Frugal Tips Archives - MoneyWatch101

Does Buying Luxury Brand Products Enslave you to Them?

Do not Over Pay for Brands

Hey what’s going on my great readers. Today we will analyze something people will most likely give you a cross eyed stare if you bring up this topic. It is something many are too scared to bring up due to peer pressure. But I am up for the challenge, because I feel this topic is right up my alley with owning this PF blog. Let’s contemplate the title a bit and see why certain people want to be enslaved to luxury brands. Does Buying Luxury Brand Products Enslave you to Them? I truly believe so because the mark up is so ridiculous for no apparent reason except that it has the name or logo on the product.

Even Kanye West once said it in a song called New Slaves on the Yeezus album. He is the king of contradiction with his music / message and then does the opposite when it comes to selling his own line of products. He says people buy all the same thing, but its all peachy if they buy his $200 dollar sweater with holes in them. He gets on people for buying competing luxury brands, and his clothing pieces are extremely high in price just like the luxury brands.

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Always Aim to Be As Efficient As Possible

Hey guys do you wake up in the morning and think I will be wasteful today. I hope not and if your like me you will always aim to be as efficient as possible. Like a brand new Prius car eking out the last ounce of gas to get you every last efficient mile during a road trip. Think of your action and movements in life as if your a Prius car, and become an efficiency machine.

Lets dissect the real meaning of efficiency courtesy of good ol’ wikipedia :

Efficiency is the (often measurable) ability to avoid wasting materials, energy, efforts, money, and time in doing something or in producing a desired result. In a more general sense, it is the ability to do things well, successfully, and without waste.

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Frugal Tip of the Day

This is a quick frugal tip of the day post to help you win with money. The frugal tip is – Avoid Vending Machines. The mark up for vending machine drinks and snacks is over 30%+ when compared to supermarket prices. I have not used a vending machine in over 3 years now, even though my job has one in every floor of a 3 floor building. How did I accomplish such a feat? Well I planned properly, bought my snacks in bulk then brought it in to work. As for drinks, I stopped drinking soda and any sugary juices, and substituted it for water. See below for some simple comparisons.

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What should you buy at Costco

Hey guys it’s me again giving you a few tips to help you stretch your dollar a bit further. I want your cash flow to go a long way and possibly reach the next month so that you can invest it or pay extra on debt. So if you like saving $$ on groceries and you have a Costco membership well you must pay attention to this post as you will most likely save with smart purchases. One thing I am good at is when I have to go to Costco, I tell myself to not deviate from the list of things I need to buy. If my list is small I remember them mentally, but if it is more than 10 items then I write them down and stick to them with conviction.

The number reason these warehouse clubs make money is from people making spontaneous purchases on high margin items that are not in the food category. So try to be the same way when you are trying to reach a new level of efficiency with your cash flow.

The products that you will save money by buying at Costco are normal food/ drink items for the house hold. Just pick and choose the things that pertain to your life. Obviously Costco has thousands of other products that can possibly save you money like LCD TV’s and computers, but for this post we will concentrate on grocery items only.

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Frugal Tips to Save you Money

Frugal Ways to Save Money — Frugality is Key to Help you Save

Hello Friends it is that time again where I provide you with some frugal tips to save you money now on this Friday edition. I know what you are thinking its payday, why do I have to be frugal? I want to burn a whole in my wallet to waste cash. Well I look at things a little differently as pay-day is the perfect time to be frugal and save more.

When you can double up on good opportunities, you will begin to see great results. Just last weekend I tracked my expenses and guess how much I spent, under $20 bucks for the whole weekend. Now I didn’t plan on this amount being so low, it just sort of happened. When was the last time you were surprised like that with tracking expenses and noticed a smaller amount in a specific time frame than expected?

