Great news for those wanting to list stuff on eBay, starting in June they will be waiving the insertion fee regardless of the starting price for 5 items.  This could save a decent amount of money if you choose to list your item at a higher start price without a reserve, since the newly revamped reserve fees now take a percentage of the final sale price.  Here’s the rundown:

All the info, details and fees can be found for this upcoming promotion set to start June 16th can be read here.  Take special note to the asterisks at the bottom, excluding Video Game Systems.

As always, review all of eBay’s fees before you list an item as you can typically expect an average sale to cost you at least 10% of the sale price.  I’m excited about this, it means I can try to sell something on eBay for free at the price I want to get, if it doesn’t sell I haven’t lost any money and can put it on Craigslist and deal with the low-ball offers people offer there.

Today’s economy is tough.  Even the billion dollar bank businesses are asking for a hand-out, but with some creative thinking there are ways to save even in these rougher financial times.  These 10 tips are meant to be taken half seriously, but could end up saving you a good chunk of change.

Smoking Butts

I saw a man picking butts up off the ground at the park the other day.  Smoking is a gross habit that many people are addicted to, but that doesn’t mean you should be picking butts out of ashtrays or off the ground to save a few bucks.  Depending on where you live, a pack of smokes can cost you upwards of $7,  so it’s easy to understand why the people in the park are picking butts up off the ground.  Then again, maybe they’re just keeping the park clean, but I doubt it.

Car Engine Cooking

If you’re fortunate enough to have a car that is, your engine is a great source of heat that can easily be harnessed for cooking.  When going from point A to Point B, why not go ahead and have your meal prepared by your car just in time for arrival.

Here’s a Car Engine Cookbook called Manifold Destiny, the self-proclaimed One and Only car engine cookbook.

Free Rent…a.k.a. Camping

There are hundreds of campgrounds across the United States where camping with a tent is absolutely free, usually on state or government land.  There are dozens of guides out that do list free campgrounds, but if the economy is slumping, and you can’t find a place to sleep other than in your car/oven, then I doubt you’d be buying a guide, or have the cash to get gas.

Rest Areas

Most states allow sleeping in their rest areas, as long as you are in a vehicle.  I have traveled all across the United States more than once and have been quite content pulling into a rest area for some much needed shut-eye.  Only once have I ever been asked to move by a police officer, and that was in New Jersey when I was parked on a bridge.  I must have been extremely tired.  It looked like a parking space to me.  Don’t leave home without first checking out the Rest Area Guide to the United States and Canada.

Another great place is CouchSurfing.org.  Who says you have to be travelling to hitch a couch for a night?

Bus Tours on the Cheap

If you happen to get bounced out of a town for vagrancy and find yourself in a new locality, why not put some spare change to work and hop on a city bus for a tour of your new found home?  For about fifty cents, you can most likely get a good look at your new digs from the inside of a city bus.  If you’re really interested you can spring for the ten cent transfer and get another slice of the city, possibly scoping out some thrift shops and a soup kitchen or two.

Soup Kitchens

Most towns have a soup kitchen that’s available to anyone at all.  There are probably half a dozen that I can think of within ten miles or so of my home.  I don’t frequent them, but I have seen the gatherings when it’s time for dinner to be served.  If you’re in need of a hot meal, and you can make it to a soup kitchen, I think it’s the way to go.  Most are subsidized by local grocery stores, churches, and local organizations.

Dumpster Diving

Dumpster diving is similar to riding a moped, we’ve all done it but no one wants to admit to it.  There are lots of great treasures to be had in dumpsters.  Try your hand at dumpsters behind department stores, electronics stores, and even furniture stores.  Just one good item that’s been tossed could bring you a pretty penny from a pawn shop.  The pawn broker doesn’t need to know that the printer is broken, or that the chair you brought in isn’t an antique.  Just collect your cash, say have a nice day, I’ll see you when the first payment is due, and head on out.  He’s just going to sell it anyway.

