The Simple Dollar
Children get off the bus at Eugene Field Elementary School in Silverton, Ore., for their first day back to school in 2007. Don't start back-to-school shopping before you comb through your house for old supplies, Hamm says. (Lori Cain/Stateman Journal/AP/File)
Back-to-school shopping? Do it the frugal way.
Now that I have two young ones in school (and one of them in preschool … one who likes to make sure to tell everyone that he is also in school), the annual cycle of buying school supplies and preparing for the upcoming year is now a part of our lives.
Thankfully, the past few years have taught us several useful tactics for making this annual rite pass by in a much less expensive fashion. Here’s what we’ve learned.
The first place to shop for school supplies is at home.
When you get that school supply list – the one that’s full of things like “pencil holders” and “two black pens” and other things – the first thing you should do is go around your house and figure out which of those items you already have.
It’s likely that you already have quite a few of those things around your house because your children used them in previous years. Sometimes, they might end up reusing the item they were using in the spring – at other times, they might be using a hand-me-down from their sibling.
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To fill out the rest of your list, watch the flyers.
Department stores love to use school supplies as loss leaders in August. Before you go out and start buying like crazy just to get the list out of the way, start watching the flyers.
In Ankeny, Iowa, the town where we often shop, there’s a Wal-Mart, a Target, a Home Depot, and several other stores extremely close to each other. We’ll just watch the flyers for all of these stores, figure out the best time to get the supplies, then make a list for each store and get the items needed there. ( Continue… )
Items from Bella, a gourmet kitchenware brand, sit on a table. Do your research and spend money on more expensive but durable items, Hamm advises. (Sensio Inc./PRNewsFoto/File)
Buy it for life. Save money.
Over time, as our various pots and pans have worn out, we’ve slowly been replacing them with enameled cast iron, which are fairly expensive – substantially more than the pots and pans at our local department store.
My pocketknife’s blade became so beat up that it could barely cut string. I now use a Leatherman, which cost more than many other options.
After watching three different umbrellas completely fail under normal use, we purchased a Davek, which cost us about five times as much as the umbrellas we had previously purchased.
Why are we slowly making these purchases to replace worn-out items? We believe in a “buying it for life” philosophy when it comes to buying things.
In other words, when I buy something, I’d rather pay more now to not have to deal with replacing it for a very, very long time. Ideally, I’d like to not have to replace it in my lifetime – and I’m in my mid-thirties. ( Continue… )
A single house is offered for sale in Santa Monica, Calif. on June 11, 2013. When your children move out of your home and you are left with empty rooms, one option you can take is to move out to a smaller home — something that could save you hundreds of dollars a month. (Nick Ut/AP)
Empty nest? What to do with extra rooms in the house
The children move out, leaving a few empty bedrooms behind.
You can’t sublease that extra room in your apartment, so it sits there empty.
You buy a big house intending to have children, but then you decide to wait.
Things like this happen to a lot of us, and they all wind up with the same problem: you have an extra room (or three) in your home.
Having a room just sitting there empty is expensive. You’re paying for the rent or the mortgage on it. If it’s in your home, you’re paying for the insurance and the property taxes on it. You’re paying to heat and cool the room as well.
The room might be empty, but so are your pockets. ( Continue… )
Dalifet Hernandez, a freshman from New York, gets help from family members and volunteers as she moves into Lyon Hall at Ithaca College in Ithaca, N.Y. in 2010. Although college tuition is more expensive than ever, students can save money throughout their years at school with some of Hamm's tips. (Robyn Wishna/The Ithaca Journal/AP/File)
Going to college? Save money on campus.
It wasn’t all that long ago that I was enjoying that special summer between high school and college. I had graduated from high school, of course, but I was also the first person in my family to actually attend college. It was exciting and a bit frightening and almost overwhelming.
Looking back now on my journal entries from that time and recalling the choices I made, I recognize how completely inefficient I was in those first years in school. I made a ton of little financial mistakes that stretched my already thin finances even thinner – and eventually stretched them to the breaking point.
If I were to sit down with my eighteen year old self again and offer some pointers on how to maximize every dime on campus while also having a lot of fun, here’s what I would suggest.
Contact your roommate now
Many of you have probably already done this. If you haven’t, find your roommate on Facebook now. Drop that person a friend request.
