5 Tips to Save Christmas Cash

It's not even really beginning to look like Christmas around here, but judging by the amount of holiday catalogs stuffed into our mailbox on any given day, the Christmas season is nearly upon us. Indeed, the merriest day of the year is a mere 45 days off. (Gasp, shock, HORROR!!) With Thanksgiving being so late this year, I have a sneaking suspicion that Christmas shopping might get a little hectic this year, so I thought I'd give you a heads up and share some of my favorite ways to make the holiday season easy on you and your wallet.   

1) Ebates. I just discovered Ebates this spring and am wondering where it's been all my life. Basically, it's a cash back online shopping site. Companies contract with Ebates to promote themselves. When you access those companies' online stores through Ebates, you get cash back on your purchase. Every quarter, Ebates pays out the cash back you've earn. We're talking real dollars which are deposited into Paypal, or you can have an old-fashioned check sent to you if that's how you roll. I don't do very much online shopping outside of the holidays, and I've already earned nearly $20.00 using Ebates. My only gripe is that Cabela's is not associated with Ebates, because if they were, Ebates would owe me about a gazillion dollars right about now.  It seriously takes seconds to sign up for Ebates, so what are you waiting for? Sign up!

2) Swagbucks. Swagbucks is another kind of gimmicky website that allows you to earn gift cards buy earning points (aka Swagbucks) on their site. You earn Swagbucks through searching the internet, interacting with the website (participating in polls, viewing advertiser offers, finding codes, etc.), and making online purchases through Swagbucks. If you're the sort of person who is pretty impervious to advertising, it's worth your while to check it out. I haven't spent a dime through Swagbucks, yet have earned more $50 in Amazon gift cards. And who couldn't use some Amazon cash, immaright? Go earn yourself for some Swagbucks.

3) Christmas fund. It's no secret that I'm a little obsessive when it comes to making sure I have enough cash on hand for the holidays. Here's the thing: last year, I started setting aside just $10.00 a week towards a "Christmas fund" to spend on presents and other holiday expenses. And do you know how much money I had on-hand for Christmas stuff last year? Over $500! Now, just imagine if you were setting $15 or $25 a week - whew! Setting up a Christmas fund is a really painless way to make holiday finances go a little smoother and although it's a little late to fully utilize this tip for Christmas '13, it's worth keeping in mind come New Year.

4) Don't buy presents. Not to sound all Scrooge like, but I don't really buy my friends Christmas presents anymore. Unless you're immediate family, fugetaboutit. Over the years, it's just become clear that none of us need another Yankee candle or Bath and Body Works body wash. Our income levels vary significantly, so although it is fun to give and receive presents, we find it much more satisfying (and less stressful!) to enjoy a game night or a nice dinner out together in lieu of a gift exchange. This Christmas, consider spending time with your friends, not money.

5) Shop Cyber Monday sales. It sure is nice that there's a whole day devoted to online holiday discounts, especially if you're like me and think that Black Friday sounds like hell on earth. While I don't do my holiday shopping exclusively on Cyber Monday, I do think it's worth checking out the sales to see if anything you were already (key word here) planning to buy will be on sale. Why pay more for something than you have to, eh? 

6) Bonus: Check up on your credit card. If you earn rewards on your credit card, November is a great time to log in and see where you're sitting with those points. If you can get cash back, you can pocket a little spending change. If the points are redeemable for merchandise or gift cards, see if any of the items might be appropriate for people of your gift list. It's a great, free way to give your Christmas budget a little stretch. 

What are your money saving tips for the holidays?

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You Know You're Wealthy When . . .

Every so often, the radio program Marketplace Money runs a segment where they ask people on the street to finish the following sentence, "You know you're wealthy when . . . ."

As you might imagine, people are over the map with their responses. Some say you're wealthy when you own a car. Others say when you're debt free. Some put a social spin on the question and say when you've been married 25 years.

