Plink

I have no idea why I have titled this post "Plink". Just felt right.

Sometimes, being broke is particularly rough. I'm having trouble getting my spending under control again. You'd think that I'd be fine, what with working a bunch and such, but I find myself always spending more money than I intend. If I go to Target for one thing, I end up with three other things I had forgotten that I needed. I've been trying to be on a spending freeze, but that doesn't seem to be working so well.

What I really need is a major kick in the teeth. I should be done with vet bills for now. I need to save for plane tickets, but I certainly don't need to be going out a bunch or buying anything that I don't absolutely need.

Each month I start with nothing charged to my ING overdraft. This is where I pull gas and grocery money from, as well as other miscellaneous expenses. Pretty much every month it's got several hundred dollars charged to it that I need to clear. It's driving me bonkers. So I think May is going to be my serious lockdown month. I'm considering taking my card out of my wallet. Drastic times call for drastic measures of course.

Has that ever actually worked for you?

Trickle

I'm working hard. Really hard. And it's really starting to pay off!
I've nearly got that credit card under $3,000 which feels really really good. I'm working a bunch of extra hours at my part time job over the next month and that will allow me to hit the card even harder.
As things stand, with no extra money going on the card other than money from my full time job, I will have it paid off by October 15th! I'm anticipating that I'll have it paid off sooner because I am still putting extra monies towards it.
I'm also maybe getting a roommate towards the end of the year. A really good friend has been staying with me and I love having her around. She might need a new place in October and if she does, I've told her I would love to have her move in. That would cut a huge chunk out of my living expenses which would be incredibly beneficial to me.
After this card is paid off, I have a really awesome master plan for getting financially stable. I'm worn out and a bit stressed, but I'm making great progress.

I've got my Networth nearly updating and I will be putting that up soon. Expect to be wowed by my awesomeness. It was a good month :-)

So Beautifully Close

Today I got paid at both my part time job and my full time job. The best thing about this is that I was able to put some extra money on my scooter loan. And now it stands at a balance of $69.27.

No I didn't miss a zero. $69.27 is all that is left of that debt. I will be able to pay it off next Thursday. I am so happy and excited! After this, I get to start putting money towards my credit card and my student loan. I am focusing on the credit card primarily because it has interest on it. If I manage to make the payments I think I can make on it, I'd estimate it at being paid off by the middle of October.

That would be so very very wonderful if I could make that happen. To have all of my consumer debt gone this year would be a dream come true. Then I would be able to blow through this student loan in just over two years.

So now comes the time to set a new and realistic goal about when I can get out of debt. We are looking at January of 2012. This may seem a way away, and it feels like forever. But it's a year and three months sooner than I thought.

Let's see if I can meet my own challenge!

Growing Snowflaking Opportunities

One of the hardest things I deal with when paying off my debt is that I want to be making greater and faster progress.

I am on a partially fixed and partially not fixed income. I have a full time job with a set salary, a part time job that pays hourly and fluctuates, and then other income streams.

These other income streams are probably the most important part of my income. Some are passive, some require a lot of work. These are the ones that have the potential to always help me. Some make me just a few cents, some can give me a lump sum payment of a few hundred dollars (if I'm super lucky).

So what am I working on in my "spare time"?

Voice Over Work

I have been doing voice overs for a while. I have a professional demo online and I am always looking for work. This can pay really well when I get gigs, but a lot of the work I have done for free while I build my portfolio. This is the kind of thing that can get me lump sums if I get the work. I'm currently looking for an agency so that I don't have to chase gigs myself all of the time.
I also find it really really fun.

CashCrate

When I have a little spare time, which is rare, I take a few minutes to fill out surveys on CashCrate. With their awesome referral program, I am able to make extra money each month. True, when you start out you might not earn much, but snowflaking is about adding in little bits to make a bigger whole.

eHow

Do you know how to do something not many other people know how to do? I write articles on eHow. Granted, this starts with you just making pennies, but it's passive income. Once an article is written it's on the site and generating income. If you have a large library of articles, you can potentially do very very well. There is a really nifty list of requested articles if you are looking for inspiration. I've written articles from How to Get Around a Necklace Allergy to How to Make Felt

Half.com Sales

I read a lot of books, and when I am done with them I am really brutal. If I know I won't read it again, I instantly put the book up for sale on Half.com. My old building used to have a trash or treasure section where people would leave things for other people to take and any time there were books, I would go through them and grab them to sell online. I can usually make three sales a month or so with them. It's not a lot, but again, every little helps!

