There's a brilliant book called All Your Worth by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi. In keeping with the diet analogy offered in this post, they offer a way to change your lifestyle rather than a crash diet. Basically they advocate you parse your net income into 50% for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings/retirement. Its sustainable, simple, and it allows you use your wants money on anything you want (no guilt). If you can't make those exact percentages, they say you should just do your best (54% for needs is a lot better than 75%). I've been following a variation of their budget for three years now with great success. (Mine is 50% needs, 30% savings, 10% wants and 5% unexpected.) It's a book worth looking into.
We fly spirit every chance we get. The jets are standard, so seats and legroom are just like every other airbus. Yes, virginia, they charge for luggage, just like every other airline (except southwest) these days. Yes, Virginia, to join their club and get the cheap rates it will cost you forty bucks a year. Yes, they only fly at certain times and on certain days, and suprise suprise, the really cheap tickets are on weekdays. It is worth it to me to deal with the minor rules to be able to fly cheap. We often go from Chicago to atlantic city or Myrtle beach, round trip, total including everything for under 100 bucks. Yes, there are fees added, yes there are taxes added, just like every other airline. And yes, you have to travel on weekdays and this can be not to your liking...but for me, to get away to the beach for a long weekend, and the CHEAPEST expense is the airfare???? come on people. Stop whining. Go spend a six or seven hundred dollars on united or southwest so you can get a free half can of soda pop, and not pack light. This will open up lots more seats for me and my family, where we are paying total, $40-$50 per person, round trip.
I made a 2 station sand and water table with pvc pipe, plumbing fittings and plastic storage boxes. I don’t have a tutorial but I made a simple frame for each of the boxes to sit in and then added legs to raise it up to about 3 year old height. Can’t wait to spray paint it and see my kiddos playing with it. I love that my kids can say “my mommy made that”!
Freelance writing and blogging is one of my favorite if you are dedicate to blogging you can really earn a full time income online and have recurring income come in form work you have done in the past. Great post you provide alot of detail information
Thanks so much for posting this article! I used this page to prep for my job interview. I was asked almost every question on this page. Needless to say, the interview went wonderfully, so well that I was actually offered the job at the interview table! Thanks again for the tips!
Nope - We cut the cord 7 months ago and I don't miss much. Boxee on the HTPC, plus Netflix (on the PS3, actually, because Boxee's Netflix interface is not great), and we play far more video games than watch TV shows anyway.
I will admit to missing a couple of shows. But, they'll hit DVD eventually!
We've been trying to maintain our standard of living while making small, frugal changes over the last few years and your one piece of advice is absolutely right and essential when trying to make the small changes that add up.
Great advice and a great post - many thanks.
How did you miss Untappd? It is a great social media check-in app where people share & review beers and where they are drinking them with their friends. Great way to gain good local beer knowledge...
Using mulch is a good idea - whether it's from your own yard or purchased at the store. We also have a community composting area in our neighborhood that has a free mulch pile.
You can simply use grass clippings from the lawn - as long as your grass isn't full of weeds/seeds, and you haven't fertilized in a while.
Putting grass mulch around your plants ie tomatoes, cukes, squash - will not only keep weeds down but will also protect the plants and help hold moisture in the soil.
Ohhh...I LOVE vintage leather. I see a lot of leather chairs at estate sales and always want to pick one up, but alas I have no room in my living room for them.
That's a great tip about choosing based on location. I've definitely found that the neighborhood makes a big difference in the types of items available.
We have Netflix here. $10 bucks a month for unlimited streaming(through the XBox 360) and a one DVD out at a time(Though we rarely use that option). Saves us a couple hundred $$$(cable bill was likw $200 after the promotion ended) and we can watch all of our tv shows without commercials! Don't think I could ever do cable again(THough I do miss watching the local news station but their websites are a good alternative!).
I have to say, you got me on this one. When I read the headline, I thought it should have been titled, "Why I Should Buy a Desktop Computer." You can get a high-performance used laptop for about the same cost with much better features and portability. But many of your arguments swayed me. Although you can have my laptop when you pry it from my cold dead fingers, a desktop is probably a good solution for many. Depends on your lifestyle.
...one point you forgot to mention. You cannot upgrade a laptop as easily as a desktop PC. It's cheaper to buy new components to improve performance on a desktop. With a laptop, you often have to replace the entire motherboard, which costs just as much as a new laptop...
Timely for me! I went to an estate sale this past weekend & snagged 2 crazy-comfortable, perfect condition leather side chairs for less than the price of one new kitchen-type chair. They are the finishing touch in our living room.
For estate sales I also select based on location (i.e., nicer and/or more established older neighborhoods), as I don't have much tolerance for foraging through a lot of discount-store sourced items. Usually the ones being run by an estate sale company are better organized and have better items, even if there's a small price premium.
There's a brilliant book called All Your Worth by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi. In keeping with the diet analogy offered in this post, they offer a way to change your lifestyle rather than a crash diet. Basically they advocate you parse your net income into 50% for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings/retirement. Its sustainable, simple, and it allows you use your wants money on anything you want (no guilt). If you can't make those exact percentages, they say you should just do your best (54% for needs is a lot better than 75%). I've been following a variation of their budget for three years now with great success. (Mine is 50% needs, 30% savings, 10% wants and 5% unexpected.) It's a book worth looking into.
