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During 2008, my wife and I are tracking how much time and money we spend growing food. This is the report for September.

September generally brings the largest harvests for our garden. That was true again this year, but not by as much as we hoped. The bad weather at the beginning of the season means that things just aren’t ripe yet. Kris has been encouraging her tomatoes for weeks. I’m dying for the grapes to be ready. (They’re almost there!)

Kris gives orders to her garden elves. Photo by Lisa.

We did harvest a lot last month, the bulk of which was tomatoes and tree fruit. We had so many tomatoes, in fact, that Kris was able to enlist the help of five-year-olds Albert and Annika to help harvest. They did an amazing job picking cherry tomatoes.

Like investing in fruit
September’s nice because there’s almost no garden maintenance. All we have to do is stroll out to pick the food we want. During the middle of the month, Kris and I had a mild misunderstanding. I thought she told me to go pick all of the apples from our trees, but she really told me to pick a few for some jam. I came back into the house with 19 pounds of apples, which was far more than she needed. We made an spontaneous batch of applesauce.

Actually, Kris did a lot of canning this month: marinara sauce, applesauce, salsa, pickled plums, and more. As usual, we supplemented our own harvest with free food from friends and neighbors (25 pound of pears here, 15 pounds of plums there), as well as things like onions and garlic from the produce stand.

Now, as the rains begin and the harvest draws to a close, our pantry and freezer are both packed full. When we make a blackberry cobbler in February, take pickled “dilly beans” to a potluck or pop open a jar of spicy salsa on a chilly afternoon, we’ll be extending the benefits of our garden year-round. Our home-canned goods will help defray food costs over the next eight months until we can expect another strawberry crop to kick off 2009’s garden bounty.

The fruits of our labor
Our total harvest in September yielded $152.75 in produce, largely from tomatoes. Here’s the complete tally for this month’s garden production.

• about 3 pints elderberries, for which I still have no value
• 1.95 pounds (0.886 kg, or 2.95 pints) caneberries (blackberries, boysenberries, and marionberries) @ $2.49/pint (~300g) = $7.35
• 2.82 pounds (1.276 kg) Italian plums @ $1.49/pound = $4.20
• 5.64 pounds (2.560 kg) pears @ $0.99/pound = $5.58
• 26.52 pounds (12.038 kg) apples @ $0.99/pound = $26.25
• 6 Anaheim chili peppers @ $0.30/each = $1.80
• 3 zucchini @ $0.49/each = $1.47
• 1 cucumbers @ $0.49/each = $0.49
• 4 measly ears of corn @ $0.50/each = $2.00
• 692 grams of Interlaken seedless grapes, which would sell for about $3 at the local farmers market
• 6.50 pounds (2.951 kg or nearly 10 pints) cherry tomatoes @ $2.49/pint = $24.49
• 51.09 pounds (23.195 kg) tomatoes @ 1.49/pound = $76.12

Note: For the purposes of this project, we’re using “best match” pricing. Based on GRS reader suggestions, we’re obtaining typical pricing from our local farmers market. In some cases, we use pricing from a local organic produce stand. In all cases, we’re trying to be fair, but this is more art than science.

A little bit of whining
I’ll be honest. I’m a little disappointed. Once it became clear that this garden was going to “make money”, I wanted it to kick ass. It hasn’t done that. Don’t get me wrong — we love having fresh produce outside our front door, and we enjoy the work with the plants, but I was hoping for more.

I think there are a few ways we can improve.

• For one, we can focus on plants that are more productive in our climate. (Look for a complete exploration of this topic in December or January.)
• For another, we can begin refining our gardening methods to emphasize frugality. As I noted at the start, we haven’t altered any of our normal habits for this project. In the future, it might be worth doing so.
• Finally, we can have better weather. Oregon’s Willamette Valley had a short summer this year. The rainy grey skies lingered an extra month, and now they seem to have arrived two weeks early. That loss of six weeks (and especially those first four weeks) has a huge impact. That means our tomato harvest is stunted, and that we only had four ears of corn come to maturity.

This year, we initially made a large financial outlay for two types of organic pest traps for the apple trees. They proved successful; our apples were practically worm-free! As the two trees mature and bear larger crops, the number and value of the apples will increase as the cost of the traps will drop (because some parts are reusable from year-to-year).

I almost want to repeat this entire project next year to see if we can spend less and harvest more! (Maybe we’ll do it behind the scenes, providing totals at the end of the summer.)

Summary
We spent nothing on the garden this month, and very little time. It doesn’t take long to harvest 19 pounds of apples or five pounds of tomatoes. September is the closest our garden will ever come to “pure profit”.

There is still food left to harvest. Though the rains have set in, we may have more tomatoes. (There are plenty on the plants, but the cool weather is likely to prevent them from ripening.) There are potatoes left to dig, and the acorn squash is ready to pick and dry for winter storage (to be tallied in October).

