#3 isn't that weird when I was young and lived in China. A lot of public restrooms usually didn't have toilet paper, so you have to bring your own various papers to wipe yourself. newspapers worked well.
I am the grandchild of immigrant grandparents (on both sides). My parents grew up during hard times here. They were taught by their parents to work hard, have strong family ties and to get an education. Because both sets of grandparents did not have a formal education they instilled education. My dad was a double major in math and electrical engineering ( this was in 1947), my mother an english teacher; who married and never used her degree. But while she never taught students, she taught us the value of the written word. Because of her we are family of avid readers. This has been passed onto their own grandchildren also.
My parents always had a network of family and friends who all pitched in when they remodeled their kitchen. I am proud to say my husband and I also have a strong network of family and friends that we are able to get things done that normally would cost a fortune. A cousin is a lawyer, we have a doctor and some nurses in the family. However I will add we do insist on paying some for their advice, or my hubby might repair something in their homes for them. Some people unfortunately, can and do take advantage of this, so my advice is if someone helps you out for free make sure to reciprocate.
I have always loved to cook and bake, so we eat at home the majority of the time. Altough, years ago Friday night became no-cook night, so we either order-in or go out. My grandson, at 22 months is already at my side as I bake and cook! All of this is called tradition------that is something that money cannot buy!
Instead of learning to speed read, there's this awesome place called the library where you can get all the free books you want. And you can take them home to read! Much better than spending all of your evenings hanging out in a bookstore, annoying the employees.
Interesting to think what the kids and grandkids of immigrant families will do when it comes to Personal Finance philosophy? Many get sucked into living beyond their income and means, yet many retain same values. I wonder what causes differences?
Well obviously as a woman I'm going to be offended by #46 but I think that guy needs to take advantage of the advice offered in #2. There are frugal men and frugal women and plenty of spendthrifts for both sexes.
I'm the one that makes us eat the leftovers, clips the coupons, recycles the bags and take-out "tupperware" and printouts.
It's incredibly sexist to say women are less frugal than men. Yeah, maybe I want both shampoo and conditioner where you only want shampoo but I'm going to find it on clearance and use a coupon and get it for free. It's too bad that guy's wife and he can't have a real conversation about cutting costs. My fiance and I happily battle it out to see who can save the most!
I'll also add that my dear to-be-husband is a big fan of getting the large soda at the start of a road trip and refilling the cup whenever he needs a drink. I don't think this is definitely stealing but instead borderline. First, none of the employees have ever complained even though they probably knew he didn't get the cup there. Two, the cost of the cup itself is far more than the cost of the soda to fill it. There is maybe 7 cents worth of syrup and carbonated water in every humongo soda from Burger King.
Plus, if they don't charge for refills and he doesn't want to buy a new cup (which is wasteful and has a larger tax on the environment), the only real solution is to hold onto the thing.
a lot of silly ideas in the list. But if they can cause meaningful discussion or raise interesting points, that's cool. I, for one, had no clue about the retinting of returned paint.
1 – doesn’t last anywhere near as long as automotive wax. may also harm the paint.
2 – relying on someone else to fix one’s spending habits is foolish, and may very well cause an end to the relationship.
14 – this is theft.
16 – tacky, but if you don’t live someplace that has an HOA, no one can stop you.
17 – see #16. an HOA would fine the crap out of residents who did this.
18 – not all employers provide things like this. many have turned to keeping a kitty for coffee and tea purchases.
19 – wastes more gas than it saves. also puts unnecessary wear on the starter.
20 – this depends ENTIRELY on the laws of the area…and, seriously? creepy. get the hell out of my trash, thanks.
21 – again, depends entirely on local laws. some states consider this an illegal practice and will arrest offenders. please research this before doing it. if legal, don't take more than you need - there are plenty of people out there who must do this to survive. furthermore, many places are moving to compactors, so choose your diving locations carefully.
23 – theft.
25 – seriously, what makes people think all of these theft-ridden ideas are good?
27 – this is laziness, not frugality.
28 – getting the cat to STOP flushing is even harder…once they realize what fun it is to flush the toilet, they’ll keep doing it.
29 – again, i’d lump this in with theft.
30 – i’m not going to say what i’d LIKE to say, but this is really, really wrong.
39 – how do these people propose disposing of the stems? furthermore, why not eat the broccoli stems? there’s plenty of nutrients there!
41 – this isn’t terribly safe, depending on the highway.
