Going for Not Broke

My college roommate was the first person I knew who was a big-time couponer. One of our local grocers tripled coupons on Wednesdays, so each week in preparation, she's clip whatever she could from the Sunday papers. I can still see her sitting on the floor in our apartment literally giggling in anticipation of the savings she'd get. After her shopping trip, she'd walk in the door with four or five sacks -- the paper ones, not the plastic ones most stores use now that hold just a handful of items -- for about $15. She got a high out of it, and if I had ever been able to duplicate her success, I probably would've, too, but I never could. What got me was that she would buy things like coffee and dog food, just because she had a coupon, while neither of us was a coffee drinker and we had no dog. She would give those items to other people she knew who could use it, but I never understood being able to get any kind of savings out of buying stuff you don't need. ...

Last month, I posted about the Apple iDisk going away. I had thought that if I could upgrade to Apple’s iCloud service, I could keep the iDisk, and the only thing standing in my way was the age of my current computer. Upon further research, though, I found that the iDisk function is going away regardless, which is good, because the pressure to upgrade my computer is off. I’ll need to upgrade at some point, but now I can take my time and may even be able to put it off for a few years. However, I do need to find a substitute for the iDisk. I’ve considered Google Drive and Microsoft’s Skydrive, but both options require anyone I share documents with to sign up for an account (if they don’t already have one) with Google or Microsoft, respectively. I’d rather not force my freelance clients to do so. One thing I’m considering is GoDaddy’s cloud storage service. I think it might work but I’d like to find reviews from other clients before I go that route, and I haven’t been able to find any th...

I've been tossing my spare pennies into this jar for a while. I don't know how much is in here, but based on the last time I cashed in what I had accumulated, I'm guessing it's $7 at most. I'm planning to take it to the bank. It's not much, of course, but paying an extra $7 off a credit card is another $7 I don't have to pay interest on.

Even though I enjoy MyCokeRewards and it has saved me money, I know that the amount I spend on soda is too high. If I didn't spend as much as I do, I'd have the money to buy the reward items on my own and have some money leftover. Ideally, I'd like to do more than cut back. I'd like to cut out soda altogether, but going cold turkey on the caffeine can be very tough. I know. I've done it before. So, my plan is to cut back. A lot.

The sample of the Sam's Club brand of baby formula that I requested came in the mail today. I love getting free samples! To request a free sample, fill out the form here .

I haven't been up on the latest technology for a while. While researching TVs , I discovered smart TVs, which have Internet connectivity. If I understand the capabilities correctly, with a smart TV, we'd be able to watch the shows we like online, eliminating the cable bill. I found one smart TV that was the size I'm looking for, Energy Star rated and within budget, but each site I checked was sold out. I think maybe that model has been discontinued. Any other model I find is a good $300 more. Therefore, I don't think we'll be buying one of those. They do sound interesting, though.

I need a couple of things: Shirts for Work: I have three are worn through in the elbow. Handbag: The strap on the one I have now is very worn. I don't know how much longer it will last. I've been telling myself for a few weeks now that I need to make the time to go to a thrift store. I'm not sure I can buy a purse secondhand, though. Do they sell those there?

Right after college, my best friend and I moved into an unfurnished apartment. I was able to get the dresser I had at my parents' house, but not my old bed. So, I went out and bought one, using my credit card. While I was at it, I also got a 19-inch TV and VCR. That's how I did things back then. I wanted something, thought I needed it, so I went out and got it, even if it meant charging. Flash forward to sometime within the couple of years. As I was leafing through a newspaper one day, I ran across an article about people who never buy anything unless they can pay cash, be it a car or house. One woman said she slept on her floor for ages before she shelled out the money to buy a bed. These days -- especially when I look at my charge accounts -- I wish I could tell that story about when I first moved out on my own, too. I wish I could say that I slept on the floor, bought all of my clothes secondhand (with the exception of underwear -- I don't want to tell that story...

