Frugal February 2023

[Dave Gray]

Frugal February is back, everyone!

I didn't do it in 2022.  After a year and a half of living underground like a mole-person during COVID, I need any excuse to get out and see people, so I wasn't about to sit at home and count pennies for a month.

But I'm ready to hit it hard this month, so I'm getting this notice out there early.  Also, my household has been spending like crazy, and with inflation and everything else, I definitely need to get my things in order.  It's also been a minute since I've looked over bills and contracts.

Here's the rundown of the rules:

1) No impulse buys.  You can need a lamp and go to the store to buy a lamp.  But you can't browse and say "oh, I like that lamp."
2) No eating out.  Basically, this means you have to pack your lunch and prepare you dinners at home.  Of course there are exceptions, for birthdays or valentines day or whatever.  But in general...no food for convenience sake.
3) No premium on alcohol.   Essentially, beer at home is OK.  Beer at a bar is not.
4) You cannot buy any clothing or accessories.
5) You must make a budget and review your finances.
6) You must track each cent you spend and share your results.


Additional points:

- Don't get caught up on the specifics.  If you realize something doesn't make sense for you and you see it coming, you can allow yourself an exception.  This year, I'm going to allow myself to have a $1.50 Costco hotdog when I'm shopping there.  I used to deny it on principle but I actually save money by eating a lunch for $1.50, so I'm going with it.   But, for example, if you have a friend meeting you for dinner from out of town, you gotta do what you gotta do.   "No eating out" essentially means eating at home or packing meals for your day to day.  There are situations where that won't make sense; don't throw out the whole month on a technicality.

- Don't say "I do this already lol".  No you fucking don't.  Every year, I see someone say this shit and it's not true.  You spend more than you think.

- Don't skip past the budget and tracking part.  This isn't just about denying yourself.  It's about the realization of what you're spending.  Renegotiating bills, cancelling and moving services is a huge part of it.

- For me, the overwhelming majority of the difficulty is around managing my behavior with my wife and kids.  Though I wish they would participate, I'm not going to put my weird obsessions on them.  My wife seems to be passive aggressive about it.  She doesn't like to order out food for just herself.  So, when I politely decline, she won't order for herself either, but then she'll be resentful.  It's a struggle.

- My father passed away and we got some money that we used to fix up the house.  That was weird, because it was big spending but not in a traditional savings sense, so I've kinda lost touch with my finances and need to establish a new baseline.

[Brian Fein]

I do this already.  Except I do.  Except for #2, which I am not prepared to give up on.  So, yeah.  I do this already, mostly.  I can show you my tracking sheet if you want to see it.  I use it monthly...

[Dave Gray]

If you don't do #2, you don't do it.  That's the biggest part of the savings.

Plus, you're full of crap.  You collect toys and stuff.  Those are impulse buys.  They aren't purchases of need.  You also purchase V-bucks when on sale.  I'm sure there are other things.

But food and drinks out are a lot of money.  Switching to eating at home is a huge savings.

[Brian Fein]

If you don't do #2, you don't do it.  That's the biggest part of the savings.

Plus, you're full of crap.  You collect toys and stuff.  Those are impulse buys.  They aren't purchases of need.  You also purchase V-bucks when on sale.  I'm sure there are other things.

But food and drinks out are a lot of money.  Switching to eating at home is a huge savings.

switching to eating at home just moves money from "dining out" to "groceries".  granted, maybe you get more meals for your money, but i find that the amount of work/convenience factor has value.  so if i can go to the deli across the street and buy a sandwich instead of spending an hour or more cooking and cleaning (plus the cost of the food), I feel its worth the minor cost difference.  Groceries aren't dirt cheap unless you just eat Ramen every meal.

[Dave Gray]

Cut this shit.

If you don't think it's worth doing, don't do it.  But don't say that you already do it.

Groceries are much less than half the cost of eating prepared foods.

[CF DolFan]

When we are dieting we hardly ever eat out and it's very noticeable in our bank account. Dinner for two with no alchohol is like $50 any more at places like Chili's. It' crazy.

[SlothVomit]

Me and my better half are trying to save for a home so we do this already. We made a budget and we stick to it. Not going out to eat is HUGE. I work from home, so not driving my truck daily saves a ton. Also, Dave convinced me to switch to Mint Mobile a few years back and it saves us a ton. We were both paying over $100/month and now $390 a year. We could very well pay far less, but we both choose the unlimited plan just cause. We convinced a few members of our family to switch as well and they are very happy with it.

[Brian Fein]

I'd like to learn more about Mint Mobile.
There has to be a catch.
Like, Metro PCS has crappy service and it used to be that your phone wouldn't work if you left the state.  I'm sure that's not true any more.

How can places like AT&T and Verizon justify their cost when Mint exists.  What's the catch?

[Sunstroke]

^^^ I'm curious as well. My phone bill through Verizon is $110/month. I am in a difficult-to-get-reception area in the mountains of N AZ though.  I couldn't really even use T-Nobile, because the connectivity is so bad.

[Dave Gray]

I think it's a few things:

AT&T has a built in reputation and customer base going back to land-line phones.  It's generations of customers and people who just pay what they've always been paying.  It's probably a similar reason that some people still pay for cable, when there are much more cost effective solutions.  There are people out there still paying for McAfee Antivirus.

Also, AT&T does a bundle of bundle tactics to allow people to group families together, share minutes and data, include a new phone with a contract, etc, insurance protections, spam blockers.  Mint doesn't do any of that shit.  Bring your own phone, cheap service that works.  That's it.  No extra bullshit.  But I don't know how many people can drop $1000 on an iPhone so that they can get $15/month service.

And Mint just isn't as good quality as AT&T.  It's good enough, but you're using a hodgepodge of other service networks.  If I were to travel to certain places in the country, I'm sure AT&T would offer better service.  But the truth is, I don't.  I am largely living where I live and if I travel, it's to major cities.  And I don't rely on my cellphone and I use wi-fi when it's available, so I mitigate problems.  But I've had Mint for years and I am super glad I switched.

[Fau Teixeira]

I use Google FI specifically because it has free international calling

[Dave Gray]

I had Google Fi for a while, but the service was so terrible where my office was.  It might've been just the little pocket of area, but it was noticible.  I think it probably improved by the time I got off of it, but Mint was cheaper anyway and works way better for me.

[SlothVomit]

I'll add that I drove from FL to TN and back without losing service on MM once. I drove from FL to NY and only lost service in the Adirondacks. But even my GF's parents whom have ATT lost service there. I can't speak for the mid-west or west coast but so far the move to MM is well worth it.

I have attempted to convert a few folks and they refuse because of comfortability and bundle plans. I find it dumb, but I find cable to be dumb as well. All that's truly needed, for me at least, is a digital antenna to get local news. I don't watch sports, but I can imagine it isn't difficult to stream anything these days with a jailbroken firestick or a VPN. I have a few streaming services but pay for only one. Like most folks, I have a network of friends whom share passwords so we all save. 

[Dave Gray]

Even if you absolutely want live TV in a traditional sense, things like YouTubeTV are doing what cable does for way less.

[Dave Gray]

This starts tomorrow, so start preparing tonight.  Pack your lunches, fools.