Lazy Man and Money

Save Money on Valentine’s Day

by 23 Comments

[You might have read this article in the past, but frugal Valentine’s Days ideas are timeless. And one of my favorite Buffy the Vampire Slayer quotes is, “You look timely.” Use this as a reminder to act soon… prices will only go up.]

The Super Bowl in the rear view mirror (congrats to the Denver defense for overcoming terrible quarterback play all season long). Now it is time to look forward to the next big event on the calendar… Valentine’s Day. With that in mind, here are a bunch a tips to save some dough. I’ll confess… some are a little unconventional, but it’s the thought that counts right?

  • Write a Love Note – This was suggested by a couple of people. I did that last year. I was reading a book on writing that mentioned the 10 most beautiful adjectives in the English language. I found a way to work them all in. I think it came out a little forced, but still worked. It’s the thought that counts.
  • Surprise Him/Her – Writer’s Coin comes up with probably the best tip I didn’t think of. He mentioned a treasure hunt around the neighborhood which works well. He also mentioned a hot air balloon which doesn’t really fall in our frugality goal (I’ve looked into them, not cheap).
  • Celebrate at Home – There were a few suggestions that could work together for a romantic time at home. My caveat with this is that you really have to make it special because the venue is simply ordinary. However, if you can pull it off this idea has big dividends as you are already near closed doors.
    • Breakfast in Bed – If Valentine’s Day is on a weekend (unfortunately it isn’t this year) this is a great possibility. I give a couple of bonus points, due to the location… can’t get much better than bed.
    • Cook a Special Dinner – Erica and Fitwallet suggested that you cook at home. She suggested lobster, a great steak, or shrimp scampi. Richer and Slimmer suggested heart-shaped pasta. We’ve done the steak before for special dinners. In the past they were gifts from Omaha Steaks. We haven’t done the seafood, because I’m not a fan. I’d rather take her out just to not have to deal with the kitchen smelling like seafood. Also, alcohol is much cheaper at home, so this can be a big savings.
    • Cue up a Movie – Kosmo suggests buying a cheap DVD or package of them as part of a Valentine’s gift. Amanda mentioned that if you belong to Netflix, you could go that route.
    • Cue up Music and/or Cut a Rug – Fitwallet brought up the idea of dancing. I’m not big into dance, but I could probably brush off some ballroom tricks from classes a few years ago. Also, my cable television has all sorts of commercial-free romantic music. Momma suggested an iTunes playlist of meaningful songs to the two of you.
    • Massage Oils – Looking for something after dinner? Erica suggests breaking out the massage oils.
  • Do Some Chores – Penelope Pince mentioned it as a tip. I really thought this would have gotten forgotten as it’s not typically thought of as romantic. However, I’ve personally found it to have its rewards. The smell of bleach equals clean to my wife… and clean equals sexy. When I invent bleach-scented cologne and make millions that last sentence won’t sound so weird. This wouldn’t be the only Valentine’s gift, but it would be work well in combination with the Celebrate at Home package previously mentioned.
  • Go For a Picnic – Someone (didn’t leave a name) mentioned this idea for those in warmer climates. Sandwiches, good scenery, and a bottle of wine (which may or may not be legal in your area) all add up to a good time.
  • Do Fixed Price Activities – Fitwallet also mentioned that museums are typically the same price any time of year. Thai or Indian food could work as well.
  • Tour the Romantic Places of the Past – Penelope Pince mentioned you can go to where you had a first date or first kissed or other milestone.
  • Rent a Hot Tub – Erica gave this suggestion which I hadn’t thought of. I don’t know how I forgot renting a hot tub as part of my secret Elimidate fantasies. Too much information?
  • Plant a Rose Bush – I’m a little surprised that this would get a great reaction, but Marie said it was one of her favorite gifts.
  • Celebrate a Different Day – Abigail suggested that we celebrate Valentine’s Day on the 15th. It makes sense because the date itself doesn’t seem to represent anything special. My wife and I often go out the weekend or two before. For instance we are going out this Friday. It’s not as crowded and we get into the places that we want to without paying any special markups. For Valentine’s Day itself, we typically do something small like takeout, except for when there’s a great deal as I mention at the end.
  • Exchange Small Practical Gifts – Marie noted that her husband likes to grill and would appreciate silicon brushes for sauces. I would love this gift if I didn’t already have a couple of silicon brushes. I like them quite a bit for grilling.
  • Have an unValentine’s Day – One of my favorite trips also comes from Abigail. She mentioned this for the single folk out there. Rent some bad unromantic movies and eat fast food.

