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A Beginner’s Attempt at Frugality

by A Guest Writer on February 8, 2010

in Guest Posts

This guest post is by Haley Drummond.

When I decided last May to leave my comfortable, full-time job and go to graduate school, I wasn’t thinking too much about finances. “It’ll all work out,” I said to myself. “Isn’t it more important to be happy and feel like you’re moving forward in life than to have extra money for premium cable?”

Ah, yes. But silly little me was not entirely prepared for the difference between having extra money to blow on things like a Blockbuster Online subscription or $60 boots you don’t really need, and finding yourself standing in Target mentally agonizing over prices on deodorant (Secret is over $4??? What??)

See, I had never had lots of extra money, and I’d never been a huge spender, but between scholarships for school and my family’s help, I had been lucky; money had rarely been at the forefront of my mind. Oh how things change when something you’ve taken for granted is no longer there!

Now I am going to grad school and working part time as the Promotions Manager for Affordable Style, a company that focuses on providing quality, fashionable accessories for amazing prices. When they asked me to write this post, I realized that in the past 8 months, I have learned more about being frugal than I have my entire life, especially in terms of shopping and fashion. Though I am sure most of you know more than I do, I’d like to share what I’ve learned as a beginner to this world of frugality:

Google is My Coupon Friend

I am a big fan of shopping online – no crazy crowds, no irritating traffic, and no need to change out of my pajamas.  Now that I’m trying to be smarter about what I buy, though, I am using the internet even more. I started by simply going to Google and typing in the store name + “coupon” to see what would come up. You’d be surprised at how many coupon codes are floating around out there in cyberspace.

This helped me save $50 when I got a flat tire last month and also got me a couple free Redbox rentals over Christmas break. There’s really no excuse for paying full price for something when it only takes a couple minutes to Google coupon codes.  Last week I also discovered the website Retailmenot.com, which collects coupon codes for you! Just type in the store name and up pops a list of coupon codes to try.

Use Internet Shopping Tools

Besides Google and Retailmenot.com, there are also websites specifically designed to help you find the best deals. Shopstyle.com is a great website to use when you’re looking for a specific fashion item, or you want to duplicate a celebrity’s look. The website compiles catalog information for hundreds of brands and stores, allowing you to cross-shop to find the best deals.

As a student, I am also a big fan of Bigwords.com, a search engine that helps find the cheapest textbooks. This semester I saved $120 by using Big Words instead of buying from the campus bookstore. It even automatically found coupons for me and figured out both the cheapest way to get all my books from one store.

All Stores are Not Equal (a.k.a “Plan Ahead!”)

Some things are just cheaper at certain stores. I quickly discovered that I had to plan ahead when grocery shopping; my favorite snack crackers are always a dollar less at Target, while Meijer often has deals on the juice I like to drink at breakfast.  Now I know that when I’m at Meijer I’d better stockpile juice.

When it comes to fashion, working at Affordable Style has opened my eyes to the quality you can get for your money if you go to the right place. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard from customers and my own family (who of course had to thoroughly investigate my new employers) how surprised they are at the high quality of what Affordable Style offers and the low price it comes for.  We have beautiful, beautiful handbags at Handbag Heaven (my current favorite: The Carrington Rhinestone Satchel for $50.95 ); why would you spend hundreds of dollars on Victoria Beckham’s bag when you could get one just like it for $56.95? Why spend way too much ($1,350) on a Marc Jacobs bag when you can get one from Handbag Heaven for $54.95?

I splurged on a new scarf from our store Affordable Scarves a couple months ago as a kind of personal reward for getting through my two 15-page papers for graduate school (the Reagan Striped Pashmina for a whopping $16.96!), and I can’t tell you how many compliments I’ve gotten on it. I love it so much I rarely take it off…it’s so cozy in this cold weather. There was one point last month where I was refusing to turn the heat up because I was perfectly content in my comfy scarf, though I probably looked a little strange sitting there on the couch typing away at my laptop with a scarf around my head! It’s been well worth the money, and because I got it at such an affordable price, I can get a different one in a different style in a couple weeks when it starts to get warmer.

