Frugal Living

Well folks, it’s that time of the year again …

There’s a little over a month to fill the “simple” requests from our children who are way too young to get the fact that Santa doesn’t really make those expensive toys they’re begging us for, or from our wives, husbands or family members who are old enough to know better, but still don’t seem to get “it”! Yes, welcome to America … a country that doesn’t care how much you make during the rest of the year, as long as you have enough dough in your pocket to blow it all the products the marketers and advertisers profess that you must buy to keep the peace!

Yet, the cold hard truth remains: You honestly don’t need this stuff … Jesus Christ himself didn’t have a Christmas tree, did he (probably because he wasn’t a 5th century German tribesman)? Really … at a time of mass lay-offs, a weak U.S. dollar and general uneasiness about our economic future, does spending hard-earned cash on shiny new (fill in this blank with whatever they’re begging you for) make any sense to you? God, I hope not! Seriously, how can anyone on a budget justify splurging on a 50” plasma TV or a $500 Coach purse when this country is in near financial ruins? Continued

Vintage clothing shopping is awesome … and no, you don’t have to be a dirty hipster to enjoy that awesomeness!

I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not, but more and more people are now reduce-reuse-recycling, rather than tossing everything out into the trash (which is ultimately the responsible thing to do). Combine this trend with an every-increasing human population that has limited resources, and you’ll have quite a few more people (note: understatement of the year) worried about what our planet’s future might bring. In response to this crisis, many have changed their wasteful habits by reducing their carbon footprints.

Now on to the good stuff: popular places to buy this “vintage” clothing include charity-driven second hand shops, garage sales, flea markets, and vintage clothing shops (although some of these greedy bastards like to hang onto their crap way too long, which means less savings for you). Then again, some good vintage pieces can also be obtained from older friends and relatives who like to keep their old clothing for long periods of time! The advent of the internet has also been a huge boon to the vintage clothing world (don’t believe me? Check eBay then! You’ll see)! Continued

Is your last name Rockefeller or Gates? Yes? Well then, there’s no need for you to read any further … have a nice day!

Now, for those who answered no, let’s get down to some brass tacks: why are you buying luxury s@#t to impress everyone with? Think it’s going to make you some new friends … think the ladies even give a crap about it (God, I hope you answered no … for your sake)? Did cavemen walk around bragging about how they just bought an imported wheel, or designer animal furs? How about the Egyptians … didn’t they ALL wear Egyptian cotton? Yes they did! So why in the h@#l do we do it in this day and age? Why do we constantly buy into the hype, which the marketers force feed down our throats with their daily advertising bombardments? Continued

Work clothes are expensive!

How did I, Mr. Frugal, figure this out, you ask? Well, lately I’ve been frustrated with my limited work wardrobe (I have way too many sports related t-shirts [Go Birds!] and not enough things I can wear in a boardroom meeting! This would usually be OK with me, but I work in a professional environment and part of the costs of having this great career means that I need to maintain a certain standard, and style, of dress (not to impress as much as not to be laughed at).

However, I can be pretty cheap when it comes to shopping for work clothes! I often buy things from the clearance racks at Target or the Gap, which means I usually spend very little money, but also end up with something of relatively low quality. So low in fact, that in a couple of months down the road, that $10 button-down clearance shirt will be losing its buttons, it’s going to unravel at the seams and more than likely fade drastically! Sometimes I like a shirt so much that I’ll do some minor surgery on it (to keep it going for a while longer before it totally disintegrates)! Continued

Don’t know what to do with the old furniture you inherited from your parents (that your wife keeps b@#ching about [since it doesn’t fit the “everything has to match” version of what IKEA’s telling her a home should look like])?

Sure, that furniture is really ancient, but is it totally useless? What’s wrong with it, really? Is it suffering from a little bit of peeled paint, or some minor cracks (hey, those flaws add character)? Maybe it’s getting a tad “out of fashion” (so she says … you could care less, I bet) or you’re sincerely just getting bored with it? Well, whatever the reason may be, it shouldn’t be tossed into the garbage so easily — that’s for sure!

The strength of furniture from the past is legendary (they don’t make it like they used to … you know this right?)! Age doesn’t really affect well-made furniture, and a little “special attention” repairs may be all that’s necessary to put these puppies back into their fighting shape … am I lying? So go ahead, and make them valuable all over again, as these old pieces were built for functionality, and have stood the test of time! A minor facelift does wonders in turning your old stuff into the right mix of class and serviceability, which will ultimately spruce up your dream home at the same time. Continued