How are you going to save money going forward? (cancelled, best, value)

[mistygrl092]

Originally Posted by stan4

Kudos on those who will be brown-bagging it from here on out (for lunch).

For YEARS I have been appalled at the amount of money people spend eating out for lunch every single day. I mean, it's obscene. But most people I know do it almost every day, no matter what level their income. Not only is it ridiculously expensive, but it's not particularly healthy.

You know, in a lot of places, people cook big meals with the plan to eat what they have made for days afterwards. That is a SUPER cheap way to eat very, very healthy.

Eat at home. Drink booze at home. Eat meals over and over (including the GINORMO servings they give you at the restaurant - I put at least half in the take-home box). Go for the good old fashioned entertainment: spending time with friends, making puzzles, reading books (we are HUGE library patrons...dozens of books a month), playing with your dog (and they just LOVE it), walking around town or the parks, sharing meals with other people (different cook nights where one meal can feed many and you trade days)...

Most money americans waste, in my opinion, boils down to entertainment. Shopping for entertainment. Eating for entertainment. Internet phones for entertainment. Entertainment coffees and entertainment clothes and entertainment shoes and entertainment this and that and people call a lot of these things 'necessities,' but let's be real...it's all entertainment. It's not about survival.

YAY! For playing with your dog. I know mine love to play and are spoiled little babies.

I used to work with for this Chinese guy who brought his lunch to work religiously. He made a lot of money. Hmm, kind of makes one wonder why that country is set to be the next "super power." They are quiet, hard working, savers, smart and patient.

[stan4]

Originally Posted by mistygrl092

YAY! For playing with your dog. I know mine love to play and are spoiled little babies.

I used to work with for this Chinese guy who brought his lunch to work religiously. He made a lot of money. Hmm, kind of makes one wonder why that country is set to be the next "super power." They are quiet, hard working, savers, smart and patient.

Yeah...what's crazy is how many times people get on my case for bringing lunch or not buying new stuff all the time just because I can afford it. My cell phone has been the topic of conversation for YEARS at my work...it's ridiculous!

a. Why do you care about how I spend MY money?
b. When I am sitting on my beachfront cottage in Hawaii sipping mai tais, I hope you remember the new smart phone you bought every year and all those lunches you had at Chilis, you morons.

[NJBest]

Originally Posted by stan4

Kudos on those who will be brown-bagging it from here on out (for lunch).

For YEARS I have been appalled at the amount of money people spend eating out for lunch every single day. I mean, it's obscene. But most people I know do it almost every day, no matter what level their income. Not only is it ridiculously expensive, but it's not particularly healthy.

You know, in a lot of places, people cook big meals with the plan to eat what they have made for days afterwards. That is a SUPER cheap way to eat very, very healthy.

Eat at home. Drink booze at home. Eat meals over and over (including the GINORMO servings they give you at the restaurant - I put at least half in the take-home box). Go for the good old fashioned entertainment: spending time with friends, making puzzles, reading books (we are HUGE library patrons...dozens of books a month), playing with your dog (and they just LOVE it), walking around town or the parks, sharing meals with other people (different cook nights where one meal can feed many and you trade days)...

Most money americans waste, in my opinion, boils down to entertainment. Shopping for entertainment. Eating for entertainment. Internet phones for entertainment. Entertainment coffees and entertainment clothes and entertainment shoes and entertainment this and that and people call a lot of these things 'necessities,' but let's be real...it's all entertainment. It's not about survival.

It might not be frugal, but there's nothing wrong with eating out for lunch. Often it's just more convenient. Ideally one would want to go home and cook a nice hearty meal, but that's not always an option for lunch.

It's one thing to talk about whether one thing is frugal or not... and another to bash the way someone spends money by calling it wasteful. Life isn't all about money. It's one thing if you're poor and just being plain stupid with your money... but bashing the entire concept of spending money on entertainment, etc is plain silly. Many people can afford it and it's not wasteful to them. No one is calling you cheap because you bring a bag lunch. So don't call these people wasteful.

I work from home, so I obviously don't eat out or pack a bag since I have a nice kitchen available to me.

[stan4]

Originally Posted by NJBest

It might not be frugal, but there's nothing wrong with eating out for lunch. Often it's just more convenient. Ideally one would want to go home and cook a nice hearty meal, but that's not always an option for lunch.

It's one thing to talk about whether one thing is frugal or not... and another to bash the way someone spends money by calling it wasteful. Life isn't all about money. It's one thing if you're poor and just being plain stupid with your money... but bashing the entire concept of spending money on entertainment, etc is plain silly. Many people can afford it and it's not wasteful to them. No one is calling you cheap because you bring a bag lunch. So don't call these people wasteful.

I work from home, so I obviously don't eat out or pack a bag since I have a nice kitchen available to me.

I am not saying you shouldn't spend money to entertain yourself. I never said that at all.

I am saying that there is a great misconception in this country with regards to the idea of wants versus needs. And that most of the money people spend on things they think they 'need' is all perpetuating a fallacy.

