Frugality

I decided to play some poker Monday night and lost $100. When I went to play I rationalized that I’ve been doing well with my money and deserve to have a little fun. That is true but playing poker isn’t a good entertainment option for me. After playing for a couple of hours I was up very slightly but I didn’t leave. I have somewhat of a gambling addiction and whenever I gamble I’ll most likely stay until I’ve lost all the money I’ve brought.  This is what makes gambling a poor entertainment option for me.

Losing the $100 isn’t going to create a hardship for me but it would have been nice to have that to pay off my student loan or fund my Roth IRA quicker.  I’m going to try to make up the lost $100 over the next month.  I’m going to delay getting home internet for a month to make up some of the difference.  The rest will come from picking up extra hours at work or cutting my budget elsewhere.  This will cause me to feel some consequences from losing the money and make me less likely to repeat the mistake.

I do think I can loosen up on my spending some though.  I just need to find some other entertainment options that I enjoy and feel give me value for the money.

I’m moving into a new apartment next month.  I will be moving down from a 1 bedroom to a studio.  This will save me $60 a month in rent.  My new monthly rent will be $375 which is pretty cheap even for here.  It is almost as big as my current apartment so there will be plenty of room for me.  I don’t have a lot of stuff and don’t need much space.

The location is nice too.  While searching for apartments I discovered that you can often get an apartment just as cheap in a nice neighborhood as in a crappy one.  My new location is very convenient being about halfway between school and work.  My bank and a grocery store is right across the street so I should be able to cut down my mileage a little. Hopefully that savings won’t be negated by impulse junk food purchases at the grocery store.

When I move in I will have to get gas service again.  It will be cold soon and I have to have the gas on for heat.  I’ll be looking forward to it because the cold showers are starting to get a little too cold.

As part of their grand re-opening a local McDonald’s had a promotion giving one year of free extra value meals to the first 100 walk-in customers and first 100 drive-thru customers.  They re-opening was scheduled for 5 am and the restaurant is located just a little off my usual route home from my route home so I decided to stop by and see what the line looked like.  I got off work at 4:15 am and arrived at the restaurant at 4:30 am.  There were only 3 people in line.  This was a lot fewer than I expected.  Since there was no worry of not being in the first 100 I left to gas up my car and came back.

I was the 5th person in line when I came back.  There were no problems with getting my free coupons when they opened up.  They are good for one free extra value meal a week for a year.  The line was short enough that I thought about getting in the drive-thru line and getting another set of coupons.  I decided that one free Mcdonald’s meal a week was enough though. I think this is my best freebie yet.  For a half hour of my time and driving a couple miles out of the way I am receiving about $250 worth of free food.  I know that McD’s food is bad for me but since I’m eating it anyway it might as well be free.

A recent post at Make Love,Not Debt told of a scenario where Him walked out of a restaurant after realizing the prices were higher than he wanted to spend. He noted being rather uncomfortable doing so. I used to be the same way. I would worry that other people would think I was cheap or otherwise think less of me due to my frugal habits. I’ve come to realize thought that frugal is what I am and I have no shame in being who I am and doing what is right for me to do. I can’t control what other people think of me and I’m not going to worry about it.

The personal finance book that has had the most influence on me is “Your Money or Your Life” by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. If I had faithfully followed all the steps in the book from the time I first read it I could be retired by now.

 One of the most powerful steps in the book is the Three Questions That Will Transform Your Life.  These three questions should be asked when evaluating your spending. They are 1. Did I receive fulfillment, satisfaction, and value in proportion to life energy spent? 2. Is this expenditure of life energy in alignment with my values and life purpose? 3. How might this expenditure change if I didn’t have to work for a living? By applying these questions when evaluating your spending you most likely will not only reduce your spending but change the thing you spend your money on.