Live like it is 1937

[disneysteve]

If you don't have a large space to hang clothes or a large back yard, then you will need a dryer.

A year or so ago, we took a trip to NYC and took a tour of the Tenement Museum. Seeing how people lived and worked there is quite eye-opening when you compare it to the way we all live today. There was one bedroom, a kitchen and living room regardless of the size of the family. That might have housed 6 or 8 people. Many people also worked out of their homes, particularly in textiles, so during the day, the home might have been occupied by numerous non-family members who worked there. They still figured out how to cook their meals, wash their clothes and do everything else they had to do as part of everyday life.

There are plenty of things that we think we need that we really truly don't need. They're nice to have and I don't want to give them up any more than the next guy but if the situation required it, I'd give them up to survive and pay the bills.

[jpg7n16]

A lot of work, for not a lot of return if you ask me.

What is the average monthly savings of stopping buying KoolAid? Really? Putting the axe to KoolAid? You can make 32 servings for $2.50. Walmart.com: Kool-Aid Tropical Punch Drink Mix, 19 oz: Beverages I believe that step moved them 0.1% in the right direction.

What is the average monthly savings of each of those items?

Short of: cable, netflix, disposable diapers, and the "many, many food items" - I think if you work just 2-3 hours of overtime per month, you can easily afford all of the above. Even at minimum wage.


I doubt their problem was all that money they were spending on drying clothes, and excess buttons - but that they had $0 income for 6 months.

Sorry for being so cynical, but I doubt the effectiveness of such measures.

[disneysteve]

Cutting out car wax virtually does nothing to your overall budget.

I've owned my car for 14 years and bought it used. I've never waxed it even once unless you count the handful of times it has been through a professional car wash (fewer than 10 times in 14 years).

I doubt the effectiveness of such measures.

I think there is great value in cultivating a frugal mindset. Yes, maybe saving $7 on car wax or $2.50 on Kool-Aid or $3 on paper plates won't make or break the budget, but the point is to change the way you think about things. Make youself stop and think before every single purchase, every single expenditure, and ask yourself "Do I really need this? Can I live just fine without it? Is there a cheaper alternative?"

You can go nuts trying to squeeze every last penny out of the budget and I generally don't support going to that extreme, but the mindset is what really matters. If you just spend without thinking, I can guarantee that you are spending more than you need to be to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.

[mom-from-missouri]

I'm assuming the buttons were to repair clothing that they already owned. I'm pretty sure they had buttons in 1937. Are they supposed to scavenge buttons off of other clothing?

They'll need a lot of room to hang stuff dry since they're going to need to wash diapers now. And they'll have to buy the cloth diapers. And how will they wash them without laundry soap?

A lot of those suggestions seem like common sense. But I feel like some of them are penny wise, pound foolish.

those of us who sew, make it a habbit of clipping buttons off of old clothing that is ready for the rag bag or to be tossed.

Making your own laundry soap is much cheaper, and keeps clothes just as clean. It costs only around 5 cents a load or less. I have made it and used it for years.

[mom-from-missouri]

A lot of work, for not a lot of return if you ask me.

What is the average monthly savings of stopping buying KoolAid? Really? Putting the axe to KoolAid? You can make 32 servings for $2.50. Walmart.com: Kool-Aid Tropical Punch Drink Mix, 19 oz: Beverages I believe that step moved them 0.1% in the right direction.

What is the average monthly savings of each of those items?

Short of: cable, netflix, disposable diapers, and the "many, many food items" - I think if you work just 2-3 hours of overtime per month, you can easily afford all of the above. Even at minimum wage.


I doubt their problem was all that money they were spending on drying clothes, and excess buttons - but that they had $0 income for 6 months.

Sorry for being so cynical, but I doubt the effectiveness of such measures.

We have no walmart--nearest one is 30 miles away one direction and 27 the other direction.

Our one and only local store sells the koolaid packages for 79 cents each. They only carry the packages, not the round containers. Then you also have sugar to add, and since their water was off, water to purchase also. She had 10 packs on one list--thats $7.90 before the sugar and water. Her children are 2 and 4. They don't need the koolaid. WIC buys their milk, (and cheese, cereals and such) so the koolaid was not a needed item. She said they usually go thru 2 or 3 packages a day. Their milk is provided and it would be healthier for the water instead of the koolaid. So, in reality they are drinking 20 to 30 a day or over $20 worth a week or $80 a month.

She paid over $4 for the buttons.

What Edna was doing was trying to get them to focus on ONLY getting necissities and to see that the pennies add up. We see this a lot, where people don't realize it all adds up. When they track it for a month then look at it, that is when it hits them how much it actually did add up to.

