Monday Q&A | Pop-Up Anti-Virus, Travel vs. Debt, Freelance Writing
Every Monday, I answer a few of the questions that my readers send me. If you have a question you'd like me to answer in a future Q&A post, just leave me a comment here or email me (thefrugalgirl [at] gmail [dot] com) and put Q&A in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you!
Before we get to some questions, I have a favor to ask of you readers. Two people in the last week have had a fake anti-virus pop-up appear while a window was open with my blog in it. I've scanned my blog and it doesn't appear to be infected, and I'm going to contact my ad networks to see if there's something I can opt out of (I thought I'd opted out of pop-up advertisements wherever possible).
If this happens to you, could you possibly send me a screenshot so that I can take a look at what's going on?
Just send it to thefrugalgirl (at) gmail (dot) com. Thanks!
I just recently started reading your blog and love it! My husband and I are adjusting to our new budget now that we have our daughter. She is one now and it has been quite an adjustment for us - we used to be able to buy what we wanted and now we really need to get our spending under control.
I wanted to ask your advice. Visiting my husband's family requires a plane ride and sometimes a rental car. This can total upwards of $700. Do you think this an expense that is justified putting our reducing our debt on hold?
Thank you!
Molly
Ooh, that's awfully hard to say without seeing the rest of your financial picture and without knowing all of the family dynamics.
I think paying off debt should be a very high priority, but time with grandparents is very valuable too, just in a different way.
I guess I'd offer these three things:
1) Though seeing grandparents/extended family is a lot of fun and is good for relationship-building, it's not exactly necessary to have a whole bunch of visits every year. I grew up on the east coast and my grandparents lived in the midwest, so I saw them only once or twice a year and I still feel like I had a relationship with them. And that was even before the days of free long-distance and Skype...those tools can help you to communicate with your husband's family and the Skype especially could be a fun thing for your daughter to participate in.
2) See if your husband's family might be able to come see you some of the time. Generally speaking, grandparents are in a better financial place to do traveling, and given that they don't have to pack up small children, traveling should be easier for them too.
3) Don't look at it as an either-or scenario. I'd suggest splitting your extra money in half (or whatever ratio works for you)...for every dollar you put towards debt, put a dollar into a traveling fund as well. That way you're not giving up on your dream of being debt-free but you're also not letting your debt just sit.
I would like to start off stating that I love, love, love your blog. You have a lot of great information and I find myself wishing there was a way to make your blog my home page( lol).
I would like to freelance write. Can you perhaps direct me to some great websites that are not scam sites? That's all I keep coming across. I love to write about life, food, faith, travel, thrift shopping etc, etc....
-TwoPlusMom
Aww, I feel so honored that you want me on your home page! 😉 I don't know if there's a way to do that other than making an iGoogle page for yourself and then adding my blog.
I know there are sites out there that hire freelance writers, but I'm not sure where exactly to direct you. Hopefully my readers will know.
In the meantime, I'd highly recommend starting a blog of your own so that you can practice writing articles. The more you write, the better you'll get at it, and you can use your blog as a portfolio to sell your writing to potential clients.
If you want to use your blog as a portfolio, I'd strongly suggest that you choose to start a WordPress.com blog instead of a Blogger blog, since most WordPress blogs look sleeker and more professional even with no tweaking on your end.
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Readers, do you have any advice to share on these topics? I'm particularly hoping that some of you have knowledge about freelance writing gigs.
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Today's 365 post: Bread and Jam for Kristen
Joshua's 365 post: Books from the library
I love to travel and have needed to live frugally as a single parent. I charge everything on either my Amex card or a visa card with travel benefits. Groceries, gas, tuition, etc. It adds up fast. We were able to go to Hawaii for 16 days on frequent flyer miles, free rental cars, free restaurant gift cards, etc. BTW - I pay off the credit cards every month so I am debt free! I really like the visa card as it is not tied to one particular airline. Instead the point balance can be applied to any travel charge on the card: hotel, airfare, bus tickets, etc.
Is there any way you can make some money on your house while you are away visiting family? Can you rent it for a week?
Good luck.
That nasty and fake anti-virus is popping-up everywhere. My husband fixes computers on the side and he has had at least a dozen in the past two months.
Good luck with the freelancing, why not start with travel or food articles for the local paper? My sister has had some success doing that.
Molly, have you heard of Dave Ramsey (http://www.daveramsey.com/home/) ? He is a great resource (in my opinion) for prioritizing the budget...
I hope that helps!
Blessings.... 😉
I emailed you about the anti-virus pop-ups. Just letting you know in case the email ended up in your Junk folder.
