What I Do to Live Frugally
Sistah Ant asked me this and the short answer is, I probably don’t do anything since I don’t think I live very frugally at all. I think I deny myself very little in life that I really want.
Upon deeper reflection, I suppose these are the main things I do that save money or rather, I spend a lot less on these things than most other people:
1) I don’t own a TV. That means I don’t own cable. I don’t own a Wii, Gamecube, or Xbox. I don’t keep a collection of DVD’s. I even cancelled Netflix (Because I watched them on my snappy 19″ LCD flat monitor, which I bought with rebate.)
2) I have a reverse commute and keep slightly later hours. I meet my knitting group in the suburbs near work, so often my evening commute is in the pitch dark with no one around. I can drive whatever speed I want, which is usually about 65mph on cruise control on I-66. This gives me slightly better gas mileage than driving in rush hour and idling a lot.
3) I keep snacks at my desk. I actually don’t care for sweets, so I don’t buy a lot of candy from the vending machines at work. I keep Rice Krispie Treats and granola bars because normally I’d keep potato chips and Cheetos and get fat. I also like the treats and bars because they are individually wrapped with a long shelf life. I am mystified by the loaf of wheat bread at my desk that has not yet gone moldy but is slightly stale. It’s for PBJ. Either way though, I think this stuff is making me fat, but that’s something else entirely.
4) I drink soda, but I try to bring 12oz cans to work or else keep juice from the supermarket at my desk. This goes with #3, but you’d be surprised at how much cheaper and less fattening it is to do this. (I don’t drink diet drinks because they taste funny.) I also like to drink plain hot water instead of tea or coffee and I like plain tap water with ice. Water is good stuff.
5) I drink the crappy coffee at work. Well, I used to till I realized I can have posh Starbucks for $8/lb and make my own slightly-less-crappy-paid-for coffee. (Why does Starbucks taste so burnt all the time? Even the medium roasts do.) It’s also a lot cheaper than buying it from the cafeteria. It’s taken me over a month to drink this bag and I still have 25% left.
6) I go to the library. Not lately, instead I’ve been borrowing books from everyone I know. I just finished a vintage 1960’s edition of Goldfinger by Ian Fleming. It belonged to my friend’s dad. She let me borrow it if I took care of it. And I return the books in a sort of timely way, or try to. So far no one has told me that they won’t loan me a book again because I suck.
7) I am not a fashion plate. Not at all. I am Frumperella. When I dress nice, everyone notices. (Especially the really good-looking sales guy at work. I almost died in the elevator when he told me he liked my outfit one day.) It cuts down on the dry cleaning bills if everything you own is water washable. I make a point of water washing my silk knit t-shirts and take them to the cleaners only after 2 or 3 water washes. Along with this is that I air dry a lot of stuff, but not nearly as much as I could. The bedding and towels, they must be soft, fluffy and scented by Bounce. I try to wear things twice before washing.
I try to be mindful of what I buy. I saw a really beautiful pearl necklace the other weekend at a festival. I really wanted to buy it. But I didn’t. I got their card and I thought about it some more. I asked my mom what she thought since I really actually wanted to buy it for her as a present for Christmas. So it’s only ok now to get it after I decided I really had to have it and could not live without it. (It’s been on my mind for the last 5 weeks since I saw it.) Being mindful like this really cuts down on the impulse purchases.
9) I keep my hair in a very simple hairstyle. It’s long. It’s straight. I never blow dry it and it doesn’t need styling product. I cut it once a year or maybe once every two. I even tried cutting it myself to save money. (And made Single Ma faint.) I don’t stuff it with gewgaws, though I do own a couple of crystal hair ornaments for when I am feeling fancy. Otherwise, I think that stuff is designed to be lost and replaced. (Seriously, I don’t have any of the scrunchies I had in high school and maybe one or two from college. Where does all that crap go?)
10) I do my own manicures and I get at most 3 pedicures a year. I don’t go to spas and I am fortunate to have many friends who like giving back and neck massages and are trained massage professionals.
