Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Make Your Small Desk Seem HUGE


One of the ways I have been able to save money is by having less stuff.  Less stuff not only saves you the cost of buying the stuff, but also saves you the cost of paying for space to store your stuff.

Make a Small Desk Space Seem Like a Huge Desk!
Make a Small Desk Space Seem Like a Huge Desk!

In the bad old days when I had a lot more stuff, I also had a lot more stuff on my desk.  I had stacks of papers and equipment all over.  It didn't really matter how big my desk was, because it was covered with stuff anyway.

The past few years, I have applied the principles of having less stuff to maximize my desk space.  Over the years, I have downsized from having a large desk to having almost no desk surface now- yet I am more productive than ever.

How do I do so much with almost no desk space?

In my latest article published on Wise Bread, I lay out 11 ways to make a small desk space seem like a huge desk space.



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Monday, January 9, 2017

Avoiding a Fleecing at Sport Clips


I Avoided a Fleecing at Sport Clips!
I Avoided a Fleecing at Sport Clips!

As you may know, I went 8 years without paying for a haricut at a barbershop.  I bought a $25 pair of buzzers so I could get all the free haircuts I want.  My winning streak came to an end this summer when I paid $12 plus a $3 tip at the local barbershop.  In my defense, I was tricked into going to the barbershop.

After about 6 months and one more DIY haircut with the buzzers at home, I was ready to go to a professional again.  They can do things in the barbershop with scissors that I can't do myself with the #8 buzzers.

Ready for another sharp haircut, I went to the nearest shop- a Sport Clips- and gave my information at the counter to get in line for a haircut.  While waiting, I remembered that waiting was one thing I didn't like about getting a haircut at a barbershop.

Next, I spotted the price board.  The lowest cost haircut was $18.  This was before a tip.  Since this was a pretty fancy shop, I am sure a pretty fancy tip would be expected.  This would put the total damage north of $20.

Plus, since this was a sports-themed shop, I imagined that the barber would try to make small talk about sports during the haircut.  This would be rough since I don't get many TV channels and don't really keep up on sports.

Enough was enough.  I fled.

I quietly gathered my coat from the coat rack and slipped out the door.  I figured they would simply call the next person waiting a few minutes early.  No harm done, and I would save $20+ dollars and most of my lunch break.

This experience got me thinking... How much money would I need to have right now to get haircuts for life?  Let's say I get a haircut once every 3 months at $15 per haircut and I plan to get haircuts for 40 years.  That works out to $2400.  If I had $2400 in a "haircut envelope", I could get haircuts for the next 40 years.

What if I put the money in something with a better rate of return than an envelope?  Let's say I were to put a sum of cash into a fund that averages a 4% rate of return.  How much cash would I need now to get haircuts for life?  The answer is provided using a annuity calculator.  I used an annuity calculator from bankrate.com.  The total works out to $1191.69. 

Of course no one knows what the rate of return will be over the next 40 years.  Plus, the price of haircuts is likely to go up over time due to inflation.  As a matter of fact, the price at my local barbershop went up 50 cents after the first of the year.

Looking at big numbers like $2400 and even $1200 for haircuts makes me think I should stay on course and keep using the buzzers at home for free.

I am not sure if I will cut my hair at home every time, but I am pretty sure I won't go back to Sport Clips.


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Sunday, January 8, 2017

My New Car (Radio)

My 12 year old car has about everything I want- except for one thing.

It has 4 wheel drive, heated leather seats, sun roof, allow rims, rides great, and runs great.  What else is there?  It lacks a modern radio.  It does have a quality sound system with JBL radio which was top of the line in 2005.  But the OEM radio doesn't have a auxillary input, Bluetooth input, or XM radio.

My Old Car Radio Is Getting an Upgrade
My Old Car Radio Is Getting an Upgrade

Why does this matter?  My wife was looking at new cars that have a modern radio with these features, but has decided to drive my old car instead.  But what about the radio?  She wants to be able to listen to XM satellite radio and stream podcasts and music from her phone.

The good news is that you can buy a new radio with all of these features for under $200.  The new radio also has a USB port for charging and for receiving streaming music from a phone.  Add another $100 or so for installation and cables, and she's all set.

The Replacemet Radio
The Replacemet Radio with Bluetooth, USB, CD player, and Adjustable LED lighting effects



Of course, it would be less expensive to skip getting a new radio.  But spending $300 to fix the one thing wrong with the car seems like a good investment to make the old car more enjoyable reduce the risk of ending up buying a newer car which would cost over 100x more than upgrading the radio.

XM Receiver Module for Radio Upgrade
XM Receiver Module for Radio Upgrade

I haven't looked into this yet, but I might even be able to sell the old JBL radio with 6 disk CD player.  Why would anyone want to buy an old car radio?  Someone who has upgraded the radio in their car (like I am doing) may want to take out the upgraded radio when they sell the car.  I can use any proceeds from selling the old radio to offset the cost of the new radio.

