The Dollar Stretcher : frugal living

Frugal Friends

Gary — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:47:00 GMT

One thing that I really enjoy about my job is that I get to meet a lot of interesting people. And, not surprisingly, many of them are of the frugal living stripe.

Two of them are Annette and Steve Economides. They're often referred to as "America's Cheapest Family". I've had the pleasure of trading ideas with Steve on more than one occassion. If there were a frugal living all-star team, you'd find Steve and Annette on the first team! They have a website that I'm sure you'll find interesting.

Recently, I was introduced to Vicky and Jen and their site called "What Really Matters". They wanted me to know about a podcast interview they did with Annette and Steve. If you're a podcast fan you'll want to check it out. Their discussion touched on pricey
cleaning products, money and kids, grocery shopping and more. You might want to check out the rest of their site. I spent some enjoyable time their myself.

Keep on Stretching those Dollars!

Gary

Specator Sports

Gary — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:46:00 GMT

Heard an interesting phrase at a conference I was attending. It came from Tom Evans, President and CEO of Bankrate. He said that "money is no longer a spectator sport" and I think that he's right.

When we bought our first home the choices in mortgages were pretty simple. Unless you were self-employed you took out a 30 year mortgage. There was a little difference in closing costs and points, but nothing too dramatic.

Credit cards were also pretty simple. You had gas, store and bank cards. But no 'cash back' or points cards. Everyone had the same payment due date. And, interest rates on most cards for most customers were the same.

Back then you could put your finances on autopilot. Sure you needed to know how much you owed on your credit card. But there weren't too many decisions to make.

Sure is a different world today. Much, much more complicated. Not only do you need to know how each different credit card is handling your balance, but also how they're handling new purchases. And, your mortgage, well that's another whole topic.

Tom was right. Money is no longer a spectator sport. Whether you like it or not, you're a part of the game. And, that means reading more and learning more. No doubt, that's a challenge for many people. Fortunately, there are a lot of good resources available to you. We hope that you consider The Dollar Stretcher.com and our newsletters to be one of those good resources.

Keep on Stretchin' those Dollars!

Gary

Supply and Demand

Gary — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:10:00 GMT

Wow! The news is full of stories about rising gas and food prices. For those of us who pay attention to our expenses it's not a big surprise. We've known for awhile that's been happening. In fact, what surprises us (at least me) is that so many people were unaware of what was happening.

Take gas for instance. World demand is up (primarily due to growth in China and India). Supply is basically unchanged. Economics 101 will tell you that prices will rise. On one hand we can argue about how to increase energy supplies or whether we can conserve enough to offset increased demand by other countries. But, that's not really our mission here.

What we can do here is provide ideas that you can put to work this week to reduce those gas and grocery bills. So with that in mind I invite you to pour a tall glass of your favorite cool beverage (I favor sweet tea or lemonade), sit back and enjoy this week's issue. I hope that you find it saves you some money!

Become an Inflation Fighter

Gary — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:05:00 GMT

For the first time in years, inflation is back in the news. If you've studied economics, that's no surprise to you. In an attempt to make it easy for people to borrow money, the Federal Reserve has been lowering interest rates for years. When they do that, they reduce the value of the U.S. Dollar compared to other currencies. That has the effect of raising the price that you and I pay. Especially for foreign goods. (yes, you can argue that helps the American worker, but it does raise prices)

Add to that increased demand for certain commodities (for instance, corn to make ethanol, oil and building materials in the far east) without an increase in the supply of those commodities and prices will go up. That's basic supply and demand.

But you don't need to get into economics with the typical consumer. We already know that prices are going up. I bought gas and groceries in the last week. Enough said. What we need is a solution.

Here at the Dollar Stretcher we can't lower prices for you. That's beyond our abilities. But we can show you how to substitute a cheaper product, use less of a product or find it for the best price possible. All those things will reduce the effect of inflation on your family.

And, we're going to make every effort to do just that. We'll be calling them "Inflation Fighters" and you'll find them in our email newsletters, our Community Forum and on our website. Just look for the words "Inflation Fighter" and you'll find articles to help you deal with the inflation that we're all facing.We're also starting a weekly email newsletter with articles specifically designed to help you become a Inflation Fighter. To subscribe send an email to subscribe-InflationFighters@hub.TheDollarStretcher.com.

