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My dad just opened the pool today.  I’m excited, because we (my puppies and I) really like swimming… but at the same time, swimming pools are expensive.  Before you put one in, you need to think not just of the fun you will have with hours of beachside volleyball, but also about the cost of opening (anywhere from $250-$400) and maintenance (if you don’t know how to clean it & test the water yourself, its about $150 a week here to have someone do it for you) and chemicals (cost varies depending on the type of pool you have).  Fortunately, its not my pool so I just get to enjoy it without all that extra worry

I hope everyone is having a nice holiday.  As we remember those brave soldiers who gave their lives for the country, it is a good day to ask ourselves if we are making all the appropriate sacrifices for the greater good.  Are we foregoing temporary pleasures for our long term financial success?  Are we placing a higher premium on the needs of our family and loved ones than on our quest to increase our net worth?  Are we giving to those less fortunate than ourselves, even if we too are struggling?  If not, why not?

For me, memorial day always signals the true start of summer- warm days, and sunshine are coming

I have 4 now… 3 of them I opened to get free stuff.  I only really use 2 of them (and that is because I need to keep 2 paypal addresses separate and you can’t have the same bank account for 2 different paypal accounts).  Still, I have to remember to check the others periodically to make sure that there is no problem with them (no random fees, etc.)  I really just need to close the accounts, but for some reason that seems like it takes so much effort, even though it really doesn’t (hopefully!)…

My dad is getting ready to retire in October (he is really, really ready- he has a countdown calendar on his desk).  He is lucky, though, because he worked for the government for 20 years and as such he gets a pretty nice government pension.  Its a good thing too, because he did not follow conventional advice and move his 401K into safer investments even though he is close to retirement age, and, well, I think we all know where that story is going and he lost a lot of money along with the rest of the world.  (more…)

Three houses have sold in my neighborhood in the past week.  Two of them sat on the market for almost one full year before the sale.  The one on my block sold for much less than the couple was initially asking for.  According to Zillow, they still made a profit of about $80,000 on the house, but they’d been in it since 1989.  It is definitely better than losing money, as so many people are doing- but it isn’t the return that they were hoping for. (more…)

Welcome to any new readers that found me from MSN Smart Spending.  I am Coupon Artist.  Around here I blog about a lot of different things- most obviously, of course, my extensive and creative use of coupons.  I don’t pay for toothpaste or toiletries, or really many groceries at all… and if you hang around here and read my posts long enough, hopefully you won’t have to either.  I also blog about general financial stuff and personal finance stuff- things like saving money, getting out of debt, and/or just my general thoughts on the state of personal finance in America.

I encourage you to explore, check out some posts, and hopefully subscribe to my RSS Feed or subscribe via email.  I post an average of once-a-day during the week, so you’ll always have something to read

Keybank is giving away a free Garmin nuvi GPS if you open a bank account and make one debit card transaction plus a combination of two direct deposits and/or automated payments each of $100 or more.  I like this offer because it doesn’t require a direct deposit, since I don’t like to switch my paycheck around to different banks.  Its pretty easy to set up and cancel an automated payment after I get the GPS, and the GPS looks pretty nice.

FYI- You will get a tax form at the end of the year with the value of the GPS on it.

Here are a few things on my shopping list this upcoming week:

At CVS, you can get $4 in ECB for purchasing the Schick Quattro for Women razor with 2 cartridges or trimmer.  The Razor is $8.99 and there was  $4.00 coupon in the 4/26 Smart Source, so the razor ends up being .99.  The limit on these is 5.  Extrabucks role, unlike at Walgreens where Register Rewards don’t.  So, you can buy 1 razor, get the Extrabucks, and use those extrabucks to buy another razor.

Also at CVS, you get $2 in ECB for purcashing the 4 count box of Bayer Quick release crystals.  The product is $2, so the item is free after ECB’s.  There are coupons available on tearpads at CVS for $1 off this product.  The limit on this is 1.

Finally, you get $5 in ECB for purchasing the Bayer/Ascensia Contour Diabetes Monitor this week.  The emter is $14.99 but there was a coupon for up to $30.00 off (in the 3/22 Smart Source, the 10/26 Valassis, and the 2/1 Valassis).  Use the coupon, pay $0 and get $5 back.

Best scenario for newbies with no ECB’s:

• Buy 1 contour. Pay $0. Get $5
• Buy 1 razor and 1 Bayer for $10.99.  Use a $4 Razor coupon, a $1 Bayer Coupon, and your $5 ECB.  Pay about $1.  Get $4.00 and $2.00
• Buy 1 razor.  Use a $4.00 coupon.  Pay about .99.  Get back $4.00 Repeat.

Carnival of Personal Finance at Earn What You Spend included my Coupon Quiz.

Some of you may have heard of Cesar Milan- he is a dog trainer with his own show on the National Geopgrahic Channel.  Cesar has a 3 step program to help “train dogs and rehabilitate people.”  His three steps are 1. Exercise 2. Discipline 3. Affection (in that order, of course).  When you are training a dog, you always have to be consistent.  You can’t admonish a dog for chewing on your shoe 9 times out of 10, but let him do it that tength time when you are too lazy to get up off of the couch- if you do, he’ll never learn.  Consistent, small corrections are required along with a lot of positive reinforcement, through the life of the dog, in order to have a well behaved and obedient canine family member.  A lot of these same principles apply to living a frugal life.  (more…)