This huge and vast land of information online is hard to cover fully without the help of others and I don't like to be one to miss something that might be useful. I hate saying... "Darn, I wish I knew about that!"

Savings Bonds-
If you're bad at saving for the long term future or retirement because easy access to money is too tempting, consider a new option recently offered by the government for the first time this year.

It is offering to send tax refunds in the form of U.S. series I savings bonds this year. They would come in increments of $50. For example: if you're due a $541 refund, you can deposit $41 into a bank account and get 10 of the $50 interest-paying bonds. 

You can cash them in at any time after a year, but you will have a 3 month interest penalty, up to five years and then there is no penalty after that. To get your refund as bonds, you will need to file Form 8888 with your tax refund.

Lottery Lessons-
I found this story refreshing.
"Jay has quite a portfolio to maintain since he bought a scratch-off lottery ticket on his 19th birthday that yielded him $1 million.
Jay took the seven-figure prize in a lump-sum payment. By the time he set aside 10 percent for charity and gave $10,000 each to his parents and several other relatives, he said he still had a healthy nest egg left over."

He invested for the long term and the short term around 500-530,000 dollars of his winnings and even though his investments have tanked a bit due to the economy he is appears grounded and doesn't appear to be getting scared over the downturn. Heck he's still young and has time on his side to make up the losses. Good for him.

These stories are so rare since people would rather read about a lottery winner who went bust than one who made smart decisions and invested well. I guess they have a statistic that around 70% of lottery winners burn through their winnings and end up where they were before or worse off.

My personal back masseuse-

My back gets knotted up a lot and I have found the cheapest way to get the relief I need when I want it.

The back scratcher is a rubber cake frosting knife picked up at a dumpster and frankly I can't find my tennis ball, but they are easy to find and clean up. The tennis ball I drop into a sock (the sock is useful so I don't lose the ball and easier to reposition) and then toss between my back and a wall and start rolling around on it or I run it across my shoulders while sitting. Cheaper than anything out on the market and works wonderfully.

IRS Calculator-
Every year after doing my taxes I sit down with my year to date pay-stubs and figure out what I need to adjust for the upcoming year. Sure it is nice to get a big refund but I'd rather have the money during the year than as a lump sum at the end.
The IRS Calculator is usually pretty close within $50-$100 of where I need to be. The calculator is also handy if you want a larger refund check at the end of the year and want to know what to adjust.

7 Other Uses for a Penny- @Real Simple
Game Token, Party Ice Breaker, Makeshift Screwdriver, Tread Checker and my favorite unique use is a Birdbath Cleaner -To ward off algae, toss in a few pre-1982 coins; the high copper content retards growth.

"We (Americans) Know How to Make Money, But Don't Know How to Spend It."
--S.W. Straus; American Society for Thrift, founder. 1913, nytimes

I've been pushing myself to pay with cash more and more for large items - setting aside a certain amount and budgeting what can come out of the paycheck for my wants, or needs. The wonderful part about shopping with cash is that it has taken away the emotional connection, it has taken away the impulse spending that causes me to make mistakes by getting a poor quality item or regretting the purchase later or not being prepared for an unexpected because I was only thinking of my immediate gratification.

For example: If I have $300 to burn and I buy an iPhone on impulse, but then a belt goes out on my car, I may have to wait for another paycheck to get those taken care of because I already spent most of the money on an impulse purchase. Instead, I want to research possible discounts I may be able to get on the iPhone and find out the value of getting a refurbished one or a smaller memory phone. Ultimately, I want to save as much as I can for the "just in case" times that may pop up and impulse buying doesn't care about those rainy days.

I was reading an excerpt from the Wall Street Journal about a father who helped his own kids with impulse buying by laying down a rule: You want it? Then you pay half and found that the kids changed their tune. "Two things tend to happen when we offer to go 50-50 on something a son pleads for. First, he pauses and ponders -- for the first time, it often seems -- whether he really needs this thing. Second, he tends to take more personal responsibility and pride in ownership of the thing if he takes a 50% stake."

