Avada Kadavra: Words that Kill

Welcome back to the final episode of M— Man’s adventures with the flying dollar.  Today’s episode consists of a cameo by one of your favorite angsty teens.

“Great Goblins’ Noses, M— Man!  What on earth are you doing?  Lumos!  What you’re doing is close to one of the Unforgivable Curses!”

M— Man paused and looked up at the boy.  “Gracious, Harry Potter!  I am doing no such thing.  I learned all about those in Defense against the Dark Arts.  I know better.  I’m just surfing the internet.”

“Yes, I can see that.  However, my spidey senses, along with the Marauder’s Map, showed to me that you are looking up possible free offers!  Do you know how dangerous they are?”

“No, no, Harry.  I got over 154,000,000 hits on Google when I looked for them.  I’m smarter than to look at all of them.  Some might be scams.  But I’ve lost a lot of money recently.  I need to save.”

“But how many of those offers are actually free?  Do you know how they get their money?”

“They want me to continue with their service after the trial is over, of course.”

“Not always.  Some have membership fees, like lots of the survey websites.  There are tons of places out there that say they can make you money by taking them!  But do you know what they do?”

“No.”

“They take credit card numbers first!  That’s a very Muggle thing to do.  Or worse.  Death-Eaters.  Plus, like NetFlix, even before the trial is over, you have to cancel!  If you wait even until the last day, they charge you for the month.”

“No, they don’t.”

“Yes, they do.  You should check out Survey Police, ScamWatch, and Ministry of Magic warnings before you try any of those.  Those sites are businesses, after all.”

“How do you know all this, Harry?”

“Snape told me.”

Isla Fisher and M-- Man are Twins!

After their last conversation, the Banker left M— Man in the lurch.  She left before he could figure out the next hidden fee that caused the magical Flying Dollar.  Luckily, M—Man had been reading a book series.

The series is called Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella.  The main character, Becky Bloomwood, is being plagued with debt.  She has overdrawn her accounts and used the ATMs way to many times.  M—Man and his trusty dog, Dollar, read them together.  Then they saw the movie with Isla Fisher.


They decided that it was time to take matters into their own hands (or paws, as the case may be), just like Ms. Fisher.  They did the research and found out that every time they withdrew from an ATM that was not from their bank, they were charged a fee.  That fee is sometimes over $3 per transaction.

They also found out that when they took more money out of their checking account than they had, they were charged a fee.  They felt it didn’t make sense because if they didn’t have enough money for their transaction, how was the bank going to get their extra money?

They didn’t want anything to do any bouncing, except for the owner of Mediterranean Place, since he refused to sell or trade for a “Get Out of Jail Free” card and had just bought a pogo stick.

They watched the news and started to plan ahead.  They balanced they checkbooks once a week and monitored their transactions online.  When they needed to get cash from an ATM, they took out larger amounts, so they wouldn’t have to do it too often.

Eventually, because of Dollar’s connections, they even checked out the Federal Reserve and got some advice.   Within a couple months, they were rolling in savings.  M— Man started to plot against the Banker.  Even though he was now keeping more of his money, he was starting to worry that she had been the cause of all the Flying Dollars.

But a bank is a business after all.  They have to make money.  Some do it by overdraft and ATM fees.  Others give out more loans at higher interest rates.  M— Man held no hard feelings.  He learned.

But now he just wished he could turn back time.  He wished he had magic.  Come back tomorrow to see if his magical Time Turner appears…

I Could See Trees Wilting as I Walked By...

Have you ever been able to go to one of the nicer restaurants?  I'm talking about the ones with the nice, white linen tablecloths and napkins that come decorated with a wooden ring around them.  The table might even have some nice, clear wine goblets at the table, next to water goblets and 8 sets of silverware.

What was it about the restaurant that made it special?  For me, I can definitely say it's not all that silverware - I find it intimidating.  Also, the glasses normally get taken away because I don't use them all.  The cloth napkins give the table a sense of elegance and sophistication.  It's also slightly relaxing.

So why in the world would you ever use paper towels and napkins at home?  Home is a place to relax.  You deserve something a little more elegant at home.  Also, do you even have enough space to store all those paper products that you buy?  how much do you spend on one-time-only disposable products?

