The Best Things in Life Are Free: At Least, TV's are Free

There's no reason to spend a lot of money on a fancy television.  The world is literally awash in perfectly good TV sets.  You can pick them up for free by the curb, on craiglist, and by apartment complex trash compactors.  Here's how to the put a free TV to good use:

How to Make the Most of a Free TV

By John Atherton [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Saving on the Water Bill: Taking Shorter Showers!

Our water bill has just gone up!  We're putting in maintenance requests for anything that looks like a slow leak and we're trying to conserve water.  Here is a very useful article:

Eight Ways to Take A Short Shower

How to Flip Your Way to a Better Car

Every American wants a nicer car!  In a country of highways, bi-ways, and scenic routes, a decent car seems like a God-given right.  Unfortunately, having a decent car is hard when you are flat broke.  However, there are ways to work your way up to a cool car.  There are also ways to make extra money buying and selling used cars.

Check out this entry on car flipping on Side Hustle Nation:

 Side Hustle Nation: Car Flipping 

Eating Cheap!

My wife recently found an interesting blog for foodies who are on a tight budget:  The 99 Cent Chef.  It provides lots of ideas for meals where the main ingredient is only 99 cents.  He even features foods from the 99 cent store.  Every once in awhile, we will buy food from a dollar store.  However, we aren't very trusting of food Made in China.  We'll buy American-made foods and brand-name foods that we recognize at the dollar store from time to time.  But, watch out!  Sometimes canned foods at the dollar store aren't a good deal simply because the same canned food might cost less than $1 at the grocery store.

Instead of resorting to fast food, next time you may be able to whip up something good like this Peruvian creole dish called Ají de gallina..

By Dtarazona (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Cleaning Products for $1

If you want to save serious money, you need to check out your local dollar stores.  You can save serious money on lots of basic products like household cleaners.  On a recent visit to Dollar Tree, we were pleased to get a wide variety of cleaning products for only $1 each.  At the grocery store, you'd easily pay 3 or 4 times as much.

Planning for Your Economic Survival

It's hard to even imagine planning for the future when you are flat broke. But, when things are at their worst, you really do need to be at your best. You have to have a good head on your shoulders and you have to try and make good decisions for yourself and your family. One thing that you have to do is try to make a good solid plan for surviving in a turbulent economy.  Unfortunately, there are worse things than having a budget that is a little tight.  Here is more information about surviving in a rough economy.

Building an Economic Survival Plan 

By Elena Chochkova (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Set Goals to Survive an Economic Downturn 

Attention! Attention! Your lifestyle is under attack. In an era of economic uncertainty, the living and lifestyle of many middle class Americans is being severely threatened. Even stable, profitable, enterprises are using the recession as an excuse to cut, outsource, and restructure their workforces. So, no matter how safe your job may appear, you must have a solid economic survival plan in place.
When you create your economic survival plan, you'll have to set forth your overall goals, objectives on the way to achieving your goals, specific work steps to take towards your objectives, timetables for reaching your objectives, and a budget for achieving your objectives. Some of the goals, objectives, and priorities you should consider when creating your economic survival plan might include:

1) Cash Reserves - The importance of a strong cash reserve cannot be underestimated. Ideally, you should have six months of living expenses in your savings account. As part of your plan, you should identify a fixed amount to deposit into savings each month.

2) Reduced Debt Levels - After building a cash reserve, it is important to reduce the overall amount of debt hanging over your family. Generally, it's best to eliminate the highest interest debt first. As part of your plan, you should list out your creditors, debts, and interest rates. Then, you can come up with a plan of attack to lower your interest rates and pay off some debt.

3) Alternate Revenue Streams - If you can generate extra income without alienating your friends and relatives, now is the time to start. If you can generate additional income from your hobbies or write, do it. You never know when you might need the extra money.

4) Lowered Expenses - Even as you bring in extra income, you have to lower your expenses. It's time to squeeze the waste out of your family budget. If you don't watch your movie channels, drop them. If you don't need four sodas a day at work, stop drinking them. If you can eat a few extra super cheap meals at home each week, the savings will add up.

5) A Paid Off Vehicle - The bank can't repossess a vehicle that you own outright. You can't get to a job interview without reliable transportation. It makes sense for a family to always own at least one vehicle outright.

6) An Interview Suit - If a layoff rocks your world, the last thing you'll want to do is shop for clothes using your dwindling severance pay. Gentlemen, get your interview suit, shirt, shoes, socks, and tie in order now.

7) An Updated Resume - This is a good time to quietly update your resume. Have some friends and relatives review it and check for misspellings and typos. There is nothing worse than sending out a flawed resume to dozens of employers.

8) An Backup Profession - If your job function was suddenly moved to a third world country where everyone apparently has five years of experience in your profession, what is your Plan B? It might be worthwhile to think of and lay the groundwork for alternative professions now rather than in the middle of a personal crisis.

9) A Training Plan - This economic downturn is a great time to skill up for the challenges ahead. When you take on new training, be wary of scams and look for something that will provide a verifiable return on your investment.

10) A Political Strategy - If your livelihood is being threatened by foreign competition, mass immigration, or Wall Street greed, you must make your views known to your political representatives. Instead of going quietly, go to Congress.org and lobby your elected officials. Take on the banks, corporate leaders, and outsourcing firms.

11) Get into shape - A job layoff is extremely stressful. The uncertainty will spike your blood pressure and keep you up late into the night. Make sure you have the stamina to withstand the experience. If you've been putting off visits to the doctor, make sure you take care of things now while you still have health insurance.

12) Network - It takes time to build a professional network through linkedin.com, professional associations, and civic groups. You need to start the process well before you become unemployed.
There are alot of things to do to get a solid footing in this economy. Your economic survival plan will prioritize your goals and set specific timetables for achieving them.