Most importantly, we have grapes to pick. We only have 20 feet of young grape vines, so we won’t have many from our yard. But the neighbor has vast swaths of Concords growing wild. I wanted to pick them last weekend, but he insisted they were two weeks away. I plan to pick them next Saturday. I just hope these rains don’t ruin the flavor. (Will rain do that to grapes?) There are few things I love more than fresh Concord grapes. (Especially fresh free Concord grapes.) They make amazing grape juice and Kris wants to put up some grape jelly.

Kris has made notes on her garden plan to help her organize her seed order for next year. Only a few short months until the seed catalogs arrive! And she has begun an experiment to grow a few herbs indoors this winter. Stay tuned on whether that is worthwhile.

Final word
Just to be clear on the purpose of this project: This isn’t a formal experiment. Kris and I are long-time hobby gardeners, and we have set ways that we do things. This year, we are not trying to do anything different than we have for more than a decade. We’re not trying to be 100% organic (though we are mostly organic through our normal practices).

Nor are we trying to be 100% frugal. Instead, we’re trying to see just what our garden costs and produces based on our normal habits. We hope the results of this experiment will help us find new ways to economize and to improve our crops.

You can read about my goals for this series in The year-long GRS project: How much does a garden really save?

The more the credit crisis spreads, the more it affects the average person. Kristen wrote last week looking for advice. She’s not in a panic, but she is wondering what she should do:

I wanted to ask your thoughts on the recent seizure and sale of Washington Mutual. All of my accounts are at WaMu, including my 3.75% APY online savings account, and my 4.5% APY 12-month CD. I think these are great rates for what I have, and in comparison with what other banks are offering.

Now that WaMu is part of JPMorgan Chase, should I look elsewhere for accounts with good interest rates? Frankly, what I’ve seen of Chase bank’s rates, I’m not very impressed. I also can’t find other banks with comparable rates, but I’ve only started looking. I’ve enjoyed having all of my accounts wrapped up conveniently in one bank — checking, savings, CDs, and we just opened our kids’ savings accounts there as well.

Are the days of doing all my banking and saving with one institution a thing of the past? How can I choose a good institution without fear that it, too, will fold in six months? Or should I just stay put?

I’ve been wondering the same thing recently. None of my money is with banks that are in trouble, but I do have it spread out in three different places: one bank has my business accounts, one bank has my long-term savings, and a credit union has my day-to-day accounts. This seems goofy, especially considering my quest for simpler, more automated finances. Still, this system works right now, and is mostly automated, so I’m happy with it.

I also talked with my cousin Nick earlier this week. He’s always had his money with Washington Mutual, but he wants to move it now — not because he’s worried about losing it, but to “vote” with his dollars, to show his disapproval. He, too, wants advice on where to put his money.

A couple of quick thoughts for Nick and Kristen:

• If you’re worried about the safety of your savings, familiarize yourself with FDIC protection. (Or NCUA protection, if your money is in a credit union.) To determine the stability of your financial institution, consult Bankrate’s Safe & Sound ratings.
• I’m no advocate of “rate-hopping”, but I do feel it’s a good idea to check once in a while to see what the current top rates are for high-yield savings accounts. My long-term savings are currently with ING Direct, and I don’t intend to move it without a compelling reason. (Though if ING Direct were in trouble and taken over by another bank, that might prompt me to move!)

Surely many Get Rich Slowly readers have faced similar decisions lately. What choices are you making? How do you pick a bank in the current financial environment? Is it something to even worry about if your deposits are less than the FDIC limits?

Get Rich Slowly readers have sent me many stories about the ongoing U.S. economic crisis and the debate over a possible bailout. Because I don’t like to talk politics here, and because economics is way outside my area of expertise, I haven’t provided much commentary on this situation.

Besides, sound personal finance skills are the same no matter what the condition of the economy. When times are rough, it’s even more important to focus on the basics: spend less than you earn, do what you can to avoid (or eliminate) debt, protect your job, etc. Also remember that investing is a long-term adventure; the time to make adjustments for low risk tolerance is before the market drops, not after.

Rather than ignore all the stories you folks have submitted, however, I thought I’d link to them all at once with only a minimum of comment.

• First, from last May, here’s my write-up of This American Life’s “The Giant Pool of Money”, which is an anatomy of the subprime mortgage mess. (Also at GRS: Will the subprime crisis turn the suburbs into slums?)
• Second, The Money Meltdown is a new site with a single aim: “pulling together useful, authoritative, and comprehensive information about our current financial crisis in an accessible way.” This is excellent. [via waxy]
• Next, The New York Times has an excellent chronology of recent events: “As Credit Crisis Spiraled, Alarm Led to Action“. [via brip blap]
• Also at The New York Times, Ron Lieber has a great piece called “‘Is My Money Safe?’ and Other Questions to Ask“. This is a fanastic summary of what’s happening and what you should do (or not do) about it.
• Vincent sent me The Subprime Primer, which does a good job of explaining the housing portion of this mess. (But, be warned, contains some foul language.)
• Harvard Business has an interactive history of recessions going back to 1948.
• The New York Times Magazine recently published an article about Nouriel Roubini, an economist who predicted this entire mess.

