frugality

On one of my earlier posts, “Motivation For Frugality - It Is Not Always About The Money“, a reader (a self-declared minimum wage earner) left this comment:

This indefinite frugality has produced in me a feeling of smug superiority, as in “you’re a spendthrift, I’m more frugal than you.” It has also made me wince more than a few times when reading bloggers discuss how frugal they really are. Ha, they don’t know frugal until they have to live it.

At that time, I replied to his comment with this:

I think it goes with “lack of resources” type of motivation. I am sure people who go through hard times have a better sense of frugality than people who don’t. It’s probably that “make-do” attitude that plays a role.

Btw, this leads to an interesting topic - are poor people more frugal than rich people? or it’s just that a poor man’s frugality is different than a rich man’s frugality?

I have been thinking on the subject since then, and now I have convinced myself that it doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor - you can still be frugal to the highest extent. It all depends on how you perceive and define “frugality”.

If you define frugality directly in terms of material possessions (like it is usually done), there is always a scope of conflict with that definition. Things you consider frugal may be *lavish* from the perspective of some people, and *stingy* from the perspective of some other people. Here is a schematic that will help me paint the picture more clearly:

With reference to the money-scale in the image above, let us assume that there is a rich man can afford to spend a lot more money than a poor man. Based on how much each can afford, the rich man and the poor man define *frugal* in different ways. For example, assume that the rich man has enough money to easily buy a new Mercedes-Benz S-Class ($127,000). Now, for this rich man, buying a new Honda Civic ($20,000) is an extremely frugal decision. But, for someone who is much poorer (perhaps barely able to pay for health insurance), buying a new Honda Civic is an extremely lavish decision.

Similarly, the poor man might consider a 20″ regular TV (less than $100) as a *frugal* option - whereas, the rich man, who owns a 60″ plasma in his mansion, might consider it as a *stingy* option.

Evidently, the scales of frugality are different for rich and poor people. And hence, it might be a bit presumptuous to call someone a spendthrift or frugal based on the things they buy (or the things they pay money for). Personally, from a monetary perspective, if you are living within your means, then you are probably frugal. It doesn’t matter if you just bought a plasma TV or a brand new car - you are still being frugal as long as you are buying things you can afford.

Before we come to a closure, let me put some emphasis on “..from a monetary perspective“. There are different perspectives on frugality and monetary aspect is just a small part. You could look at it from the perspective of “need” - people who buy things they don’t need are not frugal; or “wastage” - people who waste stuff are not frugal; and so on. On top of this, there are different motivational factors for frugality. All this creates a variety of different definitions for what is considered “frugal” - makes frugality a very relative term.

In summary, I don’t think poor people are more frugal than rich people in absolute terms. Rich and poor people are frugal in their own relative ways and hence, we should think twice before laughing off other people’s frugality.

Last week, I posted a list of 25 things that “we do to save money” and I have been thinking on it ever since. Some introspective questions resulted from the thinking, like: were all of those things done *actively* to save money? or were there other motivations behind the actions - and saving money just happened to be a passive outcome? if money was not a constraint, would we still be doing some of those things?

There are no generic yes/no answers to these questions, but as I was attempting to answer them, I realized that a lot of our actions that save us money (or appear to do so) are (or were) situation specific - probably, saving money was not the main motivation behind all of them.

So, if it’s not always about the money, then what else could motivate you to do something frugal?

To answer that, here are six motivational factors off the top of my head. I will try to explain these through examples to make it easier to understand.

1. Time: I walk to school/work and I count that as a frugal activity that saves me money. However, I have pointed it out earlier that it simply takes more time (and more hassles) to reach school if I drive - and that is probably the main reason why I walk to school. The fact that it saves me money on parking permits is only a secondary motivation. It doesn’t matter if I had a billion dollars (or if someone gave me a free parking permit) - I would still walk to school/work if driving is not saving me significant amount of time.
2. Energy: We cook regularly, but we don’t cook everyday - mostly, on alternate days. Not cooking everyday is frugal in many ways: there is less washing of cooking vessels, less utilization of electricity (or gas) for cooking, less wastage of food, fewer grocery trips, etc. So yeah, it saves some money - but are we really not cooking everyday to save money? I don’t think so; we just don’t have the energy to cook (and clean things up after cooking) everyday. Here, lack of energy is the frugal motivation.
3. Attitudes: There are some things we do “just for the heck of it”. One such example is my worn out pair of jeans in the list of 25 things that attracted a lot of public (and private) attention. Yes, it saves me money because I wear some of my clothes till they wear out (to the point where they get holes in them) - but that’s not the main motivation. Stronger motivation is provided by the fact that I hate shopping for clothes, and that my “attitude” just doesn’t let me get rid of that torn pair of jeans. Even if someone gifts gives me several new jeans, I would be still wearing the torn one for another year.