Here's to a less expensive tomorrow!
Gary

Mixed Messages

Gary — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:08:00 GMT

Saw something fairly interesting yesterday. I was sitting waiting for a stoplight to change when a cab pulled into the lane next to me. I knew it was a cab because it had a sign painted on the door. The car was a little smaller and older than what you normally think of as a cab.

Then the cab pulled forward a bit. Stenciled on its back window was "We Buy Junk Cars" and a phone number. I couldn't help but laugh. Talk about mixed messages! I didn't get a hance to see whether the phone number was the same as the one on the door. It could be that the ad was for a different company. But, even so, if I were running a cab company, the last thing I'd want customers to be thinking about is junk cars. Especially if my cars were a little older.

Seemed kind of dumb, but then again, maybe I do something similar myself. I live a frugal lifestyle except when I choose a fast food lunch instead of the sandwich fixings I have waiting for me at work. I suspect that if I think about it for awhile, I'll come up with other mixed messages in my financial life.

So maybe spending a little time looking for the mixed messages in our lives would be a good thing. Sure hope I don't find too many!

Keep on Stretching those dollars!

Gary

Real Simple

Gary — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 13:47:00 GMT

I think that those of us who are into frugal living are blessed with a lot of fine resources. Among them is a magazine and website called "Real Simple." Their main focus is on simple living (with a modern interpretation). They had contacted me about an article they were working on awhile back. Just published it the other day. You can find it here

The concept of simple living seems a little strange. Especially when we discuss it in a blog wired to the net. I'm sure that it doesn't mean the same thing that it did years ago. Back then living simply meant a return to a less mechanized, more rural life. Supporters tended to be self-reliant. The live off of the land types.

But like so many things you don't have to go all the way to benefit from the concept. You don't have to leave civilization behind to simplify your life. Depending on your lifestyle it could be something as simple as getting rid of some of the clutter in your home. I suspect that if we did more of that there would be fewer people looking for bigger homes (did you know that the average home is about 50% bigger than it was 30 years ago?).

It might be time for you to simplify your finances. I don't know the statistics, but I bet a lot of people have more than one IRA. That's ok if there's a specific investment reason for each one. But if they're both doing the same thing it would be simpler to only have to monitor one of them.

I remember watching westerns on TV. Occasionally you'd see one that included a wagon train heading west. Often, if they ran into trouble, they'd leave behind the things that they felt that they could live without. Sometimes those things had traveled with them for many, many difficult miles. It must have been hard to do that.

It could be that our lives are a little like that wagon train. Look around your world and see if there aren't some things that are not adding anything to your life. If you find something like that it's time to give serious consideration to leaving it behind. Even if it's been part of your life for years.

In case you'd like to find out more about the simple living lifestyle you might like to check out an email newsletter called Simple Times A good friend of ours, Debi Taylor-Hough, has been sharing great ideas with her readers for years. Might be a good way to get a start on a simple, more fulfilling life.

Keep on stretching those dollars (and other resources!)

Gary

The Refrigerator Test

Gary — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 14:13:00 GMT

I was invited to a friend's surprise birthday party this weekend. Had a great time. Good friends and good food. Can't ask for much more than that! But I noticed something during the afternoon/evening. This friend often hosts an 'open house'. They'll throw on a big batch of food, people will bring more and everyone has a great time. It's the kind of place where you just know it's ok to head for the refrigerator if you need something. No need to ask first.

It occurred to me that demonstrated a lot of financial freedom. To paraphrase past wisdom - "you can measure how rich a person is by how little he needs" - i.e. the richest person isn't the person who HAS everything - it's the person who NEEDS nothing.

Refrigerators are an interesting thing. If you come over to my house you can be pretty sure that I'll ask if you'd like something to drink. But I'll be the one to get it for you. Refrigerators are kind of a private thing. You don't need to know that I've got some cheese curds tucked away in a corner that I'm reluctant to share with anyone. And, that's the problem. At that point I don't really own the cheese curds, they own me. (ouch!)

