For my daughter’s events and things though, I can’t very well lug my laptop around and point the webcam at her. For all purposes, I have been considering one of those flip video cameras. I did find out recently that Cisco is ditching the Flip Camera Biz and that left me wondering if maybe a flip camcorder isn’t such a fantastic idea. As noted in the article, the blame seems to be on cell phones with video. I don’t think the iPhone can be entirely to blame for that though, since in my case shooting a vlog while holding my cell phone in the air would result in a) a pretty odd shot of me and b) very tired arms.

And of course, I am Miss Bankrupt so I must consider the price. Let’s just say I’m looking for basics and really, really cheap. So what kind of video camera do you use? And furthermore, what do you think of vlogging– or am I the only one that thinks that’s a super cool, awesome idea?

My initial thought is this: didn’t anyone learn this doesn’t work when gas rose to $2 and we boycotted gas for a day?

I don’t like high gas prices either. Broke people obviously suffer the most, and if I remember correctly, the last time gas jumped over $3.00, many people were spending more on the commute to work, than they were being paid. There are a number of throwback articles online on how to save on gas (ie carpooling, etc) that may be helpful this time around as well.

But, not buying gas for a day isn’t going to change that. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you how to effectively lower the price of gas, but I can tell you that I suspect that if the entire nation boycotted gas for a day, it would harm gas station owners and employees of those gas stations more than anything. If there’s anything we don’t need, it’s more unemployed people. And although I’m generally no conspiracy theorist, (not all the time anyway), I specifically said last time this happened that it would never go down. Generally, we made it just fine paying the higher prices for gas, so I didn’t see why anyone would lower it and thus make less money.

I read this article recently regarding the Facebook gas boycotts and thought that there were a number of interesting myths regarding pumping gas and such. The real reason that gas boycotts don’t work is pretty much summed up in one sentence, “It’s not a boycott if you’re using the product a day later.” Some day, you will need to go to the gas station unless you plan on ditching your car altogether. This is one reason I wish I lived in a metro area where everyone rode the city bus to and fro. Cars in general are a huge expense.

The only clear advice that I have for beating high gas prices is to catch a leprechaun. Otherwise, let’s be honest, we don’t have much choice. It just means a little more budgeting, a little more shuffling around the few pennies that we do have. And as with all things, it’ll work out. Hopefully.

According to this article, cable generally costs at least $500 to almost $1300 per year and I know that a lot of consumers have a bunch of extras in their cable packages that raise the monthly bill. The article also gives a few ideas for alternatives if you can’t go cold turkey, but most rely upon an internet connection so depending on how much internet costs for you, these alternatives may not end up saving you much. Most of the alternatives I looked into at the time involved my computer, and since I work and go to school, my computer is pretty much tied up. My daughter wouldn’t be able to watch it anyway. So, we opted for straight out DVDs and since she watched television way more than I did, I thought I’d give you some idea where to find inexpensive (cheap) DVDs for kids.

Walmart and Target

Seems like a no brainer, but you have to look in the cheap areas otherwise, both Walmart and Target have some pretty expensive DVDs. Yes, I ended up buying a lot of DVDs out of the $5 bin at Walmart. Luckily, my daughter is young enough to appreciate most of the cartoons and kid’s shows that are in those bins, although she thought the cover for Lassie looked way better than the movie actually was.

DVD Rentals Are Not Dead

There aren’t many places that still rent DVDs but I live in a small town that has a discount store almost literally down the street. We can rent movies from there for $2 a day. If I rented a DVD from the discount store every day, I still would not be spending as much as I did on Dish Network.

Borrow and Beg for DVDs

I am lucky to have people in my family that pretty much hoard DVDs and allow me to borrow a movie for free from them on occasion. I am also lucky enough to have someone in my family that owns quite a few new releases. If I ever needed a movie that was not animated or made by Disney, I could borrow one from them (as well as the kid’s movies too).

Garage Sales and Discount Stores

Not only can you find really, insanely cheap DVDs at garage sales and discount stores, but you can also find VHS movies as well. Yeah, that’s right. I said VHS. I don’t have a VCR but I was always amazed at the movies you can still buy on VHS for less than a dollar and sometimes just pocket change.  If you have one, hook that thing up and watch some cheap movies. Kids don’t know the difference. In fact, they may think they have found something new when you pull out the rusty, dusty VCR.

