One of the most direct ways to change your life? You need to change your attitude.
No one else is responsible for what happens to you but you, so you can either complain about the things you don’t like in your life or you can set about changing them. Not surprisingly, this directly relates to the state of your finances.
If you’re tired of living paycheck to paycheck, having your phone regularly cut off, or making excuses to skip dinners with your friends, then you can use these seven habits to take control of your money situation and live a happier and more frugal lifestyle.
Habit One: Be Proactive
The first habit to develop is to take responsibility; if you fail, you have no one to blame but yourself. Regardless of how you were raised or how you were treated at school, you can choose your behavior now. Being proactive means understanding that YOU are in control of your day-to-day interactions, and thereby, the direction your life takes. This is in stark comparison to a reactive person, who is often affected by their environment and will find external sources to blame for their behavior. For example, if the weather is good, they’re in a good mood, but if the weather is bad, it affects them and they blame the weather for their bad mood.
[Here are 6 action steps to take when you feel financially vulnerable.]
What most people forget is that though you can’t control the stimulus, you can control your response. One of your most important choices is your words; the language you use is an effective indication of how you see yourself. If you use proactive language, such as “I can” or “I will,” you’re starting with a more positive attitude than someone who uses language like “I can’t” or “I have to” or “If only.”
How to be proactive for effective frugality:
- Take the first step. You cannot take control of your finances until you make the commitment to do so; the more you ignore the situation, the worse it will get. Instead, take a long hard look at your finances — your budget, debts, income, and expenses, and try to understand where your money is going and where you can budget better. (To help you out, here are 25 ways to pay off your debt more easily.)
- Tell people. Using proactive language to vocalize your hope of being more financially responsible not only helps you crystallize your goal, but it can also help you avoid the peer pressure that makes budgeting and frugality hard. If you explain to your friends and family that you’re trying to live a more frugal lifestyle, they’ll be less likely to pressure you into one more round of drinks or another dinner out.
- Listen. Listen to yourself and to the reasons you give each time you make a purchase outside of your budget or decide not to put spare money into your savings account. Taking the time to stop and listen to the reasons you give yourself for spending more than you earn will give you the opportunity to hear just how shallow many of those reasons are. This can stop you from making purchases that impede your goal of effective frugality.
Habit Two: Begin with the End in Mind
Those who are effective in achieving their goals are able to envisage their desired end result in spite of the obstacles. Effective people adhere to this habit based on the principle that all things are created twice; there is first the mental creation, then the physical creation. The physical creation follows the mental creation the same way that a building follows its blueprints.
If you don’t visualize what you want, then you’re at risk of other people and external circumstances influencing your life — because you’re not influencing it yourself. Instead, begin every day and every task with a clear vision of where you want to go and how you’re going to get there. Make that vision a reality with your proactive skills from habit one.
How to visualize effective frugality:
- Define your goal. There are many ways to live a frugal lifestyle, and you need to decide how frugal you want to be. Do you want to be debt free, build a savings account of a certain value, or live on one income in a two-income household?
- Decide how you’re going to get there. This will again draw on your budget, but you need to be aware of the obstacles that are standing in your way. These may be literal obstacles, such as credit card debts, or they may be obstacles you’ve identified in your behavior. An example of a behavioral obstacle would be spending $10 every day on junk food on your way home from work, because you’re starving. Instead, you could be packing an inexpensive granola bar to keep you going until dinner. Or, do you find that when you go shopping with your sister, she always helps you justify a frivolous purchase, when you could leave your credit card at home?
MoneyNing Tip: Make sure your goals are SMART!
Habit Three: Put First Things First
Knowing WHY you’re doing something is an incredible motivator in helping you transform a mental creation into an actual physical creation of your goal. Ask yourself what the things are that you find most valuable and worthy to you. When you put these things first, you’ll be organizing and managing your time around your personal priorities to make them a reality.
For many people, it’s hard to say no, but this is exactly the skill you have to learn to keep your goals as your first priority. While we are constantly told we can have it all, in reality, having it all is really about prioritizing what is most important to YOU to have, and then focusing on that.
How to put effective frugality first:
- Recognize the effects of your finances. You may not dedicate as much time as you should to managing your finances and practicing frugal principles because you feel there’s always something more important to be doing — whether it’s work, taking the kids to soccer practice, or getting ready for dinner with the girls. If your finances aren’t under control, however, and you’re regularly spending more than you earn, then they’re having a negative impact on every other aspect of your life, from your work to your family and friends. You need to recognize that being frugal is your first priority.
- Just say no. It’s easy to spend more than your budgeted amount each month when you’re worried about missing out on a dinner with friends, feel as though you have to cater a birthday party for your son and 50 of his closest friends, or don’t want to wear the same suit to a work conference two years in a row. If you recognize that you don’t have to take on everything and that it’s okay to say no, then you’ll find you’re more in control of your spending and your budget.
Habit Four: Think Win-Win
Most of us are taught to base our self-worth on comparisons to others and competition against our peers. We think we can only succeed if someone else has failed. We’re also taught that there’s only so much pie to go around, so if you get a big piece, then someone else is missing out. When you think like this, you’re going to feel like nothing is ever fair. As a result, many of us retaliate and take the pie before someone else can take it from us.
Thinking in a win-win mindset allows you to see mutual benefits from all of your interactions. By doing this, you’ll see that the pie tastes even better when it’s shared. If you can approach conflicts and problems with a win-win attitude, you’ll be able to express your ideas and feelings with courage, while still maintaining consideration for the feelings and ideas of others. When you have an abundance mentality, you’re able to see that there is enough for everyone, and that by balancing your confidence with empathy, you can achieve your goals while helping others achieve theirs.
How to create frugal win-win situations:
- Recognize that you don’t always know the full story. As you aim to implement frugal principles and stick to a budget, you may often find yourself thinking “it’s not fair.” It’s not fair that they get to go out to dinner. It’s not fair that they get a new car. It’s not fair that they get to go on vacation, and I don’t. Take the time to realize, however, that you’re only seeing a small part of the finances of your friends and family who seem to “have it all.” And though it’s hard to watch your best friend take a dream European holiday, or your brother buy the car you covet, you’ll get there, too — if you manage your finances frugally. And the best part? There will still be plenty of holiday destinations and fast cars when that time rolls around.
- Understand the difference between possessions and net worth. While your friends and family may seem to have a fuller lifestyle because their house is bigger or their car is newer, you need to consider that it could just be a facade covering their mountains of debt. True wealth is not measured in possessions, but in assets. When the value of your assets is greater than the amount you owe on mortgages, car loans, and credit card debts, then you have a strong net worth and are truly wealthy. By trying to live a more effectively frugal lifestyle, you’ll be able to achieve true wealth, rather than just a life full of stuff.
MoneyNing Tip: When building wealth, remember to look at the big picture, too.
Habit Five: Communication
At its base, communication is the desire to be heard and understood. Most people will listen with the intention to reply to what you’re saying, rather than to understand what you’ve said. To effectively communicate, you need to first understand. If you communicate with the sole intention of being understood, you may ignore what others are saying and miss their meaning entirely. Don’t just wait for your turn to talk; pay attention to what people are trying to tell you.
How listening can help you be effectively frugal:
- You are not the only person in your life. Chances are you’re married or in a relationship, have friends or children, or all of the above. As a result, you’re not the only person being affected by your decision to live a more frugal lifestyle. To be effective in your goal of frugality, you need to be able to listen to and understand the goals and behaviors of the other people in your life, too. Consider how effective your frugality would be if you were taking packed lunches to work and avoiding the afternoon coffee run, while your partner was going on shopping sprees during their lunch break. Instead of living a more frugal lifestyle, you’d really be saving on one end and spending on the other.
- Understand the goals and needs of others. While it’s important to explain your desire to live more frugally, it’s also important that you understand the goals and needs of those around you. This way, you can find a way to be more frugal without them having to give up all of the things that are most important to them. You can’t know what those things are unless you listen.
Habit Six: Synergize
Interactions and teamwork are some of the most important ways you can learn new skills and more effective behaviors. Synergizing is the habit of creative cooperation — working as a team to find new solutions to existing problems. Synergy is not something that just happens. It’s a process where you bring all of your personal experience and expertise to the table, enabling more effective results than those you would have been able to achieve individually. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
When you have genuine interactions with people, you’re able to gain new insights and see new approaches to your problems — ones you might not have thought of before.
How to synergize for effective frugality:
- Look for new ways. In a society that excels at consumerism, you’ve probably already realized that you need to find new ways of doing just about everything to be frugal. It’s easy to buy your lunch every day, but it’s more frugal to pack it. It’s easy to drive to work, but it’s more frugal to take the train. It’s easy to buy a new cocktail dress, but it’s more frugal to make one.
- Surround yourself with other frugal people. To be successful in your quest for frugality, surround yourself with like-minded people. Find people who are where you want to be by joining online frugal-living forums, striking up a friendship with a fellow coupon-cutter, or starting a sewing club. When you’re around people with the same goals as you, you’ll be able to share ideas and learn from each other.
MoneyNing Tip: Learn to embrace the positive influence of saving money.
Habit Seven: Sharpen the Saw
You’re the greatest asset you have on your journey to achieving the lifestyle you want, so you need to look after yourself physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Taking the time to renew yourself in these areas of your life will give you strength to maintain the previous six habits, which are essential for your success.
How to frugally renew yourself:
- Physically. By eating better, you’ll feel better. Take it another step further and start your own vegetable patch, which will save you money at the supermarket and be healthier for you. Exercising keeps you fit and healthy, and it doesn’t cost you anything to go for a walk, ride a bike, or skip rope in the backyard. To rest your body, you don’t need to go to a day spa; you can simply relax in the tub at home.
- Emotionally. Interacting socially with others allows you to make meaningful connections, and it makes you feel good. This can be achieved by chatting with the woman at the coffee shop or by calling your mom once a week.
- Mentally. Exercising and expanding your mind through learning, reading, writing, and teaching can be done frugally. Visit your local library, or volunteer at a school or retirement home to teach others a skill you may be taking for granted.
- Spiritually. Spend time close to nature and expand your spiritual self through meditation, music, art, or prayer. Take a quiet moment to center yourself and empty your mind before going to bed. Or, go for a hike and be grateful for the beauty of nature surrounding you.
Frugality doesn’t mean having to give up all the luxuries and things which make you happy. Don’t get burned out by developing habits one through six without taking the time to renew yourself. Frugality is something you want to develop and maintain for the long-term. Follow these seven habits, and you’ll be on your way to becoming a highly frugal person.
Do you consider yourself a highly frugal person? How did you get there?
This post was originally written by Alban, and a parody of the amazing book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He’s a personal finance writer for Finder.com.au.
Editor's Note: Did you know about the service called $5 meal plans? For $5 a month, they send you recipes of delicious, healthy, yet cheap food that costs just $5 a meal.
Several of my friends signed up and they are able to eat at home more because the instructions are easy to follow, making everything convenient. The deal also comes with grocery shopping lists, which saves them so much time. Check it out yourself by clicking here and you too may be able to save more and become healthier at the same time.
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Damn CD Phi, I really want to get to know you.
Helpful tips but the writer really needs someone to help him/her with proofreading and grammar. I’d be kind of embarrassed if I were this person. I received the free booklet. It’s “fewer” regrets and “less” regret.
excellent article….the part about not knowing the whole picture is so true… i was just out of college and i go back home to see a brand new car in my parents driveway….was my brother’s and his wife. I fretted over it and thought “what am i doin wrong here?” I found out later that family had cosigned for the loan and so the loan payments were crazy low. I found this out much later when i was repairing my home and feeling down.
I have personally known people with money beyond most people’s wildest dreams and imagination. But, you know, some of them are very unhealthy,physiologically, mentally, emotionally. We can see some of this in movie stars (so-called). They seem to have it all. But, in reality, most really have
nothing but tremendous insecurities and often fatal lifestyles. They just don’t take care of themselves. They live high but short lives of quiet and oftentimes very public desperation, and no one can help them. They make a mockery of intelligent decisions and often ,of their families, loved ones. They can’t APPRECIATE what they have materialistically, and don’t seem to respect that they are where they are.Their self-involvement breeds loneliness and inner despair. No happiness here.No fulfillment, either, on any level. We do know better, but just don’t get it. Ghandi, Mother Theresa,others like them ,knew how to be happy and live incredible complete lives. Inner peace and satisfaction has no dollar value. We can all be frugal and live great lives.
We need to face up to the fact that we all need to tap into our innate resources, and there are many available, in many configurations, to find that comfort zone that allows us to live a fulfilled, happy, generous ,compassionate , complete life. We do not need what we may think that we need, be it large homes, exotic cars,lavish tastes,accumulation of wealth for wealth’s sake, eternal false beauty
from outlandish artificial products and non-essential services. The poor kids who smile are happy with the basics and thrilled with the simplest of things. They have,somehow learned to APPRECIATE what they have at the moment.
Anyone with half a brain, who wants to be frugal, can be.We, and I include all western nations of the world, could seek obvious ways to live within their means, and be happy and healthy, but one factor seems to get in the way ——–
GREED . You know, those heart rending scenarios that we all see from the poorest countries of the world showing poverty at it’s worst, there always seems to be some little kids on the TV screen, smiling, playing,laughing. They seem so happy with so little. Our GREED definitely drives us to greater UNHAPPINESS.
This was hilarious. Lots of platitudes, org-speak and buzzwords but no concrete steps relating to the actual objective. I can’t believe so many people seem to have taken it seriously. Doubly good was the second layer of irony: highly frugal people, already being frugal, don’t actually need any of these habits.
Thanks for some of the useful hints. The author wrote it, I read it. I teach English, and moonlight as an editor and proofreader, but feel no need to criticize the author’s style, or lack of it. At least he got people talking and thinking, even if they are on the wrong site for some of their views.
I have never had a credit card, which nowadays can cause problems. I plan to get one; I liked the tip about collecting the bonus points. I shop locally for the most part. As long as I get a fair deal I never bother driving to a big box store, tho I do go to stock up on staples now and then. I make my lunch and carry my over priced coffee in a thermos (nicer than Starbucks). I mooch just about any condiment I can on my rare fast food excursions. I shop at high end discount outlets. I never wear the same clothes two days in a row; I spritz them with a Febreeze like product and hang them outside to air. I do wash the undies after each use.
Nazar has it right. Life is about living. I’m not from the USA, but I do admire much of it. That the recession hit it harder than others is worth looking at; a very cultural thing. I have no tips about high energy costs. I moved to a warm country and air conditioning is a necessity, but I don’t abuse it. Oddly here, eating out is often cheaper than cooking, but I prefer Western food so I cook more often than not.
I do love to window shop, and I waste time taking cars that I could never afford for test drives. (it’s a hobby). I wish I could sew, just for the fun of it. Which puts sewing up there with the time I waste trying to be a great painter and writing (going on-line). I don’t skimp on things that bring me joy, but I don’t buy things I can’t afford. Americans on both sides of the housing debacle seemed to have lost their grip on reality. I have worked on one year contracts for twenty years, so there is always a pit in my stomach that keeps me from getting carried away. But, unlike my mother I hate powdered milk so I buy the fresh stuff. However, unlike my ex-girlfriend I can not always afford to buy organic and spend twenty dollars on a home cooked vegetarian dinner.
Life is about balance. I dream of an Aston Martin and a James Bond lifestyle, but it’s not going to happen. Buy your own 3D glasses and go see a movie.
Another thought……similar to the credit card rewards, on-line there is a site called mypoints.com. Whenever I make a purchase on-line I have an account set up there and get points on each purchase I make. My theory? I live in a rural area, so to get the items my family needs it means a car ride which of course = gas. I have found in my rural living that ordering on-line ALWAYS WITH COUPONS, many times coupons and free shipping offers, this is the way to go. For the past 4 years I have made pretty much all purchases on-line through my-Mypoints.com account and by the end of the year I have enough points to redeem AT LEAST 5-6 gift cards as gifts for people. I figure, if I am going to spend the money, spend it, get credit for it, redeem with their reward program, and in the end? I have accumulated enough for gifts at Christmas or the occasional birthday gift.
I also have been with another on-line company for 5 years now where I fill out surveys. I am rewarded for my input and time and then also can redeem my balance for items. This is how I have been able to give my kids magazines they like to read. Sure, the surveys take a little bit of time, but I don’t ever HAVE to do ANY if I don’t want to. I just answer the ones that interest me. Because I have been with them and loyal for 5 years now, I frequently receive survey offers that take approx 20 minutes to complete and I am rewarded as high as &16.00 per survey. When I have free time, or when I am doing something else, like making dinner and I am in between chores I fill a few questions at a time at MY leisure and…..poof. The end of the year I have more gifts for people.
No, I am not a sales person, nor do I even remember how I joined, perhaps by invitation?? It was long enough ago now that I don’t remember. The site is
myrewards.com
If they are accepting new applicants, try it out. For the first few years I received a LOT of surveys that took little time and rewarded not much, but since I have proven myself to be a member that consistantly does a survey every now and then, I suppose they “upgraded” my status and I now receive surveys that require 20-30 minutes of my time, but I am rewarded with what I consider to be a decent amount for that spare time. Let me add, I work from home and on my PC a lot, so it is easy for me to fit this in, in between tasks.
Another good site I have found is
graveyardmall.com
my only complaint is their shipping is higher than I like, but some of the bargains I have found on there have off set the shipping prices.
My FAVORITE site is: tipnut.com
It is a WEALTH of information for doing/making everyday items. Example? I learned how to make laundry soap/detergent. It was out of neccesity as money was VERY limited. But I found making a big batch of liquid laundry detergent at one time will last our family for two months of laundry. I have already done the math and with my recycled laundry detergent bottles that I pour my homemade version of “Mommy’s Tide” into, it costs my FAR less than buying traditional detergent. Even though I don’t NEED to do this anymore, I still do, because it saves a ton of money, it is so easy and with those two things? I gain a feeling of “saving” and that feeling is always a great feeling.
Frugal On Everyone. 🙂
this one is worth the price of admission! thanks tadpole.