And, of course, many people are looking for (and offering) solutions. Here are a few:

• At Ask Metafilter, one user wants to know how to invest as if a depression is coming.
• GRS-reader John writes: “I have mixed feelings about Michael Moore. I agree with some of his stuff, but his suggestions for fixing the Wall Street Mess just make my brain hurt.” Like John, it’s difficult for me to take political extremism of any sort seriously. Attempts to blame any one person or group of people for our current crisis are, well, stupid.
• Matt writes: “Have you seen Dave Ramsey’s bailout plan? I like what he has to say normally, but I think his plan is awful.”
• Erica Douglas has some ideas on what you can do to help solve the credit crisis. Her solution? Stop borrowing and start saving.

Finally, though it’s only marginally related, Clusterstock has an August 22nd transcript from what it calls “that awesome Warren Buffett CNBC interview”. It’s full of classic Buffett bites — little nuggets of wisdom about the economy from the world’s richest man. “I don’t try to pick turns [in the market] in any kind of an industry in terms of buying stocks. I just like to buy them when I think they’re cheap relative to their long-term earning power.”

But what does this all mean? Who can tell? Everyone seems to be flailing wildly to blame homeowners, banks, hedge-fund managers, Democrats, Republicans, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan. I don’t think it’s the fault of any one person or group of people. This was systemic. And now the system is correcting itself.

The next few years will likely be painful for everyone, but less so for those who continue to practice basic smart personal finance skills.

Update: As I was composing this, Trent at The Simple Dollar published a great post in which he echoed FDR: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Photo by Wonderlane.

Most of the time, the talk about the housing bubble and the credit crisis and the faltering U.S. economy seem rather abstract to me, as if people were discussing a problem in Canada or Mexico. Or Norway. I’ve spent the past four years focused on my own financial situation, ignoring the outside world. The national economy often seems remote from my own personal economy.

But there are millions of average people who have been affected by this country’s fiscal woes. My little brother, Tony, is one of those average people. He’s in dire financial straits.

In 2004, Tony bought a house in Portland for $415,000. In 2006, he got a new job in central Oregon, so he moved his family to Bend. He put the Portland house on the market. He intended to rent a place in Bend until his existing home sold, but then he found a house he liked. He applied for a loan and was approved. He bought the house.

The house in Portland never sold.

For the past two years, Tony has been making $5200 in mortgage payments every month. Or, lately, not making the payments. He ran out of money long ago. Tony agreed to let me interview him yesterday in order to share his story with GRS readers.

Note: Tony knows he made some poor choices, and he blames himself for his current problems. He’s candid that he should have been paying more attention to his finances. But looking back to 2006, he doesn’t understand why the bank approved him for the mortgage on the Bend house before the one in Portland sold. It seems like the bank was betting on that sale, too.

J.D.: How are things going?

Tony: What do you mean? They’re not going very well. The house in Bend was foreclosed on yesterday. The one in Portland is for sale again.

J.D.: You weren’t able to sell the house over there, huh?

Tony: No. Plus we consulted with a lawyer, and he said we should just give it back because of the tax ramifications.

J.D.: I don’t understand.

Tony: Well, it would be a short sale. To give you an idea, we put the house up for sale at $299,000, and we paid $380,000 for it. So what you do is you do a short sale — the mortgage company has to agree to it — but the government considers the difference as money that was given to you. It’s taxable income.

J.D.: When did you buy the house in Bend?

Tony: It cost $380,000 in September 2006.

J.D.: And how much was the mortgage?

Tony: Roughly $2400 a month. There were two mortgages.

J.D.: When the bank forecloses on it, what happens?

Tony: We’ve been out of the house for a while. We’re living with my wife’s parents. From what my lawyer says, there’s nothing the bank can do to us. They’ll essentially just take the house and then auction it off at the courthouse steps. There’s no other ramifications to me. There are several houses that are being foreclosed on in our neighborhood. One that went to foreclosure and was auctioned off sold for $230,000.

J.D.: Was it the same kind of house that would have gone for $380,000 in 2006?

Tony: Yeah. It’s the exact same house as ours except it has a two-car garage and ours was a three-car garage.

J.D.: Holy cats. That’s like a 40% drop in two years!

Tony: I know.

Note: In 2006, Bend had one of the hottest real-estate markets in the country. Now it’s fallen on hard times. Again, most of Tony’s problems come from the fact that he gambled by not selling his first house before buying a second one. Back then, this didn’t seem like it would be a problem.

J.D.: You wouldn’t have been in such a bad situation except you haven’t been able to sell your Portland house, right?

Tony: Yes.