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Time to Flex the Frugality Muscle

What is my purpose for this website? To get you to enhance your money saving strategies by giving you savings tips, behavioral advice, facts about investing, and how to take advantage of the time right now to begin to save. I recently read an article in Bloomberg BusinessWeek magazine, which stated how the people in China on average are very frugal. Oh this topic has been brought up before and records show that over the past few decades Asian people tend to save more than people here in the U.S. What I wanted to show you today is about how this information about frugality delves deeper than what is on the surface about frugality. The title of the piece is called “The trouble with Chinese Frugality”, and I have a real concern as to why it is stated as a negative instead of a positive for Chinese people. Then it struck me as I began reading, that this article is based on spurring the economy by consumers spending more and that is why the title is referenced in that matter. They want China to be like the United States where 70% of the GDP is fueled by consumer spending. Consumer spending in China contributes only about 30-40% of GDP, so why is the reporter trying to convince us that our economy is better than there economy. I do not know which system is best, but signs are clear that expecting your citizens to spend in order to fuel revenue for the country might not be good.

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Frugal Tips Friday

Hello friends I wanted to give you all a different spin than the usual post topic today. I usually give you a few quotes on Friday to get your motivational juices flowing, but today the subject at hand will be based on frugality. I know you do your best to save money by living below your means already, but it doesn’t hurt to get new ideas that you might not be using to help you in this life. The theme for today’s post is a new series called frugal tips Friday, and I will share 4 tips I think can get you to scale back a bit all for a higher purpose. This post is for those of you who are struggling to complete something due to a tight cash flow, and if you have no cash flow worries then this post is not for you. I am hoping I can make this a fun Friday series on random Fridays as I see people cutting back more and more. (If you are a Starbucks drinker, please do not read this post as you can’t comprehend frugality)

I apologize for the sarcasm but I do not see the point in spending $5 bucks for a cup of coffee. Let’s move on as the Starbucks bashing is actually played out already in the PF blog world. So what topics will I be discussing today, regarding frugalism? (that’s not a word but I like the way it sounds) It will all be just random tidbits here and there, just for the sake of increasing the greenbacks in the bank. Maybe you will be able to use some of these tips or maybe they will not relate to your life. I feel as long as 1 person benefits from the tips I have done my job. (insert smile right about now) J

Frugal Tips Friday:

Do not carry credit cards on you ever. (If you don’t have it you will not use it)

Buy what you value, love, and only will have a use for. (Buy only those products you value more than current goals)

Make your own trail mix by buying bulk nuts and raisins. (This will save you $, Take to work as a snack, avoid vending machines)

Keep a running total of all Misc. and Food purchases monthly. (These two categories are notorious budget busters)

These tips are frugality 101 and it will allow you to have a basic foundation towards living on less. Granted some people might view being frugal or cutting back as not living the right way, but I tend to think that we all can adjust for the right cause. Do you struggle to finally establish an emergency fund? Do you want to pay off that car loan? Have you started a college savings fund for the children? If you desire to cross off the goals you have then frugality is the fastest method to do it. Many people do not have the extra time to dedicate to an additional part-time job, so cutting back is the only viable option. (Parents/ Students with a full-time job)

When you give meager effort towards your goals you will get meager results, so give it your best shot now to really make a difference.

See article here: how I spent 0 in a week.

Comment if you appreciate the frugal tips above?

Rich Uncle EL

The Best Personal Finance Tips

This list is a recollection of all my posts and I have selected the best personal finance tips of all time. I am looking back and analyzing those little things that made an impact in my life financially speaking. I want all of my readers to take a second after reading this list, and just pluck out those things that resonate with your life and your money habits. I am really anxious for the next few months as I am looking to expand on my personal finance capacity by reading more and asking for advice from older wiser individuals with greater experience in this field. What does that have to do with the best personal finance tips I will share with you today?

Well it all comes down to what I know regarding Personal finance, and I can either stop learning or continue to learn. That means staying current with the best money management topics. Which in turn will help me share more with all of you guys in the future. If I learn more, then I can reciprocate that back towards you with great content.

See below for The Best list you will ever come across regarding money management and personal finance:

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