braisler

A few comments and posts in my Best Financial Tip thread have prompted me to start a thread on frugal living. Some of the posts there focused on the idea of spending less in order to save more. I have long been an advocate of frugal living, and I thought this might be a good forum to share ideas on how to spend less, live well, and save money in the process. I sometimes feel like I am surrounded by people who are living a lifestyle that is the opposite of my own. The drive to acquire goods, have a bigger house, take lavish vacation, get the latest toys is so omnipresent in our society that many people jump head first into debt buying things that their income simply will not support.

My family was fairly poor while I was growing up. We always had enough to eat. My mom made sure of that. But after my parents were divorced, things were very tight. Child support was $750/month and the mortgage on our house was over $500. I really don't know how she did it, but with that as our only steady income, she fed and clothed two young boys, paid all of the utility bills, and still managed to travel with us and educate us in the culture and history of this country. I relate this story only to provide some background on how I grew up living frugally. My experiences growing up have shaped the way that I live today. I have more income now, but I still spend carefully and conservatively and my frugal lifestyle serves me well.

Surely there are other members of this community with similar experiences and values. Let's share some ideas with each other. I am the first to recognize that there are different levels of frugality. Tips for saving money on your next cruise vacation might meet with disbelief from someone who is trying scrape together enough change to by ramen noodles. But I think we can all benefit from ideas from all walks of life. Save enough money on your groceries by using double coupons and you might soon have enough money accrued to take that vacation you've been dreaming of.

Lastly, I would ask contributors to this thread to provide some background or insight as to why their idea has worked for them, or how they apply it to their life. Don't just say, "Pack your lunch instead of buying it at work." Provide some interest by adding that this has saved you X$ a month. Money that you now put towards retirement savings, or whatever.

I think that I probably have more tips on frugal living than I could ever remember to write down in one place. I imagine that I will stop by from time to time to add something that came to mind. I'll start here with a couple of the big ones for me.

Learn the art of delayed gratification! No, not any sexual technique, but rather a financial technique of some importance. Most consumers today see something that they want and they buy it right now, putting large balances on their credit cards. You should strive to save towards long-term goals. Say you want a newer car. Figure out what it is going to cost you, and start saving a certain amount toward that goal each month. Rather than making payments on a loan, you are earning interest on your savings until you can afford the item outright. If you find that you are having a hard time saving enough each month to get to your goal, then you have learned the lesson that you are not financially ready for that new purchase. It is much better to find out that you can't save the $400/month towards a newer car, than to find out that your new car has been repossessed because you couldn't afford the $400/month payment on the loan. This also gives you enormous power over your personal financial life. You have the added luxury of shopping around for the best deal for the car as you approach your goal, instead of shopping around for the best loan rate once you have decided you have to buy that car right now.

Own where you live! I don't think that there is any financial goal as important as this. But it is also can be important part of living frugally if you buy a house appropriate for your current finances. In most real-estate markets in this country, buying is less expensive than renting. Even when you factor in maintenance and cost of capital to purchase, buying is still a better deal. There are also federal programs to help you buy your first house so you don't have to come up with as big of a down payment. One big mistake that many home buyers make is to aim too high when buying their home. They think that they should buy "up" anticipating future needs for a family, or home office, or whatever. Consider that most people sell their home and move every 6 years. Planning for lil' Johnny's needs as a teenager when he hasn't been born yet can get you into more of a house than you really need right now. The frugal aspect of home ownership is that it puts you in control of the housing portion of your monthly budget. If you have a fixed rate loan, your monthly mortgage payment will stay the same (taxes will change it some year to year, but you get the idea). Apartment dwellers often experience increases in their monthly rent of 3-10% per year. Cut the landlord out of the equation and you gain more control over your budget.

I'll quit for now with those two. Feel free to post your best frugal tips or ask questions if you like.

avhg1

My family was always well off when I was growing up and I never had to worry about what my parents could afford. I had a difficult time adjusting my own budget once I got out on my own. I moved out and got married to a wonderful woman who also grew up in a rather well off family. Needless to say we didn’t make any where near the income of our parents and tried to solve that by using credit cards. I’m sure everyone understands the trouble we ran into. We hit bottom and couldn’t pay our bills. I couldn’t take the stress any longer and we changed our habits. Luckily, we didn’t file for bankruptcy or anything and I talked with every bill collector and figured it all out. Five years later, we are still paying for some of it, but it is under control and slowly getting better.

One of the best money savers I’ve found is buying our clothes at consignment shops. You can get a lot of name brand clothes that are close to or new. With 4 boys to buy for, it saves a great deal of money. Even when you shop for sales at the stores, you can rarely find as good of deals. I’ve gotten brand new Lands End shirts for my boys for about $3 each. My own dress pants are purchased new most of the time for $5. Now, I go into stores and see the same pants for $30 and wonder how people can pay that much for clothes.

__________________
I shake the devil's hand daily... I'd do it hourly, but my hand gets tired.

braisler

Great tip, avhg1! And good for you learning the lessons of frugal living after coming from a well off family. Consignment shops can be great for finding clothes without breaking the bank. Growing up, most of my clothes came from garage sales. There are some social stigmas against wearing "used" clothes, but as you have discovered, keeping 4 growing kids in clothes is much easier when the pants only cost $3.

Related to consignment shops, keep an eye out for local boutique stores. My mom now lives in Vail, CO, home of massive conspicuous consumption. She still shops frugally though. She knows several of the boutique shops that have seasonal clearance sales where they hand you a trash bag and you can buy all the clothes you can stuff in it for $1. She has bought a cashmere sweater for 50 cents and a $500 ski outfit for $5. Keep your eyes and ears open, the deals are out there.

Carno

Yeah, I have to second the consignment shops tip. The only clothes I ever had growing up (until I got a job) were either from consignment shops of hand me downs. Nothing like getting an entire outfit for a few bucks.

Other than that, the only thing I can think of is that buying food for an entire week is much cheaper than eating out. Buying meat in bulk is pretty cheap, and much cheaper in the long run than buying food like frozen dinners or something. Also, some pasta is like 50 cents per box, and two boxes used to last me for a week. And don't buy drinks from the store.. Tap water (if it's drinkable where you live) is a helluva lot cheaper than buying soda from the store. Plus, avoid brand names; Wal-Mart or Publix brand is usually cheaper. I suppose ramen noodles is still cheaper than anything else, but I ate ramen noodles every days for months last year and I wished I hadn't. I lost about 25 pounds and gained a burning hatred for the taste and smell ramen noodles.

My family was pretty poor when I was growing up, and I still remember the meals consisting of mayonaise on bread, and water.. Last year was like that for me again, I could only afford to eat ramen noodles and peanut butter on bread.

soundmotor

Great topic, I'll try to add constructively! The area I am working on now is cars. I've had both new & used. I drive a used car now, but I bought an expensive one so I have a new car payment so it is really in between the extremes of basic transportation and "I'm the first one to debauch it."

First & foremost if you have to have a car, get one used. You'll save 40-50% on the model you want if it is as least 3 years old. That also coincides where new cars come off lease. Unlike a rental car offered up for sale, lease turn backs are in exceptional shape & often carry warranty. Second, when buying used, do not buy from a dealer. Find an auto broker. That may take some searching & word of mouth. Ideally, you get a personal recommendation from someone who bought from one. That's how I got into my current car but had I analyzed it more thoroughly, I would have done it very differently. Read on.

