NoJobSurvivor.com

You are at a store buying whatever and the store offers you a discount if you buy it with a new store credit card. Good deal right? Wrong. That new store credit card could cause your credit score to go down, you may end up paying more for that discounted item, and encourage you to buy something you don't really need.

Jim Randel, author of The Skinny on Credit Cards, cautions that every time you apply for a card your credit report is checked, taking a nick out of your credit score because the application “creates the appearance that you may be loading up on debt.”

Experts estimate that one inquiry about a store card can lower your score by two to five points. “Apply for several store brand cards in a couple of months, and you will shave as many as 20 points off your credit score,” Randel says. And if your application is accepted and you actually open a new charge account, it will cost you an additional five to 15 points.

Also suppose you save 10 percent on a $100 pair of shoes, Randel says. The $90 final price, plus sales tax, is charged to your new account, which has a 21 percent annual interest rate. “If you make the minimum monthly payment of $10, the shoes will end up costing you about $107—$7 more than if you just paid the full price,” says Randel.

“The discounts associated with opening or using these cards are only worthwhile if you pay the balance off completely before accruing any interest,” he adds.

So before accepting a cashier’s offer to open a store-brand credit account, ask yourself:

• Does the store accept a credit card I already carry? If so, put on the brakes. Too many cards can damage your credit score.
• Will having this account fuel my urge to splurge? Easy access to a new line of credit may derail your budget train, especially if you’re an impulsive shopper.
• Am I planning to buy a car or house in the next six months? If so, don’t open any new credit card account of any kind, as it is likely to take your credit score down a notch. This could cost you dearly in interest you are charged for your major purchase, or may even prevent your approval for the financing.
• Do I have the money to pay the charged amount in full before any interest is due? If not, don’t open the account. You’ll probably spend more in interest than you saved at the register.

 

And remember to take the "stranger test."

Is it possible to live on unemployment benefits?

It won't be fun or easy but it can be done. Try these tips:

• Minimize your required commitments. Repaying debts? Call the creditors and explain your situation and ask for an abatement. This won’t get rid of your debt, but it can minimize your requirements for the time being. Getting rid of credit card debt should be a priority. Have you noticed recently credit card interest rates and fees rising ahead of credit reform?
• Try to save as much money as possible. Rethink all your purchases: Use the "Stranger" purchasing test.  Do I really need this? Could I possibly get it at a better price? Could I possibly use something else instead that costs less? Buy what you need, not what you want.
• Get Rid of the Car. Having a car is probably your largest single expense after housing. Seriously consider getting rid of it and saving a bundle on gas, insurance repairs etc. Many US cities and towns have poor public transport and are dangerous to ride a bicycle regularly so if you can't live without a car,  consider downsizing it and using it as infrequently as possible. You may even reduce your medical bills due to your increased health and fitness by riding and walking.
• Spend no more than $200 USD a month on household necessities (food, toiletries, cleaning supplies, etc). The only way to pull this off is to cook pretty much everything yourself (buy raw ingredients instead of pre-prepared food), or get government assistance.
• Simplify your life. Purge and learn to live with less. Garage sale all that unused stuff in your closets and garage. You will be a much happier person and maybe generate some cash.
  Live small, find a smaller house. Consider renting; it enables you to be free to leave without incident. Less is more. Less time to earn and take care of things and more spare time to relax.
• Take every side opportunity you can. There are all sorts of little opportunities to make more money if you pay attention. Doing things like helping someone shingle a roof for $10 an hour cash is an opportunity you can’t let pass by. Free meals? Take them. Twenty bucks for helping an old man clean out his garage? Do it. Ask around for odd jobs and other small-scale moneymaking opportunities – perhaps even get started on your own “handyman” business.
• Minimize your possessions. There are a lot of reasons for doing this. The biggest one is that the more stuff you have, the more money you’ve wasted. Also, fewer possessions mean that you need less room to live. If all of your worldly possessions (clothes included) fit in a single Rubbermaid tub – that'll make it extremely easy to actually live in someone’s living room for a while, if you need to. Sell items you don't need. Amazon, Craigslist and E-bay are great places to sell your stuff. Be wary of scams however. Fewer possessions means you will be more mobile to move to a more job "rich" or lowere cost area.
• Grow your own food. You can grow a significant portion of your food, condiments, and healing herbs yourself very cheaply and for a few hours work a week. If you don't have a backyard, many areas have garden allotments available for those who sign up. You can even grow food in containers, on the floor, in window boxes, in hanging baskets, and in 'window farms'. Common seeds are cheap. Or, take home and plant such items as potatoes and herbs from the natural foods supermarket. Many will grow quite well at home because they don't have growth inhibiting chemical additives.
• Get a second job. Face it, you don't have a lot of money to spend on leisure anyway and that first job is taking maybe 10 hours at most out of your day. A second part time job can reduce your expenses while making a huge difference to your total take home pay. It also gets your foot into another door that may lead to a much better paying position if you do your job well.