Think about the businesses out there where the public is allowed in.  Think about the casinos, restaurants, bowling centers, schools, gas stations, movie theaters, stores, etc.  Can you picture yourself there?  Ok, now go to the bathrooms.  Do they have paper towels for you to wash your hands?  Or are they the push button (or automatic for fancier places) electric hand dryers?  Most likely, there are electric hand dryers.  Most businesses would have you think it was because they are trying to be green.  What they don't tell you is that it costs $.0015 per dry with the electric dryer and $.03 per dry with paper towels.  It's all economical.

That same concept works at home.  Granted, none of us are going to rewire our bathrooms to install an electric hand dryer, but paper products like those just aren't efficient.  Take this example comparison, using Wal-Mart as the retailer for both the paper and cloth versions.  An 8-pack of dish towels is less than $5.  An 8-pack of Great Value brand paper towels is $2.86.  For less than the cost of 2 8-pack paper towels, you can have towels that can be reused as many times as necessary.

When I was doing all this research, there were a surprising number of people that were arguing against regular towels as being less expensive in the long run.  Laundry fees for those who have to use a laundromat was the biggest argument.  They said it could cost over $4.00 a whack just to wash those towels.

I say this: don't you wash bath towels anyway?  Just throw the other towels in with them.  Heck, maybe you don't do a separate towel load and just throw them in with like colors.  It's not like you have to wash them everyday or after one use, like clothes.  The towels aren't very big.  They can fit in your normal loads.  Trust me.

Finally, there was an article that reported that cotton towels do not save the environment and are actually worse than paper towels.  Cotton towels emit more greenhouse gasses during production and use more water than their paper counterparts.  If you're very concerned with that as a Green-minded person, the solution is simple.  Use linen instead of cotton.  The clean-up is just slightly more complicated, but they don't cost much more.

Alright, I know that with pets, picnics, certain messes, and those friends you would never trust with something as nice as cloth, there are just times you have to use paper napkins and paper towels.  Toilet paper is also something that I would not recommend switching to cloth.  So, I'm definitely not saying you should skip buying them altogether - that just isn't practical.  Just buy them sparingly.

You will save money.  If you absolutely need paper napkins and can't seem to fork out the money for them, you can do what I do.  Keep the extras from your fast-food run.  They always either give you too many or too few.  Even though they might not match, they still do their duty.  There are also ways to reuse and reduce the products you already have!  It just might take a little thinking.

Wal-Mart May Sell For Less, But Do You Buy For Less?

Take a trip with me.  We're walking into Wal-Mart or wherever you do your normal day to day shopping, like Target or the grocery store.  We've been chanting in the car the entire ride about what we needed to buy.  We say that the toothpaste is low; we're almost out of soda; Roommate X used the last paper towel.  We know exactly what we're going to go in and get.  It's going to be a quick stop.

So we're walking in and skip grabbing a cart because we're not going to be in here that long.  We go straight to the personal care section to grab our toothpaste.  Then we remember we're almost out of razors.  We continue this way for a couple minutes - we get something on our mental list and remember something else.  I'll go back and get the cart so you can stay here, it's no big deal.

A little while later, we are at the check-out.  After we have to wait a while, because there are never enough registers open when it is not the holidays, we reach the counter and cascades of purchases flow out of our arms onto the rolling conveyer.  Finally, the cashier starts ringing.  We get more and more anxious as the total climbs higher and higher... we walk out completely depressed and $83 poorer.

If that's not your style, I will bet you that you fit into this second scenario.  We may only spend $20 each time we go shopping like this, but we go every 3 or 4 days.  I found this website where a man, for some unknown reason, kept all his WalMart receipts for almost 7 entire years!  He went to the store every couple days.  After looking at some of his totals, I panic to add them up for a month.  Frightening.

 

The point is, guys, that most people spend spend way too much on what they consider everyday purchases.  These are the things that you need to keep on living and don't really have the option to skip.  For me, it's shampoo.  If I skip one day, my hair turns into a greasy, oily mess.  I always have to have it on hand.

Plus, this is not just a problem that those Just Starting Out face... everyone does.  My mom even has an ongoing joke about it.  She says that if she spends less than $100 at WalMart, the buzzers at the front of the store will go off when she tries to leave to make her go back and buy more.  "Luckily," she's never had to worry about this fear.  She always reaches her quota.

