from someone who once hated to practice the piano

In order to persuade anyone to read or believe what advice I attempt to provide, I must first relate that my strong disinclination for music practice is long past, and that not only did I major in music, but practicing the piano is now a favorite form of study and recreation. From growing up among other musicians and my little experience in teaching piano lessons, I have never doubted that inability or reluctance to practice is more common than it is uncommon. I have the firsthand experience of being a reluctant piano student and a trial upon the patience and efforts of several piano teachers and my mother and so would like to help those in that frustrating position by sharing my observations concerning the various reasons which may prevent regular and productive practice by young or beginning music students and offer some possible suggestions for improvement.

It is a funny thing that practicing the piano should seem to require so much discipline. My sister and I were really very easy to manage as children and teenagers. We did well in school, preferred to read books rather than go out, hardly spent any money, were never punished, and did everything expected of us except to practice the piano (we started learning at the ages of 5 and 3). In fact we both so severely disliked piano practice that our usual way was for each of us to play through our pieces for 20 minutes once a week just before walking to our teacher’s house. Incredibly enough, we advanced enough to show that our dislike of practice did not result from lack of ability because we successfully performed at recitals, church and school events, and our parents were proud.

Perhaps it is that discipline in any field is difficult for people in general, but music did seem especially difficult—more so than drawing, karate, math, and even learning German—and in fact it is so. The enjoyment of those on the receiving end of a musical performance often forms the misconception that the preparation behind the result consists largely of pleasure and ease. In actuality music is as much a science as it is an art and as much a discipline as it is a pleasure (and in the result there is only as much pleasure as there was discipline before it). Consideration must especially be shown to children when requiring them to undertake a subject the parts of which may be impossible or difficult to grasp at a certain age, and every effort made to promote the small successes which create the eagerness and habits of long term achievement.

Following is a series of small essays addressing various aspects of piano practice as pertains to children. While my experience is primarily in piano and singing, the principles I relate can be effectively applied to other instruments.

Related posts:

• Under the Weather – Recommended Reading
• April 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• Motivating Children to Practice Music (Part 3)
• Motivating Children to Practice Music (Part 4)
• Blog Carnivals

In music, speed of execution has a tendency to be a used as an indicator of excellence. Playing fantastically fast is the trait commonly associated with musical virtuosity and accomplishment, most especially by amateur listeners. I will only say briefly how this favoritism for one trait does great injustice to the other facets of musical performance such as tone, articulation, etc. as the point of this little essay is to explain how overvalue of fast playing is many a young musician’s greatest enemy.

Playing music very fast is satisfying and a often sure way of getting compliments. For these reasons, young and beginning musicians will too often attempt to play a piece at a faster tempo than they can execute correctly. Sometimes the result is that the piece sounds “okay” but will never reach the level of excellence that is possible with slower practice. Usually the result of trying to play too fast is that the student repeatedly plays the wrong notes or the wrong rhythms and unless slow and deliberate practice is applied, scant improvement will result from many hours of such practice. The frustration of making the same mistakes over and over is the frequent reason of a child declaring “I hate this piece” or “I hate piano practice”.

The reality is that those who learn to play brilliantly and fast have learned to practice very slowly. It is possible to make a game of playing slowly and deliberately by praising it as a skill and offering the task as a challenge. Setting slow tempo as an objective may help to remove the common delusion of its being tedious. Children should be encouraged to practice no faster than they can play without errors. The tempo should be gradually increased and if incidence of errors increase, it should be slowed down again. An older person should sit by if necessary and count out each beat as it is almost impossibly hard to play to a metronome when very young. A teacher may explain this principle, but cannot enforce its application in daily practice, therefore parental participation will be necessary on a daily basis.

It should be clearly explained that playing slowly is not a sign of incompetence or stupidity, which other children might tease or adults accidentally imply. Accuracy should be placed before speed and when learned in this order the difference between playing fast and playing well fast will be obvious. Being able to play accurately will remove much anxiety in performance and lessons. Practicing slowly will make difficult passages seem less like insurmountable problems, render faster results, and increase a student’s satisfaction and determination in the endeavor.

For parents who are not themselves musicians, the following guidelines may be useful:

1. The faster the projected tempo of a piece the slower it should be practiced. A Largo or Andante may often be learned at Largo or Andante. It is possible for many to play a Moderato prettily from the start and achieve successful performances, however some technical accomplishment may be lost if at least certain parts are not singled out for slow practice. I strongly recommend that one begins to study an Allegro or Presto at something like a Largo in order to play it well as Allegro or Presto.
2. Also please note that after the mastery of a fast piece of music, it is often necessary and always beneficial to practice it with exaggerated slowness and attention to detail on a regular basis. This activity is not only necessary for maintaining technique, but also prevents music from being reduced to an automatic activity, which is sometimes called physical memory. It often happens that the actual notes are forgotten and a pianist can only remember a piece by playing really fast without thinking. This is a condition in which a child is in terrible danger of memory loss in the middle of a recital and being frightened off forever.
3. The most obvious reason for practicing slowly is to figure out and memorize fingerings which then become automatic and fluent when playing faster. This is extremely important, but equally important is the development of technique and familiarity with dynamics and details which the student might otherwise forget or fail to notice.
4. When playing a piece slowly, make a point of playing beautifully and expressively, dwelling upon dynamics and articulation, bringing out legato or staccato, and making choices in phrasing, etc. Experimentation with expression and technique is also possible at this point so long as it is not in any way encourage bad habits. Practicing in this manner will not only improve the finished piece but can be extremely enjoyable to the practicer and those who are forced to hear the practicing. In fact, one can put on charming family performances of fast pieces expressed slowly. Those who are unaware of the indicated tempo may never suspect that an eloquent Andante is actually named Presto.

Related posts:

• Motivating Children to Practice Music: Introduction
• Under the Weather – Recommended Reading
• April 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• Blog Carnivals
• Motivating Children to Practice Music (Part 4)

Originally posted 2008-02-23 07:00:32.

Many composers, Wolfgang Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven among them, have no living descendants and therefore their works have been bequeathed to the world, and to you. Why then are poor college students required to purchase volume after volume of expensive music scores for the purpose of learning a few pieces each semester? Surely not for the enlightenment of reading the editors’ introductions and comments (explanations which can be found elsewhere for less cost).

Thanks to the Internet, archives of public domain music are increasingly readily available to music students, teachers, and performers for the mere cost of paper and ink (plus the use of a computer). Some benefits of using public domain music are as follows:

1. It saves money. A ream of paper will cost you less than most music books and usually contains more pages. An ink cartridge is also cheaper than most music books (I nearly purchased a $70 book of sonatas once) and you can save more money by refilling the ink yourself.
2. This resource allows you to try out pieces without purchasing beforehand music that might not suit you.
3. Music teachers that regularly use public domain music do not need to stock up books for resale or send students and parents on quixotic quests for a particular edition.
4. Public domain music is useful for the study of music literature as it is easily collected and organized and can be studied directly off the computer screen.
5. These scores are often early editions (very quaint in appearance) and may be useful for comparisons in research and analytical papers.

The following are a few tips on printing and organizing public domain music:

• Select “scale to fit page” in print settings before printing.
• Print music one-sided so that the pages can be spread out on a piano. Even if you do not intend to play it yourself, you may need an accompanist at some future time.
• Have one folder containing only pieces being currently studied for the purpose of taking to your lessons. Pieces being considered can temporarily reside here.
• Organize printed music into categories by instrument, style, or composer. Secure these groupings of music into manila folders by the use of brads or threading yarn or string through punched holes. This method allows the music to be read, reorganized, or taken out and prevents the chaotic accumulation of papers on, around, and under, your piano.
• If your music has been wrinkled and trampled from being badly kept, we can tell you from personal experience that it is possible to restore damaged printouts by ironing with a flat iron (no steam) on a firm surface such as a table covered with a sheet. Ironing through a sheet of blank paper will ensure that you do not get ink on your iron.

Note About Copyright & Public Domain Works
Not all free music listed on the Internet is legally in the public domain. Countries have different copyright laws which determine the date range from which a work enters into public domain. I believe the general rule for most countries (United States and Europe) is 70 years for works produced before 1978, but Canada only has a 50 year rule. There is no universal copyright law and local laws must be respected. Copyrights may be renewed by the owners be they companies or individuals. A musical work can simultaneously exist in editions that are in the public domain as well as editions that are copyrighted.

List of Sites for Public Domain Music

Instrumental Sheet Music

• Sheet Music Fox
  An extensive collection of free classical sheet music for almost all types of instruments and ensembles including sonatas, concertos, symphonies, etc. Some of the larger collections (for composers such as Mozart) spill over into Sheet Music Archive.
• Sheet Music Archive
  This site allows 2 free downloads a day, or unlimited downloads for a yearly subscription fee of $19.95 per year. But with many other free sites available, there really isn’t much need to pay for public domain music.
• Piano Public Domain
  As the title suggests, this is a collection of public domain classical music for piano. This site has both free and non-free music. The link above will take you to the free music. Other music is available at a small charge.
• Werner Icking Music Archive
  Free sheet music for various instruments by an extensive list of composers.
• Noten-Klavieren.de (Site in German)
  Click on “Komponisten” for the directory of free music sorted by composers, “Kammermusik” (Chamber Music) for ensemble pieces, which consist mainly of piano and violin duos, but there are also a few trios. “Klavier” means Piano, and “Geige” means Violin. Click on the title of the piece you want, then either “pdf” to print it or “mp3″ to hear how the piece sounds.
• Mutopia
  A collection of music in the public domain which has been typeset by a team of volunteers. Currently holds 1,264 works by well-known composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, etc.

Vocal Sheet Music

• Art Song Central
  Still a fairly new but growing collection of art songs and arias for vocalists. Freely available to singers and teachers to print in PDF format.
• Choral Public Domain Library
  An extensive collection of vocal music in various arrangements for small or large ensembles. As of this writing, this collection holds 9,081 score pages and 1,292 composer pages. An invaluable resource for singers and choirs.

For Scholars of Music

• Digital Scores Collection (Harvard University)
  This is a library of digital photographs of original or old scores in the hand of the composers or copyists. This collection has been available to Harvard students and scholars around the world.
• Sibley Music Library (University of Rochester)
  Scans of various works by a large list of composers.
• VARIATIONS Prototype: Online Music Scores (Indiana University)
  A collection of scans of opera, song, choral, chamber, orchestral, solo instrumental and piano literature.

