Best Of Buck, January 2010

At the end of each month I highlight a few of my favorite posts from The Buck List. Here is the January batch.

How to Make Money from Vacant Homes 

Frugal Recipe: Quick and Easy Pork Roast 

Make and Save Money with Scrap Lumber

Why You Need WD-40 

Can You Save Money by Hunting? 

What We Leave Behind 

Nine Ways to Find Cheap or Free Performances

From elementary school through high school my daughter took both drama and choir classes, as well as private vocal lessons, which resulted in her mother and I watching a lot of plays and concerts. Some were better than others, but I can’t remember not enjoying a single one. Almost all of them were free, and recently while remembering those times I got to thinking about other ways to see free or very inexpensive performances. The following is what I came up with:

School plays and concerts. Most schools have an online presence where they offer a calendar of events and many newspapers have a section devoted to community events. Of course if you have a kid or grandchild currently in school you already have a great source of information, if they don’t loose the school newsletter on the way home.

College performances are usually free and open to the public. Again, check the website schedule.

Volunteer as a ticket taker or usher. A little work is involved at first, but once the show starts you will pretty much just watch it with the rest of the audience, for free.

Attend rehearsals by local bands and performers. Sometimes they will allow a small number of people to watch. Doesn’t hurt to ask!

Free park concerts. Here in Iowa there are free concerts in public parks all summer long. Many small towns hold festivals and celebrations for various reasons and free music is almost considered a must. Check the newspaper or town website calendars.

Mailing lists. Get on the mailing list (whether by physical address or email) of any theater, concert hall or comedy club you would like to get free tickets from. Our local comedy club sends us free ticket offers every few months, and once in a while we go.

Join fan clubs. Once in a while they will offer freebies, sometimes including tickets.

Sign up with local radio stations. They give away stuff from sponsors all the time, and when bands come around there are usually free tickets offered.

County and State Fairs. You have to pay to get into most state fairs but I don’t think we have ever had to pay to attend a county fair, and they usually feature bands or talent contests.

Related Reading:

Get Your Free Tickets 

Best Free Movie and TV Sites 

Sports Events on the Cheap 

What We Leave Behind

My Maternal Grandmother wrote four little books about her genealogical background, her childhood, coming of age and raising a family with her husband. One episode she wrote about was her Grandpa teaching her how to drive a car, even though she was a girl. He laughed every time she hit the curb, encouraging her to continue. I can picture the scene, and that memory and many others she wrote in the books have been preserved and passed down to future generations.

Grandpa wanted his granddaughter to succeed, and she did; his desire fed and assured hers. His encouragement made enough of an impression on her that a lifetime later, as an old woman, she made sure to write it down.

While it is necessary to discuss finances, and smart to be frugal, sometimes it is worth a moment to set those issues aside, along with all of our drama and problems, and ponder something most of us don’t give much time to. The day will come for all of us when our possessions are dispersed and our money belongs to others. When that time comes I hope we have left behind something much more valuable.

Make Money Selling Vinyl Records

When I was a little boy there was a moving sale in the house across the street from us. My Dad and I went over to check it out and in the basement was a crate of vinyl records. The only records I already owned were children’s story albums and what I was looking at were not made for children. Probably because they were so different and grown up looking I begged my Dad to buy me some. He gave in and said I could pick two. The mysterious, shadowy cover of “Meet The Beatles” was my first choice. Maybe to counter the mood on that first cover my second choice was “Beach Boys’ Party!” I excitedly rushed back home to play them, over and over again, beginning my life long love affair with music.

Over the years I accumulated hundreds of records. I bought them new at the store and used at garage sales and flea markets. One guy gave me several dozen that had survived a house fire and a former coworker gave me a crate he found in the attic of a house.

Looking through my collection recently I had to admit to myself that there were some records I most likely would never listen to again, and some I had never listened to, mostly among the ones given to me. I have decided to pare down my collection and have been brainstorming on the most profitable way to get rid of my unwanted records. Here are my ideas so far:

Sell to a record shop. There are a couple of record shops in my area that buy vinyl. I am thinking of putting together a list and emailing it or taking it to the shops. This might be the easiest route.