J.D.: And how much did you buy that house for?

Tony: We bought it for $415,000 at the end of 2004. We still owe the bank $367,000. We’re paying $2800 a month.

J.D.: And you tried to put it on the market when you moved to Bend, right?

Tony: Well, on the advice of our Realtor, we put it on the market for $585,000, because that’s what she said that it would go for.

J.D.: And that was in the summer of 2006?

Tony: Yes. Then after the house had been on the market for a month, we got an offer at $500,000.

J.D.: And you turned that down?

Tony: It was turned down but not by me. The Realtor got it as a verbal offer and said that she told them “no” because she could get more for it. She informed us that they had made a verbal offer a week after they made it. Then last September we almost had it sold at $480,000 but the deal fell through because it was based on whether or not the couple sold their house. Guess what didn’t happen?

J.D. And that’s when you started renting the house. [For the past year, Tony has been renting the house to a friend, trying to defray some of the mortgage expense.] What do you have it on the market for now?

Tony: We have it on the market for $499,000. We just put it on the market last weekend, but we already have somebody interested in it.

J.D.: If that sells, does it get you out of your bind?

Tony: It helps, but it doesn’t necessarily get us out of the bind. Some of that money would go to the Realtor. Plus we owe money to other people. [Tony borrowed money from various family members.] And then there are our normal bills, which are behind. So even if we sell, it doesn’t solve the problem, but it does help.

Note: You know how the power of compound interest can help you save? Well, it works in reverse too. People in credit card debt understand that. Tony’s learning that the damage from mistakes can compound, too. What started as a small problem — needing to sell the Portland house — has mushroomed out of control. Things just keep getting worse…

J.D.: A couple months ago, you mentioned that you’re doing some sort of consumer credit counseling or something. How does that work?

Tony: Not very well. It’s not a debt consolidation place, but it kind of is. These guys are for profit. They piss me off. They told me they settled a Bank of America account for me, but I keep getting letters from Bank of America saying the account is not settled. So this place drafts money out of my account every month to pay the people we owe — it’s kind of forced savings, in a sense — but I won’t let them draft any more until they give me written proof that they’ve settled with Bank of America.

You know, this is my own frickin’ fault for not paying attention to exactly what was going on. I want to repay everyone because it’s my debt, but at the same time, it’s so frickin’ huge, I don’t know how I’ll ever do that.

J.D.: Why do you think you got in debt? Do you think it’s because of the house? Or do you think it’s other stuff?

Tony: There are several reasons that got us into debt. The first time we put the house on the market in Portland, we used credit cards to fix it up. We put a fence on it and that sort of stuff. The move here probably cost us $8,000. The idea was when we the house sold, that’d be paid back right away. The house never sold. Then we got ourselves into a situation where we had double mortgages.

J.D.: Oh yeah. What was the mortgage on the Portland house?

Tony: $2800. You do the math there. So, we had double mortgages, and we’re doing whatever we can to pay them both, praying that the house in Portland will sell. So we borrow from people. Slowly but surely, the amount we can beg, borrow, or steal keeps dwindling. I finally said, “This is is not going to work. We’ve got to do something different.”

J.D.: Were you having problems with debt before?

Tony: Before we moved from Portland? No. We were actually okay. We were financially okay. Did we have credit card debt? Yeah. Was it manageable? Yeah. Could we make all our monthly payments? Yes. Did we have extra spending money after we made our monthly payments? Yes. We weren’t paying off our debt extremely fast, but we weren’t building debt. You know what I mean?

J.D.: To me, you guys typify all the problems that are going on with the economy at large. You guys are the ones we know most being affected by it. Do you pay attention to the economic news at all?

Tony: Hell yeah — every day!

J.D.: What do you think about it?

Tony: I was just talking about this with my wife the other day. I don’t know if it’s because of what I’ve been going through or what, but my personal opinion is that we’re not looking at a recession. We’re looking at a depression.

J.D.: And what’s going to happen for you guys if there is a depression?

Tony: To be honest with you, I have no clue. I’m scared.

My heart aches for my little brother. Obviously, Tony is not a “victim” — I don’t think he’d claim to be — but he is one very real part of the ongoing credit crisis. To me, he’s the average American. He wasn’t pro-active. He was eager to have a new house, so he bought one before the old house sold. He didn’t have anything in savings, so he took a risk by financing his move on credit. Now, along with many others, he’s paying the price. I just hope he comes through this okay. Photo by respres.

A little blurb in the 22 September 2008 issue of Newsweek caught my eye. Linda Stern writes that younger workers are becoming more comfortable about sharing their salary information with friends and co-workers. She points out that it’s also possible to make more generalized salary comparisons using web tools like:

• Glassdoor.com, which allows employees to share salaries and review employers. (You must register to see details, though.)
• Salary.com, which offers a wide range of employment info, including an analysis of salaries for various positions.

