For the lucky few who have extra leisure time this summer, I thought I’d put together some suggestions for productive and fun activities that will help enhance your personal, academic and/or professional life. Some of these suggestions are addressed as if to young people (students, adolescents, etc.) but can also apply to grown-ups.

My suggestions are divided into the following subsections:

• Summer Hobbies - activities with lasting benefits and meaning
  
• Summer Studies - develop skills that will be useful in life
  
• Summer To-Do’s - a few ways to get your life or home in order
  
• Summer Fitness - ways to keep cool and stay fit
  
• Summer Pet Bonding - make your pet happy and you healthy

Summer Hobbies

Here are some ideas for catching up on tasks that may have been neglected during the year.

• Write in your journal
  Write about your past year, what’s on your mind, who and what you like and dislike, your daydreams, anything. In future years you will be glad you did it and also amused by your younger self. You think you will always remember what happened when, but as time goes by, memories do fade and become forgotten. (Trust me, I’m speaking from experience and I’m not yet 30 and have a memory better than most.)
• Make a family video
  Go around the house and take a video of your family going about its regular business. You will be glad for the memories one day.
• Scrapbook
  Organize family photos, report cards, birthday cards, artwork, concert programs and other keepsakes from the past year into a scrapbook.
• Reading
  Reading (even fun fiction) can help improve your mind, vocabulary, grammar and writing skills. If you go to the library, you can read in an air-conditioned environment without having to pay for the air-conditioning or the books.

Summer Studies

Yes, summer should be fun, but there’s no reason it can’t be both fun and productive.

• Learn a new language
  The benefits of learning languages are endless. Learning a new language can help you to:
  • Get ahead in your career
  • Make new friends from different parts of the world. When you show an interest in someone’s language or culture, they are often appreciative and take an interest in you in return.
  • Improve your English (or first language)
• Learn to play a musical instrument
  Music enhances the mind in many ways. Studies have shown that children who study music at an early age do better in school than those who don’t. Aside from that, it is also just plain fun.
• Learn to sew
  Sewing is a very useful skill to have regardless of your gender. You can learn to mend clothes, make your own clothes and other things for your house, which can save you a lot of money. Older and more skilled children can even make their own clothes for the coming school year. Check out one of our earlier articles for more info: Save Money by Sewing Your Own Clothes.
• Take a computer class
  Learn to type properly, use a spreadsheet or database, design websites, make presentations, etc. Most jobs these days involve computer use, so knowing as much as you can about computers might help you get a higher salary.

Summer To-Do’s

A few suggestions for improving life at home and getting ahead on the coming year.

• Get a head start on your Christmas shopping
  This could save you time and money because you can shop at your leisure and take advantage of summer sales. Leaving your shopping to the last minute usually costs more because you are up against a deadline and usually have fewer options.
• Sort through your stuff
  Go through your clothes and things and prune out those you no longer want or need. You could donate the things you no longer need or hold a garage or yard sale and make some money to put into your college or retirement savings.
• Re-arrange your room or home
  Re-arranging your room or home can have a positive impact on your life. A change can be uplifting and produce an overall feeling of well-being and accomplishment, renew your energy and increase productivity.
• Clean out your computer
  Ideally you would do this several times a year, but if you use the internet and download a lot of things, it’s a good idea to clean out your computer on a regular basis. If there are programs you don’t use, uninstall them. If there are files that you no longer need, delete them. Clean your registry if you’ve had the computer for a while. Keeping your hard drive from getting too full will extend its life.

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Tell a friend

Merriam-Webster defines the word “vacation” as “a respite or a time of respite from something”. Well, if that “something” from which one is taking a respite is “peace and quiet” then I would have to agree with the definer. Otherwise, gathering from my 2 recent “vacations” (one to Disneyland, one [working] vacation to Las Vegas from which I have just returned), vacation seems more like a respite from peace and quite to me.

Anyhow, I thought I would put together a pre-vacation checklist to help all you other poor vacationers prepare for your vacations, because if there is one thing I have learned, vacations are costly - and I am not just talking about transportation, lodging and amusements, but all the little everyday necessities - and the only way to travel frugally is to travel prepared. Also, the better prepared you are, the better the time you will have on your vacation; knowing that everything back home is taken care of and that you are prepared for most common travel mishaps will allow you to enjoy yourself to the utmost.

And yes, I am the extremest of Type A personalities, but admit it, sometimes it is handy to have someone who has the bases covered. You’ll certainly be glad to have one of us along when the unexpected happens because we’ve planned and prepared for it (or at least have given some thought to it beforehand so as not to be caught by surprise). This isn’t a list of what to pack (toothbrush, underwear, etc.) but rather more of a pre-departure to-do list to help prepare for your trip. I’m not saying you need to do everything suggested, but hopefully a few items will prove helpful or relevant to your circumstances.

