Just out of curiosity... Has anyone tallied up what money they actually save with their frugal efforts? (e.g., flourscent bulbs, off-brand milk, popcorn instead of chips, air dry clothes, etx) I hear about how some frugal behavior saves loads of money, but it's hard to see it when the savings is so small. I guess I'm looking for encouragement.
The fluoro bulb and dryer cost savings can be found on power companies websites - if a dryer costs x number of $ per hour to run and you use your's for 5 hours per week that's how much you've saved if you line dry. On our group, (FrugalAussies), we have a couple of ladies who are brilliant at adding up their savings. Just start small - with the little things you've done - e.g. using a generic brand of breakfast cereal, and multiply by how many packs you use a week/month/year. Jot these down in a note book and watch them add up. Your own savings will be much more meaningful to you than someone elses. Also, one of our group set us a $1 a day challenge. If you save 10c, 20c, 30c, etc. by buying cheaper, or making do with something you already have rather than buying something, add up your savings and try to make at least $1 every day = $365+ a year with very little effort. The other motivational thing you can do is actually save that cash in a jar and watch it mount up - put it towards your credit card bill, your mortgage or use some of it to treat yourself.
Regards
Jo
Home
Here's a site to help you calculate your current energy costs and how much you can save with improvements.
This also allows you to target which improvements will have the best cost/benefit to your situation. Over the course of 5 to 10 years, a lot of improvements can pay for themselves.
Gas Mileage
FuelEconomy.gov has a nice resource for comparing vehicles and how much you can save on gas by using more fuel efficient cars.
When it comes to other gas saving strategies and savings is pretty easy to calculate. If you start a carpool with four people, you cut your gas consumption by as much as 75% (atleast commuting costs). Every gallon of gas you can save is 2 dollars in your pocket.
Budgeting
In terms of paying for utilities, shopping for groceries, clothing, and other items having a budget is very important. That way you can track how much money you are saving. The budget provides proof that all these these things you are trying are in fact saving you money.
well, in my family, with our budget, even if we save only a few dollars a month, that is STILL saving!
:-) you will ALWAYS save more money buying store brand grocery items versus the "name brand", unless they happen to be having a phenomenal sale on the name brand item, or you are in an area that has triple or double coupon days. where I am, that isn't offered.
I save by budgeting according to our income. We are a family of four with two teens living on about $32K a year. We actually need about $36K a year and that gets met with tax refunds and such. I can tell you that I save by shopping for car insurance, not using credit cards for anything, and other things. How I determine how much we save is by seeing to it that we don't need to work more to pay for more stuff. Bottom line: I'm saving my family $10K to $18K a year by all of us agreeing to live simply - because that's much I would make if I had a paying job. And the kids and husband want me at home where I want to be.
If you plan to spend only a certain amount, then you probably will. If you leave it to trying to count your pennies in the end you won't see much success, because you had no plan, for spending or savings.
Also being frugal isn't about being cheap.It's about choosing where you really want to spend and where you don't. We don't want to waste energy and spend too much on it so we are careful with electricity, water and gasoline. On the other hand, we like Apple computers so we spend more (midrange, really) for a good one. We drive a used car but we keep it repaired and in good shape so the overall life cost is much less than a new or newer one. We buy or are given used furniture and clothes, but our shoes are new and fit us well. And an on-sale new denim slipcover set makes it all match! (still hundreds less than new furniture)
Frugality is about having a choice and not being an economic commodity. The news doesn't call us citizens anymore. We're called "consumers". How insulting is that!
If the visual impact will help you to continue your frugality program, here's what I would suggest: get a jar, coffee can, whatever. If you save .12 by buying a generic instead of a name brand item, put that .12 in the jar. If you serve popsicles at home instead of giving the kids money for the Good Humor truck and that saved you $2, put the $2 in the jar. If you cancel a magazine subscription and read them at the library instead, and that saved you $10, put the $10 in the jar. Get the picture? Pick a specific amount of time -- a week, a month -- and don't look until that time is up. I bet you will be pleasantly surprised at how much is in the jar!
Here's what I found out. I was never frugal, in fact a spendthrift and never saved a cent until about 2 years ago. Have always made a good wage, too. Now I have $8000 in the bank, a bunch of U.S. Savings Bonds, and a nice IRA account started with a few thousand in that. My life is more peaceful, too. I'm just not buying all my lunches out, catalog shopping because the stuff is cute, clothes I don't wear or need, tons of makeup, treating friends all the time to drinks and dinner, stopped smoking and feel SO much better, don't overeat or waste food, when it came time to buy another vehicle it wasn't fancy and fast but is dependable, just stuff like that.
I used to tally my coupon savings. One year I saved about $500 just from cutting and using coupons and that is just for a family of two!
My husband and I had very different childhoods. He grew up in inner city St. Louis while I was raised deep in a rural Alabama valley. We do, however, share one common thread. We both grew up poor.
My immigrant non-schooled Mom and jack-of-all-trades Dad supported a family of 5 with no-nonsense and common sense when it came to money.
I struggled for years to put myself through college. When at last I was employed, and besieged by credit card offers, I was not very wise. I had lived so lean for so long that the temptation was too strong; and I went under.
I have been honing my frugal skills every since I left college, years ago. My first frugal research started with an old book entitled "How to Save on Everything", written in the late 40s. It had all sorts of interesting ways to reuse, remake, and recycle.
This was to be a prelude on the importance and appreciation of good, crusty Southern style biscuits, and more tips on how to make them. This 'prelude' became so lengthy, it turned into a 'story' in its own right. Read on.
My husband is a penny pincher and that is great. He has helped our family pay off our house in 3 years. The trick is paying separate to the principal and the amount will drop fast.
A few years ago, I was out a job from my third oil company layoff, and decided to move from Houston to Galveston to get away from big city blues. That saved me a lot right there - moving to a smaller city, only an hour away! But there were fewer jobs here, all vastly lower paying, so I had to economize. Here are some of the things I did:
