Living on a lot less

[laurence]

my DW has been asking to cut my hair for years (no formal training) ... but I said 'don't learn on me'. 

Now with the barber a 1/2 hour away (near my former employer), I said 'go ahead'.  Walmart sells a clipper set for $20.  Now at 3 cuts n'counting.  With tip the savings is $20 per cut.  Pays for lunch out.

I've been cutting my own hair with clippers for 4 years, the set cost me ~$20 as well, and since I have curly/wavy hair, small mistakes are less visible.

...I do need DW to clean up the back, but she doesn't charge much.

 

[MJ]

I started shaving my head some 2 years ago. I shave it every 2 or 3 days.

MJ

 

[pbrane]

I spend around $150 to 175 per month on groceries and toiletries etc. And I (being a bit of a health nut) buy a lot of organic veggies and shop the farmers markets in the summer. That's 3 big meals a day plus snacks. Eating out (about 1x per month lately)is in the entertainment budget.

Regarding salmon, I think one of the best deals in the store is Chicken of the Sea canned Alaskan salmon (14.75 oz) for 99 centz. It's wild-caught, according to their website anyway.

 

[wildcat]

pbrane is a master saver

I started shaving my head some 2 years ago. I shave it every 2 or 3 days.

With clippers or razors? Seems like the razor would negate the savings.

 

[haha]

Regarding salmon, I think one of the best deals in the store is Chicken of the Sea canned Alaskan salmon (14.75 oz) for 99 centz. It's wild-caught, according to their website anyway.

As far as I know, all canned salmon sold in the US is wild, and all of it comes from Alaska. The large cheap cans you talk about are really a good deal, if you like them. I eat canned salmon all winter, since I hate frozen salmon- but I pay up for the canned sockeye, usually just designated as red, as opposed to "Pink” for the cheaper product.

I buy mine from a small packer with a retail outlet (case lots) in Bellingham, WA. Cost varies with fishing conditions, but it is usually in the neighborhood of $3 per half pound. (The cans are actually a bit smaller than this, but close.) I also eat a lot of sardines, but only King Oscar double row pack in salmon oil. They used to be packed in sild (herring) oil, but I think that was a turnoff for American consumers. This stuff is expensive-$2.29 or so for a normal sized sardine can- but it is really good!

I think I am beginning to see that my grocery expenses are more than some, not because I am a crappy shopper, but because I have different tastes. I don't mind drinking relatively cheap wine, but I can be picky about fish,  meat or vegetables.

I try to save money by avoiding eating out except on special occasions. I can’t stand pedestrian restaurant food either, so eating out can be a real budget killer for me.

Ha

 

[greg]

Ha- I gave up on the pink salmon a couple years ago. I opened and tasted a can; I think it was some sort of rough fish--not even close to edible or salmon, so I gave up on right there. Even the red salmon isn't as good as it was in the good old days--when popsicles were a nickel quarter.

Our total for groceries last month: $350 for two. I'm going to get it down closer to $250 soon (the goal is to get close to foodstamp allocation amounts--maybe . But it might take a while. Got any vegatarian receipes?

 

[Lancelot]

I pay $1.50 for a haircut and shave at the local Thai barber.

I usually go to the small, open air restaurants and get some food to go. Chicken fried rice with vegetables $0.75; noodles $0.50 to $0.63; fried mussels $0.63.

Delicious!

Last night I saw "The Great Raid" (good flick!) I paid $3 for the ticket and $1.25 for a large popcorn, bottled water $0.38. The theater is a five minute walk from my apartment, so no transportation expense. I can go to other theaters on the Sky Train (elevated electric commuter train) for $1 round trip.

Lance

 

[Dawg52]

I pay $1.50 for a haircut and shave at the local Thai barber.

I usually go to the small, open air restaurants and get some food to go. Chicken fried rice with vegetables $0.75; noodles $0.50 to $0.63; fried mussels $0.63.

Delicious!

