In early 2007, Janssen and I both had full-time jobs. We had no kids and no car payments, and our only major monthly expense was our mortgage payment, which was a whopping $850.
So when we decided to start saving money, we saw instant rewards.
Every month, we'd sit down in front of the computer and decide how to allocate our extra income among our savings accounts.
That's when I discovered that saving money could be just as satisfying as spending it, if not more.
In other circumstances, I may not have felt that way. Had I not been frustrated with our lack of savings after working hard for what felt like a long time to establish our financial security, it may not have felt so good to save.
But I HAD been frustrated, and I HAD felt the stress of living paycheck to paycheck. And saving money was a method by which Janssen and I could overcome those things.
For the past couple of years, I've been doing the opposite of saving money. First, I tried my hand at futures trading and LOST money instead of saving it (don't try this at home). Then I took out over $30k in student loans for my master's degree.
And now we're paying off student debt as quickly as possible. It's not as exciting or satisfying as saving money, but it's liberating, and it's setting the groundwork to begin saving again, which I'm definitely looking forward to doing.
Have you experienced the satisfaction of saving money, and was the satisfaction as surprising to you as it was to me?
Mar 31, 2010
Recipe Wednesday - Pasta with Broccoli and Chicken (Merrick)
This is a recipe I recently tried out of the The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook. I mentioned this cookbook before and there were several commenters who said they were nervous about a $5 dinner; did these dinners only include spaghetti, casseroles, and ramen noodles? Well here is a recipe that proves the $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook has great options. In fact, after making this, Philip said it went into his top 10 recipes that I've ever made (that top 10 list doesn't include soups...that man would eat soup or stew every day for the rest of his life if I would make it for him).
Pasta with Broccoli and Chicken:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts ($1.66)
1/3 cup plus 1 tsp olive oil ($.50)
salt and pepper
2 garlic cloves, crushed ($.10)
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes ($.03)
1/4 cup bread crumbs ($.25)
2 heads broccoli ($.79)
1 package (16 oz) shell pasta ($.97)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese ($.50)
Pound the chicken breasts between two sheets of wax paper to a thickness of 1/3 inch. Rub both sides of the chicken breasts with 1 tsp of the olive oil and season them with salt and pepper.
In a skillet, saute the chicken breasts for 6 to 8 minutes on each side, or until the chicken is cooked through. The cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts. Remove from the skillet and let cool. When cool, dice the chicken and set aside.
Peel and thinly slice the garlic cloves. Place them in a shallow saucepan with the 1/3 cup of olive oil and heat gently until the garlic takes on a golden color. Add crushed red pepper flakes for a bit of zing. Remove from the heat and set aside, uncovered.
In the same skillet used to saute the chicken, toast the bread crumbs until brown and set aside.
Remove the stems from the broccoli and separate into florets. Cook the broccoli florets in boiling salted water until they turn bright green. Drain and set aside.
In a large pot, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain, reserving 1/3 cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta and reserve water to the pot.
Toss the broccoli and chicken with the cooked pasta. Pour the headed oil with the garlic cloves and red pepper flakes over the pasta and toss. Finally toss with the grated Parmesan and toasted bread crumbs.
**I like a little sauce with my pasta, and usually the pasta water doesn't really do it for me. So I made a half batch of $5 dinner mom's Homemade Basic White Sauce and tossed that with the meal right before serving**
Homemade Basic White Sauce:
4 tablespoons butter ($.40)
6 tablespoons flour ($.10)
3 cups milk ($.30)
salt and pepper
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the flour and whisk with the melted utter until it forms a paste and bubbles.
Whisk in the milk. Whisk until flour and butter have dissolved into the milk.
Cook the sauce over medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring continuously. The sauce will begin to thicken, as it bubbles and cooks. Add milk and flour one tablespoon at a time to reach desired consistency for your meal. Add more milk for a thinner sauce. Add more flour for a thicker sauce.
Cost for Pasta with Broccoli and Chicken: $4.80
Cost for half batch of White Sauce: $.40
Total Cost for Dinner (that made plenty of leftovers for the next day): $5.20
Pasta with Broccoli and Chicken:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts ($1.66)
1/3 cup plus 1 tsp olive oil ($.50)
salt and pepper
2 garlic cloves, crushed ($.10)
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes ($.03)
1/4 cup bread crumbs ($.25)
2 heads broccoli ($.79)
1 package (16 oz) shell pasta ($.97)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese ($.50)
Pound the chicken breasts between two sheets of wax paper to a thickness of 1/3 inch. Rub both sides of the chicken breasts with 1 tsp of the olive oil and season them with salt and pepper.
In a skillet, saute the chicken breasts for 6 to 8 minutes on each side, or until the chicken is cooked through. The cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts. Remove from the skillet and let cool. When cool, dice the chicken and set aside.
Peel and thinly slice the garlic cloves. Place them in a shallow saucepan with the 1/3 cup of olive oil and heat gently until the garlic takes on a golden color. Add crushed red pepper flakes for a bit of zing. Remove from the heat and set aside, uncovered.
In the same skillet used to saute the chicken, toast the bread crumbs until brown and set aside.
Remove the stems from the broccoli and separate into florets. Cook the broccoli florets in boiling salted water until they turn bright green. Drain and set aside.
In a large pot, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain, reserving 1/3 cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta and reserve water to the pot.
Toss the broccoli and chicken with the cooked pasta. Pour the headed oil with the garlic cloves and red pepper flakes over the pasta and toss. Finally toss with the grated Parmesan and toasted bread crumbs.
**I like a little sauce with my pasta, and usually the pasta water doesn't really do it for me. So I made a half batch of $5 dinner mom's Homemade Basic White Sauce and tossed that with the meal right before serving**
Homemade Basic White Sauce:
4 tablespoons butter ($.40)
6 tablespoons flour ($.10)
3 cups milk ($.30)
salt and pepper
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the flour and whisk with the melted utter until it forms a paste and bubbles.
Whisk in the milk. Whisk until flour and butter have dissolved into the milk.
Cook the sauce over medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring continuously. The sauce will begin to thicken, as it bubbles and cooks. Add milk and flour one tablespoon at a time to reach desired consistency for your meal. Add more milk for a thinner sauce. Add more flour for a thicker sauce.
Cost for Pasta with Broccoli and Chicken: $4.80
Cost for half batch of White Sauce: $.40
Total Cost for Dinner (that made plenty of leftovers for the next day): $5.20
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Mar 30, 2010
Cautiously Couponing (Janssen)
"Clipping coupons" is pretty much synonymous with living frugally, and yet I have resisted coupons for years. I had this sense that coupons were really only for mega-processed food or expensive brand-name products. I assumed that by buying the store brands or only baseline ingredients, I could save the same amount of money. My grocery budget is pretty bare-bones to begin with, so I figured coupon clipping was just a waste of my time and effort.
I'm pretty convinced, now, that I was wrong. This past month, I've started making cautious steps into the world of couponing and I'm beginning to see that I can save myself a fair amount of money.
When I started looking into it, I was determined that I would not
First, I can get enough coupons online. I like coupons.com, redplum.com and smartsource.com. I would also use the mystical power of Google to find coupons for specific items. We use soy milk instead of regular milk because we can't get through regular milk before it goes bad - half a second of Googling gave me a coupon for 75 cents off any Silk soy milk product. Ta-da! (I also use the backside of paper we get in the mail or from work and school so I don't have to use up my precious good paper and I set my printer to fast-draft so it uses very little ink).
Second, figure out what your store's policy on doubling coupons is. It was one of the FAQs on my grocery store's website, so it took me approximately ten seconds to find out that they will double any coupon that is 99 cents or less. So, if you have a 75 cent coupon, you'll really get $1.50 off. I discovered that they double ALL the coupons under 99 cents, even the ones that say "Do Not Double."
Third, you need to time your coupons to go along with sales. For instance, we go through a humiliating amount of sour cream because, well, I love sour cream; I firmly subscribe to my mom's cooking rule "if it tastes bad, add sour cream." But I don't even wait for it to taste bad. This week, when my grocery store's circular came around, I noticed that Hood sour cream was on sale for 99 cents a container, which was a good deal to begin with. Then, thanks to RedPlum, I got a 50 cents off coupon, which doubled, meant my sour cream was free. No way was the store brand cheaper than FREE! Same thing with the yogurt - it was on sale for $2 (for a pack of four), and I had a $1 off coupon. And if you bought a certain amount, you got a $10 off coupon for your next shopping trip, which took it down to about 12 cents a cup. Much cheaper than the store brand at 50 cents a cup.
Fourth, take advantage of your store's weekly deals and specials. For the last four or five months, I've bought the off-off-brand of Cheerios because they were only a dollar for an eight ounce box (which is about 2/3rds the size of your average box of cereal). This week, if you bought four boxes of General Mills cereal, you got four dollars off, plus 10 cents off every gallon of gas. Combined with my four cereal coupons that I'd printed off (one for each box) and were then doubled, I got my cereal for 89 cents a box. Bigger boxes, less money spent. Plus cheaper gas.
I saved $18 last week with my coupons, bringing my total grocery bill to only $28 for the week. My poor husband heard about it all afternoon.
I'd say it's about thirty minutes of work a week, once you figure out what sites you like and get the hang of reading your store flier. Definitely worth my time.
Anyone else have tips for making coupons work without it being a huge production?
I'm pretty convinced, now, that I was wrong. This past month, I've started making cautious steps into the world of couponing and I'm beginning to see that I can save myself a fair amount of money.
When I started looking into it, I was determined that I would not
- Take the newspaper (I hate the smell and the feel of newspaper, not to mention paying for it to pile up in my house)
- Buy things I wouldn't have bought otherwise
- Spend a lot of time on it
First, I can get enough coupons online. I like coupons.com, redplum.com and smartsource.com. I would also use the mystical power of Google to find coupons for specific items. We use soy milk instead of regular milk because we can't get through regular milk before it goes bad - half a second of Googling gave me a coupon for 75 cents off any Silk soy milk product. Ta-da! (I also use the backside of paper we get in the mail or from work and school so I don't have to use up my precious good paper and I set my printer to fast-draft so it uses very little ink).