I can't wait to get the new radio installed!  This reminds me of when I was 16 years old and installed a new stereo in my car with a cassette tape player and FM stereo.  This was a big upgrade to the original AM radio that came with the '81 Plymouth Horizon.

If you want to extend the life of your older car, upgrading the radio can be a cheap way to enjoy driving it for years longer and save money over buying a newer car.  The radio is one of the easiest tech items to upgrade.   I have been using my 10 year old Garmin GPS unit that attaches to the windshield with a succion cup, so it has a navigation system too.

Stay tuned for an update on how the car radio upgrade works out.


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Saturday, January 7, 2017

Too Much Money- My Problem Today...

Today I had an unusual problem.  I had too much money.  Allow me to explain...

When I pay cash for something and get change, I put the change in the center console of my car.  So there is a small amount of change flowing in every month.  But I almost never take change out and spend it.  It just slowly accumulates and fills up the space in my car.

I rounded up the change and put it in a big jar to take to the bank.  Here's a challenge for you:  look at the photo and try to guess how much change is in the jar...

How Much Change Did I End Up With In My Car?
How Much Change Did I End Up With In My Car?

Thankfully, my credit union has an automatic change counting machine.  You just dump the change in and the machine counts it.  The entire jar of change took only about a minute to count, and it was fun to watch.

Automatic Change Counting Machine
Automatic Change Counting Machine

Turn Your Change into Bills the Easy Way
Turn Your Change into Bills the Easy Way


At the end of the process, you get a ticket printed out that you take to the teller window.  You can have the money deposited into your account, or you can get cash.

So how much change did I have?  $112.09!

If you are not a member at the credit union, it costs you a 10% fee for using the machine.  Fortunately, I did not have to pay the fee.  There are other automatic coin counting machines such as Coinstar at places like Walmart, but these machines also charge a fee to use if you want to get cash.  The current Coinstar fee is 10.9%.

My advice is to take your change to your bank and have it counted for free using an automatic change couting machine.  Hauling around about 10 pounds of change in my car wasn't doing me any good.  Now I have the change in the form of bills that I will actually use, and I didn't have to pay a 10% fee or spend a lot of time counting change.

Seeing the change build up over time and become a sizable amount of money is an interesting phenomena.  The flow rate of the change coming in exceeds the flow rate going out, so the total is going to grow.  This happens even without the benefit of compounding that you get from investments.

This is a nice reminder of the power of saving small amounts of money over time.


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Friday, January 6, 2017

Who Buys This Stuff!?

I figured out why someone would buy a $198 sweater... and to my surprise, it makes sense now!

Today I was walking around the mall, mostly for exercise.  The windchill was below zero at noon, and I didn't feel like walking outside.  For some people, spending time in the mall would be a risky venture due to the risk of spending money, but it is pretty safe for me.

One of the few things I am at risk of buying is the clearance winter clothes that go on sale in the spring for up to 90% off, and maybe another clearance hat for my collection.

Clearance Hats Are A Weakness For Me!
Clearance Hats Are A Weakness For Me!

I wandered into a nice store that I have only gone into a few times before.  I looked around just for fun, and saw a friendly sign inviting me to "Please touch the merchandise..."

Please touch the merchandise... you'll love it!
Please touch the merchandise... you'll love it!

I have read that you are much more likely to buy something if you touch it.  I guess that makes sense... there is no way you can buy something if you don't touch it-how can you carry it to the checkout!  So naturally the only way you are going to buy something is if you touch it at some point.

I decided to take my chances and touch some nice sweaters they had on sale.  Very nice indeed.  But wait a minute, how much is that sweater!

This is what a $198 sweater looks like!
This is what a $198 sweater looks like!
The sweater was originally priced at $198, marked down to $133.  While I do appreciate a good markdown, the price had too many digits in it for me either way!

It was a fine sweater, but what about it would make someone pay 5 to 10 times more for that sweater than a different one?

(Awkward silence)

Oh, you were expecting me to answer the question...  Well, I don't really have a solid answer since I really don't know who buys this stuff.   Here are my best guesses:

  • Maybe the brand (which I didn't recognize) carries a lot of value to fans of that brand.  
  • Maybe people see shopping at a fancy store as a form of entertainment that is more exciting than shopping at less expensive places.
  • Maybe people are willing to pay a lot for something expensive to impress other people with their affluence or to make themselves feel better than other people.
  • Maybe the sweater was made out of some sort of expensive material like cashmere (I didn't touch the sweater that much to check).

As I read my list of reasons I thought someone might buy a really expensive sweater, I realized something funny.  There are people who wouldn't understand some of the things I buy.

I recently bought a "golf jacket" on clearance for $41.  It is really sharp looking and I plan to wear it to work a lot instead of the cheap clearance fleece I used to wear that my family is so embarrased of.