The above are just a few of the sites where public domain sheet music can be found. Another good place for music resources is your public library where you can check out books and scores of classical and contemporary music (including songbooks of contemporary artists and soundtracks of films). However, scores you check out from the library, especially, contemporary volumes, are not likely to be in the public domain, so be sure to abide by the copyright laws. The library is a good way for you to try out or learn new music you otherwise wouldn’t have access to.

For more information and links for public domain sheet music, we recommend visiting the following websites:

• IMSLP: Other music score websites
• Online Music Scores (Arcadia University)

Related posts:

• Free e-Book, Audiobook, Video & Music Download and Online Resources From Your Local Library
• About This Blog
• Motivating Children to Practice Music: Introduction
• Terms of Use
• The Library Card: Your Other “Rewards Credit Card”

There is a skill called sight-reading. Sight-reading is the act of playing a piece of music through without having practiced it beforehand. We usually sight-read a piece when considering whether to learn it or when it is first assigned to us by an instructor. Some people continue to sight-read a piece indefinitely without ever resorting to the other skill: practicing. Practicing is to study a piece of music and usually by dividing it into sections to be repeated as many times as necessary until mastery of the whole is achieved by mastery of the parts. Sometimes these small sections are divided and studied in even smaller sections.

My definition of practicing might be called “boring” by those who like the immediate pleasure of playing and hearing an entire piece at once, and to play and hear it again and again just the same with probably a few slight improvements. That is entertainment, not practice.

By an unfortunate accident in the course of history, the word “Discipline” has been alloted a rather negative connotation and made synonymous with words like “Arduous” and associated with doing things that are “Not Fun”. Discipline is also presumed to require long periods to time, but time we have known to be relative since 1916 (thanks to a famous publication by the other Einstein). Therefore it should come as no surprise that a short duration of disciplined practice is rewarded by the “Instant Gratification” of noticeable improvement.

The above is a roundabout way of stating at the risk of my credibility that disciplined practice with attention to detail is really very fun, a fact possessing little chance of persuasion but which we must all discover for ourselves. This statement applies to the art of practicing slowly, addressed in the previous essay, as well as the art of practicing a piece in sections which will be briefly introduced here.

How small a section to isolate depends upon the difficulty and style of the music being studied and also upon the philosophy and particularity of one’s music instructor. Accomplishing one phrase at a time is a common way which naturally leads to combining several accomplished phrases and repeating that larger section for some time. Be aware, however, that certain sections smaller than a phrase—as small as 1 measure or even 2-3 notes—will benefit from being practiced alone for several minutes or several hours. Instances of very few notes requiring prolonged attention may be for reasons such as: unusual fingerings, notes separated by wide intervals, complex rhythms, ornaments, etc. Passages that the student hopes to play very fast should also receive many hours of undivided attention in which practicing slowly is included.

The key to such total concentration without suffering is to simplify the student’s view of the objective. If one’s goal is to learn an entire piece, playing only one section of it repeatedly will appear slow and frustrating. When sitting down the young student for piano practice, make it very clear that the objective of the day is to learn this measure or that phrase and nothing else. It does not even matter when the piece will be finished or even if it will be finished. Enforce a slow tempo that will guarantee the student’s success and create satisfaction. Encourage the relatively easy memorization of these sections so that the pianist may have the benefit of watching the hands while working on technique. The truth is that, in spite of the appearance of discipline, repetition is untaxing on the mind and almost comfortably lazy. Properly done, it is very enjoyable for the student to see how rapidly he or she improves. There is greater delight in playing a phrase excellently than in struggling through an entire piece. Once begun to practice, one might not want to stop.

Having practiced sections of a piece in this manner, should your child make a mistake or suffer memory loss in the middle of performance, he or she can easily begin at the start of one of these sections and be spared the uncomfortable experience of sitting silently before an audience. There is also the advantage of memorizing the piece as it is learned in minute sections as memorization of the entire piece appears daunting to some and is often faced with lack of confidence and reluctance. Practicing in sections can also be used solely for memorization.

The secret ,which is not a secret, is to isolate the objective. However small a musical goal, it should be a complete goal and well achieved. The popular saying concerning forests and trees can usually be reversed concerning music.

Related posts:

• Motivating Children to Practice Music: Introduction
• Under the Weather – Recommended Reading
• April 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• Motivating Children to Practice Music (Part 3)
• Blog Carnivals

An interesting experiment would be to forbid a young child to ever touch the piano, after all it is a very expensive instrument. One can easily imagine how much higher the piano instantly rises in that child’s estimation. One then promises the child that he or she will be “allowed” to begin learning the piano at a certain age. Even better then, if someone in the family—a parent, older sibling or cousin—were to frequently play very charming pieces of the kind accessible to children. Pieces from the Romantic era are very suitable for this purpose (e.g. Fϋr Elise & Doll’s Dream), should be repeated often and might even have stories invented about them. It is very natural that the child will aspire to play these pieces someday, and a united goal has been formed without duress.

When the long awaited birthday or predetermined date is come, the parent or guardian sets a time limit in which the child is allowed to practice the piano (concentration usually lasts 15-30 minutes so it is better to set too short a time than too long) and strictly enforces it. What happens after this point is too individual to generally state, but I think it is likely that practice will be less dreaded, more concentrated and the end will seem to come too soon. Eventually the child may become proficient enough that the proficiency itself will be a great motivation and make strict regulation of practice unnecessary.

The above scenario may strike some people as unusual and even unnatural. I am not instructing that the reader follow this method and neither will I discourage it for I see no harm in it. It should be remembered however that playing music is a privilege whatever our age or skill level. It should not be a thing to be suffered and should a child find a certain piece particularly odious, it may be for the better to change it for one that better pleases. If a child really despises the art, it may not be too harmful to allow him or her to give it up, for nearly everyone who gave up playing the piano at a young age lives to regret it and it is never too late to begin learning again with the knowledge of years lost as a valuable lesson learned.

Related posts:

• Under the Weather – Recommended Reading
• Motivating Children to Practice Music (Part 3)
• Motivating Children to Practice Music: Introduction
• Tuning Your Own Piano: A Skill With Many Unexpected Benefits
• Motivating Children to Practice Music (Part 4)

Originally posted 2008-02-21 19:57:34.

Most library websites these days go way beyond the ability to check your account and renew books. Rather, you have access to:

• Free e-book, audiobook, video and music downloads
• Periodicals
• Career and skill building resources
• Homework help for students
• School and career test preparation
• Databases of resources on a variety of subjects including (but not limited to):
  • Consumer information
  • Health
  • Genealogy
  • Grants
  • Business and Career

e-Books, Audiobooks, Videos & Music

Many California libraries belong to a program called Califa, where users of participating libraries can log-in with their library card numbers and check out e-books, audiobooks and music. I’m sure library systems in other states have similar programs.

Materials available through Califa include fiction, non-fiction, children’s and young adult literature. The Califa system offers public domain and non-public domain items. Copyrighted material is copy-protected so that while you can use them, they can’t be copies. Non-copyrighted material can be copied to your computer to keep indefinitely.

My favorite of the offerings are the audiobooks. The system is quite up to date and offers contemporary works and bestsellers such as The Da Vinci Code, Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich, Harry Potter and A Series of Unfortunate Events, as well as classics such as Pride and Prejudice, Moby Dick, etc.

Our favorites that we have listened to several times are the Chronicles of Narnia. The recording quality is good, download is fast, installation and operation of the software was easy.

How the Califa system works

• Browse the catalog for e-books, audiobooks or music you want to check out
• Add the items you want to check out in your “book bag”
• Check out when you are ready (I believe the loan period is 3 weeks).
• Enter your library card number and PIN (Visit or contact your library to get a PIN or if you don’t know yours. It’s often the last 4 digits of your phone number.)
• Download the Overdrive software to play audiobooks or music on your computer
• You can listen to the material on your computer for a period of time before it expires
• The Overdrive program also has MP3 download for iPod, iPhone and iPod Touch

The best part is that even though our current local library isn’t part of the Califa system, I was able to access the system using my old library card from when I lived in Alameda County (in the Bay Area). Older library cards do expire after several years, but if you recently lived in a bigger county or city system, you may still be able to access online resources through those libraries’ websites using your old library card. In California, most libraries will issue you a card as long as you are resident of the state.

So get on our library’s website and check out all the great resources you have access to. If you don’t have a library card, go and get yourself one!

For more on the benefits of a library card, check out a post I wrote earlier this year: The Library Card, Your Other Rewards Credit Card.

Related posts:

• Pecuniarities News: Top 100 Finance Blogs, MSN Smart Spending, FrugalFocus and Consumer Safety
• Interesting Reads From Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #16
• The Library Card: Your Other “Rewards Credit Card”
• Public Domain Music: Music you already own!
• Friday Fun: Meme Me! 7 Things You Didn’t Know About Me (Penelope Pince)

My suggestions are divided into the following subsections:

• Summer Hobbies – activities with lasting benefits and meaning
  
• Summer Studies – develop skills that will be useful in life
  
• Summer To-Do’s – a few ways to get your life or home in order
  
• Summer Fitness – ways to keep cool and stay fit
  
• Summer Pet Bonding – make your pet happy and you healthy

Summer Hobbies

Here are some ideas for catching up on tasks that may have been neglected during the year.

• Write in your journal
  Write about your past year, what’s on your mind, who and what you like and dislike, your daydreams, anything. In future years you will be glad you did it and also amused by your younger self. You think you will always remember what happened when, but as time goes by, memories do fade and become forgotten. (Trust me, I’m speaking from experience and I’m not yet 30 and have a memory better than most.)
• Make a family video
  Go around the house and take a video of your family going about its regular business. You will be glad for the memories one day.
• Scrapbook
  Organize family photos, report cards, birthday cards, artwork, concert programs and other keepsakes from the past year into a scrapbook.
• Reading
  Reading (even fun fiction) can help improve your mind, vocabulary, grammar and writing skills. If you go to the library, you can read in an air-conditioned environment without having to pay for the air-conditioning or the books.

Summer Studies

Yes, summer should be fun, but there’s no reason it can’t be both fun and productive.

• Learn a new language
  The benefits of learning languages are endless. Learning a new language can help you to:
  • Get ahead in your career
  • Make new friends from different parts of the world. When you show an interest in someone’s language or culture, they are often appreciative and take an interest in you in return.
  • Improve your English (or first language)
• Learn to play a musical instrument
  Music enhances the mind in many ways. Studies have shown that children who study music at an early age do better in school than those who don’t. Aside from that, it is also just plain fun.
• Learn to sew
  Sewing is a very useful skill to have regardless of your gender. You can learn to mend clothes, make your own clothes and other things for your house, which can save you a lot of money. Older and more skilled children can even make their own clothes for the coming school year. Check out one of our earlier articles for more info: Save Money by Sewing Your Own Clothes.
• Take a computer class
  Learn to type properly, use a spreadsheet or database, design websites, make presentations, etc. Most jobs these days involve computer use, so knowing as much as you can about computers might help you get a higher salary.

