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Frugal Articles of the Week

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Every week I like to feature a few frugal articles that caught my eyes. Curl up in your favorite reading nook and enjoy. Hopefully these encourage you to live frugal lives!

The Stuff Paradox: Dealing with the clutter in the US by Jane O’Brien
Amidst massive income and wealth inequality, a growing movement of minimalists is rising. Their work bridges and breaks the traditional bounds of income levels. Now, anyone who’s willing to declutter and rid themselves of the unnecessary can join! This article catalogs a couple Americans who are working to do just that.

The Girl Who Saw Through the Illusions by Leo Babauta
Leo is one of the most popular bloggers on minimalism and simple living. His focus spans from meditation to family life. In this new style, Leo writes from a seemingly fictional stance to talk about how illusions influence how we see the world.

What Motivates You To Save? by Kate Dore
Frugality is usually something that just happens. People tend to choose a more frugal lifestyle because of small incomes, to cut down on carbon emissions, and/or to have a less cluttered home. But to start saving, people need to ask an important motivational, intention question. Kate perfectly conveys it!

In Pursuit of More Lasting Success by Joshua Becker
This article hit me. Joshua points out two extremes in today’s economy: 1) the focus on financial success, 2) the importance of working less. Both extremes can be detrimental. Joshua proposes an alternative, where working to help others becomes a major focus. Brilliant idea!

Why We Don’t Meal Plan by Mrs. Frugalwoods
Over the last couple weeks, I published how I’m reducing expenses and trying to get my food budget down to $200 per month. I’m having a bear of a time! Mrs. Frugalwoods makes it look easy, and they don’t even meal plan to save. What could be easier?! Her biggest recommendation seems to center on the role of buying bulk and unpackaged foods for a frugal budget.

$200 Food Budget Failure?

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This January I set out to spend only $200 for my food budget. I failed miserably. Thankfully, I learned how to continue reducing the total.

You spend how much on food every month?!

Last month I ventured into the unknown and created a food and drink budget. Yes, this frugal guy had created a budget in prior months, but time after time, I was over $400 per month. It was ridiculous and hurting my chances to stay out of debt.

Working 60 to 80-hour weeks made me tired, cranky, hungry, and constantly on-the-go. I was stressed, and had all the symptoms of having four positions: counselor, student, instructor, and writer.

I’d frequently feel hungry and be without food, which was a recipe for disaster. Preparing lunches was a mental hurdle, as I would constantly procrastinate to avoid it. I spent way too much money on fast food (i.e., salad bars, Subway, etc.).

Even when I packed snacks and lunches, I blew through it and bought more. I was hungry and I let that natural desire overpower my frugal side.

Individual and social pressure to make a change

Frankly, in the frugal community, $400 per month for a single guy’s food and drink budget is embarrassing. Cue the chortles and disdain. But perhaps I can circumvent and prevent a potential audience-led diatribe by saying, I want to own it.

I was failing to properly save in this domain. Something had to be done.

Then, I saw an article by a fellow personal finance blogger, Laurie, of The Frugal Farmer. She explained how her family of four spent about $215 on food for one month. My cheeks reddened. Here was an entire family doing a better job than this one guy.

After that article, and in the face of a new year, I decided to set my own goal for January: $200 for all food and drinks. If they could do it, why couldn’t I?

This isn’t going to be easy, is it?

So, in January, the month of resolutions, I decided to embark on this new budgetary goal. Like a Messiah warrior preparing to do battle, I wanted to defeat this budget buster.

Pulverize! Demolish! Obliterate!

I thought, “This should be easy enough. I’m a single guy, and don’t have fancy meals. Yes, I have some allergies, but that shouldn’t affect my shopping much.”

Four days passed before I went to the grocery store. The trip came in just over $74. I remember my buddy asking me whether I could make it the rest of the month.

“You only have $125 left, then,” he said.