• Payscale.com supplies free or premium salary reports. It also offers a variety of tools (like this cost-of-living calculator) and other resources.
• SalaryScout.com, “a network of users seeking fairness in compensation and benefits.” SalaryScout includes an interesting world map of salaries (which means, yes, that it’s not just for the U.S.).

I haven’t used any of these services (they’re not likely to have information for “professional blogger”), but they could be useful for many people. PayScale, in particular, seems to have a good balance of information and usability. I’ve wasted a fair amount of time paging through their 2008 college salary report, which includes topics like:

• Top salary potential by type of school
• Degrees that pay you back (Chemical engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering…Hmm. Notice a trend?)
• Most popular jobs by degree (Number one for psych majors like me? “Administrative assistant” — Ouch!)
• Top salary potential by school location

There are other career-enhancement tools available on the web, too. For example, Indeed bills itself as the “search engine for jobs”.

Indeed gives job seekers free access to millions of employment opportunities from thousands of websites. Indeed.com includes all the job listings from major job boards, newspapers, associations and company career pages — and we continue to add new sites every day.

Meanwhile, the Occupational Outlook Handbook, which is published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This free resource can tell you the training and education needed for various careers, typical earnings and job prospects, what workers do on the job, and more.

For more tips on how to boost your salary or find a better job, check out the Get Rich Slowly career category, which includes great posts like these:

• Reader success story: How I gave myself a raise
• Network your way to job security
• The informational interview: A job-hunter’s secret weapon
• How to quit your job gracefully
• Requesting (and receiving) the raise you deserve
• Salary secrets and myths

And, of course, always feel free to share your experiences here, and to the pick the brains of your fellow readers.

When do I want to retire? How much do I want to have saved? What sorts of things do I want to accomplish before then? I’ve begun to think seriously about these questions lately.

Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity recently offered some tips on how to draft a basic financial savings plan, a tool that could help me craft a road map for my future. He says that failure to plan is one of the seven deadly sins of personal finance. I agree. I believe that the road to wealth is paved with goals, and planning is one of the most important parts of the journey.

Jim writes that the roots of his planning technique are grounded in the MBA classes he recently completed. He’s developed a system that reminds me very much of my spending plan, but focused on the long term. Here are his recommendations:

1. Create a rough draft. Jot down anticipated major expenses between now and the time you retire (or whatever future date you pick). You don’t need to be precise. Just make your best guess as to when you’ll buy a new home (and how much you’ll spend), when you’ll have children, etc. The key here is to create a framework, not to get things exact.
2. Calculate savings needs. Once you’ve listed your estimated future expenses, work backward for each item to create an annual budget. If, for example, you decide you want to buy a $15,000 car in five years, you’ll need to save roughly $3,000 a year. The calculations are a little more complex, but this is the basic concept: after you’ve set a target, break it down into smaller chunks.
3. Adjust your plan. After you’ve computed your annual budget for your various goals, ask yourself whether your expectations are realistic. You may need to reduce your target spending (maybe budget for a $10,000 car) or to delay the spending (plan to buy the car in seven years, not five).
4. Consult with a friend. Once you have a plan in place, find somebody you trust and ask them if it makes sense. It’s easy to lose sight of potential problems when you’re mucking around with the details. Sometimes an outside observer can point out flaws or suggest improvements.
5. Revisit annually. Your circumstances are constantly changing. Goals and plans that were right for you last year may no longer be appropriate. I’ve been learning this myself. Eighteen months ago, I set a list of 101 goals I wanted to accomplish in 1001 days. I’ve done many of these things, but others are no longer priorities. It’s important to periodically re-evaluate your plans.

For much more detail, consult the full article. Jim notes that this sort of savings plan focuses only on the expense side of the equation. You may find that in order to meet your goals, you need to boost your income.

Kris and I have never created a long-term financial plan. When something major comes up — like buying a house — we sit down and brainstorm a plan, but most of the time we just wing it. Now that I’m approaching 40 (I turned 39-1/2 last week!), I’m beginning to think more about the future. I’ve always been a spontaneous sort of guy, but now I’ve reached a point in my life where I want a little less uncertainty. I want to have a destination in mind, and I want a map of how to get there.

To that end, when Kris and I take our brief vacation later this month, we intend to spend some time developing a long-term plan. (In between horseback riding and kayaking, of course.)

Photo by mamchenkov.

