List of Stupid Money Spent

Check out this list from a fellow Houston blogger; it's a rather unique list.

I cannot compile such a list for myself, mostly because it will be painful and traumatic and much longer.

Food waste should definitely be included in this list.  There are so many times I buy food with plans of using ingredients in a specific recipe, only to not make said recipe, and then the food is wasted, and so goes my money.  Shabbat leftovers are a big part of that - making so much food and then wasting it if it doesn't reheat well, or loses its luster after Shabbat.  I am definitely trying to do better in the food waste area, so hopefully this food waste proportion will go down over time...

Clothing is also an issue for me.  I intensely dislike trying on clothes in a store, so I tend to make my purchase with the plan of returning the item if it doesn't work out.  Get this - apparently some stores DO have a return policy where they only accept returns within a specific time period!  Or, even better: Loehmann's near my house closed, so now for sure I will never be able to return a skirt I purchased there (um, I have a brand new knee-length black skirt, if anyone's interested...)

Then there are various late fees, penalties to pay (hello Massachusetts - why do I need to pay a penalty on tax I didn't know I owe until April 15?), and so on.

But like I said, it's painful to think about.  All those donations - I call them donations to make myself feel better - when I really couldn't afford them, but I had 100% control over preventing them.

What would be included on your list of stupid money spent, and what are you going to do differently this year?  Add your comment in the comment box.

A true Thanksgiving tale

(insert heart-warming story just in time for Thanksgiving)

A friend of mine had been looking for work for a long, long time. She was an extremely experienced executive secretary who needed a career change, but ultimately what she wanted to do was to pursue her true passion – performing. She had performed before and continued to perform but not regularly, and while she dreamed big, she needed a regular job and a stable income. So she decided that she had enough of her stable job and she quit to try making it on her passion.

How many of us leave what we know in order to pursue our dreams and move into the unknown? She had GUMPTION.

And she did it – she taught and sang, but it wasn’t enough, and she realized that she needed that stable income as a foundation. Unfortunately, the economy tanked and as we all know, it just wasn’t the best time to look for a job.

But she persevered – she looked and looked.

How many of us DON’T let challenges knock us down?

Another friend of mine got a contract position within my organization, and that gave me an idea – why don’t my friend (the subject of our story) apply and maybe she too can get a contract position?

I made a couple of calls and eventually my friend was interviewed, oriented, and placed in a temporary position.

Last week she called me and said they offered her a permanent position.

I can’t remember the last time I was so thrilled (pregnancies aside). In this economy, knowing how many people are out there looking for work – my friend got a job, close to home, in a new industry where she can learn, that compensates better than her old job – wow. Just wow.

What does this teach us? Patience, faith, networking – belief that Hashem has it all mapped out for us, even if we have to wait a bit.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Something Special Tuesday

Welcome to Something Special Tuesday!

Something Special Tuesday is devoted to 4 subject areas: yummy, crafty, spiritual, and financial.  Whether or not I add more to the list is yet to be seen.  I will present to you my favorite posts from the blogosphere related to these subject areas and I hope you enjoy the posts as much as I do, and perhaps even get inspired from them.

Caveat:  since I do have a full-time job and 2 little ones under the age of 3 at home, I cannot absolutely promise that I will stick to this schedule every single week, but I will certainly try.

Of course - I would love to hear suggestions!  So here are my picks for this week:

Something yummy:  I made homemade yogurt last Thursday in my crockpot!  Yes, it can be done!  The result is a very creamy plain yogurt with a fresh, tangy taste.  I made it with 1% milk (my first attempt was with whole milk and that got rave reviews).  Now I need to make some homemade granola to go with it...

Something crafty:  Even though I moved in to my office about 6 months ago, I really haven't decorated it much (and the addition of a dry-erase white board last week got me very excited).  I saw this gorgeous mirror and I really plan on making it, especially since it looks super-easy, so even though I totally don't sew, I just love the idea of the colorful rainbow.  And it will really brighten up my office.

Something spiritual:  I get a lot of my inspiration online - there are so very, very many beautiful stories out there - and since we are now starting the month of Elul and the countdown to Rosh Hashana, when this essay landed in my inbox yesterday I knew I had to share it with everyone.

Something financial:  When it comes to saving money, I can't think of anything easier than clipping coupons.  You don't have to be all obsessive about it, and you don't need to spend a lot of time on it, and there are lots of blogs that do all of the work for you so you can just print the coupon or grocery list and go.  Those few minutes spent gathering those coupons, those several dollars saved with each trip to the grocery store, all of that can really add up.  Right now I am averaging a savings of about 30% on my grocery bill.  NOT BAD AT ALL.  This site is a great place to start for coupons and terrific deals.