What's so interesting to me is that it seems like it should be such an easy question. Shouldn't there just be some set of criteria that determines whether or not we're wealthy.  But it turns out there's no standard dipstick for testing a person's financial well-being, partly because our economies and social values vary so much from region to region and country to country and partly because we all have such different attitudes and ideas about money.

As I listened to all of the differing and sometimes contradictory answers, I couldn't help pondering my own definition of wealth. Even without taking a philosophical (and dare I say, somewhat sentimental) take on the question (i.e. you're wealthy when you have people who love you, blah, blah, blah) on the question and using only a financial context to shape my answer, I found I really had to mull over things to come up with a satisfactory answer. Part of me said, why define wealth, I know it when I see it. But then I thought, hey, maybe the lady wearing only designer labels is actually the Isla Fisher character from Confessions of a Shopaholic and up to her eyeballs in debt. Would we call her wealthy? No, we would not.

I also realized that using many of my definitions of wealth, I myself would be considered wealthy. When I wonder what our dinner's going to be, it's just that, a decision to be made about what food I should take out of the fridge, pantry, and/or freezer and prepare for dinner. I own a car. I make all of my payments on time. There's an emergency fund and I can afford to save a significant amount of each paycheck.


Yet I spend a lot of time feeling decidedly un-wealthy. I grow weary of being hyper-conscious of money. Sometimes, despite leading a very rich life on so many levels, I complain to Andy about how hard it is to financially responsible and why can't I just have everything I want already. (Psst, that's not poor, that's selfish.) Am I really poor if the fact that I paid a hella expensive car repair bill in cash means I can't take a trip to this spring? Really? 
 
But then I thought, although I do quite well for myself now, it would be bad news bears if I had a child and/or a mortgage. So if I can't support an alternative lifestyle, does that in fact make me not wealthy?  





I tried out various wealth "litmus tests" such as:

You're wealthy if you can let a check sit on your desk for weeks before you cash it.

or


You're wealthy when your finances aren't managed by a "if this, then not this" strategy. You know, if health insurance than no more than one dinner out a month. If contributing to my retirement plan, than no overseas travels.


In the end, I decided that wealthy means an abundance of options without negative repercussions.

Want to buy those beautiful purple pumps you saw in the boutique at the Bellagio (purely hypothetical here, folks) and still stop for gelato? If you're wealthy, you get both and you don't even have one little shred of buyer's remorse.

To me that's wealth, but is it happiness? Do those purple pumps decline in value to me when they become attainable? Having everything you could ever want . . . where's the fun in that?


What do you think? When you think a person is "wealthy"?
 

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The Freelance Writing Trenches: Business or Pleasure?

I had an epiphany early this week. As freelance job after freelance job snapped into place, I realized that if I had to, I could probably make this freelancing thing work on a full-time basis. It might not be pretty a lot of the time, but it would work . . . if it had to.

You see, at the end of last month, money was feeling a little tight. So I decided to stop letting that line on my weekly to-do list - "3 queries" - not go unchecked yet another week. I sent out three queries to publications I'd previously worked with and I got a thumbs up on all of three queries. Then, wonder of wonders, some of the articles that I'd gotten through those queries lead to more paying opportunities and suddenly I was riding a wave of freelance jobs and opportunities.

Obviously, things aren't always like this - for every lucrative writing month like this one, there'll be an equal, if not greater, dry spell when it comes to writing gigs.

That's okay.

I keep my day job to see me through those dry spells. But sometimes, it feels that I spent far too much time tangled up in the safety net that is my day job. Often I feel the day job holding me back rather than merely keeping me on my feet and I wonder what would happen if I simply left it behind me.

This week, I realized, things would probably be okay sans day job. I'm just not willing to sit around and let ends not meet. Over the last few weeks, I've proven than I can fairly easily step up my earning potential when needs be.

Which brings me to the point of this post. . . .

My writing has turned into a business. Sure, I write because, as Sylvia Plath said "there's a voice within me that will not be still." But sometimes, I think it's bills rather than artistic vision that keeps that voice within chattering away. I write to get paid. 

