Frugality

Total Cost of Ownership:Used Camry v. New Prius

by

When I bought my 1997 Camry last October I decided to keep track of all my vehicle expenses so I would know my total cost of ownership.  I know that paying cash for a used car is the frugal option and  I thought it would be interesting to compare my total cost of ownership to that of a new Prius.  Some people claim that the total cost of owning a Prius is less than that of buying a used car.

I currently have a cost per mile of  $0.84.  That is counting the entire cost of my car as depreciation.  If I use a more realistic figure of $500 for depreciation my cost per mile is $0.28.

I used the Edmunds.com site for determining the total cost of ownership of a Toyota Prius. (I’m not sure if the effect of the recent recalls is reflected in their figures yet.)  By their estimates a Toyota Prius would have a cost per mile of $0.42 after five years.    Their figure included financing in the cost.  If you took out financing the cost would be $0.37 per mile.  Although if you paid cash you should probably consider the interest you would have earned on your savings that went for the car purchase.

I was surprised that the difference in the cost per mile wasn’t greater.  The Prius is one of the better car values for both operating costs and holding on to its value though.   With most vehicles there would be a higher disparity. Even if there is only a difference of $0.10 per mile that adds up to $1500 a year if you drive 15,000 miles in a year.  As well as the Prius did it is still more expensive to own than my Camry unless something happens to make the Camry almost worthless in the  few thousand miles which I think is unlikely.  Anyway, I won’t fault someone for buying a new car because if nobody buys a new car I won’t have a used car to buy.

Grocery Budget Update

by

In January I stated that this month I would share with you all the foods I buy and what I pay for them and I would only eat out once a week and not purchase any chips, cookies, candy, crackers, ice cream or soda. We are now halfway through the month so I will update you on how I am doing.

On the positive side I have managed to avoid purchasing any chips, cookies, candy, crackers, or ice cream. I did have lots of chips and cookies when I visited my mom for super bowl weekend though. And I used some of my Register Rewards at Walgreens to get more soda. My rationalization at the time was that I wasn’t spending any money on the soda so it didn’t count as a purchase. That is obviously cheating though.

On the negative side I abandoned the goal of only eating out once a week. I’ve been having restaurant food almost every day. And I have been having soda with those restaurant meals.

Now for a complete rundown on all food purchased so far this month.

  • 3/4 gallon skim milk
  • 4.89 lbs bananas
  • 1 box mac&cheese
  • 48 oz vegetable oil
  • 1 lb bag mini carrots
  • 12 oz salad mix
  • 12 oz salsa
  • 6 Knorr pasta/rice sides
  • 1/2 gallon orange juice
  • 750 ml vodka
  • 1 frozen pizza
  • 2 bags of peanuts and 2 sodas
  • 7 Burger King meals
  • 1 Hardee’s Meal
  • 1 Little Caesars Pepperoni Pizza
  • 1 Pizza Street pizza buffet

The total spent on this is $53.65.  Some things that kept the cost down are: I had six free meals when I visited my mom, I had a freee $10 Burger King gift card from MyPoints, I received the pizza buffet for free as part of a mystery shop, and I already had some food at the beginning of the month.

Some things that inflated the cost:  I didn’t manage to finish either the carrots or the salad mix before they went bad, part of my half-gallon of milk went bad, and the Knorr sides are for my hike so I probably shouldn’t have included them in this month’s food budget.

As you can see there is plenty of room for improvement in my diet.   I don’t do very well with eating perishables before they go bad and I am still eating out too much and eating too much junk.  I have about as much food in my pantry now as I did at the beginning of the month.  I’ll be leaving for my hike at the beginning of March so I want to use up as much food as I can .  My plan is to not buy any; more food for the rest of the month except when I’m on vacation in Vegas.  I will have another update after the end of the month and let you know how it went.

Viva Las Vegas

by

Gray Line Neon Lights Tour
photo credit: Smart Destinations

Next weekend I will be taking a short vacation in Las Vegas. Through a friend of a friend I was able to get a round trip flight for $100 which was too good of a bargain for me to pass up. Adding in my hotel room, parking, and ground transportation will be roughly $100 more. The only thing that could make this vacation expensive is gambling. And I will be gambling but I plan to keep it under control. I might even win. It has happened before.

I won’t spend all my time gambling. I’ll spend time hanging out with my best friend who is working a poker tournament there. I lived in Las Vegas for five years and I would like to look up some of my old friends there as well. Being frugal I have some coupons for various activities to use also.

Since I am leaving on my hike in March my original plan for February was to keep my expenses as low as possible. My frugality isn’t so strict that it would keep me from taking advantage of bargain vacation like this just because it wasn’t in my budget though.

Netflix – Cheap Entertainment for Movie Lovers

by

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. 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.

What a $360 Apartment Looks Like

by

Here are a few pictures of my apartment for those who are wondering what you get for $360. The pictures were taken from my cell phone and I’m not much of a photographer but I think you will get the general idea. My apartment is two rooms if you can’t tell from the pictures. There is also a bathroom which is not pictured. Since the pictures were taken I have upgraded from a sleeping bag to a mattress. I don’t have furniture but that is by choice. This is a cheap, frugal apartment and it is all I need. If you have any questions about the apartment feel free to ask.