   

   My favorite (and dilapidated) jeans

4. Preferences: Another frugal example, in which saving money is probably a secondary factor, is our homemade lunch routine. Of course, not eating out for lunch saves money, but even if I had a ton of money, I don’t think I would prefer eating at McDonald’s, Taco Bell, or Subway (the three fast food joints closest to my workplace) - I hate those places (for various reasons). The main motivational factor here is probably the hatred for fast food and preference for home-cooked meals.
5. Lack of Resources: During my early days as a graduate student (when I was single and sharing apartment with roommates), only one of us had a car (and it wasn’t me). That sort of restricted the frequency of my grocery trips, out of town socializing trips, movie theater trips, etc. It wasn’t like I was going only twice a month for groceries to “save money” - it happened because I didn’t have a damn car (and I didn’t like asking someone for frequent favors). Agreed, it was a frugal thing to do, but it was very situation specific. It’s very likely that I would have had a different lifestyle (probably with less “money saving” habits) if I had a car at that time. A resource crunch also encourages the “make-do” attitude - which is probably one of the most fundamental reasons behind a lot of frugal habits.
6. Habits: Here, I will quote my own words from the list of 25 things post:
   

   I am also in the habit of extracting the last drop of shampoo from almost-empty shampoo bottles by filling some water in them - doesn’t save diddly-squat of money, but it’s a fun thing to do.

   It’s pretty clear right there - it’s a habit. I would probably continue doing it even after I become a millionaire. I am sure it will save a few bucks over several years, but that’s not the main reason why I keep doing it. It’s just for the heck of it.

So, in summary, there are things that are done specifically for saving money (buying a used car, renting a small apartment, etc.), but there are a lot of frugal things that we probably do due to other motivational factors - and save money in the process. The six factors listed above are only some of them and depending on your situation, they may or may not be influencing your frugal behavior.

What are the motivations behind your frugal actions? is money-saving your only driving factor?

This is a list of day-to-day activities (that we engage in at present times or did in the past) that manifest some aspects of frugality in our lives - nothing too extraordinarily profound, but interesting nevertheless. The list is presented in no particular order for no particular reason. Wherever possible, I have included links to resources, recommendations, or additional reading material, feel free to explore these links at your leisure (there are no referral links). In the text below, the term “we” will usually mean me and/or my wife.

1. We use thrift shops (Dollar General, Family Dollar, etc.) for general purpose household items (non-essential odds and ends). Stuff like brushes, brooms, containers, etc. However, we avoid buying food stuff at these stores – just don’t feel comfortable enough. A quick tip here - certain items like cutlery and dishware are usually cheaper at Walmart than at these stores, so don’t just shop blindly at thrift shops.
2. We drive a 10 year old used car and try to maintain it regularly (as much as possible). It does gives us problems, and generally costs a lot for repairs, but we have figured out that it’s more economical (for now) to keep this junker than to buy a newer (better) car.
3. We change oil every 4000 miles (or 4 months) instead of the dealer recommended 3000 miles (or 3 months). Also, bought ourselves a prepaid oil change card - it’s sort of buying oil change in bulk; got us a 25% discount over individually paid oil changes. Also, the prepaid card is for 10 oil changes - that’s enough to last us for about 3 years; probably even protects us against inflation. My dream is to do my own oil changes in future, but I am not there yet - and I am not sure if that is going to work out well. By the way, here is an nice article recently published by a fellow blogger on the topic of oil change, make sure you go through it sometime.
4. Instead of pesticide sprays for roaches, we use boric acid – one pound of boric acid costs about $2 and works much better than most other expensive chemicals. Now-a-days the roaches are gone (except the occasional visitor from outside) and I think that’s because of a combination of boric acid and a clean sink. Come to think of it, a clean sink and a clutter free home are free ways of getting rid of roaches - that’s cheaper than boric acid.
5. I wear some clothes like this one in the photograph:

   

   It’s a picture of my favorite piece of clothing - a 4+ year old blue jeans from Walmart. This is in accordance with the 2^nd rule of graduate school - No one cares about what you wear (the first rule is - It’s OK to procrastinate). Anyways, I think I have the capacity to keep wearing this pair of jeans for some more months (may another year) before I start feeling embarrassed about it’s condition. Probably, my wife will be embarrassed to walk with me sooner than that. Note that this is just an example; not all my clothes are in this condition, although quite a few of them are older than 5 years.

