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Posted
Aug 11 2008, 09:17 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
A time-honored coupon strategy is to put aside the cash equivalent of whatever you saved. If you use two 50-cents-off coupons for peanut butter, put a dollar in a jar when you get home. Every so often, you put the "extra" money toward a specific goal, such as paying consumer debt, creating an emergency fund or saving for a down payment on a place of your own.
A dollar here and a dollar there definitely add up; ask the woman who saved $1,100 with coupons in a single year. But if you're not a coupon user, try this: Pay yourself for frugal hacks. Not only do you save money with the initial cost-conscious behavior, you get to keep the "coupon" savings in cash.
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Posted
May 07 2008, 11:02 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
"Dividend" has been using the snowball approach to debt reduction. To do so, the reader treats debt reduction payments as a monthly bill, "as necessary and unavoidable as paying rent."
Dividend started by creating a minimalist yet realistic budget to live on. This includes predictable expenses such as car insurance, gift-giving and "a little bit of play money." Everything left over is officially invisible. "I treat that money like it doesn't exist until the end of the month. Then, out of that, I pay minimums on everything first, and then the remainder gets paid to the next item in the snowball."
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Posted
May 05 2008, 09:17 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Putting all your change in a jar each night is a time-honored frugal hack. One guy bought himself a new pickup after setting aside coins for years. A Smart Spending message board reader named "Amberstorck" wasn't aiming that high -- she just wanted to save some money.
But now she's having trouble unloading the lucre. Local grocery stores refused her rolled change. Her bank charges a 6% coin-counting fee. "What is the point of saving coins if nobody will take them?" Amber wrote in a message board thread.
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Posted
Apr 28 2008, 09:22 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
It's not your imagination: Restaurant meals are shrinking. According to a Washington Post article, restaurants are downsizing meats, retooling sauces and using trompe l'oeil trickery to make little shrimp look bigger. (Skewer 'em before boiling and they don't curl up!)
Portion sizes had previously gotten out of hand, so much so that many Americans are unable to perceive when they're overeating. Still, it's no fun to pay $25 for filet mignon and be served two petite steaklets, or to plunk down $6 for a dessert the size of the lid on the salt shaker. Cute food is irritating.
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Posted
Feb 13 2008, 09:26 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Want to drop a bad habit or develop a good one? You need a plan. Specifically, you need a list. Lists make us feel confident and in charge. They make us feel we're already halfway to achieving our goals.
We love our lists. We especially love short lists. "Three easy ways to … (lose weight, stop smoking, become a millionaire)" is a guaranteed attention-getter.
Life is never really that simple, of course. If all it took were three steps, everybody would be thin and rich, with unstained fingers.
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Posted
Dec 05 2007, 08:34 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Heavy rain flooded half my North Seattle block on Monday. After a dozen chaotic hours -- eight of them without power -- at the apartment building I manage, I really, really did not want to sleep on a Red Cross cot.
Yet another reason to have an emergency fund: a hotel room with privacy and unlimited hot water.
Sure, I could have bunked at the emergency shelter. I chose not to do so. Choice is one of the luxuries that an EF affords us.
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Posted
Oct 31 2007, 10:51 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Frugal people sleep better.
That’s a recurring theme in a Smart Spending message board thread called "Why are you frugal?" Readers say it’s hard to beat the contentment of a good night’s slumber, untroubled by debt.
Some readers say they're frugal because they love finding great deals, but most have more complex reasons. They're thrifty now to meet future goals: a car, a house, a family. They've chosen to reject hyperconsumerism. They're called to careers (e.g. the arts) that are fulfilling but require careful money management. Or they simply enjoy the peace of mind that comes with having an emergency fund.
Frugality begets options. “I try to save money on things that don’t matter, so I can have choices on things that do,” wrote a reader posting as “SC CDF.”
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Posted
Oct 19 2007, 09:41 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Losing a debit card. Cleaning out the garage. Buying a condo, or not being able to buy a condo. Living out of a suitcase. Wanting to stay home with the kids but fearing you can't afford it.
All these were defining moments that turned spendthrifts into thrift-thrifts. A reader posting as "bigdreams" solicited such tales in a Smart Spending message board thread called "Switching from being a spender to a saver -- what was your 'aha' moment?"
Some "moments: were epiphanies, others slowly dawning realizations. Readers variously described their experiences as a slap in the face, a kick in the butt, a good hard look at oneself, a God-given wakeup call, the sudden glimpse of a bleak future.
However they arrive, aha moments carry the same basic message: Something has to change.
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Posted
Oct 17 2007, 11:02 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Those of you who read “Extreme savings: washed baggies and unflushed toilets” know that some people take thriftiness to a galaxy far, far away.
I’ll admit I’m one of those Ziploc recidivists. The bags are sturdy, so why not reuse them? (And yes, I know there are other brands besides Ziploc. But the word has entered the common parlance, a la “Band-Aid” or “Xerox.”)
However, it’s relatively rare that I actually use a Ziploc. To my way of thinking, there’s no reason to throw away a perfectly good tortilla bag once the last burrito has been folded.
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Posted
Oct 12 2007, 07:27 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Hidden in my apartment is a slowly growing collection of small bills. I’ve been setting aside ones and fives toward the goal of having cash on hand for emergencies.
Some Smart Spending message board readers do this, too. Whether they call it pin money, bail money, “gittin’ out of town” money or just a collection of presidential quarters, having a little ready cash makes them feel, well, ready.
The U.S. government wants us to be ready. One of the Department of Homeland Security’s Web sites, www.ready.gov, recommends keeping some folding green on hand, right alongside the food, water and bucket toilet.
After all, some emergencies mean power failures -- bye-bye, ATMs.
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