Recently, Frugal Dad posted an article on making space around your home more productive. The options given were:

• Convert spare bedrooms, garages or back porches to a home gym.
• Create a home office with just a feet of empty wall space.
• Plant vegetables in a table top, square foot garden on your balcony or porch.
• Turn your formal dining room into a den, study or playroom.
• Create a reading and meditation nook.

I wanted to focus in on the idea of creating a home office. I have a few suggestions to make it both productive and ergonomic while still sticking to Frugal Dads’ idea of not taking up too much space.

Making Your Home Office Productive

If offices aren’t distracting enough, a home office can be even more distracting. Here are two basic, yet very influential, tips to keeping your home office productive.

Follow the Paper Trail & Keep it Accessible

When I took on my role at my company, one of the things I did was shadow the person who was training me for a few days. I have noticed that a lot of times “shadowing” becomes relaxation time and the biggest accomplishments wind up being office gossip, mastering the new coffee pot, and killer YouTube searches. However, I decided to look at the desk as a “system” and figure out an efficient paperwork flow chart.

What did I find?

• She was wasting paper and money printing paperwork that was never used by anyone. These reports are available through the supply chain and inventory programs we use. She also saved an electronic copy to the company shared server, which is backed up in case of failure. I checked with compliance and asked if this paperwork needed to be printed, or if an electronic copy was ok. Turns out all we needed was an electronic copy.
  
• She would print out a boat load of paperwork to cover her butt, and then toss it every month. Once again, these were all reports that were emailed to her. She printed them so her mailbox wouldn’t get full. I simply created an archive in Outlook and copy any important documents over. I also got a recycling container to limit paper waste.
• Lastly, she would file urgent/important documents together with product forecasts and bills from suppliers. When someone asked her for a copy of ___, it would literally take 10 minutes to find the paperwork. I have since separated everything into logical divisions using the combination of a wire mesh paper rack and filing cabinets and can find paperwork within minutes.

These aren’t huge productivity killers, but it definitely made finding the important paperwork more difficult. It was also incredibly wasteful of natural resources and our companies money.

Find Your Balance of “White Space and Color”

In publishing and art, white space is used to de-clutter, to make things less confusing or overwhelming. White space is emptiness, it is nothing. Without white space, you risk your information being lost down an abyss… never to return. The idea of white space is 100% applicable to your office.

All you need to do is look at this office to realize that:

What are some things that immediately jump out at you? Obviously, the paperwork. If you asked him or her to find you a document, could they do so easily? This person needs a better organization system. Once that is solved, it would be a good idea to make this desk a little more “homey” by adding some flowers, desk “ornaments” or pictures on the wall. If you spend a lot of time at your desk, you need to enjoy it!

What does a well-organized desk that utilizes “white space” look like?

Notice the flowers, lighting on the desk, papers filed on the right in both an organized and accessible manner, and the usage of wicker accessories to give the desk an even more “homey” feel.

Making Your Home Office Ergonomic

If you work at your desk for at least a few hours every day, you probably know the feeling of a sore back, eyestrain, aching wrists, and stiff knees. Well, that doesn’t have to be the case. The idea behind ergonomics is that you design your work area for maximum productivity, safety, and comfort.

Hands and Wrists

The largest contributing factors to the soreness you feel in your hands and wrists are the keyboard and mouse you are using.

You’ve probably seen the funky ergonomic keyboards before. What’s the idea? The soreness you feel in your hands and wrists is due to blood circulation being cut off to that area. This is because people typically have their hands angle in towards the center of the keyboard (think of the “G” key as the focal point with your forearms pointing at the key coming from the corner a bit). Optimally, though, your hands and wrists should be in a straight-line with your forearm.

There are plenty of keyboards that can help in doing this, but here is one: Kinesis Freestyle Solo Keyboard. What are the advantages? It has a zero-degree slope so that you are not extending your wrists. The keyboard can be split into a left and right piece, further aiding comfort and ensuring you keep your hands, wrist, and forearm in a straight line.

