A Note From Randal

Hello Everyone,

Donna and I have begun a fun walking program sponsored by AARP. It uses a step counter and you walk a virtual path on famous trails. We chose the Appalachian Trail beginning in Maine. We're about a week into it and it's a 10-week program. They also have another program for those who want to track number of hours exercised. If you work out or play tennis, bike, swim, sports, etc., this one would fit better. Here's the links to both of them. We'd love to have you join us!

Step Up to Better Health - Walking a Famous Trail

Get Fit on Route 66 - Exercise Your Way From Chicago to Santa Monica

I play tennis so my step counter logs away a lot of numbers which makes me grin and Donna frown. Let me know if any of you take the challenge. We purchased the step counters from AARP for only $9 each and it came with a booklet that has a lot of good health information.

As always we want to welcome our new subscribers and thanks to all of you who have been sharing The Frugal Life News with others!

Frugally yours,
Randal

Frugal Finances

How Much for your Stuff...?

Craig's List is an Internet marvel.

Mass quantities of stuff advertised mostly private party to private party, neighbor to neighbor or border to border, at garage sale prices, for free.

Mint condition brand name furnishings... Thomasville Traditional Couch. New $1200. CL: $350 Vintage electronics... JBL L100 Loudspeakers (30 years old): New $300 CL: $25 Automobiles of all stripes... Lexus 1993 LS400 96K miles: New $50,000. CL: $7800

It's a distressing reflection of the sum total of the monetary value of our acquired stuff... It ain't much.

Eventually, all of our stuff winds up on Craig's list... or picked up by the Salvation Army... or delivered to Goodwill... or pawed over at garage/yard sales... or passed on to family and friends... who eventually dispose of it in similar ways. We move, we die, or we acquire more stuff resigning our meticulously maintained, climate control stored, expensively insured, mint condition stuff to the depreciated status of "previously owned."

What does this suggest with respect to wealth building...?

1. Don't put too much monetary value on your accumulated stuff. Stuff gives you a false sense of wealth. If your strategy is to sell it all and move to a tropical island, best to give that another thought. If you want an unemotional assessment of what selling-it-all would bring, price comparable stuff on Craig's list or eBay; though I caution you to sit down first...

2. Buy other people's mint condition stuff. They'll be relieved someone bought it, you'll pay less for it, and you won't be quite as depressed when it's your turn to get rid of it...

3. Don't buy any stuff with debt... new or previously owned. This is compounding in reverse. You're paying more money for decreasing value. About the only thing more depressing than disposing of your stuff at dramatically deflated prices is continuing to make payments on it after it's sitting in someone else's living room...

4. Give cash, not stuff. A lot of your stuff was given to you by family and friends. In hindsight, if they had given you cash, you could have purchased the stuff on Craig's list and invested the difference. If your recipient needs neither cash nor stuff, as is the case with my wife's 86 year-old parents, give an ear to hear their stories for the umpteenth time... and act surprised at the punch line.

If you think giving cash reflects poorly on you, and simply must spend the time and energy to get just the right gift for this special person, this is fine by me. Just don't be shocked when you see it on Craig's List.

Greg Moore is the Architect of the Debt Freedom System,
"DebtIntoWealth -- Lessons from My Journey to Debt Freedom."


Free Lesson #1 - Debt Freedom Course

Pay off all of your debt in 5-7 years using the money you already make. Find out why financial guru and best-selling author, Suze Orman, is advising her millions of followers to "Pay Everything Off as Fast As Possible!"

Frugal Home Communications

Long Distance, Prepaid Phone Cards, Cell Phones & Internet Service

3.9 Cent Long Distance With No Access Numbers to Dial
Prepaid Phone Cards
Plans for Cellular Phones
Internet Service
No hidden fees or charges!
Shop for Long Distance, Cell Phone & Internet Service

Frugal How-To

Editor's Note: Here is how to be frugal in your decorating, cleaning and finances. A simple way to downsize to small homes.


A Smaller House Is Coming Back in Style

Meet Jay Shafer, Builder And Guru Of The Small House Movement

In a nation where homes have been getting steadily larger for decades, Jay Shafer thinks "cozy" may be ready for a comeback. CBS News correspondent John Blackstone reports, Shafer builds and designs tiny houses - and lives in one himself.

"The small space is a symbol of something else," Shafer says. "I think it's a symbol of a desire for a more simple life."

The founder of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, Shafer has become a sort of guru to a small house movement. For those who have little need for elbow room, he has a whole catalogue of tiny houses. At $20,000 to $40,000 apiece, he'll build and deliver them almost anywhere.

Read more about smaller houses.


Make Your Own Cleaning, Health, Bath and Beauty Products
Essential oil kits allow you to make your own safe non-chemical home and beauty products. Making your home less toxic for yourself, children and pets.
Health, Home and Beauty Essential Oil Kit

Frugal Cleaning

Do Homemade and Commercial Cleaning Products Work Equally?