I stand firm in saying that spending 5 to 20 dollars a day on JUST LUNCH is a foolish waste of money. Especially if you are going to whine later about how you don't have any money (which a lot of these people do).

In fact, I think just the opposite of what you claim I think. I believe being frugal is not about being frugal for its own sake. You make smart, savvy choices with certain things so that you can really enjoy other things...whether those 'other things' are a full bank account (and the security that brings) or travel to exotic places or just getting to spend more time away from the job...it's about prioritizing and not making dumb, wasteful decisions.

I think being frugal means (like I said on another thread) that you can have anything you want once you realize you can't have *everything* you want. It's about opportunity cost.

[NJBest]

Originally Posted by stan4

I stand firm in saying that spending 5 to 20 dollars a day on JUST LUNCH is a foolish waste of money. Especially if you are going to whine later about how you don't have any money (which a lot of these people do).

I have no problem with anyone being frugal as they see fit. I'm pretty frugle here and there myself. What I have a problem with is you calling someone elses actions foolish across the board.

In a worst case scenario, the value of money of people with different cashflows are linear. For example if a higher income earner makes $200/hr and a lower income person makes $20/hr, then it's acceptable that the person who makes $200/hr spends $20 on lunch while the person who makes $20/hr spends $2 on lunch. When someone can afford to spend more money for any reason they want, it is not foolish... they get more return for their money (in entertainment) than the money is worth to them.

It is possible to eat out, and enjoy everything you want, while keeping your bank account full for pleasure. We're talking about a renewable resource that happens to multiply on it's own just by storing it in a financial institution.

[mistygrl092]

Well, we're getting into a topic that was discussed at length in another thread. Would you care to share NJBest what you are going to do to save money going forward? (if you plan to do this at all?)

[CTGirlNoMore]

Originally Posted by greatblueheron

Have you tried making tea in the coffeepot? (electric drip) Just put the bags in the coffee filter...experiment with how many bags to water ratio.

gbh

How interesting! That never occurred to me. I did keep my coffeepot after my mom gave me a Kuerig, so I just may try that.

[CTGirlNoMore]

Originally Posted by stan4

Kudos on those who will be brown-bagging it from here on out (for lunch).

For YEARS I have been appalled at the amount of money people spend eating out for lunch every single day. I mean, it's obscene. But most people I know do it almost every day, no matter what level their income. Not only is it ridiculously expensive, but it's not particularly healthy.

You know, in a lot of places, people cook big meals with the plan to eat what they have made for days afterwards. That is a SUPER cheap way to eat very, very healthy.

Eat at home. Drink booze at home. Eat meals over and over (including the GINORMO servings they give you at the restaurant - I put at least half in the take-home box). Go for the good old fashioned entertainment: spending time with friends, making puzzles, reading books (we are HUGE library patrons...dozens of books a month), playing with your dog (and they just LOVE it), walking around town or the parks, sharing meals with other people (different cook nights where one meal can feed many and you trade days)...

Most money americans waste, in my opinion, boils down to entertainment. Shopping for entertainment. Eating for entertainment. Internet phones for entertainment. Entertainment coffees and entertainment clothes and entertainment shoes and entertainment this and that and people call a lot of these things 'necessities,' but let's be real...it's all entertainment. It's not about survival.

I agree. My coworkers eat overt EVERYDAY, many times for both breakfast AND lunch. I brown bag it. Don't get me wrong, I HAVE splurged, but VERY rarely.

I try to cook for a few days. I love meatloaf, so that works for me, LOL. Also, whenever I go out to eat (again, not that often) I always bring home leftovers.

[Tinabean]

I switched from the regular Starbucks habit to coffee/latte made at home
Maintain my 10 year old car, which is in terrific shape, so that I can get more years of dependable service with no car payments
Sell unnecessary stuff I've accumlated/donating the rest
Really think about whether I need something before a purchase as opposed to shopping for the fun of it
Consolidate my trips to save gas
Review all insurance and service agreements at renewal time to make sure I'm getting best rate. You would be surprised how much you can save with comparison shopping!

[mistygrl092]

Originally Posted by CTGirlNoMore

I agree. My coworkers eat overt EVERYDAY, many times for both breakfast AND lunch. I brown bag it. Don't get me wrong, I HAVE splurged, but VERY rarely.

I try to cook for a few days. I love meatloaf, so that works for me, LOL. Also, whenever I go out to eat (again, not that often) I always bring home leftovers.

Meatloaf can be quite good and economical. I bought 8 lbs of ground turkey (on sale, of course, at $1.99 a lb.) just sitting in my freezer I really need to get around to and make some meatloaf. My preference would be beef meatloaf, but the turkey is lower in calories.

And if I don't eat everything at a restaurant (which rarely happens - my eating at a restaurant unless it's a dollar drive through) I too bring home leftovers.

I find that eggs are really the best breakfast for me. They are inexpensive and I can't do anything like cereal or I'm hungry two hours later. Hard boiled eggs can be good snacks for the road too or the office.