Digital Wilderness

In case you haven’t heard, Kentucky’s law banning texting while driving (more generally, distracted driving) went into effect on July 1st. Of course, you weren’t texting/Facebooking/Twittering while driving anyway, so this shouldn’t affect you in anyway, right?

The official press release from Gov. Beshear’s office is below. Here’s a link to the law itself:
Texting While Driving Law – House Bill 415

Ban on texting while driving takes effect Thursday
Ban extends to cell phone use for 16- and 17-year-old drivers

FRANKFORT, Ky. (July 14, 2010) – Governor Steve Beshear’s ongoing effort to make Kentucky roads safer takes a big step on Thursday, July 15, when a new law takes effect to ban texting for all drivers and cell phone use for drivers under 18.

Kentucky recorded more than 57,000 crashes last year – and more than 200 fatalities – attributed to driver distraction and inattention.

“I was proud to support and sign this law into effect, and strongly believe this will further our efforts to reduce fatalities on Kentucky roadways,” Gov. Beshear said. “Safety is a top priority of my administration, and this law will help increase awareness of the dangers of texting while driving and encourage drivers to stay focused on the road.”

The law bans texting for drivers of all ages while the vehicle is in motion. For drivers over 18, it allows the use of global positioning devices and reading, selecting or entering a telephone number or name for the purpose of making a phone call. Texting is allowed only to report illegal activity or to request medical or emergency aid.

“We are convinced that this new law will save lives,” said Acting Transportation Secretary Mike Hancock. “The message to drivers is to eliminate distractions and stay focused on the road. Driving a motor vehicle requires your undivided attention.”

For drivers under 18, use of all personal communication devices such as cell phones and pagers is not allowed while the vehicle is in motion. The use of a global positioning system is allowed, but manually entering information must be completed while the vehicle is stopped. Emergency and public safety vehicles are exempt when the use of a personal communication device is essential to the operator’s official duties.

In December 2009, Gov. Beshear launched his Eyes on the Road effort –an executive order prohibiting text messaging by state employees who are driving government-owned vehicles. In April 2010, Gov. Steve Beshear signed the law banning texting for all drivers and cell phone use for drivers under 18.

Law enforcement officers will issue warnings until Jan. 1, 2011. On or after Jan. 1, violators will be liable for fines of $25 on a first offense and $50 on each subsequent offense.

“Even though our total number of fatalities for 2009 was less than 2008, those killed in crashes resulting in distraction, inattention and cell phone use increased,” said Chuck Geveden, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety. “This legislation is sure to save lives, prevent injuries and cut down on crashes across Kentucky.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving distracted drivers, and more than a half million were injured. Inexperienced drivers under 20 years old have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes.

Information on distracted driving is at http://highwaysafety.ky.gov/.

I’m such a blog slacker. I’ve had things I’ve wanted to blog, but either haven’t set aside the time or found the motivation to write up a post. Made some time today to update the ol’ blog.

Vacation has come and gone… I ended up making the last minute decision to not travel to South Carolina. I had planned to head out to Huntington Beach State Park on Wed, camp on the beach for two nights, then head to Congaree National Park and camp there for a night before driving through the Smokey Mountains on the way home on Saturday.
    Several reasons led to the decision to turn the vacation into a “stay-cation.” First, I really wanted to take the canoe trip through Congaree NP, but all spots were filled within 10 minutes of when they started taking reservations. That’s crazy! I was still going to go (I still had a reservation for the Owl Prowl), but on Tuesday, I decided I didn’t feel like driving the 20 hours round trip to the SC coast and back for only a couple days of enjoyment, so that added a strong second reason to forgo the trip. Thirdly, Kristy had a few days off work, so I thought the time would be better spent with her.
    I will admit I was disappointed I wasn’t able to get away for a week long vacation. I really enjoy traveling and seeing new places and I had been planning this trip for months, so the anticipation had been high. Oh, well…I’ll definitely be ready next time! I shouldn’t be too disappointed, though; I spent 4 days at Cuyahoga NP over Memorial Day weekend and have a whitewater rafting trip to WV planned for August. Also, my dad and I finished painting! Feels great to have that off the list!

