It Constantly Amazes Me...

...how the media thinks.

The stock markets have lost 20% of their value since the beginning of October and 40% since an all-time high nearly a year ago. So all of the news outlets are flooding us with news stories about how people are beginning to save money to make ends meet.

Here's a newsflash, nitwits-people have been struggling to make ends meet since the beginning of time. You only find it interesting now because you think you can make money of of it.

Take this article from CNN.com-

Economic shock gives rise to coupon cutting

Most of the people I know do look for coupons for everything from groceries to eating out to big ticket items. If coupons had fallen out of fashion, why would we still get them in our Sunday newspapers and in our Valpak mailers? On Freecycle, people are constantly offering (not swapping mind you) coupons for diapers, outings, etc... I am irritated that the media seems to think this "archaic" activity is strangely and suddenly making a comeback.

What is especially irritating is the insinuation that coupon cutting (for groceries at least) is actually useful. For groceries, I rarely cut coupons for a very simple reason-coupons exist to provide a discount only off of name-brand items i.e. marketing. For example, I often find that if a product costs $3.00 and I have coupon for 50 cents, the net price I pay is $2.50. However, still ncluded in that price is the cost of marketing the item via coupons themselves, print ads, tv, etc...In other words, I often find that the generic version of the product is $2.25 without the process of clipping (and remembering!) coupons.

That said, if you do shop at a place that offers double or triple value for your coupons, it is totally worthwhile to make the effort.

I do flip through the coupons on Sundays, mainly out of morbid curiousity (Finding out about new products like microwaveable sausages wrapped in pancakes-bleah). And for the most part, everything that I see a coupon for is either overpriced to begin with or simply not necessary. Why pay $3.50 (and save 25 cents! yipee!) on an air freshener when I can just burn a stick of incense, open the windows, or simmer a cinnamon stick in a pot of water? Or, even better, make cookies, which both provides a lovely aroma and sustenance!

Been a Long Time Coming

So it's been, oh, well over a year since I last wrote in this blog. 2007 was crazy. But I'm back baby and thirsty for blood. Well, not really. More like thirsty for cosmopolitans.

Mike and I watched Maxed Out tonight, presumably because we were tired of being cheerful and relaxed. What I thought would be an expose on people's crazy spending habits (which would make me secretly feel better about myself) turned out to be a depressing culmination of financial news stories I have read over the years. People being taken advantage of by greedy lenders instead of people spending $400 on cashmere sweaters and sticking them in the closet, never to be worn.

Don't get me wrong-to some extent the people themselves are at fault for not reading the fine print and signing on the dotted line anyway. But have you ever read the fine print on your own credit card statement? I consider myself pretty responsible and I never have. I've tried, I just can't make sense of it. So, I just make it a point to not carry a balance. Not everyone is this lucky though and I realize that.

So in watching this documentary, I still got the "there but for the grace of God, go I" feeling. Should something horrific happen-someone gets in a car accident, cancer, or a major recession/depression hits-we, too are just one paycheck away from disaster.

I highly recommend this film, one-sided though it may be, if only for the feelings of anger it may stir in you. It led to me to this website (which I will delve into in more detail later) but, more importantly, it led to THIS website:

Call me stupid, crazy, ignorant, whatever but around election time I try to make time to figure out what my elected officials have been doing for the past 4 years and never have time to read through all of the votes. Now I can-I signed up to have my elected officials' votes e-mailed to me via this website. I can even sign up for special interest topics (hello, "Economy"!). I am pretty stoked about this and hope you will be too. If you aren't, get outta my country.

For further reading

I thought this was a great article which I will think about over the next couple of days. It goes against everything I have ever read, but I do agree with most, if not all of the article. Read for yourself and tell me what you think.

I wonder if Beano would help...

Gas is mighty 'spensive these days. I own both a very economical Toyota Echo, which averages 35 mpg and a very uneconomical Hyundai Tuscon, which averages 24 mpg. My husband was wondering the other day if it would be cheaper for him to drive the Echo every day to work. Obviously it would, but by how much?

Current gas prices in my area are $2.21 a gallon. To figure out cost to operate a car per mile, I divided the price of a gallon of gas by the estimate mileage (which I found by going to www.fueleconomy.gov). It costs $.10 per mile for the Tuscon and $.06 per mile for the Echo. Which translates into 40% savings. But how many dollars is that?

My husband's commute is 38 miles (determined by www.mapquest.com). So a roundtrip day for him costs $7.60 in the Tucson vs. $4.56 in the Echo (cost per mile x miles driven x 2). Per week that works out to $38 in the Tuscon and $22.80 in the Echo. By driving the Echo, yearly savings work out to $790.40. Pretty substantial.

Now this is only an estimate. The government website also offers tips to determine your car's actual mpg, based on you own driving habits, as well as information about the most fuel efficient cars and tips to improve your current fuel economy. Definitely worth checking out.

