Actions Define Priorities
I buy my clothes at Goodwill. I don’t say this to act all holier-than-thou or suggest that everyone should do the same. It is just a facet of my actions defining my priorities. I don’t put a high priority on my clothing being fashionable or in style or anything like that, so I don’t spend a lot of money on clothes. I do try to find clothing at Goodwill that looks decent on me and it has to be in great condition, but if it is a color I’m not sure was the best choice or it fits a little funny, odds are I’ll still buy it if I can’t find the perfect item.
On the other hand, there were only certain areas of my particular city I was willing to buy a house in. If we had shifted 5 miles south of where we are, we could have gotten a very similar house for about 20-30% less than we paid for the one we are in. We don’t live in the “best” neighborhood in our city, but we certainly do not live in the “worst” either. I looked at the schools available, the crime rates, the availability of green space, and many other factors to determine our target neighborhoods and then bought a house within one of them.
How do your actions define your priorities? What do you spend your money on, and what do you go without or spend less on? What are you saving for, and what percentage do you save? The things we actually do with or money, versus the things we tell ourselves we should do with our money, is how we define our financial priorities. Do your financial priorities align with the ones in your head? Pull apart your budget and find out. My goal for the next month is to work on my 2009 budget and have it completely reflect our family’s priorities. I welcome everyone to give it a try. 
November 6th, 2008 at 11:25 am
I’m impressed that you do the Goodwill thing and are willing to publicize it. We have used Goodwill and consignment sales ourselves, particularly for kids clothes. In terms of priorities, we will spend top dollar on things that are frequently used and are supposed to last for an extended period (e.g furniture, tools, some appliances, luggage) but not on vehicles, which depreciate rapidly.
November 6th, 2008 at 11:33 am
I spend a lot less money on alcohol, going to parties, and paying for taxis than my peers do. I love to go out with friends, but don’t normally drink, and would rather take the bus or walk somewhere instead of taking a cab. I’m moving to an area where the Goodwill is about a 30-40 minute drive away, and I don’t think there are any other consignment shops nearby that I could go to. I have to plan my trips to Costco, Goodwill, and other stores in order to save money on transportation. Transportation is another area in which I save – I walk to work, drive my car maybe once a week, about 10 miles at a time, and take full advantage of public transportation.
Thanks for the post, it has inspired me to write down what I don’t spend money on, as well as to write down what I do spend money on and determine if I can cut some things out!
November 6th, 2008 at 11:36 am
When we bought our house, we went with the saying “It’s better to have the worst house on the best street, than the best house on the worst street.” We have almost the smallest house on our street, which is lovely and quiet, tree-lined, and in a great location. When it comes time to “move up,” we won’t hesitate to do the same again. It’s more important to us to have a safe place for our son to live, than to have the biggest fanciest house.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Do without 2 cars, cell phones, and cable. I rarely buy clothes for myself period. Kohls/JC Penney’s clearance rack a year ahead for my kids. Its cheaper than the thrift stores here and cheaper than Target or Walmart.
I value the internet and eating out. I loathe cooking. I also choose our house because its a pretty good area and has a 15 minute commute to my husbands work. Which means more family time and a cheaper gas bill.
We save 12.5% of our after tax income split between saving for a new to us car and emergency fund. 2.5% to my kids college savings accounts and 5% after tax to our 401k. His company gives us a 7% gross match so for every $4 we put in they put in $7.
We tithe 10% to church and our other charitable contributions are about 1%.