What you’ll want to find out from that person is what shareable items to bring. Items like a television, a microwave, and a mini-fridge are items that you can share in a dorm room without any real problems. Plus, doing so will save one (or both) of you some cash if you don’t already have the items. If you do, now’s your chance to return the item. ( Continue… )
Graduating students wait for the start of their commencement ceremony in Cambridge, Mass. in 2009. Fear being broke? You can use that to motivate yourself to spend wisely, Hamm says. (Brian Snyder/Reuters/File)
The fear of being broke (and how to use it)
I’m afraid of being broke.
I’m afraid of not having enough money to be able to pay for simple extracurricular expenses for my children, like a band instrument.
I’m afraid of working out of fear of losing a paycheck rather than the desire to create something and help others.
I’m afraid of having to constantly choose between needs and to have to choose mediocre solutions because that’s all I can afford.
I’m afraid of having to put skimpy or unhealthy meals on the table for my family because that’s my only choice. ( Continue… )
Stone formations are seen in the Mammoth Dome area of Mammoth Cave during a tour in Mammoth Cave National Park, Ky. Hamm recommends the National Park Service for finding affordable, enriching experiences during US travel. (Ed Reinke/AP/File)
The National Park system is the best vacation value in the country
Over the past two weeks, Sarah and I combined a tenth anniversary getaway for the two of us along with a family vacation for ourselves, our children, and Sarah’s parents and youngest sister. This meant almost two full weeks of traveling.
Along the way, I kept taking notes on the inexpensive and free stuff I discovered along the way, but when I came home and actually evaluated the list, one giant theme kept coming through.
The National Park Service (and, similarly, the U.S. Forest Service) provide tremendous value for the traveler within the United States.
My list of “frugal tips” from our travels of the past two weeks was simply loaded with references to these two services, particularly the National Park Service. If you’re going anywhere, look into what these two services have to offer in the area to which you’re traveling.
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Here are some specific highlights from our recent travels.
In Boston, the Freedom Trail was an amazing day-long highlight. Most of historic Boston is maintained by the Park Service, the highlight of which is the Freedom Trail, which is a clearly marked route about three miles in length through Boston and Charlestown, which takes you by dozens of different landmarks relevant to the start of the American Revolution.
Not only did they provide us with free maps along the way, they also provided a free Android/iOS app that provided a step-by-step guide to the trail. In addition, there were guided tours of the trail led by NPS employees and several regular talks at various points along the trail. We toured the USS Constitution (“Old Ironsides”) for free with a tour guide as part of this day-long excursion, as well as the wonderful Bunker Hill Monument which provided a great view of the city.
In Salem, the Park Service provided a free guided tour of the harbor along with the Customs House. This was a roughly hour-long tour that highlighted the history of maritime trade in New England as well as highlighting the Customs House where Nathaniel Hawthore worked while writing The Scarlet Letter. If you miss the tour guide, the Park Service offers a free downloadable audio tour of the area.
During our drive through rural New England, we came upon the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire. Not knowing much about the area, we stopped at a U.S. Forest Service station near North Conway, where a ranger spent half an hour telling us about the White Mountains, providing us with a bunch of printed maps, and several specific trail recommendations and how to find those trails. We ended up going on three of those trails, all of which were (depending on the trail difficulty and style) maintained by the Forest Service with trail clearing, informative signs, and other efforts. Again, all of this was free.
Later on, in Kentucky with our full family, we visited Mammoth Cave National Park. There were many different guided tours available there, some free and some requiring a small fee, along with an abundance of trails, a museum, and several talks, all of which were free.
Near the end of the trip, we also visited the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis), which, much like Mammoth Cave, offered several free things to do (in particular, a museum) along with a relatively low cost tour of the Arch itself. My children particularly enjoyed this museum and kept wanting to stay here and look around at more and more things.
(Another note: if you’re in Saint Louis and have children, both the Science Center and the Zoo are free.)
In the end, we spent perhaps half of our recreational time on the entire vacation using services from the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service and the vast majority of it was free. What few things were not free were priced very sensibly, too.
If you’re planning a family summer vacation, keep our national parks and national forests in mind. Search their websites to see what they offer in whatever area you’re traveling to and take advantage of the many free and low-cost things they have to offer.
I will say, without a doubt, these services saved us significant money and time on our vacation as well as provided us with enriching information and experiences. They have been and will continue to be key parts of our summer travel planning.
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The sun rises over the Isles of Shoals in Rye, N.H. in June 2013. Don't splurge on things just to spice up a mundane day; Hamm says that it's worth saving money for big expenses like vacations or concerts. (Holly Ramer/AP/File)
Save money for the special occasions.
For most of us, our memories of the past function quite a lot like a good “oldies” radio station. We remember lots of good moments from our past, while much of the ordinary and mundane have been swept away over time.
