Comments on: The End Is the Beginning

By: Bruce weaver

Bruce weaver — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 06:24:33 +0000

I too live in Iowa, where we have had the deposit law for 30 years. Oddly enough the law only applies to carbonated drinks. While the nickel is nice, I am equally motivated by the impact of our activities on the environment. Over the past 30 years the per capita waste stream has increased dramatically. I read an article a number of years ago stating that the United States throws away enough aluminum beverage cans each year to replace our entire domestic airline fleet SEVEN TIMES OVER! In one year no less.
As a custodian at a local college, I recycle constantly from one building I work in. The bldg has four classrooms and about 13 offices. The five-cent containers add up to around $75 per semester. I rinse them and dry them on a shelf, bag 40 at atime and cash in five cases (120) for $6. The stores know me and do not make me put them in flats. They know they are all legit and clean & dry. I save 1,2, and 5 plastic, steel cans and glass as well, and periodically drop them off at our local recycling center, along with household items that overwhelm my curbside container. Egg cartons go to the farmer’s market; Newsprint to the animal shelter, along with old towels and cardboard flats. Any easily retrieved baked goods and apple cores go to the wildlife. I have cut my waste stream at home and at work by 75%. The can/bottle fund, along with pocket change evry few days, adds up to several hundred dollars per year in a seperate kitty, for whatevery I decided to do with it. My behavior is so automatic it is just part of my day, and requires no more time or effort since I am organized. Some things I save for the art dept. About every semester I aquire a gallon storage bag full of pens and pencils that I give to a teacher friend for her middle-school students. Books and magazines are offered up at a high traffic location and quickly get snapped up. I also save discarded wood and fallen branches found on walks for patio fires. If I have excess, I give it to others all cut up and boxed. I try to use cloth shopping bags (you need two sets, so they are always handy). The occasional plastic grocery bags go back to the store, or to the Goodwill or other thrift shop. one-sided paper that does not have persoanl info on it finds its way home for use printing out fun things and coupons from internet. Paper clips, and big clips add up fast also. I keep a variety of boxes and packing material stored for staff to use when they need some. I never make a special trip for these things; only combined outings. It is time we all wake up and realize we cannot throw anything ‘away’.

By: loi tran

loi tran — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:28:13 +0000

I like Shunryu Suzuki’s quote. He’s basically saying to approach everything with a beginner’s mind. Experts are always closed off to new ideas and as a result, do not reach their potential. Reading a book a week is a very good idea. I’m trying to read as much as I can as well.

By: Tony

Tony — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 12:44:11 +0000

Trent – I believe this may be the first time I’ve commented. Excellent post material, as usual, but I’d like to know more about how you came across Shunryu Suzuki! That quote on the concept of shoshin was the governing philosophy of the school of karate I came up in, so much so that my instructor named the school Shoshin Karate-do and my black belt certificate has the same quote as your post. The book that quote is from has had an enormous effect on my life, spiritually and philosophically speaking. Indeed, experts do look at things with stale minds. Without a beginner’s mind any activity, and possibly one’s life itself, becomes formulaic, trite even.

Are you a fan of Suzuki’s or his brand of Zen Buddhism?

By: Wise Finish

Wise Finish — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:00:05 +0000

Reading can keep you from spending money, as long as you use your local library! Actually any time-consuming activity that doesn’t require money saves you from shopping or something else more expensive!

By: Shevy

Shevy — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 03:43:41 +0000

Back in the days when I used to drink, um, 2 litres of Coca Cola per day I was also a single working parent with 3 school aged kids. Hmm, maybe that’s *why* I used to drink all that Coke! I needed all that sugar and caffeine to get through my long, busy days.

Anyway, I used to save the money I got from returning the bottles and cans in a special container. One day there was enough money in there to pay for 2 sets of Corelle dishes in my (then) favorite pattern (a set being 20 pieces).

I’d say it was worth returning the bottles. I would never have had the money to buy new dishes otherwise.

By: Wide Moat

Wide Moat — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 18:53:08 +0000

There is a profound beauty in the simplicity of doing one thing. I’m not there yet.

By: renee

renee — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 17:59:05 +0000

Collecting cans is like free money. I get about $1 a day just from the person who works next to me, so with very little effort I get about $30 a month. At a party – we have a “can bin” which everyone puts their emptys in,lots of dollars there. This summer our can money will almost finance our vacation. Pennies do add up. Change jars also add up. These are things we can do with very little effort, but make a difference.

By: DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad

DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 12:50:39 +0000

Simply put– trial and error is how we learn and grow. We have crawl before we walk and walk before we run– even with our finances. Good post.

By: DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad

DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 12:50:19 +0000

Simply put– trial and error is how we learn and grow. We have crawl before we walk and wal before we run– even with our finances. Good post.

By: Hackerette

Hackerette — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 12:48:56 +0000

Great post! I especially like the part about trying new things – I’ve saved so much money (and had a lot of fun!) learning how to do things for myself rather than paying someone else to do it. Most of the time, there is minimal effort involved.