Ok, apologies if anyone found my comments mean spirited – it wasn’t meant to be nasty and I’m sorry if I hurt anyone’s feelings. It’s just frustratingly difficult for me to grasp the concept of not spending on yourself all your life in lieu of retirement. How do you even know you’ll live that long? I saw my dad save all his life under the grand plan of “It’ll do this when I’m retired” and he passed away from cancer at 46.
My other observation is that (and a lot of people in the posts have admitted to this), if you live a certain way for years and years, it’ll be difficult to change when you’re finally retired. You bought used clothes in college, and decided not to change after graduation. I’m afraid of some of you will simply not be able to splurge when you’re old (if you live that long) simply because you’re mentally and emotionally unable to spend money after living a certain way for decades. You can’t completely discount the power of 30 years of habit.
Didn’t find YOUR comments mean spirited but it’s not that a lot of us don’t spend on ourselves our entire lives but choose what to spend it on. Also “stuff” is just not that important to my personal happiness. Clothes, cars and a seat at a movie theater don’t do it for me. None are sound investments and I can’t use either for sustenance or lodging. However, I think it’s more about priorities & balance. I choose to be a single woman, which means that I will never have a second income to fall back on in case of layoff or disability. Since my earning power is limited that means I have to sacrifice some things in order to own a home in a decent neighborhood while saving for retirement. So I have to make decisions about what is and is not important and save accordingly. Fashionable clothing, new cars, & movies are not part of my lifestyle. However, the occasional good restaurant meal with good friends is.
You are right, I may not make it to 65 (especially if the retirement age changes), but that is not a chance I am willing to take.
The mean-spirited comments were the earliest comments regarding the divorced spouses and comments regarding grammar & language.
Nazar you make an excellent point about your dad and how a life can turn so differently than one expected. Jonny elouquently pointed out that frugality is not about depriving oneself, but rather looking into your self and finding what really matters to you and for those things you find unimportant you choose not to spend on those things. Nazar you make an interesting comment that after years of frugal habits it could be possible that one finds it hard to enjoy spending money oneself when they are in a better financial position-some may have no problem, but some might because we become creatures of habit. Thanks for sharing from where your viewpoint was coming from-being that your dad never realized his dreams-I would guess in his last days he made peace with all that.
I go down the street to the gas station to use their bathroom. I save alot in water and toilet paper ….
Does this book exist?
Read it and heed it.
Oh my God. Buying used clothing and using furniture until it’s broken? Going to the movies 2 or 3 times a year? Pre-setting the kitchen menu for the month in advance? And all this because you want to enjoy life when you’re 65?
Fantastic idea. Destroy 65 years or your life so you can enjoy the last 10. Brilliant.
I can tell how much you’ll enjoy retirement.
During grad school when I worked one full-time and 2 part-time jobs, I bought used clothing, discounted clothing, Wal-Mart clothing, and purchased used, discounted, and off-the-street furniture all the time and did not have a problem with it. I had a goal in mind…to finish graduate school with minimal debt and not have to ask my parents to pay for it. I figured they raised 8 kids, paid for college and needed to prepare for their retirement. It took me 5 years to do it and other than the occasional care package from my parents and less than $5K of debt, I graduated. Once I had a cushy job, I figured that if I’d been buying used for the past 5 years why should I change now? I was still the same person so I’ve continued to live this way. I think the last time I went to the movies was 5 years ago, I usually wait for DVD or netflix. I don’t plan my meals for the entire month but I do tend to buy on sale and stick within a budget. I’d rather spend my shopper dollars on my garden or to help my parents with the extras they will not purchase for themselves. Sorry but my my parents scrimped and saved so that I would have everything that I need so if I notice that my parents or their house needs something, it gets done. That’s my only weakness; however, since there are a lot of siblings we tend to do things as a troupe. Regarding my car, I’ve been a driving 1995 Subaru that I bought used for less than half it’s value in 1998, since it only has 100000 miles on it I plan to keep driving it until it quits. Besides I tend to shop within a 5 to 10 mile radius and use public transportation for commuting to work (less hassle & cheaper than driving/parking downtown) or anything outside that range. Although I have a 30 year mortgage, I pay more on it per month so I can pay it off faster. I don’t take vacations because I don’t find them relaxing. My idea of vacation is to stay home with my dogs and enjoy the house and garden I work so hard for or tour my adopted city like a vacationer.
I like a lot of the ideas/tips/methods that were shared on this site but find some people to be horribly mean-spirited and petty. Here’s to karma.
Nzaar… you just don’t get it! Good luck to you.
I hope that whoover your Contributing Guest was they have requested and paid for permission to copy Stephen Coveys materials word for word. It would not be very frugal to suffer a serious lawsuit over this.
frugality isn’t the answer; revolution is. its time to take from the rich and politicians – and give to the poor in this country. and by poor I mean the middle class.
this country is going down with its currency just like ancient Rome…
Hi, I am Robin Hood. You want to join my cause?
Please…
So they all could go run and hide out until the dust settles, right?
It will be interesting about 10-15 years from now when all the baby boomers who couldn’t save enough for retirement (you need at least about half a million now) or inherit a big fortune wake up and realize that they don’t have enough to live on and in the tight job market no one wants to hire them anymore when they can get kids half their age for a third the price…and meanwhile 80% of the younger generation just starting out now wake up at age 35 and realize that with years of intermittent contract jobs they can’t buy a house, get married or start a family because they don’t have the financial means or benefits to support themselves let alone anyone else…these groups are going to get together and make some real political changes that will make the late 60s look like the Woodstock Festival….they will elect officials that make Obama look like Reagan….anyone in the Tea Party won’t dare to admit it for fear of their safety…anyone making six figures or more will pay two thirds+ of it to taxes which will support programs that make social security and Medicare look like pennies people dump in the Salvation Army cans at Christmas….the gap between the rich and poor has been increasing the last 15 years to a point not seen in over 100 years…and just as back then unions formed to address that organizations will form again to address and correct that situation….the few rich will not dare to advertise it by driving Maybachs or even Mercedes or wearing diamonds, gold, and furs…this country has always corrected itself for extremes of any kind and the longer it takes for the correction (and sometimes it does take a long time) the more drastic the correction is when it arrives…
lcb…tragically you may be very right! I hope that we can self correct without any major societal upheaval. Enough of that is going on in the middle east and the other unfortunate parts of the world.
Regarding frugality, my wife and I are pretty frugal. I can say that neither of us have frivolously bought any clothes. My wife has chosen to keep the same clothes she has for the last six years…primarily because she has a difficult time finding clothes that fit her (she is tinier then what is termed “Petite”). Anything she gets for clothes, usually is made overseas whenever she travels to Vietnam to see her parents. That is perhaps the only place she can find clothes that fit her.
Kudos to the author. This article is not just about saving money, it’s about how to live your life. Take charge and make things happen while you can. Wish I could get my kids to read this.
I have a similar situation with mean spirited comments coming from other women.
Twelve years ago, when I was 38, I decided that I did not want to work for anyone, wanted to be independent. Long story short, I moved into the basement of my three family house and rented out all three floors. At the same time, I was buying 2 other fixer uppers to refurbish and rent out.
My supposed friend made the comment, upon seeing my basement living, “Oh, how primitive”, with her nose firmly in the air.
Well, I lived in the basement for only 4 months. Because of that and other sacrifices I made, I now have no mortgage, am 50 years old and work for NO one. My days are my own. I live on rental income.
Meanwhile, the woman who made the comment is over 60, still has a mortgage to pay and works 2 jobs.
I agree with a previous poster….do not listen to vindictive women who haven’t the brains in their heads to be frugal, so make nasty comments. Keep your own eyes on your prize.
To the young people reading this, I can tell you it pays off to be frugal. Decide the one thing you want most of all. For us, we wanted to own our home. It didn’t have to be a mansion. So we picked the lowest price home in the zone for a good school. You have the same amenities as the most expensive house in the neighborhood. We bought a home for way less than the bank would have loaned us money for. The same with cars. We always bought a model cheaper than what someone would have financed. And then we paid ourselves the difference. When we paid off the car, we kept putting aside the amount we spent on a car and by the time we needed a new car, we bought it outright. The key to this whole thing working was being together on the plan and knowing that the frugality wasn’t depravation but paying for our future. We retired at 57 after working for 36 years, owning our home and cars with a nice savings. We aren’t rich, but we aren’t greedy either. You have to decide how much more than enough do you need to feel like you have enough? I can only carry one purse at a time. Same for coats. How many gadgets will I actually keep using in the kitchen and do they really have to be top of the line? After listening to friends worry and complain, I realize our parents were right. I knew a lady who cleaned houses and drove Caddies. She wanted a car more than anything else.
I have another friend who always has soup and coffee when eating out and goes to 3 or more movies a week. She couldn’t afford to see her son graduate college but she takes her stay home clothes to the dry cleaners. Sometimes you have to decide what you want. As far as wearing the same dresses … oh yes I do. And would have walked up to those snippy ladies and let them know, not only did I wear it last year, but 10 years ago too. Not only am I the same size as when I got married, I bought that dress on sale at the Neiman’s End Of Year Clearance and it came back in style…. So young people…make it the biggest, best reality game show. Nominate yourself the all time winner of your own life. You don’t have to be in debt. And we weren’t born with money. Maybe that is part of the key…and I’ve always earned extra money for Christmas gifts. I love starting the New Year with no bills.
i really appreciate your sentiments and sharing your own reality show, kb. people will spend and save at the level of their own understanding of themselves and this often has little to do with being a “saver” or “spender.” I too wear clothes 10-20 years old and am amused when people give me compliments about these quality garments gleaned from mother, cousins and friends, once-again shops/goodwill stores or birthday gifts to myself. this year in fact i didn’t even buy anything for my recent birthday because i was traveling to an annual empowerment conference, the people and environment of which i just LOVE. the coming year’s theme? “What is possible in life when I be with what IS … what is the gift?”
So this entire thread is a gift and wonderfully helpful to me since I retired in late January at 57, my 83 y/o mom came to live w/me in March and i have scheduled an appointment with thebudgetnista.net, with the aim of getting a better handle on my own and mom’s finances. This thread, however, almost causes me to reconsider what I’d have to pay her to hold my hand through the frugality-promotion process. If i establish even half the good ideas listed here, such as accelerate my mortgage payoff, then i’ll be in good shape. (I’ll probably still see her; she’s sent me tools–spreadsheets and such–that i have to complete before our appointment. Never been a good tracker of my finances.)
I retired because it was a state job “package” and I was tired of it anyway, looking for a way out. Otherwise I’d still be working. Meanwhile hubby just got a new gig that will replace my old salary and mom’s pension, because she taught 37 years, is quite adequate. So the gift is definitely living within one’s means, being with what IS about one’s spending, saving and enjoying-life habits and PRIORITIES. This is different for everyone. As someone above said, one side does not fit all.
Thank you for a post that inspired me to contribute to the discussion.
KB>> You have said it all!
Speaking of being frugal let me just say it’s a shame this article is free as I’d ask for a refund otherwise.
I mean, talk about a ripoff as after wading through this article I was disappointed to note rather containing useful real world examples about how to save money such as suggestions about how to use coupons to replace my incandescent light bulbs with florescent or something along those lines, I instead ended up with a lot buzzword-rich business Newspeak that provides me with absolutely no practical information at all.
Still, the good news is at least I did learn something, namely that the best way to be frugal is to avoid this author like the plague in the future and instead save my money for books/articles that focus on practical real world suggestions.
My kind of woman (and spouse I presume). You think like I do. My credit is excellent, and I also save money to replace appliances before they wear out. I grocery shop for bargains and store brands also, and buy in quantity and freeze. I think seeing how well you can live on limited funds is fun and challanging
My parents worked day and night, 24/7 running an electrical contracting business and renting apartments. I recall the phone ringing at 3:00 AM, it was almost always the local bakery or the paper company or the restaurant or a tenant with an emergency or…..while I lay snuggled in bed my mother got up and made my father breakfast, he in turn ran out the door and took care of business only to come home hours later and start his actual workday…they saved and saved and saved and saved…they drove old cars, built their own home from the foundation to the roof and, never, ever put anything on credit. If they coudn’t afford it, they didnt’t buy it, simple as that. Both parents have recently passed on and I am now left with decisions to make as the only heir to their estate. Funny how my attitude changed overnight from “buy a fancy new car to take a safari to retire early and live the high life that they did not permit themselves to live”…that’s what I always thought I’d do when the time came…now with the reality before me, my attittide has changed 360 degrees, I still drive my twelve (12) year old Camry, I have an old TV, an old stereo an old home and, hoping to live a long life…I will honor my parents by living by their standards in a modern world, it worked for them and, as my financial planner agreed, they lived as the millionare next door…frugality is the way…onward financial soilder.
P.S. After giving up buying the fancy new car, etc… I am continuing to work in a job I adore, have no plans for a safari anytime soon BUT I do want to buy two (2) “things” I could certainly live w/o…though I am not jumping into any major purchases at this time…I do have my eye on a Temperpedic bed and perhaps a Bose radio/CD player…Reading the book “The Millionare Next Door” is a good place to begin if you want to live a frugal and rich financial existence.
Well, I noticed something that gets repeated: dining out with friends. Me wonders,how many of us stumble upon this really really hard to break habit, dining out with friends? This dining out is the last of my worries, actually we did not dine out in ages.
I want to see a realistic advice about expenses that burden a household, like hospital bills, or helping an elderly relative who can’t survive on SS, school demands on our children (the school will absolutely collapse if my child does not bring “that” contribution, or my child will become a pariah if he does not participate in that mandatory whatever); a car that needs repair because without a car you cannot drive to work (car pools are fine but they are not always available); a leak in the roof, a clogged pipe, a sick pet. A public transportation fare hike. OK, we can throw away the pet. And live with the dripping from the roof. Or we can tighten the belt when the landlord increases the rent with an extra $100 (hey, some of us are those second class citizens called the renters). Did I mention a toothache that doesn’t go away so a trip to the dentist is mandatory? Some tests not covered by the insurance, like an EKG, or God knows what and we have to pay out of the pocket?
One size does not fit all.
JKrall – Shame on you. You present yourself as a brainiac (albeit a hostile one) and a quick dictionary check might’ve confirmed that self-image. However, the sad truth is that the verb envisage has been in common use since the early 19th century. I’d post its definition here but I think you could use an exercise in humility – look it up yourself.
And, please, spare the rest of us your abusive vitriol. There’s no place on this little planet for your offensive attitude.
Thank you, lovetosew. Could not have said it better.
Okay, I didn’t even read this entire article. I have never heard of the word “envisage”, maybe envision??? Whoever wrote this can’t spell or put a sentence together, on top of the fact they don’t even know the English language.
I was mildly interested until I realized the mentality I was dealing with.
Just because you have never heard of the word envisage does not mean it doesn’t exist.
en·vis·age/en?vizij/Verb:
1.Contemplate or conceive of as a possibility or a desirable future event.
2.Form a mental picture of (something not yet existing or known).
If you see a word you don’t know, you look it up. That’s how you build a better vocabulary.
Richard Bacon: You may be frugal,but the lifestyle you choose to live is one in which most poor pensioners abide by. What is the use of being frugal and having “a lot in the bank” if you die with A LOT IN THE BANK?Unless of course it is all willed to a charity. You should be frugal,yet balance the difference of being frugal and timely spending in the 21st century. PS: How can you enjoy a CRT tv unless of course you have never been mesmerized by the fantastic clarity of a HD experience. A lot in the bank and still watching CRT tv? Live a little man..
Dude – you just plagiarized. How can your editor not see thru the obvious. Hint: Stephen Covey’s seven habits of highly effective people. Required reading for all of my interns. Duh.
My mother and father started their married lives poor, but they were careful with money and making things last.
They worked hard, lived simply, and managed to achieve a comfortable standard of living. They taught me the value of a dollar.
I followed their example and took the frugal approach to life. My brother, however, took another course. He left school as soon as he could, got a job and began to spend, spend, spend. He had a car. I, two years his elder, had a bicycle. I spent years getting a good education. He had a glamorous well-paid job in Formula One. To him , I was a “Square.” And, frankly, yes, I was.
Thirty years on, I’m “retired” with a comfortable income from real estate and investments. Until recently, I drove a 25-year-old car. I have plenty in the bank.
He’s been bankrupt twice, lives in a rented house, and has no savings. He has an i-phone and a huge high-definition TV. He still has to work for a living.
I have a $20 government-surplus cellphone (just talk and text) and a small, old-fashioned cathode-ray TV, which I still enjoy.
I am not miserable. Neither is he.
But I know whose shoes I’d rather be in. Being frugal has its advantages.
You want to be frugal AND save a lot of time?
Stop window-shopping.
There is nothing worse than surrounding oneself of things that one might not be able to control buying.
Add to that poring over glossy magazines on home decorating and catalogs. Just looking at that stuff makes you feel dissatisfied with what you have and want better. Even if you make it out of a store without buying you’ve just wasted all that time and mental energy resisting the urge.
This is all very well but it implies that you have an income of sorts. What if you have no income? What do you cut back on when you have nothing in the first place. Or how do you become frugal when your income is so small that you literally live from hand to mouth, week to week?
The reality is that the idea of living frugally is great for the “haves” and the extravagant (who needs 200 plus pairs of shoes and more electric gadgets than they know what to do with or would ever use??) and living frugally would save a lot of the world’s resources. But the “have nots” are living frugally already, struggling to exist.
True Lala,
Frugality implies choice.
LaLa..those who have nothing can find a way to get help to live and be healthy.
Unless they are mentally incompetent, there are always ways to be creative in finding a way to earn some money and build a better situation.
I’d like to see the statistics to support the statement that it’s more frugal to make a cocktail dress. How many cocktail dresses have you sewn, Mr. Alban? How many of your shirts and suits and ties have you sewn? Surely if you’re citing making my own cocktail dress as a frugal measure then I know you’re talking from you own experience—aren’t you? And who exactly goes to cocktail parties? You have an interesting take on frugality and prioritizing.
We are slaves to the lender: we barrow from China Guess What: Trying paying off a Credit Card in Six Month They wont let you This are That. interest on intrest Wow exponential growth: we are a trillion dollars in Debt : no big deal just print more money: Does any body out their see where are heading:
What?.?.?