Distilled Rose Herbal Tea

I have a fledgling online company that I am still working on getting off the ground. I make herbal tea blends and sell them at my Etsy Store. Once I get this off the ground and start marketing the company it has the potential to be a good earner for me.


So how about you? Do you have any great extra income ideas that work for you?

Spring is in the Air - Time to Attack the Utilities!

Spring is coming soon to Atlanta, which means that it's getting be about time I turn off my central heat and stop using the dryer so much.

My darling husband, whom I adore to distraction, has taken a job out of state that involves him being out of town most weekdays. Since in a few months he'll need to start paying rent elsewhere, we're going to be having an increase in our living expenses. I can tolerate a lot more extremes of heat and cold than he can, so I'm going to be trying to get the utilities as low as I can while he is gone.

So this means no more central heat and air, no more dryer, I'll be back to power stripping everything and I'll try and use less lights. I also need to be a bit more conservative of water.

Last month our utilities were $286.41 and I am determined to cut that by at least 50% if not much much more in the coming month.

So I'm throwing this out there as a challenge. See what percentage you can knock off of your utilities in the next month! I think anything over 20% is a great great step!

Extra money from this for now will go towards paying down a joint debt that my husband and I have. We're looking forward to some serious financial progress this year!

Easy Income from House Sitting

I've been trying for a while now to make extra and sporadic income to supplement my regular paychecks. I'm not really in a position to take on something with set hours, but I can do additional one shot work, or something that I can do on my own schedule.

I live in a building that contains about 60 units. We have a community message board that people are often advertising different events or services on. I decided to put up a note that I would be able to do some loft sitting... checking mail, feeding cats, watering plants etc. I had a bunch of people pull off the tabs with my number and email address, and a couple of weeks ago I got an email from someone who is traveling a lot right now and wants someone to keep an eye on things for them.
I'm charging a monthly fee to check their mail, make sure nothing in the loft is leaking, and fax them their rent bill.
Because they are in the same building as me, the impact on my daily life is minimal. I will be able to check in on things for them whenever I have a few spare minutes. It's the perfect little side job.

Is this something that you could do in your building or your neighborhood? Why not print up a flyer or two and see if you can provide this service to someone who lives near you!

What other low impact ways do you make extra money?

6 Frugal Items You Should Get for Christmas

Are people asking you what you want for Christmas at the last minute this year? Or do you want to find something to buy for someone who you know lives a frugal lifestyle? 

Here are my six top picks for anyone faced with this question!

PUR DS-1800Z 2 Stage Water Dispenser

I adore this water filter tank. When combined with a good solid water bottle, you never really need to buy bottled water again. It can also be a great way to get out of the soda habit!

Reusable Grocery Tote Bag 6 Pack ComboI keep these in my car and use them not just for groceries, but for taking our recycling or taking things to work. These are great for the environment and buying a large pack of them is cheaper than buying them as you go shopping.

Honeywell FocusPRO 6000 Programmable ThermostatA programmable thermostat can save you a fortune in energy costs! Just have it set to stay off at night and switch on right before you get up, that way you aren't wasting energy while you are unconscious

CamelBak BPA-Free Better Water Bottle with Bite ValveHere is a fantastic water bottle to go with that Pur Water tank!

365 Ways to Live Cheap: Your Everyday Guide to Saving MoneyTrent Hamm is a well respected personal finance blogger who has just come out with his first book! 

The Complete Tightwad GazetteThis book is one of the most highly recommended frugality books out there! 

Hopefully this list will help you with your shopping list, be it for you or for someone else!

5 Worthy Causes to Donate To This Year

Tax season is coming, and if you're looking at making Tax Deductible donations, now is really a good time to do so. Also, the holiday season is really about giving. I try and donate something every Christmas, even if it is only $10. I just plan it in as an extra "present" that I have to buy. I know that I don't have a lot of money to spare, but I believe in doing a little good. 

With that said, here are a few of my top picks for places to donate money. Last year I donated to Doctors Without Borders and this year my money will go to UNHCR. 

Doctors Without Borders

An organization of professionals that bring medical aid to countries without it including vaccinations, disease prevention and cure, and emergency aid.

UNHCR

The United Nations High Commission on Refugees is committed to helping refugees from war torn countries. Often, they will help wither relocate refugees or help them get back home. 

Red Cross

Medical aid and disaster relief. The Red Cross are a dedicated world wide organization.

Habitat for Humanity

This organization builds homes for impoverished people.

