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It's often the small - unexpectedly - kind things that we do for one another that are the most memorable. There is no need to spend a bunch of money, or even any money, on a meaningful gift for someone you love.
Here are some of my favorite frugal ideas for Valentine's Day:
- Buy a Single Red Rose - in full bloom, a single red rose means "I Love You."
- Make or Buy his favorite Cookies from the grocery bakery.
- Buy an "I Love You" balloon and put it in the bathroom or in her car before she gets up.
- Take the time to find a romantic card, and add your own words to the card - Don't just sign it!!
- Write "Will You be My Valentine" on a piece of paper and slip it into his lunch box or her purse.
- Cut a heart shape from blank paper. Write "Will You Be Mine" on it and color around the words with crayons. Place it where she will see it when she gets home.
- Write "Lucky Me - I have You" across the top of the mirror (with bar soap or lipstick) before you go to bed at night. Make sure the words don't cover the whole mirror and it's still usuable.
- Have "Your Song" playing when she gets home, and sing along.
- Write out All the things you love about your mate on little slips of paper and place them in a jar. These things don't have to sound romantic. "I love you because you cleaned up after the dog when I was too tired to do it," is a real expression of love and appreciation. Don't underestimate the power of honest appreciation.
- Rent his or her favorite movie and plan on watching it with him or her. This is especially meaningful if you don't like the movie and usually won't watch it.
- Tell your partner you want to go for a drive, and take her to the place where you first met, had a great time there, or something special happened. Talk about the memory and how it made you fall in love with her.
- Show up at your mate's job with a home-cooked (by you) meal for lunch.
- Write "I (draw a heart) U" on your forehead and pretend you don't know it's there.
Make the person you love feel truly loved on Valentine's day. That doesn't cost a thing.
I was watching Decorating Cents last night, and as usual they had a segment on interior redesign. In that segment, interior redesigners move the furniture in the room around, then scout throughout the house looking for accessories to bring the room together.
To accessorize they bring in lamps, tables, throws, pillows, plants, candles, art, knic knacs, etc. Once the room is accessorized it looks good. Well, it looks like it's ready for a magazine shoot.
The problem with these rooms is that once they are accessorized, they aren't really comfortable to use. I mean, the room looks great but how are your guests going to sit down when the sofa is covered with pillows and throws?
How do you manage to see the person you are talking to with tall candles or a bunch of flowers on the coffee table? Someone please tell me - what's the point of a coffee table that is so full of accessories (things you don't use) there is no room for your cup of coffee?
Don't people intend to use these rooms? Are the rooms just for looking at? Do the people who live there constantly straighten the throw on the sofa or rearrange the pillows once someone leaves the room?
Are our "living" rooms really supposed to look like magazine ads? Aren't we supposed to live in these rooms? That's what the den is for, you say. Then your intention is to pay for a living room that you can't use, you can only look at, obsess over, and worry about, right?
I don't get it. I mean, I understand that everyone wants their home to look nice. But, who decides what looks nice? Is it up to the designers, or the TV shows, or the mother-in-law...or us?
If you ask me, a room is meant to be used. If you can't use the room without having to worry about everything being straight, centered, fluffed, and unwrinkled, then you have a showcase - not a room for your family to use.
We spent part of our Entertainment budget this month on a board game called Cranium. Although this game was one of the higher priced games in the store ($18.22), it was a good investment in our Entertainment needs.
Compared to the little value we would have gotten had we spent that money on a movie, a fast food run, or an hour of bowling - this game will give us months, if not years, of fun.
Cranium offers something for everyone. Depending on where you land on the board, you may have to draw with your eyes closed, shape clay into a recognizable form, act out a charades word, unscramble a group of letters, or answer a trivia question.
This game is fun because there is always something different to do. You aren't locked into just trivia (don't you hate it when you can't answer 3 or 4 0r 5 questions in a row), or just charades, or just word scrambles.
If you are good at some activities, but not so good at others, you will still have fun with Cranium, because it's just a matter of time till the fun activities come 'round again.
Cranium is set up for teams, but you can play it with singles. There are three people in our family so we just act out the hints for each other. For example, If a player had to guess a song title while a teammate hummed the song, one (or both) of the other players would hum the song.
Having a teammate wasn't really necessary, and helping each other kept us all interested in the game. We laughed at each other's attempts to hum or whistle a song that we could only remember the chorus to.