Because of all this, I am making those everyday purchases this first official weekly theme!  There are tips, tricks, ideas, and hidden insight I've found that helps out.  But I don't know everything... if you have a better idea than mine or want to add something to them, please let me know!  I want to keep finding new ways to save money on these things.

So next time we're out making these purchases, let's chant something new.  Instead of repeating our list over and over, let's say:

Must Save Money.

Must Save Money.

Must Save Money.

Must Save Money.

PS - I belong to the second scenario.  I don't spend much at one time, but it seems like I am always going to Target or WalMart.

DIY Saturday: Hot Pads and Coasters

When I first was starting to get interesting in crafting, there was something scary about walking into those stores.  You are completely surrounded at all times by scissors and ribbon and paper and glue and glitter and... Well, you get the point.

Eventually, I started to get used to the stores and I actually enjoy going to them now (Michael's is a personal favorite of mine - they have great sales).  However, I could never quite get used to the prices of everything.  A single bottle of glue can be $5!  That is definitely not in my budget.  Just give me classic Elmer's during Back-To-School week for a dime.

So recently, I started thinking... How can I still make some crafts, inexpensive gifts (handmade is always a bonus for Moms, etc), decorations, or anything else for my apartment?  I want to spend next to no money.  The idea hit me like that one raindrop slamming into your cheek before the rainstorm really begins.  Recycle.

There are so many things that can be made from stuff lying around the house (which might have been found when you were organizing!) or stuff that I can grab at a sale/my mom's house for next to nothing.  Think about it: cardboard, paper, clothes, CDs, plastic bottles, soda cans, tin cans, light bulbs, books - there are so many left over and/or forgotten things that can be used to make something else entirely new.  On the HGTV show Decorating Cents, there is a section called Trash to Treasure, where they show how to revitalize an item that had been discarded!

So welcome to Do-It-Yourself Saturday!  I am taking these ridiculously inexpensive ideas and showing them to you - either how to make them, websites to go to, or maybe even a tutorial or two when I get further down the line.

For today, let's think about hot plates and coasters.  Coasters may not be a necessity to you, but in order to keep your furniture looking better for longer, they are definitely a good idea.

Those in the picture are made from cardboard!  As a student, I get Amazon.com boxes delivered to me all the time!  For this project, all you need is scissors, glue, maybe some ribbon, a steady hand, and an imagination. 

They work really well. Plus, if you have a birthday or anniversary coming up, they can be given as a good gift for under $1, if you know how to find cheap ribbon (think clearance bin).

The cardboard hot pads come from the Recycled Crafts Blog.  New idea every day, if you're interested.  Also, if you're a little more crafty than I, then you might want to try to crochet some plastic bags into coasters.  Or why not try old CDs that you never listen to?  What about their cases?  Seriously, if you like the art on the cases, you don't have to do any sort of crafting, unless you want to embellish them.  Just slap them on the table and call it a day.

Use your imagnation!

Weekend Wind-Down: Organization

Welcome to the first edition of the Weekend Wind-Down!  Every Friday, in order to welcome the weekend into our lives, I am going to post the top blog posts or articles that I read that week on the theme.  I promised to do all the internet and newspaper surfing for you, so this is where you hold me to it!

Friday is, for most in this country,
a day with mixed emotion.
The morning moves too slowly for comfort.
The weekend just a notion.

The afternoon "becomes" quite soon
and you feel the thrill of home time.
Until that Saturday morning feeling
you're free to waste your own time.
     -- Kendo Monkey

So without any ado, here are the top blogs and articles for the week of 9/14 - 9/18, all of them dealing with organization!

1. Organising Queen: Marcia is a new mother whose passion is about organizing.  She posts about every other day with a new idea on how to organize for the business or home (she also has a free ezine, if you're interested).  This entry is about organizing the refrigerator.  I chose this one because it is my personal downfall - I can never figure out a way to set up the fridge so I know what's in there...
2. Neat and Simple Living: Ariane is really good at what she does.  She has an entire blog dedicated to helping those she calls "hoarders."  I personally have always just said "pack rat" but hers seems little more polite ;-)
3. Get Organized Tips: Carmen has a new idea every couple days on how to get organized.  I purposefully did not choose a single post for this Weekend Wind-Down because she has a 2-part post about organizing the junk drawer, which seems to be my overarching motif and metaphor for organization!
   