6. We generally buy clothes only if there is some kind of a discount sale (some stores like JC Penny and Goodies have a *sale* everyday and I am not talking of such stupid sales). I should mention here that I have a mental block against buying used clothes - I just won’t be able to wear them.
7. We rent a small apartment (small = relative small as compared to what other married couples generally prefer). Earlier, I have mentioned on this blog that we spend about 11% of our gross monthly income on apartment rent+utilities.
8. When I was single, I always had roommates to share my rent with. Typically, 3 (sometimes 4) of us used to share a 2-bedroom apartment. Looking back, I think I saved a bunch of money by living like that during my early days as a graduate student.
9. Around that time (when I was single), I slept on a $8 sleeping bag for about 1.5 years. Laugh (or shudder in disbelief) if you want, but that’s true - a bed was just too expensive for me. OK, may beds weren’t that expensive, but I was pretty comfortable on a sleeping bag, so the thought of a bed didn’t really come out as a priority at the time.
10. We don’t have cable. Why? I don’t think we have enough time to watch what an average cable connection offers here. Plus, we are not *attached* to any particular television program or series. We get crystal clear reception for a number of popular programs (Raymond, Simpsons, Friends, House, etc.) using a $9 antenna from Walmart.
11. We used to pick up furniture from the dumpster - we don’t do it anymore because now we have everything we wanted. But there was a time when we used to drive around major dumpsters around our area to look for stuff that we could use…these dumpster-drives were strictly restricted to furniture. We haven’t tried it yet, but you can get some great free stuff through the Freecycle Network.
12. We use wholesale warehouses (mostly SAM’s Club) for certain items that can be bought in bulk. Our consistent warehouse choices have been: milk (yeah it’s cheaper there), sugar, rice, tissues, chocolates, chicken, kitchen towels, juices, and a few more that I don’t readily recollect. Considering the amount of stuff we buy from there, I am sure the membership fee pays for itself in about 4~6 months.
13. We use compact fluorescent (CF) lights only in our home. CF lights save money and I personally like the white light (I am aware that some people don’t like it too much). We use a combination of those spiral CF bulbs and those long fluorescent shoplights.
14. We use the school library for most of our books (thanks to a very well-equipped library on campus). However, occasionally, there are certain books that we *need* to buy; for buying books we usually first compare prices online (I am a bit partial to this nifty website for book price comparison: AddAll.com) and at times, we also check our local Half Price Books store. By the way, especially for graduate students, professors are good sources of expensive academic books - they are generally hesitant in lending books to undergraduates, but for grads they won’t mind - all you got to do is ask.
15. We regularly use “The New Release” DVD kiosks that give us latest movies for $1 (+ tax). The downside is that the movies that we *want* to watch are not always available (and sometimes there are long queues at these kiosks) - in such situations we head over to the local Hastings, get our movies and return them the next day to get some credit (like a $1 discount on the next rental). Earlier, I have written a post about how you can rent movies for cheap; check it out and see if you have some of those options near you. Using our school video library is the most frugal thing to do, but unfortunately, our school does not allow us to take the movies home (which I think is dumb) - you got to watch it in the library.
16. We always apply for available assistantships and/or scholarships to fund our graduate studies (both me and my wife). Throughout our graduate education, we have been funded through some kind of an assistantship position (teaching or research) and that has helped to pay a major chunk of our tuition and fees in addition to providing a nominal stipend. Plus, there are occasional additional scholarship opportunities that we avail. Life would have been tough without these financial supplements.
17. We carry homemade lunches to work. Usually, these are leftovers from the previous night. Sometimes, it’s just an apple or a banana. It’s probably been many months since we last ate outside for lunch. It’s not like we don’t eat outside at all - there are those occasional nice dinners at nice restaurants - but those are few and far between.
18. We usually get our groceries at a local farm market - fresh produce is often cheaper (and fresher) here than at Walmart. A nearby Walmart Supercenter serves as a backup. Check out if you have a local farm market in your area through this website.
19. For vacations, we usually try to locate some good friends near our destinations who would be willing to host us - it saves a bunch of money on hotels. Most of you probably remember a few of my recent posts about our trip to Philadelphia/New York - we were hosted by our close friends during the visit. There are some disadvantages to being hosted by friends, but let’s not talk about it here.
20. We book our airline tickets early and do a lot of comparison shopping before finalizing the tickets. I usually first visit Kayak.com (after some people recommended it to me) and then I sort of comb through individual sites to see if something else is available there that Kayak is missing. Strangely, most of the times we have had better deals when we booked directly through airline websites, instead of such portals. Btw, did you know that Cheaptickets and Orbitz are different brand names of the same parent company: Travelport.com? And that Expedia and Hotwire are different brand names of Expedia Inc.? Even with these relations existing between websites, you need to check them individually - although, Cheaptickets and Hotwire are generally cheaper than Orbitz and Expedia respectively, the options are not always matching. Apart from these options, I would recommend checking with Southwest Airlines for cheap tickets after my recent experience with them.
21. I walk to school/work everyday - no car means no parking permits and that means a bunch of money saved. Here are some detailed reasons on why I walk to school. Also, after a couple of my bicycles were stolen, I have given up on that mode of transport; so I can also say we are saving money by not buying bicycles (which would eventually be stolen).

    

    Yeah, it’s the same pair of jeans I showed above in #5

22. We don’t carry balances on our credit cards (well except 0% APR balance transfers). I was once foolish and did burn my hands with them; however, things have changed for the better over time and now I completely pay them off by the end of every month. It’s been more than a year since we last paid finance charges on any of them - in future, I don’t think we will be paying interest on our cards - ever.
23. For minor car repairs, I have bought a “Haynes Repair Manual“. Stuff like replacing headlights, battery, etc., becomes a piece of cake with the manual. A couple of times, I have also been able to dismantle a part of my dashboard (and some area underneath it), to reach a noisy air conditioning fan and discovered some dry leaves which were causing a huge racket (if I remember correctly, a local shop quoted about $100 for the job). However, if you are not confident enough, I would recommend not messing with your car. Always remember this - if you open a can of worms, it takes a bigger can to put them back inside.
24. We dilute our dishwashing liquid. We first mix a little bit of our dish washing liquid with water in a separate bowl, and then use the diluted solution for washing dishes. This is an after-marriage change suggested by my wife - before that, we idiots (me and my roommates) used to drop blobs of dish washing gel on plates in order to wash them. I don’t think diluting the liquid is a huge way of saving money, but it’s a pretty frugal way to use dish washing gel. On a stingier side, I am also in the habit of extracting the last drop of shampoo from almost-empty shampoo bottles by filling some water in them - doesn’t save diddly-squat of money, but it’s a fun thing to do.
25. We use our student identity cards almost everywhere to get discounts on almost everything - restaurants, movie theaters, malls, and a lot more. It’s one of those little perks of living in a small university town. Lowest discounts are about 10% and good ones are up to 25% at certain places.

There are a lot more frugal things we do, but they are probably not worth writing and reading about.

Before you start getting some unreasonable ideas about our lifestyle, I need to make it clear that we are far away from being an epitome for frugality. If I start compiling a list of “un-frugal” things I/we have done, it would probably beat this list of frugal things by miles.