I’ve been giving a lot of thought, and some action, to what I’m eating lately. It started several months ago, just a random pressing on my mind that I should avoid eating so many processed foods. A month or so later, I caught a few episodes of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, then I watched the movie Food, Inc. Ugh…I can’t believe some of the things that are done to our food. I’m not about to become a hard core rebel with a cause about this, but I am going to try to be smarter and more conscious of what I ingest. How many thousand of years did people survive and thrive on what was grown locally, eating what was in season without adding a bunch of junk to it? Sure, you can argue that their life expectancy was shorter, but their quality of life was better. Now, we’re living to 80, but only because of all the drugs we’re taking to combat the illnesses that have resulted from being so unhealthy. Don’t want to get into a long rant, but I personally think I can do so much better with my diet, and will feel better as a result. I’ve also given some thought to starting my own garden, too. I’m getting some experience with that by helping my men’s small group plant a garden at church. We’re donating the proceeds to Lifeline. Still looking for a good local butcher, and need to make myself go to a farmer’s market (the grocery store is still sooo convenient…) I’ll write more on this later. In theory…

Other odds and ends:

New pictures are up in the gallery, including the Cuyahoga trip, the Butterfly show and a bunch with Kristy.

The trailer for Voyage of the Dawn Treader is out! The book is my favorite of the Chronicles of Narnia series and was one of my childhood favorites, period. Hmm, not too sure about the movie, though. Doesn’t look very true to the book based on the minute of the teaser.

Apparently there are no other problems to work on right now – Jeopardy playing (and winning) computer

80s geeks everywhere drool over this one: Super Mario Brothers Crossover. Play Super Mario Brothers as Mario, Megaman, Link (from Zelda), Samus (Metroid), Simon (Castlevania), or Bill (Contra). Nice!

That’s all for now, but more soon!

Donald Miller has some insightful thoughts on How to Get Confidence From God.

I told a friend recently that if he wanted to gain confidence as a public speaker, he should practice. I told him to just accept any invitation, large or small, and get some hours down.

He thanked me but also mentioned he wanted his confidence to come from God, from his faith. He wasn’t being snooty or anything, trying to passively let me know what a great Christian he was, because if he’d been doing that, I’d just have shrugged my shoulders and let it go. But my friend was being genuine.

The truth is, though, he could have all the faith in God he wanted, but if he really wanted confidence as a public speaker, he’d need some hours. God wasn’t going to grant him confidence. Even Moses had absolutely no confidence. And God even stopped the mans stutter. It was experience that gave Moses confidence.

The funny thing is, if you wanted to be a locksmith or a plumber or a cab driver, you’d never pray and ask God to magically give you the ability. That’s not how God designed life. But in those fuzzy areas of emotions, we suddenly believe God is going to act like a magician.

The Christian faith is a practical faith. God employs experience in order to teach us, to develop our abilities. And even then, He is more interested in the interaction He has with us in the process than He is in teaching us anything at all. God is not our boss, He is our Father. The whole world is an educational playground God is using to bring you toward perfection, to raise you as His own child.

If we believe God is a genie with a wand granting wishes and doing magic tricks, we don’t understand the God of the Bible.

God gave David confidence keeping lions from his sheep, then killing Goliath, then running a country, God did not give David a country and then instill in him magical confidence.

It is very difficult for us Americans to believe in the God who guides us through educational experiences. Advertising teaches us that if we invest something, we get magical products that solve our problems. But God is more interested in being with us, than in entertaining us from a stage.

Are there contradictions to this? Absolutely. But there aren’t many.

I have a pastor friend who, for a while, decided to stop preparing his sermons. He’d just read the Bible and pray all week, and then get up on Sunday morning to preach. He quit after a while because everybody thought his sermons were terrible.

The truth is, if you do the work and gain the experience, you’ll have more confidence because you’ll actually know what you’re doing, and you will have spent some great time with God.

