Cheapskate Wisdom from … J. Paul Getty
“My formula for success is rise early, work late, and strike oil.”
Brad Tuttle
Brad Tuttle covers personal finance, travel and parenting, among other topics. He is a contributing editor for Budget Travel, where he was on staff for six years; he was a senior editor at the brilliant but now deceased parenting magazine Wondertime; and he is the author of two books, The Ellis Island Collection: Artifacts from the Immigrant Experience and How Newark Became Newark: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of an American City. His work has appeared in TIME, the New York Times, Newsweek, Newsday, American History and Endless Vacations, among other publications. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife and three sons. Read more about Tuttle at bradrtuttle.com
Articles from Contributor
How to Really Stretch a Dollar: The 15 Meals for $15 Challenge
Business may be booming at McDonald’s during the recession, but this is not about the dollar menu. Not remotely.
“Compassionate Downsizing”: You’re Fired! Want a Hug?
Apparently, there are good ways and bad ways to fire people. From the company’s perspective, layoffs go well if no one sues. From the employee’s perspective, there are really just bad ways and worse ways to handle layoffs. But if you are laid off, don’t simply accept whatever papers are pushed in front of you to sign. Even though you …
Major League Cheapskates: In Baseball, Spending Less Can Be Smarter
You pay more, you get a better ball club, right? Not necessarily. See this year’s Florida Marlins, a team whose record compares quite favorably to clubs paying much, much higher salaries. Some stats have also come to light indicating that paying top dollar for pitching staffs can be a waste of money.
Who Will Mop Up the Competition in the Battle for Household Good Dollars?
It’s sort of new! And not at all improved! But it is less expensive. We’re talking about Procter & Gamble’s Tide Basic, a detergent that’s been rolled out in about 100 stores in the South. Quite plainly, it’s a cheaper product. It doesn’t have the same cleaning capabilities of the regular Tide, though it does cost about 20 percent less.
Ten Ways to Save a Little Money, or Make a Little Bit on the Side
Create a little side business to take advantage of the recession-era atmosphere. Start raising some chickens. Avoid car dealerships for oil changes and routine maintenance. Consider selling your home and relocating to a cave. And other ways to improve your financial outlook, if not necessarily your quality of life.
To Save Money, Run Your Household Like a Small Business, or a Golf Course
Advice aimed at increasing efficiency and lowering costs in the business world is often just as valid when applied to the individual. To minimize your cell phone bill, follow the pattern set by small businesses trying to rein in expenses. And to conserve water (and decrease your water bill), look to golf courses, where water usage is …
But Dude! I Was Almost Done With My Novel About a Really Cool Coffee Shop Owner
The golden age of free wi-fi and free spots to plug in your laptop are disappearing. Coffee shops—at least coffee shops in New York City—are increasingly asking customers to leave if all they’re doing is sponging off the wi-fi and adding to the shop’s electricity bill.
How to Bring Your Grocery Bill Down to $15 a Week
Some folks were less than impressed with a trio of bloggers featured on The Cheapskate Blog who limited their food expenditures of $50 a week. A few commenters were downright angry—outraged, insulted even at the idea of the blogger experiment. Well, maybe they’ll be more open to reading about a pair of bloggers living on a weekly …
Credit Card Fee Watch: Now There’s a Fee For NOT Buying Stuff
Credit card issuers are an inventive bunch, always creating new ways to entice consumers into signing up for cards, and to charge those consumers all sorts of fees for using those cards. I’m constantly shocked by the number of letters we receive in the mail from credit card companies—these guys have to be keeping the postal service in …
Cheapskate Wisdom from … Benjamin Franklin
“God heals, and the doctor takes the fee.”
Can I Get Your Co-Payment? And Your Deductible and Co-insurance Fee? And Your First-Born Child?
The routine at the doctor’s office used to end by patients forking over the $20 or $35 co-pay at the receptionist’s desk. Weeks later, patients could expect a letter in the mail from their insurers, filled with inexplicable details regarding how much more the patient had to pay—10 percent of one set of charges, 50 percent of another, …