Polar Bears International

A charity dedicated to the conservation of Polar Bears and their habitat through research and education.

Do you have a charity that you support? Let me know in the comments!

Buying in Bulk : What Items are Best?

Image by Pygo

Buying items in bulk is great way to cut down on costs. Not only do you save money on the price per unit, but you are also saving money on trips to the grocery store as you'll need these items less. 

It's best to use somewhere like Sam's Club and Costco. If you don't have a card, ask around and see if someone has one you can borrow. If you know any small business owners, they are certainly good people to ask.

One of the primary concerns people seem to have with buying items in bulk is storing them. Be creative! Look for little unfilled nooks and crannies. Do you have a book shelf of paper backs with space behind them? Could that space hold toilet paper? Can you tuck items on a shelf in your garage? How about in your crawl space? Or even under your bed or your couch. 

The key when picking items to buy in bulk is to look for things with a long shelf life. Be sure to check expiration dates on everything. If you end up purchasing something and not using all of it, when the expiration date comes near shoot an email to your friends and family and ask if anyone needs 1lb of flour or so. Ask them to either donate for it or give them the actual price of the item. 

You can even consider splitting bulk items up and charging just below standard retail for a quantity of the item so you are making a little profit.

Here are some of the best items to buy in bulk:

Toilet Paper

I buy this in 36 roll packs and it lasts us a really really long time. I have these stored under the sink in our bathroom. 

Dishwasher Tabs

I use the tabs, not the powder because I like having a pre-measured amount of detergent. A big tub of 70 tabs takes up about as much room as a normal box of powder would. 

Laundry Detergent

We use eco-friendly detergent and always opt for the biggest size available. 

Trash Bags

I buy these in the industrial sizes... about 100 bags to a box.

Rice

My in-laws got a huge bulk bag of rice a while ago and gave us 5lb of it. We're still working our way through the bag.

Flour

I haven't yet found a good source for bulk flour, though I do tend to buy big bags. If you do a lot of making your own bread or baking, this is a good idea.

Pet Food

Pet food tends to have a long shelf life, so I buy big bags of food for the cat, as well as the multi-packs of wet food pouches. I choose the variety packs so that she doesn't get bored.

Cereal

This is an often overlooked one, but if you eat cereal daily this can save you a ton of money.

Resetting My Debt Snowball and Making a New Budget

Since I quit my second and third jobs and got a raise at my first job I've needed to rework my budget.
I know that I will have less money coming in, but my income will be less erratic. When I was working on my Snowball before, I found that I wasn't really paying my set minimums on to my debt, I was just chucking everything I could on there and not following the plan.
I've decided to go to greater lengths to budget my money accurately, so I've reset my snowball and created a budget that involves giving me some "fun" money.

So, here is my budget:

I earn $1345.48 a month.

$850 - Living Expenses (this is a fixed rate that I contribute to our joint account)

$91 - Savings

$80 - Gas (this is a bit of an estimate, since gas prices are odd right now)

$101.01 - Prosper Loan

$105 - Bank of America Credit Card

$15 - AmEx (Minimum Payment)

$100 - Disposable Income

This gives me a potential $3 wiggle room every month. The gas money and the fun money will come straight out of my weekly paycheck and be moved to my ING Direct Checking Account and I will stop using my normal debit card. By isolating this money I think it will be easier to keep on track with this budget. I've put $50 in the account as an initial floater because that $45 won't immediately clear when I transfer it over.

The income from the sale of my business will go straight on to my debt. Any additional income over $50 will break down as 50% to debt, 25% to Savings, 25% to Disposable income fund. Anything less than $50 will be snowflaked towards my debt.

So that's my new plan. I guess we'll see how it goes!

A Very Pricey Chocolate Cake

Image by JessicaFM

Every Tuesday, my husband and I have date night. This Tuesday, we decided to do something a little different and bake something together. We flipped through my cookbook and settled on a really delicious and unhealthy Chocolate Cake. It was complex, and would take about two hours to make. We didn't have most of the ingredients, so we toddled off to the store and bought:

Organic Dark Chocolate (Used 10.5 of 12oz) - $3.99
Organic Milk Chocolate (Used 1.5 of 12oz) - $3.99
Organic Eggs (Used 8 of 12) - $3.99
Organic Vanilla Extract (Used 1 Tbsp of 15Tbsp) - $8.99
Organic Dark Brown Sugar (Used 4oz of 32oz) - $3.99
Organic Granulated Sugar (Used 4oz of 32oz) - $5.99
Unsalted Butter (Used 1.5 Sticks of 4 Sticks) - $2.69

Plus 8% Tax

Total Spent - $36.36

We picked up a few other things that we "needed", which brought our total to a whopping $69.31.

