Home Brewed Benefits (Coffee...yum)

I love coffee so much. I recently adjusted my sleeping habits from 3am-11am to about 12am-8am. Even though it's the same number of hours, I feel more productive. Before it felt like by the time I became a functioning person, the rest of the working world was closing.

Part of the reason I got on that sleep schedule was because I couldn't find any motivation to get up at an earlier hour. I am not in school. I am not working (on disability). And because I didn't have a schedule for myself, I just floundered.

Then someone gave me a French press and coffee grinder, and they changed my life. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, haha, but hear me out.

I find the process of brewing coffee to be very calming and methodical. I start with beans that are Fair Trade Certified, so I know that they are great quality and that the farmers who grew them were paid fair wages. Then, while I'm heating up the water, I typically wash out my French press from the previous morning, haha.

During this whole process, I focus on each step. I consider each a small accomplishment. I know that sounds weird, but I somehow tell myself that I could be brewing the easy way. This way is longer, does not require a paper filter, and achieves a tastier result.

When I measure out my beans, I get a small whiff of coffee scent. By the time I'm done grinding the coffee, the scent fills my nostrils and man, it smells so good. I finish up all the steps, the most fun being when I push down the plunger and there is a thin line of foam forming at the top of the press.

Then I add my coffee creamer - chocolate caramel - and wow. Delicious. You wouldn't believe how many cups of coffee I can get out of that one creamer container. Which, by the way, costs about the same and sometimes less than one fancy coffee at Starbucks. Do not get me wrong - I love getting coffee at coffee shops, big chains and the little guys. We just can't afford to buy it on a daily basis.

At the end of this process I sit down in front of my laptop and I am ready to take a look at my agenda for the day. I feel like I've accomplished something small and it's time to tackle something else. I feel like I did the right thing for farmers by buying Fair Trade Certified coffee AND the right thing for our budget.

Brewing my own coffee puts me in the right mindset for most of the day. I'm sure you could substitute this process with smoothie making or something. It's funny how making a big deal out of the smallest of accomplishments can really shape your thinking.

Keeping PG&E Costs Down - Special Programs

We live in the Central Valley of California. It gets pretty hot here, although I feel terrible saying that since I've been to the south during the summer. We don't have the high humidity to deal with at least. Still, as I look at the weather prediction for this so far beautiful day in May, I'm already dreading the late afternoon. Should be getting into the 90's. Sigh.

Not fun for a house with no air conditioning!

This will be our third summer with no central air conditioning. We have a small wall unit, but it just can't cool down our three bedroom house.

Well recently we signed up for a weatherization program through PG&E, and I am so glad we did! A man came to our house and counted how many doors and windows we have. He also took inventory of how many large appliances we have, and what year they were manufactured. Before leaving he gave me a breakdown of all commonly used appliances in a house and how much they cost per minute/hour to run. It was extremely helpful.

Then the workers came out a week later. They checked every major appliance to make sure they were energy efficient. I've heard from friends that if you have outdated appliances, they will sometimes replace them, including your refrigerator, furnace and/or water heater. The woman who sold us our house had just recently upgraded most of ours, so we were okay in that area.

They moved on to making sure our filters were clean (we do have a furnace fan). One man went throughout the house and replaced every light bulb with an energy efficient one. He also replaced both of our shower heads.

I left them with my husband for a while and by the time I came home they had replaced our laundry room door from a sliding door to a nice white one with slats (matches our trim perfectly!). They applied caulking around the windows and installed weather strips in each doorway.

Pretty awesome for a free program. If you can meet the low income requirements, then DO THIS!

http://www.pge.com/myhome/customerservice/financialassistance/energypartners/

Since then I've continued to research ways to keep our house cool during the summer. Here is a link I found today:

13 Free or Cheap Ways To Keep Your Home Cool This Summer | One Caveman's Financial Journey

Costco: Membership Benefits Beyond Food

My husband and I received a one-year Costco membership gift card for Christmas. I'm embarrassed to say that we didn't turn in our paperwork until a couple months ago. Luckily the membership period starts from the date of activation! I've always heard about the awesome deals you can get at Costco - especially the bulk food items - but I was surprised by all the other benefits that come with membership.