Prevention is the best medicine

Just because you are on vacation, it doesn’t mean everyone else is. This goes for utility companies, burglars and your own plumbing and wiring. When you come home from vacation, you want to make sure you still have an intact home to come home to, and aren’t met with a mountain of additional expenses. Therefore before you leave, you might want to try some of the following:

(These checkboxes are check-able, so feel free to come back and use it.)

Home and Business

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While gifts are a great way to show that you care, an important thing to keep in mind is that most mothers and grandmothers would probably prefer to spend quality time with their families on Mother’s Day rather than receive a fancy and expensive gift. The most frugal and meaningful gift would therefore be a family get-together: watching movies at her house, a backyard barbecue, playing games, a picnic at the park or going to the zoo with her children and grandchildren. If you do have such as family outing, make sure someone takes lots of pictures and provides her with an album or photo CD of the day. This is, of course, unless your mother lives with you and your kids and what she would like most of all would be an entire day of peace and quiet to herself at home.

As for actual gifts, we believe most mothers would appreciate something you made or put some thought and effort into. Below are some suggestions for Mother’s Day gifts. Ideally, you would do some of these things all year round, but Mother’s Day is a good time for them too. Not all of these ideas will suit everyone, but hopefully some of these will work for you and your mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, wife, or any other maternal figure in your life.

Note: Not all of these suggestions are really “frugal” as in “cheap”, but they are frugal in that they are ideas for prudent, useful and practical, but still meaningful gifts that show you’ve put thought and effort into it and, therefore less likely to go to waste as many commercial Mother’s Day gifts tend to.

Hobby Gift Baskets

A few suggestions for baskets you can assemble. You can often find nice baskets at dollar stores or at thrift stores for a very low price. Many of the items recommended in the following list (i.e. books and music) can be purchase used and still in good condition. Used items often clean up nicely with a bit of rubbing alcohol and a paper towel. And even purchased new, these items still make useful gifts with lasting benefits.

• For the Literary Mom
  If she likes to read, scour used books stores and library sales for books she would like (mysteries, vintage books, classics, etc. - paperbacks suggested) and assemble a book basket. You could even include a few snacks to enjoy while she reads (cookies, chocolates, cocoa, tea or coffee mix).
• For the Crafty Mom
  A basket of yarns, fabrics, sewing, knitting or crochet supplies. You could pick out a craft instructions book, find a project she might like and assemble the necessary supplies for that project.
• For the Musical Mom
  CD’s, sheet music, and music books. You might pick a particular theme such as Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy, romantic piano, or Italian opera or music from her youth. For older moms, you might have to include a CD player. For pianist moms make or buy a cushion for the piano bench (the unpadded ones are incredibly hard even for young bodies).
• For Moms with Pets
  Assemble inside a new litter box or pet bed: treats and necessities such as grooming supplies, pet vitamins, hair catching tools, odor control, collars and leashes, training equipment, hair bows, super odor suppressing cat litter, car restraints (seat belts), and/or an obedience class paid for by you.
• For the Gardening Mom
  An assortment of seed packets with flowers, spices, fruits, and vegetables. The frugal mom may save a lot of money growing her own produce. For areas with insect problems, herbs such as lavender may deter bugs from the home. You can also include a book on using herbs for health and beauty and include seeds for the plants described.
• For Culinary Moms
  Collect free recipes online to present on index cards or a handmade book. You might choose recipes based on a theme, such as appetizers, a certain ethnicity, a favorite ingredient, or health benefits. You might wish to include few kitchen gifts like a baking pans, knives, silverware bought on clearance (we got ours for under $5), cheese graters, rolling pins, seeds for herbs or young herb plants. Instead of a basket, you could give a blender filled with fruits and smoothie recipes.
• For the Scrapbooking Mom
  Scrapbook supplies and the promise to provide future memories for her to document. Look for creative scrapbook materials such as pretty paper salvages from greeting cards, gift wrapping paper, and nice packaging from things you buy. Ribbon, beads, lace, small toys, letters of the alphabet cut from magazines, cards, and used books. Doilies and decorative embellishments can be purchased at half price or less after a holiday. Glue and scissors might be useful too.

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I’ve seen several threads on forums where individuals in debt have posted a general plea for help in reducing their debt and most people simply respond by telling them to cut spending. But how to cut spending and decide what to cut and what not to cut? This is where you have to discern luxuries from necessities.

A necessity is an item/service that you simply cannot do without in your everyday life and that is vital to your survival and situation.