The farther down the freelance writing road I go, the more imperative it becomes that I get paid for my words. I hate to think I wouldn't write if I didn't get paid for it, but at this point in my life, I have limited amounts of time every day and I need to invest my time carefully for the best payout. Heck, even the blog's monetized a just enough to get it to pay for its annual domain renewal.

But as an English major, someone who raised to see writing as more of an art form than a livelihood, all this talk of monetizing feels, well, a little yucky. Shouldn't writers just be happy to be writing and creating? I truly enjoy the vast majority of freelance writing gigs I take, but there's also a thrill in knowing I'm being paid a certain word rate to research and write. Does that mean I've sold out? 

Case in point . . . . A couple years back, I started doing a bi-weekly commentary for the local radio station. (You can link to it up above "Of Woods and Words On Air".) At the time, I was just starting to seriously pursue freelance writing. I didn't have many paying gigs and I happily started writing and recording the commentary for free because it seems like good writing practice and great platform building.

But lately the commentary has become a pain in my B-U-T-T. Between writing and recording the commentary, I probably spend about 2.5 hours every two weeks on the commentary, not to mention the two-hour round trip to the studio to record it and the hassle of reserving a studio, etc. In the past year, the writing for the commentary's gone flat. I feel constantly at a loss for topics. It's easy to wonder if it's really worth it.

It seems to me I have two options with the commentary at this point, (well, three, if you consider sucking it up and continuing to record it on biweekly basis) each equally shallow:

Option 1) Ditch the commentary. Shallow because, really, I'm going to ditch an obligation because it doesn't pay me?  But, but, I'm also perceptually stuck for ideas and it seems like the writing gets worse and worse as the weeks go by.  Is it good business, even if I'm not getting paid, to stick my name on writing I'm not particularly proud of?

Option 2) Attempt to monetize the commentary. Continue to do the commentary for free for the local station, but either syndicate or find a paying market for each commentary. Shallow, obviously, since apparently the only way I find value in my writing is if I'm getting paid for it. On the other hand, getting paid for writing really  does increase the value of the writing to me, which in turn should mean that the writing in the commentaries would improve.

*sigh*

They say it always boils down to money and I suppose that's true, even for dreamy, impractical writers. But as much as I delight in my freelance writing business success, it's sad to watch writing for pleasure disappear from my life, at least for the time being.

Have you ever had a hobby turn into business? Any tips for maintaining a business while remaining artistically true to yourself?

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2012: A Freelancer's Fiscal Resolutions

The finished product

As I sat in the back bedroom on New Year's Eve, smoothing out tissue paper, folding it up, and piling it in a box for use during next year's holiday season, it seemed like a good time to make some fiscal resolutions for 2012.

Don't get me wrong, although I am the anal person who opens her presents by carefully lifting up each piece of tape on the package to minimize wrapping paper damage, things are not so tight around here that I iron wrapping paper for reuse. (I only do that if the paper's real cute.)

However, I am cheap enough to see no point in piling all the tissue paper into the recycling bin, when there's absolutely no reason why I can't use it again next year. It's just going to get all crumpled up again when it gets used: who cares about a few wrinkles?


Kind of like how Scarlett O'Hara shoves a dirty turnip into her mouth and melodramatically proclaims, "I'll never be hungry again" at the end of Gone with the Wind, I sat there smoothing out the tissue paper and thought, please 2012, allow me to smooth tissue paper not out of necessity but because I abhor unnecessary waste.

Here's how am I resolving to make it through 2012 without feeling like a poor person:

1) Christmas Fund 
Every December, I have that "reach for the paper bag and hyperventilate" moment when I realize I have extremely limited funds to figure out lovely, meaningful presents that don't look cheap. To prevent this horrifying experience from repeating itself in 2012, each week in 2012, I'm setting aside $10 into a Christmas fund. By December, I'll have nearly $500 saved up for Christmas presents and related expenses (i.e. tissue paper) - more than enough to cover everyone on my gift checklist. 