With the holidays just around the corner, I'm trying to keep my eyes open for good deals. Costco's website has a lot of great deals in their "Gifts & Tickets" section. Here are a few that caught my eye:

MOVIE & THEATRE

For only $24.99, the Ultimate Premiere Movie Pack includes two Premiere Super Saver Tickets and a $10 Concession Gift Certificate.
Premiere Super Saver Tickets have no restrictions and no expiration dates. The Gift Certificate can be used for concession and box office purchases and has no expiration date, as well.

Ultimate Premiere Movie Pack tickets are valid for any movie, any day, any time at any Regal Cinemas, Edwards or United Artists Theatres nationwide - without ever expiring. There is a $1.50 surcharge if redeemed at any Manhattan, NY location.
Visit www.REGmovies.com for showtimes and locations nearest you.

For only $37.95, you can also purchase five Premiere Super Saver tickets, valid for any movie, any day, any time at any Regal Cinemas, Edwards or United Artists Theatres nationwide - without ever expiring. There is a $1.50 surcharge if redeemed at any Manhattan, NY location.

Visit www.REGmovies.com for showtimes and locations nearest you.


Other Awesome Gifts from Costco, many of which beat the retail value. Example: You can buy six $15 iTunes giftcards (a $90 value) for only $74.99!
MUSIC GIFT CARDS
RESTAURANT GIFTCARDS
EVENT TICKETS
AQUARIUMS & ZOOS
SPORTS & RECREATION
THEME & WATER PARKS
OTHER GIFT CARDS

Happy Shopping!

*All information and images are from Costo's website

Kicking Your Mortgage into High Gear

My husband and I bought a house last September. Shortly after, we started receiving all kinds of promotions in the mail. Gift certificates for Lowe's and the Home Depot, policies promising protection (if you die tomorrow, we'll pay off your home loan!), etc. Most of it went into the recycle bin, but I did find one offer of value. It was an advertisement for something called Equity Acceleration. We didn't sign up for it right away, but I wish we would have! We will significantly reduce our loan's interest, gain equity at a faster rate, and knock years off of our would-be 30 year loan.

HOW IT WORKS

Most people I know do not get paid monthly. In most of our jobs, my husband and I have been paid weekly, bi-weekly, or twice per month (ex: the 1st and the 15th every month). Currently we are paid bi-weekly.

Now let's say our monthly mortgage is around $2,000 per month (just as an example). With the EAP, we'll now pay $1,000 every payday instead. In our case, our payment is automatically withdrawn the day after every payday. Now, those who are paid bi-weekly probably know that there are two months per year in which there are three paydays (typically months with 31 days in them). So in those months we will pay three $1,000 payments instead of two. The extra payment is applied only to the principle of our loan. By doing this two times per year (in those months in which we receive an extra paycheck), we will be making one extra full payment toward our principle, without any strain on our budget.

By making only one extra payment on our principle per year, we now:

- Save over $40,000 in interest over the life of our loan,
- Build over $10,000 more in equity in 10 years, and
- Reduce our loan term by up to approximately 6 years!

Although our budget is tight, we didn't even notice the change. If anything, it makes things easier because they really did tailor our due dates to fit our paydays. And what a dent we'll be putting into what seemed like a never-ending loan!

I would definitely recommend speaking to your mortgage company and finding out if they offer a similar program that will work for you.

A Trip to the Carnival - Third Edition

Welcome to the 3rd Edition of our Recession Obsession blog carnival!

There are two contributors to Recession Obsession, but I (Eish) am the one who typically has the time to read through all of our blog carnival submissions - and trust me, I do read through ALL of them!

The reason I love hosting these carnivals is that we receive such a wide range of information from a wide range of individuals. And while I find many blog entries to be interesting, my favorite submissions are the short/simple and positive kind.

Two submissions that stuck out to me this time around were from Erin who presents Financially stressed? 5 ways to feel better fast posted at PlinkPlink: Moms Talking About Money

...and from nickel who presents Lending Money to Family and Friends posted at fivecentnickel.com.

THE BEST OF THE REST (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)

Browse through this list and I'm sure you will find something of interest. Thank you again for all of your submissions!

KCLau presents Save money the stupid way posted at KCLau's Money Tips.

Joshua Dorkin presents The Asset Protection Misconception: Why Insurance Alone Isn’t Enough posted at Real Estate Dispatch A BiggerPockets.com Blog.

