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Old 04-01-2013, 07:48 PM   #61
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Originally Posted by ERhoosier View Post
+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!
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Old 04-01-2013, 08:08 PM   #62
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Much of what we did is here:

http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ent-62251.html
Whilst most of the regulars have read this, some newer members may be interested.
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Old 04-01-2013, 08:13 PM   #63
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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.
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Old 04-02-2013, 04:28 AM   #64
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tinlizzy View Post
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.
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Old 04-02-2013, 10:47 AM   #65
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Location: Western US
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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...
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Old 04-02-2013, 01:10 PM   #66
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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)
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Old 04-02-2013, 02:18 PM   #67
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-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.
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Old 04-02-2013, 02:29 PM   #68
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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!
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Old 04-02-2013, 03:30 PM   #69
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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
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Old 04-02-2013, 03:32 PM   #70
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Cutting hair while drunk on home brew.
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Old 04-02-2013, 04:24 PM   #71
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ERhoosier View Post
+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
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Old 04-02-2013, 04:37 PM   #72
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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.
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Old 04-02-2013, 05:57 PM   #73
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Originally Posted by jags View Post
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!
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Old 04-02-2013, 07:01 PM   #74
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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.
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Old 04-02-2013, 07:39 PM   #75
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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.
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Old 04-02-2013, 07:43 PM   #76
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married a frugal woman - and stayed married to her for 33 years.

more cost effective than periodicaly giving away half your stuff to disenfranchised women
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Old 04-02-2013, 07:55 PM   #77
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We cut our own lawn.
Got rid of our landline.
Have basic cable.
Reduced our cell phone service.
We keep our cars for more 10 years and only pay cash for replacements.
We have LBYM for over 20 years.
Enjoy camping in our 7 year old, debt-free travel trailer and tow with our 17 year old truck.
We seldom go out to eat and therefore cook and eat at home.
We brew our own coffee. Haven't been able to find anything Starbucks drink we like.
DW totally enjoys shopping at Goodwill.
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Old 04-02-2013, 08:15 PM   #78
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Originally Posted by Sittingduck View Post
married a frugal woman - and stayed married to her for 33 years.

more cost effective than periodicaly giving away half your stuff to disenfranchised women
+1 So many good ideas but staying with a frugal women for 40 years has been a good decision. I hope she feels the same about me
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Old 04-02-2013, 09:35 PM   #79
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+1 So many good ideas but staying with a frugal women for 40 years has been a good decision. I hope she feels the same about me
is she frugal with words as well?

Couldn't live with n one that gives you a ear bashing 24 x 7 irrespective of how much money she saves
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Old 04-02-2013, 10:00 PM   #80
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Originally Posted by NoOneGetsIt View Post
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.
We cut out the long term disability and life insurance
Dropped the landline for Ooma
Raised deductibles on car and home insurance
Started decluttering and selling or donating junk
Cooked from scratch more
More warehouse and farmers market shopping
Switched cable providers and got a much lower rate with more options and TV channels
Got a 2% cash back charge card
Refinanced the mortgage
Stopped buying stuff
Made our own cleaning supplies
Started using the library and parks more
Switched from a bank to a credit union for some accounts to eliminate monthly fees
Stopped buying most disposable stuff except for some paper goods like tissue and toilet paper
Got a bunch of books from the library on green living and I have a long list of ideas we haven't had time to implement yet

We still have two cars but we combine errands and do more local activities than we used to so we are driving less.

We like the idea of green living and supporting the local economy instead of corporations so this has become kind of a new way of life for us.
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