2) Freelance pay check percentages 
I've been making my way through Joseph D'Agnese and Denise Kiernan's  The Money Book for Freelancers, Part-Timers, and the Self-Employed. The book does a great job of charting out a system for freelancers to manage their sporadic payments. One of the key ideas pushed in the book is to take each incoming payment and immediately take out a set percent for taxes (taxed income does have its perks!), retirement and the emergency account. I'll be putting that method into practice for all of my freelance checks this year so those funds are used more effectively and thoughtfully, rather than just throwing the payments at whichever bill is most in need at the moment of receipt.

3) Invoice tardy clients 
I have a regular client who pays me whenever they feel like it. Whenever they feel like it is usually months after my work's been published - around the time when I've forgotten what I wrote and what I'm owed, actually. This method is stressful and also makes it difficult for me to catch discrepancies. Now that I have all my financials running through QuickBooks, this client's totally getting invoices. At least one of us can be on top of things that way. 

Do you have plans to make 2012 a less stressful financial year?

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Calling Off Christmas

Speaking of Christmas, (we were, weren't we?) Andy and I have made an unofficial decision to call Christmas off this year.

No, we haven't been isolated from community and popular culture for so long that we've become curmudgeons who will in no way acknowledge the holiday season. I fully plan to deck the halls, bake the cookies, play the carols, get together with friends and family, etc. etc. when the holiday season truly is upon us.

(I've been spending an extended weekend in town, splitting my time between Andy's mom's place and my parents' while Andy deer hunts and after all this time in the land of fast internet and cable t.v., I feel a need to inform the world's ad agencies that Christmas is not just around the corner. Let's hold our horses, shall we?)

Despite my firm belief that Christmas is not imminent just yet, the holiday season and all its fuss and spending has been on my mind lately.

For one thing, I've been assigned the annual holiday gift guide for the publication I'm a contributing writer for. I spent some time with Mom in the shops downtown yesterday, trying to figure some new exciting spin to put on the same ol' items from the same ol' stores for this year's guide.For another thing, it's apparent that between tires, teeth and nonexistent internet (aka, technician visit!), discretionary spending funds are going to be pretty much nonexistent this December.

There's also the little fact that we don't really need anything. Sure, there are plenty of pretty, nonessential items I'd love to have, but when I look at my life objectively, it's clear we want for nothing. Our freezer and pantry are brimming with delicious, homegrown/homemade food; the closets are stuffed with clothes and footwear; we have two cars; plenty of firewood to keep us warm through the winter; we cover our monthly expenses; and there's enough money to cover the aforementioned expenses without too much strain or stress. So why make things stressful by feeling we have to go all out with presents this year? 

Yes, I am the person who retailers hate and who is in no way stimulating our floundering economy.

Not that I won't be purchasing Christmas presents this year. But I'm approaching the gift giving this year as a way to share a small token of love and appreciation with the people I love rather than go through the sometimes stressful, sometimes frustrating process of trying to figure out larger (and more expensive) items for everyone on my list this year.  Maybe we'll just do stocking stuffers for everyone this year. Maybe small themed baskets. I haven't decided yet, but I'm hoping for a simple, but sincere Christmas this year.

It seems like this year "presents" giving us a wonderful opportunity to focus on all we already have. Why let Christmas crowd out the autumn holiday we should really be stretching out over the entire year: Thanksgiving.

Have you ever called off Christmas? Will your Christmas spending this year stay the same as prior years or do you plan to cut or expand your budget?

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The Terrible Tale of Tuesday's Two Flat Tires

Tongue tied yet? Even if the Ts of the post title didn't trip me up, I'm certainly speechless. I'm still working my brain through the fact that at this time next week, Andy and I will be the proud owners of not one, not two, but eight new tires.

Pourquoi?

