Comments on: What I Do to Live Frugally

By: shine

shine — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:12:02 +0000

Hi this is Shell..

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I have some good sites on finance and interested to do 3 way link exchange, so please let me know if you are interested to optimize site in SE, I will wait for ur reply at shellybrown1984(at)gmail.com

By: di

di — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:44:05 +0000

like your site. I downgraded cable, since I don;t go to movies, have netflex, or a laptop, it come in handy to watch old b/w classic movies. I brown bag it, make dinner and plan for leftovers, don’t do Starbucks, can’t see paying $3.50 for a cup, buy a box of tea bags, and that lasts quite a long time at work, green tea is good for you.
look at some good sites on-line, and then try to make things, I always buy on ’sale’ or at consignment stores.

By: Rita

Rita — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:31:50 +0000

Generic medications are a great way to keep your prescription drug costs down. I’ve seen ads on TV for Caduet. It has two ingredients. One is Amlodipine and the other is Atorvastatin. With my RxDrugCard I can get 30 tablets of Amlodipine for $9 and 30 tablets of Simvastatin for $9. I’ll bet they are charging more than $18 for this new drug! The unthinking public is going to pressure their doctors into giving them something just because it’s new, when something old or generic would do the job for cheaper.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:00:34 +0000

Hi,
I just read “What I Do to Live Frugally”
You are awesome! I started my career really, really , really poor! I know not to take anything for granted! Even thought I know make a good wage, I am looking for ways to live simply and happy. Just think, if I can save money to maybe help another person or pet, it’s worth it!
Thanks again for the wonderful read!

By: mapgirl

mapgirl — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 02:37:11 +0000

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.)

By: eric

eric — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 17:37:31 +0000

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.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:50:33 +0000

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.

By: Sestos

Sestos — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 05:53:18 +0000

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.

By: jana

jana — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 10:18:34 +0000

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.

By: mapgirl

mapgirl — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 13:16:54 +0000

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.

By: Gates VP

Gates VP — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 08:32:54 +0000

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

By: Tyler

Tyler — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 00:51:28 +0000

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.

By: Jonathan Wagner

Jonathan Wagner — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 13:33:26 +0000

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.

By: bob

bob — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 13:00:54 +0000

Would your frugral lifestyle change if you won the lottery or found a rich husband?
That’s the real test.

By: m

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 17:08:53 +0000

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!