Monthly Archives: January 2011

Inspired Valentine’s Day Gifts on a Budget

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I’d like to introduce readers to Laurel Gray, a new contributor here to the Frugal Dad community. Follow that link to read more about Laurel, and look for her posts once a week or so at Frugal Dad.

That often-maligned holiday, Valentine’s Day, is nearly upon us. Valentine’s Day has acquired a bad reputation because of the pressure that it places on all of us to come up with the “perfect” gift for our loved one.

Whether you are just starting to date or have been married for decades, Valentine’s Day can cause cold sweats and hand-wringing. Why all the consternation? Consider that the gift you choose not only needs to be thoughtful, sweet, original, charming, and personal—it also has to have a price tag that won’t derail your monthly budget.

The pressure can be enough to make some men punt and go to Plan B—one dozen red roses—and send many women running to the hand-tools section of the hardware store in desperation.

To help with the big decision, here are some his-and-hers tips for frugal Valentine’s Day gift-giving.

For Her

My top recommendation for a Valentine’s Day gift for an established relationship is a charm bracelet. This might sound a little ho-hum, but this gift is tops for frugality AND thoughtfulness. It works like this: the first year, you purchase the bracelet and a single charm. Sterling silver charm bracelets on Amazon go for about $20-30, and on sale you might even find a better deal. Single charms range from $10-20.

As years go by, you purchase a new charm every year, eventually building a bracelet that is both a testament to and a mirror of your evolving relationship. The charms can all have a Valentine’s Day theme, such as hearts, cupids, peas in a pod, doves, and so forth, or they can reflect an event of the previous year such as a memento of a vacation, a new hobby, or a favorite sport.

For the brand-conscious gal, there are lovely (but pricier) charms from Juicy Couture and Pandora. Regardless of how the charms are chosen, the end result is an utterly personalized piece of jewelry, built (and paid for) over years that will become a family heirloom.

For a budding relationship, a framed photo is a thoughtful, inexpensive gift. Loads of attractive frames can be found for less than $20, and then it’s up to you to select the perfect photo to put in it. She’ll love it, and so will your wallet.

If your significant other is a foodie, go to the local gourmet shop, and ask for help selecting several cheeses, some Serrano ham, crackers, and some nice olives and prepare a surprise Valentine’s Day living-room picnic. Add a bottle of sparkling cider or wine and have a romantic night at home for less than $30. Beats going to a restaurant and you will rack up big-time points for creativity and thoughtfulness.

For a super-thrifty gift, try a beautiful scented container candle. For less than $10, a candle is a long-lasting gift that will warm her heart.

If your Valentine’s Day budget is $0, don’t despair. There is probably some project around the house your wife or girlfriend would love you to tackle. You can make a coupon good for an attic-cleaning, a hedge-trimming, or some other “honey-do” item. Likewise, you can also write up a coupon good for a night out with the girls or an hour-long back rub.

For Him

Frugal men appreciate practicality, but also enjoy a gift that shows that their better half is paying attention to them. Listen to your DH’s pet peeves, and you will find a trove of gift ideas.

We live in a humid environment and my husband complained frequently about damp towels in our bathroom. I found a swim chamois sports towel that he can use to dry off, and then wring out and roll up without touching a conventional towel. He is deliriously happy with it. It cost $6.

For a runner or someone who works on their feet, try a pair of gel shoe inserts, which cost less than $20. For an extra touch, include a coupon redeemable for a home foot massage.

For the wine enthusiast, a welcome gift is a bottle of wine of a new variety (try a Tempranillo) or from a different region (Australia or South Africa). Ask for recommendations at wine shop or smaller market—there are often $10 bottles that are more flavorful than the higher-end wines. For the beer-lover, try a six-pack from a fun micro-brewery. Tie on a big red ribbon, and watch him beam.

Valentine’s Day should not be about flashy gifts or expensive baubles. Personalization is the best rule of thumb to follow. Listen to your other half, and you will have no trouble coming up with an inexpensive gift that he or she will adore.

Weekly Roundup – Anyone Have Experience With Perkstreet Financial?