Second, figure out what your store's policy on doubling coupons is. It was one of the FAQs on my grocery store's website, so it took me approximately ten seconds to find out that they will double any coupon that is 99 cents or less. So, if you have a 75 cent coupon, you'll really get $1.50 off. I discovered that they double ALL the coupons under 99 cents, even the ones that say "Do Not Double."
Third, you need to time your coupons to go along with sales. For instance, we go through a humiliating amount of sour cream because, well, I love sour cream; I firmly subscribe to my mom's cooking rule "if it tastes bad, add sour cream." But I don't even wait for it to taste bad. This week, when my grocery store's circular came around, I noticed that Hood sour cream was on sale for 99 cents a container, which was a good deal to begin with. Then, thanks to RedPlum, I got a 50 cents off coupon, which doubled, meant my sour cream was free. No way was the store brand cheaper than FREE! Same thing with the yogurt - it was on sale for $2 (for a pack of four), and I had a $1 off coupon. And if you bought a certain amount, you got a $10 off coupon for your next shopping trip, which took it down to about 12 cents a cup. Much cheaper than the store brand at 50 cents a cup.
Fourth, take advantage of your store's weekly deals and specials. For the last four or five months, I've bought the off-off-brand of Cheerios because they were only a dollar for an eight ounce box (which is about 2/3rds the size of your average box of cereal). This week, if you bought four boxes of General Mills cereal, you got four dollars off, plus 10 cents off every gallon of gas. Combined with my four cereal coupons that I'd printed off (one for each box) and were then doubled, I got my cereal for 89 cents a box. Bigger boxes, less money spent. Plus cheaper gas.
I saved $18 last week with my coupons, bringing my total grocery bill to only $28 for the week. My poor husband heard about it all afternoon.
I'd say it's about thirty minutes of work a week, once you figure out what sites you like and get the hang of reading your store flier. Definitely worth my time.
Anyone else have tips for making coupons work without it being a huge production?
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Mar 26, 2010
Skills That Save (Merrick)
I recently read a magazine article about saving more than you earn. It went through some basic ideas on how to save money, one of which was to “Get An Education.” They didn’t necessarily mean go to college, but to develop skills and educate yourself on ways that can help you save money. A few of their suggestions were to learn budgeting, computer skills, cooking and/or car maintenance. With the help of a book, internet tutorials, or a friend, you could acquire skills that will save you hundreds or thousands of dollars a year.
One skill that I acquired a few years ago, which I think falls into this category, was cutting my husband’s hair.
Before we got married, Philip went to the local hair school for his haircuts. Like most men who keep their hair short, he went in every 3-4 weeks for a cut. Although it was only $12 or so for a cut plus the tip, it added up pretty quickly when we were forking that over every three weeks.
When Philip suggested, only a few weeks after we got married, that I learn how to cut his hair so we could cut this expense out of our monthly budget, I quickly agreed. Yes, it took a few times for me to really get the hang of it, and yes, one time I put the wrong guard on and the haircut ended in tears (tears from me, not him), but after a few months, my skills improved, I figured out exactly what he liked, and was able to produce a great haircut almost 100% of the time.
Although saving roughly $150 a year on haircuts may not seem like a ton to you, this one skill has given me confidence to learn other skills that will save us money. And if I can learn five other skills that will save me $150 a year each, that will add up very quickly and suddenly I’ll have nearly $1000 per year of extra money that could go toward a vacation, or new clothes, or something way more awesome than a haircut.
So readers, do you cut your husband/children’s hair? What other skills do you have that help save you money?
One skill that I acquired a few years ago, which I think falls into this category, was cutting my husband’s hair.
Before we got married, Philip went to the local hair school for his haircuts. Like most men who keep their hair short, he went in every 3-4 weeks for a cut. Although it was only $12 or so for a cut plus the tip, it added up pretty quickly when we were forking that over every three weeks.
When Philip suggested, only a few weeks after we got married, that I learn how to cut his hair so we could cut this expense out of our monthly budget, I quickly agreed. Yes, it took a few times for me to really get the hang of it, and yes, one time I put the wrong guard on and the haircut ended in tears (tears from me, not him), but after a few months, my skills improved, I figured out exactly what he liked, and was able to produce a great haircut almost 100% of the time.
Although saving roughly $150 a year on haircuts may not seem like a ton to you, this one skill has given me confidence to learn other skills that will save us money. And if I can learn five other skills that will save me $150 a year each, that will add up very quickly and suddenly I’ll have nearly $1000 per year of extra money that could go toward a vacation, or new clothes, or something way more awesome than a haircut.
So readers, do you cut your husband/children’s hair? What other skills do you have that help save you money?
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Mar 25, 2010
Keeping Hobbies Reasonable (Janssen)
I love hobbies. I think they can make your life more fun and fulfilling, give you something to do, help you find a circle of friends, and make you feel better about yourself and your life.
But it's also easy to throw a lot of money into a new hobby before you know if it's really going to be worth it.
You know the drill - you suddenly get the idea, on a beautiful weekend morning, that your family could be really into tennis. You could be out playing every Saturday morning, enjoying the fresh air and exercise, maybe a few games on a weeknight. You'd get years of enjoyment from the sport, probably playing until well into your nineties. You would play doubles with your children. So you hop in the car and head over to the sporting goods store and pick up some top-of-the-line rackets (if you're going to be playing every week for the next sixty to seventy years, you'll definitely get your money's worth out of them) and get fitted for some real tennis shoes too. Pick up a dozen or so cans of balls. Maybe a tennis outfit. You walk out having spent several hundred dollars. And then you play twice. The equipment lingers in your garage, collecting dust, for years. Eventually you donate your expensive equipment to Goodwill.
Which brings me to one of my Frugal Rules to Live By: do not invest a lot of money into new hobbies until you are absolutely sure you are committed to them.
A few years ago, Bart went bike riding with a friend in Austin. The friend was really into biking and had a very nice bike. When Bart returned, he suggested that we consider getting bikes. We'd be a biking family! He tossed around the idea of getting a fairly nice road or mountain bike for a while, but I was wary.
I mean, I liked the idea of being a biking family too. Good exercise, ideal mode of transportation in some areas, and a fun recreational activity. But I was not at all sure we'd get enough use out of them to make it worth having sunk thousands of dollars in to it.
Eventually, after much discussion, we agreed that we would indeed both get a bike, but we should buy some inexpensive ones. We went to Wal-Mart, rode many bikes around the store, and finally each selected one. They cost about $120 each.
We went on the occasional Saturday morning bike ride around our neighborhood and even once down around the lake in Austin. I rode mine to work and back every day for about four months when Bart needed the car to get to work. We went for a nice ride through Boston in the fall. We've definitely gotten some use out of them, but we are in no way a biking family. We simply had and still have no need for expensive, top of the line bikes.
If we had discovered after a year or so that we really loved to bike and were using our bikes weekly and that we absolutely needed nicer bikes, we could have sold ours on Craigslist and then bought nicer bikes.
If you think tennis might be the thing for you, buy some cheap rackets at Goodwill (where the people who thought they would be huge tennis players have now deposited theirs) and try it out for a while. See if you really use it.
And then, if you prove to yourself that you really do have a sustained and serious interest, then it may be the time to spend a little more money. But to start at the high-spending level assures you a low balance in your bank account and a large pile of guilt-inducing junk in your basement.
But it's also easy to throw a lot of money into a new hobby before you know if it's really going to be worth it.
You know the drill - you suddenly get the idea, on a beautiful weekend morning, that your family could be really into tennis. You could be out playing every Saturday morning, enjoying the fresh air and exercise, maybe a few games on a weeknight. You'd get years of enjoyment from the sport, probably playing until well into your nineties. You would play doubles with your children. So you hop in the car and head over to the sporting goods store and pick up some top-of-the-line rackets (if you're going to be playing every week for the next sixty to seventy years, you'll definitely get your money's worth out of them) and get fitted for some real tennis shoes too. Pick up a dozen or so cans of balls. Maybe a tennis outfit. You walk out having spent several hundred dollars. And then you play twice. The equipment lingers in your garage, collecting dust, for years. Eventually you donate your expensive equipment to Goodwill.
Which brings me to one of my Frugal Rules to Live By: do not invest a lot of money into new hobbies until you are absolutely sure you are committed to them.
A few years ago, Bart went bike riding with a friend in Austin. The friend was really into biking and had a very nice bike. When Bart returned, he suggested that we consider getting bikes. We'd be a biking family! He tossed around the idea of getting a fairly nice road or mountain bike for a while, but I was wary.
I mean, I liked the idea of being a biking family too. Good exercise, ideal mode of transportation in some areas, and a fun recreational activity. But I was not at all sure we'd get enough use out of them to make it worth having sunk thousands of dollars in to it.
Eventually, after much discussion, we agreed that we would indeed both get a bike, but we should buy some inexpensive ones. We went to Wal-Mart, rode many bikes around the store, and finally each selected one. They cost about $120 each.
We went on the occasional Saturday morning bike ride around our neighborhood and even once down around the lake in Austin. I rode mine to work and back every day for about four months when Bart needed the car to get to work. We went for a nice ride through Boston in the fall. We've definitely gotten some use out of them, but we are in no way a biking family. We simply had and still have no need for expensive, top of the line bikes.
If we had discovered after a year or so that we really loved to bike and were using our bikes weekly and that we absolutely needed nicer bikes, we could have sold ours on Craigslist and then bought nicer bikes.
If you think tennis might be the thing for you, buy some cheap rackets at Goodwill (where the people who thought they would be huge tennis players have now deposited theirs) and try it out for a while. See if you really use it.
And then, if you prove to yourself that you really do have a sustained and serious interest, then it may be the time to spend a little more money. But to start at the high-spending level assures you a low balance in your bank account and a large pile of guilt-inducing junk in your basement.