 

We will add more tips from the web and our readers. Visit again.

And check out the "22 Frugal Tips." Also send in your favorite money saving ideas.

Before the credit card there was the "layaway." Layaway is a riskless form of consumer financing that has been in decline over the years with K-Mart, Burlington Coat Factory and Marshall's among the remaining large retailers that still offer the service.

Layaway is a simple concept. The customer makes a deposit, usually with a modest service charge included, and the merchant puts the goods aside, or lays them away and does not release the goods to the consumer until they are paid for in full.

Layaway plans are making a comeback, according to a recent article in The Economist. A website, eLayaway, updates the concept to the internet age. It helps users find the right retailer with the right merchandise and the right layaway plan. Then eLayaway sets up automated payments from the customer's bank account to the retailer. The payment platform is designed and maintained by HSBC.

Your sex life needn't suffer just because you are unemployed.

In fact dating on a budget can be exciting and more intimate than a "money" date. Try these budget dating ideas courtesy of WikiHow.com.

1. Take a walk. In a park or around your streets,its healthy,   stimulates conversation and great to see how you and your date get along.
2. Take a photography tour. You probably have a small digital camera or a phone with a camera. While walking take lots of pictures of each other, using funny angles, pulling faces, finding cool objects to photograph. You will have a record of the date and you will probably find out heaps about your  dates personalty. 
3. Check out the bookstore or library. Browse the shelves, Discuss and point out what you like. I bet you will found out  lots about your dates likes and dislikes.
4. Make dinner for your date. Making dinner at home is the cheapest, and can be the healthiest, way to eat. Impress your date with your culinary skills and throw a  few candles on the table.  How romantic.
5. Play pool or darts. Go to a bar during happy hour. The drinks and food will be cheap. Show your competitive spirit. 
6. Check out the local live music scene. Most cities have plenty of bands that do free shows or have a low cover charge. Share your musical tastes.
7. Take a dance class together. Many dance studios and instructors offer free or low-cost beginner group lessons. Consider swing, salsa, or (for a little extra intimacy) tango.
8. Hit the gym. Many gyms offer a free day pass for you to "test" the facilities. Challenge each other with weight training, take a yoga or aerobics or spinning class together, and splash around in the pool.
9. Go to a minor league game. Tickets to these events are often only a few dollars, and are a great way to spend the afternoon or evening.
10. Check around your community for independently-owned or discount movie theatres. Tickets will cost less (often only two or three dollars), as will concessions. In addition, these theatres will be less crowded, so you're less likely to get stuck behind someone tall or in front of someone loud. Alternatively, you can always borrow movies from your local library!
11. Check out your local zoo or museum. Usually zoos and museums are inexpensive places to go on a date and explore a little. Occasionally, these places will also have free days. Some are free every day!

 

Do you have any frugal dating ideas? And check out this "How To Plan A Cheap Date" video ...

 

I have been turned on to Quinoa as a vegetable and as an alternative to potatoes and rice and makes a good base for a meal. It appears expensive but a little goes a long way. A pound costs about $3-5 depending on where you shop and I have found a pound does about 6-10 single serving meals. 1/2 cup of dry quinoa yields about 1 1/4 cup cooked.

• First prepare the Quinoa.
• Rinse quinoa thoroughly in a small strainer or by running fresh water over the quinoa in a pot. Drain. I also like as an alternative, quickly roast the Quinoa in a dry saute pan until it starts to pop. This "cooks off" the dry powder and gives the quinoa a nice roasted flavor.
• Put quinoa and water in 1 1/2 qt. saucepan; about 1 cup of water for  each 1/2 cup of quinoa; bring to boil. I also add a teaspoon of olive oil into the boiling water. Reduce heat to simmer; cover and cook until all water is absorbed (10-15 minutes). When done, the grain appears translucent and the germ ring will be visible.
• While the quinoa is in preparation, saute yellow squash, some chopped broccoli, onions and garlic. Be creative, try other vegetables or even diced chicken or lamb.
• When the quinoa is done, pour into the saute pan, turn down the heat add a handful of raisins, a few pinches of cumin and oregano. Cover and let the the juices of the vegetables be contained.

 

Again be creative, don't be afraid to try something you like. While cooking throw in some zuccini for example, or cherry tomatos. Or both.

Houseplants As Air FIlters

Many houseplants remove harmful elements such as tri- chloroethylene, benzene, and formaldehyde from the air according to several studies made by NASA/ALCA in the late 1980's.