You can pay off your balance any time.
Dolt.
Frugal people suck, enjoy NOT enjoying your lives, chumps
This is why you call yourself TOXIC! We enjoy every minute of our lives and more. You are the CHUMP, chump!
Frugal is a life mind set. Am proud to be frugal and sometimes brag, what is better than to build a success and then be able to pass it on to your heirs or favorite charity? No worse feeling than knowing you over paid for something
Not everyone has the option of taking a train or a bus. Where I live, there are no trains and the bus system is horrible. We have no choice but to drive to and from work. Please do not assume that everyone has options available.
It’s not tough to be frugal, look and see how people live who make far less than you do and live like they do.
Don’t take on debt EVER except to buy a house. Save for everything else you need, including your car. That alone saves 20% on everything you would have paid for over time.
Pay you mortgauge down as fast as you can so you don’t loose money to interest.
Take all the money you save and set it aside and NEVER touch it until it’s time to retire.
Great article
The grammar and punctuation in this article are atrocious. It’s terribly hard to take advice from someone who cannot write a complete sentence, or runs two sentences together with a comma between, or cannot use punctuation appropriately. Well written, this article could have said what needed to be said in half the space. Don’t waste your time. I wouldn’t waste my time with this guy’s newsletter. There are too many well-written articles that convey useful information. Time spent on google would be frugally spent to find something more readable and informative.
Man, I agree. Kind of sad actually bc the writer has important things to say.
Be nice to know who and what you are referring to. How about stating this in your response?
BO,
Don’t read this because it is probably not perfect like you must be. I feel sorry for you if that is all you can say about another persons comments. Not every one is a great writer or has the ability to do perfect grammar. The writer may have migrated here from another country, and English was not easy for him. I do agree, the article was too long, and could have been more to the point on a lot of items.
From my analytical point of view Frugality is aimed at improving Financial Independence and future Quality life which can be achieved as a longterm effect of basically living below your means.From this vantage point, Frugality can be made of greater effect by not only living below our means but also expanding our means whenever possible.
Well put. My dad was a great example of frugality. He wore his clothes and hankerchiefs to practically threads. He lived in a very small home. But don’t think frugal is cheap. Every Christmas my dad wrote a $100 check to me and each of my 3 kids. And when we came to town to visit he always put us up in the Holiday Inn and treated us for meals. This was important to him and gave him joy and a sense of pride. He frequently treated seniors less fortunate them himself to their lunch. The frugality gave him independence and for him making life better for those he cared about.
Very well said and exactly to the point. Living within or below your means = KEY.
If you’re an American (read USA) resident you might not even know what frugal means.
It means; wash dishes by hand, dry clothes on a line, don’t use an airconditioner, live somewhere sensible, don’t have a 5 bedroom house if there’s only 2 of you, drive a small European Diesel pre-loved(hated?) car, and many more.
But above all, get a free-range Guinea Pig and let them do your lawns for you (and they eat your vegetable scraps too). But don’t get a Wallaby, a 1ft high fence will keep a Guinea Pig out of your vegetable yard but the Wallaby that’s decided to live with us thinks it’s just something to bound over for fun to get to the tasty lettuces etc inside.
“If you’re an American (read USA) resident you might not even know what frugal means.”
Wow, in off chance you come from Europe, let me just respond to that by saying that at least we in the US DO understand that we actually have to work rather than expecting our government to pay for us to be students forever until we can get the one type of job that we actually want, but until then we’re too good to actually take any kind of menial job.
“Don’t use an air conditioner,” wow, so I guess if we have elderly folks in our homes we should just let them die of heat exhaustion when the temperature gets to be in the 90s and above.
“But above all, get a free-range Guinea Pig and let them do your lawns for you (and they eat your vegetable scraps too). But don’t get a Wallaby, a 1ft high fence will keep a Guinea Pig out of your vegetable yard but the Wallaby that’s decided to live with us thinks it’s just something to bound over for fun to get to the tasty lettuces etc inside.”
So out of curiosity, I have to ask where the heck those of us who live in major cities are supposed to plant our vegetables and keep our guinea pigs?.
Google uses goats to keep its lawn in shape. I think the Wallaby advice is sound, especially if you live in a city, in or outside of Oz.
Frugality is a mindset, and a mindset is based on discipline. Exersize, healthy eating, spirituality, and frugality are all means to an end. They require lifelong commitment to bear fruit, and are not quick fix solutions. An old saying regarding frugality is very usefull today…”It’s not what you make, but what you keep”.
To me, frugal means wise spending for the best value. This does not mean I buy used clothing, but rather I buy new clothing out of season at outlet stores at a huge discount, and only then when I need to replace something (i.e. brand new sweater in the summer can go for only a few dollars). Stick with classic styles and they’ll last a long time, much longer than something already used. My average full business outfit usually costs under $20, and often under $10. However, I’m not above accepting my mother’s hand-me-down clothing when she decides she needs the room for more new clothes (sometimes the price tags are still on them, yeesh.)
Miss Karen’s idea of Frugality really impressed me… Great sis. I do hope we can be of best friends so that we can share more remarkable “Words of Wisdom” to come…
Buying new is sometimes the best practical application of Frugality… It’s just a matter of accurate computation not only to the cost / expenses but also to the QUALITY TIME YOU CAN SAVE, THE COMMERCIAL EFFECT OF YOURSELF & COMPANY WHILE YOU ARE IN BUSINESS, THE DISPLAY OF HIGH-CALIBER IDEAS IN MIND and a lot more that will have the greatest contributions for your LIFE’s Progress and Successes… Most of the time, the other way around, less expenses may mean low quality, undignified & cheap presentations and worst is, unworthy to be trusted in so many cases…
In short, FRUGALITY must mean wisest spending not just less expenditures…
Its just the other side of FRUGALITY…
Dear reader, whom ever, I read most of the comments and I wondered, why did they bother to make a comment at all? If you have something to contribute great, if not get off the line. My input is simple and effective, Frugal= the above article said it all.
If you can tackle problems generaly at your eary years, it will make you a stronger person. If, your carefree and don’t care? guess what ? no one else gives a dam if you live or die. I know it’s Harsh but that’s life.
“IF IT’S TO BE – IT’S UP TO ME” if you write this down and keep it with you for LIFE it’s a start.
Positive mental attitude will make you a success. No matter what your job is. Step up to a level you never been before, guess what? you will succeed. if you keep the PMA in line. If I can do it, so can you and I was just average person one time.
A trick that my Dad taught me when I want to buy something is to double the price. He explained that even though that $8. deli sandwich looks good realize that I need to earn double that amount ($16.) to actually have the means to buy it by the time I pay taxes etc. This tip has often halted my impulse to buy something.
Dear Susie Q, your Dad is right of course, but don’t deny yourserlf of some thing good. You pay for what you buy. The tip is good also, because you just helped some poor worker pay for his/her rent. guess what? you enjoyed that $8.00 dollars sandwich and it will make you work hard to get another one and another one, before you know it, you stepped up and you will afford it and not deny yourself out of something you really wanted. Enjoy life, you only live once. happy new year 2011. ” IF IT’S TO BE- IT’S UP TO ME”
Gary
Deli meat is bad for you. Make a tuna sandwich at home.
Sorry susie, thats a silly game… You dad is a fool. You will end up becoming into a miserly tightwad with that game. People are confused…spending money IS NOT A BAD THING. Spending money without investing is. A deli sandwich for $16 is a great investment if you are in the airport, really hungry and dont have the time to go for lunch due to an immediate and important meeting. Rather than being a tightwad and staying hungry which in turn causes you to lose concentration during the meeting, invest in the deli sandwich for the better outcome of the meeting.
Again…your dad is a foolish man.
Irish..come on! Obviously you are nit picking. Give Susie Q a break!
My entire 30 year career has been in finance and investments and I found this article a waste of time at best. Pop-psychology jargon leading to self-actualization isn’t useful to someone who is in current financial difficulty.
Make a list of your expenses, in order of priority. Draw a line under the last expense you can afford, based on your income. For any income you make past paying for those essential items: first, pay off credit card debt; then, put in a savings account; finally, once you’ve got your budget under control, allow yourself a little bit of fun with the extra.
Much easier and quicker to read…and actually useful.
Well said, Trish. Sadly, most folks think that ‘essential items’ are newer cars, showier homes, and better clothes than the folks around them. Our aquaintances used to make fun of us for driving old cars and buying our clothes at thrift shops. When the housing boom hit, they were so proud to own $300,000 homes and to use them to finance even newer cars. Now, we have since sold our own (20 yr old) home, bought a huge farm with a 100-year-old farmhouse, and raise our own food. Those who have ended up bankrupt and upside-down, desperately struggling to keep their fiscal heads above water, now think we are ‘rich’. We are not. We are practical.
I agree Peaches. You just stated our situation too. I feel like some people are not grasping the concept of being frugal and what it can do for you. My seven years bad luck came from credit cards in my 20’s. That took me over 7-10 years to get out of that. I was so ignorant to think I understood interest and penalty fees and sinking into credit card debt… I cannot imagine if I had to learn that in my 40’s. That earlier mistake made me learn to get out and choose wisely/being frugal from then on… so timing helped.
You can make a million bucks a year and still be poor if you spend a million and one. Live within your means and be content.
If greed got to you, learn from it and change your ways. If false claims got you into it, educate yourself.
Peaches..you hit the word on the head! PRACTICAL – that’s the way. We all must be able to think ahead to a ” rainy day” as they say. Be wise before we run out of track in our elder years. No matter how great things seem at the moment, nothing lasts forever, and those who fall for the illusion of permanent
promise will fail at some time in their lives. Just look at the state of the global economy now and the hundreds of millions of people on our planet who don’t even stand a chance.
If been FRUGAL means not been extravagant with what one already have then it makes a lot of sense and easy,but how can someone that makes $1000/month and have basic expenditure of $1800/month be effectively frugal or positive with spending this money when he or she is already meant to be in $800/month debt?The solutions are maybe asking one of his kids or two not to go to school to avoid paying school fees,or stop putting dinner on the table for the kids to avoid been in debt.
Been frugal have to do with having enough(not really more than enough) and prudently making the best use of it .Its very simple to say “be frugal”,We must also realize that a lot of people in the world have no opportunity to make more than $5/day no matter what they do.Their society has made it impossible not to grow above this limit unless they find a way to leave.Most does not have this opportunity to leave either way they are doomed.
Someone who does not have cannot be frugal with nothing. Suicide i presume.
Define “basic expenditure”. Cable TV, cell phones, internet service, pre-prepared foods (pizza, frozen microwavable dinners etc) are not basic expenditures. They are luxuries. Check again where your money is going, my guess is that much of your expense may be going toward those items. Reduce or eliminate those expenses and your financail condition and stability improves.
Charlie…where there’s a will, there’s a way. There were years when I lived a terrific life on less than $ 1000 per month. I had a beautiful apartment which I furnished (2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room, dinette, kitchen) completely for $ 750. My stuff was gorgeous. I took the time and effort to search several thrift stores and make great deals. If you are devoted to making things like this happen, no one can stop you. I paid my $ 650 per month rent, played golf when it was too hot for any one else at tremendously reduced rates, went out to clubs with no cover charge and bought and nursed just one adult beverage, and had a blast almost every week. And, I got to attend all the major sports events, concerts, arts festivals, and such, absolutely free of charge because I hooked up with the companies who worked promotions at the events. I don’t want to brag, but I don’t know too many people that have met Mick Jagger, Tina Turner, Ricky Martin, Peter Gabriel, Brittney Spears, Joe Cocker,Billy Joel, Elton John, Stevie Nicks,the San Francisco Giants, the Arizona Diamondbacks,the Phoenix Suns,players, management and owners, and on and on….If I did it, anyone can!
Many people mistake the word “frugal” for “tight wad.” It’s simply not true. Being frugal simply means that you are being efficient and have taken the time to think about where your money is going. Besides, when you think of people that are rich, you generally envision people who HAVE a lot of money, not SPEND a lot of money.
@Dan,
You my friend, are a tightwad.
Dan, you are right in principle, but you are not saying it right. A tightwad is defined as one who doesn’t know how to spend money wisely. Frugal just means that you know how to spend money wisely or in other words, view everything as an investment.
Dan, you are bang on. Frugal people are not only efficient but smart as well. If you have more disposable money, it is probably because you have wisely thought out how you wish to spend it – a sort of well organized system of resource distribution. For this to work, one must not be greedy and overly materialistic. Basically, a person may not need much to be perfectly happy and content. It is the striving to keep up with those who have more disposable income that makes many more stressed and anxious than they need to ever be. After all is said and done, one’s own sense of security, financially, emotionally,mentally, and physically, is rooted in one’s feeling of self-confidence and self worth.
i have one question. why isnt the world run by the frugal ? . ? .
The world isn’t being run by the frugal because we can’t see spending all that money to run for office or for a position that we might not get. And if we do get it, we might not survive our term because when you start talking about trimming a budget and cutting unnecessary spending, people will bolt and reovlt and want to do you in. I find its best to simply lead by example. Forget the showy bling.
especially congress
The world is run by the frugal.Nothing kills a relationship faster than lack of integrity/honesty. One must apply that to every relationship – be it emotional, financial or any other area. Look at the percentage of what they spend in comparison to what they earn. Usually the richest men/women in the world work very hard to keep and invest the money they earn. The definition of frugal is *characterized by or reflecting economy in the use of resources*, not “don’t spend more than $X a day”. Frugal does not necessarily equal cheap.
Agreed. Investments investments investments. That is the key word. Not spending spending spending. Investment is a state of mind. When you buy a cup of coffee, you see it as an investment. The returns is that you stay awake and focused for an important meeting. However, if you dont have a meeting and it is unnecessary to stay awake, just go back to sleep and sleep more. That is the way TRUE FRUGAL people think.
I love this topic. One thing that really bothers me, is that if you are frugal and stay out of debt, you are discriminated against. You can take home more pay if you have write offs….DEBT…..more children. (like the planet needs more of those)
Also, if you buy a used car, your interest rate is higher….why? For being smart? They have to take away something from you if you’re smart enough to know how much your car will depreciate once you leave the dealership with your new car.
And why on earth, with health care being an issue, do I have to pay sometimes double for healthy food than if I pick up the same food item that is full of saturated fats, more sugar… we should be encouraged to shop organic and healthier food. It’s easier to control a sick, sugar addicted person than it is a healthy one. That’s because a healthy person’s brain works better.
Society just never seems to get it.
Re: uniforms. If your school does not already have an annual or bi-annual uniform exchange, organize one. Our school has one the last week of school each year. The last 3 days are designated uniform-free and good-quality uniforms are brought in and sorted by size. You can trade your used uniforms for the next size up for next fall. The uniform sales company also will have order forms available for the fall with discounts. You are allowed to pick out 3 uniform sets–we haven’t had to buy uniforms for the last 2 years.
Ugh. This entire article and almost all of the posters must be paid ” by the word”
I notice that much of this advice seems aimed at women. For example, no one suggested that you tailor your own suit, or give up playing golf. But men also need to work on that “I earned it, so I can spend it on whatever I want” attitude. Also, growing your own vegetables does not generally save you a lot of money, although it can be satisfying. And saving change? Really? Even if interest rates are very low, isn’t it better to save your money in a bank? Still, the goal-setting and working with your partner to “share the pain”: these are good ideas.
I like golf, and after I lost my high paying job and had to start a new career with one third the salary, my hobby became endangered. But with creative thinking and some tradeoff it can still be done. I’ll tell all you fellow golfers out there how to cut back without being completely deprived: Stop paying high greens fees for course play every time and instead get a bucket of balls and go out on the driving range….take your time hitting them…they’ll last you over an hour….after you’re done go across to the free practice putting green and/or chipping green…spend another hour there….it costs a third to a tenth as much as playing the course and may help you to perfect your swing/putting technique even more… Equipment? Look on eBay… Another idea: Get a second part time job at a golf course. Free play is usually a benefit. This latter idea works with skiing too, by the way–and ski equipment on eBay is even cheaper than golf equipment is….
Growing up I watched my parents struggle from payday to payday, but enjoying life at that moment. I chose the opposite instead and to save my pennies where I could. I decided that I would live fore retirement instead of enjoying life at the moment, but insead after I retire. I am 55 now and really started some hardcore, knee buckling, penny pinching savings ten years out from when I originally projected my retirement this past July 2010 at age 55. I started by paying my savings account first every payday, invested in $25 savings bonds every two weeks out of my pay and besdies my regular retirement deductions, voluntarily started a 10% reduction of my annual salary to be placed into a 401k. As of this date I am debit free and ready for that retirement, but decided to stay until the end of 2011 and will cash in my leave for a lump sum that will make one last contribution to my savings and my retirement.
In my earlier years I wasted alot of money being young and carefree and stupid, but in ten years I still met my goal by saving those pennies in many different ways. I can only hope that I did it the right way by waiting to enjoy life after retirement rather than at the moment as my parents did. One last thing-what my parents did wasn’t wrong because it also showed me you don’t need money to be happy, it’s how you enjoy life with just a few pennies in your pocket and each other. It seems today that the generations today are more about materialistic things than the simple joys of life as it were in our parents ‘ days. I have a modest home, the necessitities of life to make one comfortable and definitely live below my means rather than gotta have big, bigger and biggest; the simple life.
Unless you have worked in the military and get Tricare health insurance or fed govt and will get health insurance, I would advise most people not to quit work until age 65. Or get another simpler job with the least amount of full time hours [say 30 hours], in order to get health benefits.
Some very interesting comments along with, sadly, some very rude ones. One of the things that people need to remember about frugal living is many things are dependent on your location, health status, age, talents, education and abilities. You have to be willing to look at life in a different way and be willing to try and do new things.