September was a sort of unofficial “credit card education month” around here. I tried to share information about how to use credit responsibly. (Now maybe it’s time to move on to debt reduction themes!) Most of all, there were some great conversations at GRS in September. Here are a few of my favorites:

• September 4th: Five essential skills for mastering plastic
• September 5th: Ask the readers: How to cope with spending addiction?
• September 9th: How to choose a credit card
• September 12th: 13 tools for building a better budget
• September 16th: How and when to cancel a credit card
• September 18th: The never-ending war against advertising
• September 22nd: Which personal-finance magazine is best?
• September 26th: Ask the readers: Shopping for big-ticket items?
• September 28th: Could tithing lead some Americans to lose their homes? (a fantastic discussion)

Best of the Forums
Though I didn’t have time to hang out there, the Get Rich Slowly discussion forums were active again this month, spawning several interesting conversations:

• How to deal with collections agencies?
• Is it worth my time to invest in Dave Ramsey’s plan?
• I’m about to open a Roth IRA and need advice
• What does it mean to live paycheck-to-paycheck? (I’m actually working on a post about this)
• Anyone who expects 12% return long-term is an idiot (I like this comment)
• Why save? And when is it okay to spend your savings?

The forums are a great place to chat with your fellow readers. Have questions about emergency funds? Ask! Want to chat about cheap vacations? This is the place to do it. (Since opening last year, the forums have 2175 registered users and nearly 26,000 posts.)

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This is a guest post from Katrina Ramser, a freelance writer who contributes to various websites, newspapers and magazines. She also writes about swimming at SquidKid.

Did you know an average of six credit card offers are sent to each American household in typical month? That’s five billion advertisements a year. If you had a company where one-third of your profits came from penalty and non-penalty late fees alone, you too would be able to jam mailboxes full of rigmarole about your product, making sure yours was one of the 8.6 credit cards the average American has stuffed in her wallet.

It’s simply not enough to pay your balance in full and on time. Credit card companies are looking for ways to penalize you for paying your balance off. They can cancel a card if you are not using it, which can hurt your credit score. Did you know they can raise your APR on one card simply because they found out you were late on a payment to another? Did you also know that the fine print on contracts states they can increase your APR at any time they want, for any reason? Has this happened to you as of late due to the credit crisis?

Fighting back doesn’t take one borrowed dollar. Here are ten aggressive tactics to turn the tables on credit card companies.

#1: Understand when and where the credit card debt cycle begins
Credit card companies start recruiting before skepticism or experience develops; college students being a prime target. With education costs and student loans at an all-time high, youth are the perfect profile of a needy, unsuspecting victim. If fact, a large number of college students have reported they didn’t even know the credit being offered to them wasn’t free of charge.

Currently, 96 percent of college seniors have at least one credit card, but many have as many as six credit cards, with an average Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of 18 percent and an average balance of $3,200 (no matter the number of cards). When students graduate, get a job, and move into the 25-to-34 age group, their credit average revolving card debt becomes $4,088. Only 29 percent of this age group can actually pay off their balance each month. When finally married, the debt figure can double as finances merge, so looking into the great American debt melting pot, the average household credit card debt becomes around $9,312.

This brings us to total American credit card debt: $800 billion. No one is left out of the credit card debt hook — from dogs to the deceased, you’ll get offers to join the chains of debt slavery, so watch where, how, and when you begin to be picked off by credit card companies.

#2: Pay off your credit cards in an effective manner
The best thing you can do for yourself and your debt is to pay it off and never tango with credit card companies again. There is just no substitute or excuse for taking up the financial reins of your own life. This will give you the greatest power, as well as let you help others later who have fallen into the trap.

#3: Send back any credit card offers or additional debt-inducing advertisements
You know all those little ads that are mailed with your bill? Stuff them in your bill’s return envelope to send them back. Let the credit card companies be responsible for their own paper waste and noise. Get calls on the phone from credit card companies? I like to put them on hold and leave them there for an indefinite amount of time.

#4: Destroy all your credit cards — emergencies call for cash, not plastic
Credit cards are not a necessary part of life. Although credit cards — when used wisely — can render a user cash-back and other reward benefits, you don’t need to have a credit card in case of an emergency. You need to have $1,000 cash in a high-interest online savings account like ING Direct that issues debit cards so you can have the money in a snap. Another idea is to take a Sharpie and write a goal on your credit card, as suggested by Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

#5: If you choose to keep a credit card, don’t be a debt recidivist
Personal finance television spokesperson Jonathon D. Pond, author of Grow Your Money, calls a person who lapses back into revolving debt a “Debt Recidivist.” More than half of credit cards users can’t, don’t, or won’t pay the balance in full at the end of the month.

#6: Stop the credit card companies from contacting you
If you go to the National Do-Not-Call Registry, you can register so you won’t get credit card offer calls. To stop your mailbox from being filled up with offers, contact OptOutPrescreen.com.

#7: File a complaint against the credit card companies
Consumer Reports advises consumers top register a complaint with your state attorney general. (Contact information is available at The National Association of Attorneys General.) Also lodge a complaint with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which you can reach by phone at 800-613-6743. If the OCC doesn’t regulate the card issuer, it will help you find the agency that does.

#8: Realize revolving balances support credit card corporations and their causes
From 1990 to 2004, almost $8 million from credit card companies was contributed to both political parties. Aside from achieving personal relief and control over your financial life, another value-based and entirely beneficial reason to pay off your credit cards is to stop giving funding to organizations who will not use your money to lobby for laws on your behalf. In a sense, when you use credit cards, think of yourself as inadvertently giving money to a cause you might (or more likely might not) support.

