Be Classy and save some cash with a fountain pen

Everyone knows you can buy a bag of pens for $2.00 on sale at Wal-Mart or Staples, so why should anyone bother to use anything but those?  I can think of a few reasons off the top of my head.  Those pens are often very low quality, they stop dispensing ink at random, often inconvenient times.  They are also quite wasteful, imagine how many resources are wasted manufacturing and transporting those pens from the factory where they are made to you.  You have the (most likely) coal power used to generate the electricity the factory uses, the ship carrying a container full of thousands of them across the ocean, belching pollution the whole way, the exhaust from the semi that hauled them to the store....all for a product you are going to use for a few weeks and then throw away to sit in a landfill and begin it's 10,000 year decomposition process.  There is an alternative, one that not only lessens the carbon footprint of your mindless doodling during lectures, but also looks cool and costs less over time than the disposable pens.  That alternative is the fountain pen.

What is a fountain pen?  It is a pen that contains it's own reservoir of ink, which flows through a the end of the pen, called the nib.  This sounds exactly like any other pen, but the ink flows freer than your normal ballpoint pen, and the pen itself looks approximately 117% fancier.


See, way cooler than a Bic

Like I was saying, the ink flows from a reservoir, either a cartridge one or from a bladder you manually fill within the pen itself.  The bladder pens are the cheaper way to go, so that is what we will focus on the rest of the way.

There are many different brands, with some luxury brands (Mont Blanc) being incredibly expensive, and in my opinion the height of stupidity...who the hell is dropping several thousand dollars on a pen?!?!?!?!?  That is slap across the face worthy levels of wasteful.  A quick browse on amazon shows many in the $12-$25 range, which is perfectly fine.  Personally, I have a Pilot MR, which I like a lot.

 Usually the pen comes with ink already in it, but when the time comes to refill, I recommend Noodler's Ink.  It is cheap, comes in a huge variety of colors, and is of very high quality. (http://noodlersink.com/ is their website, but you can buy their stuff straight from amazon)

The initial cash outlay for the pen and ink can get up there in price (~$50), but over time it is much cheaper than disposable pens, has a much lower environmental impact, and just looks way classier and makes even note taking feel special.

So how do I Cook Anyways?!? Weaning Oneself Off Fast Food

Building off my previous post about starting to save money as a broke professional, (or even broker college student) Today we will cover some easy ways to make delicious food for throughout the week.

GET A CROCK POT!!!!

Seriously, crock pots are the easiest, awesomist way to cook delightful meals.  Simply throw ingredients you like into it in the morning, and when you get home at the end of the day you will have one heck of a concoction.  The leftovers can easily be refrigerated or even frozen to eat later...take it for lunch at the office or pop it in the microwave or oven for an easy dinner when you aren't feeling cooking. 

 Crock pots are also cheap, one big enough for one or two person meals can be found for less than $20.00 at most department/ big-box stores.  You could even probably get one for free from family members, ask around and someone most likely has an older one that they would part with.  Another frugal option would be to scour garage sales and craigslist, especially in college towns you can find one for cheap because some student didn't want to haul it home for the summer.

I will list below a few personal favorite crock pot recipes I like making, feel free to use them and list your favorites in the comments!

Game Day Chip Dip

- One package Velveeta cheese

- 1.5lbs ground beef or turkey

- One jar medium salsa, feel free to go spicier if you like spicy food

- One package taco seasoning

- One small can green chilies

Brown the meat in a pan, draining the excess grease off once it is fully cooked.

Add the green chilies and taco seasoning, following directions on seasoning package about adding some water to the meat

Put the Velveeta, salsa, and beef in the crock pot and start to mix it together

If you'll be around, set the crock pot to a higher temperature and check on the dip every forty-five minutes or so.  If you won't be around set your crock pot to it's lowest setting and it will be fine.

If on low, your dip will be done in a few short hours.  Dig in!

Booze BQ Pulled Pork

-One boneless pork shoulder, preferably as lean as possible

- A few shots of Captain Morgan spiced rum

- Half cup orange juice

- One diced small yellow onion

- Minced  garlic (I use a lot, but I love garlic)

- Half cup brown sugar

- Salt and pepper to taste

-any other spices you like that you have in your spice cabinet

- BBQ sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory and Brown Sugar)

Rub the brown sugar, salt, pepper, and whatever other various spices you have onto the pork.

