Frugal Tips

I would like to share some frugal/cheapskate (another word for frugal) suggestions.  I don't do all these, for instance, it will have to get really bad for us to use one vehicle only.  However, in some situations this may be something you can use  with your own family.  What works for you may not work for your neighbor or friend.  

• Own one car
• Try a Smaller Car
• Live in a Smaller House
• Rent instead of Buying a House
• Buy Used
• Eat Out Less
• Eat Out Frugally
• Take your Lunch to Work
• Have a Limited Wardrobe
• Do Not Buy Clothes That Have to be Dry Cleaned
• Don't Go Shopping For Recreation or Fun
• Cut Off The Cable
• Cut Off The Internet
• Carpool
• Sell Your Stuff
• DeClutter
• Stop Using Credit Cards
• Pay off Credit Cards
• Combine Errands
• Cancel Unnecessary Subscriptions
• Recycle
• Stop Impulse Online Buying

These are just a few ways you can save money and time, while creating extra time to spend with  family or for activities you enjoy.  I will be adding to the list in the days to come.  Remember, you may not be able to do all these, but maybe take one and try it.  You will be surprised what you can do and what you can save in doing so.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year!  It is a beautiful morning in Eastern NC.  The sun is shining and it is Sunday,  and we will be going to church.  What a wonderful way to start the new year of 2012.  If we ever needed God it is today.  This is not popular, but this is my life and I must include it.

In the following days, I will be posting ways to save money, earn money and live frugally with what we have.  We must make use of every available source wisely.  The American dream as we have known it, is a thing of the past.  Our minds must be reprogrammed to live as productively as we can possibly make it.

When I was young and my life was open before me, the sky was the limit.  A young man or woman could go out and get a job very easily.  Some of the choices for the young were, filling station attendants, factory work, retail sales (there were many other stores & choices besides Walmart), working on farms,  fast food restaurants, waiters in restaurants,  grocery store baggers, and after school sweeping floors at a local small corner grocery store.  Today we do not have the gas stations who need attendants, the factory jobs, retail sales except Walmart, the farms are equipped with machinery and migrant workers, many local restaurants do not have the waiters or waitresses as before,  or no corner grocery stores.

Where do we go from here?  Of course a good education is the foundation of landing a great job, but they are not even available now.  The jobless statistics are only from the ones who are filing for unemployment.  What about the ones who have run out of the unemployment income?  Sounds bleak to my ears.  We cannot depend on the government because we know the government is living on borrowed time and money.  As I have already stated, reprogram your mind, and I will add, daily habits and the way of life as we have known it to be for years.   You may not be to this devastating point in your life.  You may have a great job and everything is going well, but I believe from my research, that this will change for all.  I sound very pessimistic, I know, but I believe it is reality.

We need to buckle down and determine in our minds that we are going to make it through these most difficult times.  What a way to bring in the New Year.  I know how this must sound, but we are going to make it through all the challenges that lie ahead.

Happy New Year!