Green Minded Wallet

I’m not sure if it’s just me, but there seems to be something going on with Verizon’s airtime minutes counter. Last month I went online to check my plan balance: I normally do this once or twice a week. When I check, I still had about five days left to my billing cycle, but I was perilously close to running out of minutes (I only had about thirty left). I made sure not to make anything but brief calls during the ensuing week. However, once the billing cycle ended my statement showed that I actually had about 100 minutes left. I figured that it was just something wrong with the software program, and vowed to make sure to double check my balance in the future. Fast forward to this past month when I again checked my balance online and I discovered on the 20^th that I only had about fifteen daytime minutes left. This time however instead of just checking online, I also used the minute counter through my phone (there’s a number you can call to check your balance) for confirmation. Sure enough it gave the exact same balance as on the online site. Then I looked at my most recent billing statement and low and below I finished the cycle out with almost sixty minutes. Had it just happened once, I would have figured that there is a software glitch, but it’s now happened two months in a row. It seems that either calls are getting incorrectly categorized as peak when I make them, or they are adjusting them downward after the fact. Part of the problem is you can’t see how calls are categorized until the end of the billing cycle. My plan this month is to try and keep track of my peak minutes by hand (which I am not particularly looking forward to). If I’m still noticing discrepancies I think that I might have to give Verizon’s customer service a call. I don’t want to get billed 45 cents a minute in overage charges, but I don’t like the idea of losing a large chunk of minutes every month either.

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I love my family and friends. But there are times, when frankly, I just can’t go there. And depending on the person and the issue, finance is often one of those areas that makes those times occur. One of the problems with personal finance, is that it is well, personal. And despite the fact that you might have a perfectly rational, objective opinion, that’s not what people often want to hear when it comes to things as personal as their money. The hard part is that even if you don’t necessarily bring up the topic, it will just come out in general conversation. Someone will tell you how they dumped money into their useless car or how they’re planning a vacation (which you know that they really can’t afford). So you hem and haw and try to change the subject, because the last time they asked your opinion and you gave it, they were really affronted.

Sometimes it bugs me that I take this approach, that if I truly believe in something, or know that someone’s course of action is not the right approach, then doggone it I should tell them. I’m not talking about things like quibbling over different mutual funds, but responding when someone informs you that they are going to spend most of their small savings on buying new furniture or putting concert tickets on their recently un-maxed out credit card. However, I have found that harmonious relations are better than letting someone know they that are wrong, even if they are. I have also found that I’m not the only person who takes this line of approach. I like to read a number of different blogs, many with a slant towards personal finance. In one of the blogs I read, posters have no problem criticizing people in newspaper articles for poor financial decisions, but many also admit having limited success with friends and family, and just letting topics drop. While some may see that as hypocritical, I don’t. People who volunteer their financial information for newspapers have basically invited critiques of their situations, essentially I feel that they are allowing themselves to be used as a case study. However, if someone you care about asks for your opinion on a financial matter, they are looking for information before the decision is made. As such I feel there’s nothing wrong with giving them basic advice, or pointing them to a good book or website. If you feel that the decision is beyond you, then say ‘I really don’t feel that I can help you with that.’ Some people will take the advice, some won’t. But you put it out there. It’s then up to them to be responsible and process the information; if they choose not to listen to it, fine. And sometimes people aren’t asking for advice, but simply making a statement, and you’ll just cause all sorts of drama if you break down why they are making the wrong decision.

Personally, I won’t hound anyone with information once they know my feelings on the matter. If someone hasn’t specifically asked for my opinion, I may express a concern, and then I move on. I’ve found that saying the same thing over and over is not effective if people are determined not to hear what you have to say and it just puts a strain on your relationship. The true challenge though is after they’ve made a bad decision and they want you to commiserate with them, once things don’t work out. However, that’s a whole different topic for another day, and I don’t even think that I am equipped to give advice on that anyway.

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I often hear people talking about determining your needs and wants. I don’t really have a hard time defining what’s a true want, and many things that are true needs, but I feel that I have a lot of options that fall in the middle, in some sort of nebulous category that no one every really talks about. I think that it’s because there’s a bit of difference between bare bones life needs and other needs. Sometimes there’s a basic need but how I fill it might depend on my wants. For example, I need shelter, but buying a big house is a want. The same thing goes for food, transportation, and other life necessities. I need to eat, but I don’t have to eat expensive, fancy food. I need to get back and forth to my employment source, but I can walk, bike, carpool, etc. So perhaps how you fill a basic necessity determines whether or not it’s a need.  True wants are a bit easier for me to define. I know that there are things in my life that are purely wants even if I have a clear use for them. For example, buying scrapbook supplies or a extra swimsuit are definite wants; they don’t contribute to anything that I need for life.