We fly spirit every chance we get. The jets are standard, so seats and legroom are just like every other airbus. Yes, virginia, they charge for luggage, just like every other airline (except southwest) these days. Yes, Virginia, to join their club and get the cheap rates it will cost you forty bucks a year. Yes, they only fly at certain times and on certain days, and suprise suprise, the really cheap tickets are on weekdays. It is worth it to me to deal with the minor rules to be able to fly cheap. We often go from Chicago to atlantic city or Myrtle beach, round trip, total including everything for under 100 bucks. Yes, there are fees added, yes there are taxes added, just like every other airline. And yes, you have to travel on weekdays and this can be not to your liking...but for me, to get away to the beach for a long weekend, and the CHEAPEST expense is the airfare???? come on people. Stop whining. Go spend a six or seven hundred dollars on united or southwest so you can get a free half can of soda pop, and not pack light. This will open up lots more seats for me and my family, where we are paying total, $40-$50 per person, round trip.
And I tweeted my answer! http://twitter.com/#!/pinknolegirl/status/80439130236006401
I Like you on Facebook!
Yes, I pay for Cable.. I would get by with just Netflix and Hulu, but I LOVE a couple shows on HBO and Shotime.
I made a 2 station sand and water table with pvc pipe, plumbing fittings and plastic storage boxes. I don’t have a tutorial but I made a simple frame for each of the boxes to sit in and then added legs to raise it up to about 3 year old height. Can’t wait to spray paint it and see my kiddos playing with it. I love that my kids can say “my mommy made that”!
Freelance writing and blogging is one of my favorite if you are dedicate to blogging you can really earn a full time income online and have recurring income come in form work you have done in the past. Great post you provide alot of detail information
Thanks so much for posting this article! I used this page to prep for my job interview. I was asked almost every question on this page. Needless to say, the interview went wonderfully, so well that I was actually offered the job at the interview table! Thanks again for the tips!
Kentin,
Great job on the article. Very accurate!
Keep up the good work,
Eric
Wow, feral pigs! I was thinking that our local population of rats was exotic!
Nope - We cut the cord 7 months ago and I don't miss much. Boxee on the HTPC, plus Netflix (on the PS3, actually, because Boxee's Netflix interface is not great), and we play far more video games than watch TV shows anyway.
I will admit to missing a couple of shows. But, they'll hit DVD eventually!
Plaintain is another weed that is highly nutritious. I'm in Idaho its all over the place.
We've been trying to maintain our standard of living while making small, frugal changes over the last few years and your one piece of advice is absolutely right and essential when trying to make the small changes that add up.
Great advice and a great post - many thanks.
Not a very enlightening article.......
I'd love an article about how people lost their first jobs! Or the first time they got fired, or quit, etc, and what they learned from THAT!
yea, drinking more water is good. I keep a glass by my desk and refill through out the day. this forces me to get up and move every 30-40 minutes.
How did you miss Untappd? It is a great social media check-in app where people share & review beers and where they are drinking them with their friends. Great way to gain good local beer knowledge...
http://untappd.com/
I've found that estate sales are a great place to find tools. I always check the garage or shop first thing when I get to an estate sale.
And yes, neighborhood is often a good indicator of the quality of items you might find.
Concerning #5 - Weed Control:
Using mulch is a good idea - whether it's from your own yard or purchased at the store. We also have a community composting area in our neighborhood that has a free mulch pile.
You can simply use grass clippings from the lawn - as long as your grass isn't full of weeds/seeds, and you haven't fertilized in a while.
Putting grass mulch around your plants ie tomatoes, cukes, squash - will not only keep weeds down but will also protect the plants and help hold moisture in the soil.
It's true. I used to sell carrot lathes. Well, we'd recondition metal lathes and retrofit them to mill down big carrots into baby ones.
Ohhh...I LOVE vintage leather. I see a lot of leather chairs at estate sales and always want to pick one up, but alas I have no room in my living room for them.
That's a great tip about choosing based on location. I've definitely found that the neighborhood makes a big difference in the types of items available.
We have Netflix here. $10 bucks a month for unlimited streaming(through the XBox 360) and a one DVD out at a time(Though we rarely use that option). Saves us a couple hundred $$$(cable bill was likw $200 after the promotion ended) and we can watch all of our tv shows without commercials! Don't think I could ever do cable again(THough I do miss watching the local news station but their websites are a good alternative!).
Have you ever found an amazing deal at an estate sale that you'd like to share?
I have to say, you got me on this one. When I read the headline, I thought it should have been titled, "Why I Should Buy a Desktop Computer." You can get a high-performance used laptop for about the same cost with much better features and portability. But many of your arguments swayed me. Although you can have my laptop when you pry it from my cold dead fingers, a desktop is probably a good solution for many. Depends on your lifestyle.
...one point you forgot to mention. You cannot upgrade a laptop as easily as a desktop PC. It's cheaper to buy new components to improve performance on a desktop. With a laptop, you often have to replace the entire motherboard, which costs just as much as a new laptop...
Timely for me! I went to an estate sale this past weekend & snagged 2 crazy-comfortable, perfect condition leather side chairs for less than the price of one new kitchen-type chair. They are the finishing touch in our living room.
For estate sales I also select based on location (i.e., nicer and/or more established older neighborhoods), as I don't have much tolerance for foraging through a lot of discount-store sourced items. Usually the ones being run by an estate sale company are better organized and have better items, even if there's a small price premium.