Great post by Seth Godin – How to buy a house:

How to buy a house

Actually, how to think about buying a house.

You don’t see a lot of ads trying to sell you on spending too much money on a house. It’s more subtle than that. The marketing is all around us, and has been for years. The enormous social pressure and the expectations that come with it lead to misunderstandings and confusion. Here’s my advice to someone in the market:

1. In an era where house prices rise reliably (which was 1963 to 2007), it was almost impossible to overpay for a house. It was an efficient market, and rising prices cover many mistakes. Investing in houses in the USA was a no-brainer. More leverage and more at stake just paid off more in the end. This consistent, multi-generational rise taught us more than an ad every could: buy a lot of house with as little downpayment as you could.
2. A house is not just an investment, it’s a place to live. This is the only significant financial investment that has two functions. Things like cars and boats always go down in value, so most of the time, if you’re investing, you’re doing it in something that you don’t have to fix, water, fuel or live in. You shouldn’t fall in love with a bond or a stock or a piece of gold, because if you do, you won’t be a smart investor. The problem (as people who sell and fix and build houses understand) is that you just might fall in love with a house. What a dumb reason to make the largest financial investment of your life.
3. The psychology of down markets is irrational. Rising house prices might be efficient (many bidders for a single item lead to higher prices), but when there aren’t so many bidders, irrational sellers (see #2) don’t lower their prices accordingly. So, inventories get longer and it’s easy for the prospective buyer to think that a certain price is the ‘right’ price because so many people are offering houses at that price. Just because someone offers a price, though, doesn’t mean it’s fair in a given market.
4. Along the same lines, anchoring has a huge impact on housing prices. If someone offers a house for $800,000 and you think it’s worth half that, you don’t offer half that. No, of course not. The price is a mental and emotional anchor, and you’re likely to offer far more.
5. The social power of a house is huge. When you buy a big house or an expensive house, you are making a statement to your in-laws, your family, your neighbors and yourself. Nothing wrong with that, but the question you must ask yourself is, “how big a statement can I afford?” How much are you willing to spend on personal marketing and temporary self-esteem?
6. Debt is an evil plot to keep you poor. If buying a bigger house (or even a house with a living room or a garage) is going to keep you in credit card debt, you’ve made a huge financial error, one that could cost you millions.
7. By the time you buy a house, you probably have a family. Which means that this is a joint decision, a group decision, a decision made under stress by at least two people, probably people that don’t have a lot of practice talking rationally about significant financial decisions that also have emotional and social underpinnings. Ooph. You’ve been warned. Perhaps you could add some artificial rigor to the conversation so that it doesn’t become a referendum on your marriage or careers and is instead about the house.
8. If you have a steady job, matching your mortgage to your income isn’t dumb. But if you are a freelancer, an entrepreneur or a big thinker, a mortgage can wipe you out. That’s because the pressure to make your monthly nut is so big you won’t take the risks and do the important work you need to do to actually get ahead. When you have a choice between creating a sure-thing average piece of work or a riskier breakthrough, the mortgage might be just enough to persuade you to hold back.
9. Real estate brokers, by law, work for the seller (unless otherwise noted). And yet buyers often try to please the broker. You’ll never see her again, don’t worry about it.
10. You’re probably not going to be able to flip your house in nine months for a big profit. Maybe not even nine years. So revisit #2 and imagine that there is no financial investment, just a house you love. And spend accordingly.

I’m optimistic about the power of a house to change your finances, to provide a foundation for a family and our communities. I’m just not sure you should buy more house than you can afford merely because houses have such good marketing.

I’ve been a horrible blogger over the last month. No excuses, it just hasn’t been a priority for me. More important things are occupying my time these days

So what’s been going on since my last post?

Work has been BUSY over the last couple of weeks. Not a bad, frustrating busy, but a busy that’s required me to put in some overtime. I’ll take that over being bored any day of the week, as long as it’s not an every day/week occurence, which it’s not, thankfully. Things have calmed down a little the last couple days, but will pick up again soon. It will be nice to have a three day weekend and time flies by the closer we get to the holidays.

