Rumors of my death are at least slightly exaggerated

I'm still here. I've worked 10 hours a day every day of my three day weekend and then spent hours with friends every evening, playing dominos (my darling husband doesn't seem to notice the truest level of my fatigue). I'm not feeling much more chatty than that, except that I would like to state for the record that I enjoy talking about money MUCH MORE than I enjoy earning it.

I shall return.

Thoughts on media fasts, simplicity, and the frugality of sleep

Let me begin by saying that school is starting again. I am in the process of radically turning over my persona, my daily schedule, and my budget, and so I am a bit - how can we say it? Off? (The turning over in my mind conjured up images of turning over the soil on a farm, and I hope it turns up the same kind of richness and freshness.)

I've spent the past week putting together my classroom, in itself a haven of minimalism and simplicity. I have my desks arranged simply, have 2 posters on my wall and a few quotes ("To be great is to be misunderstood" and "We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race") and a shelf full of books, and I am finished. I spent more of my time visiting with my colleagues, each in a tizzy over "getting their rooms ready," and chatting about life, love, and learning, trying to listen more than I spoke. It's been a quiet time for me, and a pleasant one, and a good transition with the coming onslought of teenagers which I have begun to look forward to.

And yet, and yet. When I come home from school, I am tired. I am drained. I am not used to being away for 8 hours, to waking up before 7 in the morning. I am not eating like I was at home, and I feel lost with my laundry undone and my dinner not started. So I come home, I do my chores, start my dinner, and I sit. I sit and stare at a wall, read a book, or work on some knitting, but I sit in the quiet. I want the quiet.

And so, there have been 3 days this week that I have not turned on my computer at all. That thought used to give me anxiety - I'd be so behind, I'd have to catch up, I'd miss something - but really in truth it's given me peace. When I had time last night, I turned my computer on, checked my RSS feeds and email, and was ready to turn it back off again. It's almost like breaking an addiction. When I've been away from it for a while, I craved it not more but less. It was a relief, since I'll have less time now, but a surprise. I just found an extra hour a day to read or exercise or swim. And I just found myself some peace.

And this week, what I'm most inclined to do with that extra hour is to sleep. In the afternoon with the sun streaming in, at 8 o'clock at night, whenever that hour turns up, I just want to stretch out and take a nap. I don't want to spend or go out or do anything that costs me money. And I couldn't be happier doing it.

The frugality of being a homebody

Lately I've had quite a few posts that involved, in some way or another, not going out. Before people start to think I'm a monk, or that I am extremely self-sacrificial, let me just clear the waters and explain how much I prefer staying home.

Now don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the occasional adventure and it's lovely to have friends over or to go to the park once in a while, and I do all those things and I do eat at restaurants and see movies too, but most days the place I'd most prefer to be is home. In my pajamas. Either in bed or curled up on my couch. Preferably alone and most often with the house quiet (or with a softly read audio book playing). And so, while it would be nice to have some books, a few DVDs (because really, I like movies), and gallons of coffee, I don't require much. Pretty cheap, eh?

Not everyone is made like this, though. My husband for example looks for constant entertainment or stimulation. If I leave to get the mail, he makes a phone call to keep busy while I'm gone. He needs music on his phone to tide him over between the music in his car and the music on his computer. He doesn't mind running errands: the post office, the pharmacy, the bank (all of which give me massive anxiety) because, hey, it's something to do right?

While extroverts thrive in social situations, introverts are drained by them. Now, while it's very possible for an extrovert to be frugal, I wonder if somehow it isn't harder. So, I ask, how many of you frugalites and frugalistas are homebodies and how many of you are socialites?

Money Saving Mission for Monday: Raise your insurance deductibles

Ready for another money saving mission? Don't worry, this one doesn't involve giving anything up, it just involves spending less money.

Check your insurance deductibles. If you have money in emergency savings, and you should, you should be able to raise your insurance deductible.
Insurance is the transferrance of ris, and if you have enough money to "self-insure," then technically you wouldn't need any insurance at all. A totalled car or a medical emergency, however, is probably more money than most of us can afford. It makes sense then to maintain enough money in savings to cover your deductibles: if you have a $1000 car insurance deductible, you need $1000 in savings. The same for your health insurance and prescription plan. By raising your deductibles you will save money on your monthly premiums; be smart about it though, it doesn't save you money if you can't afford to cover the deductible and have to take out a loan.

While you're at it, consider how much your insurance is saving you money. Would you save more money by paying a higher premium for a plan that covers a higher percent of your medical expenses, or vice versa? Do you use your dental or prescription plans enough to make it worth what you pay for them (and can you self-insure against emergencies that would cost you a lot out of pocket)?

So, dig out your insurance statements, or log onto your company's website, and make sure that you're not paying too much. Then you can walk around grinning and telling people that you "just saved a bunch of money on your car insurance"!

Free meatballs at Ikea?

I was at Ikea the other day, helping a friend pick out furniture, and I saw a sign that said:

"Bring in 12 inches of newspaper and get a free meal in the Ikea cafe!"

The newspapers are used to wrap purchases in the checkout lines (Ikea charges for bags now, too, how European), which warms the cockles of my green heart (Reduce, reuse, recycle, in that order). Since I hadn't brought my newspapers and Ikea is almost 2 hours from my house (we were in the city for the day anyway), I haven't tried this, but it sounds excellent. I will gladly trade my newspapers for meatballs any day.

Has anyone done this?