As my husband was growing up, his family saved their plastic sandwich bags and reused them, a practice that has carried over into adulthood. The bags really aren't all that expensive, but why buy them more often than you have to? I don't take as many sandwiches for lunch as he does, but when I do, I try to remember to save my bag. Developing the habit is kind of tough, though. I've toyed with the idea of doing the same thing with freezer bags after I've used them for ground beef. To save time and money, I often buy a large pack of ground beef and divide it up according to what's on the menu for the upcoming week. For instance, if I'm planning to serve Hamburger Helper, I'll put a pound of ground beef in a bag. If burgers are on the menu, though -- this is where I get really wasteful -- I put a quarter pound of beef in a bag for each burger. So, to make three burgers, I use three bags. I do this to save time when I'm cooking. If the burgers are a...

When I turned 37, I tried coloring my hair myself. I had never colored my hair before at all, and the whole thing was a big mess. It dripped everywhere . Rather than try again, I started going to a friend who is a hairdresser to get it done after that. It cost me $30 each time I go, but for me, the cost was worth it. But now, I'm rethinking that expense. Telling my friend I was going to do my own hair wasn't high on my list of things to do. I was afraid she'd think I was unhappy with the way she does it. Well, she's moving away within a few months, so she'll stop doing my hair anyway. I dread the thought of trying it by myself again, but to cut expenses, I should at least give it a try, or just let my hair go gray. Anyone have ideas on which home product is easiest for a newbie?

The higher gas prices climb, the more I mind filling up my tank. If I lived closer to work, I'd walk there, but that's not an option. What is an option, though, is walking to the store when I have to make a fill-in grocery trip because we do have a Dollar General store within walking distance. I don't know how long it would take to walk there, but my guess would be no more than 30 minutes. If it takes less time than that, it's probably not by much. Therefore, I probably should just drive if I'm going after milk. I have no idea how much this could save, or how much the hike could benefit me health wise. I make at least two trips a week to the store to pick up stray items, either ones I forgot on the main grocery trip or that I didn't realize we were so close to running out of. What I do know is that last summer was very, very hot in my neck of the woods. I hope this one is cooler. Otherwise, I know I'll give in and just take the car.

My father-in-law believes in having as little tax withheld from your check as possible without having to owe. He says that setting yourself up to get a refund each year just gives the government an interest-free loan on money that you could've been earning interest on yourself. The goal, then, is to get as close to nothing owed, nothing refunded as possible. That makes sense to me. Really, it does. But living there makes me nervous. What if a tax credit I got one year doesn't exist the next? What if the few freelance projects I do every year pays me more than I've allowed for? I'd always rather have a refund. Big, large, it doesn't matter. To ensure I get something, I've always extra taken out. For the last couple of years, it's been $30 a paycheck. However, with extra coming out of my check for my daughter's health insurance now, I could really use the $30, so for the first time ever, I have nothing extra being set back from my check. Scary. 

As I've mentioned before , I've set a goal for myself to have my debt paid off by the time my 7-month-old daughter starts kindergarten. The reason I set this deadline is because right now I work nights, and if I'm still in the same job when she starts school, I'll see her only on weekends. I want to be able to be able to get a different job by then without having to worry about whether they'll pay me enough. I don't want to have to fear starting over on the pay scale in a new job. This blog, I hope, will keep me focused on what I want to do and what I need to do to get there.. Fingers crossed.

I recently did a little math that made me realize I've been cutting into my take-home pay quite a bit lately. Ever since my maternity leave ended, I've been leaving work early to go pick up my daughter from day care, and not because I have to. I just get eager to see her, so 15 minutes before I've got my hours in for the day, I clock out and head to the day care. Fifteen minutes might not seem like much, but I'm an hourly employee, not salaried, and doing that four days a week equals an hour a week. Multiply that by 52 weeks in a year, and I've been shorting myself by what could average out to more than entire week's pay over the course of a year if I don't stop it.

