MAKE A NOTE!! -- April 15th, 1999

CIRCULATION 2,150

A Free Twice Monthly Newsletter with (Hopefully) Useful Information on a Wide Variety of Topics

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By Popular Request & in Honor of the "Tax Month" of April, we are devoting the April issues to...SAVING MONEY

NOTE: Each entry has a suggested "POST IT..." location at the end. If you print & then cut out the entry you are interested in, post it where you are most likely to use it, then you are less likely to forget about it. 

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SAVING MONEY....CLARIFICATION

Well, apparently I'm slipping on my communication skills somewhat. Received a number of letters complaining that my suggestions in the last issue were designed to take all the joy out of life. That I thought that if people go out to eat they should ONLY drink water, ONLY have the cheapest dish, and ONLY go to cheaper places where they can use coupons. The emails suggested that to live this way was depressing and that I wasn't seeing "the bigger picture". Obviously I didn't do a very good job of making my point, so I would like to try again here before we go any further. These ideas are designed to be evaluated in light of your own special situation and budget, and then either put in use or thrown away. For example, I didn't mean that everyone should order the cheapest dish, but peruse the cheaper ones & they might find something they hadn't considered that sounds good to them. I don't normally like soup, but the other day a soup & sandwich plate sounded good to me, but if I hadn't been checking the cheaper dishes, I never would have considered it. One reader sent me a note that says it better than I can..."(Some people have) never been in a situation where your every penny counts, but you still want to enjoy life a little bit. I can't tell you the number of times I would've had to NOT go out to eat simply because we wanted to order drinks. Adding $10 to our family bill can be the difference between going out and having a little fun in our life, or just staying home 'feeling poor'. I guess it all depends on your personal experience and/or perspective. For my family, we've been in such a horribly tight financial bind for so many years, the idea of being picky over drinks at a restaurant is actually quite foreign to me. I'm just so pleased to actually be AT a restaurant---who cares what I'm drinking! :)" Everyone's situation is different and we all have times when we are on tighter budgets than other times. There is a restaurant in California that will give you free lunches for life if you get a tattoo of their logo anywhere on your body. Now I don't need to save money THAT much, BUT if I was desperate, I might just do it and even get them on my kids rather than starve. Now granted, that is an extreme example, but it illustrates the point that you should all take what fits your life and leave the rest.

 One reader wrote...

"I just wanted to tell you that I really enjoyed the April 1st issue of Make a Note! Even though I am from South Africa, these are ideas that I could adapt to my own lifestyle & country! Thanks so much!" 

-Dione, South Africa

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SAVING MONEY ON....TRAVEL

This is definitely one of those areas that you need to do your homework in. One of the best resources around are the AAA (American Automobile Association) books, which list prices and services at different motels/hotels. Unfortunately you have to join the AAA to get the books, but they would probably pay for themselves on the very first trip. The nice thing about even a "1 Diamond" motel in the AAA books is that they are usually clean, and who cares about all the fancy stuff, assuming that you will either be out sightseeing or moving on during the day. A good book for other countries are the Baedekker books which have excellent info to help you with motels & sightseeing. They are published by a US publisher, but probably available in other countries. If any of you international readers have an equivalent to the AAA, please email me. Look for friends or family to visit in route, but be sure to offer to return the favor some day.  Ask for AAA, senior, military, or any other kind of discounts you can think of. While you can sometimes save money on a last minute booking, I prefer to be sure to have a room & book ahead. Recently we were able to get a military rate at a motel that was almost half of their regular room price. It was at a nice motel with a microwave & a fridge, while the same price at another not so nice motel would have gotten us a bed & sink. On airline tickets, get those credit cards (just pay your balance every month because the interest rates are usually not so good) that will give you a frequent flyer mile for every dollar you charge. US Airways has the best deal, fewest miles for a free ticket and they don't expire. We just recently were able to use 4 frequent flyer tickets that we got through the credit card program. I still think that travel agents, and package deals will find you the best rates around when it comes to complete trips and airline tickets.  A lot of people have asked me about PriceLine, but the people I knew who used it were not as happy as those in the commercials, and you don't have as much control over which airlines or motels you use. Quality is almost as important to me as price. Look for different ways to travel to save money that you might not have considered & might be more of an adventure. In most cases, you can fly as cheaply as riding a bus & paying for meal stops, so unless you are one of those rare people who enjoy bus rides, I'd stay away from that. But the train can be a lot of fun. You can even take your car on some of them & save yourself the cost of a rental car at the other end. A friend who is a veteran of train travel said to go ahead & pay the extra to get a cab all to yourself, otherwise it can be a bit crowded in the open cars. Look for group rates if you are planning some kind of gathering. Instead of always thinking far away for trips, take a closer look at sites a little closer to home that you can drive to instead of flying, or make a day trip of. POST IT...under travel agents in the yellow pages.