My own parents did this for me as well, there was an "adult bike" that I wanted but they were too expensive brand new for my parents to buy for me, instead my parents offered that they would go in with me on half. I recall getting out the newspaper and going after a bike, it was used but in great condition that lasted me for years. That was the first time I saw the difference in how I treated the items I had to buy with my own money. It was a lesson I learned and carried with me for the rest of my life.

It seems that we do slack off a bit as we get older and that same attitude change needs to be a challenge even into adult hood where we have to decide how much we really want something based on the cash we will have to save to get it. It might annoy us to have to save the money but the end result of owning it outright and not continuing to have to pay on it will help increase our patience in the delay of that gratification.

This is a guest post from Fred Schebesta who writes for Savings Account Finder, where he helps people to save money and choose the best savings account.

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Saving for a house is a big job and the only way to get there is to start saving as soon as possible, because the sooner you start, the sooner you can reach your goal. However, there are also a number of saving and budgeting strategies you can employ along the way to help you save faster and more easily for the home of your dreams.

1 Don’t be afraid to ask for help

Firstly you never know who will be able or willing to help you save for your new home and even a small boost of funds from a family member can get your savings on the go, and motivate you to keep adding to them. The Government is also very willing to help first home buyers save for their new home too with specific savings accounts offering preferential interest rate and tax deductions

2 Tell people

Telling your friends and family that you are saving for a house means that you are able to adjust your lifestyle more easily to fit your savings budget. If your friends and family know you are budgeting for a house savings plan, then they will be supportive in having BBQs at home instead of eating out at restaurants, and can scale back present buying budget for Christmas and birthdays.

3 Have a separate emergency fund

If you are using a traditional high interest savings account for your house fund, rather than a first home saver account which doesn’t allow withdrawals, then you may be tempted to withdraw funds from your account before you have reached your house goal. Therefore, it is important to have a home savings account and an emergency fund account so you can contribute a little to emergencies and more to your home savings, and be able to cover any unexpected expenses without your house deposit going backwards.

4 Make a budget and keep to it

It is easy to write down your expenses and your wages and decide on an amount to contribute to your house savings account, however, it is entirely different to be able to stick to it. This is why it is important that your budget is realistic and accurate, and that you really are motivated to stick to it, because saving for a house is a long term goal and you have to be committed and stay committed to reach that goal.

5 Pay yourself first

You are unlikely to reach your house savings target if you leave your contributions to your savings account until the end of your pay week. By that time your other bills have been paid and you’ve perhaps been out to dinner or gone shopping and it doesn’t look as though you can afford to contribute to your home savings. Instead, pay yourself first by making sure you automatically transfer funds to your home savings account. In this way your savings will grow without you noticing the contribution being moved each week.

6 Save any wage increases or windfalls

Any money which you had not budgeted coming in, can go into your home savings account to give it a boost. This could be money you received as a gift, a pay rise or bonus, or even a lottery win however small. Because these funds are in addition to your regular income, you won’t miss them if you transfer them straight to your home savings account, but the regular windfalls for your savings will all add up in the end.

7 Pay off debt so you can borrow more

An important factor in your borrowing power is how much debt you already have against your name. If you are applying for a home loan and you have credit card debt or a personal loan, you will not be able to borrow as much as if you were debt free. Therefore, aim to pay down your debt as you save for a house too because the more you can borrow, the less deposit you will need to save.

8 Make sure you can afford the loan

You may have created a budget to save for a home loan, and be looking forward to when you don’t need to be as tight with your spending because you have reached the goal of a house deposit. However, it is important to remember that the expenses don’t stop once you’ve bought a house, in fact they increase. Home loan lenders prefer to lend amounts which will cost you 30% or less of your income to repay, so keep this in mind when you are saving for a house because home loan interest rates, power bills and council rates will also raise your costs in the future too.

