Readers' Tips

Special Clothing

If you are looking for a unique gift idea for a young reader that is also inexpensive, this is for you! Ask your young reader for their favorite books from school or home. Kids love to talk about this! Then, find the book in the library or buy one from a bookstore. Make a photocopy of one of the illustrations that clearly shows the subject or character. Then, use a tracing machine (available through craft stores) or use a transparency and overhead projector to trace the image onto a t-shirt or sweatshirt. Use acrylic paint and small brushes. To go the extra mile, buy the matching book for the child. Kids will proudly wear this to school to show their friends! I made matching shirts for my one-year-old niece and sister for Christmas and they are adorable. You could also do this as a wonderful gift for your child's teacher with one of the books they have read in class.
Vicki S.
Elementary School Teacher

Christmas 'Buddies'

For the children in the family I am making "pocket buddies" and "bed buddies". Basically what I am doing is to cut 2 squares of fabric (hand size for the pocket and approx. 12" x 6" for the bed). Sew with right sides together, turn and fill with rice. I still need to make-up an instruction card (I was thinking about a poem) with the instructions for microwave or freezer. Make sure that you use heavy material so it won't get too uncomfortable for their little hands.
Christina in Blacksburg, VA

(editor's note: for the uninitiated, 'buddies' are used to apply mild heat or cold depending on whether they're prepared in a microwave or freezer.)

Special Placemats

My mother is very hard to figure out a gift for as she is so frugal that she literally doesn't need anything! Anyway I thought that I could get my children to make placemats out of paper with anything you could think of on them. (Artwork, cutouts, poems, etc...) then get them laminated at the local photocopy outlet. They could be wiped off and reused and the one thing that always seems to please Grandma is a handmade gift from the little ones.
RV

Recycle Christmas Trees

For those old tired Christmas trees: don't throw them away. Trim the branches and remove green needles. Use soft pliable branches to weave or braid or twist into door wreaths for next year that look like grapevine wreaths. When they dry, they harden and you can add bows, ornaments, etc. Meanwhile, use the pine needles to mulch rose bushes and such. I also take the bigger branches, remove pine needles with a jackknife and then slice the branches about 1/4 inch thick. These dollar-sized slices make nice wooden beads for jewelry or wall hangings, and also great wooden buttons to go on homemade vests. Peel the bark off, please. Then, I recycle the trunk of the tree into a walking stick since all the branches are already removed. I peel the bark off, carve designs, names, dates, or initials into the trunk, carve a fancy knob such as an animal head or flower and then let it dry. After drying, I sand it smooth, doesn't take much, and then stain and shellac it. I sell my wreaths, wooden buttons and sometimes my precious walking sticks. I am a recycler deluxe. Now my Christmas tree pays me, instead of me buying it and tossing money out the door every year.
Mary in Amarillo, Texas

Variable Income Budgeting

I have heard of two methods of budgeting in this situation. The first is to budget normal expenses (rent/mortgage, food, etc.) according to your low-income months, and use the high-income months to pay the occasional expenses-- car insurance, etc., and savings.

The other method, and the one I believe is more effective, is to budget for a year rather than a month. Look at your total income/expenses for the past 12 months, adjust for expected income/expense increases & decreases, and divide by 12 to get a monthly budget. On the months that you get $4000, you only spend your $2000 budget, putting the extra $2000 in a savings account. Then, when you only get $1200, you can withdraw the extra $800 from your savings account and still cover your $2000 budget. (Obviously, these figures are only examples.)

This is difficult if you start your budget during the lean months instead of during the fat months, but can be worked, perhaps with a combination of the two methods, until you reach your high-income months.
Tim.

Store for the Lean Times

We also live with the same situation. What I do is, figure out what our basic needs are each month. If we have a big month, I try to put money aside for "basics" as far ahead as I can. I also set some aside for bulk grocery shopping at a warehouse, or buyout store. I may pick up 10-20 pounds of flour (at 69 cents/5 lbs.), or stock the freezer with meat on sale, etc., or canned goods on sale. When we have a tight month, I know we can do OK because the freezer is stocked, the money is set aside for many of the bills, and the cupboards are full. Also, if possible, I usually take a "chunk" of money when we have a really good month and set it aside for big bills like insurance, taxes, etc. It's really just a matter of self discipline--if you don't know what is coming in every month, you cannot go "hog wild" when you have a good amount of cash come in. My husband and I are both self-employed, and truthfully, it gets awfully slow in our business Jan-March or April. On top of that, if he works in April, we usually don't get our check for 30 days after that. So you can see, if we didn't put some aside in the other months, we'd be in a big mess.
Helene M.