Let me know what you think!  Have a great Tuesday!

An unusually good customer service experience

I think it's sad that these days that wireless phone companies/providers are pretty much synonymous with bad customer service.  Everyone has those stories of getting the run-around when they call, of not getting any useful assistance, etc.  So of course I was hesitant to call our wireless service provider, but I had to in order to clear up our bill.

The backstory:  In December, I called the company to drop one of the phone lines on the plan.  I distinctly remember the rep telling me that the line will be discontinued as of the 27th, and on top of that she switched me to a lower cost plan, based on my usage pattern (how nice of her).

Cut to now:  My husband pays the phone bill online, so (now) I believe that he hasn't actually been looking at the statements.  Which would have been fine, except that last week when I happened to look at the bill, I noticed that the phone line that was SUPPOSED to be discontinued was not only NOT discontinued, but the primary phone line on the bill.  Hm, that wasn't supposed to happen!

So I made the call.  After I explained the situation to the rep, she put me on hold while she looked through the history of the account.  Amazingly enough, she did not find any notes related to my call in December asking me to remove that specific phone line.  Great.  Now it was my word versus the rep-in-December's word, and I didn't have her name or a confirmation number or anything.  But here's where the "good experience part" comes in: not only did she believe me and discontinue the line, but she credited my account for 2 months the portion of the bill attributed to that line.  AND she lowered my plan again (apparently, I don't use my cell phone all that much).

I was really surprised that the outcome was in my favor.  I thanked her profusely, and I told her that this was the best customer service experience with a wireless company.  It really was!

And that company is:  Verizon Wireless.

My personal Grocery Game

Remember the Grocery Game?  Even though my free trial ended, I am determined to continue saving money at the grocery store.  We've fortunately reached a point now where this week we only had to buy milk, eggs, and bread and fruit, and we've been able to reach into the pantry, fridge, and freezer for yummy meals.

This past Saturday night I had my best score to date.  Check this out:
I went to Walgreens and bought 4 Dove products at their 4/$15 sale. I had 2 $2 Dove coupons, plus I spotted that Finesse was "buy 1 get 1 free", and I had a $1 coupon for that, PLUS a mail-in rebate for Finesse for the purchase price. So - here goes:

4 Dove @ $15

2 Finesse @ $3.99

= $18.99

- 2 $2 coupons

- 1 $1 coupon

= $13.99

- $5 register rewards for the "buy 4/$15" Dove sale

= $8.99

- $3.99 mail-in rebate for Finesse

= $5 for 6 products

= $0.83 per bottle and I got 2 body washes, 2 shampoos, 2 conditioners
 
Ridiculous, right?  Do you have a favorite coupon story to share?

The Grocery Game: Round 3

This is becoming obsessive. I now visit certain websites daily to scour the 'Net for coupons. I study the weekly grocery store circulars. I even created a new email address for myself where I direct all of the manufacturers' newsletters and promotions so that they don't clog up my inbox which is full of real mail.

Of the grocery trips that I have logged into my little spreadsheet, I have saved 37.6% of my grocery bill. NOT BAD. The only downside is that I haven't logged every shopping trip of mine...because I make a lot of little trips to buy things that I suddenly run out of, or foods for Shabbat that aren't on the Grocery Game lists, or other items (like kosher meats and cheeses). Nor did I log our trip to Costco (yes, we are members of that giant wonderland; that's another post). And Shavuot took place last week, so I feel like that has put a kink in our numbers.

But still. Hopefully the 37.6% that I saved officially was spent wisely somewhere else. :-)

Best deals to date:
Buy one, get one free of Renpro organic shampoo or conditioner at Walgreens, and if you pick up a bottle with the free trial tag (where you send in the tag and they send you a check for the purchase price), then it's really getting 2 bottles for free. NOT BAD.
Free barrettes at Walgreens. NOT BAD.
$10 gift card for sending in a receipt that showed that I bought $20 worth of Swiffer products.

Really - who wants to pay full price for anything anymore??

The Grocery Game: Round 2

I went to Randalls this past week at the start of the second week of the Grocery Game and I saved 39% off my bill. NOT BAD AGAIN. So far, my average is 34.6% saved on my grocery bill.

But here's the kicker. I am not counting the several run I had to Beldens and HEB. Beldens I go to because the eggs I buy are cheaper there, I buy my kosher meat and cheese there, and they have a few products that I can't get at other stores (like my fave brand of margarine). HEB I go to because it's right by my house, the bread flour and yeast I use are super-cheap there, and I pick up other staples.