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I currently run our utility and gas purchases through our credit card to simplify the monthly bill-paying process, and to earn some cash back rewards for things we’d have to pay anyway. Of course, we pay off the credit card balance each month.

I’ve heard commercials for Perkstreet Financial and their cash rewards debit card, and I’m hoping readers may have some personal experience to share regarding the product.

If I decide to sign up I’ll be sure to provide my own review in a future post.

The Frugal Roundup

30 Years, 30 Things I’ve Learned About Money. David shares some important reflections from his first 30 years.

How to Get Free eBooks for your Kindle. I got a Kindle last year and have enjoyed reading the free classics as much as I have new releases. While I do enjoy some of the features of the Kindle, I admittedly miss the feel (and smell) of a real book.

The Tiger Mother and You: Are We Preparing Our Kids for a Better Financial Future? The comparisons between Chinese and American moms got a lot of coverage over the past week because of a popular WSJ article. This post looks at the financial education comparisons.

By The Numbers: 16 Temporary Tax Season Jobs. One of these opportunities could serve as a pretty good side hustle during tax season.

Seven Monthly Bills Most People Have, and Seven Ways to Reduce Each Bill. Excellent ideas for reducing seven of the largest monthly bills in most household’ budgets.

Best of the Rest

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Monitor Bank Rates. MonitorBankRates.com offers a free rate search and compare service offering the latest best rates on products ranging from certificate of deposits, savings accounts, checking accounts, credit cards, mortgages and insurance.

Berkey® Water Filtration and Purification Systems are the ultimate in water filtration and the ideal personal protection traveling companions. Used worldwide for normal, hostile and emergency environments to provide the purest, sparkling clean water possible.

Fine Art for the Frugal is the work of Olie Sylvester, once a starving artist himself, who has created reasonably priced works of art so that all may become collectors of his work.

Your Money Ratios by investment adviser Charles Farrell aims to make the process of preparing for the golden years less complicated—and less anxiety provoking. Farrell developed a series of simple formulas to help readers understand what they need to be saving based on age and household income, while taking as much of the irrational emotion out of the equation as possible.

Planning a Wedding On a Budget

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If you are not careful, planning a wedding can lead to acute sticker shock. According to The Wedding Report, a market research publication, the average price of a U.S. wedding in 2010 was over $24,000. While your “Big Day”is certainly a major rite of passage, it’s important to remember that $24,000 is a big chunk of change to spend on a one-day event.

If you have money in the bank, those funds could be used to put a down payment on a home for newlyweds, or to pay off student loans. If you don’t have money to spare, are you sure that going into debt is the right decision for a pair of newlyweds?

But don’t despair: it’s not necessary to forgo the wedding entirely—just approach the planning with a level head and incorporate cost-cutting measures that will result in a memorable occasion for family and friends, without incurring outrageous expense.

Start by discussing wedding expectations with your bride and both families to make sure you are all on the same page—will it be beer and fried chicken at the Elks Lodge or Champagne and Lobster Thermidor or at the Plaza?—and be clear on who will be responsible for payment.

Once the general style is established, get quotes from several service providers, and arrive at a reasonable budget. You may find that your expectations need to flex in order to remain on track financially. Weddings on a budget do not have to be chintzy or cheap; when handled correctly, the guests will never notice your penny-wise choices.

Wedding Gotchas

Industry experts estimate that couples typically overspend their budgets by 15%. We all know about the standard expenses such as catering, music, flowers, rings, attire, decorations, printing, photography, site and equipment rentals, officiant fees, and the cake.

But there are other hidden wedding costs that can add up to foil the best budgeter. These are costs such as dress alterations, tips, postage, delivery charges, gifts for the wedding party, salon costs for the bride, taxes, cake-cutting, corkage and coat check fees, and overtime charges for the band, photographer or servers. Keep these items in mind, and quiz vendors to nail down all costs beforehand.

Top 10 List for Planning a Frugal Wedding

1. Invitations. Never order oversized or oddly shaped invitations, no matter how attractive they are. Postage for a standard size first-class letter is 44¢. Over-sized or over-weight letters can costs as much as $2 each to mail. Consider sending a save-the-date email in lieu of a separate snail-mailing. If you are artistic, you may decide to make your own invitations either on your computer or by hand-writing the invitation cards.