My reply was cool and nonchalant, “Well, I actually spent a bit of money on food while traveling back to Iowa from Colorado, and went on a date the other day. In total, I’ve spent $125.”

He smiled and shook his head. And I stubbornly stayed optimistic. Little did I understand, it wouldn’t take me long to cross that $200 line.

Timeline of my busted food budget

For the purposes of this month experiment, I took day-by-day notes of what I had purchased and why. The following is a timeline of purchases and inside look at how I totally failed.

Day 1: $8.05 (McDonald’s breakfast, drink later in day)
Day 2: $12.19 (Dinner while traveling)
Day 3: $0
Day 4: $103.35 (Breakfast date and groceries)
Day 5: $0
Day 6: $2.28 (Coffee)
Day 7: $5.04 (Coffee date)
Day 8: $0
Day 9: $0
Day 10: $0
Day 11: $52.53 (Bar date and groceries)
Day 12: $0
Day 13: $6.34 (Groceries)
Day 14: $4.92 (Snacks)
Day 15: $0
Day 16: $10.40 (Groceries)
Day 17: $54.38 (Groceries)
Day 18: $0
Day 19: $28.42 (Groceries)
Day 20: $0
Day 21: $0
Day 22: $0
Day 23: $0
Day 24: $45.82 (Groceries)
Day 25: $0
Day 26: $28.97 (Groceries)
Day 27: $0
Day 28: $0
Day 29: $0
Day 30: $0
Day 31: $0

Total: $362.69

What the heck did I buy?

Generally, I have a simple diet. The one caveat is that I’m on a modified gluten-free diet (low FODMAP) for IBS. Let me tell you that if I break away from these dietary restrictions, my intestines quickly fall apart and I’m lethargic, gassy, dyspeptic, and cranky. When I can follow the highly restrictive, plain diet I feel better. The consequence is that I have to buy some more expensive gluten-free items to feel healthy.

Breakfast foods
  • Cereal (rice or corn-based)
  • Oatmeal
  • Eggs
  • Turkey bacon
Lunch foods
  • Gluten-free bread
  • Turkey meat
  • Sliced cheese
  • Mustard
  • Lettuce
  • Peanut butter
  • Jelly
  • Spinach
  • Carrots
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Bell peppers
  • Balsamic vinegar
Dinner foods
  • Frozen salmon
  • Rice
  • Frozen vegetables
  • Gluten-free pasta
  • Tomato sauce
Snacks
  • Potato chips
  • Gluten-free pretzels
  • Bananas
  • Grapes

What went wrong with the budget and plan?

After I read Laurie’s article, I was amazed by their depression-inspired goals and budgetary constraints. Even though they weren’t able to keep it under $200, either, they were remarkably close (~$215).

I wasn’t anywhere close to my goal. There were various potholes and hiccups that I never expected when I first started this experiment. Here’s where I got tripped up:

Single, but dating

While I’m a single guy, on occasion I’ve been known to go out with women. I know, mind-boggling! Despite major movements and momentum in the dating world, men are still expected to treat for first dates oftentimes.

I went on a few dates this month, and that cost me $48.81. Ouch! That’s nearly a quarter of the total budget I started with.

There are various solutions to this problem: choose more affordable locations (i.e., coffee shops), stop dating, and/or pay for my own meals/drinks.

Fresh vegetables

After completing this experiment, I looked back at Laurie’s article to see how much vegetables cost her family. All I found was pasta sauce and potatoes. Clearly this had benefited her family’s budget, and reduced their total spending.

Despite vegetables accounting for much of the spend this past month, I refuse to budge on this aspect. Vegetables are low in sugar, high in vitamins, and incredibly fibrous. They’re too healthy to cut down or out.

One solution I could begin to adopt is buying more loose-leaf lettuces to make my own salad mixes. Also, I could likely buy more canned vegetables.

