Have You Heard of The Tightwad Gazette?

Frugal means thrifty, and best use of resources. It does NOT mean hoarding, or taking advantage of other people.

I like to think of frugal living as getting the best value for money, in balance of the important factors such as quantity, usability, quality and price.

For example, if I’m going to buy a bucket, I consider the material, durability, size and any other factors based on how I’ll use it.  I’d also like a good price. I’m looking for a balance of the factors.

It is not cheapness for cheapness sake.  And it does not mean doing things that hurt others for self-enrichment. For example, taking sugar packets home from a restaurant. Or keeping the $10 bill that the store clerk gave you by mistake. Or buying something online, and then claiming it was broken or missing in order to get a refund and keep the item.

I’ll earn my savings through effort, reasoning, strategy and paying attention -- any time that it’s time for money to change hands.

A frugal lifestyle helps those pennies add up into dollars. And when you need to buy a washing machine, a car, a house – or take care of yourself in general – having been thoughtful with the little things has built some financial strength to handle the big things.

Like everything else, the spectrum of frugal is a line with an infinite number of stops along the way. The right spot is different for each person, based on a lot of elements.

The opposite of thrifty is spendthrift, which means wasteful, and person who is careless with money. I’d add, out of balance, and a person who spends without thought who could make better decisions.

I can remember some TV show cost-cutting tips I’ve seen in the past, in the times since I started absorbing the Gazette. An expert analyzed a family’s spending and gave them advice, like learning home cooking instead eating takeout meals. And turning in the six extra cable TV boxes.

They had to buy dinnerware and cookware, because they were using paper plates all the time.

What? Great for them. What were they thinking to begin with? When you want to plug a leak, it's possible, and a good place to start.

Depending on where you are on the spectrum, your experience may vary. 

Since my budget is already far thinner than such “solutions” would apply to, now what?  Time to break out my Gazettes and see what new ideas they will inspire.

The Tightwad Gazette illuminates a process of thinking, and using basic information to make buying decisions. It’s about sizing up your own needs first. Those are tools that can benefit anyone.

It does take time and thought to “live frugal.” Those pennies won’t add up to big numbers overnight, but they will add up.

Your expenses might go up, say 11 percent in a year, depending on what you have on your list. But your income probably didn’t. How can you get creative to keep going, when swimming upstream in an uncertain economy?

I still remember some of the Frugal Zealot’s tips from years ago when I was a subscriber, before she stopped publishing in order to simplify her life.

• She made a box of aluminum foil last for two years by reusing the pieces. Same with zip top bags. They can be washed out and reused.

• She calculated the cost to run a dryer-load of clothes. And determined that the cost of cloth diapers dried in the dryer was worth it. Line-dried clothes are not soft, like those that come out of the dryer. A content baby was worth it.

It doesn’t mean she wouldn’t spend the money. She just didn’t spend it without thought.

• She created a book of grocery prices, so she would know a good deal when she saw one, for standard items her family used.

.As the world changes, I know from experience that it will be necessary to revise priorities and get resourceful to keep the ship afloat, so to speak.

In 20 years, I know I have absorbed many of the ideas, and methodology that underlies many of the tips, into my own lifestyle and home keeping. Such as:

• Buy dish soap, hand soap and similar supplies in larger containers and refill the smaller bottles for daily use. However, always be sure to check the cost per ounce, as sometimes the larger container is not cheaper.

• Check the quality. Dollar store dish soap may be in a very similar bottle, but if it’s not concentrated, it won’t wash as many dishes per ounce as the same size bottle from another store that is concentrated.

• Similarly, I’ve found that within my favored type of bathroom tissue, all packages are not the same. You cannot just go by the roll count, but have to figure the cost down to the smallest level, with is usually per sheet. It appears to me that the same company makes different versions of their brands, to be sold in different stores. I want the best value for money I can get.

It’s good for your brain to practice that math, and do it in your head in the store.

• Get creative. I created a rag bag for standard cleaning. Some of my prized rags came from a roll of old toweling, like there used to be in public bathrooms many years ago. I found some at a yard sale, and it looked like it had never been used. Cut and washed, and they make great rags. Others come from old t-shirts. I favor all-cotton cloth because it is the most absorbent. The bag itself is an old pillow case from a thrift store.

• Keep your eyes and ears open for new ideas. When I hear another good tip, like Chef Michael Symon giving out a recipe for Pickle Juice Vinaigrette on The Chew, my ears perk up and I write it down. He’s dressing cole slaw with it. I can think of several ways to use that. I’ll hunt it down online and print it for my recipe collection.

• Pre-shop for large purchases. I’m pre-shopping now for the car that I expect to be ready for in a few years. I know what I need, and what my priorities are. So I’m keeping track, and looking around.

All the tips don’t fit everyone. That’s a given. Everyone has a different lifestyle, different priorities and different resources where they live. If you don’t have small children at home, for example, there are a lot of tips you won’t need. Or if you’re not handy about repairs (though maybe it would be good to learn some simple ones that only take a screw driver.

• A current-day Tightwad Gazette would be an emailed newsletter, vs. paper and stamps. Saves money and it’s faster.

• The Tightwad Gazette would talk about research via the Internet. They would talk about how to research products, stores, online sellers, estate sales, government auctions and other resources on the Internet. All kinds of resources for more frugal living, via new technology applied.

• There would be a Facebook fan page, for people to share their ideas. (There is a fan page, though it’s not overseen by the Zealot.)

• They would talk about Freecycle, an Internet-based network to help reduce waste and landfills within a geographic area. It’s a little like “treasure hunting,” but arranged over the Internet by joining a group in your area.

I have enjoyed my Freecycle experiences, such as sending some non-working floor fans to someone who could use the parts, and other items that were taking up space but were perfectly good.

I know some people who got a 10-foot apple tree, ceramic tiles for the kitchen and bathroom walls, shelving, a commercial sewing machine and all kinds of goodies that way, not to mention what they got rid of with very little fuss.

Freecycle is a great way to send excess goods to new homes, and get things you can use. It’s not everywhere, but if you have it, then it can work out well.