Dollar Frugal

I was so frustrated yesterday because I couldn’t get DH to sell his textbook, but he convinced himself!  He realized that if he ever needs that book again for a class, his grant will buy it for him!  I’m so happy.  One less book to have sitting in a box in our attic someday!

With money, there are always options that will earn you more money, and usually the earning more money for you corresponds to being more work for you (or more hassle at least)  As an example, here are my options right now for my textbooks:

1.  Keep all my textbooks forever.  This means I will not get any money back on them.  This is DH’s method and it KILLS me inside.  Seriously, I think a small part of me dies everytime I think about it.  So, let’s not think about it anymore…

2.  Sell books back to the bookstore at the school.  This is a total scam on the bookstore’s part.  They sell you a used book at $30, then they buy the same book back from you for $15.  Then, they proceed to sell the same book again for $30.  A total scam.  Gross.

3.  Sell books on the Internet.  Your best bet.  Wait until Fall semester right now (around the early August timeframe is best) to get the best prices.  It’s a hassle to have your books sitting around, but worth the extra $10 or so you’ll get for Fall semester vs. Summer semester.

4.  Cut out the middleman by finding a student yourself.  You can make much more money by looking at University bulletin boards or Craigslist.  We have a bulletin board at work that works well for this for local universities and community colleges.

What other methods of unloading your textbooks am I missing?

This is part of the Wealth, Money, Life Network’s Emergency Fund series. 

$10K is not six months of income, or six months of our current expenses.  $10K is my “frugal-person’s” emergency fund.  I have calculated out how much it would take for me if something catastrophic happened and we cut back on all extras (internet, house phone, extra mortgage payment, frivolous groceries).  I’m talking the deductible on the homeowners’ insurance plus the deductible on the car insurance, plus DH not working, plus, well, you get the picture.  Luckily, I’m a government worker, so I have good backup for disability or health coverage.

What special details govern how you have your Emergency Fund set up?  Do you have one?  Are you growing one?  What are your goals for your emergency fund? 

A new girl at work called me yesterday around 4 pm at my desk.  I was so excited because she was asking me to do a price analysis on a home that she was looking at.  She had offered $131,000 and to pay her own closing costs.  Asking price for the home was $145,000 and the counteroffer that the sellers were giving her was $141,000 - a difference of $10,000!

Zillow said her home was worth $120,000 and my old 5% simple compounding rule put the home at $144,000, so I think $131,000 was a very fair offer.  The owners had paid $90,000 12 years ago.  I cheered her up and told her to stick to 131, since the market is horrible.  Her real estate agent pushed her to go up to $135,000.  Of course, the real estate agent doesn’t mind if she makes extra money!

I explained to the new girl that it isn’t often that she gets a chance to make $10,000 in one day and to stick to her guns, but not to feel pressured by me.  There are tons of other homes out there.  I can’t wait to see what she did.  I was just excited that someone actually asked me for advice, instead of spending their money stupidly!

I thought I was going to get a good deal on my car insurance, but the deal flopped.  The insurance salesman would have saved me $80 on insurance, but I would have had to pay $80 extra for my homeowners’ thru his company.  It was a wash.

This brings up an important point - at least I tried.  Everytime you see an opportunity to save money, look into it.  Research it first (buyer beware), but always look into it at least.  Not worth your time?  I don’t think so.  Pretty much everyone here on Earth works for money, so I’d say that money is worth your time.

What is your philosophy?  Do you try each and every deal?  What deals have you missed out on because you didn’t research them?

Here are the best articles from the next five blogs in the blogroll:

Nancy has an interesting video from a couple at her blog.  If the guy weren’t so annoying, I think I’d actually feel sorry for him.

No Credit Needed has an interesting corollary between time management and money management.  I humbly think I manage my money pretty well, but my time…well, let’s just say everyone has room for improvement!

I was amused by the HOA article at No Debt Plan.  Love the picture of the house, but it would be nightmare to have the neighbors they have.

LOVED the article about “spend creep” at No Limits Ladies.  I always picture a bad guy lurking in the corner as a “spend creep.”  I’m such a dork.

Not Made of Money had a great article about buying in bulk.  I never buy in bulk unless it’s at Wal-Mart and I always look at the price-per-unit.  Do you?

Here are my favorite WML-Net Articles for the week:

The Most Dangerous Investment @ Dividends4Life

How We Gonna Pay This Year’s Rent @ Her Every Cent Counts

3 Old-School Ways to Save Money @ How I Save Money

Define Your Emergency Fund @ Just Personal Finance

Reporting From Omaha:  The Cocktail Reception @ Living Off Dividends

Green Eyed Saving Diva?! @ Saving For Home

Well, yesterday was 5/5 or Groundhog Day Goal-Readjustment day.  The carnival took precedence, so here are what my resolutions were for the year and my personal grades for them:

1.  Pay off 42,000 of my mortgage.  I don’t have any other debt (beyond monthly utilities and food costs), so this is my only debt payoff.  A+.  All told, I’ve already paid 21175.50, and the year is not half over yet.  I’m getting my bonus on the first, too, and I bet you know where that’s going!

2.  Contribute $4,000 to DH’s IRA.  A+.  This is simple and automatic.

3.  Pay for DH to return to school.  A+.  The grant is processed and DH starts his first grant-funded semester in 3 weeks.  Now, to pay for the babysitter is another headache!

4.  Cut sugar out of my diet.  I’m sure you PF readers don’t really care about this one, but I put it down anyway! B-.  I’m getting better at this one.  I’m planning on meeting up with some old high school friends next month, so I’m getting a little more motivated!

I’d say I’m doing pretty well for the year!  Now it’s time to start thinking about some June 1st goals, since I’m killing these and the year is not even halfway over yet.