Here are the numbers on my purchase: late model German w/ 48K on it, single lease turn back, and in absolutely mint condition w/ every option. Original sticker on the car was ~$45K. My loan was for $21K w/ nothing down. A substantial savings on an outstanding car. ~24 months of payments so far & another ~24 to go. I am getting tired of payments and want to go back to outright "ownership". I put that in quotes because the continual gas, insurance, & maintennance costs mean you own the equipment but pay constantly on the use of it.

Recently this has caused me more & more concern especially when you reflect on what you must earn to pay for the ride. I put roughly 30K miles per year on the car. As the car only gets 22MPG it workes out to ~$2800 yearly in fuel cost. On top of that is the insurance. Even w/ a great record and no tickets, it adds another $1000. Keeping the car up (oil changes, carwashes, repairs, etc.) can easily add another $1200 or more. Finally, the note for the money borrowed totals ~$5100 per year. That is roughly $10,000 per year in after tax money for 2 more years. That means I must earn ~$14K per year just to drive this particular vehicle. That is definitely not living frugally and is why any 1st year financial adviser will tell you that your car is one of your biggest expenses. So how does one remedy this?

Get out of it and return to more reasonable transportation! For me, it must get better than 28MPG & that shaves $850-1000. Can't do much about insurance, it is what it is. Next is maintenance & that probably won't change much either because of my yearly mileage. The only other area of savings is outright purchase rather than financing upon sale of the vehicle I have. Because it is a popular model, I may even sink the note fully and have enough equite to buy the next one. As I put so many miles on the car, I don't want to spend much so I've put a cap of $4200 on the purchase including title & registration fees. The first year savings will be neglible if I don't get enough out of the old car to pay for the "new" one but the following one they are cut in half. This is certainly in keeping with the way I was raised, to live within my means even though technically I am with the current vehicle.

Hope someone finds this information useful.

soundmotor

Squishor

I kind of take the middle road when it comes to living frugally because there are some things I just don't want to compromise on, like the food I eat. Unless I'm dirt broke I just don't want to put third-rate food into my body.

That said, I do find I save a lot of money by eating at home. And it's possible to cook in such a way that one eats quite well for very little. For example, if you bake a whole chicken, then cook the scraps in water to make chicken broth, the resulting soups and mixed chicken dishes can keep two people going for a week or more. If you get tired of eating chicken every day, simply freeze the rest for later and make something different.

I've always shopped second-hand and rarely buy new clothes. I really believe that some things are just wrong, and charging over $50 for a shirt is one of them. Even if I had the money I wouldn't want to support that. Anyhow, by shopping at thrift stores not only do I pay very little, but I can actually afford to have more clothes in my closet than any sane person would know what to do with!

I also don't generally buy things like plastic bags or paper towels...I just save the bags I put my vegetables in at the store, or the napkins I get at places if I buy takeout, and conserve that way. Similarly, yoghurt or sour cream containers make just fine tupperware. Twistie ties from the store work for any number of things, including automotive repair - you just have to realize they are little pieces of wire. You can use them to repair small hinges too.

I have also saved on home decor by getting cuttings off my friends' houseplants and growing them myself. Since pots to put the plants in also add up, I look for those at yard sales. Usually someone with a lot of pots for plants will also have a bag of potting soil sitting around somewhere they are willing to part with, too.

Really if you're willing to be creative there's a lot you can do to meet your needs aside from running out and putting something new on your credit card.

psyday

This is an essay that my boss wrote that I thought was pretty good:

I read the article in Texas Monthly concerning your plight. For some reason, I have had a
strange compulsion to write. I have fought this compulsion for about a week, figuring it
was just a bug. Kinda like that bug you get when you really desire a new car. If you can
fight it for a few days, it usually passes. Unfortunately, the thoughts, ideas and phrasings
keep swirling in my mind so I must get then out somehow. Perhaps I will never send it,
but at least the demons will be banished.
Ok, first, why do I even bother writing? Well, one way to look at it might be that we, as
humans certainly like to feel good about ourselves. Writing to you, and providing some
form of encouragement or sage wisdom will allow me to help the less fortunate thereby
making me feel better. Remember that philosophically there is no altruism. Or, I can
find fault with the path you have taken and explain to you why you are in the situation
you are in. Perhaps this could be construed as another –ism…sadism. Or, I can look at
your plight and the similarities between it and my path through life, as there are many,
and commiserate (wish I had an –ism here to keep with the theme). All those are
certainly valid reasons for writing, but I don’t think any of them are the real reason. The
real reason I am writing is to banish the demons.
I read through your blog and felt a level of sincerity in that writing and some interesting
muses. I thought I might address some of those by sharing with you the truths behind
what I have learned in my journey through life.
On Family:
This is it. This is truly all there is. Family is what gets you through it. I feel for anyone
without family.
On Friends:
You are truly wealthy in this world if you have one or two really close friends. I mean
the hangout, share minds, run an errand, do stupid things together, do anything for you at
anytime kind of friend. Even your family may not be this good of a friend. If you have
one of these you are so fortunate. If you have two, then WOW.
The reality of friendships is that it is a complex relationship between socio-economics,
esteem, prejudice, pride, proximity and so many other factors. Most people choose their
friends based on some combination of these factors and when you fail in a piece of the
equation, you are a lesser or non-friend. It is rare for an individual to have nonhomogeneous
friendships. This is unfortunate because they live in a monoculture and
their lives are poorer for it.
On Employers:
The biggest mistake that business ever made was trying to pretend that they truly cared
and want you to be self actualized and fulfilled as part of their organization. This is
patently false as your sole purpose is to produce more than you cost an organization. Self
actualization and self fulfillment needs to be filled through your friends, family, faith and
outside interests. If you also are one of the fortunate ones to get an element of this in
your work, then you are truly one of the wealthiest people on earth regardless of your
income level.
On Jobs;
I always felt that the most fortunate people on earth were the ones that always knew what
they wanted to do with their lives since they were teenagers. This is very rare, but you
may know a person that, at 15, said I want to blank…and spent their lives doing just that.
I meet an interesting guy once. He asked me if I knew what the dirtiest word in the
English language was? Do you know what he told me? Salary.
Seems odd, doesn’t it. Don’t we all want a good salary? Don’t we want to make more
money and care for our families? Sure we do, but it is a pernicious bargain. Most people
start down a path in life, start to make some money and get a decent salary. Then they
build a life around that salary. Now, salary is really no longer salary, it is crack, or heroin.
You NEED it. If it is gone, you have to go get it again. You chase it, you degrade
yourself, you sacrifice your desires, and you compromise your values. You become a
product of where you have been because you have to go get that level of income again.
You may even spend 20, 30 or 40 years in a field or industry that you would love to get
out of, but you have the monkey on your back and you can’t.
This is part of what I call; The Many Lies That America Tells You. This is the fallacy of
a rich life. We are raised to believe that we can and should have all these things. We
should fill our lives with things and cars and this and that and etc, etc. If we do so, we
are rich people. The reality is that as you garner more possession they begin to
complicate your life. They own you. They need to be cared. They take up financial and
emotional resources. Someone said desire is the root of all misery. Well, I think they are
right.
In actuality, the richest life is a simple life. This does not mean not to be comfortable or
have a nice lifestyle, but keep it simple. Live beneath you means. Keep it paid for. And
always, always, always save and invest. This truly frees you to do whatever you want at
any time, with any options.
I will share with you an anecdote. I had a job once (after I broke my addiction to salary).
I went to my boss and said I need 6 weeks off as my wife and I are going to Europe.
Boss: “You only have two weeks of vacation.”
Me: ”I fully understand that I will only have two weeks of paid time off, I will take the
other four weeks off unpaid.”
Boss: ”You cannot go.”
Me: ”I think you misunderstand. I am going to Europe for six weeks. Here are the
dates.”
Boss: ”You cannot go, you only have two weeks of vacation.”
Me: ”I am sorry, perhaps I am not communicating clearly. I am going to Europe for
six weeks. Here are the dates that I am going. I don’t expect to be paid for the
entire time. I will take the other four weeks off unpaid..”
Boss: ”I told you that you only have two weeks vacation, you cannot go.”
Me: “I see you do not understand what I am saying. Let me explain it to you
differently. I am going to Europe for six weeks. Here are the dates. I would like
the time off. You do not have the power to tell me I cannot go. However, you do
have the power to tell me I cannot return. Therefore, I must state my request like
this. I would like to return to work after my six week trip to Europe. If you
would not like me to return, then consider this my notice that I will no longer be
employed here when I leave for my trip.”
Boss; “I don’t appreciate being blackmailed.
Me: “This is not blackmail. These are all decisions left entirely up to you. I am going
to Europe. It is your choice as to whether I am allowed to return.”
Boss: “That is blackmail.”
Me: “No, you are an employer and you have the right to not allow me to return. You
do not have the right to tell me I can’t go.”
That is the power of a simple life.
On Plights.
I was hooked on Salary for a long time. But, I was let go after 10 years with the same
firm. I was 42. I loved what I was doing and would have never left but the firing was the
best thing that ever happened to me. It forced me to pay heed to what I have learned as
mentioned above; the heroin of salary, the reality of friendships and the importance of a
simple life. I vowed that it would never happen again and I went out and started
something.
Think about this. You are 47. If you do find a job, so what? What is going to happen?
Layed off at 50 or 52? Are you hoping for 13 good years somewhere? Good luck
because companies don’t care if you get 13 good years or not out of them.
One of the reasons people don’t go into business for themselves is because of the heroin
of salary. They build a life that prevents them from forgoing temporary income for a
period of time as they wait for much greater rewards down the road. You have the good
fortune of already kicking the habit.
Another reason people fail to get started is because they worry about the wrong things.
Only worry about the next step, not two or three steps down the road. You are bright
enough to figure it out what to do once you get those two or three steps down the road.
All you have to do is put one foot in front of the other and before you know it, you have
gotten somewhere.
Go start something. It has never been easier to get in business. You don’t need
stationery, brochures, offices, nothing. You just need something to sell, either a good or a
service. It doesn’t matter what. I have a friend that has started 20 businesses. The
amazing thing about him is he is not emotionally tied to his product or service. He is
emotionally tied to the deal, to the building of the business. In fact, he usually freaks out
when they get past ten employees and is mostly worthless as an operator. By then he is
jonesing for the next deal and usually sells out or hires managers.
OK, so I guess finally we get to a point where I can feel better about myself by helping
those less fortunate: Go start something.
Good Luck

