Posted 6 days 9 hours ago by Philip Brewer
When I advocate for frugal living, people sometimes ask, "What if everybody lived like that? Wouldn't it hurt the economy?" My natural inclination toward frugal living may color my opinion, but I don't think so. I think mass frugality would be good for the economy.
Posted 3 weeks 3 days ago by Philip Brewer
Early retirement is a topic I've always been interested in. The particular version of it that this book deals with--living well on less money, as a means to getting by without having to work at a regular job--is not only interesting, it's the life I'm living. Allowing for the fact that it's aimed right at my own personal sweet spot, I liked it even better than I expected. It reads like the author started following me around a year ago, figured out exactly what questions I needed answered, then carefully and thoughtfully wrote a book to answer them.
Posted 10 weeks 2 days ago by Xin Lu
I moved to the United States when I was a child from Yangzhou, China. After sixteen years, I could easily pass as an American because I speak English without an accent, and I am well versed with the popular culture. However, if you ever examined my attitudes toward money you will see that I am undeniably Chinese. Here are some of the principles I grew up with.
Posted 11 weeks 2 days ago by Xin Lu
If you are a cube dweller like me you may be familiar with the usual benefits of a salary and paid days off, but there are many other ways you can benefit from your workplace. I am not talking about stealing pens or embezzling large sums of money. Read on for some of the practical and legal means I think you can use your work to squeeze just a little bit of extra savings for yourself.
Posted 14 weeks 21 hours ago by Xin Lu
Have you ever paid more than you normally would for something when you are trying to cheer yourself up? A recent study showed that a group of people who were sad offered almost four times more money for a bottle of water than a control group. Read on for more information about the "misery is not miserly" phenomenon.
Posted 16 weeks 3 days ago by Philip Brewer
Are you tired of reading the same frugality suggestions? I'm talking about the repeated exhortations to eat out less, turn off your cable, and stop buying expensive coffee drinks. Tired as they are, these suggestions keep showing up for a reason: they're examples of the key insight that the best way to raise your standard of living is to focus your spending on the things that give you the most pleasure.
Posted 17 weeks 2 days ago by Myscha Theriault
In recent Wise Bread discussions and articles regarding the rising cost of bread and what to do about it, it's been clear that many of you want some serious strategies for getting the good stuff on the cheap. If you enjoy using make ahead mixes for the bread machine, but are still craving something more . . . shall we say exotic, you'll find major relief in this painstakingly researched St. Martin's Press title by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois.
Posted 17 weeks 5 days ago by Philip Brewer
You don't have to go very far down the path of being frugal to reach the point where people start questioning your sanity. (You bicycle to work? Even though you have a perfectly good car?) On the other hand, there's no idea so crazy that there aren't some frugal folks out there who swear by it. (I hesitate to suggest an example, for fear of offending some of our committed readers.) Still, there is a line where frugality becomes pathology. In fact, there are two lines. We have names for them. We call them stingy and miserly.
Posted 17 weeks 6 days ago by Xin Lu
What if a magical spaceship from the planet Cheapos came to earth and brainwashed everyone so that every single American stopped buying useless junk and started to live way below their means? Here are some things that I think could happen if the denizens of the United States became tightwads over night. The effects will be global, and they are not all good.
Posted 18 weeks 10 hours ago by Philip Brewer
I get a particular negative jolt when I review a credit card bill and find a charge for something that's already over and done--a meal already eaten, a vacation already taken, a tank of gas already burned up. I'm much happier paying a charge when I can pat the thing purchased and know that it'll be serving some useful purpose for years to come. Just recently, though, I've found that I'm beginning to have a little more appreciation for those purchases that are only memories before they're even paid for.
Posted 18 weeks 15 hours ago by Julie Rains
Frugality can be fun and help you sleep peacefully. But don’t be fooled: as frugal days turn into frugal years and frugal decades, bag lunches can be become boring; smallish houses, confining; thrift shop clothing, unfashionable. And though you may not care what people think of your “voluntary simplicity,” it can become tiresome to always live outside of an acquisition-oriented, size-counts-the-most social norm. Here are ways to attract admirers, become and remain confident about your position in society, and persist in frugality.
Posted 22 weeks 3 days ago by Linsey Knerl
Peanut butter is a staple food of many households. The rich and the poor alike find it to be filling and delicious. Eating the right variety of peanut butter can also have a positive effect on your health, while reducing stress on your grocery bill!
Posted 24 weeks 3 days ago by Sarah Winfrey
Most people don't find frugality fun. Describe a thing as frugal and people will tune out. Describe a person as frugal and he immediately seems uninteresting. However, this does not have to be true. Make frugality into a game if you really want to achieve your financial goals.
Posted 24 weeks 4 days ago by Philip Brewer
How bad could things get? The New York Times asked that question about the economic situation. It's a good question, but they gave a really bad answer.
Posted 27 weeks 14 hours ago by Philip Brewer
Doing for yourself--cooking your own meals, making your own clothes, growing your own vegetables, playing your own music, baking your own bread--is sometimes justified on the grounds of being frugal. This often leads to an analysis as to just how frugal it really is. I don't think that analysis is very useful, primarily because doing for yourself is often a wise choice whether it's frugal or not.
Posted 31 weeks 4 days ago by Linsey Knerl
Designer kids’ clothes are not cheap. And while boutique looks are adorable and all the rage for younger tots, they don’t exactly fit into our budget (or our small, small closets.) To solve both the problems of money and space, consider reversible clothing for your kids.
Posted 32 weeks 1 day ago by Philip Brewer
If you read frugality and simplicity blogs for any length of time, you'll run into a lot of people who take great joy in having simplified their lives. Gradually simplifying your life is one obvious path for finding some of that joy for yourself. Let me suggest an alternative: temporary extreme frugality.
Posted 32 weeks 2 days ago by Philip Brewer
Halfway through Fred Brock's book Retire on Less Than You Think: The New York Times Guide to Planning Your Financial Future, I was already drafting a review that would call it good but kind of basic for most Wise Bread readers. Then it clued me in to an oddity of federal law that could make the difference between keeping or losing my health insurance. That one bit is not only worth the price of the book, it could easily be worth my entire life savings. Actually writing the review, I realized the book is full of bits like that. I happened to know most of them already, but I've been studying this stuff for years. I have to say this is a must-read book for anyone who hopes to retire before they're 65.
Posted 36 weeks 5 hours ago by Philip Brewer
This is the perfect book for a Wise Bread reader. It covers just about everything we talk about here--life hacks, investing, frugality--and does it with insight and humor. (And not just a little humor. If you're at all interested in money, this book is hilarious.)
Posted 37 weeks 5 days ago by Philip Brewer
One of the most frugal things you can do is have capital. Whether it's money in the bank or a nice chunk of reasonably liquid investments, having capital not only makes money (through the investment return), and gives you security and flexibility, it also cuts your expenses.
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| Posts | Cmts | |
|---|---|---|
| Carrie Kirby | 4 | 2 |
| Linsey Knerl | 12 | 27 |
| Myscha Theriault | 6 | 23 |
| Nora Dunn | 4 | 5 |
| Paul Michael | 10 | 21 |
| Philip Brewer | 11 | 64 |
| Xin Lu | 11 | 32 |
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