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I have frequented this site for months now, and the thread that struck my interest the most was about the cheapest things people do. That thread summarized my life and it took me a while to decide to join this site and share my story with you all because I do not consider myself to be a "cheap" person but rather an intelligent consumer. I would like honest feedback on my situation from the savings advice community because loved ones have told me that they believe I have a disease.
The way I live my life is to save every penny possible, purchasing only the most essential food and clothing with very little spent on entertainment or other items. I have pushed old friends away that criticized me for being too cheap. Its my belief that those who spend all their money and leave nothing for the future are the ones that need help. Yet, I dont criticize them. Anyways, read on and you decide.
Right now I am posting this from my public library computer. I refuse to pay for the internet. I have composed this entire post on this same computer, each time I saved it to a floppy that I found on the sidewalk a few years back. I would never pay for a floppy or zip drive or whatever do-dad people are using these days. I arrived here on foot because I do not own an automobile. Depreciation is a waste of money. Car insurance is a bigger waste of money. Dont even get me started on gasoline. I own a bike that I was given as a gift 15 years ago. I would sell it but my office is a 20 min walk away and wasted time is wasted money, IMHO.
My daily life includes walking to work with food I prepared up to a month before. I use a crock pot, that was also a gift several years back, to cook and freeze anything I cant eat within the next week. Most of the food I prepare is free. How? I have been known to "dumpster dive", or request food from establishments that are going to throw the food out anyways. I also visit shelters, food pantries, anywhere food is cheap or free. I then take as much as they will give me and I bring it home. My free time is spent either working for side money or dressing up as if I'm homeless and begging for food and money. Call this morally or ethically wrong but I do not indicate I'm homeless. I just dress in old shabby clothes and ask for money or food.
Within the past decade alone I have shined shoes, drove taxi, shovel snow, plowed (using a coworkers truck when he was too tired to continue), delivered newspapers, everything landscaping or handyman, washed cars, pumped gas, sold merchandise and food on street corners (seperately), drove old people around, drove a limo, cleaned houses, cleaned toilets in commercial properties, collected cans, tutored middleschool and highschool students, I get paid to take surveys or give my opinion in focus groups, web design, advertised, surveyed people for their opinions, and have worked dozens of retail and other part time jobs.
As one can tell I'm quite busy and have actually found it bothersome to put this document together. However, I feel it may be beneficial to myself and others to share this story with you all. I also have come to a point in my life where I think some elements to the way I'm living could be considered to not be in my best interest and I do not know if what I'm doing is really worth it. For example, is it wise to spend hours in the cold shoveling snow for $40 if it could mean getting ill and missing several days of work?
After high shcool I decided not to attend college because it seemed very expensive and I wasnt able to obtain scholarships. Not wanting to put myself in massive debt and refusing to take a penny from my parents, I worked at an autobody shop during the day and by night was a bouncer at a local club. Every year since age 22 I have contributed a minimum of 50% of my net income to retirement. I have not spent more than 20% of my net income in any one year, and have lead a life at the poverty level. By my mid 20s I was working construction because it paid well. I lived with my parents until age 27 then moved into an apartment with old friends. I paid $200/month. The unusual part is that I still live there and I'm 39.
Why haven't I moved? Money. Most adults my age pay more in property taxes than I pay to rent. I still share the place with three college students. I dont mind because they are more into studying than partying. I still work in construction. I moved up by working hard, getting promoted, and learning everything related to business and construction via the public library as well as any code books I could get my hands on. I now own a construction company with a business partner and the only vehicle I use is the company work truck. I sometimes bring it home but never have to pay for upkeep or gas.
My income is six figures and the company has weathered the housing meltdown pretty well. No kids, no spouse, and currently no girlfriend. My parents left me their home and 2 of their investment properties. I sold all three due to the property taxes and upkeep that was killing any profit I would have made. I banked $1.2 million from the sales and turned to a family member to assist me in investing it wisely.
Enough of the long narrative. Since most of what I have/own I obtained free, the following is a list that I have kept of things I have purchased with my own money in the last month:
1/4/2010 - 1 quart of 1% milk for $1.59
12/28/2009 - Weather related items - hat, two bags of sodium chloride, winter gloves (work gloves are different) Total of $19.39 with coupon for the hat and found the gloves on sale
12/19/2009 - 1 loaf of bread, half dozen eggs, 1% milk for $3.16
12/17/2009 - Coffee for myself, business partner, two top employees. I lost the receipt so I cannot legally expense - about $8.
12/13/2009 - Food shopping - tuna, frozen dinners with coupons, fruit from reduced rack (orange, banana, lettuce), gallon of water bc water main break turned water brown at the apt. plus a few other essentials for $24.62
12/9/2009 - Was feeling generous so I bought a few gifts for a few friends and family $108
12/5/2009 - Used all my grocery coupons and tricks to get $80.xx worth of groceries for $9.59
It seems during the holidays every business was giving out food. Milk is harder to come by.
Total = $174.35
A usual month is $50-$70, but the holidays got in the way. I plan to cut out all extra spending, not drink milk, eat only the food I have left over from the holidays and the crock pot for the rest of this month. One other detail is that I do not tell anyone of my friends or family what I make but rather lie to them about my profession and say I'm barely making it as a roofer. This way they do not expect lavish gifts and they understand why I live the way I do. I keep my close friends and family out of my work life completely.