soundmotor

Thanks for sharing it psyday, it is very good!

soundmotor

TM875

Well, looking at it from a trained economist's perspective (yes, I was one of those really lonely kids that majored in economics):

There is both good debt and bad debt. Good debt is what you're going into for large capital durable goods. This would be buying a car, getting a mortgage, buying land, or anything else tangible that will last over time. Most likely, you will find a positive return out of this debt - even if it is simply a return on utility (for example, a car. Yes, it will go down in value, but the utility that you gain from it more than makes up for the loss in selling price).

Bad debt is credit card debt that you fall into for no substantial reason. DO NOT hold this kind of debt - there is a negative return with no real positive outcome.

That being said - I will never skimp on my car. I don't mind buying used, but I couldn't give a monkey's crap about the gas mileage or repair costs. If it's the automobile that I want, it's what I'm going to buy. Insurance - well, I'm used to paying a lot for that. My insurance was close to $400 a MONTH until I turned 23 - even then it only went down by a small amount.

Food, on the other hand, is easily substitued or forgone. Perhaps I'm the opposite of Squishor - but food doesn't matter to me. If I'm eating soup and lettuce for a week straight, then so be it - it doesn't matter to me in the least. Food is just a means to an end for me - I eat because I have to.


Anyway, I digress. To be truly economically sound, the consumer must balance both savings and spending. Without both, the economy will crumble. Everyone cannot be frugal, or else the system as a whole would fall apart (we need people to spend, and spend a lot) - so don't be afraid to buy that special "i-need-to-have-it" purchase, but make sure that it's within your means, and that it's only a special time thing. Maybe once a month, once every two months, or something like that. If everyone would just spend within thier means, the whole problem of debt would just not exist.

__________________
"I've made only one mistake in my life. But I made it over and over and over. That was saying 'yes' when I meant 'no'. Forgive me."

Rodney

I had the mixed blessing of being raised by moderately well-off people who'd been extremely poor when they were young and never forgot it -- depression babies. Being hungry when you're young puts a whole different spin on life. They -never- assumed that there would be "more where that came from," because when they were young -- there usually wasn't. By their middle years, they were living much more secure lives than I am now, but their habits were set. Even now, in her '80s, my mom doesn't have a credit card. Not even a debit card. They never bought a thing on credit except houses.

Sometimes they took frugality to a fetish, which bugged me -- my dad, when shopping for something, would always confuse "cheapest" with "the best deal," and you know that's not always true. But like them, I always pay cash. I do have a debit card for convenience and an Amex _charge_ card, not credit card, for traveling and emergencies. But I've never taken out a loan for anything. This whole idea of "leveraging" your wealth with creative debit never made sense to me. So I guess I'm a true grandchild of the depression. If you want it, save up for it.

Money-saving hints --

*Buy a decent car with a good reputation for reliability and drive them forever. Eschew expensive options. If you can buy one that's a year or two old, it's even better. Our Hondas are 12 and 13 years old, respectively. I know people who've had two, even three cars in that time.

*Shop consignment if you've got the patience. If not, go to stores like Ross or Marshall's and get last season's clothing for 60 percent off. My work outfit is generally a Hawaiian shirt and a pair of khakis, and I can generally get such an outfit for under $30 at Ross.

*In my area, (SF Bay Area) we have a rather well-developed Craigslist site, with thousands of things for sale at any given time; the ads are all free to seller and buyer. Often times, these are expensive items like furniture that are on sale for excellent prices by people who are leaving the area. I could furnish an entire house for $500 on Craiglist, including refrigerator and stove. For a grand or two, I could furnish a house _really well._ Many of the forsale items have pictures. If you live in SF Bay area especially (the LA and NY sites are also good), I highly recommend looking at Craigslist. There are actually dozens of regional sites; and while the traffic on some of these are low, the for sale boards are always worth a look. I have used Craigslist to buy, but have also used it to see furniture at prices that were more than anyone would give me at a garage sale, but still a real good deal for the buyer. www.craigslist.org.