49 – stop using wipes entirely, and switch to cloth – this will save the most money.
50 – this is how a friend of mine managed to give himself Crohn’s in college. bad idea...he's now dealing with a lifetime of steroid medications to keep him as healthy as possible.
What I like to do is go somewhere that you can get the salad bar for a couple of bucks with an entree. While I am there, i fill up on the salad bar, and then take the entree home with me. 2 meals for pretty cheap. Not too shabby. Always impresses my friends too.
although! i did once make a really cool area rug out of carpet sample squares, cut in designs and stuck together with duct tape on the back. don't expect this creation to last for years, but if you need free/cheap floor coverage, it can be a fun project.
How much toilet paper should you use? Exactly as much as you need to get your backside clean. Sometimes you need more than other times, like when you've eaten nothing but chilli for the last 6 days.
That being said, what people probably REALLY need to address is how much toilet paper they think they need as a buffer between their hand and their own nether regions.
If you plan to wash your hands afterwards, you can overcome the fear of having less of a TP buffer.
@guest Try the old morphing chilli trick. With very minimal effort and cost, one huge pot of chilli can spawn spaghetti sauce one night, burritos another night; any ground beef-based meal that you know, you can extract from the giant chilli pot. It' sjust a matter of mixing in some extra sauce, spices, chopped veggies.
My wife loves the giant chilli pot thing; we do it when we have really busy weeks (like last week, preparing to move) and when we have poor weeks (two weeks ago, after renoing the new house)
She usually helps me devise new and interesting meals to extract from the chilli, but it really helps to have a good working knowledge of spices.
I used to live next door to a cemetery. They toss the flowers after a few days into a big heap behind some trees. I used to go collect the newest nicest flowers to dry and also get the ribbon, floral foam, wreath forms and stands etc.. I felt that once it had been tossed, it wasn't disrespectful, was keeing more junk out of the landfills and that in my own special way, by drying the flowers and using the ribbons that it was a better tribute to whomever had died, than to have the stuff just tossed in a trash heap.
Home Depot does not accept returned paint anymore, but when they did, they added a little extra tint to any paint that was returned for this very reason. People were returning it and then buying it back. So they added extra tint so it was no longer the color the people wanted. But they don't even accept returns anymore, so it's a moot point.
Sorry, but your comment makes little sense. Big inflation means spend now! For example if I save $100 today, and can buy $1 loaves of bread, then I have 100 loaves worth of money. Then when inflation drives the prices up 5% my loaves are 1.05 and my savings buys 95 loaves. I've lost 5 loaves of buying power by holding my cash during inflation. Of course this depends on bank interest rates or return rates on invested dollars etc.
To whomever provided idea #46 (for guys, don't get married) I have to say that as a Married Woman, I get very frusterated with my husband for doing exactly this. I would happily make 1 or 2 big casseroles, chili, stew, or any other delicious dish that makes lots of food and eat it all week. But if I try, hubby complains and will go to the nearest drivethrough after day 2.
Have we become so PC that we can't call stealing and lying "STEALING and LYING?"
If you arrange a transaction so that the other person loses and you gain because you are lying, that is stealing. It's no different than switching price tags in the store, or putting multiple items in a bag or putting things at the bottom of the cart, hoping the cashier won't notice. Stealing is taking what is not yours or shouldn't be yours.
Vincent, I am like your parents, an immigrant born in another land, who came here looking for better opportunities. So naturally, a lot of my friends are immigrants from many places. I agree that coming from hardship and having taken action to improve your situation gives you a special focus, that sharpens your aim. Basically your goals tend to be more defined, and you work with all your energy towards it.
What I constantly see with sadness is how our consumerist environment blind a lot of my friends and they start to forget one of more of those 10 lessons you mention. Capitalism makes it way to tempting and easy to forget those lessons. It studies your weaknesses as a human being and it exploits them, it goes after your desires, your temptation to vice, weaknesses such as envy, or the need to belong, peer pressure, etc.
Keeping your rules fresh in our minds and that of our descendants is the best gift we can give ourselves. It keeps on giving.
Thanks a lot for sharing.
#3 isn't that weird when I was young and lived in China. A lot of public restrooms usually didn't have toilet paper, so you have to bring your own various papers to wipe yourself. newspapers worked well.
I am the grandchild of immigrant grandparents (on both sides). My parents grew up during hard times here. They were taught by their parents to work hard, have strong family ties and to get an education. Because both sets of grandparents did not have a formal education they instilled education. My dad was a double major in math and electrical engineering ( this was in 1947), my mother an english teacher; who married and never used her degree. But while she never taught students, she taught us the value of the written word. Because of her we are family of avid readers. This has been passed onto their own grandchildren also.