Buck Weber presents Are Thrift Shops Running Dry? posted at THE BUCK LIST.

ishanbansal presents 10 Tips to Reduce Car Expenses posted at Save Few Bucks.

ishanbansal presents Work From Home Call Center Jobs posted at Save Few Bucks.

Diego Cervantes presents The Free Online Tax Filing Toolbox: 25 Sites for Tools, Printable Forms, Software and More posted at Bankling.

ChristianPF presents Would you walk away from your mortgage? posted at Money in the Bible Christian Personal Finance Blog.

Verna Morris presents Top 25 ETF Tweeples Worth a Follow on Twitter posted at ETFdb.

Arohan presents 10 Reasons to Consider Growing Organic Vegetables in your Backyard posted at Personal Dividends.

Sarah Scrafford presents Top 100 Free eBooks for Business Students and Entrepreneurs posted at Online Best Colleges.com.

The Investor presents The number one money maker for 99 per cent of people posted at Monevator.

Dave presents Roundup of Sites That Save You Money posted at Cheapo Groovo.

Jim DeSantis presents Free eBook - Credit Rescue! posted at Emotions and Credit at On Line Tribune.

FFB presents Is Saving 8 to 12 Months Expenses Even Possible Or Practical? posted at Free From Broke.

Chris presents Bushfires: can we afford not having home insurance? posted at Home I Own.

Cody Butler presents What Is Forex Trading? posted at Investment-For-Beginners Blog.

nickel presents How to Deal With Job Loss posted at fivecentnickel.com.

Wren Caulfield presents It's Not Quite Time for Stone Soup posted at True Adventures in Money Hacking.

apply4-credit presents Why Credit Cards Should Not Be Used as Your Emergency Fund posted at Apply4-credit.com.

The Smarter Wallet presents Buying A Computer? Check Our Computer Shopping Tips First posted at The Smarter Wallet.

Matthew Paulson presents Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan and What it Could Mean for You posted at American Consumer News.

Ben presents Alternative Minimum Tax and Federal Income Tax Withholding Changes posted at Money Smart Life.

Matthew Paulson presents A Comparison of No-Risk Investment Options posted at Fine-Tuned Finances.

Erika Collin presents 100 Terrific Web Design Cheat Sheets that Will Save you Time, Money and Mistakes posted at Web Design Schools Guide.

Steve Faber presents Cheap Car Insurance for a Young Driver - How to Get It posted at Cheap Car Insurance.

Bohden James presents 8 Easy Ways To Save Money Right Now posted at How To Save Money.

Wren Caulfield presents The Save Big Secret, Part Two posted at True Adventures in Money Hacking.

Nicholas Powiull presents Conscious Flex: How to Live Your Passion (How I Became a Fulltime Blogger) posted at Conscious Flex.

Alex presents How to Make Your Own Free Printable Birthday Cards posted at Home Life Weekly.

Savings Toolbox presents Are you Saving For a Job Loss or Job Change? posted at Savings Toolbox.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Zecco vs TradeKing: Which Online Stock Brokerage Account To Choose? posted at The Digerati Life.

MBR presents Housing Rebound posted at Monitor Bank Rates.

Credit Shout presents Best Cash Back Credit Cards posted at CreditShout.

Credit Card Addict presents Outlawing Retroactive Interest Rate Changes posted at Credit Card Addict.

Money Tipper presents Monitor Bank Safety Online posted at Money Tipper.

Mr. CC presents Congress Debates Credit Cards, and Credit Vs. Debit posted at Ask Mr Credit Card's Blog.

Homemaker Barbi (Danelle Ice) presents 5 Surefire Ways to Recession Proof Your Job posted at Homemaker Barbi.

Nora Dunn presents Taco Tuesday: The Inner Mechanics of Budgeting on Vacation posted at Wise Bread.

Cody Butler presents What Is A Traditional IRA posted at Investment-For-Beginners Blog.

Wenchypoo presents Omnibus Obama Tax Avoidance Tip Sheet and Small Loophole Collection posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket.

Tiffany Colter presents We are tired of talk posted at The Balanced Life.

100 Yummy Dinners for Under $10

While browsing today, I came across an AOL food page with links to 100 yummy dinners for under $10. Some look really tasty and I can't even get fast food for all 4 of us for under $10 so I immediately thought of all of you, our loyal readers when I saw it. Here is the link. Be sure to comment if you find a killer recipe!