Don’t Go for New Releases

My daughter has become a huge fan of I Love Lucy and The Dick Van Dyke Show (for some unexplainable reason) and I can find really cheap DVDs with entire seasons of these shows in most stores. We never ever bought new release movies and I can save that for a special treat to the movie theater. I know it’s cheaper to actually buy the DVD, but sometimes it’s nice to get out and do something. Plus, it’s a lot of fun for kids.

I’m glad that I disconnected the satellite TV when I did. I hated the idea of wasting so much money on channels and television shows that we never watched and I think it made a big difference in getting caught up on a lot of bills. If you are considering cutting cable, I would definitely say go for it. You don’t have to go all Amish and actually sell your TV, although I did but that’s another story, there are tons of alternatives available that make living without cable a lot easier.

What do you think. Could you live without cable or satellite television?

I am one of those people that always thought I enjoyed being able to hold a book and look at it on the book shelf, but I can honestly say that the handiness of the Nook has totally won me over. I understand now why everyone’s screaming that print, as in printed books, magazines and newspapers, will someday become obsolete. It’s sad as a writer to imagine such a world, but as a new owner of an eReader- well, I get it.

The best function of the Nook so far, is that I am able to download the reading material for my classes and read it on the Nook while at work, or wherever. I don’t need to go into how uncomfortable it would be for me, at my age, to be carrying around a stack of school books. With the Nook I can read the assignments without anyone even knowing what I’m reading. I can also view PowerPoint presentations and Word documents. The Nook Color also comes with Pandora (which I use ALL the time), as well as Chess and Sudoko puzzles and crossword puzzles.

But, besides all of that, you do have access to virtually any book, magazine or newspaper that ever existed and currently exists. There are always deals available at Barnes and Noble for bestsellers and you can find a large number of books there for one or two dollars. There is also a lending program that allows you to lend the books you have and you can lend from others as well. I haven’t tried it yet, since I currently have plenty in my library to read.

I have also come across quite a few websites that provide free eBooks.

Project Gutenberg – this is probably the most well known place for free eBooks. If  you’re looking for a classic, you can probably find it at Project Gutenberg. (Or one of those old books you’ve always wanted to read but never did.) These are all books that are in the public domain and thus, free to distribute.

Barnes and Noble Free Nookbooks – Barnes and Noble has a section online of free Nookbooks that you can browse and download. Amazon also has free ebooks available for the Kindle. There are programs that you can use to convert books from one eReader to the other. From what I’ve seen and read, it seems like a bigger pain to try to convert the books that are strictly for the Kindle, so I don’t.

Free eBooks.net – this site carries a ton of books, but is also a site that allows you to write your own eBooks as well. It appears as though there are a lot of free eBooks here that are written by people you’ve never heard of. Still, they’re free and when you’re looking for something different to read, this is a good place to try.

Public Libraries – Check for eBooks at your public library. You can usually check them out and download them to your eReader, exactly the same way you would check out a regular book. Also if you’re a student, you have a large amount of books available to you for free.

Many Books.net – I’m including this site even though it contains a large amount of the same books from the Gutenberg Project (and other sources) as well as a bunch of conversion tools for different formats. If you have an eBook for one eReader and want to convert it to another format, you will need one of these programs or tools to convert it.

There are a ton other sites for free eBooks if you don’t want to pay for them. Enough that  you will never run out of anything to read. eBooks are significantly cheaper than regular books so I don’t see a problem with buying one once in a while. In fact, one of the free children’s books that came with the Nook is an audio book and my daughter loved it, so I let her download the Tangled book about Rapunzel.

All in all, I think it’s an awesome gift (and not a bad investment if you’re planning on buying one). Happy reading, and if  you have any tips on free eBooks, let me know.

For instance, an entire box of Little Debbie snacks are a dollar something. One tiny red pepper is almost $3.00 and if you like ranch dressing with your veggies that’s another 3 or 4 bucks. Look at how much a case of sodas compared to juice sometimes costs.

Although I am on a budget and somewhat, okay pretty much broke, I will not sacrifice eating healthy foods. It’s something I believe if I have to spend money on, I just have to for the sake of mine and my daughter’s health. There are ways to cut down the cost a little, but it still won’t make it cheaper to eat well than to eat junk.

1.  Portion Sized Shopping:  Fresh vegetables can get expensive and if you have a small family, you’re taking a chance on buying produce that goes bad faster than you can eat it. Unfortunately, in my case, I can only buy fresh veggies a little at a time for this reason. If they turn rotten before you are able to eat them, then they’re a waste of money no matter how cheap or expensive.