So, just the koolaid and buttons alone totalled $11.90 before taxes (on just one of her receipts for the month)--which would provide him with fuel to get to work for several days.

Not everyone has the ability to work overtime. My husbands company cut all overtime out over 3 weeks ago, and got rid of one layer of management.

[KTP]

Add a few more things to that list if you want to live like it is 1937:

remove catalytic converter from car (you will get an improvement in mileage and they didn't use such things in 1937)

avoid going to the doctor for vaccines like polio (didn't exist in 1937, so you don't need the expense of getting it)

pretty much any extra expense you now have because it is *green* and good for the environment you should stop doing, unless it saves money

certainly there are lots of other things you could do if you lived like it was 1937 but those are off the top of my head without spending much time on it.

[asmom]

Disposable razors are quite convenient and Clark Howard has proven that if you merely dry them after use, you can use them for up to a year.

Disposable diapers and bibs would be nonnegotiable for me. When my babies were small, they drooled and spit up like most babies. The bibs extended the life of their clothers.

I enjoy cable TV.

Laundry soap, really?

Clothes dryer, again nonnegotiable. Yes, it's a convenience but I work full-time, spend 8-10 hours a week commuting to and from work, and still like to squeeze in time with my family. I don't want to spend any more time on laundry than I have to.

[jpg7n16]

We have no walmart--nearest one is 30 miles away one direction and 27 the other direction.

My point was not "shop at WalMart" - it was that i believe expenses that run maybe $2.50/month are pretty irrelevant.

Except that as DS was saying, if it teaches you a frugal mindset, that they use on larger expenses, then it is worth it. If the point is to teach a mindset, the. I understand that.

So, in reality they are drinking 20 to 30 a day or over $20 worth a week or $80 a month.

Okay, $80/month for KoolAid is too much. That's something that should be addressed.

She paid over $4 for the buttons.

So? Does she have a reasonable expectation of using them? I see this as an irrelevant expense. It's not like they're using $4/day on buttons. It was a one-off purchase that has value and may get used up over several months, maybe a few years. On a monthly basis, that may result in $0.25-0.75/month.

IMO completely irrelevant to their financial picture.

Not everyone has the ability to work overtime. My husbands company cut all overtime out over 3 weeks ago, and got rid of one layer of management.

My point was not "don't worry about expenses, just work overtime." My point was - there are simple steps that you can take that have a larger impact than all these super small changes combined.

Sign up for a 1% cash back card. If you spend $2k a month, you just saved $20/month by doing virtually nothing. A 2% card gets you $40/month. That right there would cover over half the list.
Work overtime, get a 2nd job, mow some yards on the weekend - any of these easily adds $50-100's a month. (maybe more)
Combine errands into one trip every 2-3 weeks instead of smaller trips during the week, save $10-20/month on gas.

If they looked at just the largest expenses, and got the job situation turned around, that would likely have solved 80-95% of the issues, and let the family start getting ahead.

I'm all for a frugal mindset, and if this helps them succeed, great! I truly believe that. Just sometimes people believe that these small changes were what saved the family from financial troubles, and overemphasize small changes, while ignoring larger things they don't think they can change (housing, transportation, etc). And in this case, their situation was changed by getting a job.

[mom-from-missouri]

I updated the op to reflect it was disposable baby bibs--use once and pitch. I used cloth bibs for my kids, and in a pinch sometimes even a towl around them with a clothes pin to hold it in the back.

What the family wasn't seeing, is that what they were spending buying disposable items in a month because the water was shut off for nonpayment, was equal to or more than the water bill. The paper plates they were getting were the high dollar ones, same with the cups, bowels, pastic ware, napkins, and such--not the cheap generic ones.

Before they got behind, their bill for water was $20 a month, so the past due bill was around 4 months worth of water bills.

[snafu]

Kudos to Edna your volunteer who with DH is willing to teach people who are willing to learn about frugal ways. Dryers are high use KWH and increase the electric bill. We were seconded [loaned] to a university in S. China and quickly learned to live in a tiny apartment. It's a lot less work and merely requires things be put away when not in use. Flat surfaces needed to be kept clutter free. [in China a fully furnished apartment is a staff benefit, we don't pay rent, only electric usage]

While we all had energy efficient washing machines, dryers are only seen at Chinese Laundry service. Oddly, laundry service was cheaper than DIY but it was too inconvenient to get there. [I wouldn't drive in that city...too scary]. Following the example of our colleagues, wet clothes were hung on hangers and somewhat hand smoothed before being hung on a cafe curtain rod affixed on the balcony. Works fine, no ironing needed.

