Week #22 - Out With The Old & In With The New?

So its no secret to most of you that I have a lot of stuff. I've always kind of collected stuff and I'm a packrat (hoarder?) of a lot of random things. Currently I have over 1200 CDs, 800 records, 800 t-shirts, 100 sweatshirts & 10 guitars. I don't really buy many CDs or guitars anymore, but the other 3 'collections' are always being added to.

 

I have been thinking about some stuff I would possibly like to buy but don't really want to put out the money for. There are some small things like a few records to add to my collection and a new hockey jersey because mine is much to big now, but I've also been thinking about how it would be fun to have a 'cool' car of some kind. Like an old muscle car, a 50's ratrod or the ultime, a Delorean! Now I will almost definitly not be buying a 2nd car, but I may actually get some of the other things.

I always look at stuff I don't really use and think I should sell it, but when I figure that I could maybe get $10 for an old shirt I don't wear it doesn't seem worth the effort. Well something clicked and I think I might actually start selling some stuff off to replenish my 'online spending' savings account so I can maye get a new hockey jersey or something. If I can sell a few old shirts, some CD's or some of the action figures that have not even been unpacked or thought about since we moved I can easily come up with the money. It will take some work, but its better than keeping a bunch of 'junk' I don't really want and spending more money on something new.

Sometimes its worth taking a good look around and making sure you actually need the things you have the same way it makes sense to think about something before you buy it!

ok... Not much of a blog this week but its a good savings week so take the bad with the good! I got a paycheck for $615.36 this week and $39.12 went to my 401k pre-tax. I'm going to take $25 off the top and put it into the savings I have incase my cat (Beetus) needs to go to the vet. Then I'm going to take the remaining $590.36 and put 1/2 in my future car savings and 1/2 in my money market savings. I also made a trip to the supermarket with my deposit cans again this week. Not only did I have the cans we save at the house, but I also had a big bag of cans at work that I had been saving for the last few months so it was a good day at the olde Stop & Shop and I left with $12.05 to add to the piggy bank of saved cash! Yup, did the $20 vacation transfer too, which is good because we are actually starting to plan this years vacation (more on that eventually) and that money will come in handy! Now here is the weekly wrap up....

Here is the week 22 wrap up:
$39.12 to my 401K
$20.00 to my vacation fund
$25.00 to my future vet bill savings
$12.05 in the piggy bank
$295.18 to the future car bills account
$295.18 to my money market savings

Which makes the 2013 totals:

$720.18 in my 401K
$440.00 in the vacation fund
$48.05 in the piggy bank
$250.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
$100.00 in my vet bill savings
$858.00 in my money market
$857.99 in my car account

I don't really have much in the way of a bonus for this week so I just want to point out that we are 5 full months into this experiment and not only have I added $720.18 to my 401k, but I have saved $2554.04 in cash! Now as you can see my crazy OCD has all that cash alloted for specific things, but the bottom line is that it is saved and could be used for anything if an emergency came up! I also realize that I treat saving money as a 'bill' for myself, but I have not gone without or had any major stress about putting this money aside and I'm happy to know that its in the bank and its working for me making interest!

Now saving $2500 in 5 months may seem totally unatainable to you, but I'm begging you to start small if you have to. Next time you find something that you were going to buy anyway and you get some great deal on it, take the money you were going to spend, but saved and put it aside. Wether its $1 you saved using a coupon or $50 you saved buying something used rather than new or $3 you saved buying gas at a cheaper station, it doesn't matter... its still money you saved and I promise you it will all add up!!

Week #21 - Gift Cards & Free Money

So in the past I was never a fan of getting gift cards as a present. I always feel like its an easy way out for the person buying them and as stupid as this is, I feel like it puts a lot of pressure on me to do something great with the gift card and not just buy something I would have bought anyway. However, in the last 6 months my opinion on gift cards has changed!

We got a gift card to Newbury Comics from someone as a wedding gift as well as a Home Depot gift card and a prepaid Visa gift card. I also got gift certificates to the comic shop I go to every week (www.RubberChickenComics.com) from my mom and my dad for Christmas. It was thanks to those gift cards that I had money to buy comics during the time I was out of work after my gallbladder surgery. The Newbury gift card also came in handy when Record Store Day came around! So what I'm saying is that gift card are pretty cool, but do yourself a favor and don't rush out to spend them the day after you get them because they can come in handy if you save them for something special! I actually still have the Home Depot card stashed away for a future home repair!!


