Competing Priorities

Another Bulk Buying Success Story

2008-02-14T21:22:00.006-06:00

Sometimes I think I don't realize that many of the products I buy ready-made could also be created very easily and cheaply at home. And that can be a very expensive oversight.

As an example, about three years ago, our dog had a terrible case of fleas, and her skin reacted so badly to all the itching that she lost a lot of her fur, especially around her back end. We felt so bad for her, walking around all bald around her tail. We didn’t think much could be done, but when we left her at my parent’s house while we went on vacation, they started her on a regimen of brewer’s yeast and garlic powder. Just a sprinkle twice a day in her food with water, and within the month her skin had cleared up and her fur grew back thick and glossy. The bonus was that she loved the taste.

The only problem? This stuff was expensive! An 8 ounce container cost $16 at the local herb bar, and lasted about 2 months. So we were spending over $100 year to keep the dog flea free. This was definitely cheaper than Advantage or any of the other medicines, but it still seemed a lot to spend.

Then one month when we ran really low on the stuff and I didn’t have time to make the trip to the herb bar, I realized I could mix up a home-blend of nutritional yeast and garlic powder, both of which I buy in bulk at our local co-op. So now, instead of $16 for a premixed blend, I spend about a buck for a bag of yeast and another buck for powdered garlic, and mix it together at home in the same container the original stuff came in. The dog still loves it, her fur is still healthy, thick and shiny, we don’t have to make special trips to the herb bar, and we’re saving about $90 a year.

I'm sure there are lots more examples of times when I pay more for something premixed simply because it has never occurred to me to make it myself. I know sometimes the effort is not worth the results - I've never had much success cooking my own beans, for instance, so buy them canned is worth it to me. But I'm definitely going to look more carefully at my pantry over the next month to see if there are other easy ways to save money by putting things together myself.

Ultra-bargain new garage doors

2008-02-13T21:14:00.002-06:00

Early last week, we had a new garage door installed. The old one was in terrible condition, with rotted wood along the bottom from years of rain bouncing back up against it. It was also very heavy and made a terrible noise when it opened or closed. I used to cringe when I heard it outside, because it was so much more noticeable than any of our neighbors' garage doors.

We got a great deal on this door. It's a Wayne-Dalton that we got at Lowe's during their free upgrade sale. The deal was that you buy their basic model 8000 door, and get upgraded to the insulated model 9100 for free. Since we already knew we wanted the 9100, we got exactly what we wanted for $250 less.

Then my husband's eagle eye spotted a $20 price difference on two displays of the garage door opener we wanted, so we asked for the lower price and received it.

As I said, the new door is insulated. After it was installed, I noticed that it was much darker in the garage during daylight hours than it used to be. I realized that the uninsulated wooden planks of the old door must have leaked lots of cold air as well as light. Now in the morning on a cold day, it's not freezing in the garage. And our bathroom wall, which butts up against back wall of the garage, is less chilly when I take a bath at night, so the water in the tub stays warmer now.

I'm hoping this makes a difference in our electricity bills. The downstairs thermostat is located just inside the entrance to the garage from the house, so on super cold nights, the coldness in there must certainly have made the system cycle on more often.

But mostly I'm just happy to have a new garage door because now I don't have to hear that old clunker banging and squealing as it opens and closes. That makes it really a bargain to me.

Two little changes that are adding up to big gas savings

2008-02-12T19:22:00.000-06:00

A couple weeks ago, I finally stopped by Costco's tire shop to get my tires topped off. They'd been looking low for a couple months, but I never could remember to get them checked. Since we had bought the tires at Costco about 2 years ago, they checked them and topped them for free (I had to show my receipt, which luckily I had in the glove compartment).

Anyway - since then, I've noticed that the car runs much smoother and vibrates less. But I've also noticed that the fuel efficiency has improved. Usually I get about 270 miles to a tank of gas (10 gallons). But right now I'm at 175 miles on the trip odometer, and the fuel guage is at the halfway point. If this trend continues, I might get over 300 miles to this tank of gas.

I know that keeping your tires correctly inflated is always listed as a way to improve your fuel efficiency, but I didn't expect it to make this big a difference!!

