Magic of Believing

I never used to consider myself cheap.  However, looking back over the last several years, I guess it was a natural progression.  You see, I used to own my own business.  I drove less than 3 miles to work, I’d eat a big cheeseburger and fries for lunch - every day, and also take the wife out to dinner several times a week.  And on Fridays we’d enjoy wine tasting with our friends.  Yes, I was spoiled, and it was the good life.

All Good Things Must Come to An End

But in 2007 all that came to an end.   Now, I am frugal (sounds much better than a cheapskate).

I now wear jeans with holes in them, I haven’t bought new clothes in years, my van has close to 200,000 miles on it, and I ran my old pair of running shoes until the soles fell off.   I have gradually learned to be frugal.  I had to.  But I also would recommend it to others - especially in these trying times.  It’s not as bad as you would think, and has many advantages.

Why live frugally?

First, because it allows you to spend less than you earn.  And right now, that’s important.  You can use the difference to pay off debt, save or invest. Or all three. Second, because the less you spend, the less you need to earn. You can afford to take a job that pays less  You can afford to take more mini vacations. You simply have more options with a frugal lifestyle.  A very good book on this subject is Your Money Or Your Life by Joe Dominguez.

So, if you’d like some tips on frugal living, here are just a few, from a cheapskate - I mean frugal person.  And yes, I use or have used most of these tips myself.

10 Tips For Frugal Living

1. Use One Car Towards the end of my spoiled lifestyle, my truck died.  Rather than panic, or spend enormous amounts of money on a new transmission, I started walking to work.  Eventually I got out my old bike.  Like I said, it was only 3 miles, and exercise is always a good thing.  I learned to get up earlier and enjoy being outside.  I saw parts of my town I had never seen before zooming by in my truck.
2. Eat Out Less Looking back I can’t believe how much money I spent eating out.  And fast food at that.  My co-workers still spend $10 or more a night, getting McDonalds, Burger King, or KFC for lunch.  Not only is is not healthy, they are using more gas to go and get it.  My lunch usually consists of a Healthy Choice TV Dinner, a Salad I premake at home, and a cup of water.  Cost - Less than $4.00. As an added benefit - I am losing weight
3. Use The Library I love to read.  I have so many books in my bookshelves, sometimes I wonder if I was the one who actually bought them.  At $20-30 a piece, there’s a lot of money gathering dust.  Now I use the library.  It’s called free….hello.  And if I can’t find what I want, I check online.  Many books are available in PDF format for a fraction of the cost to print them.
4. Do it yourself Instead of hiring someone to do something, try doing it yourself. Sure, it takes some time and effort, but it’s satisfying, and of course cheaper. It’s also educational, if you don’t know how to do it — again, do an online search, read up on it, and give it a go. Frugality freaks are DIYers. I just unplugged a nasty clogged drain, again, using a snake.  Total cost of parts, less than $5.  Try hiring a plumber for $5.
5. Drink Water Again, it’s free (sort of).  I had a pepsi account with my store, so my customers could buy a cold pop.  Who drank most of them?  That’s right, I did.  Cutting soda pop out of your diet has enormous health benefits.  Plus, it will save money.  No more sugar spikes with water.  If you need flavor, add a lemon or lime.  Water really does taste good, once you get used to it.
6. Stay Healthy I know, easier said than done.  But staying healthy will of course save you tons of money with copays, hospital costs, and prescriptions.   I know it sounds simple, but it’s amazing just how effective eating right and exercising really is.
7. Stop Smoking Still working on this one myself.  $4 a pack, a pack a day, $120 a month.  It does add up.  Plus it helps with Number 6 - Staying Healthy.  As my wife has told me - countless times - the money I save could be used towards paying off more debt - and she’s right.
8. Buy Generic Drugs I was in the store the other day and I needed a bottle of Ibuprofen.  I found a bottle of 200mg Advil for $10.  It had 100 pills in it.  My 500 count bottle of generic 200mg IB cost me $10.  It’s the same pill people, you are just paying for that name.  Again - it’s the same pill.  Buy generic.
9. Stop Using Credit Cards I do not own a credit card or a bank card.  Nor do I want one.  They make buying ’stuff’ way too easy. Plus, if you don’t pay your bill in full each month, they will cost you a small fortune in interest and late fees.  Did you know the average American with at least 1 credit card has more than $8,500 in credit card debt?  Get rid of them, or only keep one - and use it for emergencies only.
10. Cancel Subscriptions We took the daily paper for years.  We would read the funnies, and promptly stack it on top of all the other papers we had accumulated during the week.  They do make good fireplace starters, but really, do you really need it?  Or all those magazines?  Or those premium cable channels that play the same movie over and over?  Look at all your subscriptions ever month, I bet you could find a few to cut that you’d never miss.