Act the Part

It’s getting warm out now, and in our local park there is no shortage of free entertainment.  There’s a man on a bench daily that plays the banjo, a one-man band that dances a funny jig, and sometimes the city will even hire entertainment for the pedestrians.  If you have a particular flair for music, singing, dancing, or the hot new thing, Live Tweets!, then get yourself an old hat, throw it down next to a banjo-playin’ hobo, and get to it.

After scoring a few dollars, and with a hot meal in your belly from the soup kitchen or from your own cars engine, then you can afford that book on free campgrounds.

Free Entertainment

Now that you’ve been the entertainment, it’s time to get yours.  Libraries and book stores offer a great source of  free entertainment.  Heck, some bookstores even have nice comfy chairs to fall asleep in for hours at a time. Many libraries now offer free internet access, book readings, and even movies are shown once a week.  I would highly recommend you use these free sources of entertainment, but beware their cafe’.  They are extremely overpriced, but you may be able to score a sample if the Barista is in a good mood.  The “I forgot my wallet” should probably work.

Check out HoboModo Daily

Frequent the HoboModo section of  GizModo’s DealzModo Gadget Deals of the Day online.  There is no better source for the locations of free services, products, and eats. Why just yesterday, there was a coupon code for a free 8×10 photo from Walgreens, a free 2-Piece Grilled Chicken Meal at KFC, and a free magazine subscription.  If you don’t care for the magazine, get it anyway.  It could come in handy for kindling, padding for your refrigerator box bed, or to shoo flies away from the dumpster while you dive for goodies.

Do your local hobos a favor and keep a few printed folded up copies of this list in your pocket when you go to the city center or local park and throw one in the hat when you pass by.  You might just be giving them some much needed information.  A dollar or two wouldn’t hurt either.

This is a long overdue follow-up to Mike Panic’s Cheapskate’s Manifesto.  This time, Mike and I focus on saving you money by cooking at home.  Mike already showed you how to get the most from coupon clipping at the grocery store, and hopefully you’ve been able to apply some of his ideas when it comes to buying food.  But what about stretching the food dollars you already spent?

In this article we feature a few tips and tricks that save money by cooking at home with what we already have.   Whether cooking for one, or a family, you will see that there are several ways to get more from what you already have in your pantry.

Larger Quantities, Less Often

Buying food in bulk will save you money, but allowing it to go bad before you use it will cost you even more.  Not everyone is a big fan of leftovers, but for me, it’s a reality.  I’m a single man living alone, so it’s difficult to cook one meal for dinner daily, since I eat lunch at work and rarely eat dinner.  The food I do cook for dinner will often provide me two to three lunches since most recipes will easily serve four.

Grains and Legumes

Take a look outside what might be your normal comfort zone of supersized meals with 64oz Big Gulp soda’s and look at the wealth of foods currently and seasonally available to you.  Most of the US assumes that with dinner they will get a 6-8oz portion of protein, usually in the form of meat, poultry or seafood, while a vast majority of the world makes do by sharing that same 6-8oz portion of protein with their entire family by using grains, legumes, and starches.

Rice and beans will fill you up, provide you with much needed energy, and they store very well.  The same goes for dried pasta.  I’m partial to Basmati rice and buy it in a 10lb burlap bag. The last bag I purchased was right around $18.  Compare that with boxed instant rice or gourmet rices that sell for $6 in a one or two pound box and you’ve got one really good deal.  Store it in an airtight container and it will last you a very long time.  Long grain rice takes a bit longer to cook than instant rice, but it tastes better and is more nutritious.  Buy beans in bulk the same way.

Use A Crock Pot

A good crock pot will cost you around $30, will last for years, and takes minimal effort to cook with.  Search Google for crock pot recipes, sometimes called slow cookers, of which you will find thousands.

One of my more favorite uses is for lentil soup, which has only a handful of ingredients tastes great, and costs only a few dollars to make.  This recipe makes enough to feed eight people, and is freezer-friendly.  I also use my crock pot to make macaroni & cheese, BBQ pulled pork and countless other great eats other than soups.

