With very, very few exceptions, I actually buy whatever I want. I spend freely on whatever I want. Flat out splurge if I want. And yet I also practice frugal living and keep my annual basic living costs under $15,000. Here’s how all that can work together for me without contradiction. And how you […]
Doing cash back rewards credit cards is worth it to me because it would not be very frugal to leave all that money on the table. It just takes a little credit card management on my part to capture big cash back rewards payouts. And here’s that story. […]
I was not always frugal. Far from it. But I have been living frugally for so long now that it has become automatic. Frugality is now hardwired into my approach to life. But I’ve decided to rethink and question why and whether I should continue to live frugally. I no longer need to – […]
Two reasons lots of people slavishly trade in their five-plus-years-old vehicles for newer ones are that (1) they believe the “older” vehicle is or is about to become unreliable and (2) they fear the “older” vehicle will become a cash guzzling big-repair money pit. I’m here to tell you that’s all wrong. […]
I’ve made a BIG frugality exception to own a 400-plus book collection. AND to house them in a dedicated library. Even if the books only cost around $5 each on average, I’ve still spent thousands on having a book collection. But my books mean more than money. Here’s why. […]
When is frugality out of place? Far too often, unjustified frugality tries to stop me from spending money on something I want to do or have. And I call it unjustified frugality because there is no financial reason for it. So I’ve developed ways to overcome my unjustified frugality. Here’s what I mean. […]
I buy most of my food on sale. In fact, I will not buy meats, cheeses, breads, lunch meats, spices or any frozen foods unless they are on sale. Yet at home I always have a full selection of all of those things to choose from. What makes that possible is that I use my […]
What do you like to do? The key to finding satisfying frugal hobbies is in the answer to that question. I literally sat down one day to write out a list of what I liked (or would like) to do. Not surprisingly, I saw that doing some things on my list would cost nothing, some […]
I drive a 1996 Dodge Dakota pickup truck and have no desire to buy something newer or fancier. When I go to the grocery, my mind no longer even registers the price of rib-eye steak as I scan the meat case for chuck steak, our preferred selection. When I want to shop for books, I […]
Why would I pay $4.69 for a 42-ounce container of Quaker brand rolled oats when I can have the grocery store’s generic brand for $2.60? Why would anyone? When there is no appreciable difference between the actual products, it is financial blindness not to opt for buying generic brands and banking the cost difference. So […]
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