We do make a point to try to use the Echo as much as possible-when we both have to drive separately into work (I work from home a few days a week), the person with the longest commute (me) takes the Echo. Whenever possible, we drive together-it's a bit harder on me, as we both drop off the baby, then I drop off the husband, and continue my merry (or not-so-merry) way into work. It takes anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours. But it saves $$$. But frankly, people in my area all drive like crack addicts looking for a fix. I'm sorry, but when we are driving with the baby, I prefer to take the Tucson-it has a variety of safety features, like side airbags, steel-enforced doors, and frankly, it's way more visible than a small, silver Toyota Echo.

Furthermore, the Tucson has been of enormous use to us. I have been able to pick up some Freecycle items solely because of the Tuscon. It has helped me, my sister, and my sister-in-law move, and we have been able to purchase some furniture without having to rent a van to get it home.

But for our next car, which hopefully will not be needed for several more years, I plan on looking for a used, reliable car that gets excellent gas mileage.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

I receive "Money Tip" newsletters in my email from a popular financial advisor who I will not name. Because the "tips" offered in this edition were pretty silly.

The advisor was suggesting three tips to expecting parents who were considering being stay-at-home moms or dads. First tip is to cancel all unnecessary credit cards. Well, as my dear sibling found out the hard way (she should have asked me!) if you cancel a lot of credit cards at one time, a red flag can be issued on your credit report. Look into the effects of canceling credit cards before you do it. It may be better to just lock them away in a secure place and not use them.

Second tip was to look for a used car. Not a bad tip, but depending on where you live and your access to public transportation, you may be able to go without a second car. Consider critically your needs.

Third tip was to search thrifty sites for tips to cut costs. Again, not a bad tip, but the advice offerings end there.

If you are truly thinking about being a stay at home parent, start living off of one income NOW. Does it hurt? Are there places you can cut back-food, gas, clothing... ? Many new parents get swept up in buying gadgets and clothes for their babies-honestly folks, babies need food, clothing, sleep and love. They do not need a room completely decorated in Winnie-the-Pooh accessories. They just don't care. My kid wasn't really even interested in a lot of toys until about a month ago and she's now 16 months old.

Things you have to calculate if you are considering staying at home vs going back to work:

-daycare-in my area, daycare runs $1000 a month. Expensive.
-taxes-if you stay at home, your tax rate will drop. Yay.
-healthcare-compare plans between you and your spouse/sig. other
-retirement savings-good gravy, do not ignore this. I know it's the last thing on your mind. But the best advice I have ever heard is that your kid can always get a loan for their education, but no one is ever going to give you a loan for your retirement. Besides, what is worse for your child-paying off their student loans, or supporting you for 30 years after you retire?

These are the big things. Smaller things to consider:

-your kid will probably get sick less if s/he/it stays at home instead of daycare
-can you save money by not buying work clothes, eating out, etc...

Even if you do not plan on staying home, you still need to prepare for your maternity leave. On my work's plan, my disability did not kick in until a week after my kid was born-that's a week's pay gone. I either had to go without pay or use paid vacation.

You also need to plan for emergencies. My kid was born with jaundice (50% of babies are) and needed a special biliblanket and emergency room visits, totaling $600 which my insurance did not (initially) cover. It took several months to get this resolved. We had good savings, but still-plan for the worst and you won't be disappointed.

So talk with your employer, get the facts, and sit down with a calculator. Before you check out the latest baby room decor magazines.

Killer (Organic) Tomatoes From Outer Space

I'm delinquent, I know. Deal with it.

Check out this article from MSN. Read it and then read my rant below.

Point 1: The first guy cited in the article made it seem like making a meal of organic, farmer's market veggies was more expensive than eating out. Um, what type of veggies are you buying here? Mutant veggies that will clean and cook themselves? Do your taxes? You can buy a lb of squash, an onion, and garlic, even the organic stuff, for less than $5 at my farmer's market, toss with some olive oil, cheese, and pasta and you have a meal for 6 that costs less than $8. (Or you can grow a vegetable garden and end up paying even less than that!)

But there are two other errors in this comparison-1) assuming that a farmer's market is the cheapest place to get vegetables and 2) buying only organic vegetables.

Don't get me wrong, I love farmer's markets and frequent them often. But I know that they are either the same price or even more than my local supermarket. Yet, I continue to frequent them to support my local farmers.

Now, I also don't buy into this organic craze. Women's Health did a great article on whether organic fruits and vegetables were worth it. They determined that anything with a soft skin that could easily absorb pesticides and chemicals (think berries) should be purchased organically. Anything with a hard skin or shell (acorn squash, bananas) wasn't worth the organic price. This makes total sense, but admittedly I still don't bother with organic. I haven't determined that it is worth the price overall.

Point 2: People don't have time. Yes, we are all strapped for time. My commute takes me anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours each way. Yet, when I get home, I make a point to cook dinner. One, because I enjoy it immensely. It's how I transition from my work day to being at home. Two, because once you familiarize yourself with cooking, it doesn't take much thought nor much time.

The other problem I have for this is that adults, on average, watch 29-34 hours of television per week. My average? About 7-10 per week. So maybe if we get our asses off the couch, we will have time to cook more, eh?

