“I love to go and see all the things I am happy without.”
~Socrates, when asked why he went to the market and bought nothing.
Because of a combination of hard work and fortuitous happenstance, I managed to amass a very small nest egg in the time before the stb-ex moved out. How I assign the exact ratio of “hard work” versus “fortuitous happenstance” varies depending on the day and the amount of serotonin coursing through my bloodstream.
The egg sits quietly in my bank in a brand-new account that has only my name on it. It sits there untouched. Honestly, it’s too small to be considered much of a nest egg. It’s more like an egglet. But it’s an egglet that is all mine.
I’m embarking now on a new sort of life—one which is significantly underfunded as compared to my previous life. I’m not complaining. Even as significantly underfunded as I am now, I’m in better shape than many, and for that I am truly thankful.
I think I’ll make it. I hope I’ll make it. I want to make it—without touching the egg.
Sooner or later something big will break, or someone will get sick. Sooner or later my insurance will run out. Those are the sorts of things that will make me touch the egg.
So as not to touch the egg until necessity compels it, I have implemented many cost-saving measures around my house. I buy more generics than ever before. I allow fewer trips through the drive-through. I’ve canceled all but the most necessary services. I travel around behind little children turning off lights, shutting off taps and encouraging them to do the same.
I hear the word “frugal” echoing in my head as I go about my daily business. Have I made sure the clothes and dish washer are fully loaded before running? Is it truly hot enough to switch on the air conditioner? What things can I cut back on without sacrificing too much?
I love the sound I’ve come to think of as “free house.” It’s that sound I hear when nothing is audibly running—not the dishwasher or the clothes dryer or the refrigerator or the air conditioner or the shower. I cherish that sound.
Buying in bulk has long appealed to me, but now I’m even more rigid about it. Will we ever get through that ten pound bag of rice I bought early this month? Why yes, I do believe we will.
I’ve searched the ‘net for ways that other families in similar situations have managed to live frugally. Wanna know one of my coolest finds? It’s a recipe for home-made laundry detergent, which just about gave me girlie-wood when I found it because my little family goes through mountains of laundry and store-bought detergent is not cheap.
Want to try it for yourself?
1 cup grated Fels Naptha Soap
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup boraxMix well. Store in an airtight container. Use 2-3 tablespoons per load. (Click the link for much more information, including how to make a liquid version.)
It’s unbelievable to me that something I’ve spent so much money on in the past can be made at home for pennies per load. And yes, it does work just as well if not better than store-bought detergent.
AAG’s Time of Frugality is not a permanent situation, I tell myself. When my little ones go to school, new opportunities will present themselves to me. If I choose to continue writing, I can do so uninterrupted, without every single sentence punctuated by the affairs of small people. Or I could do something else. This remains to be decided.
There’s a fine balance between “frugal” and “cheap,” and I’m trying hard to find that sweet spot now. I know it’s early. Ask me in three years if I’m still on the side of “frugal.” Ask me in a year about the status of my egglet.
Then we’ll see how I’ve done.
Any other tips for living frugally? Leave them in the comments for me, please?
There isn’t much that can’t be cleaned with some combination of vinegar, water, and baking soda (which can be bought in ginormous quantities relatively cheaply).
You can save a significant amount on utility costs if you wrap your hot water heater in a warm blanket.
There’s a lot of websites that you can find great coupons on.
Yea that’s all I’ve got. sorry :(
Frugal is good. I lost 60 lbs in my new life because I just didn’t have enough money to go out for lunch any more. So it can be a good thing.
Be careful, my love. Accounts in just your name opened while married are still considered marital property. I found this out the hard way.
Congratulations on your nest egg and your new-found frugality. A few of my suggestions:
1. See if your local utility or government is subsidizing the cost of compact florescent lightbulbs. They can be had for about $1 each when discounted, and they cost significantly less to operate than standard bulbs. (Plus you’ll be doing good for the environment.)
2. Check out sites like fatwallet.com, which will give you great ideas for saving money and getting free stuff. Just today I got coupons for free ice cream and a free 6-pack of energy shakes. All I did was request the coupons via an online form.
