Hand Helpers- DIY Manicures

The next time you are at the salon pampering yourself with a mani-pedi, rest easy because your bill won't ultimately read "$51,000."  That is the price of the world's most expensive manicure known as the 'Iced Manicure' done by Cherish Angula's team of nail specialists. As one might glean from the name, the manicure involves some serious 'ice' studded into each nail-- 10 carat diamonds to be exact.  Bornrich.com sums it up by exclaiming "This luxurious treatment is surely the definition of frivolous!"

Yes-we are going to have to agree.

Even though you probably aren't going to spend the equivalent of a down payment on a house at the nail salon in this lifetime, you don't even have to shell out $30-$50 each week to keep your fingers looking fresh all summer long. This at-home manicure treatment adapted from Donna Perillo, the owner of Sweet Lily Natural Nail Spa in New York City, utilizes items already laying around your house.

Tips for Saving Money on Food

Check out my article in the BU School of Public Health student journal, "The Movement!" An excerpt is featured below.

Photo by Aayesha Siddiqui

Ah grad school! You are (hopefully) learning things you want to know; gaining tools that employers want; and making it on your own. Although, it also means the dining hall is not a place you can frequent. Food can quickly become a sizable part of your monthly budget. Here are some tips to reduce your spending on food.

Skip the Hairdresser: Color Hair at Home Part 1

A trip to the hairdresser for a cut and color can easily cost over $100, especially if you get roped into buying their special products for resisting color fading. In contrast, at-home coloring kits are available at drugstores from $5-$20 and manufacturers often provide coupons for these products. 

Style icon Rhianna frequently dyes her hair vibrant shades of red

You are probably coloring your hair to hide greys, or to adjust the shade due to sun damage or a change in seasons. Coloring your hair at home is a good decision for minor color changes. It not only saves you money, it gives you more control over the results; you are selecting a dye with a chemical strength appropriate for your hair, you are taking care to make sure the application is thorough, and you are controlling the exact amount of time the dye remains on your hair.

[Disclaimer: If you are considering drastically changing your hair color (going from black to blonde) or have been previously color-treating your hair, you might want to seek a professional’s assistance because then you can blame someone else if it turns out horrible J]  

5 Tips to Save money on Car Maintenanace

My car is over 11 years old, and it still runs well. This is true despite the daily abuse I put it through since I am always  late getting to the train station and have to employ time-saving driving tactics. But my car has been good to me; it sometimes acts like an extra wardrobe closet, storage facility, dining room, and even a meditation space. I do my best to keep up with it's maintenance and don't plan on buying a new one for a couple more years. But, I'm not about to pay more than I have to.

10 Uses for a Dolla Bill

I took my dog to Petco yesterday. In appreciation for giving me hours of boundless entertainment looking at their birdies, fishies, and dealing with my dog not-so-sneakily stealing a couple treaties from the doggie snack bar, I bought a $0.99 pink tennis ball. Although it was probably marked up 400x it's actual value, I made the most of my purchase by using it to encourage my rather dumb dog to go swim in a pond. The plan was that I would throw the tennis ball into the water, and then she would retrieve it. Alas, my Chesapeake Bay Retriever refuses to tap into her 100 years of breeding to hunt water foul, and I watched my $0.99 tennis ball float away.

It got me thinking, with all the problems of inflation that come with fiat currency, how much is $1 really worth to us Americans? I usually make Russel Peter inspired jokes about how many things we can buy at the dollar store for $1 (watch the video that inspired it all here)! So I've come up with 10 good uses that the American $1 bill is still good for.

Reasons to Own a Library Card

In previous articles, we have talked about the many free services library's offer, this includes free tax preparation during tax season, book clubs for adults, story-time for children, and even movie showings. I can tell you that for most tightwads like myself, the most valuable plastic card in our wallets is certainly a library card.

I read a great article summing up all the benefits of joining the 2/3 of Americans who own library cards. In addition to the ten reasons below, remember that by supporting your local library you are supporting your local community. Also, you are visiting an institution that is the modern day offspring of such famous ancient libraries such as those in Greece, China, Egypt, and India. It is so easy to forget to be grateful for these public resources where an abundance of media is at your fingertips at no immediate cost to you.

13 Ways to Save on Gas this Summer

I wanted to re-post the New York Times Article "13 Ways to Save on Gas this Summer" here on our blog as part of our continued effort to off-set rising gas prices. To summarize the easiest things you can do to save on gas is to remove extra weight from the trunk of your car, keep the tires filled with air, change your oil on a regular basis with good-quality oil, and drive slower! It's ok if other cars pass you by, they will feel the pain next time they go to pump.