Speaking of gift cards, I did something pretty cool last week. We go out to dinner almost every Thursday at a small regional chain restaurant called Chelos. They are running a special right now where up till Fathers Day if you buy a $25 gift card they will give you an additional $5 gift card. Not only are there no restrictions on the additional $5 card, but they also offered to put all $30 on one card. So during dinner I went to the front desk and purchased a $30 gift card for $25 and then when the bill came after we finished eating I paid the bill with the $30 card! So I spent no more money than I would have and I got $5 for free! I will be sure to do this every time I go to Chelos until this promotion ends! Keep an eye on specials like this at places you go. They pop up mostly around Christmas, but it can happen any time!


Allrighty.... Last week I said that the check I got was my 'extra check' and that I was using it for a trip to New York with a couple of friends. I ended up with about $400 left (out of $615.36) and I'm going to deposit it into my checking account and use it to pay off my current credit card bill. There will be a little left over, but not enough to really add to any savings.

This week I got a paycheck for $627.41 ($40.00 taken out pretax for my 401K) and its going to be the 2nd check of the month that I put into my mortgage checking account. I'm going to take out $50 and put it in the 'quarterly loan repayment account' which leaves $577.41 go to towards paying the mortgage this month.

This month I also got a $40 check for a survey I did for the post office a few months ago and I got a check for $50 in 'cash back' from my credit card that gives me 2% on gas purchases & 1% on all other purchases. The post office survey was a pain in the ass, but those two things combined still mean I basically got $90 of free money! I think I'm going to just cash those checks and keep the cash in my wallet for awhile, but if I change my mind and 'save' any of it I will let you know.

I think it goes without saying, but yeah... I did my $20 vacation transfer too! And now... the weekly wrap up!


Here is the week 21 wrap up:
$40.00 to my 401K
$20.00 to my vacation fund
$50.00 in the quarterly loan payment account

Which makes the 2013 totals:

$681.06 in my 401K
$420.00 in the vacation fund
$36.00 in the piggy bank
$250.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
$75.00 in my vet bill savings
$562.82 in my money market
$562.81 in my car account

First let me remind you to be sure and join the facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/OCDSavings and contribute your own tips and hints for saving money!

For this weeks bonus I just wanna tell you not to take shit from big companies! If you buy their products or pay for their services then they owe you! I have had some pretty major issues with Sirius Satellite Radio over the years and if you complain to the right people they will give you a few months of free service or a credit on your account and there is no reason not to take advantage of that!

Last week I bought a bottle of soda at a convenience store and the minute I opened it I knew it was past the expiration date and it tasted like crap! I called the Coca-Cola 800# and told them. They asked a few questions and wanted some info off the bottle and now they are sending me some coupons for free sodas! I had also mentioned to the clerk at the store about the bad soda I bought the day before and he said he was going to look into it. Well today I went in to buy a bottle and the one up front was a fresh one and when I went to pay he said "you're all set" and I got it for free!

Week #20 - 'extra' money

Allrighty.... well, I can't say that I'm not still somewhat disillusioned with saving money, but I do still have an end of the year goal in mind. Its either to reach a certain balance in my money market savings or to leave my current job and start something fresh even if it means spending some of my saved money in the process. That being said, I'll keep going with the blog for the time being.

I want to bring up the the money market I opened a couple of months ago because it was getting a much higher interest rate than the one I already had. I logged into my banking website today and saw that, because its an adjustable rate, the interest I got for the past 30 days was almost double what it was for the month before. In just 2 months I have gotten over 3 times the interest I got all of last year combined on the same account with close to the same balance. So again, I'm pleeding with you... make sure your money is working with you to the best of its ability!

This week I got a check for $615.36 ($39.12 was put into my 401K pre-tax). The month of May has 5 Fridays in it which means 5 paychecks for me and since I go my budget on a weekly basis it means that there is an 'extra' paycheck. I got an 'extra' paycheck in March which worked out well becuase I had medical bills to pay from my gallbladder surgery. Well, this months extra check is also great timing. I'm going to New York with 2 friends to see some bands that have not played in many years. I had to buy a ticket ($35) and chip in for a hotel room ($90) and then there will be gas, train, food and lots of t-shirts & other swag to buy. My plan for this weeks check it to simply bring it to the bank and cash it. I will use the cash to cover all the weekends expenses and then figure out what to do with the left overs when I get back and see what I spent in total.

