Life in Your Years Blog: Health, Finance, & More

Swanson Vitamins is currently running a buy one-get one deal on Vitamin D 2000 IU. Right now, the price is $6.39 for 500 capsules. That is right, for 500 capsules! I thought the normal deal, $6.39 for 250 capsules, was pretty good itself, but this is just amazing. 

I don’t know how long this deal will last, but I can tell you that I ordered 3 of them (for a total of 1500 capsules) yesterday. I should note that Swanson tends to be conservative on their estimates of expiration. From my observations, they seem to say their products expire 2 years from the date of manufacture. This seems too conservative to me.  Based on the expiration dates of other reputable companies, I have concluded you can effectively add 1.5 years (18 months) to Swanson’s expiration dates without worry of major potency loss. This means that taking full advantage of this sale (i.e. buying 1500 capsules) will safely last you for awhile!

PS – We have only updated this blog sporadically as of late. We hope to start posting regularly again, but alas, life happens!

The GIMP is a powerful open source (free) graphics editing software program. I use it frequently, since I can’t afford Photoshop and like the idea of open-source software. I have collected quite a few plugins and scripts over the years which make GIMP even more powerful. While the GIMP is not quite as powerful as Photoshop, plugins and scripts help take the GIMP closer to the professional level of Photoshop. Below I have listed 10 plug-ins and scripts, and collections of plugins and scripts, that make GIMP very powerful. These are the ones I use a lot and hope you enjoy. Obviously I have left out some, and may post on these later. I have linked to Windows versions if separate Windows versions exist, because I figure Linux users already know how to get the scripts and don’t need their hands held.

To install plugins on Windows, simply place the file or files (usually .exe) into the following folder:

c:\Program Files\Gimp-2.0\lib\gimp\2.0\plug-ins

To install scripts on Windows, place the file or files (.scm) into the following folder:

c:\Program Files\Gimp-2.0\share\gimp\2.0\scripts

Below are my favorites in no particular order:

1. Darla Purple Fringe – This script fixes purple fringing, an aberration in which some parts of  images have a purple outline. This is common on images shot on many digital cameras. This script helps fix the problem. I usually have to de-saturate blue to -80 to get the best result. Play around with the settings until you find what works.

2. GMIC for Gimp (Windows) – This plugin is a powerful collection of artistic, color, and other tools, which supercharges GIMP. Tools include soft focus, old photo, CMYK color mixer, fish-eye lens, additive noise, and many more!

3. Shadows and Highlights – This is a helpful script that allows you to lighten the areas that are too dark, and darken the areas that are too light. This is very useful in bringing out the details in regions of images that are too dark. However, it won’t “find” details that weren’t there to begin with; make sure you are taking photos that are properly exposed. The image above was enhanced using this script. The stumps on the far left of the image were practically black before I used the script.

4. Re-Focus – This is a nice plugin that sharpens an image in a smart way. I find that sometimes “Unsharp mask” (which comes with GIMP) gives good results, and other times, re-focus does a better job. Both, when used properly, sharpen an image without giving that over-sharpened look.

5. UFRaw – This is a program that runs separately from GIMP, but that is also integrated into GIMP. It allows processing of RAW files, before they are sent to the 8-bit GIMP editing environment. It is a nice program that allows for white balance correction, noise reduction, editing with curves, among other things. I wish it had a sharpening feature, but otherwise, I really like it.

6. FX-Foundry – This is a nice collection of scripts, which includes a lot of helpful tools. There are over 15 color tools alone, and many more in other categories. The one I use the most is “Contrast Overlay” which adjusts the contrast so that dark areas are brightened, and very bright areas are normalized. It also allows for the blurring of a layer, creating a nice “glow” to the image.

7. Technicolor 2 – I like the way this script turns a normal image into a more exciting one.  It makes an image look older and mysterious.

8. Eg Black and White – This script allows you to turn an image into black and white, and filter this based on color. UF Raw and GMIC also have tools for this, but this is a nice, easy-to-use, tool to do the job.

9. EXIF Viewer (Windows) – EXIF data is that information from the camera that tells you shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and a bunch of other information. GIMP doesn’t allow you to view this information without this plug-in.