Sell at a garage sale. We are planning on having a garage sale this year and I might put some out just to see if there is any interest.

Sell online. The usual sites are possibilities. I have had pretty good luck selling about anything on Craigslist, and I think once I have my list assembled I will check out eBay for pricing ideas. I found a couple of other sites, including:

Gemm - Register yourself and your products for free. They say that “other than 13% commissions, there are no risks, fees or obligations. All GEMM services are absolutely free to you.” I would rather not pay commissions, but I will keep this one in mind for what I can’t sell locally.

Princeton Record Exchange – This huge record shop in New Jersey buys used records, as well as CDs. Prices offered depends on what you have, age and condition. You can call to speak with an appraiser or fill out their online questionnaire. As for shipping expenses they say for collections they offer $50.00 or more for they will reimburse you ten cents per item. I don’t want postage to eat into my take, but it is another online option if it comes down to that.

I’ll write a follow up and let you know what I decide on and how it goes.

In the meantime I would love to hear any ideas you might have or how you have sold your records.

PS I still have those first two records, and I'm keeping them. 

Related Reading:

Five Alternative Sites to Sell Stuff Online 

Weekly Roundup

Not only has Dolly Freeds book, Possum Living, been republished but she also has her own blog. If you are not sure what any of means check this out. 

Here is an interesting potential money maker for both photographers and online publishers. Fotoglif embeds ads in stock and editorial images that earns money for everyone involved. Check out the site to see how it works.

Have you heard of Wesabe yet? It’s an online money manager that allows members to interact with each other by sharing ideas and advice.

Post of the Week – A personal finance post I found to be exceptional.
I found this article on 17 Ways Consumers Are Changing to be an interesting read.

Free All Music offers free, and legal, MP3 downloads for watching ads.

If you like beef you will want to bookmark the National Beef Cook-Off site. They provide all of the winning recipes for the last 10 years. While I don’t know what Pupusas is I would like to find out! 

Weekly Reminder – A reminder of a useful article you might have missed. 
I wrote this little piece with a provocative title about my take on living upon hope.

Can You Save Money by Hunting?

I really enjoy the outdoors. I like to camp, hike, fish and forage for food, such as berries and morel mushrooms. I have owned firearms since I was a kid and I like to target shoot but, alas, I do not hunt animals. I have no moral/ethical reason not to and I admire those who do it well and by the rules. I guess the main reason I don’t hunt is because I don’t have to, but the same could be said about some of the other activities listed above. Maybe it’s because I never latched onto a hunting mentor to teach me all the tips and tricks. What ever the reason I would have no problem at all taking it up if I had to hunt to feed my family.

With that said, how can a non-hunter answer the question posed by the title of this post? Well, I live in Iowa and in 2007 (the most recent stats I could find) over 150, 000 deer were harvested. Wild game is so abundant here that we have hunting seasons for everything from pheasants and quail to bobcats and badgers. With all the hunting going on around here I know, and am related to, quite a few hunters. By visiting with them over the years about the sport, most of the hunters I know would answer: it depends on your approach.

If you live in the country, hunt your own land or your neighbors land, own an inexpensive shotgun or rifle, wear basic gear and butcher the meat yourself you most likely will come out ahead.

If you have a penchant for expensive firearms and gear, pay to have your game butchered and have to travel far to a hunting ground you are unfamiliar with you most likely won’t be saving any money on your grocery bill.

What I have heard discussed the most by the hunters I know is a factor that is hard to put a price tag on: enjoyability. Most hunters, whether frugal or not, love hunting and spending time in the fields and woods. When you add that to the equation I don’t think many of them would care what the answer is.

What’s your take on saving money by hunting?

Related Reading:

Does Fishing Save You Money? 

10 Tips on Finding The Great Morel  

How to Camp on the Cheap 

Save Money By Foraging 

Pumped Up Frugal Tips: Full Belly, Spare Room and Financial Advisor Edition

Once a month I take a different look at some popular but somewhat wimpy frugal tips and try to beef them up. Yeah!

