What have you done to be frugal?

[Moemg]

Not only do I pay to have my haircut I also pay to have it tinted. I tried nice & easy once and lets just say I resembled a comic who was married to Ricky Ricardo .

 

[Delaney]

I stockpile when items are on sale (while keeping an eye on expiration dates). I eat meat, but I buy when its on sale and stock my freezer. Also, I pair a small amount of meat such as half a piece of chicken with lots of vegetables. When fruit is on sale, I freeze it for use in smoothies.

 

[calmloki]

My gal cuts my hair and i cut hers. Granted, her haircut consists of me cutting straight across the back after she has it soaking wet and combed back while my haircut has her cutting all over my head. and granted, she seems to do a certain amount of touch-up snips to her hair over the day after her haircut. She also does a better job coloring her own hair than any colorist I've seen do for her or other women. She's artistic and just keeps pecking at things till they look right - or fit right! She also uses tools to adjust the bite and fit on her dentures. As she says, she's willing to spend as long as it takes to get things right. (dawns on me that may explain why we're still together - she's stubborn)

 

[Ronstar]

Cut back cable/phone/internet to basic cable at the condo
Cut own grass, plow snow, do all house/property maintenance
Only heat rooms we live in
Make my own beer
Eat out less
Keep cars a long time
Keep debt at 0

 

[Ready]

I think I'm the only one at the office who doesn't stop at Starbucks on thew way to work to buy a cup of coffee. In fact, other than when I'm traveling and have no choice, I don't think I've ever spent money to buy a cup of coffee from the local Starbucks or other coffee house. It always amazed me how quickly people hand over $3.00 for something that should cost about .25 cents to make.

 

[MichaelB]

Cut back cable/phone/internet to basic cable at the condo
Cut own grass, plow snow, do all house/property maintenance
Only heat rooms we live in
Make my own beer
Eat out less
Keep cars a long time
Keep debt at 0

Is it less expensive to brew your own vs buy? I assumed it cost more just from upfront cost and lack of scale.

 

[ERhoosier]

Is it less expensive to brew your own vs buy? I assumed it cost more just from upfront cost and lack of scale.

Michael may be right about cost, but I'll bet Ronstar's brew is better than some of the big market stuff that taste's like it's been run through a horse

 

[Ronstar]

Is it less expensive to brew your own vs buy? I assumed it cost more just from upfront cost and lack of scale.

It depends on whether the comparison is to Busch light in cans or to $5 pints at a pub. I do 5 gallons for around $45 in grain, yeast, and hops, so that's a little more than $1 a pint. I have about $800-$1000 in equipment that I've brewed about 50 - 5 gallon batches (about 2000 pints). So add another $0.50 per pint for equipment for a total of $1.50 - $1.70 a home brewed pint.

So I'm saving a little when compared to the cost of microbrews but I can't match the cost of a miller/coors/Busch.

 

[Ronstar]

Michael may be right about cost, but I'll bet Ronstar's brew is better than some of the big market stuff that taste's like it's been run through a horse

Mine may not be as good as the top microbrews, but its definitely better than the big market stuff. I can't stomach the big market stuff anymore.

 

[MichaelB]

It depends on whether the comparison is to Busch light in cans or to $5 pints at a pub. I do 5 gallons for around $45 in grain, yeast, and hops, so that's a little more than $1 a pint. I have about $800-$1000 in equipment that I've brewed about 50 - 5 gallon batches (about 2000 pints). So add another $0.50 per pint for equipment for a total of $1.50 - $1.70 a home brewed pint.

So I'm saving a little when compared to the cost of microbrews but I can't match the cost of a miller/coors/Busch.

Nice. The microbrews I drink are in that price range. Home brewed suddenly looks like a better deal.

 

[tinlizzy]

+1

Hair cutting is a real skill. Some of us are just no darn good at it.
(DON'T ask me how I know that )

Some of them are no darn good at either - everytime I pay to have a hair style I end up looking like Ramona!

 

[imoldernu]

Much of what we did is here:

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/sharing-23-years-of-frugal-retirement-62251.html
Whilst most of the regulars have read this, some newer members may be interested.

 

[NoOneGetsIt]

Believe it or not hubby cut his own hair before me...bought barber buz sheers and cuts by the numbers LOL....I have long hair now so hard to screw it up.

and we've made our own beer and meade. Meade is fun stuff if you have free fruit to make it with.

Man...I guess I don't really even remember all the stuff we've done in the name of money saving! Never did without if we wanted/needed something...bought really nice furniture so we'll never need a single item again....things like that.

I am enjoying thinking of all this stuff you guys have noted you've done to save money.

 

[keegs]

Some of them are no darn good at either - everytime I pay to have a hair style I end up looking like Ramona!

My father used to take me to the $1 haircut place when I was a kid and when I'd complain he'd say to me .....son ..the only difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is a few days.

 

[bjorn2bwild]

When evaluating our budget, I start with the big things and work my way down -

Quality of Life
Housing
Transportation
Food
Utilities
Insurance
Clothing
Electronics
Recreation
Entertainment
Grooming, etc...

 

[ERD50]

Nice. The microbrews I drink are in that price range. Home brewed suddenly looks like a better deal.

And it also can be done for much less. The higher alcohol or highly hopped beer ingredient kits (grains, hops, yeast) run in the $40's, but there are plenty in the light to medium range from $20-$25, and lots in the $30 range.