Even though as of now I did not deposit any money I did make my $20 vacation transfer and I also returned some cans & bottles and added $5.75 to the piggy bank. I'll also see what I have left when I get back from NY and all the bills for the weekend are paid and decide where to deposit the left over cash. I'll let you know where that money ends up next week.

Here is the week 20 wrap up:
$39.12 to my 401K
$20.00 to my vacation fund
$5.75 to the piggy bank

which makes the 2013 totals:

$641.06 in my 401K
$400.00 in the vacation fund
$36.00 in the piggy bank
$200.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
$75.00 in my vet bill savings
$562.82 in my money market
$562.81 in my car account

I know we are still a month and a half away from the HALF YEAR recap, but just take a look at the numbers in my 2013 savings totals for a minute. Even if you don't make enough or your bills are to high to have put $500+ into different savings accounts maybe you could have set up a weekly transfer like I make for my vacation savings or maybe you're throwing away cans & bottles that you could be returning for free money! Just by putting aside $20 a week I saved $400 for a vacation and from returning deposit cans/bottles I have another $36! I know some of you comment and let me know that you enjoy reading this every week and some of you have offered advice on ways to save, but do any of you have a total of money you have saved this year either on your own or because of this blog? Let us know!!

Lastly (once again) be sure to join the facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/OCDSavings and contribute your own tips and hints for saving money!

Week #19 - Disillusioned

Ok ladies and gentlemen... I have had pretty much the worst time ever at work over the last two weeks. Most of you guys know I really hate my job, but its recently gotten worse. I've been looking for a new job, but its just not that easy to find something that I am qualified for and will bring in enough for me to pay my bills. Its because of this frustration that I've kind of become disillusioned with saving money. I've always done it because I just feel like its what you're supposed to do if you are able, but I see how other people act & spend and I wonder if I'm wrong?

I do most things responsibly as far as what I spend and the thing I commit to doing, but I see so many other people that don't and they still manage to get by! People that spend tons of money on cars, homes, hobbies, trips, nights out etc and seem to have no worries. Worst case is they charge up thousands of dollars on credit cards and then can't pay so some debt service helps them pay a small portion of what they actually owe. How is that fair? Why am I penalized by having to pay for everything I buy just because I'm responsible? Answer... its not fair and that's why I'm frustrated.

I'm not sure if I'll keep doing the blog or not because only about 10-15 people are actually reading it anyway. I do appreciate the people that do read it and the comments & feedback I've gotten, but I'm not sure if its worth doing it or not.

I got a check, it was $740.35. $125 of that was to repay me for some new safety shoes I bought online so that money is already marked to pay the credit card I used to buy the shoes. $39.12 went to my 401K (pre-tax). Of the remaining $615.34, $50 will go into my quarterly loan payment account and the remaining $565.34 will go toward paying the mortgage. I did the $20 vacation transfer too.

Here is the week 19 wrap up:
$39.12 to my 401K
$20.00 to my vacation fund
$50.00 to the quarterly loan payment account

which makes the 2013 totals:

$601.94 in my 401K
$380.00 in the vacation fund
$30.25 in the piggy bank
$200.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
$75.00 in my vet bill savings
$562.82 in my money market
$562.81 in my car account

We'll see what happens next week if I decide to post again or not. If I do it will be my 'extra' week paycheck and I'll explain what I'm doing with it and if not then, its been nice and thanks for reading!

Week #18 - Cheap or Frugal?

*editors note: the 'bonus section' of this weeks blog is actually better than the actual blog so if you find yourself bored with this weeks topic at least skip down to the bottom before you just stop reading. I'll try to do better all around next week!

I have never really pulled any punches when it comes to the fact that I'm cheap. Some people have tried to correct me and say that I'm 'frugal' or that I'm 'smart with money', but the truth is... I'm cheap when I can be! There are some things that are important to me and there are a lot of things that are not important to me. If you read last weeks blog you know that I spent a couple of hundred dollars on records a couple of weeks ago, but I'm wearing a shirt and pants that came from Savers (a regional thrift/2nd hand store) and cost a total of $8 for both. I have lots of shirts from Savers and all my pants come from there and usually cost between $3-$6 each. I was actually at a regular retail store and saw some shorts I really liked and gasped when I saw the price of $14!

