"Happy Frugal Birthday to You"

Last week, I discussed with my daughter the idea of reducing spending on my granddaughter's party this year. We were talking about all the ways she has cut spending, plus ways she can further reduce spending. She is facing financial problems. Well, still having financial problems is more like it. But, she is learning what is essential and what is not. Since her daughter may have broken the growth plate in her knee/leg, she was not really into discussing a May party. Plus, she is still worried about her own severe nosebleed and the things she cannot do now because the same thing might occur.

Last year, she invited 20 or so children. Parents and siblings came, also, and stayed. My daughter felt compelled to feed the whole crew pizza and spend an outrageous (for her) amount of money. Usually it is in her small apt, but last year she hoped for no rain and had it in the park with all the attendees not traipsing into her apartment.

She did not mind their being there except she would have felt compelled to clean beforehand...lol.

My Ideas--all eco-friendly and cheap!

Last year? She bought matching paper tablecloth, napkins, cups, loot bags, and a centerpiece. She bought cake, ice cream, candles, gifts for her daughter, pizzas for 30 people, and spent much of her valuable time. This year, the party should be simpler and less costly. With little to buy and less going to a landfill, the party can still be pretty and happy for the birthday girl.

Guests? My daughter quit giving large parties for her older son at about this age. She thinks this is the year that her daughter will not have a huge party. Good!

Tablecloth and napkins? I am willing to buy fabric if I cannot find anything in my stash or elsewhere and make a cloth tablecloth to reuse for her party each year. I might be induced to make reusable napkins!

Decorations? In my dumpster diving past, some days I just looked in a dumpster and found a treasure trove. Balloons for helium were in a neat, clean box behind the store, just waiting to be picked up by me. She can make a balloon flower like the one at the top of this page. This is on a Martha Stewart site, but the balloon flower I originally saw on the Internet had the balloon in the middle just a bit smaller. And, the center balloon will only be on one side of the flower since it will probably be hung on the wall. I think I have paper streamers, too.

Paper plates and cups? What to eat from other than paper? How about free paper that will not be reordered? While working online surveys about six years ago, I was given heavy, decorated paper plates to try that have pink and lavender flowers. Naturally, I did not use them all. After all, there is only one of me. So, I have offered to send them to her. Okay, it will be paper again! Yes, I will have to mail them, but I will mail gifts. The box can be planned so that the plates will fit! I even found the cups to match at a clearance place that is full of broken boxes of merchandise. I can stick them in a flat rate box with presents.

Candles? I have some clearance birthday candles!

Food? How about cake or cupcake and ice cream? She can go retro! (No serving a meal of pizzas.) Since there is always abundant food at children's parties in NYC, she can make it clear to the guests (maybe one or two) that she is only having cake and ice cream. I do get coupons for free food items, so I can always supply coupons to cut down on costs on cake mix or frosting. She works, so she does not have time to mix cakes from scratch anymore. She can use one of my Coke coupons from http://www.mycokerewards.com/ to supply something to drink. Now, I just need plenty of Coke codes. I find cake mixes and frosting for free with sales and coupons. Ooooh, I have some cherry Kool Aid, not my first choice for a drink, but it will be free. Oh, my, I just remembered I have a stash of cupcake papers. My mother gave them to me prior to 1980.

Loot bags? Whhhhhyyyy? If I have to bribe you to come to my party and stay, why bother?...lol. I probably have enough things for favors for her and her little neighbor IF it is really necessary.

Invitations--no need.

I think we can make a $200 party cost less than $10.

Gifts? Since I stock up on sale or thrift clothing in the fall for $1-$3 for spring, in March she gets most of what I have bought for her. Each year, I hold  back one outfit to send to be wrapped for her birthday. I can hold back one for daughter to wrap from her. I am sure my daughter will want to buy other gifts, but she can claim one of my outfits.

Now, daughter has said "no big party," so let's see how my alternate, green, money-saving plans work for her. "No big party" was not my idea! Okay, I just don't want you to think I was pressuring her. Okay, so I was nudging a little after she said, "No big party." What else is a mother to do but nudge when the daughter leans a bit?

