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Staying Fit On A Budget

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workin out on balance box
image via Teran61

The older that I have gotten, the more that I have noticed how important that it is to stay fit and healthy. And since I work from home, I end up spending far too much time sitting on my rear in front of a computer. To make matters worse, it seems like every time that I start browsing the interwebs there is another article telling me how too much sitting will put me in an early grave – like this article that I recently saw.

When I lived in an apartment complex, finding cheap ways to stay fit was super easy. Most apartment buildings have a free fitness center for residents to use. And some even have a swimming pool that you can use. While I do not always take advantage of the pool, I am a fan of using the fitness center.

But what happens when you buy your own home or move into a rental that doesn’t offer any free fitness related amenities? Well, if you’re like me, then you start to see you waistline slowly expanding. Okay, so I may be exaggerating a wee bit, but I am certainly not as healthy as I was when I had free access to a gym.

Since I am still working on paying down some debt, I am not too keen on adding a monthly gym membership fee to my bill calendar. My checking account isn’t too thrilled about the idea either. So, I have been doing on brainstorming on ways that I keep fit without breaking the budget. And though freebie ways to stay fit are preferable, I am not opposed to cheap or low cost one-time fees.

Cheap Ways To Exercise And Stay Fit

After some brainstorming, I have come up with a few ideas on how I can get in some daily exercise without spending a fortune on a monthly gym membership. I wanted to share them here in case any other finance-conscious people find themselves in a similar waist-expanding predicament.

Option 1 – start biking

Pros: gets me outside enjoying nature, will not be boring, good leg workout

Cons: not appealing in bad weather, can’t do in the snow, high cost initially

Costs: bikes have a wide price range so I used this site to find cheap options that are quality. Looks like around $300 is the cheapest that i can go. The same site has some helmet recommendations that price them at around $50 for a good quality option. That gets me to $350 up front if I just wear some regular workout clothes and shoes. And, it’s not considering any repairs or upkeep.

Conclusion: $350 is a lot of up front money for something that I can’t do all year long

Option 2 – fitness videos at home

Pros: can do any time of year, don’t have to leave home, no equipment required, plenty of free options available

Cons: might get bored because I’ll always be stuck inside

Costs: no extra costs unless I want to pay for a Netflix subscription or buy some videos up front. Plenty of free ones on YouTube though.

Conclusion: free is the ultimate in budget friendly and I can do it all year long. This is probably best as a combo with something else to reduce boredom and target different muscle groups.

Option 3 – get a job at a gym

Pros: don’t have to pay to use the gym, earn extra money

Cons: taking on another job leaves little time for fitness

Costs: gas money and time

Conclusion: good option if I had more time and definitely something to keep in mind for the future. I actually worked part-time at a YMCA in college and got use of their gym and pool in my off hours.

Option 4 – buy some home gym equipment

Pro: can do in any weather since I don’t have to leave home, good way to get in a serious workout

Cons: still keeps me stuck inside, need space for the equipment, upfront cost could be substantial, might not target enough areas of body

Costs: can be anything from cheap to expensive – a simple kettlebell is under $30 but things like rowing machines can range from less than $300 to well over $1000 (looks like around $500 gets you a decent machine)

Conclusion: upfront cost could be high, or I could buy a few different cheaper things to mix up my workouts

So, those are really the options that I have come up with for now. I really like the idea of taking up biking in the afternoons, but I am just not sure that I can justify the cost when I do not live in a city where I can use the bike all year long. I might look into used bikes though and see if that would lower the cost enough for it to be a good idea.

Other than that, I think that I will use a combo approach with the free videos on YouTube and some cheap fitness equipment (kettlebells, yoga mat, resistance bands, etc.). How do you stay fit on a budget?

Should You Use Square Cash To Send Money Online?

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Did You Know That You Can Send Money Via Email With Square Cash?

I don’t know about you, but for me the only site that I have ever used to send money to someone online is PayPal. I have a love hate relationship with them because I love that you can send cash over to someone by email, but I hate their customer service (or lack thereof) and fees for using their service.

Sure, there are a few other players in the market place, like Amazon Payments and I think Google Payments as well. However, none has quite the market share like PayPal. However, that may change soon as there is a new player out on the field. And it is the credit card processing company Square, who has been making great strides when it comes to merchant accounts with lower fees that all the competitors.

