Just Tired...

Do you ever just feel so tired....tired of trying to save money, budgeting, penny-pinching....? I am taking a tiny break and I will look for more tips for you soon....just gotta take a nap...a 93 hour nap...

Results of Live Below the Line Challenge!

Well I have to admit it was impossible for me to survive on $1.50 per day this week...largely because A) there were too many restaurants and other available food places around B) I use food as a way to deal with stress and there is almost always stress in life!

Anyway, I was able to only raise a tiny amount...but to those in extreme poverty it will feed one person for a week. And in Canada, we raised a total of almost $95000!!!!

Thursday, Day 4....Kinda Messed Up Wednesday Live Below the Line Challenge....

Well I was downtown yesterday and spent about 6 or 7 hours wandering around in the heat...and succumbed to spending about $6 on drinks and snacks....  :( boo....

I really have to say, I have the outmost admiration for those fellow humans suffering in extreme poverty...without adequate clean water, sunscreen, and nutritious food...

...well I am going to do my best to continue eating fairly inexpensive and healthy...time for some old-fashioned rolled oats...and maybe another long walk out in the sun...only with more sunscreen this time! :)

I have already shown oatmeal pics so here is a famous landmark in downtown Chicago ..... I didn't have my camera so I had to find this online

Too lazy to cook more lentils and rice takes too long....

So it's oatmeal for supper....blech.....sooooo hungry for some kind of meat! Burger! Pizza!

Naked Lentils: LBL Day 1 Lunch and Supper

So I forgot to cook my rice (it's brown short grain) and I was so hungry I just decided to eat plain lentils for lunch. They were kind of gross so I added a bit of garlic. They were still gross so I cooked the rice and added them together and then put some cajun flavouring on them. That was pretty good!

It is my new lunch and supper for the remaining 4.5 days! God I miss meat and Dr Pepper!!
Please donate forget to donate a few bucks or even try living on $1.50 per day!!

Day 2 Breakfast

Oatmeal Take 2: This time I soaked the oats all night, and then boiled them for about 5 minutes. And yes, I cheated today...I added a bit of salt, cinnamon, and stevia. Even so, I can't eat that much...it's pretty good but not something you'd eat past when you're full...and I feel full after only a few bites...

Incidentally, I dreamt last night that everyone was going for McFlurries...and I was so mad because I couldn't have any :(

...it's only the second day and I'm having food nightmares!

10:30am LBL Day 1: I'm Starving!

Well, "starving" is an exaggeration, what with this only being my first day and billions of other people live like this each and every day.

I am working on following some Photoshop tutorials to keep my mind occupied and improve my portfolio.

Lentils and brown rice in 90 minutes!!

Wow, Plain Oatmeal Is Gross ---- part of the Live Below the Line Challenge

This is breakfast for Day 1: old fashioned oatmeal with no salt, sugar, or any kind of flavouring. I suppose I could have bought $ 0.21 of salt from Whole Foods but I didn't know how much extra money I had at the time, and I also didn't think of it :)

I am allowed tap water because it's free. So my entire breakfast consists of oats, tap water. Kind of like  Horse Food! :)

BF says the lentils at lunch will probably taste better...so that's something to hope for!

Ben Afflect's Going to Live on Less Than $1.50 USD a Day ---- Can I Do it Too?

I have signed up for the challenge to raise awareness of poverty in the Third World. Please find more information and if you wish, donate to the cause, here! The challenge runs from April 29 to May 3, 2013.

Book Review Monday: Early Retirement Extreme — A philosophical and practical guide to financial independence by Jacon Lund Fisker

I apologize for the past few days when I didn't post...I was in a mostly internet-free zone while travelling. Greyhound promises free wi-fi but it didn't work :(
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Early Retirement Extreme — A philosophical and practical guide to financial independence by Jacon Lund Fisker

Wow. All I can say is "WOW."... I saved this e-book on my Kindle the other day when I took the Greyhound over to Jersey (21 hours!) and read most of it on the way...fascinating. It has to be read again, though, because it has some complicated parts and a lot of graphs and formulas (Fisker has a Ph.D in physics).

For anyone looking to cut finances -- wow this guy knows how to do it -- his grocery bill is $50-$80 per person per month. He shows how it is illogical to drive a car and then work out at a gym to counteract our sedentary lifestyle...and much, much more. He is probably the most frugal yet thought-provoking and accomplished person I have ever come across! In fact, I will have to read this through at least two more times to completely understand and absorb it all.

