LBYM Question

[NW-Bound]

Robbie is the perfect type to go dine at Keller's French Laundry in Yountville, or Chef Bocuse's restaurant in Lyon.

 

[Corporateburnout]

I order up anything I want, I fear no restaurant -

+1.

A few Sam Adams for me, a Margarita for DW before dinner last evening, A couple of glasses of Bourgogne pinot noir with a our steaks....

BTW as usual we hire a cab when we go out

So much for the absurdity of stealing hotel supplies and wearing inside out underwear in the name of frugality

 

[RobbieB]

Oh I've got a good frugal here...

I use less toilet paper because I installed 2 bidet seats in my house that cost a grand -

 

[Corporateburnout]

Oh I've got a good frugal here...

I use less toilet paper because I installed 2 bidet seats in my house that cost a grand -

We had a standalone bidet installed in our master bath when we built our place. Getting a nice hot water massage is priceless....

 

[FIREd_2015]

Compared to some of the other posts here I'm a big spender. I do think though I've gotten a little less frugal as I've gotten older. Didn't know about buying used on Amazon so I'll have to give that a try. Thanks for the tip. The few things that I do now are:

1) Changed my ACA subsidy to zero and charge it all to my 2% Fido card - this alone comes out to a little over $200/yr of free money

2) Cancelled my landline and internet and tether off my Straight Talk phone for internet using FoxFi app - $40/mon. (prepay 1 yr) for unlimited talk, text and 5G data. When I run out of data I can go to the local library and check out a Verizon Hotspot with unlimited data.

3) Do maintenance and simple to moderate repairs on my car. This alone probably saves a thousand dollars a year.

4) Wait for items to go on sale and don't buy the latest and greatest

 

[Islandtraveler]

Oh I've got a good frugal here...

I use less toilet paper because I installed 2 bidet seats in my house that cost a grand

Have you calculated how many "squirts" to break even? I am having trouble thinking about that equation.

 

[audreyh1]

9. When staying at a hotel or work, I will take the toilet paper. Some people take towels and soaps. I try to get a roll of toilet paper for each day of my stays.

I could go on - but needless to say my frugality is a lifestyle that I have conditioned myself to and I've been living this way so long that I cannot differentiate between cheap and frugal.

Cheers,

Michael

LOL!

When I stay at a hotel, I often bring my own, much more comfortable toilet paper. Most hotels have yucky toilet paper.

You need extra room in your bag for all those rolls of toilet paper you collect!!!

 

[Bir48die]

We LBOM to enable us to retire early. Now we're prudent but not cheap. We shop carefully and smartly. I still buy nice wine and booze. We take trips. I do a lot of the big jobs around the house but also pay for major improvements. We will not be ones that are over the top cheap. Each person has their own budgets and must adhere to them.

 

[CardsFan]

3) Do maintenance and simple to moderate repairs on my car. This alone probably saves a thousand dollars a year.

You must have either a very old, or a very high maintence, car. I can get an oil change and tire rotation for 19.99. Actually, the last oil change was a $1.99 special at the local dealer.

The only time I came close to $1000 in one year was last year when I bought new tires for 2 cars.. And lifetime tire rotations, free.

Normal annual maintence on our 2012 vehicles is less than $200 total, for both.

 

[FIREd_2015]

You must have either a very old, or a very high maintence, car. I can get an oil change and tire rotation for 19.99. Actually, the last oil change was a $1.99 special at the local dealer.

The only time I came close to $1000 in one year was last year when I bought new tires for 2 cars.. And lifetime tire rotations, free.

Normal annual maintence on our 2012 vehicles is less than $200 total, for both.

$19.99 for an oil change is pretty good! Unfortunately my 2015 Subaru Outback needs synthetic oil and in the San Francisco bay area it costs around $90-100 for an oil change and I drive around 25k miles/yr so 4 oil changes a year. The saving figure is probably a bit high since I'm basing it on the periodic emails I get from the dealer to bring my car in for a service checkup. I generally avoid dealers except for warranty work since they are way over priced.

 

[RobbieB]

Have you calculated how many "squirts" to break even? I am having trouble thinking about that equation.

I pre-ordered the latest and greatest on the Kickstarter campaign. You can still pre-order and they should start shipping this month.