Bargain matinees. Can't remember the last time I went to the movies _at night._ And I bring my own candy.

*Cook at home as much as you can. We're into beans right now, but we do buy quality food; it's still cheaper than restaurants. When you do eat out for fun, eat out for breakfast or lunch at good restaurants. Some restaurants basically serve the same thing for lunch as for dinner but leave out one course and cut the price by 40 percent.

*Join a church. I'm not kidding, nor am I proselytizing. But when you're part of a close-knit community, religious or otherwise. there's always somebody who's in plumbing or insurance or cars or some business who can either give you a good deal or give you advice on _how_ to get a good deal or who's reliable or not reliable in a certain business. With the church, you get the added bonus of the annual or semi-annual rummage sale, where every contributes stuff for sale. Church members always get first pick, of course, and we've picked up a lot of useful stuff over the years for not much. We've also given up stuff we didn't need that other people wanted, so I think it all balances out. And I will reiterate that it doesn't really need to be a church; I meet with a small group of guys weekly for yoga and a meal, and we operate as a community and share tips, borrow stuff from each other or give stuff to each other we don't need, and so on.

*Join the Friends of the Library. If you want cheap books, books on tape, and so forth, this is the place. The Friends in most communities have a regular book sale or two every year -- in our town, it's massive. Squishor, you live in Santa Cruz, same as me -- the local Friends fill the entire Civic Auditorium with books once a year or more, mostly on sale for $1.50 a pound. Ever been to one of those?

If you join the Friends for $10 or $15, even if you don't volunteer, you get to go to the members only pre-sale and get first pick. I have gotten some great books from the Friends. At any given sale, look over at the children's table and you will find a whole lot of middle-aged women (and a few men) loading up on high-quality picture books. They're teachers, and they pretty much have to buy every book in their class that isn't a textbook. They'd go broke without the Friends. I do actually volunteer with the friends: the average volunteer is a 70 year old lady, and they are great people and can do just about anything except lift heavy boxes of books. That's where I come in.

asaris

On food, and generic items in general:

I've always felt that it's important to know what to buy non name brand, and what to spend the extra couple bucks on. I never go cheap on toilet paper -- it's just not worth it to me! But you should always buy generic medicine if you can. It's exactly the same ingredients (at least, the same active ingredients), and about half as expensive.

If you make your own lunches (and you should -- my lunch costs me maybe two bucks, compares with five if you buy it at work), buy meats and cheeses at the deli. I often pay half of what I would pay buying the prepackaged stuff. The same goes for bacon; I love bacon, and buy buying it at the butcher counter, I spend about half of what I would spend on the name brand stuff.

__________________
"Die Deutschen meinen, daß die Kraft sich in Härte und Grausamkeit offenbaren müsse, sie unterwerfen sich dann gerne und mit Bewunderung:[...]. Daß es Kraft giebt in der Milde und Stille, das glauben sie nicht leicht."

"The Germans believe that power must reveal itself in hardness and cruelty and then submit themselves gladly and with admiration[...]. They do not believe readily that there is power in meekness and calm."

-- Friedrich Nietzsche

Rodney

I definitely agree on the medicine. You can go to a chain drugstore and buy Aleve for pain, or you can look down the shelve a little but and find Naproxen Sodium -- the same thing -- for 2/3 the price from the drugstore's house brand. Q-tips, same thing: 1/2 to 2/3 the price for generic.

Drugstores are a great place to save money. The neighborhood chain druggist even sells generic razor blade cartridges for Gillete and Shick brand razors at half the money or less.

braisler

I am glad that this thread is taking off. I particularly liked soundmotor's in depth analysis of what his car was actually costing him. I'd like to add a couple of more points on car ownership. As soundmotor pointed out, buy a used car instead of opting for new. Even if you are not mechanically savvy enough to inspect the car yourself, you can find a local mechanic to do a "pre-purchase" inspection, usually for around $50. You can't go wrong here. If the mechanic finds something major wrong, you are better off not buying the car. If the car is pretty ok, the mechanic will likely find at least some minor problems that you can use as leverage with the seller to ask for a lower price. "Yeah, you are asking $5000 for the car, but the blue book private party value is $4500, and the car has a leaky oil gasket that my mechanic estimates will cost $250 to repair. I still like the car and I am prepared to offer you $4300 today in cash." I have used exactly that phrasing any number of times, usually with good success.

Another point on car ownership as it applies to living below your means. Consider reducing the number of cars in your family. My wife and I share just one car. Now, I admit that we have the luxury of having of working at the same university. But many families have one car for every driver in the family. Every kid over the age of 16 does not need his own car. If you work, while your spouse stays at home, it might be an option for you to consolidate to having just one vehicle. It might translate into an occasional inconvience, but the cost savings are immense. My wife and I have been a one car household for almost 6 years now. I can count on one hand the number of times that we have had any kind of conflict over having just the one car. I haven't calculated the amount of money we have saved on insurance, fuel, and maintenance, but I am sure it is over $10K by now.

Ok, here's my all new tip for the day:

Garage sales are your friend! Most of us have seen garage sales as we drive around on the weekend, but few people realize the power your dollar can have at these secondary markets. It takes patience and a good eye for value, but I firmly believe that you can find ANYTHING at a garage sale if you are willing to look long enough. You can extend your search to include the classified ads in the paper. Following our last move, my wife and I refurnished our entire home for under $2500 mostly with garage sale finds. Many of you might be thinking, "Yeah, but it probably looks it. You've got shag upholstered chairs from the '70s clashing with a torn-up sofa and some broken, miss-matched lamps." Nope, you would never know that we got our furniture on the cheap unless we told you. I've been busy furniture this way for many years, and I have had some terrific pieces, name-brands like Lane, Laz-y-boy, Thomasville, all at very much less than the original price. I focus on furniture here, but you can apply the same idea to just about anything... sports equipment, car parts and accesories, woodworking tools, clothes, dog toys, whatever. It is the ultimate recycling and most people are very willing to negotiate with you. That could be a tip all on its own... Negotiate Everything. Even retail items can be negotiated if you know what you are doing, but the used market has much more leeway on what can be negotiated and how successful you'll be.

So the next time see a Garage Sale sign, swing on in. You might be surprised at what you find.

Yakk

I grew up in a middle-class home. My father was a statitician (manager), and my mother was a teacher (she stayed at home while me and my brother where young).

My parents where frugal. They bought things rather than borrow for them, they went to garage sales, built sheds and fences rather than bought them, and lived under their means.


I rent a place for 425CN$/month (about 350US$), cable/internet/utilities/etc included. It is 2 rooms in a 2 storey house, living with the owner, with a 2nd renter in the basement.

This has saved me an incalculateable amount of money. Find a homeowner who is renting where they are living. Make certain they aren't a goob.

Don't buy things you don't need. Don't pick up expensive tastes -- they are no better than cheap tastes to your happiness in the long term.



Buy a loaf of fresh bread, and freeze it. A toaster will turn it into tasty toast for a sandwich, and frozen bread keeps for weeks.

For food, buy easy to prepare things, and some spices. Pick up a spice jar and try it out. Cook more food than you'll eat at a sitting and eat leftovers -- once reheated chicken tastes as good as frozen entrees.