The other problem I ran into this past week is that Shavuot hit in the middle, so I bought a bunch of items for meals that didn't fall into the Grocery Game budget. If I was smart, I would have kept all of those receipts, but that would be too painful. Not that I went crazy (and in fact, I would like to return some of the non-perishable products I ended up not using and not opening), but still, a 2-day holiday calls for nice meals. Now Sunday is upon us and once again I need to restock the fridge. Time to start making food from pantry staples again and get creative.

In hindsight, I probably should not have signed up for the Grocery Game trial when a holiday would hit, but oh well.

I also go to Target and utilize coupons there. The best coupons are for household and beauty products, and the best part about that is that Target's coupon policy allows for stacking a Target coupon with a manufacturer's coupon, so sometimes you can get a GREAT deal.

Another thing I do is scour the 'Net for coupons straight from the manufacturer's website, and these coupons don't show up on the coupon aggregator sites. My plan for this week is to come up with a list of all of the products that I use and their manufacturers (like Proctor and Gamble, Kikkoman, etc), and then I'll just go down the list and print out coupons as they appear.

Just trying to save money wherever I can...

The Grocery Game: Round 1

Heard of the Grocery Game? I was just introduced to it a few weeks ago. A friend of mine was using the free trial because her friend saved around $1000 over 3 months using this online resource. After saving coupons for a few weeks, I finally signed up for the free 28-day trial yesterday.

Here is how the Game works: A list is generated of all of the grocery deals, by store, that can be had for the week. The deals are advertised deals and un-advertised deals, and who knew, the best deals are Sunday - Tuesday. The magic of the Game is with the coupons; the List tells you which coupons to use to combine with the grocery sales so that you end up paying super low prices, or sometimes you get the item for free!

Can't beat that.

I'm just skeptical that there isn't so much for us on these lists; we don't buy nonkosher meat or cheeses, we don't buy a lot of packaged products, and we don't buy snacks. But - with a free trial, I have nothing to lose.

So Round 1 was today with the kids (not the best idea). I picked my store and with coupons in hand, I saved a total of 32% on my bill. And yes, these are all items that we need. Most of the savings are from toiletries, and there were a couple of items I bought not on sale (turkey meat, grapes), but almost everything else had some coupon or sale attached to it.

Stay tuned.

Mood status update

Today is December 3. I have been unemployed for three whole months now. I have applied to a couple of dozen jobs, had "conversations" with several key people, am working with a headhunter, and I still got nothing.

I am also trying to start my own business and I've attended several networking events. I am fortunate to be working with a friend from our synagogue on a couple of his projects, but that is slow-going.

I know that the end of the year is a bad time to look for a job. Companies are in the midst of their year-end processes.

But - every day is a new opportunity, right? Perhaps this is a chance in my life to rewrite my career path (what career path...). Perhaps I should go back to school to learn something, or to become certified in something. I feel like this is all a sign for something, but I am not sure what.

It doesn't help that I have friends who are unemployed too. It doesn't help that even though we are surviving, our income was cut in half but our expenses remain the same. It doesn't help that a week after I was laid off, I sprained my ankle, a wall in our daughter's room developed major cracks due to foundation work (along with the rest of the house), and a pipe burst in the bathroom. I need some chizuk right now. I know things will get better. I just hope it does sooner rather than later.

The down economy hits home

I have officially become a statistic in the ever-changing story of the global economy. While I anticipated that I would not be a consultant at a Big 4 forever, I didn't think the end would happen so soon. It's ok, though. I had an excellent 3 years at the firm and I worked with some terrific people and learned an enormous amount. I hope to maintain some connections as I move forward.

The good news is that I live in Houston, and the Texas Medical Center - world's largest medical center - is in my backyard (almost), so if I want to look for a healthcare job, I'm in a good place. Yesterday was a shocker. Today was a calm, back-to-reality day. Tomorrow is Wednesday, and that's always a good thing! I guess now I have a bit more time to plan for the High Holidays...

Selling your attention

Did that get your attention? What you're about to read is going to sound crazy.

I stumbled onto this site called YouData and the concept is this: instead of companies paying marketers to try to get your attention to view their ad, why not have the companies pay YOU for YOUR attention to view their ad.

Still with me?

So what you do is you sign up with this site and create a profile and then you receive ads that are "targeted" to your profile, and you get paid for looking at the ads.

Still with me?

Buy "get paid" I mean you get 5 cents per ad, give or take. No, this won't make you rich. And no, you're not flooded with ads in your email, or popups on your screen. You download a little widget and you log into the widget every now and then and the widget will tell you if there are ads waiting for your attention.

