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04-17-2013, 11:20 AM
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#101
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,782
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1. Mortgage paid off.
2. Almost never use cc.
3. Still have 13 year old IBM NetVista pc, chugging along.
4. Own car repairs when possible.
5. Stock up (way up) on good beer when it's on sale.
6. Happy hour.
7. coupons for restaurants.
8. Do all my own landscaping.
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04-17-2013, 11:42 AM
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#102
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Dryer sheet aficionado
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AWeinel
The precise things a frugal person does or does not do vary by person. BUT, IMHO, the common factor is that we each recognize that, **THIS DOLLAR** (in my hand), I can only spend one time. Then it is gone forever. There may be more (next payday, next retirement check, whatever), but THAT one is gone. Period. When you realize that, you kind of think, is [this opportunity] the one where I want to spend that dollar. Cause I only get one chance.
I think that at least subconsciously guides us frugal folk.
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+1
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04-17-2013, 12:31 PM
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#103
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 1,894
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John Galt III
2. Almost never use cc.
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I think it depends whether this is frugal or not. I use a CC for almost all routine expenses, paid in full each month and get 1.5% cash back for using it. That's better than CD rates. I have never carried balance on a CC though.
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04-17-2013, 12:49 PM
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#104
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 14,328
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rbmrtn
I.... I use a CC for almost all routine expenses, paid in full each month and get 1.5% cash back for using it. ......
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I get 2% at Fidelity Nah,nah.
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04-21-2013, 11:25 AM
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#105
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 58
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The most important things we've done are maximizing retirement savings every year, spending less than we bring in, and we reduced debt to just a mortgage which we refi'd last year.
Next big thing to specify spending cuts was put together a spreadsheet detailing our monthly expenses, also use mint.com for honest budget tracking.
We cut some unneccessary expenses.
Reduced our insurance, cable, and any other fixed costs that we could.
Use cash back credit cards for most expenses.
Right now we're clearing out clutter and donating, selling, recycling or throwing away stuff we don't use anymore/ever.
Our last bastion of spending cuts that we can improve upon are food and discretionary spending. We sometimes overbuy at the grocery store and end up having to throw away some food that spoils. Also, we're not fat, but we don't miss any meals. Our restaurant spending is probably way too high.
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04-21-2013, 11:58 AM
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#106
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Kansas City
Posts: 222
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I'm working on maxing out my savings while I can. I don't pay health insurance because I'm under 26, so I'm putting away all the money I would have paid.
Boyfriend and I do pay for internet, but because we work from home and own a business, it's tax deductible. We keep cable and pay $15 a month for Gamefly because we're both big gamers, and it's cheaper to pay $15 than buy a new game, or go out to find entertainment. We share an apartment with my older brother though, so cable and internet bill, which we bundle, is split in half to about $50 a month.
With this set up, we're only spending about $45 a month on entertainment. We never feel the need for a movie night or to go out, because we both have all we need here at home. Without television to fill work breaks during the day, going out to lunch can be tempting, but flipping to an interesting documentary or episode of Doctor Who definitely encourages us to head to the pantry instead :P
Have all of my bills, including CC set to auto pay the full bill each month, and we use them as much as possible. We weren't able to get direct cash back because we're just building our credit, but the rewards points are redeemable for cash, so just as well! Then we make sure to put away everything but a few hundred dollars after rent, and refuse to do anything above that.
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04-21-2013, 12:30 PM
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#107
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 939
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__________________
I used to be “Thinker25” here. Retired at 62, now 73 (in 2021), no regrets & single again. I love it. I’m in RI.
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04-21-2013, 12:38 PM
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#108
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Kansas City
Posts: 222
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thinker25
Great work at your age!
If you live near a Costco, the membership comes with a free American Express card and gives you cash back once a year - it might be an easy way to build your credit. You would also save on food (probably) since you are cooking at home all the time.
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Thanks! I do live near one, I didn't know they offered a card! My mom was a member of Costco when I was younger because she was buying food for me, my siblings, and our cousins, she couldn't buy in less than bulk :P
That's something to consider! I have a bit of credit from paying off student loans, but I got those out of the way first thing, so they didn't have a lot of time to help, but it made it easier to get a CC
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04-21-2013, 02:58 PM
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#109
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,266
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+1 but Escape by Discover. I figure that I spend $29k a year and get $580 benefit a year, less the $65 annual fee.
__________________
If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Retired Jan 2012 at age 56
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04-22-2013, 06:44 AM
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#110
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Dryer sheet wannabe
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 17
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great thread
came from farmer parents with dad in the military for many years. so I know how to reuse, recycle, repurpose everything to do with surviving on a farm situation. I apply it all thru my life.
frugal. you bet.
but I live great. we shop for the best price to fit what we require.
Use my CC card and make that money work for me. Just got a $100 rewards card in the mail last week after redeeming points. card paid off each month of course.
I am a hunter. deer, duck fill my freezer. Fisherman also and best fish fry around.
I raise a hog and put it in the freezer.
simple country person doing what it takes to save money at every turn but having a blast doing it.
and being frugal is getting me more and more toward that early retirement I am wanting now.