Tomorrow, I am going to start another weekly special!  It's Do-It-Yourself Saturday!  Come back to find some easy crafts made from recycled materials or items you can find for next to nothing.  These can be given as gifts for birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, or just to yourself for being to thrifty!

If I get more initiative (or just more confidence in my crafting abilities), I'll even put up some photos of my own process in making them!  However, if you want easy crafts right now, with how-tos and advice, check out my friend Kaylen's blog.  She is also a college student, so she has to work within her budget, so don't be afraid of really expensive supplies!

My All Time Top 10 Tips for Organizing!

Good Morning, everyone!  As promised, today I have my top ten ideas for organizing.  Granted, these are not all the ones I use, but they can definitely get you started!

1. Clean Sweep Twice a Year.  Back in the day, there was a TV show on TLC called Clean Sweep.  It was the start of an entire series of shows, like Clean House on the Style channel.  The people on those shows take everything out of their house and sort through it, making piles of "keep, sell, and trash."  Now, I'm not recommending you empty your entire apartment or dorm, but think about the areas where junk gets built up: closet, desk...  Clean it out.  If you're worried about getting rid of something important, put everything in a trash/donate bag and store it.  In a couple weeks, if you haven't opened the bag, it's time to get rid of it.
   
2. Think About Your Personal Needs.  Every household is different.  For example, I don't have a mud room or even really an entry space in my apartment.  So... I don't need some intricate theory as to how to organize one.  I also don't have kids, so I don't need a toy box.  Make sense?  Think about it before you get started.
   
3. Use All Your Space (even the walls).  No furniture that I've seen goes anywhere but the floor.  If there is anything out there, please let me know.  Use hooks, shelves, and anything else your creative mind can think of.  Get the stuff off the floor; you do need to walk.
   
4. Understand Your Personal Trouble Zones.  Where do you spend most of your time?  Where is there the most foot traffic?  For me, it's my living room and desk areas.  Those are the places that will gather the most clutter and are the places where I lose the most stuff.  These are areas that you should spend the most time concentrating on.  If you focus on these, you shouldn't get too overwhelmed with organizing a whole house.
   
5. Use An Outbox.  After you figure out your trouble zones, use an outbox.  It can be a decorative basket, old Amazon shipping box, or anything else that can store things.  The idea of the outbox is to throw everything in there that doesn't belong: textbooks in the kitchen, plates in the living room, etc.  Just grab the Outbox when leaving the room sometimes and put everything away.  Easy as addition to a math major.
   
6. Divide and Conquer.  This idea came from All*You Magazine.  It was something I'd already intuitively done, but the magazine did a great job of explaining it.  Think about all the office supplies or toiletries you have scattered about in a drawer.  Remember the drawer from yesterday's post?  Now add in old Altoid tins or something else to put all those rubber bands and Q-Tips in.  Voila!  You now have a clean drawer where you can find everything at your fingertips!
   
7. Know the 20% Rule.  On average, we only use about 20% of what we have on hand.  For example, I have 10 pens sitting in my desk right now.   I only use my favorite 2.  Just something to think about...
   
8. Write it Down.  Most people tend to make grocery lists... why?  Because it keeps them organized when they go to the store.  The same rule applies to everything else - that's why there are so many different types of planners in Borders and Barnes and Noble this time of year.  Invest in one.  Make a To-Do List.  You'll be surprised how much else you can get done.
   
9. Nothing Should be Homeless.  My roommate is constantly losing her keys.  We have a big sign right above the handle to the front door that says "SHANNON!  KEYS?!"  It was out of hand - in one week she called me 8 times to let her into the apartment because she had forgotten/lost her keys.  We now have a bowl on a table by the front door.  She drops her keys in there when she walks in.  Similarly, I have a specific shelf for textbooks.  Give everything a home and it is hard to lose them.
   
10. Utilize Specific Spaces.  Like Number 9, use specific spaces.  Here are mine: Couch for TV watching or reading for pleasure.  Desk for work.  Kitchen table for eating.  I rarely let myself cross the boundaries, partially because humans like to compartmentalize and partially because it helps me get into a certain mindset.  When I sit down at my desk, I know I have to work.  I get stuff done quicker.  Also, I tend to stay away from bringing contraband to its wrong area.

There are my Top 10!  They might not all work for you, but at least they'll get you starting to think about 'em.  If you want more ideas, check out HGTV's Organizing Website, they have their own Top Ten and so many more ideas, it's kind of ridiculous...