Cream Ale All-Grain Kit : Northern Brewer

Chinook IPA All-Grain Kit : Northern Brewer

Black IPA All-Grain Kit - All-Grain Beer Recipe Kits - Beer Recipe Kits - Beer Brewing : Northern Brewer

I mash my grain in a couple 3.5G buckets (free from bakery) with paint strainer bags in them. I set them in a pre-heated (then turned off) oven to hold the mash temp for an hour. I boil in two 5 gallon pots on the stove-top. One was a hand-me-down, the other a $20 tamale pot. I ferment in the plastic fermentor buckets (~ $14), and rarely ever do a 'secondary' (requires a glass carboy, but I already have a couple). I do the 'no chill' method (just put the hot wort in the plastic fermentor and let it cool on the porch), so no chilling equipment needed.

If you can find a bar/restaurant near you that sells beer in Grolsch-style swing-top bottles, you won't even need to buy caps/capper. Just a few misc tubing pieces, a bottle-filler, airlock for the fermentor, sanitizer, and a hydrometer - that's all cheap stuff. Easily less than $100 to get started that way.

-ERD50 (who just took a break from bottling/mini-kegging a Summer spiced Wheat)

 

[ChainsBeGone]

-Always saved first, even when it was not a lot, and eventually built up to saving over half our paycheck over multiple years, which was possible because we increased our savings rate much more than our standard of living as we progressed through my career (budgeting never worked well for us, but if we saved first, then it didn't matter what we spent the rest on as long as we covered true necessities and didn't go into debt).
-Took lunch to work almost everyday, which has saved quite a bit over almost three decades.
-DW has cut my hair every two weeks for over 20 years (short haircuts required in my line of work).
-DW also learned how to give our miniature schnauzers their haircuts.
-Learned how to only charge onto credit cards what I could pay off at the end of the month (hard lesson learned).
-Stopped buying cars on loans, and only bought what we could pay for in cash.
-Learned the hard way how not to risk other people's money in the stock market (margin calls bite).
-Learned to be happy for our neighbors as they continued to purchase many things that we thought were not necessary.
-Did a lot of camping with our kids instead of high-cost vacations.
-Libraries, walks, running, hiking, reading are all low cost yet enjoyable.
-Played board games and cards, backgammon with our kids and Pinochle and Euchre with our friends in an adult card playing group.
-Had friends to our house or went over to their house for dinner/evening instead of going to restaurants too often.
-Practiced the "Whopper Factor." If the meal in the restaurant didn't taste as good as a Whopper or Chick-Fil-A sandwich than it wasn't worth the money spent no matter how "high class" the establishment.

We did and still do many of these and more, but it's a natural habit and it doesn't feel like we do without. We've always felt like we've had enough and then some. This also allows us to live large once in awhile, like we did two years ago when we spent three weeks on a Trafalgar Tour through Scotland/England/Ireland. It's also allowed DW to stay at home with while our kids grew up. It's about balance and moderation for us, and trying to want what we already have (easier said than done sometimes). Mistakes are made along the way, but it's easier to recover from those mistakes when not anchored down by debt.

 

[NoOneGetsIt]

Wow...so glad to see like-minded folks here. We look at the boxes and full trash cans our neighbors leave out and are thankful they are keeping our economy moving because that keeps what money we have invested in stocks moving in the right direction.

We couldn't all be like those of us here or the economy would crash.

Thanks to you all!

 

[foxfirev5]

Ah,yes the haircuts. My DW has been cutting mine for about 30 years. Now it's a pretty simple crew cut without much mess. However the the cost savings goes directly to her $150 beauty shop charges. It's all about balance and priorities

 

[bondi688]

Cutting hair while drunk on home brew.

 

[UserRequested]

+1

Hair cutting is a real skill. Some of us are just no darn good at it.
(DON'T ask me how I know that )

Slowly but surely, I am losing what once was a beautiful mane. Seriously thinking of shaving it all off and going "Kojak", but maybe with a goatee.

Don't need a hairdresser for that

 

[jimnjana]

I guess I could probably be more frugal, given the fact that we do not have a written budget. But here is what we do to be frugal

- travel cheap
- yard sales, estate sales frequent buyer program (we've basically furnished 3 homes this way)
- keep cars a long time, don't buy new, quality used
- buy quality that is going to last
- review cable bills etc and at least once a year call to make sure you are paying the least amount. If you don't have cable, congrats wife won't let me pull the plug


We don't have a fixed budget, but we still manage to live beneath our means. Being Full COLA DRINKERS, (Cost of Living Adjusted Dual Retirement Income No Kids(at home) Early Retirees, we do have excellent pensions.

 

[Meadbh]

Slowly but surely, I am losing what once was a beautiful mane. Seriously thinking of shaving it all off and going "Kojak", but maybe with a goatee.

Don't need a hairdresser for that

I think bald and shiny guys look sexy. You should do it!

 

[Sue J]

We got rid of Vonage and went to a Magicjack.

I've been making the homemade laundry detergent for a few years. I never did a load usage cost comparison, I just know that I'm not paying $8-$11 and bringing home those large jugs of detergent. Here's the link to the recipe -
Homemade Laundry Detergent – The Original and Best Recipe

I make a double recipe using one bar Fels-Naptha and one bar Ivory.

 

[NoOneGetsIt]

anyone go down to one car? and if so how did that work? any other 'tricks' you've done to make FIRE work for you?
We are considering 1 vehicle in retirement.