If you have a some peculiar things/features to share regarding your frugal way of life, feel free to leave a comment.

I was reading this book “Living Well on a Shoestring” the other day and came across some amusing penny-pinching tips. The almost-400 page book is full of smart and frugal things to do, but at times, some of the tips made me exclaim - What!? Here 10 frugal solutions from the book that I thought you folks would enjoy - all of them are ingenious, but some of them are ridiculous, and some are just…ewww. A couple of them seriously require a *feasible* alternative - they just wouldn’t cross the psychological barrier in many people.

1. Growing tomatoes in a bra

This is the first time I heard of anything like this…although, it seems to be well-known among folks who grow tomatoes (read this for example - look for the heading “Large tomatoes will require support”). Tomato plants don’t have a very strong stem and usually bend (sometimes break) under the weight of the growing tomatoes - especially due to the larger tomatoes. Generally, “stakes” are used to provide some support to the stem (see the image below) - so as to keep the tomatoes off the soil. The book goes a step further and suggests tying a used/worn-out bra between two stakes, in such a way that the cups supports large tomatoes. If that’s difficult to visualize, here is a quick schematic that I sketched in Powerpoint.

Now, imagine you are having an awesome BLT (bacon, lettuce, and tomato) sandwich and totally appreciating the juicy tomatoes - and then your host, very considerately, announces “Oh those?…those were grown in a bra“. I would love to see the expression on your face after that.

2. Getting your flowers from the dead

This comes under the heading “Even funerals have a bright side”. Flowers used in a funeral are usually dumped in the trash after the proceedings. It is illegal in most states for funeral homes and florists to resell or reuse these flowers (thankfully!). The book suggests that you get in touch with a funeral home and ask them if they can send the flowers to you instead of throwing them away. Now, I consider myself frugal as far as the conventional definition of “frugality” is concerned…but this thing goes beyond me.

3. Using diapers as water reservoirs for plants

This is again in the context of tomatoes (is tomato gardening so popular? - there are a lot of tips and tricks in the book about growing tomatoes). According to the book, you can reduce the frequency of watering tomato plants by placing the absorbent material from a disposable diaper underneath the soil, and then planting your tomato plant on the top. Whenever you water the the plant, some of the water will be absorbed by the soil and the rest will be absorbed by the diaper material. When the soil dries out, the roots can still suck up water from soaked diaper (scientifically, when the soil dries out, the soil itself sucks up the water from the diaper - which is analogous to how a candle wick draws up wax - by capillary action). This way you could probably get away with watering just a couple of times a week.

4. Cleaning a not-so-valuable painting with your spit

Don’t try this with valuable paintings - your saliva will devalue it (?). Here is what the book suggests:

“Moisten a swab in your mouth and use it to brush away the dirt from the paint (your saliva will work as a mild cleanser). Take a drink every so often to keep your mouth moist (in other words to generate more saliva!) ….and be careful not to put the used swab back in your mouth.”

The next time your hand extends to feel a nice painting in your friend’s home - think about this.

5. Selling pigeon droppings to raise funds

The book narrates an interesting story about a church in Hartford that made $30,000 by selling 1,500 pounds (these must be holy pigeons) of pigeon droppings as fertilizer. Apparently, pigeon droppings are rich in nitrogen and hence are valued as fertilizer. The church’s product was marketed under the name “Sign of the Dove” - after these names were rejected: “God’s Guano”, “Gifts from Above”, and “Heavenly Droppings”.

6. Using tea bags on your eyes.

Used tea bags that are still moist can be placed under your eyes to reduce puffiness. The bags need to be cool, so don’t try them right after finishing your tea. Also, if you are in a habit to squeeze them till you get the last drop of flavor is out (I have seen people do that), they won’t be of much use since they will lack the necessary moisture. Recommended usage: “Just put one bag over each eye and leave in place for 10 to 15 minutes.”

7. Using mayonnaise as moisturiser

Mayonnaise contains all the essential ingredients required to maintain a good skin - oil serves as a moisturizer, eggs to firm the skin, and vinegar to maintain pH (acidity) levels. So if you run out of your skin conditioner - just use the mayonnaise. Or better still, just visit your nearest McDonald’s and grab your day’s quota in those little paper cups - for free.

8. Using milk and tomatoes to remove stains

The authors just love tomatoes for some reason. Here is a tip to remove stain from the ink of a ballpoint pen using tomatoes:

“Saturate a ballpoint pen stain with milk, and rub it with the cut side of a tomato. Since milk and tomatoes can leave their own stains, soak the whole garment in a mixture of enzymatic laundry detergent and cold water, then launder as usual.”

9. Using crayons to hide furniture scratches

This remedy is for those nasty (but not too big) scratches that take away the varnish (or polish) and reveal the white-ish insides. Find a crayon - of generally matching color - and rub it in the scratch. Finish the job by buffing the area with a soft cloth. If you are not sure about the color, the book recommends that you start with a lighter color and gradually darken it till it looks good enough.

10. Using pencils to fix zippers

You can try to make a sticking zipper work smoothly by rubbing the tip of a graphite pencil on to the zipper’s teeth. Zip and unzip a couple of times so that the graphite spreads over the entire zipper and you will be ready to roll. This works because graphite posses lubricating properties. May be you could also use a drop or two of some vegetable oil (like I did for this lock) - btw, on that post, in the last comment Jennifer suggests rubbing the graphite portion of a pencil on the key as a solution.

