To sum it up into a simple phrase, that would be reduce, reuse and recycle!  Perfect–those are the same thing you do when you are being frugal and saving and moving towards your financial independence!

Whether you shop for gently worn clothing for you or your kids at a thrift store, like Goodwill or you buy second hand furniture to save from trees being cut down, or maybe you  decorate your house with gently used items.  This reusing of perfectly good items saves the Earth’s resources.

Consider how buying a second hand, less expensive car contributes to the health of the Earth by saving all the energy needed to build that vehicle, not to mention all the steel and parts that go into the car.

It is kind to the environment and–best of all for you, it also saves you lots of money!

Everybody wins!

Like the sign says at the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore: Used Saves.  It saves the Earth and saves you money!

Today,we will look at the expense side of things.  Remember, this is about building an exciting future, not about dull budgeting and deprivation!

To keep you motivated, I highly recommend cutting pictures from magazines so you know what you are aiming for and to inspire you to stay on track when the going gets tough or you feel deprived.

Long ago, I cut out a picture of a beautiful home as a short term goal and a beautiful beach as a long term goal.  The beach photo reminded me that I want to be able to sit on the sand some day and NOT work hard every day.

I decided to sacrifice spending now for financial freedom and life at the beach later! Now that you know what the goal is–you can determine how to get there!

Simply–Eliminate every expense you possibly can!

• Drive an inexpensive car  Save with a Cheaper Car.
• Eat at home and bring your own food to work.  Muffin Calculator
• Quit buying junk you do not need!
• If you need clothes, buy them on sale or at the thrift store or at a garage sale.  I buy almost brand new clothing that way! Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!
• Adjust the the thermostat to save energy costs.
• Cancel Cable TV.
• Do not smoke!
• Get your books and movies FREE from the library!

Cutting these expenses will give you cash to pay down your debt, so you can begin to save and invest.

If that sounds extreme or harsh–ask yourself these questions: Do I really want to be rich or don’t I?

Will spending on this item get me closer to being rich or keep me poor?

You get to decide!

According to the Wall Street Journal article, Kasia Al Thani owns 18 versions of the $7,000 Birkin handbag made by Hermès and is on waiting lists for two more bags, including one in white crocodile skin.

“When I see other women carrying a Birkin in a color that I want, I get bag envy,” says the 32-year-old chief executive of luxury retail Web site savoir-faire.com. “The more you can’t have something, the more you want it.” Al Thani said.  My head was spinning!

I had recently read an article in USA Today about a marvelous website called WishUponaHero.com where people can donate online to directly help people with needs of various types.  Website Connects Needy to the Charitable. The article stated that increasingly, requests are being placed for the basics of life, including groceries and gas money, along with pleas for help with medical bills and utilties payments!

The cost of  those 18 outrageously expensive ultra-luxury handbags comes to $126,000!   Think about how much food or medicine that could provide for sick and hungry little kids!   Imagine how many people could be helped if the money was put to a higher use and what an impact that type of  investment could have on the world!

The profound irony of this comment about the designer handbags really struck me  “The more you can’t have something, the more you want it.”  I bet that’s the same thing mothers are saying about having NO food or medicine for their children, and what poor and elderly people are saying about an expensive medical procedure they cannot afford!

What an impact even the cost of even one $7,000 Hermes bag could have on those people’s lives!

The rush gotten from knowing you have helped people should last a lot longer than the thrill from carrying the latest extravagant fashion accessory.

I had the extreme good fortune of having a very creative and fun mother-in-law, who happened to LOVE going to garage sales with her friends for cheap entertainment and to get GREAT bargains.

The impression I had of garage sales at the time was not favorable–alright, I admit it–I had a very negative image of them. I thought the stuff was all JUNK no one wanted. Boy was I wrong! (Although there is almost always some junk in each garage sale.)

My negativity evaporated when my mother in law pulled out the cool items she had purchased on her latest rounds of “rummaging” trips. I was floored at what she could buy for a nickel, 25 or 50 cents!  She had items from Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma that looked BARELY used and she had paid 25 cents for them!  She snagged high-end clothing items for herself and grandchildren that were 50 or 75 cents!   She had a wide variety of stuff she had gotten for practically NO money–and I was intrigued!   I had to find out what this was all about!

I started to tag along on her treasure hunts and was delighted to learn I could get all the furniture and accessories I needed to decorate and upgrade our duplexes at garage sales!   I got an even better deal because I drove up in  my older, unassuming “ugly” car- so it looked like I needed a super cheap deal, driving this old car (see earlier post).

Remember—we were trying to aggressively save—so every PENNY mattered!  The less we spent—the more we saved and the more we could invest!

Tables, lamps, dishes, clothing—you name it–they are all available at garage and estate sales for practically NO money!  I was HOOKED!

Over the years, these treasures increased the comfort and value of our personal home, as well as the rental real estate. Soon, my overflowing home loaded with frugal treasures caught the eye of the Discovery Channel and they featured a tour of our home on their top ranked Decorating Show.  They even flew me to Hollywood, where I demonstrated my frugal decorating techniques in their studio!

In 1998, I discovered eBay as the perfect place to sell the overflow of my accumulated treasures, and I have operated a successful eBay business ever since as a stay at home Mom,  making money, generating over 4,000 Positive Feedbacks and shipping goodies all over the world.

I continue to sell on eBay and am now one of the top ranked Education Specialists in the U.S., trained by eBay, as I  teach other people how to sell on eBay!  eBay is a terrific business for me and it is for YOU too!

Garage sales were a super deal back then–and they STILL are a fabulous source for great stuff for almost NO money!  And you are being kind to the environment by recycling!

Spring is here!  Get going to the garage sales!

I’ll see you there!