And you get paid every Friday. To give you an idea of your "take home pay", the first Friday I got $1.70, last Friday I got $0.71, and so far I have $0.21 in my account. Yes, you read those amounts all correctly. So I'm not going to pay off a loan with this.

But hey, money is money and maybe in a couple of weeks I'll be able to buy a Starbucks iced latte with my earnings from this site.

Interested? Click here.

Sell your books!

I just sold two books and got $5.17 for them! I know - that's another Starbucks drink in my pocket!! There's this online company that buys books and even pays for shipping! Just click here to get started. Happy selling!

Work: want vs. need

Lately I've been fielding the same question over and over again and I would like to take the opportunity now to set the record straight.


Yes, I will be returning to work after my maternity leave.


Yes, I enjoy working for the sake of working. I enjoy what I do professionally. I am a very results-oriented person so it gives me satisfaction to work on a project and see it through. I enjoy the office environment (despite the fact that I do not socialize with my colleagues any more than necessary). I enjoy the professional challenges.

The question of "do I want to work" has not crossed my mind. I'm sorry, but when I'm at a point where I get to do what I want to do, I will not be saddled with student loan debt, a car note, a mortgage, day school tuition, summer camp payments, health insurance payments, etc etc etc.

Need I go on?

Right now, there are many things that my husband and I need to pay for. We do this ourselves. We do not count on our families to help us. We work hard, plan budgets, and live frugally while trying to give our children the best life possible. This is how my husband and I grew up, and I don't think we suffered for it.

And for those who wonder, I grew up with a working mother and I never felt lonely or deprived or anything like that at all. On the contrary, I knew that my mother loved me so much that she was/is willing to do anything to ensure I have all of the piano lessons, ballet lessons, swim lessons, summer camps, etc that I could possibly want. Oh and by the way, I traveled to more countries during my childhood than most kids. But we didn't drive the newest cars, didn't eat out, and didn't buy our clothes at the nicest department stores.

So do I want to return to work after maternity leave? Here's the real question: do I want to give my children the best possible life I can? Yes. So that means, at this point, I need to work. End of story. When the situation changes, I may change.

Hidden money found!

I found over $60 in a closet today!! WOOHOO!!

It wasn't really $60 in cash, and it did take a bit of effort on my part (went to store #1 with one kid, went to store #2 with both kids). See, we are cleaning out the guest room/storage room/third bedroom in order to convert it into our son's room, and we are moving very slowly. Today I decided to take two never-been-opened items to their originating stores to see if I can return them.

And hurrah! I was able to return both, netting me over $60 in store credit. Fortunately, we shop frequently at each store (Walmart and Home Depot) so the store credit will surely be used soon.

The moral of the story here is to return items on time and reclaim your money - no need for the stores to keep it if you want it back!!

Challenge of the week - accomplished!

I would have been sorely disappointed if I would not have been able to achieve last week's challenge, but fortunately my instincts proved me right and my spending was reined in. Not only did I successfully complete last week's challenge, but I have money left over. Yay! For groceries, the key is buying inexpensive ingredients that can create gourmet meals (and knowing where to shop); for the other items, it's really just all about prioritizing and analyzing (as in, do I really need a new pair of shoes? New skirt? etc). And combing through my fridge and pantry to come up with new uses for what I already have and not letting it go to waste (a big money drain) (which would require me to eat fruits and vegetables, something I need to work on anyway). Keeping up maintenance so that I don't incur expensive repairs in the future. All good stuff.

Challenge of the week

Over the weekend we made a few returns to stores that instead of crediting our account, the cashier gave us cash because we made the purchases using our debit card. I'd much rather have the money credited back to our account because I don't like carrying cash, but it is what it is. Also, my mint.com account is connected to my checking account so I can track my spending, which is something I can't do if I am spending cash. My husband challenged me to not spend more than the cash I have on hand this week - to see how long it can last.

I want to think that I'll be able to do that. The money is supposed to be enough for groceries and any other items I wish to purchase. That means that I need to think even more analytically about what I am spending money on (or delay my purchase until next week when the challenge is over :-) .

We did a very good job of spending a minimal amount on groceries lately and focusing on using up the items in our pantry; after all, we did buy those items so they may as well be used. However, now that we are running low on staples it is time to stock up again, and I was hoping to do that this week. Since I am home now I like to provide my husband with nutritious and filling lunches, so that takes a bit of brainpower for me. I like making interesting dinners - or at least rotate dinners so that we are not always eating the same thing over and over again. We've also found that theme nights are helpful - they can simplify the menu planning and assist with planning meals in advance by ensuring that we have the necessary ingredients on hand. By themes, I mean like a weekly grill night, weekly taco night (which really is more like Tex-Mex night), weekly stir-fry night (stir-frys are GREAT for using up leftovers!), and that's as far as we got. Sat night has, by default, become mac and cheese night lately. We don't always stick to these plans though, but when we do, I have noticed that it makes it so much easier to plan for dinner.