Frugal Feasts

A Trip to the Carnival - Second Edition

Karissa and I received an amazing number of submissions to this month's Recession Obsession Blog Carnival. Thank you to everyone who sent us your blog entries!

The topics below range from developing positive thinking in this time of recession, to budgeting tips, how to start a strawberry garden and even how to sell your gold.

If you do not see your submission below, we are very sorry. It most likely didn't fall into one of our categories. Recession Obsession is a place for simple financial tips for the every day person.

Please enjoy the submissions below. We are sure you will find something of interest!

MARCH 16 BLOG CARNIVAL SUBMISSIONS

As someone (Eish) who has recently been laid off from two jobs (hence the creation of our title, Recession Obsession), I really enjoyed the submission by:

Destroy Debt presents Laid off? Make Lemonade posted at Destroy Debt.

This is the type of positive approach we hope to inspire in our readers!

THE BEST OF THE REST (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)

Nancy Miller presents Examining Cosmetic Surgery: 4 Considerations Before You Go Under the Knife posted at Surgical Technician Schools.

Heather Levin presents The Upside of Unemployment? Time For Going Green posted at The Greenest Dollar.

Raily Arena presents Cash Those Words: Making Money Online with Your Blog posted at Make Money Easy Online.

Buck Weber presents Don't Eat Out, Find a New Recipe posted at THE BUCK LIST.
KCLau presents How to Refinance your Home Loans Smartly posted at KCLau's Money Tips.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Yet Another Tax Humor Piece: Interactive Taxes posted at Mad Kane's Humor Blog.

CreditCardAssist.com presents Too Many Credit Cards? 5 Tips to Keep it Simple posted at CreditCardAssist.com.

Deposit Accounts presents What's Your Long Term Savings Plan? posted at Deposit Accounts.

Raily Arena presents Four Home Staging Mistakes of Neglect You Need to Avoid posted at How to Sell Your Own Home.

Sigrid Landau presents A Trio Of Quick And Easy Money Saving Tips To Help You In Survive The Difficult Times posted at A1 How To.

Raily Arena presents It Pays to Inspire: How to Be Everyone’s Favorite Legitimate Online Coach « Make Money Easy Online posted at Make Money Easy Online.

Kathryn presents 15 Good Things That Have Come Out Of The Bad Economy posted at Kathryn Vercillo on HubPages.

Wenchypoo presents An Interesting Day Today posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket.

Peak Personal Finance presents Rent to Own Advice posted at Peak Personal Finance.

Homespunhealers presents More Budget Healing Ideas During an Economic Recession posted at HomeSpunHealers.

TwoGun and Ozone presents The Resiliance of Poker posted at The Resiliance Of Poker.

Jeonard Cook presents Learn How to Sell Your Own Home: Advertise like a Pro posted at How to Sell Your Own Home.

Katie Bricks presents How to Get Money-Making Clicks through Online Marketing posted at Make Money Easy Online.

KCLau presents Learn Money Tips playing iMafia posted at KCLau's Money Tips.

Ricky Wijaya presents Tips To Cutting Cost When Broke | Chapters of My life posted at Chapters of My life.

Wenchypoo presents The Consumer’s Guide to Functioning in an Economic Cycle (L-O-N-G) posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket.

Alex presents Unemployment Facts: - Associated Content posted at Alex Van Meyer.

Tiffany Colter presents » Hidden Leaks posted at Hidden Leaks.

Timothy Kendrick presents What makes you successful, and what makes you a ‘failure’? posted at RETRAIN YOUR BRAIN.

Ben presents Bank Fees and Credit Card Fees Not the Only Fees You Can Cut posted at Money Smart Life.

Abdulrasool Sumar presents Borrowing from Your 401k Plan - Advantages & Disadvantages - Basics of Borrowing, 4 Reasons to Borrow, Media & Myths on 401(k) Loans posted at 401k.

Destroy Debt presents Can You Claim the $8,000 Credit for First Time Home Buyers? posted at Destroy Debt.

Cody Butler presents What Is A Money Market Account And How Does It work? posted at Investment-For-Beginners Blog.

Eileen McDargh presents Today?s Economy DEMANDS A Critical Skill: Optimism posted at Plain Talk BLog.

Verna Morris presents The Cheapskate?s Guide to Buying Fine Wine- 100 Tools, Tips and Resources posted at International Listings Blog.