Full Belly

Wimpy Tip: Grocery shop on a full belly so you are not tempted to spend as much. Not bad, but there could be added benefits.

Tip on Steroids: Get that full belly eating beans, broccoli or cabbage and wait a few hours to digest. Leave the Beano at home and not only will you clear out the aisles for a smoother, more efficient shopping experience, but the cashier might find herself so hurried to get you through her line that she misses a few scans. Score!

Spare Room

Wimpy Tip: Rent out a spare room in your house to make extra money. You obviously have not thought this all the way through.

Tip on Steroids: Think how much more money you could make if you moved into the spare room and rented out the rest of the house. Cutting edge, I know, but you are free to use it.

Financial Advisor

Wimpy Tip: Go in for a full evaluation of your financial situation by a trained professional. Really, who actually has money for that?

Tip on Steroids: Just ask your friends and family how they handle their finances, and do the opposite.

Related Reading:

Pumped Up Frugal Tips: Credit Cards, Light Bulbs and Homemade Gifts Edition 

Why You Need WD-40

A few weeks ago my son could not get his truck door to unlock. It is an older model and has no remote, so we had to use the key. We were experiencing bitterly cold temperatures and already there was over two feet of snow on the ground, so I speculated some moisture had penetrated and frozen the lock. Out from the garage came WD-40 and with a couple of squirts to the lock the problem was solved.

Invented in the 1950’s to protect missiles from corrosion, it soon became available to the public and is now sold in over 160 countries. As the brief following list shows, if you don’t already have a can or two around the house you are missing out on an amazing product.

It lubricates practically anything. Think squeaky hinges, stuck zippers, stubborn windows and sticky drawers.

Removes grease and stains, such as road tar, crayon marks, tape residue, lipstick, barbecue grill grime, bug goo, stove grease, you get the idea.

It protects metal from rust and loosens items that are already rusty. Works great to loosen lug nuts and rusty bolts and as a rust preventative for your tools.

Strange uses: I read (on the internet, so it must be true) that it can relieve arthritis pain by spraying it on painful joints, and help catch fish with a little squirt to your lure. If I had to make up other uses for WD-40 at the top of my list would be “relieves constipation.”

This is not intended to be an all inclusive list, but rather a general reminder that just this one product can serve as a frugal, all in one alternative to multiple household cleaners and protectants.

For a monster list of uses, just go to the source.

Related Reading:

Other Uses for Rubbing Alcohol 

Weekly Roundup

For 50 years, from 1916 until 1966, America celebrated National Thrift Week, a “coast-to-coast celebration of American ideals like diligence, hard work, responsible consumerism, and smart saving.” Bring Back Thrift Week is encouraging Americans to rediscover thrift this year during the week of January 17 – 23.

Even after reading the About and FAQ pages I still don’t really understand what Knowledge Genie is for. They say you can “use Knowledge Genie to share and profit from what you know, educate employees, market new products, reinforce classroom learning, provide customers with the information they need, track and manage students, catalog documents, and much more.” Maybe you can figure out what all that means.

I once sewed a button onto a shirt, and there ends my sewing experience. The Sewing philosophy is "Women sharing their experiences and knowledge through their passion for sewing, building fulfilling relationships, and connecting their communities worldwide" They offer a forum, a dictionary of sewing terms and fabrics, tips, projects and a newsletter, among other things. Even to this non-sewer this site looks like a valuable resource.

Post of the Week – A personal finance post I found to be exceptional.
I really liked this take on the subject of what your most important financial decision will be. It’s not one of the usual answers.

For over 10 years Save On Phone has been analyzing and ranking long distance plans. Check out their Top 10 Cheapest Plans, as well as their rate calculator, where users can “plug in their specific long distance usage and instantly see a ranking of the top 25 plans in their area based on their calling pattern.”

I took the life expectancy test at Living To 100 and it told me I have 35 years left to live. Time will tell if that is true, but the test and my honest answers gave me a few things to think about. Go see how long you have left…if you make it past 2012, of course.

Weekly Reminder – A reminder of a useful article you might have missed.
I wrote this article giving tips on how to search for scholarships.

