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Posted
Aug 27 2008, 09:28 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
It's tough to be frugal in your 20s, according to a Smart Spending message board reader posting as "byebyestudentloans." Your peers seem to spend most of their time in malls, restaurants and nightclubs. And you?
"I'm brown-bagging my lunch, limiting my driving, work a full-time and part-time job," says the reader, who contributes to a 401(k) and has two other financial goals: pay off student loans and save to build a home. And all in the next two years.
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Posted
Jul 02 2008, 09:06 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Last July, I was in debt. This year I don't owe a thing. That's the kind of independence I'll be celebrating this Friday: freedom from obligation. And to paraphrase Franklin D. Roosevelt, I'll also be celebrating freedom from wants.
"Freedom from want," according to FDR's famous Four Freedoms speech, means "economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants." I'd like to define that further. To me, a "healthy peacetime life" means having my needs met and my wants under control.
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Posted
Jun 06 2008, 09:04 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Emily, a personal-finance blogger at Remodeling This Life, was recently asked something all you frugalists have probably heard before: Don't you ever get tired of living this way? Don't you ever want to stop being deprived?
(Haven't heard these questions? Don't worry. You will.)
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Posted
May 30 2008, 09:45 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Recently a tenant moved out of the apartment building I manage. During the final walk-through I saw that she'd left behind a wall-mounted spice rack, a shelf-and-cabinet unit in the bathroom and a wheeled kitchen cart. She told me her fiancé had all the household items they needed. If no one wanted those things, they could just be thrown away.
I love my new kitchen cart.
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Posted
May 07 2008, 10:56 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Water bills getting you down? "Katurah82" favors a multipronged approach to keeping usage in check. She takes three "navy showers" a week, i.e., water turned off while she lathers up. The rest of the time she heats a few gallons of water on the stove and pours it into the bathtub. "I use way less water."
Katurah82 learned to wash dishes in a gallon of hot water while camping. Why not do them that way at home? Oh, and about that water: Most heaters are set way too high, she says, so turn yours down. (A setting of 120 degrees should work fine, and could save you $20 to $50 in utility bills according to this article.)
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Posted
Apr 30 2008, 09:15 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
If your electric bill were going to rise by 447%, what would you do? Probably what they're doing up in Juneau, Alaska, which just lost its source of cheap hydroelectric power.
Residents bought out the town's stock of compact fluorescents and clothespins. They're cooking on backyard grills and eating by candlelight. Stores shut off neon signs and unplugged vending machines. Families are limiting television and computer use. Not only are people falling all over themselves to conserve electricity, at least one man tripped over his dog in a dimly lit room. Luckily neither he nor the pooch were seriously injured.
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Posted
Apr 25 2008, 10:27 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Last weekend I heard the kind of frantic knocking that signals trouble for the resident manager. A tenant was banging on the door to tell me that a second-floor apartment -- not his -- was flooding.
As I ran toward the stairs, I could see moisture dripping from the first-floor hall ceiling. Upstairs, I found that a toilet had blocked and overflowed. Later, a water-damage restoration specialist would estimate it had overflowed for at least three hours.
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Posted
Apr 18 2008, 10:13 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
A woman I know recently decided to move closer to work. Somehow she figured all she'd need to do is turn in her keys and say, "'Bye."
Wrong. Since she didn't give sufficient notice, she was saddled with the next month's rent even though she was long gone by then.
This is an intelligent woman who'd had this explained to her when she moved in. She just, well, forgot.
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Posted
Mar 21 2008, 12:24 PM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
A little cleaning can save dollars along with your sanity. That's what Smart Spending message board reader "Lynn D" says, anyway. In a thread called "Making home a haven," the grad student notes that her formerly crowded condo made her feel "stressed and boxed in," which led to her wanting to go out, which led to her spending money. At first, she tried to combat the tendency by spending more money -- on storage bins, hooks, an entertainment center and other things allegedly designed to help. Finally, Lynn D figured out the real problem: "I needed to get rid of (junk)!" Now she finds herself staying at home more, whether it's to do her nails or watch a movie on a couch no longer littered with papers and books. Lynn D admits to another savings, too: She no longer has to buy things she already owns but couldn't find in all the clutter.
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Posted
Nov 30 2007, 08:55 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
A tenant knocked last Saturday to tell me she'd broken off her key in the door. If this ever happens to you, try doing what I did: Insert a spare key until it touches the broken piece, then turn very gently.
After a few tries, the lock opened. Since I couldn't pry out the broken piece, I installed a replacement deadbolt. Just another day in the life of Super Resident Manager, saving the building owners an expensive weekend locksmith call.
My point? This was not a tough fix. Lock replacement is one of many repairs that can be done by the most amateur of handyfolks.
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