More Free

This year, I managed to wrap ALL of our holiday gifts for free. Here's how! My grandpa used to donate to a lot of charities and received a lot of flatfold wrapping paper assortments as "thanks" for his donation. Sure, they're a lot of unusual designs, but I don't mind. I took them and hung on to them.

In the interest of eco consciousness, I only boxed gifts when it was absolutely necessary. Boxes create waste, and you need more tissue paper and more paper on the outside, plus more tape! Because I was wrapping mostly small packages, all those smallish pieces of paper were just right.

I did have to wrap a few large boxes. Instead of tissue paper, which would have just been filler, I used newspaper. Okay, the newspaper wasn't entirely free, but heck, I had already used it for its intended purpose!

Some gifts needed a pretty piece of tissue paper. At Maggie's birthday this summer, a couple of friends went way overboard with beautiful tissue paper. I flattened out these pieces and saved them, so I used them for the gifts.

And for those few really large boxes that the wrapping paper didn't fit, I used.....vintage maps! I had snagged a couple of maps from Grandpa's for curiosity's sake. They made for perfect wrapping paper, and they definitely have a neat look that's different from the norm.

I feel all ecoconcious!

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Everyone needs those few little office gifties and things. Our office pretty much exchanges small pretties; we have no official policy. For the guys I bring in treats, and for the ladies I made cute little wooden pins. I had a bag of wooden star cutouts, some paint, a bag of pin backs, and a handful of vintage buttons and other things. I made about 20 cute little pins; covering my knit group and my office ladies, and while they are tiny little gifts, they are useable and cute and didn't cost me anything (and won't be anything they have to figure out how to get rid of!).

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My new kitten needed a collar, but she literally has a 5 inch neck. The VERY smallest collar I could find was 6 inches, and $8.99 to boot! For that fun custom tag engraving machine, they wanted $8 for the least expensive tag. HELLO? I had a little buckle that I had saved from something, and so I crocheted a cute little collar from washable sock yarn. It's stretchy enough so she can escape if she's caught but not so she can just take it off. And the pet store had DIY pet tags--a little plastic charm with a piece of paper in it that you could fill out and then place a waterproof sticker over. $3.50. When Miao outgrows her little collar, I can cut the current one off the buckle and create a new one--it only took me 15 minutes to make! And I saved myself around $14.

But I used a couple of those dollars to buy food for the shelter donation :-)

Free

I wanted to make Princess Snowball's Kitty Bed from the Stitch & Bitch book. Before I purchased yarn, I remembered a friend of mine had a huge box of yarn that she wasn't using because she overbought. I asked her for some and she gave it to me. I'm going to buy her tea at knit group next week in thanks, but this was essentially free (and helped a friend destash!). Plus I have an adorable kitty bed now! Money Saved: $23.

While at knit group, I browsed through a magazine with a LOVELY purple sweater in it. I decided I wanted to make the sweater, but really only wanted that ONE pattern from the magazine. It didn't seem worth buying the issue for. Lo and behold my inbox had an invitation today to get a free trial issue of the magazine! So I'll get that issue for free and then cancel the subscription, which is perfectly within the bounds of the agreement. Money Saved: $7.

I wanted a new Christmas tree. The one we have is way too big. I mentioned it to a friend and she said they had a tree that they weren't going to use this year because they had a new tree also. I asked if I could borrow her tree for this year. She decided that I could just keep it, so I have a brand new tree. Bonus, the tree is prelit, which is awesome because almost every string of lights I own died this year. So I didn't even have to buy new lights. I bought my friend lunch however :-) Money Saved: $30.

I'm doing a lot better at this frugality thing! I always focused before on Getting The Best Price, but what I really need to consider is Whether I Need To Spend Money At All. Sharing and bartering are such wonderful things. Especially when we all have too much stuff and not enough money.

Animal Shelters, or, Why I Bought a Kitten

Maggie just got a new kitten! And I have received several comments/questions about why I bought said kitten from a pet store instead of a shelter. I want to say that, no, I didn't just buy a kitten on a whim from a pet store, and I don't really have any prejudice about the cats themselves in shelters.

I have a problem with the shelters themselves. And I'm going to tell you why.

To me, the whole goal of a shelter should be to rehome as many animals as possible into decent homes where they can be loved. Unfortunately, the goal of the shelters I seem to run into seems to be "keep animals from being adopted, ever". A mix of overly stringent rules, criticism, and inconvenience is making it so that GOOD people who want to give animals GOOD homes are being lured away from shelters or from having animals at all.