So clearly clothes are not a big concern for me. I also don't put a high priority on having a fancy clothes, expensive shoes or brand name glasses. In fact I try to get as much of that stuff as I can for free. Often I will help friends with graphics for T-shirts to promote their bands or other causes and all I ask in return is a free shirt. One of the benefits I get through my work is a free pair of steel toe safety shoes (up to $125) per year and I'm currently looking at the computer screen through horribly scratched glasses because I will be getting a new pair of free safety glasses though work in August. I did splurge on a pair of prescription sunglasses a couple of years ago, but they came from a website that offers very discounted glasses and cost a whopping $18!

Now because I'm so cheap with things like that for myself I am able to do things for people I care about without having to worry to much. Like when Christmas comes around and I'm able to get nice presents for the people I care about or when another type of event pops up and I'm able to give someone a nice gift or treat a friend to a treat of some kind. I guess you could say is that I pick my battles! I'm willing to wear $6 pants to ensure I can buy someone a nice birthday present (or buy myself a few records!).

Ok... so today I got the first paycheck for May which I'm going to deposit into my primary checking account to pay my credit card bill ($150) and to pay for the rest of regular the stuff I will do or buy over the next few weeks. The check was for $615.36 with $39.12 taken out pretax for my 401K. I didn't have any cans to return and didn't really do much else besides making my $20 vacation transfer so there really was not much saving this week. I do want to point out that May has 5 weeks which means 5 paychecks for me and since I do my budget on a weekly basis that means an extra check. I have some plans for it already, but we will get more into that in a couple of weeks. Now on to the weekly wrap up....

Here is the week 18 wrap up:

$39.12 to my 401K
$20.00 to my vacation fund

which makes the 2013 totals:

$562.82 in my 401K
$360.00 in the vacation fund
$30.25 in the piggy bank
$150.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
$75.00 in my vet bill savings
$562.82 in my money market
$562.81 in my car account

 

I was having a hard time coming up with a topic for this weeks blog aside from the usual bullet points but I did a couple of things yesterday that I think make this 'bonus section' actually better and more informative than the actual blog portion.

Over the last week or so I got a few things that could be considered to be junk mail, but I set them aside when they came in and yesterday I actually used them. First I had gotten a coupon for 20% off any item at Bobs Store and then a $10 off a $10 purchase at Bobs Store. I went to Bob's and found a bathing suit that I wanted to get. It was on 'blow out' sale for $20. Unfortunately my 20% off coupon was not good to use on a 'blow out' item. So what I did was I folded the price tag in half where it said 'blow out' and I hoped the cashier wouldn't notice. Well... he didn't so I got 20% off and then $10 off making my $19.99 bathing suit cost only $5.99. Not bad, but not the best bargain of the day! After Bob's I went to AAA where I applied for a AAA Visa card. Upon my approval I was able to buy a 4 pack of movie tickets (to any theatre) for only $1! I also found out that the usual cost of 4 movie tickets from AAA is $26 which is a savings of at least $14 versus buying them at the theatre. So I got 4 tickets for $1, but going forward I will buy tickets at AAA before I go to the theatre!

Make sure you take advantage of coupons or other special offers you are entitled to. Saving .20 cents on a can of soup might not sound exciting, but all savings add up and once in a while you hit the jackpot and you get 4 movie tickets and a bathing suit for $6.99!

 

 

 

 

BONUS BONUS...

I just set up a Facebook group for the blog. My hope is that people will post hits and tips on savings as well as coupons, special deals, bargains as they see them on the fly etc. Join the group and participate. The more we share, the more we can all save!!

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/OCDSavings/

Week #17 - Time for a splurge!

If you read my little blogger profile I refer to myself as a 'hesitant hoarder'. What I mean by that is you're not going to see me on a TLC show anytime soon, BUT I do have issues getting rid of things. I call most of them collections, but in a few circumstances I know its just me being crazy. Well this past weekend was the annual collectors holiday known as 'Record Store Day'. Every year all the big record labels get together and come up with a bunch of manufactured collectible/limited edition versions of records (yes actual vinyl records that you play on a turntable) that people like me just 'NEED' to have! I've been going out and buying stuff on Record Store Day for the past 4 years and its usually a pretty expensive day out.

