How would you answer this question

[homesteadmamma]

A neighbour comes to you and asks you to share what the first thing would be to get them started on frugality.

What would be your answer?

[Sara Noel]

Separating wants from needs.

[paelthom]

Do not spend what you don't have, except where medical emergencies are involved. Credit cards have gotten zillions of folks in heaps of trouble.

[guest2]

What Sara said!!!!

[Guest1]

Definitely what Sara said....

Sometimes our greeds exceed our needs.....

[guest2]

Originally posted by Debbie


Sometimes our greeds exceed our needs.....

Oh Deb,
Well said!!!!!

[Guest1]

Originally posted by hmsclmom
Oh Deb,
Well said!!!!!

Wow - thanks Deb!
(It always floors me to click on something & see someone quote something I've said!!)

This is actually an adage our kids have been raised with.....
When ever I hear the "I want...." I ask them if it's a need or a greed....
If it's a greed, they have to save for it....
Sometimes they actually change their mind about it once they see how much of an effort it is to feed our greed....
Guess that was the goal all along, huh?!

[sunshine]

I'd tell them to figure up their net worth, and track their spending for a least a month. Actually seeing how much/or how little your net worth actually is, can be mind boggling. And tracking your spending can be an eye opening experience when you realize just how much per month that soda from the vending machine is costing you, or the magazine at the checkout lane, or the latte in the morning. . . . .

[mrscornbread]

CUT UP YOUR CREDIT CARDS... and just say no!

Lori always reminds me that our mother said finance a house, not a pir of blue jeans!

[canadian gardener]

Freeze the cards (cut up, or less drastic freeze in a baggie in a block of ice or put into safe deposit box at bank).

Figure out a rough budget. Post it on the wall with a debt thermometer so you can see results from following budget and why it's necessary to keep yourself from spending the grocery money on a new DVD player.

Snowball your debt payment routine. As you get one paid, snowball that payment into the next debt and so on till you are clear.

Pay yourself first. An allowance and some in savings no matter what. It stops a lot of problems later although this is a difficult concept for a lot of people. Payroll deduction is a great way to save, and the allowance system is really important.

DON'T EVER LEASE A CAR or other vehicle. Never. If you buy it on the car payments that is better than a lease. At least you own it sometime, and if when you finally make your last payment, keep paying that payment into a savings plan for the next vehicle for CASH!

Best is if you buy it cash, for a gently used car, and maintain it well, then sell it when it starts costing you more to own than to buy. Meanwhile hopefully you put the "car payment" amount into savings.

Scrape money together for a down payment on a house. Even when we lost big money on a house, it still came in around the same as renting.

Buy a smaller house in a better neighborhood rather than the other way around. Make sure it's near a good school and bus service so you can go down to ONE vehicle.

Rent a room out to a student at a nearby college if you can.

Don't get stuck buying a mobile home new. They depreciate like cars do, and tend to be harder to sell when you need to and they also put you at the mercy of mobile home pad rentals in mobile home parks unless you live way out in the country when transportation costs will eat up your savings (gasoline plus a second car)

Insulate your house or upgrade it, ceilings first to improve your heat bill. Weather strip, use those plastic window coverings in winter. Keep the furnace filter clean by vacuuming it or washing it monthly. Run the furnace fan 100% of the time, it will save a bundle, we've done it for years. Use a rolled up towel at the base of the outer doors to keep the heat in.

Hang laundry, switch your most used electric bulbs to the flourescent mini replacements, use a crockpot more and the oven less. vacuum your fridge coils monthly.

[canadian gardener]

Learn to cook. Don't eat out.

Plan a loose and relaxed menu just so as you have the fixings on hand to make enough stuff to last till next payday.

Use a grocery list. Don't get hung up on making every last coupon work, just get the major savings from the minimum of work.

Start a pantry and freezer to insulate you from the price jumps of stuff. Buy pantry goods and meats on sale and eat at sale prices.

Grow a small garden. Nothing fancy. Use the Square Foot Garden Method and just start with a salad garden and 2 zucchini plants and half a dozen tomato plants.

[Shell]

Join frugal village. These ladies will set you straight.

[slowtypinwoman]

Track your spending and see where it can be cut most.

[canadian gardener]

Clothing hints:
Shop with a wardrobe plan in mind, know what colours look good. No sense buying stuff willy nilly then finding out it doesn't make you look good, or needs you to buy more so it can be used.

Standardize on shoe and purse colours to go with your colours. Mine are beiges and taupes. Dd's is black.

Shop season ender sales and warehouse outlets.

For kids clothes, shop Salvation Army and other charities. Go for the bag sales when you can get a lot for 5$ or so. Stuff whatever you can for the 5$ in the bag, looking for things that might fit and look in good shape.

If they don't fit, take to a consignment shop and get money back on them.

Baby clothes and furniture:
My sister's trick. OK look in the paper for people getting rid of baby furniture etc. When buying a crib or whatever you need, ask about clothes. Sometimes the paper will say assorted baby clothes.

LOOK FOR THE UPPER MIDDLE CLASS NEIGHBORHOODS. Frequently working women there don't have the time or inclination to sell the stuff individually, it's in great shape, and sometimes not even worn. From good baby showers etc. Ditto the furniture and toys.

clothing:
Buy a bag of clothing. Pick out what you like and need. Sell the best stuff at consignment and give the rest to charity. My sister was able to clothe her babies and get paid extra cash thru consignment selling so she could turn around and buy what ever else she needed.

about the furniture. Buy the good stuff, that has LIFE in it. Take care of it, and when you are done, turn around and sell it in the paper in one of those buy and sell papers, that you can list the ad for free in. Sell for what YOU PAID FOR IT.

About toys. Same as furniture. Buy the lot for 20$ "to take it off your hands". Don't quibble, take the lot. Sell what you don't want to the baby consignment shops.

My sister has 6 kids. All of them had next to new furniture, nice clothes and toys and for WAY less than I paid for mine.

[canadian gardener]

Oh and maternity clothes are like baby clothes. When these ladies are done with it, sometimes you can get a whole wardrobe for 50$.