Church is also keeping me busy. I haven’t mentioned this previously, but I’ve been serving in a leadership position for First Church of Christ’s new worship venue, R3volution, serving as Venue House Manager as well as Team Lead. I’m also co-leading a Sunday night LifeGroup Bible study that starts up it’s fall session next week. I’m incredibly thankful for these opportunities and have very much enjoyed serving in all capacities. I’ve discovered what has often been said that if you’re not using the gifts God has given you, there’s an emptiness and lack of fulfillment in life. Serving is my top gift and I definitely wasn’t fulfilled in the years I was looking for a new church home. Being able to once again use my God-given gifts for His kingdom has been a welcome addition to my schedule. I’m also blessed to be a a part of a great Sunday morning ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship) with some truly awesome and Godly people that I love spending time with and getting to know.

And, of course, what’s been taking up a majority of my time over the last month has been my wonderful and very special girlfriend Kristy. We’ve definitely been keeping busy, tearing up the roads with travel and burning the candle at both ends. It’s been a great time; I wouldn’t trade a second of it! Over the last month, we’ve talked on the phone for countless hours, seen a DCI show in Indy, canoed in Indiana, paddle boated, flew kites, Wii bowled in matching monogrammed bowling jerseys, took a tour of my old stomping grounds in NKY, spent time with both sides of my family and so much more. Needless to say, things are going really well for us and I’m excited for the future plans we’ve made and to see what God has in store for us. This weekend, I get the privilege of meeting her family in Western Central KY, watching the Labor Day fireworks in Cincy and maybe having a relaxing day with no plans! Pictures of some of our adventures are up in gallery.

AT&T is absolutely driving me up a wall with all the dropped calls! It’s very frustrating! Can’t believe I’m stuck in this stupid contract for another year and a half. Bah! I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve ticked off someone who works at AT&T; the dropped calls come when I have a full 5 bars and many times when I’m at home, not traveling or moving around much, so there’s no explanation why the call would suddenly dropped. What’s equally odd is that about 30 seconds or so after the call drops, I’ll get a 2 second blank voicemail from the person I was talking to. I did read an article today that confirms what many people already know – AT&T’s network is very much strained because of iPhone use. AT&T is spending $18 billion to upgrade its network, but that does take time, and I don’t know how much patience I have left. One interesting thing that the article pointed out was that other providers will experience similar demands for bandwidth in the future, when AT&T’s iPhone exclusivity runs out and the iPhone is opened up for other networks. So, the issues AT&T have now and are addressing will soon hit other companies, so maybe it’s worth sticking it out with AT&T since they’re upgrading to handle the load. Food for thought…

Another interesting article from the last week – ‘Reading Rainbow’ Reaches Its Final Chapter. The 26 year run of Reading Rainbow, one of my favorite childhood educational shows, came to an end last Friday. What’s really interesting is part of the reason why – there’s been a shift from why to read to how to read. It doesn’t do much good to have a show about good books and getting enjoyment from reading if kids can’t read!

The show’s run is ending, Grant explains, because no one — not the station, not PBS, not the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — will put up the several hundred thousand dollars needed to renew the show’s broadcast rights.

Grant says the funding crunch is partially to blame, but the decision to end Reading Rainbow can also be traced to a shift in the philosophy of educational television programming. The change started with the Department of Education under the Bush administration, he explains, which wanted to see a much heavier focus on the basic tools of reading — like phonics and spelling.

Grant says that PBS, CPB and the Department of Education put significant funding toward programming that would teach kids how to read — but that’s not what Reading Rainbow was trying to do.

“Reading Rainbow taught kids why to read,” Grant says. “You know, the love of reading — [the show] encouraged kids to pick up a book and to read.”

Well, I probably should have split this up into separate posts over several days, but. oh well, there ya go!

This week’s Finance Friday comes via CBS News:
How Supermarkets Lure You To Buy More

“Nothing happens by accident in a supermarket. Everything is designed to sell.”

