Going for Not Broke

As I mentioned in an earlier post , I’d like to purchase a lightweight, flat-panel TV to replace my heavy analog one before my daughter starts walking. All of the articles I’ve seen about TVs toppling over on small children have this new mom very nervous. I need to put aside money for the TV so that I don’t get tempted to charge. It’s possible that by the time I have the money saved, my little girl will likely already be walking. For now, as I wait for my savings account to grow, I’ve been researching TVs online so that when the time comes, I know what I’m buying and where I can get the best deal on it. Looking at TVs solely on a computer screen, however, doesn’t give me all the information I need to make a final decision. I’d like to get either a 32-inch and a 37-inch screen, but without an in-person view, I’m having trouble choosing between the two. I’m all for the smaller and likely less expensive TV, as long as it isn’t so small that I have to squint to see it from...

Through the Target website, I requested a sample of Garnier’s Ultra Lift 2-in-1 Wrinkle Reducer . The Target link will take you directly to its Sample Spot page. Other samples that you can also request include a spring beauty bag, but I don’t have the code required for that one, and a Gevalia coffee, but I’m not a coffee drinker, so I passed on that one.

Through the Walmart website, you can request a free sample of Sani-Hands hand sanitizer wipes. I've found in the few months I've been a mom that you can never have enough wipes on hand. To go directly to the site to request your sample, click here .

I don't know why I keep putting off getting our landline disconnected. Our bill this month was $105, and we didn't make a single long-distance call, and quite possibly didn't even make a local call. (We do receive calls on the home phone. Contacting everyone who currently calls our landline phone would be a little time consuming, but not impossible.) To be fair, $30 of the $105 total goes toward our Internet service, but even allowing for that, we're paying $70 a month for a service we no longer use. So why is it so hard for me to just pull the plug on the phone company? It still feels necessary, even though I can clearly see that it isn't. For more than a year, I've been telling myself that I should switch our Internet service to our cable provider. What we're paying for the Internet itself will go up about $10, and there may even be a $100 or so installation charge. However, eliminating the $105 we're paying to the phone company every month would m...

As I had hoped , the warm weather we've had over the past 30 days did indeed result in a drop in our electric bill. From mid-January to mid-February, our usage was 1,817 kilowatts, and from mid-February to mid-March, it was down to 1,119 kw. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. However, I'd like to do even better. Back in late February , I unplugged a few things -- my alarm clock and the laptop computer when not in use. (Although, in all honesty, I haven't been the best about remembering to unplug the laptop as soon as I get done with it. Hopefully, that becomes a habit soon.) I realize the savings from disconnecting two devices from their power source results in spare change at best, but each penny I don't spend on electricity can be spent elsewhere -- our bills, for instance. I've got a few more things in mind to unplug: The desktop computer/printer combo and the TV and DVD player in our bedroom. The desktop computer can easily be turned off with the power s...

After I had my baby, I snacked -- a lot. As a result, the pants I wear now are two sizes bigger than what I was wearing when I got pregnant. Now, I'm trying to lose the weight, both for health reasons and to get back into my "good" clothes. In the meantime, I've been rotating three pairs of pants that are in the bigger size. A few days ago, though, my husband noticed a hole in one of my jeans. I don't want to buy new clothes, though, not when I have perfectly fine clothes waiting for me if I could just get the weight off. So I've decided to buy an iron-on patch to cover the hole. Hopefully, this will tide me over so that I don't need to buy new clothes.

Yesterday, I had a moment of weakness. It began when I decided to solve my freelance dilemma by upgrading the operating system, but first, I needed to do research to see if the software I use would still work. Turns out, it doesn’t -- at least not very well anyway. Therefore, upgrading the my computer means purchasing new software. My next thought was, “Well then, I might as well just buy a new computer.” So, I did some web surfing, checking out computers. I picked one out and made peace with the cost of the software. The combined purchase would be approximately $2,500 once taxes were figured in. Rather than buy right at that moment, though, I got up from my computer to clear my head a little. Odds are, I won’t make that much in freelance work this year. I’m barely on track to make $1,000 at this point. So when I got back to my computer, I didn’t head to the virtual checkout to make the purchase; I closed the window instead. I’m proud of me. Ultimately, I might opt to buy both...

Yay! For me,  Woot-Offs  and other similar deals, such as Amazon's Gold Box and Lightning Deals and  Targets Daily Deals , are a great way to find needed items or gifts for the holidays and birthdays. It's not often I actually see something I decide to purchase at Woot , but I love the discounts nonetheless.

I'm hoping for a big improvement in our electric bill. We've had several days of 70+ degree weather lately, so our heater shouldn't have been running very much at all. The bill should be available online week. Fingers crossed.

Since I first decided to give Aldi a try, I have done my grocery shopping there two more times. Both times, I got out of the store for significantly less than I had at other stores. Yesterday, I went again and spent less than $100. Whoo-hoo! The biggest drawback with the store is that I cannot buy everything we need there, for instance, baby food and formula. I also have mini pizzas on the menu, which I had planned to make on a whole wheat flat bread, both for convenience and for the health benefits. I couldn't find any flat bread at Aldi except for some tortilla wraps that are 250 calories each, a little high for people trying to trim their waistlines. So, unlike shopping at a Walmart Supercenter, I couldn't get everything at the same location. (However, since I've been trying to shop more frugally, I've been following sales anyway, though, so I've been making more than one grocery stop for quite a while, anyway.) The good news is, when I total up my overa...