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04-22-2013, 07:25 AM
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#111
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 984
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I married a man who can fix, build, and do anything! I do all the research for the good deal on the materials and he does it....I am the helper though
I can't get him to give up cable or try straight talk, but I have helped him realize the wonders of the thrift store, garage sales, coupons, buying in bulk, and curb shopping
We do need to work on our eating out....I just cannot get the hang of menu planning and once a month cooking! We are having a big garden this year, let's see how we do!
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04-22-2013, 08:00 AM
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#112
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 214
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LOL- I did the same thing. No mechanic bills, no house maintenance bills...
We need to work on our food budget. DH is off grains and has upped his protein by a lot, so it really seems to have affected our budget. No more simple casseroles, soup and bread meals, and other kinds of stretchers.
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04-22-2013, 08:04 AM
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#113
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: North Oregon Coast
Posts: 16,483
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hausfrau
LOL- I did the same thing. No mechanic bills, no house maintenance bills...
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My parents did a wonderful job raising us, but if I have any *one* regret about my upbringing, it's that I didn't grow up around anyone who was handy. My dad was a lot of good and useful things, but "handyman" was never one of them. A lot of folks (historically, mostly boys) grew up helping Dad fix things, work under the hood, that sort of thing... I didn't. It's a skill I wish I had. I suppose I have time to learn now, but still...
__________________
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
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04-22-2013, 09:09 AM
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#114
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Dryer sheet wannabe
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 17
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skill sets are very important in saving money.
the more you know, the less you rely on a service that cost bucks
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04-22-2013, 09:29 AM
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#115
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 984
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ziggy29
My parents did a wonderful job raising us, but if I have any *one* regret about my upbringing, it's that I didn't grow up around anyone who was handy. My dad was a lot of good and useful things, but "handyman" was never one of them. A lot of folks (historically, mostly boys) grew up helping Dad fix things, work under the hood, that sort of thing... I didn't. It's a skill I wish I had. I suppose I have time to learn now, but still...
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You can learn ziggy....Pinterest, DIY blogs. I am making our own garden walkways with a few bags or cement and a "cottage walkway" mold from loews....the stone people wanted $2000 for stones and labor!
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04-22-2013, 09:57 AM
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#116
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,474
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I answered this thread back on the first page, but yesterday it came to mind. I was talking to Frank, who innocently mentioned his subscription to a magazine. Suddenly I had an unexpected, huge knee-jerk negative emotional reaction. Why? Because for the past 50+ years, I have not subscribed to a single magazine or newspaper because I felt they cost more than I could afford.
Yes, gang, although I subscribed to professional journals because I had to, the last magazine I subscribed to was "Seventeen Magazine" back in the early 1960's.
Now that I have the time and money to enjoy such subscriptions, I looked into them again. And fate being as it is, we have no more daily (paper) newspaper in New Orleans. Most magazines are ridiculously expensive for what you get, IMO, and not a good value. So, I still do not subscribe to anything.
Another policy I have is to never spend even one cent to access any online websites. That has always been a matter of pride for me. My thinking on that has been that everything is online and available for free somewhere, if I just look hard enough. But after years of making this my policy, maybe it is time to loosen up those pursestrings.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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04-22-2013, 10:39 AM
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#117
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 14,328
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SoutheastSam
.........I raise a hog and put it in the freezer............
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Doesn't it get awfully cold...and lonely?
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04-22-2013, 10:46 AM
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#118
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: North Oregon Coast
Posts: 16,483
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Quote:
Originally Posted by W2R
Another policy I have is to never spend even one cent to access any online websites. That has always been a matter of pride for me. My thinking on that has been that everything is online and available for free somewhere, if I just look hard enough. But after years of making this my policy, maybe it is time to loosen up those pursestrings.
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I think in the early days of the dotcom boom, most web-based businesses thought they could create a business model where they could offer all the content free, and make up for it in advertising revenues. But as it turned out, for the first few years after the bust it turned out only a few sites could really pull this off. Most of them didn't add enough value, or contribute things that couldn't be obtained elsewhere, and went under. That became even more true after applications like Ad-Block and pop up blockers became more prevalent; they are the DVRs of the online content world in that they enable the consumer to bypass the advertising that's paying the costs of providing the "free" content.
__________________
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
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04-22-2013, 10:58 AM
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#119
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,474
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ziggy29
That became even more true after applications like Ad-Block and pop up blockers became more prevalent; they are the DVRs of the online content world in that they enable the consumer to bypass the advertising that's paying the costs of providing the "free" content.
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On the topic of DVR's, I got my first one about a month ago from Cox Cable and thought I had "hit the big time" finally. But as much as I loathe ads, I find that I hardly use it. I forget that I even have it. The political comedy show that I love, that is on at 2 AM only and was keeping me up too late every night, doesn't seem nearly as funny when I watch it at 7 PM. And American Idol? I want to watch it when it is on, instead of waiting until later when everyone knows who was eliminated.
Hmmm. Guess I am just too set in my ways. Anyway, I am seriously thinking of asking Cox if they would just take their DVR back.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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04-22-2013, 10:59 AM
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#120
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Moderator
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: San Diego
Posts: 14,171
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Arifriekinel
I'm working on maxing out my savings while I can. I don't pay health insurance because I'm under 26, so I'm putting away all the money I would have paid.
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You should thank your parents frequently for footing your health insurance bill. The law changed to *allow* them to carry you on their insurance... but didn't obligate them. They are being very generous and you should thank them often.
Many young adults are not so fortunate.
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