And that, says Consumer Reports retail expert Tod Marks, is the key thing to keep in mind as you go up and down the aisles of your local store. Knowing how to shop is vital.

Supermarkets “are in the real estate business,” Marks pointed out to Early Show consumer correspondent Susan Koeppen Monday in the first of her three-part series, “Supermarket Secrets.”

Supermarkets, she explained, “are set up very carefully, with the hope that you will spend lots of money, maybe even more than you planned to.”

Read the article for tips on saving money when you shop at the supermarket.

Some Swine Flu tips from local TV station WLWT channel 5 via twitter

• Swine flu tip #1: Somewhere, right now, someone is asking if they can get swine flu from bacon. Don’t be that guy.
• Swine flu tip #2: You can get swine flu if living closely with infected swine. So, ladies, if your man’s a pig, good time to let him go.
• Swine flu tip #3: You cannot get swine flu by watching Porky Pig cartoons. Only slight chance of bird flu from Daffy Duck.
• Swine flu tip #4: Media hype inversely proportional to actual threat. So, if we stop talking about swine flu, *that’s* when you should worry.
• Swine flu tip #5: Flying Pig Marathon is unlikely to create swine flu problem. Just don’t lick other runners.
• Swine flu tip #6: If you feel ill, assume it’s the swine flu and you’re going to die. No matter what anyone else says. You’re doomed.
• Swine flu tip #7: If you’re going to cough or sneeze, cover the mouth of everyone within 60 feet of you. Duct tape works well.
• Swine flu tip #8: You will not get swine flu by Googling “swine flu”. You might get a virus, but it won’t be swine flu.
• Swine flu tip #9: That whole thing about you can pick friends, pick nose, not friends’ nose? That’s some good advice right now. Just say no.

Here are a few blogs posts I’ve been meaning to share but hadn’t gotten around to…until now.

Via Get Rich Slowly – Defeating Temptation: 10 Questions to Ask Yourself When You’re Tempted to Buy. (read article for full post)

• When will I use this?
• Do I have another one like this already?
• If I buy this, where will I put it?
• If I buy this, can I pay cash?
• Can I buy a good-quality used version for less?
• Do I know anyone who already owns one I can borrow?
• Can I wait to buy this?
• Why do I want to buy this?
• Are there better options available?
• What would my wife say if I bought this?

Perry Noble writes on Four Reasons People Have Moral Failures.

Several months ago I did a post entitled, “Pastors, keep your penis in your pants” that generated a lot of interest. One of the main follow up questions I received as a result of that post was, “Why do pastors (people) have moral failures.” I believe there are four main reasons…

#1 – No Personal Boundaries

Call me legalistic…but I am a FREAK about particular personal boundaries…such as…

* I do not ride in a car alone with a woman other than my wife!
* I will not be on an elevator alone with another woman. (I have literally gotten off on a floor that was not my destination in order to keep this value.)
* I will not counsel a woman alone.
* I will not share a meal in a restaurant with a woman with it being just the two of us…under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! EVER! (And PLEASE don’t hand me that crap about how it is “business!”)

Those are just a few of the examples…but the bottom line is this men…YOU CAN’T HAVE SEX WITH A WOMAN IF YOU ARE NEVER ALONE WITH HER (unless you are an absolute freak…which is another issue altogether!)

Too many men have sold their ministry down the river just to have an orgasm…it’s not worth it men–we’ve GOT to make tough decisions now and be willing to experience some “inconveniences” for the sake of the Gospel!
BTW…my wife absolutely LOVES the fact that she is the only woman I am ever alone with!

#2 – They Think That Temptation Will Never Overcome Them!

One of the Bible verses that has ALWAYS stuck out to me on the issue of temptation is I Corinthians 10:12! Here Paul warns us to always be careful…because the minute that we think we have a particular sin mastered…we are in danger of that very sin actually becoming our master.

#3 – They Stop Pursuing Jesus.

One of the things I know is true about everyone of us is that we cannot pursue Jesus and sin at the same time…and if a pastor is trying to get in the pants of a woman who is not his wife…then he cannot claim that his eyes are on Jesus!