My parents always had a network of family and friends who all pitched in when they remodeled their kitchen. I am proud to say my husband and I also have a strong network of family and friends that we are able to get things done that normally would cost a fortune. A cousin is a lawyer, we have a doctor and some nurses in the family. However I will add we do insist on paying some for their advice, or my hubby might repair something in their homes for them. Some people unfortunately, can and do take advantage of this, so my advice is if someone helps you out for free make sure to reciprocate.
I have always loved to cook and bake, so we eat at home the majority of the time. Altough, years ago Friday night became no-cook night, so we either order-in or go out. My grandson, at 22 months is already at my side as I bake and cook! All of this is called tradition------that is something that money cannot buy!
Comment 23 is meant to be a reply to 15.
I've seen several people in public restrooms not wash their hands after a number two. Gross!
Instead of learning to speed read, there's this awesome place called the library where you can get all the free books you want. And you can take them home to read! Much better than spending all of your evenings hanging out in a bookstore, annoying the employees.
Interesting to think what the kids and grandkids of immigrant families will do when it comes to Personal Finance philosophy? Many get sucked into living beyond their income and means, yet many retain same values. I wonder what causes differences?
Vince
Well obviously as a woman I'm going to be offended by #46 but I think that guy needs to take advantage of the advice offered in #2. There are frugal men and frugal women and plenty of spendthrifts for both sexes.
I'm the one that makes us eat the leftovers, clips the coupons, recycles the bags and take-out "tupperware" and printouts.
It's incredibly sexist to say women are less frugal than men. Yeah, maybe I want both shampoo and conditioner where you only want shampoo but I'm going to find it on clearance and use a coupon and get it for free. It's too bad that guy's wife and he can't have a real conversation about cutting costs. My fiance and I happily battle it out to see who can save the most!
I'll also add that my dear to-be-husband is a big fan of getting the large soda at the start of a road trip and refilling the cup whenever he needs a drink. I don't think this is definitely stealing but instead borderline. First, none of the employees have ever complained even though they probably knew he didn't get the cup there. Two, the cost of the cup itself is far more than the cost of the soda to fill it. There is maybe 7 cents worth of syrup and carbonated water in every humongo soda from Burger King.
Plus, if they don't charge for refills and he doesn't want to buy a new cup (which is wasteful and has a larger tax on the environment), the only real solution is to hold onto the thing.
a lot of silly ideas in the list. But if they can cause meaningful discussion or raise interesting points, that's cool. I, for one, had no clue about the retinting of returned paint.
i'm sorry, but i MUST respond to many of these.
1 – doesn’t last anywhere near as long as automotive wax. may also harm the paint.
2 – relying on someone else to fix one’s spending habits is foolish, and may very well cause an end to the relationship.
14 – this is theft.
16 – tacky, but if you don’t live someplace that has an HOA, no one can stop you.
17 – see #16. an HOA would fine the crap out of residents who did this.
18 – not all employers provide things like this. many have turned to keeping a kitty for coffee and tea purchases.
19 – wastes more gas than it saves. also puts unnecessary wear on the starter.
20 – this depends ENTIRELY on the laws of the area…and, seriously? creepy. get the hell out of my trash, thanks.
21 – again, depends entirely on local laws. some states consider this an illegal practice and will arrest offenders. please research this before doing it. if legal, don't take more than you need - there are plenty of people out there who must do this to survive. furthermore, many places are moving to compactors, so choose your diving locations carefully.
23 – theft.
25 – seriously, what makes people think all of these theft-ridden ideas are good?
27 – this is laziness, not frugality.
28 – getting the cat to STOP flushing is even harder…once they realize what fun it is to flush the toilet, they’ll keep doing it.
29 – again, i’d lump this in with theft.
30 – i’m not going to say what i’d LIKE to say, but this is really, really wrong.
39 – how do these people propose disposing of the stems? furthermore, why not eat the broccoli stems? there’s plenty of nutrients there!
41 – this isn’t terribly safe, depending on the highway.
49 – stop using wipes entirely, and switch to cloth – this will save the most money.
50 – this is how a friend of mine managed to give himself Crohn’s in college. bad idea...he's now dealing with a lifetime of steroid medications to keep him as healthy as possible.
