Fabulous Financial Solutions

More and more towns are getting “carnecerias”, which are shops that sell meat to the local Hispanic population. Our town has two of them, and the meat is both tastier and cheaper than at the local supermarket. For example, the taco meat is comprised of what is left over from cutting other meat. That means that quite a bit of it is sirloin! It is muy yummy! I just got back from buying a pound of it for less than three dollars. Since there’s not a whole lot of fat in it, we get our money’s worth, as it feeds my boys and I a hefty meal once I add tortillas, beans and rice. Did I mention that tortillas, beans and rice are also inexpensive? This happens to be my boy’s favorite meal!

This summer, I decided to quit drinking soda. It wasn’t because of weight, because I was already drinking diet. It was because the acids were starting to hurt my teeth. One day I thought, “Why am I wasting money on a drink without nutrition so my tooth enamel can get all messed up?”

The biggest challenge was finding a replacement. Tea was it. I buy those big family-sized bags of tea, and have found that two of them will make an entire pitcher. I sweeten it just a bit with Splenda, and I’ve got a healthy drink, that won’t hurt my teeth, although it might stain them a bit if I don’t keep on top of my tooth whitening.

Everyone in the house likes to drink it. I make a pitcher of unsweetened, so that people can drink it that way, or add sugar instead of Splenda. It’s taken about ten dollars a week off my grocery bill, which is the sweetest thing about it! And, with all the good stuff in tea, I feel like I’m doing something healthy, a feeling that soda will never give you.

During the summer, I read lots of books. Actually, I read them all year long. If I purchased every book I read, even through half.com, it would add up to a fortune. So I’ve become good friends with the librarians. They have no problem ordering books from other libraries for me if what I want is not in stock. Besides that, they just have a really good selection. Right now, I’m reading southern literature by Mark Childress and Rick Bragg.

The only books I’m actually buying these days are ones that I know I’ll refer back to time and time again. I found a book that pertains specifically to East Texas gardening that I’m definitely going to purchase. But first, I need to wait until I have a $25 tab so I get the free shipping from Amazon.

I’ve learned that energy is definitely equal to money. Times when I am exhausted and not doing anything besides sitting on the couch reading are not times when I am doing anything to improve my financial situation. Not that there’s anything wrong with reading, of course. I’m referring to those times when it feels like that’s all I CAN do!

Eating healthily and taking vitamins does a lot to improve my energy, as does getting enough sleep. We all talk about how important those things are. What doesn’t get mentioned very often is how important they are to earning money, especially if one is self-employed. Believe me, it is much easier to go to a job everyday and sit at a desk if you are not feeling well than to motivate yourself to finish a project at home.

Not only will treating yourself right help you financially, but you will also have a much cleaner house.

My dog has been scratching and biting at an itchy spot near her butt. It is ridiculous. She is just about bald on that part of her body now. The vet said to give her Benadryl, but I have to give it to her every day if I want her to stop.

I was talking about it to the pharmacist, and he told me what he parents do when their dogs do that. They mix up a concoction and spray it on their dogs. Here’s whats in it, because I’m using it and IT WORKS!!!

1/2 cup Listerine (the original kind)
1/4 cup baby oil
1/4 cup water

Put it in a spray bottle and give it a few squirts on your dog’s hot spots. Shake it up first. My dog has come to look forward to it, and has quit scratching as long as I apply it 3-4 times a day.

One of the most challenging things, financially speaking, about fixing up this house is that there is just so much to do. That translates to a lot of things to buy! Since I am not independently wealthy, that means that if I don’t prioritize, I’m going to get myself in a bind. In other words, I’d better not buy the new carpet before I buy the new air conditioner. That sort of thing.

I’ve learned (the hard way) to make a list of the crucial things that I need to buy, in order of importance. Then, I make sure that I have a few hundred in reserve, because there is always something weird that is going to pop up when you’re fixing up an old house. Nails and screws can add up, believe me!

I still have my list. It’s not getting any shorter, since new things get added to it daily. But at least I have air conditioning!

I’ve been ordering back to school clothes this past week for me and the kids. One of the things that I’ve learned to do whenever I order something online is look for a promo code. It’s simple–all you have to do is type “Gap promo code” or “Zappos promo code” or what have you into a search engine and you’ll get some good results.

I have discovered that almost all online stores have promo codes. You can get free shipping, 25% off, all kinds of things that you didn’t even know were options until you looked at the different codes that are available. There have been many, many times that I have been sitting there with $60 in an Old Navy cart with a free shipping if I spend $75. That’s equal to a free pair of jeans!

We also get all of our shoes from either Zappos or Endless because of the free return shipping. With shoes, you never know if they’re going to fit, so free return shipping is a MUST!

The song got it right–all my exes live in Texas. It’s a lucky thing for me, actually. I have chosen the wrong man three times. All three times I have had to get a divorce. A Texas divorce, however, is not difficult to get. Divorce in Texas is made easy by the fact that you can easily obtain Texas divorce papers (it’s important that you get the ones especially for Texas!), fill them out, and avoid our Texas divorce lawyers altogether. Not that Texas divorce attorneys are bad. Just expensive, unless you happen to be friends with one.

I was friends with a Texas divorce attorney when I was divorcing my second husband. She told me that we’d fill out the papers together, and I could file them myself, thus saving tons of money. I watched as she logged onto her computer, opened up the online attorney database that she used, and pulled up the appropriate papers. It took about ten seconds. I gave her some details like my social, DOB, etc., plus the same for my soon to be ex. In about ten minutes, the printer was spitting out the paperwork. I took it down to the district clerk’s office and filed for divorce myself. It was a piece of cake, and it ended up costing about $250, when all was said and done.

For such a conservative state, Texas divorce laws are pretty liberal. A judge is not going to question a no fault divorce. Well, there are questions, but they are standard ones that judges use in all Texas no fault divorce cases.

If you’re looking for a Texas Divorce Form, Amazon has books like this one that you can go by. It will save you scads of money, believe me. Do it yourself divorce Texas style!

If you don’t want to buy the papers, you can go to the law library at your local courthouse. Warning: Interpreting the books there and finding the papers you need is a formidable task. It’s what I did the first time, and I came very close to messing up what could have been a very easy uncontested divorce. Still, if you know what you are doing, and you have the time, it is doable. Just be prepared to pay a fortune in copier fees. On the other hand, just get the book!

Soon, you’ll be singing that song…

I’ve been trying to lose weight, and to that end, I’ve quit buying snack foods. I’ve also quit running by fast food restaurants. What this means is that I am stuck with the food that I have bought for the week, which largely eliminates those midnight runs to the fridge since there is no snack food!

I’ve found that this strategy has saved me quite a bit of money. I feed a family of three for about $100 a week, and we have a good diet with healthy foods. An added benefit besides weight loss has been that we now eat at the table much more often. My kids really enjoy this time, and enjoy helping to prepare meals and set the table. Who would have figured? It’s way better than the restaurants we were eating at so frequently, and I love the savings.

Pets are sooo expensive! I let my cat outside (we moved to a house where this is possible) and within two weeks, she had ringworm on her ear. This occasioned a trip to the vet ($20.00) and medicine ($40.00 + scratches). So, $60 on the cat because I let her outside.

When I look back on it, most of the vet trips my animals have made have been due to being outside. Broken leg, car accident, fleas, ticks…

Sometimes keeping an animal inside the house isn’t practical or kind. But if it is, doing so will be healthier for your wallet and your animal!