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Mar 24, 2010
Recipe Wednesday - Beef Stroganoff (Carole)
It's nice to have a sense of what your at-home recipes cost to cook -- and we are here to help! You typically save about 80 - 90% by cooking dinner at home instead of going to a restaurant. Now that feels great!!
Beef Stroganoff
(Cost for entire dish = $5.67)
Serves between 4 - 6 people. Depending on the people.
2+ lbs beef roast ($4.27)
1 Dry Onion Soup mix ($0.90)
1/4 cup water
1 cup sour cream ($0.50)
Cut the roast into 2 inch pieces, place in a crock pot on low. Add onion soup mix and water. Cook for 6 - 8 hours, stirring occasionally and adding small amounts of water if it gets dry. 10 minutes before serving, stir in sour cream and let heat through.
Serve over rice, potatoes or pasta.
These ingredient prices are so low because I watch for in-store sales. The meat was $1.89/lb (nearly half price) and my local store almost always has store brand sour cream for $1.00 for a pint. I usually buy the store brand of soup mix which is about half the price of Liptons.
And I LOVE my crock pot. It works all day and has dinner ready and smelling divine when I'm ready to feed my hungry crew.
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Mar 23, 2010
Unnecessary Expenses: Part 7 (Merrick)
With the arrival of our first baby only three weeks away, I’ve had a bad case of the “nesting” phase. We were hoping to sell our two bedroom condo before the baby arrived, but with the downturn in the housing market our condo would not sell. Finally, after a year of sitting on the market, Philip and I sat down and talked over our situation. Our mortgage is pretty darn cheap, we had a second bedroom that was very usable for a baby room, and with a few updates and adjustments, we could very easily stay in this house for another few years. We didn’t really NEED a big, new house, we just WANTED one.
And that brings me to another unnecessary expense – new stuff.
With outrageously low housing costs and closeout sales at nearly every other store in town, buying new stuff sounds so appealing. But do you really need it? Are you buying it just because it’s on sale? In some cases, this is a great time to take advantage of all these cheap prices. But in many cases, like ours, you can spruce up your boring house with a few simple and cheap updates.
HGTV’s Design on a Dime show has some great ideas to update your house without breaking the bank:
Revisit what you already own. Refurbishing existing pieces is the best way to do some inexpensive decorating.
Sandpaper, primer and paint can transform just about any piece of furniture. Don't throw something out because you're tired of the color, and don't pass up a good deal on a piece of furniture just because you don't like the finish. You can easily change it.
Check the Classifieds. Peruse your local online classifieds. There are some great deals to be found. Listings in classifieds often have photos attached, so it's easy to find exactly what you're looking for.
Learn to sew. Sewing your own drapery, bedding and pillows will save you a ton of cash in the long run. By sewing your own decorative accents, you have a vast array of fabrics to choose from. Plus, sewing can be a lot of fun.
And here are a few of my own ideas (and things we did to spruce up our place when I was tempted to tear down the place and start fresh):
Sell something you no longer need/use and use that money to buy something new: We sold our bookshelf and our desk that made up the office in the second bedroom, which is now the baby room. With this newly earned money, we felt great about buying a nice new bookshelf and a dresser for the baby clothes.
Inexpensive accessories can make a big difference: Our front room was looking blah and it was driving me crazy. A few cheap but colorful pillows, a mirror hung in an old frame laying around, and some artwork on the walls (done by me) has made our front room look like new. And it all cost under $100.
Rearrange Furniture: Sometimes a little rearranging is all it takes to make a room feel bigger, better, and new.
These are only a few of the many inexpensive options out there that can make a big difference in your home. And you'll probably find (like I did), that once these updates have been made, you'll love your current home and your current furniture so much more. Then you can finally stop daydreaming about a new house and new stuff, which is good...because you and your wallet don't really need it.
And that brings me to another unnecessary expense – new stuff.
With outrageously low housing costs and closeout sales at nearly every other store in town, buying new stuff sounds so appealing. But do you really need it? Are you buying it just because it’s on sale? In some cases, this is a great time to take advantage of all these cheap prices. But in many cases, like ours, you can spruce up your boring house with a few simple and cheap updates.
HGTV’s Design on a Dime show has some great ideas to update your house without breaking the bank:
Revisit what you already own. Refurbishing existing pieces is the best way to do some inexpensive decorating.
Sandpaper, primer and paint can transform just about any piece of furniture. Don't throw something out because you're tired of the color, and don't pass up a good deal on a piece of furniture just because you don't like the finish. You can easily change it.
Check the Classifieds. Peruse your local online classifieds. There are some great deals to be found. Listings in classifieds often have photos attached, so it's easy to find exactly what you're looking for.
Learn to sew. Sewing your own drapery, bedding and pillows will save you a ton of cash in the long run. By sewing your own decorative accents, you have a vast array of fabrics to choose from. Plus, sewing can be a lot of fun.
And here are a few of my own ideas (and things we did to spruce up our place when I was tempted to tear down the place and start fresh):
Sell something you no longer need/use and use that money to buy something new: We sold our bookshelf and our desk that made up the office in the second bedroom, which is now the baby room. With this newly earned money, we felt great about buying a nice new bookshelf and a dresser for the baby clothes.
Inexpensive accessories can make a big difference: Our front room was looking blah and it was driving me crazy. A few cheap but colorful pillows, a mirror hung in an old frame laying around, and some artwork on the walls (done by me) has made our front room look like new. And it all cost under $100.
Rearrange Furniture: Sometimes a little rearranging is all it takes to make a room feel bigger, better, and new.
These are only a few of the many inexpensive options out there that can make a big difference in your home. And you'll probably find (like I did), that once these updates have been made, you'll love your current home and your current furniture so much more. Then you can finally stop daydreaming about a new house and new stuff, which is good...because you and your wallet don't really need it.
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Mar 22, 2010
One Reason I Budget (Janssen)
I know I'm a huge money nerd, but even I don't particularly enjoy budgeting. But I do love it that budgeting OFTEN saves me money that I would have spent completely by accident.
In November, we got new phones, sent in our rebates and ended up getting them for free. All was well. Until in February, when Bart opened up Mint.com to go over our monthly expenses and saw that our phone bill was $20.00 over the budgeted amount. What in the world?
We pulled up the bill and saw that for some reason our phones were connecting to the internet and we were getting charged for it. Since we weren't USING the internet, we weren't very interested in paying for it and we particulalry didn't like the idea that our phones were automatically connecting any time they got jostled or dropped (which, in my current pregnant condition, is an embarassing amount).
I pulled up the last three months of the phone bill and realized we'd been charged a few dollars in the months before for the same thing. I tallied it up to come up with an exact number ($31.28) and called Sprint.
I was on the phone about seven minutes, in which time I got through to an actual person, explained my problem, she credited my account $32 (yes! I MADE money), and switched off the phones' ability to connect to the internet so we wouldn't have the same problem again.
I know $32 is not huge money. But we could go out to dinner instead. We could pay for a big portion of the week's groceries. I could buy two pairs of shoes. It took Bart about 30 seconds to spot the problem and about ten minutes total for me to get the money back. I figure that meant I was making around $190 an hour - let me tell you, my time is certainly not too valuable for that kind of money!
I can't tell you how many errors I've caught because of careful records and good budgeting (most notably the time the bank sent us payment coupons for an $8,500 student loan we didn't actually take out, but that required more than ten minutes and thirty seconds to resolve). It's money we would have paid completely by mistake or by accident if we hadn't been paying attention.
Budgeting helps you catch mistakes or problems that are costing you money you could spend elsewhere, on something you'll enjoy far more than you'll even enjoy accidentally paying for internet access you didn't know you were using. And that's more than enough to motivate me.
In November, we got new phones, sent in our rebates and ended up getting them for free. All was well. Until in February, when Bart opened up Mint.com to go over our monthly expenses and saw that our phone bill was $20.00 over the budgeted amount. What in the world?
We pulled up the bill and saw that for some reason our phones were connecting to the internet and we were getting charged for it. Since we weren't USING the internet, we weren't very interested in paying for it and we particulalry didn't like the idea that our phones were automatically connecting any time they got jostled or dropped (which, in my current pregnant condition, is an embarassing amount).
I pulled up the last three months of the phone bill and realized we'd been charged a few dollars in the months before for the same thing. I tallied it up to come up with an exact number ($31.28) and called Sprint.
I was on the phone about seven minutes, in which time I got through to an actual person, explained my problem, she credited my account $32 (yes! I MADE money), and switched off the phones' ability to connect to the internet so we wouldn't have the same problem again.
I know $32 is not huge money. But we could go out to dinner instead. We could pay for a big portion of the week's groceries. I could buy two pairs of shoes. It took Bart about 30 seconds to spot the problem and about ten minutes total for me to get the money back. I figure that meant I was making around $190 an hour - let me tell you, my time is certainly not too valuable for that kind of money!
I can't tell you how many errors I've caught because of careful records and good budgeting (most notably the time the bank sent us payment coupons for an $8,500 student loan we didn't actually take out, but that required more than ten minutes and thirty seconds to resolve). It's money we would have paid completely by mistake or by accident if we hadn't been paying attention.
Budgeting helps you catch mistakes or problems that are costing you money you could spend elsewhere, on something you'll enjoy far more than you'll even enjoy accidentally paying for internet access you didn't know you were using. And that's more than enough to motivate me.
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Mar 19, 2010
Savings in the Laundry Room (Carole)
So, here's another set of easy ideas for saving money -- in your laundry room.
Do you use the right amount of detergent when you do your laundry? If you use a liquid detergent, it seems obvious to fill up the cap to the top. Not so. If you read the side of the bottle, it will tell you to look closely at the cap and you'll see that there are faint lines inside that indicate the amount you should use for a small/medium load and a large load. These lines are unbelievably hard to see. I had to feel for them with my fingers so that I could mark the outside of the cap for this photo. You will notice that both of these lines are significantly below the top of the cap. By filling your cap to the top for every load, you are using more than double the amount recommended for a small/medium load. This also means you are not getting your full loads/bottle for your money. Instead of the advertised 40 loads, you are getting about 20, doubling your cost to wash each load of laundry.
