Budget Busters: Little Recurring Expenses

Ah, those recurring expenses: cable, cell plan, internet access, health club membership. These are examples of some of the biggies; financial experts always exhort you to negotiate on these or cut them out entirely.

Some are really big. When my in-laws moved from the house in Pasadena with the under $500.00 annual tax bill (thanks to Proposition 13), they incurred a tax bill on their new home about 20 (not a typo) times higher, even though the houses were of equal value. My parents bought a condo in a Florida community with a clubhouse, which now costs my mother about $500.00 a month. Without it, her social life would be non-existent. Both parties would, I am sure, say these monthly expenses were worth it. I guess the moral is: be aware at the outset. My mother said some people left the community and moved elsewhere (Or tried to. Florida condos are not easy to sell) because, with the decline of their investment portfolios, they simply could not afford the club.

Then there are the little recurring expenses. These are ones we barely think about, because they are measured in dollars, not hundreds or thousands. I have an Amazon gift card (a great gift! Thanks to the giver!). I was looking under Grocery and Gourmet items, because they sometimes have decent prices on food, my favorite gift, because it is--literally--consumable. I sorted by Bestsellers, because often the ephemeral bargains show up there: the limited time markdowns.

Guess what most of the top-sellers were in Grocery and Gourmet foods?

. . . . . . PAUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

DIAPERS (not food, I know, but they showed up) and COFFEE PODS.

All I have to say is: if I, the least domestic, slacker-type housekeeper on the face of the earth, can use cloth diapers, anyone can. At least you only need them for a few years. When I see the prices, I realize that my children's college funds were jumpstarted by the cloth diapers we used.

As for coffee pods: do these have any redeeming features? You buy one of those coffee makers and are forever locked into a wasteful, expensive, un-green system. And, in my experience, the coffee isn't very good. I read a while back about a GREEN coffee company (organic, fair trade, and so on) that had a crisis about these: they were big money-makers, but the antithesis of green practice. They ended up making the product somewhat less wasteful, but still...I forget how they justified the product.

Have you gotten locked into monthly fees that end up being budget busters?

Salt Water Gargles and Colds: Frugal Healthcare

This one is dedicated to Mr. FS: he has been gargling with salt water, lo these many years. Most of the other old wives' remedies to which he subscribed have been proven false. But this one has been endorsed by no less than the New York Times.

According to the Mayo Clinic, for best results, dissolve half a teaspoon of salt in a full glass of warm water and gargle the solution for a few seconds before spitting it out. Adults who want a more palatable remedy against cough and sore throat can try mixing warm water with lemon and honey. No need to spit it out.

THE BOTTOM LINE Gargling with a saline solution can ease symptoms of a cold.

Oh, how I love when the frugal way is the good way.

For a good read, check out this former best seller. Frugal Son liked it a lot.

What's Good for Weight, Mood, and Finances: A Granola Bar

Funny About Money started a new dieting blog. I'm not on a diet (too undisciplined), but I read it anyway. Recently, Funny succumbed to temptation and--starving--ate a hot dog. She was remorseful.

I have the solution! A granola bar, or similar. I tend to have meltdowns after being out and about for too long. Shopping makes me crazy (except at thrift stores). I seldom shop except when my daughter is around. She has learned to carry a granola bar and a bottle of water, so Mommy doesn't have a meltdown.

This is a family tradition. Mr. FS and I would take our little ones to the zoo or the aquarium on weekends. Then we would go to a coffee shop. After a while, the kids wanted more and more to eat. Then they would have meltdowns. Sometimes WE would have meltdowns because of a caffeine deficit.

So we learned to bring a thermos of coffee and a few snacks in the car. I suppose this practice has saved us, oh, $1,000,000.00.

Interestingly, Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don't Get Fat, attributes the thinness of French women, in part, to carrying the secret granola bar for emergencies. (The other part would be all the walking that Parisiennes do.)


So weight control, mood, and finances? So much from a little snack.

Do you have any similar strategies?

Swap Your Closet and Other Frugal Tips

Like many others, we are cleaning up and cleaning out. Back-to-school time seems to inspire the task, especially for us, all in school in one way or another.

Yesterday, Mr. FS and I accompanied Lucy Marmalade to her yearly appointment with Dr. Guarisco, dubbed "my ear's father," since he performed two lengthy and complicated operations on a dangerous condition.

FRUGAL TIP #1: If you have to drive an hour to the big city for an appointment, at least try to do something else while you are there. We decided to have some family time.

FRUGAL TIP #2: After the appointment, we headed on over to Buffalo Exchange with 4 bags of stuff. We got a choice of $150 in cash or $250 in credit. Instead of taking the cash as we usually do, we took the credit to fund future shopping trips for Lucy. This is in line with our vow to buy mostly second-hand this year. Instead of shopping our closet, we are swapping our closet! Cool!

FRUGAL TIP#3: We then headed over to the New Orleans Art Museum, which has free admission for residents on Wednesdays. There are so many free and low-cost things to do in every community. Seek them out.

Cell Phone and Rice: Further Instructions for the Frugal Cure

Mr. FS has some additions to my ecstatic rescued cell phone post.

It's not quite as simple as dumping the cell phone in a bag of rice--but it's still plenty simple. First, be sure not to turn the phone on, because you don't want to short out the circuits. Second, remove the battery. It doesn't hurt to put the battery in the rice with the phone. And that's about it. The little screen on our phone was full of water, but the rice got rid of it all, so this really works.

You can Google some variation of "rice dry cell phone" for more elaborate directions and discussions.

P.S. As per Shelley's query: I would wash the rice (as in the Asian tradition) and cook it!

Wet Cell Phones and Rice: Cured!

Our trip to what we call the "dreaded WM" was prompted by washing our cell phone. Mr. FS found a tip on line: stick the phone in rice, which will absorb all the moisture. It was worth a try: it worked!!!!