As a seamstress myself, I especially enjoyed the arguments concerning sewing. I make most of my own clothes and not necessarily because it is cheaper (which for ME it is) but because I’m disabled and the need to go spend precious energy trying on clothes that don’t fit and aren’t what I want keeps me using my tried and true sewing patterns and since we sell sewing patterns on line, I also have access to many new styles that I might want to try. I love buying fabric at yard sales that keeps me in quilting fabrics and on really good yard sale days finding fabric that I can make garments with. My biggest haul was 10 yards of fabric for $1 which I made into a skirt, two tops and an apron plus many leftovers for quilting. The point being, where there is a will there is a way. I don’t need cocktail dresses so that isn’t a problem for me.
In fact, the opposite of “act” is “inactive” or “inactivity”. The opposite of “react” or “respond” is “ignore”.
Since when is “proactive” the opposite of “reactive”? The opposite of act is react. Thus the opposite of active must be reactive. How much more activei one if he is proactive, rather that just active? Please explain.
>It is easy to buy a new cocktail dress but it is more frugal to make one.
You are dead wrong here and have obviously done zero research on the subject. It should read “it is more frugal to reuse something you already have or shop at a thrift store.”
Wondering if Stephen Covey approved this article. I’d love to share it, but I need to know it isn’t stealing Covey’s work. Thanks..
Follow Clark Howard, the consumer guru. He is on the radio, tv, and has several books. He retired at age 35 and then came back to do consumer advocacy. He is brilliant, fabulously rich, and proud to be frugal.
What a great article. I agree with almost everything except that it is more frugal to make a cocktail dress. I suppose if you’re looking at a $400 dress, it is more frugal to make one, however I have made a lot of dresses in the past few years and it would have been much more frugal to buy a used dress at a thrift store. I have seen many beautiful dresses at thrift stores for much less than the $90 it took me to make prom gowns; and for even less than the $60 it took me to make an every-day dress. You also have to figure in the hours it takes to make the dress. I don’t work outside my home, so I have time to make dresses, but I have many friends who don’t have that kind of time. I would say it is more frugal to buy a dress at a thrift store and accessorize with items you already have at home.
Drop the gym membership – do your own aerobic routines, and invite a friend over for company. Drop cable TV. Drop your land-line. Drop your cell phone. Use the Internet to watch TV, movies, get the news, and talk with friends. Welcome hand-me-downs. Shop at Good Will. Cook from scratch – flour, sugar, butter, rice, cheese, and eggs can all be purchased cheaply in bulk. Leave your used hot bath/shower water in the tub overnight and let it heat your house. Hang your clothes to dry. Turn your thermostat down to 55 in the winter – bake bread or exercise if you feel cold. Drop all your subscriptions – walk or bicycle to the library instead. Sell your car – no more gas, license fees, insurance, tolls, parking meters, repairs, or traffic tickets. Plant a garden – expand your garden each year. Bake or hand make gifts for your friends. Make your own holiday cards and hand deliver them when possible. Skip holiday shopping entirely. No one I know needs as much as they already have.
Play games with friends. Join a choir. Play an instrument. Dance. Go for walks. Help the needy. Visit the elderly. All these things are free and bring great joy to life.
Amen. My bathroom is connected to my bedroom. I’m going to try leaving the water in the tub tonight and see if it helps. Great idea.
Teri, You people gotta be kidding here, all you will get is a nasty ring in your tub that you will have to clean up.Get real.
That choir idea is especially good—you don’t have to buy a musical instrument and sheet music is cheap….also if you join a church choir in a traditional church you’ll find that church people in general are quite frugal as most are on limited incomes themselves, and their values do not include materialism….just stay away from the new age “charismatic” churches—the ones with new Taj Mahal buildings, state of the art video equipment, that use rock bands in their services and always ask you for money….and watch out for new churches in affluent areas….they often have wealthy parishioners and the expectation for contributions can be high too….I joined a church choir and soon found my social circle filled with frugal like-minded people, enabling me to get away from the high spending, materialistic social environment I had been in up to that point….when my income dropped I found that people in the latter shunned me while people in the former appreciated me for who I was as a person not what I was wearing, driving, or owned…..
Don ‘t have kids and whatever you do don’t get married. Adopt a pet and use the services of a pro for the other. You won’t be working until your 60 and you won’t be waking up next to an old bag.
Chas,
One word…..Wow
Also, never know the meaning of compansionship and a healthy marriage and also don’t expect to be missed when you are dead. Harsh?…I know.
@Crystal, Chas meant companionship is provided by your adopted pet. And when you are dead, who cares if you are missed ? You will not be conscious of anything anyway.
Chas was just pointing out the ultimate way to be frugal. Some people just won’t be able to afford a wife, let alone kids. Face it. Case in point…
After graduating from the State University of NY with an Engineering Degree which included the highest form of Integrated Calculus, I only had $13k in student loans. I lived on my own, but I wasn’t employed until 2 years later, where I earned 35k annually for three years (not counting the raises). Then the 9/11 attacks happened, and the entire company was seeing a large slow down in orders. I was the first of the Engineers be laid off.
Since then, for me it has been a 3 year cycle – look hard for employment while eating ramen noodles for a year – then work for another two years, and then another company falls apart and lays everyone off. In 2007, my current employer had given me a second raise, and then without warning they cut my job, along with three other Engineers.
Especially two months after I bought a vacant 2 bedroom garden home in a rural community for 78% of market value. After putting $11k down at closing, the loan was still for $198k, and I find that my minimum costs for utilities, mortgage, food and gasoline comes to $93 daily (eating one balanced meal a day). I was last employed a year ago, and I figure I only have a month left of savings left. Of four other homes for sale on my street, none are being looked at, let alone selling.
I know after my 38 yrs on this weird planet, I won’t likely ever be in a position to afford a wife and kids. Besides, most women over 21 already have kids, from some other dude. Why would I want to pay for someone elses kids ? If I’m gonna pay those expenses, I want my own kids.
I’m a rural 75 y/o male who has been frugal for a long time. I got rid of all my credit, debit and ATM cards and never carry more than $5 cash and reckon if I can’t afford it, I don’t need it. When a necessity arises, a check suffices. I took out a $160,000 30 year mortgage 10 years ago and am making my last payment next month. I drive a 1995 Buick Park Avenue with 197,000+ miles on it. It gets 34mpg on the road. At 60-65 mph I save on both gas and tires. It cost me $6000 and change when I bought it 11 years ago. When the wheels fall off, I’ll replace it but not before.
My summers are spent in the forest cutting firewood which saves on my utilities bill all winter long. It keeps me in exercise and the woods are quiet and peaceful. I cook everything from scratch, use dry beans for chili and grind my own wheat for bread. Cakes and biscuits, spaghetti, stew, soups, etc. all taste better than I can buy so why waste money at the foodmart.
Since I have to pump my water 300 feet I have a lawn that is about 12X14. No sense pumping good water out on grass where it will just evaporate. My clothes are old but kept mended and clean and other than that who cares. I’m no fashion horse.
No sense driving all over town looking for a bargain. If I need a new axe or hammer, I go to the closest hardware store and get one. I may be able to save a dollar if I go to the other side of town but that just wastes gasoline. My clothes come from Goodwill Industries. Up to $3 for a brand new shirt.
Lights are kept off unless I’m reading or bumping into things in the dark and when I leave the area the lights go off. If I make a cup of coffee, I pour a cup of water in the pot and heat it till it just comes to a boil. No sense heating extra water. The dishwasher is full before I run it late at night when the electric rates are lower. No cellphones or superfluous electronic gadgets. A land line fills my requirements nicely. When I’m working outside, I don’t need to have some idiot calling to sell something. I read extensively which costs very little with the new energy saving bulbs.
I sleep well, am healthy (relatively), and don’t want for anything. My life is built around “adequate” and I’m content with that. Part of that is that I don’t read advertisements so as they say, “what the eye doesn’t see the mind doesn’t desire”. Works for me.
Very, very, very true about the hammer. I feel the same way about gasoline. I will NEVER understand people who will drive around, burning gas, or drive to the other side of town to save 5-cents/gallon. On most vehicles, that’s less than $2 for a full fill-up. My time is more valuable than that.
john doe, i hope to be like you .
jean deaux
nice article you could write a book, your prose flows.. enjoyed readin it keep well
With all that work going into your life…..you din’t mention having a woman…or is that just going to be too expensive for you?…..just asking.
Your remark on advertising hit a cord with me. I train my mind to ignore advertisements and their web sites. I constantly remind myself that they want only my money. Sounds simple, but I like money too. After 20 years working, finally debt free – own house and car.
Nice article. A lot of good tips in the comments as well. I believe the term spend thrift is an oxymoron. There is nothing thrifty about throwing money around. I have had to live thrifty my whole life and I don’t mind it at all. I believe God appreciates people who don’t waste what He has entrusted us to be stewards over. People who spend just to keep up the image for others to see are only fooling themselves. Most of them are drowning in debt. There used to be the days where several generations of one family lived in the same household in order to save and make the best use of their possessions. I can see those days returning as a result of the current economic problems. Which actually is a very good solution when you think of it. I am in my 60’s now, retired and would love to be the grandparent in the house amongst all the kids and middle agers. It would not be a sacrifice for my wife and I to give up our empty nest. It would save money and everyone would be helped by our taking part in the family community living. There is a lot that us older folks are very good at doing to help out. Not everyone is better off having their own home.
Gaston,
Maybe we could adopt each other?? I would LOVE to have parents come live with me. I agree totally with you unfortunately, I don’t have parents that would ever agree to that kind of arrangement. Ahhhh in my perfect world.
Actually it is not cheaper to make your own cocktail dress than to buy one; even wedding dresses are made in China/India etc, now and can be found online for a few hundred dollars , lace and all. (And are certainly not cheaper to make yourself anymore either). The cheapest way to obtain a new (to you) dress for a fancy occasion is 1st) borrow one from a friend or 2nd) buy a well-used or slightly out of style model at a Salvation Army thrift store or church thrift store 3rd) buy a lightly used last-years styling one at a good ladies consignment boutique . Have fun bargain shopping everyone. PS thank you for letting me post my 25 cents worth.
My daughter, who is a high school senior, is helping out her parents this year on her own she has re-purposed her cousin’s used prom dresses. I can sew so I fixed them up where needed. She has been a blessing to me during these frugal times.
Look for ways to challenge the “shoulds” in life – you “should” buy all-new school clothes, holiday dresses, etc. Anyone who pays close enough attention to know you wore the same business suit 12 months earlier is not a person whose opinion matters. What an empty life. My son’s school put out a supply list requiring, among other things, that each child bring in FIVE DOZEN (yes, 60) pencils and pencil cap erasers. How would even the most forgetful child lose 59 pencils over the course of a school year? I pared down the list myself to reasonable supplies and the teacher said what I brought was more than enough. Also, buying quality up-front for certain things is essential. I bought my son’s backpack from a high-end catalog, and it was pricey. However, I bought it when he started kindergarten and it’s still in excellent shape. He’s in fifth grade and I full expect it to last two or three more years.
Some backpack companies have lifetime replacement warranties on their products. Keep the tag and the receipt. Give it a try. We have had mixed results. One backpack was replaced. Another time, the company had been sold and the new company would not honor the warranty. It was worth a try! We are on year five of the last quality one we bought for our high schooler. Sure beats buying a new backpack every year. I hope it lasts through senior year!
I COMPLETELY agree with buying something of quality. In my household, we call it the “$50 backpack rule”. As a kid, my mom would buy my brother and I backpacks multiple times a year simply because she could not afford more than $12 a piece at KMart. If you do the math, for 12 years, and 2 kids, she spent upwards of maybe $600, though probably a lot more than that. When I went to college, my dad bought me a $50 Nike backpack. Lasted me the entirety of college, and when I no longer needed it, I donated it a few years later. It was still in great shape. Sometimes it’s worth it to pay a little more upfront knowing that your down the line costs will be significantly less.
I have a problem with cm’s September 20th posting stating: “One could argue that you should only shut down “nonessential” services like Social Security or Medicare which means we would starve elderly or the disabled. That could be good because it would lower the command for those services in the future. But if one is going to be honest with oneself, you have to shut down all services equally and show no bias”.
Social Security is not a “nonessential” service. It is a government mandated “insurance” program that employed citizens paid into for at least 10 years and, most for 35 to 40 years. The amount paid by citizens was matched by their employers. The sole purpose of these funds was a promise from our government to keep the elderly out of poverty through a monthly annuity. I have worked for 45 years and paid into this program and I only get “credit” for 35 years by social security administration. Please do not refer to social security as a “nonessential” service. It is insulting to those who don’t have enough years left to put money into another program. The young are more fortunate as many retirement age people have worked without pension plans, 401K programs and IRA plans.
Wow, you might need a whack with the sarcasm recognition hammer
I quit reading after the first one. People do not choose, but rather, they act in accordance with their past experience. There is a subtle difference – but basically, for people to succeed they need to have experience that is consistent with successful living. If people were not taught that being frugal is important they are not going to act accordingly. It is not a choice it is simply the way they have experienced life to date. This is the reason why we must have excellent schools because otherwise children will not have the experiences they need to grow to be successful adults. Poor kids do not chose to grow up poor – rather poor adults only had experiences consistent with poverty.
If that were the case then how do you account for all the people who have made money but were not born into it?
While I don’t know the exact statistic off the top of my head, as I understand it the majority of wealth in the world in held by the selfmade wealthy (according to Forbes listings), not by people who were brought up in higher wealth families and therefore given access to the level of education that you postulate.
Incidentally, let me just say that clearly you’ve never had children if you think that “people do not choose, but rather, they act in accordance with their past experience.” 🙂
For what it’s worth, of the ten richest Americans, numbers 4, 5, 6, and 7 are all Waltons–Sam Walton’s (Walmart) heirs. In other words, ol’ Sam’s fortune divided four ways still yields four of the top ten richest people.
The other six are self-made people, though–then you comes to the infamous Koch brothers.
@Diggitt – Yeah 6 out of 10 is actually a bigger majority than I thought it was, but on second thought given you’re limiting the list to the 10 richest people in the US that probably accounts for it.
It seems there are a lot of people who have been frugal with their education and logic.
Kind of like you and specifics.
Wow, ladyofshalott99. Could you be more rude, please?
The content in this article was ruined by bad copy-editing by the author. Fortunately, I myself am a writer looking to earn more money and live a frugal lifestyle. If the site owner happens to be looking to replace the article author, I would be happy to volunteer my services. I wouldn’t mind earning some extra money to help my bottom line.
I was into a 30,000 dollar credit card debt. I thought of myself as a strong willed person and that I am not going to be enslaved any more with CC debts. I paid them all off. It took me Eight years to do it and I did. I got rid of all my major CCs. I only have two store CCs and the balance on each is below 150.00. I’ve gotten several offers for new CCs with very low intraductory rates but in the trash they went. My crediting rating is now greater than 85% of the nation. The economy works on supply and demand of the things bought. With Credit Cards its not the merchandise but the demand is the money your buying causing intrest rates to skyrocket and money to devaluate. People have been wooed into buying homes as the best investment and now look what happened. The same, believe it or not, is Gold. Anytime things escalate rapidly, be suspicious and play safe. Yes Frugality is the key word in all of this. It will get you not to seat on top of money but on wealth. Money is not wealth but only a means to it.
Marry someone who shares your goal, not someone who merely SAYS they’re frugal because they want to spend your life’s savings. He lived cheaply because he had no money and had ruined his credit. As soon as we got married, he cleaned out my bank account and started using my income/credit history to acquire new credit cards. He was charging more per month than our pre-tax earnings.
The promise of saving up for a down payment on a house also was just a lie (he knew it was what I wanted to hear), and when I inherited enough money to put down on a house, he whined that he didn’t want a house, he wanted a red convertible, then sulked because I bought the house instead. I wanted to, at some point, be able to retire without worrying about paying rent; his logic was that HE would retire at 62 and *I* could keep working till I dropped dead.
So you heard what you wanted to hear, and believed what you wanted to believe, but you blame him for it all? That’s such a victim framework.
Looks like it’s a good thing you inherited some money and bought a house… and good thing you finally stood up and stopped being a victim.
Have you kicked the loser out of your house yet?
kd
obviously “kc” has had a really bad problem, so why insult her? she shared a sad story to benefit others..teach people to be careful of whom they marry or partner with….which was a kind and generous gesture on her part…so rather than the sarcasm…wish her well…i do hope she did kick him out…i was once married to someone who wasnt that bad..but certainly liked to spend money on himself and hated to budget…when we hit rock bottom and my parents helped us with a loan, he turned the books over to me…but he would still whine for things we couldnt afford…that wasnt the only thing that caused the divorce..but a big part of it…i now have a true “partner” in my husband who is as frugal as i am…but have some compassion on people who share a sad story….its extremely hard to admit you have been fooled by someone…
annie:
First, I don’t consider the truth to be an insult. It is just the truth. KC admits that he told her what she wanted to hear. And she gets full marks from me for insight and courage by sharing it here – that’s exactly what it takes to recognize, then admit your own contribution to a situation. Truth takes insight + courage.
She blamed him for everything, when in fact it was as much her doing as his that they had money problems. She as much as admitted this and then stood up for herself when she made a down payment on a house and let him whine and sulk about his red convertible. Truth and courage.
It seems to me that the real truth is, until she took a stand about the house down payment, she was acting from a victim position.
I simply wondered if she was continuing to move forward with her non-victim stance by kicking him out of the house.
As for “… have some compassion for people who share a sad story…” I personally think people who share a “sad” story to offer learning to others don’t need, or want, compassion, I suspect they mostly want to be heard and hope that the truth they are telling will help someone else.
And yes it may be “extremely hard to admit you have been fooled by someone…” as you say, but it shouldn’t be. If some one is truly sincere about sharing and offering learning to others, admitting to, and sharing their own mistakes is a great way to do that.
Here’s one of my favorite quotes: “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
For the record, I see my email as a way to offer learning, and truth. The only difference is my approach is somewhat provocative, and may be seen as not “nice” – so be it.
Thanks for the Eleanor Roosevelt quote. Hadn’t heard that one before.
One of the best dressed women in my town gets all of her clothes at the Thrift Shop and Salvation Army. She never buys anything new.
Ill help you for free.
It is a matter of weight management, storage and refinement.
You should trust things which are heavy and stable.