Relevant reference page numbers in the book (just in case you want to look some stuff up): 117, 133, 136, 140, 147, 148, 228, 230, 289

Image sources: mayo - www.lunaticworks.com

It’s our general tendency to *assume* that when things are sold in bulk, they should be cheaper. Here is what we discovered about bulk prices at our local grocery shop the other day:

Some of you may remember that last Sunday I ranted about onions getting horribly expensive (see that “was $1.99” in the upper left hand corner of the image? - that’s the price we paid last last time). As anticipated, we were done with those onions in 5 days and were back to get some more, when I took the above picture.

In the current situation as depicted by the photograph, the 2 lb onion bag comes to around $2.50 per pound, whereas if you just buy loose onions on per pound basis, you will get the same onions at $1.49 per pound - that’s ridiculous. Now, 2 pounds is not really as *bulk* as one would expect, but it’s still bulk when compared to loose onions.

On last Sunday, I am pretty certain that the price per pound was slightly lower for the 2 lb bag than for the loose onions (makes sense); however, that time, we went with the loose ones because they looked and felt much better than the ones bagged together. Anyways, what makes it all the more confusing is the constant raising and lowering of prices - on one given day bulk prices will be cheaper and then suddenly, the next day they will be more than the non-bulk prices. Perhaps, retailers do it deliberately, I am not sure. Also, I noticed this with onions, but it must be happening with other commodities as well.

Bottom line: look at the prices before you jump for the bulk - bulk may not always be cheaper.

The story behind the photograph

The first time we went to the store, we didn’t carry a camera - obviously. Then, I noticed the weird onion pricing. Initially, I thought there is some mistake with the pricing, so I weighed a couple of those onion bags and they were really 2 lb bags. Before I weighed them, I suspected that perhaps they were 3 lb bags marked wrongly as 2 lb bags - although, even with that, the price per pound would have been $1.66 which is more than the loose onions at $1.49.

Once I realized that there was something genuinely stupid about the prices, I drove back home to get the camera while my wife continued with the shopping - man you can’t loose these priceless moments.

Last Sunday, there wasn’t much motivation to carry the camera in the store, so I just took a photograph of the receipt - shown below (didn’t have a scanner handy).

Here is a quick money hack. If you compulsively feel like buying stuff when go window shopping, then this might work for you. Whenever you want to buy something, make it a habit of thinking in terms of the number of hours you will have to work in order to earn money equal to the cost price of the thing you want to buy. For example, assume that you earn $5 per hour (minimum wage in some states, on the lower end). Now, suppose you want to buy yourself a $5 smoothie just to satisfy your sugar craving. Instead of thinking about the cost of the smoothie in terms of the dollar amount, tell yourself that it requires one full hour of work to buy that smoothie. That will surely make some of you think twice.

To further illustrate the point, and to get some interesting numbers, I ran this ‘hours-of-work‘ thinking through some hypothetical people earning different salaries per hour - minimum wage workers ($6.25/hour), graduate assistants ($15/hour), high school teachers ($25 per hour), and doctors ($70/hour). For these folks, a few typical expenses (with approximate costs) are considered and the cost in terms of ‘number of hours work’ is calculated. Here are the numbers:

Note that the numbers are rough measures - just to give you an idea. You could probably refine them to include interest costs (if you borrow for expenses like car, house, etc.).

It’s amusing to imagine what will happen if your new car dealer tells you that you have to work at the dealership for 3360 hours (about 1 year and 7 months, with full time employment) if you want to buy that new car….that surely sounds a bit *too much* than say, $400 per month.

This line of thought will work more effectively for large ticket items, although it will generally work for any expense.

By the way, the next time when you are in an introspective mood, get your calculator (or excel sheet) and think about how many work hours you have traded to buy stuff that you really didn’t need. You might have a learning moment at the end of the exercise.

Have you used any similar mind games to reduce spending? Does thinking about costs in terms of anything else (other than hours of work) makes you think twice before pulling out your credit card?

Welcome to the 71^st edition of the Festival of Frugality. Before we start with the festival submissions, here are some thoughts. Sometimes, when we are engrossed in squeezing out every ounce of worth from a penny, it is easy to lose sight of reason and rationality. Hence, every once in a while, to put our actions into perspective, it is beneficial to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. In this spirit, let’s first review *frugality* before we jump to the articles.

What is Being Frugal? by Dawn @ Frugal for Life.

Because I live frugally, doesn’t mean I don’t spend money and don’t find enjoyment. I become more thoughtful about my decisions and how it will impact me in the future. I decide if this item is something I need or can use multiple times. Frugality is about restraint, discipline, finding the best value and using the item up till it can’t be used anymore.

Frugality as defined by Wikipedia.

Frugality (also known as thrift or thriftiness), often confused with cheapness or miserliness, is a traditional value, life style, or belief system, in which individuals practice both restraint in the acquiring of and resourceful use of economic goods and services in order to achieve lasting and more fulfilling goals. In a money-based economy, frugality emphasizes economical use of money in meeting long term personal, familial, and communal desires.

What is frugal living? @ eSSORTMENT.com

Frugal living isn’t about giving up the good life; it’s cutting out unnecessary expenditures. Most families who practice frugal living do so, not because they’re in a financial bind, but because they’ve made a conscious decision to take control of their spending and that means not keeping up with the Joneses or maxing out credit cards.

Now, let’s head over to the festival’s entries. 29 articles were accepted for publications.