Summer To-Do’s

A few suggestions for improving life at home and getting ahead on the coming year.

• Get a head start on your Christmas shopping
  This could save you time and money because you can shop at your leisure and take advantage of summer sales. Leaving your shopping to the last minute usually costs more because you are up against a deadline and usually have fewer options.
• Sort through your stuff
  Go through your clothes and things and prune out those you no longer want or need. You could donate the things you no longer need or hold a garage or yard sale and make some money to put into your college or retirement savings.
• Re-arrange your room or home
  Re-arranging your room or home can have a positive impact on your life. A change can be uplifting and produce an overall feeling of well-being and accomplishment, renew your energy and increase productivity.
• Clean out your computer
  Ideally you would do this several times a year, but if you use the internet and download a lot of things, it’s a good idea to clean out your computer on a regular basis. If there are programs you don’t use, uninstall them. If there are files that you no longer need, delete them. Clean your registry if you’ve had the computer for a while. Keeping your hard drive from getting too full will extend its life.

Summer Fitness

A few suggestions for staying cool and healthy this summer.

• Mall Walking
  Walking in an indoor, air-conditioned mall is a great way to get exercise away from the heat and smog, and you can also save on sunscreen. You can even window-shop during your walks, but if you think you might get too tempted, leave your money and credit card at home.
• Swimming in an indoor pool
  Swimming is another low-impact exercise (safer than running) which increases endurance, muscle and cardiovascular strength. Try to swim in an indoor pool whenever possible or wait until early evening to avoid sunburn.
• Ice Skating
  Not only does it let you get away from the heat, but it’s a good low-impact and aerobic exercise which will help strengthen your bones and cardiovascular system. Taking some lessons and learning to skate properly can be worth the money.

Summer Pet Bonding

If you have a pet, spend some quality time together. Not only will you make your pet very happy, he/she will help make you healthier. (How Pets Help People)

• Take your dog to obedience school
  Obedience school is good for socializing and teaching discipline. There is nothing wrong with repeating obedience school for fun and refreshing both your memories.
• Teach your dog new tricks
  There are lots of fun tricks you can teach your dog: beg, spin (in both directions), roll, speak, catch a ball or frisbee, etc. You can also teach your dog to be helpful around the house: closing the door or brining you something you dropped. Dogs enjoy feeling helpful and learning new things can keep mature dogs’ minds sharp.
• Take your dog for long evening strolls or hikes
  If going hiking, be sure to take another person along, bring lots of water and plastic bags, and make sure your dog’s feet are protected from rough terrain. For your dog’s and other hikers’ safety, never let him off-leash on a hiking trail.
• Enter your dog in a 4th of July costume contest
  Make a fun costume for your dog and enter a costume contest or parade. (Sorry, for the self-promotion, but if you don’t want to make your own costume, check out some of our patriotic dog clothing and costumes at Franga Designs.)

Well, I hope some of these suggestions prove helpful in making your summer both fun and productive. Vas-y t’amuser!

Related posts:

• June 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• Under the Weather – Recommended Reading
• No-Air Conditioning Summer Part 1 – How It Started: No-Heat Winters
• Language Lesson ~ Frugality is a Virtue
• Frugal Thermodymics Part I: Limiting Sources of Heat in the Home

Originally posted 2008-06-09 05:28:43.

If you have never seen Fiddler on the Roof or want to see it again, you can watch the full movie free on Hulu at: http://www.hulu.com/watch/26704/fiddler-on-the-roof

Funny Money Quote from Fiddler On the Roof

Tevye: Again with the rich! What’s wrong with being rich?
Perchik: It’s no reason to marry. Money is the world’s curse.
Tevye: May the Lord smite me with it. And may I never recover!

If I Were a Rich Man

One of my favorite songs in this movie is If I Were a Rich Man, wherin Tevye fantasizes of the (sometimes imprudent) ways in which he would live his life and spend his money were he a wealthy man. Play the video below to watch it performed as can be done by none other than the great Topol. (You can watch the whole movie here, too, if you’d like.)

Fiddler on the Roof: If I Were a Rich Man – Lyrics

“Dear God, you made many, many poor people.
I realize, of course, that it’s no shame to be poor.
But it’s no great honor either!
So, what would have been so terrible if I had a small fortune?”

If I were a rich man,
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
All day long I’d biddy biddy bum.
If I were a wealthy man.
I wouldn’t have to work hard.
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
If I were a biddy biddy rich,
Yidle-diddle-didle-didle man.

I’d build a big tall house with rooms by the dozen,
Right in the middle of the town.
A fine tin roof with real wooden floors below.
There would be one long staircase just going up,
And one even longer coming down,
And one more leading nowhere, just for show.

I’d fill my yard with chicks and turkeys and geese and ducks
For the town to see and hear.
And each loud “cheep” and “swaqwk” and “honk” and “quack”
Would land like a trumpet on the ear,
As if to say “Here lives a wealthy man.”

If I were a rich man,
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
All day long I’d biddy biddy bum.
If I were a wealthy man.
I wouldn’t have to work hard.
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
If I were a biddy biddy rich,
Yidle-diddle-didle-didle man.

I see my wife, my Golde, looking like a rich man’s wife
With a proper double-chin.
Supervising meals to her heart’s delight.
I see her putting on airs and strutting like a peacock.
Oy, what a happy mood she’s in.
Screaming at the servants, day and night.

The most important men in town would come to fawn on me!
They would ask me to advise them,
Like a Solomon the Wise.
“If you please, Reb Tevye…”
“Pardon me, Reb Tevye…”
Posing problems that would cross a rabbi’s eyes!
And it won’t make one bit of difference if i answer right or wrong.
When you’re rich, they think you really know!

If I were rich, I’d have the time that I lack
To sit in the synagogue and pray.
And maybe have a seat by the Eastern wall.
And I’d discuss the holy books with the learned men, several hours every day.
That would be the sweetest thing of all.

If I were a rich man,
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
All day long I’d biddy biddy bum.
If I were a wealthy man.
I wouldn’t have to work hard.
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
If I were a biddy biddy rich,
Yidle-diddle-didle-didle man.

Related posts:

• Free Printable Craft Template: Birdhouse with Siding, Stucco Walls and Tile Roof
• Expensive Lessons: Knowing When to Call it Quits and Call in a Professional, and the Price of Spinelessness and Regret
• May 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• Interesting Reads from Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #4
• Motivating Children to Practice Music: Introduction

Originally posted 2008-08-10 10:00:53.

Tiny leaks and evaporation put a constant drain on your resources. As discussed in our previous post, From Pennies One Million Dollars Grow, a few cents saved here and there can add up to be a significant amount. Here we offer 101 suggestions for plugging expenditures in various aspects of your life – around the house, in your personal care, transportation, recreation and more. Most of these ideas we currently use or have applied in the past.

101 Drops in the Bucket

Saving on Utilities

• Minimize electricity use during peak hours (weekdays during work hours). Do laundry, use hot water, etc. in the evenings.
• Cook enough for several meals at once.
• Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth.
• Turn off shower when shampooing and soaping.
• Work or read in the same room with family members or roommates to consolidate light usage.
• Take advantage of natural daylight to get your work done. Sleep when it’s dark, get up as soon as it is light (before sunrise).
• Hold off on personal phone calls that can wait until evenings and weekends when rates are lower or free.
• Wash things on the lawn to water the grass at the same time.
• Water the lawn or garden in the early morning or after sundown. Skip watering on windy days.
• Use curtains to keep your house cool in summer and warm in winter.
• Keep thermostat lower in the winter and wear extra layers.
• Don’t separate colors in your laundry; instead, hand wash items that bleed. This way, you can reduce the number of loads. Saves water, electricity and soap.
• Keep thermostat as high as can be tolerated in summer without harming your pets, antiques and musical instruments.
• Drink lots of cold water to keep cool and reduce need for air conditioning.
• Turn off air conditioning in late afternoon, open doors and windows and turn on fans.
• Using ceiling fans in summer and winter (reverse directions to push warm air down).
• For laundry, set a shorter dryer time. It’s better to have to do a touch up instead of using unnecessary gas or electricity. You’d be surprised how little time some clothing need to dry. If taken out still warm, damp things can still air dry quite quickly.
• Cancel cable, purchase a few DVDs a month (which cost less than cable and leave you with an asset) and watch current shows online at Hulu or network channel websites.

Saving on Food and Health

• Eat smaller portions to avoid waste and overindulgence.
• Eat foods of substance that hold you over longer (i.e. proteins).
• Take baking soda instead of over-the-counter antacids (unless you have other health conditions that are affected by sodium intake).
• Put away leftover food immediately to prevent spoilage.
• Do not overfill refrigerator as food goes bad faster due to poor air circulation.
• Do house and yard work for exercise.
• Get an exercise bike for $150-$200 or pedal exerciser for under $20 and some hand weights instead of a gym membership.
• Water down juice to reduce caloric and sugar intake as well as make the juice last longer.
• Make a pot of tea with a teabag instead of just one cup.
• Opt for stainless steel silverware and cookware without plastic parts as they last indefinitely.
• Use a hand whisk instead of electric egg beater to burn calories and save money.
• When baking – cakes, casseroles, etc. – use a cookie sheet instead of aluminum foil to cover the pan or casserole dish.
• Combine a box of Jell-O with a pack of unflavored Knox Gelatin for lower sugar content and cost.
• Buy quart-size yogurt instead of individual serving cups. They often cost $2.00 per container and save a lot.
• (Cont. from #78) When finished with the yogurt, save the container for storing food, cut fruits and leftovers, or use for various projects around the house such as mixing paint.
• Bring treats home. For example:
• (Example 1 for #80) Instead of going out for ice cream, buy a gallon and a pack of cones and enjoy several ice cream cones at the same cost.
• (Example 2 for #80) Instead of ordering delivery pizza, bring home a frozen pizza. The most deluxe frozen pizza such as Freschetta still costs a lot less than delivery plus tip.
• If you cannot decide between a low-carb and low-fat diet, low-fat is usually cheaper.