The other small change I've made recently is that I no longer drive so far looking for my favorite kind of parking space in the garage at work. I used to pass by all the spots on the uphill ramp right after I entered the garage, instead going up to the second level to find a non-sloped spot. Since the garage levels are one way, this meant that I had to drive all the way around the level to exit, even if my spot was very close to the top of the uphill ramp. I measured it on my trip odometer, and discovered that I was adding 2/10 of a mile to my trip every day by doing this. Over the course of a week, that was a mile, and over the course of a year, that was probably two gallons of gas. So now, instead of shunning those sloped spots, I take the first one I can find. Every little bit helps!

Why is it more expensive to buy recyled??

2008-02-11T20:56:00.000-06:00

At work today, I attended a kick-off event for RecycleMania, which is a competition among college campuses to increase recycling and reduce waste. One of the presenters showed a slide that said it is less expensive for companies to produce recycled paper than it is to produce virgin paper.

One student raised his hand and asked, "If that's true, why is it more expensive to purchase recycled paper?"

He is right. I'm the purchasing coordinator for my section at work, and in many cases, the "green" option costs more green - sometimes a lot more. It frustrates me because I'm then torn between being a good steward of the environment, and being a good steward of taxpayer dollars. This plays out in my personal life as well - though in much lower dollar amounts.

So what's the deal? Is it really cheaper to produce recycled paper, and the manufacturers are just ripping off those of us who are committed to creating demand for recycled? I hate to feel like a sucker....

The Beauty of Buying in Bulk

2008-02-10T14:07:00.000-06:00

I never used to understand the bulk section of the grocery store. My mom always bought food that came in its own packaging, and thus so did I. Sugar, flour, rice, cereals, spices - everything came in its own bag, box or bottle. When the package was empty, we threw it away and bought a new bag, box or bottle of the same thing.

I dipped a toe into bulk buying 10 years ago when I found a store that sold premium coffee beans in bulk for much less per pound than those foil vacuum-sealed packages on the shelf. The store's frequent-buyer punch cards helped reinforce the habit.

The kids, of course, drooled over the nearby bins of candies sold by the pound. In this case, "bulk" was a misnomer, because we controlled quantity by getting them each one or two gummi worms, instead of a full 12 ounce bag of them. We adults, however, indulged in bulk cashews, and not just one or two each!

But despite frequent visits to the bulk area, I didn't think of bulk buying for staples until about 4 years ago, when we joined a food co-op.

Here I discovered real food sold from bins - not just sweets, treats and coffee.

The co-op encourages members to buy in bulk because that reduces the packaging that has to go into the waste stream. In fact, we get 5 cents off our bill for each bag or bottle we bring from home and refill in the store.

But for me, the real revelation was how cheap it could be to buy in bulk!

Here's an example from today: I needed dried basil. The last time I bought it, about 5 years ago, I paid probably $1.50 to buy a .375 oz (10 gram) plastic container. This time, I brought the same plastic container with me to the co-op to refill. I weighed the empty bottle first, marked its weight on a label (which I put over the UPC), then filled the bottle with organic dried basil that cost $14.55/pound. When I checked out, the cashier weighed the filled bottle then subtracted the original bottle weight - leaving me with .02 pounds of dried basil.

So - 16 ounces to a pound means that .02 pounds equals .32 oz. That's not too far from the .375 the container originally held (I had deliberately not filled it because I obviously don't use it too often). The price on the receipt came to $0.29 - and when I subtract the nickel discount for providing my own container, that means I got it for less than a quarter! And this was organic basil, not the non-organic kind I'd bought last time.

And this is why I have filled my pantry with items from the bulk section - because it's cheaper, because it's healthier, and because it helps to reduce waste in the world. To me, that's a beauty of a bargain!

Thrift Tips

2008-02-02T22:04:00.000-06:00

Shopping in a thrift store can be a little (or a lot) overwhelming at times. In order to make a thrift trip successful, it's wise to have a strategy in mind. Otherwise, it's easy to spend either way too much money or way too much time in the store. These are the tips I've used successfully over the past 15 years of shopping for clothes in thrift stores.

Set a budget
This may seem obvious, but having a maximum amount you want to spend helps you be discerning when you are trying to choose between similar items. Sure they're each only $2.99, but do you really need two pink shirts? Knowing you only want to spend $10 total will help you look critically at them both to figure out which is really the better bargain.

