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Financial Journey
(featured column)
Think
Outside the Box and You Will Prevail
by
Karen Kuebler
There is no
doubt that times are really tough right now. My husband and I are suffering from
many of the financial issues that are affecting our entire nation. At
BetterBudgeting.com we work hard to enlighten, inspire, and uplift our readers
through our articles. Our purpose is to encourage and motivate our readers. Over
time, I have learned that the teacher oftentimes learns more than the student!
Whenever I share with others about the
various ways I save or earn money, it reminds me to focus on my own qualities of
resourcefulness and persistence. We all have been given fantastic qualities and
talents, but once in awhile we need a little kick from ourselves, or others, to
remind us of how much we are capable of doing!
As I write this, I am focusing on the last
couple of months, and just a few very simple things that have enabled us to save
a lot of money.
 | For
Christmas, I found a beautiful pattern of a wire heart and colored marbles
wrapped in the wire. I embellished them by hanging a special charm on the
inside of each heart – I used a variety of items, including lonely
earrings that had been separated from the pair long ago. I also pick up
charms, earrings, and other pieces of jewelry from garage sales for pennies.
We have a very large family. I made a couple dozen of these while we watched
favorite programs at night time. They made beautiful gifts, while costing
very little outlay of money.
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| After
making all of these hearts, I realized I can simplify my gift giving by
finding something simple that I can make for all of our family members. I
bought some beautiful candles and vases (either on sale or at garage sales)
and purchased long strands of beautifully colored beads (using my 40% off
coupon at Joann’s). It takes less than five minutes to hot glue the beads
around the candle or vase and cover the seam with a small flower or bead
using the hot glue gun. It was
becoming so overwhelming that I was at the point of simplifying or giving up
on gifts altogether!
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| I
have donated to favorite charitable organizations for both Christmas and
birthday gifts, and sent a card to let our loved one know that a donation
was made in their name toward a particular charity. I work at pairing the
charity to our interests and those of family members and friends (they
really don’t have to know how much money you sent the charity).
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| Okay,
this one is so simple but has saved lots of money! We are keeping our car in
the garage 3-4 days of the week. Not only does our tank of gasoline last at
least a month or more, but I’m not spending money at stores. It is so easy
to stop at the store and spend only $10-$15 a visit, but that adds up to $30
to $60 a week! And I have found that the days I do stop at a store, I
don’t spend 3 or 4 times as much on items as I would have – I just buy
exactly what I NEED, and any really good sale items. (Editor's Note:
Karen and her husband are both retired but we can all use our cars less
often and save money in similar ways. Just do what you can, it all
adds up!)
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| Every
week I check the grocery ads that come out and I go to one store that will
price match the sales of all the stores. I keep the ads in the car, and make
a list to remind me what I want to buy. Sometimes I find that by the time I
get to the store, I don’t really
need some of the items on my list. I also match up coupons I have to my
list. Most of the stores in our town double the coupon price all month long,
but if I lived in a town that only did this on particular days, I would
align my shopping with their "double off" coupon days. Some stores
do not offer double coupons at all.
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| I
go to one store in town that sells natural and organic foods to buy my herbs
and spices. I love to cook with lots of seasoning. I recently have used up
several, but I am keeping a list going and find different herbs to use in
the meantime. This forces me to use up other herbs and spices that I might
not have used otherwise. The herbs and spices sold in bins are so much less
expensive than buying name brands in a grocery store. I just fill my bottles
after I get home. The store I shop at also offers a senior discount of 10%
daily, so I take my husband with me and wait until I really have to buy
several items in order to save more. Unfortunately, it won’t be too long
before I can go shopping myself to get the senior discount!
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| I
plant my favorite herbs on our deck during spring through fall. I am getting
much better about pruning them on a regular basis and drying the herbs
(upside down tied with a twist tie or rubber band) in our pantry. When they
are dry, it is so easy to remove the leaves and grind with my fingers. This
keeps me happy in herbs all year long!
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| There
are several stores in our town that offer senior discounts on particular
days of the week or month. I have created a list so that I can make sure I
take advantage of non-urgent sales and specials I want to purchase, and get
the additional advantage of senior discounts.
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| One
of our favorite hobbies is to watch movies. I won’t tell you how many we
have recorded because you probably wouldn’t believe it and it is also very
embarrassing! We belong to Netflix and have definitely received the value
from this membership. However, we suspended our membership for 3 months and
recently extended the suspension. We have so many movies we haven’t
watched, or kept them because we love them and haven’t seen them in a long
time. We are staying very entertained by watching the gazillion movies we
have collected over the years!
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| I
sometimes amaze myself with the creativity that is inside of me when I
don’t even realize it. I’ve been using that creativity to use food in
our freezer and pantry which has really reduced our expenditures on
groceries the last few months. Our freezer is still stuffed. I have a
difficult time not replenishing certain foods we eat regularly when they are
offered as loss leaders during the weekly sales. We definitely won’t go
hungry, and when it is snowing for several days as it is now, I know we have
whatever we need to fix new and surprising meals. I plan to follow this for
the next few months to save money and use our stock of food already in our
pantry and freezer. It doesn’t take a lot to make me happy! When my
husband loves a meal I fixed using my creativity it gives me a warm and
fuzzy feeling! Also, this keeps us from wanting to go out to eat at
restaurants, which has saved a lot of money.
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| If
my husband gets the urge for some fast food, we have an unspoken agreement.
He buys something from the value menu, and we rarely spend over $2.15 for a
meal. He’s so skinny that he is trying to gain some weight, so he can get
away with this! |
Nothing that I have described is
extraordinary, but it has saved us a lot of money over the last few months. I
hope that some of these ideas will inspire all of our readers to use your own
creativity and talents to help you to reach your personal financial goals.
Thinking outside of the box is a powerful way to achieve goals you might have
thought were not possible! Here is my wish for each and every one of us for this
year -- a unique, creative, prosperous and dynamic year that will allow us to
utilize our special abilities.
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Copyright
© 2009 by Karen Kuebler. All rights reserved. Want more
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