Posted on 02/11/2010 10:06:15 AM PST by hennie pennie
Frugality. That's been the buzzword of the Great Recession.
Sliding home values, stumbling stock portfolios and a shaky job market brought with them a consciousness about spending that many of us misplaced during years of consumer overindulgence. Americans responded to the crisis by buying less, clipping coupons more and increasing savings to 4.8 percent of disposable income in December, up from near zero before the recession.
In the past year, blogs about frugality went viral. Everyone from Oprah to President Obama joined the frugality parade.
Now a new term is marching through the blogosphere: Frugality fatigue. But I'd argue that if frugality is done right, there should be no such thing.
Being frugal doesn't mean being stingy, miserly or downright cheap. The true spirit of frugality is to be mindful of how you use your limited resources. To be prudent with your money. To buy the best of what you need but no more. To avoid waste.
That's why the new frugality aligns so well with the growing.....
(Excerpt) Read more at m.startribune.com ...
The biggest thing we’ve cleaned-up lately is the eating out budget. I looked over bank statements for October, November and December — and realized we were spending $850-$950 PER MONTH eating out.
Starting in January, we put ourselves on a hard-budget of $250/mo. for eating out. We came in at $200 for January — and its really made the finances flow more smoothly.
SnakeDoc
You are the perfect woman!
Have a home energy audit. A lot of power/gas companies offer this as a free service. Your home could always be more "frugal" with your money and a do-it-yourselfer, could make a lot of the suggested remedies for low cost.
It can be learned. Trust me, it can. It just took some of us a little longer. :o)
I’m bookmarking this one for reference. Thanks.
Were would I find the Fels-Naptha?
ping for later
“...but rather in your own firsthand personal responses to cutting spending and watching your pennies.”
Well, it’s nothing NEW, because I’ve lived like this for the past decade once I sobered up from my stupid spendthrift ways, but here are simple things I do, which are now second nature and continue to save me money.
*Food shop only once a week or once every two weeks. Plan your meals based on loss-leaders on sale that week. If you’re out of something, make do with something else.
*Drink water. Buy (or ask for as a gift) a good water bottle and keep cold water in your fridge at all times. I found a NEW Britta filter jug for pennies on the dollar; we’ve used it for years. I don’t change the filter very often; our water is straight from the well and tastes just fine.
*Save your change. It really adds up. I have a big jug on top of the fridge. All loose change gets thrown in there. At they end of the year, we usually have $200 or so in there. If we’re flush, it goes to charity. If we’re broke, it goes to pay a bill, or into savings.
*See how long you can make something last. I just bought a big jug of laundry soap. Paid about $5 for it. When I need to use it, I write the start date on the jug, then see how long I can make it last. You really don’t need as much soap as the package tells you to use. 1/2 a capful is plenty for a full load; just leave the lid up and let the clothes soak overnight if they’re really dirty, or do the same for whites with a little bleach in there, too. Always use cold water. Hang as much to dry as you can, especially heavy stuff like jeans and sweatshirts; a few minutes in the dryer to fluff things up is plenty if you just can’t stand it, LOL!
*Learn a new skill. Learn to sew. I make all of our curtains, lots of gifts, dish towels, bath towels, etc. If you can sew a straight line, that’s all you need to know for a lot of basic stuff and mending. Learn to change the oil in your car; you can save at least $100 a year if you’re normally changing it every 3 months.
*Never turn down anything FREE that anyone wants to give you. You can always re-sell it or re-gift it, or just GIVE it to someone else that needs it to keep the Good Karma rolling. My in-laws give us a lot of fresh food during the year; apples, squash, grapes, etc. I never say no! Wine, pies, squash soup, etc. for nothing but a little of my time.
*Look over your budget from time to time to find the money leaks. I’ve been at this for-EVER and I still find a leak here and there from time to time.
*Barter when you can. We are blessed to have a cirlce of friends with wide-ranging talents. In just the past few years we’re gotten oil changes, free venison, new windows installed, a new furnace installed at cost, free wood for the woodpile, our driveway plowed, a free .22 pistol and cash in exchange for storing stuff in our barn, computers fixed, freshly baked bread, clothing repaired, fresh garden veggies traded, veggie seedlings grown, use of our pick-up truck, a resume updated and printed for free...skills Husband and I have to barter with.
Truly, we lack for nothing. We have a great life, eat well, have nice clothes to wear, take trips, have paid off, old but driveable vehicles, etc. If you met me, you’d never guess how cheap I am, LOL!
As a single person with a mediocre salary - I have been doing this for about 5 years now. I shop at the local thrift shops (Goodwill, St. Vincent’s) for my clothes. I always look for (and find) clothing with tags (never been worn). About a month ago, I found a pants suit (jacket marked $250, pants $100 and matching top $40) and I paid.... wait for it....................$23.00 for all three. Check out shopgoodwill.com (a collaboration of goodwill stores throughout the U.S.)
I clean out my purse and pockets of change on weekends. Can accumulate $30-$40 in about three weeks time.
Use coupons on SALE items only. Especially when they are BOGO (Buy One Get One free). A few weeks ago, using this principle, I bought a couple of dozen bottles of 64 oz Gatorade for just 20 cents each. BTW, you can not only use the coupons on EACH of the items (one you pay and the other free) but you can stack the coupons meaning you can use a manufacturer's coupon on top of the store coupon. Which is exactly what I did with the Gatorade.
Yup! This Sunday wife and I are going to have a great Valentine dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. Total cost out of pocket---$0.00. Why? Coupons. How? My secret. I can't give ALL my secrets away but anybody can find out doing research on the Web.
I bet you're not doing what I'm doing. Been into HEAVY couponing the past few months and you would be AMAZED at the stuff I'm getting for free or for just a few cents. Like FREE restaurant dining and (soon) a new laptop computer for FREE!!!
And I am still learning more and more about this every day.
Via creative couponing I can now eat out whenever I want for NOTHING. Like this Sunday at Ruby Tuesday's.
Man, my last cell phone I had for five years. When it finally broke down, I took it into Radio Shack and the employees gathered around and stared at it like it was a rotary dial or something.
Shampoo can also be diluted down to a third. They make it way thicker than it needs to be.
Yep. The only clothing I buy new are bras, socks, undies and I have to have good shoes because I’m on my feet all day and work out in the elements...but I have found good winter boots at Goodwill; ones for walking the dogs or just for being out in the snow.
Anything else is fair game. I’m looking for a ‘new to me’ winter coat right now. I won’t pay more than $15...and I’ll find something super, I’m sure. :)
I LOVE Goodwill, Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters, Out of the Closet, Jewish Council Women’s Thrift, Salvation Army... the nice thing about living on the edge of Beverly Hills is the stuff the rich old matrons donate to thrift stores. I almost never buy anything new.
I live outside of a major college town, and we also have our share of wealthy families. It really can be a gold mine at certain times of the year. The amazing things the college kids leave at the curb when they’re moving out at semesters is mind-boggling. New TV sets, new microwaves, new furniture; anything dorm-related.
Some around here make a living scavenging off of those kids alone, LOL!
If you can’t find the coupons you want (or enough of them) in the local newspaper, then BUY them online. Okay, theoretically you aren’t “buying” them, you are just paying for the clipping service but same difference. Today already I bought 60 coupons. Cost was just over $15 but that gets me coupons which I can use to SAVE over $150. So I save about 10 times what I paid. It’s like spending a buck to get 10 dollars back.
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