I Heart Baby Wipes for the Traveler (and Duct Tape)

Does everyone already know this? I only thought of this last summer.

Our first purchase in Paris (after some food, of course) will be BABY WIPES!

Carry a few in a ziplock to wipe your sweaty brow, the back of your neck, and--MY FAVORITE--your sweaty feet.

They are amazingly restorative.

And, from Mr FS, DUCT TAPE. This can be hard to find when you need it. This serves many purposes, of course. We are mainly taking it for SHOE EMERGENCIES. In Chicago many years ago, my sandals fell apart. Disaster! I didn't want to buy new shoes because I am a well-known cheapwad and hate emergency purchases. Besides, I have troublesome feet, so I can't buy just anything.

Eventually, we spied a store that stocked those cheap Chinese Mary Janes, which saved the day. Now I always carry extra emergency shoes on walks. But we also carry the beloved DUCT TAPE.

Mr FS wraps some around a pencil. What can I say? He is a genius.

Instead of shredding...

I'm sure most people are more organized than I am. It would be hard not to be. It is the bane of my life.

Common wisdom says one should put statements through the shredder. Our shredder went kaput a while ago, PLUS I never could keep up with the shredding. Then I read an organizing book by Susan Pinsky. She has a whole page on why one doesn't need to shred. She says that almost no identity theft is perpetrated through garbage. It is the work of cyber thieves. She does say that--for things with really private information like social security numbers--one can use a thick black marker to obliterate the info, kind of like those redacted documents one sees in the news and on movies.

I just threw out a bunch of stuff, including old retirement account statements. It does make me a bit nervous. And I forgot about the marker trick.

Mr FS to the rescue! He just threw all the papers into an empty garbage can and poured water on them. He's going to stir them into oblivion. This really takes very little time. Much less than shredding.

Just a tip for any messy, overwhelmed, and disorganized types that might be out there. And we don't need to buy another shredder.

Dribs and Drabs: Packing for a Trip to Paris and Beyond

I have many big things to think about, the main one being whether I want a now-valuable vacation house when my mother is no more.  My brother does not want it. This simple little house is now worth a good bit--more than a good bit for someone like me--and I am unsure if I can handle the expenses.

Then, like many in my age group, I have to think about retirement: how, what, when, where.

I am one of those little things people. All my savings come not from making super choices in my investments or earning a lot of money but from saving a dollar here, a dollar there on the (too) many consumer goods that come into my life.

To take my mind off the big questions, which are filling me with anxiety, I am thinking about little tiny things that will make my trip to Europe (soon!) a little easier and a little more frugal.

1. One of those under-clothing pouches. We have been using these for years. They cost around $10 at LL Bean. We have been approached by scammers (fake deaf people, the fake gold ring trick) and fondled by people in crowded metros. No worries! We have our pouches! And yes, your tummy pooches out a little, but--guess what?--no one is looking at you.

2. Pantiliners. Aside from their regular uses, I just learned that you can put these in your shoes to absorb sweat! What a great idea.

3. Stick deodorant. I also learned that you can rub cheapo stick deodorant on your feet to prevent rubbing. That way you don't have to buy blister sticks (which are 99% vegetable shortening).

4. Make-Up. I am very low maintenance (i.e. lazy) in the grand scheme of womanhood. Nevertheless, I have amassed many lipsticks and foundations that are 80% used up. All the declutter experts say: throw 'em out. Frugal Me is reluctant to let even some wax and coloring die in vain, so I am putting them in my travel luggage. I will use 'em up in Europe. And, hey, if they have to die in vain, at least they will be in the Eurozone.

5. Books. Mr FS has solved his reading problem. He brings Walden every year and never reads it. I read it last time. I have amassed--thanks to the 25 cent books at the library--a bunch of classics (Austen, Graham Greene, Dickens)  in tiny formats and very bedraggled condition. These are due for re-reading. i will pass them on by stacking them on TOP of the garbage cans so others can take them--this is the Parisian way.

Do you have any tips for dribs and drabs?

Frugality: Is it Fun?

I wrote a followup to my post on selling excess clothing on Tradesy. I received a rather horrified comment from Shelley to the effect that all this "in and out" made her head spin. She seemed to marvel that I found it fun.

But I do. So does at least one other blogger--Frugalshrink--who is doing similar things not because she has to, but because she likes to.

My family of 4 spends less than $1000 a year on clothing (not all is 2nd hand). I still treat both my 20something kids in this department because I have the time to do it. It is a major component of my frugal practice.

