Comments on: Living on $34.01 a Week

By: connley landers

connley landers — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:28:05 +0000

Frugality is an education we all could use. Scholarships are free. As a master of minimalism, frugality and simple living, Thoreau said, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

By: Shelley

Shelley — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 03:19:15 +0000

http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/ My fav web site for frugal cooking. Beth has lots of ideas so you can create your weekly grocery shopping list from each of her tasty recipes and know ahead of time what you will be paying. My college age daughter and her room mates uses this site with their shared cooking and food budget for the week.

By: Bill

Bill — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 02:47:47 +0000

Agreed, it is called “mooching”

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 20:35:37 +0000

That’s exactly what my company has done. I don’t mind so much because I don’t need to print them off unless they are needed for proof of income. Saves a few trees as our personnel director had stacks of paycheck stubs that people didn’t pick up because they had direct deposit.

By: JB - Tio Admin

JB - Tio Admin — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 03:12:40 +0000

Interesting experiment. Everyone should try doing this every now and then to find out what they really need and can do without. Living frugally can always keep one from getting into credit issues too, which is another plus.

By: Tzingca

Tzingca — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 16:21:13 +0000

It doesn’t have to be boring. In fact, we entertained ourselves by thinking of ingenious ways to entertain ourselves. For instance, we each took turns hosting our “date night” and the challenge of doing something special for free or on our maximum budget of $5 per week kept us thoroughly occupied.

By: Gerard

Gerard — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 00:34:46 +0000

Nicky, I take your point. Obviously getting water from the gym only works when you have a gym membership, and the shared showers in your condo don’t exist if you don’t live in a condo. Much of this is middle-class (or richer) folks playing at being short of cash (I feel comfortable taking that position, having lived more than half of my life below the poverty line). Wasn’t it Marie Antoinette who had a stable set up in the palace so that she could play at being a milkmaid?
But I still think there’s value to society as a whole in the middle-class discovery of frugality. If middle-class people take the bus and go to the library, the bus and library will have to improve, because, hey, middle-class people have the power to have their complaints heard. And if middle-class people realize they could live well in 500 square feet, eventually developers will start building decent small homes again. Likewise for cheap healthy food options. At least I can hope.
My personal sense is that those things happen faster with a fairly socialist government, because I was lucky enough to grow up under one. Without that, I would probably still be below the poverty line.

By: Miss A

Miss A — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 01:41:56 +0000

This is great. I have plans to start extreme frugality in August after the remodeling on my home is finish. I plan on saving 70% percent of what I make. I hope I can make it my lifestyle. I really want to retire early and live a simple life.

By: Amy Saves

Amy Saves — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 18:16:50 +0000

In terms of water, you can get a Brita filter instead of buying bottled water.

Also, cooking instead of dining out saves a ton of money, not to mention calories. Win win.

By: Amy Saves

Amy Saves — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 18:11:01 +0000

In terms of water, you can always get Brita filters instead of buying bottled water. Saves a ton.

Also, cooking instead of eating out will definitely save a bunch of money, not to mention additional calories. Win win.