Archive for the 'abundance project' Category
August 29th, 2008 - Day 3: $400
If I had an extra $400, I would buy a 16GB Apple iPod Touch. That’s the one that’s just like an iPhone, except it’s not the phone part. We have wireless in most places on campus, so it’s invaluable at meetings! I know because my boss and a coworker both have them. We attend just one meeting in common each week, and invariably something comes up that they whip out the iPod Touch for.
Instead, I just entered a giveway for an 8GB iPod Touch instead. You can enter, too! Unique Blog Design is celebrating their 1-year anniversary with this giveaway. You’ll also get a free WordPress blog design–three more free designs are are also being given away.
Find the money: I haven’t been writing these because I don’t want to do this part. Frankly, I don’t have lots of options for earning or creating extra money that I’m willing to do. Selling items, starting a business, having ads on here. Just not interested. So I’m not going to try to do this part of it anymore.
August 22nd, 2008 - Day 2: $200 Friday August 22
If I had an extra $200, I’d buy some new appliances for the kitchen. First, a new toaster oven. Which I just did Tuesday night. ‘Tis the season for tomato cheese sandwiches which Maggie and I both adore. Monday, when I unplugged the cord, it was hot enough to almost burn. Not safe. Combine that with the broken power button, which has sticks in the on position (hence having to unplug it to turn it off), which broke over 10 years ago (IE, before Eric and I had even met)–it was time to move on. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find one at Sears that was as small as the one we had, so we bought a bigger one with two racks. Won’t fit where the other did so have to rearrange the kitchen. On the other hand, I’ve already used both racks at once so not terribly disappointed.
I’d also get a new microwave. We’re using one that’s about 20 years old, meaning it’s probably terribly inefficient. Sometimes, it doesn’t heat the same way day after day (noticed, for instance, this winter when making hot chocolate day in and day out). But we don’t actually use it very much so have decided to just like with it. We are actually using it a ton these days, so a new one might cut our electric bill a bit.
A new blender. I’ve never been happy with our blender. It doesn’t blend very well unless you only have a cup of stuff in it, which is rather lame. I just put up with it as I rarely use it. The main use is for pesto–which I only do a few times during August/September. Most of the rest of the year it is unused. (I also used it extensively when Maggie was first eating to grind up grains, rice, beans, dry veggies, etc. But I usually only had 1/2 cup or less in there so it worked nicely.)
If there’s still money left, I’d also buy additional pasta cutters for my pasta maker. I LOVE making homemade pasta and it would be fun to be able to make lasagna, ravioli, and a few other shapes.
Find the money: Stop the paid-up additions on my childhood life insurance policy–netting around $50-70/year, or $200 in less than 4 years. (I did this on Monday and this year’s check just came in the mail. In real life, it’s already been sent to the mortgage.)
August 18th, 2008 - Abundance: $1
I’ve decided to join Millionaire Mommy Next Door in her 30 Day Abundance Project (this shows the project’s posts in reverse order, so you might want to read the first day first. The first day, you get $1, and each subsequent day, you double your money. How will you spend it and why? Is there something you can do today to earn or save that much money? Is there anything stopping you from spending the money in this way?
Day 1 $1, Saturday August 16
If I had an extra dollar today, I would send it to The Elephant Sanctuary for Tange’s Endowment Fund, my personal favorite charity.
When I was garage saling for clothes for Maggie, I made a lower offer on a collection of clothes and saved 75 cents! I hate bartering at sales, even though everyone says you should. However, the lady had come over and told me to make an offer when I started browsing. Plus, it was a way to actually get most of an extra dollar today. Yes, I would have bought the clothes even if I’d been turned down. (Funny part, she first said no, how about $6, then when I said nothing, she looked again and realized the original total wasn’t $6!) Technically, you could say I saved way more than $1 since I don’t buy MJ’s clothes at the stores, but since I never buy brand new clothes for her (unless at garage sales) I’m not going to count that.
Nothing’s stopping me and in fact, I have money set aside for Tange already. I should go send it in. And tack on an extra dollar.
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Oh shucks, in getting the links for the first paragraph, I discovered she started with $100, not $1. AND, we’re not allowed to duplicate what we spend it on. So I’m going to up the ante, and I’ll save Tange for a bigger donation. So, let’s do this again.
Day 1 $100, Saturday August 16
If I had an extra $100, I’d buy organic bread or white flour. I decided to actually do so this weekend, as I have spending money, and I’d really like to have organic homemade white bread. I have organic whole wheat, but don’t care for 100% whole wheat bread all the time. Given the current cost of flour, and the amount we use, I haven’t considered going organic in the grocery budget. But I can certainly afford to with my own spending money. But I can’t find it in town–checked the natural foods store and the grocery store. The former said she’d never seen organic white flour. I’ve found it at King Arthur, but it’s not available.
Find the money: Donate items no longer needed for a tax deduction. I just can’t stand selling things on EBay or Craigslist. The hassle and arrangements are difficult for me. I prefer to donate. And we just made some significant donations after clearing out the garage that should net us at least $100 savings on our taxes.
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By the way, although MMND started this back in June, she’s only up to day 14, as in the midst of it, they decided to move and did! I’ll try to do it more quickly, 5 days a week, but it is the beginning of the school year so who knows? At least it will be a fun break, especially as the amounts get large in a week or so!