This Valentine’s Day, my wife and I are having a nice dinner at our local military base. It’s not super-frugal, but they go all out which is a great value for $75 (including a bottle wine.)

Looking for more ideas? My other blog, Be Better Now has it’s own article on how to Save Money on Valentine’s Day. Admittedly, there’s a a good deal of overlap.

Friends’ Influence and Money: A Two Way Street

by 10 Comments

I often write a lot of words on saving money. Cut out this expensive item… consider substituting this other item… Sometimes I write about making more money. However, I very rarely go into the psychology behind making and spending money. Today, I’m going to venture into those waters… and hopefully avoid drowning.

I first read in Larry Winget’s book, You’re Broke Because You Want to Be, your income is typically the average of your five closest friends. Though Winget gives credit to Jim Rohn, the concept pans out when I look at my life (at least as long as I’m not only a full-time blogger). Winget makes a great point that he tries to surround himself with wealthy people.

Surrounding yourself with wealthy people is a solid idea, but it’s not like you can just make friends with folks who can afford to shop at 5th Avenue or Rodeo Drive overnight. I met most of my high-income friends in an expensive, private top 30 university. They had typically had fairly wealthy parents and went on to high paying jobs after school. Winget/Rohn seem to approach it as a egg – surrounding yourself with high-income people will help you get rich. I approach it like a chicken – I’m surrounded by high-income earners for the same reasons that they earned a high income.

There’s another side of coin that Larry doesn’t discuss in his book (at least that I recall). I have a theory that your spending is the average of your five closest friends. This is a completely untested theory – it seems logical to me and consistent in my own life. Why is it logical? Well my wife still thinks that I have a plasma television because “all your friends got them.” She doesn’t seem to factor in that me and all my friends love technology. My wife also expects me to get a high-end SLR digital camera soon – simply because my other friends have them. That’s an exception to the rule… I’m not looking to carrying around a murse (man-purse) full of lenses.

So if your income is the average of your five closest friends and your spending may be the average of your five closest friends, do you really have any control of your life? As always, I think the answer is yes – if you recognize these subconscious principles at work and make your conscious deal with them.

What about you? Is your income the average of your five closest friends? Do you feel that your income is the result of associating with those friends, or is it just “birds of a feather flock together?” Do you find your spending is the average of your five closest friends?

How I Research a Purchase

by 7 Comments

Personal finance sites put a lot of attention on saving money, investing, even career advice. I haven’t read a lot of information on how research a product before you buy it. Today I’d like to share with you my thoughts and maybe in comments you can teach me a thing or two.

How much research should I put in a purchase?

I look at two major factors in answering this question. How much is it going to impact my life and how much is the item? I’ll actually put some research into something like pillows because I them every day. More often than not, the bigger factor is how much something costs. I’m simply not going to spend a lot of time and energy hemming and hawing over the price of a piece of chewing gum. However, a costly purchase like a home, car, even a flat-screen television… those are the kind of things that I want to research.

Five Tips for Researching Purchases

  • Almost Anything – Amazon has a lot of reviews on more products than you can shake a stick at. Even if you aren’t going to make your purchase there it’s worth checking it out to see what people are saying.
  • Technology – I’m sure some of you will cringe, but I love the reviews of Walt Mossberg. I also like to check Gizmodo and Engadget.
  • Cars – Edmunds really has a wealth of knowledge. I supplement that with Kelly Blue Book. If I was buying a used car, I’d probably pick up a Car Fax report.
  • Homes – When I was buying my home, using Bankrate was instrumental in finding my best mortgage rate. I always like to give Zillow a look, even if it might not be accurate in your area. I’d like to recommend a local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) – but it seems like there are some areas where you can better information if you partner with a Realtor. Since it’s been a few years since I’ve been home shopping, perhaps I’m missing some great resources.
  • Restaurants & Shops – Word of mouth is still king in finding a good restaurant. However, I’m starting to depend a little more on Yelp ratings. Yelp provides more than just restaurant ratings, it’s good for shops and businesses of many varieties.

What research do you do before you buy a product? Please share your best tips in the comments below.

Utah State Employees Getting a Four Day Work-Week

by 6 Comments

The state of Utah recently decided that it could save money by letting it’s employees work four day work weeks. Employees will work 10 hours a day and receive the same pay as usual. My mother, a nurse, actually had this set-up for a long time. She quite enjoys it and finds that she can get errands done on her off day that were otherwise difficult or impossible. Many banks just aren’t open past the 9-5 hours that many people work.

