Comments on: Six Habits I’ve Given Up In Order To Save Money – And How Much It’s Saved Me This Year

By: dolly dickinson

dolly dickinson — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:32:30 +0000

A great way to cut expenses is to limit the use of credit cards. A financial advisor once told me: people spend about 20% more when they use a credit card instead of cash. Does the purchase seem less real?
Once in a while I use a credit card, but I always pay off the amount when it’s due. Recently I was curious about how easy it would be to get some cash from two credit cards. In only minutes I was offered $10,000 and $13,500, for fees of $99 and $75–low introductory interest rates too. One offer was very clever to say I could have the money at 0% interest until December 24th. Who, pray tell, would have an extra $10,000 to pay up on that date? I did not take the money, but for a moment I had the heady feeling people must get when they see how easy this is. No wonder so many people are deeply in debt.

By: KarenFLA

KarenFLA — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 04:16:49 +0000

A good cheap breakfast is oatmeal made in the microwave and it lowers your chloresterol. I agree it’s important to cut out the expenses. My husband and my daughter used to stop at Starbucks for $5 each in the morning. About 6 months ago he bought a special coffee machine on ebay for $650 that makes lattes and they paid off in no time at $10 a day even with paying for coffee beans and milk. They are bringing their coffee in the car mugs I bought at Walgreens for $1 each every day. It was a splurge, but they didn’t want to give up their lattes. We also save a lot buying used cars.

By: NP

NP — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 05:03:11 +0000

I have given up some of the pleasures that Trent has. There was a time that I bought 2+ magazines a week. I cut myself down to one per week and then even less. Nowadays, I get along with far fewer mags. There is the internet to replace them, which costs since I subscribe to a service and must maintain a computer to have it conveniently in my home. I remember giving up fancy coffee on a daily basis. I have also turned to the library to lower my book buying habit. Never loved golf though.

By: jenw

jenw — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:36:26 +0000

Another cheap source of used books: http://www.paperbackswap.com Swap used books for the price of postage. They now have sister sites for swapping CDs and DVDs, too.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:41:42 +0000

My husband and I were like you in our 20’s…coffees, road trips, music, etc…with abandon. It was really fun.
But, once we got on the savings kick (coinciding with the pregnancy and birth of our first child)it’s really not that much a big deal to “give up” these things. Other things become far more pressing….buying a home in a great school district, saving for your little ones college future, all the day-to-day costs of raising children. And because of “giving up” these things, we are on track to a very comfortable retirement and fairly easy lifestyle now. (We’re 46) We are in the process of paying our mortgage off, which should be complete less than 10 years of a 30 year mortgage, which will feel far better than lots of lattes and costly toys those 20 years…hmmm….we’ll have a lot more cash flow and maybe we’ll visit the coffeeshop more at that point!
Habits can be very expensive, and the more one spends on them (unless they are a money making hobby, like my husband’s drumming hobby…he’s in a band and has played at our church for pay)the less you’ll have for those things in life that really start to matter the older you get.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 07:05:05 +0000

Gee, you’re new to this money=saving business. With the possible exception of the road trip, I never took up any of the other things. My worst habit was a daily (M-F) 12 oz. latte (purchased at the price of $2.00 after the 25 cent discount for bringing my own mug) from a favorite coffee cart (milk was rBST free but not organic; coffee wasn’t organic, either, but very good in terms of flavor). I “paid” for it by reducing going out to eat (about $20 max for me) to no more than once a month. Since making coffee at home runs me about 50 cents/day (organic, fair trade quality coffee and organic milk), I figured the “luxury” tax on the latte was $1.50/day or $7.50/week, slightly more than the cost of one alcoholic drink out at a restaurant/bar (which were canceled in favor of the latte!)
Additionally, milk fills me up (a 12 oz latte is 10 oz of milk), so it almost always replaced some other snack I might crave, and the latte gets milk (=calcium) in me (I won’t drink it plain).

I moved to another city this spring and haven’t found such a fantastic price on lattes and so have virtually given up the habit. I now make coffee at home (perhaps 1-2 coffees (not lattes) per week if I sit in a coffee shop and either work or read the Sunday paper (the coffee is about the same price as having to buy the paper, and I usually get multiple copies of the same coupons). $1.50 for a good quality, 16 oz coffee (bringing my own mug!) is fantastic, if you factor in the value of the “office” you get as well!

By: belleandthecity

belleandthecity — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:48:42 +0000

I discovered after I started reading your blog that my library (New York Public Library) has a wait list too. Not only that, but it allows you to look up a book online, request it, have it sent to your local branch, and then notify you via email when it’s there.

I haven’t bought a book in months!

