Can You Pay Yourself First?

You've all probably heard "pay yourself first." I tried that, and it doesn't work for me. If I pay myself first, I always end up being overdrawn. So I tried "pay myself last and avoid being overdrawn." True, there's not much left, but if there's ANYTHING left the day before payday, I am happy and stash it away. Better to save $20 the day before payday than to take out $100 ON payday and end up overdrawn.

Lock Yourself Out!

If you are a homeowner, you might want to hide a key to the house somewhere outside. As someone who's locked herself out of the house a few times, it gives me great relief to know that if I do, I can get back inside the house. I think they still sell small rocks that are hollow. There's a little door on the bottom, and you can hide a key in there. Toss the rock in a planter or garden, and you'll be able to get in if you need to. A $2 key is better than paying a locksmith hundreds of dollars. Just make sure that where you hide the key is not too terribly obvious, and don't tell people where the key is hidden. Also make sure that a squirrel or other animal is not tempted to carry it away.

Saving Some Money on Electric Bills

I think I posted something a while back about unplugging unnecessary appliances/lamps in your house. This past month, I tried unplugging the dryer, and I need to remember to unplug the washing machine. This should be easy for me, because my plumbing is acting up again, and I can't just run the washer, or else it will overflow the drain pipe, conveniently located in a corner of my kitchen, and flood the floor. I need to save up to have the sewer line cleared out again. This is an annual problem. Until then, I taped a plastic hose onto the washer hose, and have it drain in the yard.

Anyway, my electric bill was less than $30 this month. So unplugging works. But then again, I'm single and don't have to worry about anyone else's needs in the house. Daphne and Summit don't seem to mind, and it's not like they have any laundry they have to do.

Overdrawn. Again.

Dammit, I found out today I was overdrawn. Despite doing 90 percent of my transactions on a cash basis the last two weeks, I was overdrawn. Also, I'm not making as much money I as thought I was going to. Sigh.

Low-cost Ways to Entertain Yourself

Here are some more ways to entertain yourself on the cheap!

Take a walk at the mall. See how long it takes to make a complete circuit.


Trash pick (you might want to borrow a pick up truck and use gloves for this one).

Clean out your car.

Ride the bus for several hours. Check out your fellow passengers and create life stories for them. If you're really literary-minded, write a short story about them.

Entertainment on the Cheap

When I was going through bankruptcy, I didn't have funds to go to movies, miniature golf, take road trips, vacations, or go on minor shopping sprees. It meant not browsing through stores, so I wouldn't be tempted. And don't even talk to me about online shopping. True, there are things I can get through Amazon that I can't get anywhere else, but I enjoy the thrill of the hunt. But browsing online can lead to disaster too.

So one night, I came up with a list of low-cost entertainment. I plan to have this list in my book, but I'm going to print some suggestions here. This isn't all of them, of course.

Go to festivals and people watch. Try to avoid paying admission and parking, if you can. And bring your own snacks.

People scavenger hunt: Write down a list of people you have to find: 25 blonde women, 25 red-haired men, 10 men with tattoos on their calves, 10 women carrying designer handbags, five people wearing orange, etc.

Take a digital camera and if you run across people wearing interesting outfits (or who just plain look terrible) take pictures of them and post them on your blog. Critique their outfits, the way Vice magazine does, or else come up with something funny for them to say and put it in a thought balloon (you'll need a photo editing program for this.)

Treasure hunt: take a baggie with you and pick up things that look interesting. Make a charm bracelet or sculpture out of what you find.

Read. Go to the library and check out fresh reading material.

Take a walk.

Write down your wildest fantasy.

Daydream.

Go to a thrift store with $10. Create an outfit with that amount. See if you can include shoes, as well.

Pick up every free publication in town and critique the articles.

More tips to come!

Saving Money at my Favorite Place on Earth

My $10.20 hat.

Last Saturday, I went to Cedar Point for the second time this season. Seeing as that I've not had a real vacation in seven years, I think going to CP twice in one season is totally justified. The place just makes me happy--riding Millennium Force is better than having sex AND an orgasm, and I wish I could bottle the feeling I get when I ride it.

Even though I had a little more money to spend this time around, I didn't go hog wild. Here's some tips for saving money at Sandusky's best-known attraction.