One of the things that I am struggling with are the items that are in the middle: in this category are things that aren’t basic life needs, but make a marked improvement in comfort. Here’s an example: I [blank] a vacuum. Now, I can live without a vacuum, but life is much better with one. I had one in my last locale, but it wasn’t very good. I ended up borrowing one from my neighbors when I needed a really good one; and since I’ve moved I’ve been employing the same strategy. However, this is not a very good long-term solution. While I don’t have a lot of carpet in my current apartment, I do have some carpet. Now you’re probably thinking – ‘girl you need to go and get yourself a vacuum’. Yes, Yes I will, but the problem really is that it’s hard to prioritize all the little things that fall in between basic needs and material wants. Then there’s a category of expectations for your job, social clubs, etc. For example, I am expected to become a member of certain professional organizations as this results in a great discount on conference memberships. Trying to live on a limited spending budget and balancing all these things is hard. While the professional organizations aren’t basic life needs, there are pretty much considered requirements for my position. And a vacuum is easily justifiable, since it makes it much more pleasant to breathe, especially when it’s hot and my dog is shedding like mad. Though there are ways to get around some of these issues (my book fund is enough to cover the cost of organization memberships), I’m finding that defining what you need and what you want, especially when there are certain external requirements and expectations, isn’t always as easy as it seems.

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I love bananas. I eat them all the time. To me bananas are wonderful fruit because they work in things that are very healthy, like oatmeal, and things that are not so healthy, like ice cream dishes and banana chocolate chips pancakes. Unlike other eco vs. frugal decisions, my banana purchasing pattern isn’t based mainly on environmental or financial considerations. I buy organic bananas, but I don’t buy them because they’re organic, I buy them because they are fair-trade. Where I live organic bananas run 99 cents/lb and regular bananas run 49 cents/lb (when there are no sales). However, it doesn’t cost me anything extra to buy fair trade organic bananas from my local co-op. Distribution normally only happens once or twice towards the end of the week, so you have to plan ahead, but other than that there’s no difference between purchasing the regular organic vs. the fair-trade. While the price of the fair-trade bananas is twice the price of the conventional ones, I feel that it really is a small price difference on my side, whereas it makes a really big difference for the farmers who are producing them. Where I live bananas are the only fair-traded fruit that I’ve seen (not including local produce) and they are available year-round at the same price (which can not be said for many other produce items). One could probably make the argument that small farm organic growing practices are likely a lot more sustainable as well. However, for me this is secondary to the human benefit. Seeing as there aren’t really any bananas grown in this part of the world, it’s likely that I won’t see the direct impact of my decision. Still for me, it’s pretty much an easy choice: I’ll gladly take the eco option, even at twice the price.

Which means the score is now: eco 2, frugal 1

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So Tuesday and Wednesday I had two totally free days, and by that I mean that I didn’t consciously purchase a single thing: no trips to the grocery store, no snacks out of the vending machine, nothing. I didn’t do it intentionally on Tuesday, I just realized it as I was riding the bus home. On Wednesday, I thought that I would break my streak, because there are a couple of things that I wanted to pick up, but other circumstances prevailed and I didn’t get a chance to go to the store. I had to be a little creative for dinner, but it wasn’t too hard as I, like most Americans, have a cupboard that’s far from empty. My streak ended Thursday as I went to the grocery store and picked up a few items. Since Friday is dollar-burger day and Saturday is the farmer’s market, I don’t foresee anymore free days this week, but hey it was fun while it lasted. I really enjoyed having a fews days without consumption, even though the first one was accidental. Personally, I get so used to just running down the street to the store whenever I need anything, that I often don’t bother to use the what I have in stock. This whole experience has encouraged me to think about having a short moratorium in grocery shopping.  Since I have gone a little bit over budget this first half of the month, I’m curious as to what I could easily make with what I have in my cabinets. Hmm, perhaps I will have to investigate and see what I can do.

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Perhaps it’s just me, but I feel like lately (in the past few months or so), I’ve noticed a lot more ‘Going Green’ articles and tips coming from very mainstream sources, i.e. grocery store magazines, news network homepages, etc. However, I can’t help but feeling like they are just recycling the same old suggestions: switch your light bulbs, get a reusable grocery bag, walk for short trips, etc. I wonder if it’s a bit like dieting and budgeting where people keep looking for new things when the basic information is still the same but no one is listening to it: burn more calories than you consume, spend less than you earn. Still, I feel like I’m seeing articles about how to ‘get green’ crop up in places where I don’t recall seeing them this time last year, or even in the early part of this year. I’m not sure where the impetus is coming from; though I know that the weather patterns have caused many people to wonder about climate change, and all the news about the ice caps probably adds to that as well. However, I don’t here a lot of people talking about the environment that I didn’t hear talking about it before. Perhaps it’s the circles that I run in: many of my friends have been environmentally conscious long before ‘being green’ was a buzz term. These articles could also be proliferating because people can see real changes in their health, budgets, and other areas of their life from doing more environmentally friendly things like eating local produce, walking to the library, and only doing full loads of laundry. As I mentioned before, I don’t mind if people want to implement small changes, so long as they realize that there are both small and big changes we can make and put those into perspective in order to make lasting lifestyle changes, versus having some sort of diet-fad style environmental movement. Also, since I like to not just complain about things but offer solutions, I thought I would list of couple of easy things to do, that I haven’t seen on every list out there (though they are probably on a few).

• Cut up your old t-shirts, towels, washcloths, or any other soft fabric you may have an use them as rags

• Pay attention to open and closed blinds and windows in your domicile to maximize heating and cooling efficiency

• Instead of chucking your old stuff to the curb, offer it up on freecycle: you never know how your old broken furniture could fit into someone’s art project

• Don’t print out the full on-line directions )which seem to need to use three-pages to tell you how to get anywhere). Instead, write the directions down on a piece of paper (preferably scrap); this will save you both paper and ink

I’m sure there are others; do you have any to recommend?

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