We all know that there is the name brand or the private label option when buying foods.
Target has Archer Farms and Market Pantry
Wal-mart has Sam's choice and Great Value (plus many more)
Costco has Kirkland Signature
BJ Wholesale has Berkley & Jensen, Wellsley Farms and more
And then there are the myriad of grocery stores that have their own store brand along side the name brand items as well. 

I have no trouble with trying out a private label/store brand item when it comes to food and occasionally to non-food items, I am a willing participate since it doesn't always involve a lot of money. Though I'm pretty low on the satisfaction side with non-food items as quality is lacking in most items.

A couple days ago our lone 24" tv decided it wasn't going to work for us and it came time to replace it. And the hardest part was finding the right size and still keeping within our budget for a new tv but still having a good quality product.

In doing research I found that there are also a few private label/store brand options as well as the name brand tv sets that are familiar to us.
Best Buy has Insignia and Dynex
Wal-Mart has Ilo and Durabrand

Ultimately it came down to scouring the internet for people's reviews and balancing that information with what was on consumer report. The reviews were helpful because there was one tv that was a sure thing until reading the reviews made us change our mind because the tv speakers were considered poor by many people. But the same size tv and brand but a different model number had wonderful reviews.

Once we got that all done it came time to call around and see who had that exact model, how many and what their prices were. After about 3 solid days of research and calling and research we decided to go with a more popular brand and picked up a Vizio 37" that fit the room size, satisfied our feedback criteria and our budget.

The best part about taking the time to research before buying a large item is that there is no after purchase remorse, we made a decision with certain criteria in place and stuck to them. And I can't say enough about how important purchase feedback was to us in making this decision.

While I was away, I gathered a few links that I thought might be bookmark worthy for myself and others. Enjoy!

Non-profit offers free cleaning services to women undergoing treatment for cancer.Cleaningforareason.org has a program available to those fighting cancer who need help cleaning their house while they undergo and recuperate from cancer treatments. If there isn't maid service available in your area or they have fulfilled the number of people for the week... consider gathering some friends together for your own house cleaning party - all you need may already be at the house.

My Grandma was Truly Frugal - Posted by Mrs. Accountability, tells the harrowing journey her grandmother took through adulthood and the frugal lessons passed onto her daughter and eventually her granddaughter.

"It's costs a lot to eat healthy." A common comment heard throughout a week.
Jeff Yeager writes 50 Healthy Foods that Cost Less than $1 - "Frankly, I think that statement is flummadiddle. I'm not denying that some healthy foods—many varieties of fish, for example—are expensive. But my contention is that many of the foods that are the healthiest for us also happen to cost the least, particularly on a per-pound basis." And based on this list, we could always use more fruits and vegetables in our diet and their is some good protein listed as well

I was reading a recent article that asked about tips on bartering with people and I remembered this post by JD that offered a lot of pointers - You Can Negotiate Anything - I found many of the tips helpful for myself and the video at the end was inspiring as well.

Recently I have been putting together an emergency fund over at smartypig.com and has found the site to be very easy to use and the interest that they have for the deposits is better than ING direct and other online saving account locations. Plus I do trust the bank they are with as my grandfather used to bank with them for years - Bank West out of Des Moines, IA.  
I have to say I really liked the SmartyPig Review that Jim put together if you are interested in setting something up for yourself.

I was reading through Financial Samurai's post, An Ambulance Screams By, Do You Feel Happy Or Sad?, and it made me think how I myself have changed in my attitude towards looking at the difficulties in my life.

My change in attitude came not through an "a-ha" moment but over the course of years I have learned through experience the power of seeing more of a positive side of the world. Not that I don't see the reality of it as well.

I've always had kind of a pessimistic look at life and always saw the hazards before I saw the hope in a situation. This style of thinking did a lot to prevent me from taking chances and that stopped me from having a better self image of myself. If I didn't think it would work out for the best then I should do it and since I shouldn't do it then I wasn't worth the job or idea in the first place. Like a dog chasing it's tail, I went around in a circle and just ended up feeling crazy.