I’m trying to run the household on $500/month excluding gas and its become so tight lately that we are thinking of removing 2.5% of our savings to free that up a bit. Inflation has definetly impacted us. That will more than double the fruits and veggies I can afford and allow us to eat out a couple more times a month. Mostly I ran out of things I was willing to cut when we had funds to tap. And my husband thinks that since this 3rd pregnancy is so debilitating for me that we need to lower my stress level.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I’m a geek so while I never pay full price for things, I do get some of my tech “wants” but we raise chickens for eggs, we recycle and reuse everything possible, we shop at GW Boutique and thrift stores for our needs except for food. I use coupons, shop at Aldis and make our own bread and biscuits. We live a simple life and are extremely happy that we can leave a small footprint and still enjoy our hobbies and each other.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
We’ve “invested” in quality workmanship for our [very small] house, we put solar panels on the roof, purchased highly efficient appliances when we needed to replace, and of course, purchased a used Prius. DH uses a scooter to get to work. We seldom buy clothes at all, only when there is so much wear and tear as to make something unwearable. One DD buys a fair amount of clothes, but she uses her own hard earned money and shops at Target, etc, then she resells stuff she’s tired of. We don’t eat steak, rather hamburger, and do portion control. We constantly look for skilled individuals for any services we need vs going with a company, but have good relationships with some key (plumber, electrical) local, small businesses insuring discounts whenever possible. A driving factor is evaluating cost over the life of the item, so investing in our home is a no brainer as is NOT eating out just because we’re tired. We are willing to pay for good health, auto and homeowners’ insurance but with high deductibles. Lights get turned off, and the heat is on only a few key hours a day.
We’ve been living like this for quite a while, and so far It’s worked out pretty well.
November 6th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
When I buy something like clothing or accessories, I usually end up spending on the higher end price range of these items. I would prefer quality over quantity. However, when it comes to entertainment, I usually spend less than $40/mo. I rarely buy DVDs, we do not have cable and I go to the library to check out books.
November 6th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Tops from garage sales mostly, and Mom’s hand-me-downs. Pants (lee jeans that fit right) off ebay. Shoes from garage sales and Kmart. We don’t have a goodwill anywhere near or I would shop there also.
I bought my house due to it’s location – across the street from my daughter and grandkids. It’s a small town – so all areas are about the same in ‘safeness’.
I’m older – and really don’t feel the need to buy much at all anymore. Scrapbooking supplies, photos developed, used books, and garden stuff. That’s about it.
I try to save every 3rd paycheck in full. Sometimes it’s every 4th around insurance renewals and property tax statements
November 6th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
My top priority is to have enough to pay the bills every month and continue to live as I do without having to enter the full time work force. I do work part time. I have no extra money at all. The rent I pay for our apartment is higher than I would like, but our backyard is a nature park with a walking trail, surrounded by woods and only 5 minutes from downtown. I buy my clothing at thrift stores and also Ross, which has prices similar to Goodwill. However, at thrift stores, I look for quality brand names that fit me well and buy only them. Almost all my furnishings are second hand, as well. And when I want to redecorate, I repurpose things, like curtains into chair cushions.
My food budget has no room for convenience foods, only basics for healthy living. I make all our meals from scratch. Tonight spaghetti with homemade sauce, salad and french bread that I am making right now.
The quality of my life is very important to me. Even though I live on an extremely limited budget, I often feel very rich.
November 6th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
i spend a lot of time and energy on cooking healthy meals and getting lots of exercise. sometimes on my dissertation too, haha. i am impressed with the resolve shown in buying good will clothes!
November 6th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
We do without newspapers (get info off the internet). We don’t pay for internet as we have dialup (but you have to wait). We do without alot of talking on our cell phones, we use them for emergencies (they cost $10 per month per phone). We do without fancy restaurants (Wendys is about as fancy as we usually get, sometimes we “go all out” and go to Azteca or Red Robin). We did without cable until my mom moved in and insisted on paying for it. I do without manicures, my husband and boys do without fancy haircuts (they use a Flowbee), and my friend cuts my hair. We use a $25 calling card for long distance and it lasts us for a year. We do without so that I can stay at home and homeschool. That’s what we’re spending for and what our priority is…me at home with the kids (although they’re teenagers now). Our money goes to bills, savings (if we can) and saving for a vacation in four years.
