I read with interest once about a man in Las Vegas who would collect up all the unwanted cuddly toys, was them and then sell them to coach parties coming to town. Supposedly he made a million dollars!
Glad you covered this topic as well as included some guidelines. I've seen people do some pretty stupid stuff when regifting and if you plan to make a regifting idea work - you need to be smart about it or you certainly will risk hurt feelings.
I don't think there is anything wrong with a quality regift. I think of it as the person who orginally gave the gift actually gave me the gift to make others happy. It's important that people receiving the gifts should feel that there was at least some effort and thought behind the gift.
Keeping a supply of unused gifts, can really help save you money in a pinch - especially for people on a strict budget. It is however important to remember that people who don't have much cash shouldn't feel obligated to give away gifts they actually like just to give a gift. Living within your means is essentially to getting out of debt and on a solid financial track.
While advertising for Metamucil might make financial sense for you, your readers would be better served by eating foods high in fiber like wheat/oat bran and legumes which are cheaper and healthier.
I have horizon in my fridge right now and I really started to question the truth because it is sold in an Albertsons which normally means big business. Thanks for looking into this! Pollans other book, In Defense of Food is a great one too. Keep up the research though, it really is valuable information and hopefully we can continue to make our best efforts to change this system.
I wonder how safe they are? With all the food recalls we've seen in the past few years, I'm not going to put any produce in my mouth that I haven't washed myself!
The thing I really hate about this product is that it encourages us to inhale our food rather than take the time to enjoy it. I shouldn't be able to "chug" something as expensive as blueberries.
Works for me! Even if it's only an extra 130 calories a day, it's something. And with such a busy schedule, it's something that most anyone can fit into their day.
Being healthy is critical to being long-term frugal. Not only does maintaining a healthy living standard cost less than routine overindulgence, but the costs of healthcare favor the person who has made a habit out of managing portions, and keeing their arteries clear.
I really liked the water/metamucil tip...I'll have to try that starting today. I'd also like to suggest splicing meals into smaller, frequent portions. I'm a bit fan of snacking and feeling regularly nourished throughout the day. The worst thing to do is binge when starved!
This was a really interesting post! I had heard about the worm poop on The Good Human just recently, but many years ago when I was a teenager I had one of those tire messenger bags, only mine was from a car tire. The only problem was when it was full of stuff the strap was *very* bouncy. Very, very bouncy! I eventually had to get rid of it because of that.
There is a company that makes bags from seat belts. I think in the beginning the seat belts were actually taken from cars, but now they are taken from scraps leftover from car manufacturers, I think.
It sounded to me like Gina wanted affordable health insurance.
I really don't see that as wanting "other people" to pay for your health care. People don't usually talk about car insurance as wanting "other people" to pay for your car accidents or homeowners insurance as wanting "other people" to pay for damage to your house.
I am not sure where to post, here or zenhabits, so I will post in both places :)
I am gIad to see this brought up, but I think this article is poorly framed (and I am dismayed by a lot of the comments on zenhabits). This isn’t nostalgia versus efficiency - this is short term versus long term. Big Box stores have an important advantage over independent small stores: they are so big that they can afford to artificially lower their prices and operate at a loss until they have driven competitors out of business, then they are free to raise their prices right back up. You think they don’t eventually charge what the market will bear?
Secondly, large chains have political clout and are able to get incentives (tax breaks and even tax money) just to come to small towns, where local politicians hope they will bring money and jobs. In Walmart’s case, that has not always turned out the way people hoped.
Final, a poster on zenhabits weirdly claimed that now that America has such a big middle class it can no longer affor the mom and pop shops. The mom and pop shop owners *were* the middle class. The new employees at Walmart are not middle class. Less mom and pops, more Walmarts: the trend is clear, and not exactly in favour of a growing middle class.
Finally, as mentioned, to make things cheap, they hire cheap labour and use cheaply made foreign materials. This makes a literally cheaper product: lesser quality, lesser price. And American money flows out of the country and standards of quality control and employee remuneration get ground down. That is a cost, paid by the community. There are benefits to large chains, and I use them myself, but I don’t devote myself to accumulating the most stuff. I buy quality and I buy less. The qulity items I buy, last. So I paid more in the short term, but gained in the long term. I consume less, because I am beginning to see that everything does have a cost. And cost and value are not only dollar issues.
I wish this article had not framed the debate as “cute old timey America (sadly too expensive) vs. the new efficient Corporate America” but rather: are we interested in saving for the short term or the long term?