For more tips, check out our last article on the gasbuddy.com app at "Finding the Cheapest Gas."

Never Buy Green Onions Again!

Green onions, or scallions, don't grow big bulbs like it's siblings the red onion, or even garlic. Instead, the stalks add a spicy kick of flavor to plenty of dishes from burritos to stir-frys.

Chow.com had a great video on how to resprout your green onions. Use the top green stalk for cooking, and plant the white stalk into potting soil, or place it in a glass of water. After about 5 days you'll see a new, baby stalk growing up out of the pot/cup. You can trim the stalks and use them again for cooking!  Soon your $1.49 that you spent on a bunch of scallions can be re-used all summer long!

Candyland

Shopping the day after a holiday ends, can get you some big savings on seasonal items

I just went to Walmart, and realized that ALL THE EASTER CANDY IS 50%!! That means you can gorge yourself on candied eggs, peeps, and peanut butter filled Easter M&Ms.

And, depending where you're shopping, you can stock up on wicker baskets for household storage, bubbles for summer fun, and plenty of chocolate squares for baking into cakes and cookies, or melting as a chocolate dip!

Most hard candies, can be stored for up to 1 year when stored at room temperature in a cool, dry, pantry. On average, candy bars can stay good for another 6 months. You can squeeze 13 months out of M&Ms and 1 year out of Reeses Pieces. Dark chocolate, when wrapped in foil, and stored properly, can last anywhere from 1-2 years! If you find a good deal on candy, stock up because it's never to early to start planning for Halloween.

5 Spoilers in your Fridge

The May 2011 Every day with Rachel Ray mag had a great article on common "Food Storage Flubs" that people make at home. I have listed them for you here.

Beauty Products Running Out?

If your looking for less expensive alternatives to some of your beauty products, an article in Fitness Magazine April 2010 issue had some beauty experts suggested the first 3, and inspired me to add in some of my own as well!

• Hair Mousse: Shaving cream has the same frothy texture as mousse and leaves hair silky an voluminous. Borrow the husbands' can when he's not looking, rake a golf-ball size blob through damp strands, then blow-dry.  Gillette Foamy Shaving Cream 2oz $1.29.
• Face Cleanser: Plain yogurt is packed with lactic acid, an alpha hydroxy acid that's a gentle exfoliant and moisturizer. Massage a spoonful onto dry skin, leave on for 1 minute, then rinse off with warm water. 
• Hair texturizer: Deodorant is pliable, and tacky. Swipe a few strokes on your palms, then rub your hands through your layers and the ends of your hair.  Dove Invisible Solid 0.5 oz $0.99.
•  Body Scrub: Sea Salt or Sugar will exfoliate your skin and is safe to use for all skin types. Mix a spoonful into the body wash you are using. 
• Under-eye concealer: A Cold Spoon or cold cucumber slices will cool down the puffiness of tired eyes. Press the curved side of a cold spoon (you can keep one in the freezer for this purpose) under each eye for about 1 minute.
• Make-up Remover: Mineral Oil, also known as Baby oil, will remove make-up and leave your skin moisturized. Dab some onto a cotton pad and hold it onto your eyelid for 10 seconds. Wipe across face and eyes. Make sure to avoid getting cotton fibers in eyes.

5 Money Saving Tips from a “Coupon Queen”

GUEST POST: Ashley "Sloan" Leva is a full time college student, military wife, and young mother. While her husband serves as a Combat Engineer in the U.S. Army, she has embraced a frugal lifestyle as a “coupon queen.”

Budgets can be hard to stick to as they require a lot of self-control, but in the long run it is well worth it. Hopefully some of the money savings tips I utilize will be of help to you as well.

1. Use the Sunday Paper
On Sundays, plan out your weekly expenditures for groceries, etc. The Sunday paper contains hundreds of beneficial coupons that can help you trim your household expenses. If you don’t have access to the Sunday paper you can print coupons online from websites like smartsource.com or couponmom.com.* However, remember to never use coupons to buy items you simply don’t need. Coupons aren’t an excuse to go on a spending spree.

Finding the Cheapest Gas

Gas prices are outrageous (the national average at the time of this posting is $3.075) and everyone is on the hunt for the gas stations offering the cheapest prices. We all know the feeling of filling gas at $3.19 and then finding out another station a mile away was beating that price by 16 cents!