Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

About MelissaB

Melissa works as a freelance writer and virtual assistant from home while raising and homeschooling her three children, ages 16, 12, and 10. She blogs at Mom's Plans and writes about money saving tips, family, homeschooling, and cooking.

Natural, Low Cost Flea Treatments

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Low Cost Flea Treatments

When I was young and we had cats that were indoor/outdoor, we got fleas frequently.  My mom’s solution was to bomb the house and put flea collars on the pets.  I hated when we bombed the house because we’d have to seal up all of the food to make sure the chemical didn’t get in it.  Afterward, we’d have to do a thorough cleaning to remove all of the chemical.  The whole process didn’t feel safe to me, and I wished we had used natural, low cost flea treatments instead.

When I moved out, I decided that my cat would only be an indoor cat, and I’ve lived happily for 20+ years with nary a flea.  However, a family friend who was terminally ill recently  asked us to take in her cat.  I specifically asked if the cat had fleas because when I was petting her, I could feel scabs all over her back.  I was assured that she did not.

BUT SHE DID!

About two months after we adopted the cat, we saw a flea run across her belly where her shaggy, thick fur was thinner and white.  I was horrified!

After all my diligence, the adopted cat, our cat we already had, and our house had fleas!

I’m pretty “crunchy” and don’t like to use chemicals unnecessarily.  I certainly didn’t want to bomb our whole house as my mom used to do.

Natural, Low Cost Flea Treatments

Instead, I scoured the Internet obsessively for a few days before I started using a variety of natural treatments to rid our home of fleas.

Here’s what we did:

Initial Strategy

Give the cats a bath with Dawn soap.  Dawn soap is safe for the cats, but it kills the eggs and fleas currently on the cat.  We made sure to put a ring of soap around the cat’s neck so the fleas couldn’t high tail it up to the cat’s head, as they’re prone to do.

Salt the carpets.

Yep, you read that correctly.  Our house has carpet in the living room and three of the four bedrooms.  We bought 8 round canisters of table salt and generously sprinkled the salt on the carpets.  Ideally, you should leave the salt on the carpet for 8 to 24 hours.  Make sure to get the salt near the corners and baseboards where flea eggs and larvae may be hiding.

Why salt?  Salt dries out the flea, and it dies.  (There’s even a video on YouTube to illustrate this!)

There are a few warnings with this strategy—your cats (or dogs) shouldn’t be allowed on the carpet during this time.  Also, you’ll want to make sure to vacuum vigorously to get up all the salt so that it doesn’t damage the carpet.

Low Cost Flea Treatments
Photo by The Creative Exchange on Unsplash

Mop with essential oils.

I found many recipes online mixing essential oils with water to use to mop tile floors.  The oils repel the fleas.  I ended up using a variety of oils including Geranium, Tea Tree, Citronella Java, and Lemongrass.  My only complaint about this technique is that I’m sensitive to smells, and the essential oil smell was overwhelming to me.  Remember to mop all of the crevices, where the floor meets the baseboards, and the baseboards themselves.

Wash and dry all bedding on hot.

We didn’t wash the pillows, but we put them in the dryer on high for 30 minutes.  Everything else was washed and dryed.

Follow Up Strategy

After the initial blitz, we had several activities that we did every day for about three weeks:

Brush the cats with a flea comb.

This got out any fleas that may have jumped on the cats after the bath as well as the eggs the fleas might have laid.  I had a glass nearby with water and a dab of Dawn dish soap.  As soon as I put the brush in that, the flea died.

Bath the cats every three days.

Yep, our cats loved baths by the time this was over.  Not!

Vacuum daily.

We vacuumed thoroughly every day including all the nooks and crevices of the couch and the baseboards.  This is necessary to vacuum up any flea eggs before they hatch.  Make sure to do a thorough job and vacuum not only the carpet but the baseboards and any cloth furniture as well as in the cracks of the furniture where the cushions go.

Mop every other day.

We mopped every other day with the essential oil mixture.

Wash the bedding the cats are on every other day.