How are you doing on your New Year’s Resolutions?  Do you even remember what they were?

I can’t even begin to talk about how excited I am to have joined the Wealth, Money and Life Network.  There were several wonderful submissions to this first carnival, but here are the editor’s picks:

Sombreros - The Heads of WML - Emergency Fund Articles                                     Photo Credit:  Fabalv

1.  Living off Dividends wrote about How the Federal Reserve Helped the Rich Become Super Rich.  The video is not only enlightening, it’s a little scary!

2.  Are There Cracks in Your Foundation? was an excellent article over at Dividends for Life.  I thought he really did a good job explaining what your priorities should be.

3.  Mark at Just Personal Finance (at the LocoMono site) wrote about Defining Your Emergency Fund.  Each person will decide for themselves what their emergency fund should look like and be used for.

4.  SFGal at Her Every Cent Counts wrote about her rent increase and how she doesn’t know if she even has enough for a down payment, let alone breaking into her emergency fund.  I hope she doesn’t break into her emergency fund for her down payment.                                                                                                             

5.  At How I Save Money, LuluGal wrote about all the ins and outs of an emergency fund and how you should go about doing it.  My favorite part?  She said to “forget your money!”  It’s funny, but it works!

6.  Saving Diva went through all the reasons why she needs a better emergency fund at Saving For Home.  I never thought about how much more important it is for our single people to have emergency funds as they have fewer streams of income.  Good point!

7.  Last but not least, I wrote about emergency fund etiquette.  Don’t bring up your emergency fund at work.  Believe me.

 Beer - About What’s Leftover After the Work - Wealth

1.  The Dividend Growth Investor tells us about Asset Allocation for April.  Check there for some tips for May.

2.  At the Money Gardener, MG wrote Why All the Fuss Over Dividends?  I think there is plenty of room to fuss about a free $5 per day!  I would fuss about even a free $1 per day!

3.  Leon at Sox First talked about how gold is stacking up.  Read the article to see how relative value is stacking gold now.

4.  Wenchypoo says to buy now that prices are low at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket.  According to CNBC, things are only getting worse from here.

5.  At Michael Emilio’s blog, he writes a very in-depth article about condo-hotels.  Very informative and makes me want to invest!

6.  Jason at Best Premium Card wrote about Exclusive American Express Golf Benefits.

Photo Credit: The Adventures of Kristin & Adam

7.  FIRE Finance had an excellent article about Vanguard’s new Managed Payout Funds (MPFs).  This is a new development and I already love Vanguard, so I will have to check this out.

Chichen Itza - The Money-Shot!                                                                                           Photo Credit: kyle simourd 

1.  Wenchypoo told us about the Three Little Words that Limit Severe Consequences at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket.  This article scared me because it affects my retirement.

2.  Erica gives us some great money hacks for eBay and Craigslist at her site.  She saved a bunch of money on her purse - what are some things you could save some money on?

3.  Never Spend More Than 70% of Your Income was written at Moneymonk.  The rest should be saved - what if I save much more than 30%?

4.  Christine at Me, My Kid and Life wrote about how she and her daughter eat for 10 Euro per day.  I am amazed at this, but then again, this is around $20, right?

5.  Christine at Me, My Kid and Life also wrote about some research that she has been doing to monetize her blog.  I need to take the time to read this, because I haven’t even been covering my hosting fees lately.  That’s right, I’m paying to blog to you.  But it keeps me honest. 

6.  Money Blue Book has an awesome article by Ray about how to use low-interest balance transfers to payoff credit card debt.  This is the simplest, quickest way to pay off the evil credit card debt.

7. Youngsaver submitted Frugality: Dating and Money at Save to the Future.  He features some really great ideas about what a man can do to be honest and still have great dates! 

8. How to Save Money by Making Credit Card Payments More Real and Tangible was written by Dorian over at The Personal Financier.  These are great tips to get rid of that credit card debt.

9.  Ralph at Enginero wrote about the Economic Stimulus and which stores are running which deals.  This is a good topic if you didn’t already have other plans for your stimulus check.

Flags - Symbols of Life In-Country

1.  Compiled at Empowerment 4 Life is a bunch of articles that Anthony wrote for Ezine.  He has great articles that have to do with many aspects of your financial life.  He’s also giving away prizes, so go check it out!

2.  Mark busts the housing myth at Investing Lessons.  This makes me feel a little better about having to sell my house in a few years.

3.  Ana at Debt-Free Revolution explained some safety tips from her experiences as a pizza driver.  A very thoughtful article.

4.  I laughed a lot at Tim’s article on people’s horrid driving habits at Internet Business and Personal Success.  We really do only have control over ourselves, so stop wasting your energy!

Photo Credit: Esparta

5.  Gary over at 2 Million Dollar Bills wrote about his dreams and how he plans to acheive them.  A good idea to follow…

Contributors:  Thanks so much for making this a wonderful last-minute carnival!

Readers:  Please take a moment to read all these wonderful articles!

Today is the last day to submit to the Wealth, Money and Life Carnival!  Please submit by tonight at 8 pm EST.  The carnival will go live at midnight EST tonight!

Don’t forget to get in on all the Wealth, Money and Life action!

Everyone is signing u p for Revolution Money Exchange, so I decided to see what all the fervor was about.  Here’s the skinny:

They’re giving away $25 to everyone that signs up by 15 May.  They’re also giving me $10 for anyone I refer.  So, if you sign up, I will get $10 and anyone that signs up under you will net you $10.  Check it out for your free $25 startup.  They don’t have fees, and they’re basically like Paypal but with no fees.

Money Saving Mom just got a check from them for $522.  You should check it out by clicking on the green “Revolution Money Exchange” icon over at the right.