Passive Family Income » Frugal

Wholesale Club Membership – Update

John S. — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:56:06 +0000

I recently wrote a post about a frugal decision my wife and I made to cancel our BJ’s Wholesale Club membership. We made the choice to let the membership expire at the end of August, along with the $45 yearly fee. After weighing the pros and cons, we just couldn’t justify a cost savings from our typical purchases at the store on diapers and other baby products. While we did save money on these purchases by shopping at BJ’s compared to other stores, the savings over the course of 12 months did not add up to the membership fee.

One of the items that I previously had mentioned as a reason to cancel the membership was – One Day Memberships. I noted that BJ’s and other wholesale clubs offer one day free memberships to come in and try out the store from time to time. I figured that if we really wanted to still shop at BJ’s, then we could use these free day memberships to our advantage. Soon after we let our yearly membership expire at BJ’s at the end of August, we received a one-day membership coupon in the Sunday paper. So, last weekend we decided to take advantage of the free offer and stock up on purchases that we use to make at the store.

The results of the one day membership were a huge success. We went to the store on a Saturday and they were passing out all of these great BJ’s coupons for extra savings. Remember that BJ’s will let you combine their own coupons with manufacturer’s coupons for extra savings. Well, it just happened that many of the coupons were for diapers and baby products so we took advantage of the deal. We also stocked up on several other products (pasta, meat, and soy burgers) while we were there. I am not sure how often BJ’s runs these types of promotions for the free one day memberships, but at this point my wife and I are very glad with our decision.

Originally posted 2008-09-15 07:21:59. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Frugal and Freecycle Landscaping

John S. — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 13:39:24 +0000

One of my passions in life is landscaping and working outdoors. Another passion and sometimes obsession of mine is to live frugally. Unfortunately, when these two passions come together, the sometimes frugal obsession in me always wins. One of the hardest things for me to deal with in regards to frugal living is reducing our family’s landscaping expenses. Many years ago (before kids), I would go to the local nursery and pick up all sorts of plants and trees and anything imaginable that you could use for landscaping. I took pride in having the greenest lawn in the neighborhood and the best looking landscaping. I would often have neighbors stop and ask me all kinds of questions about my landscaping and give me tons of complements. Then one day, after our first son was born, I realized I needed to focus on different passions in life and began to cut back in our landscaping and outdoor costs.

To give you an idea on how much I have cut back in landscaping expenses, in the 6 months that we have been in our new home, I have spent a grand total of $18.00 on landscaping. This is a brand new home which means it has very little curb appeal, so $18 does not really go a long way. This expense included a bag of grass seed and a few perennials to add some color to the front of the house. On a side note, I don’t buy annuals for the obvious reason. While I understand annuals typically produced the best colors, they don’t come back and I consider it a waste of my money. I need to see a multi-year return on investment! I will note that our home did come with sod in the front yard (not in the back) and some landscaping in the front which has helped out a lot.

The other day my father called me up with two very frugal opportunities. Given our very limited landscaping monthly budget, I jumped at the following opportunities -

Patio Stone
My parents recently hired a company to come in and rip up an existing patio they had in their back yard from a previous owner of the home. The old patio was made from large sections of flagstone but was uneven which caused some drainage issues. My parents wanted to put in a brick paver patio in place of the flagstone. When the demolition crew came in to start ripping up the existing patio, my father asked them what they do with all the materials. One of the workers told him that it would be going to a landfill and that it was already factored into the quoted price. Luckily my father, understanding my passion for landscaping, called me up and asked if I would be interested in the flagstone. I told him absolutely and the crew came up immediately to our house and dropped it off. It actually saved my parents money because the company waived the fee to dump it in the landfill and also reduced the amount they paid to take it to the landfill. Our house was about 15 miles closer than the landfill, so they pro-rated the expense. At the end of the day, I felt very proud of our freecycle opportunity. We saved my parents money and got some excellent flagstone that I will be using to create a raised flower bed in the front our our house. Most importantly, we prevented a bunch of usable natural materials from going into a landfill!

Free Plants
As part of my parents backyard project, they dug up several overgrown perennials that had invaded their backyard. As part of my father’s call earlier in the week, he also asked if I was interested in any of the plants he cut back? Of course, I accepted his offer and now have several wonderful perennials to plant in my soon to be new raised flower bed in front of the house.

Originally posted 2008-08-27 12:26:14. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Revisiting house guests and added expenses

John S. — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 13:07:14 +0000

Well our house guests (the in-laws) who visited us for two weeks are now gone back home. It was a nice visit and our family budget withstood the added expenses that I posted in a previous article found here – Preparing for House Guests and added Expenses. Today, I would like to revisit those items that I previously posted and add some additional comments on preparing for house guests and the added expenses.

The following list details the anticipated added expenses of house guests that I previously posted -

Food – The food budget saw a bit of a spike but I think it will be manageable for the month. Fortunately, my wife and I stocked up on a lot of food prior to my in-laws arrival which helped us eat in more than going out. In fact, my in-laws felt so bad that we were spending all the money on food that they took us out to dinner twice and paid!
Gas – While we did drive a lot when they were in town, I don’t believe it was too many more miles than we would normally drive. The one exception was an unexpected 90 mile round trip to the airport to pick up my brother-in-law who decided to come in for the 4th of July weekend.
Water – Unfortunately, the water bill will see a big spike in the next month. As anticipated, my father-in-law took his 20+ minute showers two times per day. Add on top of that my mother-in-law and brother-in-law taking added showers will increase the usage. During that time, I decided to shower at work during the week and limited myself on showering on the weekends at home. My wife also did an excellent job of managing the laundry duties and combining as many loads as possible. The dishwasher also ran once per day while they were in town instead of once every 3 or 4 days.
Electricity – The other problem expense during the visit is the added electricity bill. We ran the A/C more often and dropped the temperature from 84 degrees to 80 degrees. We had more lights on, ceiling fans runnings, and the tv was on more. We should be ok as we budget $150 per month for electricity and have not gone over $100 yet. We just wont be able to save as much this month.
Entertainment – The entertainment category was a nice surprise. While we had expected an increase in this category, we really did not spend very much money here. My in-laws took our 4-year old son out a lot on their own and paid for any costs (i.e. movies, etc.) which was nice. Anytime we did something together, my in-laws also picked up the tab to offset the money we had spent on food which also helped out a lot.

Forgotten Expense – One forgotten expense that I didn’t think of will be an increase in the gas bill. While it is summer and the furnace is not running, we still will see an increase in the monthly gas bill. The extra showers (hot water), dishwasher runs, and laundry cycles will add to our gas bill.

Overall, it was a very nice visit and we will miss our house guests. I feel fortunate to have family members who want to help out with the bills from time to time. In the case of my in-laws visit, they wanted to pay for things like eating out and entertainment expenses. We even got into an argument with them about a check they wrote us when they were leaving. They wanted to give us $200 for the food they ate at our house and the gas we spent while they visited. After a few hours of negotiations, we decided on $100 instead to offset any costs. While my wife and I are frugal in nature, we draw the line when it comes to money and family. We value our family much higher than our frugal ways and didn’t feel right taking the $100 check from my in-laws, but also knew that it made them feel better. My in-laws also told us they were going to come back for another week to visit at the beginning of August, so we told them we would use the money to buy food again and stock up for their return.

How do you handle situations with family or friends who want to pay? Do you take their money?

Originally posted 2008-07-14 06:58:58. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The Sacrifice of Frugal Living

John S. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:40:45 +0000

The other day driving into work I heard an interesting conversation between two radio hosts. The topic was related to fall and when should you turn your furnace on. One of the hosts actually told a story of a close friend who lived in NY state who doesn’t ever turn his furnace on in the winter, even if it is 10 below! This close friend of the host lived alone, so he didn’t have to worry about the comfort of others. Now, I don’t know how factual this story is, but I believe their are frugal people out there who live to this extreme. That got me thinking about when frugal living is taken to an extreme and it becomes more of a hazard. Not turning your heat on in the middle of winter in the north doesn’t inspire too many people to come over and visit. Is this person sacrificing any type of social interaction by not turning on their heat? Has this persons frugal ways cost him relationships or close friends he may have had by choosing an extreme way of life? How does he keep his pipes from freezing in the winter and causing damage to his home?

I think each person or family has different thresholds and tolerances on finding ways to saving money. For example, I have been reading some posts recently on Early Retirement Extreme about a money saving tip being used that involves living in an RV! The would not be an easy way to save money for my famiy. Not that there is anything wrong with it (in fact, I admire this behavior), but raising two young boys in an RV would add a lot of extra stress to our lives.

After listening to the radio talk show, I started thinking about frugal behaviors practiced by my wife and I that other people may think of as extreme. The following list is a brainstorm of these frugal behaviors by my wife and I that have been considered extreme by others in the past.

Heat – We set our thermostats in the winter to 62 degrees while we are sleeping and 66 when we are at home and awake.
Air Conditioning – We keep our A/C set at 82-84 degrees in the summer.
Hair Cuts – I get my haircut 4 times per year. I should get it cut monthly as fast as it grows, but I try and save money by limiting the number of haircuts I get per year. My wife actually cuts our two son’s hair but is hesitant on cutting mine.
Eating Out – We rarely do it.
Vacations – Haven’t been on one for over 3 years.
Phone – We don’t have long distance, caller id, and call waiting. We only have local service in order to get DSL at home.
Home – We are slow to decorate, paint, and purchase furniture for our home. We take our time and only buy items at a discount.
Cars – I have a small Saturn car that is not very easy to fit two car seats in, but it is paid off and I will drive it until it dies.
Food – Our oldest son loves plain pasta. We will often make a meal out of cooking pasta and throwing some seasoning on it with a vegetable side. This is a very cheap and quick meal.
Water – We don’t water our grass in the summer, instead relying strictly on rainfall.
Entertainment – Our entertainment budget relies solely on free movies from the library and going to parks.

I am sure I have forgotten several items, but it is a start. I don’t believe any of the items listed above are extreme at all, but many friends and family do. What frugal behaviors that you practice are questioned by others?

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Buying furniture – A passive income opportunity?

John S. — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:50:04 +0000

My wife and I have been searching for a dining room table set for several months. We have always wanted a dining room that was not too formal but a place where we could have family dinners away from the television and other distractions. Our new home has a dinning area which can easily hold a large table, several chairs, and a buffet. We had set aside a large chunk of money to purchase furniture for our new home, which I had been reimbursed for unused vacation days at a previous job. We decided when I left the position, we would tuck the money away in a certificate of deposit to earn some interest while we searched for furniture.

A few weeks ago, we were shopping at the local Cost Plus World Market and came across a table and chairs set that fit exactly what we wanted. It was a simple set made out of rubberwood that had a distressed look to it. We fell in love with it and decided we would wait until it went on sale to make the purchase. Well this week, Cost Plus World Market has all of their furniture on sale so we headed over to the store to check things out. When we got there, we noticed signs hanging everywhere for opening up a store credit card and receiving 10% off your first purchase. This concept of opening up a store credit card is nothing new to us or most people. By opening up this card, we had the potential to save over $135.00 on top of the sale price. That was a nice option for opening up a card, but what really caught my eye were two other benefits from opening up this card -

No Interest 1 year – I love 0% interest! Anytime I can get no interest on a purchase, I begin to salivate. When I saw the sign the wheels immediately began to turn in my head thinking of how I can make this work. Instead of putting $1350.00 on one of our other credit cards, we could open up the new card, knock down the price to $1,215.00 (plus tax) and take that money and earn interest off of it.
Rewards – In addition to the no interest for 1 year, the card will also give you $15.00 back on store gift card for every $300 you spend. So a $1,200+ purchase would bring back $60.00 is store gift cards.

The Plan
We ended up opening up the store credit card to receive the benefits mentioned above and made the purchase. Since we already have the money available for this purchase and we have the option of not paying this expense for 1 year without interest, I am considering this a passive income opportunity. My plan is to take $1,200+ and either put it into a CD or in my new ING account depending on where I can find the best interest rate. This will bring in an additional $30+ dollars over the next 12 months of true passive income. While it is not a lot of money, every little bit counts and adds up over time.

Do you use special rates, store credit cards, or other lines of credit to stretch your money out?

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.