Hot spices, if you like them, can turn even the most simply cooked food into something tasty & tangy. =)


Maintain your car.


Value the potential to own as much as actually owning. Owning isn't all it's cracked up to be. Being able to look at a car, and say 'I could buy that' is power. But once you buy the car, the potential to buy is gone.

Do your duty to keep prices down. When looking at something, think "yes, I could afford that -- but, my job as a consumer is to keep prices down. That price is too high for that good. I'll buy it if it was half that price." You can afford to buy a season of your favourate TV show for 100$... But should you?


When you buy something, it owns you. You are now responsible for it -- be it a car, a house or a DVD. You have to now justify the cost to yourself, and care for it and use it. Being owned by things isn't worth it.

You personally don't have to be the spender. The frugal person is the one who is winning, the one with the freedom and the choices.

Being a consumer is the quick and easy path, full of temptation and impulse. Being a producer is the high and rewarding one. Join the light side!

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.

__________________
Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.

braisler

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.

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.

__________________
---
You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.
- Albert Einstein
---

Grasshopper Green

Wow, great thread.

I don't have any fantastic life saving tips, but I have a few small ones.

I don't buy cards, I make them. Hallmark cards run about 2.50 - 3 apiece, and when I factor in birthdays for my family, anniversaries, Mothers and Fathers Day (for my parents, husband, and mother in law), Easter, Valentines, and Christmas, I figure I save well over $100 dollars a year. My son loves to help make the cards and then they are extra special. My dad's Fathers day card that my son and I made is hanging in his office; if it were store bought, I doubt it would be there.

On a similar note, I buy all my holiday decorations after the holiday when things are 75% off. I got all my Christmas wrapping paper, tissue, ribbon, and bows for next year for a couple of bucks, and if I bought at full price, it would probably run me around 50.

Anyone who likes massages, check to see if there is a local massage therapy school. The one here will give massages for $20, a similar one at a spa would be 75-100 dollars.

I am another consignment shop lover. I buy a lot of my shoes there; I can get good shoes for 5 dollars that would normally be 50.

I have several small garbage cans around the house; I never buy garbage bags for them, I just reuse shopping bags; they fit perfectly.

Thats about it, if I think of more I'll post them.

spindles

4 words - make your own beer.

It tastes good, and is less than half the price of buying beer.

This reminds me - gotta bottle the stuff brewed behind me - today

__________________
who hid my keyboard's PANIC button?

braisler

Today's new tip: Minimize recurring costs and consolidate bills!

This tip might take a little more time and effort initially, but the rewards can make up for it. The beauty of this tip is that once you do it one time, you will reap the savings for months and years to come. The idea that some of your costs are fixed, namely your utility bills for cable, internet, phone, etc. isn't as true as it once was. Because each of those bills doesn't look like very much by itself, we can overlook what all of those services are costing us overall in our budget.

So gather all of your bills together and open up to researching some options. Start with your electric and water bill. Not much that you can do to eliminate those bills because you will still need those services. But you can look into conservation of resources to reduce your water and electric use. You'll be doing something good for the environment and helping yourself with lower costs too. There is plenty of information out there on this topic, so I won't go any more into it here.

Next look at your bills for cable, internet, phone, cell-phone, and long distance. For some people, this is four or five separate bills. Let's put up some numbers to make the discussion more meaningful.

Cable = $50
Internet = $20 (dialup) or $50 (broadband)
Phone = $30
Cell Phone = $40
Long Distance = $25
The total for these services is a staggering $165 a month if you have dial-up or $195 with broadband. That $1980 and $2340 a year respectively. What can you do to bring that down? There are a number of strategies to consider, and any of them might work better or worse for you. I'll tell you what I did with the above situation as an example.

My cable company was offering broadband service as a package deal with basic cable for $80/month total. I really wanted/needed to have broadband access at home, so thi was a good option for me. I looked into a company called Vonage that was offering Voice Over IP (VoIP) service for $24.95/month with unlimited free long distance. This allowed me to keep my landline telephone number and completely drop both the long distance carrier and my local phone carrier. Lastly, I found that I wasn't using my cell phone all that much. I like having one for emergencies and when I just need to call someone for directions etc., but I don't find myself using it more than once a month or so. I looked into Virgin Mobile that was offering a plan where you only pay for the minutes that you use with no monthly payment at all. If you use it a lot, you pay as you go. If you don't use it a lot, like me, you don't pay that much at all. They only require that you refresh your account with purchasing $20 worth of minutes every three months. So I've got my cell phone down to $80 for the year. Let's go back to the numbers...

Cable and broadband on one bill = $80
Vonage VoIP for long distance and local phone = $25
Virgin for Cell service = $80/year

So I went from $2340/year to $1340/year without sacrificing anything at all. I still enjoy every freedom that I had before. If anything I have gained the ability to call any of my friends and family at any time without worrying about whether it costs too much.

The above scenario might not be right for you, but the same principle can be applied. Maybe you are a heavy cell phone user. Consider your package options with your cell phone provider. If they offer free long-distance with thier plans, maybe you can drop your landline all together and go mobile. The larger plan with your cell service might cost you $60/month instead of $40, but you save the long distance (-$25) and local phone (-$30) so you end up ahead. Maybe you don't use the internet that much at home, drop down from broadband to dial-up. Consider a cheaper dial-up company, NetZero, Netscape, and others nationwide currently offer service at $9.95/month. Some local areas have carriers that offer connectivity for as little as $7.95/month. Lastly, consider your cable bill. If you don't have other services though your cable, consider switching to one of the small dish satellite companies. They have packages that might meet your needs for $30/month instead of $50.

Whatever the case, trim down those monthly bills by a little or a lot and you'll have a goodly amount left over at the end of the year.

toxic515

Here's some simple things that help also: watch your thermostat.. Get a programmable one and set it to shut off the heat or air at times when it is not needed. Change your filters in your furnace and AC.. WELL worth it. Clean the coils. I dropped my electric last summer by $50 per month with just those items (cost me about $5, I already had the programmable thermostat) Turn of the lights and monitors when unused. They generate heat and eat electricity. Replace the gaskets in your faucets from time to time... Especially the HOT water ones! Use coupons for retail store purchases as much as possible. It's amazing how much they can actually save you. I hate Wal-Mart, but that one stop shop is at times really nice, especially since they will price match against the local grocery stores. As a result if I HAVE to go to Wally-World, I take coupons and other store's ads with me for the products I am purchasing.

BARTER BARTER BARTER! I am "the computer guy" in my circle of friends, which includes a mechanic, and electronics repair person, a paint contractor and many others... I haven't had to pay anywhere NEAR retail for consumer electronics in a long tim, and my cars are kept running nicely.. As a result, each of them has well protected computers, home networks and the like. We trade babysitting with other friends, and often have dinners at other friends homes, and they at ours. In the long run, that actually winds up being a significant savings, because we do not attempt to prepare bombastic "holiday" meals, we simply have dinner together, and to add a family of 4 means a slight increase in cooking, but no leftovers, and a guaranteed different meal with no effort later.

__________________
Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies
like a banana.

DJ Happy

Spindles, that's not the SCG in your avatar, is it?

I do like this thread. I am so disappointed with the growing consumer, materialistic culture that is so prevalent these days. The number of people who are impressed by pure material goods as opposed to good human nature can be quite depressing at times.