11) I buy stuff in bulk and re-package. I freeze stuff. I fill the pantry with non-perishables. This is kind of nutty for me as a single person, so I try to pay attention to unit pricing and what am I really going to eat. I try not to buy stuff that will ultimately get thrown away because I still firmly believe that wasting food is a sin. I don’t buy groceries often, but in the past year, since starting this blog, I have noticed that I throw out fewer groceries. (This may also be because I don’t have to go home every week anymore to take care of an ill relative. One of my rituals is to toss out everything in the fridge before I leave so it doesn’t stink up the place when I get back home.)
12) I don’t get home furnishing catalogs. I have everything I need and it’s reasonably attractive together. I have artwork on the walls which I have created, received as gifts, or bought cheaply. The most expensive piece I own is an original photograph by Leau Lau of Silent Light Photography for which I paid $300.00. I bought it during her annual Christmas sale and because she is an old friend, I cherish it whenever I see it.
13) Though I love technology, I am not a gadget geek. I have had MP3 players and cellphones, etc. Frankly, I know what my needs are and they aren’t that many. In fact, I really want a Motorola Startac again. I don’t really need the other crap on my telephone like fancy rings and cameras. I just need it to dial have a really good interface. The only reason I was considering an iPhone is because I am considering buying a laptop and hope that the iPhone will meet the need and cost me less. (And no, it sadly does not.)
14) I don’t own a lot of music or movies. I usually listen to public radio. It’s not that I don’t love music. I actually love going dancing, but I just don’t care to spend my money on recorded music if that means I can eat or go to a concert instead. (Lately I’ve been going to more concerts and spending money on music but still not as much as other people I know.) This also means that I don’t have a nice stereo either. But I am contemplating nicer speakers for my computer, which is how I get a lot of my music now. (Free radio on the internet, like somaFM or Theory Radio. ClearChannel sucks. Infinity Radio sucks. Most pop music stations these days are really terrible marketing behemoths that don’t play very good music and they don’t seem to care that people don’t like what they play.)
15) I know how to entertain myself. Amanda once inspired a post about boredom and shopping. I don’t shop. I don’t go near stores unless I need something. If I am bored, I hop on the internet, read, knit, spin yarn, call my friends, take a walk, clean my apartment up. Generally I can find something to do and there is always the default activity of just taking a nap.
16) I do not travel luxuriously. I was rather shocked to stay at the poshest hotel in Vieques, PR last year for my friend’s wedding. The resort she picked is, by far, the nicest hotel at which I have ever stayed and also the most expensive. (Scratch that. I forgot, many years ago I got a freebie at Pebble Beach through work, but that was only one night.) I am a budget traveler and I think I have more fun that way. I have been to Europe 4 times, Asia once, Canada and across the US by car, usually on trips subsidized/paid for in some way by someone else. Now that I think about it, I didn’t pay 100% for any of those trips (I was a student for two trips). The trips I take now are usually camping trips. But I want to visit all seven continents before I die. (Three down, four to go)
17) I have a small home. I live in 500 sq. ft. I have a modest car that is paid off. Both purchases were subsidized by my generous parents. All maintenance and upkeep is mine. Along with this is that I have nice stuff, but neither is it too nice, nor too inexpensive. My stuff is quality and serviceable, but not fancy. My home is not my castle and I don’t feel the need to make it fancy. It’s comfortable and it suits me.
18) I avoid consumables. That probably sounds strange, but I used to work in semiconductor capital equipment exports and that’s what they call it. Consumables are things you know you are going to use up, like filters, gaskets, lubricants, etc. Once I learned how much money goes into the purchase of wafer fabrication machines, the discounting and maintenance contract pricing, I understood how to save money. I try to avoid consumables in my life. For instance, I use scrubbing gloves for mechanical exfoliation instead of a shower gel with abrasives that runs down the drain. I don’t wear a lot of makeup. I don’t wear contact lenses. I buy toilet paper on sale. I try to use kitchen towels instead of paper towels.