Well, yesterday morning, I woke up to the sound of Andy heading off to work in the truck. Only I didn't just hear tires crunching on gravel. I heard: thump, thump, thump.

I may not be a mechanical genius, but even I know something up when your tires make a decided thump: something known as a flat tire. And this was an all or nothing flat tire. It wasn't just low on air, it was out of air. The passenger's side back tire was resting on its rim.

It wasn't a huge surprise.Andy'd spent most of Monday out grouse hunting on the county's back roads and had driven on one road currently under-construction which, in the past week, has gotten a bit of  a reputation for causing flat tires. It's gotten such a reputation in fact, that local residents who live along the road are encouraging anyone with a flat tire to contact the construction company. But 6:45 in the morning, is no time for pointing fingers. Andy needed to get to work.

The only issue (other than that I'd be planning to take a vehicle to work myself . . . hello walking!) was that our alternative vehicle, the Subaru, has had a slow leak in its passenger's side back wheel for most of the summer. I'd driven the Suby around last and the tire had a reached a level of lowness where I didn't feel comfortable driving it anymore until it got some air in it. Nevertheless, Andy headed off in it on his 25 mile commute.

When he got to work, Andy called. The Subaru'd had a blow out on the way to work. According to Andy, the tire now "has a hole you could put your fist through." I guess that was one way to fix the slow leak.

By the end of day, the Subaru was rocking a donut, the truck has a spare on, and both vehicles had appointments for new sets of tires.

There are plenty of bright sides to this. For one, we'll now have brand new tires just in time for slippery winter driving months. For another, no one was injured in the tire drama and it's caused only mild inconvenience.

But, let me tell you, this was not on my little Post-It note of planned expenses for the month.

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When Wedding Appeal Meets Wedding Apparel

I've known we'd have a wedding to attend this September ever since the happy couple got engaged last autumn. Apparently, my friends and I are late bloomers. At the ripe old age of 26 and a half, this is the first wedding of a friend I'll attend and only the second wedding of a close acquaintance that's even occurred.

Now, we all know I have no issues with wedding hoopla and as the bride's personal attendant and a reader in the ceremony, I'm happy, honored, thrilled to be a part of her big day. Besides, it's awesome excuse to nab a new pair of ridiculous heels.

But this morning, I hit a wall with the whole wedding business.

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Investing In Yourself

You might have noticed that over the last couple days, the markets have been a bit . . . volatile. To put it mildly.

As the person who did the big grown-up thing and put a chunk of her savings in Roth IRA at the beginning of the world, all this economic drama, drama makes me feel kind of like this:

I feel like I go over this all the time, but I'm constantly struggling to determine if the pennies I manage to squirrel away are better utilized by being tucked into long term savings or spent on an airline ticket. Security or experience? Experience or security? Hard to know which is really the truest investment in yourself.

If I opt for security, I  get a posh nursing home room with a great view. If I opt for experience, I get to be the kookie lady who pulls her great-nieces and nephews to her and croaks, "Did I ever tell you about the time I met Prince William." (Obviously, in my old age, I'll be a bit demented.)

We've reached that point in the summer where anywhere, anything sounds better than blah, blah everyday I currently exist in. During last week's hot snap, I took to checking the forecast for London (England). Highs in the 60s! I almost cried!

Then the bimonthly newsletter from the London Ritz Hotel showed up in my inbox. I've received the newsletter since having tea at the Ritz 3+ years back and I've never bothered to unsubscribe. I enjoy a bimonthly dose of unattainable luxury.  And as I read through the Ritz's newly announced tea menu, it was all I could do not to get over to kayak.com and start searching for the most affordable flight.

(Granted after this week's senseless rioting in the U.K., London kind of slipped down on my list of dream destinations, at least until they've all settled down. . . . maybe time for Australia. It's winter there right now, right?)

In an ideal world, we're able to invest in ourselves fully: to opt for both experience and security. But in a crap economy, with a schizophrenic Wall Street to contend with, it's easier said than done.

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