I know it is a little too early to plan for a May birthday, but the sooner we start, the more frugal we can be. Besides, she is in NYC and I am in Alabama. Coordination is the key.

My daughter is too busy to engage in any crafts for decorating and is too tired to make crafts at the party, even for two children. I was thinking her 16-year-old son could make the flower or at least blow up the balloons.

Not green and frugal?
Considering I have most of the items, yes it is frugal. I rescued those balloons from a trip to the landfill. I will be buying new fabric only if I cannot find thrift fabric. Not using the paper products given to me--cupcake papers and paper plates--is my way of saving them for an occasion that really warrants paper products. This occasion warrants using my pretty paper plates.

Your turn
Have you cut back on children's parties in any way? Fewer guests? Less lavish food? No loot bags? How green and frugal have you been? Oh, I might even use some of the ideas you send my way.

Free Spaghetti Contest: AL, AR, IN, KY, MS, TN

Over at CouponLove there is a giveway--a year's supply of Ronco Spaghetti. Check out the link for the rules. I know there are a few people from KY who follow my blog. There are even two coupons available right now sy CouponLove. Get your coupons. Pass the word. Sluggy at DON'T READ THIS; IT'S BORING sent me this contest. Check her blog to get some super ideas on how to coupon to the extreme. Sluggy makes something like $700/year selling her free-with-coupons-and-sales items at a flea market. She is my coupon idol.

RONCO is the only brand of spaghetti that ever entered our home as I grew up. And, spaghetti was our all-time favorite food.

Sweet Potato Madness and Candle Frugality: How Not To Save Money

Revisit briefly
Some of you may remember my telling you how HOARDING LITERALLY KILLED MY BEST FRIEND. In many ways he was very cautious with his money. His cousin who was his age and lived in the same community as they grew up and then again when they were older reveled in telling people how poor they were as children. They were, but it was the Depression. Both managed to do very well for themselves in this world. War was the jungles of Vietnam or the sky above the jungles for my best friend. War was the beaches of Hawaii for his cousin.

The Cousin
The Cousin was a tall, well-built, handsome, rugged man with a deep voice and a hearty laugh and a shock of thick, wavy hair and an easy smile. (I met him in 1981) Oh, yes, he was attractive! And, he was a riveting storyteller. His booming, wonderful singing voice actually frightened his future brother-in-law during church when they first met.

The Cousin jokingly bragged that during the Vietnam War, he kept Hawaii's beaches safe. When we laughed, he would ask with all seriousness if anyone ever invaded Hawaii when he was there. It sort of peeved him that my best friend, his cousin, had a dangerous, glamorous job with many medals. He was in intelligence. It seemed he had free time for nearby beaches.

My best friend and his Cousin vied for me and my attention even though neither one actually "wanted" me. What each wanted was for me to listen to him only, to smile at him only when we were all together!They met me at exactly the same moment when I approached them in a store, looking for directions. But, they each claimed the other was an interloper. They were just jealous of the friendship with me, nothing more. Sigh . . . that was tiring . . . their jealously, I mean. We were all just friends.

Okay....on to the story...
When my best friend died, I naturally kept in touch with the cousin. It was difficult because of his increasingly peevish manner and potty (okay, sewer) mouth. Occasionally, he became very talkative AND agreeable. He was on a saving-money kick, mostly in all the wrong ways. He loved to regale me with his frugal exploits.

Sweet potato madness
The Cousin took a sweet potato or many, forgot which, and put it/them in the oven while he baked or just reheated something. Then, he turned the oven off. However, when the baking/reheating was done, the sweet potato was not done. So, he left it in the oven until he used the oven again several days later. He surmised that the sweet potato would eventually cook. "Unless it rots first," was my response. He ignored my remark. His oven events were not long enough to ever heat it through or cook it until done. Since I never heard more about his success on subsequent telephone visits, I think I can safely assume he was not successful; the sweet potato most likely rotted.

