How to eat for 33 cents a meal

Eating consumes a lot of your budget, and everyone has tips on how to  feed yourself more cheaply. Yesterday, tech startup enthusiast Andrew Hyde posted his tricks for eating for about 33 cents a meal.

One of the most humbling experiences I have ever had was shopping for two weeks worth of food with a twenty dollar bill. … Hacking your food budget is one of those things that I am surprised more people don’t do.

via How To Live (Comfortably) on $36 A Month For Food | Andrew Hyde – Startups. Start Here.

One of his basic tenets is that if you are serious about sticking to a budget, you have to change your thought process on food. And he rattles off tips from breakfast, lunch and dinner to snacks. Don’t miss the reader comments at the end of his post.

Deep discount grocery shopping is one of his tips, and good local sources of low-cost food are grocery factory outlets such as Go Grocery. Local farmers markets are another source, and calendars can be found in the weekly Iwanna.

Then again, there are even more extreme measures like dumpster diving, which local blogger Ashvegas explored earlier this year. And not surprisingly, Hyde notes that “the smaller your stomach is, the easier this is going to be.”

Ride the Twitter wave with these tips

Twitter has washed over Asheville and Western North Carolina in a big wave. It’s been embraced by local mainstream media, and it’s been growing in a number of local publishing entrepreneurs who are building networks and audience with the micro-blogging service. It’s also a great way to promote and follow events like this weekend’s Bele Chere Festival in Asheville.

A couple of good examples of local small businesses using Twitter include Blanchard Hyundai and AskAsheville. You can follow Iwanna at www.twitter.com/iwanna.

But for most small businesses, Twitter remains somewhat of a mystery. Just in time, Twitter has released “Twitter 101 For Business” that is a great primer for small businesses.

Twitter isn’t just about useful immediacy. The conversational nature of the medium lets you build relationships with customers, partners and other people important to your business. Beyond transactions, Twitter gives your constituents direct access to employees and a way to contribute to your company…

via Twitter 101 for Business — A Special Guide.

Using very simple tools such as the new Twitter widget and a simple website creation tool — such as the disposable web-site creator DinkyPage — anyone can create a niche-specific information site to share with customers, colleagues and friends. Check out Iwanna’s Internet Marketing Tips here for more free website tools.

To show you how simple it can be, we’ve created an Asheville Tweets page that includes an Asheville Twitter feed and a Pack Square-based webcam courtesy Wilcox Travel. Check it out.

And so, as an added bonus, now you’ve gained some expertise so you can talk the talk at the pub.

Cash For Clunkers becomes law – but watch out for scams

President Obama signed the Cash For Clunkers bill today, which gives gas hog owners the chance to convert their old rides into government cash vouchers up to $4,500. It goes into effect in 30 days under the direction of the Transportation Department and will be effective for the rest of the year.

But look out. Officials are already warning folks of scams
that suggest you have to “sign up” to participate.

…be wary of any site that says you have to register to participate in the program, or asks you for any personal information. NHTSA reminds consumers, “You do not need a voucher and you are not required to sign up or enroll in this program. Participating new car dealers will apply a credit, reducing the price you pay at the time of your purchase or lease, provided the vehicle you buy or lease and the vehicle you trade in meet the program requirements. The dealer will then obtain reimbursement from the government.”

via Cash for Clunkers News – U.S. News Rankings and Reviews.

Check out Iwanna’s local car dealer inventories here.

Effecting change for small business

A good blog post for entrepreneurs:

In order to be successful, you have to be open minded. You have to be willing to change. You have to accept that your plans might be complete garbage and that you need to start over from scratch.

via Things About Our Business That Didn’t Go According To Plan | MyWifeQuitHerJob.com.

Small businesses in Western North Carolina have turned to Iwanna for  their entrepreneurial and advertising needs for more than 30 years. And now Iwanna has a new section devoted to their endeavors called Business & Agriculture. Check it out.

Tips from frugal millionaires

…millionaires keep more money than they spend, that’s why they are rich. Their tactics work for them so they’ll work even better for you. Key Point: They don’t view shopping as a sport. They shop efficiently and spend their time doing more important things with their lives.

via How to Spend Like a Frugal Millionaire – Alpha Consumer (usnews.com).

This good blog post has spending/saving tips on a variety of topics such as eating out, cars, clothes, electronics and computers. Iwanna has been a source of frugal shopping for over 30 years. Check out Iwanna categories here:

• Wheels
• Clothing
• Electronics
• Computers

Is stocking up frugal or foolish?

