Queercents

Are you able to spot a bargain when you see it?  Can you look at a sales flyer or a coupon and know that it’s a good deal?

I can’t.  Or, at least, I couldn’t until fairly recently.  What helped was putting together my own - perfect - price list.

The concept of a price list is old and simple: it’s a list of grocery items (or items purchased regularly from any store) and how much they cost.  The idea is that you take your list with you when you’re shopping and, if you find that the price has gone down, you can stock up.

The old way of doing it is rather tedious and potentially a waste of time.  To get started, there are lists of “standard” items you should track so you print out a list, grab a pen and clipboard, and then head to the store for a fun-filled afternoon of writing down prices.  By the end of your trip, you have a hand-scrawled page of numbers (for items you may never purchase), and you’re supposed to remember to bring it with you every time you go shopping.  Oh yeah, and if you lose that list, you can start over! Read the rest of this entry »

Our current allowance system is broken. My kids aren’t seeming to grasp the basics of money management around budgeting, saving and investing.

Looking back, I was better with money as a kid than I am today. I still remember the lessons that my parents taught me in a time where layaway plans were more popular than credit cards.

I must have been around 6 years-of-age and the toy I coveted was a my little pony baby buggy.  I saw it at my favourite local toy store in a time where independent toy stores still dominated the consumer market.  It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and the only thing standing between me and it was a $29.95 price tag.  I had something like $5 bucks in my pocket.

This was the first big ticket item I had ever wanted. I wanted this a pretty expensive toy soooooo badly.  I was willing to save up all my allowance, accumulated at the rate of $2 per week, to have this toy.   The only thing I feared was that there would be none left to purchase by the time I had the necessary funds, as again, this was at a time where parents used to get in fist fights over the elusive cabbage patch doll.

Somehow I convinced my parents that I would save the money to buy this baby buggy on my very own.  To do this, they agreed that it would be put on a layaway plan.  It wasn’t bought for me.  My parents didn’t loan me the money.  I had to painstakingly wait week after week to pay for the baby buggy before I could acquire and enjoy the good. Read the rest of this entry »

Has your employer, perhaps done like mine did a couple of months ago, decided that the tanking economy was a good excuse to stop supplying Free Coffee for everyone (except the office boffins, of course… what’s good for the goose is NOT good for the gander in this case).

For the record it was running around $500 a month for coffee and the supplies every month for around 225 employees (actually a VERY cheap price for that many people according to a friend of mine in the business… he said normally it would run about 3 times that) since almost everyone is gone from the base driving they “might” have gotten one cup in the morning before they left but most everyone subsists on what they can find in the field.

Granted the 60 drivers at the sub-location I work out of  had more access and tended to drink a lot but still everyone was very unhappy when they stopped providing it… even though we supplied out own coffeemaker and all the drivers chipped in to make sure we had plenty of sugar and creamer. The lady in charge at the main base seemed to be under the impression that two handfuls of sugar packets was more than sufficient for 60 people for a week.

Surprisingly after the company stopped the service our Union stepped in and is subsidizing part of the cost for my work location… smart thinking. Read the rest of this entry »

I used to just be interested. Now I’m obsessed with financial independence. As Queercents readers probably know, financial independence does not equate with wealth. At least not wealth the way it is normally imagined. It simply means the personal economic state of equilibrium whereby your income from passive sources meets or exceeds your expenses. Or more simply put, financial independence = freedom.

This state of blissful equilibrium is unique to each individual or family but the broad strategies for attaining it are universal:

1.    Earn more money than you need right now and invest wisely
2.    Continually track and reduce expenses where possible
3.    Cultivate patience and persistence unless that lottery thing works out for you

I’m so obsessed in fact that I have three different budgets, which I regularly refine, that correspond with three lifestyles. The first, our current lifestyle, is the most desirable. Amassing sufficient passive income to live as we are now without the requirement of employment is my ultimate goal. The second reflects a scaled down version of our current standard of living that would be acceptable but would mean downsizing (from 900 square feet) to a studio or one bedroom and selling quite a few of our already modest possessions. Read the rest of this entry »

I never benefit from those generic advice segments. You know the kind that say “Save $7000 in a year with our 10 simple tips” because I inevitably don’t spend money on the useless things they recommend cutting back on in the first place. Cut back my daily paper delivery, magazine subscriptions, maid service, ultimate cable subscriptions, expensive cell phone plans, third car and rampant credit card debt… uh, ok. My answer to most of these items is ‘not applicable’ except for one thing – I like to eat my lunch in a restaurant. And, in case anyone’s asking, no I won’t save for retirement by cutting back on eating out for lunch. I expect to earn less when I retire and there’s no way I’m going to stop working if I can’t even afford lunch now.

It’s easy to mock the concept that is sometimes dubbed the ‘latte factor’ which goes something like this – if you saved up that $5 a day you spent on fancy coffees every morning before work for the next 40 years, it would add up to a whole lot of money you could use to retire early. Of course,if you retire early, then you’re not working for the full 40 years and where are the savings supposed to come from?… ah well, I did promise I wasn’t going to mock the concept, right?