2. Attire. Shop on eBay for the wedding dress. A gorgeous, used-once, designer dress can be had for a fraction of the price and no one will be the wiser. The groom and groomsmen can all wear dark suits from their own wardrobes (if available), meaning that only matching ties need to be purchased.

3. Timing. Avoid high-season (May through October) when prices rise sharply across the board. Avoid Saturdays and evenings to get the best deals.

4. Venue. Go for the non-traditional: parks, museums, sporting venues, private homes, botanical gardens, or beaches. You may incur extra charges for deliveries or rentals such as tents, tables and chairs, but you will probably come out ahead compared to a hotel or other event space.

5. Guest List. Trim mercilessly. This is the quickest way to reduce your bottom line.

6. Music. Consider creating a playlist of songs that can be set up on an iPod and played during the reception. You may have to rent a sound system, but this is a vastly cheaper (and more personalized) option than a band or DJ.

7. Decorations and Flowers. Make centerpieces and decorations with inexpensive, yet eye-catching items such as round paper lanterns, twinkle lights, tulle fabric, seashells, miniature potted plants or fishbowls with real goldfish. Choose flowers that are in season and avoid tropical flowers. Choose simple arrangements and add volume with less-expensive greenery.

8. Photography. Hire a pro for shots before and during the ceremony. Have friends and family take candid shots during the reception.

9. Bar. Stick to beer and wine and skip the liquor. If permitted, purchase your own beer and wine at a discount store, and bring it to the event. Even if you are charged for corkage, you will generally save on the total bar bill. Skip the Champagne toast. Champagne toasts are symbolic, and guests frequently don’t drink the Champagne anyway!

10. Seating. Use fewer, larger tables in place of smaller tables. You can seat 120 at 12 tables for 10 or at 20 tables for six. Using fewer tables saves on linens and table decorations and creates more interaction between guests.

Many blissful couples enter the meat-grinder known as the wedding industry completely unprepared. With research and planning, weddings on a budget are perfectly realistic. Planning a wedding can be a rewarding experience that will provide memories for a lifetime. And for the faint of heart, there is always Plan B: elope!

For more ideas, check out the excellent book Bridal Bargains: Secrets to Throwing A Fantastic Wedding On A Realistic Budget and the following blog posts on wedding budget tips:

Why Young Entrepreneurs Should Hold Down a Job After College

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The following guest post is from MD. A recent college graduate that makes personal finance fun for 20-somethings at Studenomics and has recently started writing about his journey through the world of entrepreneurship at Passive Income Now.

At some point during college in between the late night keggers and the 48-hour study sessions you may have caught the entrepreneurial bug. Even though you completed your studies you just can’t see yourself working in your field for a long period of time or for any time at all. That’s cool and all, but are you sure you want to trade in a boss for something worse?
Are you sure that you’re ready to be your own boss? I personally think and want to argue the point that all young entrepreneurs need to hold down a real job at one point.

Why I do think that young entrepreneurs should hold down a job after college?

Meet people/network.

I personally always see myself holding down some sort of a part-time job because I love being around people. I love meeting new people and interacting with co-workers. Depending on where you work, you can meet some amazing people at work. Some of my closest friends and people I look up today I met at one job or another. I even dated a girl I met at a previous job for a few years.

I imagine that sitting in front of a computer or working from home can get pretty lonely real fast. Sure you could meet friends at the gym or stay in touch with your current friends, but a traditional job usually brings a diverse group of people together.

Understand how companies work.

An excellent supervisor/manager can turn into a life long mentor. An entrepreneur may not be the best employee but you can sure learn how an operation runs. This experience can be very beneficial to you down the line because you never know when you might just re-enter the work force.

Test the waters.

It’s always a good idea to test the waters. All the entrepreneurship-hype might suck you into something that’s not for you. Some of us are meant to be intrapreneurs. That is individuals that display entrepreneurial characteristics within the work place. I mean there’s so much hype about working for yourself these days that it’s ridiculous. A job description shouldn’t be a self description. If you test the waters by holding down a job you could realize that a steady paycheck is what you need in your life. Not everyone is meant to travel the world and be their own boss.