So how much money will it save? Reduced energy costs of state buildings will save the state 3 million dollars of it’s 11 billion dollar budget. For those keeping track at home we are talking about 0.027% of the budget. The state government also looks to save money on state vehicles, but can’t quantify the savings.

It’s a little curious that such a small percentage of savings would trigger such a big change. Perhaps the thought is that the state employees will go out and support businesses on their new day off. The aforementioned article did mention that golf courses are looking forward to having people come in on the three day weekend.

I think there are a lot of reasons for a four day work-week, I’m just not entirely convinced that saving money as Utah says it will is one of them. I like to think that they could come up with ways to save a lot more money.

Money Magazine July 2008 Highlights

by 3 Comments

When I was going through my mail last week, I noticed something interesting. It seemed like I got a flier that was thicker than usual. Wait, it was this month’s Money Magazine. It feels like the slimmest edition of Money Magazine I’ve seen… yet, I happen to have the July 2007 copy handy and they are both the same 128-pages. So much for my conspiracy theory that advertisements were down and Money Magazine might be undergoing some financial issues of their own. Either July is just a light month in general or I’m just crazy thinking this copy was thin.

Anyway, here are some of the highlights from this months issue. If you have a copy, you can follow along with me. If you don’t, here are some of the things you might be missing.

– Save money on drug prescriptions with the advice on p. 19. The hint: go shopping at Wal-Mart.
– Women want to talk more about money (p. 20). True.com survey says that 33% of women want to talk more about money while only 21% of men do. This goes against almost every female I know who would rather have a root canal than talk about money. My wife fits in that group. What do men wish the talked more about… big suprise, but it’s sex.
– Frank Boucher, certified financial planner learned he could save money on baseball games by bringing his own food (p. 20). He could have learned this months earlier if he read my article on Saving Money at Baseball Games
– It’s only a good idea for a select minority to get the $100 unlimited cell phone plans that some providers are making available. (p. 26)
– Jean Chatzky says driving a little greener can save you money on gas (p. 28). Five Cent Nickel found out the same thing first hand.
– Interesting article about taking care of your finances for couples always on the run (p. 33). Maybe it’s just me because I’m experienced, but much of my finances take care of themselves most of the time. Online banking shifts money into almost all the right places. I pay credit card bills online, but I have a back-up set up with Chase so that they would get paid in full if I forget. About the only thing that I remember is to write the rent check.
– The Right Way to Take a Pension (p. 40). What’s a pension ;-).
– Are you paying your financial adviser 3% (p.44)? It seems that many are. This is one reason why I spent time to learn to invest myself. By limiting expense ratios and diversifying with exchange traded funds, I often pay closer to 0.5% in expenses. That adds up to a lot of money compounded over the years.
– Walter Updegrave says that your retirement number is a moving target. I came to this conclusion with my My Ever Expanding Retirement Goal.
– Inspiring entreprunal highlight (p. 53). I love reading about people starting their businesses and the troubles they have with them.
– How do you protect your idea from being stolen by a big company (p. 53). I’m surprised to see that it doesn’t mention anything about writing out your idea and sending it to yourself via certified mail. You’ll get a date stamp on the sealed envelope. If it has to go to court, handing the judge the envelope should be great evidence.
– Learn how artificial materials can be better than the real thing in your home (p. 62-64). If I was to redo my home, I would definitely heed all these suggestions. It looks like they’ll last longer and in some ways cost less to begin with.
– Invest globally with one fund (p. 69-70)? I say no, but I like reading about investments. You might not be like me.
– Invest in networking companies (p. 78)? Is it 1999 again?
– Six pages on Inflation (83-89), this is a major article in the issue. This is one my biggest financials fears. If I had to guess it’s probably yours as well.
– Pages 91-95 – Feature on People Living Without Plastic… This was the article that featured two personal finance bloggers I previously mentioned.
– Do you know your spouses finances? This a 5-page feature.
– College Loan article that I won’t read from pages 102-105
– Page 106 – OMG, full size, close-up picture of Suze Orman… If I had a mustache like the one she’s showing, I wouldn’t allow a close-up like that to be published.
– Page 107 – This Suze Orman article is the first one I’ve read of hers that was good. Check it out.
– A family looking for a simpler life quits their high paying jobs and moves out to the farm. What about their finances? Page 109-113
– Looking for a Home Security system? See the review on page 115-117.
– Getting a lightweight PC? Look for the round up on 118-119. They left out my Asus EEE.
– The last page is an article on carbon offsets. I didn’t find it that interesting.

About

Learn more about Lazy Man and Money, how the site developed over the years, and more at the About page.

Recent Posts

Connect