Money Making Monday: Double Your Charitable Gift

Right now, there is an opportunity to give to a great charitable organization and have your gift doubled. Heifer International not only gives food to the poor worldwide, they teach them how to become self sufficient and learn better farming techniques. After the original recipient has benefitted from the gift, they are required to pass the gift along, whether in the form of teaching someone else an imporant technique or giving away some of the offspring from their livestock. They've been around a long time and have done a lot of good.

They are good enough at it that the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation has decided to offer them a great deal - a $2.5 million matching grant to help families in East Africa. That means if you give, they'll match it, dollar for dollar. Their website says, "The project aims to help 179,000 families – one million people – lift themselves out of poverty by giving them a more profitable way to produce and market milk from small farms. "

It couldn't be easier to be a part of this. You can give through their website at heifer.org. Sharing our resources with others is a great thing, and I love having an opportunitiy to have a bigger impact.

(I realize this is a really strong endorsement - no, I'm not in any way associated with this organization. However, I've been giving them money since sometime back in the eighties when my church did a special fundraiser for them. I've always been really impressed by their philosophy - not even just teach a man to fish (rather than giving him one), but also asking that man to teach someone else how to fish, etc. It encourages both independence and a community spirit.)

Commitment to Loveliness...

I'm following Emma's lead and choosing five easy things to work on this week to make my life more beautiful and peaceful.

1. Pedicure - sandal weather is almost here.

2. Buy and plant some flowers for the boxes in front of my house.

3. Recover the seats of the new/old chairs in my kitchen. I have the fabric, I just have to do it.

4. Work each day on finishing up the baby blanket I'm making for a friend.

5. A nice long soak in the tub.

Visit Charming the Birds from the Trees for more ideas and inspiration.

Book Review - Color Me Beautiful's Looking Your Best

I recently finished this book, which I got out of the library. I'm astonished to find it's still in print 13 years after the publication date. I guess a lot of people still find it useful. Some of the illustrations are definitely dated. The principles, however, are timeless.

I started thinking about color after reading Style by Elsa Klensch - another worthy read on this topic. She has a brief section on choosing your best colors. From this, I've been gradually working on buying with color in mind more. I had already noticed some colors that didn't work on me - orange and yellow, for example - and I since I paint and enjoy thinking about color, this was fun for me.

When I spotted Color Me Beautiful's Looking Your Best on the library shelf, I knew I had to take it out. They guide you through picking your "season", which they have expanded from four to twelve choices. Once you make your selection, they offer both an extensive text list of colors that will be good for you, as well as visual examples. I found the colors were largely those I already knew to be good choices, but it gave me some new ones to consider as well.

The shocker for me was the statement that black was too harsh for my coloring. I'm a musician, so I am so accustomed to wearing black, I don't even think about it. But, I had to admit, as I thought about it more, that they were right. I will still need black for performing, but I should definitely consider other options the rest of the time.

I've already put this advice into action. I needed a new raincoat before our upcoming vacation. There were many in black, but I decided to try to find one in a more complimentary color. With some searching, I found one in a beautiful blue. I have to admit that it looks much better than the black coats I tried on.

I'm looking forward to trying this system out more in the future. After reading through Emma's challenge, I've been decluttering my closet and considering what I really need and want. I plan to compromise less on fit and color. I'm finding that this makes shopping take longer, but makes dressing much easier. In the end, it will be a money saver too, since I'll purchase more things that really look good on me and get a lot of use.

They follow the color section with advice on the shape and style of clothes, as well as clothes for different occasions and lifestyles. While some of the lifestyle commentary is dated, it was helpful for me to think about this. I've recently stopped working even part time, but I am definitely more in what they call the "executive wife" role than in the past. I need to rethink what I need. I have clothes from college still - some of them may not belong in my life anymore.

I highly recommend this book. It was definitely worth the investment of time to read it, and would even have been worth purchasing. (This is high praise from a librarian.) This is the kind of knowledge you get to own and apply again and again.

Blog Review - Frugal Conversations

One of my favorite frugality blogs is Like Merchant Ships. Meredith is full of inspiration and great suggestions.

So, I'm very happy she started a new blog that consists of conversations between her and other bloggers. It is called Frugal Conversations. There is a lot of good information, and it's fun to hear the people you've only read about talking. I have been enjoying listening to it while I clean and organize.

So far I've heard her interview Jenn from Frugal Upstate and Cathy from Chief Family Officer. One thing that I liked about both of these - they discuss the fact that the choose to be frugal rather than needing to be. We are in this same situation. I often feel like an odd duck as a high income/low spending person. That is what is great about the internet - I might not know many such people in real life, but I can be encouraged to know there are more of us out there.

They also discussed money saving ideas and the decisions we all struggle with (cash or credit, for example). I encourage you to check it out. I'm looking forward to listening to some more soon.

Frugal Friday - Bulk Yeast

For several years now, I have only bought yeast in this bulk package. I get one whole pound of yeast for just $4.00. I haven't kept track of how much those little packets of yeast cost, but I know the savings is enormous. I get mine at a store that sells Indian and Pakistani food mostly. Health food stores are another good place to try. Even if you throw half of it out, you'll be far ahead in cost. Better yet, split it with a friend or two. To keep it fresh longer, I transfer the yeast into a tightly sealing jar - this mason jar originally housed store-bought spaghetti sauce.

Edited to add: I keep the yeast in the fridge. One commenter mentions storing it in the freezer. I haven't tried it, but that sounds like a great idea too.

For more frugal ideas, head over to Biblical Womanhood.

Disappearing Act

My apologies for vanishing. We are preparing for a trip and it's taking way more time than I anticipated. I'll try to post something soon, but it'll be sparse until the end of March.