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SAVING MONEY ON...EDUCATION

Public schools are cheaper than home schools, which are cheaper than private schools. That about sums it up. Public schools may be cheap in cost, but you may also pay in quality of education or behavior of children depending on the school. Home schooling runs about $500/child on the average a year, with subsequent children being cheaper if you reuse material. You also probably save money on a lot of school activity costs, and trips to the doctor for the colds & flu that go around. If you are interested in private schools many have fund-raising & non-fund raising tuition, so if you are on a tight budget then you can participate in the fund-raising activities. Some schools also have programs where if you volunteer or work at the school they give you a cheaper rate. Don't be afraid to ask for discounts or special programs. The cheapest place around to buy homeschool material these days is probably the Christian Book Distributor Catalog (http://www.christianbook.com) and just in case you have not heard yet, DO NOT order anything more from Great Christian Books, it appears they have gone bankrupt. Some homeschool companies also offer credit programs where you can get curriculum credit for telling others about the curriculum, signing up or selling the curriculum to others, or representing them at book fairs. Most will allow you to pay by credit card, which even with an interest rate MIGHT be cheaper than a private school. Some programs like Covenant Home (http://www.covenanthome.com) are offering special Y2K deals where if you purchase 2-3 years worth of curriculum for the same child you can save 20%-30%. Mary Pride's NEW Big Book of Home Learning should be coming out soon & is a great resource for finding out about curriculum. Also there are some wonderful books on getting college degrees without spending so much money. Many web sites will help you search for scholarships. A big secret is that you can test out of a lot of credits for half the price and a LOT less of the time than taking a class. See your educational counselor for more info. Try to avoid switching schools as every school has different requirements & you could end up repeating them.  Don't dismiss correspondence or web classes as long as it is with an accredited program. POST IT...under School in the yellow pages. 

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SAVING MONEY ON...PARTIES/PRESENTS

Jennifer from West. Australia had some great ideas, especially for kids. Look for those After Christmas sales and stock up. Also if you order anything from a catalog, take a look at the coming 6 months on your calendar to see if you need to buy any presents & save on shipping by ordering early. Jennifer also suggested simple things that thrill young children like a fancy toothbrush w/toothpaste, special placemats, fancy drinking cups w/crazy straws, hats, the small $5 Lego box kits. Also if you order from the Lego catalog (http://www.lego.com) it is a lot easier to get what you want and they don't charge shipping. My son just found a Star Wars Lego set for a friend of his, while the stores are all sold out of them, and it was nice to just have it mailed to us. Jennifer also suggested getting them "something they want, something they need, and a surprise" or "something to play with, something to read, & something to wear". If you know someone else coming to a party, go in together on a present. Go to the Dollar Store and just collect a lot of different items and put them in an appropriate container...sand bucket or back pack for kids, basket for ladies, baseball hat for men, a baby bath tub for a baby shower, mixing bowl for a bridal shower. Rather than buying a lot of the games for parties, make up your own. The Dollar Stretcher (http://www.stretcher.com) recently had awonderful article on baby shower games & I'm sure many of them can be adapted to other parties. For kids' parties, Oriental Trading catalog (http://www.oriental.com) has very nice little party sets. Or pick your child's favorite book & brain storm for ideas for games or activities. Get your kids (or a creative friend) in on the brainstorming, they have some of the most creative minds around. Order magazines for gifts, this way you save on shipping & taxes, but give them a gift that will encourage reading & keep on giving the whole year. POST IT...near your recipe books. 

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SAVING MONEY ON...HOME SALES/RENTALS

Not going to go into too much detail on this, I'm sure you all have real estate agents who can tell you how to get the best deals. If you are buying anything & have a choice of a fixed or variable rate loan, the general rule of thumb is variable if it will be for 2 yrs or less, fixed rate for longer than 2 yrs. Also if the rate drops to 2% or more lower than what your rate is, then it is worth it to refinance. Should you buy or rent? Unless you want to have to either sell at a loss, or deal with renting to someone else, then you should only buy if you are going to be in a home for 5 yrs or more (now this varies depending on the part of the country, so don't send me email about exceptions to this generality :)). We have lived in military towns most of our lives & have seen a lot of people end up with 2 house payments because they couldn't sell or bad renters who tore up the home. If you do decide to rent, get a good rental manager unless you are going to be in the area to check on things. This is essentially to keeping your home in good shape. If you do get those rare good renters in who pay on time & keep things up, maybe even fix things themselves, then don't risk losing them by raising the rent. If you are renting a place instead of buying, then look for those bargains. We have found that we can usually find a home to rent cheaper than apartments. Ask the police, fire dept, and anyone you know in town about good & bad neighborhoods. Take a good look at the neighbors' homes too, if it is a great house, but next to someone who looks like they are operating some sort of animal shelter or garage, then it might not be worth it. Call the utility companies, whether you rent or buy, to ask what their average utility bill was, all you need is the address. If you move to another area be sure to get letters from your current utilities about how you paid your bills on time & the new companies will usually waive the deposits. Some phone companies will give you credit if you resubscribe to them when you move. Try to get a long lease, but with a moving clause so that if you get a job somewhere else you won't lose your deposit. If you have a long lease there will be less time to raise the rent. If the landlord does decide to raise the rent, don't consider it written in stone. Ask if they might consider not raising it quite as much or holding off a year before they raise it. If you have financial considerations let them know, if you have spent your own money fixing up the place let them know. Also on utilities...oil is cheaper than gas, is cheaper than electric. If you would like improvements made ask the landlords, if they won't do it all themselves, ask if they would do it if you pay half. We were able to get deadbolts and alarm systems in homes we rented by paying for just half the cost. We felt more secure and the landlord has a home that has added features. Whether you rent or buy, most cities have programs where law enforcement will come out & do a free security inspection to make recommendations for improving your security. Some insurance companies,  like USAA, will give you a special break on insurance costs if you also finance your home through them. POST IT...under real estate agents in the phone book.

