Nationwide Casting for Most Frugal Folks

[JamieCarroll]

First, I have to say I am inspired by all of the information I have read on these boards. Thank you for sharing!

My name is Jamie Carroll; I am a Casting Producer located in New York.

My current project is a one hour special for a major cable network about the most frugal folks in the nation.

I am looking for five thrifty geniuses who save money in ways most of us would never think about, from the outrageous to the ingenious.

If this sounds like something of interest you can send me an email me:

jamie.carroll.casting@gmail.com

Thank you so much for your time, and for the moderators and administrators of the site for getting back to me so quickly.

 

[Janet H]

Welcome to the board. Frugality in the pursuit of more leisure time has been a regular topic. Good luck with your project

 

[REWahoo]

OK, all of you who proudly reuse your [-]TP[/-] Ziplock food bags, now is your chance for 15 minutes of fame!

 

[MasterBlaster]

jamiecarroll:

It's not about being some weird-o tightwad. It's all about making conscious choices to save and invest, big time. Yet one can still enjoy many things that life has to offer.

If you forgo all the fancy cars/clothes/restaurants/vacations in order to save. Then that will allow you to some decades out become financially independent.

All that fluff people spend their money on won't make them happy anyway. There is great peace of mind to saving and avoiding debt. Similarly there is a great loss of peace of mind by going into debt to buy a bunch of stuff.

 

[devans0]

Earlyretirementextreme.com would be a good place to go for the kind of folks that you want.

 

[pimpmyretirement]

I second the early retirement extreme suggestion - the guy made his own rake!

http://earlyretirementextreme.com/diy-4-rake.html

 

[Janet H]

I second the early retirement extreme suggestion - the guy made his own rake!

http://earlyretirementextreme.com/diy-4-rake.html

Yes, but can it be done using (used up) dryer sheets?

 

[W2R]

OK, all of you who proudly reuse your [-]TP[/-] Ziplock food bags, now is your chance for 15 minutes of fame!

I reused the Ziplock bags that I got with my new laptop and new iPhone + iPhone accessories. Guess that doesn't count as being particularly frugal, though.

We really do have some frugal members, even though I am not actually one of them these days. But old habits die hard.

 

[Midpack]

Jacob (ERE) is an obvious good choice, and I assume the OP will include these folks as well America's Cheapest Family | and The HomeEconomiser® Newsletter. I read their book, and they are masters of frugal.

We reuse Ziplock bags too, I'm so tight (in some ways) I reuse dental floss...

 

[Sarah in SC]

Jeff Yeager, the Cheapskate guy, is also another good choice.
I've been reading a pretty good blog lately from this guy, too.

And there's always that poster that T-Al told us about years ago, the one who sieved the broken glass out of the peanut butter. Geez, still creeped out by that one!

 

[Texas Proud]

I second the early retirement extreme suggestion - the guy made his own rake!

» DIY $4 rake Early Retirement Extreme: — when more time > more money

Also a +1 (or 2 or 3...)... I don't think there are a lot on this site that you can call the most frugal folks...

I remember seeing a daily show a long time ago about some very [-]cheap[/-] frugal people... the guy would take extra catsup from the fast food stores and refill his bottle at home... he bought double TP and then separated them into two rolls... he KEPT the paper drink cups that they gave him during the commercials so he could take them home...

I don't see this kind of frugalness on this board....


As to the post.... how much time did the guy waste in building that rake... and he did not include the cost of his tools and electricity.... sometimes not being cheap is actually cheaper....

 

[grasshopper]

LBYM, and leaving the workforce at 54 priceless.

 

[Beryl]

OK, all of you who proudly reuse your [-]TP[/-] Ziplock food bags, now is your chance for 15 minutes of fame!

That would be me. After they are used for human food, I use them for my dog's food (which I make myself). I rinse them out until they are no longer usable for the dogs.

 

[chinaco]

We are boring... we do the normal saving and frugal stuff. So I can't help you.

But just wondering... Is this a PBS piece or one of the pay tele broadcasters

For example: Is this a PBS serious type show (e.g. NOW)... or is it one of those wanna see something weird shows (e.g. Nat Geo Taboo)?

 

[calmloki]

I second the early retirement extreme suggestion - the guy made his own rake!

http://earlyretirementextreme.com/diy-4-rake.html

OK. I get that he had to have a rake RIGHT NOW. but that's just a dumb waste of time. Too heavy, too awkward, too mean to one's hands. If you can't buy one for a buck at a yardsale then be on decent enough terms with your neighbors to borrow one. Good neighbor relations are not a waste of time.

