Doesn’t “mortgage free” have a nice sound to it? It’s a worthwhile goal and even if it seems like a pipe dream to you now, consider it for the long term. It may not be possible immediately, but things could change.

My husband I were lucky enough reach this state five years ago, and it has changed our lives for the better, more than we even expected. Here’s how it happened: we sold a house and traveled for a while, then bought a smaller and much less expensive place. We both feel much less stressed as a result of becoming free of mortgage and credit card debt.

We have friends who also own their own homes outright. You can do this by building only as you can afford to buy the materials, by working extra jobs, by scrimping and saving, by using money that comes to you unexpectedly, or by a combination of methods.

Is being mortgage-free a goal for everybody? Read the rest >>>

Some communities have created local currencies that can be used for a wide variety of goods and services in that region. A book that describes how to do this, with examples from Ithaca, NY, and other places, is Time Dollars: The New Currency That Enables Americans to Turn Their Hidden Resource-Time-Into Personal Security and Community Renewal, by Edgar Cahn and Jonathan Rowe.  Since the book came out, many more communities have begun the process.

There’s a song that goes, “From you I receive, to you I give. Together we share, and by this we live.” Community currencies offer a tangible way of doing this.

Local currencies are perfectly legal; in fact, some local government agencies  take part in Minnesota and Maryland. Created by local groups, the currencies can be used for exchanging services and often also for goods. Read the rest >>>

In recent years, barter has become more and more popular in our society. It’s a great way to save money and interact with people in a different way.

Think about goods and skills that you can barter. One woman on an internet forum commented that she had stored fifty pounds of chocolate chips for barter. I couldn’t do that myself – I’d be too tempted to eat my money!

Barter systems are widespread now in Russia, China, Africa, and many other places. This is often direct trading, with no currency, gold, or silver involved. In Russia, many teachers are paid in vodka rather than in rubles. The internet has facilitated the creation of all sorts of barter networks. Some of the trades are huge – even international -  while others are neighborly.

During the depression, barter was widespread. According to Survival Bartering, by Duncan Long, one movie theater sold tickets for 10 cents or 25 cents, but it would also take eggs, corn, or wheat. Read the rest >>>

Here is concrete information you can use to recycle old computers and electronics. Be sure to wipe all sensitive data off hard drives, and I don’t just mean delete the files. Exactly how to do that is beyond the scope of this article, so do some looking around online.

For a very interesting look at how you can make money by recycling and salvaging old computers and electronics but also other things, take a look at Mike Meuser’s website on how he did just that. He offers an ebook–complete with email support–on the subject there too. I ended up exploring his writings on more than one site when I went there.– Zana

Taking Back Old Computers and Electronics at Best Buy, Costco, and Staples

By F. Tadesse

Costco trade in program

In their effort to become leaders in recycling electronics, Costco has teamed up with Gazelle.com. Gazelle is a leader in the on line electronics reuse and recycling business. What you do is, fill out an online form at the Gazelle website about the electronic equipment you are recycling. Gazelle will give you a quote on your item and if you agree then you can print out an on line free shipping label. They will even send packaging material for shipping your old electronics. As long as the value of your gadget is at least one dollar shipping is free. If they determine your electronics has no resale value, they will recycle it responsibly for free. At this time they recycle laptops, cell phones, LCD monitors, MP3 players, digital cameras, and gaming systems. They don’t recycle faxes, printers and TVs at this time. The recycling service is only available for members only. Read the rest >>>

I was pleased to find this guest post, a useful article on living inexpensively. Good any time, essential now for many people! — Zana

Hanging by a Shoestring – How to Survive on Next to Nothing

By Jennifer Carpenter

An estimated 47% of American households live paycheck to paycheck or very close. It doesn’t look like statistic will get any better soon; in fact it’s likely to get worse as the unemployment numbers rise. Not having much of a disposable income doesn’t mean you have to feel deprived, it just means you have to learn to survive on less fancy foods, repaired clothing, homemade old-fashioned household and beauty products and simple forms of entertainment. If you can learn how to and commit to doing at least these things, living n a shoestring budget won’t seem so much like deprivation.

Cut Your Food Bill

There are many different ways to save money at the supermarket. My favorites are shopping the sales and buying generic. Read the rest >>>