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Easy Ways to Save Money With Pinterest

January 22, 2016 By Alexa Mason 2 Comments

Pinterest has continually grown in popularity over its short existence. It brings new ideas to people all over the world. You can find creative dinner ideas, crafts, workout plans and even ways to save money. There may be a few things you are passing up when it comes to the “saving money” aspect of Pinterest though.

Cleaning Products on Pinterest

People pin down so many interesting things on Pinterest. A lot of these are DIY projects that users are eager to share with their friends. There are many Pinterest users who post homemade cleaning products that can range from laundry detergent, dish soap, wipes, or stain remover. The best thing about these homemade products is that they usually cost almost nothing to make. Some of the homemade products is that they can cost around $0.10 per tub or container compared to the $5 you’re used to spending.

Clothing on Pinterest

Pinterest is also a great site to use for comparison shopping. By pinning down multiple clothing pieces from different sites, you can compare prices and quality. It’s a great way to see what stores are offering similar items for a cheaper price. Some Pinterest boards also offer ideas on how to make your own trendy apparel using clothing and household items you already own, cutting down on the money you’d spend buying it directly from the store.

Cooking and Groceries on Pinterest

Everyone knows how expensive groceries or eating out is. By browsing Pinterest, you can check out the many different cheap, easy recipes that people have pinned down. Cooking at home often sounds time consuming, but there are many people on Pinterest who are committed to posting recipes that are easy on your wallet and your time.

DIY Pinterest Furniture

Anyone who’s tried to decorate an apartment, house, or dorm room knows that furniture can be expensive and that interest, unique furniture is often very overpriced. Pinterest can offer ideas on how to repurpose your old furniture. For instance, if you search the tags “furniture” and “diy”, you can find dozens upon dozens of tutorials on how to cheaply reupholster furniture, how to create new furniture out of existing materials, or how to paint quirky patterns onto your dressers, bookcases, or coffee tables to give your room some interesting décor. Most of these methods don’t cost much and will save you from buying an entirely new piece of furniture!

DIY Home Decorating

Pinterest is also a great place to look for home decorating ideas. Many of the ideas are DIY projects that take everyday items and turn them into exciting craft projects. Are you wondering how much you’ll have to shell out for a nice vase? Look for some of the pinterest items that suggest using a pretty wine bottle instead. Need some more shelving for your walls, but don’t want to pay for sturdy shelves? One pinterest board suggests using old hardback books: paint the cover and spine (or cover them with any sturdy paper of your choice) and use those as shelves instead.

Pinterest DIY Home Remodeling

As previously discussed with decorating ideas, Pinterest also offers some wonderful DIY ideas for home remodeling. Of course, you’re going to have to spend some money, but the website has plenty of user ideas on how to repurpose cabinets, floor tile, or wallpaper. Looking through other users sites might also give you a great idea on how to save money and remodel your kitchen or bedroom yourself, instead of hiring someone else to do it for you.

Coupons on Pinterest

If you search “coupons” on Pinterest, you’ll have plenty of pins to go through since a lot of users are dedicated to sharing store or website coupons. This is a great resource for people who are looking to save money. Just beware of scam coupons or coupons that are expired. With so many coupon deals, it’s sometimes difficult to keep track of which ones you can use online, in a store, and which ones are still active.

Pinterest Artwork

Most people like to buy art to hang on their walls. It’s a wonderful way to brighten up a room and add some character. But art can be very expensive. Pinterest has many examples of DIY art projects that cost next to nothing. For example, you can buy a canvas from an art store for a couple of dollars and create any type of art you want. Browse through “diy art” to come up with some cheap, fun art projects!

Entertainment on Pinterest

Many Pinterest members are not only interested in DIY projects, but in providing their friends and other Pinterest users with cheap or free activities. Some users have lists of unique activities to do with a friend, family members, or on a date. Or they’ll repost community or city events that are going on that you might not have heard of otherwise. This might not be your cup of tea, but if you’re on a budget and you’re trying to limit your entertainment expenses without sacrificing them entirely, this is something you should definitely check out.