Have an idea in mind...
It's wise to go into the store with a general idea of what you might like to find. For instance, I've recently been looking for items in brown, since I realized I don't have much of it in my wardrobe and would like a little more. This thought helps to focus my attention when I first walk into the store and gives me a place to start when looking through the racks.

...but don't have an idee fixe
Looking for a specific item in a thrift store is almost always a recipe for disappointment. If you have your heart set on finding just exactly that pair of grey pants you wanted in Nordstrom but could not afford, you won't be able to see and appreciate similar (but not the same) the grey slacks hanging on the rack.

Know your style
When there are hundreds of shirts hanging on the rack, you could spend all day looking through them. It helps to have some basic rules to follow. For instance, I don't like tops that are too long, since they emphasize rather than minimize my hips. So I look for shirts and sweaters that fall just at the top of my hips. Know what you like and learn to recognize those styles quickly so you can work through the racks efficiently.

Know your colors
No, I'm not talking about having your colors "done," though that's an option (and you can probably find a book to guide you in a thrift store!). But have an idea of what colors work for you and which ones just don't. I stay away from most reds, fuschias and certain acid greens, and this saves me time, especially when the racks are organized by color.

Watch for your own "good" labels
Everyone has clothing makers whose clothes just fit better. For me, Eddie Bauer, Ralph Lauren and Harold's seem to make clothes that hang well on me and don't need to be altered. When I see those labels, I'll generally look twice at the item because it's likely to fit well.

Feel the fabrics
Good quality clothes have a good hand feel. Get used to what top notch fabrics feel like. That way, as you work your way through the racks, you can use not only your eyes to evaluate the quality, but also your fingers.

Check the details
Make sure no buttons are missing or broken. Look for stains on the garment. If it's a shirt, check the front for dribble marks and the armpits for yellowing. Check pants for stains in the crotch (big ick!) and along the back of the leg where mud often gets kicked up. Also check the hem of pants and collars and cuffs of shirts for fraying. Make sure the seat seam of pants is intact - a surprising number of trousers get holes along the back seam. Also check that zippers are fully set, not coming unsewn at the bottom. And finally, look for loose threads or missing hems, signs that the garment may not last much longer.

Consider the cost of ownership
A $10 pure-silk blouse may seem like a bargain, but if it's dry-clean only, you will find that the true cost of owning it turns out to be much higher than just $10. Think carefully before buying clothes that needs special care or alterations. For very special items, this could be worth it, but not for most things. Also, if you see a pair of shoes or boots that need a visit to the shoe hospital, make sure they are repairable before buying them. If the wear on the heel has gone past the heel cap into the body of the shoe itself, the shoe probably cannot be repaired.

Experiment when you have time
Not every trip to the thrift store has to be about efficient use of time. When you have the luxury of an extra-long trip one day, pull out some items that catch your eye (but are not your usual style) and try them on. One nice thing about thrift stores is that you can find a variety of cuts and colors all in one place, letting you see first hand what works and what does not. So break out of the mold once in a while and challenge yourself by trying on something you never thought you'd wear. For instance, a few years ago I discovered (unexpectedly) that ribbed tops look much better on me these days than they did when I was a flat-chested teenager. Now they are a staple of my wardrobe.

Make sure it's really a bargain
Some thrift stores just don't seem to understand what thrifty means. I'm sorry, no matter how worthy the cause your store supports, I just won't pay $20 for a used pair of jeans that cost $25 new, and $5.99 for Target-brand kid's pants is more than they probably cost originally. Be aware of how much items cost in the stores so you can snap up the real bargains and pass on the overpriced stuff.

These are just a few of my favorite thrift store tips - I'd love to get your suggestions as well. And if you don't like thrift, why not? Is it the selection, the experience, the "ick" factor of wearing pre-owned clothes, or something else? What keeps you away?

Thrift Chic

2008-02-02T21:25:00.000-06:00

I spent an hour and $23 in a thrift shop today, and came away with two almost-new pairs of name brand, work-quality wool trousers, a like-new turtleneck, a really cute pair of brown suede ankle boots, and a pair of workout shorts for my son. It was a successful visit, all in all.

