Frugality

A Rather Dramatic First Day of Using Public Transportation

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Today was my first day of using the bus to get to school. I’ve used public transportation in other cities I’ve lived in but I haven’t used it very much here because I’ve always had a car. Now that I’m car free I need to take the bus. I have to take two buses each way to get to school and back. The bus ride to school went fine although I did misread the schedule and cause myself to have to wait an extra 10 minutes for the first bus. I had to wait less than 10 minutes to transfer to the second bus. I like the second bus because it has fewer stops making for a quicker trip. They are also equipped with GPS and there is a sign at the bus stop telling you how many minutes it will be until the next bus arrives. That is a great feature. You don’t have to wonder if the bus is late or on time, you know for sure when the bus will arrive.

The bus ride home didn’t go as smooth. I either have to catch a bus two minutes after my class ends or twenty minutes after my class ends. The bus stop isn’t close enough for me to have a realistic chance of catching the first bus. Catching a bus twenty minutes after class would be fine because that gives me plenty of time to get my stuff together, go to the bathroom or whatever, and still leisurely walk to the bus stop. The problem is this bus arrives at my transfer point about twenty five minutes before the bus I take home arrives. If I could catch the first bus I would just make it to the transfer point in time to catch my second bus. I’m probably not explaining that very clearly but the point is that I have a long wait to transfer buses on my route home. That is just something you have to deal with when you use public transportation.

The drama came on the ride home. A lady had a seizure and the bus driver had to call an ambulance. That obviously kept the bus from continuing on its route. We had to disembark and catch another bus. That would have been about another 10 minute wait. Luckily, I have the best GF in the world and she volunteered to come pick me up.

Overall riding the bus isn’t that bad. It will probably be less dramatic next time. I just need to consult the schedule before I go to minimize my waiting time.

Five Things You Should Get for Free

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This is just a list I came up with off the top of my head.  I’m sure not everyone will agree with them and there are some exceptional situations where you will have to pay for these items.

  1. Pens- I get free pens as promotional items all the time.  I don’t understand why people pay big bucks for fancy pens.  The only thing you need a pen to do is write and in my experience a free pen writes just as well as an expensive one.
  2. Matches- I don’t need these too often, which is good because it is harder to get free matches anymore.  They are still available at many bars and casinos though.
  3. Drinking Water- This isn’t completely free since you do pay something for the water coming out of your tap.  A glass of water would only cost a fraction of a penny though.  If you carry a reusable drinking container you should rarely if ever find yourself having to purchase bottled water.
  4. Music- It is free on the radio.  You can borrow cds from your local library if you feel the need to listen to a particular song.  If you need to own the music I see promotions for free MP3 downloads all the time.
  5. DVD Rentals- If you have a Redbox near you than you don’t need to rent DVDs.  Redbox comes out with a free code every Monday and that code is good once for every credit/debit card you have.  That allows you to get multiple free rentals.  A quick Google search will turn up even more free rentals.
  6. Stock Trades- Blogging Banks suggested getting free stock trades with Zecco.  I use them and haven’t had any problems so far.  I believe there are some other ways to get free stock trades as well.

Check out the comments for many more freebies.

Some Ways I'll Cut Expenses in 2009

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The big expense I’ll be cutting is transportation because I won’t have a car. I’ll still have some transportation expenses but I think I should be able to cut this expense by up to $1000. Another expense I’ll cut is my cell phone. When my contract expires at the end of June I am not going to renew it. This will save me $35 a month. The savings will be less if I decide to add a line to my GF’s cell plan. I most likely won’t though and will just use a public phone if I need to make a call away from home. I’m also enrolling in an HSA eligible health insurance plan. This will save me about $10 a month plus any tax savings from contributing to the HSA. The biggest way I plan to cut expenses is by hiking the Appalachian trail for five months. I intend to hike on $200 a month. I’ll still have some non-hiking expenses but this will greatly reduce my overall expenses. These aren’t all the ways I’ll cut expenses but it should be all the major ones. What are your plans for cutting expenses in 2009?

Sold My Car – I’m Now Car Free

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It had been my intention to sell or donate my car before the end of the year.  I finally got around to putting my car on Craigslist today.  Within an hour of listing it I had five calls from people interested in purchasing it.  Maybe I underpriced it?  It seemed like a reasonable price based on other listings.  I’m not going to worry about whether I could have sold it for more.

The first guy to look at it bought it and paid for it with cash.  He had a Toyota dealership mechanic with him so the car must not have been in too bad of shape mechanically.  It worked out very well.  I had my car sold and cash in my hand within three hours of listing my car.  Now I need to call my insurance agent and cancel my insurance.

Eating on $1 a Day

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There has been a lot of press lately about a couple who ate on $1 a day for a month. This is an interesting project that has been done by several people before.  I’m not sure why this one has been getting so much attention.  I did a similar project last May and spent $31.60 on food for a month.   I got the idea to do so from Hungry for a Month that did the $1 diet in November 2006.

The results of both projects were similar.  They were able to eat for that amount but it wasn’t easy.  They also remarked that they weren’t able to eat very healthy.  Looking at their menus though I think they probably ate healthier than the average American.  It definitely isn’t easy to eat on $1 a day and I’m glad I don’t have to.  Next year I’m going to try to spend $0 on food for a month if I can get it planned out.