Gluten-free/low-FODMAP

The last problem I noticed was that my special diet restrictions caused my budget to balloon. Whereas a frugal-friendly loaf of bread (w/ gluten) sells for about $1, the gluten-free/FODMAP-friendly Udi’s white bread costs about $5. Additionally, the loaves are about half the size. In total, Udi’s gluten-free bread costs about 750-1000% more.

Similarly, pretzels can be purchased for about $1-2 a bag. But the gluten-free versions cost about $3.50. Over and over again, the dietary restrictions affected my ability to stay under that coveted $200 mark.

The solutions are more difficult to find on this front, too. Ideally, my body wouldn’t react like gluten-laden products were an intruder. Ideally, I could eat tons of legumes (beans) and bread products. I would have far more flexibility in saving and scrounging. The best I can come up with is to plan for meals and try to use rice more often than gluten-free pastas or breads. Rice is always cheap, and just so happens to be the most common food worldwide.

Reframing failure as lessons learned

Have friends and family behind you

When I first told my friends, they all expressed curiosity about how I’d do it. The budget was large in its smallness — it spoke louder than any sentence I could write. Pricelessly, my budget announcement and sharing brought people in and many wondered how they, too, could participate.

Self-compassion for “failures”

During this month, I overspent my budget by $162.69. That’s shocking, embarrassing, and a bit disheartening. I’m disappointed in my own perseverance, resolve, and planning.

Fortunately, I use “failure” casually. Research suggests that when people respond to these “failures” with self-compassion they can better correct future actions. I don’t actually see this month as a failure; rather, inspiration to keep working at my food budget and continue to find ways to reduce the spending.

I want to get to $200.

Sometimes frugality — to the extreme — isn’t healthy

Frugality in food tends to overemphasize the reduction of fresh vegetables and fruits and supplementation of carbs like bread and pasta. While these food choices feel filling, keep budgets happy short-term, and provide the base of many frugal meals, they can have negative health effects. Starches and carbs tend to lead to excess weight, as they are processed comparably to sugar in the digestion process.

Instead of sacrificing my long-term health for short-term financial gains, I look forward to making a truly healthy budget. Don’t get rid of the vegetables!

Food budget challenge — take 2!

January just ended, but I’m already signing up for another month of this experiment. This time I want you to join me!

If you’re already at $200, I’d love to hear how you do it. If you can’t imagine reducing your food and drink budget to $200, let’s try together. If you’re not sure you want to reduce your food budget, why not?

Who’s with me?

Frugal Articles of the Week

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Every week I like to feature a few frugal articles that caught my eyes. Curl up in your favorite reading nook and enjoy. Hopefully these encourage you to live frugal lives!

This Cold House by Ken Ilgunas
The semi-famous Millennial writer of Walden on Wheels was just published in the New York Times! He’s lived out of vans, hiked the length of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline route, and now he’s turning the temperature down — way down. In this latest experiment, Ken turned down the thermostat of a 4,000 square foot house to 45 degrees. He would’ve gone colder, but then the pipes might burst. Join him on this mini adventure! It’s a fun one.

No Sidebar: A New Approach to Life by Brian Gardner
Minimalism can prevent distraction. Brian Gardner designs incredible WordPress themes and websites with this effect in mind. He gets readers to focus on content, instead of widgets, ads, and sidebars. In this article, he explains how website design is the tip of the iceberg — it’s a way of life.

The Best Things in Life are Free — Or Dirt Cheap by Laurie
The Frugal Farmer is one of my favorite personal finance and frugal living blogs. Laurie captures the many complex issues of living near poverty, with a depression-era nod here and there. In this latest article, she talks about things. It can be powerful to realize that the best things in life don’t cost anything — or shouldn’t!

Hotel 22 by Elizabeth Lo
Occasionally, the New York Times chooses video over the written word to capture a story. Elizabeth Lo has captured a deeply saddening scene in San Francisco. There’s a 24-hour bus line that becomes an impromptu home and warm room for homeless people.  Watch, listen, and gain an empathy for those struggling to survive.

