Tips and Tricks for Saving Money
The Simple Dollar has a free downloadable book:
Everything You Ever Really Needed to Know About Personal Finance on the Back of Five Business Cards
It’s a 49-page personal finance book with a lot of his favourite ideas on finance.
Last night I started to read The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. This is a story of rising from poverty to wealth. The basic theme of the novel seems to be that virtue and hard work are rewarded. I was struck by the simplicity of life and how many of the challenges today are reflected in the book from a different time in China.
Many years ago, I read Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt. This book gives you a new appreciation of how good you’ve got it. My mother read it just before me. We both found it hard to put down. It’s important to remember this story in times when the basic joys in life are overlooked.
Both great reads and I recommend them both.
I had lunch with a friend the other day. She had read my blog. She was telling me about this fellow she knew in the US who had made his money in the dot com era and had managed to hang on to his fortune. She said, “Now he’s frugal” like she was surprised. I have visited affluent people who keep their house so cold, I have to remember to wear an extra sweater. We’ve all heard the stories about the rich guys who clip coupons (!) for goodness sake.
In the book, The Millionaire Next Door, the author points out that the wealthy are practical, frugal and live well below their means. I guess that’s how they got to be millionaires. If you haven’t read this book before, it’s worth reading. We have it here at the Frugal Bugle bookstore but I’d borrow it from the library.
More-with-Less Cookbook
I found this cookbook recently. It is written by the Mennonites and the cover states, “Suggestions by Mennonites on how to eat better and consume less of the world’s limited food resources.” The book encourages you to eat less processed foods and less sugar. They give the protein combinations for meatless meals so that you get a complete protein (milk and grains/legumes with grains) with examples. The recipes are written in an easy-to-follow style.
I made the Puffy Green Bean-Cheese Bake. Delicious. Really simple, nutritious recipes. Many recipes suggest substitutions. There’s a Master Baking Mix that you can use for muffins or other baked goods. Loads of tips throughout the book.
More-with-Less Cookbook is available here. Definitely worth it.
Smoking isn’t frugal. I’m sure you already know this. I have never been a smoker. When I was 12 years old, I met an old woman. She said to me as her cigarette smoke wafted up through the room, “I’m going to give you some advice – don’t ever smoke.” I figured she was about 85 and, as this was the only piece of information she felt important to impart to me, I took her seriously. I never smoked.
If you are in the US, a pack a day habit at $5/pack would cost you $1825 for the year.
Good cost calculator here.
But if you are a smoker, how to quit? In talking to smokers over the years, I have heard from many people having success after reading Allen Carr’s book, “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking”. There are hundreds of positive reviews of the book on Amazon.
Now, as a non-smoker, I just know how much this habit would cost if I had it. I am a weak person and I haven’t got any willpower. I think the old lady knew that.
Good luck to you.
About 10 years ago, I read the Tightwad Gazette series. Read the reviews on this book. This is a fantastic resource for living a better life than you earn. It is written in a friendly, easy-to-follow style. It is available on this website under Resources and then Bookstore. But my suggestion is to go to the library and check it out. This is worth having a copy in your house as a reference.
The second book is The Millionaire Next Door, which is also available at the library. Think and act like a millionaire. After you read this, you won’t assume someone is rich because of cars and clothing.
I happen to think this is the best deal around. I love to read so this is like Christmas every time I go there. Many libraries also have great DVD collections of classic and current movies, exercise DVDs, learn-to DVDs (cook, garden, learn a foreign language) and travel info.
They also have a selection of magazines where you can check them out if they’re not the current month.
They usually have a cart where they sell magazines, books and DVDs for a song. I have scored Martha Stewart Living magazines for 10 cents, DVDs for a dollar and great books for 50 cents. You could make a small eBay income re-selling these.
They have great little old ladies there who will recommend books as well. It’s like having Rainman in librarian format.