Tom Tessin presents Good Jobs in a Bad Economy posted at FSC Blog.

Save Money presents Frugal Frauds Revealed posted at How I Save Money.net.

Len Penzo presents Evaluate Your Options Before Selling Gold Jewelry posted at Len Penzo . Com.

Nate presents 12 Ways to Waste Money in College posted at Debt-free Scholar.

sherin presents 15 Financial planning mistakes posted at Investment Internals.

Debbie Ducker presents Your Children and Grandchildren Must Learn to Save Money posted at Ducker Promotion Ezine.

Erika Collin presents 100 Best Blogs for Young Entrepreneurs posted at Online College Degree.

Ben presents Preparing for a Layoff: Job Tips for Staying Employed in a Recession posted at Money Smart Life.

Debbie Dragon presents Five More Tips for Eating in Restaurants and Sticking to a Budget posted at Wisebread.com/debbie-dragon.

Debt Free Destiny presents Make Your Job Resistant to the Recession posted at Debt Free Destiny.

Destroy Debt presents More Grocery Shopping Saving Tips posted at Destroy Debt.

Deposit Accounts presents Get the Most Out of Your Tax Refund posted at Deposit Accounts.

Wren Caulfield presents Review: Mint.com, free online personal finance service posted at True Adventures in Money Hacking.

Beth Dargis presents Save Hundreds of Dollars this Month posted at My Simpler Life - Simple Living.

Matthew Paulson presents Living in a Recession posted at American Consumer News.

Ryan Suenaga presents How Much of the Recession is Psychological? posted at Uncommon Cents.

Surfer Sam presents NEW !! Free Home Foreclosure Help.. posted at Surfer Sam and Friends.

Destroy Debt presents How to Organize Your Coupons posted at Destroy Debt.

Neighbor Nancy presents A Ton of Garden, A Tiny Space;Strawberries for the Apartment Dweller or Suburbanite « Recession Depression Therapy posted at Recession Depression Therapy.

Michael Miles presents Double your income doing what you love - book review posted at Effortless Abundance.

Abigail Perry presents Emergency fund vs debt -- the eternal debate posted at i pick up pennies.

Kathryn presents How Long Should You Keep a Cell Phone? posted at Diary of a Smart Chick.

Jenny Jen presents Snugglette posted at JennyReviews.com.

Cody Butler presents How Do Mutual Funds work? posted at Investment-For-Beginners Blog.

Salt and Baking Soda - Not Just For Cooking

I discovered these articles today about unique uses for salt and baking soda. Anyone with a container of either in your pantry should find these interesting.

"10 Money-Saving, Eco-Friendly Things You Can Do with Salt"

"10 Money-Saving, Eco-Friendly Things You Can Do with Baking Soda"

Check them out, and then check one of our boxes below!

Free Stuff

Spotted this article today titled "Free Stuff You Actually Want".

Need I say more?

Travel Tips for the Brave

My father works for a major airline company, and can therefore travel wherever his roaming heart desires for virtually free. However, unless he has a friend to stay with, there are always hotel costs - and that's where traveling can punch you in your pocketbook.

While reviewing submissions for our blog carnival (refer to the last blog), I came across this blog about Free Lodging on vacations.

His links are definitely useful, although I think you'd have to be the adventurous type to actually use their services, even if they are free. For example, his first link is to a site that can connect you with strangers all over the world who are willing to offer their couch to you (or guest room). Still, they are very interesting, so check them out.

Fellow Blogger? Take a Trip to the Carnival!

If you are someone, like me, who enjoys the sharing of information with others through blogging, then I highly recommend joining a Blog Carnival. My best friend (and co-contributor to this blog), heard about Blog Carnivals and told me to look into them. What I found was not only an awesome community of fellow bloggers, but also a means of increasing the traffic to my site. And anyone who desires to write and make money from blogging knows that traffic is "muy importante" (VERY IMPORTANT!)

A blog carnival starts with a host. For example, today my friend and I are hosting a blog carnival called "Recession Obsession". We listed our blog at blogcarnival.com/bc and gave a description of what our next edition would be about. Of course that's easy for us, because the entire purpose of all of our blogs is to share money-making/money-saving tips. We gave a submission deadline and then the e-mail submissions started rolling in! People sent us links to their individual blog enteries (not their entire blog) that they felt were relevant to our topic. Some were dead-on, others not-so-much. But we appreciated all the interest in joining our first carnival.

