Hat Tricks Earth and Pocketbook Friendly Hats

Be kind to the earth as well as kind to your pocketbook! Re-purpose your excess jarred candle wax as well as other household items to get every penny's worth of scent as well being good to the environment!

Frugal Financier

How many of you are in charge of some part of your household finances? Maybe you work very hard outside the home and add income into the family budget monthly. Possibly, you have sacrificed a paycheck to become one of the very hard working but unpaid workforce (stay at home mom - or dad as the case may be). Possibly you carry the responsibility of managing all or part of the family monthly budget.

You do have a budget don't you.......

Sorry, that's another blog post.

When we put on our frugal financier hats, we show our kids the value of a dollar. We teach them how to spend wisely, how to make most financial choices based out of need - not want. We show them that money is not an unlimited resource, but a resource that needs to be treated with responsibility and with respect for the hard work that is put into obtaining it.

This is what my frugal financier hat looks like when I am wearing it in front of my girls:

1. We do go shopping. However, the vast majority of the time we spend shopping is when they NEED something. When we go, we have a great time searching clearance racks, closeout stores and yes, even Good Will. It almost becomes a game of who can find the best bargain.

2. At the beginning of the school year, we have a set dollar amount for new clothing for the girls. They each have a certain allotment and are responsible to pick out what they need, but still stay within the budget. If there is any left over, they can pick out what they "want".

3. We eat out on occasion. However, we make most of our meals at home. In fact, we sit down to dinner as a family at our dining room table at least 5 times a week. We have discussed the benefits of cooking at home with the girls - healthier, needed life skills, less expensive than eating out.

4. We live on a written monthly budget and allow certain dollar amounts for certain activities. our children are aware of this budget and understand the concept of budgeting.

Now there are many other ways I wear this hat. There are probably too many to list here. I believe it is important to set a good example for my children when it comes to finances. In this world and this economy, no one can afford to be financially foolish. If I wear this hat often, I hope I teach my girls the financial commonsense they will need to make wise financial decisions when they are older.

I challenge you to think of 4 ways that you wear your frugal financier hat.

Get Your Pink On!

Pink is the new black....well at least in the month of October. In stores, newspaper advertisements and magazine articles you will see this color permeating our consumer landscape. Will you cave to societal or peer pressure and jump on the new color trend? Will you outfit yourself or your home with this rosy hue? Are you willing to go pink and support breast cancer research?

If so, read on....

Now I don't advocate going out and spending money just for the sake of spending money. But, if you are in the market for something in particular and are going to be spending your dough anyway, you may as well support a good cause. Right now you have the chance to get a little shopping done for yourself or for the upcoming holidays and support breast cancer research at the same time.

Here are some ways you can GET YOUR PINK ON!*

Pink and pretty...
Payless shoe source is offering a silver toned ribbon charm on a pink cord for $2 and is donating a portion to breast cancer research. In addition, the bracelet packaging has a $5 coupon off of a $25 purchase. But you better hurry! because the coupon is only valid from October 21 through November 3, 2008.

New York & Company stores are offering a pretty pink limited edition lip gloss for $3 with $1 from the sale being donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Pink and Practical...
Don't forget the batteries to go along with the holiday gifts you'll be giving this year. Why not purchase Energizer MAX batteries that have a special offer of a Stephanie Johnson Cosmetic Bag. For each bag shipped, Energizer will donate $1 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure ($10,000 minimum donation; up to $15,000 maximum donation)

Pink and Think...
Think environmentally friendly. Many grocery stores are offering reusable shopping bags and donating some or all of the proceeds from the sales of the pink pouches to breast cancer research foundations. The bags cost $1-2 each.

Britta's Grand Pitcher with free Nalgene bottle lets you not only be good to the environment, but also to your body! The pink pitcher filters your drinking water as well as raises awareness of breast health. Britta is offering $50000 donation to the City of Hope with no purchase necessary. But come on...if you need it anyway, may as well get the pink!

Pink and Perfect...
Search online for designers that are carrying or creating lines of clothing with proceeds that benefit breast cancer research. Some great items can be found at www.pinkitude.com. You just might find that perfect accessory that you've been looking for.

Pink and the Kitchen Sink...
Well, not really the sink - but things you might find in the kitchen. The Houdini corkscrew (Metrokane) is donating 2% 0of each purchase to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

The Taylor pink glass digital food scale is a reminder of breast cancer awareness. Taylor will donate $10,000 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. No Purchase is necessary, but again, why not go pink?

Kitchen Aid products have been available in pink for some time now. Check out the Kitchenaid website to see how a purchase of one of their pink products can benefit breast cancer research.

Pink and Pick-up
Now there is no way around it. We all must do some housework. Why not do it in style with one of many household items that come in pink?

Dyson is offering an upright vacuum and a hand vac in pink with a portion of the proceeds being donated to The Breast Cancer Research Foundations. Check out their website for details and where you can find the product.

Shark is donating $1 from the sale of each Shark Steam Mop to Breastcancer.org.

There are too many pink items out there for one person to list. Check out your local stores, your newspapers and internet searches for more items that help to raise breast cancer awareness and support funding for research.

Now that you have some information - go and GET YOUR PINK ON!

*Information was gathered through local newspapers, internet searches and website information. Check product websites for availability and donation details.

Today's Hat....Economizer

This morning, I economized! The three things I did in the first three hours of my day saved us about $17.00. I know that doesn't sound like much, but the cumulative effect of saving that much a few times a month can grow into quite a sum!

A little background on how and why I economize.......

Over the years, my husband has been called many things. He's been referred to as fiscally conservative, financially conscientious, frugal, and even... cheap. I must admit, that I may have added to the stigma in the first few years of our marriage as I used to tease him about it. But as time has gone on, I have adopted and even promote a lot of his thinking about money.

Since the beginning of our marriage we have lived on some sort of a budget. When we were first starting out we did have to watch every penny. A few years into our marriage and just before the birth our our second child, I was laid off from my job. After a few months, we decided that, for us, the best decision was for me not to go back to work. Because I contributed about 40% of our income, it took a lot of adjusting. That meant spending habits had to be dramatically altered. Every penny going out was divided into a NEED or WANT category. If it was a WANT, it usually had to wait.

As the years went by and income pressures eased, we didn't feel the day to day stress of where every penny went. With a lot of thought and consideration, we could give in to some of the wants. But, we knew that looming somewhere off in the future was college for three kids, weddings for three daughters, and retirement for us. So......the budgeting continued. In fact, it still continues today, and has become a lifestyle.

It hasn't always been easy. We always had necessities covered, but there were and are a lot of luxuries we still do without. We didn't always communicate effectively about our expectations about finances. But, time has ironed out most of the kinks and we are know pretty comfortable and at peace with the financial life we have chosen to live.

The things I used to tease my husband about have become an important part of preparing for our future. To him, I apologize if I helped to bolster his reputation for being.....frugal. In truth, his reputation should be financially responsible.

So let me share with you how I economized this morning. I rode my bike to the coffee shop I frequent. Instead of burning gasoline, I burned my own bio-mass and saved about $3.00. I brought my refill mug to drink my coffee in and saved $1.00. I made a purchase of some new workout clothes(partly want, but mostly need) using a coupon that I almost threw away and saved $13.00.

These were all easy and painless ways to save money that any one can adopt. Your choice of beverage or mode of alternate transportation may be different, but I dare you to ask yourself,"How can I economize today?"