First of all, many, if not most, shelters refuse to adopt animals to families with children under five. While I understand that children can be rough with animals, that cuts out a very large segment of the population, and denies animals otherwise loving homes (with a week or so of potential rough handling in the interim). I don't know about you, but I would rather have a week of growing pains than live the rest of my life in a cage. On top of that, the age of 5 is totally arbitrary; children under the age of 5 can be taught to be gentle and some kids over the age of 5 can be overly rough as well, especially if they have no experience with animals.

Next, shelters have an overwhelming amount of rules based on their personal ideals for animal care. Since they are private, not for profit organizations that are not "selling" animals but rather "adopting them out", they are able to create whatever rules they like and refuse adoption on any basis they choose.
For example, declawing is a very controversial issue among cat owners. Some liken the procedure to a human having their fingers removed at the first knuckle, or just plain abject torture, valuing furniture over an animal's well-being. Some shelters use this perspective to completely forbid declawing. If you say you plan to declaw your cat, or would even consider it, they won't let you adopt, or will force you to adopt an already-declawed animal. First of all, cats and humans have totally separate physiology. Second, spaying or neutering a cat causes the same, if not more pain to the animal, and poses a higher risk to their life than declawing. Third, again, wouldn't it be better, in the long run, for a cat to have a good home (following a week of discomfort), than to live out its life, intact, in the shelter?

On top of that, a few phone calls to a local shelter revealed the price of adopting a single kitten to be $250! Economically speaking, even a person who would be willing to pay a BIT more to adopt a shelter animal is likely not going to cough up $250 for an animal that can be purchased for much much less from a friend or a pet store. Of course I think "backyard breeding" is bad. I think responsible people should spay and neuter their animals. But frankly, the shelter kitten may very well be a "backyard bred" kitten to begin with also. The shelters are setting themselves up for failure--they are making the purchase of "backyard" kittens and pet store kittens MORE ATTRACTIVE than shelter kittens.

Many shelters will only adopt kittens in pairs, which, if a person only has the money to care for one cat, again sets up a situation where a pet store or backyard breeder is a more attractive options. While the shelters usually waive the adoption fee for the second of the pair, you are looking at double the food bill, double the vet bills, and double the litter requirements!

Before the shelters will even allow you to look at their animals, you have to fill out an extremely invasive "survey". If they don't like your answers, they will tell you what they think the answers should be and make you change them, or else you cannot adopt. If your answers are really unacceptable, they won't let you adopt anyway. Now, you might think a "really unacceptable" answer might be "I plan to set the kitten on fire twice weekly" or "I need a bait animal for my fighting dogs". But an answer such as "I work full time out of the house" or "I may move in the near future" or "my last cat got away from me and was hit by a car" can be sufficient to set of the alarms of the agencies.

The shelters dictate the way you should discipline your cats, what room you should keep them in, whether you should let them outside or not, how many you should have, and many even require you to put down the NAME and PHONE NUMBER of a suitable relative or friend who will take care of the cat in the event you go on vacation or cannot take care of it any longer. Others forbid this and require you to sign that you will return the cat to the shelter in that situation, because the new person might not fit their standards. They require a copy of your lease agreement permitting pets and the number permitted. If you plan on moving soon they may not adopt to you because your new place might not allow pets.

One pair of friends tried to adopt a puppy from a shelter and were denied as they worked full time jobs. Who doesn't?
Another friend was denied adoption of a kitten because his girlfriend, who did not live with him, was allergic.
Another pair of friends were denied a rescue adoption because they were TOO OLD. Age discrimination anyone? They were told unless they changed their will to reflect a guardian for the dog in the event he outlived them, forget it. These people were in their sixties.
Another friend, unwilling to drag his sick grandparents out in the winter (he lived with them) was denied adoption because the shelter required a meeting with ALL household members and pets.

Shelters, this is ridiculous. Of course you want to make sure that prospective adopters are not going to abuse, neglect, or abandon their pets. But maybe it's time to give people a bit of the benefit of the doubt. If they are caring enough to choose a shelter over those oh-so-tempting free kittens, maybe they don't need to pass the third degree. Maybe they have proved their caring enough. Besides, a truly determined abuser/neglector/abandoner will be able to foil your survey, give the "right" answers and then do whatever they want anyway. You're setting up your rules to eliminate GOOD people, not BAD people.