Make and Save Money with Scrap Lumber

The Mother Load

A little over two years ago I was driving along in my old truck when I spied a sign at the side of the road with the word “FREE” written on it and an arrow showing the direction. Never one to pass up a hand lettered “free” sign, unless kittens are part of the deal, I turned down the road and ended up in front of a large, run down warehouse. The overhead doors were open and when I got out and walked up I was greeted by a small, wiry bald man who told me to help myself to whatever I wanted inside. “Take as much as you want, fill up your truck, come back for more. Anything left is gonna get thrown away.”

Intrigued, I walked into the warehouse and was greeted by stacks of old wooden doors and windows and racks of lumber of every size, some painted, some stained and some untreated. There were dozens of interior walls that were painted or wallpapered, some with windows and doors. The strange thing was they were not acting like most walls by holding up a ceiling or partitioning a room, but were leaning against each other against a warehouse wall. To one side of the mystery walls was a massive brick fireplace with an impressive mantle. Closer inspection revealed the entire thing to be made of wood. Next were shelves filled with hundreds of unopened, taped up cardboard boxes, caked with dust. I was feeling my inner Indiana Jones as I slowly peeled back the crusty tape and opened the box flaps. Inside were hundreds of…movie posters? I opened another box, and another, full of never used posters still in the printers’ boxes.

Wondering what the place was and why it was all being given away, I sought out the little bald man. He told me the warehouse was slated to be torn down and the contents were being liquidated. The owner was an old movie producer, and the contents were movie sets and promotional items. He had no further need for them and was giving everything away. That explained the phony wood fireplace, walls and posters.

I proceeded to load up my truck with lumber, drive home and unload it and go back for seconds. The next day I couldn’t help myself and went back for a third load.

Other Sources

That was not by any means the first time I found free lumber, but it was definitely the most I have found from one source. When I worked in a warehouse/print shop I had almost unlimited pallets to choose from to either break up and use as firewood or, if they were the right size and quality, to disassemble and reuse for various projects.

I have found lumber stacked or bundled at the curb, too. The free section on Craigslist is another good source. Many times I see businesses place ads to come get their pallets or shipping crates for free. The two best tools for taking them apart are a claw hammer and a wonder bar.

Save Money

You save money by using free scrap lumber instead of buying new and, if you are halfway handy with basic tools, you can build things instead of buying them. In the last year I have built with salvaged lumber: a gate, a bookshelf, a large flowerbox, a doghouse, a sawbuck, two tables, a trellis, a garden bench, a workbench and fixed two fences. Total cost was my time and some nails and screws.

Make Money

The two fences I fixed could go in this category as well because I was paid to do the work. Almost all of the things I saved money building myself could also be made to sell. You could build a small inventory of flowerboxes of various sizes and advertise them for sale on Craigslist. Bookshelves are always in demand, as are doghouses and workbenches. This coming spring I am going to build a few garden benches to sell, and use my homemade walnut stain to finish them.

Come to think of it, how to make that stain might be a good topic for a future post.

Related Reading:

How to Save Money by Salvaging 

Can You Really Find Good Free Stuff On Craigslist? 

How to Find Free Firewood 

Frugal Recipe: Quick and Easy Pork Roast

A few months ago I had a pork roast to cook but for some unknown reason I was not really in the mood for gravy, which is what we usually cook a pork roast with. I got out the slow cooker, the pork roast and a few other basic ingredients, plus one new addition I had never tried before. A few hours later we were eating one of the most tender, flavorful pork roasts we have ever had. Here is the recipe…



Ingredients

Pork roast

4-6 potatoes, quartered

One small onion, chopped

A couple carrots, sliced

A couple celery stalks, sliced

New addition: one package of onion soup mix

Directions

Place the pork roast in the bottom of the slow cooker and surround with the next four ingredients. Mix the onion soup mix with two cups of hot water and slowly pour over other ingredients. Cook on high 3 to 6 hours, depending on the size of the roast.

Related Reading

Chicken Enchiladas 

How Do You Save Money on Eyewear and Contacts?