Pin Instead of Shop

Are you still eager to head out to a store and shop, even though you can’t afford to buy anything? Pinning an item you’ve been looking at instead of running out to buy it is one way to combat spending money. There are plenty of fashion or home decorating pinboards you can browse and pin down as a wishlist. Try this and see if it will help calm your urge to shop.

Photo: Flickr: Jurgen Appelo

Your To Do List May Be Longer Than You Think

May 22, 2013 By Jennifer Derrick 4 Comments

I read a lot of books and articles on things like brain science, psychology, productivity, and memory. One thing that tends to come up often as I read is that the brain sees any incomplete task or goal as part of your to-do list. Even if you aren’t consciously thinking of it, anything that you have left undone lingers in the subconscious and will periodically torment you until it’s finished.

This applies to everything in your environment including unpaid bills, an unfinished presentation for work, unread books, a Tivo full of unwatched shows, or hobbies that you started but never did anything with. You may not have these things on your immediate to-do list (in fact, they may not have been important to you for months or years), but your brain does. As far as your brain is concerned, these things all represent projects or goals that you started and have yet to finish. As such, your brain keeps them stored in your subconscious and periodically “pokes” you with reminders (usually, it seems, in the form of guilt or stress) that you have all these undone things to do.

It’s up to your conscious mind to assign priority to these things, which is why the things that are most immediate (finish that presentation for work, call the plumber, pick up the kids, shop for dinner, etc.) are the ones that get written down on an actual to do list. Those things get accomplished first. But your unconscious brain is still keeping track of those other things it thinks you have to do. Whether you realize it or not, they’re causing you stress.

You’ve probably experienced this. Ever walk by that shelf of books you bought but haven’t yet read and felt guilty or thought, “Man, I’ve really got to get on that?” Or looked at your DVD collection and thought, “I spent the money for that video, I feel bad I haven’t watched it yet.” Or walked past that stack of bills you’ve been meaning to pay or bank statements you’ve been meaning to review and felt your stress level ratchet up just a bit? None of those things may have been on your conscious to-do list for the day, but your brain thinks they are (or should be).

This little phenomenon has implications for our financial lives. Many of us have a lot of stuff in hour house that we bought but have yet to use. We have books we haven’t read, games we haven’t played, hobby supplies for hobbies that never got off the ground, china we’ve never used, and movies we haven’t watched. Not only is all of this stuff taking up space, it’s likely causing us stress because our brains are constantly thinking, “Gotta use that, gotta play with that, really shouldn’t have bought that, what was I thinking,” and it eventually turns to a different message that says, “Gotta find the time to get rid of all of that, it’s taking up too much space, I’m an idiot for having spent the money on that,” until eventually you give in and either use it or get rid of it. But during all those months and years that go by in between, you’re experiencing a very subtle form of stress that eats away at you.

This makes the case for buying far less stuff. The less you own, the less you leave unused, and the less your brain adds to the to-do list. It also makes the case for taking care of your finances and not procrastinating. Even if something doesn’t seem urgently important to you (like getting a will made, for example), your brain thinks differently. It knows it needs to get done so you will be bothered about it until you do it.

If you’re already surrounded by unused stuff, untouched hobbies, or undone tasks, make it a point to deal with them. Either use or donate/toss the stuff. Make a move to actively participate in the hobby, or disregard it once and for all. Deal with your paperwork, or make a conscious decision that certain things don’t have to be done at all. The part of your to-do list over which you exert conscious control every day is tiny compared to the to-do list that your subconscious is harboring. Make it easier on your brain and free yourself from some stress by buying less, procrastinating less, and using what you already own to its fullest.

(Photo courtesy of robstephaustralia)

Get the Most From Your Magazine Subscriptions

November 17, 2011 By Jennifer Derrick 4 Comments

I subscribe to quite a few magazines. Some I got for free, but I’ve paid for many of them. Up until recently I’d been guilty of giving my magazines a quick read and then tossing them into the recycling bin. Then one day I asked myself, “Why am I subscribing to these if I’m not really getting anything out of them?” It started to seem like a waste of money if all I was doing was spending twenty minutes flipping through the magazines and then tossing them without getting anything lasting out of them.