Eat Seasonal Foods

Local farmers’ markets as well as the grocery stores are packed full of fresh locally-grown foods.  When foods are in season, especially locally grown, it often tends to be the least expensive and best time to buy.  Towards the end of summer my local farmers’ market has incredible deals on yellow flesh peaches.  Last summer I got about 12 pounds of peaches for $6, which is much more than I could eat in a weeks time.  When they were ripe I cleaned them, sliced them up, and placed them in small zip-lock bags and stacked them in my freezer.  They now get used right out of the freezer as part of my smoothie recipe, or I can thaw them out and make a cobbler, pies, or peach turnovers.  Bananas also freeze well.  When they get to be a bit too ripe, freeze them for banana nut breads, banana pancakes, or even smoothies.  This way you will have fresh fruits and vegetables all year long.

Freeze Leftovers

I’ve mentioned freezing a few times.  It’s not a bad word.  Properly sealed food will keep for 2-6 months in your freezer.  Like most people, I get sick of eating the same thing day after day, and I’ll use the previously mentioned lentil soup as an example.

A full crock pot of lentil soup will easily last me for lunch and dinner for nearly 4 days. At the end of those 4 days I’d never want to see another lentil again.  Making less than that in my crock pot isn’t an effecient use of energy, and not eating it all within a few days wastes food, thus throwing money away.  I will often use recycled chinese take out soup containers to put single servings of lentil soup in and freeze about half of the batch.  This allows me to pull a bowl of soup out of the freezer a month from the day I made it and still enjoy it without having to make a whole new batch.  Once you do this with a few items you’ve cooked in bulk, you can easily rotate through your own frozen food selection.  Be aware that certain foods freeze better than others.  Not all fish tastes good frozen and reheated, and the same goes for rice.

Freeze extra breads until you have enough to make homemade croutons for soups or salads.  Make your own seasoned breadcrumbs from extra breads or bagels.  They are much better than in the store and will save you at least a dollar or two.

When making pancakes, I use my electric griddle and make a large batch so I have plenty to freeze for later.  This way, I can just pull out a stack of pancakes and quickly heat them up for breakfast.

Use Substitutes

There are many foods that are fantastic substitutes for their more expensive counterparts, and they are sometimes healthier as well.  A perfect example of this is margarine for butter.  Margarine contains half the calories of butter, and is roughly one third the price.

Make Stocks

My freezer is always “stocked” with stocks.  I will buy five or six whole chickens when they are around 69 cents a pound, and process them at home.  I break down the chickens and make several separate packages of breasts, thighs and drumsticks, and wings.   All of the bones go into my large stockpot with a couple of carrots, an onion, celery, and it all gets covered with water and cooked on low, just enough so I can see a bubble once in a while, and then strained into a delicious chicken stock.  I separate the stock into smaller containers and freeze them for future recipes.  This is not only less expensive than store bought chicken broth or boullion cubes, but there is almost no sodium or preservatives, and I know it’s made of entirely fresh components.  (For you vegans out there, you can make some fantastic vegetable stocks the same way).

Small amounts of vegetables can be frozen for “soup starters”, such as carrots, onions, celery, corn, and even tomatoes.  It’s easier to dice the vegetables first so they can just be thrown right into the pot to cook

For a great tasting rice or pasta, use a vegetable or chicken stock instead of water to cook it in.  You will be amazed at the flavor!

Turn Off the Heat!

It’s a misconception that pasta needs to boil until the second it’s removed from the stove.  This is simply not true.  When I add pasta to boiling water, I stir it until it comes to a boil.  After one full minute of stirring and boiling, I turn off the heat, and don’t even cover it.  Boiling water is roughly 212 degrees.  Maybe one degree different if you live on Mount Everest.

In the time it takes for the water to come down to the ambient temperature, it will already be cooked.  This will not only will you save energy, but you will reduce the risk of having the pasta stick to the bottom of the pot.

More Than One Use…And a Little Imagination

Making stocks from chickens is a perfect example of this, but there are dozens of ways to use “by-products” for future dishes.

I went shopping two days ago and bagels were on sale for one dollar.  Most people see toasted bagels with cream cheese when they look at a bagel.  What I see is very inexpensive baked bagel chips, perfect with onion or everything bagels.  I also see bagel pizzas, hearty soup and salad croutons, and breakfast sandwiches.  All of which I make at home for a fraction of the price.