While the study originally intended to find ways to purify the air for extended stays in orbiting space stations, the study proved to have implications on Earth as well.

NASA found that some of the plants were better than others for absorbing these common pollutants, all of the plants had properties that were useful in improving overall indoor air quality and also noted that some plants are better than others in treating certain chemicals.

This is an eggless, milkless, butterless cake. " A delicious spiced cake that's easy on the budget".

 

SERVES 10 -12

 

A stranger offers you $1000 cash or the new HDTV you are ogling at Best Buy. Which would you choose? If you picked the cash, then you better think twice before trading your hard-earned cash for that shiny new TV.

Save yourself a lot of money by pausing to question your buying decisions. If the purchase is still worth it to you, and if you have room in your budget, then go ahead and buy it. If not, then you should turn around and walk away before you change your mind.

This idea comes from a reader at fivecentnickel.com. Do you have any cash saving ideas?

Are you still buying water in plastic bottles?

New evidence is is suggesting those plastic bottles may not be benign.

Scientists in Germany have found that PET plastics -- the kind used to make water bottles, among many other common products -- may also harbor hormone-disrupting chemicals that leach into the water. Read more about the dangers of plastic water bottles.

Save money, avoid the chemicals from plastic bottles by carrying your own water from home in a metal water bottle. It won't take long for the purchase of metal water bottle to pay for itself over and over. I personally like these US Canteen style waterbottles and holsters but there are lost of cheaper and stylish Metal Water Bottles available.

While the Obama family White House lawn-turned-vegetable-patch is generating excitement and debate, the grow-your-own idea is not new. In 1943, Eleanor Roosevelt encouraged a return to the 'victory gardens' that had become popular during the First World War when the United States faced dramatic food shortages. Mrs Roosevelt planted a vegetable garden at the White House and some 20 million Americans followed her lead. By the end of the war, 40% of the nation's vegetables were grown by home-gardeners. Today we call them Recession Gardens and they are sprouting up all over the US and becoming a worldwide phenomenon.

 

I live in Santa Fe and a favorite restaurant here is EL Meson. They publish on their website a great spanish dish that I think qualifies as frugal. I leave out the Saffron which is expensive but everything else is affordable. Cheap food doesnt have to be dull.

Saving On Your Heating and Cooling Energy Bills

Using up energy does not only relate to the amount of bills one has to pay but is also the foundation to everything one does. Saving energy is a prerequisite and a practice that all of us should adopt, mostly because of the increasing monthly bills. According to a research, in a usual household 44% of the electricity bill consists of heating and cooling systems; One Third goes to lighting and other appliances; 14% goes to heating the water; and the rest belongs to the refrigerator. Paying attention to the power distribution can help you ensure that you save the maximum amount of energy and decrease your bills

Saving On Your Lighting Energy Bills.

Using up energy does not only relate to the amount of bills one has to pay but is also the foundation to everything one does. Saving energy is a prerequisite and a practice that all of us should adopt, mostly because of the increasing monthly bills. According to a research, in a usual household 44% of the electricity bill consists of heating and cooling systems; One Third goes to lighting and other appliances; 14% goes to heating the water; and the rest belongs to the refrigerator. Paying attention to the power distribution can help you ensure that you save the maximum amount of energy and decrease your bills

Buying in advance and in bulk is great way to save money on shopping, taking advantage of sales and those 2 for 1 deals at the local super market. Ready to start stockpiling groceries and other household essentials, but not sure what to include in your stash? Then, refer to this list of non-perishables for help. Just cross out the things that you don't need, and add the things that you do. Add suggestions for aditions to the list in comments. Let the stockpiling games begin!

Most predictions have the recession lasting through 2009 and unemployment peaking at 11% in the USA. Here are 22 tips to help you closet that cash so you arrive in 2010 in decent financial condition.

1. Switch to a credit card with a lower interest rate. There's no sense collecting air miles or other such points if you can't even pay off your monthly bills. Equally, there's not much point in paying 20 per cent interest when you don't have to. You might try shopping around then ask your credit card provider to lower your rate, especially if you've received a better offer from a different provider.
2. Go retro and clip coupons. A 50% off coupon for a sandwich at your local restaurant is the next best thing to a food stamp.
3. Be sure to pick up the sales flyer at your local grocer whenever you shop. You never know what savings you might find tucked in the corner of the meats or frozen foods sections. On that note, you might want to reacquaint yourself with the age-old tradition of marinating stewing beef and turning it into filet mignon.
4. Do your food shopping at discount stores. The discount stores might be more crowded and offer less selection than your local large chain and higher end grocery stores and you may have to bag your own groceries, but you'll see a payoff at the cash register.
5. Give the office cafeteria a wide berth and get into the habit of packing your own lunch. You'll save money and calories.