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"At what point does saving a few pennies become absurd?"
That's easy
a) when it ends up being more costly if you factor in the money value of your time. Take your hourly wage from work. Let's say it's $10/hour. If you find yourself spending three hours of your personal time to save $20, then it's not worth it.
b) when it results in too much discomfort. For example, you turn off your A/C to save some $$ and you can't sleep well at night because you're tossing and turning due to the heat
c) when you earn more money at work in an hour than what it is you're trying to save a few pennies on. Let's say you earn $20/hour. And you go to the clothing store and you have a choice between a $10 ugly shirt and a $20 nice shirt. So basically you can 'work' an extra half hour to get the nice shirt, that's a worthwhile payoff.
d) putting yourself in a risky or unhealthy situation. not worth it
I've never understood the money value of each person's own time. If I work Monday through Friday 6am-2pm for $20 an hour. How is my Saturday DIY project going to figure into it if my job doesn't work me on a Saturday. Even if I got a part time job on Saturday the chances it pays $20 is slim....and if so I would always have to work because my own time is worth too much for such small pity tasks.
i consider my free time so precious and valuable for the things we want to do that we generally will pay someone to do things that i could have done myself but do not want to spend the time doing.
my wife and i look forward to every weekend so we can go out and enjoy our photography hobby going wherever and doing whatever we please.
the thought of spending some of that time on chores i rather not do makes my time very valuable and someone else doing it is a bargain.
I've never understood the money value of each person's own time. If I work Monday through Friday 6am-2pm for $20 an hour. How is my Saturday DIY project going to figure into it if my job doesn't work me on a Saturday. Even if I got a part time job on Saturday the chances it pays $20 is slim....and if so I would always have to work because my own time is worth too much for such small pity tasks.
I agree that our own time is worth more than what our jobs can pay us. But if you're trying to make or save money during your personal time, your job's wage is a reasonable baseline to compare.
Basically the money value of your time is what you can expect if you were to freelance. So instead of spending your Saturday doing personal things, how much would you get paid if you were to freelance those hours? Now compare that with the efforts you make during the day to "save a few bucks." Maybe you spend time clipping coupons. If you spend an hour clipping coupons and the coupons save you $10, then probably not worth it since you can freelance your skills for at least $20 during that hour.
A recent thread discusses living without a fridge, or with a very small one. Well, O.K., nothing wrong with having that discussion, but it seems to me the few pennies one would save on electricity would be more than compensated for by the ability to buy perishable foods on sale and also minimize trips to the market.
Out of curiosity I just averaged one year's worth of electric bills, and the average came to $19.41 per month (low of $15.95, high of $26.07). I do not know what percentage of those costs are caused by my refrigerator, which is a "full-sized" model, allthough probably somewhat smaller than the average family would have. But obviously, ditching the fridge would not save me enough to even be worth thinking about. And a refrigerator is an appliance which will go a very, very long time without needing any repairs. A new one should go 20 or 30 years easily.
My electrical usage will probably seem very low to a lot of you, so I would explain it as follows:
1. I am divorced and live alone in a two-bedroom town house.
2. I have gas heat, gas water heating, and gas cooking.
3. I am very sparing with the air conditioning in the summer, although I do use it some.
The bottom line is that I just don't see saving a few pennies every month by having a mini-fridge (like motel rooms have) or by going without one completely. Let me hasten to add that I do not intend to make light of folks who might be that close to the edge financially that they would consider such extreme measures; in fact I would feel sorry for them. But are there really very many folks posting in this Frugal Living Forum who are that desperate? Hopefully the ensuing discussion (if there is any) will help answer that question.
Oftentimes being frugal becomes more about being independant than just saving pennies. If someone can live comfortably without a fridge, more power to them! People did fairly well without them for thousands of years, after all.
If I had to give up something in order to have a refrigerator, it would be my internet service. There are just a couple of things that are necessary and I think a fridge is one of them. The other is an indoor toilet.
If I had to give up something in order to have a refrigerator, it would be my internet service. There are just a couple of things that are necessary and I think a fridge is one of them. The other is an indoor toilet.
I disagree, i'd say the internet is way more valuable than a fridge or an indoor toilet.
I disagree, i'd say the internet is way more valuable than a fridge or an indoor toilet.
Disagree all you like. That's your right. Personally, I could do without internet. I managed for a number of years. And I know a few who don't even own a computer. But they do own a fridge.
Disagree all you like. That's your right. Personally, I could do without internet. I managed for a number of years. And I know a few who don't even own a computer. But they do own a fridge.
But think about it this way:
on the one hand we have the sum of human knowledge and connectedness with the rest of humanity,
on the other hand we have eatin and poopin in comfort.
the sum of human knowledge and connectedness with the rest of humanity
This comment, I find particularly amusing. Sure, there are good sites for researching information but only a fool would believe everything they read. As for connectedness with the rest of humanity? Please. Have you read some of the vile comments made by others, posted out of sheer maliciousness? Of course, you have. My question was rhetorical.
Before this veers off topic any more than it has, I'll just say that the OP makes a good point about whether there is enough savings in not having at least one refrigerator. More ridiculous is having a second fridge in the garage to store the beer. A freezer is a good idea, though, if you live far from shopping or raise your own meat and vegetables. Then again, if someone can't afford to have a refrigerator, they aren't likely to be storing half a beef in a freezer, either.
I disagree, i'd say the internet is way more valuable than a fridge or an indoor toilet.
At first glance that looked rather funny -- but thinking it over, I think I'd have to agree. Having internet saves you many hundreds of dollars on encyclopedias, dictionaries, telephone, postage stamps, and you could easily live without a television and radio when you have internet.
I wouldn't mind outhouses too much - I've seen some that make compost and have little odor. I do like having a refrigerator so I don't have to buy food every day or small more expensive portions.
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Have you read some of the vile comments made by others, posted out of sheer maliciousness? Of course, you have. My question was rhetorical. 
