365 Ways to Live Cheap (8 page)
Extend that recreational exploration outside your home by looking for free resources and activities offered by your local community. Take advantage of the public parks, basketball courts, tennis courts, swimming pools, and playgrounds in your neighborhood. Check out the organized recreational activities as well. Find out if there are any free or nearly free community events of interest. Stop by city hall or your library and ask for a community calendar. Often these are updated monthly. Join a local volunteer group. Your community is full of free entertainment for your whole family if you expand your horizons a bit.
79. S
EGMENT
T
HEIR
A
LLOWANCE
Many families dole out allowances to their children, often giving them a few dollars once a week followed by a pat on the head. The only problem with this is that it doesn’t guide children down a healthy path of managing their own money and often parents wind up supplementing a little. Instead, segment their allowance and teach them how to manage on their own. Break their allowance into four pieces and keep it in four separate jars: one for spending now, one for saving for a long-term goal (like an expensive toy), one for sharing with others (like buying a present for Mom’s birthday), and one for charity. Not only does this teach them the basics of how to budget, but it also saves you money because they’re fully in control of their own spending decisions based on the rules for each jar. You don’t need to “slip” them money anymore, because budgeting is part of their learning experience.
80. S
HARE THE
T
HOUGHT
P
ROCESS
B
EHIND
Y
OUR
P
URCHASES
Whenever you make a significant purchase, show your children how you came to the decision behind that purchase. Not only is it an opportunity to teach your children how to buy sensibly, but it saves you money as well because it keeps you honest about why you’re buying stuff. In other words, if you do the research and pick the item with the best value, you’re not only buying the best deal, but you’re also creating an opportunity to teach your children how to find the best deal.
81. R
ESIST THE
T
EMPTATIONS OF
S
ODA AND
F
AST
F
OOD
Junk food is a common expense for children in American homes today. It’s easy to see why: Junk food is convenient, tasty, and often makes kids happy. Resist that urge to take the easy route, though. Instead, buy inexpensive and healthy snacks to keep on hand. Buy yogurt instead of candy. Buy rice cakes instead of potato chips. Not only are healthier options often cheaper, they’re also better for you, reducing health care costs over your child’s lifetime (and probably improving your own health as well, since there aren’t unhealthy snacks sitting around the house tempting you).
82. I
NVOLVE
C
HILDREN IN
F
RUGAL
P
ROJECTS
, L
IKE
G
ARDENING
Quite often, projects that can save a household a significant amount of money take a significant amount of effort. Take gardening, for example. A well-tended garden can easily save a lot of money in reduced food costs. The only problem with a garden is that it requires almost daily effort to tend it well. That’s where the whole family comes in. Take everyone out in the garden and have them all weed, plant, fertilize, and water. Teach your children how it can be fun, and at the same time you’ll spend quality time with them. You can also challenge them to weeding contests. Or show them how to make little trenches for watering around plants. Let them take charge of certain plants. The key to getting their interest is to get them personally involved with it. Not only will the effort pay off in terms of food costs, but if you can make it exciting, it also becomes a very inexpensive source of entertainment.
83. B
E A
F
RUGAL
E
XAMPLE
Whenever you are together as a family, put extra effort into showing your children that you don’t have to spend money to enjoy yourself. Resist the urge to buy impulse items at the grocery store. Don’t stop along the trip for a quick treat on the spur of the moment. Don’t declare that you have to buy new clothes every month or two. Use the library for books and movies. Show them how you save money in your day-to-day life and they’ll naturally do it, too. Not only will this save you money throughout their teen years, but it will save them money throughout their lives.
C
HEAP
T
ACTIC
$
FOR
C
LOTHING
84 Avoid Clothes That Require Washing Separately
85 Focus on Clothes That Match Well
86 Shop at Consignment Shops and Outlet Stores
87 Hit Thrift and Secondhand Shops in Upscale Neighborhoods
88 Focus on Quality Brands That Hold Up over Time
89 Wear Old Clothing Around the House
90 Buy Clothes Off Season and on Tax-Free Holidays
91 Swap Clothes with Similar-Size Friends
93 Sell or Donate Clothes You No Longer Wear
94 Don’t Buy Clothes Simply for the Emotional Rush
95 Don’t Wash Clothes That Aren’t Dirty
97 Use Household Items You Already Have to Remove Stains
98 Cut Dryer Sheets in Half and Reuse Them
84. A
VOID
C
LOTHES
T
HAT
R
EQUIRE
W
ASHING
S
EPARATELY
If at all possible, avoid clothes that require specific methods when washing. Every separate load requires the full cost: the water, the cost to run the water heater, the cost of running the washing machine, the cost of the detergent, and the cost of the other cleaning supplies you use. This can amount to as much as fifty cents for a load, and for a single item that can add up to some serious cost. Instead, avoid individual wash items and instead focus on those that can be washed together.
85. F
OCUS ON
C
LOTHES
T
HAT
M
ATCH
W
ELL
If you select modular clothing, items that go well with many other items in your wardrobe, you can easily get away with a much smaller wardrobe. For men, choose jackets, shirts, ties, and pants that easily mix and match. With five items of each, you can have 625 different dress appearances, more than enough to appear well dressed. This permits you to wash all of your clothes at once each weekend, then carefully remix your options for the week. This drastically reduces the amount of clothing you need to own.