Cranium has a family edition of the game that is made for families with younger children (8 and up). We bought their regular version for adults and teens, and my 14 year old daughter enjoyed the game.
I recommend Cranium. The value you receive from this board game is much greater than just about anything else you could spend $20 on.
Our Homeowner's Insurance Company is wacked. They don't seem to know what they are doing. And, my mortgage company (escrow account) can't keep up with their changes.
We contracted with an insurance company in June of 2004 for a homeowner's insurance policy. It was, of course, a requirement of our mortgage company that we make payments into an escrow account to pay the insurance premiums.
OK. That's fine. The mortgage company is making the insurance payments - accurately and on time - right?
Well, not exactly.
In July of 2005, we get a bill from the homeowner's insurance company for $29. Thinking this was a mistake since our mortgage company pays our homeowners insurance, we call the mortgage company.
They say they don't know what the bill is for, and their records show a payment made to the insurance company in May of 2005. It was paid in full (not a quarterly payment), so it shouldn't be due again until May of 2006.
So, we call the insurance company. They say it's an increase.
OK. We call the mortgage company again and tell them the insurance went up. The mortgage company says they will pay it. Just send the bill to them.
They make the additional $29 payment in July.
A few months later the mortgage company does an escrow analysis and raises our mortgage payment to reflect the increase in the insurance policy. That's fine; we were expecting the increase.
Since I'm a meticulous record keeper, I went to the mortgage company website to get a printout of the escrow analysis for my records and noticed that the $29 payment that was made in July 2005 was added back to escrow in August 2005.
What? Why did they do that, I wonder. The extra insurance bill/payment must have been a mistake, I think. Maybe our insurance shouldn't have gone up, so the insurance company issued a credit back to the mortgage company. Why else would we have a credit to our escrow account?
Now I'm watching the escrow account more closely. I see that the mortgage company makes the homeowner's insurance payment in May 2006. It's for the same amount that was contracted for originally. So, I figure (the bill and) the extra payment that was made was a mistake.
At the end of 2006, the mortgage company does its annual escrow analysis and issues a refund. According to the analysis, their projected payments from our escrow account were too high. They didn't actually have to pay as much as they thought (projected) they would, and they are refunding the overage.
So, I figure that extra $29 payment must have been a mistake. I fall back into trusted complacency again.
Oops. It was a mistake to trust that they know what they are doing. This year we get a bill from some insurance company that we have never even heard of. Upon calling our insurance agent we learn that not only has the insurance company changed its name (over a year ago), but our homeowner's insurance has gone up again.
Again? Yes. It seems that bill we received in 2005 was for an accurate increase. It has increased again for 2007.
So, I'm looking forward to another round of phone calls between the insurance company and the mortgage company. They can't get anything right.
My advice to you? Keep a close watch on your escrow account, and notify your mortgage company of any changes in your homeowner's policy. Don't, not for a second, rest assured that those two companies are keeping up to date with one another.
Ultimately, it's Your Responsibility to make sure everything is paid - accurately and on time. Don't trust your mortgage company to handle it correctly.
We've changed vets. To my disgust, I learned the hard way that veterinarians are salespeople, too.
The first vets we chose were chosen for convenience. A husband and wife veterinarian team's office is less than 2 miles from our house.
In the beginning, we always saw the husband and he was great. Our first appointment was made because we had found a 7 week old kitten, covered in fleas, with obvious eye infections, outside in the rain.
At that time we were still renting and pets were not allowed at that property, but we just couldn't let the little thing suffer out in the rain. We explained to the vet that we were not supposed to have animals, and we had very little money to spare on a kitten that we would probably have to get rid of (if the landlord demanded it).
That vet reduced his office fee and didn't charge us for one of the tests, and we were grateful. So, when we bought our own house and adopted a dog from the Humane Society we took our dog (and that once-ill cat) back to him for their health-care needs.
That was when we started seeing the wife in that team. She was entirely different from her husband. Where he had been happy to discuss the costs of high-end pet foods and their more affordable alternatives, dog shampoos and which worked fine while costing less, and flea treatments and over-the-counter alternatives, she pushed every line of every high-end product they sold.
Now, I'm not saying this woman shouldn't sell products that make them money. After all, every business is in the business of making a profit, but when this woman began pushing puppy shots every two weeks I started getting irritated.