This year looked to be no different as I had my list put together from different internet sites telling me what bands had releases and what color vinyl they would be on and what they were limited to etc. I also got a little insider help from a friend that works in the warehouse of a certain chain store and he told me how many of each record I was looking for would be at the store I was going to first. I had planed to spend a good chunk of money on things for myself when I got a big idea. It was a scummy thing to do, but I was going to pick what I anticipated to be the biggest collectible of the day, once again based on internet research, and I was gonna buy it to resell. Well, at my first stop (yes there is more than 1 record store, I went to 3 on Saturday) I got a bunch of the stuff I actually wanted and I spent an additional $83.99 (tax included) on a limited box set of a band I don't care for. I used my handy internet ready smartphone to place a 1 day eBay auction for the records while still sitting in the parking lot of the store. We'll exactly 24 hours later my my $84 investment sold for over $300 netting me a profit of around $200 after factoring in the cost of the item and the fees for placing the auction etc.

I'm happy, but a little embarrassed to say that my $200 profit covered MOST of what I spent on records for my collection. Yes I spend a lot of money on music, but its one of my few vices so I won't beat myself up over it. I will also say that I feel a little bad that I bought something I knew I didn't want just so I could sell it to someone that couldn't find it for a hefty profit. It's no different than someone buying up all the tickets for a concert and charging a premium for actual fans to get seats. That being said... I got to the store 3 hours before they opened and waiting in line so I could be one of the first people in (I was second in line) the store to be sure I got the things I wanted.

Here's a little instragram of the stuff I added to my collection...   : )

 

Ok... so I wrote up a paragraph explaining what the 'moral of the story' was and then realized that I was encouraging you readers to go out and scalp anything you could make a buck on. I feel a little guilty for what I did, but it was the only way I was going to be able to buy the stuff I wanted to get for myself. I wouldn't do it every day, but I'm not afraid to think outside the box on an 'investment' sometimes and you shouldn't be either.

 

 

All right, now for this week in money! I got my paycheck for $630.74 ($40.23 taken out pretax for the 401K) this week and this being the last paycheck of the month its time to do some real saving! I'm going to take $25 and add it to the 'vet bill savings' and then I'm going to take the remaining $605.74 and divide it between 2 accounts putting $302.87 in my money market savings and $302.87 into my future car savings. Obviously I also did my weekly $20 vacation transfer! Not a bad week even though I did splurge on some new music!

PS. I also rolled up $18.50 in change I had around the house and deposited it in the bank account I use to buy stuff through Paypal. I'm not counting that as a 'savings' because I'll just use it to buy something I dont really need on eBay anyway!

  

 

 

Here is the week 17 wrap up:

$40.23 to my 401K

$25 to the vet bill savings

$20.00 to my vacation fund

$302.87 in the money market

$302.87 in my car repair/savings account

which makes the 2013 totals:

$523.70 in my 401K
$340.00 in the vacation fund
$30.25 in the piggy bank
$150.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
$75.00 in my vet bill savings
$562.82 in my money market
$562.81 in my car account

 

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned how because of the relationship I have with the people at my bank I was able to switch an account over from the money market I had to a newer money market that was supposed to be for 'new customers' with 'new money' that paid a much higher interest rate. Well, I finally got a full months worth of interest and the dollar amount is obviously based on the balance of the account which is more than what this blog shows I've saved, BUT what I want to tell you is that the interest I got in one month on that account was over 13 times the interest I had gotten with the old account just one month before. That means that in ONE month I got more money in interest than I got all of last year combined! Don't get me wrong, its not gonna get me to early retirement or pay off my mortgage (or even buy me a nice dinner) but its free money and I'm getting the new higher % because I pay attention to my banking and what my bank offers so please, just take a few minutes a month and make sure that you're money is working for you in the best ways it can! Even the interest on a very small savings can be drastically increased when your talking about multiplying it by 10 or more times!

I should wait till next week to share this, but its to funny to hold back. I was just balancing my checkbook in the checkbook register (yes I actually use it and write down every transaction) and I found a mistake. Since I use pen I had to find a way to correct the error so I used 'white out' tape to fix the mistake. In this photo you can see my completed checkbook registery, my 3 pens (blue, red & green), the depost slips for todays banking, the bills & other papers I carry with my check book, the correction tape and the 2 elastics that keep it all together.... I'm nuts!

