CouponMountain and Toys for Tots

Here's a good deed you can do with a click of your mouse if you have a Facebook account. CouponMountain is donating money to Toys for Tots, and the amount will be determined by the number of Facebook fans they have on Dec. 31. They’re going to give $1 for every fan (up to $50,000).

There's just one day (today!) to meet the goal of 50,000 fans, so if you have a Facebook account, skip on over there and go to CouponMountain page and click on the "Like" button. Pass it on to your friends there, too. It's for a good cause.

CouponMountain was one of the first of its kind on the internet. I wrote about them 'way back when they first started because I was impressed with the way they implemented the concept of providing just about every coupon and good deal there is out there.  I'm still impressed by their service, so when they asked me to let you know about their Toys for Tots drive, I was more than happy.

And, nope... I don't get anything for saying this, except a good feeling.

New Year Clean

I said I wouldn't post again until after Christmas, then I did, didn't I? That's because I had scheduled that post and forgot about it. Old age and all that....

Anyway, here we are. Christmas has come and gone and the New Year is right ahead. I always have the urge to clean house this time of year. I mean, really clean. As in throwing out things and giving away things. It's become a tradition to start cleaning out drawers and cabinets and shelves the day after Christmas.

I don't often stop to think about it, but there's a reason for it. Cleaning out drawers and shelves shows me what I've wasted time and money on. Things I thought I wanted, things I saved to "do something with," things I was going to fix some day. Projects left over from last winter. Clothes that no longer appeal. Gadgets that I never found truly useful. You know what I mean.

When it's all cleaned out (I'm not through yet!), there will be such a feeling of relief, of freedom - and I will resolve, once again, to not clutter my life with things that are not important.

One of these years I will get it right.

Give yourself permission...

On and after Christmas Day, give yourself permission...

to not pick up the Christmas wrapping right away. It will wait until the coffee has been sipped, the gifts admired again, the comments and questions and laughter has been savored.

to take a nap on Christmas afternoon.

to do something just to please someone else whether you want to or not. Remember that it's a choice you can make.

to eat another serving of dessert. Christmas only comes once a year and you won't sabotage your diet by overeating just a little one time.

to buy that thing you really want if you didn't get it for Christmas.

to stop and watch the snow falling or the sun shining or the grass growing. What you have to do will still be there 10 minutes from now.

Above all, give yourself permission to remember and to think and to reflect on what Christmas means to you and what it offers to the whole world, whether the whole world celebrates it or not.

10 Places to Find Free Holiday Craft and Gift Ideas

The holidays can make us forget that we are trying to be frugal. But the truth is that you don't have to spend a lot of money to see your loved ones smile. With some time and a few dollars, you can craft a homemade gift that will be just as nice--if not better--than anything you can buy from a store. Home made gifts are considered more thoughtful and are almost always more appreciated. The following sites will help you create a gift for everyone on your shopping list.

Disney Family Fun - This Disney site offers a wide range of last-minute gift and craft ideas for kids. Instructions are also available for homemade decorations, cards, ornaments, party supplies, recipes, and printables.

Martha Stewart - Martha Stewart's official site provides tons of craft and gift ideas for men, women, kids, babies, and pets. Other offerings include personalized gift ideas, bath and spa gifts, hostess gifts, and stocking stuffers.

Better Homes and Gardens - Better Homes and Gardens offers tons of holiday craft, gift, and recipe ideas. You can also get tips on tree decorating, card making, and more.

Family Crafts - This About.com site offers hundreds of homemade craft and gift ideas, crafting tips and tutorials, and creative recipes. Other site features include a regularly updated blog and discussion forum.

Kaboose Crafts - Kaboose Crafts provides a holiday craft gallery as well as a homemade card gallery. If you can’t find what you're looking for in the galleries, you can use the site's craft finder search engine.

The CRAFT Blog - You can find new gift ideas on CRAFT magazine's popular blog each day. Postings include pictures, videos, instructions, tips, and more.

Craftown - An online craft resource since 1999, Craftown features instructions and pictures of more than 1,000 crafts. Other site resources include a learning center, article library, forums, and a newsletter.

Dollar Store Crafts - This unique site focuses on crafts that can be made from dollar store purchases. Craft ideas are available in the $1, $5, and $10+ range.

CraftyPod - CraftyPod is both a blog and a podcast. Topics focus on craft-related tips and techniques. The site also provides videos and tutorials.

All Free Crafts - This no frills site offers more than 1,200 homemade craft, decoration, and gift ideas. Categories include holiday crafts, candle crafts, kids' crafts, jar gifts, and green crafts.

Guest post from Bailey Harris. Bailey typically writes on finance, insurance, and related topics for the Car Insurance Blog.

What they're not telling us about inflation

I enjoy reading Gary D Halbert's weekly enewsletter because he always has something to think about.

Part of what he was talking about this week caught my attention. At least I know I'm in good company:

""Let’s face it, how can inflation be only 1.2% over the last year when we’ve seen the prices of many commodities rise sharply?  On average, our basic food costs have increased by almost 50% over the last year (as measured by wheat, corn, oats, and canola prices).   Beef and pork prices are up almost 40% over the last year.  Cotton prices are up over 50%.  Your morning cup of coffee with a little sugar has risen by around 35% since last October."

Yes, let's face it. Food prices are soaring, and cotton clothing will soon. It's not a good situation, money-wise and the immediate future does not look rosy.

And "they" tell us that inflation is low? It's an interesting discussion that you might want to read for yourself:

Inflation Coming Sooner Rather Than Later

Saving water is not just for summer

Winter comes and it doesn't seem so important, does it? At least that's the way I've thought of it before, but I've been thinking about this. Sure, the water bill drops when we quit watering our lawns or gardens and quit playing in the water on hot days, but we can make it drop even more.