Corn Tortillas are extremely cheap where I shop, so they are a staple in my pantry.  I can buy a stack as long as my arm for less than two dollars.  Cut into triangles and baked or fried, I can make about twenty dollars worth if bought in a bag, and still have enough left over for taquitos, Mexican pizzas, or tacos.

And while i’m on tortillas, throw them in with the chicken stock you just made, and the vegetables you pulled from the freezer, a little cumin, salt and pepper, and you will have an amazing chicken tortilla soup.

Save Some Dough

Making bread at home is easy, cheap and tastes better than store bought.  The smell of bread baking at home is second to none, and the flavor is nothing like store bought.  At home I make cinnamon raisin breads, sourdough, white breads, baguettes, flatbreads, Naan, and even pizza dough and hamburger and hot dog buns.  It takes a little practice to be proficient, but nothing can replace the satisfaction and flavor of any of these homemade bread products.

Yeast is relatively inexpensive.  Rather than buy 1/4 ounce packages for a dollar at the grocery store, you can buy a one pound block of quick-acting yeast at a restaurant supply store for around seven dollars.  Much less than the $64 a pound of yeast will cost if you buy it in small packages.

I’m sure you have flour, salt, and sugar at home. These are all that are needed to start baking breads, and saving you a huge amount at the grocery store.  I use unbleached all purpose flour, but you may also want to  try some whole wheat flours for a more healthy option.  Add some rolled oats, flax seed, sunflower, sesame and poppy seeds, and you can have an Artesian bread that you would pay $6 for in the stores.

Any baked bread or prepared dough can be frozen, so feel free to make a little extra for pizzas, rolls, and even breads.  I cut them into softball size portions, wrap them tightly and pop them in the freezer for later.

Keep Well Stocked

As I look around my kitchen, I see homemade spice blends, several bags of assorted beans for soups, several kinds of rice, a wealth of baking supplies, and seven shapes of dried pastas.

Any of these items, paired with a protein, can easily be stretched to save you cash, while feeding a whole army.

For proteins I have boneless center-cut pork chops I cut from a boneless loin bought for $1.49 a pound, and several bags of chickens that were 69 cents a pound that I broke down and portioned when I got home.

So save those small amounts of food that you would have otherwise thrown away, and soon your pantry and freezer will be well-stocked with foods that can be combined to create delicious dishes with just a little imagination.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to making more from what you already have.  Hopefully you will find some of these tips useful, and they will help you stretch your shopping dollar as they have mine.

Twitter has grown a user base to such extremes that even my own Mother asked if I was Twittering the other night after she saw it mentioned in an episode of Entertainment Tonight.  To my own amazement while flipping through the channels last night, one of the financial shows had a segment called Twitter Time but even after watching for several minutes, I couldn’t figure out how anything they were saying was relevant.  Twitter has become the buzzword for 2009 and more and more people are hoping onto the Twitter train, but is that a good thing?

Major news outlets including TV, newspaper, local media and magazines send out tweets with links to their articles, this allows people to stay up to date on current events.  Some, like @reuters have sent out nearly 25,000 tweets, often sending bursts of 10-30 within only a few short minutes of each other.  That’s a lot of information to digest, and the main reason why I don’t follow any major news outlet on Twitter.  For those of us who have tweets sent to our phones via SMS or use an app on iPhones, this leads to an unmanageable amount of information to deal with.

News outlets are only part of the problem, many other Twitter accounts are used solely to spread spam, bad links, or sell you something.  The problem is, Twitter has such an open API that forcing someone to pay for what they are already doing or have already incorporated into their online presence might prove hard to do.  There is talk of premium services, which can only mean worse things for the vast majority of “free” accounts as I see it.  I’d imagine premium services would be faster delivery of tweets, tweets delivered at a specific time or an unlimited amount of tweets per day or month.  What else could they possibly offer? What’s a price point that would entice someone to pay for the premium service? Would @guykawasaki pay $100 per month for it?  How about $500 per month?  With nearly 100,000 followers, every message he sends out is transmitted that many times, more if they are also sent to followers cell phones or retweeted, not only does that cost money from a server side, Guy often is promoting one of his online sites or answering a question from one of his followers, either way, it’s usually to gain traffic.  @the_real_shaq is approaching one half million followers and power user @kevinrose is responsible for shutting down his fair share of websites due to bandwidth limitations whenever she sends a link out to one of his 350,000 followers.  While Shaq and Kevin usually tweet about what they are doing or to stay in touch with fans and rarely push their own sites, Guy, Reuters, CNN, ABC, etc. do just that, advertise with little regard to the users who follow them.  Who should pay and why?