I have just recently tested out this new way of sending money to friends and family by email and want to share my experience. They gave me a free dollar to give them a try (you can get the same free money at: https://square.com/cash/G4c5W6) and the details of my experience are below.

What Is It?

As you may have already guess, this new service is nothing more than a quick and easy way to take cash from your checking account and get it to someone else’s. At it’s core, it is an online payment service just like PayPal, except that it does not work with credit cards – only debit cards.

When you need to send some funds over to someone else (or they to you), then this service facilitates that. Best of all? It only takes 1 to 2 business days for the entire process, whether you are sending or receiving the monies.

Who Is This Service For?

Pretty much anyone who wants an easy way to quickly transfer money to people online can benefit from this new money-transferring company. You can use it to send, as well as request, those dollars. It is also perfect for those of us that like to be able to pay someone, or receive payment, online without having to pay a fee to do so.

What Do You Need To Use It?

Using Square Cash is super easy and user friendly. All you need is an email address, the email address of the other person and a debit card. The company also offers an app for Android and iOS, so you can also use that if you want to send the $$$ while on your tablet or smartphone.

And for a limited time, the company is giving anyone who wants to try it out a free $1 to your debit card. All you have to do is go here –> https://square.com/cash/G4c5W6 and get started. It’s actually a great way to try it and see how it works for yourself.

Who Can Use It?

I am under the impression that pretty much anyone can take advantage of this new PayPal alternative. All you need is the email address details mentioned above and a debit card and you are ready to go!

Based on my experience, it is safe to use and certainly should be considered as a great alternative to sites like PayPal.

What I Like and Dislike About It

Likes: I love how user-friendly Square Cash is. You do not need to be super techy in order to use it. And I also love that they do not charge you any fees to send over the money like all the other similar sites do.

Dislikes: I do wish that you could use a credit card with their service, but I understand that to do so would result in fees. So, I guess that I am okay with that.

But, will it take off? Hard to tell since people are so used to using PayPal.

Will You Use It Or Try It Out?

Do you need an online money transfer site like this? If so, do you think that you will start using it? Why or why not? And do you plan on trying it out at https://square.com/cash/G4c5W6? Let me know your thoughts on this new $$$ site.

The Cost of An Emergency Appendectomy Without Insurance

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About a month and a half ago, I ended up in the E.R. with some excruciating pain in my lower right abdomen and back. I’d had the pain for a day and a half before going to the local hospital. You see, I had convinced myself that it was just food poisoning, especially since the pain was radiating to my back. I thought there was no way that it really was an appendix issue.

I only went to the hospital because the pain was so severe that I could not sleep the night before. It didn’t take long for them to give me the bad news that I needed to have emergency surgery and a required overnight stay in the hospital.

Fortunately, I do have health insurance. And as the bills keep rolling in, I am feeling extra fortunate because there is no way that I would be able to afford to pay them without insurance.

Just How Much Is A Laparoscopic Appendectomy In The US?

While I was waiting to get prepped for surgery, I was looking up the cost of the procedure on my phone. What I discovered is that the price varies greatly from one area of the U.S. to another. In fact, it can even vary by hospital in the same city!

My hospital visit took place in Raleigh, NC and you might be shocked at the total cost of this procedure.

hospital bill

Yeah, that’s a LOT for being in the hospital for such a brief period.

I’ve been fortunate in that this is really the first time that I’ve ever had to be in the hospital, so I was clueless about how my insurance deductible would work and if my Obamacare health insurance plan would leave me owning more than my deductible. You see, I’ve read stories about people who went into the hospital that was approved by their insurance, but that one of the doctors was not and they ended up owing thousands for the doctor while the hospital was covered by insurance.

So far, everything seems to be covered by my health insurance plan. The bill in the image above is just a statement. Each provider is sending individual bills to me, with the amount due after my insurance. I have to pay until my deductible is satisfied. My health insurance is also sending me an EOB statement each time they process a claim so that I will know what they paid and what I am left owing. It also shows me how much of my deductible has been met and how much is still outstanding.

If I did not have health insurance, then I suspect these bills would’ve given me lots of stress and worry. Now, I only have to worry about meeting my deductible, which is still not a great scenario in terms of trying to pay down debt and having to deal with new debt. But still, it could be a lot worse without insurance, and for that I am thankful.