Some of these tipsters really should be arrested.
What I like to do is go somewhere that you can get the salad bar for a couple of bucks with an entree. While I am there, i fill up on the salad bar, and then take the entree home with me. 2 meals for pretty cheap. Not too shabby. Always impresses my friends too.
well, that's a whole lot of stupid up there.
although! i did once make a really cool area rug out of carpet sample squares, cut in designs and stuck together with duct tape on the back. don't expect this creation to last for years, but if you need free/cheap floor coverage, it can be a fun project.
everyone plans to wash their hands afterwards. If not, I know why Donald Trump won't shake hands any more.
How much toilet paper should you use? Exactly as much as you need to get your backside clean. Sometimes you need more than other times, like when you've eaten nothing but chilli for the last 6 days.
That being said, what people probably REALLY need to address is how much toilet paper they think they need as a buffer between their hand and their own nether regions.
If you plan to wash your hands afterwards, you can overcome the fear of having less of a TP buffer.
@guest Try the old morphing chilli trick. With very minimal effort and cost, one huge pot of chilli can spawn spaghetti sauce one night, burritos another night; any ground beef-based meal that you know, you can extract from the giant chilli pot. It' sjust a matter of mixing in some extra sauce, spices, chopped veggies.
My wife loves the giant chilli pot thing; we do it when we have really busy weeks (like last week, preparing to move) and when we have poor weeks (two weeks ago, after renoing the new house)
She usually helps me devise new and interesting meals to extract from the chilli, but it really helps to have a good working knowledge of spices.
I used to live next door to a cemetery. They toss the flowers after a few days into a big heap behind some trees. I used to go collect the newest nicest flowers to dry and also get the ribbon, floral foam, wreath forms and stands etc.. I felt that once it had been tossed, it wasn't disrespectful, was keeing more junk out of the landfills and that in my own special way, by drying the flowers and using the ribbons that it was a better tribute to whomever had died, than to have the stuff just tossed in a trash heap.
Home Depot does not accept returned paint anymore, but when they did, they added a little extra tint to any paint that was returned for this very reason. People were returning it and then buying it back. So they added extra tint so it was no longer the color the people wanted. But they don't even accept returns anymore, so it's a moot point.
Sorry, but your comment makes little sense. Big inflation means spend now! For example if I save $100 today, and can buy $1 loaves of bread, then I have 100 loaves worth of money. Then when inflation drives the prices up 5% my loaves are 1.05 and my savings buys 95 loaves. I've lost 5 loaves of buying power by holding my cash during inflation. Of course this depends on bank interest rates or return rates on invested dollars etc.
While a small number of the items on this list are useful, the majority border on ridiculous and/or flat out shady.
A good list to use when determining the viability of a potential mate, however. If he does more than X amount of things on this list--DELETE!
To whomever provided idea #46 (for guys, don't get married) I have to say that as a Married Woman, I get very frusterated with my husband for doing exactly this. I would happily make 1 or 2 big casseroles, chili, stew, or any other delicious dish that makes lots of food and eat it all week. But if I try, hubby complains and will go to the nearest drivethrough after day 2.
All those car pooling sites are for local carpooling. Check out www.liftsurfer.com if you are looking for a one off cross-country rideshare.
Have we become so PC that we can't call stealing and lying "STEALING and LYING?"
If you arrange a transaction so that the other person loses and you gain because you are lying, that is stealing. It's no different than switching price tags in the store, or putting multiple items in a bag or putting things at the bottom of the cart, hoping the cashier won't notice. Stealing is taking what is not yours or shouldn't be yours.
What you want to look for is a "pure" paste wax, without additives. Then it is right for car and furniture.
Vincent, I am like your parents, an immigrant born in another land, who came here looking for better opportunities. So naturally, a lot of my friends are immigrants from many places. I agree that coming from hardship and having taken action to improve your situation gives you a special focus, that sharpens your aim. Basically your goals tend to be more defined, and you work with all your energy towards it.
What I constantly see with sadness is how our consumerist environment blind a lot of my friends and they start to forget one of more of those 10 lessons you mention. Capitalism makes it way to tempting and easy to forget those lessons. It studies your weaknesses as a human being and it exploits them, it goes after your desires, your temptation to vice, weaknesses such as envy, or the need to belong, peer pressure, etc.
Keeping your rules fresh in our minds and that of our descendants is the best gift we can give ourselves. It keeps on giving.
Thanks a lot for sharing.
I think the description you're looking for is: asinine!