Saving on Household

• Use old clothing to make rags, pillows, blankets and pet beds.
• Use a home dry cleaning kit instead of a professional dry cleaner.
• Use less laundry detergent unless your clothes are very dirty to extend the life of your clothing.
• Turn clothing inside-out when washing to preserve the appearance.
• Use rubbing alcohol to sanitize doorknobs, exercise equipment, refrigerator handles, etc.
• Hold the insecticide. When you see an ant or other little bug, wipe it away with a soapy sponge and discourage further visits by cleaning thoroughly and caulking any cracks and entry points.
• Use rubbing alcohol to kill insects such as ants, spiders, gnats, silverfish.
• Use vinegar to kill tougher and larger insects. Vinegar in a spray bottle is also the best and cleanest fly swatter.
• Use vinegar in place of more expensive cleaners.
• When the oven is on, set dishes or other items to dry on top of or near the oven (keep safety in mind).
• Repaint or varnish furniture you already own for a new look or to give it second life.
• If throwing or cutting up old clothes, salvage buttons, zippers, drawstrings, bows and re-usable trims for mending other clothing.
• Rinse dishes before soaping to save dish detergent.
• When doing dishes, put the dirtiest at the bottom so that soap and water can run over them while you’re washing other easier dishes first.
• If you dry your hands or face on a paper towel, set it aside for cleaning floors and other things.
• Use cold water to clean on hot days to prevent getting overheated and save electricity or gas.
• Follow the The Life Stages of a Dish Sponge not only for sponges, but towels, clothing and anything else that applies.
• Use plastic shopping bags instead of buying trash bags. The small size will also encourage you to take the garbage out more often.
• Use small holiday buckets that can be purchased half-price (around 25¢-50¢) after a holiday for trash cans/waste baskets or cleaning buckets. These small buckets can be set on the counter near the kitchen sink to keep dogs out of the trash.
• Water down dish and hand soap. You often pump out more than you need.
• Learn to perform minor repairs around your home such as lighting a pilot light, replacing a thermocouple, etc. (We once saved $70 by changing the thermocouple on our water heater ourselves instead of calling a repairman.)
• Redye color-worn clothing to give a second life. Fabric dyes can be purchased in the laundry section.
• To save your septic system, instead of pouring cooking oils down the drain, pour them into empty glass or plastic bottles, close tightly and throw away.
• To extend the life of your septic system and reduce frequency of pumping, throw toilet paper in a trash can lined with shopping bags (and take it out everyday).
• Instead of replacing your pillow, launder in hot water and dry on thoroughly on high heat (to kill dust mites). You can even cut one seam open, fluff the material by hand, and sew it shut. No one will notice if your stitching is untidy. Consider a pillow cover if you suffer from allergies.
• Use pillow and mattress covers to prolong the life of your bedding and facilitate easier cleaning especially if you have pets or children.
• Use a push reel lawn mower. It is cheaper to buy, efficient to store, requires no fuel, has fewer parts to maintain and repair, and provides for refreshing and fun exercise.
• Use a wind-up clock instead of a battery or electric clock.

Saving on Personal Care

• Opt for a low maintenance and shorter hair style to save on shampoo and hair products.
• Make bar soap last longer by unwrapping and letting it dry for about a week before using it. (You could set it in your closet during this time to make things smell fresh.)
• In personal grooming, wherever practical, pluck instead of wax as a one-time purchase of a good pair of tweezers lasts for years.
• While using a facial scrub, exfoliate your hands (and maybe even your elbows) before rinsing off.
• Accept free samples of products that you use and would purchase – soap, deodorant, shampoo, lotions, etc. – so long as it doesn’t require you to pay money or register for some sort of membership. A sample is usually enough for several uses and can put off need to purchase them.
• Dry your hair naturally to save electricity, heat damage to hair, and sweating. In cooler weather, wear a small towel, scarf, or flannel cap until hair is almost completely dry.
• Curl your hair without electricity. Cut rectangular strips from an old t-shirt, roll up sections of damp hair and tie in a knot. This method has been used for many centuries and gives a very charming style of curl. Mousse can be applied before curling if desired.
• Keep good quality ribbons from gift wrap and packaging (such as for candy, food, and cosmetics) and use these as hair ties for securing the ends of braids, tying a bow over a plain rubber band, or stitching hair styles on your head (with a blunt needle).

Saving on Hobbies, Recreation and Entertainment

• If there are 2 or more of you, wait for the DVD release of a film instead of going to the theater, especially if you like to watch a film more than once. The purchase of 1 DVD is less than the cost of 2 movie tickets.
• Buy DVDs instead of renting. You may see fewer films in a year, but will have assets to reuse or resell.
• If you have a piano, consider learning to tune it yourself, which can save about $160 a year. The one-time purchase of a good tuning kit and manual is about $110. Tools could be had for less, but good tools will better prevent damage. Refer to: Tuning Your Own Piano: A Skill With Many Unexpected Benefits
• Use the library to borrow books, audiobooks and music and rent movies for $1-$2 a week. See The Library Card: Your Other “Rewards Credit Card” for more ways your library can save you money.
• Buy a small potted Christmas tree instead of a large “dead” one. When Christmas is over, plant it in your yard to increase your property value or keep it for next year.
• If you need paper for crafts and projects, request paper at the grocery store checkout. We used to use paper bags for testing clothing sewing patterns. Horse feed bags are great for patterns, too.
• Use reading as a frugal leisure activity that will improve your writing, grammar, and vocabulary which is advantages in all walks of life. The Frugal Literate’s Guide to Affordable Reading.
• Stop paying for classes, lessons, and activities if you or your children do not attend, practice, or enjoy them enough. A break might revive motivation or provide a chance to discover new interests and talents.

Saving on Shopping

• Shop online whenever possible and take advantage of free and low shipping costs to save gas and time.
• When shopping, always check unit prices. Don’t be deceived by packaging size.
• Don’t buy junk food if you’ll regret it eating it.
• Use cash back rewards credit cards wherever and whenever you can.
• Try to limit purchases to things of lasting value such as books, classic literature, reference books, classical music, conservative fashions and acoustic instruments instead of electric.
• Purchase furniture made of real wood and not laminate or particle board. If items contain particle board, at least make sure the framing is constructed of solid wood. Particle boards will bow, causing shelves to collapse, and swell and become permanently damaged when wet.
• Choose latex and rubber toys for your dogs. They outlast plush toys by several years and are more sanitary.

Saving on Miscellaneous

• Use online postage printing and carrier pickup for mailing packages.
• Turn of wrist watches when not wearing them to save the battery.
• Pick up all loose change.
• Use open source software.
• Resist pressure from peers and solicitors to donate to causes you do not feel strongly for or cannot afford.
• Close your bank account and open a credit union account with higher dividends, no minimum balance, unlimited free teller visits and checks, and fee-free accounts. Why Credit Unions Instead of Banks
• Choose credit cards with no annual fees. You could be spending or earning interest on that money.

Saving on Transportation

• Walk wherever and whenever you can.
• Consolidate errands.
• Plan your route to avoid left turns when driving.
• When driving, take your foot off the gas when anticipating a stop ahead.
• Park in the first vacant space you find.
• Plan downhill routes to and from your destinations.

Hurrah! We made it!

Related posts:

• Our Fourpence Worth has moved. Please update your feed readers.
• Interesting Reads from Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #9
• Pecuniarities (Our Fourpence Worth) 1 Year Anniversary
• Interesting Reads From Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #11
• Put Your Brain Where Your Money Is: Think to Save

All activities listed below are FREE of admission charges unless otherwise noted (some activities are free on particular days or at particular times of day). Those that are not free cost $5 or less per person. Parking fees are noted whenever possible. Depending on the distance and number of persons in your group, public transit may or may not be less expensive. Check out an earlier post I wrote on How to Save Gas and Time by Using Google Maps, which includes tips on looking up public transportation directions and fares.

General & Sight-Seeing

The Grove Fountain Photo credit: r3m3dy

Our favorite frugal activity was walking malls and pretty places to both sight-see and get some exercise. Here are some of our favorite places to walk. Note that even though these include shopping centers, you do not need to shop in order to enjoy the scenery and atmosphere!

• Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade

  Grab a drink or ice cream cone and just enjoy the scenery and street performers. Check out Santa Monica Pier while you’re there. You don’t have to spend money on the rides, just enjoy the scenery, have a look at the famous carousel built in 1916.

  More information: Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade

• The Grove

  A very pretty outdoor mall with cute buildings and a park-like setting with fountains and outdoor seating. Includes free events such as Movies in the Park, Girls Night Out, Music in the Park, etc.

  More information: The Grove

• Farmers Market

  

  The Farmers Market isn’t only a place to shop for groceries, but they host free events all year round including a Summer Music Series; Family Fun with music, arts & crafts; Fall Festival with marching band, petting zoo, pig races, etc.; Holiday Festivities including music, Menorah lighting, caroling and a toy soldier band; Mardi Gras with Cajun bands, mask making, etc.; and the Gilmore Heritage Auto Show featuring more than 100 vintage and classic cars. (Photo credit: andy castro)

  More information: Farmers Market Events

• Downtown Burbank

  “Come Out and Dance” with live bands with free dance lessons, fine arts festivals, Halloween trick-or-treat, Holiday Cheer and more in Downtown Burbank.

  More information: Events in Downtown Burbank

Entertainment

• The Hollywood Bowl Museum

  The Hollywood Bowl is the world’s largest natural amphitheater which has hosted symphonies, opera, jazz, ballet, presidential addresses, rock concerts, etc. The grounds are open to the public to during the day to see the amphitheater. During the summer months, the Bowl offers rehearsals every Tuesday, Thursday & Friday, from 9 AM to noon. Admission to the rehearsals is free. The Hollywood Bowl museum is open to the public during the day year-round, and nights before concerts.

  More information: The Hollywood Bowl

• TV Studio Audience

  Attend a TV show or sitcom taping as studio audience. Tickets are free, but you may be there until midnight. A great way to see your favorite stars live and an episode of your favorite show before everybody else.

  More information and tickets: TV Tickets, Audience Unlimited

Universal Studios Hollywood

• Film Screenings

  Before films are released, they are often screened to audiences for input. Los Angeles, being the film capitol of the world, is full of films waiting to be screened. However, this one is more based on opportunity striking, because you often need to be invited. We used to go to the malls a lot, sometimes for shopping and sometimes just to walk, and perhaps 1 out of 4 times, we were approached by people looking for film screening audiences. After the film, you are asked to fill out a questionnaire of what you thought of the movie, and you might be selected to stay behind with a small group to answer questions and provide more feedback.

  More information: Tips for How to Attend a Free Movie Screening

• Universal City Walk Summer Block Party

  Free entertainment and movies at Universal Studios City Walk (no admission fee) seven nights a week during the summer. But to save on parking, you will want to find free or low-cost parking elsewhere and walk up to the City Walk.

  More information: Universal Studios City Walk

• Grand Performances

  Grand Performances presents free performing arts that reflect the best of global culture and inspire community among the diverse peoples of Los Angeles.