To me, thats a very expensive chocolate cake. I worked out that we ended up using $10.23 worth of ingredients, the rest will be used in other things. Thats not a bad price per serving for a high end cake, but it's the other items we bought while at the store that caused problems.

Where we went wrong

Impulse buying is what did it. I picked up some Vital Wheat Gluten which will get used at some point, I'm sure but certain wasn't necessary that day. We also bought a smoothie for my husband and two energy bars for me which we didn't need. Those came to more than $5. We also bought food for a small dinner we had last night, one of the items being a $6.50 block of cheese. If we had been at Publix instead of Whole Foods, we probably would have paid about $3 for the cheese.

Stick to your list

I went in with a list and we didn't stick to it, which usually happens when my husband and I go to a grocery store together. We are both easily distracted and tend to put a lot more than we should in the cart. Next week begins the start of a new budget for us, and hopefully having a strict budget will enable us to lower our impulse buying. I'm a bit concerned, though. I think we'll have to lay off the chocolate cake for a while.

By the way, it was quite delicious.

Patience is a Virtue

I'm being patient right now. very patient because I have two checks that are "on the way" to me. Once I have received them, I can write and mail the final car payment, and I'll have $200 a month off my minimum payment list.. reducing it by about 47%. I want those checks so badly. I can't wait. I'm so antsy.
It's hard being patient when you are so close that you can practically smell it. It's also difficult because I have absolutely zero control about when these checks will arrive. One is a week overdue and one is two days overdue. I know they will probably both come at the same time and there will be much rejoicing.
I'm also excited because yesterday my husband and I agreed to work on some joint savings, something which we have not done yet. We're putting away money for future travel, and eventually for a house. It's a big step for him since he has never been much of a saver. I'm really proud of him for deciding to do this. I know that this will make me feel very good when I see us working towards a financial goal together.
And so I will remain patient, and I will continue to check my mail obsessively until those checks come!

A Minor Splurge

Image by Mr T

Sometimes, when you've been working on getting out of debt for so long you get tired. 

I feel often like I never get a chance to spend money on myself. I never buy anything for myself, ever. I agonize over the smallest of purchases and stress over my bills constantly. 

So today, when I got a call from someone who was interested in becoming a client and set up a meeting with him for tomorrow for some work that will earn me a little extra money, I did what any stressed, irritated woman with a negative body image would do. 

I went shopping. 

I've just kicked off my brand new shoes, and I'm sitting here in a new top and jeans, with pretty new earrings. I bought three tops, one for work and two for either work or home, a pair of jeans because I ripped my second to last pair a couple of weeks ago, a pair of brown heels, and some earrings. 

I spent $98 on everything, and it all came from Target. 

I don't give myself many rewards. It's hard for me to accept that sometimes I should stop and celebrate a win, because I feel as though that would set me back for the next one. But the thing is, when I get depressed and frustrated, I don't do as well. I become less of a nice person to be around. So every so often I think it is good to take a step back and put a little unexpected money on to something for yourself. 

If you've earned it, celebrate it. 

October Goals and a Poll

This has been a hard week for me. I have a lot going on in my personal life that is taking a lot of time, attention, energy and stress. Having said that, I can't exactly throw my finances out of the window so here is the plan for October.

October is another blissful 5 Week month, which means that I get an "extra" paycheck that doesn't factor into my budget. I always agonize over what to do about these. With my first two checks for Job #3 coming in too, though, I've realized that I could do one pretty huge thing this month.

I can pay off my car.

My car has my biggest monthly debt payment. It's $200 a month, and without that to pay I would make enough at Job #1 to cover all of my minimums. That would mean that every other penny can pay down my debt or be saved. This means that I can feasibly quit one of my other two jobs any time I want because I won't need them to pay my bills.

I'm very excited about this prospect. It's only be two months early, but I think it would be the absolute best thing to do this month.

My other goal for October is to come up with a better savings plan. I need to really go through and look and analyze everything to make sure I'm saving up the right amounts for the right things. I also need to give my savings a raise, as well as figure out my check from Job #2.

Maybe you can help. I'd like feedback here.

My base pay at Job #2 is very low. I make a small amount hourly and the rest is commission, which can be hit or miss. These checks are normally under $100. Nowhere in my budget do I have money allocated to gas or entertainment or clothes. I'm thinking that what I should do is save part of the money and spend part of it, and let the checks from Job #3 go exclusively towards debt.