November 7th, 2008 at 11:16 am
I LOVE the Salvation Army by me. They have a 2 story store with kitchen and furniture items on the ground floor and the 2nd floor is clothing. I have found so many great things there – serving pieces, glasses, dishes, clothes, fabrics, new in the box scented candles, clay garden thermometers – too much stuff to list. I try to go only on Wednesdays when everything is 50% off so I will get nice designer jeans (more for the way they are made than for the label) for $2 or so. The brand I like is about $110 a pair new, so to get them for $2 is a pretty good deal.
Quick funny story though – when my parents were over for dinner and they commented on my lovely new dishes and glasses I said they were from the SA and they looked horrified. My mother said, “aren’t they dirty from other people using them?” so I said, “well, I washed them when I bought them and you use ‘used’ dishes at a restaurant”.
I love when I get compliments on my wardrobe (and my son’s clothes too) and I know that they whole outfit didn’t even cost me $5.
All I buy new in clothes is undergarments, socks and pajamas.
It’s not only frugal, but it’s helping the environment – and our fellow human through the programs that these charities offer.
November 9th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Frugal has been my middle name for years. My mom couldn’t afford much and we shopped at places like Goodwill, Salvation Army and Value Village all the time. Now that I’ve grown up I still do it. Our SA is half price on Wednesdays and they even have coupons in the paper. Speaking of coupons, that’s another thing I do and have seen an increase in recent months. I’ve saved 75% easily on the total bill by pairing a coupon with an item already marked down or on 2-for-1 sales. It’s great! (I work at a newspaper so I snag and take a Sunday paper home for free on Mondays and clip away.)
I also make sure to get most of our food basics at a discount grocery chain like Sav-A-Lot or Big Lots. I walk out paying a third of what I’d have paid anywhere else. Cooking at home is a no-brainer; eating out is a luxury we do partake in but on a limited basis. We also know the restaurants in the area that give a free child’s meal with every entree purchased for an adult — many restaurants do this on Tuesdays to bring in the business on a typically slow night. However, some do it several nights per week — like Denney’s. Call around and find out if and when local restaurants have family deals like this.
My kids go to a public school, yet they wear a uniform, which is excellent on my budget — I hardly ever buy them any clothing except for the occassional jeans or shoes. And then again we get many hand-me-downs, many of which we pass on simply because they can’t use them due to the uniform! All of mine and my husband’s clothing is either from a used store, a clearance rack at a new store, or bought in a lot on eBay. Speaking of eBay, I buy all my “expensive-looking” items, such as fancy shoes and Coach purses there. I bought a lightly used, black Coach for 30-some dollars, including shipping! I have very discriminating taste and style — yet no one has a clue where I shop until I tell them.
To get my kids in on the “green” way of living, I recruit them to be monitors. One is the electricity monitor and has to run around making sure all the lights are turned off and the other is the water monitor and has to make sure the water isn’t turned on full blast while teeth are being brushed. It really helps them to be more aware of our resources and realize that these things are not free.
As for entertainment, when we’re not at the ballfield, we rent videos from Netflix. Not only can you rent the DVDs for one flat fee but you can watch them streaming on your computer as well. The kids can get online, choose a movie from the kid’s or family sections and watch anytime, pause, resume play, etc. The “Watch Instantly” feature is great and very convenient and included in the subscription.
We have an automatic $25 going from our checking into each child’s savings account each month. That doesn’t sound like much but they each now have about $2k(!) in their accounts! It has really added up and we don’t miss the money. I’m so glad I set that up that transfer a few years ago. As for ourselves, we are kind of young so we can afford to invest in slightly riskier stocks and try to take about $200 each month and buy a stock we like that is less than a dollar a share. We’ve also got money in a Capital One money market account and my husband has an investment through his his old job.
We also made good money buying undervalued items we come across and sell them at online auctions or garage sales. We are making our way, dollar by dollar, and doing our best. Hopefully, all the scrimping and shrewd investing will pay off someday. In the meantime, it’s kind of fun doing it!