Guess I still have some growing to do. But that's ok. At least I know what direction I'm headed and have some idea on how to get there!

Keep on stretchin' those dollars!

Gary

On the Road Again (with apologies to Willie Nelson)

Gary — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:11:00 GMT

Just finished an overnight road trip with a friend of mine. Saw something that I'm still not sure what to make of it. Somewhere along I-75 just south of the Florida/Georgia border is a truck stop with an amazing store attached to it. I doubt that it's unique. I just don't get on the interstate for long drives that often. Unfortunately I don't even remember the name or what exit (I was just waking up from a 2am snooze when my partner pulled in).

The truck stops I remember were glorified convenience stores. But this was like a small shopping center rolled into one store. Along with the regular items, they had everything from 'Betty Boop' pieces to a case with a variety of hunting and ornamental knives. Oh, and the case with blown glass items. And then there were all the native American Indian rugs. Not to mention the junk metal artwork. Truly a unique store.

I'm used to looking at things through the eyes of a consumer. But, even 6 hours (and a lot of black coffee) later, I still don't know what the store represents. I really would have liked to see it in the middle of the day when the roads were jammed with tourists. Now that I think about it, it probably looks a lot like any shopping center or mall in the country. Some folks buying necessities (food, clothing). Some buying things that they forgot to buy earlier (a present for Aunt Mary, a pair of sunglasses). Others are buying because something caught their eye (stained glass cowboy anyone?). And, still others aren't buying at all, just looking out of curiosity.

One thing is certain. We sure do have a variety of stuff available to us. No matter where we might be. Truly amazing. And, while that's good in a lot of different ways, it's also dangerous. Let's face it. When we're buying something at a truck stop we're buying it because we need it right now. Convenience is more important than selection, quality or price. (just for the record, the shop we found appeared to be stocked with quality items at a reasonable price, but I bet that's not true in every similar store) We all know that buying in a hurry is a good way to set ourselves up for regret later.

Keep on stretching those dollars!

Gary

Am I a Victim?

Gary — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:01:00 GMT

Just the other day I was reading an article about politics. Part of the article talked about how some people more easily accept victim status. I don't know how true it is in the political world. But, I do know that it's true in the financial world. Some people look at themselves as financial victims. They feel that they have no control over their financial future. That it's all under someone else's control. And, that there's nothing they can do to change it. Fortunately, most Dollar Stretchers know that they don't have to play the victim. They can take control of their circumstances and put themselves in a position where they'll control their financial destiny.

It hurts to see people victimized. Take, for instance, our friends who have a variable mortgage that just jumped. They can't afford the payment and the current market makes it very hard to sell the house. Right now they're victims. Certainly it's not their fault that the housing market is down for the first time in recent memory. They assumed that they could refinance when they got to this point. At least that's what they were told when they bought the house.

It could have been different if they had been regular Dollar Stretcher readers. They would have read the warnings from Greg McBride of Bankrate www.bankrate.com/dls about interest only and variable mortgages. They would have known exactly the dangers they faced. They would have read numerous articles on how to calculate how much house you can afford. It could have been different.

Please understand that this is not a backhanded way of saying "I told you so". It is a way of saying that in many cases you don't have to be a victim unless you choose to be. You have the right to know what could happen with a mortgage. Or a car payment. Or a credit card payment. You have the information available to you to help you make an informed decision (we publish much of it right here). You have the ability to understand the information. You have the ability to make decisions that will keep you from being a victim later. And, that's the key. You can take steps now to prevent you from being a victim later.

Are there some situations that are outside of your control? Sure! Some things happen to us that there's no way to predict or protect ourselves from. In those cases we are indeed victims. But, we encourage you to take control of as many financial situations as you can. Some will require a little effort on your part. Others will require you to put off a purchase or buy something less expensive that what you originally planned.

So refuse to be a victim. Don't let anyone take control of your financial life. Even if you can't control everything that could happen in the future, Choose to take control of the events that you can. You'll find that it pays big dividends in the future!

Keep on stretching those dollars!

Gary