Everyone in my family wears glasses, and one member in particular grew very adept at loosing them. Usually they just disappeared without explanation, like socks from a dryer, while occasionally there was a vague recollection of leaving them in a school locker or at the pool. One memorable episode found the glasses smashed to bits in the driveway, having been backed over by their owner. Having to continually replace lost, and crushed, glasses caused us to become regular customers of our optometrist’s eyeglass store, which was not cheap. Eventually they took pity on us and revealed the bargain bin, where they sold discontinued models at a deep discount. It might be worth asking if your eye doctor has a similar bin.

This year both my wife and I are in need of new glasses, and I decided to look for options other than the eye doctor’s shop. While looking around online I found some people mention buying eyewear at Walmart, Costco, Sams Club, JC Penny, Target and the lens stores such as Lens Crafters. Digging a little deeper I found that there are a lot of online options to purchase inexpensive contacts and glasses, which was news to this bargain bin digger. I am going to explore all of the online options I came across and probably give one of them a try. The following sites are what I have found so far.

Lens Shopper 

EyeGlasses

123 Contact Lenses

Vision Glasses 

Eye Glass Direct 

United Shades 

1 800 Contacts

Eye Buy Direct 

Goggles 4U 

Zenni Optical

39 Dollar Glasses 

I will write a follow-up to this letting you know what I decided on and how it went.

If you have bought your glasses and contacts online I would love to hear about your experience.

Weekly Roundup

If you ever find yourself and up to 95 of your friends, family members or coworkers in need of a free conference call (also recorded for free) make sure to bookmark Free Conference Call for future reference.

My Rate Plan offers to help consumers compare a variety of household services to determine which would work best. Categories include wireless, home phone, satellite TV, credit cards, travel, loans and financial, insurance options and internet access.

American Homeowners is a nonprofit organization that offers information on buying, selling and remodeling homes. Make sure to check out their blog and the freebie section.

Post of the Week – A personal finance post I found to be exceptional.
I enjoyed this well thought out essay/rant (Essant…Rassay…Rantay? I’m done) on people finding excuses to spend money.

Regular readers of The Buck List know I love frugal recipes and recipe sites. I came across Southern Plate recently and couldn’t stop looking around. Full of recipes “from below the Mason-Dixon line” this one is worth a visit.

The National Library of Medicine has a massive database of health-related organizations operating toll-free telephone services. This is another site worth bookmarking.

Weekly Reminder – A reminder of a useful article you might have missed.
Here is a frugal post offering tips on how to use what you have to cut the clutter in your home.

How to Make Money From Vacant Homes

This idea involves a lot less time, effort and money than flipping houses, but could serve as a steady source of income.

When I was a kid in the 1970’s my Dad came up with a way to keep me productive and make some money at the same time. There were several houses in our neighborhood that had been on the market for some time. The owners had moved out for whatever reasons and the houses stood vacant (sounds familiar today, huh?). It was summer and the lawns were getting long so Dad called the real estate agent and set up a deal for me to mow the lawns for I think $5 each. I would then invoice the agent by mail whenever I mowed a lawn and he would send me a check. It worked out well until the houses eventually sold and I moved on to my first “real” job at a gas station.

Thinking about that summer recently got me to wondering if maintaining empty houses could be a viable money making option today. Think of all of the vacant houses currently on the market that need maintenance such as lawn mowing and snow removal to keep up their curb appeal. If you see any of these properties in your area it might be worth a call to the local real estate agent.

Related Reading:

Offer Your Services for Barter or Cash 

10 Interesting Ways to Make Some Side Cash 

Eight Essential Tips to Surviving Winter Storms

When my kids were very little, I think the year was 1990, our area was hit hard by an ice storm that left many, including us, without power for several days. During the storm I would step out onto our porch to watch and listen as tree branches snapped off and crashed to the ground, sounding like chandeliers hitting a ballroom floor. If a falling branch did not knock out your power line the weight of the accumulated ice would do the job.

We hung blankets over doorways and heated our little closed off area with the gas oven, which they tell you is a big no-no but you will do anyway when you have no other heat source and cold little children. Eventually we ended up taking the kids over to a relative’s house that had power until ours was restored.