So, here are my options:

A. Put half of the check in savings and spend half.
B. Put my base pay only in savings and spend commission.
C. Put my commission in savings and spend my base pay.
D. Some other option I haven't thought of yet.

Generally, my base pay is higher than my commission, but it's hit or miss as to whether that is always the case.

Please let me know what you think in the comments! I'd love to have my readers decide this one for me.

Bye Bye Wachovia, and the Bailout is Rejected

Image by rednuht

Today has been a pretty crazy day in the financial world. Citi bought Wachovia today, therefore rescuing it from a messy failure. Wachovia was the next big bank on the watch list, so that will probably make things a little easier for them. 

The stock markets have tanked today after it was announced that the house rejected the $700 Billion Bailout plan. I have to say, I'm a bit relieved that it was rejected, mostly because yes... it is A solution, but I don't think it is the RIGHT solution. 

So basically, the financial sky is falling. Hang on to your hats because it is going to be a bumpy ride. 

Here is what I'm doing. Nothing. I'm sticking to reducing my debt and building my savings. I'm keeping my money where it is. I don't have any money in the stock market because it's not my kind of thing. I feel like it's too volatile. I have my trusty ING Direct accounts, and the rest of my money is in Bank of America, which appears to be one of the more stable banks right now. 

What should you do? Well, if you have a WaMu or a Wachovia account, don't worry. You should have a pretty seamless transition to either Citi or Chase. If you have money in the stock market you need to talk to a financial advisor right now to figure out if you are invested in the right stocks. Consider making adjustments to your portfolio. 

My biggest piece of advice, though, is to tighten your belt a little if you can and to try and save a little more and spend a little less while we all ride this out. 

They will be putting the bailout back on the table soon, I believe. Hopefully they will have come up with a solution that helps people more than institutions, but we'll see. 

On a side note, it's my wonderful husband's birthday today. 

Happy birthday, Andrew. You are my heart. 

The Atlanta Gas "Crisis"

Image by Cindy47452

As far as I know, this has been going on in other places in the country too. 

Right now, Atlanta is out of gas. There are a few gas stations here and there that have some, and then it runs out while people are lined up. 

This is a very frustrating situation for everyone because you have to drive around looking for gas, and then you have to wait in line. 

Last week, we had a day where I had no gas, but he had some, so that day we took the gas can out, found gas, put it in the can, took it to my car, put it in my car, then I went and filled up the car. 

Today, I was almost out, he has no gas in his car and very little in his scooter. So, we went and did the same thing again. We drove part way across town to a gas station, got in line, waited for twenty minutes, and the station ran out while we were there. 

So we then went, on fumes of course, a few more miles until we found another station, waited in line again, and filled up my car all the way and the gas can too. So we have a gallon for his scooter and he'll just keep his car parked for now. 

So here are my issues:

- We wasted probably a gallon of gas getting the gas

- I had to fill my car up all the way, which is very expensive and makes my car heavy

- There are hundreds of people in the city idling their cars while they wait for gas, which is bad for the environment. 

- Supply is completely unreliable and there is no apparent system for distribution

- We are way too dependent on gas

It's this last one that drives me nuts. When I had my scooter, I got around on a gallon of gas every two weeks. Now with me car, I am dependent on filling up with gas every week or two. My gas consumption has increased tenfold. I wish so much that I was ready to get back on a scooter again, or that I was at least financially capable of purchasing one. 

I also wish that SUV's didn't exist. I know that is harsh, and they have their uses, but I bet that most of the people that are driving them really don't need to, and they waste so much fuel with their size. I look forward to the day when there is some kind of regulation about new cars being required to get a certain mpg. I know that I will always drive small cars. 

What are your thoughts? Does this situation drive you nuts, too? 

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CashCrate Comes Through - My First Check

A while ago I told you about CashCrate, an online survey site that allows you to make some money by filling out offers and referring new members. 

I put in about 40 minutes to an hour at the end of August with this program, and today I received my check for the work I did. I now have in my hand a check from Kingside Media for $13.39. 

This means that I got paid about $15 an hour for my work from them, and I did this during some downtime I had. So, I'm definitely sticking with it and I highly recommend that if you want to make a little extra passive income, you sign up too!

Prosper Lending Update

Back in March, I got a Prosper loan to consolidate some debt. I managed to get a really good interest rate and I believe it's saved me a fair bit of money, as well as made me feel better about where my interest is going. 