By: Kim Bentz

Kim Bentz — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 02:43:21 +0000

As one who has lived foolishly and now has to make up for it, the choices by frugal friends are not harsh and depriving. Would you rather have a
$5-$10 a day Starbucks habit or money in the bank wwhen your dryer goes kaput. Let me tell you, the $5 spent at a nursery “closing for the season” sale was a far better investment than the same at Starbucks. What Trent often talks about are PERSONAL choices. What works for him, so that the rest of us can take a look at our own habits in a new way.

I have friends who think nothing of spending $50/month on their fingernails (gasp!). They would no more go around with unadorned nails than I would go around without clothes! I don’t know what they give up (I suspect they live on credit cards), but I think about what I would have to give up.

I have re-created many of my favorite Starbucks drinks at home, and am saving $90/month doing so. This doesn’t mean that I never go anymore…but now it is a deliberate choice, not a habit.

I need to look for more ways to save, and this post has inspired me to look for them!!!

How about this for one? I had my living room furniture selected. High quality, purchase to last 30 years or more. At $5000, it would cost approximately $167 a year for the PERFECT furniture. Instead, I bought a couch off Craigslist for $30 and intend to use it until I either find exactly what I’m looking for used, or until I have saved enough that it is not a struggle to buy what I really want.

Some people think I’m crazy to think about spending that kind of money, but–hey, I’ve bought cheaper new furniture before. It doesn’t last! My parents had the same stuff for over 30 years, then passed it down to my sister who used it several more. Classic, well-built pieces last!

but…if I don’t have my emergency funds taken care of, my debt paid down, my retirement funds taken care of regularly, what does nice furniture matter?

Although I will usually side with quality over quantity, sometimes it is a better idea to make do for now, so that tomorrow, living is easier all around. the money I would have spent on furniture is going to pay down debt and toward some much needed home repair. It is an investment in my peace of mind.

By: Kate

Kate — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 22:07:05 +0000

Great post, although I wonder how you can go to London for “$1,000 or so”–if that was possible I would go often–expense be d*mned!
Salting money away now gives one the ability later on to make choices–spending much and saving little limits those choices. It’s all about delayed gratification.
I used to spend lots of money on new books–money that I wish that I had back because a number of those books went to library sales and the local thrift store when we moved–books are heavy! I hardly every buy new books anymore but I still frequently go to bookstores. While I’m there I write down titles, do some research (Amazon is a great place to get professional and reader reviews), and look for them at my public library. If the public library doesn’t have a book they often will purchase it if it got good reviews. If it is an older book you can often get it through inter-library loan. I have done this for so long that it is second nature–I don’t even have that tingling feeling in my fingers that says “buy me now.”

By: js

js — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 20:26:45 +0000

People who are retired now have it pretty good, I’m a little sceptical if the future will be so bright. Alas, I am a pessimist, but hopefully saving will prevent my having to eat catfood. :)

By: Brooke

Brooke — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 18:45:46 +0000

Another thing to keep in mind is that most of the things he cut out were replaced with the exact same thing, only cheaper, or were the same thing, only less frequently. Also, as a side note, when I get distracted and start thinking “I should be living it up, who cares if my credit cards aren’t paid off, I’m young, I want adventure and vacations and STUFF!”…. I think to myself that no matter how much fun it is NOW, if later I’m retired, and ill, and can’t afford food or rent, or if I’m in a horrible nursing home dirty and lying alone, I’m not going to think “well, this is okay because I had that great trip when I was 25, and had those cool cars, I can handle being neglected/poverty stricken/not taken care of for the last 20 years of my life”.

No, I’m probably going to wish I could go back in time and knock the young me upside the head.

By: Kristi

Kristi — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 18:18:00 +0000

I thought you said you were going to stop buying your daily candy bar. Did you quit that one?

By: Margaret

Margaret — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 18:07:50 +0000

I second Gayle about having fun when you are older. Maybe you guys are all really young or something, but 35 year old me likes just as many luxuries as 25 year old me did, and I wish 25 year old me had been a litte more frugal so I could enjoy more things now. True, my 94 year old grandmother isn’t spending a lot on entertainment for herself (although she has been doing lots of home renovations and making significant charitable donations, which give her pleasure). However, my 60 ish aunts and uncles, having lived frugal lives, are now TRULY enjoying their financial freedom, with trips and dining out and buying “toys” (e.g. my just retired uncle bought a remote comtrol plane, and oh yeah, a 20 foot fancy motor boat). Their tastes have changed, but they certainly want to have fun just as much as they did when they were young. Saying you should spend it all now on fun because you won’t care when you are older is like saying you should eat a bucket of ice cream a day now because it is tasty because you won’t care if you are obese and diabetic and arthritic when you are 60.

Enjoy life, but as has been said before, you need a little balance. You are not two years old.

By: Gayle

Gayle — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 14:48:49 +0000

Punny Munny, one of the points of making (or saving)lots of money is that it can buy time or experiences. That is money saved now is money you don’t have to earn later, which frees up time to do really fun things like world travel. And yes you can really have fun when you are older.

