I’ve been coming to the library for years.  It seems that as the economy got worse, more and more people showed up at the library.

I am typing this post on the library’s WiFi (once it finally started working…must be the weather).  Both of my daughters are on the computers here also.  We have a “library night” one night a week.  They get to check out books, movies and catridges for the leap frog and leap pad.

The library is safe, warm when it’s cold out and cool when it’s warm out, well lit, and quiet.  I’ve always loved book stores…and libraries are a close runner up.

• Does insulating your garage save you money?
• New Years Resolutions Don’t Work
• Is your cell phone bill too high?
• End Of Year Message
• Now that the holidays are over…
• 9 Recession Survival Tips

Think about what the builder did when they built your house.  If you have ever purchased a brand new house that you barely had enough money to afford, you will notice that the builder only drywalled the garage walls that connect directly to the living quarters.  They left the rest of the wall surface exposed.  They did this to minimize cost.

Do you think, however, the builder would deliver a house to your that you could not keep cool in the summer and warm in the winter?  They did what was necessary to keep the inside and outside air in their respective places.

Think about it this way.  If you took the garage off of your house, what more would have to be done to the walls that already had drywall to finish that area.  Siding or brick, right?

In actuality, it would take a long period of time to recover the money (some estimates indicate $1000) that it would take to insulate and drywall the outside walls of your garage, in utility savings.

Here are some posts that make the same claim:

• Insulating a Garage:  Is it worth the money?
• Should I insulate and drywall a garage ceiling that has living space above it?
• Should I insulate and unheated garage?

A better approach to saving money on the energy loss from the garage would be to make sure the walls between the garage and the living space are insulated, then make sure you have a storm door between the two spaces and good weather stripping on the bottom of the door to the house and the bottom of the garage door.

One reason why resolutions don’t work is that most people don’t set specific goals as part of their resolution.  Lose weight is a wish.  So is make more money.  These things have no defined finish line, therefore, you cannot guage whether or not you are on the right track.

Another reason resolutions don’t work is because people try to draw a line in the sand.  The change is too sudden.  It’s like the frog in the pot.  If you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water, he will jump right out.  The change is too sudden.  If you put a frog into a pot of cold water and gradually increase the tempurature, the frog will stay in the pot and end up as dinner.

The point is to set goals (not resolutions).  One example of a good goal would be “I will have $5k in the bank by the end of the year from saving $x per pay period and from selling widgets online.”

Don’t set yourself up for failure.

I am going to be evaluating all of the following bills and will be taking drastic actions, if necessary, to get the costs reduced:

• Sat TV
• Home Phone
• DSL

In 2009, I have decided to make my online presence larger. My ultimate goal is to work 100% online and not have to go to an employer’s location 9-5 M-F. I feel that I am on the right path towards this goal, and with your help, I can make it.

With the economy the way it is, these words may be worthless, but I hope you had a great 2008 and I hope your 2009 is even better. If you ask my opinion, I think the economy has reached the bottom of the curve and things are turning around.

If you want to follow me even more, my exploits and spoutings can be found on Twitter, by email, on Facebook, or on LinkedIn. I can also be found on digg and can be reached by paper cup and string.

Happy New Year

Make sure you lock your doors and windows, leave a radio on low volume when you leave the house unoccupied, and report any strange activity in your neighborhood.  The thieves will be out in force because the things you bought for Christmas are no longer safe in a secure warehouse or locked and alarmed department store.  Those things are now in your mostly-unsecured homes.

The economy is in the midst of her death throes. Violence and crime are projected to escalate as people begin to lose their jobs. The waning days of the credit frenzy is causing many to realize there life has had no real meaning. The consumer based economy is over and people are beginning to panic. The criminals are salivating at the realization that people’s distrust of banks are causing them to store their money at home.

• Saving Money At Christmas

I have to admit that I did not follow my own money-saving advice this Christmas.  In an effort to please the kids and make their Christmas fun, I dipped into my savings and spent more than I had planned to.  I guess a lot of parents feel that way and kids can be naturally ungrateful.

I bought them a Wii.  My main reason for doing this was to fulfill a promise I made to them last year.  Since I dipped into savings, I am going to be working some additional hours to replenish what I spent, and then some.

2009 will be a better year for my family, financially and otherwise.  The girls deserve to have a full family (mommy and daddy) and they deserve to be happy.  Since mommy is not in the picture, I have to compensate as best I can; not with things, but with time and with love.  I’m doing the best that I can.

Merry Christmas to all.

• Saving Space Can Save You Money
• I Need Your Help
• Free Shipping Day???
• Speaking of Saving Money

Here’s the deal. I purchased a pair of glasses for my daughter a few months ago.  Her vision is such that she can’t see the board in her classroom without them.

She was playing volleyball the other day in gym class.  Although the kids have been instructed to roll the ball to the players on the other side of the net when the ball changes sides, a kid on the other side of the net threw the ball, hitting my daughter square in the face.  She is fine, however, the glasses were not.  The metal that holds one of the nose pads broke off.

The teacher’s response was to make the kid who threw the ball sit out for the rest of the class period and to send my daughter to the nurse.  This did not get written up, per school procedures.  The “substitute” nurse, sent my daughter to the office.  Instead of calling either me or my mom to bring her another pair of glasses, the office sent her back to class.