19) I love thrift stores. I love garage sales. I love recycling things or re-purposing them. I treasure old things. That means I still have a phone in the house with a brass bell because I love the sound of that ring. I have my old Sony Dreamcube from high school as my alarm clock because it still works. Who cares if the plastic has turned a disgusting yellow? It still keeps time, wakes me up and gets the local NPR station.
20) I ain’t too proud to beg. My friends and family help me out when I ask. They have moved me in and out of residences and sheltered me in a pinch. They have helped me by giving me things they didn’t need anymore knowing I could use them. (Computer monitors/peripherals, dishes, furniture, yarn, etc.) Sounds cheesy, but Lean on Me is one of my favorite songs. My friends and family are amazing people and I have learned a lot of things from them about how to live responsibly, consciously, frugally. What goes around comes around and I try to lend a helping hand when I can.
So is that frugal? I don’t know. I don’t really think it is. Lately I’ve been kind of down in the dumps about debt and how little progress I seem to have made this year. The biggest change for me at the moment has been a concerted effort to keep some lunch stuff around in a secret fridge my team keeps at work. (The main fridge get swept clean once a week and they are ruthless about what gets tossed out.)
What about you? What do you think you do to live frugally? I don’t mean to make this some crazy meme, but I would like to tag a few people to do this since I don’t have all the answers on this one.
Tagging:
Frugal Babe
ISPF at Grad Money Matters
Experiglot at Experiments in Finance
moominoid wrote:
Starbucks tastes bitter/burnt so they can throw piles of sugar in it I think. I would never buy their coffee to make at home or in the office.
Posted on 19-Jul-07 at 10:38 am | Permalink
DebtDaddy wrote:
You don’t…own… a tv. I’m sorry; that’s gonna take me a minute to wrap my brain around. For Americans, that’s like saying you don’t breathe air or that you proudly voted for Bush both times and you’d do it again if you could - it’s just not something you hear alot.
Yeah, you win the frugal prize in my book!
Posted on 19-Jul-07 at 11:29 am | Permalink
frugalboy wrote:
Cool, I think I am in love
Posted on 19-Jul-07 at 1:53 pm | Permalink
Single Ma wrote:
I’d say you are pretty frugal. Not overly so, but enough to lead a comfortable lifestyle and watch your pennies. A nice balance.
Posted on 19-Jul-07 at 5:58 pm | Permalink
beth wrote:
I love this post! it’s got me thinking about what I am already doing and what else I could do. I *do* own a tv, but I’ve never paid for cable. My tv is for movies only, and I use it a couple times a month, max.
Interesting post!
Posted on 19-Jul-07 at 6:07 pm | Permalink
The Personal Finance Weblog wrote:
Other Voices: Links for 7/20/07…
Click through to read more from these worthy PF bloggers: Get Rich Slick: Yahoo has this story about how NOT watching TV can save you a million dollars. I’m writing this to counter that argument and illustrate how you could……
Posted on 19-Jul-07 at 11:20 pm | Permalink
sparky wrote:
You should’ve just summarized up front that your parents bought you a house and a car. The first one being probably the biggest expense that most mere mortals have…
Posted on 19-Jul-07 at 11:26 pm | Permalink
Matt wrote:
You do live pretty frugally by many people’s standards; but it also sounds like you are comfortable in your own skin and know what you want and need. If there is no need for extra spending then why?
Posted on 20-Jul-07 at 7:08 am | Permalink
mapgirl wrote:
Sparky - My parents didn’t *buy* the house and the car for me. I can show you the checks for my mortgage and the car. They gave me a portion of the cost of those things hence the word ’subsidized’ vs ‘buy’. Tables turned around this year and I subsidized the new windows on their home. Since you aren’t a regular reader, you can think whatever you like.
Matt - Everyone spends money. What do you mean by ‘extra’? We all have our luxuries be they large or small.
