Frugal Tip ~ Use your library

I LOVE to read.  It's one of the things that keeps me out of trouble....along with knitting and digital photography.  Because I love to read, I have a strong desire to buy books all the time.  Last year I would have given in to the urge to buy bags of books.  Now I have found that a HUGE chunk of the books that I have on my wishlist are available in my library system.  So now I'm using my library more and when my mom and I go thrifting I like to check out the bookshelves....I love that I can buy a bag of books for a couple of bucks at our favorite thrift stores.

Right now I have 19 books checked out of my library.  All of them with the exception of 2 were on my wishlist.  I also have another 14 books that were on my wishlist that are "in transit" to my library.  If you don't have a library card, I recommend getting one.  Especially if you like to read and save money.  With the exception of late fees or lost books, checking items out of the library (at least at my library anyway) doesn't cost a thing.  I know that all libraries are different but please check into it.

A couple of great frugal sites

I've been going through my google reader, which is up over 1000+ posts in it yet again, and I came across a couple of frugal living blogs that I thought that I would share with you.

Getting Ahead - I found that while scanning through the archives of this blog that there were many things that I can implement into my life right now as well as in the future.  The blogger keeps it real and shares what has worked or hasn't worked for their family.

Learning The Frugal Life - This is a blog that I've been following for a little while now.  I find that I really enjoy the "Frugal Tip Tuesday" that they host.  This is also the blog that I found the inspiration for a "No Spend" month (which I will be doing again, hopefully with better success).

Life as Mom - This blogger is one of my favorites! There are a TON of great idea's, recipes and knowledge to soak up on this blog.  Plus, every Friday is "Frugal Friday" where other bloggers link up their frugal idea's.  A great source for more frugal tips to add to your life.

Re-creating ME part 1

So I haven't really been blogging on here for close to a month.  During that time I have been doing some thinking about ME and where I want to see myself in the future.  The right now me is up to her eyeballs in debt, has a borderline addiction to hand spun/hand-dyed yarn, is STILL living at home at 27 years of age, is driving around in a car that she doesn't feel particularly safe in (if it leaves you on the side of the road it goes in the borderline unsafe category), hasn't been on a vacation in YEARS and just overall is NOT happy with the current me.

So I have decided that I am going to "re-create" ME. 

One small step that I've taken in "re-creating" ME is setting up a Mason jar for all the change that I acquire.  I've got a pretty decent chunk of change in the jar already but I want to fill that sucker up.  So I guess that means that I'll have start using more cash from now on and become less dependent on my debit card.

I have actually gone ahead and moved my banking to another bank.  With my new checking account my money will actually work with me instead of basically doing nothing.  The interest rate on this new account is a whopping 2.51% APR.  I hadn't done it when I originally posted about it because my budget was still pretty unstable at that point but now that it's a little more stable I felt comfortable with the move.

I've decided that I'm actually going to get a passport.  The plan is to go to where my family is originally from in Germany next summer.  I am EXTREMELY excited about the prospect of actually getting on an airplane and actually seeing somewhere outside of our recession ridden country.  Now I have to learn a little German!

So there are 3 things that I've accomplished on my way to "re-creating" ME.