Cheapskates, 2005

I'm sure a lot of readers will remember Amy Dacyczyn and her Tightwad Gazette. If you've read her newsletters or the book, you can see why she calls herself the Frugal Zealot. Some of her money-saving tactics are generally applicable. Others you might get used to after a while. But some of them, you either just don't see why people would bother doing it.

Melinda Fulmer's article on MSN, called “When cheap is a way of life,” has a mix of generally good ideas and ideas that you just shake your head at.

Among the good ideas (in my humble opinion):

• Packing your lunch instead of eating out at work
• Going to garage sales for household decorations
• Stocking up when things go on sale (like tuna)
• Not paying $2 for a soda in a restaurant
• Using coupons
• Brewing your own coffee (you can get several pots for the price of one “gourmet” $1.50 cup of coffee)

Then there are some that might be worth trying, depending on your frugality tolerance and space constraints:

• Making your own cleaners and detergents
• Roasting your own coffee in a hot-air popcorn popper
• Making, refurbishing, or redyeing your clothes
• Stuffing yourself at an all-you-can-eat buffet to save on dinner
• Hunting deer and squirrel (I almost put this one in the next list, but to be fair I haven't eaten squirrel, so I shouldn't judge it harshly 🙂 )

Then there were a couple that seemed a bit much. Again, just my opinion:

• Making two rolls of bathroom tissue by separating a single 2-ply roll (how much is your time worth?)
• Picking up bent nails at construction sites to reuse (if they're bent the metal fatigues; this makes the nails weaker)

Making frugality a hobby has a few advantages above and beyond the saving money part. If you're spending time doing things that save money, you're not spending time spending money. Also, it makes you more versatile and self-sufficient, which you never know when this may come in handy.