There have been plenty of storms since then (this IS Iowa, after all) but the ice storm sticks in my memory because of the helpless feeling we had because we were so unprepared. It was a good lesson to learn and today we are much better prepared for storms and outages. Following are what I consider the top eight essential winter storm preparedness tips.

Insulate, caulk and cover. In case of a power outage the tighter your house is sealed the longer it will take for the warm air inside to be replaced by the cold air outside.

Emergency heat source. That could be a kerosene heater, a coal or wood stove, a fireplace or even a camping stove. Proper venting is a safety priority. A gas powered generator is another option but not many people want to put out the money for something they would rarely use. A couple of years ago I bought a never used kerosene heater together with five gallons of kerosene off of Craigslist for $50. It still has not been used, for which I am thankful.

Food and Water. Canned goods and a hand operated can opener are a must, along with several gallons of water. We wash out and reuse plastic gallon milk containers to store our emergency water, which I rotate by using the jugs to water plants and then refilling them every few months.

Blankets and Sleeping Bags. I prefer sleeping bags in this category because they more efficiently hold in your body heat.

A Radio. A good old fashioned battery powered radio with extra batteries is a must to keep up with the news and weather reports, while a hand crank weather radio would be ideal. In case of a power outage those cell phones are only going to last for so long and there will be no way to recharge them. Invention Idea: hand crank cell phone charger?

Flashlights, candles and lamps. We have a full kerosene lamp on every floor of our house, as well as a tote in the basement full of candles, matches, flashlights and batteries.

First Aid Supplies. If you keep your medicine cabinet fully and freshly stocked you should be okay with what you have on hand.

Snow Shovels and Rock Salt. I keep a shovel and salt right outside my backdoor that I can reach without stepping outside just by opening the door. In temperate areas that experience full blown, month’s long winters I think a gas powered snow thrower is a very good investment. Mine has been getting a work out this winter as we have already accumulated over two feet of snow so far, with more on the way.

Related Reading:

Eight Essentials for Winter Driving 

How to Find Free Firewood 

What Is Wealth?

Some would answer that question with having lots of money, or good health, or family and friends. While I would agree with all of those answers, Robert G. Allen offers an interesting take on what wealth is:

“Wealth is knowledge, confidence, attitude. It has nothing to do with the accumulation of money. You can take away my cash, my credit, my statements at the bank – everything the world considers wealth. But I’ll always have the only thing that really counts: my own resources.”

Weekly Roundup

Retirees with an urge to return to return to college, just for fun, will like this one. Senior Summer School provides “education vacations” that take place on college and university campuses around the country. Included are meals, a room and 2-6 classes daily from professors, local historians and celebrities, industry professionals. There are a minimum of 3 sightseeing trips and evening lectures or entertainment.

Money Trakin’ is a free site that helps you to manage your budget by tracking all of your expenses and income.

“Licensed to market and sell health insurance in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, eHealthInsurance has developed partnerships with more than 180 health insurance companies, offering more than 10,000 health insurance products online.” If you don’t want to use the internet to shop and compare they also offer a free 800 number to call.

Post of the Week – A personal finance post I found to be exceptional.
Check out this tongue-in-cheek post on 43 of the Worst Personal Finance Articles of 2009.

YoYo Games claims to be “the world’s largest user generated game site with over 25,000 games.” Register with them and make your own games and play what others have created, all for free.

Kayak is a free travel search site that searches hundreds of other travel sites for the best deals on plane tickets and hotel rooms.

If you are looking to help others during this sour economy or you have found yourself needing a hand up make sure to visit Modest Needs. They offer three types of grants: Self-Sufficiency Grants, Back-to-Work Grants, and Independent Living Grants, and come with no strings attached and do not ever have to be repaid. Check out their Make a Donation section if you are in a position to help.

Weekly Reminder – A reminder of a useful article you might have missed.
I wrote this article about different ways you can sell your CD’s and DVD’s.

Happy New Year!

I want to take a quick moment to say thank you for reading The Buck List in 2009 and I hope you all will stick with me in 2010. Not many people would write if they did not have readers like you to inspire them.

May you and yours have a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!