Cat Food and Metamucil Through Walmart's website, you can request free samples of Meow Mix and Metamucil. To go directly to the samples, click here . Baby Formula Simply Right, the Sam's Club brand of baby formula, also offers a free sample. To request one, click here .

I love dining out, but it's not cheap, so, even though it's not my preference, I've been brown-bagging it to work. Before my daughter was born, quite often, I gave in to the call of restaurant anyway. I'd just tuck my lunch away in the fridge at work and tell myself I'd eat it the next day. I've done a lot better about eating what I bring, though, since my daughter has been born. I'll admit, I haven't been perfect, but I've seen the inside of my office break room a lot more often than I used to, and I feel a sense of pride about the fact that I've been able to quell that impulse. That's why I felt very frustrated at myself yesterday. I packed my lunch, I swear I did, but when it came time to head to the break room, I didn't have it. It wasn't on my desk or in my car. It seems I packed it but left it sitting on the kitchen table. I wound up spending $2.27 on food at McDonald's (a hamburger and small order of fries) AND becaus...

In the past, my husband and I never set aside money specifically for doctor visits. We didn’t see a need, really. When scheduled visits would come up, we’d use overtime pay or trim what we had planned to send to a credit card, or do some other last-minute juggling to come up with funds for the copay and any medicines we’d need. Things are much different since our daughter was born. I didn’t realize how many routine doctor visits babies have -- 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, etc. Plus, she’s been about five times in addition to the routine visits, two for ear infections, two for follow-ups to make sure the ear infections cleared up, and once more just this week for a severe case of allergies. Not only are we paying doctor bills more often, but we’re also paying more each time we go, because our copay went up this year by $20. OUCH! This week, when the allergies overtook our little girl and my husband and I debated about how to meet the copay, I realized that I should’ve had a category ...

A couple years ago, I read Dave Ramsey's "The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness." One thing he recommends is putting cash in separate envelopes for each budget category. I tried this, but the envelopes got very quickly got ratty in my purse. For a couple of months, I got a fresh envelope every time one became a little too worn for use, but eventually, I abandoned the system altogether. Because I'm trying to focus on getting my debt paid down again, I'd like to go back to using the envelope system, but rather than use the envelopes, I've decided to use a coupon holder, which is much sturdier, instead. I bought one with a cloth cover several months ago when I first decided to give extreme couponing a go, and I found another last week that's all clear plastic. At first, I planned to use the new one for my budgeted cash, but then my husband pointed out that because it's clear, everyone can see how much cash I have on hand. So I...

Back in February, I wrote about MySurvey  and a few other sites that pay members to take surveys. I don't qualify for surveys often. I'm pretty sure it's because my full-time job is in journalism, because quite often, I get a pop-up screen that says, "Thank you for your time," right after the question about what industry I work in. To cash out with $10 from MySurvey , members must have at least 1,100 points in their account. Mine has been sitting at 1,060 for about four months now, as survey after survey became available and I failed to qualify. But on Friday, I finally got the other 40 points I needed, so within the next four to six weeks, I should have an extra $10 I can send to a creditor. Hurray!

On Friday, I posted about Energy Guide tags I’ve seen while TV shopping. They look like this: While I’m glad to be able to tell at a glance which TVs are likely to be more costly long-term, I’m puzzled. The estimated energy cost of this TV is only $19 annually, roughly $1.58 a month. Really? I have no doubt that the people who provide the estimate know their stuff, but I would’ve thought this -- or any other TV -- would drain a lot more juice annually than $19 worth. According to the tag, this estimate is based on five hours of viewing daily. At our house, the TV is on closer to seven hours a day. Maybe even eight, but let’s split it down the middle and say 7.5. Based on the above estimate and our TV usage, if we owned this TV, it would cost us about $28.50 a year, or $2.57 a month. Even if we have the TV on 10 hours a day, that would be only $38 a year and about $3.15 a month. In an effort to trim our energy usage, I recently pulled the plug -- permanently -- ...