Less tissue is only the tip of the iceberg, it's all about comfort and cleanliness. No more skid marks, no more itchy butt. It's just the right way to do this necessary task -

 

[rodi]

Do you really value travel? If so, go right ahead. But if not, international travel is the biggest way to throw money down a black hole that I know of.

This is an example of what works for one person doesn't for another. I love international travel, but shop for bargains to save money. To me, is worth it. W2R likes eating out.... Something I do a lot less (maybe once a month). So that's a place I save money. To very valid choices for two different people.

The biggest LBYM tip I have is to look at recurring bills. Cable, phone, utilities... Those are the places that small money savings can add up. I refuse to do any of the subscription software because that's a recurring bill. So msoft office subscriptions... No thanks. When quicken goes to subscription, I'll find something else.... No magazine subscriptions for me. I read the newspaper online, I don't use satellite radio.... Those little things add up.

 

[friar1610]

Me too. The wait staff at restaurants are quite OK with this, and don't even mind when I ask for no ice or lemon in my tap water. Once in a very long while I will order a diet Coke.

At home I drink coffee, skim milk, and (mostly) tap water.

I often drink iced tea at restaurants:
- I like it
- It's generally pretty cheap
- 99% of restaurants give you free refills.

In the rare instances when a restaurant charges per glass for iced tea, when I'm paying the check I'll mention it. Nicely. "That was a nice meal and the prices seem reasonable. But I've never seen a restaurant charge for refills with iced tea before. Is that something you've always done?" Inevitably, they will reduce the bill to charge me for just one.

 

[candrew]

On the frugal approach to toileting......

Oh I've got a good frugal here...

I use less toilet paper because I installed 2 bidet seats in my house that cost a grand -

For those living in the desert S.W. one should use the "if it's yellow let it mellow"process ........

 

[Sunset]

If you own a house, then becoming handy can save you thousands over the years...10's of thousands if you're really handy.

.....

++1
So true.

We had a tree that died, in front lawn, taller than the house. Companies wanted $2,000 to remove it.
I used my ladder and a hand saw to cut off all the branches, then lower down cut off the thick branch ends.
I left a 8 foot high stump to dry, as I'd like to try making a bench out of it.

So tree guys stopped by the other day and offered to remove the stump for only $150.

I told him about my bench idea, and that I had 2 chainsaws in the garage, so no thanks.

Here is photo showing how I cut it in stages to make it easier.

 

[GTFan]

I often drink iced tea at restaurants:
- I like it
- It's generally pretty cheap
- 99% of restaurants give you free refills.

Around here it's $2-2.50 for any drink including tea. Which is a great deal for the restaurant at a few cents a glass cost, not so much for the folks that get it.

Average lunch ticket for us is about $7-8 per person with tip, no way am I paying 30% more on top of that for iced tea. To each his/her own.

 

[Amethyst]

We used to save money by not eating out. Lo and behold, in the intervening years, I became a pretty good cook (for family; cooking for guests makes me nervous, what with getting everything hot at the same time, etc.) Mr. A. acts as sous-chef by cutting up the ingredients.

The last couple of years, we have tried several of the best restaurants in town and been disappointed. Either the food's not that great, or the portions are tiny.* Service is usually rushed...not like I remember from the Old Days.

Then add on 20% tip and 6% sales tax and it's just not worth it, even though we can afford it. One night, we looked at each other and said, "We can make better chicken than that, and more vegetables too."

The great exceptions have been on our trips to Florida, where food, service, and prices have been better than we seem to be able to get back home. Perhaps it is because the clientele are old, and expect more.

*One popular restaurant advertises all its entrees as being 450 calories or less. Guess how they achieve that? By serving tiny portions, of course! And the "desserts" are served in a shot glass, which is supposed to be all cute and adorable but is basically like being given a spoon to lick.

 

[Fedup]

This is an example of what works for one person doesn't for another. I love international travel, but shop for bargains to save money. To me, is worth it. W2R likes eating out.... Something I do a lot less (maybe once a month). So that's a place I save money. To very valid choices for two different people.