10. Darla Blue-Sky Gradient – Sometimes the sky in a scenic image can be overexposed (losing detail because the area is too bright), which ruins an otherwise nice image. This script does a good job of fixing that, and making the sky blue (or whatever color you like) again. It does a nice job of knowing where the sky stops and the scenery begins.

Swanson Vitamins always has some good prices and sales, but right now, they are going the extra mile, offering ten percent off the entire order (enter in code TEN0809 at checkout, before August 24, 2009).

Swanson’s regular prices are some of the most competitive supplement prices on the internet, but every month or so, they put a few items on a “buy 1-get 1″ sale, which makes the price even better. This month, Arginine, Horse Chestnut, MSM, Vitamin D (400 IU), and many others are on sale. Add on the ten percent, and these prices are out of this world! In fact, the Arginine price is so good, that it is  better deal (gram for gram) to buy these capsules than to buy the bulk powder elsewhere).

Before I went to graduate school, I never thought much about buying groceries and other everyday items. During high school, my parents took care of that for the most part, and in college, we had the dining hall and dorms to basically provide our needs (hardly for free, but I didn’t notice it). However, when I arrived at graduate school, suddenly I was responsible for buying groceries and having some money left over at the end of the week to do the things I wanted to do.

Some people call me cheap, and others tight. I prefer to look at myself as frugal, or perhaps thrifty, and my beliefs about money do not render me stingy, although I do like to save money. I tend to look at having and spending money like this: I like to save money on things I don’t really care about, so I can have money to spend on things I do. So, for example, there is no difference between buying eggs at Aldi, or eggs at Meijer. However, I save about 40 cents/dozen by getting the eggs for 79 cents a dozen at Aldi. At a dozen per week, I save over $20.00 a year. Twenty dollars buys a few books, which I do enjoy. Another example is generic pop. How much is a 2-liter of Pepsi? Somewhere around $1.25. The generic is $.75. Savings per week if I buy 2? $1.00 a week. In a year, that is $52.00. Chicken noodle soup is basically chicken stock, noodles, and a few chunks of chicken. I can get Campbell’s for $1.00 or Aldi for 50 cents. If I buy 4 a week, in the course of a year I have saved $104.00. I don’t really care enough about pop, eggs, or chicken noodle soup to readily distinguish between generic and name brand, but I do enjoy having an extra $176.00 at the end of the year.

Like I said, I don’t think I am cheap. I like to buy people gifts, and I always try to tip 20-25% when I go out to eat. I also make sure I give a fair percentage of my income to charity, including my church. In fact, one thing I save money for is to share it with others. However, I would much rather “share” my money with others than with the electric company, gas company, or grocery store. This is one main reason I also go to extremes to save energy, and this is reflected by the fact that our air-conditioning has kicked on probably 10 times this whole summer (it has been unseasonably cool, so we don’t usually save as much energy as we have this summer).

So what is my basic philosophy and challenge to you? Well, it could be summarized as “tighten your finances where it doesn’t really matter, so you can have more money where it does.” There are many creative ways to save money, and the way I look at it is that if you can put effort into whatever it is you put effort into (school, job, hobby, etc), you can put effort into saving money, since it will likely benefit you and those that matter to you!

Below I provide examples of photos processed using the program QTPFSGUI.

I am always looking for open-source alternatives to high-priced proprietary software. People who know me understand that I am not opposed to closed-source software like Windows, but that I prefer open-source software because of the quality and price.  I have posted about saving money using open source software, and saving more money using open source software.

I have been interesting in creating HDR (High-Dynamic Range) photos for some time, but wasn’t aware of how to create them. I figured that my camera wasn’t capable. An HDR image is one in which the contrast is closer to reality than is possible with a Low-Dynamic Range image. Although it is preferable to use a camera that is capable of saving in a 16-bit RAW format (or TIFF), it is possible to create HDR photos using a jpg. At any rate, this brings me to the product qtpfsgui, which is an open-source way to create HDR images. And, yes, the name is confusing, but there is a reason for it.