2.  Frozen Veggies:  Another tip for vegetables and sometimes fruit is to buy them frozen. I purchased a huge bag of frozen broccoli from Sam’s Club that lasted for months. So not only was it cheaper than fresh broccoli, it lasts longer because it’s frozen. Other good veggies to purchase frozen are corn and green beans.

3.  Calculate the Price Difference:  Some foods, the healthy version may cost more but not much more. For instance brown and white rice, wheat and white bread. If the difference is small, I can’t say there’s any reason to purchase the unhealthy version. Our health is worth way more than a couple pennies (in my opinion).

4.  Store Brands:  The store brand products are what used to be referred to as generic but are not anything like the days of the black and white boxes. There is almost no difference at all between the “name brand” food and store brand food.

5.  Cheap Proteins:  Staples like eggs and beans can be added to almost everything and are fairly cheap. It isn’t entirely healthy to eat only protein but if you’re on a ramen budget, (which I know isn’t really good for you) you can add things like eggs to not only make it a heavier meal but slightly healthier. Besides, there are a million and one recipes for eggs and beans so you can come up with tons of meals.

If you combine these ideas with standard tips to save money at the grocery store (ie coupons) you will find that it isn’t as difficult to still eat well when you’re broke. Keep your eye on the stuff that’s good for you and you may just be able to afford it.

Seriously. Have you never been to a garage sale that had items for sale that made you snicker? If not, you’re not going to the right ones then. If you don’t walk away from at least one garage sale per summer that made you shake your head and wonder what in the heck those people were thinking, you’re missing out on some valuable yet cheap entertainment.

Things You Should Never Ever Buy From a Garage Sale and alternatively Things that Should Never Ever Be Sold at a Garage Sale

1.  Underwear. Please don’t make me explain. I do think unworn baby pants are acceptable to sell and buy from garage sales. Grandmas don’t even like grandma panties and really don’t want your Grandma Bea’s old underwear either.

2.  Makeup. Used cosmetics are unsanitary and I don’t care who only used that mascara twice, it should not be for sale. If you’re going to buy someone’s used cosmetics, you may as well wear the underwear they’re selling as well.

3.  Personal Hygiene Products. True story, I’ve seen sanitary napkins at a garage sale. And worse, they weren’t even extra cheap. Purchase personal hygiene products from the Dollar Store or if you’re really strapped for cash, make your own at home. Note: if you click on that link, you’ll go to a site that includes directions on making sanitary napkins. Reusable and washable ones, mind you. Not for the squeamish. By the way, this also means the garage sale is not the place to purchase disposable razors or half used bottles of shampoo either.

4.  Food. I’m not talking about the garage sales that offer refreshments. I’m talking about the ones that have the original Wheaties box of cereal that has been opened. If you think you’re getting something valuable, you’re wrong because a half eaten box of cereal is not only not worth anything, I wouldn’t trust consuming what is still left in the box either. If you don’t recall seeing the product in the grocery store ever, it’s too old. A picture of OJ Simpson in a Buffalo Bills uniform is a good indication the cereal is older than dirt also.

5.  Medication. Of course most people know not to purchase medicine second hand, but I have seen a number of things for sale at garage sales that shouldn’t be. Any kind of cream or ointment including denture cream or packets of pills or cold medicine should not be purchased from or be sold at garage sales. Unless of course you throw the used dentures in with the cream. Then that’s a steal.

This should in no way deter anyone from garage sale-ing. There are plenty of steals and deals to make up for the weird things that shouldn’t be sold. What’s the grossest or weirdest item you’ve seen for sale at a garage sale?

Have a great weekend, and hope you catch some of those deals!

Did I mention that I don’t need any more clothes? Part of Springtime, however is cleaning, organizing and refreshing. There’s nothing fresher than new clothing, but there are some simple ways to update a spring wardrobe for almost nothing.

The Backward Hanger Method

If for some reason you don’t know for sure if you need certain items any more, you can try the backward hanger method. Everything you’re uncertain of, turn the hanger backwards in the closet. If you do wear it, after cleaning put it back in the closet facing the normal direction. It has been suggested to wait a year and whatever is still backwards get rid of.

Anytime you’re getting rid of clothing, consider how  you may make a few dollars from it. Consignment shops, second hand stores and even garage sales make getting rid of old clothing worth it. Also don’t forget about charitable donations for your taxes. Use any extra money for versatile accessories as they are the cheapest.