  More information: Grand Performances at California Plaza

Outdoor Activities

• Night Hikes at Griffith Park

  The Sierra Club leads free 2-hour hikes open to the public to view nightlife and birds. They encourage you to bring binoculars to better see the wildlife.

  More information: Night Hikes

• L.A. Mountains

  Several parks that have free group hikes through several canyons and ranches. Some have a $1-$5 parking fee, but the hikes are free.

  More information: L.A. Mountains Hikes and Events Calendars

Art & Culture

The Getty Villa

It is recommended that you check with each institution regarding admission and parking fees prior to visiting as the information may change.

• The Getty Center

  “The Getty Center presents the Getty’s collection of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present against a backdrop of dramatic architecture, tranquil gardens, and breathtaking views.” Admission is Free, but parking is $8.

  More information: The Getty Center

• The Getty Villa

  The Getty Villa, located in Malibu, is an educational center and museum dedicated to the study of the arts and cultures of ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria.

  More information: The Getty Center

• Skirball Cutural Center

  A great cultural and historical museum which offers free admissions on Thursdays and other free events such as film screenings. We once attended a great exhibit on Albert Einstein here.

  More information: The Skirball Cultural Center

• Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

  The largest arm museum in the western United States. On the second Tuesday of each month, general admission to the permanent galleries and non-ticketed exhibitions is free to all. After 5 pm, you may pay what you wish. Evening special: Vehicles entering the 6th Street parking garage after 7 pm park for free.

  More information: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

• Los Angeles Public Library

  This is one of our favorite places in the world – a 5-story building full of books. Aside from books, it is also a center of art and architecture with its distinctive sphinxes and rooftop pyramids. Docent guided tours are available daily. Parking is $1 Flat Rate for cars entering after 3PM, and on Saturdays and Sundays.

  More information: Los Angeles Public Library Tours

Educational

• Travel Town Museum

  A combination transportation museum and recreation center located at the L.A. Zoo. Has a miniature train ride tour of the perimeter of the museum for a small fee. Picnic tables and barbecue facilities are available on a first come, first serve basis. Admission is free, parking available on Museum premises.

  More information: Travel Town Museum

• Griffith Observatory

  Located at Griffith Park, Griffith Observatory’s grounds, exhibits, and telescopes are open and free to the public each day the building is open. The Observatory also offers programs, special events, and public star parties.

  More information: Griffith Observatory

Griffith Observatory

• California Science Center

  “The California Science Center offers fun and informative permanent exhibits presented in interactive worlds. Through hands-on experiences in our galleries, you’ll learn about human inventions and innovations, the life processes of living things and more.” Admission to permanent exhibits is free, additional charge for IMAX and special exhbitions. Parking is $6.

  More information: California Science Center

• Los Angeles Fire Department Historical Society – Hollywood Museum 27

  Museuem and exhibit of firefighting history dating back to the 1880s including a library and learning center on fire and life safety for both children and adults.

  More information: LAFD Historical Society

• Barnes and Noble Storytime

  Barnes and Noble bookstore offers storytime for children, toddlers, and beginning readers. This is a nationwide program. Check the events calendar for the schedule of the store closest to you.

  More information: Barnes and Noble Store Events Calendar

• Santa Monica Pier Aquarium

  Exhibits and public programs to educate kids and families about the ocean, its animal and plant life. Children under 12 enter free, adults pay a suggested admission of $5 ($2 minimum).

  More information: Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica Pier Aquarium

Sources for More Free Events and Frugal Activities in the Los Angeles Area

• This week in … Guides to events such as concerts, movies, hikes and other activities in the area (some free, some not)
  
  • Burbank
  • Santa Monica
  • Pacific Palisades
  • Beverly Hills
  • Malibu
  • East San Fernando Valley (Encino, Sherman Oaks, Studio City & surrounding)
  • West San Fernando Valley (Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Tarzana & surrounding)
  • Southern California

• Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation
  Guide of activities, programs and classes offered through the parks and recreations. Some may be free and some for a fee.
• Parents Connect Activity Calendar – Los Angeles
• Eye Spy L.A. Free Things to Do in Los Angeles
  

Related posts:

• Pecuniarities (Our Fourpence Worth) 1 Year Anniversary
• Insurance Matters: The Cost of Complacency
• Save on Groceries, Auto Repair, Movie Tickets, Dining, Travel, Recreation and More with the Entertainment Book: Currently 50% Off
• Festival of Frugality #140: The Frugal Quotes Edition
• Our Financial Lent: Giving up Chocolate and Ice Cream for a Month to Save $14

From Our Fourpence Worth

• Father’s Day
  If you’re still looking for a Father’s Day present, many of our ideas from Frugal but Thoughtful Mother’s Day Gift Suggestions could also apply to fathers and father-figures in your life.
• Tax Rebate
  If you are truly interested in helping the US economy, check out Don’t Spend that Tax Rebate Just Yet for a few suggestions on how to and how not to spend your tax rebate based on an article by Liz Pulliam Weston of MSN Money.
• Motivating Children to Practice Music
  Take advantage of summer vacation to help your kids get ahead on their music practice and get the most out of your music lesson fees with some advice by Madoline, who majored in music and has had experience in teaching children’s piano lessons.
  • Motivating Children to Practice Music: Introduction
  • Part 2: Playing the Piano is a Privilege (Not a Chore)
  • Part 3: Playing Slower for Faster Results
  • Part 4: Divide and Conquer

  (If you like the image to the right, which is an original illustration by my sister Madoline, check out our CafePress store Mozartini for gifts and collectibles featuring this image and other artwork by the same hand.)

• Editor’s Picks
  We’re starting to get the hang of blogging (which was completely new to us when we started this blog in February), and have produced a few Editor’s Picks in recent blog carnivals:
  • The Frugal Literate’s Guide to Affordable Reading
  • Frugal but Thoughtful Mother’s Day Gift Suggestions
  • My Favorite Money and Time Saving Websites
  • Guide to Safe and Smart Traveling with Pets
  • Lottery Tickets: Worthy Investment or Waste of Money?
  • Simple Solutions to Staying Out of Debt

News from the Personal Finance Blogosphere

• Personal Finance Buzz
  Check out PF Buzz for lots of great personal finance articles and vote for your favorite ones — hint hint — my profile.
• Finance Fiesta
  Last Thursday (June 5th) saw the first edition of the Finance Fiesta blog carnival hosted at Master Your Card. This week (today), the Fiesta is being hosted at Wide Open Wallet and will be hosted by yours truly next Thursday. If you have a finance or frugality related article, be sure to submit it by Wednesday June 18th 5:00PM EDT to be considered for inclusion in the 3rd Edition of the Finance Fiesta!
• Summer Savings Series
  Money Life Network is running a Summer Savings Series over the course of 3 weeks with tips including but not limited to:
  • Ways to save on travel
  • Frugal activities for the kids
  • Ways to save on your auto expenses
  • Ways to save on groceries
  • How to get motivated to save

  Be sure to also check out my last article Frugal, Fun and Productive Summer Activities for some ideas for keeping cool, busy and fit this summer.

I promise to return soon with more scintillating material. Thanks for reading!

Please consider subscribing to our RSS Feed to keep up with new posts. If you prefer, you can also have new posts delivered directly to your inbox by Subscribing by Email.

Related posts:

• Tips for Staying Healthy This Winter
• Hosting the 3rd Edition of the Finance Fiesta Blog Carnival
• Hosting the 16th Finance Fiesta Blog Carnival
• Does Thinking About Money Make You a Bad Person?
• Closing Your Credit Cards Can Hurt Your FICO Score

Originally posted 2008-06-12 05:48:09.

Because we mentioned learning to tune your piano as a way to save money, I will briefly introduce the topic in this post. For actual tuning instructions, theory, and technique, there are enough websites and manuals available that I think there is little point in repeating that information here (my favorite sources may he found at the end of this post). Instead I will offer some points for you to consider if you are thinking of attempting to tune your own piano. These are things I have learned from my own experience with piano tuning and the discovery of numerous unexpected benefits beyond the financial resulting from this one new skill.

Saving Money

Since this is a financial blog, it makes sense to address the money factor first. The average tuning will cost you about $80. And since most pianos require two tunings a year (due to the changing seasons) you pay your tuner $160 per year not including regulating and minor repairs—which you can also learn to do on your own.

You will need to purchase some basic tools (tuning lever, mutes, A440 tuning fork), but these are one time expenditures resulting in long term savings. While shopping for a tuning kit, I saw prices as low as $60 for new tools and $40 for used tools. I opted for a $90 tuning kit because higher quality meant more accuracy and less risk of damaging my piano. Basic instructions for tuning can be found online for free or you can purchase a manual. This depends on how seriously you wish to learn the subject. I highly recommend Arthur A. Reblitz’s book, Piano Servicing, Tuning, and Rebuilding, Second Edition: For the Professional, the Student, and the Hobbyist, which is thorough and easy to read.

And because time is money, you will need to consider the time you will spend tuning your piano. Your first few tunings may take you several hours, but with practice you might be able to tune your piano in 40 minutes. And remember it is only twice a year. You know how much your time is worth, so you decide.

Physical and Aural Requirements

You will need to be healthy enough to stand and lean over the piano for prolonged periods and repeatedly turn the handle of your tuning lever. You will need a little dexterity with the hands to insert wedges between the strings and turn the lever in very small increments. You should be able to distinguish musical pitches relatively well. You don’t need perfect pitch, but hopefully you are not tone deaf (though tone deaf individuals can probably tune with the help to electronic devices). If you own a piano, you are most likely a musician and your ear should be adequate.

How Hard is Piano Tuning?

How complicated piano tuning is depends on what methods you choose and how much you expect of yourself. Unless you are giving serious concerts in your home, you only need to tune well enough to please yourself and most listeners won’t know the difference. Here are several methods I know of that non-professionals use to tune pianos

From easiest to most difficult

• Use a CD which plays the 88 tones of the piano and match each tone as closely as you can.
• Use an electronic device which tells you what frequency (pitch) you are on so you know when you get it exactly in tune.
• Tune A440 to a tuning fork and tune the other pitches by ear. This is best done by using the intervals Major 3rd, minor 3rd, Major 6th and Octave.
• Learn tuning theory and set the temperament using “beats,” then tune the other notes by matching octaves.

The last method is more precise and requires more patience. It will also increase your knowledge and musicality.

