Now You Have Someone to Listen

(or, Why You Should PF-Blog)

I used to have this penpal friend. We wrote every few days or so, about everything from our jobs to our families to our favorite movies and foods. Doing that, I realized how much I enjoy writing my thoughts out, how nice it is to just say all the things I’ve got on my mind and have a response from someone. Do you know what I mean? Have you had this kind of thing?

It’s a lot like blogging, in a way. Or at least the blogs I really love. My favorites are the ones where authors talk about the everyday: the money they spend on groceries, the experience they had at the mall, whatever. There’s something to be said for just pouring your heart–especially to a not-real-life friend. Why is that, I wonder.

If you’re a PF reader (i.e., if you’re looking at this post right now), consider joining the blogosphere. You’ll love it–I’ll love it. You’ll find a community of down-to-earth, sincere storytellers and story-readers. It’s wonderful, it’s inspiring, I’m addicted.

Enjoy Shopping Again!

Last night and this afternoon, I had an absolute blast shopping.

Yesterday, I whipped through Bed, Bath & Beyond, Linens N’ Things, IKEA and Target. End result? $200 spent, my room revived and not one ounce of guilt. Why, you ask?

Since I started thinking about moving out, I set up a new envelope in my budget: home decorating. I haven’t moved anywhere, so the money’s accumulating, and investing in bedroom stuff seemed a good way to begin.

Purchased: red fitted sheet, red pillowcases, two Euro-sized pillows, two Euro-sized pillow shams, two red shiny pillows, two lamps, a duvet cover.

Next on the agenda: wall art, a mirror…

I know I said I feared overspending, but when I’m using allocated funds, funds I’ve already set aside, it’s A-OK. I love budgets, and I love shopping!

Who Else is Returning a Christmas Gift?

Was it something you asked for? Mine is.

Weeks before Christmas, upon request, I specifically e-mailed my mom the cut, color and size I wanted of this certain J. Crew coat. I chose the one with thinsulate, making it near $300. I sent Mom a coupon for 20% off, but she forgot to use it, so it really was a hefty sum. So generous of her!

Christmas morning, I opened the package and tried it on: too big. Even when I choose my own gift, it doesn’t work out right!

Yesterday after work, I returned the coat, and the store put the money back on my mom’s credit card; they didn’t have anymore in the store, let alone in my size. So now, Mom says, I can find a coat I want, and she’ll buy it. Talk about an unexpected luxury: shopping without spending!?

Do You Know about the Must-Read Blog for Writers?

‘Tis the season for addictions, apparently, as I’m a new fan of this incredible blog: Copyblogger.

Writing about everything from top grammar mistakes to sure-fire headlines to blogging tips, author Brian Clark has me hooked.

Go. Now. You’ll love.

Here’s How You Get a Money-Grubbing Addiction

Somewhere in the midst of apartment-hunting and gift-giving and holiday-merrymaking, I found time to take up an interest in home decorating. Okay, I take that back: more like I found time to develop an obsession with home decorating–an obsession that could be a big problem for my budget.

See, here’s the thing with me and obsessions: I seldom have a knack for whatever the latest craze is–knitting or scrapbooking or home decorating (and yes, I’ve done all three). I dabble, I try, I make one grand, noble stab. Then I see my lack of skill and withdraw.

For months now, I’ve been browsing articles at HGTV, skimming staging photos, reading interior design articles. The result is an inclination towards the aesthetically beautiful, indoors. And I can tell you what I like: rooms like this and this, for example. I can’t, however, tell you how the heck I can make mine look like that.

Lately I’ve gotten into the site “Rate My Space”–do you know it? All kinds of amateurs and professionals post their rooms and remodels, letting the Internet public rate them. Intimidating and inspiring, both.

I wish I were one of those talented people who could look at a design and mimic it on a budget. I fear I’m much more likely to go all shabby chic (emphasis on the shabby) or the other extreme: all brand-new and overpriced.

Sigh.

peppermint bark

Have any leftover candy canes from the holidays? Even if you don’t, you may want to find some: peppermint bark is too inexpensive–and delicious–of a treat to miss!

