Great post Yakk. I like thinking of it in terms of us frugal folks being on the "light" side. And you are right to disagree with our economist friend. You don't have to be the one doing the spending. I don't think for a minute that there is any real risk of the entire population of the country becoming suddenly frugal.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Yakk
And if this is the case, be willing to take a cab if there is a serious conflict. Rare use of cabs is cheaper than maintaining and upkeeping a car for rare use.
|
Oh, yeah. Maybe conflict was too strong a word. We have had maybe four times where we said, "Oh hey, we could have used another car if we wanted to do that this weekend." And the cab idea is worthwhile too. Or even rent a car for a day or a week when you need it. You might spend $125 to rent a car for a week, but the rest of the year that you don't have to pay $1000 in insurance more than makes up for it.
How about this tip:
Kick the habit! I've talked to many of my friends who are/were smokers over the years. I was surprised how many of them had not really considered just how much their habit was costing them in money each year. I worked with a woman who said that her dream for years was to take a cruise vacation. This was in Florida, so you have your choice of cruises with easy access. She and her husband are both pack-a-day smokers who have tried to quit in the past but failed. I talked to her about the cruise that my wife and I had just gone on. With wide eyes she asked, "Well, how much did that cost?" I told her we had spent about $1800 for the two of us. "I could never afford that!" was her obvious answer. A quick math lesson later, showed her that quitting smoking today could have her and her husband on that ship within a year.
Did she do it? I don't really know. We moved away and lost touch with her, but I hope that the lesson sunk in. Quitting smoking isn't easy, but maybe the extra money will help with the motivation.