Tuning Improves Your Ear

Ear training is the most stressful part of a musical education for many people. It is also the easiest part to neglect once you’ve scraped an acceptable grade and run away from your last listening exam. And even if you’ve never been in an ear training class, you can imagine how anxious you might be if you sat in a room for 45 minutes trying to process and write down what your teacher is playing before he starts playing the next thing you have to write down. Ironically, ear training class seems to create more insecurity than competence (except in rare individuals) due to the high level of pressure most of us feel in that situation.

There is nothing like routine to turn a skill into a mere habit. In the beginning, you might be uncertain whether an interval you tuned is inaccurate or whether you have a perfect unison in the 2 or 3 strings that make up one note. By the time you have tuned all 88 notes once or twice, you should find yourself quite confident about what you are hearing.

Tuning theory, if you choose to learn it, explains the mathematics (quite simple) and relationships between pitches which takes the mystery out of ear training and makes it more factual.

You Will Better Appreciate Your Instrument

Ever since I began to tune and maintain my piano, and realized how much work it entails, I have an increased appreciation for it as a fine and complex instrument. Penelope and I recently rearranged the entire house in order to move the piano to a location with the most stable temperature in winter and summer. I also dust it more often and make an effort to keep it covered when not in use, but the latter proved rather impractical because now that I work at home, I play the piano frequently during the day and often in the night as well. Still, one might say that I now have a more complex relationship with my piano.

Advantages for Pianists

As a pianist it was not so much the tuning, but learning my way around the inside of the piano that improved my playing. I can make choices based on what sort of harmonics I want to achieve and pedal according to how I want the dampers to interact with the strings. And if you have pretty good mechanical skills, you might learn to regulate and do minor repairs because there is a convenient sort of independence in being able to pop open the piano and fix a broken note or stop an annoying clicking part.

Advantages for Singers

Being able to identify and produce an accurate pitch is an obvious advantage for singers, because we have to tune our vocal chords to every note in a song. The process of piano tuning is good practice for your brain to find correct pitches. The physics of piano string vibration is closely related to vocal cord vibration which improves your understanding of partials and harmonics, allowing you to make more informed choices concerning issues such as vibrato, tone color and basic technique.

Benefits for the Curious and Scholarly

When I decided to learn to tune my piano earlier this year, I had no idea how many new subjects of interest it would lead to. I have been reading up on things like the history of the piano, earlier piano technology, and the math and physics of music which explains the reasons behind all those rules and conventions learned in music theory.

And most fun of all, I used what I learned about the workings of the piano action to design a mechanical toy which Penelope and I built for our dogs just yesterday. This really neat toy is a wooden lever with a place on one end where my dog Wolfie loads a tennis ball. He then steps around to the other end and depresses the lever with his paw, flinging the ball in the air for him to catch. This is so cool that we cheer until we are too hoarse to sing. And it all came from tuning the piano!

Recommended Resources for Piano Tuning and Repair

• Manual: Piano Servicing, Tuning, and Rebuilding, Second Edition: For the Professional, the Student, and the Hobbyist by Arthur A. Reblitz
• Tools: KS Piano Tuning Kits
• Tools, Parts & Online Instructions: Tuning Your Piano – Do It Yourself

Related posts:

• Motivating Children to Practice Music (Part 2)
• 101 Ways to Save Money in Your Everyday Life
• Motivating Children to Practice Music: Introduction
• Motivating Children to Practice Music (Part 4)
• Motivating Children to Practice Music (Part 3)

This month’s topic for the PF Bloggers Network Group Writing Project is “Rich People Gone Broke.” Our chosen subject for this project is Wolfgang Mozart, one of the greatest composers that ever lived. While a genius in everything musical, he was less lucky when it came to money management.

Prodigy and Breadwinner

Mozart first went to work at the age of five. As a child prodigy, he traveled extensively and made a living as performer, composer, conductor and curiosity. These travels were documented by his family’s letters to their friends in Salzburg.

At first Leopold proudly related the enormous sums of money earned by his children, especially Wolfgang, and described the generous (resalable) gifts they received from kings and princes. Then he got wise and began to conceal their earnings, claiming that they made virtually no profit after expenses. This later strategy made it hard for us to know the exact amount of Wolfgang’s earnings, but it was surely a fortune. In addition to cash, the gifts accumulated on these journeys were mostly made of gold and were described by a friend to resemble a church treasury.

Until age 23, Wolfgang Mozart increased his family’s wealth on journeys in Austria, England, Italy, Paris, and other places where he was often received by royalty and nobility. If they did not collect enough gifts at one location, Leopold sold tickets to the public to hear his children perform—anything to make a buck . . or a florin. But this venue lost him some patronage because the upper class didn’t want anything the commoners had.

Although Leopold successfully concealed the earning of his children, it is clear that Wolfgang Mozart was the primary breadwinner of his family, and as such was jealously guarded from theft. His trips were always chaperoned by one or both parents, his father constantly warned him about the deceitful and ensnaring nature of women, and his mother whisked him off to Paris (at the orders of his father) to save him from a girl he desperately wanted to marry.

Rebellion and High Living

“I could not go about Vienna looking like a tramp, particularly just at this time. My linen was pitiable; no servant here has shirts of such coarse stuff as mine, — and that certainly is a frightful thing for a man. Consequently there were again expenditures.” – Vienna, September 5, 1781, in a letter to his father

Mozart’s financial troubles began when he rebelled against his father (after his mother died) and quit his unfulfilling job (something we all understand) as the Archbishop’s musician. In his time, musicians were regarded as craftsmen and ranked as servants in a household, but Mozart’s early experience of being cherished by the highest people in society convinced him that he was special and caused him to be offended by this condition.

Mozart’s early career furthermore harmed his financial prospects by giving him a taste for high living and expensive clothes. The Empress Maria Theresia even once gave him clothes outgrown by her own children and to the end of his days, he was said to have a love of buttons.

Mozart lived a bohemian existence in Vienna, getting the occasional commission, putting on concerts, giving lessons, and selling published works. By comparing the currency of the time with the USD in 1989 William and Hilda Baumol estimate Mozart’s average income during his Vienna years to be about $175,000 annually. His opera The Marriage of Figaro alone earned a fee of $30,000, the same amount as his annual rent.

He would have had enough to live on had he not “needed” luxurious apartments and clothes. Mozart excused his extravagances by saying that he had to look and live a certain way to fit in with his noble patrons. We have to admit that to a degree he was justified in needing premises to teach and the best piano available at the time. His wife was said to be equally extravagant a spender and in later years spent much time at a spa, supposedly for an illness but possibly carrying on an affair.

Pecuniary Problems

In later years, Mozart’s financial state became increasingly desperate. His earnings decreased drastically due to inflation and the economical climate during the Turkish War. There are also rumors that the court composer Salieri sabotaged him somewhat (but didn’t kill him). His failure to secure a permanent post may be because he was not respectfully servile and lacked Beethoven’s ability win everyone’s love while being terribly rude.

To make matters worse, Mozart’s father died and left everything to his sister to punish Mozart for deserting the family business. Much of the money bequeathed to Anna Maria was likely to have been earned by Wolfgang in his youth and concealed from him by his father. He was not even allowed one of the many trinkets given to him at his performances. The disowned son was reduced to begging loans from his friends and the clandestine composition of a Requiem which he failed to complete before he died.

Sadly, things were starting to look up for Mozart at the time of his death. His last opera, The Magic Flute, had made him immensely popular and he had been appointed the next Kapellmeister at St. Stephen’s Cathedral. But had he lived to enjoy a larger income, who is to say he would not have incurred proportionately larger debts? Would he have increased his standard of living and the number of buttons on his coat to keep up with his new degree of fame?

Posthumous Prosperity

As for his wife, Constanze Mozart became a shrewd businesswoman when she found herself a widow with two young children. After her “friend” and Mozart’s student Süβmayr completed the mysterious requiem, Constanze cheated Mozart’s customer Count Walsegg who intended to perform the piece as his own composition. She pretended ignorance of the exclusiveness of the contract and sold the work to a publisher . . . after she sold Count Walsegg his copy. She procured a pension from the Emperor and took advantage of her status as a poverty-stricken widow to make sizable amounts of money with benefit concerts.

The Mozart family prospered. The widow made a good living selling the works of her late husband, putting on concerts with his music, and later writing his biography with her second husband. Though poor in life, Wolfgang Mozart was able to provide for his family in death and in that sense, was not a financial failure.

Sources:

• Mozart: A Life
• On Mozart (Woodrow Wilson Center Press)
• Mozart.
• Mozart: The Man and the Artist Revealed in His Own Words

* * *

About the PF Bloggers Group Writing Project

The Personal Finance Bloggers Network currently consists of 8 active personal finance and frugal living blogs. The Group Writing Project is a monthly project wherein each blog will write a post on a pre-determined topic and publish it on the same day of each month. Be sure to visit the PF Bloggers Group Writing Project page for the others!

Extended Group Writing Project Invitation

If you are a blogger, we would like to invite you to write your own post on this topic and submit it for listing with our entries on our Group Writing Project pages. Please visit the following page for details on how to participate in our Extended Group Writing Project.

Related posts:

• August 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• Ludwig & Wolfgang
• More About Us
• Shop
• Motivating Children to Practice Music (Part 2)

Here are just a few … ok, more than a few … of our books, movies and music. (Please give us a moment to load our widgets.)

Related posts:

• More About Us
• The Library Card: Your Other “Rewards Credit Card”
• Motivating Children to Practice Music: Introduction
• Free e-Book, Audiobook, Video & Music Download and Online Resources From Your Local Library
• About This Blog

A credit card, when used wisely and responsibly, brings you a number of benefits and can save you money. And so does a library card. The public library is one of your most useful resources for saving money. With a library card, which you can obtain for free, you have almost limitless access to a variety of services and materials such as:

• Books – Fiction
  Especially good for people who read a lot but usually only read books once.
• Books – Non-Fiction
  Books on careers and jobs, writing resumes and cover letters, learning computer software and programming, accounting and taxes, starting your own business, etc.
• Foreign Language Books
  Fiction and non-fiction in foreign languages prevalent in your community. Many California libraries carry books in Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Arabic and Vietnamese.
• Audio Books
  Classic, children’s and contemporary literature on CD or Audio, including new releases and popular titles.
• Music
  Classical, contemporary, film soundtracks, international music, etc. CDs that you can check out just like a book.
• Movies
  Most libraries have movies (DVD and VHS) that you can rent for $1 or $2 and let you keep for a week.
• Magazines
  There’s usually a good selection of general and special interest publications to choose from including titles like: People, Time, Newsweek, National Geographic, Better Homes & Gardens, The Family Handyman, and even young adult magazines such as Seventeen. Instead of paying for a subscription, you can read current magazines at the library and some libraries will let you check out back issues to take home to read.
• Newspapers
  Current editions including local and national newspapers such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, etc. can be read in the library.
• Computers
  Free computer access for word processing or internet use. Instead of paying for computer use at Internet Cafes, you are usually allowed 1 hour of free use per day and more if there are not other users waiting.
• Online services
  You can access online databases of periodicals and articles and educational websites from within the library or your home computer. Many libraries offer online access to e-books, audio books, and music that you can download and read or listen to on your computer.