Basically, the way qtpfsgui works is like this. First, you create a new HDR image. This can be done either with one image, or preferably, with a series of bracketed images. After you do this, qtpfsgui will walk you through the steps for creating an HDR image. The default settings tend to work well, but if you want more control, the program offers this. Then, after you have your image, you can adjust the gamma to lighten it or darken it.  Finally, you tone-map the image. This can be done using a variety of methods, based on academic papers relating to creating high-contrast images. The results (and type of image) vary depending on the method used. I find that for more realistic photos Reinhard ’02 and Reinhard ’05 produce the best results, while Mantiuk and Fattal produce rather fascinating images (but they look unrealistic, if default settings are used). Below are some photos I have taken that were processed through qtpfsgui. Often, after processing with qtpfsgui, I also do some work on them in GIMP, but here I just kept the images directly from qtpfsgui. However, the first image is the original brightest photo I took, which was not processed (note that because I bracketed the photos, there were two other darker photos).  The processed photos are far closer to what I actually saw that evening. Click on the photo for larger detail.

Below is the Reinhard ’02 Processing:

Below is the Reinhard ’05 processing

Below is the Mantiuk processing

Below is Fattal (Current)

Fattal (Old…still available in current release)

Note that within each type of processing, there are many ways to manipulate the photos. For example, in the Fattal setting, you can control alpha, beta, color saturation, and noise, and you can control the gamma as well. This means that you can do a whole lot within each processing method. Unfortunately, my camera only exports to jpegs (8-bit, processed, images). If it could export RAW, 16-bit images, I would be happier, but you can still see the impact qtpfsgui has.

I have ordered from DNE Vitamins since I sent for a free catalog back in the mid-1990s. Recently they have been having some great sales, and I have ordered from them more than ever. Their prices are naturally competitive with the warehouse and catalog discounters, so when they have an additional sale, the deals are GREAT.

Right now, until June 22, DNE is having a 50% off sale, on your entire order. This even includes their national brands. Enter the coupon GET50OFF at checkout. Shipping is free for all orders over $89!!

For those who have a Discover Card, enroll in the Get More program for this month, and you will get 5% cash back at Home Improvement, Department, and Clothing stores. All you have to do is enroll your Discover Card online, sign-up for this quarter’s reward, and voila, 5% back.

Hi, my name is David, and I make money from credit cards. You mean credit card companies actually make money from you? It doesn’t have to be so!

I have a problem: I like to save everything, especially the plastic and glass containers that peanut butter, jelly, salsa, etc, come in. “Hey I *paid * for those! There has to be another use! Surely I can *make* something from this…” are thoughts that race through my head as I start to throw something out. I also think it might be genetic, but we won’t get into that here… Don’t worry. If you visit our house, you won’t see myriad peanut butter jars lining the halls or anything. I do keep my habit in check, though not as much as David might like. I have a bin, once it is full, I have to either use them, or lose them. Cleaning is pretty easy, as I let them soak for a day or 2, rinse, remove the labels and then toss them in the dishwasher (top rack of course).

But why do I save them? Well, besides the fact you pay for packaging, it is a great way to recycle, and they satisfy quick and simple storage needs. I currently use old peanut butter jars to store various grains (like bulk quinoa, etc). I have my knitting notions in a small honey jar. But my favorite use is for coins.

David hates having loose change in his pockets, and there is only so much one girl can carry in her purse, so the coins seem to always end up lying around the house. And in our house, only paper seems to pile up faster than the coins! Something had to be done. I know many people have coin jars. As a matter of fact, when I was young, I remember my parents’ closet being lined with bottles of pennies. Having worked in a bank, I know it is faster to have your coins separated by type when you cash them in. I have 4 glass bottles, all left over from kitchen staples, that I place excess coins in once a month. It works like a charm and provides a nice bonus when you cash them in. I have friends who pay for vacations just using the money they have in change!

Below are a few other ways I use previously-used containers:

1. Fruit fly trap
2. Compost storage (until you can carry it out to the heap)
3. Storage for homemade bath products
4. Storage for homemade cleaners
5. Storing leftovers, or as to-go containers for guests
6. To prevent rust rings in the shower (using plastic lids as coasters)

What are your favorite uses for old containers?