What’s Your Most Prized Possession?

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Colorado State University Oval

Hello, roomie!

The windows were open, and I could smell the grass outside. It was green and sunny — not a cloud in the sky. A prototypical Colorado day followed me around, as I moved what little I owned into a small cubby, under a lofted mattress, and into a petite wooden desk.

It was move-in day for college — fall 2007.

I rolled out a single-bed mattress sheet, chintzy comforter, and single pillow cover. The mattress was an ocean blue, and perpetually felt uncomfortable. But it was my new home.

Somewhere in this process, I learned to live with less. I didn’t call it minimalism back then. It didn’t feel like minimalism.

Forced space? Mandated minimalism

I wasn’t given the option to live any other way in college. My closet only accepted a few shirts, shoes, pants, etc. My bedroom didn’t allow for larger mattresses. And my desk only had room for the basic necessities: pens, paper, and laptop.

After my first year of college, I moved into another residence hall to become an “RA” or resident assistant. I loved my position. It was and still is my favorite job. But even then, with a little more room, I was forced to stay minimal.

Now, minimalism doesn’t always mean being frugal. Despite my enclosures, I cycled through lots of things. There was a $1200 road bike (kept outside and then sold), a mini fridge (under the bed and then sold), electronics (a desktop computer and then sold), and more. For everything I bought, I sold something else — both to afford the new item and make space.

I was hardly frugal. I was mad with the need to consume away my problems, concerns, and stresses of school. No matter how much I purchased, the feelings remained.

Where I failed budgetarily, I seemed to succeed in minimalism. My room was still neat and tidy, and presentable to residents and their parents. I didn’t have a need for lots of stuff — nor could I put it anywhere.

While I wasn’t ready to change my spending habits until years later, an inclination towards minimalism was cemented. All it took was a forced restriction from many years of residence hall rooms to prevent the purchase of more than I needed. I developed an affinity for a clean, organized room. I didn’t need or want to have tons of things.

The losses hurt immensely

Another component pushed me towards minimalism: loss. In college I was exposed directly and indirectly to losses in life. Three of my grandparents passed away, three people died by suicide on campus that I knew, and I went through some pretty nasty breakups.

These losses encouraged me to look beyond the petty grievances and consumer comforts of society. What was important was the life of those around me, and spending time with those I cared about. Again, things weren’t as important as people.

During this period of tragedy, I realized how loss of material possessions didn’t matter. Suddenly, I stopped worrying about people stealing my stuff, things failing, and/or leaving my home unattended. Renters insurance seemed irrelevant and unnecessary. I had nothing “priceless.”

What’s going to fit in the trunk?

After college and the losses, I moved for graduate school. Again, it was a time of forced minimalism. I could only take what would fit in my Honda Civic coupe. And there was an added caveat, as my brother would be occupying the passenger seat.

To lighten the load, I listed items on Craigslist and asked friends if they needed odds and ends. Then, my brother and I filled the car with deconstructed IKEA furniture, clothing, and other household items. Our seats were forced upright — unable to recline — by the tightly packed vehicle.

Everything I owned fit into one tiny little car. It felt freeing, but frankly, all I could think about was the truly precious cargo: my brother. If everything else disappeared, let it not be him. That’s all that mattered/matters.

What really matters in life is…

I never sought to be a minimalist in my younger years, it found me. When I entered a small space and shared it with a roommate, I was forced to have less. When I lost loved ones, I was forced to reflect on what was most important. When my brother helped me move, I pictured what I would really need.

Stuff never came first.

Recently, I was grabbing a drink with someone and this question came up: “What would you grab if your apartment/house were on fire (excluding pets and humans)?”

I thought briefly about this question and almost cried. I couldn’t come up with anything. Nothing mattered beyond the human and pet connections in my life. Nothing. I feared the loss of… nothing.

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