I agree with, and like, most of the suggestions. I find that in the summer a nice bowl of gazpacho is quite a tasty treat and so easy to make. Just cuisinart a bell pepper (any color), tomatoes, cucumber (peeled) and a bit of onion add broth or tomato juice as needed. Delicious and helathy.
But and this is a HUGE BUT I will never EVER put fresca in my wine. That's repulsive. I'd rather not drink wine at all. The very thought turns my stomach. Ick. Wine is meant to be enjoyed and savored NOT ruined.
I can't imagine buying that even for our kids. Buy large package of blueberries, rinse and put into those reusable plastic containers (rubbermaid, glad reusables). I refused to buy go-gurts any longer last year. So the kids put yogurt into a plastic container and grabbed a spoon to put in their lunch. Maybe my kids are more cooperative when it comes to food?
Some of the ready made things like individual bags of carrots, string cheese or pre-peeled boiled eggs. I will pick those up if I am traveling at a grocery or convenience store rather than buying fast food. I wouldn't when at home though.
Great post- it's true about serving sizes, like JohnS above I've noticed the difference between Europe and North America, my partner and I both noticed the weight creeping on when we first moved here. Now we mostly split portions.
As for the exercise- I have a rule; if I go out for coffee or lunch when at work I have to take the stairs, the thought of climbing 7 flights is usually enough to convince me to pack my lunch and if I do succumb, at least I'm going part way to working it off!
These are all great tips for the slow and steady as she goes route to weight loss. Unfortunately that never worked for me. For years I kept my weight down by exercising hard to make up for eating too much of everything not so good for me. But, when I started blogging, I realized I didn't want to keep up that heavy workout schedule. I'd rather be at home blogging! : ) So, I tried water fasting and it worked like a dream. I needed to reset my "body clock" if you will to stop wanting all that high-fat, high-sugar, super spicy food I used to crave -- not to mention yummy cocktails (cosmos and margaritas were my favorites). But, long story short, water fasting did the trick for me. Now, I'm on mostly raw food and love the extra energy and no more NEED to exercise to keep the weight down. An unexpected side benefit, I actually want to exercise to burn off the extra energy! Go figure! Anyway, I chronicled my fast, how to do it, the risks and benefits in a "Fasting Log" at http://shanelyang.com/2008/07/03/fasting-log-day-1/ for all who are interested. It's definitely a cheap way to lose weight!
some great advice there. it is amazing really how big our serving sizes have become here in America. I lived overseas in London for 3 years, just moved back here last year. You quickly learn why Americans have a reputation for being fat and eating crappy food. People in London are very wealthy too, far richer than the average American so the rhetoric about Americans eating more because they are richer is just nonsense. Go to any developed country and people don't eat as much as we do, but they do eat much better both in terms of healthier meals as well as wider variety and much better quality food. When I first moved out there I wasn't used to the smaller portion sizes you would get in restaurants but quickly became accustomed to it. I lost all my excess weight while I lived there and felt so much better. My meals were not only smaller but much tastier too. Almost no fast food and even the chain restaurants served high quality food, not like the chains here (Applebees, TGIF, etc. which serve garbage). Over the last year since moving back I have gained back some weight and gotten high blood pressure and just feel unhealthy. I really like the smaller dinner plates idea because when I think about it my dinner plates are much larger than the ones I used when I lived in London. But in both places I ate around one plate of food and felt satisfied, even though out there it was much less food.
I just discovered you today (spurred by financial angst) and after you made me LOL re: blueberries and beer IVs I had to read more. So please give yourself a pat on the back for helping MOST of us with number 3! I have recently become infected with the blog and forum virus (but only where there’s humor and sarcasm), and a morals-toting, Think-of-the-Children-spouting post can kill the flow of humorous banter like a fart in church! Wait. That would probably make me laugh. Like dropping your funnel cake in the dirt! Yeah, like that. There was a subject matter warning PEE-PULL!
Well I’m laughing, drinking water and pain-free at the moment, so I just need to get home, cop a buzz and satisfy myself on the deck before the sun goes down! (I live on the 2nd floor, so I’ll consider number 2 covered too.)
I read with interest once about a man in Las Vegas who would collect up all the unwanted cuddly toys, was them and then sell them to coach parties coming to town. Supposedly he made a million dollars!
Glad you covered this topic as well as included some guidelines. I've seen people do some pretty stupid stuff when regifting and if you plan to make a regifting idea work - you need to be smart about it or you certainly will risk hurt feelings.
I don't think there is anything wrong with a quality regift. I think of it as the person who orginally gave the gift actually gave me the gift to make others happy. It's important that people receiving the gifts should feel that there was at least some effort and thought behind the gift.
