The key to being frugal is to view what you have in life from a “bottom up” viewpont instead of “top down”. What I mean is, I’m happy just to have food and drink and I don’t care what brand it is or how much it cost. I have never bought anything based on a brand name. I buy on price (80%) and quality (20%) and would rather have something serviceable and cheap that I can repair. If you have any snob or upscale qualities, you’ll never be really cheap. Like I said in my first post, frugality is my hobby. The only thing I freely spend money on is travel because memories and experiences don’t depreciate or wear out and in my book that’s the best kind of investment.
Athena – I agree with you on just having to have certain name brand items. As I mentioned, I’m not going to buy generic facial tissue or toilet paper or lemon/lime pop. Similarly, I have my specific brand of peanut butter and other things. But being frugal doesn’t necessarily mean denying yourself. Like somebody here asked about dry milk. If you can stand the stuff, I say goferit. If not, just buy regular milk, but do it at the cheapest place. Around here, it’s K-mart, where I can get a gallon for between $1.99 and $2.19. At the local inexpensive grocery store, it’s on sale for $2.89! When you go through several gallons a week, that’s a good saving.
I went shopping last night and had about $13 in coupons. Now, $5 of it was for diapers, but not Pampers or Huggies or those expensive ones. Drypers work just as well and are a helluvalot cheaper – even without the coupon. Then I found one of those coupon feeders at K-mart earlier this week and took several. Brought the coupons to the grocery store, where Drypers are cheaper. Voila! It may seem like a lot of work, but it really isn’t. I was already at K-mart (buying milk) and I was already going to the grocery store. The other coupons were for Puffs (we buy either Kleenex or Puffs, depending on which is on sale or which we have coupons for), Kleenex Cottonelle t.p. (my wife got mad at me for buying the single rolls instead of the double rolls, but the singles were actually cheaper this time), baby food, sour cream (which was also on sale), laundry detergent and other cleaning stuff, and a few other things I can’t recall right now. Also, I bought a bunch of soup because it was on sale (stock up now), etc. The soup was name-brand (Chunky) because that’s the one I like (there are a few others that are ok, but some I really don’t like at all). I also bought some frozen lunches for work, which is a lot cheaper than going out to lunch every day. Yes, it would be even cheaper if my wife would make large meals all the time and I could bring those, but she doesn’t necessarily have the chance to do that.
In other words, I guess what I’m saying is you don’t have to be super-cheap to get some savings out of things. Sure, there are areas you don’t want to compromise on, but find the areas where you can compromise and save some money there.
Why are people who are obviously rich so frugal? I notice this very often.
As a matter of fact, I saw a guy from a local rich family at the store. I know his family they own A LOT of property. He was looking at bagged cereal, you know the cheap bagged stuff for $2 bag?
handy, it’s a cliche that rich people are rich because they’re frugal. It’s true. More accurately, they’re rich because they’re careful with their money. They set priorities, and budgets, and stick to them.
Your rich neighbor, for instance, is buying bagged cereal at $2 a bag, instead of the name-brand box at $4 a box (for example), because saving $2 is more important to him than buying General Mills cereal.
It’s all about living within your means. This is something that I am hoping to achieve someday. This thread is great, btw. I am getting some great ideas and inspiration, too (you’ll find me at Sam’s this Saturday!)
One thing no one has mentioned: tell people what you need. If you are looking for something, especially something that will cost a considerable sum of money, tell people. I’ve found that the info and advice I get saves me a fortune: like the time I needed a vacuum cleaner, and a friends mom was getting rid of one that was practically new (because it was too heavy for her to use.) Lots of other example - people really do want to help, but they have to know what you are looking for.
I am a redhead, you see, and I do not tempt. I insist. -Cristi
We had this client at my old job who was in her 80’s and until her husband died when she was like 75, lived very frugally because she never knew that her husband was making pots of money.( I think he owned a little hardware store.) When she found out that she was a millionaire several times over, she invested it wisely and only spends her money on fabulous vacations ( like $50k in one shot) and the best booze.
( She’s an alcoholic, and only became one after her husband died. I strongly suspect it was because of 60 years of marriage and penny pinching and constant worrying about “are we going to make it this month” would make me a little bitter, too.) She use to call our office on our toll free line even though she lived in a cheap apartment about two miles from our place. (WE put a block on her number to keep her from clogging up the line for our clients calling from out of state.)
If you are raised that way, it is hard to change. That is why lots of lottery winners declare bankruptcy within 2 or 3 years, because they’ve never managed money or lived with in a budget.
When you are forced to cut expenses suddenly, if your spouse loses his job or an injury keeps you from work or one stays home full time to beat the kids on a regular basis, you learn what you need and what you can live with out on a trial by fire basis.
I was raised to be frugal, which regretfully, none of my siblings were.They aren’t spend thrifts or live large. They make stupid monetary decisions. I’m not sure who they listen to yammer on about " When I was growing up in the Depression…" stories, but I paid attention and I actually feel guilty about making purchases that I consider luxury items ( CD’s, Nice new clothing ( not resale), eyeglasses/pretty underwear ( for some reason) and high falutin’ makeup ( which I haven’t bought in years due to my overwhelming fear of the cosmetic nazi’s at the stores. ) Because I’ve learned that fads are exactly that and to buy only classic things that will carry over ( waist line permitting) from year to year.
