Frugality

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.

Frugality and Relationships

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A commenter yesterday asked how my girlfriend deals with my lack of spending. My reply started to become rather lengthy so I am posting on the subject as well.

My GF is relatively frugal when compared to how most people spend their money. Compared to me she is not that frugal. I realize that my level of frugality is not what most people are accustomed to. I’m not going to change my frugal ways though. At least not much. In any relationship you have to compromise some and we have both made some compromises. She has become slightly more frugal and I have loosened up on my spending a little. Money hasn’t been a problem so far because we keep our money separate. It could become an issue eventually depending on what happens with our relationship.

Since I am now living with my GF money is more of an issue than when we were just dating. I pay her an amount roughly the same as I was paying for my apartment towards our household expenses and she pays all the bills. I suppose some could question whether this is a fair arrangement since I’m paying less than half the household bills. I do pay more than what my living with my GF is costing her though. We are both happy with this arrangement and that is what counts.

I don’t think there is a standard formula for dealing with money for couples. Couples just need to discuss the subject and come up with their own solution.

Is Frugality Becoming Trendy?

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With the economic downturn tightening budgets I have seen several articles discussing how frugality is now becoming cool. They usually support this claim with a few anecdotes from ordinary citizens. Based on my own observations I doubt that frugality is actually becoming cool or even becoming much more socially acceptable. There are more people becoming frugal from necessity or perhaps because they are worried about the economy. They aren’t becoming frugal because they want to though, they are becoming frugal because they have to or because they feel that they need to be frugal due to the economy. Perhaps people will discover that a frugal lifestyle is a good choice regardless of whether it is necessary. My guess is that once the economy recovers the vast majority of these people will abandon their frugal ways and return to being regular consumers.

November Credit Score

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My credit score for November was 729 up from 722 the month before.  My credit score seems to be staying in the 720 range the past few months which makes sense since I am not doing anything that should have much effect on my credit.  720 or better is considered good credit so this is good enough for me.  I don’t plan on borrowing any money but it can be helpful to have good credit regardless.

I receive my credit score for free from one of my credit card companies.  I never use that particular card anymore.  The only reason I ever sign in to my account is to see my latest credit score.