Watch…

I wish I could say I was surprised by how many people walked past the money tree without even noticing. It reminded me so much of Kevin Carroll’s Red Ball Project. Why do people look past what is right in front of them so often? Why do we refuse to have fun?

What was a pleasant surprise, was that most people took only $1. Except the girl in stripes that took $5 – But maybe she needed it, right?

What did you think of the money tree? Did the project surprise you in any way? What would your reaction have been?

The Money Tree

Warning: Sprinkling of the f-word and other swear words throughout video. Watch at your own discretion.

It should be illegal for songs to be as catchy as the new Cee-Lo Green track. Even though it’s August, I declare this the Song of the Summer and a worthy Theme Song for Frugal Bloggers.

If I was richer, I’d still be with ya

I couldn’t resist ordering this tee from Threadless (with a coupon, of course). If you need one for yourself, go ahead and splurge. It’s only $5.

Friday Frugal Funny

BlogHer. Blissdom. IZEAfest. EVO. Mom 2.0. Savvy Blogging. Affiliate Summit. Blog World Expo. The list goes on and on.

Blogging conferences are the hip new getaway. I’ve been to my fair share and plan on attending more. Getting away for a weekend with family and friends is hard enough, so how do you make blogging conferences affordable if your blog isn’t making any money? Even if your blog is making money, conferences can be pricey!

Here are a few of my simple ideas  to  make blogging conferences budget friendly. If you have more ideas, leave a comment!

• Plan ahead. Tickets are all ready on sale for BlogHer ’11 in San Diego. I did some quick math and putting aside $20 a week saves enough to purchase a ticket at Early Bird Pricing and has the entire trip paid for by the opening keynote. Tally up your anticipated costs, divide by the number of weeks until the event, and voila - your savings schedule!
• Take advantage of Early Bird Pricing. Many conferences offer a discount for being one of the first to purchase a ticket. Also pay attention to different tiers of pricing – student, blogger, sponsored – you can save hundreds!
• Special Rates. Conferences often negotiate special hotel rates. Take advantage of those rates by booking early. Reduce your costs even more by finding roommates! You’ll be able to stay at some great hotels at a fraction of the cost.
• Treat Your Blog Like a Business. If you aren’t already, start saving those receipts. If you are making money blogging or plan to make money blogging, your blog is your business and blogging conferences are business trips.
• Sponsorship. Take your blogging relationships to the next level – start discussing event sponsorship with companies early. Everyone handles sponsorships differently, but here are a few of my sponsorship rules:
  • Only approach companies you’ve worked with before.
  • Take a soft-sell approach.
  • Offer partial sponsorships.
  • Be honest about why you are attending the event and what you hope to learn/gain/experience.
  • Be knowledgeable about sponsorship guidelines laid out by the event hosts. This will effect what you can offer your sponsor.
  • Do not over-promise what you can deliver to your sponsor.
• Be Picky. Not every conference appeals to every blogger. Determine the type of conference you’re looking to attend (beginner, technical, networking…) and hone in on those that meet your requirements. It may not be the biggest conference and it may not be the most well known conference, but you’ll gain the most from those that meet your qualifications. That? Is money well-spent.

Ways To Make Blogging Conferences More Affordable

Are you headed to NYC for BlogHer in two short weeks? Are you a frugal, coupon, or personal finance blogger that wants to enjoy a relaxed breakfast with others in the same niche?

If so, you need to RSVP for Bacon, Eggs & Coupons hosted by Inexpensively and sponsored by RetailMeNot and RedPlum!

Breakfast will be held at the très chic Rue 57 (just blocks from the Hilton on the corner of 57th & Avenue of the Americas) on Saturday, August 7th at 7 am. I’ll be hosting a table and keeping the conversation lively – hope to see you there!

RSVP now – rumor has it that more spaces will be opening up soon!

Bacon, Eggs & Coupons at BlogHer!

Yesterday afternoon, I emptied my piggy bank and took a bag of change down to my neighborhood Chase bank – where the teller proceeded to rebag my money, insert a deposit slip, and hand me a receipt.

What? No cash money?

Apparently the tellers at Chase are so busy that they have to ship my loose change off to another location where it is carefully counted and deposit into my account at a later date. Being the only person in Chase at 1 pm on a Wednesday after, it was easy to see how the tellers could be too busy to pour my change into a machine, press the “count” button, and hand over the paper money equivalent – what with all the thumb twiddling and Bejeweled playing.

How absolutely ridiculous and wasteful. Time, paper, plastic, and manpower that’s completely unwarranted.

Yet another reason I’m taking my business elsewhere.

Cashing In

So, today I’m rummaging through paperwork to find my husband’s eyeglass prescription. He has a big scratch on the inside lens of his glasses that’s hindering his vision.

I didn’t ask how he got a scratch on the inside of his lens. I think I’d rather not know.

