Frugality

Getting Rid of My Car

by

After much consideration I have decided to get rid of my car.  My plan is to get rid of it after my last final for the semester in early December.  Next semester I’ll only have class on Monday afternoons.  That is the only place I’ll really need to go.  I’ll be relying on public transportation to get there and anywhere else I want to go.  Since I’m living with my GF I should be able to combine any trip I need to make with our other trips.  I’ve been reluctant to give up my car because I haven’t wanted to get up early twice a week to take the bus to school.  Now that I will only have to take the bus once a week and not have to get up early to catch it I don’t have much excuse for not getting rid of my car.

I’m not sure whether I’ll sell my car or donate it.  My plan is to try to sell it for a low price and if it doesn’t sell then I’ll go ahead and donate it.  Since I won’t make enough money to itemize I won’t get any benefit from donating the car but I’d still like to see it go to a good cause.

Getting rid of the car won’t save me a lot of money because it has been paid off for a long time and I don’t drive much anyway.  I’ll save $20 a month on car insurance and and another $40 or so in gas and some more from not having to make repairs or pay taxes and registration.  I will have to pay for bus fare and I might have to pay something to be added as a driver to my GF’s insurance although I will rarely be driving her car.  My net savings should be somewhere around $60 a month.

Even if I get nothing for this car my cost per mile based on my purchase price alone is less than two cents per mile. I bought this car cheap and put over 90,000 miles on it. I didn’t keep complete records of my repair, maintenance, gasoline and other costs so I can’t figure my total cost per mile.  I am sure that it was much lower than average though.  Someone buying an average priced new car would still have a higher cost per mile than me even if they put a million miles on their car.  I definitely received good value out of the purchase of this car.

A Somewhat Frugal Bed Purchase

by

We acquired a new bed over the weekend.  We had been needing one for some time.  Barbara Mandrell may have complained about sleeping single in a double bed but sleeping double in a double bed isn’t all that great either.  There just isn’t enough room for us to both sleep comfortably in a double bed so we upgraded to a queen size bed.

We got the mattress for free from one of my GF’s coworkers.  Her coworker didn’t like it because it was too firm.  It is definitely firm but I can sleep fine on it and the price was right.  My days of hiking and sleeping on a wooden floor with just a thin sleeping pad under me have changed my perception of how soft a sleeping surface needs to be.

Although we got the mattress for free we still needed a new frame and foundation.  We were hoping that the frame we were using for the double bed might be adjustable but no such luck.  We went and bought a frame fairly cheap at Sam’s Club and then bought the foundation at Big Lots.  We still needed bedding since the double size sheets wouldn’t fit the queen bed.  While shopping for those we found a bed frame that also doubled as a foundation.  Since it was cheaper than the foundation alone we bought it and now have to return the frame and foundation we had already purchased.  Kind of a hassle but worth it for the savings.

Setting up the new bed was pretty easy and didn’t take as long as I thought it might.  I’ve now had two nights sleep in the new bed and I think it was worth the investment.  We haven’t turned on our heat yet and being able to curl up in a warm, cozy bed is nice.

Book Review: The Frugal Duchess of South Beach

by


Any book about frugality is bound to be interesting to me. That being said this book is more than just a collection of tips on frugality. “The Frugal Duchess” manages to combine a frugal tips book and a memoir into one book. Reading about the ordeals her parents went through will remind you how much more difficult life was just a generation or two ago. Many things considered necessities now were luxuries then or in some cases they didn’t even exist. She also includes little vignettes of her own family, I think seeing how someone personally implements frugal measures helps you implement the same measures yourself.

In short I recommend this book. Even if you already know all the frugal tips- and there is probably at least a couple you don’t – this book is worth the read for the personal story and to reinforce your own frugality. You can enter to win a copy of this book by leaving a comment on the giveaway post.

The Frugal Duchess of South Beach Book Giveaway

by


Fellow Frugal Blog Network member Sharon Harvey Rosenberg a.k.a. The Frugal Duchess has written a book titled The Frugal Duchess of South Beach: How to Live Well and Save Money…Anywhere!. She is having an online book tour to promote the book and I’m hosting the tour this week.  As part of the promotion I’ll be giving away a copy of her book.  Just leave a comment on this post to enter and I will choose a winner at random on Friday.

I don’t want to list a bunch of rules but please enter just once.  Also since I have to pay shipping costs I’m limiting the contest to those with a US address unless you’re willing to pay the mailing costs.  Any other rules will be at my discretion.  Thanks.

Do It Yourself Car Repair

by


One way to keep your automotive costs down is by doing maintenance and simple repairs yourself. I’m not mechanically inclined but I’ve found that with the help of a repair manual I’m able to do simple repairs that save me a lot of money compared to what they would cost to have done at a repair shop. The most popular paper manuals are Chilton and Haynes. If you’re lucky you might be able to find the necessary manual at your local library. I haven’t tried the Alldata online manual but it is recommended by many. The drawback is you have to subscribe to it yearly.

Recently I changed my spark plugs and installed new front brake pads. Changing the spark plugs was very easy yet it would have cost me at least $60 to have them done at a garage. Replacing the brake pads was more difficult but since I saved about $100 doing it myself it was well worth the effort. I spent about $80 doing the two repairs. The cost would have been much less but I had to buy the manual plus some tools. My future repairs will be even cheaper. Using a repair manual and doing your own car repairs can save you some significant money.