What you need: chocolate (I prefer a big block of dark, from Trader Joe’s) and candy canes. Yes, that’s it!

Directions: Put the candy canes in a plastic bag and crush with a hammer. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Add the candy canes to the melted chocolate, removing it from the heat. Pour the mixture onto a greased cookie sheet. Refrigerate.

Give it an hour or so, pull out the cookie sheet and break the bark into chunks. Voila: there you have it!

There are a million variations you can try, but the results will be spectacular.

For inspiration: Paula Deen,
Simply Recipes and epicurious. Enjoy!

Christmas Gifts

Outside those for my immediate family, all my presents have been given now. The verdict: they were affordable and a terrific success.

Calculations:
Co-workers: $35 (Crate & Barrel mugs with $5 Starbucks gift cards)
Gift Exchange: $20 (DVD, skittles, cocoa, popcorn)
Boss: $3 (homemade peppermint bark)
Sunday School Kids: $20 (16 gift bags, homemade brownies, mini coloring books & crayons, candy cane pencils)

Total: $78

I have to say, a little thought went a long way. And it was so fun to give everyone something!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

money memories in the blogosphere

Just after I read Suze Orman’s advice about discovering your earliest money memories and how they affect you, I came across this post: Lessons Never Learned. Not only is Petro a great writer, but his story is engaging.

A clip:
“*CIP #6: Family Values. Results: I think we’re cool in this regard. A little spend thriftish? Maybe. But I truly believe my wife and I both took the best parts of our respective upbringings and integrated them into our present day lives. Neither one of us came from families of great or even marginal wealth. We both have Poverty-era parents who probably spend a lot of their silent time still worrying about money. My wife and I have a list of things from those wonder years that we ask each other and laugh about on occasion:

“Did you have to bring your brown paper lunch bags back home from school each day to use again the next day?”"

healthy addiction

A long time ago, I read that making your bed improves your room’s look by 70%. So I started doing it, kept doing it and it stuck. Now, every morning, I roll out of the covers and, before putting in my contacts or brushing my teeth, I make the bed.  It’s routine, habitual, without much thought. So it is with my daily lunches: basically every night, I get home and eat dinner. Then, before I do anything else, I pull out my folded brown bag and make my lunch with leftovers or PB&J or whatever I can find right away. It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s habit.

It works for me.

What are some frugal habits you’ve developed, and how did you do it?

Friends and Money

My best friend and I talk on the phone every week, sometimes more than once. She’s married and lives in a new-construction house far away from me, with a one-year-old boy and a cute puppy.

We met as living mates in college, back when neither of us had any real money to speak of and lived in a trailer with seven other girls. She’s one of the only people in my life that I automatically clicked with: there was no getting-to-know-you period. I think she asked me to grab dinner with her, and we were friends forever after.

Over the past few years, I’ve stood up in her wedding and visited her family a few times, but it’s our phone calls that have kept us close. It’s funny how someone so geographically far away can feel closer than someone in the same room.

So here’s the funny (or maybe typical) thing: About most issues, it’s and-he-was-wearing-a-white-sweater-when-he-came-over conversations; it’s so-then-I-said details. But with money, it’s more I’m-making-good-money, Husband-got-a-great-job, don’t-you-hate-when-you-get-ripped-off? I know she nannies part-time to add to their vacation fund. She knows I went to Boston on credit card points.

But that’s kind of where it ends.

When I got a raise at my three-month review, I didn’t tell her. I felt like it’d be bragging, even though she doesn’t know what I make. When they were given a large chunk of money in return for some poor business practices, she said, I won’t tell you how much, but it was a lot.

We tip-toe all around finances but never quite come out with it. I don’t because she doesn’t, and, probably, she doesn’t for the same reason.

Truthfully, I think it’s better this way. Money changes things between people, I’ve found. Not between some people, but between most people. Money’s personal–it’s sensitive.  Everyone has an opinion on it, and most of us don’t want to justify our decisions with all our close friends. At least that’s what I think.

So tell me: Do you talk about money with your friends?