Low Cost Flea Treatments
Photo by CDC on Unsplash

Since fleas will be on the cat, you’ll want to pay special attention to their bedding and wash it every other day on hot and dry on hot.

Wash all other bedding twice a week.

An Easy Strategy in the Summer

If you live in a warm, dry climate, I discovered a very easy way to get rid of the flea problem once and for all.  We live in Arizona, and our air conditioner died on the 4th of July.  For three days, we had no air conditioning, and our indoor temperature reached a sweltering 100+ degrees.  Of course, we stayed in a hotel during that time, but when we returned home, our fleas were completely gone.  Fleas cannot survive in temperatures over 95 degrees.

I’m not sure how well this remedy would work in a humid environment.  However, it doesn’t hurt to try.  If you can go somewhere else, turn off your air and let the summer heat bake the inside of your home.  If you have a humidifier, set it to make the inside of your home as dry as possible while you’re doing this.  When you come home, your fleas might all be dead.

Final Thoughts

I’m not going to lie, this process was time consuming and a total pain.  Although these were natural, low cost flea treatments, they weren’t easy to do.  If you’re able, I’d highly recommend trying the strategy of heating up your house as high as it will go to kill the fleas.  That is definitely the quickest, most efficient method.  We are glad we avoided filling our house or our cats with chemicals, and we got rid of the fleas.

Here’s to hoping I never have to deal with fleas again!

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Guaranteed Ways to Go Broke

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How to Go Broke

If you look, you can find plenty of material about how to create a budget, save for retirement, and live within your means.  What you don’t find are many examples of people doing just that and living a financially solvent life.  On the other hand, you don’t find much material about guaranteed ways to go broke, but you can likely find people from all walks of life who flaunt the steps to going broke.  Ironically, those are often the people of whom we are most envious.

How to Go Broke

There are many, many ways to go broke.  To most effectively go broke, utilize as many of these steps as possible.

Buy a House You Can’t Afford

One of the best ways to go broke is to buy a house you can’t afford.

When you qualify for a mortgage, you’re given a price range that you can buy in.  If possible, buy a house at the very top of your price range.  This will ensure that you will likely struggle with house payments, and that your monthly payment will be more than the recommended 28 to 36% of your take home income.  (Remember those percentages include not only the house payment but also taxes, insurance, and HOA fees.)

Also ideal is to pick a home with the highest HOA fees.  Then, even after you pay off the house, you’ll be paying hundreds a month in HOA fees.

Buy a New Car and Trade in Frequently

How to Go Broke
Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

After buying a house you can’t afford, the next best way to go broke is to buy new cars frequently.

Buy a brand-new car and only drive it for two to three years.  Sure, you save yourself the headache of costly repairs as the car gets older.  However, you also ensure that you’re absorbing the depreciation that happens in the first year or two of brand-new car ownership.

Ideally, when you sell your car, try to be upside down on your loan so that you owe more than the vehicle is worth.  Go ahead and roll that difference into your next new car loan, and you’re well on your way to going broke.

Give Your Kids Everything They Want

If you have children, make sure to give them everything they want.  After all, kids are only kids once.

Make sure to pay for all the lessons that they want.  Buy them all the clothes that they want.  At Christmas, buy them as many presents as possible.  When they come to you for money, give it to them freely without making them work for it.

Stay Active on Social Media

Stay active on social media and follow as many people as possible.

This is the best way to see what the Jones’ are doing.  Try to do the things that they’re doing.  Book more travel than you can afford.  Get your hair and nails done.  Go out to eat as much as possible at the trendiest, most expensive restaurants.  Buy as much as possible.

After all, the point isn’t a happy, contented life, but one in which you look as impressive as possible.  Who cares that you’re actually broke?  No one can see that.

Don’t Save for Recurring Expenses

Of course, you have your regular bills that come due every month, which you try to pay regularly.  But then you have your irregular expenses like your car insurance and home owner’s insurance, which are due twice a year.  Property taxes also fall into those categories.  But don’t bother saving a little each month so when the bills come due you have money to pay them.  No, that’s no fun.