And what kind of mouse can help relieve stress placed on your hands and wrists? One of them, the Evoluent Vertical Mouse 3. And I was so taken by the first review on Amazon, that I couldn’t do the product justice:

In terms of my experience with this product, I have assisted several thousand workers with mouse-related injuries over the past 13 years, working for 10 years as a rehabilitation ergonomist […]. I have recommended the Evoluent literally thousands of times and have found it to be highly effective in the rehabilitation of upper-limb disorders, when used correctly.

In terms of training/qualification, I have an MSc (with distinction) in Health Ergonomics,[…]. My thesis was on ‘The Influence of Workstation Layout on Working Postures.’ I have taught many professional courses on computer ergonomics. I am currently (2008) engaged in my PhD at Purdue University, USA. I have been a full member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society since 2004.

Let me say at the outset that I take mouse injuries very seriously; they are far more prevalent than keyboard injuries, and may be far more disabling. I am ‘independent,’ by which I mean I do not sell any products, neither am I paid to endorse any products. As a professional ergonomist, I strongly believe paid endorsements are unethical. I am paid by my clients to give impartial, effective advice, that’s all.

Lower Back

Back injuries are also common from sitting at a desk because of poor posture either related to the height of the seat or the angle of the seat. One way to fix the issue is get a chair that has the ability to adjust its height and angle at which the back rest contacts your back.

However, chairs can get quite expensive. A cheaper alternative would be to elevate your legs while sitting at your desk. Elevating your legs naturally takes some of the pressure off of your lower back. One tool to help you in this quest is the Kensington SoleSaver Footrest. The foot rest has 3 variable heights and 3 variable tilts you can choose from. By using this during extended periods of sitting at a desk, you will increase circulation and decrease pressure on your lower back.

The healthy body can only tolerate staying in one position for about 20 minutes. That is why sitting on an airplane, at a desk in an office chair, or at a movie theatre becomes uncomfortable after a short time.

If you don’t feel like buying it, at least get up and stretch every 20 minutes. Or put some phone books down there to elevate your feet somewhat!

Go Get Some Work Done!

Hopefully, following Frugal Dad’s advice to utilize space in your house for a home office accompanied with my advice to make that home office both productive and ergonomic will set you up for success!

I only touched on 2 ways to increase productivity and 2 ways to improve ergonomics, so there are plenty of others out there. If you have any more suggestions, please bounce them off of me and the readers in the comments!

This was a guest post from MLR @ My Life ROI. If you like this post, check out his website or subscribe to his feed. MLR is currently giving away a gift card to Global Giving for his RSS subscribers.

Susan writes in with the following question regarding kids and money:

We are a family of four on a single (decent) income and strive to be frugal and sensible.  How much is OK to spend on the kids while we’re raising them, and when is it not OK to sacrifice financial security?

My oldest son has high-functioning autism. He is nearly five and will enter Kindergarten in the fall. He is brilliant (learned to read at two and can easily multiply in his head) but has poor social skills.The school district we live in has an OK reputation for special-needs kids and it’s overall a good school compared to others in the city. However he will likely have the usual struggles that autistic kids have in a mainstream school setting.

We have the option of enrolling him in a school for kids with HFA. The tuition is $7000/year or $777/month over the nine-month school year. This is ALL the extra money we have per month to put towards debt and savings. But the teachers are well-trained, the curriculum specialized, and the student-teacher ratio is 5:1. The kids all have soaring self-esteems which is rare for kids on the spectrum.

We also have a toddler who is home nearly full-time.

When do you go all out for your child, and when do you say no for the sake of financial security?

Thanks for your question, Susan.  This question hit home for me for a couple reasons.  In addition to having some experience coaching an autistic child in youth sports, my own son was run through the usual battery of testing and evaluations to determine if he has autism.  While no definitive diagnosis was made, we did discover a number of related issues such as sensory processing disorder, and we learned a lot about conditions such as Asperger Syndrome and other autism spectrum disorders.

I tell you this up front because my personal experiences probably taint my otherwise financially objective response.  I would do anything for my son, and while his condition is not overly disruptive to our daily lives, we have sacrificed a few activities and altered our routine to accommodate him.  Fortunately, few of those alterations involve the kind of financial obligation you are faced with.

