Bartering can be one of the most fun and interesting ways to save money. What is bartering? Bartering is an exchange of services or goods. Bartering not only can help you save money, but it also can cut down on your consumption and help you get rid of clutter.

photo credit: StevenGroves

A few weeks ago, I shot a family portrait session for one of my friends. She said she would pay me but I didn’t feel right charging her. A few weeks later I needed someone to let my dogs out at night when I was unable to, and asked her if she would be interested. I offered to pay her, but she declined. We called it even. It was a win-win situation!

Are you interested in bartering? There are many ways you can get connected with like-minded people. One idea is to check Craigslist. There are many people that list items on there that are interested in trading. Who knows- that old hutch you have in the garage may be worth someone else’s pony!

Your friends can be untapped resources when it comes to bartering. Do you know how to cut hair? Do you enjoy decluttering? Chances are, you are good at something that another person values. Find out what they are good at and exchange services!

Bartering can help create a strong sense of community and friendship. You can save money and help someone out, and that makes everyone feel better.

Have you ever tried bartering?

If you haven’t heard about the Gulf Oil spill, you are probably living under a rock. When I see pictures or hear new stories, it saddens me.  The other day I heard of a some great ideas to help clean up the oil spill.

Matter of Trust is organizing ways to help with the cleanup of the oil spill.  There are many ways you can help, including:

-Donating money. You can send checks made payable to “Matter of Trust” to

Matter of Trust, Inc.
99 St. Germain Avenue
San Francisco CA 94114

-Donating Hair, fur, and recycled nylons. As silly as this sounds, think about it.  Why do we wash our hair?  Because it gets oily.  Hair absorbs oil and can help clean up the oil spill.  I’m going to donate some of the tons of dog hair I sweep off my floor every day!  I’ll collect it and send it in an envelope.  Hair is light, so it won’t cost much to send.

-Spread the word. If you can’t afford to give money, you can help by spreading the word!  I’m sure there are a lot of pet owners that would be willing to donate hair (and even some people!)

Would you donate hair to help clean up the Gulf oil spill?

photo credit: Speaker Pelosi

How many times have you heard someone blame the economy for something? I hear it daily, and I can’t help but wonder just how much we can blame on the economy. Should we blame everything on the economy? After all, it does affect pretty much everything. Should we take responsibility and say that we can control our lives?

I know that personally I make many decisions based on “the economy is horrible.” I won’t cut back on my hours at work because I need job stability. I am afraid to seek other employment because the economy is so bad that no one is hiring. I’m afraid to look into selling my house and moving because the economy is so bad.

Is it all a bunch of excuses? Or am I being smart in erring on the side of caution? Sometimes I feel like I’m letting the economy dictate what is going on with my life. I let it control my happiness. There was a time where I was so scared to even have kids because I thought the economy was so bad that I’d lose my job, my husband would lose his job, etc.

I’ve since then learned that there’s only so much that I can control. I can keep doing my best at work, keep trying to increase my income on the side, and save money in case something does happen. That’s about all I can do.

It’s no secret I would like to sell my house and move from where we are currently living to be closer to family.  I let the economy scare me into staying put and not checking into the possibilities of moving.  I’m afraid we can’t sell the house, we won’t be able to find jobs where we want to move, etc.  Is that silly, or responsible?  I’m not sure.

How much effect does the economy have on your goals?

*The image has nothing to do with my political views, it’s just a random one that was selected on Flickr.

photo credit: TheTruthAbout…

Have you ever wondered what “good” money is? Is there a such thing as “bad” money? I don’t think so.  I hear the term all the time, in various instances.  “He must make good money.” I’ve never heard someone say “He must make bad money.”  Unless it was someone talking about a poorly made counterfeit bill.

It makes me wonder exactly what people view as “good” money.  I like to think I make a decent salary, but I don’t know if I’d consider it good money.  It pays the bills, and I have enough that I can pay down debt and focus on saving money at the same time.

I know that there are wide salary ranges depending on the certain career path and location.  For example, a customer service representative in Milwaukee, Wisconsin may make $12 an hour, while a doctor there makes $100 an hour.  In California, the customer service representative may make $20 an hour and the doctor makes $200.

I’m a firm believer in it’s not how much you make, it’s what you do with it, so good money to me may not be good money to someone else.

I think a decent salary is around $45,000-50,000 a year, plus benefits.  Where I live, the cost of living is decent, so I could make that go pretty far!

What do you consider “good money” when it comes to salary? Where do you live?

photo credit: gagilas

The other day I went to one of our local health foods stores in search of some jojoba oil for my hair and skin. I found it and when I realized it was $14.99 for 4 ounces, my eyes bugged out, I put it back on the shelf and decided I would look for it elsewhere. I came home, looked for it on amazon.com and found 4 ounces of organic jojoba oil for around $6. With shipping, it came to around $11, and I thought about it for a minute.  I didn’t end up ordering it.

It’s a few dollars cheaper online, but I felt bad ordering it from a stranger online versus supporting my local health foods store.  I love the atmosphere (even though it’s pretty small and expensive), the people, and I would hate to see them go out of business.  I felt bad that I didn’t buy it in the store!

I’m a big believer in supporting local businesses whenever possible.  My husband works for an independent restaurant in the city, and we try to limit our dining out experiences to locally owned and operated restaurants.  Someone’s got to support the small guys.  They are what keeps our communities going!

Truth be told, I still haven’t made a decision on where I’m going to buy it from.  Part of me thinks that it’s an unnecessary expense because I can use coconut oil for skin and hair, but another part of me wants jojoba oil.

