17 Apr 11 The Garden Project
Today, I got busy in the garden. I weeded out the Shallots. They are starting to push up strong-looking shoots, although it will be some months yet, before they’re ready for harvesting.
Then I tidied up the early crop potato bed, and applied some grass clippings as a mulch which will help keep water in the soil. They’re not anywhere near the stage of needing any earthing up yet.
Finally, I planted out both mint and basil, now that the weather is generally warmer, and hopefully the danger of frost has passed!
Then I gave them a good watering.
Finally, I sowed some tomato seeds indoors, and some mustard too.
Tags: grass clippings, mint, mulch, mustard, shallots, soil, tomato seeds, weather
23 Nov 08 Having Mint Helps
I’ve just finished reading Louis Gray’s post about how Mint.com is bringing home to him in no uncertain terms how much the value of his investments is sliding right now.
There are no safe havens in which to put your money any more, he writes. It’s the same on the jobs front too. There are fewer and fewer jobs that can be considered safe any longer. Large corporations and small businesses alike are laying people off, and for the self-employed in many cases it’s getting harder to find work, or at least good enough paying work.
Yes, Mint.com can be frightening reading when you consider Louis’ scenario above. However, all Mint.com is doing is presenting your financial data to you in a way that’s easier to understand at a glance. Pie Charts and graphs abound, and it’s true, that a picture is worth a thousand words. I particularly find the pie charts useful for seeing just where that much money went this month. I often find myself drilling down to click on a category to see just how we did spend that much on a particular category, and it’s surprising how much you can actually save once you’re truly more aware of how much you’re spending on it.
A couple of bucks here and there, doesn’t feel like you’re spending much, but of course it adds up. Most of us can do the math. If, for example you buy 2 lattes five days a week at $3.49 a time, that’s $34.90 a week. No points there for being able to do such a simple calculation. However we rarely think of something like that in those terms, but more like oh, it’s only a few bucks a day, and then trot out an excuse to ourselves (always the hardest person in the world to convince to change, and the easiest one to make believable excuses to).
Look at that pie chart, and you can see how that chunk adds up in a month ($139.60), and in a year (based on 50 weeks – $1745). That information was there all the time, in your bank statements (assuming you use a card to pay), but when it’s presented in a clear graphical form to you, it has much more impact.
Using Mint.com is saving me money, alas not on coffee, as I almost always brew my own each morning!
Tags: bank statements, bringing home, charts and graphs, chunk, excuse, fewer jobs, glance, investments, large corporations, math, mint, much money, pie chart, pie charts, safe havens, small businesses, uncertain terms