When I think back to my own past, I tend to almost entirely remember the good moments. If I think for a while, I might recall some of the lesser times in my past, but at first glance, it’s mostly filled with good thoughts.
I remember the great coworkers and the intellectual joy of my previous work, not the bureaucracy and the frayed family life.
I remember the intellectual curiosity, friendships, and self-determination of my college years, not the challenging nights of studying and the long periods of self-doubt and uncertainty about my future.
I also tend to remember a lot of the peak experiences of my heavy spending years. I remember our overseas travel and my heavy indulgence into expensive hobbies (like golfing and video games). I don’t remember the periods of uncertainty, the fear of not having enough money to pay the bills, and the constant sense of not having any sort of real long-term direction or hope. I can recall them if I specifically think back to that period for a while, but it’s not part of what I initially think about when I think about my life then. ( Continue… )
Discount signs are displayed in a clothing store window in Strasbourg during the first day of summer sales in France last month. If an item isn't useful to you, it's not a deal — no matter how low its price is, Hamm says. (Vincent Kessler/Reuters/File)
You're buying an item, not a price tag.
Not too long ago, a person I know showed me a very nice bag they had purchased. It was actually a really nice bag – sized almost perfectly for carrying about six board games and structured with aluminum bars to help keep its shape, yet also folding down wonderfully for storage.
This person was very proud of the deal they had received for this bag – in fact, the deal was so good that my friend had purchased two of the bags.
When I asked this person more about the purchase, particularly what they planned to do with the bag, the friend just stammered a bit and then, seemingly on the spur of the moment, offered to give me one of them.
While I did appreciate this, the abrupt offer seemed odd, so I dropped the subject.
After replaying the conversation a few times, though, I came to a pretty simple conclusion: the person had simply bought the bags because they seemed like a killer deal, not because they had any particular use for the bag. ( Continue… )
A McDonald's Angus Third Pounder hamburger sits in a carton in Chicago, Ill. earlier this year. Although buying fast food is quick and easy, it won't save you money or be as good for your health as packing your own lunch, Hamm says. (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP/File)
Stop buying convenience foods. Save money.
For about a year, I used to buy these really great salad kits at our local grocery store. They came in these nice little clamshell boxes, had a fork already in there along with some salad dressing, and the salad was usually a pretty good one. It was incredibly easy to grab three or four of these and use them for quick meals on the go.
One day, though, I stopped and actually added up the cost. The salad kits were $5.99 each. I could pull four reusable containers out of the cupboard, get a bunch of those little cups for keeping salad dressing in, a bottle of good dressing, and a big bag of salad, along with some “extras” for the salad like croutons. I’d spend maybe $10 getting started and then about $4 or $5 a week after that and I could duplicate those salad kits in my kitchen.
I’d just open up a plastic container, add my salad, put a bit of dressing in a little cup, toss the cup in there, toss a fork in there, close it, and stick it in the fridge. It took about a minute and the total cost was well under $2 – far less than the $5.99 for the kit.
So, I started making four of these kits each weekend. I’d just buy a bunch of salad greens at the store along with dressing or any toppings if I needed them, then I’d just make four “kits” assembly line style in the kitchen. They’d sit in the fridge for either Sarah or myself to grab for a quick lunch.
Looking back on it, it was my experience with the salad kits that made me realize how much of a waste most convenience foods are. About the only thing they have going for them is that they arguably save you a minute or two. In about every other respect, they strike out. ( Continue… )
Credit cards stick out of a wallet. It's important to set a budget that gives you the flexibility of spending more or less on certain items like food and energy according to your needs, Hamm says. (Stelios Varias/Reuters/File)
The ballad of the flexible budget
There are a lot of different techniques for budgeting out there. There’s the standard “write out a budget” method presented in a ton of personal finance books. There’s the “envelope” method. There’s the electronic “You Need a Budget” method.
I’m not going to get into the ins and outs of each type of budget, except to say that they have a few big things in common.
The big one is that they all push you to compartmentalize your money into groups so that you can keep careful track of where your money is going.
They want you to allot a certain amount to your energy bill. They want you to allocate a certain amount to your monthly food spending. They want you to allocate a certain amount to your mortgage. You get the idea.
The idea behind this is that you should strive to set aside enough each month to ensure that each particular area of your life is covered. So, if you have a $1,200 mortgage payment each month, then $1,200 of your monthly income should be untouchable except for your mortgage payment. If you spend $800 on your family’s food each month, then $800 of your monthly income should be untouchable except for food. ( Continue… )
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