How do you balance being frugal versus shopping locally?  What is more important to you?

I’m going to be really brave here, and going to do something maybe a little crazy. I’m going to donate $1 to the Haiti relief efforts for each new subscriber and comment made on this post. So, if you are not subscribed yet, please do so via this link. It will track how many new subscribers I get starting today and you will essentially have donated $1 to help Haiti.

If you are already subscribed, you can recommend a friend to subscribe to my feed and also leave a comment letting me know which charity you think I should give the money to.   Let’s raise some money for Haiti!

image from money saving mom

This afternoon after a coworker got back from lunch, I noticed a large yellow cup sitting on her desk. It had the Home Depot logo on it, so I questioned her if she had gone to Home Depot for lunch and when did they start selling drinks?? (Yes, I am blonde, but in my defense, some of them sell hot dogs.) She laughed and said that she went to Wendy’s. There was Home Depot advertising on the side of a Wendy’s cup.

Now, you may think I’m living in the dark ages, but I haven’t seen this. I’ve noticed advertising popping up in the weirdest places lately, but not at a fast food place. You have to remember, I’m not big on fast food. I prefer to drop my cash in small amounts at places like Walgreen’s.

What’s even more strange is that the other day when I went and got a hair cut, at the bottom of my receipt was an advertisement for football of all things. I made sure I kept that receipt so I could take a picture and share it here. I am hoping that I’m not the only one that’s noticing advertisements in weird places. First on a Great Clips receipt (I went to Great Clips this time instead of Super Clips!), and now on a Wendy’s cup. I think it’s a great marketing scheme, because you know people are going to see it both on cups and on receipts. At the same time, it’s sad because now you can’t really escape it.

Have you noticed advertising in weird places lately?

Only 43% of consumers will cut back on holiday spending this year, compared to 55% in 2008, according to a Consumer Federation of America survey. While increased consumer optimism spells good news for retailers, for Americans planning to “stretch” the budget, the New Year could bring falling credit scores, and with it, serious consequences.

Here are some fail-safe tips from FICO Credit Guru Shon Dellinger to help enthusiastic shoppers stay financially sound:

1. Be Smart with Credit. Using a credit card is ok – experts agree having 3-5 credit cards helps your credit, if used responsibly. But carrying a balance on your credit card leaves you (1) stuck paying interest that could cost you, in some cases, double or triple the cost of those gifts in the long run and (2) with a much lower credit score, which could jack up interest rates on your credit cards and jeopardize your chance of getting lines of credit elsewhere (buying a house, a car, etc.). Services like FICO Score Watch combat this by providing emails or texts alerting you to any changes in your FICO score (either positive or negative), and notifying you when you’ve qualified for a better interest rate. A credit score increase of 30 points will save the average consumer $105 per year.

2. Resist “Short Savings.” The salesperson at your favorite department store offers you an instant 20% savings just for opening up a credit card in their name. While that $20 seems tempting at the time, it can quickly put you in debt if you’re not careful. The temptation of the deal is also one reason why the average consumer has a total of 13 credit cards. Opening new lines of credit can also hurt your credit score, so make sure the card meets your overall needs and not just your desire for quick savings.

3. Don’t Wait Till April! Many holiday shoppers use their Tax refund to pay off credit card balances left over from the holidays, which can be incredibly expensive, not to mention detrimental to your credit standing. A credit card balance of $500 dollars from January until April will cost you $237 dollars based on today’s average credit card interest rate.

FICO is also offering a holiday coupon: MYFICO HOLIDAY is the code and it will be good for a discount of 30% off any product. The code will expire on January 30th.

A few years ago, when we worked on the miniature horse ranch, we were talking with the ranch owner about grocery shopping. She told us that she didn’t use store loyalty cards because the government tracks your grocery purchases so they know what you’re buying and if you’re stockpiling. That ridiculousness aside, the past week I realized what exactly they are tracking with the store loyalty cards. She was right in the aspect that your purchases are being tracked, but it’s not by the government, it’s by the store.

The other day I went to our local Kroger store to pick up some basic grocery items. After I checked out and paid, a ton of those checkout printer coupons printed. I started looking at some of the things it gave me coupons for, and I was surprised to see what items that they gave me coupons for. I got a $1 off Danactive probiotic yogurt drinks (I had just purchased them), a coupon for Duraflame firelogs (I bought those last year when our electricity went out from the ice storm), a coupon for $5 of $20 or more in the produce area, and some other ones for items that I have purchased throughout the past year or so. It kind of freaked me out to see that the store knew what I had bought!

I think it’s a great marketing idea for the stores. I will definitely use some of the coupons it gave me.

Do you use a store loyalty card when you shop? Have you noticed coupons printing for items you bought in the past?

image from LVCHEN

Have you ever wondered how much it would cost if you bought everything from the famous Christmas song “12 Days of Christmas”? Well lucky you, the lovely folks at PNC have figured it out. This year, it will cost you a whopping $21,465.56. Last year it only would have cost you $21,080.10.

Here’s the breakdown:
12 Drummers Drumming- $2,475.20
11 Pipers Piping- $2,284.80
10 Lords a Leaping- $4,413.61
9 Ladies Dancing- $5,473.07
8 Maids a Milking- $58.00
7 Swans a Swimming $5,250.00
6 Geese a Laying- $150.00
* 5 GOLLLLLLDEN RIIIIIIIIIINGS* -$499.95
4 Calling Birds- $599.96
3 French Hens- $45.00
2 Turtle Doves- $55.98
1 Partridge in a Pear Tree- $159.99

Knowing useless information such as this? Priceless.

Photo from afunhouse