No matter how the scratch got there, we’re not going back to the eye doctor to spend hundreds on new lenses. Not when we can replace the frames and lenses for just $8 at Zenni Optical.

We’ve been Zenni Optical customers for several years now, and we’re always impressed with the quality of the eyeglasses we order. They have a great selection of frames no matter what your style, and the prescription has always been perfect.

For $8, I might just order myself a new pair of summer glasses while I’m ordering my husband a replacement!

This is a sponsored post. I was a Zenni Optical customer before I was asked to blog about their website and my husband and I wear Zenni Optical eyeglasses regularly. Please see my site policy if you have any questions.

Need New Glasses? Only $8 at Zenni Optical!

After three months of searching, interviewing, freelancing, and fighting unemployment, I received a formal job offer today! A job offer that is interesting, challenging, and with one of the most prominent local companies.

It also doesn’t hurt that 410k matching and a $10k raise is part of the job offer.

As excited as I am to go back to being a two paycheck household, I’ve learned some things over the past three months that I don’t intend to forget any time soon.

1. I take things for granted. Things like Starbucks, ordering a new book, going out to dinner with friends, and throwing something fun in the cart while at Target started out as special treats but turned into unappreciated habits. I had to break those habits and those special treats will now stay few and far between to keep them appreciated.
2. We need to pay down our debt. We managed over the past three months. We never missed a payment. But it was close several times and that is not a good feeling. I’ve never before had to put our bills in order of which was due first and pay them as money came in instead of all at payday. I’m looking forward to eliminating a few of our small debts with my first paycheck and chipping away at the larger debts until they vanish.
3. Sitting home in my pajamas wasn’t as glamorous as I thought it would be. I like working. I like making my own money. I like putting 6 years of college and grad school to good use. I like the routine and the opportunity to socialize and dazzle my coworkers with my marketing prowess.
4. Unemployment compensation is a joke. It favors the employer and rewards laziness. I’d would have been more than happy to volunteer my time to government programs in exchange for enough money to pay our bills until I found full time employment.
5. An emergency fund is great – until it runs out. Which ours did. I don’t think you can ever be too prepared and we will continue to add to our emergency fund no matter how comfortable we get with our place in life.

Have you ever been unemployed? What did you take away from the experience?

Things I’ve Learned While Unemployed

Are you into playing the market? Buying low and selling high? If you are, the BuyZone Review stock trading newsletter could offer you some value stock tips for your next foray into the market.

The 15 day free trial provides you with two “pick lists” to review and decide if you’d like to continue your subscription where you’ll be emailed stock tips and analysis regularly.

I have no experience with the stock market beyond tracking stocks for a college economics project, but thought those of you that do might be interested in this newsletter.

Stock Trading Newsletter

I attempted to do our taxes myself for the first time ever this year. It did not go well.

In fact, it went so poorly that I packed up all the paperwork, mailed everything to a friend with accounting experience, and went out for a margarita.

I was not comfortable with my ability to complete our taxes correctly.

H&R Block offered me the opportunity to use their Best of Both online tax software, which includes access to a local tax professional who will answer questions and review your completed tax return before filing. Everything started out beautifully. I had all the necessary paperwork organized, I read the tax tips for bloggers, the software was easy to use, and the questions were intuitive with additional information available for clarification.

Then, it started asking about our 2008 tax return, and itemizing, and deductions. I got flustered, but I thought that I would take it one step at a time and use the resources available to me to soldier on, so I sent a message to the tax professional assigned to our account:

Hi, Gina. I’m completing some information from our 2008 tax return, and I do not have a Schedule A or 4684 in my records. Our taxes were completed by a CPA last year. Please advise. Thanks, Corrin

This is the reply I received from our tax professional:

Corrin, are you certain you itemized your deductions last year? If you are then you need to call the accountant and have them send you a COMPLETE copy of your return. Last year your standard deduction for MFJ was $10900, and if you paid real estate taxes then that would be included in your standard deduction up to $1000. My point is if you have over $11,900 on line line 40 of your form 1040 then you probably itemized and you need the copy of your schedule A itemized deductions. If it is 11,900 or less then you did not itemize and you will not have a schedule A. Thanks, Gina

Jigga what? I’m not certain of anything regarding taxes.

Thankfully, my friend is an accounting whiz. She reviewed the information I had entered into the software, answered some of my questions, and I was able to complete our returns and submit them for review.

I’m happy to report that after 2 weeks, several phone calls, and many many emails, we’ll be receiving a refund in 8-10 days!

I have no shame in admitting that all my struggles were user related. I’m just not comfortable with tax terminology and the consequences of completing this form over that form or filing this way versus that way.

But I learned a lot this year and I’m willing to give it another try next year.

As long as there are margaritas and a tax professional nearby.

I received access to H&R Block The Best of Both software free of charge. I was not asked for anything in exchange but chose to share my experience and the tax tips I was given with my readers. Please read my site policy if you have any questions.

I attempted to do our taxes…