Preparing for Hurricane Sandy on a Budget

If you live on the east coast and must deal with Hurricane Sandy, I am sorry.  If you live on the east coast and must prepare for the hurricane on a budget, then you are in luck!  Many of the food products you will need are rather low-budget!

I live in Maryland and I am getting prepared for Hurricane Sandy or Frankenstorm, if you prefer.  I am not terribly excited about the prospect of this annoying hurricane coming my way.  I don't want to deal with my windows rattling and leaking like they did with Hurricane Irene.  I also don't want to deal with potentially losing my electric for days.  However, she is coming whether I like it or not, so trying to stay on a budget is my goal. 

Some important items to buy in preparation for Hurricane Sandy are flashlights, batteries, and food that does not need to be refrigerated.  Luckily, many dollar stores sell flashlights, batteries, and food for a very low cost.  Unfortunately, you might have a hard time finding flashlights and D batteries at this point.  If you have flashlights that take AAA batteries or AA batteries, you are in luck.  There are still some available as of Sunday morning. 

As far as shopping for food, usually the cheapest food is the type that does not need to be refrigerated.  It is a good idea to stock up on items such as:

• Pop Tarts
• Cereal Bars
• Granola Bars
• Applesauce, pudding, and fruit cups
• Cans of tuna or chicken
• Peanut Butter
• Nutella
• Bread
• Banana
• Carrots
• Radishes

I've also been freezing water is plastic cups and making a lot of ice in my freezer.  I am hoping if I do lose power, I won't lose all of my food.  I am hoping with enough ice, everything will be OK for days.  Since I am hoping for this, I also bought food that tends to last a while in the fridge and freezer like hot dogs, cheese, jelly, etc.

Since I am hoping you still have power if you are reading this, make sure to start getting prepared with water at this time.  Start filling buckets and jugs so you can flush your toilets in case you are not able to do so when you lose power.  Also, make sure to start filling water bottles and pitchers with fresh water to drink.  Make sure to have about a gallon of water per person per day.  Plan for at least 3 days of water.   

To anyone reading this on the east coast, best of luck to you!  Don't let Hurricane Sandy ruin your week or your Halloween.  We can get through this together!

Save Money at the Beach!

Assateague Island in Maryland

I absolutely love visiting the beach.  If possible, I like to go to the ocean a couple of times each summer.  Unfortunately, sometimes I can only afford a day trip.  Other years, I can afford to stay a few nights.  No matter what budget you are working with, you can usually afford to take a day trip to the beach if you live on the east coast.

Did you know many of the states that surround New Jersey have a number of bus companies that offer low-budget day trips?  In many cases, you are even given a free voucher to use at the casinos in Atlantic City if you opt to take an Atlantic City day trip.  It is lots of fun and you can gamble if you want.  If gambling is not your thing, you can hit the beach or go shopping or simply enjoy the boardwalk.  You can even pack food, so you are basically only paying to take the trip, which can be as low as $25 on up to maybe $45 depending on the company you decide to use.

If you can afford to go the beach for more than one day, there are many ways to save money.  Some basic tips for saving money on your low-budget beach trip are:

• Reserve rooms for the middle of the week, not a weekend.  The rates are lower.
• Use a motel or hotel that is not directly on the beach.  Sometimes they have a lower rate.
• Ask friends and family members for recommendations.  Sometimes the best (and cheapest) lodging is at a place you've never heard of before.
• Pack your own food!
• Bring all your own supplies.
• Take a cooler with plenty of ice or make sure the motel has a fridge.
• Look for coupons online before the trip and print them.
• Look for coupon books and guides in the area once you get there.

For further details and tips, please check out: Low-Budget Tips For The Beach

Ocean City in Maryland

Stand Your Broom Up On Its Own!

Are you bored and looking for some low-budget fun?  Do you have a cheap plastic broom?  Well, you are in luck!  For this Spring Vernal Equinox, you can try to stand your broom up on its own.  Yes, you can take you plastic broom and stand it up on its bristles.  This is supposed to be due to the tilt of the earth and the gravitational pull right before the first day of Spring.  You can also sometimes make a raw egg stand up because of the Spring Vernal Equinox as well. 

For more information on this, check out: The Almanac - First Day of Spring

However, there are some non-believers, or party poopers as I'd like to call them, that say standing the broom by itself on its bristles is just a trick that can be done at anytime.  They believe the bristles are so soft, it will cause the broom to stand on its own no matter what.  The gravitational pull should not be strong enough to make the broom stand by itself.

