The Frugal Lifestyle

Lady Jewel · 11-10-2009, 11:55 PM

There is a website called zinio.com...magazines can be read online for free or nominal feel. So its a frugal and green way of reading your favorite magazines. Also, they have a lot of LGBTQ mags too.

Wasrmly,
Jewel

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diva

Bit, what a great idea with the magazine bin! I have let most of my magazine subscriptions go. Someone gave me Everyday Foods (Martha) and to support a school group, I ordered Gourmet. I can't throw those away.

I have learned to buy the store brand on most things. There are some brands I cannot however, because while the store brand of applesauce is just as good, the store brand of maple/brown sugar oatmeal is not. Sometimes a store brand is not a savings at all....and sometimes, the difference in price blows my mind....and I realize I've just been paying for their brand name!

I have found that I simply do my grocery shopping on a full stomach and have a defined list of what I need. I do less impulse shopping that way.

Also, I have found no shame in buying my groceries at Wal~Mart rather than Central Market. When I drive, I try to run all my errands in one big trip, rather than a bunch of small ones.

This is a wonderful thread..... <3

~Diva

Diva · 11-10-2009, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady Jewel

There is a website called zinio.com...magazines can be read online for free or nominal feel. So its a frugal and green way of reading your favorite magazines. Also, they have a lot of LGBTQ mags too.

Wasrmly,
Jewel

OH! Thank You! What a great thing!!! Thanks, Lady J!

~Diva

Rook · 11-11-2009, 12:56 AM

This magazine was awesome with DIY ideas, some are frugal and simple...some are complex, but most fit within a decent Budget....

http://www.readymade.com/blog/

Linus · 11-11-2009, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rook

This magazine was awesome with DIY ideas, some are frugal and simple...some are complex, but most fit within a decent Budget....

http://www.readymade.com/blog/

That's looks like a great site. I like the idea of reusing things (our society is a little too throw-away at times).

Dean Thoreau · 11-15-2009, 06:49 PM

After raising our own softball team of kids...the wife and I stll have not let go of our frugal ways. Cause now we are working on a football team of grandchildren

I truly beleive their is a big difference between being frugal and going on the cheap.

My favorite clothing store has been and continues to be GoodWill or Salvation Army thrift shops in fancy neighborhoods....nice clothes cheap prices. I have brooks brothers suits, that cost me 3 dollars....brand new gucci shoes,,,,and various other fancy labels that i prolly paid 1/1000 of the retail price...

My favorite sport is dumpster diving behind nice private colleges during exam time, I get books, computers, refridgerators, microwaves, ipods, u name it.....and yes i have been known to resell them, disinfect and give to my kids or take them over to the goodwill, or give them away...i just cant stand the wastefulness.

Late Garage sale is fun - u stroll aorund after the garage sales and see what they toss,,and trash day in fancy neighborhoods during october and november has wonderful finds...(people redecorate and toss) If I can not use it i will call and see if a friend will want it beore i pick it up,,if it is to good to pass up the goodwill loves the donation.

I also love auctions, cause If i do have to pay for something it will not be a retail price. Best one is www.govdeals.com and yes i am so tempted to buy a fireturck and give it to a small town cause the prices are so low.

But i have purchased my aerator for the lawn thru them, my kids all drive bought at auction cars....maximum i ever paid was 1900 for a 2002 saturn sport coupe.... and yes they run beautifully u just have to know what u r looking for. the saturn had a little bullet hole in the door panel....a buddy of mine fixed it....and i must confess the wife loves antiques..so we go to a dealers auction and part of the cardboard box has that stuff in it....

I adopted this motto about 4 years ago "nothing is worth having unless you can get it for free'... and for the most part a very large part of my fish room furnishings in the cardboard box has been gotten for free.....