Sam’s Club and other discounters have turned the impulse to stock up into a business model.  The majority of items for sale at these warehouse-like stores are bulk, and club members buy with the hope that they’re saving money over the long run.

The flipside, of course, is overbuying stuff you don’t need or use just because the price looked good. Who of us haven’t asked ourselves:

Are these impulses foolish? They don’t feel foolish, but sometimes I’m not as smart as I should be about these decisions. Would buying these extra iPods or boots just be a sort of hoarding? Would I be bringing more clutter into the house? I don’t know. All I know is that I don’t feel guilty for considering these options — so long as I can afford them.

via When Does It Make Sense to Stock Up? ∞ Get Rich Slowly.

Everybody who shops discount groceries knows that deals don’t last long on the shelves. If you think about stocking up on a good deal too long, it could be gone the next time you come back.

Comments from the Get Rich Slowly blog offer some good advice about stocking up:

• Electronics are always bad options because technology improvements will almost always make the next model better.
• Products that cost less than $20 each are good candidates but they have to be at a killer price.
• Be cautious about products that degrade over time.
• Be especially careful with food products that are stocked up, because they need to be rotated regularly.
• Anything that you are confident you could resell at the same price you paid (or more) is worth stocking up on.

Is your yard sale legal?

In this season of garage sales, there is suddenly a lot of hand-wringing about the federal Consumer Product Safety Act that was signed into law last summer. If you read it literally, it says we could be subject to thousands of dollars in federal fines for selling yard sale stuff.

This handbook will help sellers of used products identify types of potentially hazardous products that could harm children or others. CPSC’s laws and regulations apply to anyone who sells or distributes consumer products. This includes thrift stores, consignment stores, charities, and individuals holding yard sales and flea markets.

via CPSA handbook (PDF)

Some of the more pithy commentary on the issue:

How is a yard sale a federal issue?

No matter how thrifty you are, there are just some things you should always buy new.

If we let people have yard sales, next thing you know, they’ll want to open a Wal-Mart.

Bring it on feds. My powder is dry, my arm is steady. Come mess with my yard sale.

Via TheReason.com

Traditionally this time of year, yard sales and garage sales are the most searched categories on Iwanna.com.

Green i-House is volcanic trend

Modular home builder Clayton Homes and its new  i-House are suddenly volcanic in Google Trends.

The I-House looks like a house you’d order from Ikea, sounds like something designed by Apple and consists of amenities–solar panels, tankless water heaters and rainwater collectors–that one would expect to come from a offbeat green company out of California selling to a high-end market. But Clayton Homes, one of the largest manufacturers of mobile homes out of Maryville, Tenn., is looking to enter the market of environmentally friendly, prefab homes with a model that is seriously affordable.

via Clayton Homes I-House – Affordable Prefab Green Homes Powered on a Dollar a Day – Popular Mechanics.

Tech publication Fast Company also published an article about it here.

The Washington Post published an article recently here.

A blog about the i-House is here.

A lot of the attention on the i-House is a result of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting this past weekend, when the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffet, addressed shareholders. He bought Clayton Homes in 2003 for $1.7 billion.

Some of the interesting reader comments on recent stories about the i-House:

“Looks like a house boat that ran aground.”

“Will these be set up in an i-Home park?”

Iwanna has some of the deepest sales information on modular and mobile homes, including Clayton Homes and others, in the Carolinas. Browse Carolina modular homes on Iwanna.com.

Mother’s Day ideas

Speaking of frugality, here’s a thoughtful post for folks looking for  affordable Mother’s Day gift ideas.

Mother’s Day is quickly approaching! It’s easily a day you can go crazy taking care of the moms in your life. But there are ways you can be frugal for Mother’s Day!

via Way’s To Save On Mother’s Day | Free From Broke.

A search on the phrase “Mother’s Day” at Iwanna.com displays a lot of puppies!

The shift to thrift … wanna trade?

People who once lived beyond their means, financing their lifestyle with debt, have “found religion.” They’ve begun to embrace frugality, and have discovered the joy that can come through spending less.

via The New Age of Thrift ∞ Get Rich Slowly.

This blog post has some interesting insights, including links to stories from Redbook and The New York Times and Business Week and Fortune, while proclaiming the need for a “gospel of thrift” in America.

You don’t get much thriftier than folks who are looking to trade in Iwanna. On Iwanna.com, a search of the word “trade” returns 428 results from our thousands of local classified ads today. Try it for yourself and see if you can find something to trade for.