Candle frugality...let there be light
On another occasion, he told me how he was using candles instead of electricity for lighting his home. He put candles on the mantle, sideboard, tables, just everywhere. Then, he propped mirrors behind them to reflect and thus multiply the light of the candles. In theory and in fact this is a good idea, except for the part where the house burns down with a man in his mid seventies still inside! Thankfully, that never happened. I can just imagine all three stories in cinders in the basement!

Similarities?
My best friend met with tragedy when he tried to "save." Both were charmingly eccentric.

Your turn
Have you ever mistakenly tried to be frugal in the wrong way? Or, do you know anyone who has? Can you share the method of saving that was foolish or dangerous? What happened? Make me laugh!

The Myth of Self Reliance

Sure, I can every year. No, I didn't grow these tomatoes. I had to buy the canning jars. Turnip greens I grew in a bowl are sparse. Someone else made the loom and loops for the potholder while I crafted it. A quart of pecans I picked up were on someone else's property. I am not completely self-reliant. This has nothing to do with Emerson's Essay, Self Reliance.

Tom Hemenway's post, The Myth of Self Reliance, explores the reasons we should never strive to "become fully self-sufficient." Interesting essay. It is long and well worth reading. So, settle in and learn from him after you hear what I have to say...lol...me first.

No matter how often I have said that I can make every article of clothing I wear (I can), including panties and bras, the truth is that someone manufactured my machines and my fabric. Even the lowly or exalted if you wish, sewing needle, was made by someone else. I rely on unseen masses. Even those who strive to produce all their own food realize there are some things that must come from elsewhere. Or, is just vegetable and fruit production the goal and the way they measure their their own self-sufficiency?

Even before the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, people in an agrarian economy depended upon the skills and labors of others. Home-crafted and homegrown goods were the means of obtaining needed items that an individual did not make or grow. The Industrial Revolution diminished the skill sets of many people, especially a generation who went into manufacturing and working for the jingle in the pocket instead of bartering goods and services.

We stand, as Hemenway states, "on mountains of shoulders."

In my case, I own many of the means of production--sewing machines, canners, gardening tools, drill/hammers/more, and land. Owning the means of production is more important than making money to buy items. However, your means of producing may be the abililty to buy all you need instead of actually producing anything tangible, just jingle. Those who own the means of production control more of the jingle and have deeper pockets.

So, a person can rewire a lamp? Did the person purchase the wiring or was it purchased from someone who knows how to make wiring? I surely don't! Who made the lamp? I did not manufacture my canner, jars, fabric, yarn, or the crochet hooks. Aha, I CAN carve a crochet hook if I set my mind to it and don't mind cutting or gouging myself! But, how many trials and errors would I suffer. But, I don't have a spinning wheel or sheep and know nothing about either. How can I crochet or sew without yarn or fabric? As much as I love milk, I will never have a cow or goat!

Hemenway's idea, not a new one, of building community for support and sharing and protection is something people should consider. We all know families who seem to live in "compounds" and can be supportive in many ways, making it possible for members of the family to feel secure about everything and support one another.

I don't have such a "community," per se. But, I think in a time of dire distress I could make it happen...maybe with much difficulty. I have never pretended to myself that I am self-sufficinet. I know I am dependent on others.

Your turn
How about you? Do you ever feel you are self-sufficient? Self-reliant? Interdependent?

Tap Dancing Chickens in My Yard=free, live entertainment

In the summer, especially, my hens are really great, frugal, live entertainment. Okay, they would be good entertainment in the winter, too, except I don't sit in my swing much. One day, all four hens were lined up, side by side, executing their search dance in unison. If only I had a video camera at that moment! A viral video of that would have paid off handsomely on YouTube.

In tap terms, this is how hens dance/search:

New chicken dance?

Done slowly and leisurely or quickly and with energy. No tap shoes necessary. At times this can seem like a soft shoe dance.