I love thrift shopping for lots of reasons. First (and obviously), it's cheap. It would have cost me $80 to buy just one of those pairs of pants today if I'd paid full-boogie-retail for them when they were new. Even marked down 50%, one pair alone would have been twice as much as I paid for everything I got today.

But apart from being cheap, shopping at thrift stores makes me feel good. Generally the money I spend supports a good cause. My favorite shops are Goodwill, the St. Vincent de Paul store, and the Junior League store. These all put money back into the community with their works, and also provide vouchers to the poor to help them buy clothing, housewares, and furnishings. So my purchase benefits many, not just my family's budget.

Thrift shopping is green too. The items are donated locally and travel many fewer miles from donor to store than new clothing does when it comes from China or Bangladesh or wherever it is labor is cheapest these days. And by recycling clothes instead of buying new, I'm helping conserve resources.

Finally, when I shop in thrift stores, I don't worry quite as much about where in the world an item was made or whether the person who assembled it was being exploited. I can't say I never think about this, because wearing prominent swooshes or polo ponies does help promote those brands, which could result in increased demand for them in the new-clothes market (though any increased demand that results from a woman in her mid-40's wearing a particular brand is probably offset by the "eww" it evokes in my kids and their friends). But at least the direct connection of consumer dollar to store bottom-lines is broken this way, and I don't feel quite so much like my own clothing choices are responsible for the off-shoring of almost every textile manufacturing business these days.

So enough of my musings about *why* shopping thrift is a good thing to do. Tomorrow I'll post my suggestions for making the most of a thrift shop visit.

My Personal Finance Success Story

2007-10-14T20:31:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I started this blog back in July with all kinds of good intentions, then got busy and forgot about it. Too many competing priorities, I guess.

But today I have a reason to post: J.D. at Get Rich Slowly is sponsoring a contest for a Nintendo Wii, and to enter I need to write about my financial success story and post a link on his site. Seeing as (a) I love writing contests (even though this one is really a drawing from among the entrants) and (b) I've been mulling over whether to get the kids a Wii for Christmas this year, this seems like a great way for me to get writing on here again.

So, my financial success story... where to begin?

I learned some of my best financial habits from my father. Unfortunately, I also learned some of my worst from him too - and it took me a long time to be able to recognize that, just because Daddy did it that way, it wasn't necessarily a smart thing to do.

Good habits he taught me? How to balance my checkbook and how to save for retirement. My dad was an early proponent of Individual Retirement Accounts. The summer I got my first "real" job, he had me put $2000 of my earnings into an IRA. I was probably the only freshman in the country who was already saving for retirement!

But as part of that good habit, he taught me a bad one - and one that later bit me, hard. Throughout my childhood, my dad had gifted stock acquired through his employee stock purchase plan to me. By 18, I had 110 shares of IBM worth about $20,000. My dad suggested that I take a loan out against the stock to fund my IRA. I didn't even know what this meant, but since doing this meant I did not actually lose the use of the $2000 I was contributing (i.e., I could spend it on clothes), I gladly did it. The next summer I did the same thing - and eventually I realized that my checking account (which was linked to the stock loan) would take automatic stock loans out when I overdrafted it. Wow, no bounced checks and I could do almost anything I wanted!

Over the next three or four years, as the value of the stock rose during the "greed is good" 80's, I managed to borrow almost $25,000 against this collateralized loan. Some of it still went to my IRA's but substantially more just got frittered away.

Then came Black Monday - October 19, 1987. I remember listening in horror to the radio as reports of the 508 point stock market crash came through. I didn't fully realize what that meant for me, however, until I received a letter from the credit union a few days later, requesting that I either post additional shares of stock as collateral for my loan, or make up the $8,000 shortfall with cash. If I did neither, then the credit union would sell my stock.

Since I had no more shares of stock - and $8,000 was more than I'd ever earned - I had to let the stock get sold, at very reduced prices from the highs of only a few weeks earlier. But the real pain was still to come, because the sale of the stock did not cover the amount I'd borrowed, so I was liable for the balance as an unsecured loan!

Thankfully I had just started a new job when all this occurred, and because the job involved a lot of employer-paid travel, my living costs were very low. After a year or so I was able to pay off the unsecured loan to the credit union.