I am sure some people would not be able to understand why I would spend $41 on a new jacket.  Why not just keep wearing the $13 clearance fleece (even though it is chartreuse green and people at work thought I could win the ugly sweater contest wearing it)?

  • Did I buy my new jacket because of its fancy brand?  I can say no to that one, I don't even remember what brand it is.
  • Did I buy my new jacket as a form of entertainment?  I would say maybe a little bit to this one.  It was fun trying it on with my family encouraging me to buy it.  OK, so I am probably guilty of this one.
  • Did I buy my new jacket to impress other people or make me feel better about myself?  OK, you got me there too.  Yes.    The main reason I bought it was so I would look more expensive and less like a homeless person when I went to work.
  • And for the last one, did I spend a lot on my new jacket because it was made from an expensive material?  Nope- 100% polyester!

My point here is that people buy really expensive stuff for mostly the same reasons as you buy the stuff that you buy.  The only difference really is the number of digits in the price tag.

So that stuff that you buy and think is "normal" may seem really fancy to someone else who would struggle to understand why you buy it.


Enough deep thoughts for today.  Now it's time to leave the mall and go out in the cold to my car.  Good thing I'm wearing my really warm new jacket!


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Thursday, January 5, 2017

You Gotta Check The Clearance Rack...


Today I came home to find the doors to the solarium open after dark on a cold day.  That isn't how you use a solarium.  You are supposed to open the doors when the sun is shining to provide free passive solar heating to the rest of the house.  So why were the solarium doors open?

My wife was eager to show me something new in the solarium.  She had hung some very nice looking curtains alongside some of the windows.  They were extra long 96 inch curtains and looked great in the space.

"Looks awesome!" I said as I was facing her and looking at the curtains hanging behind her.  It probably wasn't clear whether the complement was meant for the curtains or for her.  That's OK, both looked awesome.

The next thing she showed me was even more awesome- the price tag!  The curtains were regularly priced at over $45 and were marked down to under $8.

Clearance curtains from Target!
Clearance curtains from Target!

"You gotta check the clearance rack," she said.  "You never know when you'll find something good."

Sound advice indeed.

There was another great purchase in the solarium- a lamp that Mrs. Penny Pincher found at a thrift shop for only $2!

This is a nice looking, sturdy lamp that is probably from a hotel.  I like that it has the button to turn it on and off on its base where it is easy to reach.  And it is really heavy duty and will probably last forever.  Plus it was only $2 on clearance at the thrift shop.  Did I mention that it was only $2?

$2 Hotel Lamp from the Thrift Shop
$2 Hotel Lamp from the Thrift Shop


"Beautiful!" I said as I looked at the lamp on the table behind my wife.  Again, it was probably not clear which I was complementing, but that's OK.

Gotta check those clearance racks!


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Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Go With Option 1


If you read my last post, you'll know what the following cryptic statement means:
I'm going with Option 1.


Bluetooth keyboard for cell phone
I Am Not Buying A New Computer...

My old laptop is nearing (or past) the end of its useful life.  I considered several options to replace it ranging from a tablet computer, a Chromebook, a Windows 10 laptop, and even a Microsoft Surface.  I threw out an other option just in case:  Option 1.  Option 1 means to do nothing.  While this option does not improve my computer situation, it is the least expensive.  That, of course, is the only reason to go with Option 1.

What does this mean for you, a reader of Penny Pincher Journal?  You may have noticed that I haven't posted in a few months.  I was pretty frustrated with my computer and I was planning to get back to work on the blog after I got a better computer situation.  I also got distracted by some paid freelance writiing opportunities and ended up getting articles published on places like Time.com, Kiplinger, Business Insider, etc.

But now my computer situation is resolved in a sense.  I have decided not to get a new computer.  I went to Best Buy about five times, and looked around on Amazon and Ebay many nights to check out computers, and decided that a Microsoft Surface would be just right for me.  But in the end I decided not to spend that much money.  I just couldn't bring myself to borrow money and make payments on a computer when I have so many other bills to deal with.

Typing articles on a cell phone is possible.  I timed myself typing a passage of text on my cell phone and found that I can type about 20 words per minute.  This is about half as fast as I can type on a computer keyboard.

Back in May, I found myself on the road with an article due and only my cell phone with me.  I bought a bluetooth keyboard for about $20, so I can type articles on my phone with a keyboard.  That gets me back up to around 40 words per minute.  And my old laptop still sort-of works.  So I have some options to keep working that don't cost anything.

I am going to try to get back to work on Penny Pincher Journal using the equipment I have.  Sure it would be nice to have a newer computer, but I am not going to wait for a year (or more) to be able to do anything.

I think the point of this post is not to overlook the benefits of Option 1 (Do Nothing).  I can avoid spending money and keep doing everything I want to do, even if it is not ideal.  But nothing is really ideal anyway.

When you face a decision of whether to spend money or not, don't forget Option 1 - do nothing...  Sometimes this is the best option, especially if you make the best of it.


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