I challenge everyone to do one positive thing for your finances this weekend.

It doesn’t have to be big.

Here are a few ideas:

• Shop around for your cable, cell phone, insurance or other services and see if you can get a better rate
• Take your change to the bank
• Post some things for sale on Craigslist
• Open an online savings account
• Start getting things together for a garage sale
• Cut coupons out of the Sunday paper
• Calculate your net worth if you don’t already know it

What will/did you do this weekend?

I’m going to work on setting up a website for my graphic design snowflaking business.

Photo Credit: Un piccolo passo…/ One small step… by aldoaldoz, used under Creative Commons licensing

Back when I was interning as a bank teller (Is that the “This one time at band camp…” line of this blog?), my co-worker Patsy used to go through the Walgreens ads methodically and then show us all the things she bought for “free” after mail-in rebates. At the time, I thought this was a little nuts, especially since most of the items were things I saw no use for. So I’ve always been a little suspicious of personal finance bloggers who constantly post about their drugstore “deals.”

Fast forward to today at 5 p.m. I’m positively intrigued by an article on the MSN Money Smart Spending Blog about “The Drugstore Game.”

There is a CVS right by my stepson’s school, but I never go there for anything besides prescriptions because their prices tend to be really high. But I do have an Extra Care card that I’ve never activated, so tonight I decided to give “The Drugstore Game” a try.

I purchased a Schick Intuitions razor for $8.88, used a $4 off coupon, and got a a $6 credit for my next purchase. I also bought Aquafresh Extreme Clean toothpaste for $2.99 and got a $2.99 credit for my next purchase. So, if there are any Extra Care Bucks specials for things I use next week, I can stock up using my $8.99 in credits, which will give me credits to use the next week. I think I love this idea already!

Of course, the main reason I needed to go to CVS was to pick up my antidepressant prescription. Before now, there were only two people who know I am depressed – my husband and my sister (although I’m sure others have their suspicions). So I just have to mention this post from Make Love, Not Debt on the costs of denying depression. I can completely relate to this, and I think it’s great that he had the courage to post about it.

Photo Credit: i never understood the slash by Walsh, used under Creative Commons licensing

My 10-year high school reunion is next month.

There is going to be a barbeque on Saturday, an evening event with dinner, a DJ and possibly a mechanical bull (!) on Saturday night and an afternoon outing at the lake on Sunday.  People are ticked though because the evening event is $50 per person with a cash bar.  In our town, that’s a little ridiculous…

Still, I am probably going. 

But that is not the end of the drama.  Apparently the popular people planning the event left out some of the class officers, can’t find a bunch of people’s addresses and planned all of the events except for the barbeque outside of the town we graduated from (thus not contributing to its economy) and scheduled the reunion for the same weekend as the town’s annual “Community Days.”  So now other class members are blasting them on MySpace and scheduling their own events for that night.

Can we say high school all over again?

Photo Credit: High School Yearbook Photo by stillthedudeabides, used under Creative Commons licensing

I know I’ve already mentioned this once, but I just have to point out Antishay’s great series on Building a Snowflake Business.

This is really helpful for me since I don’t have the hours for a part-time job, haven’t been getting large bonuses/raises at work lately and have cut the budget as much as I plan to (for now).

I’m planning to post some things for sale on Craigslist tonight, then get started on implementing Shanti’s ideas for snowflake businesses.  There are a lot of areas I have training and expertise in (writing, graphic design, piano, etc.), but always seem to lack the confidence to get out there and try to make money with them.  But I think getting out of debt is worth it!

Photo Credit: Dog Day Morning by DWinton, used under Creative Commons licensing

I knew that stopping the debt snowball to replace our heat pump and hot water heater was necessary, but also dangerous.

You see, once I get started on a home improvement project, I want to keep improving!