Many parents face similar dilemmas when living in a bad school zone, and the costs of private school are prohibitive.  What makes your situation unique are the special needs your son’s educators must be able to address to help in both his social and educational development.  From the sounds of it, you are not completely confident you can find that in your public school system.

Taking emotion out of the discussion (as if that is possible when talking about our kids), let’s look at the financial implications of sending your son to his special school.  $777 a month is a significant obligation to take on.  When you break it down further, that amount represents roughly $200 a week in reduced spending, increased earnings, or some combination of the two.  While you could put your debt repayment and savings goals on hold, this would be detrimental to your overall financial plan, and could potentially place a financial burden on your kids as they get older and have to help you.

Instead, I would suggest you think of some creative ways to both come up with that extra $200 a week, and ways to cut your spending even further.  Could you cancel the cable?  Sell a second vehicle?  Take a part time job in the evenings?  Start a side hustle from home?  Adjust your tax withholding to prevent a refund?  It may take some drastic measures to drum up the extra money, but it sounds like you are willing to make the sacrifice.

I would also talk to the school about any scholarship opportunities, or employment opportunities for you that could reduce tuition (this might be particularly helpful when your youngest is in school full time).  Perhaps you could do some administrative work for the school, or substitute teach after being certified, or your husband, or another family member, could do some technology work for them in exchange for tuition. Solicit help from relatives.  Investigate options such as 529 savings accounts where grandparents, aunts and uncles can make contributions to your son’s educational expenses–and funds may be withdrawn tax free. I’m brainstorming here, and I realize some of these options may or may not apply.

The bottom line is to talk things over with your spouse and make sure you are in agreement with the decision.  That is half the battle.  Then focus on ways to make it happen, without doing irreperable harm to your own financial future.

My wife and I have been struggling to adhere to our budget over the last few months.  A number of personal crises have conspired to make sticking to each budget line item a tall order.  I’ve been on the lookout for a less cumbersome budget process, while improving automation and reducing the opportunity to overrun our spending limits.

Fortunately, the June 2009 edition of Money magazine generated some ideas in the article, “Discover Your Budget Style,” written by Ismat Sarah Mangla.  The article describes one method of budgeting that appeals to me.  It is referred to as the “bucket budget.”  The bucket budget is for those who prefer to track spending with less granularity.  So rather than tracking every morning latte, the dry cleaning bill, the occasional meal out with friends, and baseball cap you bought for your son, you would simply track these categories as part of a larger “variable expenses” budget.

The Money article goes on to explain how to implement the bucket budget.  I’ll consolidate their detailed steps into a few quick bullets below.

• Two checking accounts and one savings account are required
• Calculate saving contribution desired from each paycheck and have employer’s payroll office direct deposit that amount into an online savings account
• The remaining amount of paycheck should be deposited in Checking Account #1 for payment of major, fixed expenses such as the mortgage payment, power bill, etc.
• With what’s left in Checking Account #1, divide the amount by four and schedule equal, weekly deposits into Checking Account #2.  This second checking account will be used to purchase all variable budget items, such as food, clothing, and entertainment expenses.

From the Money article:

The system creates “artificial scarcity,” forcing you to live on less and within hard boundaries.

I like the idea of creating this “artificial scarcity.”  If you are like me, I tend to let cash burn a hole in my pocket, so if I withdrawal all of my spending money at the beginning of the month, or the beginning of the pay period, it tends to run out well before my next paycheck.  In the past, when this happened I turned to credit cards to float expenditures to my next paycheck, or I dipped into savings.  Using the bucket budget system, we would never be more than a week from refreshing of our supply of cash.

One word of caution:  to avoid costly overdraft fees it is probably a good idea to save up a little cushion for both checking accounts, since the timing of automatic deductions, subscription payments and your weekly allotments could draw down your balance at the worst possible time.  To keep things comfortable, I’ll try to keep $500 in each account and treat that number as the floor amount, rather than $0.

