Katy (#30) Some people aren’t concerned about pesticides or mercury in fish or GMO’s in food crops. They just aren’t. Because they aren’t, they don’t bother screening them out of their daily food intake or trying to make a choice between organic and regular apples (I was about to write “inorganic apples”). Many people who make more that $50K “don’t sweat” what they eat either.

Kevin (#39) Wow – I really like the idea of emailing friends/family for ideas and advice about a particular problem. I bet many times you get a reply of “Hey, I’ve got an unused one in the attic you can borrow/have”. I’ll have to incorporate that into practice.

I know I get overwhelmed with all of the information available on everything and would like to assume certain rules of thumb or sacred cows could be relied upon. It would be easier to NOT think. Most folks on these pages are thinkers and just need to remind themselves that change is constant; Things that were not true last year are sometimes true this year.

I buy at least one can of generic tomatos every year to confirm brand names are still a good value for me.

You really can’t assess the value of a potential purchase until you have first identified the precise functions you deem essential. Clearly specifying those functions up front makes it easier to ignore extraneous features and to compare alternatives while shopping.

Cost transcends price to include all resource expenditures needed to accomplish those functions over the life of the product.

Recently in the market for a minivan ourselves, we watched prices for several weeks, checked at new dealerships for incentives, and kicked tires on several weekends.

Only after all our research did we find a van that was newer than we thought we’d buy (10,000 miles) at a price $8,000 less than the cheapest new van we could find.

Defintely YES on considering total cost and not just upfront cost. Shoes are an excellent example, although I know someone who ruined her feet with expensive shoes because she never thought to have her foot size rechecked over the years.

Bill (43)–Beyond unsanitary (but along the same line) none of us should make frugality so critical in our lives that we’re spending inordinate amounts of time cutting back expenses. If we do, we risk reducing the amount of time that could be spent earning more money, either through primary jobs, side ventures or learning new skills.

It could be a case of it being six of one, half a dozen of the other, but earning capacity should take precedant over saving money, if only because while you can only cut back so much, but earning, at least in theory, has no ceiling.

My stepmother asked me about my plastic bag use during a visit back in April. She noted that I used a lot of sandwich bags and asked why I didn’t reuse them. I responded, “that sandwich is made with turkey, which is frozen now, but after thawing and warming could contain salmonella. Putting it back in my lunchbox after use for later washing can spread the bacteria around.”

I’ve had food poisoning before, and it wasn’t nice.

I buy the one quart sandwich bags in bulk, 500 at a time. That costs me seven bucks. So, 1.4 cents a bag. Even if I happen to use four bags a day I save less than thirty dollars a year. My health is worth far more than that.

Sorry, got off on a rant there.

You have to look at the total cost of the purchase: price, features, quality, and other factors.

The best part is that they are not salesmen and you can wait for the type of car you want and bring a mechanic to look at the car before you take it off the lot. So I suggest looking up impound lots :)

Over the years, in my home we’ve been making it a policy to consider any option available in spending decisions, including ones we once thought of as taboo. It’s pretty routine for us to send out emails to friends and acquaintances, describing our situation and asking for advice for issue X. But by working “out of the box”, we’ve made major money saving changes in how/where we have our cars repaired, where we shop, where we buy our clothes, etc.

We’re not always concious of the many ways we’re propagandized, but a big one is in spending habits. You almost need to wipe the slate clean of assumptions and habits, then be open to all the possibilities. We’re not completely “there” yet, but it’s uplifting to realize that we have more contol (and choices) in regard to spending and buying than we ever dreamed a few years ago.

Gas mileage is about the same as a van, and you get the benefit of be able to tow large items.

I think that when deciding where to spend money and where to be frual, it just comes down to personal choices and preferences.

For example, I love coffee. During the week, I do not buy coffee out-I simply drink the junk at work. However, on weekend I am not frugal and I splurge on iced coffee. (Starbucks will give you the refill price if you bring in your cup. It’s about 50 cents).

So I sacrifice quality sometimes, but not always.

Also you guys talk about the value of Trent’s old truck. Remember it has nearly 200k miles on it. He’s also said it needs pretty significant work. His estimations on value are probably right. Those other advertised 97 trucks probably have lower miles and don’t need excessive work like Trent’s.

As for sacred cows I’m one of those about buying used, but I also am a luxury car driver. You would likely be foolish to buy a luxury car new instead of used. However my husband wrecked his Civic a few years back and wanted a new Camry. We looked at the used ones (new body style) and they were just as expensive as the brand new ones. So we bought a new one – it was a no-brainer. But I still believe used was the way to go. My husband lost money because he as too picky – wanted a specific kind of car with the newer body style and he wanted a stick – had he been ok with other models and an automatic I could have found him a better deal. But if your needs are specific you can certainly make a point such as yours (and my husband’s). BTW it is hard to find a good used mini van – they are a lot like trucks – people usually get their money’s worth out of them and don’t trade in too often.