If you don't know about getting loans from Prosper, check out my borrowing guide here. 

When I got my loan, I reinvested $100 in April and then added another $125 to my account since then, so I now have $225 invested in Prosper. 

I have that money split across 5 loans. Two of them are Credit Grade A, one is a B and the other two are C's. I've been lucky enough to have had no late payments (except one that was 3 days late), and no defaults so far. 

So how much money am I making? 

Well, my average interest rate is nearly 18% on these loans. I am very selective about who I invest in and I tend to find loans that close at a higher interest rate from people with a good proven credit history. 

Of the $225 invested, I have already had $31.43 that has been paid back, which I then went ahead and reinvested again. I've received $10.97 in interest alone in four months, which is pretty good for a relatively small investment of money. I'm currently making about $0.11 a day with Prosper. 

Why do I invest in Prosper?

I love the fact that I am helping other people deal with their financial struggles by investing this money. I would rather invest in people than in big companies. I know that Prosper is unsecured, but that is why I am keeping a very diverse portfolio and why I am incredibly selective about who I loan money to. I intend to keep reinvesting in Prosper, but it is unlikely that I will put any other money into it until my debt has been paid off and my savings goals have been reached. 

The downside of lending with Prosper is that you can't pull your money out of you need to. Therefore, it's not a good place to keep, say, your emergency fund. 

What do I look for in a listing?

I look for effort and information. I like to see people really put time into their listing. I like to know personal details. If you are consolidating your debt, I want to know how much of it is on what credit card and what the interest rates are. I want to see your budget and I want to hear your story. I want to hear your goals and what efforts you are making to put this money to go to good use. I will almost never invest in someone with previous delinquencies and in the event that I do it has to be because they have explained where they came from and what happened. 
I hate spammy titles telling me to look at the listing. I like it to be simple and straightforward. I hate typos and grammatical errors.
Basically, I want to be able to get to know them and trust them, and have faith that they won't let me down. 

You can get a sign up bonus for joining Prosper by following this link.

Knowing When to Change Your Financial Plan

Image by Kelly Sims

Every so often you have to take a step back and realize when something is not working. 

My husband and I moved into our dream apartment back in March. It's a gorgeous 1800sqft loft with tons of space, huge ceilings, big windows and a wonderful garden tub. 

The down side is that this loft is really really expensive. I thought that I would be able to handle it, but then I had my accident. Because our finances are separate, this put way too much financial strain on me. 

We love this apartment, and we planned to live here until March and then buy a house. The Atlanta housing market is great for buyers right now, and we wanted to buy our first home in the Spring. 

However, things change and now we are looking at breaking our lease and putting off buying a house until the Fall. 

So today we are going to go and look at apartments in a suburb of Atlanta in a complex that a friend of mine lives in. They would cost us about $400 a month less in rent and probably save us $100-200 a month on utilities. That will allow us to pay off our joint credit card and to start saving a down payment for a house.

Making this decision is very hard because we really do love our loft. We've both always wanted to live in a great artistic space, but we know that a lot of our financial stress comes from living here. 

Normally, I hate change. I would happily have things stay the same and not rock the boat... but I recognize when the plan is not working and when it's time to make a change. 

So be careful of your financial plan. Every so often try to take a step back and really look and it to make sure that it is still working for you. 

Free Samples to Save You Money

Image by Chai65

I've had my tush saved by free samples several times. I've run out of toothpaste, cat food, cleaning wipes and many other things and raided my sample stash for something that will tide myself (or my cat) over. 

I greatly enjoy trying new products before I buy them, which is another benefit to being an avid sampler. 

One of the best sites that I have found for finding samples is Absurdly Cool  which is a freebie and sample automated aggregator. It searches the internet for free trials and samples and collects them all in one neat place. A lot of these come from places like WalMart, and usually take six weeks to arrive. 

Another great way to try new things is to join BzzAgent where you sign up to join marketing campaigns for products and you get sent trial products and then write about them. You often get coupons too, which you can keep or pass out to friends or family.

Stores will often give out free samples. Sephora is a great example of this. They have drawers filled with bath and beauty samples and just asking a sales person if they have anything new that you can try will often yield up a variety of small packets. 

Although these samples are usually small and good for just a few uses, you may find that you can get a months worth of shampoo. Sample sizes are also great travel sizes. 

Remember that these little trials of things can be great filler between buying new items if you run out or if you just want to spend a little less at the grocery store next time!