By: Deila

Deila — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 13:38:08 +0000

You know, there IS one good resource you are overlooking for used books. The local Goodwill store!

You can kill time looking(since most of the books won’t be in any type of order), there are always a ton of different types of books and you can most often pick up books ranging from $.49 to $1.50. Plus, if you pick up the 50% off ticketed books, it can be even cheaper! I am there constantly in search of new authors to try out in hopes of broadening myself mentally. Then, when you’re done, you can always donate the books back to Goodwill.

I would also like to add that my husband has that ‘denying yourself’ mentality. If I would rather stay at home and cook a meal, than go out to a restaurant for a meal, he sees this as not having fun, or that I am depriving myself of little luxuries. He definitely has a ‘keeping-up-with-the-Joneses’ mentality that I am breaking him of.

We are military and ~I~ don’t see it as depriving myself if I have a Wal-Mart pressboard desk instead of the $400 oak one I want to have. WHY? 60 pounds versus 260 pounds. Which would YOU rather move? Which one could I throw out in a pinch if need be?

Also, I feel, the less we spend NOW, the more we save NOW, the more we invest NOW, the more room we will have to wiggle with when he retires from the Army. To me, 10 years from now, being in a home we built together, paid for in full, means a LOT more to me than getting that new couch because our old one is 5 years old and has a small hole in it.

By: vh

vh — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 12:53:48 +0000

Great post, IMHO. Doesn’t look to me like Trent is setting himself up to live life as a monastic. All the things mentioned here are things we can do without and not suffer too much, especially…as is clearly the case for Trent…we have lots of other things going on in our lives that we enjoy.

One middle ground between the library and Borders is your local used bookstore. Usually there’s at least one near a university or college campus, and most big cities support one or two good, large used bookstores. In fact, there’s a chain called Bookman’s where you can get second-hand music & videos as well as books, tho’ personally I think a big old used bookstore run by an owner who just loves books is far better. You can build your book collection for a fraction of the price you’d pay for the same books new.

Also, for terrific cookbooks, check out estate sales! Estate-saling can be a heck of a lot of fun (but you DO have to keep a grip, know what you’re looking for, and firmly restrain yourself from buying everything in sight). Every now and then you’ll find someone’s wonderful cookbook collection…a few months ago, my pal and I hit the Mother Lode. In addition to the usual suspects (like Julia Child, which I got for my son), I nabbed Molly O’Neil’s _Well-Seasoned Appetite_ (!!!), the Chez Panisse cookbook, a fantastic pasta cookbook, one devoted to REAL Mexican food (dare to move beyond tacos and burros!), one on country Italian cooking, and one on traditional Provencal cooking. Most are expensive hardbacks, essentially unused, and I got them for 50 cents or a buck apiece.

Wow! Any day I’d rather sit back at my own kitchen table and have a piece of good toast or a bagel slathered with my own easy-to-make homemade peach butter & accompanied by a cup delicious French-press coffee than trudge through the traffic to a miserable, noisy Starbuck’s for a paper cup of icky coffee whose battery-acid flavor has to be disguised with a ton of sugar and cream. This is depriving yourself? Don’t think sooo.

By: SAHM-CFO

SAHM-CFO — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 12:28:38 +0000

OT hijack on the public suppers: you may not have them in your area. A few years ago, a law was passed in my state restricting these events unless all food came from a licensed commercial kitchen. the license had to be renewed yearly. Often the license cost so much as to nearly cancel out the profit. So they are few and far between anymore.

It’s a shame b/c not only could you get a meal and help out an organization in their fundraising, but you got to meet and socialize with members of your community.

By: Henry Bemis

Henry Bemis — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 12:03:26 +0000

As a frugal person, books are the only thing I spend on. And, I’m not giving that up. I buy clothes at consignment stores, buy furniture used or get it free, eat at home, etc. But nobody touches my books. Try Edward R. Hamilton. They stock remainders, closeouts, overstocks, etc., for up to 80% off and shipping is just $3.50 per order, no matter how many books you buy. Excellent, excellent mail order company.

By: KS

KS — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 06:39:08 +0000

I don't think Trent is putting an end to his hedonistic days. He's just separating the needs from the wants. Do you really need three or four albums a week? Do you really need one a month? Probably not, but it'll keep you sane and still keep your financial goals on target.

By: kim

kim — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 02:37:22 +0000

“Ooh, what’s a public supper, and why don’t we have any around here?”

A public supper is a group meal put on by an organization. The meal is usually free, available for a small set price, or for a suggested donation. Many organizations will hold them as fundraisers. Often, churches will hold them as a type of open house. That’s what we call them here in Maine. I’m sure you have them, but maybe under another name.