Money Hacks carnival #21

This week's Money Hack Carnival is hosted by Help My Cash Grow. He selected some good posts (including me!!! :p).

See the Carnival here

Recipe: hummus

Hummus is cheap, healthy and so easy to make.

I use it as a dip or in a pita for lunch.

Here is the recipe:

1 can chickpeas
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cumin

Preparation:In a food processor, blend all ingredients together until smooth and creamy.

Frugal painting

As I said before, I ride a scooter.

Two weeks ago, someone bumped it with his car (stupid!), and of course, it fell down leaving scratches all over it.

I was so mad!

I thought about having it repainted but it would have cost me like $200 which the insurance wouldn't reimburse since I have a $250 deductible (thief!).

Then I remembered a commercial: a fancy women get out of her red car and realizes that it has a scratch. She looks at her finger nails and decide to cover the scratch with nail polish!

THAT WAS MY ANSWER!

I went to the pharmacy, bought some cheap black nail polish (the girl at the cash must have thought I was Gothic) and covered my scooter with it.

It worked very well for $3... instead of $200 :)))

So when I decide to buy a car, I'll buy a black or red car for sure :p

No money with a $180,000 / year salary???

Two weeks ago, I decided to go to France for the weekend.

On my last day at work before leaving, I told my colleague about my trip. He said to me that he would love to do the same and take the same flight (he studied in France and still have friends there).

I told him that I had found the $630 flight on Travelocity. He checked the webpage and told me "I don't think I have enough Aeroplan miles, I won't be able to do it".

That guy makes $180,000 a year + bonus and he can't buy a $630 plane ticket???!!! I make a quarter of that and I could!

I realized that even if you have a very good salary, if you don't budget and watch your expenses money can still be an issue.

I did not spend anything since Monday!

It's been 4 days since my last expense this week (a brunch with friends on Sunday). I didn't spend anything AT ALL since then :)

After almost a year of frugality, I realize that I don't really have the urge to spend anymore.

I work downtown, surrounded by all kind of stores and boutiques, but now I rarely buy anything I don't really need.

During this financial crisis, it's a reassuring feeling to know that I'm out of this over-spending trend.