Remember, penalty and non-penalty fees (late fees, interest rates) make up whopping one-third of total revenue for credit card companies — that staggering total for the top ten credit card companies is around $16 billion a year.

#9: Support government regulation for credit card companies
Because credit cards are currently unregulated by federal law, these companies do not have a watchdog to keep their business practices in check. This lack of regulation is also the reason for changeable interest fees, late fees, transfer balance fees, foreign currency conversion fees, membership fees, and other “universal default” penalty and non-penalty fees. Currently 29 states have no limits on credit card interest rates. Grace periods (the amount of time you have to pay your bill before the APR kicks in and you owe more due to the balance) are becoming non-existent.

Some legislative issues at hand are to require credit card holders to have a cosigner unless they can prove they have a regular income. Congress could also require credit card issuers to disclose important information, such as the fact it could take 30 years to pay off $2,500 in credit card debt if you only pay the minimum.

Organizations campaigning against consumer debt include Institute for American Values, the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, the New America Foundation, Public Agenda, Demos, the Consumer Federation of America, the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, and CreditCardReform.org.

#10: Vote in the next election
In 2004, the last Presidential election, 64% of Americans turned out to vote — up from 60% in the 2000 election. We saw a huge surge in all races, ages and genders showing up at the polls. But flip the pancake and you’ll find the numbers of those not still voting are staggering. For example, more women voted than men in 2004…but 40 million women still did not vote. I’ll give you the same simple speech my father used to give me when I was younger and disconnected to the process: “Voting is not a choice; it is your civic duty.”

Previously at Get Rich Slowly, Katrina Ramser asked, “What’s not to love about a new car?” You can read more of her work at SquidKid. Photos by the half-blood prince, ShutterCat7, and Just-Us-3.

I spent a couple hours this morning performing what ought to have been a simple home-maintenance task. The light fixture on our front porch had gone faulty, and I needed to replace it. I’ve done enough wiring projects now that the electrical aspect of the job didn’t bother me. But the woodworking? That was frustrating.

As I fumbled with the jigsaw (”Drat! Another blade bent!”), I wished again that I practiced woodworking more often. I have several friends who do so, and the skills they’ve learned help them to save money around the house. My incompetence this morning gave me plenty of time to reflect on the value of productive hobbies.

Productive hobbies
When I was younger, I spent most of my spare time reading comic books and playing video games. There’s nothing wrong with a little self-indulgence, but the older I get, the more I appreciate hobbies that provide practical skills. Productive pastimes are not only fulfilling, but they can also help save money. (Sometimes they can even generate a little income!)

Here are a few hobbies and pastimes that can help to save (or make) money:

• Gardening. Kris and I aren’t yet finished with our year-long garden project, but already we know that it has saved us money. (Find out just how much when we post an update this Saturday.) Even if it did cost a little more, it’s fantastic to have fresh food just feet from the front door. You don’t need a lot of space to start a garden. Consider square-foot gardening or container gardening.
• Photography. Cameras can be a money sink, but photography doesn’t have to be expensive. You can have a lot of fun with a cheap point-and-shoot digital camera. With practice, you may even be able to make money selling digital photos online. I know several people who do this (and I’ve done it myself).

• Woodworking. Carpentry is another hobby that can consume a lot of cash. But if you have the space and the time, you can also develop skills that yield big dividends in the long run. If I’d taken the time to learn woodworking, I wouldn’t have to pay a contractor to do some of our remodeling projects. (And I wouldn’t have cut a four-inch hole this morning when I only needed a three-inch hole.)
• Knitting. As with many hobbies, knitting can be expensive, but there are ways to make it less so. Nell at Octopus Knits has pattern companies and yarn folks giving her product (yarns & patterns) to try. Some of my friends have taken commissioned projects. Kris is learning to knit adorable little stuffed animals; she could sell them for $20 a pop.
• Computer repair. Because I’ve always been a computer hobbyist, I’m able to troubleshoot computer problems instead of paying somebody to do it for me. Before I turned Mac, I also saved money by building my own machines. In fact, for a couple years, I supplemented my regular salary by helping friends and family with their computer problems.
• Art. Last week, I pointed to the work of lillyella, whose art generates enough income through her Etsy store that she now does it full time. In the past, I’ve also mentioned Ayla, a teenager who sells her art glass at the local farmers market. Kris has a friend who is learning how to work with stained glass, but just for fun.
• Cooking. My friend Laura has a group of friends that love to cook. They recently organized a cooking evening to provide freezer meals for each of them.  They decided on six menus, assigned the shopping, borrowed a church’s kitchen, divided duties like cutting, slicing, dicing, mixing, frying, cleaning, split the costs and each went home with six different items for future use. But even learning to cook for your own family can save you a lot of money.
• Baking. Baking is fun for its own sake, but it can also save you money with gifts. Who wouldn’t rather have a couple dozen home-baked cookies than another useless mug? Some people can even turn this skill into a career. My aunt turned a baking hobby into a business, creating cakes and catering weddings. She provided jobs for several other family members, too!
• Canning. Though Kris has always enjoyed canning, this summer has been amazing. She’s discovered it’s a hobby she truly loves. She derives immense satisfaction from preserving her own food. “It’s comforting to walk into the pantry and know that I made all of this,” she said recently. “I know where the food came from, and I know that we’ll be eating it all winter.” Though the start-up costs are a little high, they repay a hobbyist in time.