Week #16 - Charge It!

If you read last weeks blog then you know that I gave you a little bit of homework. I asked you to think about the credit cards you have, why you use them, when you use them and what you get out of having them. Credit card debt is a huge problem for a lot of people and usually once someone gets out of debt, IF they learned their lesson, they are very hesitant to ever use cards again. I realize there are some people that can't handle the huge responsibility of having credit cards and if they know that a certain amount of credit is extended to them they are going to max out the card, but there can be a happy medium.

I actually started applying for credit cards before I was even of legal age to do so because I would be at the mall with friends and there would be some table set up where if you applied for a credit card you could get some kind of free gift. Usually it was some kind of candy or coupon for something free, but at 16 years old anything free was awesome! I remember the first credit card I had as an 'adult' had a $300 limit and at the time it may as well have been a million because I could never have paid a $300 bill! I think I only used the card a couple of times, the first being to buy some action figures that I really wanted but didn't have the cash for. When I got the bill, a whopping $35, I was panicked, but I paid it and didn't touch the card again for a long time.

For many years I continued to apply for every card just to get something free. I would be even more excited if it was a card that had a cool picture on it or had some gimmick to it. At some point I stopped getting new cards but never did anything with the open accounts until someone suggested I close the ones I didn't actually use. In one day I canceled over $40,000 in open credit card accounts! It was around that time that I smartened up and decided that I would keep credit cards for emergencies the occasional purchase. I kept only 2-3 cards with higher limits thinking to myself that if need be I could get out of almost any situation using the credit I had.

 

 

Currently my credit card use is a weekly occurrence, but it because I have finally smartened up to the point that I only use credit cards that pay me to use them. I use my cards for things that I would normally use my debit for, like gas and food and I just pay the card off before any interest is accrued. I use either my Discover or my new Citizens Master Card that offer cash back of 1% or more on every purchase. After only a little over a year of using my Discover card I had earned over $300 in money that was completely free because I had never paid interest on any balance on the card. I recently switched from the Discover to the Citizens Master Card because the Master Card offers 2% cash back on all gas purchases and 1% on everything else where the Discover is 1% across the board and why not get an extra 1% on some stuff if I can!

What I'm suggesting to you is that you use your credit cards, don't just keep them locked up for emergencies and don't fear them! You can be responsible enough and you owe it to yourself to earn free money when ever you can! Start slow and pay the card weekly pretending like it was your debit card if you have to, but don't let the free 1-2% slip through your hands!

 

 

Ok... that was kind of long, but hopefully you take something from it. Now lets get down to this weeks nitty gritty. I got a paycheck for $602.79 this week, with $38.26 taken out pre-tax for my 401k. It being the 3rd check of the month I decided to put it in my mortgage account, but I'm also going to take $50 off the top and put it in the account I use to pay the interest free loan I've told you about. That left $552.79 going towards paying my mortgage for the month. As usual I also made my weekly $20 vacation transfer and since I had Monday off for Patriots day I made a trip to the supermarket with my deposit bottles and added $3.35 to the piggy bank on top of the fridge. It was not a bad week savings wise actually!

 

Here is the week 16 wrap up:

$38.26to my 401K

$50.00 to the quarterly loan payment account

$20.00 to my vacation fund

$3.35 to the piggy bank

which makes the 2013 totals:
$483.47 in my 401K
$320.00 in the vacation fund
$30.25 in the piggy bank
$150.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
$50.00 in my vet bill savings
$259.95 in my money market
$259.94 in my car account

 

 

Last weeks blog had mentions about being prepared if you lose your job because we just experienced a lay off at my work. There were some suggestions made by readers that I wanted to share with you...

 

- Try to pay ahead 2-3 months on your mortgage

- Stock up on non-perishable dry goods (toothpaste, toilet paper, shampoo, cleaning products, etc)

- Don't make any huge purchases if you fear a potential lay off or downsizing at your company

- Try to keep credit debt as low as possible

- Keep an active and updated resume on hand

- Try to keep a couple of months worth of cash on hand if you can

- Grow your own food

- Can or prepare your harvest for future use

- Compost your waste