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"The Little Book of Thrift" in the media. Read more here!
Daily Tips
I’m cheap.
There I said it. Cheap, a tightwad, a skinflint, death adders in my pockets; you name it, I’m it. And you know what? I’m proud to be tight, because in actual fact life isn’t that much different.
Let me tell you a little about me and my situation first, because that will help put me into the context of your own situation.
Married, three kids, a dog, a cat, a mortgage (a big one because I live in Sydney, Australia – No 2 on the world’s least affordable housing index), two cars, both of us working, regular holidays, bills that frighten us, a social life, a liking for good food, the occasional lapse into irrational spending, a hankering for tech toys like smart phones and e-readers.
I don’t know if that constitutes standard family life, but that’s who we are and what we do.
I wrote the book because I started trying to rationalise our spending. Expenses were going up but the income wasn’t, so how do you cut back? I asked a load of people about what and how they spent money. I read everything I could find and I asked a lot of older people about what and how they spent money. There were two things that struck me early on;
The other big outcome was that saving money was not actually about a couple of big things here or there, it was about the dozens of small savings you could make on a daily basis that added up to a big amount every month.
How well you do in your quest to save money will depend on discipline, organisation and your spending philosophy. If you can get over the ‘I have to have that’ hump, you’ll do quite well. If you can also get organised and think things through or use some simple organisational tools (in the book!), you’ll do really well. If you can also stick to your new habits month in month out, you’ll do exceptionally well.
And how much am I saving every month? Well, it’s roughly $800. I could probably save more, but, hey, you have to have a life as well! (Don’t forget that – have a life and enjoy what you do!)
Enjoy the blog.
There I said it. Cheap, a tightwad, a skinflint, death adders in my pockets; you name it, I’m it. And you know what? I’m proud to be tight, because in actual fact life isn’t that much different.
Let me tell you a little about me and my situation first, because that will help put me into the context of your own situation.
Married, three kids, a dog, a cat, a mortgage (a big one because I live in Sydney, Australia – No 2 on the world’s least affordable housing index), two cars, both of us working, regular holidays, bills that frighten us, a social life, a liking for good food, the occasional lapse into irrational spending, a hankering for tech toys like smart phones and e-readers.
I don’t know if that constitutes standard family life, but that’s who we are and what we do.
I wrote the book because I started trying to rationalise our spending. Expenses were going up but the income wasn’t, so how do you cut back? I asked a load of people about what and how they spent money. I read everything I could find and I asked a lot of older people about what and how they spent money. There were two things that struck me early on;
- first was we all wasted an awful lot of money on ‘stuff’ – junk we used once and never touched again (exercise bikes) or things we already had but had to buy again. (New sunscreen at the expensive beachfront store, for example.)
- second, spending was often a psychological need rather than a physical need. That what we wanted wasn’t necessarily what we needed. Marketing plays a big part here in telling us what we should desire. But do we really need it?
The other big outcome was that saving money was not actually about a couple of big things here or there, it was about the dozens of small savings you could make on a daily basis that added up to a big amount every month.
How well you do in your quest to save money will depend on discipline, organisation and your spending philosophy. If you can get over the ‘I have to have that’ hump, you’ll do quite well. If you can also get organised and think things through or use some simple organisational tools (in the book!), you’ll do really well. If you can also stick to your new habits month in month out, you’ll do exceptionally well.
And how much am I saving every month? Well, it’s roughly $800. I could probably save more, but, hey, you have to have a life as well! (Don’t forget that – have a life and enjoy what you do!)
Enjoy the blog.