Finally, once it was time to publish our next edition (which is what you are currently reading), Blog Carnival provided us with the HTML code needed to add the chosen submissions to the bottom of our blog - community doesn't get much easier than that!

Even if you're not interested in hosting a carnival, you can always just join someone else's. Choose a blog entry of your own and search for upcoming carnivals that you feel are relevant to your topic. Read the submission guidelines and then submit your article. Then check out the host's page on the date of their next edition, and you might find a link to your blog. I did this once with my other blog, Temporarily Disabled, and was so excited to see someone include it on their carnival! It really is a lot of fun. Plus, I got to read a bunch of other people's blogs that were related to my topic, which was also really cool.

Bottom Line - increase traffic to your site while supporting fellow bloggers. There's something for everyone at the carnival!

RECESSION OBSESSION BLOG CARNIVAL SUBMISSIONS
Thank you for your interest!

travelcat4 presents Thinking About Starting Your Own Business? posted at Latest Inventions.

DR presents Why Some Online Credit Card Applications Say ‘Hurry Up And Wait’ posted at The Dough Roller.

David presents Stupid Advice from a Payday Lender Courtesy of Google News posted at Payday Loans Review.

David presents Capital One No Hassle Miles Rewards Credit Card Review posted at Credit Card Offers IQ.

The Smarter Wallet presents Will The Obama Economic Stimulus Check and 2009 Stimulus Plan Save The Economy? posted at The Smarter Wallet.

Noel Roberts presents An investment in knowledge, is the BEST investment posted at The Official Blog of RKOTB.

Peter presents Raw Vegan Food posted at we overstep.

Peter presents Visualization Trial posted at we overstep.

MBB presents Review of TurboTax and TaxCut Online posted at Money Blue Book Finance.

Tax Time Blues

Well, it's that time again. Yes, already. Taxes are due in just over two months, and I know a lot of people not so happy about this. For those of you who have already filed, dance your happy dance and don't bother to keep reading. . . But for the rest of us, here is a helpful hint.

You don't have to pay an arm and a leg to file your taxes, and no, I'm not suggesting TurboTax (although that's fine too). There are quite a number of online sites that will allow you to complete your taxes and file online FREE. Yes, I said free, but before you rush off to find one, there is a catch. Only the federal return is free, so make sure you find out how much it will cost you to file your state return before you decide on a site. I have personally used (and loved!) the following site for the last two years and will use it again this year: http://www.freetaxusa.com/ With this site it's only $9.95 to e-file your state return, so it's way cheaper than using a professional service. Best of all, it's super easy too! I promise.

Ditch Your Cable/Satellite Provider

When my husband and I decided to buy our house last September we decided to save money by attempting to live without our cable TV (something I was VERY addicted to). But you know what? We don't miss it at all!

These days there are MUCH cheaper (and yes, legal) options for viewing a majority of your favorite shows. Most major TV networks will let you watch full episodes directly from their websites. There are also other legal sites for watching full TV episodes AND movies.

Check out:

NBC
ABC
CBS
MTV
Comedy Central
HULU

and there are many more.

Drawback: You do have to deal with "buffering" lagtime sometimes and free TV and movies usually come at the price of frequent forced advertisement. But how much does cable cost these days? A short wait here and there is definitely worth it to us.

Not Free, But Still Cheaper Than Cable/Satellite

Some other ways that my husband and I get our TV fix is by buying movies, shows and DVD collections. Some can be expensive, but you can usually find good buys on:

Ebay
Amazon's New and Used section (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!)
iTunes
Half.com (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!)
or the used sections of stores like Rasputin

We love to buy and share our collections with friends, or invite people over to watch movies or for TV marathons.

Series we currently own or are in the process of collecting:

Other Cheaper Ways We are Entertaining Ourselves

Games - Lately we've had several Scrabble nights and after my birthday party last weekend a group of us played a game called Apples to Apples and had a blast! Board/Card games may seem silly at first, but they can be a jumpstart for conversation and a good time in general. Have everyone contribute an inexpensive snack, and it's all the better. I also geek out on Saturday nights playing DND and sometimes Magic the Gathering. Games that require some initital investment, but can be hours upon hours of entertainment.