You can still have beautiful things without spending a ridiculous amount of money. I’m also looking forward to making use of another one of our stores, Sunglass Warehouse, when it gets a little warmer out – and I won’t even have to feel guilty when I inevitably break my really cool new sunglasses by sitting on them or stepping on them poolside (it always seems to happen no matter what I do), because I’ll be spending $10-15, not $50-75. Where you buy really makes a difference, and it’s worth it to do some research and find the places where you can buy similar products for a better price.

It’s just money.

This is a tricky thing, because let’s be honest, it’s not just money. In the last year I have learned just how much comfort having money can give you in terms of security and peace of mind, and how scary it is when you’re not making enough to pay your bills. But when looking back, I also realize how much happier I am now than I was at this time last year, because I’m taking proactive steps towards having the life I want. I love my job, I love my classes, and I get to immerse myself in fashion every day while gorgeous new bags and scarves cross my desk. Money is nice, but happiness is nicer, and there are always ways to make the money stretch. Being familiar with Affordable Style was a life saver over Christmas, when I wasn’t sure how I was going to take care of everyone on my list with half the budget, and (Shh, Mom, don’t read this) I’m already planning on getting my mom a handbag from Handbag Heaven for her birthday in April.

So I’ve learned a lot in the last year – above all, I’ve realized that it pays to just be more aware of what you’re spending and where. Making small adjustments can go a long way in giving you the freedom to go after what you want in life – and what’s the point in being frugal if it doesn’t help make your life better?

Thanks for reading!

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Does Success in Frugality Depend on Geography?

by Kelly on February 5, 2010

in Thoughts On Frugality

I often say that I’m the only American blogging about frugality in my corner of France (I used to include the whole of France, but blogs like The Simple Life in France have made me be more specific!).While cornering the niche can have its advantages (notably being able to say that I’m the only American blogging about frugality in my corner of France), it can also get a little lonely alone in my corner of the frugal world.

For one thing, most of the specific money saving tips around the personal finance blogosphere don’t apply to me. I don’t have a Ralphs, Safeway, Albertsons or Krogers near me. When I talk about my grocery shopping strategies I do it as generically as possible- except when I’m addressing an expatriate audience, rather than specifically budget conscious one. I can’t use a lot of the coupons talked about. In fact, coupons are very rare in France to begin with! And the infamous latte factor- where people are advised that cutting out their daily latte can save them hundreds of dollars every year- doesn’t apply to me; alas there are no Starbucks in Grenoble!

Much of my situation applies to many others around the world of course, it’s not just because I live in France. People living in a small town will have fewer thrift stores or free public amenities (like museums) than those living in large towns. Certain areas of the country might have more of a frugal community mindset than others, whether because of long standing cultural influences or more recent economic upheaval.

I certainly think it’s easier being frugal in France in some ways, notably that the consumer pressure to spend, spend, spend is much less noticeable here than in the US. It is also harder due to the dearth of good quality second-hand shops. I often use our trips back to the US to stock up on children’s clothes at the thrift-store.

What do you think: Does success in frugality depend on geography?

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This is What Frugal Looks Like: Married with Luggage

by Kelly on February 4, 2010

in This is Frugal

This is What Frugal Looks Like is a series that highlights different ways that people can be frugal in their lives- after all, frugality doesn’t have to be drastic or just about clipping coupons. Frugality can be fun and easy. Each respondent answers the same four questions. Today’s interview is with Betsy Talbot from Married with Luggage.

What does frugality mean to you?

Frugality isn’t about being cheap; it is about using your money in the most effective way. A great example of this is the blender I bought this summer. I started drinking fruit and veggie smoothies for breakfast as a way to improve my health, and shortly afterward my cheap blender (bought a long time ago to mix the occasional margarita at parties) broke. Instead of replacing it with another cheap blender, I knew I needed one that would stand up to the daily grinding of fruits and vegetables, so I spent more to get the right one. This is a good use of money. Had I bought a cheap one, I would have just had to replace it sooner, spending more money overall.

