Finding new ways to save money on almost anything you buy is like getting a raise. Maybe it’s even better. When you save twenty dollars on a coat, you get to keep the whole twenty dollars. You lose five or more to taxes when you make twenty dollars more on your paycheck.
Finding ways to save money can go too far, however. In a recent newsletter on saving money, one contributor suggested getting free wedding flowers by picking up the leftover flowers at a cemetery. She didn’t say how you can tell which are “leftovers.”
I thought I was cheap! The following are gleaned from real suggestions on saving money sent to “frugality” websites and newsletters. Some cheapskates don’t notice that an extra hour at work might put them further ahead than many hours of penny-pinching.
Ways To Save Money – Don’t Try These At Home
A mother confessed that she makes her kids stuff their pockets with free ketchup, salt, and other condiment packets whenever they are in a fast food restaurant. Oh, if only that were all, but no. She has the kids squeeze the contents of the packets into regular jars of ketchup and mustard too. She says she last bought these condiments a few years ago. Pride is found in strange places.
One creative penny pincher found a way to save money on car washes. He washes his entire car using the squeegee at the gas station. Hmm… I wonder if he also takes the toilet paper rolls home from their restrooms.
Would you like a free umbrella? One man suggests getting one at any large public library’s lost and found department. You tell them you lost a black umbrella. They will almost certainly have several, from which you can pick the best one and claim it as your own. What if they have no black umbrellas? I guess we’ll have to wait for this guy to publish a “lost umbrella color frequency chart” to know which color to try for the next day.
Many years ago, some contributors to these newsletters knew how to save on their long-distance phone bills. The most common suggestion is to call long-distance people when you know they won’t be home and leave a message for them. Then they pay for it when they return your call. If your timing is off, and they answer when you call, you can quickly hang up on them and try again later.
I don’t recommend any of these as ways to even the most frugal person. Apart from the ethical issues with some of them, they can be lumped in along with washing and re-using plastic wrap – a time-wasting frugality. On the other hand, they are fun to read, and we could view such measures as cheap entertainment. You could turn off the lights to save money on electricity and tell the kids it’s a game of hide-and-seek or train your dog to beg from the neighbors, so you don’t have to feed him.
How many people pay for magazines and newsletters that tell us ways to save money? Do these magazines advise that readers go to the library to read them or stand reading them in the aisle at the bookstore for an hour? Those are some sure ways to save money. Here are some ways in which people take being frugal too far. Click HERE.
Wrap Up
While this week’s post is more humorous, it does need to be stated that being too frugal can be a serious issue if taken too far, but there are legitimate ways in which you can and do save money, and that is by being an informed consumer. When shopping for groceries, that one on sale may not be the best price per whatever unit it sells by. Going by the price per ounce is one suggestion. The other is to shop for sales and get items that may not be necessary when that sale occurs. For a previous post on saving money, click HERE.
If you need more ideas on saving money, feel free to contact me if you are in the Metro Nashville area. And for those outside Middle Tennessee, seek a qualified fee-only Registered Financial Consultant (RFC) near you.