In my line and location of work, I meet many Lebanese people. Lebanon is one of the few countries that I know of where almost everyone lives beyond their means, using their salaries to pay off debt, and those that aren't have absoutely no savings. Almost every Lebanese person I meet has a Rolex, whether they can afford it or not -they just have to have it. They all drive Range Rovers, BMWs and Audis. It's a culture I have never gotten used to.

So well done to everyone here for recognising the importance of maintaining control over your finances and realising that living well does not mean owning the flashiest car or having the most expensive stuff.

metalgeek

Sounds bad in a way, but move to a developing country for 6 months, and then move home.
You'd be amazed at what you learn about how you live, and what you require to live.
If your one person, do you need a 800 sq ft flat? or even 2 people? you can get by quite nicely with something MUCH smaller.
Do you by a coffee every day? a grande star bucks plain coffee of the day costs 1.70 CDN. Let's say you can brew your own for 70c a cup (probanbly a rather high estimate) thats 365 bucks a year, or almost a months rent (if you live someplace with sane housing prices)
Looking to rent? look for duplexes or fourplexes, often they go cheaper than equivilent apartments.
Look at living in a central area of town and getting rid of your car, rather than the outskirts. Even if your rents 100$ extra a month, you still save vs. a car.
buy a freezer and buy bulk.
If you do have a bigger freezer, look into buying a half or quarter cow. (you might have to ask around, or go to a farmers market) Your cost for meat will drop DRASTICALLY. in addition, if you ask around, you might be able to find more organic cattle than in the store. (steroids, feed, not feed lot fed, etc.) they also often do pork and chicken as well.
If you live in a more rural area, look at buying things from the mennonites/huderites/ other rural cristian sects.

braisler

Here's a new tip for the day: Use your public library!

You pay for it anyway, usually through property taxes. You might as well get something out of it. Instead of buying books and then having to store them at your house and move them when you relocate, just borrow them from the library. Obviously, there are some books that you like to have around for reference, like cookbooks and such. But even there, check out 2-3 at a time, find the one you like and then buy that to keep. Or oftentimes, I find one or two recipes that I really like in the whole book. Start your own favorite recipe book in a binder based on recipes you have written down from various cookbooks, etc. The cookbook idea is just an example, but it gets the point across.

Most libraries now will even allow you to log on online and queue up some books on reserve. This works well for recently published books, best-sellers, or those that are only held at one branch. My library allows me to stipulate the branch where I want to pick up the book, then they email me when it is on reserve for me to pick up. Start out with a list of what books you would like to pick up and check out your libraries online catalog. Plan to stop there when you are out for other errands or dinner. Reserve or request the books that are not at your local branch. And don't limit yourself to just books, many libraries will have collections of CDs, movies (even on DVD), and books on tape (or CD) which can be great if you spend a lot of time in your car.

__________________
---
You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.
- Albert Einstein
---

soundmotor

I second the motion!

Be sure to indulge yourself on the inter-library loan for books yours does not normally carry on their shelves. What this basically means is that you can get nearly any book ever published for the normal check-out period. The downside is that it can also take 10 days sometimes for the book to show up, more if checked out when you request it.

The library in my little town has over 4,000 unique title DVD's which means more selection than Blockbuster. The downside of course is that there is only a single copy of any given movie. However, maybe 1% of my town's population knows about the library/DVD connection. It is like being in a secret club.

soundmotor

soundmotor

If you must spend for consumer electronics, check here first for the equivalent utility of what you need:

http://www.edealinfo.com/

I've gotten some crazy deals here. In a few cases, actually made money on the transaction after all the rebates. Admittedly not more than a few bucks, but to end up with the item you ordered, the total purchase price refunded, free shipping,
and
additional cash on the deal is nuts!

Does anyone wonder why the dotcom bubble burst?



speaker

bad jane

some great ideas here.

my tip isn't quite as frugal as many others, but i'm gonna toss it out anyway! if you watch a lot of movies, try netflix. i pay twenty bucks a month for as many movies as i can watch with no late fees ever. i watch a lot of movies, it's cheaper than going to the theatre and i can watch them on my schedule.

it may seem extravagant to some people, but for those of us who are spending more than $20 a month on movie tickets and blockbuster rentals, it can add up to a significant savings.

Squishor

You know what, I had forgotten all about those. Cool, thanks!!

I guess I'm really cheap - I would never spend $30 on a Hawaiian shirt and a pair of khakis...

I must say I've been really disappointed at my effort to save money by making coffee at home. We used to buy coffee at the local brew bar every morning - at 1.65 a cup, that's $3.30 every morning. I finally talked my boyfriend into drinking coffee made at home, oh boy! So we start buying pounds of coffee, but those are $8 or $9 apiece...they last 4 or 5 days, so that's only 15 cents saved if we make them last 5 days at $9. Factor in half and half at $1.80 a quart or whatever it is, and there's really no savings at all! There is something so wrong with that!

Bryndian_Dhai

My husband and I started our marriage nearly $20,000 in debt. I used a settlement to pay most of it off and within a year we were back where we started. It took us two years to pay the debt off and we have managed to avoid it since then by doing several key things:

First, we have no credit cards. We each have a checking and a savings account that we can both access, and we manipulate the monies as we see fit (my paycheck goes into my account and his into his) I use my savings to save for the holidays and for large ticket items that we want/need. Each of us has a debit card for our checking account, and we only have one card for each account (no accidental overdrafts). If we want something, we save for it.

Second, we only purchase clothing two to three times a year. Unless we need something specific for a particular function (which is rare), we wait until our usual buying time to purchase. It sounds silly, but it does work, and it helps keep track of what we spend on clothing. So spring and fall (usually, and sometimes one trip for winter) we hit the sales and purchase things we need. Underwear and socks and such come from either the dollar store or from the outlet store. We buy tshirts, jeans, everyday sort of clothes, and replace worn or outgrown clothing on those trips. We're both large people, and finding sizes can be difficult, but we have been lucky so far. Internet shopping can help, too, and we save on shipping when we're purchasing a larger amount. We actually saved over $100 the first year we tried this method. It used to be the only thing we kept credit cards for, but we even gave that up as it was just as cost effective to save the money and keep to a particular budget. Mind you, we both occasionally see something we "must" have, but we save enough each year buying "staples" this way that we can afford to splurge once in a while.

We also each have a rule for those "splurges". If I see something I want, like a shirt or jeans or shoes, I have to mentally catalogue exactly what I will wear it with, or decide right there if there is something I need to discard or give away to make room/justify the purchase. The same goes for crap for my house. If I can't think of a use for it, outside of my one collection luxury, I don't buy it. Neither does he. This simple rule has saved us hundreds of dollars on purchases that we don't need.

We're both particular on food, so I don't have any tips. We also both work in the service industry, so we don't cook at home much, simply because we do it for a living and sometimes find it hard to stand in the kitchen even a second longer than we have to, even to feed ourselves. On the other hand, my hubby's done some great trades for gift certificates to other restaurants using gift certificates to his establishment. It helps make eating out so much a little more affordable.