So that's a snapshot of my life. Again, my goal is to spend money only when necessary and save everything for the future. Has my frugality morphed into a disease? Considering I earn a good paycheck, have saved everything I have ever earned and still dumpster dive, some would say I have a disease. Those same people telling me that I have a disease are in their 40s and 50s with massive debt and little savings for retirement so I disregard their comments. Feel free to comment and ask questions. My time is up now on this computer. I will check back in a few days if you have questions. Thanks
The way I live my life is to save every penny possible, purchasing only the most essential food and clothing with very little spent on entertainment or other items. I have pushed old friends away that criticized me for being too cheap. Its my belief that those who spend all their money and leave nothing for the future are the ones that need help. Yet, I dont criticize them. Anyways, read on and you decide.
Right now I am posting this from my public library computer. I refuse to pay for the internet. I have composed this entire post on this same computer, each time I saved it to a floppy that I found on the sidewalk a few years back. I would never pay for a floppy or zip drive or whatever do-dad people are using these days. I arrived here on foot because I do not own an automobile. Depreciation is a waste of money. Car insurance is a bigger waste of money. Dont even get me started on gasoline. I own a bike that I was given as a gift 15 years ago. I would sell it but my office is a 20 min walk away and wasted time is wasted money, IMHO.
My daily life includes walking to work with food I prepared up to a month before. I use a crock pot, that was also a gift several years back, to cook and freeze anything I cant eat within the next week. Most of the food I prepare is free. How? I have been known to "dumpster dive", or request food from establishments that are going to throw the food out anyways. I also visit shelters, food pantries, anywhere food is cheap or free. I then take as much as they will give me and I bring it home. My free time is spent either working for side money or dressing up as if I'm homeless and begging for food and money. Call this morally or ethically wrong but I do not indicate I'm homeless. I just dress in old shabby clothes and ask for money or food.
Within the past decade alone I have shined shoes, drove taxi, shovel snow, plowed (using a coworkers truck when he was too tired to continue), delivered newspapers, everything landscaping or handyman, washed cars, pumped gas, sold merchandise and food on street corners (seperately), drove old people around, drove a limo, cleaned houses, cleaned toilets in commercial properties, collected cans, tutored middleschool and highschool students, I get paid to take surveys or give my opinion in focus groups, web design, advertised, surveyed people for their opinions, and have worked dozens of retail and other part time jobs.
As one can tell I'm quite busy and have actually found it bothersome to put this document together. However, I feel it may be beneficial to myself and others to share this story with you all. I also have come to a point in my life where I think some elements to the way I'm living could be considered to not be in my best interest and I do not know if what I'm doing is really worth it. For example, is it wise to spend hours in the cold shoveling snow for $40 if it could mean getting ill and missing several days of work?
After high shcool I decided not to attend college because it seemed very expensive and I wasnt able to obtain scholarships. Not wanting to put myself in massive debt and refusing to take a penny from my parents, I worked at an autobody shop during the day and by night was a bouncer at a local club. Every year since age 22 I have contributed a minimum of 50% of my net income to retirement. I have not spent more than 20% of my net income in any one year, and have lead a life at the poverty level. By my mid 20s I was working construction because it paid well. I lived with my parents until age 27 then moved into an apartment with old friends. I paid $200/month. The unusual part is that I still live there and I'm 39.
Why haven't I moved? Money. Most adults my age pay more in property taxes than I pay to rent. I still share the place with three college students. I dont mind because they are more into studying than partying. I still work in construction. I moved up by working hard, getting promoted, and learning everything related to business and construction via the public library as well as any code books I could get my hands on. I now own a construction company with a business partner and the only vehicle I use is the company work truck. I sometimes bring it home but never have to pay for upkeep or gas.
My income is six figures and the company has weathered the housing meltdown pretty well. No kids, no spouse, and currently no girlfriend. My parents left me their home and 2 of their investment properties. I sold all three due to the property taxes and upkeep that was killing any profit I would have made. I banked $1.2 million from the sales and turned to a family member to assist me in investing it wisely.
Enough of the long narrative. Since most of what I have/own I obtained free, the following is a list that I have kept of things I have purchased with my own money in the last month:
1/4/2010 - 1 quart of 1% milk for $1.59
12/28/2009 - Weather related items - hat, two bags of sodium chloride, winter gloves (work gloves are different) Total of $19.39 with coupon for the hat and found the gloves on sale
12/19/2009 - 1 loaf of bread, half dozen eggs, 1% milk for $3.16
12/17/2009 - Coffee for myself, business partner, two top employees. I lost the receipt so I cannot legally expense - about $8.
12/13/2009 - Food shopping - tuna, frozen dinners with coupons, fruit from reduced rack (orange, banana, lettuce), gallon of water bc water main break turned water brown at the apt. plus a few other essentials for $24.62
12/9/2009 - Was feeling generous so I bought a few gifts for a few friends and family $108
12/5/2009 - Used all my grocery coupons and tricks to get $80.xx worth of groceries for $9.59
It seems during the holidays every business was giving out food. Milk is harder to come by.
Total = $174.35
A usual month is $50-$70, but the holidays got in the way. I plan to cut out all extra spending, not drink milk, eat only the food I have left over from the holidays and the crock pot for the rest of this month. One other detail is that I do not tell anyone of my friends or family what I make but rather lie to them about my profession and say I'm barely making it as a roofer. This way they do not expect lavish gifts and they understand why I live the way I do. I keep my close friends and family out of my work life completely.
So that's a snapshot of my life. Again, my goal is to spend money only when necessary and save everything for the future. Has my frugality morphed into a disease? Considering I earn a good paycheck, have saved everything I have ever earned and still dumpster dive, some would say I have a disease. Those same people telling me that I have a disease are in their 40s and 50s with massive debt and little savings for retirement so I disregard their comments. Feel free to comment and ask questions. My time is up now on this computer. I will check back in a few days if you have questions. Thanks
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