It's obvious that those that seek help at SA have not learned money saving techniques. Sadly the knowledge of people like Edna is not being taught. People seem to prefer to live beyond their income. There was a recent survey that confirmed most people couldn't come up with$ 1,000. in an emergency! People are too vulnerable when something goes wrong

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Okay how can they have cable and netflix but not pay for water? That's just dumb. Second why not fix the dryer? That's cheap compared to disposable cups, plates, bibs, etc. Third at this point are cloth diapers necessary if their kids are 2 and 4? Are they having more? Cloth diapers are expensive and you don't necessarily make back the costs until the second kid usually.

Cut cable and netflix and cell phones (fancy ones, not disposable or pay as you go) and perhaps they'd be up to date on the water and mortgage. Agree with basic foods.

They didn't learn pay the 4 walls first Shelter, food, utilities, transportation? Those get paid first so you can live and earn money. Everything else is not important.

[BuckyBadger]

I updated the op to reflect it was disposable baby bibs--use once and pitch. I used cloth bibs for my kids, and in a pinch sometimes even a towl around them with a clothes pin to hold it in the back.

What the family wasn't seeing, is that what they were spending buying disposable items in a month because the water was shut off for nonpayment, was equal to or more than the water bill. The paper plates they were getting were the high dollar ones, same with the cups, bowels, pastic ware, napkins, and such--not the cheap generic ones.

Before they got behind, their bill for water was $20 a month, so the past due bill was around 4 months worth of water bills.

Then these people have more problems that not being able to budget -- they are completely unable to think logically. If you're standing in the paper cup aisle and there are plates that cost $2 for 10, and right next to them there are plates that cost $1 for ten, and they buy the $2 ones, they have deeper problems. It's not like it's hard to find the cheaper plates. They are LITERALLY sitting there next to all the other ones.

We say often on this forum to make sure that you look at the big picture. That list is 90% little picture -- the sort of stuff that people get all caught up in and focus on saving a dollar a month rather than finding ways to save hundreds.

If we're considering a couple that has a baby yet lapses on their water service but keeps their cable and netflix current, I feel like they need some big-picture counselling rather than focusing on the nitpicky stuff.

[bjl584]

I've owned my car for 14 years and bought it used. I've never waxed it even once unless you count the handful of times it has been through a professional car wash (fewer than 10 times in 14 years).

A lot of people don't wax their car. I'm one of the people that do. Ususally twice a year. I treat it as part of my car maintence. But, i'm quite particular about caring for my car. I feel waxing on occassion is as important as oil changes. But, that's just me. My point was that whether you wax your car or not, it won't really matter to ones budget. As I said in my other post, I paid $7 for a jar of wax 3 years ago. It's still over half full. At 2 waxes a year, that would come out to 12 waxes per jar over a course of 6 years, or .58 cents per wax. Whether you wax your car or cut out waxing, it isn't going to change anything.

This woman gives overall good advice, and I agree with her on cutting out the major expenses. But, when she starts drilling down into minutia, it becomes too much work for not enough of a return. I would suggest that this family focus on the bigger picture, but when it comes to things that add up to pennies per month, those items can be disregarded.

[disneysteve]

This woman gives overall good advice, and I agree with her on cutting out the major expenses. But, when she starts drilling down into minutia, it becomes too much work for not enough of a return. I would suggest that this family focus on the bigger picture, but when it comes to things that add up to pennies per month, those items can be disregarded.

I agree overall. I referenced The Tightwad Gazette earlier. The author didn't expect everyone reading the book to adopt every tip and hint and recipe in there. It was more about getting people to think differently, change their mindset, approach the problem from another angle, realize that there are endless opportunities to save and trim spending.

Obviously, a couple that has cable TV and Netflix and spends $80/month on Kool Aid but lets the utilities get turned off over a $20 bill has some serious issues. They need major intervention and somebody needs to sit down and review every penny to try to get them to understand that they have a finite amount of income each month and need to get their expenses in line with that number.

There have been TV shows where a financial professional did an intervention with an couple or individual (Till Debt Do Us Part and Bank of Mom and Dad for example). What always baffles me is the initial summary of their financial situations. These people were uniformly spending hundreds of dollars per month more than they earned. I can't comprehend how anybody does that. I know how much comes in. I know that what goes out can't be more than what comes in. It seems like a pretty simple concept to me but it apparently eludes a great many people.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Start by saying that you pay the basic essentials like water, food, heat, gas for car, rent BEFORE netflix, cell phones, cable, etc. I mean seriously that's just out of control.

How do you not pay for basic necessities? $20 for a dryer belt is again not a big expense and saves a ton of time considering they "need" to watch cable.