Frugality Food for Thought

Frugal vs. Cheap by Andy @ Money Walks. In this post, Andy expresses his thoughts on defining frugality. This blends in very well with the theme of this edition. Here is one of his thoughts: “Living well for less money is frugality. Leeching off of people to get by is cheap.”

Sometimes, You Should Indulge by ISPF @ Grad Money Matters. ISPF thinks outside the conventional frugality box and recommends indulgence once in a while. If you are truly frugal, you could probably find frugal ways of indulging

Frugal Entertainment

Being A Big Kid - Frugal Entertainment by Super Saver @ My Wealth Builder. This is frugal entertainment plus quality time with the kids in one package. Seriously, kids don’t distinguish between “expensive” and “cheap” entertainment…all they care is about getting *entertained*.

Fifteen Free Things To Do During A Money-Free Weekend by Trent @ The Simple Dollar. Got a lot of free time on weekends and not in a mood to spend a dime? Trent has the perfect solutions for you. Here is one of them:

Blow bubbles. This is a great one if you have kids. Get a gallon of water, then slowly stir in some liquid dishwashing detergent (a cup or two), slow enough not to make suds. Bend an old coat hanger into loops, dip it into the stuff, and blow through the loops. Experiment with different quantities to get the kind of bubbles you want - there is no “perfect” recipe.

I want to quickly mention here that by adding sugar to the soap solution (and after some practice) you could actually make larger bubbles. Try it out and see if that works.

Frugal Vacations

Vacation: Need or Want @ Living Almost Large. How do you discern whether a vacation is a need or a want? Do you feel that sometimes people have this overrated sense of *entitlement* for vacations or certain indulgences? It’s one thing to take a frugal break to vacate your mind of daily routines, and it’s other thing to go on unaffordable trips to justify a *break*.

Vacation on a Budget by Stephanie @ Stop the Ride!. Stephanie shares how she planned her frugal vacation to the beach.

Automotive Frugality

Do You Really Know How Much It Costs To Own Your Car? by Silicon Valley Blogger @ The Digerati Life. Always think in future terms when you look for a car. Cars that seem cheap now may turn out to be expensive in the long run due to horrible repair and maintainance costs. SVB explains this with a neat breakdown of numbers and types of costs.

How I Saved 37% on My Car Repair Bill by FMF @ Free Money Finance. FMF shares how he used coupons and credit cards to cut down the repair bill on his Subaru Forester.

What You Should Know About Your Local Auto Body Shops by David @ My Two Dollars. A commentary on a Kiplinger’s article about things to consider before visit an auto body shop.

Frugal Meals

Cheap Work Lunches @ Cents You Asked. Some ideas to save money on lunch. Hmm…I see Healthy Choice frozen dinners in the list…some people will find that debatable.

Tuesday’s Lunch by Viriatha @ Cordova Creations. In this post, the author visits “lunch factor” (on the lines of latte factor) and encourages homemade lunches to cut down on cost and calories.

Last Minute Spring Cleaning? Don?t Forget the Cupboards by John @ Queercents. John characterizes his cooking as a race against expiration dates and shelf lives. Throwing out food is one of the most painful money wasters out there, so he dishes out some frugal advice to make the best of such situations.

Creative Frugality

How I Decorated My Son’s Room for Under $60 Tricia @ Blogging Away Debt. Tricia tells us how she decorated her son’s room for $59.96 (yeah!…not $60) This post is a fine example of frugality in practice.

Instead of buying expensive border, I used some printable sticker paper to print out construction trucks to cut out and stick on the wall for a border. I also used some stickers to decorate the light switch plate and his bed. Total cost: Probably around $2.00.

What to Do When You Forgot to Read Directions by Frugal Babe @ Frugal Babe. The author had a minor bummer situation that turned into a great example of a creative and a frugal solution to a problem. A $1.50 remedy to hold a storm door glass steady is not bad at all.

Groceries and Shopping Frugality

Cutting Grocery Costs (without clipping coupons) by Amy L. Fontinelle @ Personal Finance Advice. Amy presents six simple tips to save money on groceries without clipping coupons.

How To Pick Perfect Fruit by Baselle @ Baselle’s Financial Diary. Must read tips on choosing good produce…must read because Baselle is a PhD in Botany. I am sure there are things in this article that you have never heard about before.

Do You Get What You Pay For? by TFM @ Tight Fisted Miser. High price does not equate to high quality. TFM gives examples to make his point:

The recalls of pet food and peanut butter showed that the same manufacturers were making both the store brands and the higher-priced brands. Often the only difference between a store brand and a name brand is the label. In that case when you buy the name brand you are paying for advertising and packaging, not for higher quality.

How To Save Money On Shipping When Shopping Online by Ben @ Money Smart Life. Ben shares some useful tips on lowering your shipping costs when shopping online. Ah…those love-hate feelings about items worth about $2 that require about $8 of shipping.

Bargain Hunting at Outlet Stores @ Ask Mr Credit Card’s Blog. Mrs. Credit Card tells us how she got a good deal on a piece of furniture by buying it through a scratch ‘n dent sale at Pottery Barn.

General Frugality

Free Money – Small Money Adds Up Big by Steve Faber @ Debt Free. Steve pulls up some numerical examples, again along the “latte-factor” approach, to show how small things can turn in big piles of cash in future. He also considers a couple of big ticket items like HDTV and cruise vacations.