The same is true for those of us who use powdered detergent. The lines on the scoop in the box are much easier to see, but probably just as ignored by most of us. Again, filling the scoop up to the top with detergent uses about twice what the manufacturer recommends in their directions on the side of the box. Congratulations! By using the right amount, you're suddenly going to be getting twice as many loads of laundry from your detergent purchase. That could add up to about $100 saved per year -- and that's before coupons. In addition, if you have a High Efficiency washer, your washer is made to rinse clothes until the soap is gone from the fabrics. Using too much detergent means your washer will rinse and rinse and rinse to get all that extra soap out . . . your energy prices will really climb!
For years I have ripped my dryer sheets in half before putting them in the dryer. This one step saves me 50% on dryer sheets every year. When I'm feeling REALLY frugal, I rip them into thirds. Trust me, there's plenty of "stuff" on the half (or 1/3rd) sheet to stop the static in your dryer. Suddenly your little box lasts twice or three times as long. The savings just keep on comin'!
Lastly, doing your laundry before noon or after 7:00 PM will significantly reduce your electricity costs. No kidding! All electricity does not cost the same. Check your electrical company website for their Time of Use rules. Electricity costs a lot more from Noon - 7:00 PM (peak use hours) when everyone in town is using it too.
Frugal and Cheap are different animals.
Last fall, I bought a dozen bottles of a liquid laundry detergent on sale -- and I had some coupons. I was so proud of myself!! Month after month I've delighted in bringing down a new bottle when the old one was empty, knowing how little I had paid for this detergent. This was not an off-brand or a store brand, but it wasn't one of the big names either. However, a few weeks ago, I was visiting my parents in Idaho and did some of my laundry while I was there. My mother had her big box of Tide sitting on the washer, so I used it, of course. I was amazed (and embarrassed) to see how noticeably whiter my socks came out of the wash. Hmm. I'd saved a few dollars and ended up with dingy laundry. Not a savings, in my book. Now, I'll watch for sales and coupons and go back to a product that cleans better. Cheap is getting the best price, no matter what. Frugal is getting a good product for the best price. Very different.
Anyone else have some good laundry ideas?
Do you use the right amount of detergent when you do your laundry? If you use a liquid detergent, it seems obvious to fill up the cap to the top. Not so. If you read the side of the bottle, it will tell you to look closely at the cap and you'll see that there are faint lines inside that indicate the amount you should use for a small/medium load and a large load. These lines are unbelievably hard to see. I had to feel for them with my fingers so that I could mark the outside of the cap for this photo. You will notice that both of these lines are significantly below the top of the cap. By filling your cap to the top for every load, you are using more than double the amount recommended for a small/medium load. This also means you are not getting your full loads/bottle for your money. Instead of the advertised 40 loads, you are getting about 20, doubling your cost to wash each load of laundry.
The same is true for those of us who use powdered detergent. The lines on the scoop in the box are much easier to see, but probably just as ignored by most of us. Again, filling the scoop up to the top with detergent uses about twice what the manufacturer recommends in their directions on the side of the box. Congratulations! By using the right amount, you're suddenly going to be getting twice as many loads of laundry from your detergent purchase. That could add up to about $100 saved per year -- and that's before coupons. In addition, if you have a High Efficiency washer, your washer is made to rinse clothes until the soap is gone from the fabrics. Using too much detergent means your washer will rinse and rinse and rinse to get all that extra soap out . . . your energy prices will really climb!For years I have ripped my dryer sheets in half before putting them in the dryer. This one step saves me 50% on dryer sheets every year. When I'm feeling REALLY frugal, I rip them into thirds. Trust me, there's plenty of "stuff" on the half (or 1/3rd) sheet to stop the static in your dryer. Suddenly your little box lasts twice or three times as long. The savings just keep on comin'!
Lastly, doing your laundry before noon or after 7:00 PM will significantly reduce your electricity costs. No kidding! All electricity does not cost the same. Check your electrical company website for their Time of Use rules. Electricity costs a lot more from Noon - 7:00 PM (peak use hours) when everyone in town is using it too.
A Cautionary Tale:
Frugal and Cheap are different animals.
Last fall, I bought a dozen bottles of a liquid laundry detergent on sale -- and I had some coupons. I was so proud of myself!! Month after month I've delighted in bringing down a new bottle when the old one was empty, knowing how little I had paid for this detergent. This was not an off-brand or a store brand, but it wasn't one of the big names either. However, a few weeks ago, I was visiting my parents in Idaho and did some of my laundry while I was there. My mother had her big box of Tide sitting on the washer, so I used it, of course. I was amazed (and embarrassed) to see how noticeably whiter my socks came out of the wash. Hmm. I'd saved a few dollars and ended up with dingy laundry. Not a savings, in my book. Now, I'll watch for sales and coupons and go back to a product that cleans better. Cheap is getting the best price, no matter what. Frugal is getting a good product for the best price. Very different.
Anyone else have some good laundry ideas?
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Mar 18, 2010
Unnecessary Expenses: Part 6 (Merrick)
I grew up in a family where nice clothing was not really a big deal. We all dressed fairly well, and I never felt like my clothes were dorky or cheap looking. But none of us had a problem shopping at Ross, Old Navy, Payless Shoes, and other inexpensive clothing stores.
I would hope we could all agree that shopping solely at Nordstrom or Anthropologie or other high-price stores is an unnecessary expense. Those are luxury-clothing stores, and although they have great stuff and I see nothing wrong with shopping there if you have the money (and really love spending a lot of money on clothes), it is probably not the place to be shopping if you are looking for ways to cut back.
Here are a few things to consider when you’re shopping, and are several of the main reasons I shop at cheap clothing stores:
1. The majority of my clothes are not pieces that I will wear for the rest of my life. They are things that are cute for the season, so quality is less important to me because I won’t be wearing it in a year once it’s out of style.
2. Consider price per wearing – only spend money on something you’ll wear all the time. Otherwise, hit the sale rack. In the words of Victoria Beckham, the most expensive item of clothing is the one you only wear once.
3. When shopping for your kids, remember that they’ll grow out of it in six months (or less!), or put a hole in the knee the first time they wear those new pants, so shopping at cheap stores is definitely the way to go.
4. 5-10 years ago, Payless had a pretty skimpy selection of cute shoes. Old Navy’s clothes were trying to be fashionable, but just weren’t quite there. Now many cheap stores have really stepped it up and are selling really fashionable items for a fraction of other stores prices. So if you haven’t shopped at these cheaper stores in a while because of this reason, try them again and you’ll be surprised by the great selections.
5. If you’re willing to do a little searching, you can find great name brand knock-off’s at cheap stores. Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere does fun “Crave or Save” posts every once in a while, showing nearly identical clothing items with prices on either end of the spectrum. The Sensibly Styled girls also show similar clothes with varying prices in some of their posts. It’s possible to save a lot of money if you are willing to do a little digging.
So readers, are you high-end-clothing shoppers? Or do you also get a rush by buying a five dollar top and eight dollar shoes? And if you’re cheap clothing shoppers, where do you shop and how do you save?
I would hope we could all agree that shopping solely at Nordstrom or Anthropologie or other high-price stores is an unnecessary expense. Those are luxury-clothing stores, and although they have great stuff and I see nothing wrong with shopping there if you have the money (and really love spending a lot of money on clothes), it is probably not the place to be shopping if you are looking for ways to cut back.
Here are a few things to consider when you’re shopping, and are several of the main reasons I shop at cheap clothing stores:
1. The majority of my clothes are not pieces that I will wear for the rest of my life. They are things that are cute for the season, so quality is less important to me because I won’t be wearing it in a year once it’s out of style.
2. Consider price per wearing – only spend money on something you’ll wear all the time. Otherwise, hit the sale rack. In the words of Victoria Beckham, the most expensive item of clothing is the one you only wear once.
3. When shopping for your kids, remember that they’ll grow out of it in six months (or less!), or put a hole in the knee the first time they wear those new pants, so shopping at cheap stores is definitely the way to go.
4. 5-10 years ago, Payless had a pretty skimpy selection of cute shoes. Old Navy’s clothes were trying to be fashionable, but just weren’t quite there. Now many cheap stores have really stepped it up and are selling really fashionable items for a fraction of other stores prices. So if you haven’t shopped at these cheaper stores in a while because of this reason, try them again and you’ll be surprised by the great selections.
5. If you’re willing to do a little searching, you can find great name brand knock-off’s at cheap stores. Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere does fun “Crave or Save” posts every once in a while, showing nearly identical clothing items with prices on either end of the spectrum. The Sensibly Styled girls also show similar clothes with varying prices in some of their posts. It’s possible to save a lot of money if you are willing to do a little digging.
So readers, are you high-end-clothing shoppers? Or do you also get a rush by buying a five dollar top and eight dollar shoes? And if you’re cheap clothing shoppers, where do you shop and how do you save?
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Mar 17, 2010
Becoming Frugal - Part II (Guest Post by Janssen's Now Frugal Husband)
One of the first things I noticed when I moved away from Utah was how expensive real life can be.
I remember clearly the frustration I felt at how much money we had earned and subsequently spent over the last 8 months. Janssen and I were driving our car back from Bergstrom International Airport late at night, and I told her of my financial frustrations.
Her response was perfect. She agreed with me!
For those of you hoping to convert your spouse to frugality:
Step #2: Support any movement your spouse makes in the frugal direction.
Step #1 was to be an example. Don't stop this at the crucial moment, even if you want to go on that vacation or buy those new curtains. If your generally non-frugal spouse is feeling the urge to stop spending, throw yourself behind that initiative and lend a hand. He just might gain enough momentum for a jump start.
Also, refrain from saying things like, "Oh, so NOW you want to be frugal. I've been frugal for the last three years and all of the sudden YOU want to be frugal. What brought on this sudden change in attitude, hmm?"