It makes me want to scream when I see the shelters repeatedly complain that they are overcrowded and unable to operate, and yet they set up these extensive constraints and turn away GOOD WILLING people with their rules. No wonder you have a surplus. Make it easier, and less stressful, and more convenient to adopt, and you will have more adoptions. Maybe you will have a few returned animals, but that will be a small percentage. It will be worth it to give that larger percentage loving homes.

People are not perfect. I don't let my cat outside, but some of my friends do. I don't think they're bad or irresponsible for doing that. I wouldn't think their animals should be taken away. Some people are willing to give a cat a home but not at the expense of their furniture and their skin. Isn't that okay? Isn't an imperfect home better than a 2x2 foot cage in a shelter? It's okay if people will feed their cat Meow Mix instead of Iams. They're still getting fed. It's okay if they have to close the animal up once in a while. The rest of the time, the animal has space to move around, something he doesn't have in the shelter.

And shelters, when you get overfull, please have an "adoptathon" with lowered fees rather than turning animals away. If you are burdened by the cost of maintaining a large number of animals, letting them go for less than your standard fee will pay for itself in removing the cost of the animal's care. When you beg us "please adopt a furry friend", you need to do your part in making sure that it's reasonable, attractive, and comfortable for someone to do that. Don't push people to adopt, but don't spend the whole time warning them of Terrible Things That Could Happen. It makes people shy away. It makes people like me turn to pet stores, where $75, my name and address, and a promise to care for the little ball of fuzz got me a kitten.

How to stop overspending & start living

Aw, doesn't that sound like a self-help book title? Maybe I'll write one. One that isn't littered with BS about the stock market and funny little calculations about interest and stuff. I'm sure that stuff has a place in the whole scheme just as calories and fat calories and proper vitamins have a place in weight loss. But really I think, in both of these situations, those fiddly little bits addle the average person so much that the whole business seems Way Too Hard. That feeling keeps us in our old habits and never allows us to break free.

1. Stop buying in order to solve problems. I'm not just talking about retail therapy. I'm talking about the immediate urge to go out and BUY something to solve a problem. Buy a new lawnmower rather than fix the old one. Buy a new piece of furniture because your coat closet is stuffed full rather than cull the contents of the closet. Buy the whole series of Star Wars toys for your kid because they really enjoy playing with the single one they have. Buy more clothes because you hate doing laundry, rather than just doing the laundry more often. Buy books because you feel like you don't have enough time to read.

2. Stop buying in order to "save" money. Our society is so discount-oriented that when we see something on sale, we feel like we need to buy it because if we need it later and it's NOT on sale, we won't be able to afford it. Ergo, we're "saving" $10 by buying it today. Another problem is comparing the previous price with the current price. Yes, a kate spade handbag for only $15 is a great deal over the original $150. But if you don't need it, you're wasting $15 rather than saving $135.

3. Don't base purchasing decisions on justification--base them on how much money you have. Over the weekend I contemplated buying a new camera. My old one is slow, meaning I miss cute moments when I hit the button and it "thinks" before it takes the picture. I'd also like one that's smaller, to fit in my pocket, and also easier to use for my daughter, who loves to take pictures. I found one on sale for $109. It was originally $129. I could also upgrade to a package for $150 that would include an extra battery, case, and memory card. This was a great deal and perfectly justifiable--most of us parent-type folks like to take pictures of kids at the holidays, the price was right, our old camera was more than 5 years old and failing, and getting a new one would enable me to give the old one to my husband (who doesn't mind if it's slow). I only had about $40 in my checking account, however. I considered pulling money from savings or using my credit card. And then I stopped. Just because it wasn't a stupid purchase in general didn't mean I could afford it. I'm asking for a new camera for the holidays instead.

4. Wait. That's all. It's so hard to do! Especially when the "shiny" urge takes over. If you don't need it right now, put the money back in your wallet and don't buy it. Don't buy a whole bunch of books you "intend" to read. Don't buy a new dress because you might have holiday parties to attend. Don't buy things as soon as they take your fancy. Wait until you really need them, then decide.

5. Pay Cash. I didn't like this one at first. Cash ran out much more quickly than credit cards. So I'd always pay cash until it was gone, use my debit card until the account was empty, then use my credit card. After all, I needed those things, and the money wasn't there, so that's what it was for. But the cash thing is more subtle than that. It's not just that you pay cash instead of using your credit card, and keep your buying habits exactly the same. It's that using cash FORCES you to recognize EXACTLY how much money you have, and doesn't permit you to indulge in squishy numbers when figuring up what you're actually spending. If the cash is gone and you "need" something, suddenly you are forced to decide whether or not you really NEED it. Sometimes, yeah. Medicine for the baby, sure. New Stephen King book? Not so much!

