Tips on How To Spend Money from your favorite Ladies' Magazine

So someone, somewhere, signed me up for a subscription to a popular Ladies' Magazine. I did not spend money on this. That is a vitally important point.

I won't mention the magazine by name because I don't want to get in trouble for plagiarizing their money-spending tips below.

So, I bring to you How To Spend Money, according to this Ladies' Magazine:

• Get healthy skin by buying more/better moisturizers and creams
• Fix your natural shortcomings by buying exfoliants, makeup, and more creams.
• Get your guy to clean up his act by buying manly shampoos, washes, and more creams.
• Do better in interviews by buying new clothes to make trendy, eye-catching outfits.
• Look good in the morning by buying better makeup.
• Stay younger longer by buying... you guessed it, better makeup and more creams.
• Take better care of your hair (which has been stripped, broken, and burned by buying perms, dyes, heat, and chemicals) by buying more/better hair products.
• Change your life by buying cutting-edge treatments for hair removal, hair addition, step cells, lasers, complexions, etc.
• Weather out the cold by buying coordinated raingear in matching colors and fancy waterproof watches
• Live "green" by buying new backpacks made from recylced fabric, organic sachets, biodegradable mats.
• Enjoy bicycling by buying a new bike and a new biking wardrobe.

Not only that, but you can lose weight by joining a gym class (instead of working out with friends), running on a treadmill (instead of through the park) and buying a food journal (instead of a simple 10 cent notebook)

Uh, what have we learned, Dorothy?

Incidentally, a great way to not spend money is to not buy magazines written for women with disposable income.

How to Live Without a Hairstylist

Maybe you have heard of the money-saving tip "You can save on haircuts by stretching out the time between your haircuts. Go an extra week or two with your current haircut. You could save much over the course of the year."

Really? How often do people get their hair cut anyway? Well, according to Hairfinder.com, "A short haircut will stay in style for a maximum of 4 weeks. When your hair is medium length you should go to the hairdresser about every 5 weeks. If you have long hair you'll need a trim every 6 weeks to avoid split ends." 

I think I get my hair cut once every six months. If I'm on top of things.

Even a cheap haircut can be 25$ or so, and if you get a haircut every month, it adds up to about $300 every year. If you have the money and enjoy freshly-cut hair, go for it.  But if you don't have the money or just can't afford it, don't let that keep you from having a neat coiffure.

Alternative #1: Have long hair

In days gone by, women would let their hair grow unfettered. 

This is why there are many long lucious locks at renaissance festivals and in movies about people riding around on horseback through the woods.

But long hair isn't limited to fairy tales. In more recent (and realistic) eras of history, women got along just fine without annual haircuts at stylists. For example, Victorian women could have long hair and wore them in beautiful up-dos, while pioneering women could work hard at all tasks without their tresses getting in the way. 

One difficulty is that in today's workplaces, women need to maintain a "professional image" or a "modern look". Part of the hurdle here 

is expectation. Just as we all fruitlessly tried to look like Barbi

e, we are now living in an age where we expect layered and difficult- to-trim hairstyles.  Short hair says "active" "fun-loving", or "approachable."Supermodels and celebrities may have long hair, but it might be elaborately layered around the face or at the tips. These types of styles, while attractive, are not easy to maintain with one's own pair of scissors. But there are several easy styles that can keep long hair professional and out-of-the-way for  daily activities.

A few tips for long hair:

• Hair that is kept up most of the time is less likely to be damaged. If you wear an up-do every day, it will keep your hair looking nicer on those days when you decide to wear it down. 
• If you have a good friend with a steady hand, you can ask them to trim split ends for you.  Again, if your hair is long enough to wear up, keeping your hair healthy by trimming split ends will not affect the overall look of your do. 
• If your hair is long enough, you can get it cut for free by going to a place that will donate to Locks of Love. Locks of Love is a charity that provides hair for children who are victims of hair loss. They require at least ten inches cut off in a solid chunk in order to donate. This is an option if you have long hair and want to go for something shorter at no charge.  Call ahead to make sure your hair place donates and offers the resulting hair cut for free.

Alternative #2: Cut your own hair (or your friends' hair!)

