Adventures in Debt

Freecycling is a fairly new concept, where instead of putting your unused items in the town dump, you give it to someone else to use. Sure, you could sell it on Craigslist or eBay, however sometimes that can be a bit of a hassle. And let’s face it, some items just aren’t worth anything anymore, although they’re still in good enough condition to use.

I have been on the hunt for a new microwave, as my dinosaur of a microwave from 1990 is on the downslope. I was planning on waiting till the Boxing Day sales, however about a month ago my sister told me that a friend of hers was closing his store, and wanted to get rid of the microwave he had in the back room. “Do you want it?” she asked? Of course! A free microwave is definitely better than having to spend money on one. It may not be exactly the model I want, in fact, it’s actually bigger (size-wise) than my dinosaur one, however the free price tag makes it infinitely more attractive.

As I’m in the middle of packing up my things, I’m definitely going to look at the stuff I have and see if there’s anything I can donate to friends as well. The less things I have to move, the better. Granted, I’m hiring movers to take my stuff over to the new place (in my mind it’s money well spent, saving me the mental and physical anguish of moving), but I managed to find a reputable and cheap set of movers to help out, which is always good. Plus moving during the week and before the 24th of the month actually saves me $25 per hour. That will save me almost $100 in the whole move, which makes it worthwhile. Of course, I do have to take a day off work, but again, using a vacation day for this is more than worthwhile, in my book.

Okay, time to get back to some packing! Happy New Year everyone.

Here is an early peek at my December numbers. With the holidays and all the visiting I’m doing, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to post these officially at the end of the month.

Total Debt: $18754.62

Debt Paid off This Month: $1508.34

Total paid in the $5000 Debt Payoff Contest: $4681.69

Total savings this month: $271.66 (some of this went to my vacation/fun money fund)

Emergency Fund total: $ 1496.39 (including the savings interest!)

All in all not a bad month. I was able to pay off more of my debt than I thought I would, however I also increased it somewhat given the fact I had to pay last month’s rent for my new apartment. But since I’ll be saving about $85 or more each month in the new apartment, that won’t set me back too much. Of course I’ll be applying the money I’m saving to my debt, which means an extra almost $100, which is great. I’m looking forward to putting my LOC 1 to bed, although before closing it off completely, I’ll just leave it at $0.00 for a bit, as a contingency.

“Oh wow, look at that, socks!”

That’s your reaction to that present from your in-laws/boyfriend/mom/whomever you received at Christmas last year. You’re shocked that someone took that much time (or no time at all) to buy you that present that you really wished they hadn’t gotten you.

But now you can do something about it. Today, the Thursday before Christmas, has been dubbed National Regifting Day by Regiftable.com.

For the frugal, regifting can be an important part of life, however it must be done carefully, and without fear. If you have fear, then the regiftee will sense it and know something’s up.

5-Monogrammed or engraved items are off limits. The regiftee will know immediately that this wasn’t meant for them in the first place, to don’t even try, even if the person shares your initial.

4-Don’t reuse the same wrapping paper the gift came in. In fact, to be even more frugal, and disguise the regift, try using some pages from an old magazine.

3- Make the gift a “new” one by combining some gifts. For example, take the socks you received from your grandmother, and the fruity-scent moisturizer you got from your mother-in-law and make a “pedicure kit” for a female acquaintance.

2-Make sure you don’t regift the person you got the gift from originally.

And the Number One rule for Regifting Successfully:

Don’t tell the regiftee that you’re regifting them!