The other component is killer grocery shopping, sans coupons, but keeping an eye out and stocking up. This must work because I occasionally have to institute a "shopping fast" in this area and use up the stuff in my freezer. I mentioned in a blog comment the other day that my family has always spent well under the food stamp budget--not that I even knew what that budget was till recently.

My Partner in Frugality--Mr FS--would break out in hives doing my above fun activities (though he sometimes accompanies me on walks to a nearby grocery store). His frugal practices involve doing all the yard work and fixing whatever can be fixed. 

There are zillions of ways to be frugal. Read The Tightwad Gazette for ideas. Or check out the relevant chapter in Your Money of Your Life. 

My parents were pretty frugal when I was growing up (and my parents were self-employed for many years, which necessitates careful budgeting). They pretty much stopped when they moved to a fun golf community in Florida (at the exact ages of me and Mr FS!!!). I guess frugality wasn't fun for them.

I'm kind of curious to see how I may change in the frugal department when I retire. In graduate school (talk about stressful days!) I was frugal by necessity. Now, I am frugal by choice. That is the greatest luxury as far as I'm concerned. I don't think I would do it if it weren't fun.

Do my frugal adventures sound like fun to you or do they evoke "the horror! the horror!"? Do YOU think frugality can be fun?

Wisdom from Iceland

While I was cleaning up (sort of) in preparation for our trip, I came upon a postcard I picked up in the airport in Iceland. It was free (though food--except for children--was not included in the ticket cost. UGH).

There were a lot of different cards, but I picked the one with the frugal sentiment:

Everything is hay in hard times.


For more wisdom from Iceland, I recommend a wonderful book, which I would never had heard of had I not picked it up for a pittance at a book sale. Interestingly, in the introduction to the book, Brad Leithauser talks about how this is a masterpiece that most people have never heard of.

It IS a masterpiece. It is sometimes slow going, but the very end makes the journey worth it.

Win-Win-Win: Energy Bills

Sometimes it's hard to measure savings because there are so many variables. Frugal Son has provided me with a case where savings can be measured. Remember about a year ago, we were looking to buy a house in New Orleans with the money Mr FS inherited when his father died? We wanted a place Frugal Son could live 9his living circumstances were not great at the time0 and we figured he could find some roommates.

Well, we did buy a house and good thing, because prices have soared and we could not buy the same house now. A near twin next door (25 sf bigger and fixed up a bit more nicely) just sold for more than 20% more than what we paid. And FS is happy with his two roommates and also cool with having the tiniest and least desirable room (and hence the lowest rent).

Frugal Son is also frugal in both practical and philosophical ways. We hit on a way to get the roommates to be mindful of energy consumption. They would pay based on the previous owner's bills and we would reimburse them the difference if it was lower.

Note: the figures below are a bit off because Frugal Son also urged us to install solar. Which we did. Solar adds $45 a month to the utility costs. (Louisiana has very good tax credits for solar. The solar companies sell the tax credits to no doubt horrible companies. We were too nervous to purchase the system ourselves--it's a big investment).

Add about $200 to the lower number. Isn't that amazing? And one roomie just moved out. We returned his deposit with a nice "energy" bonus.

The below numbers reflect both saving through consciousness (TRYING to use less) AND through technology. In New Orleans the big energy usage comes in summer. This past winter, we had horrible cold, so the bills may be even lower next year if we have a more normal winter.

 Email from Frugal Son:

On the Entergy bill from June 2013:  "Current 12 months actual bill: $2,658"

On the Entergy bill from May 2014:  "Current 12 months actual bill: $806"

That means we're PAYING less than a third compared to previous owners and since the cost / kWh actually goes down with higher consumption it means we're probably using about 1/4 as much energy!

Baking Sweet Potatoes and Peppers to Keep Warm

I am sure our hardwired frugal efforts will elicit either chuckles or exasperated eye rolls. After all, Mr FS and I are getting close to normal retirement age and we retained our jobs while witnessing the elimination of a few programs. We have not gotten raises in many years, but still, we are more than OK.

So tell me, why did I balk this morning when Mr FS--usually the more stoical member of our household--suggested we turn up the heat? It is warmer outside than inside. We could not simply open windows, because it is very humid out there.

Mr FS and I were wearing our normal chilly house garb: regular clothes topped off with--for me--a fleece jacket and--for Mr FS--a down vest. Isn't this what everyone wears indoors?

