2 ms·

Perhaps I'm an anomaly, but such a high percent of my budget (over 70% of spending) is consumed by rent, car, and food that other household goods just don't mat

Perhaps I'm an anomaly, but such a high percent of my budget (over 70% of spending) is consumed by rent, car, and food that other household goods just don't matter relatively speaking. I can't save hundreds on household goods, because I don't spend that much to begin with. Coupons take a tremendous amount of time and, again if you are a dev who values his time, just aren't worth it. If you want to devote N hours to cost reduction, the biggest bang for the buck is rent. Saving even $200 a month by searching for a few hours more blows away what is even possible to save on the other items. People tend to get in debt from having too expensive of a car or house. Not because they have too nice of a toothbrush or use brand-name cereal.

JanezStupar 15y ago
There are loads of activities, one can do that would otherwise not be worth it - during one's "downtime". You can cut coupons while watching TV. You can also do other menial stuff that "would otherwise not be worthing" while doing such passive activities. That is a trick of old that probably most of our grandmothers used. And such stuff adds up with time.
- usaar333 15y ago
  I agree that if you do have a lot of downtime, it's probably worth it. I'm assuming the audience here is filled with ambitious entrepreneur types who don't have such a luxury. On my end, I can't think of any passive activity I do where my hands and mind are free (I watch no TV, can't multitask reading news/blogs/books with cutting coupons, etc.). Besides, from my experience cutting coupons with my mother as a child, I know how poor the ROI is. My main original point was simply that all the small things in aggregate are... still small. Looking at my budget (which is probably similar to many on this board), the sum of all expenditures not related to housing, auto, or food are less than rent alone. If I wanted to, I could halve my rent (many of my peers in San Francisco could drop theirs by 70+%) and eliminate the also expensive auto. There is no way I can produce such a bang with the "small things" without significantly sacrificing my lifestyle or consuming tons of time deal hunting. Case in point is this reddit post I saw awhile back: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/jelt1/dear_anonlulzsec_can_you_destroy_the_entire/c2bh8qp http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/jelt1/dear_anonlu... Cutting coupons or coffee or netflix won't help him. Selling his car and moving to a cheaper (half current price) apartment immediately breaks him out of his financial problems.
  - JanezStupar 15y ago
    The guy you mentioned is hardly frugal. He is whining that he isn't spending anything on luxury - while in truth, EVERYTHING is super luxurious. He treats his whole life as one big luxury experiment. One rents (0% downpayment lease is a rent) non essential resources, especially at the brackets he cites. In such cases 50% expense could be dropped immediately, with hardly any meaningful impact on quality of life. And lifestyle is hardly a quality of life item.
lotharbot 15y ago
> "such a high percent of my budget (over 70% of spending) is consumed by rent, car, and food that other household goods just don't matter relatively speaking." What percent are you saving? If it's 5%, then the remaining 25% you're spending on everything else is significant -- cut that a little bit and you could double your savings. Cut it by a lot and you could maybe triple or quadruple your savings. That matters, especially if you're paying down debt. I'm not saying you should neglect the big stuff. If you can cut your rent by a little bit, maybe that will triple your savings too. And if you negotiate a better salary, maybe you could save ten times as much. By all means, do these things! I'm also not saying you should waste time on low ROI stuff. I'm just saying you should do the math. How much is eating out costing you, and is it worth the savings in time or effort? How much could you save by switching to store brands (which don't take any longer to buy)? Clipping coupons isn't always worth it, but I find I can often save $10 for less than 5 minutes of time by focusing on the good stuff; that's the same rate as if you make a quarter million dollars a year after taxes, which isn't too bad. Having a sane budget is about the total picture. Too much personal finance advice focuses on the little stuff while ignoring the big stuff, but don't overreact by ignoring the little stuff entirely. Keep perspective.
- usaar333 15y ago
  My after tax historical savings is a comfortable 15% to 20%, while taking a low salary (probably less than most here) and living in an expensive area (San Francisco). I'm able to save more than most people my age simply by having low rent. I do just as many pricey activities as them, if not more. The only sacrifice I made was living in a slightly older house with some random craigslisters. (and in case you are wondering, I have a shorter commute than most (~5 minutes by car). The remaining 30% of my expenses? Mostly trips, bars, the occasional high-end restaurant. If I sacrificed those, I'd feel like I was missing out on life. On the other hand, I feel like I lost almost nothing by getting an apartment $500 to $1000 cheaper per month than what my friends live in. That number is huge -- I can buy an ipad every other month and still be saving more money than them.