The addition to the garage (which is ready to be done) I have obtained all the wood, electric wiring, switches, doors(specific to the plans i drew) over the past 18 months by dumpster diving, asking construction sites for their scrap, picking up the most beautiful oak hand hewn beams that are 10 feet long that someone set out for the garbage cause they were redecorating. It appears i will have to go to the habitat thrift store to buy the windows...so the entire addition will cost me 200 dollars for the 4 windows...(they also have wonderful tools on sale....i have some great wood planers i picked up for 5 or 6 dollars)

My greatest find has been six 8 foot high fish tanks, that i picked up this past summer....the guys at PETCO even helped me get them out of the dumpster and in my truck...
I am currently building a fish wall with them....(I like projects not fix its).

my grandfather and father were both frugal....and their ability to make something from nothing has always been soemthing i respected.
I also however beleive frugality does not mean cheap or lacking.....
My family is frugal so we can .... go to the opera,,,go to concerts,,,have an entire room of fish tanks, pay for the grandchild to go to a pre school...to me frugality is a setting fo priorities.

violaine · 11-15-2009, 07:47 PM

tag sales can be fun. do any of you have FreeCycle? i have received several huge kennels and dog houses for our projects. free !

Kimbo · 11-15-2009, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by violaine

tag sales can be fun. do any of you have FreeCycle? i have received several huge kennels and dog houses for our projects. free !

I use freecycle as much as I can..

Hope you get many more

kennels..

I admit I am a Goodwill or ValueVillage junkie...

Stacy · 11-16-2009, 04:44 AM

I definitely need to subscribe to this thread. I would really like to get my whole family on board with living a more frugal lifestyle.

Lynn · 11-16-2009, 07:54 PM

We use freecycle, a lot, mostly to pare down all of our stuff. I love giving usable and useful things to others who can really use them.

I have a great partner who clips coupons, reads circulars, and takes advantage of store savings. She does the grocery shopping and saves us lots every week.

tmbyfem · 11-16-2009, 08:28 PM

Speaking as somebody who invariably seems to choose the most expensive items without knowing (what can I say, I have an eye for quality) I've long been used to squeezing my champagne tastes into a beer budget.

But this summer has been extra challenging what with my hours at work being erratic. Being underemployed sucks but during that time period I learned to live without my weekly Starbucks (I had already cut back from 2-3x/week), going out to lunch or dinner, Sunday papers etc. Small things to be sure but they added up.

Instead I learned to love my slow-cooker again, freezing the extras for later on. I also threw out shocking amounts of fresh food doing a weekly shop so learned to shop Euro style, buying only the fresh things I needed for the next day or so. It really made a difference in reducing food waste.

Being frugal on many things still allows me the occasional splurge and has made me appreciate it that much more when I do.

Bob · 05-23-2010, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady Jewel

There is a website called zinio.com...magazines can be read online for free or nominal feel.l

Which magazines require the nominal feel?

11-11-2009, 12:56 AM	#3
Rook Senior Member How Do You Identify?: A.G - Stone Butch - GenderFuck Preferred Pronoun?: Hym, Hyz...or, just b respectable, it's not that hard.. Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Columbus Posts: 2,280 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 2,227 Thanked 3,182 Times in 1,287 Posts Rep Power: 21474854	This magazine was awesome with DIY ideas, some are frugal and simple...some are complex, but most fit within a decent Budget.... http://www.readymade.com/blog/ __________________

