Frugality

Five Frugal Ways to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

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Saint Patrick began life sometime late in the 4th century in Britain as Maewyn Succat. Young Maewyn was kidnapped, taken to Ireland, and forced to herd sheep there. He turned to his faith for comfort, and eventually escaped. After he became a priest in France, he returned to the country he had known as a slave, and converted many of its inhabitants to Christianity. His name changed to “St. Patrick” only after he was ordained as a bishop.

There are many tales about this gentle saint, including chasing all the snakes out (oops – Ireland didn’t have many to begin with!) and having his staff burst into flower. They may have been miraculous, but two letters he wrote still exist, as well as many accounts of his work. After his death, his Irish converts set aside March 17 (most probably his death date, not his birth day) to celebrate his life…and the arrival of Christianity to their shores. Eventually the holiday became one of feasting and drinking, which it remains today.

The Irish immigrated to America in droves in the 1840s, after Ireland’s great famine, or “An drochshaol,” bad times. (They endured a similar famine in the 1740s which destroyed their potato crop. More in a bit.)  There’s a reason why so many railroaders and Western settlers were Irish — they weren’t always welcome elsewhere in the country. Immigrants were stuffed into slums and forced to work in sweatshops back East. More than one source attributes the popularity of St. Patrick’s Day parades in America beginning as protest marches against poor working and living conditions!

Today’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations may include a visit to a parade — especially in Downpatrick, Ireland, where Patrick is thought to be buried. (Think about that name.) Or celebrate the good saint’s holy day in other ways:

*Wear green. But remember — St. Patrick’s Day is technically a Catholic holiday. If you’re Protestant by inclination, feel free to add some orange, or wear it instead. (Just plan on being pinched…another interesting side effect of the holiday.)

*Pin on a shamrock. Patrick used the three leaves of this greenery to illustrate the Trinity. (Four leaves, of course, are good luck — when you can find them.)

*Have a drink. Skip the green beer and go straight for Guinness stout, a ‘hoppy’ thick dark brew that’s a snack, as much as alcohol. Or sip an Irish whiskey, said to be the oldest in the world — Bushmills, Tullamore Dew or Jameson are a few possibles. A pot of dark Irish Breakfast tea may console the teetotaler. (Milk, please.)

*Enjoy a meal. Corned beef and cabbage, the traditional U.S. response, are really more American than not, though the Irish do enjoy a beef boiled dinner.

You might consider colcannon (potatoes and cabbage) or boxtie (boxty – potato pancakes) on your dinner table. They’re a strong tie to the vegetable that fed a nation until its blight – and the resulting Great Famine.

Or try a Dublin coddle, a mixed dish of ham, sausage, potatoes and onion. It’s easy, filling, and costs little to make.  “Coddling,” by the way, refers to keeping the dish at a gentle simmer. Use a crockpot instead, if you’re headed to the pub for the afternoon.

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Online Income Report – February 2012

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Here is a breakdown of my online income for February 2012.

Google Adsense – $311.71

Affiliate Income – $3.75

Brokered Ads – $65.25

Direct Ads-$1773.67

Total – $2154.38

My online income went down quite a bit in February.  Private advertising income was down the most.  I’ve been thinking this would eventually subside and it has finally happened.  I am ahead of last month’s pace so far this month though so I’m hoping it will rebound a bit.  After having a great month of affiliate income in January my income went all the way down to $3.75 in February.  I actually made a couple hundred dollars in affiliate income in February but I haven’t received any of it yet and I don’t count it until I receive it.  This causes my affiliate income to seem more inconsistent than it really is.  I still need to work on increasing my affiliate income and other sources of online income in order to become less reliant on private advertising.  I can’t complain about this amount of income but it is unfortunate that my online income declined right when I was starting to outsource some of my online work.  Since I’m hiking the last two weeks of this month I won’t be doing much to try to increase my online income this month but I do have some ideas for when I return.

 

Previews, Coffee & Other Gratis Pleasures

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A cup of coffee, poured from the pot at the back table in the fabric shop. (Well, perhaps a cookie, too. Or three.) Internet surfing, served up cost-free at the local Starbuck’s. (The really frugal customers just order hot water…or bring their own drinks.) A weekend of cable, sampled during one of the previews – and you have no plans to subscribe.

Is it right to take advantage of these freebies?

