As 2012 rapidly approaches, many of us turn our sights from the holidays to our New Year’s Eve plans. I, for one, do not go out on New Year’s Eve. I find it too expensive, too crowded, and I am terrified of drunk drivers. So I choose to stay home.

I didn’t always feel this way. Back in the day, I went to Times Square, New Year’s Eve concerts, fancy dinners, parties…if you can do it on New Year’s Eve, I’ve probably done it. And I enjoyed every single one of those events. But after I had my daughter, things changed. Her birthday is in December, so that first year, I really didn’t feel like going to the supermarket, never mind going out on New Year’s Eve. My husband and I stayed home, watched a movie, watched the ball drop and then went to bed. Simple, easy, and cheap.

That simpleness, easiness and cheapness caught on. We liked having a small, quiet and inexpensive night, away from the crowds and drunk drivers. Besides, have you ever priced a babysitter for New Year’s? It’s ridiculously expensive. If I’m going to spend $100, I want to spend it on myself, not paying someone to watch my kid for 5 hours when I can stay home and spend time with her for free.  We don’t mind having this night for just our family (although we have expanded it to include my in-laws as my father-in-law’s birthday is New Year’s Day).

I understand that having a small, quiet New Year’s isn’t for everyone. There are lots of people who like to celebrate in a more boisterous, active manner. But what if you want to do that only you can’t afford to, or don’t want to, spend a lot of money doing so? Here are a few ideas for inexpensive New Year’s ideas:

• Host a party at home. For a small price tag, you can have quite a party at your own home. Decorations can be bought from the Dollar Store and you can ask your guests to bring a dish or drinks. If you want to splurge, you can do a theme party like a Murder Mystery or a costume party. Additionally, if your friends have kids, invite the kids, too, and let the kids have their own party. It saves on babysitting for everyone and prevents the kids from getting bored!
• Look for free things in your town. Where I live, we have First Night, which is a family friendly event with music, shows, food vendors and the night ends with fireworks. Sure, it doesn’t last until midnight, but it’s something fun to do with the family and it’s really affordable. Also, many cities have their version of the Times Square ball drop. For instance, in Baltimore, they have a crab and in Atlanta, there’s a peach. It may not have the sentimentality of the ball in Times Square, but it’s still fun and free.
• Have a New Year’s Day party. New Year’s Eve is expensive and maybe you can’t afford to do anything. Maybe you want to have a quiet night at home with a few friends or family. But maybe you still want to have a party. Who’s to say you can’t do it on New Year’s Day instead? When I was a kid, my parent’s friends hosted a New Year’s Day party every year. There would be inexpensive food like chips and soda and sandwiches, and we spent the afternoon hanging out, shooting pool on their pool table, and watching football. It was nice way to celebrate the New Year but in a more quiet, less expensive manner.

What are some of your ideas for an inexpensive New Year’s celebration?

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I have to admit, sometimes I feel slightly out of my league. I know how to make a budget, I know how to live below my means and rein in my urges to blow a month’s worth of pay in one afternoon at my local Best Buy (and trust me, that urge surfaces more than I would like it to). When it comes to hardcore, in-depth financial advice however, especially concerning some of the more complicated investment vehicles, my knowledge is a little sub-par.

That’s why this book, A Million Bucks by 30, written by Alan Corey is quite inspirational to me. It’s not one of the bigger, well-known personal finance books out there, but in my opinion, it’s one of the better ones I’ve ever read.

That’s because it’s simple but effective. It’s written by one young guy who has what he refers to as a “useless” degree in something completely unrelated to finance, and yet, he’s still able to become a millionaire by age 30 (before actually, you’ll have to read how).

This book is about a typical 20-something that has graduated college, still lives at home, and really still doesn’t know what he wants to do. Eventually he lands a decent entry-level job in New York city, and (after finding out his apartment is actually a part of the projects in Manhattan), begins the journey towards millions.

I can sum up how me managed to make it to his goal of becoming a millionaire ahead of schedule in a few words: extreme frugality, strict financial discipline, a willingness to take a risk, and a good dose of creativity. All things that do not require a financial degree.

Yes, he had some financial knowledge, but nothing more than what anyone could gather by picking up a few books at the neighborhood Barnes and Noble… it does take a LITTLE education to become a millionaire.

Corey writes in a very casual, humble type of tone, with a self-deprecating sense of humor that makes his goal seem all the more attainable for the average 20-something out there. Scattered throughout are various tips to save a buck or two here and there, as well as simple explanations concerning concepts such as Dollar-Cost Averaging or basic Compounding Interest.