But the spending is not limited to food. I need to think about clothes, my hobby, and any other "miscellaneous" items that may come up. Obviously I can still use my debit card, but this is a good challenge for me to check my spending habits and help me further parse out my "needs" versus my "wants".

Beldens beats Walmart on price!!

I know - that is an attention-getting headline. It sounds preposterous. But it is true. Beldens has actually beaten Walmart - WALMART - on price.

How? Where? On what product? Oh, so many questions.

On bananas. Yummy, portable, nature's perfect food - bananas. Walmart grocery store sells them for 48 cents per pound. As does HEB.

Beldens sells them for 39 cents per pound.

I know it's crazy. I know it won't last (no, it's not a sale price, but all good things must come to an end). But it's a beautiful thing.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

(For those who live out of town, Beldens is an upscale grocery store that carries an extensive kosher selection, including fresh meat and poultry, so it's a routine stop on the grocery store circuit. It has excellent customer service. And there's never a line at the checkout. However, to purchase staples there, it is a bit expensive.)

Cash flow considerations

Last week we had a bit of a cash flow problem so I was limited to utilizing only the cash I had in my wallet for any purchases I needed to make. We are lucky in that this was a (very) temporary problem, but it was a new experience for me in the sense that I couldn't just whip out the ol' debit card (already a step up from the credit card) and make my purchases.

I already consider myself a fairly conscientious shopper so that I don't spend needlessly and only buy the things that we need. We are certainly not deprived of anything, and the category of "things we need" can be fairly broad, like certain snack foods, or another set of pajamas for the baby, or something.

Last week I had to rethink my "needs" because I was literally limited to what was in my wallet, and that was courtesy of a return I did at a store and they gave me cash back instead of depositing the funds into the checking account. I had to make that money last until the next cash inflows came. I broke down my "needs" list even further, into two categories: what is needed RIGHT NOW, and what can wait (although still needs to be purchased). I also needed to ensure that I had cash for an emergency if one should come up, so I really didn't want to spend ALL of the cash. This really forced me to think and evaluate my shopping. At the grocery store, did I REALLY need this or that RIGHT NOW? Can it wait? Can I make do with what I have at home?

This exercise forced me to examine my refrigerator, freezer, and pantry for meal ingredients and think of how I can use them in fresh ways without buying more food. With the pantry stocked and food in the fridge and freezer, I really thought it was unnecessary to continue buying food - surely I could come up with something. One night we had pasta with bottled sauce and goat cheese we had in the fridge (no point in buying pasta sauce in bulk if it's not going to be used); another night we had salmon patties with mushroom-dill latkes (sounds gourmet, right? I had all the ingredients already). I intended to use up every option available to me before heading out to the store for necessary items (like milk for the baby, etc).

It worked! And fortunately there was no emergency, and I have about $15 left over, so I really didn't spend that much. I'm very pleased. I hope that this new attitude continues because there really is no sense in buying something that I really won't need or use. I just need to be more cognizant of what is already in my house, and how I can use it. Perhaps I can come up with a new use, or a new meal, or a new application for an item. (Thank you Real Simple for the section on New Uses for Old Things!)

Money Tip: Keep track of it all in one spot

Tracking finances is the surest way to manage inflows and outflows, and these days, it is especially critical to watch those outflows (and then wonder how to boost the inflows). It's not an exciting activity, and it's not something you would choose to do on a Saturday night, but it's necessary nonetheless because you do not want a situation where you have an emergency (urgent medical crisis, car breaks down, last minute airplane tickets, etc) but no funds.

Enter http://www.mint.com/.

If you've heard of Quicken, then you will understand the mint.com concept. Similar to Quicken, mint.com syncs up with all of your checking and savings accounts, your investments accounts, your credit cards and continuously updates your financial picture. The difference here is:

1. It's free (you have to pay for Quicken).

2. Because mint.com is a website, it automatically updates for you (as opposed to in Quicken where you have to initiate the update).

3. The entire layout of the site, the reports, the transactions are all easy to understand, which in turn makes it easy to understand where your money goes.

4. The site emails you with alerts, such as when a fee was assessed, when you have reached your budget limit, etc.

It takes a few minutes to set up (depending on how many accounts you have), but once you've set it up, it is almost fun to visit the site daily for updates to see what you can do immediately to change your financial picture.

And the mint.com logo makes me think of mouthwash every time I see it. Very refreshing indeed.