3. Walgreens (and some other drug stores) have great monthly rebate programs. Each month, Walgreens publishes an “EasySaver” catalog that includes about 50 items for which Walgreens is offering a rebate. At least one item, and often 5-6 items, will be free after rebate. If you chose to get your rebate on a Walgreens gift card (as opposed to receiving a check), they’ll increase your rebate amount by 10%. So if you buy 6 items that are FAR (free after rebate) and cost you $30 total, you’ll get a gift card for $33. Which you then use to pay for the next month’s rebate items. Rebates are often on things like toothpaste, lotion and hair-care products, which you have to buy anyway!
4. Only if you have good credit, are fiscally prudent, and don’t need new credit within the next 6 months: Apply for credit cards that are offering a 12-month balance transfer/cash advance for 0% interest and $0 balance transfer fees. Take the money you get at 0% interest, and put it in an interest-bearing checking account. (You can find ones that pay more than 5% annually, which is $500 interest over a year on $10K.) You want to apply for all of these credit card offers on the same day so that they all hit your credit report at the same time. There are downsides to this, but you can read about them on fatwallet.com.
5. Buy clothes on eBay. I get some great new stuff for a fraction of the price that I’d pay if I shopped retail.
Good luck!
It is very expensive to be poor, because you have no infrastructure and essentially have to rent everything. Capital investments in things like deep freezes can save you tons of money if you know a cattle farmer, for example. If you are poor, you can’t buy in bulk, not just because of the outlay, but because you don’t have anywhere to store it.
Spend your money mostly but very carefully on the big stuff, is the advice I would give. Like a good vehicle or washer/drier that ain’t gonna break often or soon, and will use less energy, not just a beater to get you through the next six months or quarters for a laundromat, which is what you have to do when you are really hard up.
When you find yourself making deals like that, you know you are in trouble.
Invest in quality infrastructure, in major ongoing cost points, is all I can say. That’s what rich people do, and people never get rich by writing other people lotsa checks all the time, as my daddy used to say. Just a lot fewer big ones.
Me, I’ve been both rich and poor, several times, currently sort of halfway between the two on a trajectory from the latter to the former, and truthfully, poor is mostly a state of mind, albeit a state of mind that can be pretty hard to avoid at the bottom of a steep hole.
Don’t end up at the bottom of a steep hole without a ladder, is all. And I’ve seen way too many people sitting at the bottom of their own steep deep dirty muddy holes perched on eggs that they’re fearful to hatch.
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/
is a blog with some good ideas.
Also, add to the nest egg every month (or payday) even if it is as little as 5 or 10 dollars. You will get in the habit of paying yourself before every one else. When you start making more, add that same percent to the amount you pay the nest egg. The nest egg will grow and you will feel more confident.
Enjoy.
I am amazed to find myself, a male, responding to your sexy blog on a topic so mundane as frugality – but at least the topic is BALLS.
For economies in detergent consider Eco-Balls:-
http://www.ecoballsdirect.co.uk/
To replace fabric conditioner try:-
http://www.nellieslaundry.com/Dryerballs.html
They both really work.
I want to second the E-Bay suggestion of J. My wife is a fantastically good E Bay shopper and a number of times (I’ve done it too for Christmas presents, etc) found NWT (new with tags) clothes of the same type as found in local high end dept. stores for very very very little money. I got a Blue denim shirt for half what I would have paid, and so on.
We get detergent at Costco, thanks for the suggestion, I’ll see if my sweety wants to go to try it (some things she just does not want to change once she’s found something she likes, and I”m not going to do it if she objects…. Yes, I do laundry too).
Join Freecycle in your area at freecycle.org
Make soup and eat from it for a week.
Join a babysitting co-op. Or start one, what the hell.
That’s all I got right now.
Love love!
My mother used to have us clean all the glass and mirrors in the house with a mixture of white vinegar and water. It smelled while it was drying (which I hated), but it worked, and is a hell of a lot cheaper than Windex.
My family were also obsessive coupon clippers and sale shoppers. But those tips are probably obvious. Coupons exist not just for stores, by the way, but also for restaurants. My family went out to dinner once a week, which felt luxurious to us as kids, but only ever to whichever place my parents had coupons for that week. They were big on those “entertainment books,” w hich you pay a flat fee for and had discounts to many local restaurants. A good bargain for people with families.