Dollar Store Dude Lit: Big Sid's Vincati

Book Review: Big Sid's Vincati - the Story of a Father, a Son, and the Motorcycle of a Lifetime

Even if you are broke, you can still find something good to read.  If you shop at Dollar Tree, you may have noticed that they have a great selection of hardback books.  Perhaps the books have improved because they have close out merchandise from the Borders bankruptcy?  Who knows!  However, I recently found and read a great book about a English professor who builds motorcycles with his elderly father.  The title says it all:  Big Sid's Vincati - the Story of a Father, a Son, and the Motorcycle of a Lifetime.  You can read my complete review here:

Big Sid's Vincati tells the story of a father and son quest to build a legendary motorcycle that combines the powerful engine of a British Vincent and the sleek chassis of an Italian Ducati. But, this is much more than a biker book.

Book Review: Big Sid's Vincati by Matthew Biberman
Hudson Street Press, New York, 2009


140 miles per hour! Before I read this book, I didn't even know that vintage motorcycles could aspire to such speeds. Matthew Biberman is a college professor. His father, Sid, is a famous motorcycle mechanic and tuner. In simple terms, Big Sid's Vincati tells the story of how the two went on a quest to build a legendary vintage motorcycle that combines the powerful engine of a British Vincent and the sleek chassis of an Italian Ducati. If the book was simply filled with memorable motorcycling adventures, mechanical challenges, and moments of genius, it would be a good read. But, just as the Vincati is much more than a motorcycle, Big Sid's Vincati is more than a biker book. You don't even have to be a motorcyclist to enjoy this book.

Vincent Black Lightning [By private, with permission of the author (private) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons]

As a narrative, Big Sid's Vincati addresses many themes. At it's heart, this is the story of how an adult son connected with his aging father by building motorcycles and particularly the Vincati. The reader learns how both men came of age as motorcyclists. It shows Sid and his son dealing with the issue of mortality. It offers a glimpse at how men struggle to keep dreams alive amid the challenges of daily life, family life, and medical issues. It shows how Matthew and his father struggled with the rivalry between a stubborn father and an independent son or vice versa. Every man with a consuming hobby can relate to the struggle to carve out hobby time while maintaining quality time with one's wife.

The themes addressed in this book are deep and many men lack the self-awareness to even articulate the existence of these issues. But, Matthew Biberman's prose is always warm and readable. As the book motors along, Big Sid's Vincati never becomes too wordy, maudlin, or sentimental. While the personal themes play out and Matthew and his family members grow and evolve, there are plenty of exciting blasts down country roads on powerful motorcycles to keep it all an adventure.

Black Shadow Engine [By Mark Robinson (originally posted to Flickr as Power) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons]

Matthew Biberman wrote that he had once dreamed of writing the great American novel. Instead, by writing what he knows and writing from his heart, Biberman has written a great American story. You learn a little about motorcycles and a lot about people as you read Big Sid's Vincati. I highly recommend this book. Besides, whenever an English professor writes about something other than deconstructionist, feminist, paramarxist perspectives on gender roles in The Canterbury Tales, that effort should be praised and rewarded. Maybe we'll get more Dude Lit for real guys?

For the record, an expensive hobby like vintage motorcycle restoration is an excellent way to end up flat broke.  Vicarious biking adventures from Dollar Tree are much less expensive!  While I'm sure this title is cleared out from Dollar Tree, it is still available on Amazon.

How to Save Even More Money on Fast Food

It seems like we've been on a pretty tight budget for a long time.  We've even got the whole McDonald's "Dollar Menu-Aire" thing down to a science.  When we're tight on cash, we can get in and out for almost nothing.
 

Four Amazingly Simple Ways to Save Money at the Fast Food Drive Through Window

When McDonald's introduced their dollar menu, it was a cool way to save a little money. Everyone loved their commercials introducing a new class of citizens: The Dollar Menu-aires. Now more fast food restaurants have value menus and more people than ever are ordering off of dollar menus. However, there are a few little tricks that can help you save even more money when you order off of the dollar menu.

1. Bring A Limited Amount of Cash. If you know that you will be ordering a McDouble, a side salad, and any size tea for $1 at McDonalds, don't show up with a $20 bill. You'll be driving past pictures of Big Macs, Super-Sized Fries, and Delicious Coffee drinks. But, if you only bring $3.50, you won't be ordering any of the expensive stuff. You'll be ordering the meal you originally planned to buy.

2. Bring a Cooler and Water. When money is tight, I'll throw a few bottles of water into a small cooler and bring those with me to the fast food drive through. It's an easy way to save a few calories and a couple of bucks at the fast food window. Even if you bring a soda from home, you'll be paying just a fraction of the price of soda at the fast food window.

3. Do Dinner or Dessert - Not Both. There's no reason to take in all the calories of fast food for both dinner and dessert. You've got to pace yourself a bit. We enjoy the new Oreo Ice Cream sandwiches at our local Steak-n-Shake. They are sinfully, delicious, and only $1. For just over $2, we get a little bit of heaven and we don't break the bank. We also impose a little bit of portion control by just getting one apiece.

4. Count the Carbs. If you are a guy, 60 to 65 grams of carbohydrates should suffice for a meal. For breakfast, that equates to roughly two Egg McMuffins at McDonalds and a bottle of water. At McDonalds for lunch, that pretty much provides for one premium burger or two smaller burgers up to a McDouble off of the Dollar Menu. You can forget the fries and you can forget the soda. You did bring the cooler right?

While it can feel a little strange not to order a super-sized value meal and it can be a little embarrassing to hand the crew member a crumpled dollar bill and 6 quarters to pay for your whole fast food order, your body and your budget will thank you for exercising a little restraint and a little self-control when you order fast food.