Try making only purchases using dollar coins. You will notice a connection to mass and material wealth, loss, and saving.
Storage space is essential. Cheese, sugar, flour, chocolate, oats.
Buy in bulk. You know a condiment like ketchup can be bought in large cans used at restaurants. The same is true with soy sauce, tomato paste.
If you sleep too much or have too much of a happy life having sex you will not be able to work enough on the foundation which makes a household which is less vulnerable to the good times or the 10 minute stupids. A person who trusts the news and the 3 day news cycle is likely unable to live in the deep, and will constantly be blown away by the winds of consumerism’s oligarchy on commercials.
The romans believed political weight was dependent on actual weight.
There are small legends at stores telling you the price per unit, by law, the next step is preserving food and refining food using wine or other alcohol. These are the building blocks of life, not cold hard cash.
The wealthy people of ancient Minoa who had no currency called money, stored huge amounts of food, and usables, instead of having bank accounts. It is a matter of safe storage and refinement.
Money is a separation of the value which is being frugal, I believe money and frugality are not the same.
Pretty good article. Took exception with a train versus driving bit. The train may be cheaper (but not by much) and door-to-door round-trip on train and public transit is approximately 4 to 5 hours. by car is 1.5 to 2 hours if you drive off peak. For me, riding the train is dead time because of motion sickness and migraine triggers from flickering lights. I would rather spend a short time in the car and the extra time at home.
I know some would say move closer to the train station but to do so would double to triple my rent and degrade my quality of living (now small city in rural surrounds. train is in densely populated suburbia). Time and quality of life are worth a lot.
If you’re spending 1.5-2 hours to get to work, that’s 3-4 hours in a car each work day. I can’t imagine that you have much time to enjoy your small city with rural surrounds. Also, you’re working a lot to pay for the cost of getting there. And, your risking life and limb each day. If I were you, I’d consider moving to the city and enjoying things that it has to offer. We did that when we moved to San Jose, CA. We sold 1 of 2 cars, and rarely used the car that we had. We filled it up about every 2 months. Living within walking distance of work in the inner city meant that we rarely had to get on the freeway. It made life a lot more pleasant. The higher cost of housing in the inner city was worth it.
Where the hell do live? Mexico City? 4 hours of drive time (off-peak no less) listening to Katy Perry songs on the radio is %25 of your waking hours everyday. Your “quality of life” threshold must be very low.
Methinks your reading comprehension must be very low. I am hard-pressed to comprehend how you jumped to such a conclusion based on my previous posting. My quality of life threshold is actually quite high. I retired at age 52, when my husband was 59. No commute. We rarely leave the village (http://www.lamanzanilla.info/), by choice. And before we retired, I telecommuted from home for many years, and then biked to work for the last 2.5 years, when I worked on-site. We paid more money to buy a house near my husband’s workplace in the San Jose (CA) city core so he could walk to work.
Having realized that your reply was to cm and not to me, I must say that it is MY reading comprehension that is lacking. Mea culpa. Beg your pardon.
More regarding CFL bulbs, if you drop one say on your kitchen floor, you would need to cordon off the room, including ductwork to the rest of the house. You would need to hire a company that specializes in hazmat removal.
The Commonwealth does not have a plan for this contingency, and OSHA will not get involved in domestic instances.
Sorry, I will stay with the good old (and safe) incandescent bulbs. My kids will be safe from mercury poisoning.
Hogwash. Yes, CFLs have a minimal amount of mercury in them but it doesn’t require a freaking hazmat team to clean it up. Perhaps you need to do some
research before you post, ‘mkay?
mgioa2,
I know I may be a little late, but I hate to tell you that if you actually read about CFL bulbs, you would have known long before your September 14 post date that incandescent bulbs are being phased out and will no longer be available in the coming years. So good luck in staying with them since you will no longer be able to find them.
In addition, my daughter has broken a CFL bulb before and she did/does/will NOT have mercury poisoning from it. People spreading misinformation is another reason the country is in the shape it is in. I realize that CFL bulbs are more expensive than incandescent bulbs, but think about it for a minute. In the long run, less of them will have to be produced because they last longer. Personally, I have bought a couple and stashed (because they were on sale at CVS and I had coupons so they only ended up about a dollar each) for the day when one stops working, but my son is about to turn 2 and I have only replaced ONE of my CFL’s since he was born. The only reason that one quit was because it was knocking on 4 years old. I don’t use the lights whenever possible since I prefer opening the windows to get sunlight, so my bulbs last a long time.
It’s tough being a cheapskate. This article makes it all sound much easier. Why is it that you have to be a cheapskate in order to build wealth. Surely, you should be able to spend a decent amount of your earnings and still be able to build wealth. I think that as long as you have some reasonable savings target and you stick to your monthly savings & budget, you should be able to live a comfortable life and still build wealth.
Jay, you’ve found the number one fallacy with this whole article. Being frugal is not synonymous with building wealth. Wealth involves a responsible relationship with money: basically, living within your means. For many people, that requires adopting numerous “tricks” to keep you from spending more than you can afford or than you really need. Everybody’s means and needs differ, so it’s impossible to judge based on a 25-word post here. Sure, these gimmicks work for a lot of folks trying to reduce their spending, but they aren’t scripture. Consider: Saving all your pennies and sewing all your clothes is not going to help much if you’ve got a mortgage too large to bear. And why did you buy such an expensive home? Because the lender said you could afford it? Well that was irresponsible.
Please learn how commas work. Otherwise, great article.
I have come to realize that I pay rent on everything I buy.
I resolved to sell and throw stuff away, and ended up much lighter, so much so that I moved everything left to a tiny storage shed and me to my car (from a 2-bedroom townhome), being single at the time. That allowed me to pay off $56,089 in college debts and several tapped credit cards in 14 months. That was 15 years ago.
Now I’m married to a doctor and living in a nice rented home, but I didn’t want a house we just threw money away on every month, or the warehouse space homes provide for stuff. Even though we are debt-free, I convinced my wife that we should move to her parent’s home and remodel it, and then live rent-free in their basement in return. This was our win-win situation, as everyone benefited from our monthly rent check instead going to something of value.
The single most enabling factor in all of this was getting to know how to use a home budget software package effectively, and a version-control database server for the data, encryption for privacy, and performing routine, off-site backups. This firm control, to the penny, of all accounts allow us to identify anomalies, such as unauthorized charges, immediately, and to do accurate forecasting.
I like living in a cozy, small space, as it forces serious reconsideration of any purchases for stuff. Some may scoff at us for living in our parent’s basement, but being debt-free and saving 100K+/yr takes the edge off such comments pretty effectively. Live in control of your finances, and well below your means, just like the article advises. It is good advice.
Awesome Mark… I myself was born “handicapped” and i still am. I am a simple man. After years of working low wage jobs in NJ and struggling to pay the rent; by the time i was 35 i could see my future by looking at my past….more work, higher rent. I knew back then i could never afford decent housing. I moved to a small community just outside of Little Rock. What kind of housing is here? Mobile Homes.. I bought 3.5 acres and a used mobile home and worked hard to save and pay it off. I accomplished that in 2005. Now i am 100% disabled and no longer able to work, and my check from SSI is $850 a month take home after the medicare deduction. I have no savings of course, but i also have very little debt; mostly medical bills. I just turned 50 and i like this article quite a bit; i wish i was physically in better shape but i don’t have much control over that. Some of my former high school friends and colleagues from NJ found me on Facebook. “They hate me.” Living simple in AR affords me another luxury; i can maintain a 35 yo car and “it’s acceptable”. I have been hunting for deals at garage sales and will soon open an ebay store. Christmas is coming.. Lots of great tips and suggestions in this article.. I avow to be more frugal than i already am..
Low budget accommodations available worldwide..follow @donoskeys1 on twitter.http://bit.ly/aYNp7h
It’s funny frugality is called cheap. Overindulgence is called excessive. Spend just as much as you make seems ok.. Why because it’s the norm.
People Please don’t use CFL bulbs to save money. They are full of mercury and will poison your whole house if even one gets broken (the press will never tell you about this but Maine was considering a hazmat dump site to get rid of them). Check it out on snopes.
The next thing coming will be companies that will inspect your house for mercury poisoning before you can sell it to prospective buyers. If you have broken a bulb, it will take thousands of dollars to clean it up enough to sell.
Wow, great points, I never thought of the resale issue. Many reasons why CFLs aren’t ready to replace incandescent in all situations. I use CFL lighting in limited locations. Indoor locations that have no need for immediate full brightness, locations they are unlikely to be broken, and locations they will be powered for extended periods of time. Recessed lighting locations are usually good spots.
this is not accurate, cfls have a microscopic amount of mercury. there is more mercury in a box of fish sticks than a cfl.
When I take out spending money from the bank, I ask for small bills – perhaps 20 ones, and some fives – from the teller. That way when one of my children (teenagers) needs something, I can give them some small bills for just what they need, instead of a ten or twenty, where I may never get the change back. Also, if they pull out a larger bill to pay for a drink or something, one of their friends will assume they have lots of money, and borrow from them, and it often doesn’t come back. Another benefit of not getting twenties from the ATM is that you don’t buy something you don’t need to “break” the twenty – another source of temptation.
Marion you’re a smart cookie. You never get change back from your kids.
They are teenagers. Instead of giving them cash as they ask, start giving them a monthly budget of cash, show them how to budget, and tell them you expect them to record what it is spent and give a monthly report on the last week of the month before the next monthly period. . If the report isn’t done then you will reduce the amount given by 10%. If the report is done and the balances match up then you will increase the amount by 2% for the next month.
They can keep it or spend it as they like. If their friends don’t pay them back then it’s their problem, not yours. They will have a motivation to learn how to track their spending and a motivation to save money instead of asking YOU for money.
discontinue regular light bulbs. cfl use at more than 4 times less. if all 300 million americans did this with all their bulbs the numbers would be intersting.
cold water to wash clothes
no more than 68 on thermostat for house. 40% less than 72 I here.
hand wash dishes more/using dishwasher less. don’t have glass of water then put that glass in dishwasher so fast.
CFL is not the answer for many reasons.
1) CFL bulbs don’t last as long as advertised when put to regular use. If you read the fine print, they must be powered on for at least 15minutes with every use or their life is significantly reduced. Combined this with their higher purchase price they usually do not pay for themselves to the purchaser or the environment.
2) They require warm-up time. CFLs are noticeably not bright when powered on in my house in the winter and temperatures on below 70F. CFLs provide almost no light when temperatures are below 32F in locations such as garages and outdoors.
3) CFLs bring mercury into the living space which is not safe. The EPA used to require professional multi-thousands of dollars in environmental cleanup if a single household CFL was broken in the home. For some unknown reason the EPA has replaced this recommended to be so vague it cannot be determined what exactly they recommend.
With all that said CFLs do have their place today. I use them in locations where immediate bright lighting isn’t a safety concern, where they have minimal likelihood of getting broken, and where they are likely to be on for extended periods of time.
Once LEDs become lower cost, then I think we can seriously discourage the use of incandescent lighting.
Thank you for that explanation. I put CFL’s in my garage simply because I was under the impression they lasted longer and the ceiling is so high in there (and I’m terrified of heights) that I didn’t want bulbs that had to be changed very often. I have noticed they are not bright at all in the winter time, especially at night when it is the coldest. I had no idea that temperature affected their brightness. Learn something new everyday.
Garage Sales. You know, i always thought it was a bad idea. My wife would bother me about the garage, the moving boxes that we never un-packed, the old computers and video game systems [NOT MY VIDEO GAMES.].
Well, we did it. Took one day of prep, and one day of garage sale.
walked away with $450 in cash.
great idea…and i have something to add…it wont make you money..but u will get rid of stuff..and..u will get free stuff…there is a site..”freecycle.com”..i believe its all over the country…u sign up (no charge and no obligation)..and u are sent a list of rules on how to post…if you have something to get rid of u post it in an email that all other people signed up receive…its up to the person who wants the item to arrange to pick it up…if you need something…u post it as a “wanted” and someone might just have it…no charges for anything…i replaced a broken casserole dish with a whole set..that i saw posted on there(the dish would have cost 30 dollars or so)..i got rid of a broken lawn mower(someone out of work wanted it..said he is good at fixing things) and both given and obtained lots of books…..everything shows up on there..especially late summer and late spring when the thousands of college students move in and out…i cant think of the number of things i have given to people…and if we need something i always post on there before i buy it..people even put food on there(unopened cans and packages)…its fantastic..the object of the site being to stop people from throwing things away that go to landfills etc…but its an extremely beneficial way to recycle…and you can do it from your own home(except for picking stuff up)…we hope in a year or so to clean out our attic and basement ….extra dishes and other things…there is always someone who needs something…
These are not “habits” of frugal people, but the author’s philosophical musings. Habits of frugal people would include things like (1) only buy things that appreciate in value, (2) don’t eat out unless necessary, (3) buy used cars only, (4) put aside at least 10 percent of each paycheck for savings and investment, etc. Telling people that I’m going to be frugal is hardly proactive. You have to do things.
i agree with your point…telling people is meaningless..but perhaps the author was assuming that a once spendthrift person is expected by others..to give huge gifts, go out all the time and dress in expensive clothes…not that its their business either….but you are right…
we DO live very frugally and most people dont realize it…the people i hang out with could care less about the size of my home, my clothes, or what car we drive, or where we go for vacation…my friends care about US…most of my friends dont even “see” clothes or car…and most of them live pretty much as we do…i know i dont go around looking at what others are wearing or driving or doing with their spare time…
i only explain how we live if someone is struggling and asks for advice…or as i have on this because that was the subject and i thought maybe some of the things we do might help someone else…
Greg, I agree. The article was rather random and lacking a point. The comments sections however is full of spice and everything not nice.
Good article, but I too took exception to the “sew a dress” suggestion. One, as LovesToSew points out, it is no longer inexpensive. And two, most people don’t know how to sew, duh. A better suggestion that everyone can do is to accessorize what you already have in a different way. Or to do what is now my favorite thing to do which is shop in my closet. I always find a blouse or a skirt that I’d forgotten about that I can turn into a new outfit. And then accessorize that with a different bag or jewelry or shoes and make it a whole different look. A former shopaholic, I have stopped going shopping. I shop my closet (or my sister’s closet) and accessorize, accessorize, accessorize.
To Sara, LovesToSew, Ziza, et all –
Not every solution works for every person. You argue the home-made vs. store bought theme and miss the salient issue: you are still participating in the “more is better” capitalistic mantra. If you are worried about buying/making clothes just for fashion’s sake, you are probably not living within your means. It is a VERY simple equation: Spend less than you make. Why do we allow our government to flaunt this simple maxim?
as you say, we allow our government to flaunt the spend less than you make Maxim because we do not spend punish elected officials whatever they violate an important role. If we could either force him out of office as soon as they do it wrong or cause the government to shut down when it runs out of money, we might be able to enforce the expenditure less than money rule.
But first consider a couple of facts. Keynesian spending, despite what the Republicans say, it does work. You only have to look back in time as far as the Reagan administration to see his budget busting administration did effectively act as a Keynesian stimulus bringing the country out of recession. During the good times, Clinton brought the budget back in balance but then his good efforts were ruined in the next eight years. The Keynesian stimulus we tried this time didn’t really work very well because it wasn’t large enough and not targeted well. The primary exception being the constant extension of unemployment benefits. That put money right into the local economy, kept people solvent and helped take the edge off of the whole bankruptcy foreclosure mess.
Let’s assume Keynesian stimulus is only necessary during recessions. The other option of shutting down the government is potentially a valid one. If we went for weeks or even months with no law enforcement, no military, no enforcement against pollution, custom shutdown turn off all inbound trade. Sounds like we would push the country into recession or the hands of warlords which would put our budget at risk anyway. one could argue that you should only shut down nonessential services like Social Security or Medicare which means we would starve elderly or the disabled. That could be good because it would lower the command for those services in the future. But if one is going to be honest with oneself, you have to shut down all services equally and show no bias.
So how would you shut things down?
Reagan created a deficit larger than all of the prior administrations combined. (And as you may know, that included not one, but two world wars.) In order for Keynesian economic theory to have even a hint of validity, the deficit created by spending money that is not currently available must be cyclical only and not systemic. At some point you have to be able to pay all the bills. Fiat money governments are “spend and tax” (future generations). Given the choice, I’ll take “tax and spend” along with targeted cuts every time. Just because the federal government can print money does not mean it should.
Cost of labor is often one of if not the most expensive line item. Defined benefit retirement programs, full retirement at age 52, low or no cost health benefits are all good places to start.
Limit/restrict lobbyist access. Simplify. The original bill creating Social Security was less than 100 pages. The current health care bill is over two thousand pages.
Legally require a balanced budget.
Being silly to prove a point, mojo86, or just have issues with reading comprehension?
You say I am “still participating in the ‘more is better’ capitalistic mantra.” How come? Because I like to sew??? How many capitalist pigs like me do you know that sew simply for the pleasure of it? Not a single one?? No, I didn’t think so.
Other than my 40+ year-long hobby of sewing some of my own clothing, what else do you think you know about me that qualifies you to write such offensively abusive and factually erroneous things about me? You have no clue what you write. Your unresearched (exceptionally poorly chosen?) words border on the libellous.
You say I am “worried about buying/making clothes just for fashion’s sake.” Since when????? If you really knew the person about whom you so glibly write, you would have never written such a foolish and wrong-minded sentiment. Again, get a dictionary. And do a little research before you end up in legal hot water (never a frugal place to find oneself, right, wise one?)
You say “if you (I) am worried . . . you (I) am probably not living within my means.” How would you know? How would you know what my worries are or what the outward appearances of my lifestyle represent to the shallow and simple-minded outside observer? And tell me, please, everything you know about “my means.”
Your absolute lack of comprehensive reading skills shows me where your logistic flaws come into play. It is logistic flaws, isn’t it, because otherwise, I’m reading a lot of offensive lies about me in your post.
Watch yourself.