The ease with which this book simply communicated to me what it wanted to say without making it seem like "learning" or "finance" would make it a perfect book for someone right out of High School or college, particularly one who isn’t that financially-geared to begin with, and could possibly be used as a way to show younger people that it is indeed possible to become rich one day.

A entirely enjoyable read throughout.

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So today I took a little trip to my local Best Buy to purchase a laptop. The ironic thing about this is that I owned a laptop no less than 2 weeks ago. No, it didn’t break or need replacing, I just realized that it had set in the same exact place for around 3 months without receiving any use (I just used my desktop computer), so I figured I’d throw it on Craigslist and see what I could get for it.

I made out pretty good, getting $535 dollars out of something I had paid about $700 for about a year ago (you’ll all come to learn that I LOVE Craigslist).

And then I was told I would be traveling for work for a duration of 2 weeks.

Not only had I just sold my laptop no less than 2 weeks ago, but I also recently started a little blog on the internet you might have heard of called Go Be Rich, which is something that needs lots of daily nurturing and support in its current infantile state .

I finally decided to bite the bullet and buy a nice, powerful laptop, to replace my desktop. This leads me to a money-saving/productivity tip…

Replace your desktop with a laptop:

If you already have a desktop and a laptop, chances are you only use one at a time. The entire purpose of a laptop is its mobility. Why not simply plug your laptop into your existing computer screen, keyboard, and mouse and use it as if it were your desktop? By doing this, you have a stationary computer at a desk that you can use just like you would use your desktop, and when you need a laptop to say, travel with, take to the couch with you, or lay in bed and watch Hulu on, all you have to do is unplug it from your screen.

The process becomes even easier if you have a wireless mouse and keyboard.

Additionally, you’ll no longer have to swap files back and forth between desktop and laptop, thereby preventing that inevitable realization that when you finally get to the bookstore with your laptop, you didn’t grab the right files from your desktop.  

Some of you may be wondering why I am recommending purchasing expensive electronics when this is a blog that espouses the frugal, minimalistic lifestyle, and my answer to that is this: as long as you at least break even, there’s really no harm, and in fact, having the necessary skills to work deals like what I’m about to explain is an incredibly useful one to have that can save you lots of money over the long run, while allowing you to accomplish what you need to do.

For example, I stated that I sold my old laptop for $535 Dollars. Now, I know I bought it for more than that about a year ago, but that’s already a sunk cost, we’re not concerned about the past right now.

The laptop I bought today I paid $912.04 for. Don’t worry; I can actually do the math… I realize I’m still $377.04 in the hole. It’s only when we add in the last part of this equation that it begins to make sense, that last part being the fact that I still have a desktop computer to sell.

What do I do when I have electronics to sell? I throw them on Craigslist. I should be able to get about $450 out of it, meaning that not only have I covered the entire amount that I spent today on my brand-new laptop, but I’ve made an additional $72.96, once my desktop sells of course.

Now while some may call this profit, I’m not so quick to label it as such. Remember how I said don’t worry about the past? Well, now's the time to worry about the past. I bought my old laptop for $700, and sold it for $535, resulting in a loss of $165. Apply the “profit” of $72.96 to that deficit, and after all is said and done, after the purchase of two laptops, the sale of one laptop, and the sale of a desktop, the total amount of money that was lost and can never be recouped is $92.04.

 Not too bad really, especially over the course of a year. I suppose we could have figured up the loss on the desktop by comparing what I bought it for versus what I will get out of it, but I bought that thing years ago for an amount I do not remember… besides, we can only go back so far before it  becomes a mute point.

Something else to consider is that the longer you own something, the less significant the cost of that item becomes, as it can be looked at as being spread out over that entire length of time.

The moral here is that if you must make purchases like these, at least think about how to mitigate the cost as much as possible by selling the old equipment you’re upgrading and/or replacing, and try to not go too crazy with the purchase of the new item.

Of course, you could simply save a lot more money by not making any of these purchases at all.

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It seems people in America like to eat. They like to eat a lot. I like to eat a lot. Thus, they (and I, unfortunately), spend a lot of money on food. However, it is possible to eat lots of good food and not break the bank. Here are some ways I’ve found that work out pretty well:

1.       When you and one other person eat out, order a small appetizer, 2 waters and one meal to share. Not only is this healthier, you’ll walk out for about half the price of a normal dinner, and considering you probably don’t finish an entire meal on your own, you’ll still feel full (does not impress potential girlfriends, by the way).

2.       As far as pizza goes (and I know my pizza), consider skipping the brand-name pizza Hut or Papa John’s in favor of Little Caesars or Papa Murphy’s. One large pepperoni pizza from Little Caesars will set you back only $5 dollars, and one huge, very filling large pizza from Papa Murphy’s runs about $8 dollars.