 

[jacob]

Do I detect some rake-envy here? Yes, it took at long time to make, but fact is, I can make rake. I'm self-reliant. I can make stuff. I don't have to buy things whenever there's a problem. But I'm not doing this to save a buck, I'm doing it to prove a point. Next, I'm gonna make a bleedin' wheelbarrow.

Incidentally, all-wood rakes sell for $40+. As they have no metal heads, they're lighter than metal-head rakes, not heavier. They're stiffer than plastic, they don't bite into the ground like metal, and they don't jump and skip like plastic. The handle can be shaped to conform to one's grip with a block plane, so there. Overall, this rake blows your $1 yard sale plastic iron rake out of the water.

DIY 1 - Sensible Consumerism 0

Anyway ...

I actually declined that show because I don't have any particularly bizarre frugal habits like saving the ketchup out of fast food packets or knitting sweaters out of shoelaces or whatever...

ERE is more of a Pareto approach that concentrates on the biggest expenses like housing, transportation, food, and finance charges. This doesn't make for good TV.

Also, I knew I'd have to contend with people focusing on dramatic but irrelevant things like the rake above or some other idiosyncratic detail of my life thus easily losing the overall message.

 

[JPatrick]

First, I have to say I am inspired by all of the information I have read on these boards. Thank you for sharing!

My name is Jamie Carroll; I am a Casting Producer located in New York.

.

I occasionally get in a little casting myself, but before I do, and in the name of frugality, I steal my supply of worms from the Robins in our yard..

 

[calmloki]

Hey, good for you having the skill and gumption to make a rake.

Think that you would find an aluminum shark tooth rake - light, no clog, hella sturdy: 36" Aluminum Lute Rake, Rakes, Long Handled Tools - GEMPLER'S pretty friendly. Used around here by landscapers and concrete guys to move around aggregate. Took quite a while for me to find mine used, but it works well for some leaves and lots of other stuff.

 

[jacob]

I could probably retrofit mine using the aluminum from a discarded storm frame. Wood teeth on one side, aluminum teeth on the other side.

 

[W2R]

Or, you could live in a location like mine, where hurricanes knocked down every tree on the tree lined street, both front yards and back. I have a rake but haven't used it since Hurricanes Katrina & Gustav. No more trees means no more leaves means no reason to rake. So, losing the trees is not all bad.

 

[haha]

Or, you could live in a location like mine, where hurricanes knocked down every tree on the tree lined street, both front yards and back. I have a rake but haven't used it since Hurricanes Katrina & Gustav. No more trees means no more leaves means no reason to rake. So, losing the trees is not all bad.

What, you mean you are not pouring concrete these days?

Ha

 

[pb4uski]

OK, all of you who proudly reuse your [-]TP[/-] Ziplock food bags, now is your chance for 15 minutes of fame!

When my 99 year old grandmother, a daughter of the great depression, passeda few years ago. As we were cleaning out her apartment we found a drawer full of the flimsy zip lock bags that you get in some grocery stores when you buy cold cuts, all cleaned and neatly stacked.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Do I detect some rake-envy here? Yes, it took at long time to make, but fact is, I can make rake. I'm self-reliant. I can make stuff. I don't have to buy things whenever there's a problem. But I'm not doing this to save a buck, I'm doing it to prove a point. Next, I'm gonna make a bleedin' wheelbarrow.

Give 'em hell, Jacob!
I would never suggest that the woodworkers among our retirees (and you ham radio folks) should skip the craft and buy something at a yard sale instead (or get their news from the 'net).

I also love the idea that you rebuild and repair older bikes, by the way. Making do with things and creating my own implements and inventions is a peculiarly satisfying practice.

 

[FinanceDude]

Hey, good for you having the skill and gumption to make a rake.

Think that you would find an aluminum shark tooth rake - light, no clog, hella sturdy: 36" Aluminum Lute Rake, Rakes, Long Handled Tools - GEMPLER'S pretty friendly. Used around here by landscapers and concrete guys to move around aggregate. Took quite a while for me to find mine used, but it works well for some leaves and lots of other stuff.

Those look exactly like the rakes we use to rake the baseball diamonds locally..............

 

[travelover]

At the risk of reinforcing my cynical image, I think the OP is looking for a freak for their freak show. People that drive 10 year old Toyotas, buy index funds and mow their own lawn ain't gonna get it. What is needed are dumpster diving eccentrics with apartments chuck full of coat hangers and plastic grocery bags.