Last night I saw "The Great Raid" (good flick!) I paid $3 for the ticket and $1.25 for a large popcorn, bottled water $0.38. The theater is a five minute walk from my apartment, so no transportation expense. I can go to other theaters on the Sky Train (elevated electric commuter train) for $1 round trip.

Lance

Great prices! I just don't think I could adjust to the culture. Might be good for a multi week vacation however. 

 

[MJ]

pbrane is a master saver

With clippers or razors? Seems like the razor would negate the savings.

I use wilkenson double edge blades now made in Germany, costing 5 for .79 . Use the same blade to shave my face and head which lasts lasts about a month so it costs me .79 every 5 months. I can live with that.

 

[Lancelot]

Great prices! I just don't think I could adjust to the culture. Might be good for a multi week vacation however. 

Hey D51, I hear you and you're right: asia is not for everyone. And, perhaps later on it won't be for me either.

But for now I'm lovin it!!!

 

[Mr._johngalt]

JG, with all due respect, I believe your lifestyle is far from the one being suggested in Wildcats' post.  His reference was to the "average 50-60 year old" in retirement.  Based on many polls done by various media sources (and taken with the appropriate grains of salt) it would appear that most (not you or most of the people on this forum) will be in for quite a shock when they try to live at the same level in retirement as they did before without adequate resources to fund that kind of spending. 

Based on personal observation of my peers and family, I would agree that most people are not saving and investing enough to maintain their current lifestyle over the 25-30 years they will spend in retirement (assuming retirement at age 65ish).  They will have to lower their spending to match their level of income (which they have yet to do in their working life) or will have to continue to work at some level to have the income needed to support their lifestyle. 

If everyone were as frugal as you and some of the others here, the economy would come to a screeching halt. 

This is a good post. I mostly agree, and certainly if I was a "typical" consumer
the whole system would be in trouble.

Re. most people "not saving or investing enough", I would go a bit further.
It seems to me that "most people" are pretty clueless generally
about financial planning/retirement issues. I suppose I shouldn't be
critical of this blind spot as I sailed along for a very long time and never gave
it a thought. Perhaps in that sense I was typical. No more. Fortunately
I woke up in time.

JG

 

[MJ]

I myself, am very grateful for all those consumers shopping at the same supermarket and produce markets I do. All those special sales, I gleefully take advantage of, are the "honey" the vendors use to entice shoppers to come and buy their the higher profit items while I stick mostly to the sale items.

Thank you thank you thank you.

MJ

 

[Beowolf]

The "statement" is bunk. I cut back very severely, I don't know anyone as happy to be retired as I am, and I am never going back to work. I may be prickly and easily annoyed, but my retirement? Why I'm happy as a pig in slop.

JG

I'm with JG. I retired earlier than I'd planned out of medical necessity, so had to cut way back from my previous lifestyle. Don't miss it a bit. Buying silly electronic toys and eating in restaurants all the time wasn't nearly as much fun as owning my own time is.

Beowolf

 

[tryan]

The biggest savings from FIRE for us is 1) no need to save (25% of my pre-tax wage) and 2) a reduced tax rate (expect to drop from 28% fed and 5% state to 15% fed, 0% state income tax).

Otherwise it's bussiness as usual, pinching pennies is difficult/impossible with 2 young kids.

 

[TargaDave]

Hi Sheryl,

Yes, I'd like to see it. I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

Mine is actually a grocery price sheet (it's very very long ).

Here it is.

Al, Let me see if I have this right. Your only trip on a plane in the last few years was to St Louis recently to visit your daughter at college. You cut a recent ski trip short because you were bored. But you generate detailed grocery lists and clean out your dishwasher. Either I'm confused or you're scarin me. Not that visiting a daughter isn't a wonderful thing to do, but.........

 

[TromboneAl]

I signed up for the "Dirty Dishwashers of Minnesota Tour" for next year, so there's that to look forward to.