Finally, I hit upon a solution: baking the cheap sweet potatoes and reduced for quick sale bell peppers we had. I can't even figure out how many levels of frugality this is. We didn't turn on the heat. Turning on the oven heated the house, WHILE cooking--and thereby prolonging the lifespan of--cheap for Thanksgiving sweet potatoes and a lovely melange of orange and red bell peppers reduced to around 30 cents a piece.

Why do I even think about such things? I COULD be reading Proust. Actually, I AM reading Proust, having finally, after many failed efforts, made it to the middle of the third volume. However, I can only read a few pages a day, before mental fatigue sets in. But frugality--either hardwired or habitual--produces no such fatigue for me.

Also, I am reminded of Amy D. of Tightwad fame. She considered the question of whether one can be too frugal. As she considered her darned sock--even though she could darn well buy a new sock--she realized that the darned sock made her happy. She opined that asking whether one could be too frugal was akin to asking whether one could be too happy.

How's this for an incongruous duo?

Mr FS's Onion Hack: No Tears!

One of Frugal Son's pals from high school is now in medical school. We seldom see him because he's so busy. He graced us with his presence last year. He told me that he learned a lot from me. I said What's the main thing?

Answer: If it's on sale, buy a lot.

In the 80/20 Pareto Principle of food frugality, that's probably most of the 80% right there.

I recently bought 12 pounds of onions for $4.00. I've already written about my main onion hack. (Now that I've used the word hack for the first time, it is probably no longer au courant. Oh well.) My hack: cook the onions with a little oil in your slow cooker, creating a facsimile of caramelized onions, which you freeze and use--in broken-off pieces--in many recipes. What a time saver! P.S. We slow cook onions on our front porch because they SMELL terrible.

Now Mr FS has a hack of his own. On a recent walk, Mr FS picked up a box fan. He said: I bet I can chop the onions on the porch and set the fan to blow AWAY from me, thereby minimizing tears. Reader: it worked. He chopped SIX POUNDS with nary a tear!

Now the onions are cooking away outside and I probably won't have to chop an onion for a month--maybe more.

Do you have an onion hack?

Tiny Frugal Tip for Air Travelers, with PG Tips

Miss Em came home yesterday from her four weeks at Oxford, where she took two classes and visited London, Edinburgh, and Wales. She was VERY careful about money because, even with a gig as assistant to one of the profs, the trip was expensive.

One of her frugal moments came about by accident. She had many types of tea, including the famous PG Tips. She went to a fancy coffee spot in the airport and asked if she could buy some hot water. She could. It was 50 cents. She got a big cup and a top. She repeated this several times during her airport time. EAch time, she saved about $2.00.

I am always annoyed by the high prices and generally low quality of airport food. We generally bring emergency provisions. Now we can also enjoy tea.


Good job, Frugal Girl.

Any other tips for the airport?

To Save Money on Ink Cartridges: New Laser Printer

The few weeks before transitions--end of semester, graduation, leaving on vacation--are incredibly productive. You do all the stuff you've been putting off. Frugal Son, who is leaving tomorrow for at least a year in France, has been bugging us about our printer--a cheap one that required pricy and short-lived ink cartridges. We read somewhere that printer ink is the most valuable liquid in the world. Even Hewlett-Packard, which is getting out of the computer biz, is staying in the ink cartridge biz: that's where the money is.

Here is the printer Frugal Son picked out for us. The printing costs are a fraction of our previous printer. The quality seems fine, but we're not doing anything very fancy.

The newest member of our family. No, it does not replace Frugal Son. So glad we put an end to our procrastination on this.

Have you replaced a money-sucking product recently?

Frugal in France: Rags

If you're trying to save up for your trip to France--or wherever--try this French tip: use rags. I have been in 3 French homes and have seen not a single paper towel or napkin. Chez Daniele and Jacques, there are at least 10 piles of neatly folded rags. Well, some are napkins. Others are dishtowels. The most threadbare are bonafide rags.

As a connoisseur of dishtowels, I love the assortment. My favorites are the old raggedy linen towels.

Wait! In our clean-up before leaving, we spot a roll of paper towels. It was under stuff in the kitchen drawer. We dare not use it. I wonder what Daniele and Jacques use it for.

How much money could you save using rags I wonder.

Do You Shoe Goo?

This product has saved us tons of money over the years. Why have I not mentioned it before? Because it's in Mr FS's department.

Miss Em--packing for her trip to Italy--asked "Can you fix my shoes?" YES! Shoe Goo to the rescue!

Mr FS has been using this product since--well, before I met him. It has always been a part of our relationship. He probably repaired some shoes for me back in graduate school.

Do you have any similar frugal lifesavers in your pantry?