Comments on: because there ain’t no shame in picking through dumpsters (part 3)

By: lorissa

lorissa — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 22:58:50 +0000

Great suggestions Fel. I really need to take a lot of these and put them into practice.

By: Gigi

Gigi — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 19:56:10 +0000

After working nearly twenty years on a job that caused my stress to go through the roof, I returned home as, well, a homemaker. It was a lifetime of frugality that made this transition possible. Your list is very good and concise. I would add a “Learn a skill” category to your list. You did mention repairing items, but you mentioned having someone else do the repairs for you. Learning some basic skills empowers you to fix what you are able. Making new items for gifts, and here I would emphasize that they making hand crafted items rather than home made items,will also reduce spending in those areas. The added benefit would be that your friends and family will think you are “so talented.” When I am told that I just smile because I know the truth. They just haven’t made the effort for the skill. They could do it themselves if they really wanted to.

By: Joy

Joy — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:32:14 +0000

Great list! I’m trying to cut down on my magazine subscriptions and random magazine purchases because when I tallied last year’s, the total could have gone towards a week’s vacation.
Btw, I’m reading the book ‘Your Money Or Your Life” — really good so far. It’s sooo easy to be consumed by consumerism.

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 19:10:07 +0000

Interesting list. I’ve noticed though, that buying in bulk is not always the best option anymore. Once upon a time, great big jars of coffee or big bags of pasta were way cheaper than the smaller ones, but lately this seems to have been reversed. 2 100 gram jars of coffee are a few cents cheaper than the more convenient 200 gram jar, and so on a cross the board. Supermarkets getting wise maybe?

As for book buying, I always use the resellers on Amazon, and browse back through the list for early editions. You don’t really need the new glossy cover on a book released 20 years ago, and all the old releases can still be found second hand, for a cent or 3, on Amazon, simply by typing in the full title and authors name, and clicking back to the last page.

By: Tracie

Tracie — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 18:04:58 +0000

You’ve really got some excellent ideas here! I’m going to give #6 a whirl. (I feed my reading addiction and save $ by reading all the newspapers online.)

By: PattM

PattM — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:26:35 +0000

All good ideas! Along the lines of “trash picking”, thrift or re-sale shops are a great place to pick up name brand labels for just a few bucks!

By: Jasmin

Jasmin — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 16:53:30 +0000

This is fantastic!