Posted on 20-Jul-07 at 8:16 am | Permalink
Sistah Ant wrote:
What a great answer! I do many of the same things - I’ll blog about it later. Thanks for answering!
Posted on 20-Jul-07 at 11:47 am | Permalink
Karol wrote:
Great post. We are in our 60s and do many of the same things. We do have an old TV (no cable) and I’d like to get rid of that. All we watch is an occasional baseball game. One frugal thing we do is to not water our lawn ever. It goes dormant and then we don’t have to mow either. We also use no chemicals because the grandchildren play there and dog and cats like to munch on the grass. I’m sure it saves us lots of money every summer.
Posted on 20-Jul-07 at 8:38 pm | Permalink
sfordinarygirl wrote:
I love that you keep a good balance - like the pearl necklace example.
Your frumpella post is hillarious! And you’ve traveled so much already! And it’s amazing you didn’t pay for all of them entirely.
Posted on 20-Jul-07 at 8:42 pm | Permalink
Chief Family Officer wrote:
What a wonderful post! I think you’re definitely frugal - you *must* be if you think contact lenses are a luxury, so to speak (I know you referred to them as a consumable, but to me they’re an absolute necessity - of course, I have terrible vision without them).
Posted on 20-Jul-07 at 9:45 pm | Permalink
tiredofbeingbroke wrote:
Great post with lots of tips.
I downgraded the cable and have no regrets. Now I just have the local basic channels to watch some of my favorite shows.
I always joke that as long as my cell phone has numbers I can dial it is ok. I never had a fancy cellphone or paid for cellphone insurance.
When I do buy clothes it is atleast 60% off.
Posted on 20-Jul-07 at 10:30 pm | Permalink
MVP wrote:
Sounds to me like, relatively speaking, you live a pretty frugal lifestyle. I’m impressed. I’m not sure how old you are, but it goes without saying that many of us are caught up in the rat race, competing with the Joneses and trying to make our homes look like pages out of the Pottery Barn catalog. It sounds like you’ve avoided that mentality and have your priorities in the right place, as evidenced by your friends and family who, according to your post, help you out when you need it and provide a shoulder to lean on. Great job!
Posted on 22-Jul-07 at 4:37 pm | Permalink
louise wrote:
this is a great post! I could live without the TV but my family wouldn’t go without it. I much prefer the internet and the library.
Posted on 22-Jul-07 at 11:20 pm | Permalink
m wrote:
Mapgirl,
I wrote on a similar topic recently. The post address is below if you’d like to check out some of my frugal habits (or just click the “finance” category on my blog and go down to June 15, 07).
http://cottoncandypink.blogspot.com/2007/06/what-im-doing-right.html
Posted on 24-Jul-07 at 12:08 pm | Permalink
m wrote:
Oh yeah we will be getting rid of cable next too. I think it’s great not to watch tv but I have to have a television for videos and dvds. I LOVE movies!
Posted on 24-Jul-07 at 12:08 pm | Permalink
bob wrote:
Would your frugral lifestyle change if you won the lottery or found a rich husband?
That’s the real test.
Posted on 28-Jul-07 at 8:00 am | Permalink
Jonathan Wagner wrote:
Just a note on the burnt taste Starbucks coffee. Many of the coffee aficionados of the web complain about Starbucks over-roasting their beans.
I recommend Intelligentsia at http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com for some of the best quality coffee you can buy online. Their prices run from ~$12-15 a pound and they ship the day it is roasted. It’s still cheaper than Starbucks (the store) and tastes way better.
If you want to be really frugal, you can start roasting your own as the green beans are usually 25-40% of the cost of roasted. For example, the Tres Santos blend at Intelligentsia runs about $5/lb for green unroasted and ~$14/lb for roasted.
Posted on 28-Jul-07 at 8:33 am | Permalink
Tyler wrote:
I am actually really surprised you drink soda. I usually associate drinks like that with the opposite of frugality. From personal experience, if you ever kick the addiction, you will never miss it.
