Table Of ContentLiving Frugal: How to Save Money and Not Feel Like You're Broke
by Jamie Walker
Copyright 2012 All rights reserved by author.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this guide is for information purposes
only and should not be taken as fact or legal advice. Except as permitted under
the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication shall be copied,
transmitted or reproduced in any form, nor can it be stored in a retrieval system
or database, without the express written consent of the author.
This book is a nonfiction book. However, the names characteristics of the
individuals in the book, as well as some of the events, have been fictionalized in
order to protect the identities of the people contained herein. Any semblance to a
person living or dead is incidental and unintentional.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation,
indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever
arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use
of this book.
Contents
Introduction 5
Why You Need a Savings Account 6
The Thirty-Day Rule 10
Be Thrifty: Buy Secondhand Stuff 12
Appliances 13
Books 14
Clothing 15
Furniture 16
Toys 17
Items You Shouldn't Buy 17
How to Get Stuff For Free 19
Free Samples 20
Free or Cheaper Long Distance Calls 20
Scratch and Dent Stores 22
Drink More, Save More 24
Make Your Own Laundry Soap 25
Make Your Own Dishwasher Detergent 27
Make Your Own Play Dough and Silly Putty 28
50 Uses For Baking Soda 30
Apple Cider Vinegar: Every Bit As Useful As Baking Soda 33
Hydrogen Peroxide 36
Turn Out the Lights 38
Learn to Coupon 40
Get Organized 41
Finding Coupons 42
How To Maximize Coupon Savings 42
Save Money on Laundry 45
Try Bundling Your Bills 47
Your Life Insurance May Be Costing You Too Much 49
Save Money on Your Car 51
Never Buy New 51
Save Money on Repairs 53
Tips to Cut Medical Costs 57
Save Money When You're Insured 57
Save Money When You Don't Have Insurance 59
Cell Phone Savings 61
Cramming 63
Get Dental Care For Free (Or Cheap) 66
10 Ways to Save Money on Pet Food and Care 68
Natural Flea and Tick Prevention 69
Make Your Own Pet Food and Save a Bundle 71
Introduction
Thanks for buying this book. I'm a 38-year old mother of two who was born into
a working class family. I learned a thing or twenty from my mother about saving
cash growing up. She never had a job that paid more than $8 an hour, yet
managed to save up well over $300K over the course of her life. She purchased
and paid for a townhome and always managed to put food on the table.
As I sit here and look back at my childhood, I realize how poor we were, but we
never felt poor then. We always had three meals a day, a roof over our heads and
clothing on our back. Granted, we weren't eating steak or lobster, living in a
mansion or wearing the latest Guess jeans, but we weren't being sent to school in
rags either.
This book is my attempt to pass on to you the knowledge imparted to me over
the years because I'm sure there are people out there struggling to get by who
can use it. If I can help just one person, then writing this book was worth it to
me. In addition to the knowledge my mom passed on to me, I've learned a trick
or two of my own over the years. I'm going to pass that on to you too.
Well, enough about me. Let's get to what you bought the book for—saving
money.
Why You Need a Savings Account
Life happens. Just when it seems things are going smoothly for the first time in
forever, the ball drops. Someone gets sick, something breaks or Uncle Henry
gets arrested again and Aunt Edna asks you to help with bail.
Since you aren't able to predict the curveballs life throws your way, you need to
hedge your bets financially. The best way to do this is by starting a savings
account.
Savings accounts are easy to open. You can open one at pretty much any bank or
credit union in the world. In this day and age, you don't even need to leave the
comfort of your home. You can open a savings account online in a matter of
minutes.
If you have a checking account, there's a good chance you already have a
savings account tied into it. If not, your bank should be willing to give you one
for free. The minimum balance is usually pretty small, especially if you use the
bank for checking. Some banks charge a small fee for savings accounts, so it
pays to shop around a bit.
If you're the type of person who socks money away under the mattress or in a
shoebox on the top shelf in your closet, you're putting yourself at risk, especially
if you're saving a decent amount of money this way. If someone breaks into your
home, you could possibly lose your entire life savings. Don't be the person who
thought it wouldn't happen to them. It happens, and it happens in the nicest of
neighborhoods to people who think that kind of stuff only happens to other
people.
Money placed in a savings account is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC) up to $250K. If you have more than $250K, you're probably
not reading this book. If you're reading it just for kicks, spread your money out
to different accounts to ensure it's protected.
A savings account allows you to put cash away for major emergencies—and no,
the new iPhone that just came out doesn't qualify as an emergency. Start socking
away every last penny you can afford to put away now to ensure you're
financially stable enough to weather the storm in the event of an emergency.
Most financial experts recommend you have enough in savings to cover six
months worth of your expenses. While that may not be realistic for most of us,
try to shoot for three months savings.
The tips in this book are going to show you how to save money. Instead of
blowing the money you save on stuff you really don't need, put that money into a
savings account and keep it there until you need it. Before you know it, you'll
have enough to put a down-payment on that house you've always wanted or to
help pay for your kids to go to college.
Treat your savings account like a black hole into which money goes in and
doesn't come out. Once you've moved money into savings it should stay there
unless you absolutely have to have it. Unless there are bills that absolutely have
to be paid or your kids are going to starve, leave the money in savings alone.
Let me tell you a story of a friend I have who I tried for years to talk into getting
a savings account. I finally got through to her and walked her through the steps
needed to set up her account. I was like a proud mother when she told me she'd
gone through with it and was going to start saving cash.
Fast forward six months. We were chatting one day and I asked how the whole
savings account thing was going. She looked down at her feet and sheepishly
told me she'd been trying, but hadn't been able to save any money. I knew she
didn't have a great job, but she made good enough money to where she should
have been able to squirrel some of it away.
I started asking probing questions to try to get to the bottom of things. It turns
out she was putting money in savings, but had started treating her savings
account like an additional checking account. She had a debit card for the savings
account and used it whenever she felt her regular checking account was getting
low. Instead of saving money, she was simply putting money in two accounts
and spending all of it.
This is a perfect example of the wrong way to use a savings account. Savings is
just that, savings. You're supposed to save money in it. If you're not saving
money, it's time to start, even if it's just a few bucks here and there. While it
might not seem like it in the short term, a few bucks here and there really adds
up over time.
Just to put it in perspective, if you save a hundred bucks a month in an account
that pays 2 percent interest, after 5 years, you'll have $6300 in savings. In ten
years, that amount will more than double to well over $13K. While it might not
seem like it, if you're anything like the average person, you're wasting more than
a hundred dollars a month you could be adding to a savings account.
The Thirty-Day Rule
People tend to be spontaneous spenders. We see something we want and we
decide to buy it on a whim, regardless of cost. The higher-ticket the item, the
more spontaneous we tend to be. In order to combat impulse buys, enact a strict
30-Day Rule policy.
Whenever you find yourself wanting something expensive, wait thirty days
before making the purchase. After the thirty days are up, ask yourself if you
really need to buy the item or if you really want it.
More often than not, you'll find you really don't care about the item anymore.
The urge to buy on impulse will have passed and the item won't hold the same
appeal as it did thirty days ago.
Keep the list in your head. More often than not, you'll have forgotten about the
item by the time you reach thirty days. This will allow you to filter out most
unimportant items, while keeping the important stuff in mind.
Anything that makes it through the 30-Day time period as an item you still want
to buy can be considered for purchase. Take another week and weigh the pros
and cons. Is it something you really need or just something you want? How
much will the item cost? How much will it cost you to maintain the item? Is
there a similar items that's cheaper? Are you buying the item for you or is it
because you want to look good to others? That's a lot of stuff to take into
