Easy Budget Tip #47: Bring Your Own Colas To Work (video)

Have a question? Write owentew@gmail.com.

You should follow "The Easy Budget" on Twitter here and become a Facebook fan here.


*Thanks to VIBROS for supplying the background music. Check out their music on cdBaby.com.

Living within your means with The Easy Budget (video)

I've followed my own budgeting advice and shot my first promotional video for "The Easy Budget" e-book. By following my own advice, I mean I did it within my budget -- which is pretty sparse. My wife said it was too silly, but I reasoned that if I'd tried to take it too seriously it would have turned out just as bad, and I'd have looked like I thought it was Spielberg-esque.

Take a look and judge for yourself -- then, buy the e-book and start living within your budget!

Have a question? Write owentew@gmail.com.

You should follow "The Easy Budget" on Twitter here and become a Facebook fan here.

How I rooted azaleas on a zero-dollar budget

I don’t have a green thumb. I also don’t have any green in my wallet for plant propagation. Still, I wanted to try to root some azaleas from cuttings I made from the front yard.

I live in my family’s old farmhouse, built by my great-grandparents in 1885 and modified by generations since. I remember my Grandma having azaleas lining the sidewalks when I was a kid, and a few are still left, but they have been dwindling. I have considered buying new ones since I moved in six years ago to replace the missing ones, but have never found it in my budget.

So when I trimmed some overhanging limbs the other day I had a sudden idea: Maybe I could root the clippings. But I’d have to act fast; I hadn’t prepared for that when I started. I quickly filled a couple of containers with water and shoved the clipped ends in to save them. I called my dad, who grew up in the house and actually knows gardening, for advice.

“They used to root them in south Alabama – in Mobile,” he said. “We never did that up here (in north Alabama.)”

Well, great. This wasn’t turning out like I’d hoped.

I decided to try to the Internet.

“Cuttings of the stems of most evergreen azaleas can be rooted rather easily,” said a page from azaleas.org.

Now, that’s more like it.

Of course, I was also hoping it could be done cheaply – and, truth be told, completely free. So I set myself on a challenge.

(Let me note that the website said I should have refrigerated those cuttings, but by the time I read that it was too late. Besides, since I intended to spend no money, I would be acting quickly; everything I used would have to be already in my possession.)

First, I needed something to bed the cuttings in. Surely there was something amid all these outbuildings I could use: In more than a century of farming this place has accumulated not only a barn but a wash house, a wood shed, a potato house a chicken house and an attachment to the garage we just call “the shed.”

My dad had been a truck farmer for about 15 years after his retirement, and there in the shed were some of the Styrofoam containers he used to put tomatoes in. They had holes in the bottom for drainage. Perfect.

I’d need a planting medium. I found a couple of bags with some soil still inside.

Next I read the Website instructions and hoped I could get them right.

Here’s what I did:

I filled two boxes four to six inches deep with the soil. I didn’t have a rooting hormone, so I skipped that step. I cut each of the cuttings two to five inches long, stripped the leaves of all but the top cluster. I then took a knife and stripped the bark off the bottom, punched a hole in the soil, filled it with water and stuck the cutting in and repeated until I had all I wanted.

Next, I needed a place where they’ll get plenty of light, but no direct sunlight (to avoid burning.) I have an empty spot at the end of the shed.

I built a mini-greenhouse from a couple of cement bars and four-by-fours that I put around the crates. I put an old window on top. A Facebook friend advised me to put a scrap piece of two-by-four under one side for ventilation.

Once winter arrives, that same Facebook friend says I should dig a hole and have the top of my crates level with the ground.

Cost, except for water from the faucet, for the whole project, so far: $0.

***

Read the instructions from people who actually know what they’re talking about here: http://azaleas.org/index.pl/azpropagate.html#cut

You can buy my ebook on living within a budget from Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com and iTunes. (Or on Amazon.co.uk if you were reading this blog post because you wanted to root azaleas on a budget of zero pounds.)

Keep up with my budgeting tips by following me on Facebook here and Twitter here.

Is it OK to 'cheat' on your budget?

Q. My food budget is tight. I recently got a stomach ache at work and needed a soda to calm it down. Is it OK that I took the money from my "medical" budget rather than my "food" budget. I had plenty of money to spare in "medical."

A. I see no harm in an occasional move across budgets like this -- especially when it can be legitimized, as in this case. But don't make a habit of it. And don't get tricky just to justify something. Otherwise, what's the point of having a budget to begin with? No one is forcing you to budget. (At least I hope not.) So if your current budget is not working out for you that badly, maybe you need to tweak it.

Have a question? Write owentew@gmail.com.

You should follow "The Easy Budget" on Twitter here and become a Facebook fan here.

Photo: Some rights reserved by RambergMediaImages

How to save $1 million for retirement (VIDEO)

Today show financial editor Jean Chatzky shares tips on how to have $1 million by the time you retire. Most are familiar to some of us, but it never hurts to have a refresher. And, surprise, living within your budget is key to success.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

You should follow "The Easy Budget" on Twitter here and become a Facebook fan here.

"The Easy Budget" nominated for Axiom Business Book Award

We are happy to announce "The Easy Budget: How to Always Have the Money You Need" by Owen Tew is a nominee in the Axiom Business Book Awards under the category Personal Finance/Investing.

Read more from our publishing parter, ebookstalktome.

Other 'Easy Budgets' reviewed: iPhone app, PDF file

Since titles aren't copyrightable not everything with the same name is related.

We noted a few days ago that an iPhone app called "Easy Budget" ($1.99 by Easy App World, screenshot pictured) isn't related to the e-book sold here, and we promised to buy the app and review it for you.

Result: We couldn't make head nor tails of it. We're not saying the app isn't good, but there were no instructions and we didn't find it intuitive enough that we could figure out its workings on our own. (If you've tried the app and like it, email us at owentew {at} gmail, or leave a comment on this blog entry, and we'll pass the word on to readers.)

Two reviewers at iTunes loved the app, one giving it 4 stars, the other 5. Comments were "Simple to use and very useful. Great graphics too!" and "IT'S WONDERFUL APP."

If it does work well, it would be a perfect complement to our ebook for those who prefer not to use pencil and paper or a purse full of labeled envelopes.

Another "Easy Budget" we've run across is "Easy Budget Blueprint." It's a 23-page PDF file that sells for $19.95. We didn't buy "Easy Budget Blueprint" because we didn't know the seller, but there are VeriSign Trusted and McAfee Secure labels on the purchase page. If you've bought the product and would like to give us a review, follow the instructions from the previous paragraph.

We do feel, however, that there can't be any better instruction than our own "Easy Budget" ebook, which can be bought through Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and iTunes and is one-fourth the cost. (We're not knocking competitors -- just trying to give you all the facts. If we hear a good review of the product, we'll be happy to let you know.)

You should follow "The Easy Budget" on Twitter here and become a Facebook fan here.