Some say no. This isn’t a frugal thing — it’s swiping something you have no right to. Reading a book, lounging comfortably on a bookstore couch, with no intention of buying it, has the same grabby feel. (Even worse, copying recipes and such out before you return it to the shelf.)

Others argue that these free-and-easy pleasures are nothing more than making the most of opportunities. “Taking a business up on an offer they made freely is not stealing,” one comments.

The struggle is more, I think, in your attitude. It’s not the item, so much as the extent. If your neighbor offers an apple from their tree, do you sneak back late at night and strip their orchard, on the grounds they meant for you to take everything?

Going online for an hour at your local McDonald’s is one thing. (A large drink will only set you back a buck — a small courtesy.) Hanging out all day, especially if you purchase nothing, is another. Watching the preview weekend is fine — getting your neighbor to jack the cable box, so you continue to get it free, isn’t.

It’s hard to know sometimes when to stop, especially when your frugal urges kick in. One uncle, otherwise a kind and thoughtful man, can’t resist clearing off all the sugar and creamer packets on the table at the restaurant — on the grounds that they’re included in the meal. (I’ve wondered if he ever tried to stuff the ketchup bottle down his pants, for the same reason.) He would think nothing of grabbing all the courtesy mints in the bowl, as well, if he could get away with it.

But the sauce packets tucked in the Taco Bell takeout bag? Throwing them away doesn’t prove anything, except a willingness to waste. (Besides, they come in handy when bringing your lunch to work.)

One of the local hardware stores, bless ’em, has a popcorn cart out back, with bags to help yourself. That fresh, warm popcorn can hit the spot between errands. And a bag’s small. Maybe I should take several…wait a minute.

Are you taking more than one, when it’s clear that one is offered? It’s easy to do. Even worse, do you take a quick look around before you do it, just to make sure no one’s looking? Better stop — and check your attitude.

This post is by staff writer Cindy Brick. Cindy is a quilting expert with several published books on the subject and has also had many published articles on a variety of subjects. You can visit her business website at CindyBrick.com or visit her personal blog.

Elegant Valentines for the Frugal Romantic

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Valentine's Day FlowersA friend pointed out that there are plenty of opportunities for cheap Valentines — the most difficult are elegant expressions of your love that also don’t cost much. Here, then, in the spirit of love, are some helpful suggestions:

*Buy flowers, all right — 1-3 of the very best blooms you can find. Roses are the primary stems in the Vase of Love, partly because, for many years in the Language of Flowers, they represented love. You have to be careful on color, though. Red expresses the highest, truest form of love. (It’s no wonder, then, that red roses are hands down the primary flower of Valentine’s Day.) Pink roses are maternal love. White means purity; peach, sophistication. But yellow? Watch out for that one. It signifies suspicion and treachery. It wasn’t until the 20th century (with the love of the American Florists Association) that yellow came to stand for friendship.

Buy your flowers loose, and wrap in colored tissue. Most women already have more than their share of the cheesy vases and baskets flower arrangements normally come in.

*Don’t forget other sweets besides chocolates. Cupcakes are one of today’s biggest trends — they can be personalized (“I love you, cupcake!”) and only cost a buck or so. If you’re getting chocolates, a small box of the very best will say as much — or more — than a five-pound offering of mediocre chocolates. (Important: find out if he/she prefers milk or dark chocolate. Nearly everyone has a strong preference.)

*If you’re a guy, make her a meal. As a red-blooded woman, I cannot emphasize how sexy this is. Husband courted me this way — the first and only one to do so. It didn’t hurt his cause at all! Add a good bottle of wine, excellent coffee and some chocolate for dessert, and she’ll be putty in your hands.

*If you’re a woman, make him a meal. Choose his very favorite foods. Not yours — his. Use the best ingredients possible. (Guys, this isn’t a bad idea for your loverbuns, either.) Feed the kids, and send them to bed — or in their rooms to play. (Put on a video, and/or award prizes all around if they stay there for the whole meal.) Arrange your dishes on the deck — or if that’s frozen over, by the fire.

*No time to cook? Have coffee and dessert at the nicest, darkest restaurant you can find. Ask to be seated near the fire, or a window overlooking the view. If it’s dark, raining or snowing, score an extra point for your side. (For really broke romantics, coffee alone will do.)