However, my partner would say over and over, "You have already failed by not even trying, so why not try it now? You have nothing to lose."  Over the years I heard this over and over and sometimes it didn't work out but she was right. When I didn't try something that I wanted to, I failed. But when I tried to do something that I wanted.. I was still a winner because I broke past the negative and gave it good heartfelt try.

I think that the Financial Samurai is speaking along those same lines and they also can be applied to living a frugal life as well. When the cars break down and they both need to be fixed, this gives us a chance to look at the positive, to look at a hopeful situation whereby we can learn and grow in our own creativity. A car breaks down and opens up the chance to try public transportation, riding a bike to work or finding out from co-workers who lives nearby to get a ride with.

But was that creative endeavor time wasted? I don't think so, because I am retraining my brain and my attitude to first think of the positive response to the situation. I still live in reality and no matter how many angles I take to look at a situation sometimes there isn't a way to get around it creatively and I will just have to plow through as best I can.

Sometimes the frugal things that we do in the day to day aren't all that spectacular and don't seem to stand out to us as anything special. Unless you mention what your day is like to someone else and then you get a different perspective on what you are doing and find that it isn't mundane but a new idea to them. This is my mundane day to day, whether frugal or a new idea is up to you. Take what you will from it.

One of the most valuable things that I have learned from my partner is to not fear failure, to step out and take a chance and learn from the falling down and getting back up. It has been a long road me and I have a lot longer to go but I am noting the change for the good.

Recently I was offered the chance to learn the ropes of those in a pay grade above me and when an opening comes up, I would slide right in to the position and pay; barring I set a desk on fire or something. Before I would have been too scared, felt I wasn't qualified or it wouldn't be a sure thing and probably said no. But this time I said yes and took a leap of faith that I could do it and low and behold, things are going well and the new job responsibilities are starting to feel comfortable. No word yet on when the job position will open but anywhere from 1-3 months is a good estimate.

Frugal living is about saving money where you can but also about making extra money where we can. I want to live on less so that I can save more money and then work less when I want to and not have to worry.

There were two major expenditures this holiday season that are bringing about a feeling of relief and a bit of anxiety.

The first one is a bit of anxiety, I bought brand new furniture (sofa/loveseat) that will be a regular monthly bill. The reason I bought this furniture was because we needed it and I wanted something new that would last a very long time. I also like that they had a  deal for 26 months interest free. Basically I'm paying on my furniture like layaway but instead I get to use it. I know it is still credit and I have a budget setup that includes getting this paid off in a few months. I have done this once before and it worked out well, I paid it before the interest kicked in.

The second expenditure was an iMac computer that I have been drooling over for the last few months, however this buy was bought by saving the money and then buying it outright with no credit. There is definitely a different feeling between buying something right out and having to still make payments on it before you can say, "This is mine and doesn't belong to the bank."

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Over the holiday I have been going through the closets and drawers as I figure out what close fit me and what don't. Over the last 3 months I have been on a journey to get my body healthier and lose weight, so far I have lost 22lbs and am 1/3 of the way to my goal.  Because of this weightloss I am having to figure out what clothes I should keep just a little longer and what I know I will never wear again.

One of the unexpected side effects of doing this type of exercise, cleaning closets, isn't that I get to go shopping for new clothes but that I have cleared out so much clutter, my closet is half full now and I like the way it looks, half empty.

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As I was cleaning my drawers out I found a number of prescription glasses and sunglasses and I didn't want to just toss them out but I knew thrift stores wouldn't take them. But after inquiring online I found that I can get those glasses to the Lion's Club so they can get them overseas to be used by those in need. And there is a second location called New Eyes for the Needy that takes eye glasses as well.

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We ran out of jars for canning the beef stew and chicken soup and that is when we saw the plastic bags in pantry and tried it out. It works wonderful and is easy to slide them into the spots in the freezer when we had it well packed. Jars are still the preferred way since we can wash and reuse them, bags not so much with meat (cooked or not) stored in them. The "soup in a bag" is a double bag to be safe.

One thing we have learned is to not cook the noodles and then freeze them as they don't hold up very well and pretty much disintegrated. So now the noodles are cooked up quick and then the soup is poured in with them.