Posted on 28-Jul-07 at 7:51 pm | Permalink
Gates VP wrote:
Whoa, Debt daddy, I’ll do you one better:
I don’t own a TV, lived for 3 years without cable TV (starting from the time I moved out). But what’s more I don’t own a car (and don’t intend to). And it’s not that I can’t, I make over 50k/year, but I live across the street from the grocer and all of the amenities (convenience store, pharmacy, post office, video rental, etc) and I live about 20 minutes walk from the office. (and I’ve done this with 2 different professional-level jobs in 2 different cities)
I just made the conscious effort to live close to bus lines, work and amenities and then basically wiped out my transportation costs. Whenever I need a car, I just rent one. Between cabs, rentals and bus passes we’re spending less than $200/month getting around. Which is less than maintenance/insurance/gas on a typical car. Plus we get other people to drive for us! I can cuddle up with the fiancé and read a book or do a crossword on the bus. I can actually get ahead in work while others are watching the road. It’s like double-frugal: less money on transportation and I can leverage the time I spent in transit.
I’ve done much of the above, but beyond just brewing coffee and bringing stuff to work, I’ve also started the office lunch program, I bring sandwich stuff every week and the co-workers pitch in to pay for it. And we eat well, good meats, pickles, dijon mustard, fresh breads, etc. Grocer is across the street from me, so I can actually get this stuff twice a week if necessary. And of course, buying this stuff in bulk means that I don’t waste any myself and that I’m always getting fresh stuff
Posted on 29-Jul-07 at 3:32 am | Permalink
mapgirl wrote:
Tyler,
Every year for 40 days, I give up soda completely. I do not enjoy the reverse osmosis tap water at work 100% of the time. My taste buds NEED some flavors, in fact, my tongue gets a weird texture if I drink that water all day.
So I drink diluted juice and the occasional soda. I go through phases. There will be a week where I have a soda every day, and a month when I only have it a few times. C’est la vie.
Posted on 30-Jul-07 at 8:16 am | Permalink
jana wrote:
i do not knowwhethet i should reply as if one does not praise the writer the get an angry comment back (see #
sparky wrote:
You should’ve just summarized up front that your parents bought you a house and a car. ” and the reaction. but i guess i should. so - even if they did not buy you the whole thing - as you say - they still contributed (anfd giving them back - for a car and a house - a fe windiows, as you say, is no the same). i guess teh article has its good moments (the idea of keeping the individually wapped snacks etc.)and in general it is good not to be wasteful, but the self-praise and attacking anyone who might have something else to say than “you are so great”? not sure.
Posted on 31-Jul-07 at 5:18 am | Permalink
Sestos wrote:
Starbucks coffee is always burnt tasting and smells that way also. Quite honestly I doubt its very good coffee to start with. The average drink at Starbucks has more calories then a fast food meal, due to the sugar. Not sure if they use the sugar to mask the taste or if what they use in the store and what they sell are two completely different products.
Posted on 02-Aug-07 at 12:53 am | Permalink
Nancy wrote:
Try Dunkin Donuts coffee. It’s much better than Starbucks as well as less expensive. Just go through the drive thru to purchase it and that will eliminate the urge to buy those handfuls of sugar and trans fat that they sell.
Posted on 03-Aug-07 at 8:50 am | Permalink
eric wrote:
Another help hint (and this works if you have one close by) is to borrow DVDs from the library. I’m not sure about the other parts of the country but there’s a pretty darng good selections of DVDs at my local library - classics, recently releases - although you won’t find Soul Plane or Daddy Day Care here.
Posted on 09-Aug-07 at 12:37 pm | Permalink
mapgirl wrote:
Eric, I gave up on Netflix and DVD’s in general. I end up watching a lot of other movies with my friends or going out to catch second and first releases. (Usually the former though since I can walk to a second run theater.)
Posted on 21-Aug-07 at 9:37 pm | Permalink