And don’t forget those three little words. Spoken with feeling, they’ll be the most meaningful in the world:

  “I love you.”

This post is by staff writer Cindy Brick. Cindy is a quilting expert with several published books on the subject and has also had many published articles on a variety of subjects. You can visit her business website at CindyBrick.com or visit her personal blog.

Starting Out Poor or Rich: Which is Better?

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According to a 20-year study, the gap between rich and poor is growing, not getting smaller. The difference is even more pronounced when comparing countries, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation. The OECD’s rep “urged governments to address the ‘divisive’ issue of growing inequality. He said they should do more to educate the whole work force – and not just the elite – while helping people get jobs and increasing incomes for working families, rather than relying on social benefits.(Unfortunately, he didn’t also explain how this is going to happen.)

So — do you learn more in life, by growing up rich — or poor?

It could be good. It could be bad. Some, like Not Made of Money, say that their money-strapped upbringings actually made them more responsible adults. Nah, John Cheese argues. If you learned bad habits when you were poor, things probably won’t change. Get a better job, and you’ll still be eating crappy junk food and blowing your paycheck.

Either way, we learn by example: good or bad. (Sharon Jasper isn’t famous for nothing.) Chatting At the Sky, talking about her dad, the former alcoholic, says, ” It seems to me the people most qualified to talk about hope are the ones who have been hopeless and lived to tell about it.” Keep the good ideas, like sticking to fifty bucks a month for food, or living richly when you’re scraping bottom. (Three words: “Less is more.”) Discard the rest.

Your parents’ response to money matters is going to affect yours — whether you like it or not. (See a good overview on this, thanks to Get Rich Slowly.) If your folks were spendthrifts, you may be, too — or you may sprint across the spectrum, and become a miser. Hopefully you won’t go to either extreme. The key is understanding where you came from, and why you react the way you do.

Case in point: my parents had a tendency to choose the cheapest appliance, regardless of its track record. I did, too, until Husband pointed out that a higher quality item lasted much longer. We spent more on a refrigerator than they did — but it’s lasted for nearly a decade, so far, with more years to go.

Just living in America has given us a leg up that many others would love to have.

Yes, I Am Cheap grew up poor…to the point of shivering through the first year or so of high school, until she could afford a winter coat. (Thrift shop, I would say!) But as an immigrant herself (she moved to the U.S. at age 6), she says, “Growing up poor in the U.S. is entirely different than growing up poor in some other countries. Even some of the worse conditions here can be better than some of the best conditions elsewhere. Homeless families here can be accepted into programs where a roof will be put over their heads. In some other countries when you are homeless, you are truly homeless. There are no resources for you.”

Rich, poor — it’s all relative. If you’ve read Andy’s post on the subject, his family had cable in his teenaged years, and he owned his own computer. (An Atari — big stuff back in those days!) His mother, on the other hand, was born in a farmhouse with no running water.

As a farm girl, we had plenty to eat, including lots of steaks and roast (luxuries nowadays). But the only television I saw until 4th grade was my grandma’s, while she was in Florida for the winter. (We kept the tiny b&w tv while she was gone.) Husband and I managed to buy our first computer only because Apple offered a half-off special to students at the University of Michigan.

This all seemed incredibly fancy to my dad, whose home didn’t have electricity until he was in his late teens. (Rural South Dakota was not exactly on the cutting edge of technology.) He only went to school through eighth grade; his help was needed on the farm. And to the end of his days, he wore the same basic dark blue shirt and pants, with clodhopper work boots, throughout the week.

My viewpoint on all this changed even more when friends came to supper Saturday night. ‘Dan’ spent his childhood in a grubby apartment in ‘Alphabet City,’ a rent-controlled complex in lower east Manhattan. He vividly remembered stepping over drunks in the hallway, fighting with gang members, and begging for money in the subway with his mom and younger brother.

His life has completely changed now, but he hasn’t forgotten the many nights they spent in New York City’s homeless shelters…or his relief, when he finally felt ‘safe.’ That feeling didn’t come until his twenties.

I never had that experience. Perhaps what seemed poor was really rich, after all.

This post is by staff writer Cindy Brick. Cindy is a quilting expert with several published books on the subject and has also had many published articles on a variety of subjects. You can visit her business website at CindyBrick.com or visit her personal blog.