86. S
HOP
A
T
C
ONSIGNMENT
S
HOPS AND
O
UTLET
S
TORES
When you do need to shop for new clothes and need professional and stylish options, start at consignment shops and outlet stores before hitting the mall. Outlet stores sell out-of-season, recently discontinued, and very slightly flawed clothing items at huge discounts, so shop carefully and you can find some amazing deals on excellent items. Consignment shops often contain the wardrobes of people with more money than sense, who empty out their closets after wearing clothes once or twice (or not wearing them at all). Again, it’s a great place to look for nearly new items at extremely cheap prices.
87. H
IT
T
HRIFT AND
S
ECONDHAND
S
HOPS IN
U
PSCALE
N
EIGHBORHOODS
If you’re willing to dig a little deeper for bargains, try hitting up secondhand shops and thrift shops in upscale neighborhoods. Look for the most upscale neighborhood around you, then find any such shops in their commercial area and see what’s available. You can often find unbelievable bargains on top-quality and rarely worn clothes at such shops. Expanding your horizons a bit can save you a ton of money.
88. F
OCUS ON
Q
UALITY
B
RANDS
T
HAT
H
OLD
U
P
O
VER
T
IME
When you make the active choice to buy fewer clothes, it becomes much more important to buy individual clothes items that hold up well over time. This requires you to do some research. Identify the brands of the sturdiest clothes in your closet, and also do research online to identify fashionably appropriate brands that are also sturdy. If you’re unsure about brands you should be looking for, visit the websites of stores that you would ordinarily buy clothes from and identify the brands they sell. Take that knowledge with you when you go thrift shopping.
89. W
EAR
O
LD
C
LOTHING
A
ROUND THE
H
OUSE
When your clothes do begin to show signs of wear and are no longer appropriate to wear professionally or on social occasions, relegate them to clothes around the house. That’s right, wear old, beat-up dress shirts when you’re mopping the floor or working in the garden. These clothes are well made and sturdy and have a lot of life left in them. Keep wearing them until they really are ready to fall apart. That way, you don’t have to spend much at all for casual clothes, either—you can keep that cash right in your pocket.
90. B
UY
C
LOTHES
O
FF
S
EASON AND ON
T
AX
-F
REE
H
OLIDAYS
If you must buy new clothes, do some careful planning for those purchases. Buy summer clothes for the following year at the end of summer, and do the same for other seasons. Also, plan your clothes shopping for tax-free holidays, where stores compete for the customers that they know will be out and about by offering strong sales. Careful planning can save you a tremendous amount of money on clothes purchases.
91. S
WAP
C
LOTHES WITH
S
IMILAR
-S
IZE
F
RIENDS
Another useful tactic if you like new clothes to wear but don’t want to spend the money for more clothes is to swap a portion of your wardrobe with a friend or relative who has similar sizes and tastes as you. Swapping several shirts or pants can make your wardrobe feel fresh and new again, cement a friendship, and save yourself a surprising amount of money.
92. R
OTATE
C
LOTHES
S
EASONALLY
Another trick to keep clothes seeming fresh and new for years is to rotate your clothes on a strong seasonal basis. Each spring, box up all of your winter clothes and put them into storage, then unbox your spring and summer clothes. Then, after the season is over, box up your spring and summer clothes and unbox your fall and winter ones. They’ll feel fresh and new and make it appear to the people around you that you have a fresh new wardrobe. Not only that, but careful storage and clothes rotation can also extend the lifespan of your clothes significantly, allowing you to keep items seeming new for years.
93. S
ELL OR
D
ONATE
C
LOTHES
Y
OU
N
O
L
ONGER
W
EAR
For many people with an overstuffed closet, clothes are merely another thing to collect, and collections are almost always directly opposed to living cheap. If you have more clothes than you actually wear on a regular basis, consider getting rid of some of your clothes. Sell some, or donate some to a charity, making sure to get the receipt for tax deduction purposes. Cleaning out your closet by figuring out what you actually wear and what you don’t can both earn some money and also help you get more in touch with the clothes you own. You might realize that you do have plenty of clothes and don’t need to buy more.
94. D
ON
’T B
UY
C
LOTHES
S
IMPLY FOR THE
E
MOTIONAL
R
USH
For many people, it can feel very good to buy a new article of clothing. It provides something of an emotional rush. That emotional rush is dangerous, as is any strong positive feeling related to buying something. If you get excited at the thought of buying clothes and it gives you a big rush to get something new, recognize that this is a problem and it’s extremely unhealthy for your long-term financial shape. Focus instead on other positive experiences that don’t revolve around money. Realize that buying something new is merely an exchange of your hard work for a material item when that money could be used to buy your freedom from debt.
95. D
ON
’T W
ASH
C
LOTHES
T
HAT
A
REN
’T D
IRTY
If you wear an item of clothing all day that doesn’t get dirty, why wash it? Washing it reduces the lifetime of the clothes item and has a cost in terms of energy use, water use, and cleaning agent use as well. When you get undressed, inspect your outer clothes for cleanliness and, if they’re still clean, hang them up for future use. One technique to use is to separate your clothes into “fresh” and “worn once” groups—if you use an item from the “worn once” group, it’s time to wash it.
96. L
EARN
B
ASIC
S
EWING
S
KILLS
If you know how to hem a pair of pants, sew a button back into place, and repair a small breaking seam, then you’ve got the skills you need to fix most of the minor clothes repair issues that might occur. Fifteen minutes with a needle and thread to repair a shirt or make a pair of jeans fit your child can save you $20, so it’s well worth your while to learn basic sewing. Don’t know where to begin? Look for tutorials online that explain how to do this step by step.
