Comments on: Live Well on Less

By: SAHM vs Working Wenches « gailvazoxlade.com

SAHM vs Working Wenches « gailvazoxlade.com — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:29:24 +0000

[...] will have to learn to live well on less since most people grow used to having two incomes and find it hard to cut back. The biggest mistake [...]

By: edgarella

edgarella — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 01:19:36 +0000

On the saving things for the grandkids note – I also have a small house, not much storage and a strong aversion to clutter… so most of my kids things get handed to friends, sold at consignment or lent out. BUT, there are some special toys and books that we have made an effort to save, like the $$$ worth of Thomas the Train (after weeding out the lead paint ones) and other wooden/high quality toys and favourite books, because in the last few years I’ve seen the joy my kids have experienced playing with toys that used to be mine (grandma has no aversion to clutter whatsoever). Just the notion that their mom played with this object as a kid thrills them to bits. I used to have no sentimentality at all but my thoughts have changed a bit when I see firsthand the interaction across generations.

By: Pol*

Pol* — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:11:48 +0000

For keeping it simple, I have found it helpful to use common sense about what is a necessity instead of the common public opinion.
A car is to get from point A to point B safely. An older car works just as good as a new car when it’s properly looked after, and a tiny car is just as good at getting you there as an SUV. If transit is good in your area, then try it and save some cash!
Clothes that are preworn cover up and keep warm just as well as brand new clothes, and as a bonus you already can see how well they fit after a wash! Protein can be just as balanced with ground beef as it is with a roast or steak…. or go even more frugally and find some tastey recipes with beans or legumes a couple time a week. It makes the steak all the more tastey if it’s only a special occassion food.
Really think about what is vital, what is the real joy in your life? When I focus on the genuine things, life automatically gets less expensive. And the important stuff gets covered.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:32:12 +0000

… should read *our* automated payroll…..

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:29:16 +0000

Our local Salvation Army used to have ‘give-away’ tagged clothes – the remains of a certain colored tag were free, up to a limit of 6 items per person. If you weren’t there Monday morning when they opened, you were out of luck. Since I recycle interesting fabrics into teddy bears, or old wool coats into braided rugs, etc. I made a habit of hitting the SA weekly. Crushed velvet tops make awesome bears, but aren’t quite the fashionable item they were in the 80’s. Unfortunately, an oriental fella who had a garage sale running seven days a week, nine months a year also collected items and resold them!!! This abuse led to the SA discontinuing that process. When you donate to the Salvation Army, make sure your items go inside the building. Our city paper had an article about people rummaging through the donated items left outside the drop chute, and helping themselves before the stuff got in the store! I am all for selling never used belongings if you can, and I also love garage sales. I have found the most unusual items, and lots of craft supplies as well. I am all for doing what others won’t/can’t do for themselves and making a buck at the same time. I just shortened five pairs of jeans, and put a crotch back in another pair and made $68 for my emergency fund. The crotch wrecker lives in a motel and wants me to do his laundry – for $25/garbage bag! I struggled with this for a bit, but decided I am not too proud to fold an acquaintance’s underwear if I am getting paid for it!! I stand to make $100 on my days off, with the cost of a little soap and softener. Every little bit helps, and we have to be pro-active in our quest for our share of the little bits of currency that are floating around. BTW, I too went without cable/internet for years – my sons and I actually played games, did puzzles, read, and generally spent more time together. Nothing wrong with that, except that now the powers that be are removing all air waves, so those who had some reception without cable will now have none!! HMMMMMM, something fishy with this picture; I agree with Liz, something is brewing, and those of us who are prepared might survive. Anyone ever see the movie/read the book The Handmaid’s Tale?? With out automated deposit payrolls, the government has full access to our money if they wanted…. something to think about.

By: Anne

Anne — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:15:39 +0000

“…but since you spent the money, it’s now time to earn it.”

I know it’s only Monday but this has got to be the quote of the week, if not the month and the year.

By: Doreen

Doreen — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:05:35 +0000

To do away with Cable TV – well I can live without it – but not my husband. He lives for the sports stations. However, to ’save my marriage’ I’ve negotiated that my husband gets to keep his cable if I get to keep my cleaners!

Mind you, we can legitimately write off 1/2 our cable due to the second outlet in the basement apt we rent out. I also can justify the cleaner costs since
a) my royalities cover these costs +
b) my weekends are now freed up from cleaning [after a very full work week] to entertaining at home, seeing movies with my sweetheart, cooking enough food to last into part of our work week – and art-making [my passion = investing in growing my next career after retirement].

