Does Gardening Really Save You Money?

As I’m starting my seeds and getting ready for the gardening season, I have to ask myself if I’m really saving anything.  Or if its just the first year, start up costs that have me down.

Go vote in the poll about it. :)  You knew that was coming.  Long term gardeners, short term, anyone can vote.  They’re simple answers, so please, if you have some insight to share, comment!  I can’t be the only one who wants to know. :)

Technorati Tags: Gardening,Polls,Saving Money

Keeping Household Supply Costs Down

Image by leff via Flickr

As I was digging around, editing some of my AC articles, I ran across 5 Tips To Cut Costs Year Round, that I had written back in January. Its a fairly straight forward article, and I realized how much doing what I had outlined had saved. The only trick I don't use currently is vinegar...working at Wal-Mart ruined the scent for me. Even though it fades quickly!

The detergent tip is one of my favorites. I'm still running off the same bottle of detergent! Its about empty now, but I can still get more loads out of it. And when my detergent costs $15 a bottle, the longer I can go before buying, the better!

Check out the article, and let me know if any of the tips work for you! If you have other tips, feel free to share! I know there's a ton out there that I don't know yet.
~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

Cutting Costs: Quitting Smoking

Image by Saquan Stimpson/monstershaq2000 via Flickr

One of the latest ways I am cutting costs is by quitting smoking. Yes there are other reasons, but besides energy, this is my second most important reason. Currently a carton of my cigarettes costs me $60. I buy one carton about every two weeks, sometimes more, sometimes less. That's $120 a MONTH! Assuming the price doesn't change in a 12 month period (and we all know it will), that's $1440 a year. No wonder I never had any money.

Not that quitting smoking in itself is cheap. If you go the patch route, you are looking at about $40 a box. That's some upfront cost. Of course there are cheaper versions, I've seen them at half that in stores such as Wal-Mart and Target. I personally had skin reactions to the cheaper versions, so I knew to avoid them. Why add to my distress?

But lets take a moment to do the math. Assuming you do the full program (2 weeks on each level, 3 levels) at $40 a box...that costs you (drumroll please) $120. That's 6 weeks of nicotine people! For the price it is currently costing me for 4 weeks of smoking. So lets cull the price of quitting from our yearly savings. That's still $1320 you will save in a year. What could you do with that money? Go on vacation? Put it towards your mortgage?

Personally I could never actually save that money. If I were still working, I definitely would. But freelance isn't a steady gig right now. But if I could, I'd probably save for a car, a nice shiny new one. And I'd pay cash. Granted at the current prices, it would take me quite awhile to do with only saving that amount. But it would be worth it in the end. :)

I did start a blog detailing my quitting smoking journey here on Blogger. Of course I had to have a new one. :)

~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

A New Path

Image by Darren Hester via Flickr

Well, I have officially hit the bottom of one income living...not having an income! At least a steady income. I fought as hard as I could to keep my job, not because I enjoyed it, but because it was a steady stream of something. I could count on that money every other week, just by showing up.

But I'm not worried about what the future holds, or even really concerned about the lack of income. Little scared about relying on myself, but I'm mostly excited for the challenge. It gives me what I want most, my freedom.

The freedom to fail or succeed. And its all up to me. Yikes.

~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

Online Money Making Programs

Just a quick note to help you navigate the programs on this site. I have them broken down into Recommended Programs and Program Testing Ground for a reason. I even put them in two different spots so that there would be no confusion between the two.

Recommended Programs are the programs in which I have actually received the money or prize, and they were within the time frame stated on the site. These are the ONLY programs I am actually recommending. They pay, pay on time, and are easy to use. Oh yeah, and free to join.

Program Testing Ground is just that. They are still in the testing phase of my online endeavors. Join these at your own risk. Many of them have come highly recommended by numerous others, but until I get the cold hard cash in my hand, or the gift card in the mail, or whatever the result is...they will remain in the testing phase.

I refuse to promote any program in this blog that I haven't actually tested. You are always more then welcome to join me in testing these programs out, but be aware that I have yet to receive even one payment from them. So do so at your own risk.

As a side note, all programs on this site will be free to join.

~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

One Income Living

Welcome to One Income Living!

I am a single mother of a five year old little girl, so I am always on the lookout for ways to save or make some extra money. I currently have a part time job while she is in school and I also receive welfare benefits. I truly make that little, and due to babysitting costs, I cannot increase my hours at work much. So it is very important to me to ensure that I stretch every dollar as far as I can, and find the best ways to add some more income.

This is definitely not going to be one of those "How I made x amount of money overnight!" blogs. If I were making that kind of cash, I wouldn't be worried about stretching the all mighty dollar until it screamed.

Like many other parents, I want to ensure that my daughter has what she needs, and the things she truly wants. I want to give her the best start that I can, and allow her to be who she is...without having to stifle her individuality and creativity due to not having enough money. I've already had to tell her no on some activities that she really wanted to do, and that breaks my heart, especially since it would be a great experience for her. I'm sure many other parents are in the same boat right now.

So lets go sniff out some deals together, shall we?

~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~