I know, I know. The whole idea of these things is to realize that small amounts of money add up over time, but I think that you need to get a grasp on the extent of your challenges before you start problem-solving . If you’ve got big crises looming over you, it’s ridiculous to only think in these David and Goliath terms. You can’t rely on consistently making a decision 14,600 times over the next 40 years in order to save for a vital economic transition. It’s a set up for failure. It’s like making diet plans to lose a hundred pounds by spitting out a single bite of your donut each day. Sure, sure, every bit helps. But you might want to look at the bigger problem because if you’re in a crisis then the odds are good that there are bigger problems out there. Crises are also immediate in nature, so if you need to make changes, they need to be big and fast. Don’t get bogged down with the cheap, quick fixes that won’t amount to a hill of coffee beans before your situation goes from bad to worse. Read the rest of this entry »

Two of my favorite local small businesses have signed on as supporters of the “3/50” movement. The point is to save local small businesses by spending $50.00 at three different independent stores each month. That’s a total of $150/month to make a huge impact on your local economic recovery. The 3/50 website reminds us:

“If half the population spent $50 a month in locally owned independent businesses, it would generate more than 42.6 billion in revenue. For every $100 spend in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures. If you spend that in a national chain, only $43 stays here. Spend it online and nothing comes home.”

Of course I then wondered if we gays can find $150/month in LGBT–owned storefronts.

This does not mean we have to buy “new retail items.”  It can include used, consignment and antique items. It could include store-front businesses which provide a service like dog washing and grooming. This is the way I go since I am still on my “Buy Nothing New in 2009” kick. Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to Nichelle for providing this redirect on Keeping Nickels about how to plan a staycation in New York City. For our Queercents readers who are borough-dwellers or live in the tri-state area, here’s how you can stay close to home this summer, save a few bucks and play tourist in your own town – courtesy of Lifestyler:

With a now pedestrian-friendly Times Square and the always beautiful Central Park, New Yorkers who are looking to save cash can fall in love with their city again through nycgo.com. Between Summer Restaurant Week and the NYC Sunday Stays Program, its easy to get put your tourist hat on for the summer.

But NYC has a few staples that natives rarely take advantage of anyway, so grab your “I heart NY” tee and be sure to head over to some of these attractions this summer.

• Central Park (or Prospect Park) for an afternoon picnic
• Metropolitan Museum of Art (see other suggested donation museums here)
• Visit FAO Schwartz and stomp out Chopsticks on the piano floor al la “Big”
• Watch the sun set on the pier at South Street Seaport Read the rest of this entry »

My friend P. used to work at a local independent bookstore. She loved her work, but it didn’t really pay much and she eventually left for a better-paying job.*

This isn’t about the bookstore, or about her second job, but P.’s persistent lack of funds and the day she accidentally found herself at an Avon-run breast cancer seminar. You know the kind I mean: someone from Avon shows up with a video about donating to breast cancer research. P. hadn’t been expecting an Avon representative, since the event had been billed as an informal fundraiser at a colleague’s house. For about half an hour, the captive group watched as the video droned on about how donating to the pink ribbon campaign would contribute to breast cancer research. As far as P. could tell, it revealed little about any actual breast cancer research and was really more about feeling good about donating.

P. sipped the single cup of coffee she’d bought at Starbucks on the way and waited for the video to end. The lights came back on and the Avon representative talked about how to donate to the cause. She used Starbucks as an example, in a way we’re all familiar with: “Think about the Starbucks coffee all of you consume daily. Do the math! If every one of you gave up that daily second cup of Starbucks, why, that’s $200 a month! And that’s all we’re really asking you to give up for this cause: a cup of coffee a day!” Read the rest of this entry »

“Time is the fire in which we burn” - Delmore Schwartz

Frugal, as my mother used to say, is not about being cheap. It’s about focusing your efforts on what’s worthwhile. There are many things that you can do to chase money around the world. If you chose, you could spend all your days and nights earning or saving money, quantifiable and additive, world without end.

But in reality, we have a finite life. And because of that end, our physical end, you can’t get all the money. So now you realize that time, which is finite, will create a limit to how much money you can make, which is theoretically infinite and you might be tempted to think that time is money. Yes and no. It’s often traded for money when we accept an obligation to work for a set number of hours for a set wage, but it’s not the same as money. Many self-employed people, investors and other capital-savvy people will know that it’s quite possible to exit that cycle and get money for things other than your time.

I actually think that time is the opposite of money. It’s the only thing that is free for us to have and invaluable at the same time. We are given the gift of life in full measure, but it flows from our fingers in a constant stream we can’t control. It’s the counterweight to money, the thing that we buy back with good salaries, wise choices and investments. So time then flows into separate pools – our free time that we use to conduct our life and hopefully enjoy pleasure and leisure activities, and our paid time, which we try to maximize to earn as much as possible. Read the rest of this entry »

So you’re going to start biking to work. Good choice. Since you’ve already decided to start bike commuting, you probably know about at least some of the benefits. For those who are still thinking about biking to work here are some of the big advantages.

1. Spend less (or nothing) on gas.
Duh.

2. Less traffic.
Though cyclists are required to follow the same traffic laws as motorists, bikes are also far more maneuverable and have access to bike lanes, sidewalks or both. (Just remember to ride safely, which is something I’ll say more about later.)

3. No more diets or expensive gym memberships.
Nearly all of my coworkers are on some sort of diet but I spend the day eating as much as I want because I know that the energy from the extra food will just go to my ride. If I need to clear my head during lunch break, get outside or just move about, having my bike handy is also great for a fifteen minute ride.
My route also sends me past a gym and somehow that smug feeling of getting fit without monthly membership fees just never goes away.

4. Being outside.
My ride is 35 minutes each way, so I’m getting over an hour of cardio a day. Riding outside makes the cardio more interesting and being in the sun leads to better days. Even in lousy weather, just being outside in the open air is something of a pick-me-up. Read the rest of this entry »