The results are in! Homemade cleaners equal and even out perform commercial household cleaning products!

Here's a mother and daughter who spent two weeks on a science project for school to find out which household cleaners work best. We did three tests: one with window cleaners, one with carpet cleaners, and one with laundry stain removers. Read about the results.


Our Safe and Frugal Cleaning Option
We make our own cleaning supplies from Sunshine Concentrate and essential oils. My wife has used this product for laundry, soap pumps at the sink, in the shower, cleaning kitchen countertops, soaking fruit and veggies to remove pesticides, doing dishes, and more. I use it for washing cars and gardening since it keeps soil wetter longer and holds the nutrients for the plants. Read more about Sunshine Concentrate.

Frugal Pets

Natural Remedies and Herbal Heartworm Programs
Robin Sockness has worked with thousands of pets over the many years we have referred to her. She's great at what she does because she's seen such great success with her own pets and those she has helped. Herbs are safer and less expensive so it's a win-win situation for all. Herbal prevention programs available also. Get more information on Robin.

Healthy Pet Foods
Pet food ingredients can create a lot of health problems for our pets, and that can cost a lot of money with recurring health issues feeding the pockets of our veterinarians. Be an informed pet owner when it comes to what's in pet foods. You already know that you feel better if you eat right. Help them to feel better too.

Information Links for Pets
Healthy Pet Corner provides informational links for dogs, cats, birds, horses, rabbits, and reptiles. Visit Healthy Pet Corner now.

Frugal Tips

Greener Choices Allow Us to Live Without Polluting the Planet for Our Grandchildren

This website produced by Consumer Reports has lots of information on making green choices in Autos and Fuels, Appliances, Home & Garden, Electronics and Food. Get the scoop on the best brands and ideas on being green.

There's even allergy-free gardening tips. Just because you have asthma or allergies doesn't mean you can't enjoy the pleasures of gardening. In fact, there is a wide range of big, showy flowers, shrubs, and trees that won't make you wheeze, cry or sniffle. Learning what these are, along with some overall tips, will get you on your way to an allergy-free gardening experience.

Visit now and soak up the alternatives: Greener Choices at Consumer Reports


Deodorize While You Kill Bacteria and Viruses
Get the anti-microbial properties of essential plant oils to kill germs without bleach and toxic cleaning products. The plug-in AromaBall makes it quick and easy. Read more about the AromaBall for killing germs and deodorizing without chemicals.

Frugal Learning

Singing Success At-Home Study Course
The Singing Success Vocal Training Program, by celebrity vocal coach Brett Manning, is the only vocal training program that guarantees a full octave increase in your vocal range. And you can do it at home. You'll learn to sing as easily as you speak, completely eliminating vocal strain, and you will learn to master the techniques of vocal style, including runs, licks and trills. 100% guaranteed. Get a full refund if it doesn't do all it promises.

The best thing about it is that you can try it out and send it back for a full refund if it doesn't do all it promises to do. Read more about the Singing Success Program.

What's Going On In The Forum
Maybe you can help with a few of your own suggestions to these unanswered questions in the forum. Or, visit the Frugal Life Community Forum to find answers to your own questions.

Cleaning Forum:
1. Any hints or suggestions......for curry/cooking smells that have set in? Just bought an older condo....have had cleaned it extensively and it is better but still lingering. Thanks.....


Home Based Business Ideas
Nature's Sunshine Products - Quality Herbs and Supplements
Home Spa Parties - Make Your Own Bath & Beauty Products
Flint River Ranch Oven Baked Pet Foods
Healthy Pet Net Foods and Supplements

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Copyright, Legal Disclaimer and Reprint Information
© 2006 Randal J. Watkins

Information in The Frugal Life News (TFL) has been derived from sources believed accurate and reliable. In no event shall *The Frugal Life,* Randal Watkins, or the corporate sponsor, Sunshine Life Center, Inc. staff be liable for any damages whatsoever resulting from any action arising in connection with the use of information herein.

There is no remuneration for suggestions, tips, or ideas submitted by readers. All suggestions, tips, and ideas, submitted for publication in The Frugal Life, become the property of The Frugal Life, notwithstanding similar rights of the reader submitting such suggestions, tips, or ideas. TFL publishes readers' names with their suggestions, tips, and ideas unless a reader requests otherwise at the time of the submission.

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You may forward this newsletter in its entirety and/or use this copyrighted newsletter on a website if you include the following credit:

Editor, Randal J. Watkins, of TheFrugalLife.com, provides this free newsletter to subscribers. Visit The Frugal Life website to subscribe or find frugal information to live well on what you already have. http://www.thefrugallife.com