One Caveman’s Financial Journey

Sitting here enjoying another glass of fresh cucumber water, I wonder why I didn’t try this sooner.  I haven’t had a soda in over a week and I feel great!  The lack of caffeine got to me at first, but now I’m doing much better.  I’ll occasionally have some tea or coffee, too, but not the full pot-a-day I was drinking before.  Next week, I hope to find some cheap strawberries so I can try that on a larger scale and experiment further with frugally and healthily flavoring my water.  Now, onto the business of the day.

Congratulations go out to Pinyo this week for celebrating Moolanomy’s first birthday.  With his quality writing and great topics, I would swear he’s been doing this longer than just a year.  He’s an “old pro” before his time!  If you don’t currently subscribe to Moolanomy’s feed, you’re doing yourself a great disservice.  Thanks to Pinyo for being such a supportive member of the Personal Finance Blogging community!

Also this week, Mrs. Micah introduced her Single Step Personal Finance Challenge.  I haven’t answered the challenge yet (my response is coming next week), but it’s something that all of us should think about: What is one step you can take right now to improve your finances or your personal finance system?

Here’s what others have been writing about this week:

• Gather Little by Little - 7 low-cost and quick meals
• Christian PF - Money & Marriage: 7 lessons I have learned so far
• The Simple Dollar - Undermining Your Frugality
• Blueprint for Financial Prosperity - Ten Simple Steps to Eliminate Debt
• AllFinancialMatters - How Cheaply Can You Brown Bag Your Lunch?
• MSN Smart Money - Why I gave a guy a dollar
• Chief Family Officer - Frugality vs. health (or, I’m joining Weight Watchers)
• Master Your Card - Is Credit Card Fraud Funding Terrorism?
• fivecentnickel.com - How and Why to Freeze Your Credit
• Consumerism Commentary - GnuCash: Free Software for Balancing Your Checkbook (and More)

Have a great weekend!  See you on Monday.

Photo credit: killthebird

My parents are having their basement finished. It’s nearly done and it’s looking spectacular. What’s even better is that it might end up costing them even less than if they had done it themselves! That’s all thanks the the guy they hired to do the work.

The man couldn’t have come with better recommendations: A friend of mine is a manager at Lowe’s and he personally recommended his services. He’s a nice, outgoing guy with the look of a man who’s done manual labor his whole life. He’s coarse, but lovable. Oh, and he’s about three-quarters nuts - and that’s what makes him so successful.

He calls himself “Pennies on the Dollar” for his knack for ferreting out unimaginable deals. He then passes these deals down to the people who hires him with no markup as long as he gets to do the associated job. Through his wheeling and dealing, I suspect he’s saved my parents more than $6,000 off the cost of materials alone and he’s already saved us nearly $500 on materials for the work he’ll be doing for us next. For example, he secured a stylish water faucet for our basement bathroom for $25. The original price tag on the fixture: $300!

His secret? He’s bold, he’s persistent, he’s patient, and he’s prepared to buy in bulk. And, in following his example, you can be a bit crazy and save a great deal.

Be Bold

You aren’t just given a name like “Pennies on the Dollar,” you have to earn it. This man isn’t afraid to walk into a store and try to make a (seemingly) outrageous deal for his desired purchase, but he doesn’t insult the shopkeeper with ignorant deals. He recently offered five cents a piece for tile that was originally marked at $2/sq. ft. because he knew the store owner wasn’t able to sell the particular product because some of the tile was damaged - but not enough were damaged to prevent him from completing his project. Since he had built up a positive relationship with this owner and the product was otherwise garbage, the owner relented.

Before you purchase anything of significant cost, do your research. If you know exactly how much the item is worth and how much it’s worth to you, you’re in a better position to make an offer. Just because the price tag is marked at $50 doesn’t mean he won’t let it go for less.

Be Persistent

Before landing the deal on the tile, he failed to make a similar deal three times at different stores. But he believed that there was a favorable deal somewhere to be made, so he didn’t settle for any of the counter-offers, even if they sounded decent. He knew that those deals would still be waiting for him when he returned, so there was no point in accepting one without checking out the competition.