Dear LovesToSew,
A little too much time on your hands? “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
M
PS Watching(always)
this is for several of the above people
i thought this was a discussion on how to be more frugal..therefore
1) dont bring politics into it…it’s not the fault of the democrats or the republicans that people are broke..its vast overspending on people’s parts
2) dont insult each other…if the person who sews her own clothes likes to do that and can do it on a budget..then that’s great…why go after each other on here? we are all in this together….keep it kind and helpful.
……THANK YOU. ….and thank you again. Ease up, folks. We are all in this boat together and each and every one of us deserves to be addressed with respect. Viewpoints have their value, certainly, but in my humble opinion, humility has more value than exercising the *ego*. Perhaps it would prove beneficial, for one and all, to be frugal with our criticisms and generous with our hearts and compassion.
Don’t feed the troll
@LovesToSew — If you’re so frugal, why are you buying what Mojo is selling?. Instead, treat yourself to two tickets to the premiere of the movie version of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged (Part 1).
1) How long has it been since you’ve seen a first-run movie in a theater, just for the heck of it? I mean really, how long?. I’m a lifelong movie buff but only allow myself this expense every 4 or 5 years…so when I do decide to treat myself it’s a WONDERFUL treat 🙂
2) It’ll remind you that “capitalist” is not a dirty word.
3) It’ll get you out of that hick town for a minute; please remember, this IS a whole ‘nother world out here. Here’s where to find the theater nearest you: http://www.atlasshruggedpart1.com
4) Since it may well be a several-hour trip each way, why not make a night of it? Atlas Shruggers are teaming up all over — check the conservative-leaning libertarian boards — to make such trips possible. Reciprocate not only with the pleasure of your company among new friends, but also by, say, YOU cooking dinner and breakfast for your hosts, plus a return invite to hickville “whenever” (perhaps while passing through on their way to somewhere interesting…?)
Proud AND frugal capitalist “pig” — Spikeygrrl
You say: It is easy to buy a new cocktail dress but it is more frugal to make one.
I say: Poppycock.
Obviously it’s been a while since the person writing this article stepped inside a fabric shop – patterns for $20+, yards and yards of expensive fabric (even the “cheap” stuff), notions that cost an arm and a leg, and all of it required to make one simple dress, cocktail or otherwise. I know. I’ve been sewing since junior high school – in the 1970s.
There’s absolutely nothing frugal about handmade clothing today. Frugal fashions come from the thrift shops, discount warehouses, price-slashing sales, and clothing swap meets, among many, many other perfectly acceptable venues. Never before has the American consumer had so many frugal ways to fashion an impressive wardrobe but sewing it yourself is not one of them.
Clothing made by hand at home today is not an exercise in frugality. It’s the very best way (short of haute couture) to get custom-designed, tailor-made fashionable clothing that is unique in every way, but it’s rarely cheap or the frugal route to a stylish wardrobe. Today’s home seamstress sews for the fun or the artistry of it, not the frugality of it anymore.
Writer, do your homework.
Amen to that. I too, started sewing my own clothes back in the 70’s and find that it is now so much more expensive to purchase fabric and notions than it is to just buy a new outfit at a good retail discount store.
LovesToSew, you need to do your homework. Obviously you don’t sew much do you? You wait for those patterns to be on sale for a fraction of the price. Sorry I haven’t seen the at $20. Not sure where you shop, but here JoAnns puts them all on sale at different times of the year. Also weekly JoAnn’s sends to our home a flyer that includes a 40% off coupon off one cut of fabric (no matter how long). If that’s still too expensive for you, sheets from your local discount stores work as very inexpensive fabric choices. And still if that is too expensive for you then go to the Church Rumage sale $3/bag sale, pick out the extra large skirts and such and use them to make your cocktail dress. Oh they often have fabric (patterns, and sheets) too 🙂
Often being frugal requires being creative.
Sara, a reality check is in store for you.
#1 – The nearest JoAnn store is more than 100 miles round trip. That journey ain’t cheap or frugal.
#2 – I live in a small town in the country; many creative, artistic types like me prefer life in the country. Even so, there are simply no local discount stores. Again, that 100+ mile journey into the nearest city. Ain’t cheap.
#3 – None of my local churches offer $3 bag sales. Must be nice but it just doesn’t happen everywhere.
Do some homework.
LovesToSew,
Sara was simply pointing out that patterns can be found for less than $20. If you would get out of your forsaken hillbilly town once in a blue moon you might find one.
Furthermore, if you are so creative and artistic like you claim, develop your own pattern. Or if you were pushing reality to the limit when commenting on your talents maybe you should ask one of the many others needle-smiths in your village for some help.
Go to the Joann’s website. Sign up for the newsletter or get the coupons online. The newsletter will tell you when those $.99 patterns go on sale. If you go to the Simplicity/McCalls/Butterick websites you can find the pattern number you want and order it from Joann’s, using your coupons. I assume you have mail service way out there in the country? We do here. My church does not collect clothing for the poor but our city has a Goodwill Thrift Store that offers a 15% discount everyday to “senior citizens” 55 and over. (I almost spelled it Godwill! Don’t want the grammar police after me.) The last time I was there a woman had an armful of blouses new with the store tags still on them.
inexpensive fabric from jo anns- spew- that is not an alternative to a quality cocktail dress. Sorry- I make clothes (and i sew better than many) but i cringe at the thought of using discount fabric to make a dress.
Youre better off borrowing, buying used or buying on sale than putting time into making an inferior garment.
Very true. I was going to buy uniform plaid and make my daughter’s school uniforms (I am NOT spending $50+ for a skirt) and then realized how expensive it was. Thank you for the uniform resale stores. They have been a godsend. The only way to really frugally construct clothes is to alter and personalize what you can find in thrift stores. I still to this day get excited when I find a little handsmocked dress in a thrift store for $3-5 or a traditional bib dress that I can take and have monogrammed.
Dear Loves To Sew, (and anyone else who sews)
http://www.Fabric.com
Check out their $1.95/yard section.
Try thrift shops for patterns as well as fabric and notions.
(Hope my grammar and spelling make the grade here. lol.)
It’s hard to be frugal when my electric, gas, and water are monopolies.
AMEN.
There are many ways to conserve on electric, gas, and water usage. That is how to be frugal.
They are regulated monopolies with a very tightly controlled profit model. It’s all public, it’s transparent, and you have a say. Contrast that to a private corporation which is free to take as much money as it can from you (think cell phones and early termination charges). You don’t know how that money is spent, you don’t know the profit margins, it’s a black box with way too big an influence on your life.
“Regulated monopolies”. “It’s all public, it’s transparent”. You must be kidding (or just incredibly naive.). The regulating body – California Public Utilities Commission – is anything but transparent. Take the current “smart meter” contreversy. The REAL issue is not their accuracy. The real issue is that PG&E is allowed to charge over baseline rates based on average monthly usage. Consequently, you may use energy at one rate but actually be charged for that usage at a much higher rate. This loophole undoubtedly generates millions in (unearned) revenue for PG&E shareholders. These regulated monopolies are so much less efficient than a private company. There is no profit motive for them. Whenever they need more money to pay for their mistakes (Diable Canyon, San Bruno Explosion), they just request a rate increase.
legally they are regulated monopolies. If you don’t understand why I call these regulated monopolies, I suggest you pick up a book on basic economics and start with natural monopolies. You’ll find a theory and practice of how regulated monopoly environments that can benefit the public good.
in the learning process about monopolies, you will come to understand why unregulated monopolies (classic case: standard oil, and railroad robber barons) can grow out of a regulated monopoly when the citizenry (i.e. you) don’t get involved in the regulatory process and oversee the overseers, who bribes them, and who appoints them.
In your example, as is true for many states, and look to see if the regulatory board has become a revolving door for the power company. They put candidates for the board, they hire them again on the way out. It may not be that blatant but, it’s in that direction. Once a regulated company owns the regulatory Board, the system effectively becomes an unregulated monopoly.
your complaint about meter handling is a valid one. If you can prove with hard accurate data that this is happening, you have a case. Notice what I just said, hard accurate data. This means running your own meters independently and running your own billing cycle using a completely auditable process. You can do it, you just need a couple hundred volunteers willing to wire in new meters, run computer systems to gather the data, and plot the numbers versus the numbers PG&E generates.
If you’re not willing to do this, you are just pissing in the wind. Complaining about some mythical failure that might not be happening. if you can prove it, the board has a hearing process. File complaint with full documentation to the board. Make it public, notify consumer affairs reporter’s from the various newspapers and television stations in the area.
This is another important example about the difference between a regulated monopoly and an ordinary Corporation. You have no right of appeal with a Corporation. You take what they give you and shut the *F* up. If you don’t shut up, they will probably sue you to shut up if it’s important enough. Otherwise, they will let you waste your energy and your time and you will get nothing accomplished. this is another way in which frugal people have more power. You don’t have to buy so you can tell them to go spend more money on advertising you will ignore.
I am interested in hearing from you after you have wired a power meters and done all the calculations necessary to prove that the regulated power company is not being properly regulated when it comes to billing.
Dear cm,
I suggest you take a class on basic English grammar, composition, and comprehension. Once you have accomplished that, I suggest you re-read my comments regarding PG&E and its government overseer the CPUC. Then, look up CPUC tariff Rule 9.A.
Once you have done the above, you will realize that the nonsense you write about regarding “running your own meters independently and running your own billing cycle” is just that – nonsense.
Good luck.
CM I like the way you think. You’re going back to the purpose of the regulated monopolies, and your basic point is that “we the people” chartered them, and there is a due process that will work – if we’re persistent – to ensure that they reasonably accomplish their purpose for being. And that’s the American way — and not sitting around complaining – or blogging – about how unfair it is, or about how we have become powerless victims of the system.
This is actually a reply to mojo86, below:
Funny that now you’re suggesting someone “take a class on basic English grammar, composition, and comprehension.” I recall your commenting earlier:
“Whether it is the Queen’s English or Ghetto Rap, as long as the information/idea is exchanged, then communication has taken place. Words and structure change according to agreed upon constructs. In our hi tech, information saturated age, language is being compressed. Sme resrchrs hve evn fnd tht as lng as the begng and endng prts of wrds ar inclded, we undrstnd jst fne. And if I said: “OMG, WTF.” , who would not understand me?”
I guess YOU are the one arbiter of comprehension.
our gas company will send an energy expert out once for free..to go over your home…the expert told us 1) we were a lot better off than most of our neighbors and 2)gave us some hints we never would have thought of..all of which we implemented that year…our gas bills went way down inspite of the cold weather…
and again..form a budget where u put away a set amount of money each payday based on yearly use of that utility, raising that amount slightly each year to adjust for their higher costs..u wont be caught short that way…
Annie – please share the cost savings that you were given by the gas company. I hate my gas company and will never have gas again due to them. Just wait until the heater dies. I am going geothermal all the way. I implemented a lot of cost saving techniques two years ago and they ended up sending me an adjusted bill at the end of the winter saying we had not used enough gas based on the previous winter’s consumption and they justified the difference by claiming the meter was bad. Came out and changed the meter. I asked to have the old meter tested and naturally they couldn’t find it. I was livid to say the least. We only heat with gas and have a gas water heater, so the bills are very low outside of the winter months. But, really, just wait until that heater has to be replaced, it will be replaced with a geothermal system and the hot water tank will go on the curb the same day and I will be at their office asking them to pull their meter from my property. Really – I don’t even care at this point how much that geothermal system will cost or how much that tankless water heater is going to cost. Long term, I’m sure I’ll end up ahead and short term I have the knowledge and satisfaction of getting rid of the gas company crooks.
I’ve got a “share” here: If your circumstances/finances allow, try moving (in the immortal words of Glen Campbell) “where the weather suits [your] clothes.”
Hubby and I both hail from the dreadful climate of the Great Lakes States — muggy and epidemically spore-ridden in summer, buried to your hips in snow from Thankgiving ’til Easter — then were consigned to three+ years of the exact opposite in the High Mojave Desert due to his military service. In both places, our energy bills were thru the roof despite my legendary frugality.
We’ve now been five years in San Diego, CA, where the weather forecast every day is “NICE, and more of the same tomorrow.” In all those five years I can count on the fingers of both hands the number of days we have had to use either the heat or the A/C. Even in a large loft-thru with a LOT of air to push around, our energy costs are PENNIES compared to spaces less than 1/4 the size in either the Upper Midwest or the High Desert.
We’re here in San Diego for another four years for sure…but when that hitch is up the military may move us to Upper Ridiculous, Alaska. Eh. So I’m just enjoying HERE while I can. “God grant me the ability to accept the things I cannot change…” 😉
One day at a time, it works if you work it — Spikeygrrl
I live in San Diego too–and have for 40 years. Your advice may have been great back then—but you fail to mention the cost of housing here is three times what it is in the midwest—and has been for over a quarter century. Maybe your military housing isn’t affected by that–but just try to find a detached house here off base for less than $350k where you don’t have mice for roommates or where you don’t answer the door with a gun in your hand…it can’t be done…you’d be a lot better off with high midwest utility bills, replacing rusty cars every four years, paying to shovel snow, etc. in terms of cost….of course quality of life is a different subject…just wait until you move to Alaska and have the same high housing costs as well as high utility bills….
I concur — how basic utilities are not nationalized is astonishing — America is a very backward nation and soon to faed from the international scene.
“Soon to faed”? Right.
@ Marcus: Please don’t “concur” with me if you’re going to use “nationalized” in the same post. If you read my post above as simply bitching about energy costs vs. the weather, you have NO CLUE re my closing reference to the Serenity Prayer.
Folks who expect “Nationalization” — i.e., Other People’s Money — to fix ANYTHING (including the weather, which even this lifelong atheist concedes functions like a so-called Act of God in its utter imperviousness to Human control) have either got to be the world’s least serene folks (“but da gubmint GOTTA fix it FOR us. NOW, already.”) or its most serene folks (serene in their sheepliness, right up to when the tsunami or the tornado or the terrorist act carries off them and all their works into the Great Unknown).
My point was: If you can’t change it by moving (the courage to change the things [you] can), just deal with it as best you can (the serenity to accept the things [you] cannot change).
Shaking her head sadly — Spikeygrrl
It appears that some of you missed the part of this article that said to stop blaming others for the state of your finances.
One thing I always try to do is work out a menu of dishes my family really likes, 5 or 6 main dishes is enough for a month, and buy the ingredients for those dishes in bulk. I make sure, too, that I have things like canned beans of a few types for 3 bean salad on the days when I don’t have fresh produce for a green salad. Also canned and frozen fruit. I serve canned fruit as a side dish or dessert, and often make smoothies with the frozen fruit – an ice cream substitute that satisfies everyone. Breads and rolls are whole wheat, sometimes home made using Mark Bittman’s amazing bread recipe. Salad dressings are oil and vinegar.
I try also to keep the quality of the things that really flavor our food fairly high – good quality chicken and beef stock, good pepper, grated pecorino, good olive oil, canned italian tomatoes, and always grow a big basil and rosemary plant at the kitchen door. I try to stock up on at least one flavorful ingredient with every grocery order so that I don’t run out, and this keeps me out of the store.
The other thing I find that makes a huge difference to my wallet is to pay the exact change for what I am buying. Even if I have to dig down for the pennies, a huge embarrassment to my children, it keeps my ones and fives intact. If I give a 5 dollar bill for a 2.79 purchase, that 5 is gone. But if I scrounge up 2 ones and 79 cents, I keep that 5 intact. My money goes much further paying this way. I always get ten or twenty extra ones and several 5 dollar bills. I always have some extra change just for this purpose.
I too find that actually using my coins is a better way to save money. Setting the coins aside in a piggy bank is like thinking that there is a benefit in letting the gov’t use your money until they “give ” you an income tax refund.
Theres 12 million+ Americans that have become frugal experts due to unemployment.
yes, and when Americans find out that the frugality can go only so far. That we are slipping into poverty status and homelessness. We will have a revolution in this country and take down the govt.
In my humble opinion, I believe that “WE THE PEOPLE” need to TELL our ELECTED Officials that they ALL need to take a PAYCUT instead of voting themselves a PAY RAISE @ “OUR” expense. With the state our Country is in right now there is absolutely no excuse for “BONUSES” or PAY RAISES for the people who are supposed to be looking out for OUR COUNTRYS WELLBEING. Clearly, they (on both sides of the isle)are only looking out for “THEIR” own best interest, not “OURS”..
Horay.. First time I’ve read this, but I’ve thought it many times. Those in DC give themselves raises & benefits & when we replace them, they take much of this with them & we begin to pay someone else for the job. We just add to the number of people we must pay. There must be some way to stop this madness. Our reps. should be willing to do the job for much, much lower pay, etc. just for the CONNECTIONS they make while in DC. They do not live in the real world.
As for reducing Dividends & Cap. Gains taxes, there are many who depend on this income (widows, orphans, retired). I’m self employed & still working at age 70 and have been frugal & saved as much as possible for my retirement in IRA’s (stocks) – my only retirement. Now the govt. threatens to take away Social Security, Medicare & Up our taxes. How do these guys think we can continue to live?? Maybe Obama would pay for me to survive if I had nothing & paid no taxes.
Thanks SHAYNE for THE entertaining RANDOM capitalization. THE rest OF us can DO it, TOO. YOUR misuse of QUOTATION marks ALSO kept ME “on” my “TOES”.
I assume you know that the period goes INSIDE the quotation mark.
Actually Tammy the period does not go inside the quotation mark in this context. But thanks for playing.
Actually, the period DOES go inside the quotation marks in this context and in every other context. The period ALWAYS goes inside the quotation marks.
Agreeing with Tammy on this one.
Tammy is wrong…….the period doesn NOT always go inside the quotation marks. He said, “Hi! How are you?”.
I would say take down the corporations first. Remove virtual personhood. Eliminate their right to speak because they are not people. Make them strictly liability shields with no political influence whatsoever. Make it impossible for them to be “too big to fail”, bankruptcy should be an option for every corporation or bank.
Only after we have brought corporations under control and eliminated any corrupting influence that may have one government or society, can we go after government. Right now the government is the only thing standing between us and total domination of our life by corporations. the governments not doing a very good job at protecting us because of bought and paid for politicians.
