The point was to show that everyone has money sinks that make no sense, and then because of a limit of cash on hand they develop greater money sinks through interest rates on credit cards and loans.

I do not own a credit card an will only get one once I graduate from college and get a steady job. The 90% of Americans in steep debt the News Anchors always talk about are in situations like that because they would rather pay 220% the price of something than save cash in smaller areas.

There are so many things we could cut out/down if we put our minds to it but people would rather spend. Hence why here in the UK we are heading for 100,000 bankruptcies in 2007!

Everyone should be rewarded now and them for being thrifty and frugal. It’s like being on a diet, if you never let yourself eat a cookie or piece of cake then you get discouraged. When continuously making sacrifices, there needs to be an incentive. It’s no different than an athlete winning a trophy.

Personally, I think the iPhone/iPod is a glorified mp3 player and the name/image is what people are paying for, but to each his own. The point of the article is not about an iPhone in particular. The thing is, nothing is really *free* anymore, even those ads claiming to give everyone a free iPod, computer, etc. However, cutting out unneeded exspenses is almost like free money. If that money is already budgeted into exspenses, and item/service is not horribly missed, it might as well be *free* money.

When setting goals and making changes in one’s life, it is easier to start with small, acheivable goals. Like trimming the fat off monthly exspenses, instead of getting rid of cable tv altogether, it makes more sense to get rid of HBO. After a few months, see if you can deal with basic cable. Then, if it’s barely used, why not cancel the service completely.

If you don’t use DSL/cable internet too often, why not opt for a less exspensive dial-up service? Like Trent said, get rid of the texting package, then see if you can go to a cheaper plan? If a cell phone is only used a few min. a month for emergencies, why not get a trac phone (if it will save at least a few bucks)? I constantly find ways to shave a little more off my exspenses and I don’t miss most of them.

Also, saving over several months for an exspensive item, the prices are bound to go down after all the hype is over. Using this strategy also buys enough time to make sure the item is something that is truly wanted. The ideas listed here are only the beginning.

It’s about priorities, puting thought into what we spend on, planning, improvising, discipline, taking care of what we already have, and so on. It comes down to the choices we make; being responsible and figuring out what’s more important: having those luxuries today or having that neat little gadget, even if it took some delayed gratification and work. I think we apreciate things more when we have to work for them anyway.

most are designed to be operated in the bulb up position – inverting them allows heat to rise into the ballast, causing premature ballast failure.

turn on/off – MythBusters tested the “surge” –

Also, isn’t it true that they take initially more power to turn on, like a fluorescent strip? So it’s actually cheaper to leave them on in high traffic areas, instead of turning them out whenever we leave the room — so why isn’t the public being educated about this? (or am I wrong?) I truly question how much energy is being saved by turning CFCs on and off as if they were incandescent.

1) This is absolutely the most useful, pleasant, beautiful phone/computer I’ve ever owned hands down (and I’ve owned them all)

2) Contrary to a previous post, you CAN customize wallpapers all day long. You can also customize ringtones, but it takes a hack (for now)

3) Yes, this was an obvious ploy to drive traffic to the site through search engine hits. Who cares? It’s still good advice

4) I think the people who say things like “Trent, this goes against your whole philosophy” have the “whole philosophy” all wrong. Frugality and financial maturity are not about ignoring wants and eschewing materialistic possessions. This isn’t a “simple living” site and we’re not going to go join a convent. The point is to RESPONSIBLY buy the stuff you want. If you can’t buy ANYTHING without feeling guilty about it or putting it on a credit card, that’s YOUR problem, don’t berate people who can buy toys responsibly.

That is all :)

Though the method of saving money is repetitive to us veteran readers, it is going to be new to the people who click their way here. Hopefully they won’t just close the browser once they realize they can’t just fill out a form with all their personal information hoping to win a free IPhone. If they stick around long enough, they might just learn something.

I actually think that’s a very important point to make: making “fun stuff” part of the system. This would include things like travel and gifts. Knowing too many people for whom the “fun stuff” is one big shell game, for whom saying “no” is well nigh offensive (thus the rant), I would suggest considering writing that article instead were you to go back in time.

You budget for some fun stuff, and after that you have to say no. Whole other rant about trying to live mostly on my income while in grad school….