In a previous post, Save Money, Go Open Source, I listed various open source (and free) software programs I use regularly. I like the idea of open source software on a philosophical level, in that a variety of people can participate to make a program better. However, my main reason for loving them is that they are completely free! Using open source software really should be an important part of living frugally and embracing financial wellness. Below are a few more programs that I find useful that can save you a lot of money if you use them in place of costly proprietary software:

GnuCash – I posted on this recently, but I will summarize GnuCash here. GnuCash is the equivalent to software like Microsoft Money and Quicken. It handles things like mortgages, credit cards, bank accounts, expenses, etc. You can even import Quicken and Microsoft Money files, so you can just download your information directly from your online banking sites, and reconcile it. GnuCash isn’t quite as intuitive as Microsoft Money, and is more advanced software, since it uses double-entry accounting principles, while Money is a single entry system. The former is more thorough, but more difficult to understand. I use GnuCash for business and personal purposes. It can generate handy charts to show your income versus expenses, where your expenses are coming from, etc.

PDF Creator – This is a .pdf printer, which means that you can print any document, image, etc, on your computer as a .pdf file. If you install it, you will see it listed as an option on your list of printers. Once you choose to print with it, you are given a choice to name it, assign an author, etc, and then you can save the document in any folder that you like. This is a handy way to create .pdf files!

Free Mind – Free Mind is an idea mapping software, which reminds me of those “pre-writing” bubble-like diagrams we used to do in English class. It allows you to brainstorm and generate ideas. I haven’t played around with it too much, but it looks cool.

Inkscape – Inkscape is a nice vector graphics design program. It is like Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw. You can make some pretty cool logos and art with it, and I haven’t even begun to utilize its many features. If you design art for bulletins, newspapers, e-books, etc, this software is essential, and could potentially save you hundreds on software costs.

CamStudio – CamStudio is a program that allows you to record your actions on your computer screen, which means you can make videos of what you do on your computer. You can also record audio while you do it. You can save the output as various video file formats, so you can post your efforts on You Tube, etc. This software is very helpful for individuals who are making software or computer-related video tutorials. I haven’t used it too much, except to test it, but there is a lot of potential here.

This round of Open Source programs isn’t quite as broadly useful as the last round. The last round included some major programs (like OpenOffice) that help us with common tasks (like word processing). However, these FREE programs I have just listed will help make your life easier!

One of my goals this year is to develop both a personal and business budget, and keep better track of my books. When I went looking for software to do this, I looked first at open source sources. The option I decided on is GnuCash.

GnuCash is an open-source (i.e. free) accounting software package for individuals and small-businesses. I am beginning to use it for both business and personal purposes, to keep track of income and expenses. I wouldn’t call it super-intuitive, but for someone like myself with decent knowledge of computers, it is fairly straightforward. GnuCash is a double-entry accounting system, which means that for every debit you record, you have to have a credit somewhere else (for example, when a check is deposited in the checking account, it has to be debited from another source, i.e. from income). The same is true of all payments. For example, if I pay a credit card off, the amount also has to be entered into the checking account section. This is helpful for keeping good books, tracking income and expenses, and doing taxes later.

The first task I had to do was to set up and reconcile all of my accounts. This was time-consuming, because I have money spread out at various places in order to  get the  best return. This includes a good number of credit cards. Since I started this in January of 2009, I had to do a little calculating to reconcile the various accounts. I actually enjoyed it, because by using GnuCash, I am actually learning how to use double-entry accounting.

Gnucash seems to have a lot of features, many that I will not use at this point, but it meets my needs for the basic things I need to do right now. I hope to learn more as I move along.

I am a big believer in open-source software. It’s free. Period. And the quality of much of it is very good, and getting better by the day. In our current recession, I am surprised that more businesses aren’t using, and supporting the develoment of, open source programs.

Financially, I may be a little better off this year than last year. I am not bragging, or gloating, because I know it could be fleeting, but I am stating the reality that living frugally and financially sound has its benefits. However, before I begin this post, let me say that the main reason I am doing okay is that I have a job. No amount of frugality would make up for a lack of a job, so obviously frugality has its limits, but I think my point remains the same.