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Recently I bought a gallon of chocolate ice cream, a store brand that was $2 cheaper than the name brand that was beside it. After trying it out, we found it is tasted more like chocolate marshmallow ice cream, but not really. Since I had already tossed the receipt, I couldn't take it back. I was going to toss it into the trash and chalk it up as a loss, but my partner shot back, "Don't waste the money, it's not THAT bad, we can still work on it over the next few months." Which I have to agree with, sometimes others have to point out where we aren't being the most frugal in a situation.

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Lately I have been keeping those magazine junk mail items I get because I want to make sure I am getting off of their list. I signed up at Catalog Choice to make sure I am getting off of the mailing lists of different magazines that seem to show up. In some cases though I have found that marking the magazines I get that I don't want doesn't help, they want a subscriptions number off of the magazine. Since signing up my junk mail has decreased a noticeable 40-50%. Worth a sign up and bookmark I would say.

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Thank you again for your patience and I am back on the m-w-f posting that you are used to.

Courage does not always roar. Sometimes it is a quiet voice at the end of the day, saying.."I will try again tomorrow."

~Mary Anne Radmacher

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”
 
I greatly dislike these type of posts but I do feel I owe you all an explanation for my absence. My priorities have been turned upside down with the computer acting up at home and new training going on at work. This has extended the holiday vacation longer than I envisioned, however I am still here and looking to jump back into the writing again once I receive my new computer.

For those who have stuck around, I will be back and appreciate your patience!  :D

Tonight I was thinking back on the presents that I received and how appreciative I was of time that family and friends put into thinking of me on the holiday - I so easily rip open my own presents, send the email or call of thanks and move on. I'm sure many other people do as well, maybe as they use the item, they think once again of who gave it them. But this year I had  been undecided how I wanted to do gift giving and I knew I wanted to change that, make it more personal than "What do ya need? What do ya want?"

This year I got some gifts that have set in motion a more conscious idea of gift giving, whether birthday or Christmas. This year I received more hand-made gifts than I had in the past and gifts to charities made in my name. While receiving a bought gift always makes me smile (especially something I need) the gifts I received that were handmade or made in my name reached out and touched my heart.

Some may call it age or that I have gotten to that stage in life where I have all I need as I am more set in life. No matter, it is a change that I am glad that is happening and I want to feed it to grow more each year. I see the connection home-made jam and I tear up a little when that jar is empty as opposed to when I buy a store bought jar of jam because I know that love went into that gift. I am proud to wear a T-shirt that says I have helped provide clean water to someone because I have a connection now, it isn't just another shirt. Because of this change in myself I see that power it has with me and I want to give that emotional response to others.

This new year has also brought out the desire in both my partner and I that we have more than enough of what we need in life. In America if we don't have something that we need, we have so many locations where we can get what we need that holding onto 3 frying pans of the same size isn't a necessity, that holding onto 12 pairs of shoes when only 5 pairs are worn over the course of the year.

Because of this change of attitude towards possessions and the feeling (for me) of freeing up space has put us on a hunt to clear clutter. Certainly we have not made the cut off for 2009 taxes but who cares, that benefit will be appreciated next year. Instead the year 2010 has been an appreciation of the change of attitude towards our possessions, keeping only what is needed, understanding the power of quality even if it costs more, welcoming the home-made because of the connection and releasing our connection to the past through the things we keep.

If you will bare with me some; a funny dream woke me on January 1st 2010, I don't remember them too much but the odd ones always stick with me. I dreamt I was standing in the pouring rain, it felt like rain and smelled like rain but when I looked at the ground it was raining frogs/toads. That won't me up pretty quick and I had to check it out. One of the two definitions of this type of dream is that it is a fertility dream, and since this definition is highly unlikely I will go with the other definition that is more along the lines of a cleansing with changes and new beginnings and if my attitude over the last few days is any indication I would have to agree with that.

Change is coming in 2010 and I look forward to it, whether good or bad.