To further enhance this system we plan to incorporate our envelope budget system.  When the weekly transfers are made to Checking Account #2, we will withdraw a portion of the money in cash and use it to fill our envelopes.  This allows for some specific budget category tracking for things like food and entertainment, and keeps us from overspending in those particular categories.  For remaining categories like gas purchases or subscriptions (Netflix, the gym, etc.) we’ll stick to a debit card for convenience.

I recognize this budget system won’t work for everyone.  After all, some people enjoy tracking spending across dozens of categories.  I used to.  However, I found myself spending too much time in front of an Excel worksheet, and too much time beating myself up for overrunning the “Magazine” category because I renewed my Money subscription last month.  Just imagine–if I had continued to be that strict on my budget categories I would have missed out on reading about this very idea.

It looks like winter temperatures have finally left most of the U.S, and that means it’s time to give way to spring.  It also means it’s time to brush up on our frugal lawn care tips.  From checking lawn sprinkler systems and sprinkler heads, to putting down some post-emergent weed killer, the spring lawn care work you put in will pay huge dividends later in the summer by producing a beautiful, healthy lawn.

Photo courtesy of Mish Bradley

How Often Should I Water My Lawn?

Some of this depends on how well-established your lawn is, and the kind of conditions you live in.  For new lawns, it is recommended that they get daily watering (or at a minimum, every other day) until the lawn has established a strong root system.  Older, more established lawns, should only be watered two or three times a week to encourage roots to dig deeper for water sources, which leads to a healthier root system.

What’s the Best Time Of Day to Water My Lawn?

The best time of day to water your lawn is early morning, just before sunrise. The temperatures are relatively cool, so no worries about evaporation. Watering in the heat of the day can be counterproductive because much of the water will evaporate when it hits the surface of a hot lawn.  Watering in the evening can lead to fungus and grass disease because the lawn blades do not have adequate time to dry before nighttime.

How Short Should I Cut My Grass?

Mowing height depends on a variety of factors, such as the type of grass, your climate, etc.  Generally speaking, grass should be cut relatively short early in the year to discourage weed growth. As the spring wears on, and the temperatures begin to rise, it is recommended to raise your mower blade slightly as well.  A taller lawn will withstand periods of extreme heat and be more drought-tolerant than a lawn with shorter grass.

When Is The Best Time To Put Down Weed Killer and Fertilizer Products?

The best time to put down weedkiller is before weeds appear. In early spring, before the weather begins to warm, putting down a pre-emergent weed killer can significantly reduce the number of weeds in your lawn.  Once weeds appear, treat them with a “weed and feed” product that acts as both a fertilizer and weed killer, or spot treat with a liquid weed killer. Take care in selecting the type of weed killer to use to be sure it is safe for your type of lawn.  If you are unsure, ask a local nursery, landscaping company, or agricultural extension. Click here for all natural pesticides from Gardens Alive!

Inspect Lawn Sprinkler Systems and Sprinkler Heads

If you have an in-ground sprinkler system, spring is a good time to run it through all the various zones to make sure sprinkler heads are properly adjusted.  If you discover a broken sprinkler head, pick up a replacement at a home improvement store.  Though most sprinkler heads are simply threaded onto the PVC pipe running below, take care removing them or you could pull a pipe joint loose somewhere downstream and have a bigger mess to clean up.

Putting these spring lawn care tips into practice will help you establish a beautiful, green lawn for many seasons to come, improving your curb appeal and the value of your real estate property.

A coupon code can generally only save you a bit of money – but this can accumulate into great savings if you have a smart couponing strategy. Let me share mine with you:

Pick up just a few reputable coupon code directories and monitor them effectively.

There are plenty of coupon code sites and blogs and keeping track of all of them would be too time consuming (and time is money too!), so pick just a few ones. How to choose? Here are my tips:

• It should be easy to navigate and user-friendly;
• It should provide some handy tracking options (for example, newsletter or RSS);
• It should be updated daily.
• It should focus on your needs (in other words, pick the one that mostly lists products you buy often).

Here are my personal picks:

• FreeShipping.org (for its clear interface and quality selection of coupons);
• QponCutie (for its RSS subscription and female-oriented coupons – just what I like).