Likewise, you can use the competition to your advantage. Even if a deal appears to be solid, you can’t know without checking around. If you’ve done your research, there is no reason to settle for a less-desirable deal without exhausting your other options. And even if you receive an unfavorable counter-offer, that certainly isn’t the end of the line - counter the counter-offer until you come to an agreement.

Be Patient

If he knows that he has time to complete a project and doesn’t need a particular item right away, he’ll start poking around for deals but won’t purchase anything right away. Instead, he’ll peruse the clearance racks, talk with store managers about upcoming sales, and lay the support for his upcoming purchase to be made for the least amount of money possible.

You may not plan on the same timescale as “Pennies” does, but a little patience can save you a great deal, too. Similar items will usually be on sale across different stores at the same time or within a few weeks of each other. If your purchase can wait until an upcoming sale season, hold off on buying anything; and if your purchase can wait even longer, let the item move to clearance before sealing the deal.

Buy In Bulk

To entice the store manager to part with an item for less, he will sometimes promise to buy multiple or even the store’s entire stock of the item. Presently, he maintains three warehouses full of deals he’s made from which he withdraws the necessary stock to complete future projects. I visited one of his warehouses and found eight identical vanities, scores of tools, and at least 28 doors - any of which I could have walked out of there for less than 10% of its original price.

While I wouldn’t recommend buying eight vanities just to get a great deal on the one you need for your bathroom, buying in bulk is a proven way to bring down your unit cost. Sam’s Club and Costco are the most recognizable names when it comes to bulk purchases, but you can engineer your own personal bulk deals. Don’t be afraid to ask for an extra discount if you are prepared to buy multiple of the same item in one trip. For example, if you need 20 power outlets to finish your basement and your home improvement store doesn’t have a contractor pack of that size, inquire with a manager about getting the same unit price (or better) for your 20 as what you would have gotten with the most appropriately-sized contractor pack.

Swing For the Fences

Saving money is easy but you do have to be at least a little crazy to be able to negotiate deals as dramatically as “Pennies on the Dollar.” If you want hit a savings home run, you can’t be afraid to strike out swinging. The worst they can say is “No.” The deals certainly won’t come to you, so be bold and see what kind of deal you can make!

Photo credit: bourgeoisbee

Ever since I realized the true cost of drinking soda, both on my health and on my wallet, I’ve been looking for healthier and more frugal ways of quenching my thirst.  Of course, nothing could be quite as cheap as plain tap water, but man is it ever boring! Clean water has no real flavor and eventually I find myself longing for another can of soda.  If I’m going to succeed in reducing my soda intake, I need alternatives that are interesting to my taste buds and satisfy my thirst in a healthy, frugal manner.

Get It Really Cold

For some reason, cold water just tastes better than fresh-out-of-the-tap water. I’m not talking about water that sat in the fridge overnight; I mean really cold water. Water that’s just a few degrees away from freezing plays differently on my tongue than “cold” water and makes me more likely to drink it. Take a glass of very cold water and throw in some ice cubes, and you have a nice treat for your whole body on a hot summer day.

Toss In Crisp Cucumbers Slices

I only discovered this one recently, but I’ve completely fallen in love with cucumber water. All you have to do is throw some cucumber slices in water and let it sit in the fridge for a while. When you return, the water has the light fragrance and flavor of cucumbers and is quite refreshing. I bought a gallon pitcher to bring to work and I throw in 1/2 of a cucumber’s worth of slices and they stay potent enough to last for two gallon’s worth of water or more. It’s a cheap way to dress up water without adding any calories or chemicals to it.

Make Kool-Aid

If you’re longing for soda, it may be the sweetness that you’re craving. I try to always have a pitcher of Kool-Aid ready at home. It’s cheap, it’s flavorful, and it doesn’t have nearly as much sugar as soda. In fact, you can make it just as easily with Splenda - even easier, actually, since Splenda dissolves readily in water with little-to-no stirring. That way you can enjoy a sweet drink that doesn’t hurt your waistline.

