FW-52 -- Househusbands and Hawaii: Saving With A Purpose

J@pan Inc Magazine Presents:

* * * * * * F R U G A L W A T C H * * * * * * * *
A weekly roundup of how to be frugal in the world's most
expensive country to live (unless you read this!), written
and compiled by Wendy J. Imura.

Regular edition, April 11, 2005 Issue No. 52
+++ INDEX

- What's new (Househusbands and Hawaii: Saving With A Purpose)
- Event Notice: (PC/Online Budgeting Tools)
- Frugal tips (Hidden Frugal Resource? Japanese Housewife Mags)
- Credits

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== Entrepreneur Association of Tokyo ・May Seminar =

This coming May, Norio Murakami, President of Google Japan
Inc., will be presenting, "The Past, Present and Future of
Google."

Date/Time: Tuesday, May 10th 7:00 pm
Location: City Club of Tokyo - Maple Room (Canadian Embassy
Complex)
Language: English
Website: http://www.ea-tokyo.com
Email: info@ea-tokyo.com
===============================================

+++ WHAT'S NEW

Dear Frugal Readers,

One of my favorite free-time (ie procrastination) activities
is trawling the Web for new frugal resources. After a while
they all begin to look the same, but once in awhile a unique
site pops up that makes my searching all the worthwhile. My
latest 'diamond in the rough' is a very unique Japanese
website entitled: "A Househubsand's Easy Frugal
Guide to Earning a Trip to Hawaii." Huh?
(http://okirakushufu.net/)

First of all, it's rare to find a Japanese male househusband
at all, much less one that advertises the fact. The site's
author apparently quit his job when he married none other
than his BOSS at his own company (female, of course). One
of them had to quit, so he chose to become a 'househusband,'
In addition to housework, his new hobbies appear to be 1)
frugality, and 2) how to make money on the Internet. The
frugality itself is unique in that its purpose is to save money
to visit Hawaii - the site of the couple's wedding and
honeymoon.

Basically, this fellow decided to concentrate on cutting his
household costs to save funds for a Hawaii trip. His website
lists three very simple, but sensible, rules for frugal living:
1) have a goal, 2) don't try to do the impossible (extremely
uncomfortable frugality is unlikely to continue for very long,
and 3) make your frugal life a common family goal. All very
practical, but vital, pieces of advice for those trying to make
the decision to live a frugal life.

This former high-spending salaryman seems to have made a
real commitment to both frugality and on-line entrepreneurship:
he grows vegetables on his veranda, and has also created an
extensive network of affiliate links on his site that should also
generate income. If you read Japanese, you'll find some
interesting frugal tips and links here as well.

So, why have I spent the last few paragraphs talking about
random house-husband Internet man? Well, first it's inspiring
to see someone defy the cultural stereotypes people are so
easily plugged into. Second, this guy is a great example of how
to go about frugality (especially if you are just starting out)
right: with a clear goal in mind, realistic expectations,
and the cooperation of your family/life partner/friends/pets.

Enjoy!
Frugally yours,
Wendy J. Imura
================================================

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============================================

+++ BARGAIN ROUNDUP: PC/Online Budgeting Tools

Technology sure is great. You can file your taxes, order a
pizza, download a movie, and even meet Mr. (or Ms. Right)
online these days. You can, apparently, also keep track of
your finances and budgeting. Microsoft Money or Quicken
are, of course, the standard software one might think of, but
these are not very frugal. There are, however, some good
software options both in English and Japanese for keeping
track of your budget or doing "kakei kanri."

* Simple Budget (http://www.dirfile.com/simple_budget.htm)
Okay, this is the simplest of simple budget tools. The
program is Windows compatible, downloads quicky, and takes
up very little memory (728KB ZIP file). It has only two
variables to record expenses (either weekly, monthly, or
yearly) and income. It tells you if you are in the red or
in the black based on these simple factors.
Freeware from Australia.

*IngenMoney Pro (http://www.dirfile.com/ingenmoney_pro.htm)
This is one of the most popular personal budgeting tool
downloads. It features graphing and reporting capabilities, and
has a bright, fun-to-use interface. Definitely not the Simple
Budget simplicity, but still free. The program automatically
sets itself up in yen, and matches to your current PC date.
You can also set up your interface in French or English, and
the format is very close to that of many kakeibo
books

*@Kakeibo (http://www.my-fp.com/kkb/index.htm)
Okay, for those of you accustomed to using a paper-based
Japanese kakeibo (or household-based accounts book), or
for those of you wanting to study Japanese, I recommend
@Kakeibo. It is a fully-functional online household
accounts system that can keep track of monthly expenses,
credit cards, housing and other loans, and a yearly
budget. The interface is very user-friendly, and signing
up quite easy. It's also free, and is totally based online
(useful for people using multiple PCs). Apparently,
you can also use it with i-mode!
=============================================

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--------------------------------------------------

+++ FRUGAL TIPS (Hidden Frugal Resource - Japanese Housewife Mags)

At Frugal Japan.com, we've started slowly culling valuable resources
from the very earliest issues of Frugal Watch or its predecessor, the
Frugal Fact File, and putting them in an easy-to-read online article
format. One of the first 'blasts from the past' is an article about
Japanese housewife magazines - a great source of information on both
frugality and easy-to-understand Japanese. For more information,
visit: http://www.frugaljapan.com/encyclopedia/magazines.html.

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===========================================

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END
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+++ ABOUT US
STAFF
Written by: Wendy J. Imura (frugalwatch@japaninc.com)
Edited by: JI

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