When I was growing up, my mom cut everyone's hair in the family. We didn't go out and win awards for Best Haircut on the runway model circuit, but it was functional and I'm sure I looked terrific. And how often do you stop someone in the hall at the office and say, "Gee, Sally, did you get a haircut?" "Why, yes I did, Verne. Summertime and all, you know." "well, it looks like you cut it yourself. You must be on a budget" Nope, people just don't go there. If anything they compliment you on how cute it looks.

Since custom sometimes dictates that men cannot wear their hair long, home haircuts may be the best possible alternative to foregoing trips to the barber.

Any Google Search for cutting one's own hair yields a number of helpful results, including the following article: How to Cut Your Own Hair.

Alternative #3: Shave your head

This may be a more viable option for the male readers. 

How to Live Without TV

I don't know how much your cable bill costs you every month, but I

 know how much mine costs. It costs $0.00. With a little ingenuity (or maybe a major paradigm shift) yours can cost $0.00 also. 

First of all, (and this is the hard part) you need to call up your cable provider and cancel. Do it now. I'll wait.

. . .

     ...

         . . .

Are you back yet? Ok.

"Now what?" I hear you ask. Well, there are other, freeer sources of TV that you may not have tapped yet.

The Internet

• If you just want mindless entertainment, sites like YouTube have plenty for everyone. 
  
• Most major networks have full episodes of your favorite shows available. Try the following:
  
• NBC : Click on Watch Video in the main menu, then select those shows with the green circles. These have full episodes to view
• CBS : Click on "Watch & Chat" and there will be a selection of full episodes to watch. These are arranged by"room" where you can discuss the merits of the content with other avid viewers.
• ABC : Click on the menu item that says "Free Episodes", and watch free episodes of all that they have available.
• Cartoon Network : Click on "Video", then "Shows", then select the one you want to watch. They are only available for a limited period before new content replaces it.
• Check out other video sites like hulu.com or made-for-web cartoon sites such as homestarrunner.com
  
  

This is assuming that you have an Internet connection (since you are reading this blog.) If, however, you access the Internet at a public spot, such as a library, you might want to bring a set of headphones (if you have them.)

The Library

I could really do a whole post about the library and how wonderful it is, butI'll just focus for now on film selections. Many libraries have extensive DVD and video collections, some of them with newer TV seasons.  Or, you could try branching out and watching older BBC or PBS specials. There might even be some classic films with people who are pretty and good at acting. Who knows, you might even learn something! Scary thought, huh?

Your Friends

Whether you realize it or not, your friends might be an excellent source of TV.  For those of you who watch Gray's Anatomy or Heroes just to be able to talk about it at the office the next day, why don't you find people you'd enjoy discussing it with during the commercials? Commercials are better when you're not watching them, anyway.  If TV is truly a social event for you, share it with somebody with a bigger screen and a better cable budget than you have.  It's a great way to get to know people and maybe share something you love with someone new.  Plus, your friends might have an extensive existing DVD collection of shows you haven't watched yet.  Chances are if they are excited enough about a show to buy the DVD, they will want you to borrow it, watch it and share in the wonderfulness that you might be missing otherwise.

Netflix

I hesitate to mention this because Netflix does, in fact, cost money, but if you already have a Netflix account, you are already spending the money anyway. Do you realize you can get seasons of your favorite shows through the mail? It's amazing! They play in your DVD player and everything. If you don't already have Netflix (or insert media service of choice here), you might find that it's cheaper to get a basic subscription than pay for cable. I know, I know, it's a "spend less" mindset rather than a "spend none" mindset, but I mention it because it might be a cost-saving option. And it might be the "gateway" into just foregoing your TV altogether. 

Watch Less TV

This is actually my favorite TV option here. There are about a million things to do besides watching TV.  Maybe even a million and five. Anyway, there are a lot of alternate activities. You can go for a walk, play with your kids, start a novel, read a novel, learn a new skill, pick up some freelance work, put a few extra hours in to get that promotion, find a new job, learn to sew, learn to draw, volunteer, get more sleep, take a long bath, etc. I don't know -- go crazy. If boredom was seriously your main reason to watch TV, then you might be pleasantly surprised...

Well, even with all those options you might find that it is just too hard to cancel your cable. If the TV is too tempting, have you considered just selling the box altogether? Then you'd get extra cash, extra space, and one less bill every month. Plus, it might cut down on arguments about TV watching. But maybe that's not for you. I'd just as soon keep it for movies and games, personally. Living without the cable bill (not to mention extra channels, pay-per-view, DVR, other various add-ons) is enough for me.