Add a Touch of Mint

A crushed sprig of mint can liven up even the most boring drink - even water. Just place a few crushed leaves at the bottom of your glass before you pour your beverage and let their oils, flavor, and fragrance dissolve into the water. To make this an special treat, you can lightly sweeten the drink and it’ll taste almost like you’re chewing a minty piece of gum.

Brew Some Tea

Although some varieties of tea have caffeine, you can find caffeine-free if you need to stay away from the “juice.” I enjoy a fruity tea called Raspberry Zinger, made by Celestial Seasonings. The tea is great by itself, but it becomes a wonderful drink when I add a packet of Splenda. It’s almost like hot Kool-Aid, but with a very unique flavor.

Squeeze a Little Citrus

You’ve probably had lemon in your water at a sit-down restaurant, but why stick with that yellow fruit? Add lime or orange slices to your glass for a new flavor and still get the benefit of the vitamin C that citrus fruits provide.

Strawberries Are Heaven In a Glass

You are missing out on life if you haven’t had strawberry water. There’s no appropriate way to describe it besides “heavenly.” Crush a strawberry or two in the bottom of your glass, pour in your water, and enjoy. Since I have such an unstoppable sweet tooth, I add Splenda to this concoction as well for a sweet berry flavor that no soda could ever beat.

Dumping a soda habit can be difficult, especially when there’s little to replace its taste. But if you’re serious about kicking that bubbly beast to the curb, these water flavor-boosters can go a long way toward leaving the habit behind. Time to go refill my glass with some fresh cucumber water to get me through the afternoon!

photo credit: malakins

Yesterday, I wrote about my little container garden that I’m housing on my deck.  Already I have a bunch of tomatoes growing and I think I found 3 very small cucumbers starting to sprout from the vines.  The joy of growing some of my own food got me thinking about how I want to set up my garden next year.  After some research I believe I am allowed to put a garden in my yard, so I’m going to need a lot more plants to fill the space and it won’t make sense to spend at least $5 per plant to fill my garden.

Considering the variety and quantity of plants I hope to grow, the best way to do so will be to start from seed.  And since I’m already growing two of my favorites and the plants seem to be generally healthy, it’s possible their seeds will produce similar plants. This won’t always be the case; hybrid plants, for example, usually won’t put out seeds that will be anything close to the original. And if you planted two different varieties of the same family of plants (two different tomato plants), it’s likely the fruits will be the product of crosspollination and there’s no way to know what quality of plants those seeds will produce.

If hybridization and crosspollination aren’t likely problems for your garden, go ahead and save all the seed you want and use that to start your garden next year. For each plant family you want to grow again, select the best looking fruit from the healthiest plant for your seed harvest. This will ensure that you’ll produce a plant that is well-suited to your specific growing conditions and the best fruit will generally contain the best seeds.

Allow the chosen fruit to fully ripen on the plant before harvesting. Each plant has a different recommended ripening period to produce the best seeds. I recommend searching for the particular details on the plant you wish to harvest. For example, tomatoes should be bright red and fully ripe and cucumbers must be allowed to turn yellow and stay on the vine until the vines themselves are dead - well past the stage where you’d normally harvest them for consumption.

How you harvest the seed from the fruit also depends on the type of fruit, so make sure to read up on the particular seeds you intend to save. Tomatoes are easy: Just squeeze the seeds out on a paper towel and then leave them there at room temperature to dry. Cucumbers, on the other hand, can take much more effort - the process involves scooping out the seeds, soaking and letting them ferment for a day or two, gathering the good seeds at the bottom of the mess, and then drying them out.

Once your seeds are harvested, then you simply have to label and store them for next year. Keep them in a cool, dry, and dark place to give your seeds the best chance of surviving. I will be using old, clean baby food jars for each type of seed. If you’re using a closed container instead of an envelope, make sure to include some sort of non-toxic desiccant in the container to keep the seeds from getting moldy or trying to germinate. One method I read was to use powdered milk, but I might choose to use some rice since it will be easier to separate out.

