Genesis Moments - A Writer's Journey

Finally finished painting our foyer!

Head over to my other blog DIYFrugal by clicking HERE to see pictures and hear about our frugal paint job from last weekend!

Start a Plan of Action for the New Year

You are getting an exclusive preview TODAY of Saturday's column in the Phoenix! I have also posted it over at DIYFrugal b/c I need to hear it and so do you!!

The New Year is a great time to dream dreams, set goals and make a plan of action. Begin this year knowing what you want to achieve and setting out to make it happen.

Here are a couple of pointers to start you on your way:

1.       Evaluate 2009. What were your goals for last year? How far did you get? What steps did you take? What happened good you want to do again? What happened bad you want to never have happen again? What can you do about it, if anything?

2.       Make a list of what needs to happen right now. Clean up from the holidays? Throw out the Christmas tree? Reevaluate your budget? Step on the scales? Send thank you cards? What do you need to get done today? What needs to happen this week?

3.       Then, make a list of what needs to happen next. Leave room for steps you are going to take in January, steps that had better be done by March-April and then, what you are going to look at in June to see where you are half way through the year. By continually revisiting important goals, you hold yourself accountable and have a much higher likelihood of success.

4.       Under each goal, write what tools you are going to invest in to meet your goals. Do you need a book on personal finance? Do you need an appointment with a finance counselor? Do you need weight advice or a session with a personal trainer? Do you need a professional home organizer to get you on the right path?

Success takes investment of time and discipline. If you received money for the holidays, use a little of it to invest in the goals you wish to achieve. If there is nothing left, free up cash by returning items you don’t need or selling the old.

Prove to yourself and those closest to you that you are serious about defining steps to achieving goals you didn’t reach in 2009 or perhaps dreaming new dreams. Let others hold you accountable and encourage others to join your journey. Whether you decide to run a marathon, lose fifteen pounds, strengthen your faith, actually save money, get a new job or just get a job period, or learn a new skill, your issues are not uncommon. Many have gone before you on this quest and with the Internet full of great information, don’t shut yourself off. Ask for help. Look around for resources that have been created for your goals. They are out there and in fact, may be sitting on your shelf waiting for you to pick up and read and be reminded of what you forgot last year.

You can do it. I am rooting for you. Let me know what I can research or write to help you reach your goals this year!

With questions or comments, e-mail Sarah at sarah@peppel.com or send me a tweet at www.twitter.com/DIYFrugal. Head over to DIYFrugal.com for more money saving tips.

Frugal Dental Lessons

 
I honestly forget to promote my other writing here, but here's an excerpt from my latest article in the Phoenix from this last weekend. Since it is timely with Halloween last weekend, I thought I would add it in here with a link back to my "content management site" (DIYFrugal) for my frugal articles.

Some lessons are more painful to learn than others. After several return visits to the dentist this last month, I finally asked my dentist how I could avoid so many trips to come see him. Some answers I knew and hung my head in dental shame but some surprised me.

“I wish I could quantify how a minute a day flossing would help people save a lot of money in dental care,” says Dr. Dan Thomas of Springford Family Dental. He reminded me that the cost of dental floss is significantly less than the amount people spend annually on the repercussions of allowing food to sit in between their teeth and rot the enamel. Chewy candy is especially harmful since it sticks to the teeth in hard to reach places.

For the rest of the article, click HERE to read the whole thing over at DIYFrugal. Head over for tons of frugal resources I've gathered at that site just for you! The articles also show up weekly over at Chester County Moms on Frugal Finds Friday.

Works for Me Wednesday: Clothes Swaps & more

On this Works for Me Wednesday, here is an excerpt from my latest DIYFrugal article. Click over to DIYFrugal to read more!

As school looms ever closer, the time comes to inventory sports gear, try on school clothes, cram the summer reading and fit in those last minute physicals. Fortunately, there are ways to lessen the costs of your family’s impending academic endeavors.

One idea picking up in popularity are swaps: clothing, sports gears, books, etc. If you like swaps but don’t have one in your area, organize one. Your first step is finding a place big enough (if you feel your home won’t do) to lay out items by size, shape, category or however seems best as related to the items being swapped. Clothes might be hung up or folded by size. Sports gear might be sorted into similar categories like shoes versus balls and extra gear. Books could be sorted by topic or genre. Books for parents, both fiction and non-fiction, give the big kids something to share and enjoy.

Click Here to read more!

Click HERE to leave a quick comment supporting ShopRite's efforts in Blog It Forward to Fight Hunger. (THANK YOU!!)

And of course, click HERE for more "Works For Me Wednesday" over at We are THAT Family.

