Financial Freak

Financial Freak / That's Life / Weighty Matters — 2 Comments
27
Jan 11

What’s Next

As of today, I’m officially 31 days in to the Polaroid Project and I’m raring to go for the next 334 days. But one of my goals this year is to work on making life changes one month at a time. By focusing on one thing a month, I start building a habit – the experts say it takes 21 days to jan122011change your habits so I figure an extra few days will be good for each habit. And I can get the change integrated into my schedule without driving myself crazy.

I’m seriously considering making next month Frugal February. I don’t see frugality being a bad habit – especially during these uncertain times. And I don’t think because you are frugal you have to come across as a cheapskate. I like the definition of frugality that I found on Wikipedia:

Frugality is the practice of acquiring goods and services in a restrained manner, and resourcefully using already owned economic goods and services, to achieve a longer term goal.

In some regards I already practice frugality at some level. I reuse things where I can. I try to find the best bargins I can. And I raise/can part of my own food. But I think I can do better. This last year, I’ve wasted a lot of money on parking (I could have ridden the bus), eating out (I could have carried my lunch), and other things. And I’ve purchased things that I haven’t even used. But it’s time to make some changes, get some dollars back in my pocket book, and use some of the things I’ve been stockpiling to better my life and the lives of ones I love. So look for Frugal February coming your way.

Financial Freak / Mixed Media / Paula's Picks / Reverb10 / That's Life / Zeitgeist — No Comments
13
Dec 10

Taking action

I laughed last night when today’s Reverb10 prompt popped up:

December 13 – Action When it comes to aspirations, it’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen. What’s your next step? (Author: Scott Belsky)

I’ve been priming the pump for this year’s action. This past week and weekend, I’ve spent time cleaning and getting rid of the clutter I have. There’s more of that to do because I’ve made myself promise it would be done before my vacation. I’ve also started thinking about my budget so I can meet my financial goals. I need to do some web host consolidation so that I’m not spending quite so much moola on that (not to mention that the one web host isn’t exactly in line with my personal values in the way that they talk about business). I’m also thinking ahead to my garden because I really want to get things to the point that I’m using my garden year around. That’s a great advantage to being in Houston.

Last night I put the plan in motion for a photography project that I want to do by ordering the film (yes in the age of digital – I’m gonna shoot film for this one). Evidently there was a snafu last night though and something went a little awire with the shopping cart. However, I’ll call them in the morning and see if I can get it straightened out, if the package has already shipped, then well I’ll live with it and I’ll have film for the first half of the year instead of just the first quarter.

I’ve also started laying the foundation for a mixed media extravaganza that I want to do over the next year. While I’ve taken a class in Artist’s Trading cards and Altered books, I want to add more techniques and I’ve found four books that I’m going to use.

 Journal Bliss: Creative Prompts to Unleash Your Inner Eccentric by Violette. I’ve been reading through the prompts and I like them. I’m looking forward to using them in my own journal. And I like the fact that she has technique intermixed with fun stuff to write about makes it easier for me to learn.  Fun is always good and new techniques that are easy to do and help me to improve my skills are good as well. Violette focuses more on borders, lettering and drawing techniques – all things  I could use some practice with. I can doodle with the best of them, but I want to draw something and have it be recognizable and look half way cool. So that is book one. Onward!


Collage Lab: Experiments, Investigations, and Exploratory Projects (Lab Series) by Bee Shay. I found this book last night at Barnes and Noble. What I like about it is that there are 52 weeks of “labs” to help you build your skills. Shay encourages to play with the various media and think about uncommon objects you can use in your mixed media art and collages – Graining comb from Home Depot anyone? She encourages you to add to your stash a little at a time and doesn’t break the bank with supplies. I’m hoping I can start playing with the Gesso exercise later this evening.


Artist Trading Card Workshop: Create, Collect, Swap - I picked this gem up at Half Priced Books a few weeks back and I fell in love with all the techniques Bernie Berlic uses in this book. Again the tutorials are broken down in such a way that you can easily complete a sample in a very short period of time. I also like that she uses unusual materials – paper towels and babywipes for example and shows you how to change it up so you don’t even recognize it. I’ve been very happy with the the results of the techniques I’ve tried. I’m also looking forward to trying some of the 3D effects she writes about.