Keeping a supply of unused gifts, can really help save you money in a pinch - especially for people on a strict budget. It is however important to remember that people who don't have much cash shouldn't feel obligated to give away gifts they actually like just to give a gift. Living within your means is essentially to getting out of debt and on a solid financial track.
Good post!!
While advertising for Metamucil might make financial sense for you, your readers would be better served by eating foods high in fiber like wheat/oat bran and legumes which are cheaper and healthier.
I have horizon in my fridge right now and I really started to question the truth because it is sold in an Albertsons which normally means big business. Thanks for looking into this! Pollans other book, In Defense of Food is a great one too. Keep up the research though, it really is valuable information and hopefully we can continue to make our best efforts to change this system.
I wonder how safe they are? With all the food recalls we've seen in the past few years, I'm not going to put any produce in my mouth that I haven't washed myself!
The thing I really hate about this product is that it encourages us to inhale our food rather than take the time to enjoy it. I shouldn't be able to "chug" something as expensive as blueberries.
Works for me! Even if it's only an extra 130 calories a day, it's something. And with such a busy schedule, it's something that most anyone can fit into their day.
Thanks for such a good list of tips!
Linsey
Not that good for you. Contributes to bad intestinal health. This is great advice. Not.
PS- small caloric deficits created by walking more have NEVER been shown to be a long term solution to anyone's weight problem.
I'd suggest we stick to money. What we know.
Blueberries are crazy expensive anyways...there's no way I'm going to fork over the money for those plastic encased ones!
I'm big on combining errands too...and like you, I'm much more motivated when I think about a trip in dollars and cents.
Super cool picture of the gas pump, by the way!
Being healthy is critical to being long-term frugal. Not only does maintaining a healthy living standard cost less than routine overindulgence, but the costs of healthcare favor the person who has made a habit out of managing portions, and keeing their arteries clear.
I really liked the water/metamucil tip...I'll have to try that starting today. I'd also like to suggest splicing meals into smaller, frequent portions. I'm a bit fan of snacking and feeling regularly nourished throughout the day. The worst thing to do is binge when starved!
This was a really interesting post! I had heard about the worm poop on The Good Human just recently, but many years ago when I was a teenager I had one of those tire messenger bags, only mine was from a car tire. The only problem was when it was full of stuff the strap was *very* bouncy. Very, very bouncy! I eventually had to get rid of it because of that.
There is a company that makes bags from seat belts. I think in the beginning the seat belts were actually taken from cars, but now they are taken from scraps leftover from car manufacturers, I think.
@Kelja:
It sounded to me like Gina wanted affordable health insurance.
I really don't see that as wanting "other people" to pay for your health care. People don't usually talk about car insurance as wanting "other people" to pay for your car accidents or homeowners insurance as wanting "other people" to pay for damage to your house.
I am not sure where to post, here or zenhabits, so I will post in both places :)
I am gIad to see this brought up, but I think this article is poorly framed (and I am dismayed by a lot of the comments on zenhabits). This isn’t nostalgia versus efficiency - this is short term versus long term. Big Box stores have an important advantage over independent small stores: they are so big that they can afford to artificially lower their prices and operate at a loss until they have driven competitors out of business, then they are free to raise their prices right back up. You think they don’t eventually charge what the market will bear?
Secondly, large chains have political clout and are able to get incentives (tax breaks and even tax money) just to come to small towns, where local politicians hope they will bring money and jobs. In Walmart’s case, that has not always turned out the way people hoped.
Final, a poster on zenhabits weirdly claimed that now that America has such a big middle class it can no longer affor the mom and pop shops. The mom and pop shop owners *were* the middle class. The new employees at Walmart are not middle class. Less mom and pops, more Walmarts: the trend is clear, and not exactly in favour of a growing middle class.
Finally, as mentioned, to make things cheap, they hire cheap labour and use cheaply made foreign materials. This makes a literally cheaper product: lesser quality, lesser price. And American money flows out of the country and standards of quality control and employee remuneration get ground down. That is a cost, paid by the community. There are benefits to large chains, and I use them myself, but I don’t devote myself to accumulating the most stuff. I buy quality and I buy less. The qulity items I buy, last. So I paid more in the short term, but gained in the long term. I consume less, because I am beginning to see that everything does have a cost. And cost and value are not only dollar issues.
I wish this article had not framed the debate as “cute old timey America (sadly too expensive) vs. the new efficient Corporate America” but rather: are we interested in saving for the short term or the long term?