Speculation on the value of Twitter has ranged from $10 million dollars to nearly $1 billion dollars, yet the company turns a zero dollar profit, they actually don’t make money, it was never part of their business plan.  Like YouTube several years ago, it was built out of a need, to fill a hole, and now it’s struggling to figure out how to make money after they’ve declined several buy out options.  In my opinion, YouTube has suffered in the quality from a user perspective since Google bought them, as most videos have ads on them, which you must click to close.  Sure Google brought HD, more bandwidth and a better search algorithm to the plate, but in the end, it’s a better experience to watch a video at Vimeo than YouTube.  I won’t even bother going into a rant about how unstable Twitter is now, I’ve seen the fail whale too many times this week alone.

If this is the only way Twitter can generate income, so be it, just as long as they don’t start throwing in worthless tweets from bots in the hopes of generating income.  This paid pro account will be the tipping point to the success or failure of Twitter, as I’m sure there are a dozen other similar services ready to take their spot with a similar user interface and a real business model laid out.

Ironicly, as much as it sounds like a bitching session, this article will be tweeted from my account, @mikepanic, automaticly thanks to the open API and a plugin done for me.

Time’s are tough on nearly everyone right now, but everyone still needs to eat, wear clothing (optional for some I guess) and have a roof over your head.  It seems like every industry has had a spike in the retail cost, and while I’ve already shown you how to clip coupons for more than you thought, it still required a bit of time to do, driving to and from the store and spending time in the store.  The way we shop may start to change as costs rise and we all look for deals.  That’s where this article’s idea came from.

Amazon is one of the most well known and respected online retailers out there, and they just posted their most profitable quarter ever, proof that even during a recession there is money to be made and profits to be had.  While doing so, they’ve slowly crept into the food market, offering mostly non-perishable items for sale, both brand names and some lesser known companies.  Today on their site I took notice to an ad much like you see on the side here, offering 40% off groceries.  Could it be true?  Would Amazon still offer free shipping on orders over $25?  Some poking around through the grocery section led me to find out that yes, they do offer free shipping on a good portion of the food items they sell, and the prices are in-line and cheaper than my local grocery store!

What’s more amazing is that some of the products I buy on a regular basis are heavy, like this 6-pack of 32oz basmati rice, qualify for free shipping because it’s over $25.  That’s 12 pounds of rice!  I eat rice 2-4 times per week, and not having to haul it home, rather have it delivered would be awesome!  Five more minutes poking around the site and I realized that I could get most of the items that I keep in my cupboards for the same price as my local grocery store or less, and have them delivered to my house.  The time savings plus gas savings would really add up.

There are only two downsides that I can think of.  The vast majority of items I looked at were 2-packs, multi-packs or semi-bulk items, so if one bottle of ketchup lasts you 6 months, it might not be cost efficient to buy it online.  The other thing is the free shipping is qualified only for super saver, 5-9 day delivery.  That means you need to buy ahead of time, assuming it will take a full two weeks to show up.

I’m curious to know who is currently buying groceries online, or who would consider it?  Check out everything Amazon has at 40% off here.

I’m baffled by the fact that three of the major purchases of our lives as adults are ones we often spend very little time thinking about.  They are, in no particular order, a car, home and glasses.  Two of the three are really spendy and if you think about it, most people decide on them almost instantly, a gut reaction.  The last, for those of us unlucky enough to deal with less than perfect eyes, can have the most dramatic effect on how people see us.  I’m one of the unlucky who have been wearing glasses for about 8 or 9 years now, so most of my adult life.  Buying glasses that not only look good on you but also don’t break the bank can be difficult.