Your Health Is Not A Place For Frugality

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Normally, I’d have read a bunch of really awesome blog posts and compiled my favorites in a Friday Finds post for today yesterday. But sometimes things don’t quite go as you plan, do they? You see, I had an unexpected visit to the emergency room this week that resulted in surgery for appendicitis and a stay in the hospital for monitoring.

The funny thing about this story (not really funny), is that I had the pain for a full day and a half before going to the ER. But my insurance deductible is $5500 and I know that ER visits are crazy expensive and I didn’t wanna go and up with it  being nothing wrong with me in the end. The waiting caused the appendicitis to get worse, which required a hospital stay instead of the normal going home a few hours after surgery. So, trying to save money is going to cost me substantially more.

But the real lesson here is that when it comes to your health, trying to save money is always a stupid move. I learned that if I’d waited too long that it could’ve resulted in a week long stay in the hospital, or worse – death!

You would think that getting this diagnosis would have stopped my momentary run of frugal stupidity. Instead, all I could think about were the three credit cards that I planned to pay off this month and that spending money at the hospital would derail that.

After my surgery, they offered me pain meds and I turned them down saying that the pain was bearable. It was…kind of…especially when I thought about how much those pain meds would cost me in the long run. But, it only takes so many times of waking up in pain to put some sense in your head and I called the nurse for some pain relief. After all, sleeping helps you heal and I couldn’t sleep if I was in pain.

Looking back now, I know that I was stupid. And the worst part is that I can afford my insurance deductible. I am very fortunate for that to be the case. So what if I can’t pay off those three credit cards this month. At least I’m not still in the hospital. And, at least I could afford to go there in the first place.

With that in mind, posting here will likely be a little off for the next few days. I’m quite weak from the surgery and I’m not certain that my writing is making any sense.

**I hope that this post is readable as I am still a bit loopy from pain meds!**

What To Do With Money From Your Side Hustles?

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I am a big advocate of doing side hustles for extra income, whether you want to break free of your boring day job and need income replacement or you just want to make a little extra cash. The thing with side hustles though is that you never really know if you’ll actually earn any monies from your efforts.

You could earn nothing. You could earn a little. Or, you could earn a substantial amount.

That last one describes my side hustle efforts with niche websites for March. For me, substantial is anything over $500 and last month I managed to make a crazy impressive $800 from my collection of little niche websites. I am on talking a bit more about those and my process in some upcoming posts. But what I’m thinking about is the best course of action for that money.

Do I make extra payments on the car loan? Do I make extra payments on the student loans? Do I make extra payments on the few remaining credit cards that I have carrying a balance? Or, do I take a weekend trip with the extra surprise money?

I can tell you right now that it won’t be the last one! In fact, when I saw my month-end figures, I did the little “paying off extra credit cards” dance that you do when you’re super duper excited by paying stuff off 🙂

I already had some stuff marked for payoff next month, and now a considerable chunk will be paid down on another card. Woot!

The hardest part for me is the waiting since the affiliate money from the niche sites isn’t paid out for 60 days. Yup, I have to wait until the end of May to make that lump sum payment to a credit card company. Coincidentally, I plan on paying off the auto loan in May as well. That was planned before this little side hustle windfall.

For me, I do side hustles as a way to earn extra money that can immediately go toward debt pay offs. I know that some people do side hustles for vacation money or fun money. I love that idea and once all my debt is paid off, that is exactly what I will do too. Don’t get me wrong – the thought of using that $800 for a weekend trip is very tempting. BUT – paying stuff off and lowering the amount that I have to pay out each month to creditors is even MORE tempting.

I think that the purpose of that side hustle money really varies from one person to the next. And deciding what you will do with it BEFORE you start earning is the best way to not get tempted by the thoughts of spending it on yourself. Y’know, unless that’s the whole point for you!

Will Gratitude Help Your Finances?

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I read an interesting article today on the Inc. Magazine website. While the article is on emotions and success, it got me to thinking about personal finance and money management. According to the article, a recent study came to the conclusion that people who feel gratitude are more likely than those who do not to delay financial gratification.