By: Isabelle

Isabelle — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 09:13:01 +0000

We are at a similar stage in our frugal life. At first we were able to find ways of saving hundreds of pounds each month.

At first I read a forum on living ‘old style’ and got a lot of advice there. Now I read information and ideas on sites like this. However I still re-read ‘Tightwad’ to keep me on the straight and narrow!

By: Jules

Jules — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 07:20:44 +0000

Here they have these little stamps, where every 5 euros you spend at the supermarket gets you one stamp, and once you have 200 or so, that gets you a 1 euro discount on your groceries. A rather ridiculous system, if you ask me, and most people would agree–but there are people who will ask you for yours if you don’t want them, and we’ve even gotten letters in the mail asking us to send our unwanted stamp-things to so-and-so at such-and-such an address. Point being, it could be worth it, depending on how shameless you are ;-)

By: Jade

Jade — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 05:29:28 +0000

Well, as far as collecting cans goes, my dad drinks diet coke like there is no tomorrow. Won’t drink store brand (that’s why I own their stock, lol), and won’t drink it out of anything but a can. So I have a separate bag for all of my cans. I’m going to go to the grocery store anyway, might as well drop off the cans there while I’m at it. It’s an extra 30 bucks every few months to stick in my IRA, and it keeps the garbage bill lower because there’s less trash to throw away.

And as for cars, my boyfriend pointed out to me a few years ago one of the benefits of buying a new car, you know exactly who has worked on it and what has been done with it. If you’re buying a used white Ford F150 that used to be an Enterprise rental car, for all you know someone may have gotten it stuck in the sand on a camping trip and needed 2 other cars to pull it out (I’ll put the video on YouTube one of these days…). But if you buy a 6-12 month old car, you benefit (hopefully) from a lower price and hopefully nobody has managed to trash the car too much in that time.

And when buying a new car, I’ve been told that they’re cheaper around October or November because the dealers are trying to get rid of the old model year to make way for the new model year (although my boyfriend ended up going for the new model year that came in early because it cost just the same as the old model year). Of course that assumes you can wait that long…

By: Eve

Eve — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:28:32 +0000

I have always bought used cars and have never regretted it. Many friends have these brand new cars, but I am the one with no car payment. I have a fund that I call the car fund that I budget monthly for, so when my 2000 Toyota Sienna is put to rest, I plan on paying cash for another car with no car payment yippee!!! works for me.

By: brooke

brooke — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 00:00:13 +0000

Yikes, I thought you were going to say TSD was closing and you were starting another blog somewhere else! Now that THAT scare is over, I’ll read the article : )

By: SuburbanDollar

SuburbanDollar — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:01:16 +0000

I too hope to one day have that clarity, where I can easily identify what is a good idea and what is not… Until then, I will I will continue to move forward, I may stumble a lot, but at least I am moving forward.

By: aaajbec

aaajbec — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:59:26 +0000

While collecting cans may not pay the bills, I think it is an excellent way to get kids interested in saving money and teaches them that a little hard work can pay off. Young children are usually thrilled to make any money. Also teaches kids that it is OK to get your hands dirty to make a dollar or two.

By: Troy

Troy — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:54:12 +0000

Regarding the vehicle purchase.

We ran into the same issue in 2006. Looking at new Toyota SUV’s at the time and found that the used ones (2004-2005) were not much cheaper, maybe $1500-$3000 for a car that was a year or two older with 10-20K miles vs new with no miles.

In fact there was one 2005 used with 15K miles that was MORE than a similar brand new one…at the same dealership. Couldn’t believe it.

That being said, I would steer clear of new based on my experience. It may require a few adjustments but there are numerous vehicles coming off leases righ now that offer substantial savings.

I understand that new vehicles are currently heavily discounted as well, and that was my rationale when I made my decision, but if I were to do it over I would buy different.

I would buy a used vehicle for half the price of new. That would be my criteria. I remember you saying you were leaning towards an Odessey? Nice vehicle – we looked at those as well as Sienna’s.

If I were buying right now though, I would go buy a 1 year old Kia Sedona. Very similar to the Honda, literally half the price for a one year old with 10K miles.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:33:00 +0000

When I first discovered your blog, I went back and read all the older articles you’d posted before I found The Simple Dollar. The enthusiasm was there, and it was infectious…even if I didn’t choose to implement all the ideas. I do see a change in this blog. Sometimes I see the change in the form of more thoughtful articles. I like those articles very much. Often, I just experience the more recent articles as being, well, just kind of plodding. They don’t engage me nearly so often now. I’ve seen the same thing in other personal finance bloggers who have made big strides in debt reduction and money management. Good luck with your endeavor to keep things fresh and interesting. I know it can’t be easy!

By: RJ W

RJ W — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:32:50 +0000

Very nice post. Your fresh view of PF is one reason I keep coming back. I do a similar goal review at the end of each month, and it always amazes me how fast things can change.

The Michigan pop cans comments remind me of an excellent Seinfeld episode…