That's not going to help your spouse. Rather, do as Janssen did (you can pay me later, J), by being agreeable and supportive. Your spouse just might have the same experience I had (to be continued in Part III).
- A new wardrobe of business casual shirts and slacks seemed to cost a fortune.
- The 1-bedroom apartment I moved into, which was neither the least nor the most expensive option, cost $740/month, not to mention the first and last month's rent and security deposit. That sounds great now, living in Boston as we do, but it was a lot to fork out with those first few pay checks.
- A full-time salary meant what felt like king-size tax withholdings and tithing.
- It cost a couple thousand dollars to move from Utah to Texas.
- Add the costs of food, utilities, auto insurance, gasoline, auto repair and maintenance, our first anniversary cruise, a house, and all the things you buy with a home (lawn mower, ladder, clippers, and picture frames, to name a few), and it's easy to understand why I thought life had gotten pretty expensive, pretty fast.
I remember clearly the frustration I felt at how much money we had earned and subsequently spent over the last 8 months. Janssen and I were driving our car back from Bergstrom International Airport late at night, and I told her of my financial frustrations.
Her response was perfect. She agreed with me!
For those of you hoping to convert your spouse to frugality:
Step #2: Support any movement your spouse makes in the frugal direction.
Step #1 was to be an example. Don't stop this at the crucial moment, even if you want to go on that vacation or buy those new curtains. If your generally non-frugal spouse is feeling the urge to stop spending, throw yourself behind that initiative and lend a hand. He just might gain enough momentum for a jump start.
Also, refrain from saying things like, "Oh, so NOW you want to be frugal. I've been frugal for the last three years and all of the sudden YOU want to be frugal. What brought on this sudden change in attitude, hmm?"
That's not going to help your spouse. Rather, do as Janssen did (you can pay me later, J), by being agreeable and supportive. Your spouse just might have the same experience I had (to be continued in Part III).
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Mar 16, 2010
Saving Money on Meat (Carole)
It goes without saying that it is a good idea to stock up on any grocery item when it goes on sale.
But how do you know when the sale is really a sale??
It’s important to know the usual cost of things that you buy all the time, so you can tell when there is a deal to be had. Recently I started keeping track of the price of four cuts of meat I buy over and over again. This is POWERFUL information!
I write the week’s prices in my purse calendar, that way it’s easy to make a quick comparison when I’m standing in the meat section with a sale sign staring me in the face. Meat prices go on sale every few weeks (another Loss-Leader), so if you don’t know your usual prices, you have no idea if now is the time to buy a lot or not.
The four meats I track are : hamburger, roast, frozen, boneless skinless chicken breasts, and pork loin roast. Since these are the only 4 meats I cook with, they’re all I track. I try to keep my life simple.
Last Monday I was doing my weekly grocery shopping and saw that the expensive (less fatty) hamburger was on sale for 10 cents less ($1.89/lb) than the cheap, fatty hamburger! Because of my tracking, I recognized the bargain! I bought three large packages of 3 lbs each, re-divided it into 1 lb packages at home and stored them all in my freezer. Now all the hamburger I will use for the next couple of months will be at this lower price, no matter what the price is at the store the night I actually cook.
Here are some additional meat buying tips:
Hamburger: In case no one has ever told you. . . you can rinse high fat hamburger (after it's cooked) in a colander in your sink with hot water and it becomes nearly fat-free -- no need to buy the expensive hamburger. Unless it’s on sale. Coupon Mom also points out in her book that when you buy hamburger in the Styrofoam container with the plastic wrap in the 1 lbs. package, it will always contain MORE than one pound of meat -- have you noticed this? This is your grocery store’s version of Super Size Me. It is a marketing device to sell you more hamburger than you think you're buying. She recommends dividing that 1.3 lbs package in two, freeze one and use less than one pound in your recipe. You’ll save both money and calories.
Roasts: I used to be a big stew meat purchaser. I like to make chili, stew and beef stroganoff, so it seemed like a no-brainer to buy my meat all cut up and ready to go. Until I realized that stew meat cost me over $4.00/lbs, while a regular roast is often below $2.00/lbs. Turned out I was the no-brainer. Now I buy a whole roast and cut it into bite-size pieces myself and save 50% -- it takes about 3 minutes.
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts (frozen): My store sells 3 varieties of frozen, boneless/skinless chicken breasts. After all these years, I finally noticed that even though the bags are all the same size, and typically cost the same amount, they range from 2.5 lbs – 4.0 lbs of chicken per bag. How have I never noticed this before?? That means that the “chicken tenders” are $2.52/lbs while the “chicken breast with rib meat” is only $1.57/lbs. Guess which one I buy now? Saving myself nearly $1.00 per pound. I also zip past the unfrozen chicken breasts in the meat section. Often they are on sale. If they were to ever fall below $1.57/lbs, I would know to buy them. Your very best deal, however, is a whole chicken at $.99/lbs on sale (which happens about every other week!). Put a frozen, whole chicken in the crock pot in the morning (with a bit of salt, pepper and paprika) and you’ve got your own roasted chicken for dinner that night for about 4 dollars – and enough shredded chicken left over for another meal or two during the week. Your kids will love pulling apart the wishbone after it dries out and guaranteed you’ll feel like Martha Stewart.
Pork Loin Roast: Buying the non-seasoned pork roast, is obviously your cheapest option. Marinating or seasoning your own pork roast is so easy, and so inexpensive. You'll save a couple dollars per pound just by using your own pepper and salt. You can cook this delightful cut of meat in the crock pot all day, or broil it in the oven in about 15 minutes at night. Yum. I often use this cut when I have company.
Keeping track of the cost of the particular cuts of meat you use will pay off in HUNDREDS of saved dollars every year. And your home freezer becomes your own private, frugal butcher shop!
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Mar 15, 2010
Why Live Frugally Now? Reason #7 (Janssen)
I am happy to live frugally so that when I do spend money, I can do so without feeling guilty. I most certainly do not want my frugal life to mean I don't do anything fun or buy myself something that I really want. I want it to mean that when there is something I want to do or buy, I can afford it because I haven't piddled away all my money on meaningless expenses.
Next month, I have a week off of school for spring break. To take advantage of that time off, Bart and I will be going to Mexico for a week. Is travel a luxury? Of course it is. If we had absolutely no extra money at all, would we travel? No. I would rather eat than go on vacation.
But we do have some extra money. We could have spent it on eating out more often or having cable or a bigger apartment or a nicer car or a better wardrobe or any of a thousand possible things. But we certainly couldn't afford to do all those things. Instead, we prioritize what matters to us (in this case, a last big vacation before our baby is born later this summer), and budget our money so that we can afford to do those things.
Before Christmas, we bought our plane tickets to Mexico. Last month, we paid the entirety of our rental car and hotel (which includes food) costs for the trip. We know we can afford to take this vacation. We've already paid for 99% of the trip (I'm assuming we'll have a few incidental costs while we're there).
We won't have to come home and worry that we won't be able to pay the credit card bill. I don't have to worry that maybe we can't really afford this trip or that we'll have to eat raman noodles for a month afterwards.
For me, that is frugality paying off in a very tangible way. I can enjoy the things I really want to in life because I'm living frugally enough in other areas to do so.
Think how much more pleasant Christmas would be if you didn't have to stress about the credit card bill that was going to show up in January. Think how much more enjoyable your new car would be if you didn't have to feel guilty about the financial burden it was every time you turned over the engine.
Being frugal means you can afford to do the things that matter to you, whether that's owning a boat or taking nice vacations or living in a better neighborhood or sending your children to private school or having 4355 channels or having an iPhone. It means you don't have to stress and worry that you shouldn't be spending the money there or that you'll have to pay in other major, uncomfortable ways to make that happen. It means you can enjoy it when you do spend money, because you aren't spending money in every category, even categories that bring you little satisfaction.
And since I don't like guilt or stress (and certainly not a combination of the two), that's a pretty good reason to live frugally in my book.
Next month, I have a week off of school for spring break. To take advantage of that time off, Bart and I will be going to Mexico for a week. Is travel a luxury? Of course it is. If we had absolutely no extra money at all, would we travel? No. I would rather eat than go on vacation.
But we do have some extra money. We could have spent it on eating out more often or having cable or a bigger apartment or a nicer car or a better wardrobe or any of a thousand possible things. But we certainly couldn't afford to do all those things. Instead, we prioritize what matters to us (in this case, a last big vacation before our baby is born later this summer), and budget our money so that we can afford to do those things.
Before Christmas, we bought our plane tickets to Mexico. Last month, we paid the entirety of our rental car and hotel (which includes food) costs for the trip. We know we can afford to take this vacation. We've already paid for 99% of the trip (I'm assuming we'll have a few incidental costs while we're there).
We won't have to come home and worry that we won't be able to pay the credit card bill. I don't have to worry that maybe we can't really afford this trip or that we'll have to eat raman noodles for a month afterwards.
For me, that is frugality paying off in a very tangible way. I can enjoy the things I really want to in life because I'm living frugally enough in other areas to do so.
Think how much more pleasant Christmas would be if you didn't have to stress about the credit card bill that was going to show up in January. Think how much more enjoyable your new car would be if you didn't have to feel guilty about the financial burden it was every time you turned over the engine.
Being frugal means you can afford to do the things that matter to you, whether that's owning a boat or taking nice vacations or living in a better neighborhood or sending your children to private school or having 4355 channels or having an iPhone. It means you don't have to stress and worry that you shouldn't be spending the money there or that you'll have to pay in other major, uncomfortable ways to make that happen. It means you can enjoy it when you do spend money, because you aren't spending money in every category, even categories that bring you little satisfaction.
And since I don't like guilt or stress (and certainly not a combination of the two), that's a pretty good reason to live frugally in my book.
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Mar 12, 2010
Unnecessary Expenses: Part 5 (Merrick)
I’ve blogged about it before, but I’ll blog about it again. Eating out is an unnecessary expense.