Time management improvements.

For my first few semesters of college I kept on telling myself that I would get better grades if I partied less and worked less. Then one semester I decided to work a little less and stay in more often. What happened? I just watched more tv! This is at the point where I wrote that college is the best time to start a business. The sooner you learn to manage your time the better off you will be. More time doesn’t equate to more work done. By working and trying to start your own side business you’ll be forced to enter the art of time management (or you might get hooked on Red Bull).

Make some money.

As a recent college graduate you might have student debt that you need to pay off. Along with this you also need to save up some money. A traditional job can be what you need to pay down your debt and start investing towards your entrepreneurial goals. My income has allowed me to invest money into my online business (mailing list, design work, coaching) that I normally wouldn’t have. As you start saving money you can freelance on the side to see if there’s a market out there for what you’re offering.

Motivation.

We need a sense of urgency sometimes. We might think that a 9-5 job is not right for us. The only way to find out is to try holding down a job first.
We also might not have the motivation to hustle 100% with our own business due to the millions of distractions out there.

Chris Guillebeau put it best in his book:

All things being equal we generally resist change until the pain of making a switch becomes less than the pain of remaining in our current situation.

This means that we need to be pushed to take bold actions. A job you hate with a boss that acts like Michael Scott and co-workers like Dwight might be all that you need to get motivated to crush it with your new business.

Now that I’ve shared my thoughts I would love to hear what moves would you recommend for college graduates that are interested in entrepreneurship?

Weekly Roundup – Tax Filing Preparations Edition

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Can you believe tax season is already upon us? This time of year, prior to receiving all the 1099s, W-2s and various other tax forms, I like to do a little tax pre-planning.

  • I move last year’s tax folder to the front of the filing cabinet to quickly drop in statements and forms as they are received in the mail.
  • I make sure I’ve accounted for all investment transactions last year that resulted in a capital gain (or loss).
  • I update any personal information in TurboTax that may have changed since last tax season (address, home ownership status, etc.).

What are you doing to get ready for tax season?

The Frugal Roundup

How to Lose Weight in 2011. My introduction to Steve’s site a few years ago was his classic post on 101 thoughts on how to lose 100 pounds. Some of the best real world “dieting” advice I’ve ever read from a guy who actually did it.

Instant Survival Tip: Much Ado About Knots. This is a great find from Survival Mom – a site dedicated to knot-tying animations and instructions (complete with mobile apps for tying on the go). Time to rip a little paracord and practice.

Alternative Asset Classes That Are Easy To Own. I’ve often thought conventional wisdom on diversification is a little shallow. Not only should we be diversifying amongst various classifications of stocks, we should be diversifying outside of stocks into other types of assets.

How Much Income Will You Need in Retirement? Most people have the idea they won’t need as much income in retirement as they do pre-retirement. The reality is most retirees spend about the same when you factor increased medical costs, etc.

Tips For Self-Preparing And Filing Your Income Taxes. Yep, it’s that time again…tax time. I’ve been preparing and filing my own taxes since I was a teenager – even used to do it by hand with a pen and paper. These days, TurboTax is a big help!

Best of the Rest

Support Our Sponsors

Monitor Bank Rates. MonitorBankRates.com offers a free rate search and compare service offering the latest best rates on products ranging from certificate of deposits, savings accounts, checking accounts, credit cards, mortgages and insurance.

Berkey® Water Filtration and Purification Systems are the ultimate in water filtration and the ideal personal protection traveling companions. Used worldwide for normal, hostile and emergency environments to provide the purest, sparkling clean water possible.

Fine Art for the Frugal is the work of Olie Sylvester, once a starving artist himself, who has created reasonably priced works of art so that all may become collectors of his work.

How to Make a Fortune by Ron Insana, an award-winning financial journalist and seventeen-year veteran of CNBC, helps readers restore their depleted portfolios by guiding investors through volatile times in the market.