Don’t trust the seller’s word, check what other buyers say!

I love it when the site not only list deals and coupon codes, but also allows their members share their experience on each one.

This way you save your money by choosing only trusted deals and retailers. My favorite site for that is Buxr.com. Let me tell you why:

• Each deal has ratings, votes and reviews.
• The site is attentively moderated, so totally spam-free (each deal should be approved before it goes live).
• It offers quite a few Web 2.0 goodies (like wish list and deal alert);
• Best deals are daily rewarded with cash, so members do their best to deliver most useful codes and deals.

Make sure you know how to track

Email box is by far not your only way to get updated on new deals. Use your couponing toolbox wisely:

• Try various RSS readers to choose the one you like best (my personal favorite is Wizz RSS FireFox plugin because it doesn’t take much space and is well-organized);
• Use Twitter! Many sites now offer Twitter as an alternative way to subscribe to their updates. The best thing about this tool is that Twitter delivers updates right to your mobile phone (if you are in the United States), so you can get new deals even when you are offline (again, don’t go too much into it, pick only one to follow closely).
• Use services that allow alternative subscription methods (for example, FreeShipping.org mentioned above allows to subscribe only to those sellers you plan to buy from via their “Favorite Coupons” option).

Use your calculator!

Right, your own common sense is your best weapon! It is a commonly-used trick to offer “fake” coupon: first increase the price and then offer a discount – so that the end price just ends up to be even higher just in the nearby store that offers no discount at all. So take your time, compare prices and make the right choice!

Good luck!

The guest post was provided by Ann Smarty, an SEO Consultant. I hope you will find it useful!

My wife and I are closing in on a status we have never achieved during our married life together – without car payment.  Just a couple months after we married I leased an SUV.  The lease represented one of the dumbest finance moves I’ve ever made, and has haunted us, financially, for a decade.

When the lease was up I refinanced the balance into a traditional loan, and before that loan was up I traded in the SUV and financed our current vehicle.  We are now within one month of saying goodbye to car payments – forever.  We plan to continue to pay our car payment to ourselves by depositing the same $310.00 we’ve been paying for our curerent vehicle into an online savings account.  In a few years we’ll use what’s in savings to buy a new (used) family car and I’ll drive the old one back and forth to work.  We will continue this pattern for the rest of our driving lifetimes.

The Fab Five

Early Retirement or Meaningful Work?  Thought-provoking post which asks, would you rather “retire” early or continue meaningful work?  To me, the question is asking, would you rather hang up your current job to spend your remaining time in an endeavor that is meaningful to you.  Which begs the follow up question, why aren’t we already doing meaningful work?  Like I said, very thought-provoking.  (@ Brip Blap)

Your Real Wage.  Do you know your real wage?  No, not your hourly wage…your real wage?   I’m referring to the amount you are paid after taxes, commuting costs, employment costs, child care, etc.  Read on to figure out your real wage. (@ Hundred Goals)

Five Ways to Make Laundry Day Easier.  My wife recently had to tend to an ill family member, leaving me alone for a couple days with the kids.  I typically help with laundry duties, but rarely do I take the lead.  I was reminded why I dislike it so much over those couple days.  The tips in this article remove much of the stress (and expense) from laundry days.  (@ On Simplicity)

Recoup Your Lost Savings.  The last time I looked at my retirement account statements I was closing in on being down 40% from the highs of last summer.  Thanks to a slight rebound, I’m hoping the most recent quarterly statements will look a little better.  Kiplinger has put together a helpful calculator to figure out how long it will take to get back to those high balances again.  I’m still depressed.  (@ Kiplinger.com)

How to Live Well on Less in Retirement.  This post goes along with the theme of my favorite personal finance book, Your Money or Your Life, which emphasizes the point that you don’t need to be a multi-millionaire to enjoy a comfortable retirement.  By making sacrifices early on, and living frugally both before and during “retirement,” you can live on less than you might think. (@ Get Rich Slowly)

The Best of the Rest

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• When How You Spend Determines How Much You Spend
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• Four questions to help redirect your life plan toward your dream
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• I Am An Investor
• Investment Strategies I – Passive Investing

Site of the Week

Early Extreme Retirement.  I was planning to include this site in the roundup itself, but I found so many interesting posts I decided to just link to the entire blog here.  Any time I feel like I am sacrificing too much I go read a post at Jacob’s blog about how he became financially independent and I quit feeling sorry for myself.  This guy has made some incredible sacrifices, and I like that his ideas are outside of the normal personal finance advice box.

