Defiantly Cheap

From the Kansas City Star.

"I consider myself frugal on some things (home design) and a wasteful spender on other things (food, for example). Just today I ran into yet another situation where spending money would have been justified, but I simply refused. When all four kitchen table chairs broke, most people would have relented and bought some new ones, or at least hit the thrift stores for a used set. Not me.

I've refused. I'm that kind of frugal. I just don't see it as a life or death need. My family won't die of starvation if they can't sit. They can eat while standing or take turns using the last half-decent wobbly chair that hasn't completely crumbled onto itself.

Instead of buying a new set, I'm using folding chairs borrowed from the neighbors that I had on hand from a family gathering. I grabbed them and proceeded to cover them with my largest pillowcases. Yes, they are in matching cases. And no, it doesn't look that bad.

It works. And it will continue to work until I break down and buy some kitchen chairs, or return these to my neighbor. Which shall come first is anyone's guess.

You may call me cheap, but Brenda Hendrickson, author of "How to Be a Frugal Millionaire" has my back. She explains, "Frugal is not cheap. Frugal is being smart with your financial decisions. You can create wealth by being frugal." For example? "I purchased a good car ($25,000), kept it in good condition, financed it for four years and kept it for 12. That meant that I had eight years without purchasing (read: having a car payment) in that period. I was able to put money aside and pay cash for my next car."

Other drastically frugal things I've done:

1. I use a clothesline to dry my clothes. It's kind of old-fashioned, but it actually saves me money and keeps the clothes lasting longer. And the smell ... oh, don't get me started on that fresh-air smell!

2. I keep a jar in my kitchen and laundry room and collect every penny, nickel, and dime from pockets and backpacks each day. When the jar gets full, I take it to one of those change places and collect my cash.

3. When I clean out the turtle's house and empty the dirty water into a bucket to replenish with new, clean water, I transfer that turtle water to my houseplants. I swear they love it and flourish because of the natural compost-like nature of the water: full of proteins.

4. My kids are about 14 months apart and while they are different sexes, I have them share clothes. They're the same-size foot, so the sneakers here are either all white or all black, unisex-style. T-shirts, sweaters, and even jeans and shorts are all gender-neutral colors like blue and dark green. I buy the bulk-sized white crew socks, and we all share them. Extra bonus, no need to sort when they're all white and exactly the same. We just keep one big sock drawer that we all pull from. Cheap and easy.

And I'm not alone. Penny from PennilessParenting.com says, "The three most drastic frugal things I do are moving our family of four to a 454-square-foot house from a 900-square-foot one; going without a car entirely, even while having two young children and not living in the city; and using washable toilet paper also known as family cloth."

Ok, washable toilet paper is defiantly drastic frugality. My modes of saving money pale in comparison to Penny's."

Penny also reads this blog.