beg.

Want something free? Just ask!
Free month's rent?
Landlords everywhere are having trouble filling vacancies, so they won't want lose good tenants. Ask for a break, or try extending your lease.
Free gym workout?
Tell the gym you've been planning on visiting that you're new. Most will give you a free month... and then you can take the ideas that you learned there and do them at home.
Free shopping spree?
Join phillyfreecycle.org and get email alerts about items people are giving away... Post a request for something you want and hope for the best, someone MAY be giving away a free flat-screen plasma! Ok maybe not, but hey it doesn't hurt to try.
Again... these are just samples so swallow that pride and start looking for free stuff.
upcoming posts... giving. saving. ready to buy a house? and others...

barter.

"I'll give you this if you give me that..." Simply put.

Don't tell me you have nothing to barter because I know you do!
Everyone has something to offer whether it be something you no longer use or a service/skill you can offer.
The easiest way to barter is to de-clutter your house. Go through everything-- particularly electronics, books, gently used clothes and get-to tossing (make a pile marked 'barter').
One website I've found that works well is www.craigslist.org. It's a non-profit site that lets you check out things that people are looking to get rid of as well as post what you no longer need.
You may not make much money from this but at least your house will be clutter free (or have less of it) AND pick up something you need!
Artists, musicians, teachers... you can barter your skills.
These are just a couple examples but put on your thinking caps... I'm sure you will come up with something!

borrow.

True narrative on how to save money-
Curly Sue(name has been changed for anonymity): "Hey I got a new flat iron for Christmas"
Me: "O yeah? Nice! I need a new flat iron, mine is busted"
Sue: "Oh?"
Me: "Hey your hair always curly and it looks beautiful like that.. why do you need a flat iron?"
Sue: "Oh because..." blah blah blah
Me: "Well hey since I need one, how about we share"
Sue: "Um, ok..."
Me: "Yeah like when you need it I can give it back to you since you use it so little and I would use it everyday"
Sue: "Sounds great!"

Ok so maybe "Curly Sue" wasn't as excited about this proposition as I was but hey it worked. And she is completely fine with this deal. (Right, Nina?!... i mean, ahem, Sue)
The key to borrowing is asking. And having a great reputation of taking good care of other peoples stuff.
And you can ask to borrow just about ANYTHING.
So don't be shy! Think about something that you need/want, grab a good friend and ask to borrow it!

Tomorrow's post: barter.

Blame it on the economy

The new catchprase of 2008-2009 seems to be 'it's because of the economy' or 'with this economy things are tough...'
Yes things are tough for some people but I think it's pretty funny hearing those words from people who are not directly affected by the drama and actually have jobs!
But for me, I'm thanking the economy because it has inspired me to blog!
This site will be a hodgepodge of useful information regarding finances.
A very close friend of mine, who also happens to be my sister- in- law and my Pastors wife, always tells me how I should write a book because everyday I have a new idea for how to save money...
Well, until someone comes knocking at my door with a book deal, I am sticking with blogging.
I hope that you will find useful information here.
Let me know what you would like to hear me write about... I am going to try to hit on a little bit of everything.
So follow along as you learn how to ...
borrow.barter.beg