Unless you’re only eating off the $.99 menu at McDonalds or Wendy’s, chances are you’re dropping a significant amount of money for your meal and a tip every time you go out to eat. It is obviously a luxury to eat out once or twice a week, and if you’re looking for place to cut back, this is a good one. And I don’t know about you, but half the time I go out to eat, I end up ordering something only sub-par and I walk away thinking, “too bad I just spent $15.00 on that meal that I didn’t really LOVE.”
I’ve been reading The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook, and have recently started integrating her meals into my weekly menus. She breaks down the cost of each item in each meal, including side dishes, and every meal costs less than $5 (and each makes enough for a family of five). After I’ve finished this book, I’ll blog about it a little more in-depth, but for now, suffice it to say that feeding your entire family for $5 is pretty great compared to the $50 or more you would spend taking them all out to eat. That means you could feed your family for one and a half weeks for the same price as one meal at a restaurant!
So although eating out can be fun and a good break for us wives who cook on a nightly basis for their families, it is obviously an unnecessary expense. Huge amounts of money can be saved if you limit your eating out to once or twice a month and instead eat at home, using recipes that can feed the whole family for only a few dollars.
Unless you’re only eating off the $.99 menu at McDonalds or Wendy’s, chances are you’re dropping a significant amount of money for your meal and a tip every time you go out to eat. It is obviously a luxury to eat out once or twice a week, and if you’re looking for place to cut back, this is a good one. And I don’t know about you, but half the time I go out to eat, I end up ordering something only sub-par and I walk away thinking, “too bad I just spent $15.00 on that meal that I didn’t really LOVE.”
I’ve been reading The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook, and have recently started integrating her meals into my weekly menus. She breaks down the cost of each item in each meal, including side dishes, and every meal costs less than $5 (and each makes enough for a family of five). After I’ve finished this book, I’ll blog about it a little more in-depth, but for now, suffice it to say that feeding your entire family for $5 is pretty great compared to the $50 or more you would spend taking them all out to eat. That means you could feed your family for one and a half weeks for the same price as one meal at a restaurant!
So although eating out can be fun and a good break for us wives who cook on a nightly basis for their families, it is obviously an unnecessary expense. Huge amounts of money can be saved if you limit your eating out to once or twice a month and instead eat at home, using recipes that can feed the whole family for only a few dollars.
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Mar 11, 2010
Becoming Frugal - Part I (Guest Post by Janssen's Now Frugal Husband)
Janssen has always been frugal.
I was not always so. From when I was born until the tail-end of college, I followed a simple financial equation:
Saving the little money I made didn't make sense to me (pun not intended), since I'd soon be making the big bucks, at which point an extra five or ten thousand dollars in the bank would be small change. In other words, I didn't want to make a relatively big sacrifice when I was young only to reap a relatively small reward when I was older.
While I still think that philosophy is debatable, depending on what kinds of sacrifices are being made and what kinds of rewards are being reaped, something that is not debatable is the fact that Janssen had a profound effect on my frugality.
Reflecting back, I have identified 5 pivotal experiences that resulted in my full conversion to a life of frugal living.
The first was when Janssen and I were just days away from getting married, and Janssen paid off my car with a good chunk of her savings - savings she had been working on since she was a little girl.
Oh how I cringe at the thought. She had made the sacrifice I had been unwilling to make, and her hard-earned money represented years of work, from selling muffins with her sisters to people in local office buildings, to spending long hours at Cold Stone as a busy high schooler with plenty of other pastimes she might have enjoyed instead.
And there I was - a 25 year-old guy with no savings to show for years of working part-time through high school and college. No, I couldn't be bothered to save for the future. It was too much of a sacrifice.
All the sudden that philosophy sounded pretty lame. And the embarrassment and inspiration I felt as my amazing fiancée wrote that check marked the beginning of my conversion to frugality.
So, for the frugal wives out there hoping their husbands convert:
Step #1: Be an example.
I was not always so. From when I was born until the tail-end of college, I followed a simple financial equation:
$ Earned = $ Spent
Saving the little money I made didn't make sense to me (pun not intended), since I'd soon be making the big bucks, at which point an extra five or ten thousand dollars in the bank would be small change. In other words, I didn't want to make a relatively big sacrifice when I was young only to reap a relatively small reward when I was older.
While I still think that philosophy is debatable, depending on what kinds of sacrifices are being made and what kinds of rewards are being reaped, something that is not debatable is the fact that Janssen had a profound effect on my frugality.
Reflecting back, I have identified 5 pivotal experiences that resulted in my full conversion to a life of frugal living.
The first was when Janssen and I were just days away from getting married, and Janssen paid off my car with a good chunk of her savings - savings she had been working on since she was a little girl.
Oh how I cringe at the thought. She had made the sacrifice I had been unwilling to make, and her hard-earned money represented years of work, from selling muffins with her sisters to people in local office buildings, to spending long hours at Cold Stone as a busy high schooler with plenty of other pastimes she might have enjoyed instead.
And there I was - a 25 year-old guy with no savings to show for years of working part-time through high school and college. No, I couldn't be bothered to save for the future. It was too much of a sacrifice.
All the sudden that philosophy sounded pretty lame. And the embarrassment and inspiration I felt as my amazing fiancée wrote that check marked the beginning of my conversion to frugality.
So, for the frugal wives out there hoping their husbands convert:
Step #1: Be an example.
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Mar 10, 2010
Flying for Free (Carole)
Don’t try this at home.
I’ve mentioned in the past, that my husband and I do not have a personal credit card. This is still true. However, we own a business, and the business has a credit card, and has from the day we opened our doors. We’ve used several different credit cards over the past 20+ years, but none have given us the fantastic rewards that we’ve earned in the last 2 years with our Southwest Airline Rapid Rewards VISA credit card.
16 Rapid Rewards credits earn us a free round-trip ticket anyplace Southwest Airlines flies!! You have to spend $1200 on your card to earn one credit. That means that a round trip ticket costs you $19,200 in credit card purchases. Now, if I were trying to earn a free ticket through this credit card on a home account, it would probably take me a whole year to earn one ticket. But a business has much larger bills than a home does, and many, many of those bills can be paid with a credit card. Our little business earns us one free round-trip ticket nearly every month. That is something to shout about!
We’ve used other credit cards in the past that offered Sky Miles or other kinds of travel deals. And even though we were spending the same amounts of cash with them, it always took over a year to earn even one round trip ticket – and then there were so many restrictions and black-out days, that it was hardly worth the trouble. Often, our Sky Miles points would not cover the entire cost of the ticket. I don’t know what weird formula these other card companies use, but it certainly wasn’t in our favor.
Southwest Airlines though offers a very simple program, and it has really worked for us. We’ve been able to use our RR credits for many free trips over the past couple of years, we’ve also flown our children out to visit, and helped out a few others who have had a need. They’ve been such a blessing.
Like any credit card, we treat this business card with great care. We watch our purchases very carefully, we try to use it mainly to pay monthly bills, and we pay it off EVERY MONTH.
If you have difficulty with any of those three items, then stay away from any and all credit cards in your business. Work with cash.
But if this seems like it could work for you, take my word for it – it’s a great deal.
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Mar 9, 2010
Unnecessary Expenses: Part 4 (Merrick)
One of the ways I save money is by shaving costs off of necessary expenses. Remember, every saved penny adds up, so even if it’s a few dollars here and there, that will add up in the long run. In my opinion, this applies to your utility bills.
When Philip and I first got married, we went the entire winter without turning on the heat. We were poor after using nearly our entire savings on our condo’s down payment, so we cut costs where we could, and utilities was one of those areas. Every night when we came home from work, we’d put on our pajamas that included long socks, sweatshirts, and heavy blankets, and spend the evening keeping warm that way. Although I don’t know the exact amount, it saved us tons of money during that first winter.
We’ve softened since then and realized that there is frugality and then there is insanity. Also, I realize that people with young children probably shouldn’t keep the heater off when it’s 20 degrees outside. But in the winters after our first together, we’ve been careful and haven’t pushed the thermostat up as high as we want to. Just keeping a few degrees lower (or higher during the summer months) has saved us a significant amount of money because it’s shaving a few dollars off our bill every month.
By recognizing the yearly savings that come from small adjustments that we’ve talked about in Unnecessary Expenses Parts 1, 2, and 3, you begin thinking frugally. Suddenly you’ll begin to find all sorts of areas that you can trim your costs, and these will add up to big savings in the long run.
When Philip and I first got married, we went the entire winter without turning on the heat. We were poor after using nearly our entire savings on our condo’s down payment, so we cut costs where we could, and utilities was one of those areas. Every night when we came home from work, we’d put on our pajamas that included long socks, sweatshirts, and heavy blankets, and spend the evening keeping warm that way. Although I don’t know the exact amount, it saved us tons of money during that first winter.
We’ve softened since then and realized that there is frugality and then there is insanity. Also, I realize that people with young children probably shouldn’t keep the heater off when it’s 20 degrees outside. But in the winters after our first together, we’ve been careful and haven’t pushed the thermostat up as high as we want to. Just keeping a few degrees lower (or higher during the summer months) has saved us a significant amount of money because it’s shaving a few dollars off our bill every month.
By recognizing the yearly savings that come from small adjustments that we’ve talked about in Unnecessary Expenses Parts 1, 2, and 3, you begin thinking frugally. Suddenly you’ll begin to find all sorts of areas that you can trim your costs, and these will add up to big savings in the long run.
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Mar 8, 2010
Why Live Frugally Now? Reason #6 (Janssen)
Living frugally helps me identify what I view as worth spending money on.
Most people just simply do not make enough money to spend money on everything they could possibly want. Even multi-millionaires can't buy everything they see - there are just too many products with too high of costs to be able to do so. Living frugally helps you decide where you can, without great pain, cut back. As you assign money to different categories in your budget, you can see what categories you might be able to tighten up or erase altogether.