Let me provide a few details of what I am talking about. I started getting into finance in 2002. I just got out of graduate school, and had little money, and few job prospects in the area where I grew up. I could have moved across the country, but I was tired of being away from any meaningful support network. I started subbing, and I also learned I had to save money in any way I could. One of the first things I did was conserve energy whenever possible. I turned the thermostat down in the winter, and up in the summer. I began hypermiling to save gasoline, before the term was even widely used. I refused to buy a big car or SUV when everybody else was getting into them. I shifted most of my excess money into high-interest online savings accounts, instead of relying on local bank accounts with paltry returns. I lived with my parents for a few years, saving thousands on rent, and when I did get an apartment, it was a nicely-sized cozy place, not some expensive condo I could hardly afford. I opened quite a few credit cards, but promptly paid them off, getting them mainly for the rewards (yes, I make money off of credit cards). I have always bought generic if possible, and shop at Aldi for most of my groceries these days. When we bought a house last year, we bought one that we could afford, choosing the one that was built solidly, with a newer roof and furnace, and that was in a nice neighborhood 2 blocks from my work. I buy most of my books, music, and furniture used.

Now, I may seem cheap, but I really am not. I buy things when I really want them. I give money to charity, and allow myself to do all sorts of fun things. Here is how I view it: I save money on certain things so that I can have money to do the things I really want to do. For example, I keep the house at 64 in the winter so I pay less money to the gas company, because I would rather use that money for books, family things, or my Y membership. The 40-50 dollars I save each month on energy pays for my Y membership.

Again, I am not bragging, but rather pointing out that I have done for years what many Americans are now being forced to do: be financially responsible. This is why I personally hardly notice the bad economy, because I am not going from the “high life” to something closer to reality. I have been responsible for years. In fact, I am doing a little better this year because energy prices are significantly lower. Maybe the real issue is that I never truly felt the benefits of the recent boom. For example, I didn’t borrow against an over-valued home. The only real thing I notice is that my mutual fund is about where it was when I opened it. Not cool, but it hasn’t really affected me.

This crisis was caused in part by Wall Street, and in part by poor government policies, but folks, we residents of Main Street had a major role in this too. Quite frankly, I think we don’t know what matters any more. It used to be that the people in a house were what mattered, and as long as a family was together, a house was truly a home. Now, it is the house itself that matters, and without a big house, life has no meaning, so people bought houses they knew they couldn’t afford, and mortgage brokers seemed more than willing to give them these shaky loans. Now that people are defaulting on these loans, some are shocked, truly shocked. Shocked? Please. Basic, sound financial principles tell us that someone making 30,000 a year cannot afford a 500,000 house. My basic sense tells me not even to look at a house that costs 1/3 of that! The same is true of credit card debt. Do the credit card companies try to squeeze us dry? Yes, and I am happy new regulations are coming. However, do the companies come to our home and make us use their cards at gun point? No. What is the best way to get back at the credit card companies? Don’t use their cards, or if you do, spend within your means so you can pay off the cards without interest. I have a great relationship with my credit card companies: I don’t pay them interest and they pay me rewards.

So basically, making sound, financial decisions for the last 6 years has allowed me to weather this current downturn, and given me the tools to deal with bad economic situations. I may not be making millions of dollars investing in bubbles during the booms, but I am better equipped to increase my wealth slowly over time.

I got an email today from DNE Vitamins, offering a Buy-One-Get-One-Free deal on all of their brands of Vitamins (including their main brand, Nature’s Harbor) for the time period around “Cyber Monday.” The code is CYBERMON, and is valid through tomorrow (December 3rd). However, when I ordered online, the invoice didn’t reflect the offer, even though I typed in the code. I had to call DNE to get the deal, but the lady on the phone was helpful, and I got a great deal on quite a few supplements I take regularly. DNE’s regular prices on supplements are very competitive, so this deal is pretty great, which is why I wanted to share it with you.

I first discovered DNE back in 1993 or 1994, when I was bored in study hall in high school. I would go to the library and read health magazines, and call companies that advertised in them to see if I could get free products, or in the case of DNE, a catalog. I got quite a few free supplements that year.