This one might be the obvious but: second hand stores can be a gold mine for needed items. I find that jeans or work pants and sweaters are a good place to save by not buying new. Shirts, especially T-shirts, can be found too but can be in not as nice condition. You can still have a great wardrobe by only buying certain items new. Toys, books and furniture are another great second-hand thing.
Some people object to buying second hand but the way I look at it these things have plenty of use left and at a fraction of the price.
You might want to look into insulating the house to reduce the cost of heating. Most American houses are built in a way that they loose a lot of heat through windows, doorsteps and the like. I am not sure about non-costly ways to mitigate the energy drain, but am sure you can find a lot about it online. Sometimes it already helps to roll up a towel and stuff it into that opening underneath that basementdoor :-)
oooh, I almost forgot socks! I love socks from the dollar store. I refuse to pay $2.99 or more for a single pair of women’s socks.
And, in the vien of sistasilk: in cold areas of the world putting plastic on the inside of windows in the winter works wonders. See your hardware type store.
Wow, you guys rock.
Keep ‘em coming.
And for the record, frugality is sexy.
:)
Not so much frugal, just plain common sense. Also doing your bit to lower your carbon emissions, reduce pollution and give the finger to corporations whose reason for existence is to get you to buy a whole lot of stuff you don’t really need.
I have nothing new, only more of the same – shop places like Costco and Sams if you have room to store bulk purchases. Drop by Goodwill and similar places for kids clothes, also some towns have a bring & buy or swap shop.
as for your home, do preventative maintenance. replacing a faucet washer when it starts to drip costs much less than an increased water bill when the drip turns into a constant dribble. there are a lot of good generic how-to books that will show you step-by-step how to do these things.
as for coupons & savings opportunities, I have a friend who runs a website – kindof what’s today’s savings opportunity – at http://wantnot.net/
One of the things that helped me the most when we were really struggling was buying food packages from Angel Food:
http://www.angelfoodministries.com/default.asp
They started small, but they are nationwide now. You can check the site to see if there is a site near you.
Basically, for $25 bucks, you get a BIG order of frozen, fresh, and boxed goods. I consistently found the retail value of the order to be around $75.
Also, since your kids are small, if you haven’t already, you can apply for WIC to cover milk, cereal, peanut butter, etc. until the little ones turn 5 (check with DFCS).
I am also a voracious coupon clipper. I actually buy coupons in bulk for things that I buy regularly:
http://www.thecouponclippers.com/
All the better if you have a double coupon policy at your grocery store.
It goes without saying that Goodwill should be your new store for clothing, toys, etc. Also, consignment sales (different than consignment stores) usually run once a year by neighborhoods or church organizations are a goldmine:
http://www.kidsconsignmentsales.com/seasonalsales.htm
Let’s see . . . what else?
Having a yardsale is one of the best ways to squeeze every dollar out of your household. Even if you only clear $30 or $40, that is tax-free cash, and you can do it while you are at home with the kids.
You might consider opening your home to care for another child/children. Childcare is a great way to stay home with your kids and earn some extra money, and as long as you are taking care of yours, one extra really isn’t a hardship. Around here, the going rate for in-home childcare is $25 a day, not bad.
For those times that you do want to go out, check the restaurants in your area for nights where kids eat free:
http://kidseatforfree.us/
And . . . I can’t stress this enough . . . selling on Ebay and establishing a PayPal account with a PayPal debit card turned into my ATM. I sold things, and the money I made went straight onto my card, to be used for groceries, bills and necessities.
Hope this helps. I am sure you will do fine.
Learn to make your own bread.
Dry your clothes outside.
Something I do not for finances (as I, fortunately, am in an EXCELLENT situation. My BF is not a college student like me, and has a well-paying job, but I make it into a game to see how much frugality we can incorporate into our lifestyle), but for fun.
And I’ve found that if you can do things an “old” way, it’s typically cheaper – bread and laundry being two good examples.
Suave is good shampoo for the price. Target’s generics kick ass. Spicy food is a better decongestant than medicine. Curtains pinned to the molding of the window frame do a lot of good
(I’ve actually got 3 of the 4 windows in an under-air-conditioned addition taped off with foil, to 1) block the sun 2) create an extra layer of insulation.)