The Spark People website provides free tips, tools and recipes for people wanting to improve their health. It has exercise advice, community support and a place to track what you eat. You can also add your favorite recipes to find its nutritional value. It also provides forums for other topics, such as hobbies. Like any weight loss program, though, it works only if you do it. I've been a member of the site for about two years and have logged in only occasionally. However, rather than return to Weight Watchers and shell out the money for the weekly meetings, my plan is to spend more time on Spark People and tracking what I eat. My hope is that visiting the site more often will keep me thinking about what I eat more. I'll write more on this topic when I see how well I'm able to stick with it.

I've been looking at new televisions lately. I want to get a flat panel, but not because I want to have the latest and best. It's a safety thing. This photo shows our current setup. I've read, though, quite a few articles, such as this one , that make me nervous about the risk of it toppling over onto my daughter should she bump into it once she begins walking. I still want to be financially smart about what I buy. I've read that plasma TVs use quite a bit of electricity. One of my co-workers told me the one he had put out enough heat that he couldn't stand to be in the same room with it. So, plasma screens are out. That leaves LCD and LED sets, which come in 720p and 1080p. I really don't care about HD. I don't think there is anything wrong with the resolution of the set my mom and dad had back in the 1970s. I could see it just fine. Therefore, a 720p set would be fine with me -- IF I knew that should television shows be broadcast in 1080p on...

I love checking out daily deals, such as the ones on Amazon , Woot and other sites to see if they offer anything I can use for gift-giving. I noticed recently that Target also offers one as well. It's rare that I actually buy anything, but occasionally I do find something that will suit someone on my shopping list. And when I do, I LOVE the savings. I think all daily deal offerings are worthy checking out.

Usually, I make a menu on grocery shopping week, then base my list on what we have available and what we need for the menu. On my grocery trip a couple of weeks ago, however, I didn't make the time to come up with a menu/list because we had doctor's appointments, so my husband and I wound winging our way through Aldi. The result? I picked up lunch at a fast-food restaurant often because I didn't feel like rooting through our cabinets to see what meals I could cobble together. Having the menu definitely keeps us from spending off budget.

This time, I sent $25 above what I normally send to one creditor and $50 more to another, so $75 total.

My home office equipment is aging. For the most part, this isn't a problem, and I don't care whether I have the latest and greatest computer equipment. However, this summer, I will use a function that has been very convenient in my freelance work, both for me and for one of my clients. It's Apple's iDisk, which allows the client to send me files without having to schedule a meeting and physically exchange flash drives or CDs. This June, iDisk will no longer work for Apple users who haven't upgraded to iCloud, which will not work with my 6-year-old system software. I'm weighing my three options: Do nothing. I've looked into other ways that my client and I could move files back and forth, but so far, I haven't found any that would allow the clients to access it without having to sign up for an account of their own, something I'm trying to avoid. Upgrade my system software so that I can get iCloud. Overall, this is probably the best option, as long...

I have occasional freelance projects that I do from my home computer. Word processing software is not necessary for me to do the work, but it does make it go a little smoother, so I bought the Microsoft Suite. Knowing what I do now -- that versions of word processing software are available for free online -- I would've saved my money. I'm sure there are others out there, but the two that I've used are through Google Docs and MSN. Neither program offers the full functionality of Word or other major word processing programs, but they do offer all I need -- and maybe even as much as most families would need for children in school and  home office tasks. Google Docs features: Word processing. Spreadsheets. Presentation software. Form creation. Drawing software. Table creation. MSN's software is a pared down version of its Office Suite: Word. Excel. PowerPoint. Notes. As my Office software ages out of use, I plan to check these again to see how well th...

Like most students in grade school and high school, I used to wonder just how much I would use math when I got older. I remember watching my mom balance her checkbook, but other than that, I don't think I ever saw her add, subtract, multiply or divide anything. These days, though, I've found math is crucial to getting the best deal. Before I started putting so much energy into stretching our dollars, I took note of one thing: price. I bought the same things again and again, which makes noticing a real sale easy. For instance, I used to buy body wash for $1.98; one day I went to the store and saw signs claiming the body wash had been marked down to $1.98. True, I didn't stand in front of the shelf watching the price continuously, so I cannot say with absolute certainty that the price never rose above $1.98, but if it had, it couldn't have been for very long because I shopped every two weeks. Since I've been trying to be more frugal, I've paid a lot more att...

My daughter is rapidly going from one size to the next. It never ceases to amaze me how fast newborns grow. My sister-in-law and I plan to check out a consignment sale that has all "gently used" children's items. I hope to find quite a few good deals there.

Even before we were married, my husband has done my laundry. It's a chore he doesn't mind, he says, and I gladly let him do it. I know it's probably not typical, but I'd much rather clean the toilet than fold and put away clothes. I have no idea why I feel that way. That's why I asked his opinion a few years ago when I had the thought that we should get a clothesline. He was fine with it, so off we went to Ace Hardware to buy a clothesline. We found an umbrella one that we (I mean, he) can put up when he needs it and take down when he's done. (Yes, I do realize how lucky I am.) We paid less than $40 for the clothesline, and I swear we saved that much in our electric bill the first summer we used it. However, we recently discovered that there was an issue with the outlet that our dryer was connected to that burned up the cord. We got it fixed, but the electric bill is still giving me fits. To save money, I hope that the weather this spring and summer is war...

I recently discovered that like Walmart , Target offers free samples, too. I have yet to snag one because every time I've been to the site, I get a message that they're all gone. I hope to see what types of products it offers soon, though.