When I began Paying In Cash, I used to run out of money really fast. And then I'd scrimp until the next payday, then buy all the things I was holding off on. It was rough. But it was a transition. Slowly, I realized that even when I HAD money in my purse, I was trying to figure out ways to get around buying things. Did I have something already that could suit that purpose? Did a family member or friend have one I could borrow? Could I just do without it?

The Value of Patience

I hate waiting. I can't really say I "have" patience, more that circumstances force me to.

A couple of months ago, I had the idea for a big project. I'm not going to reveal too many details as it is a surprise, and it's possible family members will read this! I went to the craft store to buy the supplies for this project, and spent about $200.

Now, really, for what I was getting, and the fact that it covered 6 Xmas pressies, wasn't really TOO bad. I figured it was worth it to pay "a little extra" to insure I got the supplies I wanted.

Well, life intervened, and as I hadn't yet started the project when the [lack of] money storm hit, I ended up returning all of those supplies for the $200. I figured at some point I'd rebuy them, maybe as each thing went on sale.

Since my aunt works at the craft shop, she gave me a fabulous coupon that gets me 30% off of my ENTIRE purchase, not just the usual one regular price item deal. The best part was that this offer was good on sale priced items too, which most of their coupons are not.

All told I ended up rebuying the very same things for the most part, and spent about $80. Less than half of my original expenditure, all for waiting just a couple of months.

I'll call that money in the bank!

An Example of "Life Energy"

Over the weekend, I realized I needed my car washed, I needed the inside vacuumed and cleaned, and I needed my lawn mowed.

A car wash is $5. Having the inside cleaned is $15. I pay my neighbor across the street $20 to mow my lawn. This is a total of $40.

I decided to mow my own lawn and clean and vacuum my own car. It took me approximately 1 hour.

If I had chosen to pay someone else to do those things, I would have had to work approximately 4 hours to earn the money to pay them.

This was my sudden "real life" realization of the appropriate expenditure of life energy, as outlined by Joe Dominguez and Vickie Robin in their book Your Money or Your Life. In one situation, I'm spending 4 hours of my life at my desk in order to "save" myself 1 hour of my life in the yard/driveway. By doing the work myself, I spent only 1 hour of my life energy.

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I used to spend about $100 a month on my cell phone plan, and probably a total of 10 hours a month using the phone for texting, pictures, etc. In other words, a total of 20 hours of life energy OR more than an entire week's worth of work for me (I work 15 hours a week).

Now with my Tracfone, I spend $20 a month, approximately, and perhaps 2 hours a month using it. Therefore, approximately 4 hours of life energy.

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I've found so many times that I make money and spending decisions based on comparison rather than on the actual amount of money I have. $100 a month isn't really a lot of money considering what some people spend on cell phones....ergo, it's probably appropriate for me to spend that much on a cell phone. Um, NO!!!!!

If I find a total steal of a Kate Spade bag for $30, when it usually costs $350, sure it's a great bargain compared to retail price. But that doesn't mean I have $30 to spend on a purse, great deal or not!!!!

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In order to rein in spending, we (the general we) need to examine how much money we actually personally have, not how much we think we have or expect to have or wish we had or feel we should have, how much we ACTUALLY HAVE. And then we need to make our purchasing decisions on real, actual needs and wants---is this worth the hours of my life I'm spending to purchase it? If my boss said "Come in next week and we'll give you this handbag at the end of the week rather than your paycheck" would I take him/her up on it? Not whether our friends have it, or whether it's on sale, or whether we're feeling low or feeling happy. Not based on how long ago we last bought one of these. So what if we haven't had a new coat for 4 years, if our current one is still in good shape, why not wear it and save ourselves the money?

Why indeed. Why is this concept so hard for me and millions of other people? It seems so easy yet it's so hard to internalize.

Oddly Enough....

When you aren't raiding your savings account on a monthly basis to pay off "just one more bill", the money in there adds up rather fast. Who would think?

How Money is Annoying

What bothers me about going from overspending to spending just what we have, is "saving" money doesn't feel like "saving" money.

For example, I was planning to buy a mattress. It was about $250. I got Grandpa's spare bedroom mattress instead. This should, in my eyes, mean I have an extra $250 lying around. But it doesn't! It's just $250 that I didn't have that I didn't spend, so instead of being -$250 I am still at $0.

That's not fair!