This brings me into how I’ve saved a ton of money purchasing my prescription glasses this year online.  It’s been 3 years since my last eye checkup and my glasses had seen better days.  I’ve read in the past on a few sites you can save tons of money buying online, but I’ve been a bit wary to do so.  After going to a few places to try frames on locally and seeing prices of $150-400, some even higher, just for the frames, I researched online even more, and booked an appointment with my local Opthamologist.  The appointment was normal, fast and in 20 minutes I had a prescription for glasses, which of coarse they try to sell you there locally.  I declined and left, already knowing what styles looked best on me.

After some research, I ended up on www.39dollarglasses.com, a pretty simple and straight forward site that offers $39 glasses and frames!  Too good to be true I thought, so I spent more than an hour reading through the whole site and looking at the terms of service, more on that in a minute.  You won’t find name brand glasses, in fact you won’t find any names on the glasses, which is fine by me.  They have a somewhat limited selection, which I think works better for them, and I headed right into the semi-rimless and found a pair instantly I liked, but would they fit?

They have PDF files of all their glasses online so you can print them out, cut the frame out and hold it up to your face.  Sounds silly but I did this, and it really helped.  Additionally, they offer some suggestions based on your face shape and show a model with a sample pair on.  But what if I don’t like them?  The terms of service say they will accept returns and in most cases they can cut your lenses to fit a different pair of frames for no extra charge.  Perfect.

After some thought and more reading through the site, along with emailing the frames to several friends for their feedback, this is the pair I ordered:

Filling out the prescription information was straight forward, and luckily I could read my Doctors handwriting, with one minor exception.  They need to know the distance between your eyeballs in millimeters.  Not much of an issue since the same PDF that has frames also has a ruler, so print it, cut it, look in the mirror with it held up to your face and it will give you the proper number.

The frames I chose were $59 (with glasses), and while the site is called $39 Dollar Glasses, only about 1/4 are actually $39, the rest vary with prices as high as $119 for bendable rimless titanium glasses, still a steal compared to $300+ for frames only from a local store.  There are several upgrades available, all for additional money, like lighter and thinner lenses, advanced anti-glare, tints, and more.  I chose none of them, only the glasses and the clam-shell case that came free.  After filling out the remaining billing and shipping information, the order was complete.  This was on a Thursday night, and I had read that most glasses are done in 2-3 days, so the anticipation started to build.  I chose the cheapest shipping method, USPS Priority mail, but options are available for faster should you need it.

One week later, the following Thursday, my glasses showed up here at work, where I had them shipped.  They were in a cloth case, inside the hard sided clamshell case, stuffed inside a padded envelope.  They arrived perfectly fine and as pictured on the site.  Now, the moment of truth, would they fit, would they look good, would I like them?

Yes, yes and yes.  I know my head is shaped kind of funny, so I was worried about them being wide enough and it looks like I picked the right pair.  They look great, I’ve been wearing them for nearly two full weeks now and the prescription seems spot on, with zero headaches or other problems often associated with new glasses.  My co-workers and friends have all complimented me on how great they look.  I’ll probably order sunglasses from them at some point later on in the year now, based on the great experience I’ve had.

The one thing I did notice, which I may try to take advantage of with sunglasses is, $39 Dollar Glasses will cut lenses into your existing frames for just $39.  If I happen to find a pair of sunglasses I like locally, I may just buy them and send them in for custom lenses, but this could be really helpful if you like your current frames or have scratched them really bad.

Total out of pocket expense for lenses and frames was about $65.  Compared that with my expectations to pay roughly $200 for name brand frames and $100-200 for lenses from a local store and I saved more than $330.  Buying glasses online isn’t for everyone, but this has been a very pleasant experience for me.

www.39dollarglasses.com

One would have to live under a rock, in a cave, on mars to have not heard about the $700 billion bailout program Bush is asking for, the press won’t shut up about it.  The big 3 auto makers are trying to get their grubby little hands on $25 billion of those dollars so they don’t go under.  Some random stat that I can’t find but know I read / heard is that roughly one in 10 Americans is employed somehow by an auto maker in the US.  Seems a bit high to me, but regardless, they are asking for a metric shit-ton of money so they don’t fold.  Fine.