On the negative side there will be many who feel they cannot go to his extremes...however his premise is that the reader will learn from him and develop their own conclusions and frugal life strategies. Fisker is big on critical thinking and this is a skill that everybody needs, but very few actually ever learn. Critical thinking is difficult and time-consuming -- but essential for life, unless you just want to go along with the crowd, never asking questions, never taking responsibility for your own life, thoughts, and actions.

(Here is a link to a good basic critical thinking video series I found recently. It's a six-part series of animations on basic logical flaws and more.)

So to reiterate, this book is incredible and very mind-expanding. You may not agree with all of Fisker's points but you will definitely find something worthwhile in this book. 10/10

Extreme Thursdays: If you haven't seen the Early Retirement Extreme blog, you need to RIGHT NOW! :D

I am fascinated and obsessed (and sometimes a little creeped out) by extremely frugal people...and this guy is one of the most extreme I have come across yet.

He became financially independent at age 30, how??? Let's look:

 "I simply saved more than three quarters of my income for five years. The math works out. If you save, 83% and spend 17%, you have need 25*0.17/0.83 ~ 5 years of savings, where 25 is the inverse of 4%, which is a safe withdrawal rate for at least 30 years. Add 8% interest from your assets, and you “only” need to save around 75%(*). However, 80-85% is better as it will give you more of a buffer and create more investment income than you spend. Because of that I’m on my way to become a USD millionaire at age 46 or 48 or so. Having a big head start helps a lot and I recommend quickly saving at least $100,000 in your twenties, even if you plan to work until you’re 65. The compound interest from that will make you much wealthier than if you don’t hit six-figures until you mid thirties or worse, forties."

Wow. Is it really possible to save 75-85% of your income in this day and age??? I am going to do what I can to find out, starting with joining Freecyle and by cutting my food bill way, way down. This is going to be torture tho; I love junk food...  :( It's definitely one of my biggest expenditures... curse you, Wendy's!

Goal for this month's grocery budget: $75 ($50 for the bigger starting-off bulk staples like rice, and saving $25 for fresh produce throughout the month).

Think I can do it? ;) Well BF is thinking of going vegan for a week for a college project anyway... let's see if it cuts the bill down as well as the eco footprint!

Watch-and-Learn Wednesday: How to Repot Seedlings Using Recycled Bottles

Hello! It's Wednesday! This is the day where I post projects and how to do them...or at least, how I did them :) ...hope you enjoy today's repotting baby seedlings!

HOW TO REPOT TINY FRAGILE SEEDLINGS

1. First, get your seedlings...either by planting indoors following seed pack instructions, or buy purchasing them at a garden centre. (Make sure you buy seeds or plants that will grow in your area's climate and make sure you have enough sunlight or artificial light for them to survive! i.e. no tomatoes in the shade!)

These are seeds I planted a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to use cardboard egg cartons because they are compostable and you can plant them directly in the soil, but I couldn't find any lately. And I used soil that is specially made for container plants and gently watered the seeds every day.

As you can see, there are a few spindly seedlings that are getting too tall for the egg carton. These are radishes. The other seeds haven't sprouted yet - most plants are not as quick to sprout as radishes are. Radishes are said to be one of the easiest plants to grow. I also have hot peppers, rosemary and parsley...these may not grow as well but I thought I'd give them a try! Anyhoo...

2. Gather and rinse out your "pots". My boyfriend and I are currently addicted to diet pop. So we have about 10 million soda bottles kicking around the apartment. I wanted to recycle them into some sort of crafty project so I googled recycle soda bottles and found this beautiful page. I had already done the bird feeder and didn't think the landlord would go for 100 hanging bird feeders outside the door so I went with the flower pot idea for my seeds. Mine didn't turn out as perfectly as the ones on Disney Family Fun, but I am ok with them. :)

As you can see, I couldn't get the glue off them and the rim isn't perfectly straight. But they are ok I think, for my first time lol.

3. Poke holes in the bottom of the inner bottle. It is very important - crucial, even - that the pots have some drainage holes in them so the roots don't drown. This seems to be the most important rule of container gardening.

I just used very sharp scissors to punch 3 or 4 small holes around the bottom, small enough for water to escape but not the soil.

4. Fill the "pots" with soil, leaving about 1 inch of space at the very top. Dig a small hole out in the middle of the soil for the seedling.

5. Gently remove the seedling from the container, or, if it is a plantable one, just separate it from the other planters. I had to use a spoon to get the root out of the egg carton. Gently but firmly place the seedling into the soil, and add a bit more around it. Press down gently. Water it well, but don't soak it completely. Just water it until it is moist - not soggy!

