Is it better to save money or earn extra Cash?

I sometimes get asked the question if it is better to save money or to earn extra cash.

Well, honestly the answer is BOTH.  The key to being financially independent is to make all you can and save all you can.

But when it boils down to it, I say things like using coupons, when looking at dollar per dollar amount is more benefial.  Here's why:  You don't have to treat it as income.  It's not taxable.  Say you save $1,000 in the same amount of time it would take you to earn an extra $1,000.  All things are equal (providing that savings is on things you truly need.)  You don't have to pay state or federal income tax on that.

The Trick to Finding Cheap Items for Free Super Saver Shipping at Amazon

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It seems this time of year everyone is ordering from Amazon.  I sometimes order multiple times a day if I find a good deal.  I have Prime so it's not a big deal to me.  (Hint:  This would be a good month to sign up for a free trial!)

But if you don't have Prime, sometimes you need a small item to boost your cart up to the $25 or $50 amount for free shipping.

Here are some searches that often bring up inexpensive items:

I chose to link to books because it works for book orders or other item orders.


Dover Sticker
Dover Activity books
Dover Classic Books   (some of these are as low as $1.00!)
Decorative notebooks

How I am saving on Home Improvement Costs

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My house was built in about 1890.  The carpet in the living room is from the 1960s with layers of padding, carpet and linoleum underneath.  It needs replaced.  The entire house is paneled except for one room.  When we moved into this house in 1986, I was a teenage girl, and of course I wanted to paint my room lilac.  My dad wanted paneling in my room.  After a lot of going back and forth, I got purple.  Obviously paneling went out of style soon after that.

When there was the earthquake in Virginia a few years ago, it damaged part of the roof in the house, which caused some other problems in the room where the damage was.

I've decided it's time to get these things fixed.  Being the frugal person I am, I want to get the best price possible for home improvement supplies.

How to Get Free and Cheap Candy at CVS

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I have been a coupon queen since before it was popular.  The only thing consistent about it over the years is my desire for a good deal.  If I was plunged into the current world of bargain shopping when I was 18, I wouldn't have the first idea where to begin (or even how to use the Internet).  The way I used coupons when I was 18 wouldn't be something I would want to do today because it would take too much time, and I'm all about time saving while saving money!

There is a lot of information in this post, so follow closely and I'll sum it up again at the bottom of the post.

So I try to do as much savings as I can electronically.  I've been recently getting lots of candy deals, and someone on my Facebook page asked for more information as to how I do it.

How I Learn New Skills for Free

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I love to learn.  I always have.  I graduated high school at age 15, and I spent my summers reading books.  I am a non-fiction aficionado, and I have discovered that there are amazing resources out there to learn pretty much anything you want for free (or very inexpensively).  It doesn't come with certification, but there is so much knowledge available you can implement to make your life better, more efficient, saving money, or fun!

About a year ago I decided I wanted to learn more about blogging and what kinds of items sell best on eBay.  Now I'm wanting to learn how to use coupons most effectively at Dollar General and homesteading skills.  Why am I switching?  I feel like I have the knowledge I want to cut back on the time I invest in learning the first two topics.

Saving so you Can Give to Others

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When I was a teenager, there was about a year that my mother and I had nothing to eat but potatoes because we were trying to make ends meet.  That is when I decided I was going to do what I could to figure out a way we could afford a bit more variety in our food as well as being able to have the heat set above 58 degrees in winter.

That's when I started reading books like The Complete Tightwad.  Although this book has advice from 20+ years ago, much of it is still quite useful, and one I would recommend to be in any penny pincher's library.  I still read my copy from time to time, usually getting it out every two years or so for a refresher course to see if I'm still doing everything I can -- or even if I can implement something new.

Book Review: The Recovering Spender

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review.  This post contains affiliate links.

I was excited when I had the chance to review The Recovering Spender:  How to Live a Happy, Fulfilled, Debt-Free Life by Lauren Greutman.  As is common in today's world, another financial book by a financial blogger.  I find nothing wrong with that.  I am a financial blogger myself, but I can't read every blog, and I love hearing others' stories of how they got into -- and out of -- debt.

The one thing I found very different about Greutman's story is she was a shopaholic.  I often think of people who get in trouble financially as ones that lose a job, incur a large amount of medical bills, or something similar, it was her shopping that got her family into trouble.

There were different times reading this book, I thought, "That's a terrible idea" -- such as the impulse buy of a house in another state!  Honestly, that's something I would LOVE to do because I admit I'm unhappy where I live now, but I know it's not financially feasible for us to move for a while.  The Greutman family just up and bought a house a few states away.  I feel this was even a bigger problem to their finances than her shopaholic tendencies.

Book Review: Money Secrets of the Amish

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This book made me discover something:  I'm Amish.  Or at least many of my shopping habits are!

In Money Secrets of the Amish: Finding True Abundance in Simplicity, Sharing, and Saving, Lorilee Cracker examines why even during economic downturns the Amish still are thriving financially.

What are the Pros and Cons of Selling Online and on eBay and Etsy

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This is the first of two posts.  I'm going to discuss the Pros and Cons of selling online as well as the Pros and Cons of selling things locally.  I am mainly going to discuss what I consider "The Big Three", but please be aware there are many different places you can sell items on the Internet.