Financial planners occasionally squabble over whether or not to invest in a 401(k) or open a Roth IRA.  Most agree that passing up matching funds in a 401(k) plan makes little sense, so it’s probably best to start there.

After taking advantage of those matching funds by investing through the company match, it most advisers recommend investors turn to the Roth IRA to take advantage of tax free growth opportunities.  After that, you are on your own, and left with a lot of questions.  Do I return to the 401(k) plan and max out my annual contribution there?  Do I invest in company stock?  Do I park anything left over in cash, or single stocks?  Let’s take it one step at a time.

Invest In 401(k) Through Matching Funds

Let’s assume your company offers to match the first 3% of your annual salary if you contribute to the plan.  If you earn $50,000 a year, and agree to participate at a 3% contribution, your annual contribution amount will be $1,500.  Your employer will kick in another $1,500, bringing your total contribution each year to $3,000.  That $1,500 contribution from your employer is almost like free money (nothing is completely free – you will owe taxes on it when you withdraw it down the line).

Max Out Roth IRA Contribution For You and Spouse

If you are living frugal, and haven’t buried yourself in house and car payments, you can probably afford to kick in another few thousand dollars each year to saving for retirement. Assuming you are eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA, it probably makes sense to turn your investment dollars above your employer’s 401(k) match here.

Contributions to a Roth IRA won’t help with your taxes in the year they are made, but earnings grow tax free over the life of the investment.  If your $5,000 contribution this year turns into $40,000 by retirement, you get to keep all $35,000 growth tax free, assuming you withdraw after reaching retirement age, or for a narrow list of specified qualified withdrawals.

Another beauty of Roth IRAs investments is that Roth IRA withdrawal rules allow for the withdrawal of contributions without penalty, at any time.  So theoretically, you could park money in a Roth IRA to grow for three or four years, and then only withdraw contributions, leaving the earnings untouched and continuing to grow.

Max Out 401(k) Contributions or Taxable Investing

At this point you’ve invested in a 401(k) through the company match, and maxed out contributions to a Roth IRA for you and your spouse (if married).  If you still have money to invest for retirement you have a choice:  return to your 401(k) plan and invest up to your annual maximum contribution, or invest in non-retirement, taxable accounts.

The path you ultimately take here depends on your goals for the future, and your overall financial picture. Personally, I would begin to invest in low-cost, low-turnover, taxable investment vehicles such as a broad index fund.  I have plans to “retire” early from full-time employment, and to do so will need access to savings prior to the IRS-defined retirement age (currently 59 1/2). If I planned to work well past the currently defined retirement age, I would probably plow more money back into the 401(k) plan to lower my taxable income and defer those taxes to retirement.

If you do decide to invest in taxable accounts go with a low-cost brokerage such as Vanguard or Fidelity.  These brokerages are widely recognized as two of brokerages with the lowest expense ratios in the industry.  Inside those brokerages, look for mutual funds with low turnover.

Remember, each time an investment inside a mutual fund is sold or exchanged, or “turns over,” it is a taxable event.  Those taxes will be distributed to mutual fund owners at the end of the year, and can create quite a tax hit, even if your overall mutual fund performance is down.

If I had to pick one fund to invest in it would the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index fund, which owns a little piece of every stock listed.  As you can imagine, there is not a lot of buying and selling happening here, which minimizes your tax hit.  It is also about as diversified as one could get within the domestic equities market (the Total International Stock Index fund is the international investment equivalent).

Additional Resources:

• 2009 401k And IRA Contribution Limits
• Roth IRA Investment Account Basics
• Retirement Saving After 401(k) and IRA
• Find the best stocks to buy in today’s few hot industries