For us, eating out is something that doesn't bring us a tremendous amount of satisfaction - I like to cook, Bart doesn't mind doing the dishes, and the cost of eating out is not worth the experience on a regular basis.
Other things, that some people might be absolutely happy to spend little or no money on, are more of a priority for me. I am not willing to sleep on a mattress on the floor or keep my clothing in a laundry basket. Having decent looking, functional furniture is important to me, enough so that I'm willing to prioritize my money in that category. Some of you might pick a weekly dinner out a thousand times before a piece of furniture. Some of you might be willing to keep both of those categories incredibly low in order to spend money in a third category of your choice.
Sometimes, of course, there is some trial and error involved with identifying what you really value. A few years ago, Bart really wanted a new TV. There was a pretty good discount associated with his job for an LCD flat screen television and suddenly he really wanted to purchase it. Because we could afford it, we went ahead and bought it, replacing the basic TV Bart had received for free from his aunt and uncle when they no longer needed it.
We gave the old TV to some friends of ours and ended up watching many movies on it at their house. After a few viewings, Bart told me, "Our new TV really doesn't make any difference to me. I don't enjoy a movie any more on our TV than I do on our old TV." We both realized that, for us, the TV had not been something worth the money.
Living frugally - committing to watching where my money goes - helps me spend my money on things that really bring me satisfaction and also helps me avoid spending on things that mean little or nothing to me.
Most people just simply do not make enough money to spend money on everything they could possibly want. Even multi-millionaires can't buy everything they see - there are just too many products with too high of costs to be able to do so. Living frugally helps you decide where you can, without great pain, cut back. As you assign money to different categories in your budget, you can see what categories you might be able to tighten up or erase altogether.
For us, eating out is something that doesn't bring us a tremendous amount of satisfaction - I like to cook, Bart doesn't mind doing the dishes, and the cost of eating out is not worth the experience on a regular basis.
Other things, that some people might be absolutely happy to spend little or no money on, are more of a priority for me. I am not willing to sleep on a mattress on the floor or keep my clothing in a laundry basket. Having decent looking, functional furniture is important to me, enough so that I'm willing to prioritize my money in that category. Some of you might pick a weekly dinner out a thousand times before a piece of furniture. Some of you might be willing to keep both of those categories incredibly low in order to spend money in a third category of your choice.
Sometimes, of course, there is some trial and error involved with identifying what you really value. A few years ago, Bart really wanted a new TV. There was a pretty good discount associated with his job for an LCD flat screen television and suddenly he really wanted to purchase it. Because we could afford it, we went ahead and bought it, replacing the basic TV Bart had received for free from his aunt and uncle when they no longer needed it.
We gave the old TV to some friends of ours and ended up watching many movies on it at their house. After a few viewings, Bart told me, "Our new TV really doesn't make any difference to me. I don't enjoy a movie any more on our TV than I do on our old TV." We both realized that, for us, the TV had not been something worth the money.
Living frugally - committing to watching where my money goes - helps me spend my money on things that really bring me satisfaction and also helps me avoid spending on things that mean little or nothing to me.
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Mar 5, 2010
What to Buy at Sam's Club or Costco (Carole)
Dairy Products: eggs, butter, cream, half and half, individually wrapped cheese sticks, egg substitute, both block and grated cheese, milk and gourmet cheese (this last one is usually 1/2 the price of a regular super market). Mrs. Nelson recommends buying the less expensive block cheese, grating it yourself, putting it in zip-lock freezer bags with 1 TB of flour and shaking it around -- to keep the cheese from sticking together -- and storing it in your freezer. Also, milk is often a loss-leader at your grocery store and goes on sale about every other week. So, you can probably buy milk a little bit cheaper, most of the month, at your local grocery store.
Fresh Produce: Prices are almost always better at the club stores, but the amounts are huge. Decide if this one works for you.
Baking Ingredients: flour, sugar, chocolate chips, spices, yeast, real vanilla, evaporated milk, vegetable oil and nuts. The club cost on all of these items is about 60% less than at the regular grocery store. Again, large quantities, but these items all store nicely.
Fresh and Frozen Meat, Chicken and Fish: According to Stephanie Nelson, "Not only is the club price lower, but the grade is also higher." Well. Who knew? Better product for a cheaper price! You can re-wrap the meats in smaller portions and freeze them if you need to.
Bakery and Deli: Club store sheet cakes give you about 50% more cake for the same price of a grocery store cake. The same is true for "bake it yourself" pizzas, pies, muffins, pastries and bagels.
Plastic Bags, Garbage Bags, Foils, and Plastic Wraps: Coupon Mom says club stores sell Zip-Lock baggies cheaper than even the dollar stores! Again, club stores sell BIG amounts of these household items. My girls will remember the LARGE roll of clear wrap I purchased at Sam's Club when they still lived at home. In fact, I believe my 14 year old son wasn't even born when I bought it. I just replaced it at Christmas. That is a BIG roll and some serious savings!
Batteries: Enough said. Good quality batteries should last from 3 - 5 years just sitting in a dark, room-temperature place like a drawer. No need to keep them in the freezer.
Frozen Juice, Fruits and Vegetables: Often these are 1/2 the price of grocery store items.
Household and Paper Supplies: Here she recommends always buying the club store brand. If you insist on a particular name brand, then you are better off watching for sales and using coupons at your regular grocery store. Club stores do not take coupons.
Armed with this valuable information, you can see that a monthly (or quarterly) trip to a club store is well worth your time and money! I would highly recommend reading this book, or you can log onto the free website, http://www.couponmom.com/ and figure out her system on your own. I'll be writing more about this book in the future -- Stephanie Nelson is one smart (and frugal) cookie!
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Mar 4, 2010
Unnecessary Expenses: Part 3 (Merrick)
After my last post about cable being a luxury and (in most cases) easily replaced with the Internet, a lot of you asked about my thoughts on paying for the Internet.
Well, like our cable bill, our condo HOA fees cover the cost of internet so we’re sort of in a different boat than many of you. However, if our HOA did not cover internet, I would still pay for it.
Although I recognize it as a luxury and that everyone lived perfectly well without it for thousands of years, I think in 2010, having access to the internet is pretty darn necessary. In college, assignments, grades, class lectures, quizzes and much more were all online, so in order to fully participate in the class, you had to have online access. Communication for church activities, assignments, schedules, and meetings are almost always done through email and in order to stay updated you have to have an email account. Similarly, many people who work from home, or run businesses out of their homes, communicate with clients, their co-workers, bosses, and partners via email, web conferencing, and other online networks. These are all reasons that it’s pretty important to have internet access.
In addition to necessity, the internet is also a huge convenience, as far as emailing, googling, paying bills, checking your bank account, and a million other things that could be done without a computer, but are much faster, easier, and cheaper if it saves you a trip to the bank, the doctor, or even just the cost of a postage stamp.
Like I said, I have very little experience with this because our internet comes in a package deal, but here are a few suggestions to reduce the cost of your internet:
- Call your provider and see what your options are – Amber mentioned in a comment that she had to call her cable company and remind them that they did offer a $13 package. Do your research and you’ll probably find that they have very cheap options that they won’t ever bother mentioning during a sales pitch.
- Consider a slower internet option – the faster the internet, the more expensive it will be.
- See if there are providers that offer group rates that you can join with your neighbors.
- Many providers have “bundle” deals. See what you might already be paying for that would suddenly be cheaper if you bundled it in your internet package.
- Also a good reminder, per Leslie, be sure to always read the fine print on the contract to make sure your current awesome rate doesn’t change after 6 months or a year, or that there isn’t a big fee to cancel early.
Finally, if you are not like me (who checks my email every ten minutes) and you feel like you really don’t use the internet that much and it’s not worth paying for, consider using the library, which has free online access. Those who live in a college town, like me, have the option of going on campus and using their free computer labs. Also, many coffee shops and other stores offer free wi-fi to their customers. So if you don’t have internet in your home and don’t want to pay for it, there are other options.
So, readers, is the internet a necessity in your home? And if so, what are you doing to keep that monthly bill budget friendly?
Well, like our cable bill, our condo HOA fees cover the cost of internet so we’re sort of in a different boat than many of you. However, if our HOA did not cover internet, I would still pay for it.
Although I recognize it as a luxury and that everyone lived perfectly well without it for thousands of years, I think in 2010, having access to the internet is pretty darn necessary. In college, assignments, grades, class lectures, quizzes and much more were all online, so in order to fully participate in the class, you had to have online access. Communication for church activities, assignments, schedules, and meetings are almost always done through email and in order to stay updated you have to have an email account. Similarly, many people who work from home, or run businesses out of their homes, communicate with clients, their co-workers, bosses, and partners via email, web conferencing, and other online networks. These are all reasons that it’s pretty important to have internet access.
In addition to necessity, the internet is also a huge convenience, as far as emailing, googling, paying bills, checking your bank account, and a million other things that could be done without a computer, but are much faster, easier, and cheaper if it saves you a trip to the bank, the doctor, or even just the cost of a postage stamp.
Like I said, I have very little experience with this because our internet comes in a package deal, but here are a few suggestions to reduce the cost of your internet:
- Call your provider and see what your options are – Amber mentioned in a comment that she had to call her cable company and remind them that they did offer a $13 package. Do your research and you’ll probably find that they have very cheap options that they won’t ever bother mentioning during a sales pitch.
- Consider a slower internet option – the faster the internet, the more expensive it will be.
- See if there are providers that offer group rates that you can join with your neighbors.
- Many providers have “bundle” deals. See what you might already be paying for that would suddenly be cheaper if you bundled it in your internet package.
- Also a good reminder, per Leslie, be sure to always read the fine print on the contract to make sure your current awesome rate doesn’t change after 6 months or a year, or that there isn’t a big fee to cancel early.
Finally, if you are not like me (who checks my email every ten minutes) and you feel like you really don’t use the internet that much and it’s not worth paying for, consider using the library, which has free online access. Those who live in a college town, like me, have the option of going on campus and using their free computer labs. Also, many coffee shops and other stores offer free wi-fi to their customers. So if you don’t have internet in your home and don’t want to pay for it, there are other options.