Pack food: I packed three ham sandwiches, six cans of Caffeine-Free Coke, four cookies, a third of a bag of Lays Classic Potato Chips, a baggie full of veggies, and a couple of protein meal bars, along with some water. I figure if I were to buy the equivalent amount of food in the park, it would have set me back at least $60. As it was, I had the urge for french fries, so later on in the evening I had some, washed down with Coke. I was disappointed with the fries--they looked burnt and were a little soggy. I think that little snack set me back about $11. I was still jonesing for fries, so after I left the park, I stopped at McD's and bought a large order of french fries. It was the same amount of food for less than $2, and I drank one of my cans of soda. The fries were superior to CP's offering, and cost a fraction of the amount. CP knows it has a captive audience, and few people are going to drive a two-mile causeway to leave the park looking for better-tasting food at a cheaper price. So pack some food and save some money.

Check for discounted tickets: Meijer's is a regional grocery chain, and they sell admission for CP for $10 off. It's not that big of a discount, but it's something, at least. You also get a discount if you stay at one of the resorts, but cheapskate that I am, I usually make CP a one day trip, even though it's a hell of a long day. I think there's a Subway on route 250 that offers $10 off admission, but I forget what you have to buy in order to get that.

Buying gas: Check for any price wars going on in town, and fill up the night before you leave. If you can possibly swing it, fill up mid-week, then try not to drive anywhere until the day you leave. (I know for some of you, that might be impossible.)

Don't buy souvenirs: I know it's tempting, but try not to buy any trinkety things if you can help it. If you must buy something, get an article of clothing, or a beach towel. That way, you'll get some use out of it. I usually take a walk on the beach and collect shells and whatnot. I plan to make a CP necklace out of shells, and wood, and various bones I found on my August trip. I also got a tiny glass bottle charm, and I've got sand and shells in that which I'll string on the necklace. Instead, take lots of pictures and make enlargements of them, or get footage for a CP video.

Skill games: Unless you are a master, avoid these money-draining activities. I did play a ring toss game this recent trip. I didn't win anything, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that buying a hatful of rings enabled me to keep the hat. This game was located in Frontiertown. If you are going to play a skill game, check to see if you actually get anything for your money. I had fun playing, but $10 is a lot of money to spend on five minutes tossing rings. However, I DID get a hat. Never mind that the hat probably cost 20 cents to make, in my mind, the game wasn't a total loss.

Check the weather and dress accordingly: I saw that it was going to rain that day, so I packed an emergency poncho that I'd bought years ago and never used. It only cost me a dollar at Dollar General. Sure, I could have bought a blue poncho with Cedar Point emblazoned on the back, but I didn't even want to ask how much these pieces of plastic went for. (Probably at least $5, even though they probably cost 20 cents to make.)

Bring your own meds: Sure, they have Dramamine for sale, and probably an assortment of painkillers, but be smart and bring your own. I had some aspirin in case of a headache, but it was smooth sailing at CP, despite the rain. It cleared up, the temperature was great and I was happy. I heart you, CP.

A Short Tip for a Short Post

Buy low, sell high.

Working on a Cash Basis

I've been trying to purchase everything for cash and not rely so much on my debit card. There are some things I still pay for with checks, like utilities. But the day-to-day items I've been purchasing with cash. The couple exceptions where I didn't bring enough cash, I DID rely on my debit card. I deposited some money to make up for my sin. But it was nice to know I did have money in my account to cover my error.

I'm doing this because I have been overdrawn quite frequently. Seems like whenever I check my account balance, all seems to be well. I have $200 until my next payday. Then, I buy something for $50, and the next time I check, I'm overdrawn. So I've decided to take out enough money every few days to cover the purchases I need to make. As for shopping online, I think I might buy one of those Visa cards you can put money on and use that.

So after I'm done shopping, I sort out my cash and see what I have. Whatever fives and ones I have, that goes into a box. When I get up to $100, I plan to put half in my IRA and the other half I will treat myself with. Or, I might keep a few ones for the next shopping trip. It's too stressful to worry constantly if I'm going to be overdrawn. But I'm getting paid on all three of my jobs, and as someone said to me, it's easier to manage money if you have money to manage. I'm not rich by anyone's standards, but having income from a third job is helping me. It means I can go to the grocery store and spend $100 and be okay about it.

So you might want to consider going to a cash basis. I tend to spend more when I use plastic. When you are actually shelling out cash, you stop and look around for bargains a bit more, and figure out what you can get this shopping trip and what you can live without. If it helps, make a game out of it. Improvise until payday, if you need to. Each day I spend out of the store means more cash for me.