• Making music. My friend Michael has a musician friend who plays the piano and has been paid to play at private events. He has another friend with a great voice. This man loves to sing, and he and his friends hire themselves out as a quartet around Valentines Day and to sing Christmas carols during the holidays. (I’m always jealous of my musical friends. I know it’s hard work to become proficient, but it looks like such a fun way to stay entertained.)
• Vehicle maintenance. I know little about cars. I wish I knew more. Knowing even basic vehicle maintenance can save you big bucks. I once knew a guy who performed nearly all his own auto work. He could buy a junker car, fix it up, and resell it at a nice profit. He wasn’t going to get rich doing this, but he enjoyed the hobby, and it kept him in money for his own vehicle.
• Physical fitness. You’ll never get rich running road races, but there’s no question that a healthy body can save you money. Find a physical activity you enjoy: biking, running, hiking, dancing, yoga, weightlifting. Play a team sport. Regular exercise can be fun, but it will also save you money in the long run.

The possibilities are limitless. There are countless fun and interesting hobbies that can either save you money, or maybe help you earn a little on the side.

Quick tips
You’ll notice that none of these hobbies involve collecting. I’m an inveterate collector myself (comics, books, notebooks, movie serials, music of the 1920s, …), so I know first-hand how expensive it can be. Some would argue that it’s a form of compulsive spending, and I can’t really disagree. Since I’ve begun focusing on hobbies that involve doing rather than getting, I’ve spent much less money.

For some hobbies, equipment can be prohibitively expensive. In these cases, you may be able to find used stuff on Freecycle or Craigslist, or you may be able to begin with low-end gear. (This isn’t always a good option. If you think you’re going to be doing a lot of running, you should buy a quality running shoe from an expert, and not settle for cheap sneakers, for example.)

In many cases, it’s possible to jump-start a hobby by taking a course at a community college or community school. I spent a year taking photography classes, for example. The instruction and experience were invaluable, and helped me develop the skills necessary to actually sell a couple photos.

My friend Michael likes woodworking but can’t afford (and doesn’t have space for) all of the equipment. When he needs to build something, he signs up for a community college woodworking course so that he can use industrial woodworking tools at a reasonable cost.

Further reading
I’m a big fan of productive hobbies, and I’m not the only one! Here are some articles on the subject from around the web:

• Get Rich Slowly: Six tips for money-making hobbies and 8 tips for saving money on hobbies and pastimes
• The Digerati Life: The perfect hobby: One that’s cheap, makes money, or becomes a business
• Free Money Finance: How to turn a hobby into income
• The Simple Dollar: Making expensive hobbies more financially manageable
• Lazy Man and Money: Save money on hobbies

Don’t forget that hobbies are an excellent way to make gifts for less than it costs to buy them. Kris sometimes knits gifts for special occasions. Most years she gives some sort of home-made food to our friends for Christmas. I sometimes give photographs. One of the best birthday gifts I ever received was a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Some GRS readers have noted that some of my tips are geared toward country folk, or at least those with a little bit of land. They’d like more information for urban dwellers. I’ll try to offer more such content in the future. For today, here are a couple of recent articles from around the web that touch upon these sorts of themes:

At Wise Bread, Myscha Theriault has a collection of thrifty tips for fast-moving city folks. This a strange hodge-podge of ideas about how to stretch your dollar with downtown living.

At Yahoo! Real Estate, Jack Hough makes the argument that renting makes more financial sense than homeownership. We’ve covered the rent vs. buy question at Get Rich Slowly before, and as the collapse of the U.S. housing bubble has demonstrated, concluded that buying a home makes sense not as an investment, but because you want a nice, permanent place to live where you are the boss.

Robert Powell from MarketWatch says that the current economic turmoil is worrisome. His advice? Don’t panic, but re-evaluate conventional retirement-plan strategies.

I like Ron Lieber’s advice at The New York Times: take control of your own financial risks by re-evaluating your investments, seeking alternate sources of income, consider investing a little more in your mortgage right now (which pays a known rate of return), and making sure your insurance is adequate.

Finally, Nick at Punny Money explores a question I’ve never really thought about before: Is one gasoline brand better than another? His conclusion? “When it comes to gasoline, gas is gas.”