Finally, we ultimately decided that if we want to continue living the lifestyle we lead, comfortable and able to afford the things we want and need when we want and need them, that we had to choose between our life as it is and kids. We know a lot of couples who've had children just because its what's expected here in the very religious/procreation happy catholic/fundamental christian south. This isn't exactly advice for frugal living, but it is part of how we've structured our lives to ensure that we are living well within our means and not beyond. We have chosen (for more than just financial reasons, of course) not to have children. Perhaps one day we'll want them, and when we do, we'll adopt or foster. But for now, children are beyond our means. *shrugs* Not meant to be judgmental of people who've had kids... But for us, it isn't the right decision.

There are other ways we manage to live well. Unfortunately, we also don't have much in the way of long-term savings, though my husband's choice of career doesn't offer much in the way of future planning anyway, and I'm in school and my future career will have some savings options, and retirement. We will eventually have to think about future planning, but for now we're ok... and would be for a while if anything happened.

__________________
“When facism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”
~Sinclair Lewis

Halx

I would like to take a moment to commend everyone who is participating in this thread for being the exact reason why I am proud to give my time to this site.

__________________
You have found this post informative.
-The Administrator
[Don't Feed The Animals]

ngdawg

We are heavily in debt and trying to get out of it. Unforeseen things like needing a new roof when the old one began leaking certainly didn't help. Now we (more like *I* really) have to stretch the money almost to snapping it like a rubber band. So here's some things I do that really help out a lot.
1) Utilities bills are high in NJ for the most part. I hang the clothes rather than dry them fully in a dryer-saves about $200 a year. We also cook on the outside grill all year long, including the occasional roast.
2) We use our cell phones almost exclusively. The house phone account is restricted to the most basic level-no long distance, even to 800 numbers.
3) and this is kind of a hypocritical point-we both are smokers and buy online which saves us about 2/3 of what it'd cost here. (I know all about the 'save 100% and don't smoke at all)
4) Fill your car's gastank-don't do the just $10 thing. Whether it's psychological or not, it just seems to go further on a full tank than on little gas.
5) If I am planning a weekend or even a day trip, I 'stash cash'. A dollar here, a fiver now and then adds up for those times of splurging without really cutting into a budget.
6) Sell everything you don't use. Consignment shops, yard sales, whatever.
7) Curbside garbage pick. Sounds crass, but we have gotten a lawn mower, a desk, an antique egg basket and a serving platter off curbs. And the spouse has garbage picked discarded old windows, which he then converts to wonderful wall mirrors, which we then sold.
8) Let the family and friends get you clothes for Christmas or birthdays. My kids get all their clothes from gift cards-I may have bought maybe 3 things for each in the past 9 months.

Suave

My family is actually pretty well off (upper middle class), but I have never been one to buy much of anything (I have my weaknesses though ). Instead of buying fruits which are frequently expensive and can go bad easily, I generally buy fruit juice. At about a dollar per 1L box, I spend almost nothing on getting part of my fruit and veggie intake for the day/week/month. I still like drinking, which gets very expensive if you do it improperly, so I generally end up drinking at my place or someone else's for a while before going out. Once out, nurse the drink or two that you buy for the night. I've saved upwards of $50 per night (on the weekend) doing things this way. Turning off lights when not in use (I mean consistently turning them off throughout the day and night) both lowers the electricity bill and is better for the environment. Same goes for keeping the heat low (18-20 degrees celcius at a maximum) and just wearing more clothes or a blanket instead of pumping the heat up. I don't like shirts with logos. To augment my collection of solid t-shirts, I recently discovered t-shirts in bags (in the underwear section no less) by companies such as Fruit of the Loom, at $8 for two t-shirts, and they fit nicely as well! Finally, when I grocery shop, I decide to buy something based on price per serving (approx meal size). I try to keep it below 1.50 per meal (not including milk and juice), and it works pretty well with most things. Just know how much you eat, the portions of what you're buying, and do a little quick math. I spend about 15-20 dollars a week on groceries, and have a decently varied diet.

Prices are all in CAD so I'm sure it's even cheaper in the US.

__________________
"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." - Albert Einstein

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." - Plato

ngdawg

Oh, and use coupons on sale items....(thanks for reminding me, Suave).
Watch buying at those warehouse stores-some things can be cheaper at even a Target when it's sale-priced (sometimes, even when it's not).
Re: the coupons-if your local store doubles, you can get an item close to free if you buy the minimum size required-just get more than one and you spent a fraction for what you may have spent on one of a larger size.

spindles

Yes it is. The game being played is the second final of last years one day tournament, Australia vs India, and that is the members stand, opposite where we were sitting.

__________________
who hid my keyboard's PANIC button?

spindles

Also, watch petrol prices in your local area - our local petrol station is cheapest on Tuesday and Wednesday, and is most expensive on the weekend (about AUD 10c a litre different from cheapest day to most expensive).

edit = on my 40 litre tank, this saves me about 4 dollars a week - you will have to figure out the price per gallon USD

__________________
who hid my keyboard's PANIC button?

braisler

For those of us in the US, there is a great little site that you might not have heard of called Gas Buddy where people can submit local gas prices. It is updated fairly regularly, so if you are due for a fill-up, check the site, and find the cheapest price that is located somewhere on your trip home. Easy!

Now that Valentine's Day is over, I'll add a tip that is useful following holiday times of the year.

Do all of your shopping for decorations and holiday themed merchandise AFTER the holiday for the next year. Obviously the value of this tip varies with whether you are the kind of person who does a lot of holiday decorating or celebrating. But if you are like most American families, you put out decorations for Halloween, hang the lights for Christmas, put candy and plastic eggs in baskets at Easter, etc. If you wait until the day or the week after any given holiday, you can find some great clearance bargains out there.

For Valentine's Day (an artificial holiday I refuse to celebrate), there are tons of heart shaped cookie and cake pans, candies, sweets, and cards that didn't get goobled up at your local drug store, department store, or grocery. Head down there or give a call and ask them what their clearance price is on the holiday merchandise. 50-75% off is pretty common, but I have even seen some drug stores selling their merchandise and candy at 90% off. Be sure to check with the department stores too, they can have some of the higher end decorations and kitchen items on massive discount. It is a great feeling to be able to lay out your holiday treats on the table for guests with trays that look like they cost $100s when you only paid $10.

Valentine's Day and Halloween are great times to get discounts on candy and sweets. Now what are you going to do with all of that candy! Some of it is themed to the holiday that it came from, others are more commonly packaged. You can save some of it for the next holiday in rotation. Some candy freezes very well, others are prone to freezer burn. Try a couple pieces to find out which work the best for you. If you can successfully freeze away a few bags of candy, you are better off than buying them at the last minute at full retail prices. Non-chocolate candies can have a shelf life of years depending on packaging. You can also use the candies right away in baked goods. Chopped up chocolate bunnies or ghosts substitute equally well for chocolate chips. Or melt down candies for use in recipes that call for milk or dark chocolate.

__________________
---
You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.
- Albert Einstein
---

braisler

I think that you might be making your coffee wrong if you are going through a pound in 4-5 days! With a finer grind, you probably can get away with using less coffee and still have a strong flavored brew. Also, make just half a pot. If you are looking for just your two cups of coffee, are you brewing 8-10 cups each time? I have a little 4 cup coffee maker in my office. Since it is usually just for me, the coffee tends to stay around a lot longer since I only brew what I need.