Truly, there are some people who don't have time during the week to cook. This is where a handy dandy invention I call a "freezer" comes into play. Cook on weekends and freeze into dinner portions. Pull out a portion each night before you go to bed and pop into the microwave when you come home. Within two minutes, you have a healthy and hot dish to enjoy. Think about it-this is faster than waiting in line for even some of the quickest fast food joints.

Which brings me to another point: Dude, restaurant food is generally NOT healthy. Many dishes at sit down places are upwards into 1000 calories (average adult needs only 2000 calories per day). So even if you could successfully argue with me that eating out is cheaper, I would counter that the long-term impact on your health may cost more in the long run. Diabetes, heart disease, etc....

Point 3: The article claims grocery store prices are too high. I'll touch on just a few quick points here because I plan on expanding later. The example cited was chicken wings for $8. I'm guessing they were bought preseasoned. Let's see-I can buy a package of chicken wings for $5-$6. I need to season them, but I have all of the seasoning stuff at home. So my cost would be $6 to feed a family of 4. That is the same cost as an appetizer of chicken wings at a restaurant, but with more food.

But here's another problem-chicken wings have little meat on them-you are paying more for bone than meat. So maybe the problem is that you are making the wrong choices in what you buy. I can get boneless chicken breasts for 1.79 per lb and season them to taste like buffalo chicken wings. So for $3 and a side of veggies, you can have a healthier and more complete meal for less. Show me a restaurant where you can feed a family of four a healthy meal for $4.

Look, this is not to say to not eat out. I admit, I LOVE eating out. But I don't do it because its cheaper-to me, its a treat. As such, I try to limit my culinary excursions to once a week. So I'm not saying to give it up entirely. I am saying that if you think you are strapped for time or its you think eating out is cheaper, you may want to reexamine your lifestyle.

Strategies to lower your food bill:
-Learn how to cook. Especially quick easy meals. As much as she irritates me, Rachael Ray is great for this.
-Buy nutritious foods that are worth the money. If you stick to the nutritional guidelines (lean meats, low fat cheeses, whole grains, vegetables, and fruits) you will find your food bill drops too.
-If you do eat out, opt for something you can split with someone else or take home for leftovers. Most pasta dishes can be divided into at least three servings. I find that when my husband and I order Chinese, we have lunches for the next two days (in addition to dinner that night).

Thriftmonkies Unite!

Many people consider me a serious, not fun person. This includes my mother who once told me wistfully that I was not the "fun child." I'm not sure why this is exactly. Perhaps it has something to do with my favorite hobby-saving money. (Other people have exiciting hobbies, right?)

I have always been a miserly child-when I was in elementary school one of my favorite activities was counting the money in my piggy bank. Even when I got my first job working in a movie theater, most of my paycheck went to my savings account.

Then I moved out of the house and found that I didn't know anything about saving money. I quickly depleted my savings, eating a lot of fast food, and trying to pay bills.

When my boyfriend (now husband) and I moved to the Washington DC area, the combination of our high rent and my sometimes boring job (which allowed for surfing the Internet) led me to articles about saving money. I learned that retirement for my generation is in jeporady due to lack of savings. I also yearned to buy a house in the expensive Northern Virginia housing market.

My search for articles about saving money led me to buy a book called The Tightwad Gazette. I found this book at Costco for $8. I pored over it-reading articles that discussed gardening, diapers, grocery savings, thrift philosophy, and more. I was hooked. And I quickly realized how much money I was wasting, buy expensive products at the grocery store, not looking for sales, etc...

I think the problem that I experienced is that once I was on my own, I thought I would be able to continue to live the way I did at my parent's house. The problem with this is that my parents had 30 years of hard work behind them to get to where they ended up. I was just starting out and, in doing so, I had to start from scratch.

The ideas I gleaned from TTG, as well as other websites I found and discussions with other people, led me and my husband to be able to save hundreds of dollars a month and stay away from credit card debt.

This is not to say that we are completely "in the money" now. Recently, we have had our first kid and bought our first house. We still have two cars to pay off and now retirement and college to save for. Plus, I have a dream of buying a house out in the country, with several acres, mainly so I can grow more vegetables. And maybe a few apple trees.

So once again, I find myself perusing money articles and exploring my own ways to save money. And I also find myself thinking-what if other people are in the same boat? I keep reading articles that the savings rate of Americans is in the negative territory. People my age have thousands of dollars of student loan debt to pay back. More tellingly, when TTG was last published ('96 I believe), the minimum wage was $5.15 per hour and the price of gas was .89 cents per gallon. Now, 10 years later, the minimum wage is still $5.15 an hour but the price of gas in my area is $2.99 per gallon.

So I have created this blog as a resource and compendium for money-saving ideas. Feel free to contribute suggestions for saving money, books to read, techniques, or whatnot.

However, please note: I am not a financial expert-I am a 26 year old history major with a not-so-good background in math. I cannot give suggestions about stocks, 401Ks, etc...It's kinda like a "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy.