simply beautiful: visit Killarney National Park with me on a bright summer day

All of these photos were taken in Killarney National Park, County Kerry, Ireland, back in Summer 2010.

I loved how the light was coming through the trees right here.

Tall wildflowers along the trail

I wish national parks in the U.S. had castles.

One of my favorite photos-- I like the way the walls of the castle frame the lake and mountains.

Pretty light comes through the trees on a forested trail.

It was a looong walk to this stately manor home-- and well worth it.

Unbelievable view adjacent to the manor.

So beautiful here!

Approaching the ruins

In the nave...(ignore the eye infection).

This spot along the path was one of the most beautiful I've ever seen.

frugal furniture

One of the several things I have learned in recent years, since becoming a grownup, is that furniture is expensive.  I dislike this, so I've developed the following methods of combating it.  I have listed these in order from best option to least-best (but still good).

Best option: DIY
There are two paths to accomplish this: either make what you need yourself, or refurbish and spruce up old furniture you've already got.  Some ideas for the former:  Stack up stuff (such as large books) to make a side table, use plywood to build shelves or bookcases or a table, make a platform bed out of old pallets, etc...  You're only limited by your imagination.

As for fixing up stuff you already own, there are a ton of options: add new handles/hardware, paint it (I've done this with plenty of furniture, and it's the easiest way to completely change the look), create designs and decorate it, and just do anything you feel like to make it your own.  If you don't feel like being really artsy, but simply want to refurbish something old, that's also a great idea.  One of my favorite things is an antique Japanese lamp we had sitting around that was nonfunctional, and I was easily able to rewire it with a kit that probably cost five dollars or less at Wal-Mart.  Another is our homemade bookcase (which is also by far my most useful piece of furniture).

This option is the most creative, and thus the most fun, and that's why it's my favorite.

Second-best option: choose used over new
The best option in this category is to "adopt" a family member's spare furniture, since this would be free.  Mom, for example, might be a good candidate for a furniture source, though I would suggest asking first.  Second-best (and a personal favorite of mine), is the thrift store-- the only store in which I enjoy shopping.  This could be Goodwill, the Salvation Army, or any number of thrift stores you probably have locally.  The furniture is usually of lower quality, and you'll need to weed through a lot, but remember that you could combine this with Option #1 and artfully spruce up something you pick up for ten dollars.  Another great idea is the Craigslist furniture listings.  I've gotten a few good things this way, always for a swell price.  The only downside is that you will generally need to drive to where they're at and pick the stuff up-- but there is some great stuff to be had, and it is well worth sifting through what's available.

Third-best option:  when all else fails
I am loathe to buy something new, because the other options are just so much more fun (and cost so much less)-- and because I love old things.  But when I must buy something new, my default choices are Target or Ikea.  Not everything on the Ikea website can be ordered online, so keep that in mind when attempting to order that way.  Mom and I recently had the joy of shopping in their real, live store (in Charlotte) for the first time and had a ball, and we bought one of everything (almost).  As for Target, I have found that shopping conditions are ideal in September, when their dorm stuff goes on clearance.  My freshman year I scored a sweet coffee table (for five bucks!), a nifty purple desk lamp, and assorted kitchen stuff, all of which I am still getting use out of now, years post-dorm-- so I am certainly getting my money's worth.

--One last thought: I've never tried this myself, but Freecycle.org is also an option worth mentioning, especially for the truly broke and/or frugal.  It's a site where people give away stuff for free-- so it's certainly worth checking out!

what's worth spending money on

View of the snowy courtyard from inside Nymphenburg Palace, December 2010.  Travel is a high priority for me, so in my budget, it is worth saving for, planning thoughtfully, and spending on.

To gain greater control over your finances, decide carefully and thoughtfully what the most important expenditures for you are, and work towards eliminating the rest.  How I allot my discretionary expenditures is something I've been working on increasingly in the last several months-- aiming towards prioritizing better and fine-tuning my budget.

In contrast with my previous post, these are things I've decided are worth spending my money on:
-world travel (on a small budget)
-visiting/staying in touch with family and friends
-used books
-college classes
-better quality/ healthier food
-additional/unplanned giving to a cause that's important to me
-occasional treats like wine or champagne and high-quality, real chocolate
-memorable events or experiences--  celebrating a meal out on a special occasion, going to a concert, a hiking or skiing trip, visiting a museum or historical site, etc.

Everyone's priorities are personal, so pick and choose carefully which expenditures are MOST important to you, and prioritize accordingly.  My intention is to have more money left to direct towards these important things through budgeting more thoughtfully and deliberately, and developing the self-control to not let what I earn slip through my fingers (or, perish the thought, escalate into consumer debt.)

The things I choose to spend discretionary money on are, of course, a secondary priority.  My monthly income is first allotted towards:
1.  Contributing to a supplemental retirement fund (in my case, a 457b plan for state employees)
2.  Transferring a pre-determined amount of money automatically into savings to build up a savings fund
3.  Paying down debt
     -Right now, my first priority is what remains of my only private student loan, which has a relatively high  interest rate.
     -Second priority, which I will focus on in my budget in two months, will be my car loan.
4.  Setting money aside to pay for class tuition and books, so that I can pay for these upcoming expenses in cash rather than on credit.
5.  Any planned giving
     I'm a fan of Compassion International and Save the Children as well as a few other local/national organizations, but any charity/cause you choose to support should be checked out first to verify that most of your contribution is going towards what they claim to be supporting.  Guidestar and Charity Navigator provide resources for this.

What, to you, is worth spending discretionary money on?

unnecessary things people buy

What if we took the money we routinely waste on mindless or even harmful addictions or habits, and put it into our retirement accounts instead?

It is truly amazing, if you think about it, the ridiculous things people will spend their money on:
4-dollar coffees
cigarettes
mixed drinks
new cars
too-big cars
gas to drive too-big cars
too-big houses
utility bills for too-big houses
designer purses
junk food
soda
diet soda
bottled water
status symbols (clothing, shoes, etc.)
expensive jewelry
new things (when used is a viable alternative)
clothing to be worn once
fake nails/manicures
granite counter tops
shiny stainless steel appliances
impulse purchases
overpriced pre-portioned snacks
elective plastic surgery
unnecessary/high-end cosmetics
expensive haircuts at trendy salons
high-maintenance hair-coloring regimens
gym memberships
over-the-top weddings
status-symbol electronic gadgetry
paper-thin wall-sized television sets
...................................................................

I have been guilty of wasting my money on a number of these in the past-- and, at the same time, am glad to not be tempted by quite a few of these money-traps-- but I hope to not make any of these particular mistakes in my financial future.  The things you can resolve to live without may be quite different from mine.  But we all have things we know we will never have a valid reason to spend our hard-earned money on.

What expenses or purchases could you think a little more critically about, starting now?

avoiding advertising

"Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” - Will Rogers

It feels too obvious to mention that advertising has a number of negative effects on us, and it bombards us in this day incessantly and unavoidably.  It is intended to make us feel inadequate.  It makes us want to buy stuff we don't need, and deep down may not even truly want.  It creates "needs" out of "wants;" it creates needs in our minds that don't exist in reality.  It leads us to believe we lack for something, when the truth is, we more than likely already have too much, and are enormously wealthy compared to billions of people in the world.  In short, advertising confuses us.  It gets in our heads and then into our wallets.  I've been trying to combat this persistent stream of marketing and advertising in the last year especially, and I've brainstormed some ways to reduce my exposure to advertising.

My thinking is that since advertising makes us want stuff, it follows that we can decrease our perceived material wants by minimizing our exposure to advertising.  These are a handful of steps I've taken myself recently or at some point in the past:

-Cancel magazine subscriptions.  The vast majority of what you are paying for is simply advertisements.  You'll receive a partial refund for issues not yet sent.

-Cancel subscriptions to catalogs you receive automatically in the mail.

-Cancel any store/shopping-related email mailing lists you may have gotten yourself onto (or simply direct these emails to your spam folder).

-I find TV commercials to be incredibly obnoxious-- but that may be because I so rarely encounter them.  Three tactics to avoid them: mute commercials, watch less TV (better option), or eliminate cable (best option-- watching DVDs and using a cheap Netflix plan is a great alternative).

-Eliminate window shopping; shopping is not entertainment or therapy.  Last year I decided to no longer go to the mall-- and I'm only happier and more contented for it.  Remember that retail stores are purposely set up to manipulate you and get you to part with as much of your money as possible.

-Cease online shopping for entertainment-- even just browsing.  If you need to make a specific purchase, just make it, and then exit the shopping site.

-When you must shop, have a plan.  Go armed with a shopping list, stick to it, and then leave the store.

-Use a pop-up blocker in your browser to block the most obnoxious ads (though hopefully you already do).

One last thought-- Though we can purposely reduce the barrage of advertising in our lives, we will never be able to eliminate it completely without living in a remote village.  So, another helpful tactic to keep in mind is to remember to think critically when you are confronted by an advertisement: Think, what is it trying to make me want?  How is it trying to manufacture a mental or emotional "need" for this product?  How is it trying to manipulate me, the viewer or reader or shopper, emotionally?  How does it try to make me feel inadequate or incomplete-- without what they are selling?

Book recommendations for further reading on the subject:
Why We Buy by Paco Underhill
http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Buy-Shopping--Updated-Internet/dp/1416595244/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330137354&sr=1-1

Can't Buy My Love by Jean Kilbourne
http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Buy-Shopping--Updated-Internet/dp/1416595244/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330137354&sr=1-1

And, lastly, this is a fast-paced, entertaining video short I highly recommend:
Annie Leonard's "The Story of Stuff"

simple ways to de-stress and relax

The Orange Trees, by Caillebotte. 1878.

-in warm weather: sit outside in the sunshine
-in cold weather: take a long hot bath
-immerse myself in a book (or twelve)
-take a walk in the woods
-talk to a friend
-enjoy a piping hot cup of tea
-plan my next big trip
-clean (really-- a dirty or cluttered environment makes me feel overwhelmed)
-attack my to-do list
-eat (a little) chocolate

These are mine.  Yours may be totally different.

moneysaving tips for college kids

Your education is undoubtedly an investment in your future, and in your capacity to earn over a lifetime.  However, I would like to encourage you in the strongest terms possible to avoid accumulating debt during your student years.  Here are a handful of simple ways to save on the cost of your college education-- from someone who knows:

-CLEP tests.  This pretty much allowed me to graduate at all.  These are computer-based tests that you pay about $75 dollars for (though probably a bit more these days, and the cost may vary by institution) that award college credit for prior knowledge (though you can also just memorize a textbook on the subject, like I did for a few of them).  I earned a year and a half (18 hours) of credit this way, and saved myself many thousands of dollars, being at a private institution.

-Think long and hard about your choice of major.  I followed my less practical instincts and majored in Creative Writing--  and now, a few years later, I'm shelling out cash to pay for education classes, since I am now-- as I knew perfectly well I probably would be-- a teacher.  I still plan to be a full-time writer someday, though, so the background is still useful to me.  Just make sure you graduate with an actual plan.  And, ideally, a backup plan.

-Use distance education-- right now a 3-credit-hour distance course I am taking through a public university here in NC costs only $350.  At for-profit distance education universities, the price might be almost double, so try to find these courses through a public institution or community college.

-Increase your load to graduate early.  I did this towards the end and, by upping the number of CLEP tests I was taking as well, squeezed two semesters of work into my final one.  Obviously this saves you not only tuition costs, but dorm, food, and general living costs-- thousands of dollars.


Handy tips for current high-schoolers
-Consider dual-enrollment classes while still in high school.  I tried this my senior year but unfortunately became over-committed and ended up withdrawing.  This is a great opportunity to get a head start on your college graduation requirements and get some general ed courses out of the way-- and, importantly, it gives you a feel for what will be expected from you in college course work.

-Consider community college.  If you do this for even just your first year of college, while you're taking the general classes, you could really save a ton of money.

-Do apply for every scholarship possible!  Do the research.  Treat it like a job.  I won some I didn't think I had a chance at-- and I can guarantee you will miss out on 100% of the ones you don't apply for.


Additional tips for saving money while in college
-Whenever possible, buy textbooks used online, and at the end of the semester sell them online-- the bookstore buy-back scam at the end of the semester just takes advantage of you.  If you sell the book online you may well break even, assuming they haven't published a new edition in the last ten seconds (which happens, unfortunately, quite often).

-Think about living at home-- this not only saves the cost of a dorm or an apartment, but should allow you to skip the mandatory meal plan, or at least get a lower-priced one.  One of the biggest wastes of money for me in college was the mandatory meal plan-- I always had a large quantity of unused meals left over at the end of the semester, with no roll-over.


One last tip for college students (or those soon-to-be)
Run far, far away from credit cards.  If you do choose to get one-- if you can be grown-up about it, you can start to build your credit history-- always pay the balance in full before it's due.  But I'll be honest, the vast majority of college students (myself included, at the time) should just run in the other direction.  The data supports this-- the average college student graduates with thousands in consumer (credit card) debt.  Choose to be the exception.


And one really final tip, and by far the most important:
Enjoy it-- college never lasts nearly as long as we'd like it to.

make meals more enjoyable, without spending more

It's wonderful to enjoy a meal al fresco whenever beautiful weather permits it.

There are a myriad of easy ways to become slightly more creative, artistic, and thoughtful in your meals that can greatly increase your (and your guests') enjoyment of them.  These are just a few very simple ideas that come to mind: 

-Use the nice dishes or silverware that you probably have stored somewhere and probably never use.  Any particular day that you happen to be alive is a special occasion.

-In the evening, especially in the darkest winter months, use candles.  In the summer, or whenever the weather permits, dine al fresco!  This is always my favorite place to eat, and whenever I can eat my meal outside, I do.

-Enjoy setting the table properly.  Use a tablecloth.  Enjoy the ritual of the occasion.  

-Display basic decorations for the season or holiday.  This can be as simple and natural as some small pumpkins and maize displayed in fall, a fresh bowl of seasonal fruit (in any season), some flowers clipped from the yard and displayed in an old jar in spring, etc.

-Be creative and try cooking something new, something you've never tried before.  It is so easy and fun to branch out and discover an unlimited array of flavors and tastes and combinations that are totally new to you.

-This may be the most important tip, and unfortunately may not be something that many of us here in the United States were taught.  Learn to eat slowly and savor it.  Put your utensil down between bites.  Actually chew your food.  Taste it.  Think about it, rather than mindlessly consume it.

-Personally, I think the best way to enjoy any meal is to use fresh herbs, fruit, or vegetables from your own garden-- there is nothing more satisfying than that.  It can be as easily done as growing a couple of potted herbs in your windowsill.  The two I use the most are parsley and rosemary.

-Add a little something special that complements the meal-- a glass of chardonnay, a slice of Brie or Camembert (or whatever your cheese preferences dictate), special chocolates for dessert, etc.  Remember that all days for which you are present are special days.

-Enjoy the conversation and company.