Pets keep warm your bed in winter. They also warm blankets for you.
Gillette Mach3 razors are probably the best razor to buy – yes, they’re name brand, but you invest less time and other product handling irritation and ingrown hairs.
It’s too late this year for this one, but growing one’s herbs is the only way to cook.
When I was in HS, my mom fed a family of four for $30 a month. We ate a LOT of casserole. We couldn’t afford dog food for a while, so he had a lot rice and gristle. We actually asked extended family members for their meat scraps for him.
Textured Vegetable Protein is an excellent, and cheap, way to stretch your lbs of ground meat.
The best cheap winter breakfast is an apple cut up, and stewed with brown sugar and cinnamon in water, which you use to make oatmeal.
I always put my nest eggs in CD’s so that they gain interest, but it has to be a high interest one. The reason why I do this, is so that I can still withdraw if I absolutely HAVE to, but if I don’t have to then I get to add to my egg.
I have a woodstove in my house. We keep that going alot during the winter with fans near it to help circulate the warm air.
Another benefit of cheap heat, is that during the spring summer and fall when I’m cutting wood and getting all sweaty with my shirt off I get jumped right when I come through the door. :-)
I should also mention the wealth of online coupons people never pay attention to. I NEVER shop through an online source without first googling the store’s name plus “coupon” or “coupon code.” There are a whole bunch of sites that just list every discount code for every big online shopping site out there. I’ve gotten loads of bargains that way. Also, sometimes if you subscribe to your favorite stores’ sites (like shoe stores, for instance, or mall or department stores), they’ll email you special “members only” coupons–often for 20% off purchases or more.
And finally, depending on what your income is, insurance coverage is (or lack thereof), and if you have the need for regular prescription medication (which if I recall correctly, you do), there are “patient assistance programs” offered by most of the major prescription drug companies that offer drugs for free or at a deep disount. Check out this link and this one.
Saved my ass when I was unemployed and with minimal medical coverage. All I had to do was fill out one form, and I had my drugs in under 24 hours at no cost (though I did it through a university medical clinic that already had a relationship with the program, so it may have happened faster than normal, not sure).
Hi AAG,
A used accordion can be had for about $150 OR LESS! in your area. They are easy to learn to play, and you have a ton of experience already with getting your squeezebox played.
My recommendation is that you get about six songs under your belt, and then go busk at a Farmer’s Market with your children. I guarantee folks will give you money.
Some will give you money to play. Others will give you money to stop. Either way, you can’t lose ;-)
Hey, it worked for me– really!
XOXOXOXO
Chuck
Chuck, I am rolling my eyes RIGHT NOW.
:)
Vinegar and water is wonderful for mirrors and shiny things. Vinegar and baking soda is excellent for cleaning toilets. Baking soda and water will scrub just about anything.
When you do run the air conditioning, leave the thermostat at 78 (I like in Florida, and the air is always on — this works).
Buy compact fluorescent bulbs. They last forever and use much less electricity.
Walgreens (if you have them around) make store-brands of a ton of health and beauty stuff – facial cleanser, shaving cream, OTC meds. I use a lot of them and they are excellent quality.
I didn’t have time to read the comments, so I’m sure I’m repeating things others have said. If so, please forgive. Or consider it reinforcement!
If anyone in your household gets sick and needs something from the pharmacy, Target has a two page list of meds that can be purchased for $5 each. Some may be generic but it’s better than paying a large copay for essentially the same thing.
Hi AAG,
Oh yeah?
You mean you have something BETTER to do on Saturday mornings? ;-)
Chuck
I could use these useful tips.. Swimming in it myself right now…..
Haaaaaaa
I’ve spent a lot of time in my life doing with little… you got some great hints, so I’ll only add one. There’s a great series of books (I think she did two) called “The Tightwad Gazette”. Originally she had just a newsletter and it was so popular they published it. Anyway, for a GAZILLION ideas on doing things differently, cheaper, etc. it runs the gamut from VERY VERY frugal (rinsing out baggies, etc), to a little less stringent. Definitely a butt-load of ideas (so to speak) to choose from, and I believe usually the library carries a copy! :-)
I saw a book the other day on making your own sex toys, but I think you got that angle covered!
I absolutely do not need to make my own sex toys.