Continue reading for information on other useful services provided by your library and tips for responsible library use.

Other services provided or sponsored by your public library:

• Reserving Materials
  If your library location doesn’t have something you need, you can request the same item from another location. When it arrives at your local library, they will contact you by phone or email to let you know it is ready for you to pick up. This service is almost always free and you are only charged a small fee ($.50 or $1.00) if you fail to pick it up within a reasonable amount of time.
• Renewing Materials
  Most loan periods are 3 or 4 weeks, depending on the library. Unless there are other users waiting on the same items, you can often renew your materials for up to 2 more times. Libraries make it very easy for you to renew items these days with online or automated phone renewals.
• Special Events
  Some public libraries host guest lectures and performances by professionals in various fields such as writing, music, history, etc.
• Used Book Sales
  If you like to collect books, library used book sales are one of the best sources for expanding your personal library or collection. You can often find new, like new, or vintage and antique books for very good prices. Most hardcovers sell for $1.00, trade paperbacks for $0.50, and paperbacks for $0.25.

A few tips for borrowing materials from the library:

• If you tend to forget due dates, set up a reminder on your computer email program, Google Calendar or cell phone to to either renew or return your borrowed materials a few days before the due date. Some libraries have email notification systems that can send you email reminders too.
• The online account access is a very convenient feature. If you can’t make it to the library by the due date, just log on, check all the items due and hit the renew button. It’s a good idea to do this a few days before the due date in case some of the items are not renewable.
• Don’t let anyone else use your card.
• If you’re concerned about the cleanliness of the materials, use a paper towel and some rubbing alcohol to wipe the surfaces before using them.
• If you’re applying for a library card, bring ID and proof of address such as a utility bill addressed to you if your current address doesn’t match the one on your ID.

Some people don’t like to use the library because you sometimes have to wait a while to read new releases. But in the big scheme of things, is it really so bad to wait a few weeks or months to read that new novel? A little patience can save you a lot of money.

To see how much money your library can save you, go to your local library’s website and look for a page called the “Library Value Calculator”. Enter in the number of books you read per month and any other services you could be using there and see how much you can save.

After all, if you think about it, you have actually already paid for these services by paying your taxes, so you might as well use them.

Related posts:

• Interesting Reads From Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #20
• Free e-Book, Audiobook, Video & Music Download and Online Resources From Your Local Library
• Who’s to Blame for Your Spending? You or You?
• Credits Cards Really Aren’t So Bad
• Resources

In the past year, we only went out an average of 1-2 times per month to run errands and our garage door therefore got very little exercise. One day last month, when I was leaving for my monthly grocery shopping trip, the door wouldn’t close. I left it to Madoline to figure out, and when I got home I found the door stuck halfway down and slightly slanted, having come un-aligned and with 2 of the upper wheels fallen out of the track on one side. Being confirmed DIY-ers, we tried to see if we could fix it ourselves, which involved me standing on the back of a sofa we had purchased at Goodwill (with the plan of re-upholstering it) and wrestling with the door, but soon decided it was best left to a professional and we made to by putting the wheels back in the tracks to keep the door from sagging and damaging the entire contraption.

Our biological father came to visit last week, and although I told him we needed to call a professional repairman, he thought he could fix it to save us some money. One and a half hours later, the door was more crooked, we had lost 3 more wheels, the tracks had been knocked out of place and the door was literally hanging. Furthermore, I found out after the fact that my father had severely endangered his own life, and even worse, MY LIFE, by unwinding the tension cable. And worst of all, he had damaged the door further so that what might have been some minor repairs became major repair, including replacement of the tension rod.

Lesson 2: The Price of Not Sticking up for Yourself

The only garage door specialist in our area is located about 40-50 miles away and they seemed uninterested in the job as they didn’t want to talk to us over the phone but instead told us to submit a request online, which we did twice (4 weeks apart) but to no avail. Fearing a total collapse resulting in further damage and expense as well as the insecurity of a half-closed garage door, we resorted to local handymen.

I went through the list of handymen in our area, and the first one I reached that wasn’t a voicemail told me he could fix ours for $150. He came over to take a look and said that he couldn’t fix the tension cables, which required specialists, but that he could re-align the door so that we could at least open and close it manually, and he might need to replace a few of the wheels and 2 brackets. He then gave me a quote of $225 for replacing 5 wheels and 2 brackets. So we agreed on 10:00 AM the next morning.

I got up at 9:30 AM the next morning (which wasn’t easy for me because I was up until after 4:00AM working on the computer) in anticipation of the handyman showing up at 10:00, but he didn’t show up until 10:30, using the following excuse: the weather and its effect on one’s desire to sleep in. So he fixed the garage door – replacing 1 wheel and 1 bracket – but told me after that we actually wouldn’t be able to open the door due to the damaged tension rod, which also requires a specialist.

We then had him fix a sprinkler leak in our front yard as well, a job he had agreed to do for $75, after which he gave me a total of $325 for the two jobs. Being somewhat muddle-headed and tired from lack of sleep, and even worse, a pushover (one of my worst traits when dealing with strangers), I wrote him a check for $325 without much argument except for asking, “So the garage door was $250?” to which he, of course, replied “Yes.”

After he left, I couldn’t stop thinking about the whole affair and kicking myself (mentally) for having been such a pushover. The quote of $225 had been for if he would have to replace 5 wheels and 2 brackets. Instead, he only replaced 1 wheel and 1 bracket, and he charged me $25 more than the price he had quoted me. To add insult to injury, we still can’t open or close our garage door as he had promised beforehand. (Not to mention his showing up a 1/2 hour late for having slept in.) If I had argued with him about it, I probably could have paid at least $50 less.

That night, I couldn’t sleep for thinking about all this and decided I would call him up the next day (yesterday) to ask about this and tell him I didn’t think what he did was right. But the next day, the check had already cleared our bank account (he must have driven straight from our house to the bank) and I decided it probably wouldn’t have done much good anyway and the conversation probably would only have aggravated me more. So I decided to just chalk it up to a valuable lesson learned about the price of being spineless. And also to never hire this handyman again.

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Related posts:

• May 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• Car Trouble: Watch Out for Those Pesky Wabbits
• My Favorite Money and Time Saving Websites
• It Never Hurts to Ask: Getting Late Fees Removed
• On the Naming of Pets and Improvement of Fortune

Originally posted 2008-05-15 22:10:22.

Productivity

• Check out one of my earlier posts Save Hundreds with Open Source Software for a list of open source applications with short descriptions of their functions and links to the websites for free downloads. These are not free trials but completely free programs that stay free and upgrade for free.
• Google Calendar is a handy online calendar that can send alerts to you by email or pop-up reminders. The program allows you to share your calendar with friends and family who also use Google Calendar so you can coordinate schedules with each other.

Computer Protection

• ZoneAlarm Free Firewall can filter all traffic in and out of your computer. The most secure setting will warn you of even legitimate access to the internet and of every attempt by a program installed on your computer to access the internet to check for updates, etc.
• ZoneAlarm Spy Blocker Toolbar protects you from spyware while surfing the net.
• McAfee SiteAdvisor warns you of bad sites and has profiles for each tested site with details on downloads, spam email count, and user reviews. It also shows the safety rating for web search results with a small icon next to each link: green for safe, red for unsafe, yellow for caution, and gray for untested (you can submit a test request for gray sites).
  

Communication

• Skype allows you to make free computer to computer video and voice calls, and calls to phones for a small charge. We use the free computer to computer calls to talk to our overseas relatives
• If you use Hotmail, you can also use Windows Live Messenger for voice and video chat sessions with your contacts. You can also send mobile text messages to contacts in your address book.
• Gmail is my favorite free web based email program because, not only does it give you ever increasing storage (6.76 GBs as of this writing and counting), but it lets you forward your email to a desktop email client such as Outlook or Thunderbird. If you access your mail online, it has a nice filtering tool to help you sort your mail and also has a built in chat program, Google Talk, that allows you to chat with your online contacts without having to download anything.

Entertainment

• Hulu has an ever growing collection of new and old television programs and movies which you can watch for free online with a very reasonable amount of advertisements. The commercial breaks are shorter than you would have to sit through (15 or 30 secs) when watching a show on TV. For some newer shows, only the last 5 or 6 episodes are available, but there are also full seasons and full series of episodes for some shows.
• Network channels all have websites that let you watch the last 5 or 6 episodes of their current shows online. Here is a list of links to the home pages:
  • NBC
  • ABC
  • FOX
  • ABC Family
  • Sci Fi
• SHOUTcast is a free internet radio site that has a large selection of genres and stations and good sound quality.
• Joost is a player that allows you to watch thousands of TV shows and movies on your computer.

Reference

• Wikipedia. If you’ve performed a web search on the net, you’ve probably already stumbled across Wikipedia, which is a free, open encyclopedia that anyone can edit. It may or may not be 100% accurate, but it is convenient and has a great collection of articles and images on just about any topic, person or place including cities, actors and operas. Wikipedia is available in English, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Portuguese, Dutch and Italian. (Time Saving Tip: To search for something straight from your Google toolbar or search, just type the keyword and the word “wiki”, i.e. “horse wiki” and the link to the entry will most likely show up first in your search result.)
• High Beam Encyclopedia is a collation of articles from Britannica, Oxford University Press, Columbia Encyclopedia as well as other published newspaper and magazine articles.
• Google Translate provides fair (though not the greatest) translations for 23 languages. It can translate typed/pasted in sections or entire webpages. This allows you to make use of websites you otherwise might not understand or save you time where you already know the language but take longer to read. It also has a dictionary for looking up words from those 23 languages.
• Reference.com has links to a host of reference tools including atlases, almanacs, a dictionary, thesaurus, literature and more. (Time Saving Tip: To look up a definition of a word, for example, “antithesis”, type “definition antithesis” in your search window. To look up synonyms (thesaurus) of the word “simile”, type “synonym simile”, and the search results will link you to the page of the entry.)
• The Gutenberg Project is a digital library of works that have fallen into public domain through expired copyright. The library includes fiction and non-fiction literature, audiobooks, sheet music and more.
• Google Calculator is a handy tool that lets you type in a formula or question in your search window and it will calculate and show you the answer. For example: type “1+5″ in your search bar and it will give you “1 + 5 = 6″. It can multiply, divide, add, subtract as well as calculate units of measurement such as miles, kilometers, megabytes, grams, degrees, pi, currency exchange rates and much more. Check out this great Google Calculator Demo at the Learn Google Search blog.

