked. Pride works to get yourself out of financial messes. You don't need to expect others to help you, finding your own inner resources is the best creator of real adults. by the way...that year we lived in that old shack behind a friend's house while we both worked and pulled our way out of small debt was one of the best times during our marriage. We still laugh about it and thank God every day for friends like that. We didn't care about driving nicer cars, keeping up with the neighbors or "treating ourselves" (ok I did get a nice tattoo of a phoenix) and it stuck with us until all these years later.

ta ta for now folks, I have to do some thrifty shopping for a birthday soon!