You can read their article here: The Truth to the Broom Trick

All I can say is, my cousin tried the broom trick at her house tonight and got her broom to stand up.  I also tried the broom trick at my apartment and got my own broom to stand up.  You can see my own lovely standing broom in the photo above.  So I think there is something to the story.  However, I have been unable to get an egg to stand on its own.  I will try that again on March 20th.

For now, if you are really bored and don't feel like paying for entertainment, try the broom trick in your own home.  Fun times!

Check out a YouTube clip:

Have Yourself a Low-Budget Valentine's Day!

Let's face it, most of us don't even really like Valentine's Day.  Somehow, someway, we still get talked into celebrating it.  This year, forget about really celebrating Valentine's Day!  Why not do some low-budget stuff at home instead?

You can listen to some nice anti-love songs for Valentine's Day.  Why bother finding someone to celebrate with when you can celebrate by listening to cheating songs, weird love songs, and break-up songs.  It might be the most fun you'll have on Valentine's Day.

If you don't want to mope by yourself, how about getting some cheap, fun stuff at Target with your friends?  Perhaps you'd like to shop for cheesy, low-budget Valentine's Day items at Claire's.  Better yet, you can always go to the dollar store and go crazy buying loads of cheap candy.  Just sit around after shopping, and you and your single friends can go crazy with the calories.  Good times!

I mean, you could actually decide to do something productive like go to work.  Of course, that is not really a celebration.  That is more like torture.  By hey, you've got to make money to pay all those bills, right?  Right!  You can also just celebrate at home with a nice dinner, or hang out with your pets, or stalk your exes online.  There are are so many options when it comes to Valentine's Day!

So just remember, Valentine's Day is really just like any other day.  If it were an actual holiday, we wouldn't have to go to work.  So don't get too carried away!  Go crazy at the dollar store or hang out at home.  Keep it simple and low-budget!

Dorm Shopping - For You!

It is that time of year again.  As soon as summer begins, the stores start thinking about fall.  Most specifically, they start thinking about college kids going away and the sales it will bring them. 

Anyone going away to college for the first time needs a lot of items.  As more college students get tired of dorm living or do not have that option at all, students are finding they need to live in an apartment.  As everyone knows, whether you live in an apartment or a dorm, you need lots of items.  This is when stores see a great opportunity to make some extra money. 

Don't let the dorm sales fool you - you don't have to be a student or the parent of a student to find some awesome bargains.  Do you need a new rug for your livingroom?  Do you need a new low-priced vacuum?  Maybe you need a new full size comforter?  Right now is the time to shop for all of those items.

College students shopping for the fall means you can get great bargains, as well.  This is the perfect time of year to buy something cute and new.  Because these sales are geared towards college students, not only are the prices lower than normal, but the colors are usually brighter and the patterns more vivid.  If you are a fun person and you want your home to express that, this is time to start shopping.  Don't let those college students have all the fun.

Atlantic City Day Trips

I've been thinking a lot about vacations lately.  Mostly because I think I really need to go on one!  If you are looking for a bargain trip, I would like to recommend Atlantic City.  Now I know what you are thinking.  You think Atlantic City is all about gambling and that is just not true. 

Atlantic City has a beach, an amusement park, an aquarium, arcades, games, an awesome boardwalk, beautiful mall, outlet stores, and so much more!  It is possible to be entertained in Atlantic City for an entire day without ever going in a casino.  So why not take a day trip there? 

Plenty of states that surround New Jersey offer low budget bus tours.  People travel to Atlantic City on day trips often for only $25 to $40 for a round trip.  Part of this is to promote the casinos.  You pay for your bus trip and you usually receive a voucher for about $25 or $30 to spend in the casinos.  Sometimes you will even get a meal voucher.  It is a great deal.  If you don't like to gamble, give the voucher to someone else.  Personally, I usually spend just the voucher and go on my way.  One year, I actually won $200 and never even spent the entire voucher.  Yes, that was a good trip. 

So if you want to go on a day trip and you do not want to spend a lot, you should consider Atlantic City.  If you live in Baltimore, here is a helpful article: http://hubpages.com/hub/Baltimore-to-Atlantic-City-Trip

Living Cheap While Living in Maryland

Do you want to go on a vacation?  Of course you do!  Do you live in Maryland?  Well, maybe yes and maybe no.  But I'll bet you would like to go on a vacation if you are in Maryland.  Sadly, a good percentage of us can't afford to go on a vacation.  Have no worries!  There are plenty of low-budget vacation spots in Maryland. 

 You can go to Ocean City or Chesapeake Beach or D.C.  For more information, you can visit: http://www.squidoo.com/low-budget-summer-fun-in-maryland