A luxury is anything that is not a necessity.

A few examples of necessities (or necessary expenditures) would be:

• Food
• Rent/mortgage
• Auto insurance
• Home insurance
• Health insurance
• Gas
• Auto Maintenance
• Utilities: electricity, gas and phone

Of course these are not the only necessities in the world, and it’s different for everyone, but when you really think about it, true necessities are actually quite few in number, and many things that you think you need are in fact not that necessary.

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Reading is one of the most frugal hobbies in existence, and is something, in my opinion, that everyone should do. Not only is it entertaining, but it can be beneficial and educational in many ways. In fact, reading is (along with watching period films based on classic literature) Madoline’s and my favorite hobby, and when we’re not working we can often be found with a book in front of us, even while eating.

The virtues of reading (even light-hearted, entertaining fiction) are as follows:

• Subconsciously improves your knowledge of language, grammar and writing
• Acquisition of vocabulary through example in context
• Expands your horizons and knowledge of people and the world
• Teaches a sense of perspective and the ability to see more than one side of a situation
• Improves overall reading comprehension skills and better prepare you for life
  • Good reading and writing skills are essential for success in career and business
  • The ability to better read and understand contracts, terms and conditions (such as credit card terms) helps you to be a more conscientious consumer
  • Proper writing and spelling is a necessity if you want to be taken seriously whether it be in letters, on message boards, your own website or blog, etc.

So now that I’ve convinced you of the virtues of reading, here are some tips for reading on a budget (or No-Budget) and sources for affordable reading. While we try to borrow from the library as much as possible, we do sometimes purchase books.

A few reasons we purchase books are:

• Collecting
  Book collecting is just as rewarding a hobby as stamp or coin collecting. Some people collect for fun, and others for profit. We personally love books so much that we would rather keep old and rare books than sell them.
• Reading more than once
  We have favorite books and series that we often read more than once (sometimes once a year) and feel it worthwhile to purchase and collect them.
• Study and reference
  Madoline is currently studying in preparation for graduate school, so we often purchase reference and related materials that will be useful both now and later.
• Home library
  We live in a remote area without much to do and our local library can be rather lacking in some areas, so if there is a book we are sure of liking and re-reading, we sometimes purchase it. Also, if you live a frugal lifestyle and often opt to stay home instead of going out and spending money, it’s sometimes nice to have a handy library to pick from when in need of some entertainment or activity.

You don’t have to purchase new books to fill your collection or library. In fact, we often prefer to purchase used books just because they’re more comfortable to read. When we read a new book, we always feel the need to keep it pristine and hate seeing them get dinged or creased. But with used books, we don’t have that problem, and can read in total comfort (after wiping it over with rubbing alcohol). There are many sources for very affordable books, as low as 10-25 cents per book, which I will share below. I will start with the most preferred (frugal) sources and work my way down.

Continue on for a list of affordable reading resources. (more…)

Back in the day when Madoline and I were concerned (or maybe obsessed is a better word) with weight loss and weight control, we would set restrictions for ourselves - daily caloric limit, no fat, no sugar, no carbohydrates, no wheat, etc., depending on the type of diet we were on. We were never really that overweight to begin with but were obsessed with being thin. From the year after graduating from college up until around 3 years ago (about a 4-year period), we lived in a permanent state of deprivation and craving. And when we fell off the wagon, we really fell off. For example, we would buy a bag of chocolates and eat it all in 1 or 2 days. We’d bake a cake and eat half in one evening.

There was a period when we limited ourselves to 1,200 calories and ran 5 miles a day (after working 8-5), then sit around the rest of the evening looking for things to eat until we were up to our daily quota, and then sit around still hungry, wanting to eat more and planning what we were going to eat the next day when the calorie count started at 0 again. Sometimes we went over the 1,200 and had 1,300 instead and guilt-tripped about it all night. We did lose an impressive bit of weight during that time (which we gained back plus more as soon as we ended that diet), but we were also miserable, hungry and food-obsessed.

Then, a few years ago we decided that a life of deprivation and restriction was not how we wanted to live for the next 60 or so years, so we opted to try the “no-diet” system and eat what we wanted in moderation. And we have never looked back.

So the point of all this and how it has to do with finance? It works the same way. This may not be true or may not work for everyone, but I believe that it could for certain types of individuals. There is something about a restriction that creates a tendency in human nature to go right up to, and sometimes test, the boundaries. If one receives a budget or allowance for something, the natural tendency is to use it all up and then wait for and start planning the various ways in which one is going to spend the next month’s allowance. How often has the thought, “I have $___ left. What can I buy with it?” come into your head when given an allowance to spend on something?
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