If you do brew a whole pot, consider making your own iced coffee drinks. Mix up your extra coffee with milk (Half and half if you like the fat), sugar or however you usually take it. Put it in recycled glass or plastic bottles. You've got something every bit as good as a Starbuck's Frappucino at a lower cost.

__________________
---
You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.
- Albert Einstein
---

raeanna74

Please forgive me when I brag a little here. But perhaps what we've managed will inspire or give ideas to someone else.

In NorthCentral Wis getting a factory job around $9-10/hr is good. Housings costs are around $400 for low-income or critter infested apartments (or $300 for the same in an efficiency) and good apartments are around $550 and up. We have a 3 person family so an efficiency is quite small for us. We bought a house this past September. We managed to find one that was a forecloser appraised at around $58k and we bought it with no money down for $47,500. It was a 4 bed, 1 bath home about 1500 sq ft home with a 2 car garage.We then refinanced just last month and the more recent appraisal was for $85 with our painting, recarpeting, and electrical improvements. The home is in excellent shape and in a good neighborhood. It took us around 6 months of hunting and paperwork to find and buy this place.
Now we're building equity instead of paying rent. Our rent prior to the purchase was $475/mo plus electric and buy lease renewal it was going up to $535/mo plus electric. Our mortgage payment now AFTER refinancing is only $506/mo plus all utilities. This refinancing means that we were able to pay off all outstanding debts including 2 credit cards (one at 25% interest that would have taken 37 years to pay off at minimum), a Dell loan, a old hospital bill, and now we have the money for hubby to do his car mod (yes, play money). We have no escrow account but have budgeted $35/week to our savings to pay for property taxes next year. We have eliminated all other debt, closed out credit cards, Opened a checking account at a new back that offers a free debit card so that we can make online purchases or reservations when needed and plan not to get a credit card for a long time.

We pay for a lot of things in cash and plan ahead for any larger purchases. We have no car loans now and we don't plan to get a new car any time soon. We have ONE mortgage and monthly utility bills. We also have good health insurance to help with those kind of unexpected things. So long as the car doesn't brake down we'll be good to go.

Hubby's job pulls in about $300/week net. I do home day care. I make around $100-160/week. The compensation is this. I am home to cut coupons, make my meals from home instead of using lots of prepared foods. I also have no day care costs which would cost me around $160+/week. If I were to earn $9/hr, subtract the usual taxes and social security, and then subtract gas and daycare I wouldn't be bringing home quite as much as I am now.

I make a lot of meals from scratch. I buy the lesser quality meats and then cook them all day (because I"m HOME all day) in the crock pot. By the time I'm done with them they're as tender as any higher quality meats. I buy only generic medications unless I've got a great sale and good coupon to bring the name brand ones down to the generic prices. For example I can pay $1.50 for Equate Acetaminophen instead of $3.79 for the same dosage and number of tablets of Tylenol brand Acetaminophen. There are some times when generic doesn't have the gastroenteric coating to make something less harsh on the stomach but most of the time generic is cheaper and they're under the same regulations here. I also shop at second had clothing stores for some things that I may need. Having a 4 yr old child - I'm constantly buying clothes for her since she grows out of them so fast. I can buy a good clean neat pair of jeans for her at the thrift store for $1.50 or $2.00. While at Walmart I have to pay around $8 for the cheapo sweatpants and $14 for the jeans (unless they're on sale at the end of the season (which I watch those sales closely too). I plan to have my own garden this year now that I have my own yard. I try to make grocery lists before I go to the store so I tend to get fewer extra things or doubles of things I already have. My grocery costs are significantly smaller when I make a list. Sometimes $25 or so less in cost. I never feel like I forget things then either. I buy Quick Trip milk when I have time to make the extra stop because it's sometimes $.25 to .50 less than a gallon at Walmart or the grocery. Sometimes almost $.75 less than other gas stations.

I just recently fixed up my dining room a little by recovering the chairs. I bought 2 yards of heavy fabric for $1/yard at Walmart, and I got 100 carpet tacks for $1.50. I recovered all four chairs and have enough to recover my stools as well. Gave myself a new look and renewed the look of my furniture for only $3.50 instead of buying new chairs.

I made my Halloween costume 2 years ago from scratch. I made Laura's first Christmas dress myself with no pattern. I made several maternity dresses while I was pregnant because you wouldn't believe how expensive those ugly materity things are that still don't fit your belly right. The cost for the material runs around $2.75-$5.00 (for the expensive materials) and I try to buy things on sale or a reminants. A dress or slacks for myself is around $8 or $9 for materials including buttons and elastic and things. An article of clothing for my daughter can run around $3 or $4 for all the parts and materials. Then I also know the quality of the clothing and can tailor it to fit us better. I don't make jeans because the materials plus the cost for the heavy duty needles and EXTRA time that those things require just isn't worth the effort.

Laura needed a toy box. I found one for $.25 at a rummage sale. Bought a $3.00 quart of kids washable paint. and repainted it and fixed it with a few nails. It's lasted her for 3 years now and looks pretty good still.

Yes I put a lot of time and effort into things. It's my way of PAYING for what I have. My parents taught me how to do a lot of things for myself. It's the best gift they ever gave me.

I hope this all makes sense.

Edit: I just wanted to add what our situation was only 3 1/2 years ago. We had 2 car loans, 3 credit cards, a $1000 hospital bill, the Dell loan/bill, and were paying around $350/mo for rent (had to hunt down a wold spider and several mice in that place). That's not counting our monthly expenses for utilities, groceries, and gas. Also I had a part time job and Hubby was jobless due to his injuries at the time. We've been there but we've gotten out - never would have believed it was possible 3 and 4 years ago. NEVER.

__________________
"Always learn the rules so that you can break them properly." Dalai Lama
My Karma just ran over your Dogma.

st33lr4t

i definatley live below my means...i dont feel like wasting my days working away so i can have more things to pay for. not for me.

NotMVH

I look forward to the days when I have enough money I don't need to budget, or forcast or watch my cashflow. When I can just do and buy what I want with the money in the equation. Until then I think their is alot of great information here. The biggest step for me was using financial software to find out where my money was coming from and going to. I am using Money 2005 from Microsoft and it has helped me to really find out where my money was going and by knowing dollar for dollar what I was spending my cash on, tighten down the belt and remove many unnecissary expenses I was racking up. The program is inexpensive and a fantastic tool to understand your personal finances.

Squishor

Well, I've got it on the finest grind the thing is capable of, and there isn't any going to waste. My boyfriend drinks about 20-30 ounces of coffee a day, maybe that's the problem. If I make half a pot he will just go buy some more. The point was to save money by making that coffee at home instead of buying it pre-made, and that doesn't seem to be happening. Very distressing.

la petite moi

Hm, as a student, I know that I save a lot of money by shopping online for my books. Also, when it comes to school supplies, use your spiral notebooks until all the paper in it is gone. Use your backpack until it is shredded (or zipper breaks, etc) and keep your three ring binders until they are completely broken.

Buy old, unwanted books at library give-aways and resell them for more on half.com.

Like many have said here, shop at thrift stores.

Also, when it comes to hygiene products and the like, it's good to shop at the dollar marts! A little one dollar bottle of shampoo goes a long way and is cheap. Adding to that, when it comes to shampoo, you can split the whole bottle into two different bottles and dilute it with water. It lasts a LOT longer, and you've saved money.

I'm not sure what else I can include. Hmmm...