I totally agree that we should bring corporations under control and eliminating any corrupting influence that they may over our politicians, elected officials
All the way from Shayne down to Unguyen, and probably more that I haven’t yet read. I AGREE… The purpose of our government is to protect the people, and these days the “enemy” is within – it is the corporations and the greedy, power hungry politicians. Congress shouldn’t have anything that all other Americans don’t have. Argentina has had universal healthcare since 1953. I’m sick & tired of politicians & citizens arrogantly blind with patriotism saying that this is the greatest country on earth. We are not; those days are long gone. As a country our healthcare is the most expensive in the world, but is far from the most effective. These are facts that are quoted by WHO and several other sources. Arrogant pride is FAR from the reality.
Don’t misunderstand my comments, I love my country dearly; I am descended from a long line of veterans all the way from the Revolutionary war to my father at Okinawa. But the poor state of this country, the disgraceful way our politicians (who are most, if not all, wealthy and don’t need the perks & benefits of their jobs paid for by the sweat and hunger of our people) take advantage of the citizens, say one thing during campaigns, but do another with their votes, line their pockets with our tax money and perks from lobbyists, ask us to pay for their job hunting expenses (aka, campaigns) – all of the and many, many more examples, are not what my ancestors and the millions of other veterans fought & died to build.
If congress has it, all Americans should have it. WHY should WE PAY for their lavish benefits & expenses when we don’t have them ourselves??? Would you feed, clothe, give healthcare to, completely support your neighbors children, or some whom you don’t even know, when your own children or parents, or yourself, don’t have enough to eat, a home for shelter and keep warm, gas for your car, healthcare, etc? Then WHY are we giving those to the government workers – not just the politicians, but ALL government workers – when we don’t have them ourselves??? Charity begins at home.
And on that topic WHY are WE giving $$$AID to PRACTICALLY EVERY OTHER COUNTRY in the world when the U.S. is so lacking????? Then give to others what we have in excess. The world hates us, but is quick to take OUR hard-earned money, then laugh all the way to the bank. Shouldn’t we take care of ourselves first? Shouldn’t we clothe, house, feed, educate our own, before we give it all to the rest of the world?? Our government is trying to buy friendship, or buy power. How disgraceful that our government has the audacity to take care of the rest of the world, expect us to foot the bill, when we have such high unemployment. Give to the rest of the world what we ourselves don’t have.?. This is NEVER addressed in any election campaign… They ship our jobs over seas, then what little money we have left.
BUY AMERICAN; KEEP OUR MONEY AT HOME . After we are back on our feet and prosperous, we can help the world again. This holiday season, ONLY BUY if it’s MADE IN THE USA. If you have to pay more, then give fewer gifts, but this way the money will stay in the USA and create JOBS.
KEEP AMERICA’S money IN AMERICA. ONLY BUY AMERICAN MADE … REBUILD AMERICA … STAY AWAY from Wal-Mart and other stores who have shipped our jobs, our livelihoods, away. If there is nothing American made in the store, speak to the manager, tell him why you’re leaving empty handed, then go find American Made Gifts. If you can’t find an abject, then give a service that gives the money to an American, a facial, a massage, (gift certificate for) plants, hire a seamstress to make clothes for your family (cotton is still grown here). ONLY BUY AMERICAN MADE …
WTF is WRONG with you, cm?????
The vast majority of new jobs are created by small business. Although the government defines “small” business as anyone with fewer than 500 employees, the lion’s share of REAL “small” business are family/married-couple/best-friends limited priorietorships filing as “S Corporations” — that is, having some of the advantages (limited libabilty) of “real”
companies, AND all the accounting and quarterly-payroll payaheads that go with that (aaargh.), but still paying their ultimate taxes at the individual/family rate. Most of us didn’t raise investment dollars to get where we are; most of us bootstrapped ourselves — and all willing family and friends — to even get the dorrs open…and subsequently spent YEARS paying our employees more than we paid ourselves, living on hotdogs and Ramen to plow every silly red cent back into the business.
So go ahead, cm, take down all those evil “corporations.” But be aware, as you do so, that you are taking down your friends and neighbors…you know, the folks who give your kids those cool high school summer vacation jobs and college-intern jobs…and just might give YOU a leg up when you’re two months behind on your Fannie May mortgage.
Sleep well, brother, because you’re ensuring that WE won’t.
Spikeygrrl, once and future successful “small” business owner
Cm didn’t say anything about small businesses. He’s referring to major corporations.
Small businesses are great. It’s when then turn into huge corporations that they can become a problem.
Hmm, sounds expensive….
You people who complain about the government don’t seem to realize that big banks and corporations run our country. They just let the government take the blame, while they make the profits.
The vast array of clothes and technology to purchase and the c-l-e-v-e-r marketing tactics have cleaned out the average citizen. One just has to be more clever than the advertisers constantly shoving discounts under our noses when the original price was marked up anyway. We need in our diet only a fraction of what the modern supermarket has to offer. To eat healthy is to be very selective in your purchases to begin with so there is not so much sugar and starch in the house.
How right you are with regards to the vast array of choices. And the marketing strategies. For some reason, we didn’t have the need for something as long as we hadn’t seen it or known of it’s existence, but as soon as it appears that others have that item, we suddenly seem to think we couldn’t live without it(what did we do prior to knowing about it). A prime example here is the cell phones with all their whistles and bells that 1. we’ve not needed prior to this and 2. chances are we have some other piece of equipment that does the same thing(radio, camera, computer, etc). The most basic Tracfone for example($10) does what we ultimately need a phone for…at a fraction of what’s on offer though. Same thing with the contracts…do we even question or investigate the cheaper prepaid options (I recently heard you can get Straight Talk unlimited minutes, texts and web for $45-a huge saving for most and so much simpler than billing). We need to cut out what others have and dictate we should have and make logical and practical choices if we want to live frugally.
So true. I am very happy with my $7/mo (amortized) pre-paid Tracfone. Then again, I don’t live on the darn phone, either. I have no desire to be available 24/7 to anybody.
I also have a Tracfone. I am not into gadgets. It’s a great idea. I just bought one from Home shopping network for $99 with 1300 free minutes a year that I know I will rollover for the next 10 years! I am not a phone talker, texter, etc. Internet is evil, besides all the child online predators, meeting sexual predators, online gambling, it can be very addicting. I spend too much time on the Internet. I also do a lot of online shopping. It’s true I can get a lot of good online deals that I can’t get from stores, but this month alone my credit card bills are in excess of $4000. However, I can afford to pay it off each month. But, I don’t like owing that much…I did buy all of my son’s Christmas toys on clearance already plus part of that $4000 is our upcoming vacation of airfare/hotel/car for Disney World and our season’s passes to 6 Flags. After DW in September, I hope to get our credit card bills to $1500 a month! Not spending in October to December!
Regarding 7 habits of highly frugal people. Another tip is switch to CASH for those everyday purchases such as lunch, snacks and impulse buying. Only take so much with you per week and when it is gone, it is gone. This help to stay within your budget.
again…if you make a spreadsheet or some other kind of “budget book”..and allot so much per “page”..pages being mortgage, utilities(all separate) food, going out. etc…you wont ever go broke because you will have already put aside something weekly or whenever payday is….if u then find a charge card with no annual fee AND cash back rewards…get it and use it rather than cash…stick to your spreadsheet or ledger, and enjoy the cash back as an extra….if u have to record every purchase every day…u will be much more careful about spending what isnt there..and of course have an “emergency back up fund”…which is also funded on each payday..just in case…but if u do this carefully …and u follow it…u wont need the backup unless say..u lose your job…and everyone should have 6 months of whatever they live on..in a separate place..like a cd, just in case
airduck, I was going to suggest that. Its a very good tip. As someone who has been guilty of spending too much and having nothing to show for it, this is one of my new tricks for saving money. For the past three years, I have worked at the same job. We have a cafeteria as well as many restaurants within five minutes walking distance and I have made a horrible habit of purchasing my lunch (usually between $5 and $15) every day. I always use my debit card. If I had physical cash and had to see it dwindling away, I would skip lunch and pack for the next day. Now that I’ve pinpointed this as my downfall, I’ve been packing my lunch (spending about $1 or less) per day and plan to keep it up unless I have a planned lunch out. Another thing I’ve noticed, I used to spend about $3 at the vending machine each day (two sodas at $1.50 a piece). I brought a big 32-ounce water bottle in to work and have been filling it up for free at the water cooler. Saves money and is healthier too – I try to drink 64 ounces a day which keeps me well hydrated and prevents my stomach from directing my attention to the snack machine. As for the lack of caffeine, well after years of drinking it multiple times a day I think I’m immune to its more positive effects so what’s the point?
Here’s a brief list of ideas I’ve adopted to try and save money (aside from those I mentioned above):
1. Before shopping, make a list of what you need. This will keep you from wandering aimlessly around the supermarket or department store and picking up things you don’t need. Also, if you have to write it down, you are more likely to weigh the necessity of the item.
2. At the grocery store, use a hand basket if you are not planning on getting very much. It will help you control how many items you purchase, gives you some exercise, and allows you navigate through busy aisles much easier.
3. Make a list of the places where you needlessly waste money. Convenience stores, coffee shops you pass by, etc. For me, I tend to go crazy in book stores, electronics stores (cds, dvds), antique stores, and the corner convenience store at obscene hours. Make note of these places and go only when you have a specific purpose. Even then, restrict yourself to a budget before you enter the store. With my book mania, I tell myself that I own several books I have not read yet and have now resolved to read through ones I own before buying new ones.
4. Restating this one as it is so important: leave your debit/credit cards home as often as you can and carry cash instead.
5. Learn that wholesale clubs are for more than just large families. I live with one roommate and yet Costco is one of the best places for me to shop. Stock up on your favorite pantry items, frozen food, toiletries and more. With membership to these places, you also get access to non-bulk items at really good prices.
6. Walk instead of driving whenever possible. You won’t save on time, but you will save on gas and get more exercise.
another thing that is my temptation is books , i see a cool book cover and i start salivating. i have to remind myself that it will someday show up in my library. and to wait …it costs nothing to read well and now they have movies to check out too. o happy day
Sarah, seriously: does ANYBODY not already do your items 1 & 2?
How on earth could anyone even ATTEMPT to hold a week’s worth of menus, and the ingredients required for them, “in their head”? This has GOT to lead not only to less food cooked at home but also more trips to the supermarket (which increase your weekly cost for either public transit fare, vehicle gas/maintenance/depreciation, or both).
I’m with Annie on this one. I love my cash-back credit card. Everything I can possibly put on it goes on it. It is paid in full each month and I usually get back about $250/year. We usually get a 3 or 4-day weekend trip out of that “fun money.” And, of course any expenses on the trip (gas, hotel, even tickets, food) go on the card, so it regenerates itself. Ebates.com and the ShopDiscover section for the Discover credit card are also great ways to get back extra cash on purchases. Sure, you may pay a little bit in shipping, but I almost always come out ahead of going to the brick and mortar store by using online coupons combined with ebates or ShopDiscover discounts (which don’t apply to store purchases). Not to mention that a lot of times there is no tax on internet purchases.
I suppose these are good tips, but I had a great deal of trouble reading this article because it contains so many errors in grammar and sentence structure.
I guess there are advantages to not knowing good grammar. I had no trouble reading the article whatsoever… Get a life.
I agree about the grammar. If you’re serious about communicating, you should learn and use basic language skills. Bad writing is an insult to your readers; it tells them, “You’re not important enough for me to take the time or trouble to use decent English.” Yes, the information was good, but remember: The medium is the message.
To Lydia, Karen, et.all –
COMMUNICATION:the exchange and flow of information and ideas from one person to another.
Whether it is the Queen’s English or Ghetto Rap, as long as the information/idea is exchanged, then communication has taken place. Words and structure change according to agreed upon constructs. In our hi tech, information saturated age, language is being compressed. Sme resrchrs hve evn fnd tht as lng as the begng and endng prts of wrds ar inclded, we undrstnd jst fne. And if I said: “OMG, WTF.” , who would not understand me?
You are correct in saying “the medium is the message”. And in this medium, less is more.
mojo86, you give it all away when you write “et.all”; obviously, you have no grasp of the language. Words and the way they are used are important. Communication is important. Leaving out vowels may be cute, but it is poor communication. Educated people know how to communicate effectively so that others may understand clearly. Learn this and learn how to communicate. The language is being degraded and debased daily and articles which purport to enlighten but use poor structure, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary only serve to perpetuate the problem in the culture. There is spell- and grammar-check but apparently no one has the ability or the knowledge to use them.
Too funny. I just printed this article for my 13 yo to read and edit. I wanted to show him how difficult it is to read poor sentence structure. When he edits his own writing, he knows what he is trying to say and thinks that I’m just picking on him.
I totally agree. I get lost in the poor spelling and grammar also and forget what I’ve read because it distracts me.
and i thought i was the only one who was bothered by the grammar and spelling .
Agreed. I thought the information was great, but sometimes I had to reread a sentence because I couldn’t tell where it was going. There were a lot of run ons…
Karen, get a job at the local newspaper office. They will pay you to dissect every sentence.
There are reading classes for adults available in many places. Good luck!
One thing we do is to take out a set amount of money per week (usually Friday). The allowance for your walking around money. Two schools of thought for how to spend it. One is that you allot a certain amount per day or allot half over the week end and half to stretch out over the week. Where many people fail is that they run to the atm because they discover they are low on funds (and then don’t know where they spent the money).
These are really great, in-depth tips. And they require such little effort. I agree also that every penny counts. I still have a change jar. Even though I don’t use a lot of cash anymore, it still somehow gets filled up and cashed in around every six to eight months. I love guessing how much there is and I’m always pleasantly surprised.
Nice job as always, Rafe. But doesn’t CNet have an android shopping app as well? I recall it being mentioned in an episode of Mailbag. I don’t have an android phone, so I can’t verify.
Saving Money
I have just finished teaching this term’s 2 hobby sewing classes at that particular college. Sewing and patternmaking are becoming enormously popular as hobbies, and I have noticed that hobbyists often become much more skilled, more quickly than the fashion students, because the students assume they’ll be able to pay a menial to do it once they have graduated, whereas for hobbyists, it’s personal and the process is the whole point.
Careers
It’s a little bit harder to be frugal if you listen to people, whom you don’t even know, gossip about you. I’ve always been frugal with buying clothes because I prefer to save for other things. For example, when I was working and going to college, a co-worker once made a comment, within earshot of me, that I always wore the same thing over and over. Well, most likely I did because it’s hard to find clothes that you can wear directly for school to work, which will fit it with both places. I also used to attend a yearly charity benefit, and once, I wore the same outfit as the year before, and I overheard a woman telling her friend that I wore the same thing last year, in a very mean tone. All of this is true, but now I’m only 45 years old and retired. So, only buy what you can afford, at the time, and don’t pay any attention to the gossip. Also, anything that you can do yourself do it, get moving, and don’t pay others for things you can do yourself, such as cleaning……. All of those other women that said all those bad things about me are working 80 hours a day in a cubical or a store and won’t be retired until they are 70 or more.
Honestly Margo, forget what they say. I know that sounds super cliche but look like you said, you’re not busting your butt 80 hours a day to wear a new dress to an event. As long as you look good, it’s alright.
Another thing, you might never guess it but even their dresses may be rental dresses. A great frugal thing to do in the future if you absolutely must wear a new dress is to rent a dress. Many boutiques offer rental dresses now for very affordable prices. The best thing is that you can give it back to them after and not worry about which event you’re gonna have to wear that dress to next.
Yes, and I was astonished when I visited a thrift shop to find
the quality (yes there was some trash) of some of their goods
for trivial prices. I swear some may have been worn only
once, some perhaps never — bought optimistically, and then
failed to lose weight as expected.
why dont you three start writing a magazine to compete with vogue and seventeen who have been poisoning all these naive and insecure teenagers and 20 year olds to buy 30 pairs of shoes and way TOO many clothes. I didnt think frugiley(spell check) clothed women excisted, but Id suggest these girls save all that money and invest in a personal trainer or nutrition coach with that money and every girl with want their body and guys will throw numbers out to them….and fake tanning is gross. smells weird too, oh wait thats burning flesh I smell
I bought 17 and Vogue as a teen with my babysitting money. Our parents had us buy our own designer clothes with our babysitting money. They covered the basics, and if we wanted Guess or another pair of expensive jeans or designer Ray Ban sunglasses we paid for them in cash.
We were not allowed credit cards. My husband married me as he said I could live a good lifestyle on a small salary. My kids have to save up their birthday money and babysitting money to get their fun items. Our son has to buy is own gas for his car, and has decided to take the bus.
My mom said that 17 and Vogue could give me a good idea for outfits, the rest of it was up to me. And the photographs in Vogue are what make that magazine. It was more of an art form to me. My husband complains sometimes about me wearing the same dress to a wedding this year as I did last year, but I point out even Kate Middleton and Princess Di reworked pieces of outfits around if you watch closely. That seems smart to me that those fashion icons recycle and reuse.
Margo,
I don’t know WHERE ( Jupiter maybe? ) you worked but I’ve never heard of working 80 hours in a day that’s only 24 hours long 😉
Maybe she meant 80 hours “per week” but was so tired she said “per day”. Been there, done that and she is right. Hold your head up high and do what you need to do.
Jupiter’s day is the shortest of all the planets in the solar system, at just under 10 hours.
Well DUH Rob, she is either from Pluto, Mercury or Venus. I mean come on dude, REALLY. Know your planetary days man.
Rob
Tontito. obvio que hablaba de 8 horas al día, se le fue un cero y que tanto, tontorrón…
Spanish? Really? Seriously, screw off with that.
Very funny comment.
