This week marks the one-year anniversary of this blog. And, some 365 days and 1,200-odd posts later, here are a few of the most helpful, most rewarding, and most bizarre lessons I’ve learned.
There’s a cheaper alternative to paying the mortgage. And that alternative is not paying the mortgage. “Free rent,” it’s been called.
There are lots and lots of baby products you really don’t need. I guess most parents know this already. But it’s good to hear it from others, and enlightening to discuss which are the most useless baby products of all.
Norway is a great place to be a mom.
Norway is also a great place to be unemployed. And if you’re an unemployed mom in Norway? Well, then you’re the envy of unemployed moms everywhere.
Every trend is the result of the recession. OK, not every trend. But it can be argued—at least through some clever play with statistics—that plenty of changes and shifts in behavior have been caused by the economic downturn. Trends all over the map such as: Decreases in Halloween spending (the horror!) and in the sending of Christmas cards. Obesity (specifically “recession obesity”). Suicide. Rises in hot waitresses and Appalachian Trail hikers. Cheaper funerals and fewer cemeteries. The fading sales of Crocs. The sudden hipness of baby hand-me-downs. An uptick in happiness—because the unemployed spent more time with their families, and amid the economic struggles, all sorts of folks were reminded about what’s really important in life.
People love to hear that they’re not the only ones hurting financially. This fascination with the human impact of the economic downturn has been dubbed “recession porn.” And for whatever reason, it’s especially welcomed to hear that the rich and powerful are experiencing tough times—for instance, the ultra-rich have been forced to share private jets and the Queen of England had to ask for a raise.
Cheapskates aren’t cheap about everything. In a series of posts featuring self-proclaimed cheapskates, the wise and frugal say that they choose to skimp or splurge by careful deliberation—paying top dollar for things like kitchen knives and computers, education and health care, or bicycle tires and cream cheese, but as little as possible for other items, like toilet paper, gasoline, socks, and shaving cream.
The folks most likely to clip coupons aren’t poor. The affluent, in fact, are the ones who use coupons big-time. Using coupons—and having a careful overall approach to spending—is one humungous reason people get to be affluent in the first place.
Economists and wealthy people don’t throw their money around. In other words, people who know a lot about money are actually pretty darn cheap.
Life is full of little rip-offs. Most, like $4 razor blades, 20¢ text messages, and hotel mini-bars can be avoided, but that doesn’t make them any less annoying.
Banks and credit cards will add fees anytime they can get away with it. Guess we all knew this already. But a fee for NOT spending money? Come on!
But occasionally, banks will surprise you. For instance, Bank of America stopped its debit card overdraft system entirely, which still has a lot of folks scratching their heads.
The lottery is an even worse bet than I thought.
People throw away even more food than I thought. Like one-quarter of all the food you buy probably ends up in the trash.
Energy Star labels are even easier for products to get than I thought.
My family is a lot better off than I thought. And so are you. If you earn $50K a year, you’re in the top 1% of the world’s wealthiest people.
People really love food. They love to read about how to make great meals and how to trim their food budgets, ideally at the same time. Food is well represented among this blog’s most popular all-time posts, including How to Eat on a Dollar a Day, How to Eat Well on $50 a Week, and The Grocery Game: Play or Get Played.
People love experiments too. Especially if the challenge is taken on for a full year—like not buying clothing for a year, not getting into a car for a year, or asking for a discount every day for a year. Also, people love experiments involving food, even if the experiments don’t last a whole year. See How to Eat on a Dollar a Day above, and also How to Eat on $1 a Day, Part II, and yet another blogger who lived on a food budget of buck per day.
It’s really in your interest to ask for discounts. See above. So do it all the time, whenever. It can’t hurt.
I’m not the only one sad to see the Saturn brand drive off into the sunset. Or should I have written … driven off the cliff by GM?
I’m not the only one who thinks it’s dumb to be an early adopter.
I’m not the only who thinks “expert” wine raters are full of it.
I’m not the only who thinks cold hard cash is a better, arguably more thoughtful gift than a gift card.
I’m not the only one who wishes I could pay only for the TV channels I actually watch.
Consumers can be pretty gullible. But not gullible enough to keep buying $300 jeans.
Marriage is a better deal for men than it is for women. Financially speaking, that is, although individual results vary greatly.
Blondes not only have more fun. They make more money too. Which seems sorta unfair.
Thinking about sex makes men more likely to spend money they don’t have. This also seems sorta unfair.
There’s an art to firing someone.
There’s an art to regifting.
The Zhu Zhu craze suddenly makes sense. It was probably as much about parents wanting to brag that they scored the season’s “it” toy than it was about kids whining they had to have the season’s “it” toy.
“They” are always watching you shop. And they’re taking notes.
The state of health care is disturbing. That goes for both before and after reform passed.
There’s always another strategy for saving money. I’m talking tons and tons of strategies. Some of the most fun ones are on the odd side—like that receiving text messages is proven to help your savings account, and ideas such as getting corporate sponsorship for your wedding, the DIY veterinarian, and never ordering the second cheapest wine at a restaurant.
There are also some odd theories on spending. Like that PMS is responsible for impulse spending.
The best money advice is usually simple and pretty obvious. Specifically, the idea that saving money is mostly about spending less. Certainly solid advice, though way easier said than done.