Weekly Roundup-Robbed Edition
Thanks to eveyone for their supportive comments after I posted about being robbed Friday. Here are my favorite posts from the Frugal Blog Network this week.
“The ABCs of Frugality” from Almost Frugal. An amusing and informing trip through the alphabet focusing on frugality.
“The Festival of Frugality #135” from Antishay Ventenne. She hosted the latest edition of the FofF and had a frugal all over theme.
“Credit Cards Can Be Your Friend” from Frugal Babe. It took a long time but I’m finally making money from my credit cards rather than them costing me money. If you’re not certain you have the discipline to pay off your balance monthly and avoid unnecessary purchases than you shouldn’t get a credit card.
“Break the Cycle of Car Payments:Pay Cash for a Car” from Not Made of Money. My plan is to pay cash for my next car. I didn’t pay cash for my last car but I had it completely paid in about six months. For those of you who have car payments Not Made of Money’s plan is a great method to enable you to pay cash for your next car.
There were other article around the PF blogosphere this week that I found interesting but I didn’t make a note of them and can’t remember them to include them now. Next week I’ll have made some notes and include article from the Frugal Blog Network and beyond.
Robbed!!!
While working yesterday I was robbed. They didn’t get much of my money, maybe $20 at most. Unfortunately, they also took my cell phone and keys. I thought they were going to steal my car but apparently they just wanted the keys so they could go through my car looking for more to steal. And perhaps to keep me from following them since they ran off on foot. After they left I had to walk over to the apartment office so I could call the police. Having my phone stolen created another problem becuase I don’t know any phone numbers that I keep programmed into the phone. I didn’t know my work number and had to search a while to find it so I could report the robbery to them.
After the police came they wanted me to go home and get my other set of car keys to make sure that the robbers didn’t come back and steal my car. This also was an ordeal because I didn’t know my landlord’s number either. Once I got hold of him it took about 45 minutes for him to get there and open my apartment. He gave me a new set of keys too since my apartment keys were on my car key ring. That is going to cost me $10 on next months rent. After that I was finally able to return to work where I had to file a report with the central office. Then I was able to leave early and go home.
Besides the cash that was stolen I’m going to be out the money for a new cell phone, $10 to replace my keys, whatever it costs to get another spare car key, and the money I would have made the last three hours of my shift. I’ve got one year left on my Sprint contract and they told me my price for a new phone would be the two year contract price plus $75. I’m thinking I’ll try to find a used phone to save money there. Anyone had any experience with a used phone?
Where I work it was almost inevitable that I would eventually get robbed. Now that it has happened though I’m seriously considering finding new employment. I’m going to work today and I won’t make a decision just yet but this is another factor against keeping the job.
New Frugal Blog Network Member and Festival Links
I’d like to announce the newest member of the Frugal Blog Network,Kelly of Almost Frugal. Kelly is an American living in a small city in the French Alps with her three kids, three cats, and one French husband. And a mountain of debt (~€60,000) that they’re trying to dig their way out of, one centime at a time.
Also,the latest edition of the Festival of Frugality is being hosted by fellow Frugal Blog Network member Antishay Ventenne. It includes my post on “Stuff“. The Carnival of Personal Finance is being hosted this week at Taking Charge. I’m pre-posting this since I’m on a road trip through Thursday so I can’t make any picks. Go ahead and check out the Carnival and the Festival and make your own picks.
Road Trip
I’m going on a short road trip to Charleston,WV this week. I’ll be leaving tomorrow and coming back on Thursday. The trip is 11 hours each way which will make it two of the three days mostly driving. I’m not sure if I’ll have internet access when I’m there. I plan to schedule some posts while I’m gone but I might not be able to moderate comments or answer emails while I’m gone. I’ll post a summary of the trip when I return.
TFM Featured on MSN Money
I’d like to welcome those of you who came here after reading about my van dwelling post at the MSN Money Smart Spending blog. I don’t usually update my blog on the weekend so I’m a little late in welcoming everyone. Please spend some time here and read through the archives, if you like what you read go ahead and subscribe to my feed. There will be updates on my van dwelling adventure as progress is made. If you’re not coming here from MSN and haven’t read the post I’m referring to you can read it here. Also I’m going to be making an announcement on Friday that I’d like to share with as many people as possible. So be sure to check back in then, if not sooner.
Festival of Frugality #133 Picks
This weeks Festival of Frugality is being hosted at Squawkfox. You definitely need to go to her site and check it out; her tricks with fruit are kinda cute. The Festival included my post Living in a Van Down by the River. Some of my favorites from the other posts include:
Getting the Goods When You’re Shopping at Thrift Stores from Dana of Not Made of Money. I don’t visit thrift stores very often since I get even better deals from garage sales but these suggestions might make a visit to the thrift stores worthwhile.
How I paid zero dollars out of pocket at CVS in June from Chief Family Officer. Being a single guy the drugstore game doesn’t benefit me much but I’ve been wanting to try it.
Putting off Pests for Less from Frugal Fu. I haven’t had any problems with pests this year. If I do I’ll try these suggestions.
As always there are plenty of other good posts so be sure to go ahead and visit the Festival.
Happy 4th of July!
Sorry for the lack of posts the last few days. I was busy finishing up my internship and let my blogging slide. I really need to get a few posts in reserve for those busy days. Anyway, now that I’ve finished my internship I’ll be getting back on a regular blogging schedule. This holiday weekend I’ll be busy meeting members of my GF’s family but I might be able to sneak a post in. Otherwise I’ll have a post on Monday. Hope you all have a great 4th of July!
Latest Carnival and Festival Picks
This week the Carnival of Personal Finance was hosted by Mrs. Micah and it included my post about my food stamp experience. The carnival is themed around Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’ve never watched Buffy but since it was created by Joss Whedon who also created the best series ever, Firefly, it ought to be pretty good and I’ll get around to watching it one of these days.
The Festival of Frugality was hosted by Broke Grad Student. It included my post How I Couldn’t Find $10,000 Per Year If I Had To.
Some other posts I liked from the Carnival and Festival include:
Find Grocery Savings in Your Own Backyard at Not Made Of Money. This is something I should consider doing but I don’t have a backyard right now.
David of My Two Dollars compares the cost of hiring movers or doing it yourself. One advantage of not having much stuff is that you don’t need to hire movers. All my stuff will fit in one pickup load.
Kelly from My Small Cents wonders whether people who write about personal finance should blog anonymously. I don’t blog anonymously. You can easily find my name and location by digging around on this blog. It isn’t a problem for me but if I made more money I might think differently.
Nintendo Wii for Sale
I was lucky enough to find a Wii for purchase at retail price. It was purchased to resell since it is out of my budget to keep it. Rather than putting it on Ebay or Craigslist I thought I would offer it here to my readers instead. The price is $300 plus actual shipping costs. This seems pretty competitive with the online prices I’ve seen and is only a modest markup for my time in purchasing and shipping the console. I can accept payment through PayPal or RevolutionMoneyExchange. If you’re interested leave a comment or email me and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
“Passion Saving” Winner
There weren’t a lot of entries for the “Passion Saving” book giveaway. I guess I’ll need to do a little more advance promotion next time. The winner is Michelle and the book will be sent as soon as I get her address. I hope to do more book giveaways in the future if I can generate more interest in them.
-
Frugal Blog Network
-
