Frugal Living Archive:
What $100 Worth of Groceries Looks Like – Florida vs. Hawaii
The main reason I decided to migrate down to Florida is because I am a sucker for tropical climates. I love palm trees, warm weather, and beaches more than anything. While Hawaii is the perfect place for this, I didn’t want to return to the high cost of living that Honolulu had to offer.
After doing a few cost of living checks, I learned the most of Florida is relatively affordable. However, it wasn’t until the other day when my girlfriend and I were grocery shopping that the cost of living difference between here and Hawaii really hit me.
The Art of Voluntary Simplicity
As many of you know, ever since I hit my tipping point with office jobs I decided to live a life of voluntary simplicity. This lifestyle change is the main reason why I was able to leave that job and pursue my passions.
However, a lot of people who I talk to are curious to know what simplicity means in terms of a lifestyle. So here is an in-depth look at the lifestyle and how you can start living it yourself.
How to Retire Young
Have you ever wanted to retire early? How about in your 20’s? I know my goal had always been to retire early so I could enjoy the simple things in life.
Well guess what? It is possible to live a retired lifestyle, even in your 20’s, by simply following the steps I’ve listed below. The plan is broken down into two phases: one for getting to retirement and the other is for living it up once you make it there.
Go Green, Save Money
As most of you know, I’m a big fan of frugal living. But I also try to keep my carbon footprint as small as possible. I’m a huge advocate of living an earth-friendly lifestyle and try to conserve as much as possible.
However, it seems that whenever I mention the idea of a green lifestyle to people I meet, they often act surprised. They assume that living frugally and being green is an impossible task. The truth is, being green can actually help your frugal lifestyle. It can save you money in a lot of areas you might often overlook.
Being green does not mean you have to go out and buy all the green friendly gadgets you can find. It’s more about consuming less in your every day life. However, I do recommend a lot of green friendly products to people because they are better for the environment and our purchases help support the companies that make them. That way they can continue to produce more of their products and compete with the non-green alternatives.
A Simple & Easy Wallet Solution
A few weeks ago my dog ate up wallet. That’s when I decided I needed to find an easier (and cheaper) solution.
I’ve always been a fan of carrying my stuff in my front pocket but a lot of times wallets are just too thick. I’ve also used a money clip but I did not like the fact that all my cards would not fit in it.
There has to be a better solution…
Introducing The Money Band
So I started surfing the web looking for interesting yet simple wallet ideas and came across the Money-band. At first I figured they were just selling rubber bands for a few bucks but then I decided to give it a shot anyway. I figured it was far less than the $20+ I’ve spent on decent leather wallets over the years. Plus I really liked their slogan…
What I learned From Not Spending Money
My experiment to not spend money for 7 days has officially come to an end today. And guess what, I made it! It was not easy, but it was totally worth it. It made me realize a few things that I wanted to share.
The Things We Take For Granted
When you do not have any money to spend, you quickly realize the things we take for granted. I can’t believe how much I missed going out to the bar and eating once in awhile. I also missed buying the little things like beer and soda when I ran out. Things like this we consider small in our everyday lives, but when we don’t have this option they feel a lot bigger. I felt like I was missing out on a lot of things.
The Things We Forget
However, not spending money also makes us realize the things we already have and enjoy doing. For example, not renting movies made me realize how many movies I already own that I haven’t looked at in ages. It’s easy to overlook our belongings when it is so easy to go out and get new things all the time.
I also realized how many free things there are to do. Going for walks, rollerblading, and hanging out at the park are just a few. Taking pictures and hiking were two other things I enjoyed doing during the 7 days.
Day 7: 7 Days Without Spending A Dime
Day 7… phew! I can’t believe I actually made it. It has been a long and tough journey but the end is almost here. I now have less than 24 hours to go until I can call this experiment a success.
Almost Failed Today…
My girlfriend dragged me to the grocery store this morning so she could pick up some eggs and we had to walk past the beer section while there. As it turns out, we only had 1 beer in the fridge and I had two games to watch. I tried to hint to her that we needed beer, but she caught on and told me no. I was really tempted to just spend the 13 bucks so I could watch the game and drink some beer. I figure I’ve already suffered enough. Instead of going to the bar and watching Sunday football, I’m stuck at home watching it on our 13 inch TV with rabbit ears.
Day 6: 7 Days Without Spending A Dime
Day 6 is here and I have some news to share from last night. I managed to make it through the night without spending any money and had a great time at the show. Here is how it went:
The Doug Stanhope Show
The show was awesome and one of the best I have seen. It started out with a local comedian that lives here in Tempe. Following him, one of Doug’s completely shitfaced friends took the stage and then it got interesting. The crowd turned on him half way through his skit and there was no way he could of gotten them back on his side.
After listening to that guy get booed for awhile, Doug Stanhope finally came out and the crowd did a complete 180. Doug’s show was awesome and I never stopped laughing. It was definitely explicit which is what made the show so damm funny.
During the show, my girlfriend bought me 2 rum and cokes. I wasn’t going to sit there and make her drink by herself so I gratefully accepted 
. Even if I would have bought the drinks, it would of been a lot less than I spend at the bar on other occasions.
Day 5: 7 Days Without Spending A Dime
Friday is finally upon us, which means it is officially day 5 of my experiment to not spend any money for 7 days. So far, I am still going strong. However, some rough times are ahead going into tonight.
Dough Stanhope Tonight
Tonight at 7 I am going with my girlfriend to see my favorite comedian, Doug Stanhope. If you have never heard of him, check out a short clip of his act over at We Demand Videos. He is a little edgy when it comes to the stuff he says, which I why I love his act.
The hardest part is going to be not spending any money on drinks. They might have a two drink minimum which is going to make it difficult. I am going to try and pull the designated driver card and see if I can get some soda for free. Then I can bust out my handy hip flask and dump some Sailor Jerry’s rum in it. Otherwise I plan to just drink a little before hand and then go.
Day 4: 7 Days Without Spending A Dime
Well everyone, Day 4 of my experiment to not spend a dime has come. It is getting a little harder as the week rolls on, especially since Thursday night is almost here. But I am convinced that I can pull this off somehow, I just need to stick with it.
The Urge To Spend
I wrote yesterday about having an urge to go spend money on anything. Luckily, that feeling has passed now and I have not had any urges since. I have actually grown to like the idea of saving money. I keep coming up with little things to do to help keep my mind off of it. Here are some of the things I have done today:
Whipped Out The Rollerblades
I felt like I was going a little crazy this morning, so I decided to get outside and enjoy the weather. I busted out my sweet rollerblades and took a nice ride around the town. It felt great to get outside and see people instead of looking out the window.
It reminded me how much I enjoy the little things like going for walks and rollerblading. These things are easy to forget about when you are too busy spending money on random things like going to the movies.
