Meet the Millionaire Next Door

Monday, May 25, 2009

The book by Thomas Stanley is one of my bi-annual reads. Since it was published in 1998 the stats are dated, but the theory makes a lot of sense.

I remember when a few of my less frugal friends "strongly encouraged" me to buy a vehicle before I was ready-DUMB, rather than sharing a car - SMART. Well, well. I shared and saved enough to pay three months short of cash for a three year old Jaguar. Those same helpful,less frugal folks are now stuck with five year notes with eight or nine percent finance rates on a lesser quality car and will repeat the cycle in about five to seven years. How smart is that?

I know I am frugal. I keep trying to be even more frugal. I know there is room for improvement.
-I do not have cable.
-Do not own a large screen television.
-Purchase pre-owned cars every 12 years.
-Pay cash for most everything. (I have a mortgage.)
-Drink filtered water. No plastic water bottles. I have a table top filter for the water I drink at work.
-Only see movies at the theatre with free passes.
-'Got Netflix.
-Five retirement plans.
-Drive slow and plan trips.
-Save gas by shopping on line with free shipping and returns.
-Stock up on toiletries when on sale and only purchase from discount stores.
-Purchase all clothing on sale, with the exception of shoes. (I wear 10AA; sometimes AAA.)
-Do not eat meat.
-Drink only water, soy milk, and ginger tea.
-Do not use condiments, nor bottled seasoning except cinnamon, curry, or ginger.
-Eat out once a month. If more, I compensate somewhere else.
-Brown bag it at work. (I have eaten out for lunch only three times in eight months.)
-Hang dry most items.
-Hand wash as many items as possible. It may use more water, but saves clothes in the long run.)
-Use gas, rather than electric appliances.
-Use my debit card (cash)for even purchases less than a dollar. Yes! You are reading correctly. My bank gives me .25 points to a dollar. When I get enough points, I redeem them for gift cards for myself to buy things already on my list, not EXTRA stuff or to give as baby shower, birthday, and other special occasion gifts. (Marshalls, Target, Exxon, are a few.)
-Check out books from the public library, rather than purchase. (Every room in my house has a book shelf, even the bath.)
-Use the Internet for banking, long distancing, etc...
-Cell phone is only on after 9:00 p.m. and weekends.
-Purchase veggies and soy milk from the 99 Cent Store.

What My Value System Dictates
-Spend money on charity, education, and travel. No arguments.
BTW, travel abroad includes roughing it with public transportation, no frills hotel until the last two nights, and native, not tourist restaurants.

Room for Growth: What do I do to splurge?
I know I must get better at this. The following is what most can do without or lessen, but, I do not.
-Healthcare for pets. Since I cannot speak puppytalk, we usually show up at Dr. Palma's everytime a sneeze occurs.
-Drive to Austin to shop at Tesoros.
-Housekeeper and yard crew.
-Wrinkle cream, mani\pedis, and hair salon. (Average $180 per month.) This is the biggie!!!!Help! Help!
-Attend concerts and the theatre. (I will pay up to $500 for U2, B.B. King, Stones, and Elton tickets. I would for Phillip Glass, but there never seems to be a demand.)
-Shoe shopping sprees at Saks, Nordstrom, Shoebuy, Brucette's, Marshalls, and J. Renee. I love shoes!
-Accessory sprees at Charming Charlie, Forever 21, Zen's, World Market, Sam Moon, and Ebay.
-Other sprees at Whole Foods, Farmers' Market at Rice U.


Improvements
-Instead of $27 foundation, I have found the same quality for $9.99.
-Old:Makeup remover & toner; New:just apple cider vinegar
-From Purchasing plastic water bottles to using table top water pitcher