When I was in Florida I had plenty of time to peruse websites that offer ideas on how to cut your expenses. Some of them were very funny. My problem is that I find very few tips that I do not already use or that don't pertain to me and never have.
Cut your cable! Never really had cable, too expensive
Quit smoking! Don't smoke, or drink
Stop buying your cup of $5.00 Joe! Don't drink coffee ( do drink too much Diet coke)
Stop eating out! We rarely do
Cook from scratch! Always have.
Grow a garden! Always have
Have a well stocked pantry of loss leaders! Always have done this.
Cancel your gym membership! Snort* I taught dance all my life
With as frugal as I have been most of my life I should be a millionaire! If there was a way to save money I did it. My kids can attest to this fact. Money was a constant struggle. I remember reading a book "The Tightwad Gazette " and realizing that there were only two things in the entire series that I could or would implement.
Recently with all my reading I have found a few new tips that I either use or will use.
1. Don't fix stuff that is broken, get buy if you can. We do this all the time, right now I have a truck that needs body work, a sewing machine that is giving me fits, a serger that needs replaced,The water on the fridge is not working, there is a leak in the sprayer on the sink, the garage door is not opening. We will get these things looked at and taken care of but they are not top priorities right now.
2. Swag bucks is a waste of time for me. I usually get bumped off the survey anyway. I just can't answer the right questions. For hours of my time to get a $5.00 gift card. No there are better ways to use your time. At least for me. I am better off digging through my stash and making something I can sell.
3. Don't go to stores, even second hand stores. If you don't need something stay out! I don't care how good a buy it is. If you have a specific item you are looking for great, but don't pick up that pretty pickle dish that looks like your grandmothers.
4. Some people shop out of boredom. (I know I do) Find something else to occupy your time. Make something, create something, go visit a lonely person, go outside for a walk, clean something. Just don't do anything that spends or wastes money.
Do any of you find those frugal lists frustrating? Do any of you have any new or awesome ideas we have not brainstormed yet?
Have a great and productive say Staying positive while you are in the negative.
Kim
I find most of the frugality lists a waste of my time. I do most of the things anyway and we do budget for certain splurges. I am with you on the Swagbucks thing. I am out of their demo for most things anyway and will not use my time watching videos.
ReplyDeleteI would not mind if I found some distant relative had passed and left his entire fortune to me, his favorite grand niece, though it would have to be some really obscure distant relative that none of my 24 first cousins had ever heard of or met.
Yeah wouldn't that be nice.
DeleteWhen you are a Frugal Queen already and have been for years(most of your adult life)there isn't much out there you don't already do, right?
ReplyDeleteI never got the pull of SwagBucks, Pinecone Research, Nielson Home Scanning, etc. after do them for a bit. Just too time consuming for what they offered in return. Doing a mock jury or a research project however, those compensate enough to get me to do them but those opportunities don't present them often enough.
Shopping use to be an activity here too but we've mended our evil ways for the last 10 yrs. or so. I hate going to stores now(except Rite-Aid and grocery stores)unless I am on vacation.
I forgot to say that all I see in my backyard now is dog poop! lolz
DeleteIs it small or large? At least you know who is doing the thing.:)
DeleteYes, those lists annoy me. There is usually nothing there that I am not doing anyway. The only thing I ever did with Swagbucks was to put up their search bar and use that. Some days, I just search for random words, and it paid off most of the time. If the surveys will kick me out, I will never try those. "Watching" the videos while I go to the bathroom or go out to get the mail is about all the watching I will do. I love Pinecone but never wanted to do the Nielson thing. Now, MTurk is something I will try.
ReplyDeleteI gave up tp in 2007 and have not gone back except for problem sessions. I started the trend in using orange and other produce bags for a scrubby. Well, at least half a dozen people who thought I had a great idea are putting this idea on their blog like it was their own!
From that list, there is nothing I do that I could cut out.
I know, I feel like they just re post the same things over and over. How about something new. I guess I have been frugal too long:)
DeleteYour backyard looks lovely! I try to grow a garden, but it is too hot and dry, here. We had a 5-year long drought and water was rationed. I let most of my garden die. It cost more to water the few vegetables I grew than to buy them at the store.
ReplyDeleteI usually laugh at the frugal suggestions I read; very few of them apply to me. I live a fairly frugal life, I think.
You must live in California. I agree with the cost of water being a detriment. I know frugal lists are all repeats for me.
DeleteFall color in the plants looks good. No worries as days pass by you will come to know how to use the camera. Your yield looks good:)
ReplyDeleteI was joking with mom that I had to go to the store to buy some squash. I am actually using my phone for pictures right now. Need to have my camera looked at.
DeleteAdd me to the list of those who don't get much (if anything) from those frugal lists. Tips like hanging clothes to dry rather using a dryer seem pretty obvious to me. I gave up on Swagbuck surveys but do run their videos on an old tablet. I also use them if there is something I am buying online. M-turk is proving to be far more profitable for daily earnings.
ReplyDeleteI really don't have time to do anything on the computer as the sewing is much more profitable and well mom....
DeleteYour photo is great!!!
ReplyDeleteIt is!
And a beautiful view, too.
I never get anything new out of those lists, or any in magazines and things.
I think they are pure common sense.
The people who are reading already know the information,
And if they don't, they probably aren't interested in reading to find out! : )
There are hundreds of them and they all say the same thing. Really? So it is a different color and it might have something new?
DeleteWhat a great yard! I tend to spend too much when I go into any store, so I try to keep the time I can shop to a dash style shopping and only get what's necessary. sometimes...
ReplyDeleteYes stay out of the store, It is hard for me to turn down a bargain even when I don't need it. Sniff,sniff..
DeleteYou've got your frugal bases covered that's for sure! I've stopped redecorating the house as I'd rather use the $$ for travel. My contribution to your list would be to borrow things you need rather than replace broken things or do without. The barter system as well. I'll do this for you if you do such and such for me. Oh, for your camera - have the sun behind you.
ReplyDeleteThe sun at my back, my Hubby always tells me that, but I will listen to you:)
DeleteI try to keep the time I can shop to a dash style shopping and only get what's necessary. sometimes...
ReplyDeleteเกย์ไทย
These suggestions are at the bottom of the barrel of frugality in my opinion but they eek out more savings: 1) Cut back on how often you shower from every day to every other day or two; 2) Only flush the toilet if its brown, if its yellow let it mellow; 2) Wash clothes only if they have visible dirt or don't pass the smell test.
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