We also find ourself playing a lot of video games. Sure, the initial investments of most game systems can be costly, but the newer systems are especially great for parties and getting people to interact. WE LOVE OUR Wii and XBox 360! For less than we'd pay for cable in one month we can buy one or two used games. And, being complete geeks (we admit it!) we still LOVE our old-school Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and Nintendo 64. Games for those systems are CHEAP. Right now we're addicted to Rock Band 2 for the 360 (especially when friends are over) and my husband and I in our alone time are playing Diddy's Kong Quest for the Super Nintendo. I cannot believe how much use we get out of our old games, but I'm glad that we do.

Reading - This is something that my husband and I have done together since we started dating. We both love to read comic books (especially him) but at 2.99 or 3.99 a pop (sometimes more!) he has had to reduce the number of titles he follows every month. Eventually a lot of comic runs are reproduced into bigger volumes called trade paperbacks or hardcovers. Both can be expensive, but many major bookstores carry them (Barnes and Nobles, Borders, etc.) We have spent many hours combing through bookstore shelves and enjoying the quiet library-like atmosphere, reading books together. Be careful to eat before you go, though, or else you might end up buying a $10 designer muffin at the coffee shop inside the store.

Of course you can also buy used books for super cheap at Amazon and Half.com. There's also an awesome site called Paperback Swap where you can trade books with other people for free. You only pay when you ship your book to someone (which is very cheap), not when they ship it to you.

The only way I will ever get cable again is if I can afford a DVR. Otherwise I feel like I'm just wasting my money. But that will be a long time from now. Besides, I seem a lot more productive without the constant flow that is television. Now watching something is more of a treat because I have to intentially seek it out.

What entertainment cost(s) have you cut? Do you miss it/them?

Are there any entertainment options that you would recommend?

Wardrobe Savings

Another cool site about how to stretch your wardrobe budget:

20 Wallet-Smart Ways to Makeover Your Style

Dining Out vs. Dining In

Looking over my husband and I's bank statements, I will often notice a trend. It goes like this:

McDonald's
McDonald's
Carl's Jr.
Arby's
Subway
Subway
Subway
In & Out
McDonald's
Long John Silver's
Strings
Strings

and so on.

We don't blow big chunks of money at once anymore, but dining out sure drains our bank account over the month. So, whenever possible, we're trying to eat at home. Even with the rise in grocery costs, it's still cheaper than eating fast food all the time. Especially given the fact that we are entertainers - often feeding friends as well as ourselves.

I'm always looking for articles on saving money foodwise, and I came accross this one today. Check it out these Top 10 Money-Saving Pantry Essentials.

Have any tips on saving money when it comes to buying groceries? Please feel free and share!

Are You Crafty?

If you have a knack for knitting or are crafty in some other way, I've stumbled accross a cool website called Etsy.

You can buy and sell crafts and supplies as well as various vintage items. Building your web store is easy - no HTML knowledge needed - they'll walk you through setting it up in minutes.

Listing your items for sale costs only .20 cents per item. You have four months to sale an item before it must be relisted (for another .20 cents). Etsy earns only 3.5% of your sales price (not including shipping) and you pay once per month.

I'm a pretty crafty person, but I've been specifically trying to brainstorm a product or products that are especially useful during the recession. Example (although admittingly not a very good one): people are probably drinking less coffee at $3+ a pop and therefore drinking coffee at home more frequently. With this in mind, coffee mugs might be fun and useful to make. (I say this is a bad example because you can buy mugs EVERYWHERE, but I hope you get my point).

My mom knits awesome slippers and sews killer pillow cases, so I'm definitely recommending this site to her.

Plus, isn't the name "Etsy" just adorable?

Awww....

Not Interested in "Get Rich Quick" Schemes

I think being rich would be nice (although the great Notorious B.I.G. does warn me - "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems"), but I am much more interested in finding something that my husband and I can do on a regular basis that will be both fun and fruitful. Plus, due to my health conditions, I would also LOVE to work from home - at least a majority of the time. Above all, I want my work to be purposeful and helpful in one way or another.

With all this in mind, I have been on a quest; looking for both ways to earn money as well stretch the money we do have. I think a lot of people are in the same boat as my husband and I.

I invite you to join me on my quest. I'll be posting links to sites that I've found useful, as well as sharing any other findings. Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions.

Thank you, and God Bless our journeys!