Here is my list of things I currently want to do to the house:

• Install a storm door for the front entryway
• Replace the water-damaged storm door that leads out to the deck
• Replace the door leading out to the patio, which doesn’t close right and has rotted in the corner
• Put new knobs and deadbolts on the doors (shiny brass is icky!)
• Tile the floors in the bathrooms and laundry room
• Replace our aging dishwasher, stove and microwave with stainless steel appliances
• Replace our aging washer and dryer with front-loading machines
• Remove the popcorn ceiling texture from the ceilings
• Replace the ceiling fan in our bedroom
• Replace the carpeting
• Get a twin-size bunk bed for my stepson to save floor space in his bedroom and make it easier for his friends to spend the night

Some of these are needs and some are wants, but I don’t want to use our debt snowball payments for any of them.  So, it might be a while…

Meanwhile, my husband has this itch to finish the basement (once we’re sure we’ve got the water problem taken care of).  I don’t really think this is a good use of our money, but he’d like to at least finish the “office” section of the basement before we have a baby (the current office would be the baby’s room).  So, we’re trying to allocate some of our budget toward that without sacrificing our debt repayment.

Conflicting goals are such a pain!

Photo Credit: M. Design Interiors Inc. by decor8, used under Creative Commons licensing 

According to the Urban Dictionary, a staycation is defined as follows:

Check out the call for digital postcards and videos from your staycation at CNN.

Now I can be cheap and trendy!  Just call me the budget travelista!

On Friday, we received our $1,500 economic stimulus payment and a $213 state tax refund.

So, being proud Americans, we spent $3,467 on a new heat pump and $674 on a new hot water heater before the deposits even had a chance to hit the bank.

No need to thank us, America. We’re just doing our part to save the country…and not bake to death this summer…and have a hot shower that lasts more than five minutes…

Photo Credit: Be Patriotic or Else by Mike Licht, used under Creative Commons licensing

Why, a Mustang rental, of course!

I was looking through a friend’s scrapbook last night and there was a picture of a very old man sitting in the seat of a car.  It was her husband’s grandfather, who was turning 100. 

Apparently he’d always wanted a Mustang (he still jokes that someday he’s going to get one), so they rented one and picked him up for his 100th birthday party in it.

“After all, a 100-year-old man doesn’t need more stuff,” my friend said.

I couldn’t agree more!

Photo Credit: 20070106-mustang_gt_cardomain 1.jpg by ZHEPER Studios, used under Creative Commons licensing

If you or your fiance/spouse purchased any diamond jewelry or loose diamonds between January 1, 2004, and March 31, 2006, be sure to get your claim in for a piece of the $295 million class-action lawsuit against DeBeers.

You can read more about the lawsuit here. 

Although there’s no telling whether you’ll get $10 or thousands, you can look at the table in the article to determine the maximum amount you’re eligible to receive (it depends how many people file a claim, and for how much).  But hey, ten bucks is still ten bucks, and you can always turn your ice into snowflakes (yes, I plan to continue using lame wordplays on “snowflaking” – deal with it!).

To submit an electronic claim, click here.  To download a .pdf version to mail in, click here.  Remember, your claim must be submitted/postmarked by May 19, 2008.

(This post was included in the Carnival of Snowflaking, hosted by Dreaming of Ferraris.)

Photo Credit: Engagement Rings by elmada, used under Creative Commons licensing

Wow, I feel super old.

This morning when I dropped my stepson off at elementary school, there were some fourth or fifth grade boys outside discussing which cell phone company they would choose if it were up to them. 

“Sprint’s OK, but I think I’d pick AT&T.” 

Crazy! 

But consider this:  According to a study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, one-third of children age 10-12 own a cell phone.  And another market research firm recently estimated that 54% of 8-12-year-olds will own a cell phone by 2009.

Whatever happened to tying up the home phone line for hours?  For free!

Photo Credit: 365:027 by Groeten_Uit_Parbo, used under Creative Commons licensing

Yippee!

We got our first bid for house painting today and it’s only (ha!) $2,600! I was expecting something more in the neighborhood of $5,000.

Needless to say, we will not be taking a week’s vacation later this month to paint the house.

Yeah, I know, I shouldn’t just use the first company that quotes a good price, and I don’t plan to. But this at least gives us confidence that we’re making the right decision. I’ll be getting more quotes and checking references in the next few weeks, and we might not actually have it painted until summer/early fall.

Part of our “deal” for hiring someone else to paint is that we’re not going to go on vacation this year. That makes me sad, because we were planning to go to Minneapolis. I had the iteniary all planned out – Twins game (I’m trying to visit all the ballparks), Walker Museum of Art, play at the Guthrie, shopping trip to IKEA, riding the escalator with our shopping cart at Target, dinner at the German restaurant…sigh. But we really couldn’t afford it anyway.