This experience, unpleasant as it was, caused me to become interested for the first time in financial matters. I found a workbook about personal financial planning in a bookstore and started reading it. I started listening to the Dolans on the radio and realized that I should move my IRA from a money market account into the Vanguard Index 500 fund. I invested 15% of my income in my company's 401K. I paid all my credit cards on time. I even paid off my car (by taking a loan against the cash value of my whole life policy - another Dad investing strategy) so I could save on insurance premiums.

Then after I met and married my husband, I became a Frugal Zealot a la Amy Dacyczyn's Tightwad Gazette. We washed baggies and cooked big pots of beans for dinner. I started buying thrift store clothes almost exclusively. Our income was modest but so was our lifestyle. We bought a small house and a couple small cars, and started a small family. It was tough to make ends meet on our small salaries (he was a teacher and I was a secretary) but we managed somehow.

Now, about 15 years later, we're doing much better income-wise - but we still follow a relatively frugal lifestyle. Still, we always managed to spend almost all of what we made, minus contributions to retirement and a small savings account. We had debts, but I considered them all good debts - a large mortgage, a home-equity loan, a car payment, and a $6000 0% Lowe's credit card for new windows on the house. In my mind we were doing very well, overall.

Then my brother gave me Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover for Christmas last year, and I decided after reading it that doing very well was not good enough. Since January 1, 2007, we have paid off over $30,000 of the $65,000 we owed in non-first-mortgage debt, and are on track to be debt-free by November 2008.

So that's my financial success story... an early start on retirement savings, one really expensive dumb mistake, living a basically modest lifestyle even once we achieved a good income, and now paying off even the "good" debts we had accumulated. I'm happy with where my family is headed!

The Grocery Game

2007-07-30T19:16:00.000-05:00

Buying groceries should be easy, right? Make a list, go to the store, pick out the items that look best to you, and pay. How hard can it be?

But for me, buying groceries can be a very complex matter of sifting through various priorities. That's because I try to make purchases that reflect my values.

What are those values and why are they important to me? In approximate order of importance, they are:

Grown, made and/or sold locally - to support local businesses and to reduce the fuel for transportation. I have a special preference for patronizing our local food co-op when possible.
Organically produced - to reduce potential damage to my family's bodies and to help create a profitable market for methods that do the least harm to the environment.
Fair Trade - As a Catholic, I believe it is important to show solidarity with workers by purchasing items for which a fair price has been paid.
Not a "Red" company - I don't want to support any company that supports the Bush administration.
Inexpensive - My family and I are following the Dave Ramsey plan to eliminate our debt, so I try to choose items that are good values and keep us within our budget.
Low-carb - After losing 40 lbs on a low-carb diet several years ago, I look for items that will help me maintain that weight loss.

With all these filters to apply, shopping can be rather tricky! Say I'm at the co-op and I pick up a can of diced tomatoes from Muir Glen. Locally made - no. Locally sold - yes. Organic - yes. Fair trade - no. Red company - yes (Muir Glen is owned by General Mills). Inexpensive - not particularly. Low-carb - yes. So what do I do? In this case, I put it back and pick up a box of diced tomatoes from Pacific Natural Foods instead. Everything is the same except the company is an independent with no history of political donations.

Why do I go to so much thought and trouble for what I buy? Because I realized that in our society, the power of the purse is one of the greatest powers that I as a consumer can wield. Money really does talk, and retailers really do listen. I believe it is no coincidence that the organic market has exploded over the past few years, since about the time I started choosing organic. I alone am not responsible for that, of course, but I am convinced that people like me - ordinary consumers making thoughtful, thought-out choices - are moving the market in the direction we want it to go.

Welcome

2007-07-29T20:29:00.000-05:00

This blog is dedicated to those who attempt, however fruitlessly, to strike a comfortable balance between many possible alternatives.

In my life, I struggle to find that comfortable balance. Convenience versus conservation? Frugality versus fair trade? Prosperity versus politics? Every dollar I spend, every decision I make, seems to reflect on who I am and what I believe. If I am the sum total of my choices in life, then what choices must I make to produce a life of which I can be proud?

In this space, I will explore some of those choices and consider what these competing priorities might mean to me and to others. I welcome your contributions and your insights.