Grey Thursday, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Holy SH&T Saturday – you name it, the Thanksgiving week has many nicknames for each day for shopping. What does all of this really lead to? Broke Tuesday. As we come to the holiday season, Thanksgiving, let’s remember to keep our frugal hats on as much as possible and cherish what’s really important, as well as keeper our pockets a little tighter by not falling into the “Jones'” or the social media trends that are blasting us to buy a new 70 inch LED TV, Gaming System, Phone, Laptop, Jacket, Shoes and a new car. Is that what it’s all about? Let’s take a look at the way to balance it, why it’s okay to find an item or two that you need and what the holiday can truly be celebrated as.
Tag Archives: frugal
My Journey to Lower My Monthly Car Payment – Part 1
Since I gladly accepted the Dividend Diplomats 60% Savings Challenge, I have been brainstorming ways to increase my savings rate by both increasing income and reducing expenses. Let me tell you, it is fun brainstorming all the different ways you can accomplish this. A simple internet search will provide you with many creative, simple ways that you have probably never considered. After reviewing my expenses the last couple of months, there is one elephant in the room for my expenses: my car. Over the last month I have been working on reducing this expense. This article will walk you through my current situation and what I have learned over the last month.
Lanny’s October Income and Expense Summary
Another month has passed, another month where I ask myself… Did I hit the 60% savings goal with my income and expense tracker? Did I hit the big mark that I set for myself back in August when I was discussing why I am aiming to save 60% of my income? I know Bert did extremely well, saving almost 63% of his income for October. Straight cruising now Bert! I know he is doing and tweaking a few things to increase that even further/higher going forward. Let’s dive into the analysis. Continue reading
Lanny’s September Income and Expense Summary
Another month has passed, another month where I ask myself… Did I hit the 60% savings goal with my income and expense tracker? Did I hit the big mark that I set for myself in August when I was discussing why I am aiming to save 60% of my income? I know Bert did extremely well, saving almost 50% of his income for September. C’mon Bert, step your game up, you have someone to split your income with and you can’t save 50% of it, weak, right? Joking, he did extremely well as I’ve said, now let’s see how I performed in my balancing of the income and expense categories. 
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Bert’s Savings Rate Summary: September
Last month I accepted Lanny’s challenge to save 60% of my income. As I discussed in my post about my decision, I mentioned that I have been very bad about tracking my expenses and I have never put together a tracking mechanism to calculate my savings rate. Well that has changed and I am now watching my expenses like a hawk. In order to save 60% of my income, I need to watch all income and expense sources closely to figure out where I can trim the fat. Now that September is over, the questions is…Did I save 60% of my income??
Lanny’s August Income and Expense Summary
Well, I am sure you are all wondering… Did I hit the 60% savings goal? Did I hit the big mark that I set for myself last month when I was discussing why I am aiming to save 60% of my income? August had a lot of trial and tribulation, but a lot of positives came from the month. Let’s see what happened to my 60% goal for August. Continue reading
New Computer Feel for…$63.67
My computer is now blazingly Fast! I am a very frugal individual when it comes to purchases, where I really weigh in on the value and impact a purchase has on my life, not just today – but going forward. The last 6 months to 1 year, my computer (aluminum Macbook I bought in 2008 – the first one to have a unibody aluminum casing, which I bought for less than half of what it cost when it first came (I did a few things to make this happen.. haha)) has been acting very slow when it came to multi-tasking. Multi-tasking activities such as: Word Document, Excel, iTunes and web browser – all open at the same time. I almost went and bought a new tablet or a new computer, but didn’t. This is where the Frugality of me comes into play. Continue reading