Since the article is from a business magazine, it notes that people will wait longer for financial rewards if they feel gratitude. But this got me to thinking – does this mean that by doing things like keeping a gratitude journal offer a way for people with spending problems to reign that in a bit? I think that the financial gratification does not have to be earning/getting a huge sum of money, but instead could be the gratification of getting to spend your money without having to send most of it to the credit card company or car loan people.

I also wonder if this is an effective way to prevent impulse purchases. Maybe force yourself to write down 5 things you’re grateful for BEFORE you can buy something? I just might give it a try the next time I am tempted to buy something that I might not actually need.

Side Hustle Sunday: Selling On Etsy

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If you are crafty at all, then Etsy offers a great side hustle opportunity for you. And you can be crafty in pretty much any way that you can think of – from sewing to painting to building stuff to photography.

One of my favorite shops on Etsy is the Chicks in Hats shop. Simple idea. Awesome product. To date, she’s made over 1700 sales with the lowest priced item for sale at $1.00. I actually bought some of these magnets to give as gag gifts a few years ago.

Selling your crafty goods on Etsy is not only a great way to build up a little side hustle income, but also to replace your day job income. There are plenty of stories of people who started selling on Etsy in their spare time and were able to eventually quit their job. Of course, you could keep your job and maintain this just as a side gig too.

There is something of a science to being successful on Etsy. Inc. Magazine did a story on it back in 2010 that is just as relevant today. And the Handmadeology site offers a more recent take on being a success on the site. What is so inspiring is that lots of people are earning thousands per month by selling their crafty designs on Etsy. Take a look at this post that shows the top selling shops in 2013. An the Etsy blog itself runs a Quit Your Day Job series on successful sellers.

Starting your own Etsy shop is not a terribly time consuming side hustle, but it does take a fair amount of work to get to the success of the sellers in the links above. While you need to offer products that people want, you also need to be able to take really great photos of those items. And, you have to drive people to your Etsy store instead of just waiting for them to find you. This can be done by utilizing free giveaway on blogs and beefing up your Etsy store SEO skills so that people can find you in the Etsy internal search engine.

You also need to determine the time and money you have invested in your crafts/handmade items so that you actually earn money from you sales. On the flip side though, you want to see what similar items are selling for so that you don’t price yourself out of the market. If it takes you a long time to create your items, then you might discover that you just can’t sell them at a price that make them worth it. But keep trying and you might find something that you enjoy making and can sell for a decent profit.

Spending To Save Is Still Spending

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Tell me if this scenario doesn’t sound familiar to you: someone excitedly tells you how they got two of the same item for only $2.00 (or some other amount) more than the cost of the original item, so they saved X amount of dollars on the that second item.

I know, we’ve all fallen victim to the thinking that even though we don’t need it, the price is only a little more, which is cheaper than buying that item by itself. But it doesn’t change the fact that it is kind of a stupid money mistake. Actually, I guess it is more of a trick that stores and retailers play on us to trick us into making a stupid money mistake. Either way, I think I have been free of this habit for a few years now, but every so often it almost gets me again.

Using myself as an example, I have a huge addiction to coffee. This means that I have to spend a lot of time in coffee shops when I am traveling. If you look at the menu at Starbucks, or any other coffee shop, you will see that it’s just $0.20 or so more to upsize and you get, what, four more ounces of coffee? What a steal! It’s like they’re practically giving away those four extra ounces of coffee! Who would pass this up? Only a crazy person, right?!?

But do I really need four more ounces of coffee? Isn’t 12 ounces enough? Or better yet, won’t the smaller 10 ounce cup be enough?

I’d like to say that it’s my coffee lust that steers me toward the larger coffee “deal,” but that I suspect it’s actually just the mind-trickery that retailers like to play on us.

Have you ever tried to convince a cashier that you do NOT want to upsize your drink, meal, etc? If so, then you have likely heard an argument along the lines of, “but it’s only X cents more and you get X amount more for the money!” When you tell them “no thanks” they get so confused, it’s almost like no one has ever said no to the upsell in the past.

The bottom line is that you aren’t getting anything extra as a “deal,” a “steal” or a “savings” if you actually have to spend more to get it. The truth is that it is super hard to remember this sometimes since stores work their best psychological mind-trickery on us. They really bring out their “A” game on this.