Somewhere ingrained in my brain is the thought: I know I can get this cheaper elsewhere or my Mother In Law can make this. Or my mom can paint/decorate this. Or, hell, they are too busy and I’m a clutz in that department, so , can I live without it?
I catagorize everything in my mind as either:
a)WHY Do I NEED this item?
b) WHY Do I Want this item?
I’ve saved a chinese fortune that summed it all up for me: He who knows he has enough is rich.
What I want to know is, where does this Rich guy live and how can I ingratiate myself into his circle of friends
Take about 1/4 cup of kernels and put them in a brown paper lunch bag. Fold the top down a couple of folds and microwave for 2-4 minutes. ( Experiment with the time to figure out the optimimum pop ratio). Careful of the steam when opening it. Put into a bowl and add the toppings you desire.
It’s free of all the other gunk that Orville and his boys put on it.
Make it your mantra ‘I want that barcolounger ,but absolutely will not bid above $30 for it’. - Yankee Blue
Here’s one that might be too extreme for most people: Get rid of ALL your credit cards. They try to make it seem that it is necessary to have them for travel, buying stuff in catalogs or on line, etc., but it isn’t. It is amazing how much unecessary stuff you don’t buy if you always have to pay for it with cash on hand. Many places now take checks or ATM’s and you can always get a secured Mastercard or Visa which can be used just like a credit card.
Also–someone up above said that they change their old less frequently than recommended. Actually changing oil frequently is the cheapest, best way to get more years out of your car.
A word of caution about buying in bulk - check to be SURE the price of the larger quantity item isn’t actually inflated. When “family size” and “super size” first came out, it was always cheaper to buy the bigger box/bag/whatever. Manufacturers made it cheaper to buy this way because packaging and labor were less expensive for them to package in lager quantities, and they sold us on the concept.
Now what they’ve done (and I see this frequently), is make you think you’re getting a deal because you’re buying the box of 100. They know that consumers still think they’re getting a deal and so they’re taking advantage of that.
Case in point - I was buying tall kitchen garbage bags at Target and noticed that the Target brand came packaged two ways; 30 or 100 per box. The 100 count box was $9.99, and most of them were gone from the shelf. (Obviously people thought it was a “great deal”.) The 30 count box was $1.67. Doing the math, and realizing what a complete ripoff the box of 100 was, I quickly grabbed 3 boxes of 30 and threw them into my cart. Granted, I only got 90 bags and not 100, but I also only spent .056 cents per bag instead of .10 cents per bag.
At Staples yesterday I looked at 5 tab dividers. A package of 5 sets was $23.75. A package of 1 set was only $4.18. Gee, $4.18 x 5 = $20.90. I bought 5 single sets.
I see this kind of thing constantly and it really pisses me off. You just know they’re trying to rip people off because we’re all assuming they’re still pricing the way “bulk” pricing was originally designed to work.
So being frugal isn’t only about buying cheaper brands or inferior quality (Target garbage bags are just as good as Hefty anyway). I “splurge” and buy the drawstring bags because I like them better than the ones where you have to tie the twist thingie around it. Yes, I could save money if I didn’t buy the drawstring, but I like them, so I do. But it’s a matter of being smart and careful about how you make some of your purchases too.
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” - Anne Frank
Shirley- I love that popcorn idea.
Cher- good idea, for most people. My husband and I do have a few credit cards, with balances on them, because we used them as “instant cash” to buy real estate. The income from the properties more than covers the payments, but we’re compulsive about switching credit cards to get the low, introductory rate. We pay 3.9% on easy “loans” this way. We never use credit cards for personal purchases, and we have a plan to have all this debt paid off within the next year. If you have a balance on your credit cards, go for the lowest interest rate. If you DON’T carry a balance, get a card with no annual fee. If you have no self-discipline, cancel all of your cards.
Shayna makes an excellent point about buying in bulk. Watch the unit price of what you buy. You would think, for example, that a block of cheese would cost less than preshredded cheese, but I pay less for the shredded kind. Buy it at Sams and save a couple bucks on top of that.
Thank you, Shirley; this bears repeating. This is what the sick little old lady in the trailer was telling me.
Sorry, can’t give up my credit cards…I need them to order online.
But I have to attack those frozen pizza comments. Try one of the oven self rising pizzas, about $4.50 each. Start with a cold oven, never a warm. They are packed to not get any freezer burn. THe smell of fresh yeast from them is great.
Well, shit, I can’t believe I missed this thread until now! I’m so happy I think I just flipped over! I’m a die-hard tightwad. If I can’t reuse it, reduce it or recycle it I’m not likely to buy it! Great ideas out here and I think mine have been covered. I’m frugal because I will make time for it because to me (harking back to another thread) money is a tool.