Good News: Oil prices have dipped dramatically lately. I have followed energy prices at the futures level since 2002 when I became upset that gas was skyrocketing to the insanely high price of $1.70. These days, $1.70 seems cheap. While I don’t think we will see $1.70 gas again, I do think a price around $1.99 is possible in many areas by December. Some people have said prices are going down because “an election is near.” Nope. It is because our economy is weak and getting weaker, and demand is down in developed countries, like the U.S. Thus businesses are using a lot less fuel, and so are consumers. Part of the price drop is that Americans have finally wised up, and have started conserving energy.

This is an example of why it is important to conserve energy. Using less fuel lowers prices. That is basic capitalism. If you want to lower a price you do one of two things. You either increase supply or reduce demand. Right now, the oil market is well-supplied because there is a lot of supply and weakening demand. It is a shame that it took a near economic collapse to lower oil prices, but there is at least a little good news amidst the doom-and-gloom. I just hope we don’t forget about $4.00/gallon gas, and that we keep conserving, and keep developing alternatives, or we will be back at $4.00 very soon.

We have been hearing lately that trillions of dollars of American wealth have vanished over the last few weeks as the stock markets have plummeted. Perhaps you were wondering where that money went. A good article from the Associated Press explains what happened:

If you’re looking to track down your missing money — figure out who has it now, maybe ask to have it back — you might be disappointed to learn that is was never really money in the first place.

Robert Shiller, an economist at Yale, puts it bluntly: The notion that you lose a pile of money whenever the stock market tanks is a “fallacy.” He says the price of a stock has never been the same thing as money — it’s simply the “best guess” of what the stock is worth.

“It’s in people’s minds,” Shiller explains. “We’re just recording a measure of what people think the stock market is worth. What the people who are willing to trade today — who are very, very few people — are actually trading at. So we’re just extrapolating that and thinking, well, maybe that’s what everyone thinks it’s worth.”

Shiller uses the example of an appraiser who values a house at $350,000, a week after saying it was worth $400,000.

“In a sense, $50,000 just disappeared when he said that,” he said. “But it’s all in the mind.”

Though something, of course, is disappearing as markets and real estate values tumble. Even if a share of stock you own isn’t a wad of bills in your wallet, even if the value of your home isn’t something you can redeem at will, surely you can lose potential money — that is, the money that would be yours to spend if you sold your house or emptied out your mutual funds right now.

And if you’re a few months away from retirement, or hoping to sell your house and buy a smaller one to help pay for your kid’s college tuition, this “potential money” is something you’re counting on to get by. For people who need cash and need it now, this is as real as money gets, whether or not it meets the technical definition of the word.

Still, you run into trouble when you think of that potential money as being the same thing as the cash in your purse or your checking account…

There was a time when nobody had to wonder what happened to the money they used to have. Until paper money was developed in China around the ninth century, money was something solid that had actual value — like a gold coin that was worth whatever that amount of gold was worth, according to Douglas Mudd, curator of the American Numismatic Association’s Money Museum in Denver.

Back then, if the money you once had was suddenly gone, there was a simple reason — you spent it, someone stole it, you dropped it in a field somewhere, or maybe a tornado or some other disaster struck wherever you last put it down.

But these days, a lot of things that have monetary value can’t be held in your hand…

So basically, your stock market portfolio, 401k, or whatever you invest in, is not really money, but potential money based on an assumed value of ownership in a company. However, when you invested in it, you put in your “real” money, so I can understand why folks treat stock values are real money. I haven’t bothered to check my mutual funds recently. If I recall, I started investing back in 2003, so I may still have a few gains left; who knows. Nonetheless, if the bottom to this thing is near, stocks are pretty cheap, so now may be the time to get in. Until then, I have some of my money at Dollar Savings Direct, which is offering a 4.0% APY right now.

According to the Farmer’s Almanac, a cold winter is coming for most of the U.S. With many families struggling with energy costs this could be problematic. Over the next few months, we’ll be sharing some of the ways we reduce energy consumption in the home (yes, our families are used to hearing “put on a sweater” in the winter!). I also have to admit that I dislike winter more and more each year, especially after Christmas is over. The colder the winter, the worse it is, it seems. We’ll try to address ways to survive the winter blahs as well. Keep posted.