Instead, pretend like those bills don’t exist, and when they come due, panic.  For several weeks, worry how you will pay these large bills.  Try to cut your spending for a few weeks so you can gather enough money to pay them.  If you can’t manage gathering enough money, ask friends or relatives for a loan.  Six months later, when the same bills are due, repeat the process.

Don’t Have an Emergency Fund

Who needs an emergency fund?  How could you possibly set aside thousands of dollars for an emergency?  That’s too boring for you.  You could never stand seeing that money sitting there and not spend it.  No, enjoy the money that you have, and when an emergency comes, which hopefully it won’t, you will deal with it.

Have as Many Credit Cards as Possible

How to Go Broke
Photo by Avery Evans on Unsplash

Fill your wallet with as many credit cards as possible.  After all, how can you finance your lifestyle without credit cards?

Make sure to charge all of your expenses each month.  Ideally, only pay the minimum payment due.  When one card reaches its credit limit, just move on to spending on the next card.

Don’t worry about the 12 to 20% you’re paying in interest monthly.  Don’t worry that by paying the minimum due you,re only putting a few dollars on principal, so you’ll never get out of the financial hole you’re digging yourself.

Remind yourself that all Americans have credit card debt.  It’s just the way our economy functions.  Plus, you’re actually helping the economy by spending, right?

Don’t Invest

Investing is so boring.  Don’t bother saving for retirement.  After all, you only live once, and who knows how long you’ll live, anyway?  What if you save all that money, and then you don’t even live until retirement?  What a waste!  Take any money you have and spend it now.  Live in the moment!

Final Thoughts

Clearly this is a tongue-in-cheek post about how to go broke.  However, many Americans do try to live this way.  The path to going broke is clear; we’ve seen many Americans do it—from everyday people to professional athletes, singers, and actors.

What doesn’t get highlighted as much is how to be smart with your money and build a sound future.  Don’t worry about what other people are doing; focus on your own life and your own financial future.  You’ll be much happier that way.

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How to Get More Financial Peace of Mind

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Financial Peace of Mind

Money troubles kill relationships. They also cause major stresses, catalyze health problems, ruin plans, mess up sleep schedules, and so much more. We hate to admit it, but money is easy to worry about, and many of us do it a lot. What’s more, there is good reason to worry about money. Without enough of it, we can’t live where we want, eat what we want, get educated, have a fun time out of the house. Like it or not, your sense of well-being has much to do with how much money you have and how you use it. So here are a few ways to get more financial peace of mind.

Life Insurance

Perhaps the best way to get peace of mind in your financial life is to buy life insurance. If you’ve never thought about buying life insurance before, you probably don’t realize how inexpensive it can be. Many people find that life insurance quotes are much lower than they anticipated, especially for people who are young and healthy. Life insurance creates peace of mind not just for you, but for the people who depend on your for income and security.

Know Where Your Money Goes

If you’ve ever made a budget after a long period of not paying attention to your money, you know how much it hurts. You  may feel like your spending record is judging you, so some people avoid budgeting at all costs. But the only way to spend money more wisely is to take a close look at how you need to spend, and how you actually spend in practice. Often there is too much difference between these two , and you should find a way to spend your money according to better measures and goals.

Get an Emergency Fund

Financial Peace of Mind
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Building an emergency fund and contributing to it regularly is one of the most important financial habits you’ll ever create. An emergency fund will help protect you in the event of an accident, a breakdown, and any number of unexpected expenses. It takes awhile to build an emergency fund large enough to cover you and your family for six months (the oft-recommended amount).  However, once you’ve managed to build it, you’ll find it’s worth it. An emergency fund provides great peace of mind because you know you have a safety net.  Plus, to create one you have to be financially responsbile and disciplined.

Final Thoughts

There are many ways to live beneath your means and acquire better financial peace of mind. We lose our cool financially when our money is out of control. Learn the basic ropes of personal finance, spend time caring for your own financial garden, and you may be surprised at the extent to which it improves your life. People don’t feel secure when their means of sustenance and shelter are constantly in upheaval. When you have financial security, you are very likely to have physical security, which can only have a positive impact on your state of mind.

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