I've been selling on eBay for 18 years, and so I have a few years of experience under my belt.  I was a "picker" from the time I was a child.  One of my first eBay sales was a book from the 1940s I picked up at a garage sale for a quarter when I was about 8 or 10 years old.  I had to wait for eBay to come on the scene, and then when it did, I sold the book I picked up thinking, "This looks like it might be worth something" for $90.  So I've had an eye for antiques, collectibles, and the unusual since I was a child.

12 Uses for Spiral Notebooks (besides the obvious)

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I absolutely love notebooks.  I have always loved this time of year because school supplies go on sale, and a new notebook is so full of potential.

Here are some ways I have used notebooks over the years, besides the obvious for school.

1. Journal.  Seriously, who would think someone would keep a journal is a notebook, even more so if you write "MATH" on the cover.  My mother even used one to write a letter to a friend.  The. whole. notebook. A letter!  Wow.

2.  Savings Tracker.  I used to take a notebook every year and write down everything I received in the mail -- this was when all mail in rebates were through the mail and not through Ibotta.  I would calculate how much I spent at the store, how much I saved

Don't Be Average -- Reduce Your Debt

I read last night the average American household has over $130,000 in debt, $48,000 of that in student loans, and $15,000 owed to credit card companies.

I have to wonder when this became acceptable.  I got my college degree when it was less expensive to do so, and I graduated "only" owing $16,000.  I paid that off slowly but surely, and it was a very exciting day when I called my student loan company and asked about not receiving my last bill.  I owed three dollars and some change, and I was looking forward to making that final payment.  (This was in the days before online banking.)  I was told that it wasn't worth it to them to even send a bill for that amount, and it was marked paid in full.  I can still remember where I was sitting when I was on the phone, where the Christmas tree was located in the room (we tend to have it in different spots), and even which phone I was on (a landline.)

8 Tips for Listing Your Items on eBay

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I've been an eBay member since 1998 and have been selling most of that time.  That's a long time, and I'd like to share a few basic tips for anyone who would like to sell a few things.

Being Financially Smart Sometimes Requires a Backbone

I remember waking up one day when I was about 12 or 13 years old, and while I expect my parents saw it coming, I was shocked that that day we were poor.  The day before nothing was said about money but instantly, I was hearing "We can't afford it."

I will say my dad was never one to budget.  He also was self employed and since he sold tombstones, they were pricey.  He never took into account the wholesale cost of the stone, the time it would take him, or the cost of labor to hire someone when he set it in the cemetery.  For the next 10 years, my parents were in a lot of debt.  Add in that Dad was hit by a drunk driver on Dad's way to work, and all medical expenses came out of our pocket for years.  I had to drop out of college until the legal process was over because it looked like our family had more money than we did because so much was being spent on surgeons, doctor visits, and medication.

That Week of the Pantry Eating Challenge where I landed in the hospital

A month ago, my pantry eating challenge started.  The whole idea was we would eat things we had in the house and not buy groceries. Seems simple enough, right?  Especially for a couponer who has a pantry that screams that is a hobby of mine.  When our house insurance agent did a walk through, she took asked me without prompting how long I had been using coupons.  It surprises people when I say twenty five years because I just don't look old enough.  But I digress.

Using Credit Cards to Your Advantage

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As much as I appreciate the financial advice contained inThe Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey, I disagree with him on one thing:  I never pay cash when I can pay for something with a credit card.

Granted, this is only good advice for someone who has the discipline to pay off a credit card each month, but although I have heard Mr. Ramsey say that no one has ever gotten rich using a credit card, I have received some wonderful reward items including:  thousands of dollars in gift cards and cash back, an airline ticket to New York City, an airline ticket to Grand Rapids, an airline ticket to Nashville, and nearly a month's worth of hotel stays.

Week Three of the One Month Pantry Eating Challenge

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This week was harder with the one month pantry eating challenge than the previous two weeks.  This was because we haven't had much fresh food in a while, plus our town's water had a yellow tint to it one day, and was muddy the next.  So we had to buy some stuff to drink, and we opted to eat out as well.

How to Stock a Gift Closet On a Budget

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Several years ago, I began putting things back for gift giving occasions.  I hadn't heard the term "Gift Closet" or "Prize Closet" (as those who enter sweepstakes often call it.)  But I knew the concept.  I also knew our amount of money to be spent was next to nothing.

Week Two of the One Month Pantry Eating Challenge

Two weeks ago I announced my husband and I were going to do a one month pantry eating challenge.  I am a bargain shopper, avid coupon user and have so much in the pantry that I want to see how little we can buy and still eat for a month.

I often stock up before winter, but it's not as needed anymore, and so I'm going to see how long the one month pantry eating challenge will last.    Here's what we ate and what we spent last week.

A Budget is NOT a Bad Thing -- In Fact it is GOOD!

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I was scrolling through Facebook and saw someone mention a budget.  To my surprise, every response was negative.  I "learned" that having a budget means you can't buy your kids something they want, and you have to eat Ramen.  My response was "Being on a budget means you can afford the extras without feeling guilty because you have been careful with your money in other areas."

4 Ways I Paid Off My Student Loan EARLY

I graduated from college in 1998.  I had over $16,000 of student loans.  That probably seems like change to today's graduates, but it seemed a lot to me at the time, especially because I became ill soon after graduating and couldn't hold down a full time job.  I started selling on eBay (this was in the early days and people rolled their eyes even more then than they do now.)