:)
A few more ideas…
Don’t buy books, borrow them from your local library. You can also borrow movies at the library instead of renting them from Blockbuster or Netflix. Some libraries will also loan you passes to local museums and other cultural attractions.
Read your local newspaper online and cancel your subscription.
Comparison shop…make it a point to read labels and compare the price per ounce/pound/item. Bigger isn’t always cheaper, particularly when an item is on sale.
Save receipts and return things if they don’t fit/don’t work/aren’t used. Once I got aggressive about returning items, I found I saved a lot of money. Contrary to popular belief, most drug stores and grocery stores will accept returns of opened items if you didn’t like it or it didn’t work as advertised.
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, when retailers offer insane discounts and sales in an effort to attract customers. If you make a plan of attack and shop wisely, you can get great deals on Xmas presents, and may find things that can be resold on eBay for a profit. For example, last year I got a new Epson inkjet printer from buy.com or ritzcamera.com for about $25, including 6 packages of toner. The 6 toner cartridges alone costs $75 if bought separately. I regret that I didn’t buy several, even if I simply took out the tone and resold the extra printers without toner.
Speaking of electronics, American Express has a great extended warranty program. Basically, they’ll double the warranty on everything you charge to your Amex for up to 1 additional year. I bought a printer and it broke about 13 months later–after the printer’s 1-year warranty expired. I called Amex and within a couple weeks, they credited my account with the original purchase price. I turned around and “bought” a replacement for less than I’d paid for the original–and charged it to my Amex!
A lot of people have mentioned CostCo, but I don’t think anyone’s mentioned their return policy. For major purchases in particular, Costco is great because they’ll accept returns at any time, no questions asked. (For a few items, such as computers and TVs, there is a set return policy…maybe 6 months?) So if you don’t like an item, or it breaks, or you just haven’t used it, you can return it! Oh, and Costco discounts packs of 100 stamps.
One person already mentioned Freecycle, but I cannot encourage you enough to try it out – we had a SURPRISE! baby last year, when my husband was not working full time (he’s now, thank the powers that be) – we got most of the stuff we needed, like basinett, crib, tub, etc., from Freecycle. With your little ones outgrowing clothes and toys, this is an invaluable source for children’s stuff. All the best AAG!
oh my gosh, do NOT make bread at home unless you have a bread machine. It is so, so, so easy and yummy. Just dump the ingredients in and three hours later – bread! If you buy one, get one with a real looking bread pan, the bread comes out real shaped and not all strange like some models.
This is my third visit here today. Frugality IS sexy.
G’day AAG.
I’m in a similar position, being a pensioner. My test is always value. A low price with poor quality is not good value, so I always balance the price against the quality. This way I live well without costing a bomb.
The advent of store generics means that I have a good choice of these brands to choose from and find that the quality I get is as good, if not better than most brand names
Feh! I say FEH to the bread machine. Nothing is more satisfying than making bread with your own hands. It’s magic to feel the dough change under your touch when it’s been kneaded just right. And pulling it out of the oven is heavenly when the steam fills the kitchen.
Best part though: Slicing off the heel of the bread, slathering it with butter and sugar and popping it back in the oven for a moment to toast. Excellent treat for you and the babies.
Libraries are great, but I use a book swapping site called paperbackswap.com. You list books you can bear to part with, other members request your titles, and you send the books media mail (which costs about $2.13 per book), which usually for me arrives in about a week. Then you get to request your own books from other members and receive them in the mail for free. This site has DRASTICALLY reduced the amount of money I spend at bookstores (I had quite the habit).
I also visit a freebies website called http://www.mysavings.com every day. it takes about two seconds to sign up for freebies and there’s loads of freebie lists to pore over.