Minor Repairs and Alterations

Some of the clothing I don’t wear is for simple reasons, like there is a button missing, or a small tear. Whenever you come across something that needs a minor repair, set it in a pile. Pick a day of the weekend to go through and make all of the repairs that are necessary. This includes shoes as well. Do they just need a little polish? Is that heel worth having repaired? Can the sole be hot glued? Yes, I have done all of these. I am also not against using a sharpie to fill in tiny bleach spots on black sweaters and duct tape for quick hems in pants. What can I say. It’s all about survival out there.

Additionally, cut off those dumb jeans that shrunk and are too short. You aren’t ever going to wear them again. Everyone has a few cool cutoff shorts for weekends around the house or on casual outdoor excursions.

Hold a Clothing Swap

This is not only a fun get together but a great time to exchange some of the pieces you may be tired of with pieces your friend, sister, mom is tired of as well. Invite everyone you know regardless of size and style and have a clothing swap party. It’s good to have a few ground rules, one being no one is allowed to just straight out bring crap. Provide snacks and drinks and in the end, you may have  not only a good time, but some new to you clothing.

Accessorize

I noticed recently that all of the blouses and dresses have belts now. Which is fine with me, because I have lots of belts and they work well when I need to add something to whatever I’m wearing. I have also added a belt to a tube top so trust me, if you don’t have a cheap, thin belt, get one.

I also suggest long chunky necklaces and scarves, yes even in the Spring. These pieces help update any regular old shirt or blouse and cost almost nothing.

Mix and Match

Mix and match things that you wouldn’t think you could normally wear. Tube tops are very popular items which you wouldn’t think can be worn to the office, but yes, if you wear a shrug or light jacket, you’re still within the dress code (exact quote from a friend and tested by myself).

Some of these tips help freshen up a wardrobe for any season, but will definitely give a boost to springtime attire. What are some tips you use to avoid buying more clothes?

Booooo knockoff Uggs. If you can’t trust your feet in an imitation boot than who can you trust? Well, I’ll tell you who and here is my handful of fake stuff that I swear by.

Fake Purses and Handbags

Most men don’t understand the concept of great handbags and even some women don’t, but I can tell you for a fact that there is liberation in carrying around an expensive purse. If you’re broke like I currently am, there’s a little liberation along with the feeling that I’m fooling the whole world when I’m carrying a fake designer purse. Select a good one though, don’t go for the ones that have the designer’s name misspelled (a Brada or Louise Vuitton, for example) pick one that is as close to the real thing as possible. Quality is still important anytime you’re spending even a penny of your hard earned money. (Note: I think it’s illegal to sell fake purses.)

Fake Jewelry

I am guilty and probably should be locked up for wearing fake and costume jewelry. I rock cubic zirconias and occasionally mix in gold plated junk. If it doesn’t turn my skin green and is pretty I don’t care and no one knows. If they do, they don’t ask. A good rule of thumb though is to mix in the fake with the real and again, quality is still an important factor. I highly doubt that the Dollar Store sells any jewelry that anyone over the age of 5 should be wearing and even then you’re taking a chance on products laced with poisonous lead and cadmium. You certainly don’t want to die because of fake jewelry.

Fake Toys and Gaming Systems

My daughter wants a Wii and my relatives suggested trying out the fake Wii at Walgreens. It’s not really a fake Wii, it’s just an offbrand gaming system which hooks up to the television and includes little handheld waver things for playing games. I bought one for $25 as opposed to a $200 Wii. The point in this was not to trick my daughter, she knows very well what a Wii looks like, but to gauge her interest in it. Why even consider a $200 gaming system if she’s going to play with it for 10 minutes and forget about it? Which is exactly what happened with the fake Wii. Of course, part of that was because of the effort required in figuring out how to make the wavy wands work, but it still helped me realize that she wants a Wii because someone else has one. Not because she really wants one. Not yet anyway. I would suggest trying this with any expensive toy that a child is interested in before spending the money.

Fake Art

Why would I spend any money on any real art when I don’t understand it in the first place? I’ve found that a really great frame can make a scribble scrabble of a poster look like something important and costs almost nothing. I took an art class in high school in which we had to carve something out of a block of something and mine (with the help of the teacher) ended up in the shape of a duck. I proceeded to paint the duck brown with every color swirled into a circle on both sides, it was hideous and may have contributed to me being the only person in history to fail high school art. Anyway, my mom had that duck set up on a doily and a neighbor actually asked to buy the stupid thing, thinking of course that it was some kind of important “art”. Art does not have to be expensive. Beauty can actually be quite cheap and meaningless. (And you can quote me on that.)

