financegirl on Feb 17th 2008 DIY, Frugality, Keeping Up with the Joneses
Our house is almost 10 years old, and as far as we can tell, has never been repainted. I did some touch-up work in the fall, but paint is peeling and things are getting ugly!Now, I’m not sure how much it would cost to hire someone to paint the house, but I’m guessing about a couple grand. So, we’re going to do it ourselves.
We live in a nice upper-middle class neighborhood, and during the two and a half years we’ve lived here, I’ve never seen anyone paint their own house. And all my friends and coworkers think we’re crazy. Oh, and did I mention we have a two story house and my husband is afraid of heights? So I’ll be spending the better part of a week (maybe that’s a little optimistic) on a ladder. Whatever.
We’re taking off 6 days around Memorial Day Weekend, and are planning on having all the prep work done before then so we can start painting right away. And if we don’t finish in those 11 days, we’ll have the whole summer to finish. If we get in too far over our heads, we can hire someone to finish it.
I know sometimes people have all their friends and family over for a “painting party,” but I really don’t want to subject anyone else to this. Plus I’m pretty anal about how things look, and I don’t everyone calling in this favor for the next 10 years. We’ve painted the inside of our house, and I’ve painted lots of houses on summer volunteer trips, so I think we’re up to the task.
I just hope it doesn’t rain.
financegirl on Feb 14th 2008 Debt-Reduction, Frugality, Keeping Up with the Joneses
Whether you’re in a relationship or not, being broke on Valentine’s Day is no fun. But that’s been my situation for the last five years or so.
It used to be because my and my husband’s birthdays are both within five days of Valentine’s Day, and my stepson’s birthday is in early March. So, we decided we’d rather spend money on our birthdays than spend a lot of money on Valentine’s Day. But now that we’ve gotten serious about paying off our debt, there isn’t much money for Valentine’s Day or birthdays.
So tonight we’ll be eating dinner at home and watching “The Wedding Singer.” We each bought each other a small gift and a card out of our weekly personal “allowances,” and my stepson is getting a card and a plastic heart with Reese’s Pieces in it. While it’s not very romantic, I’d much rather have a paid-for car than a piece of overpriced jewelry and a night in a crowded restaurant.
I think this is the case for a lot of people, but there is a lot of pressure to participate in Valentine’s Day. Luckily, I work in a small office where no one receives flowers on Valentine’s Day, so it’s pretty much just like any other day. But there is still a lot of pressure on men to make these kind of gestures, and even some unspoken competition among women about whose partner is the most romantic. So I feel bad (mostly for my husband) when people ask me what we’re doing for Valentine’s Day and I don’t have a “good” answer.
But, staying true to our long-term goals at times when I may have caved before is pretty liberating! So, happy Valentine’s Day to you, no matter what you are doing tonight.
financegirl on Feb 14th 2008 Frugality
Since I’m trying to get out of debt (and am a tad cheap), here are some ways I save money:
- I hardly ever wash my car. Which is black. I’ve been seriously tempted to use the little windshield cleaning stations at QuikTrip on my entire car though.
- The only lattes you’ll ever see me drinking are the ones I can get for free at McDonald’s before 2 p.m. on Mondays.
- I do not buy napkins or Kleenex. Use a paper towel or toilet paper, dammit!
- When I go to the movies, I buy non-special engagement discount tickets from AAA. I also sneak in Cokes and candy from the gas station.
- I’ve used TurboTax in the past to prepare my taxes. Now, they have a TurboTax online system where you don’t have to pay until you print out or e-file your return. I simply input my info into TurboTax.com, then do it all on paper and send it in for free. I can verify that I am doing it correctly by making sure I get the same refund/balance due amount that TurboTax does. Since I owe money this year, there’s really no need to e-file. Side note: If your household income is under $50K or so, you can file your taxes online for free from a variety of sources.
- When I attend baby showers, I look on the registry for diaper rash cream, medicine and baby first aid kits, which are things I can purchase tax-free through my health care flex account.
- I don’t have caller ID, call waiting or any of that other fancy phone stuff. In fact, the only reason I even keep the landline is in case my stepson needs to use it for an emergency.
- I enter contests at online-sweepstakes.com. I’m not a ’sweeper’ - I just enter contests for things I want or need. So far, I’ve won a gift set of cleaning supplies and a holiday gift set from Bath & Body Works.
- Although I think most free sample offers are not worth the time to fill out the form, I do request samples on mysavings.com for things like tampons, shampoo/conditioner and other necessities.
- I do not buy anything without checking Craigslist first. If I buy something new and buy it online, I go through the Upromise website for college savings and check Retailmenot.com for coupon codes.