 

[dusk_to_dawn]

Things I have done to reduce my monthly expenses include downsizing the home which eliminated my mortgage, moved to a small college town where there is lots of inexpensive/free entertainment, low property taxes, minimal commutes or walks, temperate climate and good public school for my kid. All of these moves brought my monthly expenses from an ave. of 4200 to 2400. Income is lower now too but I don't mind because it is more than enough for expenses, I get a lot more vacation and still put away 20% of earnings. My biggest concern when I stop working will be health insurance. I wonder what some of the people here have done. I have a couple of ideas, like working the minimal number of hours (6 hours a day) for the public school system to qualify for insurance (I would get the summers off as well as a long christmas break and spring break). How do you guys (and gals) handle the insurance issue?

 

[TromboneAl]

Welcome DTD! You'll find a lot of discussion of health insurance here. The search function should help you find some good threads.

 

[dusk_to_dawn]

Thanks Al. I stumbled across this site a few months ago. I was looking for a site that covered what to do after you have saved for retirement, eliminated debt, downsized, etc. There are lots of websites around for "how to" get out of debt, save for retirement, payoff your credit cards, etc., but few sites for those who have already done all that. You guys cover the kind of topics that I like to discuss and read about. Stuff that makes the rest of my family look at me like a monkey watching a magic trick. I seem to have a lot in common with most people on this message board. I haven't retired yet, but financial independence has been a goal of mine for about ten years (since I was 33). It feels good to have found a home.

 

[justin]

"Stuff that makes the rest of my family look at me like a monkey watching a magic trick."

Very succinct analogy. I'm stealing it for future personal use. Sometimes I feel like a monkey trying to perform a magic trick.

 

[jug]

Things I have done to reduce my monthly expenses include downsizing the home which eliminated my mortgage, moved to a small college town where there is lots of inexpensive/free entertainment, low property taxes, minimal commutes or walks, temperate climate and good public school for my kid.  All of these moves brought my monthly expenses from an ave. of 4200 to 2400.  Income is lower now too but I don't mind because it is more than enough for expenses, I get a lot more vacation and still put away 20% of earnings.  My biggest concern when I stop working will be health insurance.  I wonder what some of the people here have done.  I have a couple of ideas, like working the minimal number of hours (6 hours a day) for the public school system to qualify for insurance (I would get the summers off as well as a long christmas break and spring break).   How do you guys (and gals) handle the insurance issue?

Depending on the State you live in may hold the answer, check with their Insurance Dept.

In NY, if you have no earned income, but a million bucks in the bank, you get free health insurance from soup to nuts with very low deductibles.

Look at your needs,

If you take precription meds like me, you need something with a drug plan, so maybe best to tolerate a job that will give you drug bennies.

If you are yours are healthy, then perhaps a high deductible plan would do best and pay the little stuff out of pocket.

Also look into the continuation of bennies, cobra, at your worksite.
jug

 

[haha]

Depending on the State you live in may hold the answer, check with their Insurance Dept.

In NY, if you have no earned income, but a million bucks in the bank, you get free health insurance from soup to nuts with very low deductibles.

Could you give us a little more detail about this? It certainly sounds like something that would make a politician salivate while he worked to get rid of this.

Ha

 

[MJ]

In NY, if you have no earned income, but a million bucks in the bank, you get free health insurance from soup to nuts with very low deductibles.

I guess with "no earned income" that means the $1000k is sitting in 0% interest accounts or under your mattress?
Let's see, with it earning 4% interest, that would be over $40k b4 taxes. I think I could afford health insurance for $30k+

MJ

 

[spike]

I am starting to gear up for retirement, by trying to reduce my monthly expenses. I have no debt but Lot's of monthly bills. So I added them up and it was much higher than I expected. But how do you cut, auto insurance, high home owners insurance, property tax, big utility bills etc.?

It's like a monkey on my back that I cannot shed.

 

[brewer12345]

I am starting to gear up for retirement, by trying to reduce my monthly expenses. I have no debt but Lot's of monthly bills. So I added them up and it was much higher than I expected. But how do you cut, auto insurance, high home owners insurance, property tax, big utility bills etc.?

It's like a monkey on my back that I cannot shed.

Relocate?

At least the insurance you can shop around.