This is why I believe time in the Word of God is essential for anyone who wants to keep a pure heart! Men…we are CALLED to pursue Jesus…and doing so will always lead us away from sin, not towards it!

#4 – Stress

When a man pastor experiences a time of intense stress and anxiety he is way more vulnerable to be lured into sin.

Pastors…we’ve GOT to take the fourth commandment seriously (that would be the one about rest!) We’ve got to take care of ourselves emotionally, spiritually and physically…neglecting these things allows us to become an easy target of the enemy!

I believe that many times pastors and ministry leaders will allow the stress and anxiety of ministry to catch up with them so much that they see a “moral failure” as an escape of the life they feel enslaved to.

One of the things ALL of us need to keep in mind is that the church is HIS bride…not ours. There is no need to stress if we believe He is completely in control!

My prayer is that there would NEVER be another pastor to choose to fail morally! (I hate it when people say a pastor “fell into sin!” THAT HAS NEVER FREAKIN’ HAPPENED–EVER!!! Moral failure is NOT a sin that happens to us…we make it happen!

Men, I want us to make it…to keep our eyes on Jesus! PLEASE, if anyone is struggling in this area and feel like you are about to sin…GET HELP! PLEASE…talk to someone! (Many pastors will not do this because they spend WAY too much time trying to BE the Messiah rather than leading people to HIM!)

Stuff Christians Like: Favorite Post #10. Not Knowing Which Meals to Pray Before.

SCL Guide to Food Prayers:
1. The Stand Up Rule
If you have to stand up while eating, you don’t have to pray. Regardless of what you are eating, standing up makes the food feel very light and insignificant. It’s impossible to cut anything while standing too. You end up just spearing chunks of fruit or meat awkwardly while trying to keep the plate from tipping over onto the carpet, further upsetting the hosts whose dog you just made urinate on the couch because you got it too excited at the Christmas Eve party. That just got personal, but trust me, no prayer required here. Use this easy rhyme to remember: “if you can’t sit, prayer forget it, if you have to stand, God understands.”

2. Wedding food
This rule actually works for any big event where one person prays for the whole room. Listen carefully to that person’s prayer. If it’s good, dig in. If it’s a little weak, you better double up and pray for yourself just to be sure. No offense to the other person, but it’s better safe than sorry. Plus, it makes you look extra holy which is never a bad thing if you’re single and trying to meet a bridesmaid.

3. Drive in
This actually depends on which fast food restaurant you go to. If you go to Chick-fil-A or In-n-Out you probably don’t have to pray because those are Christian restaurants and the holiness is applied like barbecue sauce to the food items. You’re covered. Taco Bell, Burger King and other restaurants are questionable. At the bare minimum, turn your back in the car while they use that bean and guacamole gun at Taco Bell and say a prayer. Chances are you’ll need it. (By the way, if you’re partaking in Taco Bell’s “Fourth Meal” or the food they feed you between dinner and breakfast, you better pray. Lots. You’ve just introduced a grilled, toasted, roasted, 17 layer, bean bandalero to your stomach at 2 in the morning.)

4. Progressive Dinner
A progressive dinner is where you travel with people from house to house having one course at each. The question is, where and when do you pray? Is it before the first house or at each house? Good question. I pray at the beginning and then at each house that serves something that might need a little God. When I used to be a bag boy at a grocery store we called it “spot mopping.” You didn’t mop the whole floor, just the few areas that needed it. Same thing applies here. If one house has a fresh mandarin spinach salad, hold the prayer. If the next one has some sort of homemade sausage that may or may not be squirrel, you better start praying.

5. Gas Station Snacks
Nougat? No prayer. Beef jerky? Depends. If you do regular jerky, no problem, you don’t have to pray. If you do that jerky, cheese marriage thing where there’s a tube of orange cheese spooning the jerky, you better pray. Or if the logo on the bag is a guy in overalls or a barrel with rope suspenders, you should pray.

