The late Randy Pausch said that there’s a reason for the saying, “good enough,” because sometimes something really is good enough. One of the questions to ask when frugality is an area of importance in your life is, with every purchase, is what you’re getting really good enough?
For instance, I love, love, love my Nikon D40 DSLR camera. It’s not made anymore (apparently) and was the lowest of Nikon’s low end line, but it takes great pictures, it’s very portable, and it’s fun to use. I’m not a pro photographer although I am constantly trying to improve (my Project 365 photoblog might interest you–or might not), and I do plan on getting a higher end DSLR at some point, but right now, is my D40 good enough? I would say definitely yes. A better camera helps, but it won’t make me a better photographer all by itself.
Additionally, I’ve blogged many times about my Bianchi–a bike I bought used off of Craigslist that took me through a 62 mile group ride at the best pace I’ve had for a group ride at distance. Is it a great bike? No. But it is definitely sufficient for an experienced but slow cyclist like myself.
Would I like to have a Nikon D3 or a Serotta Legend SE? Sure. But I also don’t want that hole in my wallet. And in the end, my low end equipment is definitely–for me–good enough.
On the other hand, sometimes it’s possible to get burned going too cheaply. I have a monopod that I rate as fair–I’d likely have been better off getting one that cost about $15 more, for instance. And when it comes to a tripod, for instance, I’m likely to spend $100 on one that will last and give me high quality than $30 on a bunch of them that I wont be satisfied with. It’s hard to know when something is worth more money and when it’s not, but it’s a question to ask yourself when you lay down your hard earned money.
I recently purchased my plane tickets to get to the east coast for Livestrong Challenge Philadelphia for a very decent $583 all inclusive.
It’s one of the lowest airfares to the east coast I’ve ever paid, and actually, just the week before, the prices were more like $800.
In years past, when I’ve looked for airfare, I’ve gone to Travelocity (and Preview Travel before they got swallowed up), Expedia, Orbitz, Hotwire, and maybe a few more sites and entered information on the flight individually, but this year, I didn’t need to. Kayak is not just a search engine for airfare but an aggregator which will search other sites as well.
Comparing all of those sites has become much easier. I’m quite happy with Kayak.
I’m working my way through Thomas Stanley’s Stop Acting Rich …and Start living Like a Real Millionaire. Like his previous works, I love it.
One of the distinctions made in this book is the “glittering rich”; these are folks far beyond even the millionaires that were the focus of much of his previous work, the ones who lived next door and wouldn’t really impress anyone as rich, because so much of their wealth was built defensively–through frugality and smart investing–rather than offensively–through very very high earnings.
A lot of the glittering rich are entertainers or professional athletes–people with incomes and assets far beyond the masses–and they glitter by what they buy. For instance, having multiple homes or cars or motorcycles or you name it that cost a large amount of money.
But interestingly, there are times when these glittering rich, despite their glitter, are frugal: they are still spending well below their means.
Of course, not everyone falls into this category–for instance, MC Hammer, the well known entertainer, is also well known for having to declare bankruptcy, largely due to excessive spending. But still, consider that the glittering rich–the ones that so many strive to emulate–may still be frugal even with their glitter. The lesson for the rest of us is that it’s always fashionable to live below your means, glitter or not.
Thrift stores have been around forever, but they haven’t always been thought of in this light. Recycling (not cans, but other things like clothes and electronics) is not just a way to get your no longer wanted belongings out the door–it’s a way to assist the less fortunate (most of the thrift stores I know of support non profit organizations), keep these things out of landfills, and help others save dollars.
Sometimes this goes further; for instance, I’ve discussed several times how to use old Linksys (or some other brand) routers as powerhouses using the freely available dd-wrt third party firmware. I’ve taken that further–when I have a friend on Twitter, for instance, having an issue with their home network, I get them one of these and their network typically just magically works again. I get them from thrift stores, garage sales, and other Twitter users. One person gets rid of something unwanted, another gets their network fixed, and I get to do some good.
Consider what social aspects your recycling efforts might have.
I spent Saturday morning doing a little geocaching, one of my five outdoor activities that are frugal, fun, and healthy from an old post in 2008. I did this–trying to find four caches that are very entry level as far as difficulty goes–because in a week we’re going to have a Tweetup (a gathering of Twitter users) to try to find those four caches, which I’m the host of.
The cost to all of this is virtually nothing. I already have a GPS in my phone as well as two for driving, and the information on Geocaching.com is free. Twitter is free to use, and the Twtvite service to let people know about the activity is also free.
All of this for nothing.
Entertainment costs are often huge for budgets, but they can also be nearly non-existent. Between activities like this, swimming in public pools, bicycling, hiking, running, and using the public library, I can keep my costs for entertainment way, way down.
What’s the cost of fun for some of your favorite activities? I bet it’s higher than mine; if it’s not, I want to hear about it!
CNNMoney.com ran an article a couple of weeks ago that just caught my eye today called “Stop squandering my inheritance!” in which they discussed concerns that adult children had about parents spending frivolously.
While that in and of itself is fine–I’m not in favor of anyone spending frivolously–taking the tact of this kind of behavior affecting the size of someone’s inheritance doesn’t seem to me to be taking the tact of caring for a beloved family member. Instead, it seems more like selfishly caring about yourself.
My mother’s money is her money–I want her to do with it whatever she chooses to, including paying for care when she needs it, but also anything she wants to. She doesn’t have to leave me or anyone else a dime.
I’ll make my own money myself.
I’m a full on thrift store fan. While I’ve not bought clothes at one–I do look but haven’t found something in my size–I have bought lots of electronics from there, including lots of routers which end up being dd-wrt devices, the equivalent in function of $600 boxes.
Today I got myself another GPS–my current (free) one is on loan to a friend who is traveling–a new in box TomTom One 140 for $50.
I can’t be alone. Do you also frequent thrift stores? What do you get there?
One of my online buddies, @bkGirlFriday, asked the following question on Twitter:
“Its date night and you only have 50 dollars. What can you do to keep you and your date entertained for the night?”
Interesting question! I thought about it for awhile and gave my one answer: bowling. Then I thought about it some more, and came up with seven things to do to stretch your dating dollar:
1) Bowling (what I said above)
2) Mini golf
3) DVD rental
4) Cooking at home
5) Hiking
6) Beach
7) Sharing a dessert with coffee
Do you have anything to add to my list?
It’s been quite awhile since I discussed snowflaking, the art of building up lots of small amounts of money into one large amount, here in this blog, largely because I haven’t been doing well at it.
One of the reasons why is that I’ve just been unable to get to the recycling station. I probably have over $50 in recyclables here. Additionally, I’ve been a bit behind on my blog billing (shock, horror!) and I haven’t gotten a payment from Google Adsense in quite some time–although one is on its way.
I was reminded of this because I just got a $50 Discover Card cashback bonus, which is kickstarting me into thinking about snowflaking again.
I’ll have to work on this harder in the next few months.
There’s a big move to “buy local”, both here and nationwide. The theory, I think, is that in tough economic times supporting small, locally owned businesses means more of the money spent stays local to you, rather than going to some large company that’s not anywhere near you.
It’s a great idea, but not always economically feasible. For instance, I would love, love, love to be able to buy bike stuff from one of my local bicycle shops, shorts, for instance. But when I can get six pairs of shorts from Performance Bike for what it would cost me for three locally of similar quality, I just can’t do it.
I definitely do what I can to buy local when it comes to food, for instance–locally grown produce tends to be a fine idea, and stores such as Crestek and McCully Bicycle are great places to shop, but it really still comes down to money. The first pocketbook I need to take care of is my own.
