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Good quality clothing can be purchased dirt cheap. Walmart has a loaf of plain white bread for $1. Life is too short to spend lots of time and energy trying to save nearly nothing. If you really need to stretch every dollar and penny, can you find a part time job or other source of income instead? BTW, there is a forum on frugal living in the Economics section of City Data
That would be my advice also. If you like making your own clothes and cooking from scratch, and don't have to spend any extra money on supplies, go for it.
If it is something you have to learn to do, it's best to just find another source of income.
When I buy my expensive shampoo (the only kind I can find without sodium laurel sulfate), I buy three bottles for the price of one. I have two empty bottles on hand and divide the shampoo into three bottles. To the first I add water to the top and use that bottle first. Then I dilute the second bottle and so on. It's amazing how much further the shampoo goes when lathering up. This little practice was applauded by my dermatologist niece, who believes it's healthier to use diluted shampoo, full strength is too concentrated. This works with conditioner too.
I also do this with dish detergent. Just as much cleaning power.
I've started coloring my hair. Whole Foods has two brands of all-natural (no harmful ingredients) hair coloring each for under $20. Each application lasts almost two months, and I always save out a little and refrigerate it to use for touching up the grayish hairline. Surprisingly, a friend told me it looks really natural and well done, not like a salon job.
Hair coloring...ugh... thousands of dollars spent, thousands of hours wasted in a salon chair. Even done at home it never looks like a salon job or really good coverage. And then if you over dye the already colored strands, like from the new gray growth down it gets way over processed and looks darker than the top. Never again.
One good breeze and you and everyone else can see all the spots you missed.
When I buy my expensive shampoo (the only kind I can find without sodium laurel sulfate), I buy three bottles for the price of one. I have two empty bottles on hand and divide the shampoo into three bottles. To the first I add water to the top and use that bottle first. Then I dilute the second bottle and so on. It's amazing how much further the shampoo goes when lathering up. This little practice was applauded by my dermatologist niece, who believes it's healthier to use diluted shampoo, full strength is too concentrated. This works with conditioner too.
I also do this with dish detergent. Just as much cleaning power.
I've started coloring my hair. Whole Foods has two brands of all-natural (no harmful ingredients) hair coloring each for under $20. Each application lasts almost two months, and I always save out a little and refrigerate it to use for touching up the grayish hairline. Surprisingly, a friend told me it looks really natural and well done, not like a salon job.
Make sure you rinse well. I started staying under the shower head for a much longer time and it helped so much.
I also used to buy expensive shampoos, but now Suave Coconut shampoo and conditioner do just fine. Even my other half that spends more on his hair than I ever did loves it.
I do use head and shoulders every now and then. And sometimes do the baking soda and vinegar thing.
Maybe my hair and scalp are doing better because I stopped coloring my hair.
[quote=rdflk;38752019]To be fair to jrkliny, while I can see how the tone of the post could be taken as abrupt we don't know that it was intended that way....and there IS a frugality board for tips about living on a budget....which really is not a retirement issue.
That said, in an attempt to steer the thread in a retirement direction ...
QUOTE]
So living on a budget "really is not [or can't be] a retirement issue". The things you learn on these boards!
jrklny's post doesn't need interpretation ; it was clear: Don't post here about being frugal in retirement because there's a "frugal living" thread (as if many thread subjects don't overlap). Then we were treated to to the obligatory dig at the OP's examples as meaning that she [gasp!] tries to stretch every dollar and penny. And BTW, no "steering the thread in the retirement diection" was necessary, as the OP did that herself--in the thread title.
I think it is more a state of mind than anything. If you decide to be happy with less, you are. I remember my college and young adult days and I think retirement would be the same (I'm not quite there yet). I didn't mind the cheap seats at an MLB game. I got to go, and that's all that mattered! Same with any other venue. I got the cheap seats. And incidentally, that is going to be my mantra this year because I want to save money on things like ball games and concerts and use the money for a family vacation instead. So will still be going to concerts and ball games, but less expensive seats.
I didn't mind cheap clothes. I wore really cheap K-Mart clothes. When you are young and thin, you can look good in anything. But I think if you choose wisely you can do the same when older. I was in Target the other day to get something else, but when I walked by the clothes I saw several shirts that caught my eye. I bought several tanks to wear under other shirts and then another shirt with a 3/4 sleeve that I just loved the style and color.
I don't need 90 pair of shoes and 90 purses. I have tennis shoes, a couple of pair of sandals, my trusty, comfortable black flats plus dress shoes in blue and brown too, and a pair of boots. That's it. I will wear those until they wear out or smell bad. I have a black and a brown purse, both leather.
I ate cheap food and once in a while would splurge and go out. Instead of ribeyes, did you know that what they call spencer steaks or Delmonico steaks are basically the same thing? They look a little different, but they taste the same. I still snatch those up whenever I see them in the store, even though we can afford ribeyes now! Also, ask the butcher at your grocery store when they put out ribeyes or other steaks for clearance. My store is Wednesday morning.
Groupon! If you like to go out to eat, it is definitely worth buying Groupons for restaurants you like. We like to go out for Sunday brunch and there are groupons a lot of times for one of the places we go. I only buy groupons for places I know we like (or know we will like).
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The things you learn on these boards!
