Happy Monday, all!

An easy trap that we can all fall into is getting used to paying too much for things. I was at Kroger the other day looking for Gluten Free Donuts for my girlfriend (who has celiac), and I thought "Six dollars for six tiny frozen donuts??" and then realized that I don't really bat an eye at spending $7 for two coffees once a month or so at Starbucks.

Yesterday, there was a new article on The Consumerist (a favorite site of mine) about this very topic! It's a sign. Click below to see the article!

Link to The Consumerist

Casual Friday

When I used to work corporate, we had a "casual friday." My boss was a horrible hosebeast, so her idea of "casual" was: standard work attire + jeans - no sneakers, t-shirts, etc. In addition, if you wanted to wear jeans, you had to donate $1 to a charity (changed by the month). Naturally, I didn't mind giving to the charity (usually a children's charity or women's shelter), but the idea made me think - what a great way to save up some money!

This is a technique to help you cover a smallish expense every month - maybe a cable bill, or gas money. Try to find something you do every day (and enjoy!), like drinking a cup of coffee, drinking a soda, having some candy/chips/whatever. Just make sure it's something you enjoy. Then, every time you do this thing, put a set amount of money aside (if you can afford it, a dollar is great!) - make sure you have the cash to do it! If you run out of cash, you don't get to do it! So if it's coffee for example, you might save up $60 a month without really trying that hard!

Obviously this doesn't work for every situation, but if you can find something that works for you, some little vice that you can pay a dollar each time for, then it can be an easy way to keep your Animal Planet subscription!

Thursday's Thriller!

On the extremely well-designed minimalist site zenhabits.net, they've compiled 106 of the best money-saving tips from the Bargainist. I really reocmmend the ways to save on groceries (No. 5) and the ways to lower your electric bill (No. 8) - beware vampire appliances! :F

106 Money-Saving Tips

On the subject of making money, I just want to share this great song by the Canadian artist Jon LaJoie. He is my hero. If an unknown guy from Canada can make his name with some crazy songs, maybe you could too!

Another day, another dollar

Here are five good tips I found on thesimpledollar.com.  The one about TV is especially useful - between TV and internet forums, we waste a lot of time we could use making money!

1. Switch your bank accounts to a bank that respects you. You shouldn’t be spending your hard-earned money on maintenance fees – you also should be earning some serious interest on your checking and savings accounts. I use ING Direct as my primary bank – I earn roughly 3% on my checking account and 3.4% on my savings account and they’ve never dinged me with a fee. Here’s a guide on how to make that switch.
2. Turn off the television. One big way to save money is to watch less television. There are a lot of financial benefits to this: less exposure to guilt-inducing ads, more time to focus on other things in life, less electrical use, and so on. It’s great to unwind in the evening, but seek another hobby to do that.
3. Turn a critical eye to your “collections.” Most people collect something – what do you collect? Is it something that consistently brings you joy? Or is it something that you just do out of habit at this point? Does the collection itself have value? Could you perhaps “trim the fat” from this collection by getting rid of duplicates or getting rid of the items you no longer use? Also, could you perhaps cut down on your spending on that hobby? Focus on trimming the things you don’t feel strongly about – if you dig into things that bother you, you’re going to eventually relapse.
4. Sign up for every free customer rewards program you can. Even if you rarely shop at that place, having a rewards card for that place will eventually net you some coupons and discounts. Here’s the basic game plan for maximizing these programs: create a Gmail address just for these mailings, collect every card you can, and then check that account for extra coupons whenever you’re ready to shop.
5. Make your own gifts instead of buying stuff from the store. You can make food mixes, candles, bread, cookies, soap, and all kinds of other things at home quite easily and inexpensively. These make spectacular gifts for others because they involve your homemade touch, plus quite often they’re consumable, meaning they don’t wind up filling someone’s closet with junk. Even better – include a personal handwritten note with the gift. This will make it even more special than anything you could possibly buy down at the mall, plus it saves you money.

-credit to thesimpledollar.com

How to Freelance

I freelance for a living, and there are a few tips I would recommend:
*  If you speak any languages other than English, check out translatorscafe.com and proz.com - you can make semi-decent money doing small translation projects.
*  Check out elance.com - they have a lot of little logo projects, etc. that will let you make anywhere from $50-500.  Unfortunately, they usually go with the lowest bidder, but you could get lucky.  Make a portfolio site, even if it's just on dA.

Check this one out, my Brothers!

This is a good vid on Youtube about finding recession-proof employment.
Howdini vid