So, we’re taking a vacation in our own city, and our house will be the hotel. Basically, we’ll be doing all the things tourists do that we’ve never done (or haven’t done in a while).

I’m just SO happy I’m not going to be spending the whole summer scraping and painting on a huge ladder!

(This post was included in the Carnival of Money Stories, hosted by Money Walks.)

Photo Credit: Cheerleader by Hometown Invasion Tour, used under Creative Commons licensing

Every year at the beginning of May, websites and newspaper ads offer Mother’s Day gift ideas.

These oh-so-helpful lists always include a version of the following list:

• Flowers (or alternately, the hanging basket of flowers – my mom’s Mother’s Day present for 15 consecutive years)
• A spa gift certificate / massage
• An iPod (yes, this is the ideal gift for all occasions – just adjust the color accordingly: pink=Mother’s Day)
• Heart-shaped necklaces, jewelry with the word “MOM” in it and anything with the kids’ birthstones (peridot, turquoise and ruby are going to look great together)
• Perfume (free purse included!)
• Candles
• Chocolate
• Something the kids made (thanks for the…?)

While some of these are tacky lovely ideas, why not consider an “experience” gift?

Here are some ideas that won’t clutter up your mom’s house, and could lead to lasting memories:

• Concert tickets
• A museum membership
• Tickets to a baseball game
• A night at a hotel (whoa, not those kind of memories)
• A cooking or wine-tasting class
• A hot air balloon ride
• Horseback riding
• Theme park admission

Whatever the “experience,” just make sure it is one your mom would enjoy, not just something you’ve been wanting to do. 

Bonus points: An experience that you can do with you mom (mom loves spending time with you!).

(This post was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted by Money Under 30.)

Photo Credit: Thumbs Up by Ju!ieT, used under Creative Commons licensing

When you tell someone you are buying a car, a house or even a new pair of shoes, do they ever express worry?

Or do they say they’re “so happy for you,” “jealous” or offer, “congratulations!” (that must be one great pair of shoes, by the way…).

Now that I’ve become a personal finance geek, what I really want to say is, “Are you financing that car?,” “How much of a down payment do you have?” and “Do you have any credit card debt?”

But those are not things a polite person says.

So instead, we confirm each other’s stupidity, encourage it even.

“Oh, wow! Did you get a new car?!”
“Is that a new top? I love that! Where did you get it?”
“Life’s too short to clean your own house!”

Right…

I guess I’m weird. Just don’t expect me to feign interest in the vacation you’re taking with your economic stimulus check.

Photo Credit: Consumerism by Daniel Hoye, used under Creative Commons licensing

For every check she wrote or debit card transaction she made, she would write the amount in her checkbook register as an even number.  The change was “forgotten” - although she did write the actual dollar amounts to the left of her whole numbers so she could add up her savings and write it in the sidebar every once in a while.  Then, after a few months, she would transfer the “extra” money to her savings account.

She saved hundreds of dollars per year doing this, and used her savings for gambling during her annual Vegas trip (remember, snowflaking can be used toward any goal, even one that Finance Girl does not explicitly approve of).

If you already have a Bank of America checking account, you should definitely sign up for the Keep the Change program, because you get a 100% match on your savings for the first three months, and a 5% match thereafter (for a maximum match of $250 per year).  But if you don’t – hey, there’s always Debbie’s method. 

(This post was an editor’s pick in the Carnival of Snowflaking, hosted by Antishay Ventenne.)

Photo Credit: Keep the Change by Tokenhippygirl, used under Creative Commons licensing

Speaking of emergencies, I’m concerned we’re going to have one if we attempt to paint our house ourselves. No, this isn’t our house, but it’s about the same height. Yikes!

We are definitely in over our heads, and we haven’t even started yet. Last night we watched “10 Things You Must Know About Exterior Painting,” and we’re sitting there like, “What? How long do you have to wait to paint after it rains? You’re not supposed to use flat paint? Those little clips do what?”

Yeah. So we are getting some bids this week. I figure it will cost us between $1,000-$1,500 to do it ourselves, so if it costs $3,000 for someone else to do it, it’s probably well worth it.
I have a feeling it’s going to be more than that though…

Photo Credit: Our Scaffolding by nuanc, used under Creative Commons licensing