You don’t have to be poor to be frugal. It’s a way of looking at the world. But, yes, there are things I don’t skimp on. I have to use Tide because it’s the only detergent that doesn’t give me hives. But I can do a whole load with 1/4 cup. If the laundry is really grungy I’ll use 1/2 but I find that 1/4 works very well for most loads.
It’s like shampoo: I buy what ever is on sale and use the smallest amount I can get away with. Your hair is dead. Putting all those expensive vitamins and proteins on it is like giving a face lift to a corpse: what’s the point?
Glad to know there are a whole bevy of tightwads out here!
Thanks for the link to the Dollar Stretcher, I was able to find some very helpful information about investing. (I was getting confused and overwhelmed!)
My question to you is: have any of you had success with a comparison price book? I’ve made a couple halfhearted attempts but have never been able to tell what prices to actually record: regular price? sale price? discontinued price? club card price? I don’t usually buy anything unless it’s on sale, so should I record only sale prices? But then how do I know if the item I need will be on sale so I don’t waste a trip? No matter what frugal/tightwad source I see they all seem to reccommend this but I can’t see how it could work in an area where the prices fluctuate as much as they do here.
“I’m the luckiest man in the world, now that Lou Gehrig is dead.” Homer Simpson
I’ve never used a price comparison book. I’ve learned when something is a “good deal” by experience. When I see canned corn “on sale” for 2 for a dollar, I know that’s the average price. Two for 89 cents; I’ll buy a few extra cans. When I go to the salvage store, I can get corn for 10 cents per can, so I buy all they have on the shelf (which might be a dozen cans).
It helps to consistently buy the same items and to find a good store and go there almost exclusively. When I go to Homeland, I can see at a glance that their sale prices are higher than United’s regular prices (and their selection bites), but now and again they’ll have a good loss leader, like last summer when they sold 10 ears of corn for a dollar. I hate grocery shopping at Wal Mart, but I do go there occasionally to stock up on crackers. I don’t spend very much time at all shopping for the best bargains- I know a bargain when I come across one, and take advantage of that.
By the way, the best shopping deal ever is the crackers at Wal Mart. $1 a box for good crackers- wheat thins, chicken in a biscuit, triscuits, ritz crackers, and several other varieties. These are big boxes, and though they’re the WalMart brand, they’re identical to the name brand crackers.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I think the best lesson a parent can teach a child is how much things cost. Look, if you eat at a restaurant, this is what you’ll pay. For the same amount of money, you can get this. Tomatoes cost this much. Rent costs this much; car insurance this much, and don’t forget about utilities. How much money do you think you’ll need to earn each month to survive? And how do you suppose you’ll go about getting that income?
When I left my parents’ house, I was so completely clueless about money, and my husband was, too. We struggled for a lot of years before we got a grip on things. I’d like to give my kids the information they need to avoid the worst of those hard times.
Good point, Holly, about teaching kid’s the real cost of things. With the oppressive taxes in this country, you really have earn two dollars to keep one. Every dollar that you can keep from spending really is worth two. Of course my kids think I’m the cheapest person on the planet (Gush !) but they will understand someday when they don’t have college loans to payoff.
Breakfast this morning (eaten at my desk, as usual) consisted of a bagel with cream cheese, a coke (the Real Thing) and three slices of bacon. I brought it all from home, including the bacon, and the approximate cost of my breakfast was 60 cents. I figured what the charge would be from the cafeteria in my building for the same breakfast - $3.30. I may not be quite the penny pincher some of you are, but that’s the kind of savings that adds up!
I think I’m a pretty impressive penny-pincher, considering my life status. While it’s simply not feasible for a single student living in a dorm to routinely purchose fifty pound bags of rice, I can count the number of times I’ve been charged ATM fees or let a balance ride on my credit card without taking off more than one glove.
That aside, here’s one I don’t think anyone has mentioned:
If you live near a residential college or university (it doesn’t have to be a LARGE school) practice avid dumpster diving following finals’ weeks. The end of spring term, I assume, is the most profitable time, but you can also find some good stuff at the end of any other term:
Clothes, furniture, cash left in the pockets of the clothes, books, other school supplies, food, electronics. . . okay, you get it.
All you credit carders - check out www.aria.com. I just tranferred ALL my balances to it - 0.0% interest for 90 days.
I think the whole “get rid of your credit card” thing is overrated. Sure, some people get into trouble with credit cards. But some people don’t. I don’t. Last summer, I decided to redo a couple rooms in my house. I put it all on credit cards, as I had no cash lying around. I made sure to get low interest cards, and transfer balances when the low-interest periods are up. I planned for the debt, and pay a certain amount every month on them. I’ll be completely out of debt in a few months. Overall, I will have probably paid maybe $300 in interest on about $12K of debt. Well worth it, IMO.
(on a side note, I did get lucky in some investments, and the whole damn 12K is going to cost me about $2500 in “real” money. When I saw how this worked out, I realized exactly how the old saying “the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer” works.)
) Because I’ve learned that fads are exactly that and to buy only classic things that will carry over ( waist line permitting) from year to year.