Journal Revolution: Rise Up & Create! Art Journals, Personal Manifestos and Other Artistic Insurrections by Linda Woods and  Karen Dinino. These two creative sisters have put together a book that’s similar to the Journal Bliss but, but with a photography/printed type approach to journal. The book shows how to do things like distress a picture with an emery board while prompting you to talk about the things you do everyday. 

I really am looking forward to the yearI have planned and I’m excited that I have the wheels in motion already. I think it’s going to be an excellent year for making, doing and being.

Financial Freak — No Comments
28
Nov 10

Crafting and Art Supply Coupons for this week.

Woo Hoo, another week with spectacular deals out there for the crafty person.

Aaron Brothers has a 50% off one regular item coupon.

Hobby Lobby has a 40% off one regularly priced item coupon.

Michaels had 40% off one regularly priced item and 25% off any Martha Stewart Craft item coupons.

Financial Freak / Mixed Media — No Comments
25
Nov 10

Never Pay Full Price for Craft Supplies

I do a lot of comparison shopping before I buy craft supplies. I’m lucky in that I have Texas Art Supply here in Houston. What I can’t find at Hobby Lobby, Aaron Brothers or Michaels, I can generally find at their Baybrook location and I don’t have to worry about a coupon. They’re regularly 25% off of what I would pay at other stores for some lines of product.

But if I have a great coupon for the other places (Aaron Brothers and Hobby Lobby have had 40% off one regular priced item this week so I’ve been stocking up on alcohol inks), I may use those coupons to get what I can before I go to Texas Art Supply. I also check on-line to see if I can do better. I look at Amazon.com and other craft sites, but I’ll also look at places like Wolf Camera because sometimes they have some great deals.

So don’t pay full price! You can find some great deals!

Places I check regularly for coupons:

Joanns.com

Hobby Lobby

Aaron Brothers

Michaels

Wolf Camera

Financial Freak / Paula's Picks / That's Life — No Comments
1
Jul 10

Saved – Day 1

Right now my life is inundated with things I’ve saved – some of my Mom’s wedding china, an afghan crocheted for her and dad my one of my grandmas, Mom’s dolls, a trunk that my grandfather made by hand, cameras that my grandmother sent me, my great-grandmother’s rocking chair, and many other things. I need to find a way to make this all work in my 850 sq ft apartment and I need to figure out a way to do all of this while making it feel homey and not cluttered.

One of the things I’m doing is playing furniture tetris and moving things around. I am very fortunate in that I have a large living room area. I’ve started by measuring the different parts of my living room and then laying it out in Microsoft Visio. Then I started measuring the furniture. This approach may be a bit on the anal retentive side. However, its worked well so far. It’s saved me time and money.

Time in that I don’t have to move furniture around; realize it doesn’t work the new location; and then have to move the furniture again. It’s saved me money in that it’s really made me think about what I want to do with the space. I’ve had to really think about the space I have and make sure that what I am buying truly fits the space I have. For example, after looking at the six foot version of the Expedit bookshelf at Ikea, I realized that it was too big for the space I have, especially if I want to form a wall, so I went for the five foot version instead. I’ll pay the same price for two of the smaller units that I would for the bigger unit.

It still divides the space and will let the daylight through because it’s not too tall. Although, I’m looking for lighting ideas if anyone’s got them.

Eating Local / Financial Freak / Weighty Matters — No Comments
13
Dec 09

Eating Healthy on a Budget Part II

Tonight I took Angi’s shopping list that I mentioned in Part I and went window shopping at the local branch of Safeway to price the items on it. Here’s the list with the prices behind the item:

  • 3 apples $1.69/lb
  • 2 banana baby food .65/each
  • 1 qt half/half $2.99
  • orange juice (tropicana 50) $2.99
  • 2 tomatoes $3.59
  • 2 green peppers .69/each
  • bag of corn chips (Tostitos family size Restaurant Style) $3.99
  • healthy snack cookies $3.99
  • 4 Light & Fit Lemon Yogurt (6 Oz cups) .55/each
  • 1/4 lb Genoa Salami $8.49/lb
  • 1/4 lb deli cheese $7.99/lb
  • 1 lb hamburger (assuming 85% lean) $2.71/lb
  • Coffee (folgers 10.8 oz can) $3.99
  • Store Rolls .59/each
  • Chocolate Chip Cookies $2.59
  • 1 6 oz bag spinach $2.99
  • 2 cup sprinkle cheese (8 oz) $2.49
  • Kashi Cheerios $3.99
  • Cheerios $3.30
  • 1 Fiber Plus Bars $2.99
  • 1 Kashi Bars $4.99
  • Mission Bell Low Carb Wraps – Medium Sized $4.29
  • Grapes (1 package ~1.5 lbs) $4.79/lb
  • Strawberries (1 lb) 3.99

The grand total for all of this, was $76.53.

One thing that struck me as I was wandering the supermarket aisles pricing the items on her list is the amount of pre-packaged food that appears to be healthy on the surface but really isn’t all that healthy when you start looking at it – especially for someone with PCOS. Many of the pre-packaged foods are carb heavy even if you take into account the dietary fiber.

But the challenge here twofold: stretching the budgeted dollars so that Angi and her family get more healthy food AND give Angi healthy options so that she has snacks that are portable for her on-the-go work day and that are more balanced towards 40% protein/ 30% carbs /30% Fat.

In the next part, I’ll revamp shopping list, create a menu, and do some shopping.

Financial Freak / Retro Kitchen / Weighty Matters — 1 Comment
25
Nov 09

Eating Healthy on a Budget – Part 1

My friend Angi from PCOSinConnection recently posted something on Facebook about the cost of eating healthy when on a tight budget. For $73.98, she got two meals, several lunches and snacks for her and her partner. Her complaint is one that I’ve heard on several of the fitness boards – How can you afford better food when you want to eat healthy? How do you eat healthy when you are on the run? And how do you do it when healthy food items do not have coupons associated with them?

I’ve gotten a copy of Angi’s grocery list and I’m going to revamp it. The primary goal is to increase the amount of food purchased (goal is a minimum of 4 meals plus lunches for the money spent). Based on what Angi has described, I’ve got a couple more criteria that I need to meet:

1) Meal/Snack solutions that are portable because Angi spends a good portion of her day on the go and in the car.
2) Angi eats several small meals/snacks a day to help keep insulin levels even. Because many women with PCOS have insulin resistance issues, I’m going to take macro split of 40% Protein, 30% Carbs and 30% Fat when I set up the menu based on my shopping list.
3) Everything has to fall into the categories of natural or organic and generally should be a store brand unless specified.

In Part II, I’ll post the list. I’ll also go window shopping at one of my local stores (I’m in Texas, Angi’s in Connecticut) to get an initial estimate based on what she purchased and find suitable substitutes for the local brands available. So stay tuned!

Financial Freak / That's Life / Weighty Matters — No Comments
11
Nov 09

Out of NaBloPoMo and an Economic Reality

Yesterday was hard at work. We had layoffs. And when I got home last night, I had nothing to say because I was tired and numb. A co-worker I just started to get to know got laid off and I am going to miss him because he brought a lot of good things to our group. There’s going to be changes in our structure and our management. But it’s brought home the reality, that I need to be more careful and budget better.

I’ve been a little more lenient than I should be with my spending and that needs to change so that if needed, I have a cushion to fall back on.

Financial Freak — No Comments
27
Dec 08

Total Paid Off for 2008

I’ve paid off $31670 this year. Yeah me!!!!

Financial Freak — No Comments
14
Dec 08

UPromise

Did you know that even if you are done with college, you can sign up with UPromise.com?? I didn’t until recently.

With UPromise, you can link your Credit/Debit Cards to earn additional money that can be used to pay off your student loans. All kinds of purchases (dinings out, travel, general shopping), can help you earn money to pay off your student loan debt. You can also get coupon savings that will be loaded directly to your grocery/store cards.

For me, with the planning that I’ve done about coupons, their use will earn me double savings to be applied towards debt.

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