3.       Visit your favorite restaurant or convenience store’s website to check out what freebies they have available. For example, an awesome gas station/convenience store in the Midwest, Quik Trip, sends you coupons for one free item every month, provided you give them your E-mail address. Many restaurants will provide you with a coupon for a free item on your birthday, such as Coldstone Creamery… and let’s just say that it can be your birthday several times per year if you work it right.    

4.       Simply Google “grocery coupons”, and site after site will appear, all full of various types of coupons available for printing and taking to your local grocery store.

5.       The way to save money on food that nobody really likes: Leftovers.

6.       Grocery stores usually have severely discounted holiday-specific food items the day after a holiday. The day after Halloween, my local Wal-Mart had all Halloween candy and accessories 75% off.

7.       Make meals at home. Yes, I’m suggesting you actually cook something. Try to make it fun though by cooking with a girlfriend/boyfriend, spouse, or your children. In the end, by buying cheap ingredients rather than the name brand ones, a complete meal at home can be much cheaper than going out to eat.

8.       Don’t order soft drinks at restaurants, no matter what. You can always find a vending machine for at least half the price of what they charge you at a restaurant. You know all those free refills you get? They aren’t exactly free when you’re initially charged $4 for a soda.

9.       Buffets are always cheap for the amount of food you receive, which is usually all you can eat.

10.   Restaurants that offer free food are the holy grail of cheap meals. For example, Olive Garden gives you an unlimited amount of free breadsticks and salad to munch on while you’re waiting for your meal, and trust me, you can fill up on just breadsticks and salad. Some others include Texas Road House, On the Border, Playa Azul, and Outback Steakhouse. 

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Maybe I’m risk-adverse. Maybe I’m ultra-conservative. Maybe I’m just paranoid.

Yeah, we’ll go with the paranoid one.

Apparently I’m paranoid about all of the emergencies and unexpected things that can possibly crop up in one’s life that will require large amounts of money to rectify.

This realization comes from a recent chat I had with a fellow co-worker. This guy has a very different outlook in about every possible area of life than I do, him being much more easy-go-lucky and care-free than I, to the extent that he really doesn’t know where he’ll be tomorrow, let alone a year from now.

The differences in our philosophies on life became really apparent when we broached the subject of money. Being in the military, I know exactly how much this guy makes, and I have a very good idea of what his bills and expenses look like every month, which is why it surprised me when he said he basically lives paycheck to paycheck. So I asked him…

Me: “So where does all your money go?”

Him: “Oh, I just buy a lot of s*#@ I don’t need.”

Me: “Why don’t you just put some of that money away every month?”

Him: “What for? I don’t have any need to”

Me: “What if something happens, like your car breaks down?”

Him: “Eh, I’m not worried, I’ll figure it out when it happens.”

I’ll figure it out when it happens…

I’m pretty sure I had a heart attack, an aneurism, and possibly a mild seizure when he said this.

I just simply can’t fathom not having a very healthy buffer every single month between the amount I need to pay my bills and the amount I get paid, let alone not having a nice little mini-nest egg saved up solely for emergencies.

So for the sake of being paranoid, let’s look at some of the simple little things that could go wrong…

1.       Losing your job: Kind of hard to “figure it out when it happens” when you have no more income coming in whatsoever… and yes, even these military gigs can go up in smoke just like that.

2.       Car gets creamed: If you’re car stops working, needs money to get working again, and you have no money, doesn’t that mean you’re screwed? Oh, and doesn’t that car get you to the place you make your money at?

3.      Your pet gets sick or hurt: I don’t really think Fido’s gonna be cool with waiting around until your next paycheck to get his broken leg looked at or those vital shots that’ll keep him alive and kickin’.

4.       Your House Stages a Mutiny: Air-conditioner craps out in 100 degree heat. Heater explodes in -10 degree weather. Dishwasher spits out cutlery at anyone walking by. Clothes washer sucks your clothing into alternate dimension. There’s a lot that could go wrong.

5.       Zombie Apocalypse: Shotguns, 2X4's, some nails, and a good hammer will need to be purchased… and maybe some hand sanitizer.

Okay, so obviously I’m exaggerating and in a bit of a cynical mood (during which I enjoy a bit of dark humor), but come on, anyone can see why it’s not only smart, but responsible, and really a part of being an adult, to sock away at least a little money occasionally, let alone think about saving for that day when your joints refuse to carry your body into work anymore (usually called old age).

Of course, if the zombie apocalypse occurs before then, you might not have to worry about reaching old age. Come to think of it, I guess money wouldn’t be too useful anymore either.