Ask the readers: cheap wedding ideas by Sara Goldstein @ The Bargain Queen blog. Look for frugal wedding suggestions from readers’ comments in this post. Here is an example:

I used wildflowers for the flowers, and the florist was a friend’s mom, so for her labor and the trimmings it was $35. We got married in a little church, and our friend took the photos. Our reception was potluck and Dad provided the bar on his own dime. Another friend played ukelele and sang vaudeville songs on the porch for entertainment.

101 ways to save a dollar by Colleen Caldwell @ Simple Kind Of Life. Colleen points towards a list of ways to save money and shares a few personal thoughts on they are practicing frugality.

…like all families, we’re always looking for a way to save a few bucks. In the past year, we’ve decided to eat out less, shop sales more, and try not to spend money just for the sake of spending money. Sometimes, it’s easier said than done.

Recycling Batteries by Phil @ Phil for Humanity. Did you know that non-rechargeable batteries are not recyclable? Phil encourages us to use rechargeable batteries and do our bit towards the environment.

20 tips to keep from spending money by Beth Dargis @ My Simpler Life. Some practical money saving tips from Beth. Here is one in particular that caught my fancy:

Remember, the thrill is in the hunt of finding the “perfect” thing. Once you buy it, the thrill is gone.

Frugal Art

Works for Me Wednesday: Framing Free Art @ The Family CEO. The authors tell us how he decorates his walls by framing free and meaningful prints - like his son’s art class drawing and such.

Recycling Crayons by Melanie Rimmer @ Bean Sprouts. A fun easy way to recycle broken wax drawing crayons into chubby multicolored crayons.

Implied Financial Frugality

Irregular Income And Unplanned For Expenses by NCN @ No Credit Needed. NCN describes how he accounts for unplanned expenses. I have a somewhat similar system in place, except that I don’t budget to the penny.

How to Make Your Finances Automagical by Leo @ Zen Habits. Leo has a few tips on putting our financial management on an auto-pilot. Suggestions include automatic fund transfers to an online savings account and automatic bill payment.

Investing Is a Luxury by Peter Maclennan @ Peter Pays Paul. This article is really about investing, but there are some good, generally applicable thoughts towards a financially sound life.

That’s all for this edition of the Festival of Frugality. Click here to submit your article to the 72nd edition to be hosted at Frugal for Life.

Image sources: Think: ed-thelen.org; Soap bubbles: www.lunararchives.com; Vacations: www.ontariosailing.com; Automotive: www.supershuttle.com; Groceries: www.dorsetforyou.com; Bread-jelly: spacebar.blogsome.com; Money: www.bloggingblog.net; Art: www.britishcouncil.org; Creative: www.thehypnosiscds.com; Saving Money: www.mandlers.com

Recently, we started having problems with our house keys. Initially, only my key had problems getting in the lock..and we thought that it could be because it was getting worn out or something (my wife’s key worked well). However, sometime during the last week, the other key also started giving problems and the situation deteriorated rapidly. The keys would completely go inside the lock only after much tinkering and after application of considerable physical force. After some procrastination, we decided to contact the apartment management and request them to replace the lock.

The lock that almost died

That evening, I don’t know how it came to my mind, but I thought of applying some cooking oil to my key to see if that lubricates the lock’s interiors. So I put a couple of drops of oil on either side of the key and with great hopes tried the lock again. It took about 5 or 6 cycles of inserting the key, twisting to lock and unlock, and removing the key, and after that it was all beautiful! The lock started working flawlessly with both the keys…and I am pretty certain it is working much smoother than ever before.

Encouraged by this, I also tried the oil on our lame mailbox lock (it’s really horrible) and key…and it worked wonders there too. It also seems like both locks will continue working like that for a while (the oil on the keys has vanished, but the locks are still extremely smooth).

This oil thing is not such a big deal in terms of innovation (people have done similar things for ages…oil is a common solution for most problems with moving mechanical parts), and yet it made us happy for some reason. Probably because we didn’t have to talk to our rude management about the problem, we saved a lock and a couple of keys from being trashed, and no one had to work or spend money in buying and installing a new lock (I am pretty sure they would have replaced the lock…the maintenance guys always seem to be very eager to install *new* things). In summary, those few drops of oil saved a lot of headache for everyone.

Since this lock episode, I am searching for other mechanical things in our house where I can apply this *oily* solution…but haven’t found anything yet. Will probably turn my attention to the car now…

In the recent issue of TIME magazine, there is an interesting article by the title 51 Things We Can Do. Among the list are some sensible (and worth-a-try) things that will not only make Al Gore happy, but also help you save some money in the long run. What amused me the most was tip #45: Make One Right Turn After Another; here is an excerpt:

In 2004, UPS announced that its drivers would avoid making left turns. The time spent idling while waiting to turn against oncoming traffic burns fuel and costs millions each year.

In metro New York, UPS has reduced CO2 emissions by 1,000 metric tons since January. Today 83% of UPS facilities are heading in the right direction; within two years, the policy will be adopted nationwide.

If you have difficulty in visualizing it, here is a graphic (MS Office clip art rocks) that might be worth a thought:

The image compares two overly-simplified (for the purpose of comparison) ways of making a to and fro journey. In both cases you travel the same distance, but in all probability, choosing the route with all left turns will take more time (unless you are lucky enough to catch protected left green signals at all three intersections).

Huh?…but how’s one vehicle making right turns going to help?

Towards that, here is a bit of insight into why UPS is trying this out (source):

“It seems small, but when you multiply it across 88,0000 vehicles making nearly 15 million deliveries every day during the course of a year, it adds up.”

