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I buy very little of my clothing at Walmart. I do buy Fruit of the Loom underwear at Walmart. The fit, quality AND the prices are the same as I paid 30 years ago. Walmart carries a lot of name brand clothing. I also buy a lot of clothing at Kohls. Sale prices are ridiculously low. I have no idea how long you keep your clothing but if a pair of jeans or dockers lasts me a year I am happy.
Perhaps we are talking about different types of clothing. My last suit is wadded up in the bottom of a drawer. I don't plan on wearing it ever. I did wear a tie and sport coat to a wedding 3 years ago. I spent 35 years wearing coats and ties every working day. I never understood why any man would want to hang a ribbon around their neck. Nor could I understand why business attire meant wearing a wool suit in the 112 degree Arizona summer weather.
I don't buy dollar bread. In fact I don't eat "white" bread at all. If I did I would rather buy Walmart bread than shop around for stale bread to put in the freezer. My point is simple. Life is too short to spend a lot of time and energy saving a few pennies to shop for stale bread or to take apart old clothing in order to reuse the fabric.
What you're missing is that a lot of people actually enjoy finding ways to save money. For them, it's a way of life, a game we play. We don't want to get ripped off by high end prices whether it's for poor quality or fine quality. We simply do not want to get ripped off.
Also, many of the posters are women and we enjoy nice fabrics and well fitting clothes. Maybe some like to sew as a hobby. Some like to poke around in thrift stores for bargains. If somebody would rather pop into Nordstrom's, overpay for something, and leave, then this thread isn't for them. If somebody wants to partake of what is offered in places like Kohl's and Walmart, this thread might not be for them--or it could be in some cases.
Some people love to cook and love the delicious and healthy bread, not nutrient empty white bread. If this is what people enjoy and it could even be their hobby, AND they are saving money at the same time, then life is never too short for that.
There is a local music school in my town that would probably be more well known if not so close to Boston and its world-class music schools and performances. My local school has free "lunchtime" student/faculty concerts and are well worth attending.
What you're missing is that a lot of people actually enjoy finding ways to save money. For them, it's a way of life, a game we play. ......
I know several people including some relatives who act this way. Those I know with this "hobby" are not well adjusted to put it nicely. They are tormented with financial insecurities. I have some very wealthy relatives who live meagerly and are afraid to spend any money. I am certainly not saying that saving money is not worthwhile. I just believe the outcome should justify the effort instead of spending a lot of time and energy saving small change. Instead of taking apart clothing to reuse the material why not spend some of that time to doing something of real value? Personally I find it much more financially rewarding to spend a few hours a month on investing but in the past I have also found some techniques to save.
Since we seem to be playing a savings game, I will give you two. 1. Upon retirement my wife and I sold our house and traveled in a small RV. We used some of the money from the house for expenses which were very minimal. The rest was invested and doubled in value within a few years. 2. Do you know you do not need to settle for a regular credit card? Years ago my wife and I opened a "professional" card account. You know about double points? Well this one pays double the double; i.e., 4x the points. We have used that card for everything including paying college tuition. We even paid $50k towards our RV on the card one Sunday afternoon. The travel points and refunds we have accrued over the years are staggering.
So if you want to play games saving money, do it so it counts. Find out about credit cards. Find out how to buy wholesale instead of paying virtually double for retail prices. Learn how to invest so your money works for you. Understand how much you can spend and enjoy what you have spend your life working towards.
I second the public library. There are two county libraries equidistant to where I live and both have far more than books that retired people can take advantage of ... FREE. In addition to books and DVDs, my libraries have:
-Lovely reading rooms with dozens and dozens of magazines and newspapers you can just sit there and read
-Music CDs to borrow
-Classes in computer software, including one-on-one tutoring on various technology issues
-Classes in handling finances
-The County Extension Service sends a Master Gardener for various lectures on gardening subjects
-Hands-on art classes, lectures about the arts, and shows from local artists
-An "elder circle" where older people can share the "wisdom of aging"
-A representative of the county's Council on Aging shows up regularly to address people's problems
-A public health nurse comes regularly to take blood pressure and the health department also sent trained people to help folks sign-up for insurance via the Affordable Care Act
-Representatives from SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) provide support for people running small business or are thinking of starting at-home businesses
-AARP sends tax aides at tax time
-Authors who read from their books and autograph them
-Book clubs for various genres of literature
-A knitting club
-A chess club
-A mahjong club
-Tai Chi lessons
-Writing workshops
-A bridge club
And those are just things retired folks might be interested in. There are also programs for children, teens, parents, and people looking for jobs. My favorite program to watch from afar: "Read to a Dog." People bring in trained service dogs who sit patiently and appear interested as kids read children's books aloud (to the dog!) so the kids can practice their reading. Apparently the dogs inspire kids who don't want to read aloud to adults. Who knew?