By: Melanie

Melanie — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:57:36 +0000

RESP’s are a great idea for the money. Arlene, I like the fact that you said you don’t have the storage space….why would you store it anyway if you never plan to use it again. I had someone say to me why was I not keeping the stuff for when I have grandchildren….grandchildren!! my kids are 3 and 6. I am not storing things for the next 20-30 years for grandkids.

By: Melanie

Melanie — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:54:10 +0000

It is amazing the amount of money you can get for baby items at a yard sale. The sooner after having children you sell them the faster they sell and for more money. I have sold things at yard sales that I purchased at a yard sale and no longer use. I have given away to close friends some items or we swapped boy stuff for girl stuff. I have a lady that watches in the local paper for my yard sale because she has a daughter a year younger then I do. I got her phone number last year and told her that this year I will call her first and she can have first choice of the stuff. It feels good to help someone else out and myself at the same time. This year it is the Little Tykes stuff that is going. The kids don’t play with it anymore and it is like brand new and BTW most of it was gifts and I am selling it anyway.

By: Arlene

Arlene — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:14:40 +0000

Melanie, I sold all my big baby stuff recently (swing, exersauser etc) and quite a few of these items we’re gifts from my mom & dad. My mom was not happy that I sold them but we are done having children and I don’t have storage space for them. It was quite a bit of money so what my husband and I decided is that we split the money between our 2 kids and put it into their RESPs. Now my mom is delighted that the kids got the proceeds of their gifts and I got the 20% grant from the government!

By: Monia

Monia — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:02:44 +0000

I also resell my previously loved items, however, I do it through consignment. The consignment store I deal with gives me 50% of the selling price and I don’t have the hassle of sorting, pricing, and organizing a yard sale. And the items that don’t sell are donated to charity. It’s a win-win situation for everyone ( clear the clutter in my house, recycle, help a small business owner/local economy, give to good causes and best of all, help build my emergency fund!). I also enjoy buying second hand and getting more bang for my buck.

By: joanne

joanne — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:49:51 +0000

Liz;
as of tomorrow we will have been cable free for 9 years. We bought our house in 2000 and I refused to pay the 50.00 transfer fee from my apartment to the new house and we have been without the cable bill for 9 years. With the anntenna that we have our 6 year old twins are able to watch some the cartoons that other kids watch. (At least I can watch new episodes of TDDUP on Slice.com – reruns I get on Global) However, my husband has been asking when we might be able to put cable in the budget. I’ll have to see how long I can hold him off ;0) .

By: Geoff

Geoff — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:02:08 +0000

Hey Liz, shouldn’t you still be worried about the atomic bomb?

By: Liz

Liz — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:39:47 +0000

Great post — it reminds me of a Dave Barry line I read once: “the motto of the wedding industry is that money doesn’t buy happiness, so you might as well give your money to us.” I think many of us in North America are caught up in the frenzy of consumption because it’s become such a defining feature of who we are, to the extent that our economy is essentially bolstered by consumer spending. So when people stop spending money we don’t yet have, the economy slows down. But the illusion that ‘we’re richer than we think’ is not a great foundation for our economy.

I’m a little too young to have worried about the atomic bomb, but I find my thinking is getting increasingly apocalyptic about the environment. I’m trying to live more simply because after we hit peak oil a lot of the things we take for granted are going to change. (On a lighthearted note, I’m thinking no more strawberries from Mexico in January; on a heavier note, I’m thinking post-WW2 Germany — total devastation.) Essentially I’m trying to ease my way into the big changes that I think are coming….

On a more practical note, we cancelled our cable years ago. Now we get calls every week offering digital hi-def cable with a bazillion channels for for only $X per month on a three-year contract…but if I do the math it works out to close to $1000 for TV over 3 years! This is not a good deal, especially since we really don’t want bazillions of commercials beamed into the living room showing things we might want to buy. When we want to watch something — a hockey game, the Oscars — we invite ourselves over to a friend’s house, bring snacks, and get to hang out. We watch a lot of movies, often from the library, but even if we get them from the video store, the cost doesn’t add up to what TV would!

By: Yvonne

Yvonne — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:14:53 +0000

Joanne, as a person that often gifts things to other folks I think you are right on…when I give things to others that item is theirs…if they ask if I want it back I always tell them to either pass it on or donate it BUT if they choose to sell it then good for them….once I give it away with no stipulation that they return it to me then it is theirs to do with as they wish…no strings attached…so Joanne I say, sell it if you can…it’s a way to boost your budget and the person buying your kids items at a lesser price than they sell it in the store is also boosting their budget so it’s win win!