In ultimate frugal fashion, this year I decided to make many of our Christmas gifts.  Mr. Money and I had decided months ago we wouldn’t buy each other anything, despite our persistent longing for a Nintendo Wii.  We concluded that the money would be better put to use sitting in our savings account just in case I lose my job. If we go a few more months wanting one, we may cave and purchase one.  Who knows, maybe in a few months they’ll drop in price if the economy gets worse and no one is buying them.  A girl can only hope!

I feel a little miserly knowing that we have money tucked away in a savings account and I’m not spending a lot on Christmas.  I know a lot of the time I’m afraid we don’t have enough money in our checking account and that we’re “poor” but I know that cushion is there in case we need it.  It’s a good feeling, but at the same time I feel like I’m being cheap.  Shouldn’t I be spending $25 per person on Christmas gifts?  After all, I’ve got the money.  I seriously had to sit down one day and think about it.  Sure, we’ve got the money.  But that is money for emergencies.   Christmas is not an emergency.  So I set out to make Christmas special this year.  I am making (and have made) many different Christmas gifts for those I love.  Here are some things I’m doing this year:

• I learned how to make soap.  Yes, you read that right.  Soap! with real lye!  It is so much fun albeit dangerous.  I enjoy making different scents with people in mind.  I also get immense pleasure using the soap I’ve hand crafted in the shower.  It’s pretty cool!
• I knit many gifts.  My niece and nephew will be recipients of hats with ear flaps.  My niece (two years old) will probably not care, and my nephew (six years old), well I’m hoping he thinks it’s cool.  Either that, or he’ll remember this gift for the rest of his life as The Gift that Sucked.  I’m also knitting scarves for other people, and dishcloths!  Everyone can use a dishcloth!
• I’m making a candy cane sugar scrub for the women. How yummy does that sound?  I can’t wait to try it myself!  Tomorrow I’m going to the Dollar Tree to buy jars to put it in.
• I’m going to make some homemade laundry detergent samples and give that to people with the recipe.  Everyone always asks about my homemade laundry detergent and I thought this would be the perfect time to try it without them having to make it themselves!

I’m going to pair these items together depending on the person, and put them into a $1 reusable cloth grocery bag so they can reuse that and help eliminate plastic bags!  I wanted to get ambitious and make my own cloth bags and use those, but I don’t think that’s happening this year.  I don’t think I have the time!
We haven’t spent a ton of money this year on presents, but I am excited that I’ll be able to share more gifts with more people than I could in the past.  Personally I’d rather get something hand made from someone because that just shows they actually care, and they took the time to make it for me.  It just seems more personal and kind.  I think that’s the real meaning of Christmas.

Are you making gifts for people this year?  What’s the best hand made present you’ve received?

Posted under Economy, Save Your Money

I keep reading posts from other personal finance bloggers about how to save money during the holidays and other tips and tricks to cut back this year. One thing we are doing at the Money household is not purchasing gifts for each other and making many of the gifts we’ll be giving this year. I’ve decided to try my hand at soap making, which is pretty dangerous but also really fun for me. The other day I went to the health foods store to purchase some essential oils to use for my soap making.

The essential oils were all on sale. Many were almost half price, and I decided that I would purchase all oils that were on sale that I thought would be good for my soap and many people would like. I selected my oils, went up to the register, she rang me up, and told me my total. I balked. It was about $6 more than I had anticipated! I carefully checked the register, and the reason became clear to me: they were ringing up all 30% off versus the correct sale price. I told her and went back to the aisle to check the prices. I was definitely getting over charged. I told her the correct prices and she fixed my total, but I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened to someone that wasn’t paying as close attention. They would pay more than they are supposed to!

That’s one trick my mother taught me that has stuck with me throughout the years: pay attention to the cash register. I think it’s especially important during the holiday shopping season because stores are busy and cashiers aren’t going to know the difference a lot of time unless you inform them. Make sure you double check your receipt before you pay!

In case you don’t check and realize later, a lot of stores will refund you the difference if you take in your receipt. Be an alert consumer and make sure you don’t pay more than you need to. Every little bit counts!

Posted under Save Your Money

In the summer of 2004, Mr. Money and I were living in Colorado, working on a ranch breeding miniature horses. We were having the time of our lives living in the wilderness, but I couldn’t help but get these nagging feelings that we weren’t on a good financial path. We weren’t saving for retirement, we didn’t have health insurance, we were unable to buy a house, and I knew that this wasn’t something we could do for the rest of our lives. Not to mention, we were contract labor, which ultimately meant we were responsible for our own taxes.

We decided we wanted to do something with our lives that would provide stability, so our decision was for Mr. Money to return to college to complete a degree. He chose culinary arts, so we researched a few schools and decided that it would be better to move across the country to go to school and live for a couple years. Not only was the school a little cheaper, but the cost of living was a lot less, and we were much closer to my family (a 5.5 hour drive versus 24 hours). In hindsight, I would have stayed in Colorado because of how homesick we always are, but that’s the beauty of looking back.

Going back to school meant we had to take out student loans, and over the course of two years, we found ourselves over $36,000 in debt. The thought of paying back that much money made me sick to my stomach. I was confident that Mr. Money’s career would make it worth it, and I had been promoted to office manager of a bank in March of 2007, so I wasn’t as worried about it. Mr. Money found a job in the culinary field at an upscale restaurant, but it was an hourly wage, and sometimes less than 40 hours a week. After getting promoted and longing for stability, I decided we should settle down here and buy our first house. Our rent had increased to $700 a month and that was the last straw.

Working in the financial industry, I figured that our debt to income probably wouldn’t be in line for the amount we wanted to be preapproved for, so I took money out of savings to pay off two student loans so that we’d be better candidates. As of today, we’ve paid off approximately $30,000 in student loans, leaving $6,850 left. I can’t wait until we are rid of that debt.

As of today, we’ve got our first mortgage debt, second mortgage debt (we did an 80/15/5 when we bought the house), the car loan, and student loan. We are contributing to my 401k and saving money each month. I think we’re in a pretty stable financial situation, and I’m really proud of what we have and how we got here.

We’ll keep paying off debt and living below our means and see where that gets us. I’m excited to see where we’re at in 5 years!

Do you have a financial story? I’d love to read it!

Posted under My Debt Reduction, Personal, Save Your Money