I agree with, and like, most of the suggestions. I find that in the summer a nice bowl of gazpacho is quite a tasty treat and so easy to make. Just cuisinart a bell pepper (any color), tomatoes, cucumber (peeled) and a bit of onion add broth or tomato juice as needed. Delicious and helathy.
But and this is a HUGE BUT I will never EVER put fresca in my wine. That's repulsive. I'd rather not drink wine at all. The very thought turns my stomach. Ick. Wine is meant to be enjoyed and savored NOT ruined.
our planet is just one big neighborhood.
http://www.recyclebank.com
Wow! So, Gina, you can live the life you want, but you want someone else to pay for the health care?
You probably want dental care, day care, housing assistance, perhaps a gasoline or transportation credit.
I live the life I want without public assistance.
I can't imagine buying that even for our kids. Buy large package of blueberries, rinse and put into those reusable plastic containers (rubbermaid, glad reusables). I refused to buy go-gurts any longer last year. So the kids put yogurt into a plastic container and grabbed a spoon to put in their lunch. Maybe my kids are more cooperative when it comes to food?
Some of the ready made things like individual bags of carrots, string cheese or pre-peeled boiled eggs. I will pick those up if I am traveling at a grocery or convenience store rather than buying fast food. I wouldn't when at home though.
Thanks, Margot! It means a lot to me that you like the posts. :)
you know what.. I found a large bottle of metamucil in the office kitchen. I'm going to try it.
Great post- it's true about serving sizes, like JohnS above I've noticed the difference between Europe and North America, my partner and I both noticed the weight creeping on when we first moved here. Now we mostly split portions.
As for the exercise- I have a rule; if I go out for coffee or lunch when at work I have to take the stairs, the thought of climbing 7 flights is usually enough to convince me to pack my lunch and if I do succumb, at least I'm going part way to working it off!
These are all great tips for the slow and steady as she goes route to weight loss. Unfortunately that never worked for me. For years I kept my weight down by exercising hard to make up for eating too much of everything not so good for me. But, when I started blogging, I realized I didn't want to keep up that heavy workout schedule. I'd rather be at home blogging! : ) So, I tried water fasting and it worked like a dream. I needed to reset my "body clock" if you will to stop wanting all that high-fat, high-sugar, super spicy food I used to crave -- not to mention yummy cocktails (cosmos and margaritas were my favorites). But, long story short, water fasting did the trick for me. Now, I'm on mostly raw food and love the extra energy and no more NEED to exercise to keep the weight down. An unexpected side benefit, I actually want to exercise to burn off the extra energy! Go figure! Anyway, I chronicled my fast, how to do it, the risks and benefits in a "Fasting Log" at http://shanelyang.com/2008/07/03/fasting-log-day-1/ for all who are interested. It's definitely a cheap way to lose weight!
some great advice there. it is amazing really how big our serving sizes have become here in America. I lived overseas in London for 3 years, just moved back here last year. You quickly learn why Americans have a reputation for being fat and eating crappy food. People in London are very wealthy too, far richer than the average American so the rhetoric about Americans eating more because they are richer is just nonsense. Go to any developed country and people don't eat as much as we do, but they do eat much better both in terms of healthier meals as well as wider variety and much better quality food. When I first moved out there I wasn't used to the smaller portion sizes you would get in restaurants but quickly became accustomed to it. I lost all my excess weight while I lived there and felt so much better. My meals were not only smaller but much tastier too. Almost no fast food and even the chain restaurants served high quality food, not like the chains here (Applebees, TGIF, etc. which serve garbage). Over the last year since moving back I have gained back some weight and gotten high blood pressure and just feel unhealthy. I really like the smaller dinner plates idea because when I think about it my dinner plates are much larger than the ones I used when I lived in London. But in both places I ate around one plate of food and felt satisfied, even though out there it was much less food.
**oh my she likes diet red bull too, guess I’ll be hanging around for a while…**
I just discovered you today (spurred by financial angst) and after you made me LOL re: blueberries and beer IVs I had to read more. So please give yourself a pat on the back for helping MOST of us with number 3! I have recently become infected with the blog and forum virus (but only where there’s humor and sarcasm), and a morals-toting, Think-of-the-Children-spouting post can kill the flow of humorous banter like a fart in church! Wait. That would probably make me laugh. Like dropping your funnel cake in the dirt! Yeah, like that. There was a subject matter warning PEE-PULL!
Well I’m laughing, drinking water and pain-free at the moment, so I just need to get home, cop a buzz and satisfy myself on the deck before the sun goes down! (I live on the 2nd floor, so I’ll consider number 2 covered too.)
@ Gina:
I wrote a post on exactly that topic:
http://www.wisebread.com/not-free-to-be-poor