Free Downloads

• Download.com has a large collection of safe, free and trusted software downloads with editor and user reviews.
• Softpedia also has a large collection of downloads.
• Mozilla, home of the Firefox browser has a large number of great open source software including web browsers, html editors, email and calendar programs. Be sure to also check out the list of Mozilla-Based Applications which include other interesting and useful programs.
• Firefox Browser Add-ons: If there is a function you wish your Firefox browser could perform, chances are someone has already had the same thought and created an add-on for it.
• Google Pack includes the following (you can select which items you want):
  • Google Earth: a map program that lets you look at satellite, terrain and street level images. Includes driving directions and businesses
  • Norton Security Scan for viruses
  • Google Desktop to help organize your files, pictures and web history
  • Mozilla Firefox Browser with Google Toolbar
  • Adobe Reader
  • Skype
  • Star Office word processing, spread sheet, presentation and other office programs
  • Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer (helps block pop-ups)
  • Spyware Doctor (starter edition)
  • Picasa for editing and organizing your photos
  • Google Photos Screensaver to create slideshows with your photos
  • Google Talk for chatting online or by voice and sharing files
  • Real Player for playing media and transferring music to iPods or other players

Shopping

• Amazon.com is our favorite shopping site for almost everything we can’t get at our local grocery and drug stores. The Free Super Saver Shipping for orders over $25 allows you to spend your money on things rather than shipping charges. We also have the Chase Amazon Visa Card that gives us 3 points for every dollar spent at Amazon.com and 1 point everywhere else, and a $25 gift certificate when we reach 2,500 points.
• We occasionally shop at Overstock.com when the price is considerably less than can be had from Amazon. In our experience, their service is just as good, if not better, than Amazon’s due to the online customer service chat and faster shipping time, because Amazon’s free shipping takes an additional 4-5 business days before leaving their warehouse. They offer flat $2.95 shipping on all orders, and cheaper media shipping for 1 or 2 media item (books, music and DVDs).

Related Posts

• Save Hundreds with Open Source Software
• The Frugal Literate’s Guide to Affordable Reading
• Public Domain Music: Music You Already Own
  

Related posts:

• June 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• Welcome MSN Money Central Smart Spending Readers!
• Under the Weather – Recommended Reading
• Festival of Frugality #140: The Frugal Quotes Edition
• Ludwig & Wolfgang

Originally posted 2008-05-26 12:33:47.

A necessity is an item/service that you simply cannot do without in your everyday life and that is vital to your survival and situation.

A luxury is anything that is not a necessity.

A few examples of necessities (or necessary expenditures) would be:

• Food
• Rent/mortgage
• Auto insurance
• Home insurance
• Health insurance
• Gas
• Auto Maintenance
• Utilities: electricity, gas and phone

Of course these are not the only necessities in the world, and it’s different for everyone, but when you really think about it, true necessities are actually quite few in number, and many things that you think you need are in fact not that necessary.

A few common examples of luxuries would be:

• Entertainment – movies (at the theater, renting, or buying), music and/or books
• Cable or satellite
• Toys and games (video or non-video)
• More than one home phone line
• More than one computer (even one computer could be considered a luxury in dire circumstances)
• High speed internet service

Even in one of the main necessities, food, there are luxuries that aren’t necessary. Necessary foods are foods that are vital for your health and continued existence. These are usually basic foods and staples that fill out your food pyramid and keep you in good health. Any food that is not vital to your health and survival should be regarded as a luxury.

A few examples of luxury foods when grocery shopping would be:

• Chips and other junk food
• Cookies and other sweets
• Gourmet cheeses
• Alcoholic drinks
• Soda and other bottled beverages
• Bakery goods
• Specialty breads i.e. foccacia
• Seasonal and tropical fruits
• Fancy meats (i.e. steaks)
• Pre-prepared and packaged foods (sandwiches, salads, sushi, cut fruit, etc.)

I say “should be regarded as a luxury” because I think it is important to understand and appreciate the difference. I am not saying that your life should be completely stripped of all pleasures and comforts, but when you are purchasing a new DVD or CD, it is important to be aware that what you are purchasing is a luxury item.

So, the first step in trying to figure out how to cut your expenditures is to go through your regular purchases (including services) and distinguish all luxuries from necessities. Luxuries should not be regarded as “forbidden” because it could turn into an obsession (the desirability might be blown out of proportion), but be aware that by choosing not to purchase these items, you are gaining an advantage.

Related posts:

• Pecuniary Links & Pecuniarities Update ~ July 2009 #1
• Simple Solutions to Staying Out of Debt
• Frugal Christmas: Skipping the Tree and Presents This Year
• Financial Lent: A Frugal Fast to See What You Can Live Without
• Carnival of Pecuniary Delights No. 24: Friends Edition

Originally posted 2008-04-25 00:59:12.

Language Lesson ~ Frugality is a Virtue
(Re-Post: Original post date February 24, 2008)

In modern times where the spending of money is oftentimes equated with power and status, the word “frugal” or “frugality” seems to carry an almost negative connotation and be associated with stinginess or miserliness (if you look it up in a thesaurus). However, if we go back to the actual definition and etymology (origins) of the word, we see that frugality is really a positive trait and nothing to be at all ashamed of.

“Frugal” or “frugality” is defined as “characterized by or reflecting economy in the use of resources”, “prudence in avoiding waste”, and “prudently saving or sparing; not wasteful”.

The word frugal descends from the Latin frugalis, which has been associated with words such as “virtue” or “virtuous,” “honest,” “worthy,” “deserving,” “useful,” “thrifty,” “simple,” “profit” or “profitable,” “value” or “valuable,” “economical,” “temperate,” “sober,” and also “fruit” from frux or fructus, the root of the word “fruitful” which is defined as “yielding,” “profitable,” “productive” or “producing abundantly.”

The word “economy,” which is often associated with frugality, is defined as “management of expenses or resources”. It desecends from the Latin oeconomia and the Greek oikonomíā, which meant “household management”, derived from oikos “house,” nomos “managing”, which comes from nemein “manage” (and also I believe, the root of the Old English niman and the modern German “nehmen” which means “to take”).

Now that you’ve been so lucky as to have been subjected to this fascinating language lesson, in future if anyone makes fun of or criticizes your frugality, you may proudly and nicely, or not so nicely if they’ve been very rude as there is no excuse for rudeness, enlighten them as to the true and noble origins of your lifestyle.

Related Reading:
Language Lesson ~ Finance: A Fine Word by Penelope Pince

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Sources: Online Etymology Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Babylon Latin Dictionary, Germanic Etymology

Related posts:

• Language Lesson ~ Frugality is a Virtue
• March 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• Honestly Frugal: the Ethics of Saving Money
• Basics for the Young, Single and Frugal
• Interesting Reads From Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #20

Originally posted 2008-05-22 06:00:30.

As some of you already know, I am the worst of procrastinators. And taxes being so unpleasant, I naturally tend to procrastinate when it comes to filing my taxes every year.

First of all, I do put off filing my tax return for one valid reason: we owe each year so I prefer to wait till April to file and pay in order to earn more interest in  savings. But this also gives me an excuse to put off working on our returns.

This year I was worse than usual, and my procrastination and 2 unforeseen events almost got me in trouble.

My Taxing Experience

• Dec. 31, 2008–April 11, 2009 — Procrastinated
  We have a few different sources of income so there are a lot of elements involved in our tax returns – calculating various types of expenses and almost 20 different forms between the two of us. Needless to say, this takes a lot of preparation, which I just kept putting off.
• April 11 9:30PM — Started to panic
  3 days, 2 hours before April 15th, I finally realized just how little time was left and kicked myself into action.
• April 12–13 — Worked like mad
  Pulled an all-nighter and finished my “first draft” of the PDF forms.
• April 13 11:00PM — Crisis #1: Printer wouldn’t print
  After double- & triple-checking the forms and calculations, I was ready to print and be done with it — only to find that the printer wouldn’t print. I re-filled the ink cartridge but print quality was awful. Thinking the ink needed time to settle and let the air bubbles work their way up, I called it a night.
• April 14 5:45PM — Crisis #2: Power outage
  After more ink re-filling and printer maintenance, it was printing properly again, but half-way through approx. 40 pages, our power went out due to wind storms in the area. the outage was all over town and lasted until 11:00PM, so I didn’t finish compiling and packing everything up till around 1:15AM.
• April 15 — Phew!
  Got to the post office and got everything mailed out. Thoroughly exhausted.

I was extremely lucky that I was still able to get everything done by the 15th. Had I delayed just one more day, I probably wouldn’t have made it. When the power went out on the 14th, I started contemplating all the other things that could possibly go wrong, such as:

• What if my car won’t start when I need to go the Post Office tomorrow?
• What if the wind storm gets worse tomorrow and I can’t drive?

Any number of things could have prevented me from being able to get our returns postmarked on the 15th. The amount we owe is high enough that a penalty and interest charge would be quite unpleasant.

This experience got me thinking about other ways procrastination can set back your financial health. I have been thinking about this for the last 2 days and here are my conclusions.

Other ways procrastination can lead to financial disease (and possible eventual death)

Putting off . . .

• Contacting service providers, insurance companies, etc. to lower your bills
• Canceling services you no longer need
• Minor maintenance and repairs on your home or car until they become major repairs
• Paying off credit card debt by just paying the minimum payment
• Refinancing loans when interest rates are low
  

I have to admit I have been guilty of all but one of the above (I don’t have credit card debt). When I was in college, my fellow students and I often joked about how we procrastinated studying for our exams or writing term papers. The fact is, I’m the type that works better under pressure. Oftentimes, when I sat down to write a paper that wasn’t due for a few more days, I would get writer’s block. But the night before the due date, I would get serious and the ideas would start flowing.

Thus, I have always operated under the premise that this is just how I work so it’s O.K. to procrastinate. But now that I’m a grown-up dealing with grown-up matters where it’s no longer just a grade at stake, I’m beginning to see just how self-destructive this type of behavior can be. While this past week has been torture, I have learned a valuable lesson, so perhaps it was good for me that I had this harrowing experience.

It seems the tax gods were with me this time and let me get by with a lesson learned and no harm done. I shouldn’t expect to be so lucky again and must start getting things done ahead of time. Not only could it save me potential financial penalties, but keep the stress and blood pressure levels to a minimum.

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