(editor's note: more good suggestions for variable income budgeting on the website at http://www.stretcher.com/stories/971218a.htm).

Frugal Shipping

I needed to ship a Christmas gift to my aunt across the county in Oregon. I did not have the time to package the present (a stereo I was no longer using) and ship it so I tried out one of those shipping services (Mail Boxes Etc.). What I found out was their shipping material price was three times what it should have been. In addition, they mark up the standard UPS charges, in my case by about 32%. Do yourself a favor: make the time to "do it your self and save"! I could have bought the boxes and packaging materials, packed it, and carried it to UPS, and my savings would have been about $118. Not bad for a couple hours work!
A Smarter Consumer

Garage to Playroom

Planning for future use now could really save time/money down the road. Plenty of outlets, as well as cabling for phone/audio- video/computer can be a godsend. Something I wish had been done when the previous owner converted my garage to a room is include a wall of storage cabinets/closets (do you currently store more than just a car in your garage? Where's it all gonna go now?). A portion of my original garage was framed in to be a small storage room (accessed from outside, bummer), and a laundry room as well (this just happened to be located where the old hookups were in the garage - no plumbing change). Add plenty of windows - garages are notoriously dark, and nobody wants to play in a dark room. Insulate, Insulate, Insulate! Consider a pull-down ladder to access attic for storage if this is a separate space. Get permits if required. At least where I am, if you go to sell and there aren't permits on file for renovations done since the last change of ownership, somebody's gonna pay! (usually you) Consider uses and plan materials accordingly. For instance, are there certain materials for flooring/wall coverings that will make arts & crafts cleanups easier? Can it be heated/cooled by adding to your current system?
Al B.

(more ideas for a garage to playroom conversion at http://www.stretcher.com/stories/971218b.htm)

The Laundry's Drying Where?

Concerning getting laundry white, an old neighbor of mine from the Canadian west gave me a great hint that I have used ever since. When the weather is freezing put your wet and rinsed wash in a basket or some kind of clean container and put it outside until it freezes. When you bring it in, and it has thawed out, dry as usual. It will be as white and fresh as if it had been hung outside in the sun. Of course it only works if you live in the northern states or Canada as I do.
Sylvia C.

CCCS Rebuttal

I would like to comment on Jack's issues with CCCS. I found that they DID include ALL monthly expenses in calculating paybacks and payoff times. They honestly discussed budgeting with me and were concerned that my budgeted amounts be real-world. Also most of my creditors are reducing the interest on their finance charges. Also to note is that if you don't have enough income to cover all your bills, CCCS won't touch you. They require that your "ins" be greater than you "outs." I found this to be a realistic view.

As for the extended payoff time and increased finance charges paid; yes - a reduced amount repayment schedule will cause you to pay more in finance charges, BUT what value can be placed on the psychological relief that one gains by knowing the bills are being paid? That is, you've been given hope back. Maybe there's more to the CCCS idea that just fiscal recovery. The CCCS office here is under the umbrella of a family counseling center and I would venture a large number of CCCS clients start out with marital and family problems. But the root of the issue is financial. I agree with Mr. Mann that CCCS isn't a cure-all for everyone but they do fill a need for many people. I would be interested to know whether Mr. Mann's current auto was chosen strictly on the factors of MPG and safety or was comfort an issue?
JW

(editor's note: a couple of readers had comments similar to JW. Having made positive mention of CCCS in the past, I felt that it was appropriate to allow for another point of view. The goal here is not to only provide views that the editor supports, but to give you different ideas so that you can make the best possible decisions for your own situation.)

Editor's note: Please send your tips to tips@stretcher.com. If we use your tip or reply to 'Can You Help' in any of our publications we'll send you the next three issues of our print newsletter as a 'thank you'.

I Would like to:

• Read other articles on this topic
  
• See what else is in this issue
  
• Subscribe to "The Dollar Stretcher" free weekly email newsletter
  
• visit the Problem Solving Center
  
• visit the Reference Library
  
• browse the 'author' index
  
• search 'by date' index
  
• check out Past Issues of Newsletter
  
• go see 'What's New'
  
• "Can You Help This Reader?"
  
• drop by 'Tips, Quips & Quotes'
  
• send email to the Editor of "The Dollar Stretcher"