6. Before or After Appetizers
The best way to get a waiter or waitress to come to your table is to start praying. They’ll materialize out of thin air like some sort of prayer interrupting phantoms. I suggest praying in the parking lot before you get in the restaurant. That way, you eliminate any possible chance of the staff trying to crash your prayer party.

7. Eating contests
I weigh about 160. A few years ago, a coworker challenged me to an eating contest at Fuddrucker’s, a hamburger joint. I accepted and ended up doing just fine in the “1lb throwdown.” I was able to stomach a one pound cheeseburger without a problem. But then he suggested we do a “2lb showdown.” Have you ever seen two pounds of meat on a plate? It was gross. It was like eating two 1lb meat Frisbees. I finished it, but ended up getting the meat sweats and eventually throwing up at work. I am dumb. If you ever find yourself in an eating contest, please pray. Constantly.

Satire from Brian Unger

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From Kiplinger, another list

10 Things We Overpay For
[Sidebar – seriously, ending the title in a preposition?]

Afternoon snacks. Do you munch protein bars as a healthier alternative to a chocolate pick-me-up? You could easily be paying more than $2 per bar and consuming just as much sugar as you would with your favorite candy bar. Stock up on fruit for a fraction of the cost when you do your grocery shopping. You’ll be fitter and save a bundle.

Bottled water. Yes, it’s important to drink water every day. But picking up the bottled variety with your lunch is an expensive way to stay hydrated. Rather than spend $2 a day for water, buy a pitcher and a filter for about $20 and drink as much as you want for pennies a glass.
A caffeine fix. Can’t get through the day without at least one cuppa Joe? Stopping at Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts can set you back as much as $1.65 per cup. Splurge on a pound of gourmet coffee for $8 to $13 and you can make 40 cups for about 20 cents to 33 cents each.

Favorite tunes. Do you rush out to buy the latest CD by your favorite group even though there are only one or two songs you really like? Instead of paying up to $18 for the CD, download those cuts you want from iTunes for 99 cents each, or from Amazon for as little as 79 cents.

A night at the movies. An evening for two at your local theater costs an average of about $20, including the popcorn — and closer to $30 in major cities. And that doesn’t even count the babysitter. For just $5 a month, you can watch two movies from Netflix or pay $9 for unlimited viewing. If you’re willing to wait a little longer for new releases, borrow them free from your local library. (See Cut the Cable Cord for other inexpensive entertainment options.)

Fresh flowers. A bouquet of spring blooms brightens up a room and your mood. But purchasing it from a florist at $25 and up can quickly put a dent in your budget. Check out your local grocery store, which offers a selection of seasonal bouquets for $5 to $10.

Fruits and veggies. Sure, precut vegetables and salad mixes that are washed and bagged save a little time. But you’ll pay for the convenience. Broccoli florets and sliced peppers cost $6 per pound, compared with one-third to one-half the price for the uncut versions. Lettuce varieties that are pre-washed and bagged sell for $5.98 a pound. But it takes just minutes to wash and spin dry enough arugula for your evening salad, and you’ll pay one-third as much. Buying whole strawberries rather than sliced ones that are prepackaged cuts the price by 75%.

Credit-card fees. Every month, millions of credit-card customers pay their bills late, and they’re assessed as much as $39 each time. Set up an automatic debit and you’ll never incur another late fee.

ATM fees. Each time you use an out-of-network ATM you pay an average of $3.43. Do that once a week and you’ll rack up almost $180 in ATM fees every year. Avoid those charges by selecting a bank with a large ATM network or an online account that reimburses your ATM fees — such as the eOne no-fee account from Salem Five Direct bank. Another alternative: Get cash back at the grocery store.

Fax and mail services. Instead of paying FedEx $1.49 to fax one page, sign up to send free faxes from a provider such as faxZero or K7.net. Save on shipping with the U.S. Postal Service’s priority mail service. You’ll pay just $4.95 to mail an envelope or small box anywhere in the U.S., and your parcel is likely to arrive within two days. Larger packages cost $10.35. That saves at least 50% compared with UPS’s two-day service, the cost of which varies by weight and distance.