Organize Your Desk!



Organize Your Closet!

Have You Seen This Drawer?!?

 Do you know someone who has drawers like these?  Better yet, do you have drawers like these?  There is no way in the world that this is a way to save money.  How many times have you had to buy something twice because you lost the first one?  I have.  It's was a very expensive purchase, too - I had lost my iPod (which I later found buried in a drawer like this).

Being organized is one of the most under-used tips when it comes to saving money.  It just doesn't seem like something that could be helpful... Oh, but it is.

"The secret of all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious." 

         -- Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor CE 121 - 180

Behind the scenes of every thrifty or shopping savvy person, there is a secret weapon.  The weapon that even famous Roman Emperors knew.  It is not experience and it is not a stash of coupons.  It is organization.

Before I started my weekly theme (which will be announced on Sunday!), I wanted to say a couple quick words about organization.  With every victory, whether it be a garden or a business, there is some way to make sure that everything gets done and it gets done right.  It's also one of the keys to saving money in the long run.

Imagine all the last minute purchases that would be eliminated if you had a list.  How much time would be saved if you didn't have to hunt for your textbook every time you had to read?  How many overdraft fees could you have avoided if your checkbook was balanced?  Organization has so many benefits, it are impossible to list all.

Ok, ok, I understand the need for it, but where do I start?

For college students, your biggest problem is living in a small space.  Dorms or teeny and sometimes apartments in your budget are not much larger. You need to figure out your priorities.  What needs to be on hand at all times?  What can be stored away safely?  LifeOrganizers is a really good website to start on for ideas.  Tomorrow, I'm going to post my Top Ten Organizing Ideas.

For teachers, your life is always dynamic.  You won't need the same supplies every day.  Your students are never in the same mood and they may even change from hour to hour.  Plus, with all those papers, paperwork, homework, and lessons to work on, staying organized is a must... especially if you want to have a life outside the classroom.  Here are some general classroom organizing tips and some very specific ideas from veteran teachers.

Think you are already organized?  Take this QUIZ to find out!

I Was Only Trying To Help...

A good friend came up to me a couple months ago, telling me his stories of financial woe.  His car is on the verge of a complete breakdown, school fees were eating him alive, one of his roomates lost his job, and the other roommate simply just never puts up enough money to cover both rent and bills.  He had to put all his savings into bills and rent, just so he could have a place to live.

Why did he come to me?  Although I am not quite in the same boat as he, I have been trying to save money for the past couple years, in order to save for my future.  I'm in college studying to be a high school teacher.  I'm living with roommates in an apartment near school.  I am the typical broke college student, and due to my chosen profession, I will continue to be broke for a long time.  I've learned (and am still learning) quite a few tricks of the trade.

So, he came to me to ask for some ways that he might be able to save some money.  He had three must-haves:

1. Use as few coupons as possible (he gets embarrassed sometimes)
2. Quick solutions that do not require him to spend hours upon hours Googling or hunting down specific sales or bargains
3. Not a "Quick Fix".  He wanted some methods that could turn into habits and not something that's only good at one store on one day at one time.

I had a million and half ideas for him!  I started rattling them off the top of my head.  The problem came in when they didn't stop and kept flowing like salmon during spawning season.  I really was only trying to help...

But... he quickly became overwhelmed.  He said I needed to slow down and make him a list or give him one idea at a time.  I ended up doing both.  I made a huge list.  Pages upon pages on a Microsoft Word document.  Then I started giving him one idea at a time, and I grouped them into categories, like "How to Save Money on Electricity."

He loved it!  He's reopened a savings account and passed some of the ideas onto his roommates (in the hopes to get some money back).  So, that brings us to where we are now.  I am writing the "Just Starting Out Blog."  It's for people like you, me, and my friend, who don't have time to clip umpteen coupons or go spelunking on the internet or in newspapers for the biggest sales.  Our time is valuable!  We can't have a technique that works for one day - we need to make being thrifty a habit, and not just something to do when we're short on cash.

Every week, I will have a theme for my posts, like "Coupon-Less Grocery Shopping" or "Saving Some Green: Environmentally Friendly Savings."  I'm going to do the hunting for you!  Come and join me on this journey.  Bookmark it, Follow it, Google it, or do whatever else is easiest.  Visit once a day, once a week, or once a month.  There'll always be something new; you won't be disappointed!