Posted by Tim Stobbs on September 8, 2011
The word ‘cheapskate’ usually isn’t associated with positive images. For example, when you say that to me I picture someone loading up sugar packets from their table in a restaurant to save money at home. Jeff Yeager is on a mission to change that image with his second book The Cheapskate Next Door where he shares the tips of cheapskates across the US on how to live better on less.
While I typically don’t review many money saving tips books I was pleasantly surprised by Jeff’s book as he focus his book on living happily below your means. The point of saving money isn’t about hardship, but rather getting more of what you want in life and that message comes through loud and clear in this book. Also Jeff manages to actually inject a fair bit of humour in the book and also backup some of his findings with a research.
How do you research cheapskates? Simple, you give them a huge survey to fill out and let them share their tips for your next book. So while most books compare back to average people, Jeff’s actually has a lot of data on cheapskates which of course makes it more interesting to know where you fall compared to them. For example a few bits of interesting data include the average cheapskate home is only 1650 square feet well below the US national average of 2300 square feet and 80% of those polled have or plan to pay off their mortgage early. Suddenly my 1600 square foot house seems just about right compared to others of a similar mindset.
Yet I can’t hold a candle to one cheapskate that Jeff interviewed for the book: she literally got her house for free. She manged to find someone who had planned to wreck an older home and had it transported to her property and put in a foundation for it. Total cost $26,500 include remodeling and moving the house. Yikes now even I feel like I’ve paid too much for my house.
So for me it was nice to actually compare myself to similar people for a change of pace and get an idea that even for the frugal minded we don’t agree. For example, coupons tended to split people into even thirds: one third didn’t use them at all, one used them all the time and the last third used them sometimes.
I also really enjoyed the chapter on kids which approached parenting using the oxygen mask method, which simply put means look after yourself first so you can then really look after your kids. You don’t have to give you kids everything in order to love them and raise them right. In fact, showing them they can’t have everything in life all at once is likely good training for later on in life.
So overall if you can manage to get a copy from your library I would suggest reading this book. While most of the tips on saving won’t be new to you, you will likely find a few new ideas on how to save your money and get a few laughs while doing it.
Posted by Sheryl on September 7, 2011
This is a guest post from Sheryl (a.k.a Cdn Gwen) in Ontario, who is 39 years old with a grown daughter, and is trying to rebuild her retirement dream just 20 years too late for early retirement.
I’m saying goodbye to my 30′s soon, and in my social circle (friends and family), we usually just get together for a meal to celebrate birthdays. We send a card, or call on the phone to say “Happy Birthday”; no gifts (usually). This year is different. It seems that for the “milestone” birthdays, people are compelled to buy something. I understand this, I do it myself, unless something big is happening for a birthday, gifts are usually only given when decades change (i.e. 30,40,50 etc).
The question has been asked “What do you want for your 40th birthday?”. The answer? I haven’t got a clue. This got a reaction from my daughter that really made me think about what I’ve allowed my life to become. I asked her what she wants for her 21st (that is 3 days before my birthday) and she said right away “I’d really like a new camera, and the one I want is expensive, so any contribution towards it would be great.” She has several hobbies (photography, horses, mountain biking and snow boarding being the main ones), all of which she supports herself, but can always use something for one of them as gifts. In my quest to get my life back on track, have I allowed myself to lose my life in the process? Should I expand my interests while I’m on my journey to financial independence? Currently I tend to pursue hobbies that I already have everything for, or that don’t cost much (bike riding, reading, cooking, computer games etc..) I have everything I need, and I have a happy life, but have I stunted my personal growth somewhere? I’m not very materialistic, so buying for me has always been difficult.
Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of things I can use. My condo has not been upgraded since it was built over 20 years ago. There are walls in need of painting and faucets, appliances, kitchen cabinets, window coverings that will need replacing in the next few years. When I started rebuilding my life after the divorce, all my “stuff” (with the exception of my clothes, TV and computer) are hand-offs from friends and family or were found on the roadside. My home is functional, but mis-matched and not very pretty to look at.
The question is, do I want “home stuff” for my birthday? Part of me will appreciate anything I get, and part of me wants a gift for my 40th to be “special” (special meaning something personal and meaningful, such as watch, or a painting, or piece of jewellery that i will always cherish). In writing this, I am starting to think that maybe the best gift (if I have to provide ideas for things to be purchased) is to encourage items that will enrich my space long term (home improvement store gift cards?).
Truly, this journey is about so much more than the mechanics of doing smart things with money, it is about changing how I think (and subsequently feel) about every facet of living.
New start, new life, a place I can truly make “mine”, with the help of my friends. I think I can make peace with that and not feel like I’m missing out on “birthday presents”. Of course, the boyfriend is not going to get away that easy 
Posted by Dave on September 6, 2011
There has recently been a myriad of articles written stating that the new retirement age should be closer to 75 compared to 65 as people are living longer and not saving enough prior to their workplace exit. Besides the money issue, and the risk that I will run out of it, there is always the question of what I will do with all my time . I find this question somewhat odd – it’s not like all my time is spent at work, and when I’m at home I am definitely not thinking of work. I get the following comments when I explain my plans for the future:
Identity:
I don’t really associate the way I make money with what makes me who I am. For the majority of people in my life, their job or career is an extension of a choice they made when they were 18 years old to go through some type of school or training and they have just carried this through to today. I honestly have no idea what half my friends do for a living, and I’m pretty sure they couldn’t tell me what do either – we just don’t really care. Because I don’t really associate myself with my job, a transition to having no job is not going to be a tremendous shift.
Social Life:
Additionally, I’m an introverted person – leaving the workforce would significantly reduce the number of people that I would come across in a day as I don’t actively seek out people’s company, but I am somewhat indifferent to whether or not I see anyone at the end of the day. If I choose, I’m sure I can get involved in some kind of group (this summer I did join a kettlebell club in my city where I met several people). Exiting the workforce will not have a significant bearing on my social life, as I don’t really have one.
Filling in time:
Some people chomp at the bit to get back to work at the end of their vacations – I am not that kind of person. If I left the workforce today, other than not being able to afford my current lifestyle, I think I could find a ton of stuff to fill in my time. My hobbies would expand to fill in the 9 hours I spend commuting and working during the day and as far as I can tell I would probably have a lot more fun than sitting at a desk.
It’s my belief that not everyone is made to get out of the workforce early, some people need the structure of a job with the forced interaction that goes along with it. Additionally, some people just can’t figure out what they would do with all that free time. I can’t see myself having any of these problems, which is why I think retirement at 45 is so attractive to me.
Besides saving enough money to get out of the workforce, what can you see as a hurdle? Do you think you would be able to fill in the spare time that you’re now spending at work?