It’s called hyperbole. You know, like if I said, “Wow, that Rob is just KILLING us with his witty repartee.”
margo
that you are 45 and have any concern about what others say tells me that you are really insecure…i was similarly gossiped about once..i was in my 20’s, we had just moved, my husband didnt have a job yet and i was starting a fellowship and grad program in 2 months..i worked a temp job at a local university..grad department..we had a terrible heat wave..i had one beautiful very light, easy to wear dress, and after wearing it one day, i washed it and wore it the next day..i had nothing else for the intense heat..and some snotty grad student who had come by the day before made a sarcastic remark about my “lack of nice clothes”….i just glared him down..he had the money to be attending this extremely well known and expensive school…and i saw him as being at 5 year old level of thought…
you sound as if you are in the “right place”..my husband is 62 and retiring in a month..because we lived on a tiny bit of his salary and saved all the rest..we buy clothes if we need them only, at discount places and on sale; we buy dvd’s rather than go out to movies..and only used or on sale dvds; we buy only paperback books and used if we can find them…we manage a vacation on cape cod.two separate weeks in fact..but we go just before they raise the summer rates..and right after they have lowered again into off-season…getting all the same amenities and a great room for about half the price…when we go to the theatre we get the best seats possible…but we only go 2-3 times a year..except for fresh fruits and veggies, milk and eggs, we buy nothing that isnt on sale..we shop several supermarkets, all close by..and get only the sale items..investing in a freezer was the best thing ever..it paid itself off in one year..we buy meat,fish etc only on sale..in a large quantity, store it in two serving freezer bags and put a tape on with the date bought…my freezer is always full…with all the markets..something is always on sale sometimes….we buy mostly generic names at the markets, or the store brands…i also clip coupons because occasionally the brand name with a coupon will be even less….we drive a hyundai sonata which is a 5 star rated safety vehicle…when we really need something expensive(like we needed the electric beds due to my health problems) we took advantage of 0% for a year..finding out first that ‘a year means about 11 months”…thats how the billing cycles work..and most people think they have a full year..and end up paying hundreds in back interest..for this purchase…we took out a cd in the amount of the beds…for 9 months…cashed it in and in the 10th month paid off the beds..we made money on that purchase from the cd interest..with the car if we took a “loan” from them we would get a 1000 rebate…so we took the loan…then rather than taking 5 years to pay the car off…we paid it off in 2 years…thus we actually got a 0% rate and made 1000 as well…i have family and friends who drive fancier cars…and owe on them..and friends who go out to eat often..and have problems paying their bills…we have a very tight budget on a spreadsheet ..and everything has a “page”..re electric, vacation fund, gifts, taxes, medical etc…every year we determine what fund needs how much based on the previous year and allowing for some inflationary growth….money is put into each “page” on each pay day..and nothing gets bought outside of that spreadsheet…we have even an “appliance’ fund so if the washer goes we already have money put away for a new one…the only reason we use a visa card..and the balance is paid every month…is because when you reach a certain amount you can redeem “points’ for cash….and we put everything on that visa card..even a 2 dollar purchase somewhere…so we redeem the points every 15 months or so..sometimes sooner…the money is then put into our ‘vacation” fund…to enjoy….there is nothing anyone could think of that does NOT have a ‘page” or “fund”…and even with retirement..and before ss(and we have 3 1/2 years til ss)..we will follow the same spreadsheet with the minor adjustments(less for gas and commuting, more for medical)..and live on employee purchase stock, dividends and interest dervived from investments we have made over the years…by living this way…
i dont care what anyone thinks about the size of our house(small but perfect for us)..older furniture(only gets replaced if it breaks)…simple life style…
we have lived this way since we got married 10 years ago…and it has totally paid off….so forget others…and yes..do as much for yourself as you can…why pay for someone to clean my house when i can clean it?…we are so used to this we dont think we could live another way…and now we can look forward to many years of retired life together…
Nice post, and I picked up a couple of tips. I’m glad you are happy and have been responsible in saving and can now enjoy the retirement you deserve.
My question is this: Why are you getting on Margo’s case for being insecure? So what if she’s insecure, millions of people are. People do things for many reasons. You have no idea what her story is.
Thank you for your post. I am 40 now and live this same way except for one difference. As a single mom with two jobs (one full time, one part time), I have a maid. It is the one small luxury in life that I have right now. I figure $160/mo it is a small price to pay for sanity and time with my daughter that would otherwise be spent cleaning house.
The most I have ever made in my life is $36,000/year (that includes child support) and I have just about paid off my house (had it built about 10 years ago and financed on a 15 year mortgage of which I occasionally pay extra on), have always bought 2 year old vehicles and paid cash for them, have my daughter in private school (hence the 2nd job – it pays the tuition and I pay 100% of that – no help from dad there), have her college fully funded already (although I’m crossing fingers for a scholarship so I can use that to travel on after retirement. LOL.), and plan to fully retire in about 15 more years once I get her out of college.
It can be done and it can be done on a lot less than what most people think. And, the key is listed in this article – BE PROACTIVE. I know people my age who are just now buying their first house and are financing them for 30 years. I’m not sure they realize they will be 70-something when it’s paid for. No thanks. I plan to retire long before then and I refuse to retire with a mortgage over my head.
The crazy thing is, people assume we are going without or struggling and we really aren’t. We take a vacation every year (I am the queen of cheap vacations – except the splurge at Disney. Nothing cheap about Disney.) My daughter has never wanted for anything (well, except maybe a pony, but what little girl hasn’t?) I buy like new clothes, including school uniforms, for dirt cheap. I just can’t see spending $20 for a pair of jeans at Walmart that after a year will be no good and have no value when I can get a nice quality pair of jeans that look new for $3 at the thrift store (which can be worn for a few months and then resold on ebay for $10). I researched and found out what brands keep their value and have high resale value on ebay and that’s what I shop for. Like the article said – BE PROACTIVE. THINK AHEAD.
Too many people these days think of nothing but the here and now and “will this payment fit into my budget.” They give no though to the actual cost of an item just the monthly payment.
So you buy second hand jeans at the thrift store and sell them on when your tired of them for a profit ? Wow.
You buy 2 yr old cars with cash….and you only make 36k a year…why do I find that hard to believe.
If you can afford to make a car payment – you can be smarter and save money to buy a car. It isn’t income, it is cashflow. Not everybody lives beyond their means – just most people and they can’t see any other way.
Teri: What state in the US do you live in that you built a house 10yrs ago but have never earned over 36,000 a year? Unless you built that house with you husband when you/he had 2 incomes?
You have to be exaggerating. You buy designer/name brand jeans @ the thrift store then resell them on ebay?
And for your daughter’s private school you 100% pay the tuition, fees, books, uniforms, extra cirricular activities on your own? The private school isnt giving her aid (like an academic scholarship) bc she has good grades or giving you/her a discounted tuition bc you have limited income?
There are inexpensive non ghetto areas in the US if you hadn’t noticed. You could easily afford a house on her salary in one of these areas. A nice but smaller 2 bedroom w/garage is going for 50K just down the street from me. There is another one that needs a little work for $35K. A frugal person w good credit could get into those with a monthly payment including insurance and taxes of about 500 a month or so and own the place eventually. I should know.I live in one of those areas in upstate Wisconsin. Nice schools, low crime, lot’s of farm country. Her example is entirely believable…
Good tips anne though some of those alternatives don’t exist in my country.
I would advise against retiring at age 55. I am a retail pharmacist, and I hope to pay off my house in about 15 years. I am lucky that I make six figures, but if I am well enough to work until age 65, then I will. By then I will be making double what I make. I always think about catastrophic events like cancer, strokes, etc, and if you retire at age 55 and get cancer or into a car accident, then you will have to pay cash or go bankrupt paying for your bills. People do not retire until you are close to 65 years old. Health care is no joke. I have rich elderly customers who live in assisted living facilities and they pay $3000 a month. That’s like $40,000 a year. There’s no guarantee that I will be fully healthy in old age, and no guarantee that my son will take care of me….Fast forward 30 years from now when I am in my 70s, and need help after a hip replacement. That $40,000 a year in assisted living or having a nurse may be triple at $120,000, people. Don’t be naive, you gotta work till almost the end for every single cent unless you plan on committing suicide at a certain age.
About the health problems. Agree a hundred percent. This can happen at any age. I’m only thirty and have had three procedures done. The first was a knee surgery in my late teens, and I spent through my meager savings fairly quickly. Within the last three years I’ve had two more surgeries, if it weren’t for my husbands insurance, we’d be in terrible shape financially.
Make hay while the sun shines 🙂
Mia – you are correct; Suze Orman said don’t retire until 67 to make sure you have enough dough to last; Margo I admire your thrifty ways; nice article above too!
Of course, some people retire early so that they can do other things with their lives. Most people do not have much of a life past going to work, going home, and taking a short vacation for a week or two every year or two. If you can get out of the grind, do so! Too many people are slaves to debt.
Bueno linda tu no necesitas consejos tu forma de ser te ha llevado a desenvolverte así, por mi parte debo decir que soy una persona acostumbrada a usar la misma ropa, lo que diga otra persona es problema de esa otra persona y no mio.
Ahora hablando de ser sobrios en la vida diaria, hay personas que no lo son y es por lo que te escribí anteriormente, es la “forma de ser de cada cual” y si criticas a otra persona estas siendo igual que aquel que te criticó por tu atuendo.
Cierto, Patricia. Pero, creo que depende de donde se vive. En algunos lugares es facil ignorar lo que otros dicen y en otros lugares es dificil cuando te recuerdan dia a dia que no vistes a lo moderno.
Annie,
Just reading your posts almost takes the fun out of living.
To me being frugal is a very enjoyable hobby – I love the challenge and also the peace of mind it gives. Another bonus is that unlike most hobbies it saves heaps instead of costing heaps. Reading some of the blogs here though, I am surprised at the big amounts spent while being “frugal” ……. and who wants to retire at 45 ? Maybe change to doing what work you love most.
Margo, you’re my kind of woman. Good for you. The gossip when I was putting myself through college (yep, it’s possible) was that I actually used the bedding they gave me in the dorm. More recently, a woman in my building asked me if it was true that I didn’t have a TV set? Yep. Last month, a neighbor said he heard that I cooked pumpkin. Yep. He gave me a pumpkin and I gave him a delicious pumpkin soup… Then for Christmas, I gave him a christmas card and a copy of the recipe for the pumpkin soup he liked so much. Yesterday evening, I attended an Epiphany Gathering in my building. A woman at the party admired the sweater I was wearing. I said, she could have it. Today, I put it in a pretty bag and gave it to her husband for her….I assured him I had plenty more to get me through the season. I like your style Margo, keep it up. It’s all in the atitude. k
T
K
It’s lovely to hear from a happy, frugal, practical and generous person like you. My admirations………
Best,
CC
What a generous heart you have! Bless you and your kindness.
hey i read your comment and agree with you, it is ok for some people to spend there money on clothes. but for some people it is more important to save there money for a rainy day. you don’t know when that day is approaching so save save save. i worked at a family business and did’nt have a salery which probably i should have, i didn’t pay myself so i didn’t pay into ss or get credits for working those 20 years. i did save some money . i am now looking for a job for a few years so i will be eligible to get ss some day. my advice save whenever you get a chance.
It’s not possible to retire when you are 45 years old. Are you kidding me? What happens if God forbid you get into a car accident, and have no health insurance? You would end up in the hospital with $300,000 or more of hospital bills. That’s crazy. I have a good amount saved in the bank and in my lousy 401k, but I wouldn’t think of seriously retiring until age 65…I need my Medicare health insurance. I ain’t going to pay no $50,000 for a mammogram when I am an old broad. Might cost that much when I am old. Health care costs are no joke. They keep getting worse and worse thanks to our corrupt society.
Our plan is to retire at 45, or 50 at the latest. Then we’ll and move to a country that provides healthcare as a basic service. It is absolutely silly to entertain the idea that you have to work to maintain health insurance, and yet in our country we fight to the death to maintain that “privilege”.
Debt is a trap. Take an hour to add up all of the interest you pay in a month, then imagine that money going in your pocket instead of a bank’s balance sheet. When we started getting out of debt 6 years ago I was paying 68% of my take-home pay to interest on credit cards, student loans, our main house, and a rental house. We sold the rental house (woo-hoo, made a whole $2,000 on it. :/ ) Then we took that money and every spare penny for two months and paid off my smallest student loan. Then that payment went to the next student loan. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat. We are now paying $3100 per month towards our mortgage now, and $2200 of it is money we used to send to interest on our old bills.
To get to this goal we are frugal. We pay cash for what we buy. We take vacations every year or two, but they are paid for in cash. We buy used cars, with cash. Our mortgage will be paid off next year, and that gives us 10 to 15 years to plug money away for retirement in investments. After we retire, we’ll try to use only the interest to live on, leaving the balance as a trust for our kids when we die. If we’ve taught our children properly, our great-grandchildren will never work a day in their lives.
That Suzy Orman said a lot of stuff I can’t even recall. One that stuck:
“Why would you want to stretch to buy things you can’t afford like a fancy
car, designer clothes, so you can try to impress people who in actuality
don’t give a damn a about you!!!”- as best as I could remember her saying it.
Currently sharpening my saw. Well another thing we can add to this list every penny counts. I don’t know about your kids, but my nieces and nephews(around 10 years old now) do not care to keep pennies anymore. They don’t know about the frugal ways that we have to live. These kiddies toss their spare change like it doesn’t matter. However, what they didn’t realize was that frugal auntie saves that spare change throughout the years and collects a couple hundred dollars when she cashes it in.
Every penny and dime matters, frugal or not.
We try to teach frugality at home….but as to the spare change, me and the wife began with a 5 gallon jar 12 years ago. We turned it all in for $1996 ….
Splurged on a new TV.
It weighed 181 pounds.
Tony
I have a funny story to tell you about spare change. My ex-husband and I were really struggling to get our construction company off the ground. I knew when the time came, we would not have enough money for Christmas. Because I stayed home with our girls and ran the business from there, I was not receiving a paycheck. So, when he would come home at night, I would dump all of the change out of his pants pocket and put it in a big jar. Then, I would get in his wallet and take one of whatever he had the most of. If he had a ton of ones, then I would take one. Same with fives, tens and twenties.
When the day came and he wanted to sit down and talk about Christmas, he told me that we couldn’t have Christmas for our girls. So, I went back to my hiding spot in our bedroom and pulled out a bag of money and said, “Will this work?” He just about fainted. All in all I think I saved around $1,000.00 and we could get everyone in our families nice gifts. So, I know what a little spare change can do.
Debby
We had a similar talk in our house recently and I was able to pull out already bought Christmas presents that I have picked up over the year, starting on the after Christmas sales last year. I already have more than 3/4 of my shopping done. My husband is always teasing me about my frugal ways and planning ahead for so long, but this year he was really excited that I “saved Christmas” by planning for it all year long. And not only that, but the total amount that I spent is only about half of what we used to spend a few years ago. Not only did I get really good deals on everything I bought, but we have spent the last three Christmases working the kids down to a more acceptable level of expectations. Now, each child receives 3 gifts (Jesus got three, why should they get more?) They will each receive a new clothing outfit, a book or set of books or software or something like that, and a toy. They total budget for each kid is $10 per year per kid. (The 16 yo has a budget of $160, the 12 yo get $120, etc) That covers all three gifts plus any stocking stuffers. Obviously, many of the typical wish list items are not in our budget-no iPads, no Playstation3, no smart phones, no designer anything. The kids who are old enough for phones carry prepaid ones with a strict budget for the month. When their minutes or texts are gone, they are gone. Each kids will receive a spending allowance for their own Christmas shopping of $5 per sibling or parent. If they want to buy for a friend, they have to earn the money. Sometimes they buy inexpensive items, and sometimes they team up and go together on bigger things for someone. I am as happy to receive a $5 candle as I would be to receive diamond earrings (although I have gotten cubic zirconia before.) My husband and I give each other small token gifts at Christmas, and save our spending for a nicer gift for our anniversary which will be just a few days later. Even though our income is only a littel over half of what it was 2 years ago, Christmas is even more special because we celebrate on purpose, not just wait for things to happen. That makes things meaningful enough that a $25 gift satisfies more than a $50 gift did 3 years ago.
I’m sorry i took so long to reply but I was throwing up from all your sappy nonsense. maybe if you had saved three years ago then you wouldn’t be worring so much now.
Good for you. Keep up the good work
Many years ago when my forty year old children were small i did the same thing! Yay for you. The baby Jesus got three gifts, and we don’t need more. I am not so austere as your rules for your children, i did save and buy as i saw fit, but three gifts is a great number.
And then he divorced you for stealing from him.
LMAO!!
Way to rain on a good parade Jmmy.
No wonder he dropped you like a bad habit you evil conniving witch. I bet you cheated on him too.
Seriously? If a couple is married it’s not HIS money, it’s their money. She can’t steal her own money. You seem very bitter about something…
Wow that was a very mean comment. Mean people please leave – you contribute nothing to the discussion on being frugal and thrifty. Also, those people commenting about spelling and grammar, you show up in every forum and are definitely not welcome. Go find a grammar blog and enjoy your nit-picking off-topic blather.
This is about being frugal, not spending $1000 on Christmas gifts. Nice example there.
He made a damn good choice marrying you.
Thank God for using you to be a blessing. Keep sharing that testimony.
I bet that’s why he’s an EX-HUSBAND now.
Was hiding money from him one of the reasons for the divorce?
So he was struggling at work and you bought $1,000 worth of xmas presents nobody uses anymore. The truly frugal doesn’t waste money on xmas presents.
“Me and the wife”? How about the wife and I???
Guess you never heard about community property. And guess what, your spouse can even take your drivers license if he/or she wants to, cause it’s community property too in Texas.
Actually “me and the wife is correct” so no is the answer to how about the wife and I. I always thought it to be your way but pulled out an old text book and realized me and you were wrong. ha, ha.
That is one heavy TV.
Look after the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves!
My wife takes thousands of dollars from me a year without asking. Is this frugal?
I go with nothing while she buys the best. She says “I can’t help myself and you think I like being like this.”
When she says, “I can’t help myself” after she helps herself to your pocket change, maybe she needs some other help to learn how to curb her impulses.
I saved a lot of money on food this year by joining a CSA, or community-supported agriculture farm. I get a large amount of organic produce each week from a farm 1-hour from my New Jersey home and it costs me about 12.00 a week. I signed up for a half-share, as one person. I paid a little over $250 – and the share lasts from June until November. It is a sweet deal and it’s local! Anhyone interested in this can look up their home state on Localharvest(dot)org
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