My dad falls victim to these “deals” when he is out shopping at stores like TJMaxx. He’ll call to tell me about something he bought there because it was such a good deal. Then, he’ll tell me how much he spent on it versus the original retail price listed on the tag. MIND TRICKERY!!! Most often, he is buying boxes or organic tea there, nevermind the fact that the man has an entire cabinet full of tea that he’s bought there in the past.

While I sneer at this sort of mind trickery that the stores tempt us with, I will admit that there are times when it works to our advantage. For instance, if I am at the grocery store and something that I regularly buy is heavily discounted if you buy two, then you better believe that I am buying two of them…or maybe four….assuming that it’d not something that will spoil. I once bought 12 boxes of pasta in a deal like that. Those pasta boxes lasted me about 13 months!

Friday Finds: Good Reads For March 28

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I’ve spent most of this week working on some side hustle website ideas, which really drained me when it came time to do anything else. As a result, I did a lot of blog reading on the interwebs. I found lots of cool reads this week, but have narrowed it down to some of my favorites below. Let me know if you’re read something great that I missed out on this week.

And a shout out to Save and Conquer for including a Money Misfit post in the Festival of Frugality.

 

Breaking Free of The Hold Stuff Has Over Me

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When I was younger, I made a LOT of stupid money decisions that mostly involved accumulating lots and lots of stuff. But once I read Your Money or Your Life, I changed my way of thinking and stopped spending so much of my hard earned money on stuff. Fast forward to today and I hardly ever buy things just to have them. Instead, I only buy things that I really want or really need. And I’d honestly thought that the hold that stuff has over me was broken long ago.

I was wrong.

no sharing

In two months, my rental lease is up and the Money Misfit household is moving out of our current rental. This past week, we started going through things in the apartment so that we can start packing and determine what we no longer need or want to move with us. That is how I discovered that some stuff still has a hold on me. And I don’t like that because in the end, it’s really JUST STUFF!

Let me give you some examples of what I’m talking about…

I enjoy the Cartoon Network show Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends and I have a plush Bloo that sits on my desk and has for years. I got this item for free back when I used to work at Warner Bros. It is just a plush toy – that’s it! I considered putting it on eBay as some of these things are selling and mine is a unique one since it came from the network, and remember – it didn’t cost me a cent. But, just the thought of putting it up for sale made me feel pouty.

Why? Because I was “thinking this is mine!” It took me two days to realize that I was being ridiculous. Then, I put it up on eBay before I changed my mind. This weekend, it sold for almost $13 and I was a little sad for a minute, but I snapped out of it because now I have one less thing and I am $13 richer (minus eBay and PayPal fees, of course).

Another item I’ve had on my desk for YEARS is a ceramic Tigger figurine that was apparently a limited item and coveted by collectors. I know I couldn’t have paid more than $15 for it and it is selling on eBay for $60! Has this been a part of my life for over 10 years? Yes. But in the end, it is just stuff.

How I Am Overcoming The Hold That Stuff Has On Me

I admit that it has been hard to part with some of the things that have been a part of my life for so long. However, these are just things that I bought for myself. They were not given to me by anyone, so there isn’t really any type of sentimental value attached to them. Once I started looking at the stuff in my home with a practical approach, it was easy to recognize the hold that the stuff has on me and then kick it to the curb.

To shake free of the hold that stuff has over me, I asked myself the following questions each time I evaluated keeping or getting rid of an item:

  • Does this have sentimental value? If yes, it is because someone gave it to me or another worthwhile reason to keep it? Or, have I just had it so long that I think it has more value than it really does?
  • Does this item have a purpose? If yes, does is it’s purpose actually useful to me now? Or am I holding onto it just in case I need something that meets this purpose in the future?
  • Does this item enrich my life? Or does it just sit on a shelf/desk/etc. and look cool/cute?
  • Can I re-buy this item or something very similar if I later discover that I do really need it?
  • Is there any other item that offers the same benefits as this item? If so, is this other item easily available to me at any time?

Using this series of questions has seriously helped me to shake off the hold of stuff and things that I don’t really need. I do still get a twinge of sadness or possessiveness when I put something in the “to put on eBay” or the “give to Goodwill” piles that I have in my living room. Overall though, I am getting really exciting and minimizing my possessions. Especially since it will mean less time packing up stuff and a smaller moving truck since I’ll have less things!