Place the pork into the crock pot, and cover it with the remaining ingredients.

Set crock pot to it's lowest setting and let time do it's magic.

If Pork is too wet for your taste, use a colander or strainer to remove the excess moisture and enjoy the pork.   Works great on tacos or nachos, as well as a stand alone sandwich.

Hope these recipes inspire you to get crock-pottin'!

How the Heck do I save Money? Tips on Starting a Budget for the Twenty-Something Who Blows Through Cash

If you are anything like me, you tend to blow through your cash as quickly as it comes in.  Its very easy to order out food or hit the bar for one or two drinks with friends whenever the opportunity arises.  Before you know it, you're out of cash and returning bottles in order to scrounge up gas money for the few days until payday.  You are only young once, and it is very easy to get caught up in a sort of, "keeping up with the Jones," lifestyle.  This post will provide some useful tips on forming a mental framework so you can avoid living paycheck to paycheck and start to build a nest egg.

Step #1: Track Your Expenses...All of Them.

This may seem like a no-brainer, but make an effort to keep track of every single cent you spend for a month, even a pack of gum or $0.99 beverage at the convenience store near your home.  Being aware of exactly where your cash is going each month will really give you a great barometer as to what is necessary spending and what is frivolous (now exactly where something falls in those two categories is entirely up to you).  Keeping track to the penny also will make you more conscious of where your finances are at any moment, you'll know exactly how much of your available cash will go towards a potential purchase, which may lead you to pause and reconsider the purchase.  Keeping track can easily be accomplished using a free template of a monthly budget in Microsoft Excel or any other spreadsheet software, making your own custom budget within a spreadsheet program, or by linking your bank account to a free budget service such as Mint (https://www.mint.com/).  It will be hard at first to be diligent in getting receipts for each purchase and ensuring you update your expenditure list, but after a week or two it will be an ingrained habit.  Be sure to track both your fixed costs (rent, cable, Netflix, gym membership, tuition, etc.), as well as variable costs (groceries, utilities, cash spent at the bar, etc.)  Do this for a month, then proceed to step two.

Step #2: Analyze Your Data From Step One

Now that we have all this great information of exactly where all of our money goes each month, lets dive into it and see what it tells us.  The data will allow you to see where you can, "trim some fat," from your budget.  Perhaps you are eating out more than you thought, or your mid afternoon iced coffee pick-me-up is taking a bigger chunk of your cash than you thought.  When you figure out where your budget could stand some trimming, start to make a plan to use less money in the category(s) you feel are too much of your budget. Decide on an amount, either straight dollar amount or percentage, of your income that you feel should be allocated to each category. Use your allocations to set up a budget of a month where you follow your desired allocations 100%, and compare your spending to that budget to see where you are excelling, and what areas need some work.  Still keep track of all expenses as you go., and move on to step 3

Step #3: Enact Your Plan

Use the goals you set and start moving your spending toward your desired allocation.  Don't go crazy, if you go from eating out six times a week to zero times a week you are going to hate it and will likely lapse back into old habits.  Saving money is more of a marathon than a sprint, so build up over time.  Perhaps cut out one meal a week or at the very least switch to a cheaper item or restaurant and slowly get to your desired allocation.  If you feel you can handle it, try to trim every category simultaneously.  If you think that might shock your lifestyle too much, just focus on one category at a time, whatever is more comfortable.

Step #4: Reward Yourself Occasionally

Don't forget to treat yourself occasionally.  Living a completely spartan existence where you never indulge in any of your favorite things would be terrible, don't be afraid to splurge every now and again.  You must ensure you keep logging your expenses, however, lest you slip into old habits.  A method I use when splurging is to take my hourly wage and use it to see an item's cost...i.e. if I make $12/hour after tax, and an item's cost is  $36, I ask myself if the item is worth being at work for three hours.  If I would do my job for three hours and be happy if I received the item as payment rather than cash, then I buy the item.  If I would rather have the cash for working instead of the item, I decide to wait to buy it.  this method has helped me cut down on my spending tremendously.

Well there is my short primer on figuring out how to save some cashola, feel free to add your strategies sin the comments!