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This is always a touchy subject, but I have found that most of the people who might be jealous of me are not friends. I have cultivated a set of friends that share my view of the purpose of money, which is to buy what we need more than what we want and to be used as a means to an end and not the end in itself. Keep yourself busy with activities that give meaning to your life and new friendships will follow. This falls into the category of "judging my insides by other's outsides." That's always a no-win situation.
JD in St. Louis
editor's note: For more on Responding to Frugal Envy, please click here or check out the discussion in The Dollar Stretcher Community.
Like the taste of bacon but don't want to take the time nor the expense and fat of frying bacon in the mornings? Sprinkle a few "real bacon" bacon bits over your scrambled eggs as soon as you pour them into your pan to start cooking. Yum! Best of all, my local dollar store stocks them in their grocery department! One bag lasts for quite a few breakfasts!
PNM
I core my tomatoes, clean up any surface imperfections and pop them (unpeeled) right into my blender to liquefy them. I then pour my tomato puree into resealable bags and put the bags into the freezer. I love it that they lie flat and take up very little space.
This is such a simple method of taking advantage of abundant summer tomatoes (contrast paying big prices for canned store bought ones) and it works just great to pull out when making chili, meat loaf, salsa, casseroles, etc.
If you already have tomatoes in your garden this year, your only cost is in the freezer bags. (And no more wasting your tomato abundance or doing the time-consuming task of canning them.)
Roma H.
Do you avoid those store reward programs because you think you'll end up having dozens of different cards that have to be swiped to get a discount, and you'll end up forgetting to bring them with you? Go ahead and sign up. Many will let you look up your card with your phone number if you forget the card, so you don't need to carry them with you. And many grocery stores have a store card that they'll swipe for you to get the sale items. In the past, when I've left my card in the car, I offered to go out to the car to get it, and they always offered to use the store's discount card instead, so as not to hold up the line. If you're concerned about giving them your phone number, make one up. Just use the same one for all the cards and remember it.
Judy M.
My favorite little luxury is staying at a friend's or family member's home while they are going out of town. Even though my daughter lives nearby, she has a spa tub, an in-ground swimming pool, and satellite TV, which are all little extras that I do not have. I love going to her house and sleeping on her clean, cool sheets. I feel like I am at a luxurious hotel without the expense! I also enjoy swapping places with my brother. He is a city dweller, and I am a country girl! Somehow it just seems to feel like a mini-vacation at someone else's house!
M.
editor's note: If you have a method for making you or your family feel good without spending money, please send it to gary@stretcher.com.
My husband and I have seven children that are all currently eight and under. When it comes to birthdays and Christmas, we not only look for good deals throughout the year and save the purchases for these events, but we also pretty much only buy toys that already blend in with what we have. We have a huge collection of Lego® items that they all love to create from. So, adding to this is no big deal.
That way we don't end up with toy clutter of different toys that really don't go together. It really saves money to only buy what you know they are going to play with long-term.
Deanna
There are several reasons for not buying a complete new wardrobe for kids going back to school, such as not needing all the brand names, having good clothing on hand that will serve quite well, damaging new clothes on the playground, etc. Depending on where you live, another good reason is the weather. Where we live, warm weather clothing is needed at the beginning of the school year, but not for that long, at least not long enough to justify an entire new wardrobe. I would purchase necessary new items to "fill in the gaps" of what was on hand, then do the same when it was time to bring out the cold weather clothes.
Kay in WV
We just chopped down a huge old tree in our front yard with the help of a friend. Thinking that the disposal would be the worst part of the job, I immediately put an ad for free wood on eBay classifieds, and in the morning, a guy came by with a chainsaw, a friend and a pickup truck. And the largest and heaviest pieces were gone just like that! Save your money and your back by placing a free ad or putting up a sign next to the item. Someone may have a use for your unwanted "stuff" and you won't need to pay to have someone haul it away!
Z.
Door-to-door sales people (those who sell water softener systems or complete education packages for kids) will always try to get you to buy now without having any time to really think about it and weigh the pros and cons. They know that if they leave your home without the sale, then it is gone forever. As I drink from my now purified water, I have to reflect that if my wife and I had the opportunity to sleep on our decision to buy the softener system, we likely would not have purchased it. It put us in a bind financially at the time, but we paid it off early. I have nothing against the products or the salesperson who sold it to me, but I realize that I was denied the ability to wait 'til tomorrow. Waiting would have saved me from many purchases over the years. I know better now.
David
editor's note: David was responding to a blog entry about postponing purchases until tomorrow. See it here.