So I decided to slow down and spend more time with each magazine and to write down or cut out things that I could actually use. I decided that if the magazine wasn’t giving me something that I could use in some way then I didn’t need the subscription. I no longer wanted to waste money just to fill my recycling bin. I can glance through many magazines for free at the library or even online. Subscriptions, I decided, should be limited to just those magazines that are useful to me. As I started paying more attention to my magazines, here are some content areas that provided useful information.

Recipes: I don’t love to cook, so I always tended to skip through the recipe section of most women’s magazines. I thought everything in there was too complex or time consuming for me. When I started paying attention, though, I was surprised at how many things were actually quite simple. I started clipping and adding quite a bit to my recipe file.

Coupons: I’ve always paid attention to coupons in magazines. That’s about the only thing prior to this experiment that could get me to pull out the scissors and clip. Some magazines are better than others for coupons, but there are usually at least a few that I can use.

Projects: I tended to skip over the craft projects for much the same reasons as I skipped over the recipes. They didn’t seem useful to me, or they were too complex. Once I started paying attention, though, I was able to find quite a few things that were fun to do or might be useful someday. Some magazines, like my husband’s woodworking magazines, have really elaborate projects. I’ve found a few things that I’d like to build (or have him build) one day.

Tips: My computer magazines provide some really great shortcuts that I didn’t know about. Women’s magazines provide some useful cleaning tips, or other household hints. Most magazines provide tips and hints on various subjects. If I come across something I didn’t know, I clip them and keep them for reference.

Puzzles: Some magazines include crosswords or puzzles. While it’s not enough of a reason (to me) to keep a subscription just for the puzzles, they can help keep your brain active so if you have a magazine that offers puzzles, take the time to do them.

Career boosting information: As a writer, I subscribe to industry-specific magazines. I keep a notebook handy and write down the information of publishers and agents that I think might be interested in my work. If I see that someone has represented or published a work similar to mine, I add them to my notebook. I do the same with my graphic design magazines. Anything that might someday be useful in my career gets written down. You can do the same with any of your industry-specific magazines.

Give it to the kids: Once you’ve extracted all the useful content that you can out of a magazine, don’t recycle it just yet. If you have kids, keep a stash of old magazines around for them to use in craft projects. They can cut out the pictures for collages and other crafts.

Dream content: Travel magazines are great sources for future trips. Whenever I see an article about a place I’d like to go, I clip it. Maybe I’ll get there someday. Some people like decorating magazines because they aspire to have a home like the featured ones someday. Car enthusiasts may want to clip information about a car they’d like to have. Not everything in a magazine has to be useful to you today. Some of it can feed your dreams and come in handy “someday.”

Things you want to research further: Sometimes I’ll see a stock or fund referenced in a financial magazine that I want to look into later. I’ll make a note of it. I might see a new treatment for a disease that a friend or family member is suffering from and I’ll write it down to look into it later. Magazines, because they specialize in short pieces, often can’t get into too much detail about things. If you see something you want to investigate further, write it down.

After I went through this process for a few months, I decided to eliminate five of my magazine subscriptions. They were entertaining, but I just wasn’t getting anything substantial out of them. I decided to just read those at the library from time to time. If you go through a magazine and you simply can’t find anything useful in it, it may be time to think about dropping the subscription. Maybe you can give it another issue or two, but if you’re still not finding any content you can use, save the money.

If you’re worried about the amount of paper you’ll generate by clipping every article or recipe that you find useful, you have two options. One, you can scan the piece and keep it on your hard drive. This is what I do with most things I want to keep. After I scan it in, I recycle the original. Two, you can look up the article online and bookmark it in your browser. There are two limitations to this, though. First, publishers often take down older stuff after a while, making your bookmark useless. Second, some publishers don’t put the little tips and hints type pieces on their website.

Magazines should give you something useful in exchange for the money you pay. Sure, some are more frivolous than others and fluff can be entertaining and distracting. But you have to ask whether a magazine that doesn’t provide useful information is worth the subscription fee. Maybe you can just glance through those entertaining magazines at the library for free. If you want to get your money’s worth out of a magazine subscription, you need to make note of the content that you can use in the future.

(Image courtesy of FontShop)