Early next spring, you’ll be ready to go with seeds that are well-adapted to your locale and you should see a dramatic improvement in your next crop. Eventually, you will develop a custom variety that flourishes in your garden and produces amazing results. By saving your own home-grown vegetable seeds, you’ll save money from start to finish in your garden every year and be the envy of your neighborhood’s other gardeners.

With food prices climbing almost daily, more and more people are turning to home-grown vegetables and herbs to reduce their overall food budgets. It’s a great idea, too; starting your own garden costs relatively little compared to the gains you’ll reap and most of your expense comes in the form of sweat while tending your food plants.  Having a garden of your own helps you be more self-sufficient and allows you to insulate yourself, at least partly, from food price inflation.

Unfortunately, not everyone is free to have a garden of your own. For those living in apartments, it’s unlikely you have the right to access the land directly and community gardens are reportedly fully-reserved at least 3 years in advance.  And people owning their own homes are sometimes prevented from building a garden of their own by local ordinances or by subdivision covenants.  It’s a shame that these people are forced away from the freedom to grow their own food - or so it would seem.

In response to the plight of the apartment dweller or the burdened home owner, some nurseries now stock “dwarf” variants of some of your favorite vegetable plants. These plants have been designed through selective breeding to grow in a sturdy and sometimes self-supporting bush that can be raised in a pot at home.  Through the hard work of these growers, now almost everyone is able to grow at least some of their food at home.

Due to some uncertainty about the covenant for our subdivision, I have held off on building my “dream” garden.  But that hasn’t kept me from preparing my own small container garden on my deck.  At Lowe’s I found a tomato plant and a cucumber plant for just over $5 each earlier this season. When I bought them a month and a half ago they were only a few inches tall and you can clearly see the tremendous growth they have realized in that short time.

My tomato plant started putting out flowers pretty early and it wasn’t long before the first little bulbs of new tomatoes appeared.  Now I have three that are of decent size with at least eight more on the way.  I suspect, if this plant stays healthy, I’ll probably harvest at least $30 worth of tomatoes this year. I can’t wait until I get to bite into the first BLT this year with a slice of one of my own tomatoes.

My cucumbers, on the other hand, started off a bit slower.  The vines grew very fast, producing huge leaves, but I didn’t see a single flower until a week and a half ago.  Since then, the flowers have multiplied numerous times and I guess by now there are at least 30 blooms on there waiting to become crunchy cucumbers for my salads.  The plant has grown so well that I’ve run out of places for the vines to hang onto. I even had to move it away from the side of my deck because it started to grab onto the rungs of the railing.

Nearly anyone can grow their own mini-garden in containers at home, but there are some concerns you need to be aware of:

Fruit-bearing plants need at least 6 hours a day of full sunlight for best growth. If you don’t have a deck or porch, it may be hard to give the plants as much light as they would like.  Keeping these plants indoors would require you to leave your blinds open, which might help your plants but could cost you more in electric bills than what you would gain in food savings.

Plants like cucumbers are always thirsty. If you miss a day of watering, prepare to be greeted with wilting leaves.  If you miss a whole weekend, the plant may end up looking like a day-old plate of soggy salad.  Containers can’t hold nearly as much water as an in-ground garden, so make sure to ask someone to plant-sit if you’re going to be gone for any longer than a day.

Flowering plants have to be pollinated to produce fruit. If you choose to leave these plants indoors, you’re unlikely to find any insects or wind to do your pollination work for you.  That means you’ll have to do the work that nature would have done for you.  Shake the plant moderately at least once a day to help move the pollen around.  If that doesn’t get your plant producing, gently swirl the inside of each flower with a cotton swab.  To replicate the benefits of a light breeze, place a quiet oscillating fan near your plants and set it to low.

Container gardening is an easy way to ease into growing your own food.  Whether you’re not comfortable with the effort and expense to build a full-sized garden or if you do not have free access to the land necessary for a garden, a container can be your best food-providing friend.  From herbs to tomatoes to apple trees, nearly all your food favorites can be grown at home in containers.

Find your green thumb and get growing!