So, readers, is the internet a necessity in your home? And if so, what are you doing to keep that monthly bill budget friendly?
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Mar 3, 2010
Reducing Your Gasoline Bill (Carole)
In nearly every city there is one grocery store chain that offers a discount on gasoline based on the amount of money you spend at their store. In our town it is Albertsons. Where my in-laws live, it is Smith's. It usually works something like this: for every $50 you spend on groceries, you get $.05 off a gallon of gasoline (up to 20 gallons) when you purchase from their affiliated gas station. This by itself isn't that amazing of a deal, since I can usually beat that 5 cent savings just by going to Sam's Club to buy gas. But there are additional ways...
Using Coupons: The required $50 spent on groceries is calculated on the cost of your groceries BEFORE your coupon savings are subtracted from your bill. So, if you've figured out how to use coupons STRATEGICALLY (which I will cover in the next few weeks), you can spend very little cash on food and still qualify for the gasoline savings. The savings are cumulative: when you spend $100 on groceries then you save 10 cents every gallon, $150 then you get a 15 cent savings. Those kinds of savings are worth driving past any other gas station. If you are spending a few hundred dollars each month on groceries, you can usually get one tankful of gasoline for just about free each month. Pretty nifty.
Buying Gift Cards: Nearly every large grocery store chain sells its own store gift cards. Often (especially during the holidays) they will load on an extra $10 - $30 with a $100 grocery gift card purchase. There also isn't a gift card fee for their own store cards (unlike when you buy a VISA gift card). You can buy YOURSELF a grocery gift card (aren't you thoughtful!) and use it for your upcoming trips to the store. And gain an extra $10 - $30 in free groceries. AND all of those free groceries add to your gasoline savings.
Store Specials on Register Tape: Look on the back of your register tape and occasionally (more often than you'd guess) the store is offering DOUBLE gasoline savings. So, instead of a 5 cent discount on every gallon, you'll get a 10 cent discount. Way to go!
Other Gift Cards: And lastly, if you know you're going to be going out to dinner at Chili's or Red Lobster or wherever, and your grocery store sells gift cards to these restaurants, buy yourself a gift card. This way your evening out (with your Restaurant.com coupon, of course!) also adds to your gasoline savings. The same holds true for ANY gift card you buy at the grocery store -- Old Navy, Bed Bath and Beyond, Southwest Airlines. . . Take a look at the gift card rack and see where you shop anyway, and give your gasoline budget a breather!
Check your grocery store web site for all their rules.
Using Coupons: The required $50 spent on groceries is calculated on the cost of your groceries BEFORE your coupon savings are subtracted from your bill. So, if you've figured out how to use coupons STRATEGICALLY (which I will cover in the next few weeks), you can spend very little cash on food and still qualify for the gasoline savings. The savings are cumulative: when you spend $100 on groceries then you save 10 cents every gallon, $150 then you get a 15 cent savings. Those kinds of savings are worth driving past any other gas station. If you are spending a few hundred dollars each month on groceries, you can usually get one tankful of gasoline for just about free each month. Pretty nifty.
Buying Gift Cards: Nearly every large grocery store chain sells its own store gift cards. Often (especially during the holidays) they will load on an extra $10 - $30 with a $100 grocery gift card purchase. There also isn't a gift card fee for their own store cards (unlike when you buy a VISA gift card). You can buy YOURSELF a grocery gift card (aren't you thoughtful!) and use it for your upcoming trips to the store. And gain an extra $10 - $30 in free groceries. AND all of those free groceries add to your gasoline savings.
Store Specials on Register Tape: Look on the back of your register tape and occasionally (more often than you'd guess) the store is offering DOUBLE gasoline savings. So, instead of a 5 cent discount on every gallon, you'll get a 10 cent discount. Way to go!
Other Gift Cards: And lastly, if you know you're going to be going out to dinner at Chili's or Red Lobster or wherever, and your grocery store sells gift cards to these restaurants, buy yourself a gift card. This way your evening out (with your Restaurant.com coupon, of course!) also adds to your gasoline savings. The same holds true for ANY gift card you buy at the grocery store -- Old Navy, Bed Bath and Beyond, Southwest Airlines. . . Take a look at the gift card rack and see where you shop anyway, and give your gasoline budget a breather!
Check your grocery store web site for all their rules.
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Mar 2, 2010
Why Live Frugally Now? Reason #5 (Janssen)
I am willing to live frugally now because I have learned to love the feeling of saving money.
This might sound silly to some of you - it's like saying "I have really learned to love taking out the trash." You might do it, sure. You might think you ought to do it. But to enjoy it? To look forward to it? That's just bizarre!
The rule in my house growing up was that we had to save at least 50% of the money we earned. Each of us children had a bank account and every few weeks, my parents would help us fill out deposit slips and we would take our money to the bank. By the time I went off to college, I had a pretty sizeable sum sitting there untouched.
The larger it grew, the less willing I was to spend it on something frivilous. I remember that my college boyfriend once asked me, "Why don't you BUY something with all that money?" It was pretty clear to me that he had no idea how much satisfaction you could get from saving money - far more than I might get from buying a car or some other high-priced item.
When Bart and I got married, he had not had much practice in saving money, but once we moved to Texas and were both working full-time, we were saving quite a lot of money each month. After six months or so, he said to me, "I never had any idea that saving could be even more satisfying than spending money. I get more pleasure from putting that money in the bank than I would from buying a TV projector or a fancy new bike."
If you don't live frugally enough to save at least some money, you'll never get to experience that rush that comes from saving. You'll miss the chance to see that saving can be its own reward.
This might sound silly to some of you - it's like saying "I have really learned to love taking out the trash." You might do it, sure. You might think you ought to do it. But to enjoy it? To look forward to it? That's just bizarre!
The rule in my house growing up was that we had to save at least 50% of the money we earned. Each of us children had a bank account and every few weeks, my parents would help us fill out deposit slips and we would take our money to the bank. By the time I went off to college, I had a pretty sizeable sum sitting there untouched.
The larger it grew, the less willing I was to spend it on something frivilous. I remember that my college boyfriend once asked me, "Why don't you BUY something with all that money?" It was pretty clear to me that he had no idea how much satisfaction you could get from saving money - far more than I might get from buying a car or some other high-priced item.
When Bart and I got married, he had not had much practice in saving money, but once we moved to Texas and were both working full-time, we were saving quite a lot of money each month. After six months or so, he said to me, "I never had any idea that saving could be even more satisfying than spending money. I get more pleasure from putting that money in the bank than I would from buying a TV projector or a fancy new bike."
If you don't live frugally enough to save at least some money, you'll never get to experience that rush that comes from saving. You'll miss the chance to see that saving can be its own reward.
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Mar 1, 2010
Unnecessary Expenses: Part 2 (Merrick)
In Part 1 of Unnecessary Expenses, I mentioned the girl who told the news how grateful she was that she finally got a job, because she didn’t know how she was going to pay for next month’s cable bill. So let’s start there for Part 2.
First of all, let me just say right now that I don’t have anything against cable. Cable is included as part of our condo HOA cost, so we enjoy watching the news, the travel channel, HGTV, sporting events, etc. Please don’t get me wrong; cable is great, and if you have it I am not going to talk you out of keeping it.
However, if money is tight because of a layoff, poor budgeting in the past, an unexpected emergency expense or disaster, or a myriad of other reasons, I hope it is obvious to you that between paying your grocery bill or your cable bill, the cable bill is the unnecessary expense. Obviously the girl scrounging for money just to pay for TV did not exactly understand that cable is a luxury item and not a necessity.
if you find yourself trying to cut back on expenses because of reason X or reason Y, think about what expenses are really necessary. Think about what you really can live without.
Also, consider the abundant FREE alternative options such as hulu.com, which allows you to watch nearly every TV show episode imaginable for several weeks after it has aired. For sports fans, espn.com lets you watch many games online, gives you real time updates on scores, and posts article after article on sports commentary. For you news watchers, cnn.com provides blog updates, podcasts, video clips of news highlights, and of course tons of articles that will give you all the news that you could ever want.
Bottom line, cable is a luxury. If you can afford it and feel like it’s a good use of your money, then great! Keep paying for it. But if your budget is tight and you are looking for ways to cut back, consider cable a good option because it will save you a significant amount each month, and everything that you wanted to watch is still available by so many other means.
So now I’ll ask you: do you have cable? Is it worth it? If you don’t have cable, what are your alternative options?
First of all, let me just say right now that I don’t have anything against cable. Cable is included as part of our condo HOA cost, so we enjoy watching the news, the travel channel, HGTV, sporting events, etc. Please don’t get me wrong; cable is great, and if you have it I am not going to talk you out of keeping it.
However, if money is tight because of a layoff, poor budgeting in the past, an unexpected emergency expense or disaster, or a myriad of other reasons, I hope it is obvious to you that between paying your grocery bill or your cable bill, the cable bill is the unnecessary expense. Obviously the girl scrounging for money just to pay for TV did not exactly understand that cable is a luxury item and not a necessity.
if you find yourself trying to cut back on expenses because of reason X or reason Y, think about what expenses are really necessary. Think about what you really can live without.
Also, consider the abundant FREE alternative options such as hulu.com, which allows you to watch nearly every TV show episode imaginable for several weeks after it has aired. For sports fans, espn.com lets you watch many games online, gives you real time updates on scores, and posts article after article on sports commentary. For you news watchers, cnn.com provides blog updates, podcasts, video clips of news highlights, and of course tons of articles that will give you all the news that you could ever want.
Bottom line, cable is a luxury. If you can afford it and feel like it’s a good use of your money, then great! Keep paying for it. But if your budget is tight and you are looking for ways to cut back, consider cable a good option because it will save you a significant amount each month, and everything that you wanted to watch is still available by so many other means.
So now I’ll ask you: do you have cable? Is it worth it? If you don’t have cable, what are your alternative options?
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