Check out your public library ... you might be surprised at what you find there.
So if you want to play games saving money, do it so it counts. Find out about credit cards. Find out how to buy wholesale instead of paying virtually double for retail prices. Learn how to invest so your money works for you. Understand how much you can spend and enjoy what you have spend your life working towards.
jrkiny,
As I express before, different strokes for different folks. I totally agree that we should get the best ROI (return on investment) for our effort and time. IMO, emotional or psychological return can be as important as monetary value. There are folks like myself born with frugality in our vein who sometimes get more excited in getting 85% off a $100 item than seeing that we have accumulated several hundreds dollars in cash back rebate from our credit card account.
Your observation about people who are too obsessed with saving money, who can not relax and enjoy life is very valid. They are different from the people who think saving is a fun game. They do it automatically in all things big and small without much effort. It is a big difference between being frugal and being cheap. There is nothing wrong or contradictory with saving a few dollars here and there EVERYDAY and making wise decision about investments or spending in the 5 or 6 figures. I can only speak from my own experience and from observing my equally or some even more frugal siblings. We all have fun saving and spending or investing money both in small change and bigger bucket of money. The key thing to live a happy life is just to have fun and not being too obsessed about anything.
We all have fun saving and spending or investing money both in small change and bigger bucket of money. The key thing to live a happy life is just to have fun and not being too obsessed about anything.
It is a fun challenge to win those little battles for our dollars and even pennies. It shouldn't be confused with being obsessed with doing so to the point of deprivation or cheapness or even great deals of time.
When trying to explain doing these things to somebody, sometimes this question got the message across.
If you had $5 in your hand, would you just walk into a store and give it to the cashier for nothing?
Better that $5 is in my pocket than the store's.
Then it can be added that, even if it took 5 extra minutes to save that $5, it computes to earning the comparable of $60 an hour! More than a decent wage to me.
I second the public library. There are two county libraries equidistant to where I live and both have far more than books that retired people can take advantage of ... FREE. In addition to books and DVDs, my libraries have:
-
And those are just things retired folks might be interested in. There are also programs for children, teens, parents, and people looking for jobs. My favorite program to watch from afar: "Read to a Dog." People bring in trained service dogs who sit patiently and appear interested as kids read children's books aloud (to the dog!) so the kids can practice their reading. Apparently the dogs inspire kids who don't want to read aloud to adults. Who knew?
Check out your public library ... you might be surprised at what you find there.
This is so cute - I've heard of this and my library is thinking of starting this. When I worked I didn't have time to go to the library but now I am there frequently. I have saved a lot by borrowing books and movies rather than buying these things.
Lots of good ideas here. My grocery bills have been lowered by making lots of soups & stews - they go a long way and can easily be frozen for future use. The crock pot is my buddy - cheap/lesser cuts of meat can become tender and juicy in the crock.
..........
Then it can be added that, even if it took 5 extra minutes to save that $5, it computes to earning the comparable of $60 an hour! More than a decent wage to me.
This sort of analysis makes sense to me. Everyone needs to decide what their time is worth. When I worked it was clear. My paycheck told me what I was worth. Now that I am retired, I need to decide for myself. One guide would be to look at my social security and other retirement income. So is it worth it to save $5 if it takes an hour of time? That would mean if you worked at that full time at 40 hrs/week, your full time efforts would save you about $10k/year. That is very poor pay and not worth it at least for me. Is saving $10 for an hours work worth it? Not for me. Now if I could spend an hour of time and save $40, $50, or $60 that is a different consideration. I would make the time for that.
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