I am always scared of over-watering so I only watered around the plant itself. You can find some good general gardening help here at the University of Illinois Extension. http://urbanext.illinois.edu/containergardening/welcome.cfm

6. Place the plants in the window or under inexpensive fluorescent lighting and watch them grow!

Grow little buddies, grow!

5 Top Tips for Saving Money Around the Home...That I Have Actually Tried

Here are five great tips to save money, and I know they work because I have actually tried them!

1. Get rid of cable/satellite/whatever TV. Not only does it cost money every month, but watching television wastes time you could be using to get involved with hobbies or things that are just more important, like spending time with family or helping out your community (priceless!). Finally, you are bound to be less influenced by commercials that are created just to make you buy. Tip credit: TheSimpleDollar
2. Use cash when buying groceries etc. Psychologically, spending cash is much less fun than spending either credit or debit cards - probably because you are so aware of trading away real money. Remember to write it down too, and keep those receipts - so you can track your spending and hopefully get better at only buying what you need! Tip credit: Gail Vaz-Oxlade
3. Cook and/or bake from scratch. This takes a lot more time and skill but it is usually much healthier and less expensive. You are no longer paying someone to do it for you!
4. Make your own cleaning products. There are hundreds of recipes online for vinegar and baking soda cleaning products, as well as a lot of other kinds. CAUTION: I tried making my own laundry powder however, and I must not have mixed it right, or I used too much, because it made my eczema much, much worse. I will probably try it again someday using a different recipe. If you have a home-made sensitive laundry soap recipe, please share it!
5. Make a price book or chart. I have wanted to this for years but it seemed too much work, so I was excited to find this list on a fascinating, archived blog called Under $1000 per Month. It still is a lot of work to fill out, but just having the list there is encouraging. I also found the average listed prices of many local foods and gasoline, etc. on the Bureau of Labor Statistics site. It's nice to know when things are less or more expensive than average.

So these are some of the more useful, in my opinion at least, money-saving tips I have come across so far. Tune in next Tuesday for more helpful tips, and don't forget, tomorrow is Watch and Learn Wednesday, where I will be posting tutorials about how to do "homecrafting" projects...partly for the fun of it, partly to help you save or even make some money!

Monday Book Review: How to Plan a Family Budget and Plan For the Future by Michael Allen 2011

So I just read through the short e-book How To Plan a Family Budget and I was able to glean some half-decent points from it, despite the missing letters, poor spelling, and odd grammar (it looks like he either didn't proof-read it, or his first language isn't English... and he didn't proof-read it.)

Anyway, here is some of what I learned:

1. Self-discipline is essential for budgeting and saving.
2. Emergency savings (of at least 3 months' worth of salary) is essential to saving money...or else you will end up in debt when you need to borrow for an emergency.
3. Look for a role model you can learn from [I thought this was a great tip --- I already do this by reading blogs...it's a huge help!]
4. Set a goal for saving money. What do you want to do: buy a house? Go on a huge vacation? Write your goal down and look at it daily.
5. Put any extra $ on your debt with the highest interest rates, because these ones are costing you the most money.
6. Have patience. It, like self-discipline, is essential to saving money. For example, instead of buying things on impulse, patiently shop around for the best deal.
7. Keep track of where every penny goes. [I have been doing this for a while, thanks to Gail Vaz-Oxlade. It really does help, as tedious as it might seem at first! Otherwise later on you have no idea where the cash or debit went... :(...]
8. Save at least 20% of your monthly earnings for your future retirement.

And two quotes I like:

"One of the best ways to budget is to start."

"Be contented with what you have and try to live within what you earn."

All in all, a helpful budgeting e-book that is free, and comes with a sample budget at the end. Very easy to read and very, very short. I was hoping for more help than just "be patient" and "have more self-discipline"...although perhaps he is right and I should just accept this!

I give this e-book a 7/10, partly because it was free. Otherwise I would have given it a 6. The writing is a bit sloppy and it is the shortest e-book I have ever read.

Well that's it for my Monday Book Review! Tune in tomorrow for Tightwad Tuesday Tips!

Can You Really Live on $1,000 a Month?

So I Googled "how to live on $1000 a month" this morning and I actually found some interesting stuff. I have been studying Emily's archived blog all day and I find it absolutely fascinating. Not only does Emily's family of 5 live on $1,000 a month, but she somehow keeps her grocery bill down to $200 or less!! This is something I've been struggling with because I love good food and I don't want to live on ham forever or gruel. But she says she cooks things like tacos and even pizza! I can't wait to start making some of these lower cost meals...

Welcome to FrugalryGirl!

Hi and welcome to my new blog about being frugal, saving money, and making money! I have been reading thru frugal tips online for months now and think I have enough new and old ideas to share...So let's get started! :)