JanezStupar 15y ago

There are loads of activities, one can do that would otherwise not be worth it - during one's "downtime". You can cut coupons while watching TV. You can also do other menial stuff that "would otherwise not be worthing" while doing such passive activities. That is a trick of old that probably most of our grandmothers used. And such stuff adds up with time.

usaar333 15y ago
I agree that if you do have a lot of downtime, it's probably worth it. I'm assuming the audience here is filled with ambitious entrepreneur types who don't have such a luxury. On my end, I can't think of any passive activity I do where my hands and mind are free (I watch no TV, can't multitask reading news/blogs/books with cutting coupons, etc.). Besides, from my experience cutting coupons with my mother as a child, I know how poor the ROI is. My main original point was simply that all the small things in aggregate are... still small. Looking at my budget (which is probably similar to many on this board), the sum of all expenditures not related to housing, auto, or food are less than rent alone. If I wanted to, I could halve my rent (many of my peers in San Francisco could drop theirs by 70+%) and eliminate the also expensive auto. There is no way I can produce such a bang with the "small things" without significantly sacrificing my lifestyle or consuming tons of time deal hunting. Case in point is this reddit post I saw awhile back: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/jelt1/dear_anonlulzsec_can_you_destroy_the_entire/c2bh8qp http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/jelt1/dear_anonlu... Cutting coupons or coffee or netflix won't help him. Selling his car and moving to a cheaper (half current price) apartment immediately breaks him out of his financial problems.
- JanezStupar 15y ago
  The guy you mentioned is hardly frugal. He is whining that he isn't spending anything on luxury - while in truth, EVERYTHING is super luxurious. He treats his whole life as one big luxury experiment. One rents (0% downpayment lease is a rent) non essential resources, especially at the brackets he cites. In such cases 50% expense could be dropped immediately, with hardly any meaningful impact on quality of life. And lifestyle is hardly a quality of life item.

lotharbot 15y ago

> "such a high percent of my budget (over 70% of spending) is consumed by rent, car, and food that other household goods just don't matter relatively speaking." What percent are you saving? If it's 5%, then the remaining 25% you're spending on everything else is significant -- cut that a little bit and you could double your savings. Cut it by a lot and you could maybe triple or quadruple your savings. That matters, especially if you're paying down debt. I'm not saying you should neglect the big stuff. If you can cut your rent by a little bit, maybe that will triple your savings too. And if you negotiate a better salary, maybe you could save ten times as much. By all means, do these things! I'm also not saying you should waste time on low ROI stuff. I'm just saying you should do the math. How much is eating out costing you, and is it worth the savings in time or effort? How much could you save by switching to store brands (which don't take any longer to buy)? Clipping coupons isn't always worth it, but I find I can often save $10 for less than 5 minutes of time by focusing on the good stuff; that's the same rate as if you make a quarter million dollars a year after taxes, which isn't too bad. Having a sane budget is about the total picture. Too much personal finance advice focuses on the little stuff while ignoring the big stuff, but don't overreact by ignoring the little stuff entirely. Keep perspective.

usaar333 15y ago
My after tax historical savings is a comfortable 15% to 20%, while taking a low salary (probably less than most here) and living in an expensive area (San Francisco). I'm able to save more than most people my age simply by having low rent. I do just as many pricey activities as them, if not more. The only sacrifice I made was living in a slightly older house with some random craigslisters. (and in case you are wondering, I have a shorter commute than most (~5 minutes by car). The remaining 30% of my expenses? Mostly trips, bars, the occasional high-end restaurant. If I sacrificed those, I'd feel like I was missing out on life. On the other hand, I feel like I lost almost nothing by getting an apartment $500 to $1000 cheaper per month than what my friends live in. That number is huge -- I can buy an ipad every other month and still be saving more money than them.