Lunch with Frank Lagudi, founder of the SOC Exchange

Tired of E-bay fees or entries getting quickly buried on Craiglist? Selling products online just got easier. The SOC Exchange has arrived.

Sarah Freymoyer and Shannon Ott of Chester County Moms.com and I ate lunch with Franco Lagudi of the SOC Exchange, a new website for selling everything from jewelry to cars. We delighted in tantalizing entries at Roy's Restaurant in Philadelphia as we talked to Lagudi and enjoyed catching up with other mom bloggers from the area who were also invited to hear about the new, economical way to make money and offer resources in today's economy.

“Only one dollar a month or ten dollars a year,” said Lagudi, sharing his vision for a new site which eliminates the complicated fee system of E-bay and provides a free non-auction site like Craigslist. “It is straight selling but you can haggle.”

When asked the benefits of this new site, Lagudi adds, “You get your own website, blog, RSS feed and more. There are many value added tools that help you create your own store for selling items. This is E-bay for today's economy.”

For more of this article, hop over to my new site DIYFrugal. It will also be published on Chester County Moms which has many great local resources!

Frugal: Are Petroleum Prices Pinching Your Pocket?

New Phoenix Article:

Are rising petroleum prices pinching your pocket? Whether you are driving to the grocery store or headed out on a summer vacation, there are ways to lessen the impact of gasoline increases on your wallet.

For local gas savings, you hear from experts: carpool with friends to work, take turns driving on shopping trips, and use public transportation.

All of these options take planning ahead and sacrificing the tendency to hop in the car at a whim -- something our fast-food generation struggles to give up. At a minimum, make sure to plan your errands to handle several stops in one circuitous route. Build in quick money-saving stops to or from work or other activities.

Read more by clicking HERE. I am sending you to the Phoenix but I am building a site for all my frugal articles over at DIYFrugal where you can sort by category! It is in the beginning stages and I will be looking for contributors so let me know of you are interested!

Frugal Living: Gain Control Over Spending

Here's my latest in the Phoenix which went to a weekly paper AS OF TODAY! Now my column will be in on Saturdays which is exciting because MAYBE I'll have more than five readers now.

Here's the beginning excerpt and a link to read more:

Gaining control over spending key to living frugally

The other day I pulled out my favorite pair of jean shorts. I was shocked at the condition they were in. Paint splattered down the front. Errant strings hung down like a warped version of Daisy Duke's country attire. I wondered when they had gotten so bad?

I thought of a bazillion parallels to life. We get so busy. One day, we open our eyes and it may be paper piles, cleaning, weight, or finances that have gotten out of control. Or maybe all of the above. Remnants of past good intentions are hidden in a messy drawer or a box in the basement. Systems that once controlled your life are now in shambles. What's a person to do?

Click HERE to read more!

And, this week I am working on a site dedicated to DIY Frugal! I started one on Blogger but my computer savvy husband talked me into using a wordpress theme instead which is way cool but there's a little learning curve that needs hurdling this weekend to get the site up and running!

And, here the awesome button Jo-Lynne created for me this AM! Love it! It doesn't link anywhere yet since I am still waiting for my domain to register. Much to do yet!

If you didn't win, you can still get $5 in Sun & Earth coupons!

Even if you didn't win the Sun & Earth giveaway, email your name & address to  sarahfreymoyer@sunandearth.com  for $5 worth of Sun & Earth coupons to try the products. Everyone is a winner!

While you are cashing in, read here for my latest article saving YOU money through changing every day habits around your home. Here's an excerpt to get you started:

Is your house working for you or are you working for it? There are many energy saving methods which people don't think about on a daily basis.

Do you read your gas and electric bills closely? If you do and you live in PA, you saw that PECO's rate caps are dropping in 2011. To offset the potentially disastrous rise in costs, PECO is offering a 6% savings account to customers who wish to bank extra dollars from July 2009 to December 2010. That's better than the banks are offering. The extra payments will be applied in 2011-2012 as homeowners adjust to the new prices, estimated at a potential 20% increase.

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Click here for more of the article which goes into practical ways to save money around the home by taking some basic steps.

 

Latest Frugal Entry in the Phoenix: Frugal Blog Name

Here's an excerpt from my latest article in the Phoenix:

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When it comes to writing on frugality, there are many writers on the Internet sharing the latest coupon codes, CVS deals, frugal fashion, shopper savings and more. Then there is the whole genre of green living, simple living, and organic living (which may or may not be frugal depending on who you ask.) They all have cool titles like Simply Frugal, Nickels & Dimes, Frugal Mom, and so many more.

I thought to myself, what would I call a blog in 1-3 words that reflects my own style of frugal living?

Click HERE to read more!

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