L brush back, (scritch sound)

L step in place

R brush back (scritch sound)

R step in place

L back step

R back step

Peck, peck, peck

repeat ad infinitum

Variations can include two R brush backs (spanks) before the step back, two L brush backs (spanks), anything that seems expeditious to get to the bugs. Occasionally look around to see who else seems to be having luck, especially when you hear a slight sound emitted that sounds like a signal for bugs or success.

Run over to the new good-bug-spot and start the dance over.

Your hen's turn
Have you ever noticed that your hens dance this way, completely choreographed? All of you who don't have hens, see what you are missing?

Resolutions and HAPPY NEW YEAR to you

I don't think so
I don't make resolutions. It seems that is just an invitation to failure. My goals do not have to result in continuous guilt or be completed to perfection. I cannot fail. I refuse to feel guilty.

Goals
However, I do have goals. Mostly, they are the same each year. If not the same, I will add a goal and drop another, so that over time the goals seems consistent.

Health
The older I become, the more important it is that health matters are at the forefront. Even without health insurance, I have managed to keep a check on certain health issues. In some areas, all is excellent. I have managed to avoid high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and thyroid problems. On the other hand, I need to continue monitoring all these. Now, I have insurance.

*MRI on 1-3-11 for knee
*visit to dermatologist (skin cancer runs in father's family)
*further thyroid checks (half of thyroid taken out few years ago)
*lose weight
*tests for other issues

You might wonder why I did not list losing weight as a resolution or goal. I didn't because excess weight is a health issue. Even with all my excess weight, I have managed to avoid through my own efforts and extraordinarily good genes many of the health issues associated with being overweight. This could all change with the next test I have.

Finances
Even as I make little progress on income, I still try to make the most of my financial resources. My goal is to increase my monthly income by $300 each month this coming year. Another financial goal is to further decrease spending.

*get paid for my writing elsewhere
*craft more resumes for people
*ramp up my use of coupons to maximize savings
*sell more of my possessions that need to go
*drive even less

It never seems right to just try to make more money or just to spend less. Both efforts will more likely assure success in the financial area of my life.

House repairs
This is long overdue and beyond the scope of my wallet or hammer skills...lol.

Clutter control
My clutter is not my slovenliness or hoarding. Things were salvaged from one huge wet area of my house to just three rooms, making living not fun. Right now, just organizing is the goal. Throwing out or selling what I find is secondary and must move higher on the list of to-dos.

Hen House
My pretty hens need a secure house outside. They do not like it when I sleep until 9:30 like today and they must be confined to a small crate in the house with me. Besides, they pull chest feathers, don't get enough sunlight to lay eggs, and are just frustrated all around. I have been very ill for the last week, so getting up and taking them out is not high on my list of priorities right now.

Grow more food
This should be an easy goal since my health last year coupled with my procrastination precluded my growing much. Plus, I needed to guard my plants. Chickens will destroy them if not protected. I can do better!

*organize pots, seeds, and supplies early
*germinate early
*garden in the shrubs
*use chicken wire


2011
My goals all need to be broken down into naturally occurring sequences. But, that is what's on the agenda for the next year. Some of the goals do reoccur each year, not because I do not attain the goal, but because I strive to do better or continue with success. For example, I will never take "health" from my list of goals because I either need to improve my health or make sure it continues as is and does not deteriorate.

Since I am ill, tonight will be a night in with a bag of chips and dip and Diet Coke. That is not a good use of my resources or a way to improve my health, but it works for me right now.

Happy New Year!

Free book: In The Trenches--Financial Survival During Times of Hardship

Go to In the Trenches--Budgeting for Financial Survival and Recovery to obtain a free ebook copy of  In The Trenches--Financial Survival During Times Of Hardship.

Carol Schultz has graciously offered this book as a gift for the New Year. I have the book, started reading it and misplaced it. Her story of financial recovery during times of hardship has hardships I could never imagine. You will be mesmerized. Her writing is very accessible. You won't have to figure out what financial terms she is using.