Photo by: Yogi

But, don’t show up at the doorstep of the house you are at to beg for money and ask where you can valet park your private fucking jet!  Not only did the auto exec’s fly in on private jets, they didn’t even jet-pool!  A quick Google search shows that a private jet can cost around $4,000 per hour!  Checking a few major ticket sites online, It shows that it is roughly one and a half hour to fly from Detroit to Washington D.C., or $6,000 each way.  I can book a 1st class ticket for a wee tad over $800, roundtrip! ZOMGWTF?!

The stock market here in the US and most of the world is in the toilet, we all know this.  Most of us are unsure what the future will bring and outside of the near 50% drop in gasoline prices, there isn’t much of a silver lining in any clouds over head.   Randomn3ss reader Scott sent me a link for Sad Guys on Trading Floors, a Tumblr blog that takes real photos from news stories focusing on the New York Stock Exchange and adds silly quotes to them.  In these tuff times, laughter is more valuable than most tech stocks.

Joe waits anxiously for the shiba inu puppies to wake up from their nap and start playing again.

The quote above is in reference to the new internet sensation, Live streaming Shiba Inu puppy cam that everyone seems so addicted to.  Don’t take Sad Guys on Trading Floors too seriously, see it for what it is, a bit of the funny.

The day after writing my article on How to Save Money This Holiday Season, in which I basically suggested spending as little as possible, a Pulitzer prize-winning writer for the New York Times, Thomas L. Friedman, told us that the best thing we can do for our economy is: “Go Shopping.”

Hmm, I guess this means no Pulitzer for me. Oh well. I understand Mr. Friedman’s opinion in general, but personally, I don’t have the money to go shopping, even if I wanted to – and I’m sure I’m not alone in that, for several reasons. Who can just go shopping when they’ve been laid off, as thousands have recently, as reported in the Times and elsewhere, or are fairly certain a lay off is coming? What about those who finally woke up, or were forced to wake up from their credit binge of the past several years and had just come to terms with not spending more than they earn? What about those facing foreclosure? What message does this give them? Of course, retailers rejoiced at Mr. Friedman’s words, as they should. Maybe the malls won’t be as deserted as has been predicted.

I’m sure plenty of other people do have the money or plastic to burn, though, so I will say a big thank you to all those who do help our economy through shopping, and just needed permission such as this to go out and spend away again. Each person can wrestle with what is best for them to do, for self, country or both. It’s a classic paradox, and an honestly tough choice, for some.

I’m as affected by the state of the economy as anyone, and it’s caused me to really curb my usual spending for the holidays. I have family and friends all over the country, so I have the added financial burden of having the majority of my gifts shipped – which this year means I have to get creative, i.e. cheap, to make it work.

1. Wrapping: I don’t shop at “dollar stores” much as I find the products overall pretty horrible in quality, but the exception is wrapping paper, gift bags, ribbon and so on. Never pay regular retail for stuff that’s going right into the trash for the most part. Of course, because I save stuff like that, I already have a good stash to start with, but inevitably some of it will tear and I won’t have enough, so I do make a trip to the local buck shop once a holiday season. Also look around your house for creative ideas to make your wrap job unique. Newspapers, string, colored wire, yarn, paper clips – use your imagination to have an impact when you hand your gift over. Don’t worry about it looking goofy or not ‘elegant’ or whatever. It will make people smile, and remember it – and you.