Here's another reminder to save important receipts in a place you can locate when necessary. I have a box with folders. When removing my pool cover this spring, I noticed the seams were separating. I took out my receipt and went to the store where I purchased it. They gave me a brand new pool cover. Also, they gave back the old pool cover when I asked. We will use that for a backyard "batting cage" for my son. We will just tie it up to the trees and he can hit into that.
NY
Shop the day-old bakery cart at your grocery store for half-price items. I found a big carton of croissants for $2 and a huge "happy birthday" cookie for $1! I put these in the freezer to use when I need them. As long as that's not months away, it should be fine!
Rhonda in Kansas
editor's note: If you have a method for making you or your family feel good without spending money, please send it to gary@stretcher.com.
When we go camping, I take along a used popcorn tin (like the ones you get at Christmas). I use a pointed beer opener to punch triangular holes an inch or two from the bottom of the tin for air flow. I put easy light charcoal in the bottom and add a grate/rack of some sort on top. It is an instant, portable, and light weight grill. The popcorn tin will last two to three seasons before the metal wears out.
KB in Kansas
I have an old-fashioned ant repellent that I began using several years ago after talking to my uncle. Every spring I have issues with ants in my kitchen and would wind up going to a home improvement store to get expensive repellents to put outside the parameter of my home. My uncle suggested using "Comet," an everyday cleanser that a lot of people keep at home. I sprinkled it around the problem areas of my kitchen counters
for a week or two. I was amazed! The ants get it on their tiny bodies and take it back to the colony, killing them all. It saves money and works like a charm, especially if you can't afford an exterminator or a trip to the home improvement store.
Kim N.
Use lemon essential oil to remove a sticky substance like a label. Just add a drop of oil, rub it in, and then wipe off with a clean cloth.
D.
I don't like to cook entire meals to freeze because it takes too much time and freezer space. Instead, I cook components of meals and freeze them individually. For example, I never brown only one pound of hamburger at a time. I always cook three to four pounds at a time and then freeze the cooked meat that is flattened out in freezer bags in (approximately) 3/4 pound batches.
When a meal calls for cooked hamburger, it is already done. It saves time and freezer space. I do the same with dried beans, such as pintos or kidney beans. I like to cook navy beans to make baked beans rather than buying baked beans in a can. I just mix the beans with the vegetables and spices that I like and then freeze them instead of baking. I also roast two chickens at a time and freeze the extra meat the same way. The juice left from roasting the chicken is poured into clean, used glass jars and placed in the freezer to be used to cook rice or in soup. It takes some time and effort on the day I cook, but it saves lots of time on soccer practice nights!
Melinda R.
editor's note: I can confirm Melinda's tip. We use the same strategy in The Dollar Stretcher household. For more information on how your freezer can save you time and money, visit our library here.
Recently, the small spring in my coffee brewing basket broke. My husband wanted to order a new basket, but I decided to check out the local thrift stores first. As luck would have it, the second store I went to had the exact model coffee maker that I have. Since I wasn't interested in the coffee unit, I didn't care how it brewed coffee. For $4.99, I bought the coffee maker, and not only did I get a basket with the spring intact, but I now have an extra replacement pot just in case my pot gets cracked or broken.
Carole in Camp Hill, PA
My friend and I go "resorting" for a little luxury. We live in the SW so luxury resorts are many. We go to a resort's restaurant for a glass of soda or tea and perhaps a dessert and then just leisurely absorb the atmosphere. We walk around the grounds before we head home again.
Janet in AZ
editor's note: If you have a method for making you or your family feel good without spending money, please send it to gary@stretcher.com.
Every once in a while, we do a staycation in the backyard if we don't have the time to go to the lake or camp somewhere. We plug in our camper to an electrical outlet from our house. We have a firepit to roast hotdogs and marshmallows at dusk. Then we go into the camper for a movie and popcorn if anyone is still hungry. We sleep with the windows open and enjoy the cool fresh air and birds singing in the morning. If we forget anything, we can run to the house and be back to camping in minutes.
KB in Kansas
editor's note: For more on staycations, please click here.
I do not enjoy cleaning, but I do enjoy easy ways to do it. My pet peeve is the bathroom faucet. It's hard to clean and nothing fits in between the handles and faucet. Paper towels don't scrub and sponges aren't so great either.
I went to throw out a glove my daughter uses to exfoliate. It's a rough texture nylon type glove from the dollar store. I wondered whether the glove would do the trick. I put it on and clean up was fast, super easy and perfect for those tiny spaces. I could scrub the handles all the way around and it did an especially wonderful job at the base of the faucet where gunk builds up. It was great on the tub faucet, and I will get one for the kitchen, too.
Judy in N.Y.
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