This is a really small example, but in my experience those are the ones that make a big difference. If you learn to think twice about something as inexpensive as a blender, you’ll really think twice when it comes to clothes, electronics, and cars.

What is something that you do that is ‘typically’ frugally?

I plan our meals and shop for groceries based on the menu. It saves money, time, and aggravation at the end of the workday. I never really believed this would save a ton of money until I started doing it, and now I’m kicking myself for not realizing it sooner. Mom was right. :)

What is something frugal that you do that is unusual?

Our situation is a little unusual in that we are getting rid of almost everything we own so we can travel around the world. From a frugal standpoint, this is an ideal situation. Not only do we not accumulate anything new (or used, for that matter), we are getting rid of all the junk that was holding us down before. Whether you realize it or not, your possessions do own you in the sense that you have to maintain them, even if that just means finding a place for them.

Craigslist is a great way to alleviate yourself from the junk, learn how freeing it is to live with less stuff, and make money at the same time. We’ve made thousands of dollars doing this and have sold everything from a box of random cords ($5) to a nice dresser ($500) and everything in between.

My favorite method of getting rid of stuff has been planned for the last month and happens on December 9. In honor of my 39th birthday, I’m hosting a “Birthday Boutique” for my best friends to auction off 39 of my favorite items. Add a cake and a few appetizers, and you have the makings of a heckuva party with the added benefit of reducing my possessions and padding my savings account.

What are some of your longterm goals that being frugal will help you to accomplish?

My longterm goal has always been extended travel, and on October 1, 2010, my husband and I will be taking off for Ecuador on the first leg of our 3-year tour of the world. It took a few years of work to eliminate our debt and simplify our lifestyle followed by 2 years of heavy saving and purging of possessions to make this happen.

Having a goal for your frugal lifestyle will make it so much easier to stick with it. When I want something new, I only have to think of the trip to make it go away in a flash. Over time my craving for “new” has become almost nonexistent.

It would have been really hard to live this way if I didn’t know why I was doing it, or if I was doing it because someone else told me to. You have to want it for yourself and be able to envision why. When you do that, frugal living becomes part of the process of achieving your goal, and that means you get to live your dream a little bit each day.

Brief Bio:

Betsy Talbot writes about carving the lifestyle you want out of the life you already have. When she’s not writing, she’s paring down, saving up, and getting ready to travel the world with her husband Warren.

Three Frugal Posts on possessions, money, and psychology of living frugally:

And there’s an ebook called “How we saved enough money to change our lives (and how you can, too!)”.  I’m offering it for free on my site as an incentive for people to sign up for my email list.  It has 55 pages of content – our story, universal money lessons gleaned from our experience, and success stories of other people who live well on a tight budget.

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The ABCs of Saving Money: B is for…

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The ABCs of Saving Money will appear throughout 2010.
Bank accounts
How many bank accounts do you have? Do they cost you money or save you money? (Do you even know the monthly charges? I don’t.)
My husband and I have had separate bank accounts for a long time, but it in fact costs us quite a lot [...]

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Tell Us Tuesday: Your Most Valued Possession

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Tell us Tuesday is a weekly question and answer feature… I throw out a question on a frugal topic, and you answer! Feel free to leave any links to posts that you’ve written in the topic in your comments.
When we had our break-in a few months ago, they took both our laptops and my cellphone. [...]

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Top Ten Funny Money Saving Tips

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This is a guest post from Sandra of Thinking Money.

Saving money is tough; it’s like a diet. You had your fun and now you have to tighten your belt to spend less. But being disciplined with your money does not have to be boring or a drag.
Here are my ten entertaining ways to [...]

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Weekly Round-Up: Adventures in Haircutting

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I cut my husband’s hair this morning. In the 9 years we’ve been together, I’ve probably cut his hair around 30 times. I’ve cut my kids’ hair at least 20 times. At a low estimate of €18 per haircut, I’ve saved at least €900 over the past nine years. Not too shabby!
Meanwhile, here are some [...]

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