I spoke to the principal about this yesterday.  She told me she would pass my contact information on to the boy’s parents so I could work out remuneration with them.  Although, according to her, she did speak to the boy’s parents about this, she did not pass my information on to them.

I spoke to the principal today.  She started to back-pedal on the whole issue.  She brought up that it was an accident and that the school could not make them pay for the glasses.  She also said she was waiting on a call back from the district head of PE to find out what the district’s procedures are on these types of issues.  Can you say “pass the buck”?

Fortunately, the principal gave me the name of the person she was waiting on a call from.  I passed that on to my mom, who I knew would follow this up without all of the emotion I’d bring to the situation, considering that the school has really pissed me off with this.

She contacted the district PE director and they had not heard of the incident.  She then spoke with the principal about it.

I have a question for my readers.  If someone accidentally runs into your car, regardless of if they are sorry and it was an accident, who should pay?  An alternative, and possibly more relevant question is, if your kid accidentally hits a ball through your neighbor’s window, who should pay?

It’s not fair that my daughter has to wear her old, and no-so-effective pair of glasses because someone else made a mistake.

Am I in the right on this or should I just drop it and foot the bill for new glasses?

The company I work for gave out turkeys to all that work there today.  Actually, you could have selected either a turkey or a cheese cake.  Since I don’t like cheese cake and I love turkey, you know what I chose.  Since I normally go to my parent’s house for holiday meals and since my mom usually cooks turkey, I gave it to her…just like the two pecan pies the company gave out to all that wanted them just before Thanksgiving.  I don’t like pecan pie so I gave them both to my parents figuring that my dad and brother would eat them.  Well, my mom ate the most out of the two pies.

The moral of the story is:  If someone is giving out free stuff, take it.    By the way, I found $20 at Target last night.  Later…

• Saving Money on Clothes
• Grocery Store Round-up
• Get Your Game On
• FREE USB Drive
• Top 10 Money Wasters

Since clothing is an area where I don’t have a lot of expertise (at least that is what my last few girlfriends have told me), here are some videos containing ways you can save money on clothes, but keep from looking like bum:

• How To Save Money on Back To School Clothes
• Save Money on Clothes – From GoodHouseKeeping
• How To Make A Hem
  
• Swap Those Clothes
• Get Custom Made Shirts Cheap
• How To Wash Ties – I used to just throw mine away when they developed stains
• Shoe and Sandal Repair
• Clothing Care

If you have any tips on saving money on clothes, please leave it in the comments…

I’ve posted quite a few items on how to save money at the grocery store. I figured I’d round them up for you so you don’t have to go hunting for them.

Buy Generic – Don’t worry.  You’ll find that a lot of the generic items taste just as good as the name-brand items.  In some cases, they are actually the same items, purchased from the brand-name manufacturer and re-branded with the store’s name.  I can tell you with almost 100% certainty that the Schnucks store brand sandwich bread is re-branded Wonder sandwich bread.

Keep track of what you buy – You can do this on paper, but the post describes an application that does a pretty good job.

Eat before you shop – This one should be pretty obvious.

Freeze It – Using your freezer can keep you from wasting food.

Make A List – Don’t just wander the store aimlessly.  Also, organize your list to the layout of the store to save time.

Use Coupons – Don’t throw your cash out with the Sunday paper.

Use cash – You got me.  I didn’t post about this one yet, but what it comes down to is planning to spend a certain amount and using cash only will help you stick to that amount, or rather the thought of the embarassment you will experience if you get to the checkout lane and don’t have enough cash to pay for your purchases.

Have a tip to save money on grocery shopping.  My readers and I would love to find out what it is.  Please leave a comment and share your tip with the world.

No, I’m not giving one away.  I came across this post and I thought I’d pass it on to my readers.  It’s a contest.  I entered.  You can too…

1. Coffee - Fortunately, my company gives me coffee for free, however, I can understand how people get into the habit of buying a cup of coffee on the way in to work each day.
2. Cigarettes - This is the same as the coffee.
3. Alcohol - After having the coffee in the morning and the cigarette ever couple of hours, a lot of people have a drink at the bar a few times a week.
4. Bottled Water -  Not only is this one a drain on the wallet; it also pollutes the environment with all of those plastic bottles
5. Manicures - I am definitely against this one.  Buy a $1.00 pair of nail clippers and stop biting your fingernails.
6. Car washes – Although I sometimes get my car washed to make me feel better about driving a car with 145,000 miles on it, this is a big money-waster.
7. Lunches - Eating out for lunch can waste up to $10 a pop.  Do it 5 days a week, and you’ve got almost a tank of gas.
8. Vending machines - Have some self-control people.  So far, everything listed here is an indulgence that can be avoided.
9. Interest charges – How did you rack up such a high credit card bill?  I would think it’s the cigarettes, lunches out, and car washes.
10. Unused memberships – Guess what.  If you smoke and you eat lunch out, along with drinking 5 cups of coffee per day and having drinks after work twice a week, you probably don’t workout much.  Save some money and skip the new years fitness resolution.

Each of these has dollar amounts tied to them.  Find out how much you can really save at Bankrate.com.