I didn't have a problem with the first three shots. I understood that it was difficult to be sure that the immunization had "taken" and was not neutralized by immunity received from the mother. But on the third visit I asked if this or the next one would be the last and this vet proceeded to tell me that my puppy may need more than five puppy immunizations.
Now, that is rediculous. I knew from doing research on this issue that too many immunizations were worse than too few. And, the timing was equally important in determining whether the shots would "take" (every two weeks is too close together, but she insisted on that interval).
Combining this pushiness about giving shots indefinitely with the fact that this woman didn't even want to discuss cheaper alternatives for basic dog care (brushing dog's teeth rather than paying for a cleaning, etc), led me to believe that she was simply trying to make money and had no interest in the health of my pet.
So, we found another vet. This doc doesn't push his sales products on us and is willing to discuss cheaper alternatives for basic pet care.
If you want to stay in control of your money, do your own research. Don't take your vet's word for everything. Some of them are just as hooked into consumerism and greed as any other salesman you might encounter in a store or on TV.
According to a study from the Duke University Medical Center, a brisk walk each day (a total of 2 - 3 hours each week) will significantly cut your risk of cardiovascular disease. Walking is also the best way for middle-aged people to lose weight.
This is good news for those of us who find that we are gaining weight as we get older, even though our eating and exercise habits stay the same. According to the Duke University study we gain about 4 pounds a year as we age. So, if you are exercising but not losing any weight you are still ahead of the game.
It's nice to know that the most frugal exercise - walking - is also the best. Walking doesn't cost anything. I'd call that frugal.
If the weather is too bad to walk outside, just go to your local Walmart supercenter or the mall and walk up and down the aisles for 30 or 45 minutes. That's not hard to do, and if you combine your exercise with your normal shopping trips you won't even have to add the cost of gas to your workout.
So, there is no need to run out and buy all of those exercise machines and gadgets. These gadgets usually end up in the thrift stores anyway. If you shop at thrift stores you know what I mean. I've seen entire rooms at the thrift store filled with nothing but exercise equipment.
Don't waste your money. Just walk. It's good for your heart, your waist, and your wallet.
I got my car back from the shop. It runs great so far, but I'm skeptical. Since I've had the car in the shop for the same problem 4 times, I want to wait a while before I deem the car truly fixed.
But, I'd say it's probably fixed. It runs better than it has for over a year. I've taken it to two different mechanics and neither of them (nor any of the other mechanics at those businesses) could figure out what was wrong with it.
The problem with the car was that it wouldn't start some times, and when it did start it would run rough in 1st gear and 3rd gear. The battery was been tested 3 times and found good. The alternator was checked twice and found good.
The starter had been checked. The voltage regulator had been checked. The fuel pump had been checked. They were all found to be good.
In my quest to fix this pain-in-the-butt car, I've had the gear shift cable replaced, the ignition cylinder replaced, the fuel filter replaced, the spark plugs and wires replaced, the ignition wires replaced (I think these are the same as spark plug wires but I have a separate charge for them), and the crossover pipe replaced (suspected vacuum leak).
This time I had the coil packs replaced and I think they were the problem all along. Before I took the car to the shop this time, I looked over all the receipts from previous repairs and noticed that on two invoices (from different shops) there was a mention that one of the coil packs was weak.
But, on both invoices, changing the coil pack was "not recommended at this time." I brought this to the mechanic's attention when I took the car to him, and suggested that he check the coil packs again.
Lo and behold, he said the coil pack was the problem. He also said that the battery (which had been tested 3 times and said to be good) had a dead cell and this accounted for the starting problem.
The mechanic gave me the choice with the coil pack. He said we could replace just the bad one or replace them all. Since one had gone bad, he said it was more likely that the other two were not in good shape and may go bad soon. He also had coil packs with either a 1 year warranty or a lifetime warranty.
After all the hassle I've had with this problem, I opted to replace all of the coil packs, and chose the lifetime warranty even though they were significantly more expensive. But, I did go buy a battery myself and bring it to him to put in. I saved $20 by doing that.
The repairs still totalled $420, but if this fixes the problem it's more than worth the price. A new (used) car would have put us in debt again, and I will avoid that if at all possible.
Why am I sharing all this mechanical stuff with you all? In case anyone has the same sort of problem, I would like to save them the hassles I went through. Always be sure to read the invoices. This might just save you the expense and aggravation that I went through.