When the weather got cold, I quit putting a container under the kitchen faucet to catch water that would otherwise go down the drain. I put it back today and will leave it there. What to use the water on? Cleaning where hot water isn't necessary, watering the houseplants, watering trees when we don't have much snow, mopping the floors, washing my hands, rinsing a cloth or cup or whatever. I just have to pay attention so I don't rinse a cup after washing my hands!

Another way to save water in the winter: Make showers quicker and less often. You won't die because you didn't have two showers today. Honest, some people do that. (Shower twice a day, I mean, not die because they can't.)

Save water from cans or pans of vegetables and use it to water houseplants.

Save water from your shower to clean, flush the toilet or do nasty jobs like wash the trash can.

A giving of thanks, frugal style

I just can't hold off any longer. Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Kwanzaa, whatever - the holidays are rushing in upon us.

Department stores have been displaying ornaments and artificial trees for weeks, the weather is turning steadily cooler, the leaves are almost all gone, and it's almost winter.

We're in that limbo between the first, glorious fall colors and the icy beauty of winter holidays... it must be getting close to Thanksgiving. (With apologies to our Canadian readers, that Thanksgiving slipped right by me! - Somebody remind me next year.)

Sorry, you have to be frugal to appreciate this list of things to be thankful for.

Come on, say after me:

I'm thankful that college kids go home for Christmas and dump their decorations, trees, etc., in the alley before they go - a week before Christmas.

I'm thankful that it's cold at Christmas time so I can knit warm scarves, gloves and mittens from thrift store yarn and they will be appreciated.

I'm thankful for warm clothes that allow me to keep the temperature another degree cooler and save that many more energy dollars.

I'm thankful for flea markets and thrift stores, which are alternates to antique stores, if I'm lucky.

I'm thankful for turkey carcasses, from which I can make my favorite turkey and noodles and turkey and rice soup.

I'm thankful for dollar stores, which allow me to buy holiday nonessentials that won't knock my budget out of kilter.

I'm thankful that living frugally throughout the year lets me face gift-giving holidays without a fearful looking toward next January when the bills come due.

The Dollar Stretcher Review

That's the name of my new blog on the Dollar Stretcher Community site. Check it out: The Dollar Stretcher Review

It only has one post as of today, but you gotta start somewhere, right? :)

I'll be adding to it as we go. Let me know what you think.

This time of year

My favorite things this time of year:

Leaves swirling in the wind and crunching under my feet
Skies the color of baby blue and white cotton
Brown earth, wet and smelling like it should
A certain rush of energy as the cold air sweeps in
Checking the garden and seeing that everything is properly at rest for the winter.
The smell of wood smoke, caught now and then from the neighbor's fireplace.
Trying to decide if the laundry will dry tomorrow if I hang it outside.
Long evenings when I can sit and knit or read without guilt because it's too dark to do anything else.
Getting into a bed that's too cold and waiting as my body heat slowly warms it up.
Getting up into air that's too cold and having to wait for the bathroom to warm up before I can take a shower.
Watching the western sky in the hopes that those clouds will carry snow.
Buying bags of bird seed at Walmart so I can watch the sparrows and finches eat from the kitchen window.
Anticipating Thanksgiving and worrying already about how much of what to make.
Anticipating Christmas.

What's not to like about this time of year?

And it doesn't have a thing to do with frugal, except that very little of the enjoyment costs money.

How to Save Money around the Home Office

Guest post by Olivia Coleman, author of articles concerning online colleges and universities. She welcomes your comments at olivia.coleman33@gmail.com

Your home office should be a quiet and efficient place. After all, the home office is where many of us handle our family's finances. We pay bills from the home office. We evaluate our investment decisions. We worry about our budget. Because many of our financial decisions are made in the home office, then we should also make sure that our home offices aren't costing us to lose money. It would be terrible to have money flowing out of the home office unaccounted for. Here are a few ways you can make your home office a more frugal space.

Cut Down on Paper Waste

Home offices use a lot of different kinds of paper: printer paper, notepads, and calendars. Ideally, you can cut costs by going to a paperless accounting system and pay all your bills online. Minimize your printing needs. Cut up old printed paper and keep the scraps together to make notepads so you don't have to buy the expensive ones. Use an electronic calendar. If you can cut down all your paper purchases to just a bit of printer paper every now and then, you'll certainly save some money.

Use Less Juice

Another thing about our home offices is they are full of electronics: printers, computers, lamps, clocks, stereos, cell phone chargers, and paper shredders. Many of these appliances use electricity even when turned 'off.' How do they do that, you ask? Well, because they aren't actually powered down; instead, they go into a standby mode that still draws on your power source. If you can cut off these 'vampire appliances,' then you'll be able to save some money. Connect these appliances to a surge protector strip that allows you to flick a switch to break the connection completely.

Change Your Light Bulbs

Another way to save money in the long run in your office is to change the light bulbs in your office lamps to energy efficient bulbs. While the cost up front will be noticeable, you could save yourself up to $20 a year per light bulb. Often, these bulbs give off the same amount of light as a normal incandescent bulb of higher wattage. And with the advance of technology, they now emit a softer light than that of standard fluorescent bulbs.
 
Conserve Office Supplies

Finally, you'll want to be smart about how you purchase office supplies. Pens and pencils, printer cartridges, scissors, tape, all of these things can add up to a lot of money. The best way to make sure you're not spending more than necessary is to keep an inventory of your supplies, just like any small business would. That way you won't be tempted to buy a package of pens on sale because you're not sure if you need them or not. Likewise, be sure when you do run out of something you're not buying the most expensive product. Look for sales and shop around.