TwoPlusMom, you can make Frugal Girl your homepage by going to the http://www.thefrugalgirl.com (make sure you are on her homepage, not on a specific blog entry), then click on Tools>Options (or Tools>Internet Options). Under the General Tab, near the top is the option for selecting your homepage. Click on the button that says "Make current page my homepage" or "Use Current" and click on "Apply" at the bottom. These steps will work in either Firefox or Internet Explorer.
Hope this helps!
I'm a freelance writer and Kristen is quite right about starting a blog which would, in fact, become your portfolio of sorts. There are so many places to which you could write and each have faithful followers. Associated Content, Yahoo news, Helium.com, LiveJournal, E-zine articles, GreenthumbArticles.com readily accept articles on many different topics. They take on anyone who is willing to comply by their own set of guidelines and produce good quality informative articles (most insist on articles done in the second and third person, BTW). Many niche blogs also accept guest hosts. For instance, Kristen, Ms Frugal girl, has had guest bloggers do a post on here on topics related to frugality but which she personally may not know too much about (I recall clothe diapers being one of them) and I have had guests on my Garden blog. Just ask and you'll be surprised how many would jump at the chance to have you write something for them! If you need more help or advice just drop me a line at Glory's Garden.
I got the virus notification last week, too. I just clicked out and came back into your blog, and everything was okay. If I see it again, I'll take a screen shot of it.
Kristen I love how you had such great suggestions for Molly, even without knowing many specifics!
Hello TwoPlusMom. My cousin wrote for suite101.com I don't think it was very lucrative, but it might be a way to get started. I think you have to submit writing examples to become an accepted contributor. Good luck!
We have always lived at least 6 hours away from my in-laws. When we found out we were pregnant with DS, they gave us a nice computer camera for Christmas, specifically so we could Skype with them (they also "gave" themselves the same camera).
We're very up front about when we can and can't afford to travel to see them, and we generally stay at their house (not sure how that's going to work when this LO is born - a 3-year-old and a baby together with us in the guest room of their house might be a bit much!). If they really want to see us, sometimes they'll offer to pay for us to travel to them, or they'll make arrangements to come to us. The big key seems to be just talking about it and making the effort to get to them at least once or twice per year.
I also have my son make cards for holidays and talk on the phone with his Grandma and Grandpa. We look at pictures on Facebook so he can know who everyone is, and we talk about the next visit and what fun things he likes to do with his four grandparents.
I always lived far away from both sets of grandparents, but I felt like we had good relationships - I made a quilt with my one grandma who has since passed away that I still have, and my other grandma taught me a lot about etiquette, so every time I go to a formal dinner, I think of her.
I would just have a really frank conversation about how you want to pay down your debts so you can better help your children learn about money and deal with expenses down the road. Offer to visit a set number of times per year, even if it's only once, and make it clear they are welcome to come visit you (my in-laws weren't sure about this one at first because MIL and I are so different!)
Frugal Girl,
I am going to try homeschooling this next year. My child is first grade level. I've read many books. "Read, read, read" is what they suggest. How do you create spelling word lists? Do you use a cirriculum or do you just choose words that show up in your reading??
Web Cam. Great for far away relatives. Also, when they ask what you want for christmas/ birthday etc, say "plane tickets" or put gift $ into a travel fund.
I just got a plum job as an assistant editor after the publishers read my blog. I wasn't exactly intending to use my blog as a resume, but that's what happened! I agree with FG that writing a blog is excellent practice.
I do some freelance work and I found this list very helpful! Best wishes on your writing journey!
http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/2009/07/50-places-that-hire-freelance-writers/
I got the pop-up yesterday on your blog. I'm on a MAC.
Thanks for the great advice every one!!
I live on the other side of the country from my parents and though we don't have any kids, we don't rent a car. We just bum rides the whole time. We are living on savings for 2 years while we finish graduate school, but we decided that traveling home to see my family was a priority. I think we've spent at least $2,000 on it this year. Sure that could've meant more trips to the movies or new clothes, but to us its worth it. If traveling is one of your priorities - I say go for it! Also remember, you don't have to go as a couple every time. For my cousin's wedding and my sister's graduation, I went but my husband stayed behind. Everyone understood. When my husband's aunt comes from California for a visit, she does the same - often leaves her husband at home. My in-laws have stuff for her baby (like a pack n play crib, a car seat, and a stroller) so she doesn't have to worry about traveling with those. (I think they think a grandkid will be using them soon anyway so it's worth the investment!)
My best tip on traveling is to avoid traveling on Friday and Sundays. Thursdays, Saturdays, and Mondays are usually substantially cheaper!