Fake Leather and Fake Fur

PETA’s going to love me for this, but fake leather and fur is not only friendlier to the animals that provide leather and fur, but a whole lot cheaper as well. I will say that when it comes to shoes, fake leather isn’t the best idea especially in shoes that require bare feet, and you know what I’m talking about. I don’t own any fake (or real) fur but that’s only because my lifestyle doesn’t require fur and I’d actually look silly going to Walmart with a fur coat on. I do have coats with small ornamental embellishes of fur that are of course fake and as far as I can tell is still just as ornate as if it were real.

Considering the fact that the fake Uggs can cause foot deformities for a lifetime and most of us need our feet for mobility, I’d have to agree with the warning and stay away from them. This also goes for fake Hamburger Helper as well. If you have to have it, sometimes real is worth paying for.

Just the same, if you’ve ever watched the Antique Roadshow, you’re familiar with the idea of people bringing in their old lunchboxes and magazines and suddenly finding out that they’re worth a boatload of money. On the flip side, sometimes their stuff isn’t worth anything. Which would be me. I sometimes fantasize about carrying in a box full of Walmart dishes and having an appraisal just to see what they say. Nevertheless, I’m still brought to this thought: I have nothing that’s worth over ten bucks in my house. Okay, scratch that. The furniture may be worth a couple hundred. Total. And that’s because the furniture wasn’t purchased at Walmart, but everything else I own is basically value-less.

And, here’s how I blame Walmart. Being part of the “Walmart Generation”, which I’ve officially invented and nominated myself the President of, means that I’ve purchased darn near everything I own from them. Which further means, that none of this is worth anything, because as everyone knows anything you buy from Walmart depreciates in value to nothing as soon as you say goodbye to the Walmart greeter. I have no collection of fancy figurines because for one, no one purchases figurines from Walmart or the Dollar Store with the thought that they’ll one day be worth something. “Someday, darling. This will all be yours.”

When I am old and dusty and my daughter is cleaning out my old and dusty home, there will be no great finds, no treasures that she’ll need to google, no investigating the worth of anything. Pretty sure that set of $2 GladWare isn’t going to be worth much. (Even though I do take pretty good care of them.)

The only good thing about having a house by Walmart is that hopefully we’re saving enough money to make that our gift when we’re gone. It’s not nearly as fun as finding an incorrectly printed stamp or a chair that just happened to be handmade by Charles Ingalls, but something tells me that cash will be appreciated just the same.

Let’s hope anyway. Otherwise I need to start on a collection. Any suggestions?

1. Cashmere Toilet Paper. It’s just silly, although according to the article it has a very nice scent. I would, however, at least buy Charmin or a brand of toilet paper that has pretty designs on it, instead of the packs of 40 rolls for 2 bucks. Now that I’ve grossed everyone out with toilet paper talk, I’ll move on.

2. Thousand Dollar Perfume. I do like fancy fragrances and have probably spent more money on them in the past that I should have. But, there are fragrances that literally cost thousands of dollars that I will never ever buy. Can people actually tell that you smell like a thousand bucks? Or do we just assume that someone like Angelina Jolie is wearing thousand dollar perfume and thus it has to smell fancy? I bet she could splash on some old Avon Night Magic and people would still assume it’s hundreds or thousands of dollars. Bottom line, I’m not ever doing it.

3. Exotic Animals. Sorry animal lovers, but you won’t ever see me with a pet Llama, monkey or boa constrictor. I’m not the biggest fan of even cats and dogs (I do like them) but I definitely don’t want to hang out with a bunch of wild and exotic animals. I still can’t figure out why people do this, except for the sole reason of just being able to. Isn’t this what zoos are for?

4. Edible Gold. I prefer my gold in the form of a necklace, I don’t even want to consider what would happen to my body if I indulged in one of the meals, desserts or drinks that claim to have gold pieces or flecks or whatever in them. There are many things that God put on this earth for us to nourish our bodies with, I just don’t think gold is one of them.

5. Wigs and Designer Clothes for Pets. Okay, so as stated in #4 I’m not quite an animal person, but if I ever were you can bet Fluffy isn’t wearing Prada. This is as close as you can get without just attaching a neon sign to a dog’s head that says “I’m rich and wasteful”. Yes, it’s cold. Sometimes puppies need little puppy slippers. Sometimes cats need sweaters, though I don’t really believe that. But never will a pet of mine sport a wig, which are available, or designer clothing. That goes for nail polish too.

I’m sure there are a slew of other things I would never purchase but these are my top 5. If you suddenly had cash coming out of your ears, what is one thing you would never purchase?