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SAVING MONEY ON....MEDICAL/DENTAL COSTS

Make sure that you file EVERYTHING with your insurance companies. You might not think something is covered, but it might apply to your deductible or might even end up being paid. If the company doesn't pay, ask the doctor/dentist office to refile just in case. It is a LOT cheaper to pay for insurance & get the preventative care, than to wait until a problem develops. Get second opinions, get third or even fourth opinions. NO good doctor will object to you getting a second opinion, OR asking questions. The dentist was going to pull 4 of my son's baby teeth because he thought that was the only way to get the adult teeth to come in (long story), but after checking with an orthodontist we decided that the teeth probably wouldn't come in right away that they weren't ready yet. In the year since he was scheduled for the extraction, they have almost all come out on their own, just on a different schedule than the average. According to a recent news article, the cost of a CT scan showed that about half the patients checked didn't really need an appendectomy. I personally have avoided hospital stays, and some lengthy illnesses for myself and for my children with some natural remedies, but there are some I wouldn't try. A good source of info on alternative treatments is http://www.askdrweil.com and http://www.quackwatch.com. Recently I discovered that Glucosamine Chondroitin REALLY helped a problem hip to feel a LOT better than it has in months, but I will be covering that in a future issue. So be sure to take a look at all the possibilities. Check with associations like the American Cancer Society if you have cancer, American Autoimmune and Related Diseases Association if you have an autoimmune illness, etc; they are usually up on the best treatments, but not always. Good movies to watch are "Lorenzo's Oil (available on video)", and "First, Do Not Harm" (a TV movie, watch for reruns), to give you an idea of how to be your own advocate. Find a doctor that is open to discussion, don't expect them to agree with everything you have in mind, but they shouldn't dismiss you out of hand. POST IT...under physicians.

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SAVING MONEY ON....RESEARCH

You can get just about any kind of info you need or would want on the internet, but you do have to be discerning about the web sites. Most web sites that are associated with well known organizations are reliable. But research all depends on what you are looking for. Type in the keywords, the subject, person involved, place, whatever you think might bring something up. Sometimes I will just try typing in a web address like www.NEA.org to see if there is an National Educators Association web site. If you are interested in researching something & are having trouble getting started, send me an note & perhaps we could do some brainstorming ourselves.  POST IT...by your computer.

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JOKE (FROM R. POWELL)

"Several years ago we had an intern who was none too swift. One day he was typing and turned to a secretary & said, 'I'm almost out of typing paper. What do I do?' 'Just use copier paper,' she told him. With that, the intern took his last remaining blank sheet of paper, put it on the copier and proceeded to make 5 blank copies."

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QUOTE

"When I read this I was reminded of something I heard a long time ago: Take care of the cents and the dollars will take care of themselves. How true! ----Sharon Spivey

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FEEDBACK-FEEDBACK-FEEDBACK

"I LOVE the latest Make-a-Note..I've already forwarded it onto a bunch of personal friends online. Looking forward to the next issue too (but then I always look forward to your newsletter!). :)"

--Debi, Washington State 

Editor of Simple Times, for a free sample send a blank email to simple-times-sample@xc.org

"You referred to something called a Camelbak. I have never heard of it.  Can you tell me more about it?"

--McC.

Editor's note: The Camelbak is a water bag made of soft vinyl that fits into a small back pack. Probably the best prices on it are at the U. S. Calvary store (http://www.uscav.com) or other military, possibly sporting goods stores. At an amusement park they will pay for themselves in about a day. Great for sports too. The bag has a vinyl tube that allows you to get a drink without worrying about getting a bottle in or out. It has room for ice and can be filled with other beverages.

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Hope this month has given you lots of things you can use in your home and every day lives. Keep in touch & please feel free to forward this newsletter on to anyone who might be interested.

God bless,

Sharon ^i^

Editor, Make a Note

Make-A-Note@worldnet.att.net

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