Frugal Living for Tough Economic Times by Joel
Frugal living is an idea that is about to come into vogue again. With the economy being in the toilet and the future outlook not being much better, many families are feeling the effects of the economy in their wallets and at home.
Sadly, if frugality hadn’t fallen out of vogue, perhaps the economy wouldn’t be in such bad shape but it’s too late for that. So before going on, let’s define what frugality is and then let’s look at some different things we can do to put this lifestyle into effect.
If you watch the TV, you may have the wrong impression about frugal living. One so-called, financial expert suggested that a daily latte at Starbucks was being fiscally responsible if you really value having a latte everyday. Real frugality on the other hand, eschews popular trends and expensive reoccurring costs to maintain budgetary control.
These can include things like making the latte at home for a fraction of the cost or going to the library to read magazines versus maintaining a subscription. A frugal person is also likely to shop in second-hand stores, like Goodwill, instead of buying new.
Some Frugal Living Tips:
Now that the idea of frugality has been defined, it’s time to look at how to put it into practical use. One way is to recognize what is called loss-leader marketing and then avoiding falling for loss-leader ploys. Loss-leader marketing by the way, is when a store of manufacturer, make an offer to consumers where initially, the store or manufacturer will be providing something at a loss.
Once the consumer has taken advantage of the loss-leader, the store or manufacturer will profit by means of an up-sell, or reoccurring purchases. One example of this is the disposable razor industry. Gillette sends you the handle for the razor and a couple cartridges in the mail for free but they more than cover their cost through the high cartridge prices. Now compare that with old-school shaving.
For the price of 5 Gillette Mach III cartridges, I can buy a year of disposable blades for my DE shaver. The bottom line is stay away from offers where you get something for free in exchange for a monthly plan **cough, cell phones cough** or reoccurring cost.
Another place to implement frugality is in our daily bread. The FDA for example claims that the monthly food budget, for a family of four trying to pinch pennies is over $400 a month. Recent statistics also show that the average family eats out two nights a week.
Add it all together and American families are spending a lot of money every month on food. Surprisingly, considering they’re pinching pennies, a large portion of that $400 food budget goes towards buying food that is preprocessed. These foods are often more expensive than their made from scratch counterparts.
A loaf of bread from the store for example, costs around $2.00 while the homemade version costs about $0.80 or a savings of $1.20. Of course many preprocessed foods provide coupons in newspapers and many grocery stores have double and triple coupon days. If you must buy prepackaged food clip your coupons and do your shopping on the days that provide the most value.
The last of the frugal tips is for those in real dire straits. If times are really tough and you are without health insurance, know that you shouldn’t have to worry.
Many hospitals have what are called charity care programs. These programs provide free or reduced health care costs. Though qualifying income levels vary, in many places, a family of four can qualify with an income up to 400% of the federal poverty level.
For those that don’t qualify, if you lack health care or are financially unable, there maybe additional programs that can provide health services at a discount. And finally, many hospitals will let you negotiate health care at medicare costs or will work out a payment plan for you.
In this article, we have looked at some different ways to get frugal living into your life. Cutting out expensive reoccurring costs, preparing foods at home, and taking advantage of hospital charity care programs, if you qualify and are needy, are just a few of these way. And though frugality is a lifestyle that is best to implement before you find yourself in economic hard times, it will certainly help when times are tough
Processing your request, Please wait....