I would (years ago) buy endless branded chemical ‘wonders’, and when I moved out, I remembered the old days of being single and living alone. I used methylated spirits to remove pen stains, bicarbonate of soda to remove the smells that can accumulate in the refrigerator, and the one-in-all stain remover Napisan (diaper soaker) for every stain (spaghetti sauce to yellowed white clothes).
home insulation is an awesome idea but can be an expensive initial investment, but i found a nice little way to insulate drafty windows for not much money.
if you get drafts though cracks around your windows, go to any major hardware/DIY store and ask for the plastic shrink-wrap thingys that go over your windows. It’s a special, purpose-made plastic sheeting. You put double-sided tape (inlcluded in the packet) around your window, stick the plasit sheeting to it and press it firmly, then take a hairdryer and heat the plastic to make it shrink and pull tight over the window. it’s clear, you can’t see it when it’s done properly, and when i did it paid for itself in the first month with the money i saved on heating my apartment.
my other suggestion for frugal living is learning how to cook. i appreciate that a single mom has little time and engergy for cooking, but if you can manage it (or better yet, learn to enjoy it) you will eat more food for less money that tastes better and is better for you than pre-packaged stuff. become a recipe hunter. comb the internet for easy recipes. learn about spices and seasoning. if you know how to alter the flavor of things with spices you can make simple foods of a huge variety without getting bored. ingredients are always cheaper than pre-prepared. if a tub a coleslaw costs $2.50, you can buy a head of cabbage, a few carrots, a jar of mayo, a bag of sugar, and a bottle of white vinegar for the same price and have enough coleslaw to feed an army. don’t buy boneless, skinless chiken breasts. buy the whole chicken and carve it yourslef. essentially, don’t pay people for labor you are capable of doing yourself. this is how i manage to live and thrive (and eat awesome food) on an imoverished student budget in the middle of one of the UK’s most expensive cities.
I just recently came accross a website that offers all kinds of ways to fix ramen http://www.mattfischer.com/ramen/
it is so cheap but with a few extra ingredients its a totally differnet meal.
I also endorse freecycle we even got a fridge from it that works great also if you can bike ride or walk to anywhere thats possible not only do you save on gas but you sneak in a little excersize.
Everyone has really great suggestions. I must second getting WIC for your babies. There’s no shame in it, you’re a taxpayer like the rest of it, and it will save you a bundle on the staples you have to buy all the time. Also, if you know someone who is in the military and shops at the military commissary, have them keep an eye out for what are called ‘case lot sales’. You can get diapers, paper goods, detergent, canned goods, and much more, for a fraction of the cost you’d usually pay. Also PLEASE try to beg borrow, or steal a deep freeze. I bet you could find one on Craig’s List or your local wanted adds.
I’m dieting at the moment and on a budget. Fresh fruit and veg is so expensive here in UK, but I balance the books somewhat by cutting down on meat and getting my protein from dried beans and pulses, lentils etc. They’re so much cheaper than meat with excellent protein values, and of course I can buy them in bulk-ish quantities. They keep for ages, too, and all I have to do is remember to maybe soak them overnight for stews, casseroles, and soups. Your little ones probably won’t even notice if you replace a half to 3 quarters of the meat you’d normally use in stews/casseroles with lentils or a mix of lentils and small beans, like cannelini (sp?) beans or similar.
You’re already buying your rice in bulk, but look for big, cheap generic bags of pasta and porride oats too. It’s a bit more potchy to make your babies and yourself real porridge for breakfast instead of sugary cereal, but oats are supposedly THE super food healthwise, so it is worth it. More importantly it’ll keep you warmer and fed for longer without blood sugar crashes.
All the best with it! It really does become a game to play with yourself to see how much you can save, and when you treat yourself (and you must) it’s a wonderful feeling :)
Discover Hydrogen Peroxide! Besides cleaning cuts you can use it (diluted) in place of mouthwash, for removing bacteria and fungus from counters and shower, in place of bleach in your laundry, for cleaning vegetable, and all other sorts of things. And a bottle cost about $1. Do a little looking around online and you can find all kinds of uses for it.
So I will simply agree with you that “frugal” is sexy… keep up these good habits developed during lean times throughout the periods of abundance and you will truly be able to build quite a nest egg.
Wow! My kind of woman… :)
It’s an oldie, but a goodie. Check out Amy Dacyzyn’s Tightwad Gazette books at the library or see if you can find cheap copies on Ebay. There’s three volumes of compiled newsletters about frugal living crammed full of tips, recipes and ideas.
Not all of them will apply to any given situation, but they’re inspirational and really get you into the creative mindset of how you can save money. That doesn’t sound like much, but it really is a whole new way of thinking to get used to for most people. The books definitely help!