Comments on: Making Frugality a Game

By: Caroline

Caroline — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:12:10 +0000

I live in far away Africa! I cant remember how I stumbled on your blogspace but I got hooked afterwards.
Considering how hard it is surviving in this part of the world, I must say your articles do come in handy. Keep up the good work. Your ideas are simply great!

By: Brad Schultz

Brad Schultz — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:46:50 +0000

I am trying to subscribe. When I had the auto reply on for work you suspended my subscription.

By: Lenore

Lenore — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 12:47:08 +0000

Last night my partner picked up two loaves of brand name bread at Walmart. They were literally twice the price of the generic version, and he knows you can’t tell any difference once they’re out of the bag.

We had a tiff over it, and I stormed off with visions of new shoes dancing in my hot little head. Luckily I didn’t find anything I liked in my size, and we made up on the drive home.

I wish I could think up a game to help us spend less at stores. Arguing wastes energy and only makes us want to splurge more. Trent, do you have any more concrete suggestions for friendly competition in retail settings? I bet you could save relationships as well as dollars.

By: Amie

Amie — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:53:39 +0000

Ever hear of the TLC show Clean Sweep? They would always pit husband and wife against each other in a yard sale to see who could sell the most. At stake was an item of each person’s that they loved and the other person hated. The winner got to keep their item and the loser’s got sent off to charity wih the rest of the leftover yard sale stuff.

By: The Conscious Snob

The Conscious Snob — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 15:22:36 +0000

These are great ideas! When it is time to plan a vacation, my boyfriend and I always compete to see who can find the better vacation package, including meals and activities. Then we both save as well as educate ourselves on frugal but fun time off!

By: kellykelly

kellykelly — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 13:28:37 +0000

I had a yard sale and I made a whopping — $27.

I don’t really buy much stuff. I had a lot of books at one time and I donated them to the library. So nothing much to sell at a yard sale.

Dave Ramsey always tells people to sell things to build their $1,000 emergency fund and I am always amazed. I looked HARD at my housefull of possessions and really, truly, there is not much to sell.

In the past, when I had a lot of discretionary dollars, I spent them on DOING stuff. Travelling, camping, having parties. I didn’t buy things.

Just my .000002.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 12:08:06 +0000

Our local paper featured a woman who blogged about eating everything in her pantry. She was allowed to purchase fresh produce, and I think a few other things. It was eye opening, and now she writes that her food bill is much lower.

By: MillionDollarJourney

MillionDollarJourney — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 11:44:49 +0000

Great post Trent. What my wife and I do is give ourselves an “allowance” on a monthly basis for discretionary spending. Sometimes we like to have competitions to see who has the most “allowance” left at the end of the month.

By: Greener Pastures

Greener Pastures — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 11:13:43 +0000

This is great! I’m much more inclined to do things if they are fun!

I like Katy’s “donation” spin on it, too. Another idea might be to have 10% of the “profits” from everyone’s collective savings go to charity or a group cause, such as the local school system sports teams.

Lisa

By: Mark @ TheLocoMono

Mark @ TheLocoMono — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 01:59:19 +0000

That’s a pretty good idea to do for a relationship. I guess I would have to say I have an edge in this game because I have a habit of re-reading my books over and over.

How would the reward for “winning” work?

By: Megan

Megan — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:44:39 +0000

I set up a net worth spreadsheet for my boyfriend a couple of months ago. He usually gives me a hard time for being a monetary micro-manager with all of my spreadsheets, but I got him hooked on tracking his net worth, and it’s turned into a friendly competition to see who can increase their net worth the most from paycheck to paycheck. It helps that we make about the same amount of money, otherwise I don’t think that game would be much fun at all! :-)

By: liv

liv — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:13:23 +0000

I don’t think these games apply to me. I guess I’m not fun about saving, unless I find awesome coupons…but that isn’t really a competition in any way against my boyfriend.

By: Lise

Lise — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 23:20:14 +0000

@margo: Well, I never said it was the *healthiest* idea… ;)

(My husband is probably right. He often is. And he makes tasty pizza, so I don’t argue).

By: Maray

Maray — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 23:01:15 +0000

I’m glad I’m not the only one who is competitive with my spouse. GREAT IDEAS!!!!

By: Noah'Dib

Noah'Dib — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:21:17 +0000

Wife and I used to eat out every other day after work. It’d always be fast food, or “mid-priced” take out. But when ever we wanted a nice evening out at a somewhat nicer place to eat we’d always say we couldn’t do it because of the expense. We’d spend all our money on fast food, go well over our overall monthly budget, and never truly enjoy a nice meal out. Call the fast food a “latte factor”, I suppose.

So what we did to fix this was set a stern limit to what would be spent on food (dining and groceries). If we had left over at the end of the week, we’d put it aside in a jar so we could see the amount visibly increasing. Every week we started fresh with the pre-designated amount on food. After about a month or two we had enough in the jar to eat out some place nice.

We kept ourselves under budget this way….probably ate healthier this way due to less take out….and finally, after maybe a year or two of denying ourselves a nice night out, were able to eat out at a nice place!

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:07:11 +0000

@ Cortni (comment #6),
Wow, somebody else who plays that game! Whenever my wife and I go to buy something, our mantra is “never pay retail.” I love to get things at Target on clearance and then use a coupon as well.

By: Katy McKenna

Katy McKenna — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:51:16 +0000

A twist on the competition would be to choose a charity–either together or each separately–and the “savings” from whatever contest you’re having for a specified period of time could be donated. Whoever is able to give the most “wins.”

Of your games, I think I could beat my husband at the entertainment game. I keep ancient Victoria and Country Living magazines, and if I’m ever bored, I love looking through them all again.

He likes to drive buckets of balls and see Indy Jones movies when they FIRST come out. :)

By: Cortni Marrazzo

Cortni Marrazzo — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:17:24 +0000

I always compete with myself and try to save as much money as I can on every purchase. Everytime I pay less than retail (which is pretty much always) I win!

By: margo

margo — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:10:03 +0000

@Lise

I wouldn’t be so hot about that idea, either, because it would mean no fresh fruits and veggies for a long time, and we buy and eat lots of those.

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:02:49 +0000

I really like this idea. It adds both motivation and accountability, without being too serious. I think I’ll have to try something like this with my girlfriend soon. Thanks!