If 88,000 vehicles making more right turns mean millions of dollars for UPS, it will certainly mean something significant for the US as a whole with about 240,000,000+ vehicles.

Obviously, right turns are nice only in US (and other right-hand traffic countries); similar logic applies to left turns in UK, Japan, and other left-hand traffic countries.

Other handy tips

The TIME article mentions other common sense tips that are worth trying. Some of these tips must have been repeated a million times on different blogs and websites, but TIME’s interesting numbers adds a better perspective from the point of view of motivating people towards applying these tips. Not all of the 51 things mentioned in the article can be easily implemented by the common man, but here are some that most of us can try without drastically altering our lifestyle:

• Give up those incandescent (filament) light bulbs.

CFLs cost three to five times as much as conventional incandescent bulbs yet use one-quarter the electricity and last several years longer.

If you are worried about whether it makes economical sense to buy the expensive compact fluorescent (CF) bulbs, read this: Save Money On Light Bulbs. With some reasonable assumptions, CF bulbs will actually save you money in the long run. By the way, a similar logic also applies to appliances. Compare appliances based on their power consumption (look for kWh or kilowatt-hour ratings), and extend the comparison over a few years down the line. Power efficient appliances may be expensive at first glance, but may turn out to be cheaper when it comes to operational costs. Also, the rule of thumb is: less power consumption = more environmentally friendly.

• Some tips for every household.

Open a window instead of running the AC. Adjust the thermostat a couple of degrees higher in the summer and lower in the winter. Caulk and weatherstrip all your doors and windows. Insulate your walls and ceilings. Use the dishwasher only when it’s full. Install low-flow showerheads. Wash your clothes in warm or cold water. Turn down the thermostat on the water heater. At the end of the year, don’t be surprised if your house feels lighter. It just lost 4,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide.

Forget about the 4,000 lbs of CO2 for a while…you will save a ton of money by implementing these tips. So if you are not so much of a *green-person*, at least try it for the sake of money. And if you don’t care about the savings, think about how much you can contribute towards the environment by reducing 4,000 lbs of CO2.

• Insulate your water heater

Wrapping your heater in an insulated blanket—one costs about $10 to $20 at home centers—could save your household about 250 lbs. in CO2 emissions annually. Most water heaters more than five years old are constantly losing heat and wasting energy because they lack internal insulation. If the surface feels warm to the touch, get your heater an extra blankie. You’ll both feel better.

This is something I have never thought about…and due to my procrastinating tendency, this will take me some time to implement…but it sounds like a sensible thing to do, so go ahead and try it.

• Switch off your computers, lights, and other electronic equipment when not in use.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 75% of all the electricity consumed in the home is standby power used to keep electronics running when those TVs, DVRs, computers, monitors and stereos are “off.” The average desktop computer, not including the monitor, consumes from 60 to 250 watts a day. Compared with a machine left on 24/7, a computer that is in use four hours a day and turned off the rest of the time would save you about $70 a year. The carbon impact would be even greater. Shutting it off would reduce the machine’s CO2 emissions 83%, to just 63 kg a year.

I see this happening day in and day out. I don’t think anyone in my entire building switches of their computers before leaving for the day. There must be more than a 1000 computers in here. Recently, after the university started adding an *energy surcharge* in our tuition bills, some people have started switching off the lights…but only about 25% of the people are doing it.

• Check tire pressure regularly and get your car tuned-up periodically.

If you can boost your gas mileage from 20 to 24 m.p.g., your old heap will put 200 fewer pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere each year.

Tire pressure gages costs about a dollar in most stores, air is free at most gas stations, and it doesn’t take more than five minutes to check your tire pressure. I think procrastination is the only barrier here. Drive sensibly; speeding eats up a lot of gas and is not very efficient. Better mileage = more savings, reducing 200 lbs of CO2 = cleaner conscience.

• Manage and pay your bills online.

If every U.S. home viewed and paid its bills online, the switch would cut solid waste by 1.6 billion tons a year and curb greenhouse-gas emissions by 2.1 million tons a year, according to Javelin Strategy & Research.

Apart from the environmental concerns, there is also an organizational factor associated with this. With online transactions, you don’t need to sort important pieces of mail from a ton of junk ones, or worry about shredding paper statements, or worry about USPS not delivering your payment check on time…all small things, but with major *headache* potential. This also saves a small amount of money on postage stamps.

• Say no to plastic grocery bags and yes to cloth or paper bags (this one won’t save you money..but it’s worth doing it for the environment).

Every year, more than 500 billion plastic bags are distributed, and less than 3% of those bags are recycled. They are typically made of polyethylene and can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade in landfills that emit harmful greenhouse gases. Reducing your contribution to plastic-bag pollution is as simple as using a cloth bag (or one made of biodegradable plant-based materials) instead of wasting plastic ones.

Just saying “I use recyclable plastic bags” is not enough. Even recycling plants take up a lot of energy. Therefore, it makes sense to reuse them as much as possible before recycling. Thin plastic bags won’t last long when you start reusing them…that’s where reusable cloth and paper bags (paper bags made from recycled paper) come into picture. Try them, they are not expensive at all.

• Live a sensible life.

Live simply. Meditate. Consume less. Think more. Get to know your neighbors. Borrow when you need to and lend when asked.

This is tip #51 in the list…sounds exceedingly simple and yet it’s the most difficult thing to act on. I would modify the words “consume less” to “consume sensibly”. Live your life well…but live it sensibly. Hey! wait a minute, it says…”Think more”? But, aren’t we Americans?