11-15-2009, 06:49 PM	#5
Dean Thoreau Member How Do You Identify?: Ftm - Male- exfemale Preferred Pronoun?: He’s Him Relationship Status: Has a gf Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Philadelphia pa Posts: 889 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 251 Thanked 760 Times in 219 Posts Rep Power: 4529749	i'm a cheapskate..... After raising our own softball team of kids...the wife and I stll have not let go of our frugal ways. Cause now we are working on a football team of grandchildren I truly beleive their is a big difference between being frugal and going on the cheap. My favorite clothing store has been and continues to be GoodWill or Salvation Army thrift shops in fancy neighborhoods....nice clothes cheap prices. I have brooks brothers suits, that cost me 3 dollars....brand new gucci shoes,,,,and various other fancy labels that i prolly paid 1/1000 of the retail price... My favorite sport is dumpster diving behind nice private colleges during exam time, I get books, computers, refridgerators, microwaves, ipods, u name it.....and yes i have been known to resell them, disinfect and give to my kids or take them over to the goodwill, or give them away...i just cant stand the wastefulness. Late Garage sale is fun - u stroll aorund after the garage sales and see what they toss,,and trash day in fancy neighborhoods during october and november has wonderful finds...(people redecorate and toss) If I can not use it i will call and see if a friend will want it beore i pick it up,,if it is to good to pass up the goodwill loves the donation. I also love auctions, cause If i do have to pay for something it will not be a retail price. Best one is www.govdeals.com and yes i am so tempted to buy a fireturck and give it to a small town cause the prices are so low. But i have purchased my aerator for the lawn thru them, my kids all drive bought at auction cars....maximum i ever paid was 1900 for a 2002 saturn sport coupe.... and yes they run beautifully u just have to know what u r looking for. the saturn had a little bullet hole in the door panel....a buddy of mine fixed it....and i must confess the wife loves antiques..so we go to a dealers auction and part of the cardboard box has that stuff in it.... I adopted this motto about 4 years ago "nothing is worth having unless you can get it for free'... and for the most part a very large part of my fish room furnishings in the cardboard box has been gotten for free..... The addition to the garage (which is ready to be done) I have obtained all the wood, electric wiring, switches, doors(specific to the plans i drew) over the past 18 months by dumpster diving, asking construction sites for their scrap, picking up the most beautiful oak hand hewn beams that are 10 feet long that someone set out for the garbage cause they were redecorating. It appears i will have to go to the habitat thrift store to buy the windows...so the entire addition will cost me 200 dollars for the 4 windows...(they also have wonderful tools on sale....i have some great wood planers i picked up for 5 or 6 dollars) My greatest find has been six 8 foot high fish tanks, that i picked up this past summer....the guys at PETCO even helped me get them out of the dumpster and in my truck... I am currently building a fish wall with them....(I like projects not fix its). my grandfather and father were both frugal....and their ability to make something from nothing has always been soemthing i respected. I also however beleive frugality does not mean cheap or lacking..... My family is frugal so we can .... go to the opera,,,go to concerts,,,have an entire room of fish tanks, pay for the grandchild to go to a pre school...to me frugality is a setting fo priorities. __________________ Dean Thoreau

11-15-2009, 07:47 PM	#6
violaine Timed Out How Do You Identify?: atypical Preferred Pronoun?: plague words and phrases Relationship Status: love wise guys of the avian world Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: wekiva springs basin Posts: 3,236 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 9,934 Thanked 3,293 Times in 1,301 Posts Rep Power: 0	tag sales can be fun. do any of you have FreeCycle? i have received several huge kennels and dog houses for our projects. free !

11-16-2009, 04:44 AM	#8
Stacy Member How Do You Identify?: Queer Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Minnesota Posts: 475 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 396 Thanked 920 Times in 225 Posts Rep Power: 8450334	I definitely need to subscribe to this thread. I would really like to get my whole family on board with living a more frugal lifestyle.

11-16-2009, 07:54 PM	#9
Lynn Member How Do You Identify?: Unabashed Feminine Lesbian Preferred Pronoun?: Her, She Relationship Status: Married! Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 689 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 1,499 Thanked 2,413 Times in 504 Posts Rep Power: 9668975	We use freecycle, a lot, mostly to pare down all of our stuff. I love giving usable and useful things to others who can really use them. I have a great partner who clips coupons, reads circulars, and takes advantage of store savings. She does the grocery shopping and saves us lots every week.

11-16-2009, 08:28 PM	#10
tmbyfem Junior Member How Do You Identify?: femme Preferred Pronoun?: she Relationship Status: single Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: San Diego Posts: 36 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 113 Thanked 36 Times in 13 Posts Rep Power: 644261	Speaking as somebody who invariably seems to choose the most expensive items without knowing (what can I say, I have an eye for quality) I've long been used to squeezing my champagne tastes into a beer budget. But this summer has been extra challenging what with my hours at work being erratic. Being underemployed sucks but during that time period I learned to live without my weekly Starbucks (I had already cut back from 2-3x/week), going out to lunch or dinner, Sunday papers etc. Small things to be sure but they added up. Instead I learned to love my slow-cooker again, freezing the extras for later on. I also threw out shocking amounts of fresh food doing a weekly shop so learned to shop Euro style, buying only the fresh things I needed for the next day or so. It really made a difference in reducing food waste. Being frugal on many things still allows me the occasional splurge and has made me appreciate it that much more when I do.