2. DIY/Make Your Own Gifts: There are countless DIY ideas on the web and in magazines to draw from, but beware: If you have to go out and buy stuff to make it, you are likely defeating your goal of saving money. Be inspired by the DIY items you see, but if you have none of the items needed to make it, see if you can come up with your own version using what you have at home. I like to take pictures and decided this year to give the gift of my photography. It’s easy to get prints done inexpensively either on the web or at home (but be careful with the latter as ink ain’t cheap). It’s also easy to find inexpensive frames, and perfectly legitimate to reuse frames or get used frames at thrift stores. One of my framed photos cost me less than $5.00 but looks like it cost a lot more than that – framed photography has that way about it. Photography is one of the most accessible hobbies, artistic endeavors or casual activities around that has a really high impact on people, so don’t discount it, even if you don’t think you’re “good” at it. People love to have their stories, memories and special moments captured and displayed in photos, and photos are typically treasured for years, often becoming heirlooms, passed on to new generations. Other gifts I have made in other years are crocheted scarves, woven potholders, jewelry, note cards and post cards… If you’re good with a hammer and saw, you might use some scrap wood to make a small shelf, a storage box, a magazine rack, etc. Handmade things are always appreciated, and again, tend to stay in the family for years to come.

3. Cook or Bake: I make a Czechoslovakian pastry my mother used to make that no one else in my family has really mastered, and I love sending it to my family at the holidays – and they are thrilled to receive it. If there are strong sentimental baked-good favorites in your family, I highly recommend giving them as gifts: We all need some comfort in these hard times, everyone loves a special treat, and it’s likely you enjoy making it, so it’s gift to yourself, too. If shipping, choose something that will hold up well and be sure to pack it very carefully so it doesn’t arrive in crumbs; also, don’t send that door stop, um, fruit cake that weighs 15 pounds as it will be expensive to ship. Again, watch your budget, and the amount of time it will take you, along with the amount of energy needed. If your food of choice requires lots of oven and/or stove time, it’s not really economical.

4. Give Yourself a Low Dollar Limit and Stick to it, No Matter What: Depending on your budget and income, I recommend keeping it really low – $4-8, maybe $10 at the most. Related to that, out of necessity, you may then be able only to give one gift per person, which may be a big challenge, if you’re like me and typically like to give 2-3-4 things to each person. This is a great exercise: It makes you really think about the person, what they need, what they like, and about you, what statement you like to make with a gift, what is important to you, and to the relationship. It can be very revealing, very fun, and very satisfying to realize the best thing you can get your friend is a really great _________ for $7. Really, that’s all you need to give, and they will love it, and the pressure is off to ‘have’ to spend a lot more for whatever reason prior to this moment you had for gift giving.

5. Give the Gift of Your Time: One thing everyone wishes for is more time, so give it to someone in the form of a handmade gift certificate offering your time to help them with something they need, which in essence gives them more time for other things. You can be specific, stating “I will…”: Paint your bathroom; take your recyclables to the recycling center every month in 2009; clean out your garage; give you 5 hours of Photoshop training; etc. Doing something for someone that allows them more time to give to things they wish to spend time on is priceless, as is offering to do chores they hate but you don’t mind at all. Doing things for someone else also helps you to create stronger connections, build the relationship, which is a gift to you both.

Bonus tip: Regift! I frequently regift (i.e. give something that someone has given to me) items I have never used or have barely used, and think it’s a perfectly legitimate and morally appropriate thing to do. A couple key points are in order: “Barely used” means the recipient should not really be able to tell the item was ever used. Don’t give something that shows wear or any kind of obvious use – that is tacky, pure and simple. Keep track: Be 1000% sure you’re not giving a gift back to the person who gave it to you, or plan on some really awkward moments and possible negative ramifications. Keep original packaging if possible, if you get a gift that you know you’ll never use, so you can regift it easily. Don’t feel bad: We all have gotten gifts that just didn’t work for us, no matter that we love the person who gave them to us. It’s okay to part with it, really, and what’s the point of keeping something you will never use. Send it off to someone who truly will appreciate it – and thank the original giver (in your mind only!) for helping you in this new way (saving money by regifting it).

Some people will likely decide not to give gifts this year, and I think that’s a fine idea, too – if one was accused of being a tightwad during these times, that’s a compliment, if anything, and should be an inspiration, actually. Take on the title of Scrooge proudly if it feels right.

In uncertain times such as this economic crisis, the bonds with each other and our common values are what people historically turn to (and what was obviously forgotten in these past many years of spend spend spend), for strength and comfort, for efficiency, and for being wise financially. Use that to everyone’s advantage this gift-giving season, and beyond. It will be the greatest gift you can give – to yourself, too.