C IS FOR: CREDIT CARDS,COST CUTTING, COUPONS, CARPOOLING/COMMUTE OPTIONS, CONSERVING, COUCHSURFING, CREATIVITY AND WHATEVER ELSE COMES TO MIND

Before I charge off on credit cards and cost cutting and all the rest of it, I need to say one more thing about celebrations.  Today my oldest child turns 18 years old.  Although technically still a teen, legally an adult.  Change and celebrations are big in our household these days! 

 

H A P P Y    B I R T H D A Y!!!

Credit Cards

 

I’ve already covered how I feel about credit cards and credit card debt.  You may recall in my first blog I talked about how we pay off our credit card each month.  And, in my second blog entry I challenged readers to go without their plastic money for a week. 

 

I’ve had another opportunity to go without my credit card.  Last weekend we received a call from our credit union asking us to verify a number of recent purchases.  Guess what?  There was one purchase we didn’t recognize... it was a $450+ purchase made in California for building supplies…made at 7:30 in the morning.  NOPE – wasn’t us - and with that our credit card account was frozen.  While I feel really good about the constant vigilance of our credit card company to look for fraud, it makes me feel very uneasy to see just how easy it is for folks to rip off someone else’s account.

 

*Note:  Turns out that it wasn’t fraudulent activity afterall….it was a bill we didn’t recognize, but in the end legitimate.  Nonetheless, our old cards have been shredded and we’re awaiting new ones.

 

Cost Cutting and Coupons

Cost cutting and coupons go hand-in-hand.  I’ll admit something; I’m excellent at cost cutting, but I’m not very good at the coupon cutting.  My mother was a pro at coupon cutting.  It was more or less her other job.  She’d spend hours each week cutting coupons and organizing them by categories.  Then when we went shopping she’d whip out her coupon organizer (which wasn’t terribly organized) and find which commodity went with each coupon.  While it was insanely time consuming (and kind of drove me batty), she was able to save significant sums of money on our grocery bill.

 

I think coupons can be extremely effective and I know many people who have saved significant sums of money by using coupons on a regular basis.  I want to share two websites for coupons.  One website ranks the top ten coupon services and the other website ranks the top 25 money saving coupon blogs.  Click on the hyperlinks below for more information:

 

 

Online Coupon Service Review -- toptenreviews

 

 

Faithfully Frugal and Free Top 25 Frugal Money Saving Coupon Blogs

 

 

Carpooling/Commute Options

 

Depending on where you live, carpooling or other commute options can either be quite practical, or downright difficult.  I live in the latter category.  Carpooling happens where I live, but it isn’t really incentivized or in any way built into the infrastructure.  When I lived in Washington state, at the base of the Olympic peninsula, there were two things I remember about carpooling. First, there were these state established carpool parking areas, scattered about the region.  Next along the I-5 corridor, there were lanes especially designated for carpooling.  Carpooling was much more practical, and as a result, used quite a bit.

 

Commute options is as it sounds…an option or an alternative to the “normal” way of transporting oneself.  We do have a “Commute Options” week where I live, but I feel like the participation rate amongst community members isn’t that high.  The primary reason is that there just aren’t a lot of good alternatives to driving one’s car.  There is public transportation, but it’s not very convenient, dial-a-ride service, taxi transportation and there are those who are compelled to transporting oneself by personal steam (i.e.,walk, run, bike, skate, scooter).  By and large, the vast majority of people drive their car, day in and day out.

 

I just learned that the Oregon Department of Transportation sponsors a program called “Drive Less Connect”.  Who knew?  The things one learns when one starts to write a blog and enjoys sharing resources with others!  The huge bummer about Drive Less Connect…is that it doesn’t serve the county I live in.  Here are two links you might have interest in.  The first is a short youtube video about this program and the second is the website.

 

Youtube Drive Less Connect

 

 

Drive Less Connect

 

 

Conserving

 

This goes without saying.  Conserving our precious natural resources; conserving our commodities, conserving in general is a fundamental principle in our golden living.  What this means on a day-to-day level is this: we consciously and conscientiously think about the things we buy, whether it be food, clothing, electronics, household good, etc.  We have a set of guiding principles, and then once we buy, we use what we buy wisely.  At the end (if there is an endpoint), we might compost, donate or re-purpose before we ever think about discarding. 

 

CouchSurfing

 

I’ve already talking quite a bit about CouchSurfing.  It is a fascinating social phenomenon.  Perhaps it’s not for everyone; but we really, really enjoy both being a host and “surfers”.  As hosts and as surfers we don’t just willy-nilly take everyone who asks to stay with us and we don’t just willy-nilly stay in any old place.  No, we try to be judicious and prudent and selective, not only for reasons of personal security and safety, but because we want the interchange to be interesting.  Again, as I mentioned, CouchSurfing is much more popular in non-USA countries and amongst the younger generation.  However, as US citizens that don’t quite meet the criteria for “the younger generation”, we plan to continue with our CouchSurfing experiences.

 

Creativity

 

Creativity is essential for solving problems, especially ones that involve living on a golden shoestring.  It seems like there’s never enough money to do that which we want, but there is….there really is.  One needs to be creative and think differently than expected.  How???

 

Buy less

Buy used

Don’t buy (barter, share)

Walk

Use a Bike (no matter your age!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carpool

Plant a garden

Cook at home

 

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You guessed, it…after the “C’s”, comes “D”.  I think next week I’ll focus on debt related issues…and whatever else comes to mind  -- or whatever else you’d like to discuss.

 

It's time for a disclaimer:

I’m not a financial planner, nor am I a business guru. What I am is a very practical person with (as my mother always said) “a good head on her shoulders”. I have good common sense and am old enough to trust my inner core and follow my instincts.