Frugality

This is a repost from last year. I don’t have Netflix right now because our apartment includes free cable. When we move I plan to sign up for Netflix again.

As you can tell from the picture of some of my movie ticket stubs from the last few years I love movies. Netflix is the greatest value I have found in movie watching entertainment. Yes, I could get DVDs for free from the library or an occasional free DVD from Redbox but neither of them have anywhere near the selection of Netflix. Now that I have the ability to stream movies over the internet as well as receive DVDs in the mail my other movie-watching options do not compare. I will always watch a few movies in the theater but now that I have Netflix I have cut way back on going to the movies. I try to limit going to the theater to those movies that will most benefit from being shown on the big screen.

Netflix is also a great way to watch TV series. I’m just about to finish the second season of “Veronica Mars” which is now one of my all-time favorite movies. I like the series so much that I almost went to see “When in Rome” just because Kristen Bell is in it but the previews made it look too awful so I will wait for it to come out on DVD. (I did eventually watch it on DVD, not that great.) Now that I have unlimited movies available via mail and internet I can take a chance on movies I’m not sure about it. My plan comes out to $9.68 a month with tax which is about what I would spend in one trip to the movie theater. This makes Netflix a frugal entertainment option for me. As you can tell I’m a big fan of Netflix and have no reservations about including a couple of affiliate links for them in this post.

We just got our electric bill for the month of February and I was pleased to see that it was only $61.  Although February was pretty cold we rarely had to use our heat.  We turned off our heat in the middle of February and our inside temperature has rarely been below 70 degrees even though there have been plenty of below freezing days.  My guess is that we are getting a lot of free heat from the neighboring apartments.

We also benefit from fairly cheap electricity rates.  This bill was based on usage of 728 kWh.  According to the Department of Energy the average residential household used 920 kWh per month in 2008.  We aren’t that much below the national average by kWh but I’d guess we are farther below by amount paid.  I’m hoping we can get the energy usage down more this month.

The medical study I am currently participating in requires me to check in Monday through Thursday morning during study periods.  The study is in St. Louis which is about 3 1/2 hours from where I live.  This means that I need to get a motel room in St. Louis when I have an early morning check in the next day.  Driving from St. Louis to my home and back would cost more in gas than a motel room would.  The cost of a motel is reducing my profit from the study.  I thought a good way to reduce my motel expenses would be to just sleep in my car for one night.

I do have some experience in sleeping in cars.  In my old Toyota I took out the top part of the back seat.  This allowed me to put my legs in the trunk and my torso on the back seat which was a reasonably comfortable sleeping position.  I slept in the car several nights while a friend and I were doing some key swap hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

I figured if I could sleep in my small Corolla I ought to be able to sleep in my larger Camry.  The sleeping in my Camry experiment turned out to be a failure.  I couldn’t get into a comfortable sleeping position in my car.  Just laying on the back seat didn’t give me enough room to stretch out my legs.  Folding down the back seat so I could put my legs in the trunk gave me just enough leg room. The back seat doesn’t fold down all the way flat though leaving my upper torso at an angle that was not conducive to sleep.  If I could have gotten comfortable I think the car sleeping experiment could have worked.  I had a spot where I felt I would be safe and not bothered.  I was able to rig a sheet up from the back window to the front sheets so people couldn’t look in and see me.   I had security and privacy but I just wasn’t able to get comfortable enough to sleep.

I’ll have one more set of Monday-Thursday visits in a couple of weeks.  I have a different, less radical, experiment to save on motel costs that I will try that time.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

In tougher times and especially with the issues that face our economy today, families should consider downsizing to a smaller home as an option to deal with a shortage of funds. Many families have been hit hard in this economic downturn, and can’t afford the hidden costs of owning a home. For those who don’t want to move in apartments or condos, downsizing is one way to stay in a house, but cut costs.

If you don’t already own a home now is not the best time to buy, especially if you’re unsure whether the house is a long-term commitment.. Buying a home isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There are many benefits, such as building credit through payments, tax benefits, and no noisy apartment building neighbors. However, there are costs for maintenance of a home and insurance coverage,

Larger homes have more space, but these can be hard to keep clean over time. If you just take into account the cost of energy it takes to heat a larger home the downsides start to become obvious. The cost of gas is only going to rise in the coming years so you should consider this fact before deciding on your next living space. Also consider the other expense like property tax, insurance, and maintenance. These factors can make your living situation economically unbearable.

Once you decide decide to downsize there will be items that you don’t want to throw away. They might be belongings that you don’t want to part with or family heirlooms. If this is a concern, there are options, such as storage facilities that can accommodate any storage needs you may have – from extra bookshelves to the family boat.

Renting is a cheaper way to live, but you’re getting nothing back from your investment. If you still want to own your own home you can still downsize and have all of the investment benefits that come along with ownership. Take a look at the market and see what’s available. It may be a decision for you that has more pros than cons.