The biggest LBYM tip I have is to look at recurring bills. Cable, phone, utilities... Those are the places that small money savings can add up. I refuse to do any of the subscription software because that's a recurring bill. So msoft office subscriptions... No thanks. When quicken goes to subscription, I'll find something else.... No magazine subscriptions for me. I read the newspaper online, I don't use satellite radio.... Those little things add up.

I love international travel. The crappier place I stayed at, the better experience I had. I only booked at these places because there was a risk I might not go there, so I didn't want to waste a lot of money.
Plus I think somehow, the more interactions with have we people who can't speak our normal language, the better it is for us to learn to adapt. It's definitely healthier for my husband and I for some reasons.

 

[Moemg]

I have always LBYM but sometimes you have to say what the heck . I won the race so spend some of the prize . I will always be thrifty but hopefully not cheap .

 

[W2R]

Around here it's $2-2.50 for any drink including tea. Which is a great deal for the restaurant at a few cents a glass cost, not so much for the folks that get it.

Average lunch ticket for us is about $7-8 per person with tip, no way am I paying 30% more on top of that for iced tea. To each his/her own.

+1

Exactly. Frank and I eat our lunches out together at local restaurants every day. My average lunch cost in March was $7.22, including tax, tip, and water to drink.

Diet cokes or iced tea come with free refills here, too, but gee, they cost $2.50-$3.00 more, plus 9.75% tax which makes them $2.74 - $3.29.

So, if I had ordered a diet Coke at every lunch, my restaurant costs would be $9.96 - $10.51. That would raise my restaurant bill by 38% - 46%, even if we tipped the same amount.

 

[Music Lover]

The biggest LBYM tip I have is to look at recurring bills. Cable, phone, utilities... Those are the places that small money savings can add up.

Buying lunch every day falls under the "recurring bills" column for some people. 30 years of $10 lunches adds up...

Learning to cook (at least to a basic level) will pay off for a lifetime.

 

[Marita40]

Lunch here in a middle of the road place easily will run $15-$25 dollars with tax and tip, for such things as a burger and fries, tuna melt, salad, etc. Same with breakfast, even in a "greasy spoon." We could only do fast food for $7-8. So I think the area of the country means a lot in thinking about these prices.

 

[Corporateburnout]

Lunch here in a middle of the road place easily will run $15-$25 dollars with tax and tip, for such things as a burger and fries, tuna melt, salad, etc. Same with breakfast, even in a "greasy spoon." We could only do fast food for $7-8. So I think the area of the country means a lot in thinking about these prices.

+1.

The cheapest lunch we've had here was $40-$45 for the two of us. $30 for breakfast.

Our average eating out budget is around $1000 per month. Experiencing different cuisine is enjoyable for us.

 

[W2R]

Lunch here in a middle of the road place easily will run $15-$25 dollars with tax and tip, for such things as a burger and fries, tuna melt, salad, etc. Same with breakfast, even in a "greasy spoon." We could only do fast food for $7-8. So I think the area of the country means a lot in thinking about these prices.

Maybe it is regional; I have no idea.

Fast food here is WAY more expensive than local mom'n'pop restaurants that serve good, home cooked nutritious food. We essentially never eat fast food. It's overpriced, very fattening, and it's not nutritious. Want to look like "People of Wal-Mart"? Eat fast food once a week or more and you might be well on your way. Not only that, often it isn't even fast.

They aren't going to knock on your door and ask you to come to dinner. But local mom'n'pop neighborhood restaurants that serve good, home cooked, nutritious food just do not seem to exist where you live no matter how long you search, and you have actually put some genuine work into asking around among your friends, relatives, and online, researching, and trying to find a place that that doesn't cost an arm and a leg for a cup of soup or side salad or half a sandwich with water to drink, then I guess that's a problem. If you are eating more than that when you eat lunch out, then your concept of "meal" vs "feast" differs from ours. If you aren't, then your location might present a great opportunity for a young, ambitious cook.

 

[COcheesehead]

You can stretch them much further with no loss of shaving capability. I go 6 months at a time with no noticeable degradation. I tested it out to 2 years once as an experiment and there was enough downgrade that I didn't want to go further than that. I've even used it on those cheap hotel disposable blades when I forgot my razor on a business trip. It helped that razor shave better from the beginning.

I tried this with my month old blade and it works! Feels really good too.
You saved me even more on the blades. Thanks!